<div>New York Times Bestseller: A &ldquo;remarkable and evenhanded study of Ronald Reagan&rdquo; from the Pulitzer Prize&ndash;winning author of Lincoln at Gettysburg (The New York Times). Updated with a new preface by the author, this captivating biography of America&rsquo;s fortieth president recounts Ronald Reagan&rsquo;s life&mdash;from his poverty-stricken Illinois childhood to his acting career to his California governorship to his role as commander in chief&mdash;and examines the powerful myths surrounding him, many of which he created himself. Praised by some for his sunny optimism and old-fashioned rugged individualism, derided by others for being a politician out of touch with reality, Reagan was both a popular and polarizing figure in the 1980s United States, and continues to fascinate us as a symbol. In Reagan&rsquo;s America, Garry Wills reveals the realities behind Reagan&rsquo;s own descriptions of his idyllic boyhood, as well as the story behind his leadership of the Screen Actors Guild, the role religion played in his thinking, and the facts of his military service. With a wide-ranging and balanced assessment of both the personal and political life of this outsize American icon, the author of such acclaimed works as What Jesus Meant and The Kennedy Imprisonment &ldquo;elegantly dissects the first U.S. President to come out of Hollywood&rsquo;s dream factory [in] a fascinating biography whose impact is enhanced by techniques of psychological profile and social history&rdquo; (Los Angeles Times). </div>

Reagan's America

<div>With a new preface: An &ldquo;irreverent [and] entertaining&rdquo; portrait of JFK, the Camelot mystique, and the politics of charisma (The Christian Science Monitor). Described by the New York Times as &ldquo;a sort of intellectual outlaw,&rdquo; Garry Wills takes on the romantic myths surrounding the Kennedy clan in this thought-provoking examination of electoral politics and the power of image in America. Wills argues that the much-admired dynasty, beginning with patriarch Joe Kennedy, created a corrupt climate where appearances were more important than reality, truth was discarded when it wasn&rsquo;t convenient, and an assortment of devoted loyalists sacrificed integrity for the sake of reflected glory. Touching upon topics ranging from the manipulation of the PT-109 story in the media to the authorship of Profiles in Courage to the handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis to persistent rumors of extramarital affairs, Wills offers a persuasive look not only at President John F. Kennedy and his brothers Robert and Edward, but also at the bubble that existed around them and lured in some of the best and brightest of the era. From the Pulitzer Prize&ndash;winning author of Lincoln at Gettysburg and Why I Am a Catholic, The Kennedy Imprisonment is &ldquo;a brilliant and troubling study of the Kennedy era in American politics&rdquo; (The Philadelphia Inquirer). </div>

The Kennedy Imprisonment

<div>With a new preface: A &ldquo;stunning&rdquo; analysis of the troubled Republican president by the Pulitzer Prize&ndash;winning author of Lincoln at Gettysburg (The New York Times Book Review). In this acclaimed biography that earned him a spot on Nixon&rsquo;s infamous &ldquo;enemies list,&rdquo; Garry Wills takes a thoughtful, in-depth, and often &ldquo;very amusing&rdquo; look at the thirty-seventh US president, and draws some surprising conclusions about a man whose name has become synonymous with scandal and the abuse of power (Kirkus Reviews). Arguing that Nixon was a reflection of the country that elected him, Wills examines not only the psychology of the man himself and his relationships with others&mdash;from his wife, Pat, to his vice-president, Spiro Agnew&mdash;but also the state of the nation at the time, mired in the Vietnam War and experiencing a cultural rift that pitted the young against the old. Putting his findings into moral, economic, intellectual, and political contexts, he ultimately &ldquo;paints a broad and provocative landscape of the nation&rsquo;s&mdash;and Nixon&rsquo;s&mdash;travails&rdquo; (The New York Times). Simultaneously compassionate and critical, and raising interesting perspectives on the shifting definitions of terms like &ldquo;conservative&rdquo; and &ldquo;liberal&rdquo; over recent decades, Nixon Agonistes is a brilliant and indispensable book from one of America&rsquo;s most acclaimed historians. </div>

Nixon Agonistes

<div>An &ldquo;intellectually satisfying, and spiritually moving,&rdquo; argument for a questioning, conscience-driven faith, by a New York Times bestselling author (Booklist). Pulitzer Prize winner Garry Wills has been asked more than once why he remains in the Church, especially in the wake of his bestselling book Papal Sins, which examined the darker side of the religion&rsquo;s history. In Why I Am a Catholic, he offers some persuasive and heartfelt answers. Beginning with a reflection on his early experiences as a child, and later as a Jesuit seminarian, Wills reveals the importance of Catholicism in his own life. He discusses G.K. Chesterton, a personal hero whose writings brought him comfort after he left the seminary. He goes on to challenge, in clear and forceful terms, the claim that criticism or reform of the papacy is an assault on the faith itself. For Wills, a Catholic can be both loyal and critical, a loving child who stays with his father even if the parent makes mistakes. Why I Am a Catholic also goes beyond his personal experiences to present a sweeping narrative covering two thousand years of Catholicism, revealing that the papacy, far from being an unchanging institution, has been transformed dramatically over the millennia&mdash;and can be reimagined in the future. At a time when the Church faces various crises and struggles, Garry Wills offers an important look at both its past and its future, in a book that is &ldquo;one part autobiography, three parts history, and one part confession of faith&rdquo; (Booklist). &ldquo;It is a great satisfaction to have the Church&rsquo;s history analyzed by a mind so critical but still so in love.&rdquo; &mdash;The New Yorker</div>

Garry Wills

Books By Garry Wills (4 Books)

Reagan's America

The Kennedy Imprisonme ...

Nixon Agonistes

Why I Am a Catholic

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Garry Wills

Books By Garry Wills (4 Books)

Reagan's America

The Kennedy Imprisonme ...

Nixon Agonistes

Why I Am a Catholic

RELATED POSTS ABOUT GARRY WILLS

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© 2020 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA