Evan Thomas Livres

A riveting, immersive account of the agonizing decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan—a crucial turning point in World War II and geopolitical history—with you-are-there immediacy by the New York Times bestselling author of Ike's Bluff and Sea of Thunder.

Based on exclusive interviews and access to Supreme Court archives, First is an intimate and inspiring biography of America's first female Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. O'Connor's story is that of a woman who repeatedly shattered glass ceilings. Her path to the Court was not easy; although she graduated near the top of her law school class in 1952, no firm would even interview her. As a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, she stood up to corrupt lawyers and humanized the law. When President Ronald Reagan appointed her to the Court in 1981, she would go on to serve for a quarter-century, hearing cases that ultimately shaped American law. O'Connor endured every difficulty with grit and poise, from her cancer diagnosis at fifty-eight to caring for a husband with Alzheimer's. Women and men today will be inspired by O'Connor, a woman who loved her family and believed in serving her country, and who, when she became the most powerful woman in America, built a bridge forward for others to follow. -- Publisher's description

"No Warning" offers a suspenseful narrative of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, exploring the perspectives of American and Japanese naval leaders. Through oral histories and personal accounts, it highlights the cultural differences that shaped the Pacific War, providing a deeper understanding of this pivotal conflict.

Evan Thomas's startling account of how the underrated Dwight Eisenhower saved the world from nuclear holocaust. Upon assuming the presidency in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower set about to make good on his campaign promise to end the Korean War. Yet while Eisenhower was quickly viewed by many as a doddering lightweight, behind the bland smile and simple speech was a master tactician. To end the hostilities, Eisenhower would take a colossal risk by bluffing that he might use nuclear weapons against the Communist Chinese, while at the same time restraining his generals and advisors who favored the strikes. Ike's gamble was of such magnitude that there could be but two outcomes: thousands of lives saved, or millions of lives lost. A tense, vivid and revisionist account of a president who was then, and still is today, underestimated, IKE'S BLUFF is history at its most provocative and thrilling.

A captivating blend of personal biography and public drama, The Wise Men introduces the original best and brightest, leaders whose outsized personalities and actions brought order to postwar Averell Harriman, the freewheeling diplomat and Roosevelt's special envoy to Churchill and Stalin; Dean Acheson, the secretary of state who was more responsible for the Truman Doctrine than Truman and for the Marshall Plan than General Marshall; George Kennan, self-cast outsider and intellectual darling of the Washington elite; Robert Lovett, assistant secretary of war, undersecretary of state, and secretary of defense throughout the formative years of the Cold War; John McCloy, one of the nation's most influential private citizens; and Charles Bohlen, adroit diplomat and ambassador to the Soviet Union.

The Very Best Men is the story of the CIA's early days as told through the careers of four glamorous, daring, and idealistic men who ran covert operations for the government from the end of World War II to Vietnam. Evan Thomas re-creates the personal dramas and sometimes tragic lives of Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes, and Desmond FitzGerald, who risked everything to contain the Soviet threat. Within the inner circles of Washington, they were regarded as the best and the brightest. They planned and acted to keep the country out of war—by stealth and “political action” and to do by cunning and sleight of hand what great armies could not, must not be allowed to do. In the end, they were too idealistic and too honorable, and were unsuited for the dark, duplicitous life of spying. Their hubris and naïveté led them astray, producing both sensational coups and spectacular blunders like the Bay of Pigs and the failed assassination attempts on foreign leaders in the early 1960s. Thomas draws on the CIA's own secret histories, to which he has had exclusive access, as well as extensive interviews, to bring to life a crucial piece of American history.

This this is the story behind the 2008 election that saw the first African American win the presidency.

Focusing on the role of engineers in shaping a sustainable future, this book explores how they can address global challenges such as climate change, inequality, and infrastructure development. It emphasizes collaboration among engineers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to create innovative solutions that prioritize safety and equity. Through case studies and expert insights, the narrative illustrates the transformative impact of engineering on communities worldwide, advocating for a collective approach to building a better world.

This volume highlights some of the challenges in delivering effective environmental health interventions, and presents examples of emergent theories and case studies that can help close the gap between intent and impact. These include impact crediting systems, objective evidence gathering tools, and social businesses that service environmental health. The case studies presented cross disciplines, scales, organizational and national boundaries and can defy easy categorization. A water project may be designed for a health impact, but financed with a climate change tool, and leverage high tech cell phone sensors. A cookstove program may be primarily concerned with employment and capacity building, but balance environmental and health concerns. Presently, the impact of interventions may not always be aligned to the intent sought. In this book, readers will discover alternative ways to move the mindset of funders and implementers toward pay-for-performance models of humanitarianand environmental interventions. Undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, global health, appropriate technology, international development and development engineering would benefit from these increasingly non-traditional case studies that challenge commonly accepted presentations of poverty reduction and social enterprise.