Books like Unwoke by Ted Cruz

An analysis of America’s economic decline, focusing on growing income inequality, the shrinking middle class, and the failure of market policies to promote widespread prosperity.

Nancy MacLean’s nonfiction book charts how the right-wing libertarian movement, led by economist James M. Buchanan and financed by wealthy donors like Charles Koch, has sought to reshape American democracy through corporate‑friendly policies and restrictive voting rules.

Timothy Snyder maps the resurgence of authoritarianism from post‑Cold‑War Russia to global populist movements, arguing that democratic values are under threat and must be defended through renewed political virtues.

Dan Rather’s collection of essays reflects on shared values and patriotism, urging readers to remember what matters most in America.

"Dispatches from the 2016 election that provide an eerily prescient take on our democracy's uncertain future, by the country's most perceptive and fearless political journalist. The 2016 presidential contest as told by Matt Taibbi, from its tragicomic beginnings to its apocalyptic conclusion, is in fact the story of Western civilization's very own train wreck. Years before the clown car of candidates was fully loaded, Taibbi grasped the essential themes of the story: the power of spectacle over substance, or even truth; the absence of a shared reality; the nihilistic rebellion of the white working class; the death of the political establishment; and the emergence of a new, explicit form of white nationalism that would destroy what was left of the Kingian dream of a successful pluralistic society. Taibbi captures, with dead-on, real-time analysis, the failures of the right and the left, from the thwarted Bernie Sanders insurgency to the flawed and aimless Hillary Clinton campaign; the rise of the "dangerously bright" alt-right with its wall-loving identity politics and its rapturous view of the "Racial Holy War" to come; and the giant fail of a flailing, reactive political media that fed a ravenous news cycle not with reporting on political ideology, but with undigested propaganda served straight from the campaign bubble. At the center of it all stands Donald J. Trump, leading a historic revolt against his own party, "bloviating and farting his way" through the campaign, "saying outrageous things, acting like Hitler one minute and Andrew Dice Clay the next." For Taibbi, the stunning rise of Trump marks the apotheosis of the new postfactual movement. Taibbi frames the reporting with original essays that explore the seismic shift in how we perceive our national institutions, the democratic process, and the future of the country. Insane Clown President is not just a postmortem on the collapse and failure of American democracy. It offers the riveting, surreal, unique, and essential experience of seeing the future in hindsight"--

Laura Ingalls Wilder faces her husband's displeasure and the town's prejudices when she advocates voting rights for women.

A biography of Senator Edward M. Kennedy that examines his public service achievements alongside his personal scandals, drawing on new archival material.

A call for fundamental reforms to liberal democracy to spur economic growth and counter rising inequality, as argued by economist Dambisa Moyo.

First-term Texas Senator and 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is already a political lightning rod. Since his election to the Senate in 2012 he has refused to go along with the established way of doing business in Washington. As a result, he has become a voice for millions of Americans frustrated with governmental corruption and gridlock. Telling the truth is a radical act in our nation's capital -- a city dominated by empty promises, meaningless 'show votes,' and a self-protection racket designed to get politicians re-elected rather than heeding the demands of the American people. Cruz now tells his story as a Cuban immigrant's son who made it to the Ivy League, to the Supreme Court bar, and eventually the U.S. Senate. It's a deeply personal journey that begins with Cruz's father experiencing brutality in a Cuban prison and ends with Cruz's discovery that Washington has neither the courage nor the desire to preserve the freedom and opportunities that gave hope to his father, and millions like him. Pulling back the curtain on the backroom deals between Republicans, Democrats, and the lobbyists who keep them in office instead of keeping them accountable to their constituents, the book offers an inside look at what has gone wrong in our nation's capital. Cruz argues that the only way to bring about real change is to revitalize the Constitutional principles that made our country great.

David Frum, former White House speechwriter, argues that President Trump has weakened key democratic institutions, warning of the consequences for America’s future.