About Town

Booked by HooksBookEvents: Thursday, June 10, 2010

Book: Mastering the VC Game: A Venture Capital Insider Reveals How to Get from Start-up to IPO on Your Terms
Author: Jeffrey Bussgang
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover, 2010

Private Client Event: June 10th in MA

Entrepreneurs who dream of building the next Amazon, Facebook, or Google have the opportunity to take advantage of one of the most powerful economic engines the world has ever known: venture capital. To do that, you need to woo, impress, and persuade venture capitalists to back your endeavor. That task alone is a challenge. But finding and choosing the right investor can be harder still. Even if you manage to get backing, you want your VC to be a partner, not some dictator who will undermine your vision and take control of your life’s work.

Jeffrey Bussgang is one of a very few people who have played on both sides of this high-stakes game. By his early thirties, he had helped build two successful start-ups-one went public, the other was acquired. Now he uses his experience and unique perspective on “the other side” as a venture capitalist helping entrepreneurs bring their dreams to fruition.

In the book, Bussgang offers high-level insights, colorful stories, and practical advice gathered from his own experience as well as from interviews with dozens of the most successful players on both sides of the game, including Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman. He reveals how to get noticed, perfect a pitch, and negotiate a partnership that works for everyone.

An insider’s guide to the secrets of the world venture capital, Mastering the VC Game will prove invaluable for entrepreneurs seeking capital and successful partnerships.

Book: The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World
Author: Ben Wildavsky
Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2010

Private Client Event: June 8th in MA

In The Great Brain Race, former U.S. News & World Report education editor Ben Wildavsky presents the first popular account of how international competition for the brightest minds is transforming the world of higher education—and why this revolution should be welcomed, not feared. Every year, nearly three million international students study outside of their home countries, a 40 percent increase since 1999. Newly created or expanded universities in China, India, and Saudi Arabia are competing with the likes of Harvard and Oxford for faculty, students, and research preeminence. Satellite campuses of Western universities are springing up from Abu Dhabi and Singapore to South Africa. Wildavsky shows that as international universities strive to become world-class, the new global education marketplace is providing more opportunities to more people than ever before.

Drawing on extensive reporting in China, India, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, Wildavsky chronicles the unprecedented international mobility of students and faculty, the rapid spread of branch campuses, the growth of for-profit universities, and the remarkable international expansion of college rankings. Some university and government officials see the rise of worldwide academic competition as a threat, going so far as to limit student mobility or thwart cross-border university expansion. But Wildavsky argues that this scholarly marketplace is creating a new global meritocracy, one in which the spread of knowledge benefits everyone—both educationally and economically.

Book: A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
Author: Daniel H. Pink
Publisher: Riverhead Trade, 2006

Private Client Event: May 23rd

The paperback edition of Daniel H. Pink’s groundbreaking book, A Whole New Mind.

Described by reviewers as “an audacious and powerful work,” “a profound read,” “right on the money,” and “a miracle,” the book reveals the six abilities individuals must master in an outsourced and automated world. Several publications named A Whole New Mind one of the best business books of 2005. It is now being translated into 12 languages — and will appear across Europe and Asia in 2006.

For this updated and expanded edition, Pink has added dozens of new tools, tips, and exercises to help individuals and organizations sharpen their right-brain capacities. Find out why Thomas L. Friedman, author of the mega-bestseller The World is Flat, calls A Whole New Mind his “favorite business book.”

Book: Apocalypse Never: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World
Author: Tad Daley
Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2010

PUBLIC EVENT FEATURING TAD DALEY

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010
Location: Washington Plaza Hotel
10 Thomas Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20005

Click Here to Register!

Apocalypse Never illuminates why we must abolish nuclear weapons, how we can, and what the world will look like after we do. The twenty-first century has ushered in a world at the atomic edge. The pop culture days of Dr. Strangelove have been replaced by the all-too-real single day of 24. Tad Daley has written a book for the general reader about this most crucial of contemporary challenges.

Apocalypse Never maintains that the abolition of nuclear weapons is both essential and achievable, and reveals in fine detail what we need to do—both governments and movements—to make it a reality. Daley insists that while global climate change poses the single greatest long-term peril to the human race, the nuclear challenge in its many incarnation—nuclear terror, nuclear accident, a nuclear crisis spinning out of control—poses the single most immediate peril.

