Host joining us is represented tom colin republican from oklahoma. Congressman cole we have asked you this question before and youve always had a large reading list. Whats on your current reading list . Guest well i have just finished the splendid and the file by eric wesson of churchill and his family really in the worst year of the war the year right after he becomes prime mr. May 10 of 1940 clearly the day of the low countries and france and basically what it was like to fight germany until june of 41 the russians are in a war and then obviously by december the United States is on the war. Its a wonderful. About a guy that i considered the greatest person update to a new century and the supreme ordeal of the long career. Ive also been reading, i just picked up the greatest story by the name of gene edward smith, a great either for. Ive read his biographies grant and eisenhower and eisenhower at the by far the best eisenhower biography ever written but he died in 2019. Right now i just got into what may have been his best book on fdr on something called apartheid which american stories found is the best book of the year. I found out the book had been sitting on my talk show for my just not gotten to it. We lost smith last year, but a year ago september actually so almost precisely year ago. I happened to think about that pulled out the book and orders his last book which ive not read on the liberation of paris which was published in 2019. Ive been doing that and earlier this summer i got on by accident a bench of biographies of ambassadors and ed larson also wrote about a guy named william dodd who was the American Ambassador in german or germany in the 1930s and his family which was an eclectic and eccentric group and their experience of being in germany consolidating power in the first evidence of what was going to be truly a dark period in World History was becoming evident to ive read at the same time a book called in the cauldron which is the tale of the American Ambassador of tokyo. He was our ambassador for 10 years from 1931 to 41 so all this ultimately fruitless effort to head off war between the United States and japan and didnt know what it was like being in japan during the grip of a fascist and military regime that was guiding the country to ruin. And one of my favorite political scientists of all time, this guy is a different kind of political scientists and my view. He just died this year but was very famous for writing histories on congress from the district level up rather than the washington level. He traveled into the districts of various congressmen and senators and i got a couple of his books. I havent read enough of this guy and i read a couple of books congressional representation which was his last book in 2013 in an earlier book called congressional travels. Again its just a granular view of congress put in a lot of the members that he writes about and its just fascinating in its her mind or have how often somebody does something in washington a reflection of who they represent what their interests are and what their understanding of the world is. And we lose that dimension sometimes when we study politicians and we forget they have another part of them then washington d. C. Which shapes what they do. A lot of reading this summer. Congressman there seems to be a theme among the history books that you are reading about world war ii. A just happened to be there. Like everybody else i morries fascinated by it and thereve been other books too. Colin powell weighs book that really fascinated me as well. World war ii was the shaper of the 20th century and really the post world war ii era. Obviously you have to understand the world the war leading up to it and the time in which we live and the rise. The greatest power of the United States became a superpower after the war so understanding what the country went through and change who we are how we think how we act globally i think is an indispensable grounding that you have to have if you want to be effective in the current time. Host is eric larson one of those writers are historians where if he writes a book you read it . Guest yes he is an absolutely superb writer and a vivid, sometimes its almost like reading a novel. The descriptions and its all footnoted but he has a real talent and begin seizing on something that you look at more closely. And fine biographies of winston churchill. Robert andrews most recent one is probably the best that another book i have on my bookshelf and i cant remember the authors name now but its the same thing. Its about churchill in 1920s the year when he was working as secretary and helped reshape the middle east in ways that echo right down to the boundaries of countries. I like what he does what i like how he does things i like how he writes. The news york times correspondent carl holtz came up with a book about congress ear to back. When the book comes out about congress to almost automatically pick it up . I do. I happen to know carl very well and he is one of the smartest and its a confirmation bias which is on the Supreme Court wars that we have seen in recent years. Its a brilliant look and if you want to understand some of the struggles not any better guy than carl holtz. I just finished Jonathan Carls book and its not congress. Se. The front row in the trunk show. Its an interesting. And i know carl and the bin interviewed by him and been on the podcast. He writes a book that is really knowledgeable and professional and you want to hear what they have to say because they are talking to a lot of people many times that you cant talk to or you dont have the occasion to talk to them they bring a lot of insight into the political field and into congress. Host how much sharing of book ideas do you do . Guest quite a bit. I do a Favorite Book of the month that we cover regularly on our web site and we get a lot of inquiries about that. I grew up party every year at christmas and its a really nice affair. They always get a Christmas Present and its almost always a book and quite often a conversation with somebody you know they have a particular interest or what have you and ill i will send them a book. I remember years ago Adam Kensinger was from illinois was one of our brightest guys in congress and was elected to the class of 2010. His hair back and was very short almost like a crewcut prettier still in the reserves and he reminded me of a picture i had seen of don rumsfeld at about the same age as square jawed goodlooking guy and i had just bought rumsfelds biography. You are from illinois and hes from illinois, you have a crewcut and he has a crewcut guy should get to know one another. It struck me as something that might interest him and particularly adam is one of our early thoughtful thinkers in congress on both sides of the aisle on National Security issues in the military and in combat zones. I thought hed be very interested in a guy like rumsfeld has served and was both the oldest in the undersecretary defense in history. Whats going on be so is that mr. Rumsfeld most is wrote his most recent book on gerald ford. Guest i had just finished the book on the gatekeeper on the chiefs chiefs of staff and he figures very prominently. I would be interested in having a more thorough view of that. Ask to have a picture of ford. I campaigned with him on a number of occasions and i was a great admirer of his. I think its a lou cannon biography on gerald ford sold the interesting two have formed so get a closeup look at president ford. Host tom corps public and of oklahoma thank you for joining us on booktv. Guest thank you very much