Joining us once again on book tv is congressman gerald connolly, democrat from virginia. Give us an update on your reading list, congressman. Peter, as you know i read at least a book a week and the last broadcast, the book read update, there are two i want to start with. One is this monumental biography of Frederick Douglass by david wright. Its probably the definitive biography of Frederick Douglass and especially with whats going on in the United States and its fight for Racial Justice nobody was more consequential and has been more consequential on the question of race in america and Frederick Douglass, way ahead of his time. He was not only an abolitionist and a passionate abolitionist as a former slave, but he insisted from the earliest times in the 1840s, right towards the end of the 19th century the quality was the goal. And he would brook no deviation from that. It was very clear about what the goal was and so many of his words ring true today i really recommend the biography for everybody. Its a long read but its really powerful. One of the things i learned about Frederick Douglass this year was that he was also a very active suffragist. Yes, absolutely. Its very consistent and had a distinguished career and was able to talk to a mixed race audience. That was unusual to saythe least. And you know, its really taking on the powerful when they had bad ideas, for example Abraham Lincoln in the beginning of his presidency was really fixed on this idea of colonization so we will free slaves move them to some other country because clearly integration in america will never work. And Frederick Douglass would have none of that. And took lincoln to task and i think arguably could take some credit forchanging lincolns idea about that. So douglas is up there with our founders in terms of where he belongs in American History and this biography, long overdue and a brilliant, fine piece of work. So another book i dont have with me because i blended out but the biography by George Packer of richardholbrook called our man. Unique, ive never read a book like. It is not a traditional biography. It mixes opinion with fax and chronology. Its not your traditional biography but it is a powerful and its a powerful book about a man in washington who sacrifice almost everything for ambition, climb up that ladder. Talented, bright but really destroyed emily relations, destroyed personal relationships and friendships longstanding. And you know, just consumed by ambition. Now, he also had some accomplishments. He was credited with being author of the dayton accords that ended the balkan wars andwhen he died , he was the special envoy for afghanistan and had really made Great Strides in trying to keep up that issue and get america to look at its involvement. But at the end of the day, kind of a tragic figure in terms of what he was willing to do and its almost an on morality story about power in washington and cautionary tale of what gets five so are really powerful biography, i highly recommend. Did you know him at all . I had met and interacted with Richard Holbrook on several occasions during the course of his career. I cant say i was an intimate nor did i served with him or work with him on any kind of object, but he was clearly a towering figure, but also i think in some ways the tragic figure. And anyway, i think its one of the best biographies ive ever read and completely different style. Not your usual biography which made it so engrossing. Im so taken with it, ive given away multiple times for people to read because i think its a lot of lessons for people in the place where i work. I just read recently by Sidney Blumenthal, all the powers of the earth and this is the three president ial history of Abraham Lincoln but its so much more than that. Its really a sociological and political cultural history of the tumultuous years between 1856 and 1860, so much gets sandwiched into that 4 year period that made the civil war inevitable. Everything from populist sovereignty from Stephen Douglas to the kansas nebraska act and bloodied kansas and john browns raid in lawrence kansas and harpers ferry. The dred scott decision. These are for really important pivotal years that led to the civil war and Sidney Blumenthal goes in depth into some of the main characters, Stephen Douglas, Charles Sumner and others and its just really a great piece of history. And lots of tidbits that are in their that one might not normally know. And one of the characters who comes out badly from a historical point of view is Stephen Douglas. Really a demagogue, willing to sacrifice all kinds of principles to advance his career and of course, he tragically failed in that endeavor but meanwhile did huge damage to the country in overturning the missouri compromise, opening up territories to slavery where it had earlier been prohibited and ultimately pleasing nobody, not only south for the north. A really good piece of work. But the burning by tim madigan which is the story of the massacre in tulsa of a really vibrant and successful africanamerican part of tulsa, greenwood and the massacre that took place was also awful. Its hard to believe this could happen in 20thcentury america but itdid. Hundreds of africanamericans killed. Malicious running rampant and they ultimately burned to the ground 36 square blocks of this africanamerican community, churches, businesses, homes and thankfully subjugated the africanamerican population in the 1960s 45 years later. It is agripping story and again, given whats going on in America Today , understanding that history of whiteout and insecurity of the white majority at least at that time in leading to and justification of over racism led to unbelievable violence and i think its a really kind of useful to the current discussion of Racial Justice in america. Cassie, her book homecoming, i dont often get the chance to read as much literature as i would like even though im an old nature but this book was a beautifully done, beautifully written novel and it kind of juxtaposes the evolution of slavery and race in america with really the story of donna and where and how people live in ghana, prior to slavery and during the enslavement period. Its really abeautifully done book. She very talented novelist and i think really has a future and iknow she just cannot with a new book as well. A book that really got me