Book: Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters
Author: Chesley B. Sullenberger
Publisher: William Morrow, 2009

Private Client Event: April 29th

On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed one of the most remarkable emergency landings in aviation history when Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger skillfully glided US Airways Flight 1549 onto the surface of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. His cool actions not only averted tragedy but made him a hero and an inspiration worldwide. To Sullenberger, a calm, steady pilot with forty years of flying experience who is also a safety consulting expert, the landing was not a miracle but rather the result of years of practice and training-wisdom he gained in the cockpit of U.S. Air Force jets and in his Texas boyhood.

Born to a World War II veteran and dentist father and an elementary school teacher mother, Sully fell in love with planes early. He learned to fly as an eager 16-year-old from a crop duster, an older neighbor in north Texas, who took off and landed his fragile plane on the grass field behind his house. While Sully′s father encouraged his interest in flying, he also imparted stern advice he′d learned from his Navy service during World War II: a commander is responsible for everyone in his care-and those words have shaped Sully′s life and work and continue to guide him today.

Highest Duty reveals the important lessons Sully learned through childhood, in his military service, and in his work as a commercial airline pilot. At heart, it is a story of hope and preparedness-that life′s challenges can be met if we′re ready for them-reminding us that, even in these days filled with war, tragedy, and economic uncertainty, there are values still worth fighting for.

A few weeks after the crash, Sully discovered that he′d lost a library book about professional ethics, Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability, in the downed plane′s cargo hold. When he called the library to notify them, they waived the usual fees. Mayor Michael Bloomberg replaced the book when he gave Sully the Key to the City in a New York ceremony.

Book: Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization
Author: Reza Aslan
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2010

Private Client Event: April 27th

Though it is the fastest-growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded in ignorance and fear for much of the West. In No god but God, Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed scholar of religions, explains this faith in all its beauty and complexity.

Beginning with a vivid account of the social and religious milieu in which the Prophet Muhammad forged his message, Aslan paints a portrait of the first Muslim community as a radical experiment in religious pluralism and social egalitarianism. He demonstrates how, after the Prophet’s death, his successors attempted to interpret his message for future generations–an overwhelming task that fractured the Muslim community into competing sects.

Finally, Aslan examines how, in the shadow of European colonialism, Muslims developed conflicting strategies to reconcile traditional Islamic values with the realities of the modern world, thus launching what Aslan terms the Islamic Reformation. Timely and persuasive, No god but God is an elegantly written account of a magnificent yet misunderstood faith.

Book: Saving Henry: A Mother's Journey
Author: Laurie Strongin
Publisher: Hyperion, 2010

Private Client Events: March 2nd, 4th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 18th, April 7th & 25th

Click here for Laurie’s appearance on Good Morning America

“A heartbreaking story, exquisitely told . . . Laurie Strongin’s integrity, humanity, and wisdom are an inspiration to the rest of us.”
—David Shenk, author of The Forgetting

Saving Henry is the eye-opening and inspiring story of how far a family will go to save the life of their child. Laurie Strongin’s son Henry was born with a heart condition that was operable, but which proved to be a precursor for a rare, almost-always fatal illness: Fanconi anemia. Deciding to pursue every avenue that might provide a cure, Laurie and her husband signed on for a brand new procedure that combined in vitro fertilization with genetic testing to produce a baby without the disease, who could be a stem cell donor for Henry. As Laurie puts it: “I believe in love and science, nothing more and nothing less.”

Laurie and her husband endured nine failed courses of the procedure before giving up. But Saving Henry is also about hope. It is the story of Henry, the feisty little boy who loved Batman, Cal Ripken Jr., and root beer-flavored anesthesia, and who captivated everyone with his spunk and positive attitude. When the nurses came to take blood samples, Henry brandished his toy sword and said, “Bring it on!” When he lost his hair after a chemo treatment, he declared, “Hey, I look like Michael Jordan!”

Laurie became a fervent advocate for stem cell research, working with policymakers and the scientific community to bring attention to Henry’s case and to the groundbreaking research that could save many lives. Henry’s courage and bravery inspired nurses, doctors, friends, and family. Saving Henry is the story of one family’s search for a cure, and the long-lasting scientific impact their amazing little boy has had.

