Andrew Podger's monograph, The Role of Departmental Secretaries, Personal reflections on the breadth of responsibilities today, is an important contribution to the broader public policy discourse in Australia. Andrew has been, at times, an unflinching commentator on issues of bureaucratic performance, accountability and responsiveness to government. Andrew's reflections are drawn from his own experiences within the inner circle of Australian policy-making....

A New York Times–bestselling author’s revealing, “important” biography of the longtime FBI director (The Philadelphia Inquirer).
 No one exemplified paranoia and secrecy at the heart of American power better than J. Edgar Hoover, the original director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For this consummate biography, renowned investigative journalist Anthony Summers interviewed more...

"A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today's conservative political landscape. We remember him as a bulldog--squat frame, bulging wide-set eyes, fearsome jowls--but in 1924, when he became director of the FBI, he had been the trim, dazzling wunderkind of the administrative...

The last untold story of Watergate--by the FBI director who maintained his silence for more than thirty years. L. Patrick Gray III was the man caught in the middle. Though a lifelong Republican, he was considered a threat by Nixon. Closing in on the conspiracy, Gray became the target of one of Watergate's most shocking acts--Nixon's "smoking gun" attempt to have the CIA stop the FBI investigation. And when the U.S. Senate focused its attention on...

"Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama for almost a decade, and long before his run for president. From the then-senator's early days in Congress to his years in the oval office, she made Hope and Change happen through blood, sweat, tears, and lots of briefing binders. But for every historic occasion--meeting the queen at Buckingham Palace, bursting in on secret climate talks, or nailing a campaign speech in a hailstorm--there were dozens of...

"What are the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works? 'The election happened,' remembers Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, then deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. 'And then there was radio silence.' Across all departments, similar stories were playing out: Trump appointees were few and far between; those that did show up were shockingly uninformed about the functions of their new workplace. Some...

Alyssa Mastromonaco is back with a bold, no-nonsense, and no-holds-barred twenty-first-century girl's guide to life, tackling the highs and lows of bodies, politics, relationships, moms, education, life on the internet, and pop culture. Whether discussing Barbra Streisand or The Bachelor, working in the West Wing or working on finding a wing woman, Alyssa leaves no stone unturned...and no awkward situation unexamined. So here's the thing... brings...