and that is killers of the flower mood ideogram. This is a book again, in oklahoma where a white power elite murdered a number of native americans who had land titles and had royalties for special resources on their land. And were swindled and in order to have deeds transferred to almost always white qualities, embezzlement, fraud, numerous poisonings and some assassinations of native americans in orderto get their land. It took place in the 1920s in america, this is notancient history. This is not the old indian wars of the mid19th century. This is not that long ago and its an unbelievable story and deeply disturbing in terms of again, the power of racism and the power of greed. But its something really about our history that people do need to read. I just finished simon montefiores and normas book called jerusalem. And it is the history of the city of jerusalem and it takes you from the canaanite period, the babylonian captivity, the incursions of the egyptians and phoenicians and ultimately the romans and greeks through the crusaders and the islamic period of course modern history. The sweep of history when you read this book all once really strikes you. What also strikes you sadly is how jerusalem is defined by violence. You know, the constant sackings and mass attacks all for territory in the name of the sacred and we realize that that remains unresolved today in the middle east. And its really a sweeping history that gives you a sense ofperspective. And i dont know if it gives you a lot of hope frankly about the future of the middle east, but it really does put a lot of what were doing and dealing with right now in a very important context in terms of this is not new and so much evil in the name of the sacred occurs irrespective of religion or the period of history. Programs by christopher lennon, a great book about not so much david and how he built an empire from his perch in kansas and how he used it to influence politics in america in certainly a very effective if not terrible way. He used his money to build fake tanks, to insinuate himself into universities and create schools. He used his influence to build a Grassroots Network and then applied all that to legislative admissions that reflected his libertarian government stay out of our lives philosophy. Now, were going through a pandemic where we understand that actually we need more government right now, not less and that kind of flies in the face of the coke philosophy but anyway, this is a great book in terms of giving you a sense of who is charles coke, where did he come from and where is he going . Another book, well let me talk about too. An intimate history of biography id like to read his sort of to escape and two of ive discovered recently, one is in whats called the nordic noir school of writing. This is called the island, but all of his mysteries take place in iceland so you get this kind of bleak , start landscape background of murderous activity going on. And sort of a loner inspector whose life is not worked out well who nonetheless is intrepid and undaunted and follows the mystery to where it needs to go. And then another one thats just incredible, colin carol and ive read like four or five of his books now. He created this mystery detective who is a 72yearold coroner for the new liberated communist laos in 1977 to 1978 and hes a former guerrilla, he is a medical doctor but hes kind of just has this illusion with communism and where his countrys going but finds himself as a coroner pursuing mysterious deaths and but carol a is a good writer and be, takes you back in time to the revolutionary laos in the 1970s and recreates that place and whats going on in a way that really is quite masterful. So theres a little escapism, great writing. And finally, i want to talk aboutmidnight and show noble by adam higginbotham. You know, we talk about Nuclear Power sometimes as if its the unexamined alternative to fossil fuels and thatstrue , but when something goes wrong, its catastrophic. And this book and though words often of the victims of chair noble really is quite gripping. The suffering, the heroism and the coverups by the soviet government really are told beautifully in this book. And this series that i think it was hbo did on a chair noble i think in some ways might have benefited from this book and some of the accounts in it but its a piece of history that ought not to be forgotten and obviously had huge consequences lyrically in leading to the downfall of the soviet union because of its nonperformance, its bureaucracy, its lack of empathy and ability frankly to respond to the Worst Nuclear Disaster in modern American History. Go ahead. Im sorry those are just some of the things ive been reading. Are you getting your books these days . Is your local bookstoreopen, your local library . I would say sort of all of the above. So i have a huge library, including books i got for the holidays, even cspan provided mewith some books. Friends know thats the gift for birthdays oranniversaries or holidays. And i have a lot of friends who share my love of reading so we have similar tastes so we are sharing books back and forth. So i have no dearth ofreading materials. And im of the gracious reader and before i go to bed i wake up in the morning and i have a free moment, i read because i think reading broadens your perspective. Challenges your preconceived notions about life and history and philosophy and i think its one of the most enriching activities human being can engage in. Theres several contemporaneous accounts of the Trump Administration coming out. Bob woodward, michael schmidt, etc. Read you read those when theycome out . Ive read a couple of books on actually sort of the psychological profile of donald trump in terms of whats going on by those who have really studied. I dont generally like to read contemporaneous history or memoirs because i think theyre too close to events to have a perspective that would maybe be lasting, but i do make exceptions. Bob woodward is one of them. Ive read every bob woodward book ever written so i intend to read this one as well because i think he really out there for being able to get inside and get people to say extraordinary things they probably otherwisewouldnt. And they do give you insight into whats going on so that one i for sure will be my friend Michael Antonio also has written