Book: Too Big to Save? How to Fix the U.S. Financial System
Author: Robert Pozen
Publisher: Wiley, 2009

Private Client Event: April 14th

Industry luminary Robert Pozen offers his insights on the future of U.S. finance.

The recent credit crisis and the resulting bailout program are unprecedented events in the financial industry. While it’s important to understand what got us here, it’s even more important to consider how we should get out. While there is little question that immediate action was required to stabilize the situation, it is now time to look for a long-term plan to reform the United States financial industry.

That is where Bob Pozen comes in. Perhaps more than anyone in the industry, Pozen commands the respect and attention of the public and private sector. In this timely guide, he outlines his vision for the new financial future and provides useful advice along the way. To Pozen, there are four high-priority problems that must be addressed, and this book puts them in perspective:

-Analyzes alternative models for government stakes in banks
-Recommends a new board structure for large financial institutions
-Examines the importance of broader Fed jurisdiction over systemic risks
-Proposes a way to revive the securitization of loans

With Too Big to Save, you’ll learn the likely future of the finance industry and understand why changes have to be made.

Book: How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace
Author: Charles A. Kupchan
Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2010

Private Client Event: April 7th

Is the world destined to suffer endless cycles of conflict and war? Can rival nations become partners and establish a lasting and stable peace? How Enemies Become Friends provides a bold and innovative account of how nations escape geopolitical competition and replace hostility with friendship. Through compelling analysis and rich historical examples that span the globe and range from the thirteenth century through the present, foreign policy expert Charles Kupchan explores how adversaries can transform enmity into amity—and he exposes prevalent myths about the causes of peace.

Kupchan contends that diplomatic engagement with rivals, far from being appeasement, is critical to rapprochement between adversaries. Diplomacy, not economic interdependence, is the currency of peace; concessions and strategic accommodation promote the mutual trust needed to build an international society. The nature of regimes matters much less than commonly thought: countries, including the United States, should deal with other states based on their foreign policy behavior rather than on whether they are democracies. Kupchan demonstrates that similar social orders and similar ethnicities, races, or religions help nations achieve stable peace. He considers many historical successes and failures, including the onset of friendship between the United States and Great Britain in the early twentieth century, the Concert of Europe, which preserved peace after 1815 but collapsed following revolutions in 1848, and the remarkably close partnership of the Soviet Union and China in the 1950s, which descended into open rivalry by the 1960s.

In a world where conflict among nations seems inescapable, How Enemies Become Friends offers critical insights for building lasting peace.

Book: Braddock's March: How the Man Sent to Seize a Continent Changed American History
Author: Thomas E. Crocker
Publisher: Westholme Publishing, 2009

PUBLIC EVENT FEATURING THOMAS E. CROCKER

Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: The Lyceum
201 South Washington Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314

Cost: Free and open to the public. Click Here for additional information!

In 1755, Major General Edward Braddock was sent by Great Britain on a mission to drive France once and for all from the New World. Accompanied by the largest armed expeditionary force ever sent to North America, Braddock’s primary target was the Forks of the Ohio, where he planned to seize Fort Duquesne and then march north to the Canadian border. After landing in Alexandria, Virginia, Braddock organized his troops and supply chain, threatened to billet soldiers in private homes, and called the first congress of royal governors in America to discuss using local revenue to pay for the expedition—issues that were to drive the future split between the colonies and Britain.

In May, the expedition began its nearly 250-mile trek, heroically cutting through dense wilderness, fording rivers, and scaling mountains, while hauling heavy artillery and the first wheeled vehicles ever to cross the Appalachian Mountains. Braddock was joined on the expedition by a young Virginia colonel, George Washington, and others who would later play roles in the future revolution, including Horatio Gates, Thomas Gage, and Charles Lee; among those driving the wagons were Daniel Boone and Daniel Morgan. Less than a day’s march from Fort Duquesne, Braddock’s exhausted column was annihilated by a combined French and Indian force, some of whom fired rifles—probably the first effective use of this weapon in battle. Over two-thirds of Braddock’s British and colonial troops suffered casualties—more than in the Charge of the Light Brigade—and Braddock himself fell mortally wounded, while George Washington miraculously escaped harm despite four bullet holes through his clothing. With this battle, North America at once started and was drawn into a global war between Britain and France.

