Posted on 06/09/2004 7:24:11 AM PDT by nov7freedomday
I wish to purchase the best book available on Ronald Wilson Reagan. I would like to focus on the concrete issues, policies, and actions he took as President (and to a lesser extent Govenor). I know there are many books out there and would appreciate the feed back.
Read the commentary at Amazon.
bookmark --bump
Reagan's 40 Year War on Communism. (maybe a slightly different title.
This book details why Reagan thought how he did about Commies. It details his time in Hollywood and his fights against the comies in the SAG union.
Any Reagan lover or hater should read it because you will understand everything he did as President because of his past.
You will even learn that his first marriage broke up over his anti-commie stance hurting his wife's career.
I would also read Charlie's War, which not about Reagan, it tells how we defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan over the wishes of the CIA, State dept, Defense dept, and Congress, by the sheer will power of a single congressman from Texas, Charlie Wilson, and an outsider CIA man Gus Avrokostos (sp).
Those two books together will tell you how Reagan came to fight Commies and how it ended so quickly for the Soviets.
I have a set of tapes that contain his important speeches from the 60s through the 90s. I think that listening to the speeches together and discussing them would be worthwhile.
That's a good idea. I think I'll do that, too.
I would use his autobiography, "An American Life." He really says all there is to say about him.
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BTTT for more great suggestions.
I hope they put his speeches out on CD - - wouldn't that be wonderful!
Hey, RNC! Want a good way to raise campaign funds? Put President Reagan's speeches out on CD.......
I've read every book on this list outside of Witness by Chambers (going to order it next for reading after Jeff Heads volume IV) and nothing is as good as Reagan's 40 year war against communism.
I haven't seen a bad book on this list, especially Desousa's and Noonan's, but the Reaga's War just give so much insight.
I loaned it to a liberal gal at work and she now understands REagan so well. Typical liberal/ Reagan Democrat, votes liberal and lives conservatively.
We went to B&N the other night, and I looked around the displays at the front of the store to see if they had ANY Reagan books or displays. NONE. We continued through the store, and I paused at the information counter to look at the Bubba advertisement for his fiction that hits the shelves Friday. I was going to turn it around, but it is a two-sided display. As I paused, the person behind the counter thought I had a question, but I told her I had none. I then remarked that I thought it odd that the store had not put a Reagan display at the front entrance. The employee said, "You know, you're right. I had thought of that earlier . . ." I then went to the children's section and looked at their biography section. There was not one book on Reagan. NONE. It is possible they had removed them to the display of paperbacks that they had put up at the back of the store. (yes, when we paid for our purchases, I asked if there was a display anywhere in the store with Reagan books, and the cashier said there was a "display of paperbacks in the back.")
We have quite a few Reagan books in our house. None are geared for children. I love the books with Reagan's letters. I also like the Edmund Morris bio even though others hate it. The picture on the cover says it all about President Reagan. He was a man with a side that few saw, including Morris.
Jude Wanniski: The Way the World Works.
George Gilder: Wealth and Poverty.
Peggy Noonan: What I Saw at the Revolution.
The first two are not histories of the Reagan years, but books that contain the ideas that guided the Reagan administration. Peggy Noonan's is not a complete history or biography, but is full of insight into Reagan's character and agenda.
Is that what changed RR?
Wow, I didn't know that, but can see why!
What a great book Witness is.
Start with President Reagan's autobiography. Once done with that, any of the other books will provide more detail.
Great Idea!
I love both of Peggy Noonan's books.
Awesome idea! I was going to order one this minute for summer reading for my 12-year-old budding conservative, but I'll wait until Clintoon's work of self-serving fiction comes out. What day is that?
Noonan's "When Character Was King" is the best short book on Reagan's life, character, and accomplishments that I have read.
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