several books and is coming out with anyone on the and from this fall and i certainly intend to read as well. Conference in connolly i want to go back to Sidney Blumenthals book about those four years before the civil war with the hindsight of hundred 60 years, was there a point during the four years when you read that history that the civil war could have been avoided . Honestly i dont think so. The north which one is a with slavery or the south was willing to say were setting a timeline for its elimination. And you know, echoes of the past resonate today. It was all fuel by firebrands so there were hotheads especially in the south who really wanted to fuel the politics of grievance, the north was out to get us, were going to lose our. Remember the civil war in many ways was also about the fear of the transfer ofpower. The south in other words had control the Congress Almost from the beginning and a protected what they called the peculiar institution all that time. Including doing very antiamerican, anticonstitutional things like locking petitions in the congress about slavery which was the cause of John Quincy Adams in the 17 years he was in the house and the senate for refusing to recognize a ban on the constitution, it was quite explicit about the rights of people and that was all about slavery and power in the south and as the south saw a growing Abolitionist Movement in the north and a north that was expanding, they decided that their only future or the firebrands let not just the firebrands was frankly to separate and i think it was inevitable. I think even without the events that occurred in this 4 year period i think the table had been set for separation. And a violent separation that. It took a leader like Abraham Lincoln to understand that you cant accommodate secession. We are one country and he also evolved in his thinking to understand that to preserve the union he actually had to end slavery. That was not his view when he first took office. In fact, he had said that i can preserve the union by preserving slavery i would do that. If i can preserve the union by elated eliminating slavery atsome places but not others i would do that as well. If i can preserve the union by ending slavery that too i would do so when he began it was all about the union but as the war went on he understood that actually it had to be more than that principle, that abstract. It also had to be about what kind of union we were going to have. And needed to be. And that needed to be a union made up of free men and free women. Knowing what to do about the antebellum period having lived through 1968, where would you put us today . How would you put todays world in context . I dont think the country is as together as we were in 1968. I think we came close to this country just dissolving into something less than what we think of as the United States of america. There were so many forces pulling us apart and the divisions were so enormous about race, about the war and today, we are also a divided nation but i think whats different is theres a clear emerging majority that wants to see a more progressive america, that wants to address the fundamental issues of racism, Structural Racism in america starting with our law enforcement. Believes we have to empower people and expand liberties and deal with issues of inequity, economic and equity and the pandemic has certainly exposed that so i can someways and more hopeful today than i was at the end of 1968 having lived through those turbulent times. So having said that, i think frankly the president and his approach to issues and governance represents a clear challenge to the continuation of constitutional democracy in america, i really do. I say that as a member of Congress Living with every day and that has to be addressed in this election or were going to go in a very different direction and that envisioned by our founders, by Abraham Lincoln and by lots of us who love and care about ourcountry. And finally congressman we talked to your colleague and friend representative tom cole, republican of oklahoma area he said you need to talk about books when often. Tom is a great guy and he is a very thoughtful member of congress. Hes not somebody who just has a kneejerk reaction ideologically or in a partisan way to every issue that comes his way and ive enjoyed our friendship. We do share thoughts on books and once in a while we even share a cigar. Gerald connolly is a democrat from virginia, thanks forjoining us with an update on your reading. Training team. The concerted criminal activity is always going to find ways to hide their communication one way or the other and this leads all the rest of us anymore vulnerable state. So im concerned that policymakers really should look at the whole picture when they are making district. Mit Research ScientistDaniel Weitzner tonight at 8 p. M. Eastern on the communicators on cspan2. Weeknights this month were featuring booktv programs as a preview of whats available at the weekend on cspan2, and tonight its a look at president ial history. Enjoy booktv this week and every weekend on cspan2. You are watching booktv on cspan2 every weekend with the latest nonfiction books and authors. Cspan2, created by americas cabletelevision companies as a Public Service and brought you today by your television provider. Tomorrow is election day eley november 3. Stay with us to learn who the voters selected lead the country as president and which parties will control congress. Our live coverage starts at 9 p. M. Eastern and continues through the washington journal at 7 a. M. Eastern. Join the conversation, share your experiences as the results come in and hear from the candidates. Watch live on cspan and cspan. Org or listen live on the cspan radio app. Election night on cspan, your place for an unfiltered view of politics. Host welcome, steve. It is so nice to see you. The last time we may have sat together in this way was when were both working at newsweek may be in the Company Campaign or something. But as you know i am a big fan, big fan of yours. I was a huge fan of your first book on google, and now to come back at this particular moment and talk about facebook the inside story couldnt be more timely. Im just going to start off. We have lots of places to go with this but im going to start off with something timely. Literally this morning as