In Braddock’s March: How the Man Sent to Seize a Continent Changed American History, Thomas E. Crocker uses a wealth of sources—including newly discovered letters—to tell the story of one of the most important events in the American colonial period. Not only did Braddock’s expedition have a profound impact on American military and political developments, this fateful march opened the first major road for westward expansion, anointed a national hero in George Washington, and sowed the seeds for the American Revolution.

Book: How Come No One Knows About Us? The Ultimate Public Relations Guide: Tactics Anyone Can Use to Win High Visibility
Author: Robert Deigh
Publisher: Wbusiness Books, 2008

PUBLIC EVENT FEATURING ROBERT DEIGH

Date: Friday, March 19, 2010
Time: 12:00 pm
Location: Round House Theatre

This practical, complete, and often humorous public relations guide for organizations that want to win big visibility in an information-saturated world puts all PR essentials into one volume.

Book: Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices
Author: Michael J. Gelb
Publisher: Running Press, 2010

Noblis Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Dr. H. Gilbert Miller interviews Michael Gelb

Read about the event in The Scene Bisnow newsletter…

Also, in Wonkabout…

There is much advanced praise for the book including…..

“Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices is one of the most practical and useful books about a consumer’s experience in dealing with the subject of wine that I have ever read. There is an enormous amount of terrific, and more importantly, reliable and useful information in this book by Michael Gelb. Highly recommended.” – Robert Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate

“Few things in life are as invigorating as great wine and bold ideas. And only Michael Gelb could combine the two into a single masterful book. Uncork Your Creative Juices is an engaging and inspiring guide for everyone who wants to drink well and think big.” — Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind

“During breaks in our off-site meeting, everyone jumped on their cell phones to check messages, or logged into email. It was surprising, then, to see the cell phones turned off and the laptops put away as we enjoyed Michael’s wine-tasting and poetry exercise. No one complained about another lame team-building program, or missing a message. Instead, we all engaged in conversation that
revealed more of ourselves, creating deeper bonds of trust. I’ve forgotten most of what we learned during the off-site’s other sessions, but I haven’t forgotten the poetry, or that evening’s conversations. Since then, I’ve recommended Michael’s unique approach to unleashing creativity to many colleagues, and can’t wait
to take the refresher course.” – Richard Eckel, Microsoft

Book: From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They Made in America
Author: Steven V. Roberts
Publisher: Harper, 2009

PUBLIC EVENT FEATURING STEVEN V. ROBERTS AND COKIE ROBERTS

Date: Monday, March 15, 2010
Time: 5:00 pm-7:00 pm
Location: GWU Marvin Center – Third Floor Grand Ballroom
800 21st Street, NW, Washington DC 20052

Cost: Free and open to the public

Copies of From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They Made in America and Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation will be available for purchase.

New York Times bestselling author Steven V. Roberts follows the stories of thirteen immigrant families in From Every End of This Earth, a poignant and eye-opening look at immigration in America today. He captures the voices of those living the promise of a new land—and the difficulties of starting over among strangers whose suspicions increasingly outweigh their open-armed acceptance. As the political debate rages on, Roberts sheds light on the enormous contributions immigrants continue to make to the fabric and future of America.

Book: Law of the Jungle: The Hunt for Colombian Guerrillas, American Hostages, and Buried Treasure
Author: John Otis
Publisher: William Morrow, 2010

“Truth be told, they were mostly in it for the money”

On February 13, 2003, a plane carrying three American military contractors on a recon patrol crash-landed in the jungle-covered mountains of Colombia. Within minutes, FARC guerrillas swarmed the wreckage and killed the American pilot and a Colombian crew member as they tried to escape. The survivors—Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes—were marched at gunpoint into the rain forest. They would live in constant darkness under the jungle canopy as they faced starvation, fights with fellow hostages, and threats of execution—often with their necks shackled together.

The Colombian government sent 147 soldiers to rescue the Americans. Led by a bold yet corpulent lieutenant, the troops spent weeks subsisting on monkey meat and Amazon rodents as they chased the guerrillas deeper into the jungle. But then a soldier on a bathroom break stuck his machete into the ground and pulled out 20 million pesos, equaling $7,000. Pretty soon, the young, poor, and exhausted troops realized they had stumbled upon a buried rebel cache of $20 million. Within three days, the GIs burned through their newfound fortune, splurging on booze, sex, and flat-screen televisions. And though the money brought pleasure, for many of the soldiers it would end in criminal prosecution or even death by FARC hit men.

Law of the Jungle places the Colombian hostage story in its full context by exploring the inner workings of the FARC, the U.S.-backed war on drugs, and Colombia’s efforts to free the rebel-held prisoners. John Otis, a veteran journalist on the Latin American beat, spins an edge-of-your-seat adventure narrative that offers a shocking cautionary tale about the pursuit of fortune in one of the world’s most dangerous places.

Book: Role of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Significant Living
Author: James Brown
Publisher: FaithWords, 2009

We live in a world that all too often operates under the overriding template of self-promotion, embracing a “hooray for me” attitude, and which measures success in increasingly small timeframes dotted with markers of temporal value.

Millions of viewers know James Brown as a sports commentator and former athlete. With Role of a Lifetime, James reveals a different side of his character. Brown rose from a middle-class home to earn a scholarship to Harvard and a chance at a professional sports career before moving on to broadcast journalism.

Part memoir and part self-help, this book draws on James’s lessons from his faith and life experiences to guide readers to find fulfillment and significance. He offers values and encouragement to others of all generations, assisting them in their search for meaning in navigating a world that increasingly promotes transient values, if any at all. His message that shortcuts and gimmicks are counterproductive to a person’s success provides hope that there is a God who cares about them and their futures.

Book: On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
Author: Henry M. Paulson
Publisher: Business Plus, 2010

Fast-paced and dramatic re-telling of the financial crisis that nearly bought the developed world to its knees. Hank Paulson was without doubt at the absolute epicentre of the recent economic storm, and his account of how he dealt with the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression will make for absolutely fascinating reading.

The book contains all the decisive moments in the economic crisis, including the pivotal meetings with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as Paulson’s personal recollections of and conversations with President Bush, President Obama, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. As well as detailing the major decisions taken during the height of the crisis, Paulson will also put forth the policies he believes need to be implemented to take us securely into the future.

Book: The Fourth Star: Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army
Author: Greg Jaffe and David Cloud
Publisher: Crown, 2009

They were four exceptional soldiers, a new generation asked to save an army that had been hollowed out after Vietnam. They survived the military’s brutal winnowing to reach its top echelon. They became the Army’s most influential generals in the crucible of Iraq.

Collectively, their lives tell the story of the Army over the last four decades and illuminate the path it must travel to protect the nation over the next century. Theirs is a story of successes and failures, of ambitions achieved and thwarted, of the responsibilities and perils of command. The careers of this elite quartet show how the most powerful military force in the world entered a major war unprepared, and how the Army, drawing on a reservoir of talent that few thought it possessed, saved itself from crushing defeat against a ruthless, low-tech foe. In The Fourth Star, you’ll follow:

•Gen. John Abizaid, one of the Army’s most brilliant minds. Fluent in Arabic, he forged an unconventional path in the military to make himself an expert on the Middle East, but this unique background made him skeptical of the war he found himself leading.

•Gen. George Casey Jr., the son of the highest-ranking general to be killed in the Vietnam War. Casey had grown up in the Army and won praise for his common touch and skill as a soldier. He was determined not to repeat the mistakes of Vietnam but would take much of the blame as Iraq collapsed around him.

•Gen. Peter Chiarelli, an emotional, take-charge leader who, more than any other senior officer, felt the sting of the Army’s failures in Iraq. He drove his soldiers, the chain of command, and the U.S. government to rethink the occupation plans–yet rarely achieved the results he sought.

•Gen. David Petraeus, a driven soldier-scholar. Determined to reach the Army’s summit almost since the day he entered West Point, he sometimes alienated peers with his ambition and competitiveness. When he finally got his chance in Iraq, he–more than anyone–changed the Army’s conception of what was possible.

Masterfully written and richly reported, The Fourth Star ranges far beyond today’s battlefields, evoking the Army’s tumultuous history since Vietnam through these four captivating lives and ultimately revealing a fascinating irony: In an institution that prizes obedience, the most effective warriors are often those who dare to question the prevailing orthodoxy and in doing so redefine the American way of war.

Book: The Power of Many: Values for Success in Business and in Life
Author: Meg Whitman and Joan O'C Hamilton
Publisher: Crown, 2010

Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Location: The Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C.
1150 22nd Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20037

12:00 pm: Registration/networking
12:30-1:30 pm: Light lunch and program

Ticket Information
$75: Greater Washington Board of Trade & Princeton Club Member Rate (includes a book)
$100: Non-Member Rate (includes a book)
$2,500: Premium Seating for Table of 10 (limited number available)

Click here for registration information

Is it possible to run a multibillion-dollar corporation on the power of trust? Must you set aside your authentic self as you climb the corporate ladder? Is there another role for technology beyond saving costs and creating efficiencies? In The Power of Many, Meg Whitman, former president and CEO of eBay, speaks to these questions and more, identifying ten core values that steered her—and can steer any leader—to success without ethical compromise.

Book: However Tall the Mountain: A Dream, Eight Girls, and a Journey Home
Author: Awista Ayub
Publisher: Hyperion, 2009

Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Time: 4:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Location: On the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral

“The young Afghan women in However Tall The Mountain are pioneers. Their story is one of resilience and courage. This book is a testament to the power of hope and the will to dream in a country where so many dreams have been cut short.”
—Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns

“Awista Ayub has movingly captured the indomitable spirit of Afghan women in this chronicle of brave girls who risked persecution and worse to pursue the dreams of ordinary childhood. In doing what they love most in life – playing soccer – the girls become emblems of the fight for equality and human rights under the Taliban. Their story reminds us that there is always hope and possibility for a brighter future – even in the wreckage left by war and conflict.”
—Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

A ball can start a revolution.

Born in Kabul, Awista Ayub escaped with her family to Connecticut in 1981, when she was two years old, but her connection to her heritage remained strong. An athlete her whole life, she was inspired to start the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange after September 11, 2001, as a way of uniting girls of Afghanistan and giving them hope for their future. She chose soccer because little more than a ball and a field is needed to play; however, the courage it would take for girls in Afghanistan to do this would have to be tremendous—and the social change it could bring about by making a loud and clear statement for Afghan women was enough to convince Awista that it was possible, and even necessary.

Under Taliban rule, girls in Afghanistan couldn’t play outside of their homes, let alone participate in a sport on a team. So, Awista brought eight girls from Afghanistan to the United States for a soccer clinic, in the hope of not only teaching them the sport, but also instilling confidence and a belief in their self-worth. They returned to Afghanistan and spread their interest in playing soccer; when Awista traveled there to host another clinic, hundreds of girls turned out to participate—and the numbers of players and teams keep growing. What began with eight young women has now exploded into something of a phenomenon. Fifteen teams now compete in the Afghanistan Football Federation, with hundreds of girls participating.

Against all odds and fear, these girls decided to come together and play a sport that has reintroduced the very traits that decades of war had cruelly stripped away from them—confidence and self-worth. In However Tall the Mountain, Awista tells both her own story and the deeply moving stories of the eight original girls, describing their daily lives back in Afghanistan, and how they found strength in each other, in teamwork, and in themselves—taking impossible risks to obtain freedoms we take for granted. This is a story about hope, about what home is, and in the end, about determination. As the Afghan proverb says, However tall the mountain, there’s always a road.

Book: Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization
Author: Steven Solomon
Publisher: Harper, 2010

Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Harriet’s
436 11th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004

Hosted by Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club
Click Here for Additional Information

Far more than oil, the control of water wealth throughout history has been pivotal to the rise and fall of great powers, the achievements of civilization, the transformations of society’s vital habitats, and the quality of ordinary daily lives. In Water, Steven Solomon offers the first-ever narrative portrait of the power struggles, personalities, and breakthroughs that have shaped humanity from antiquity’s earliest civilizations, the Roman Empire, medieval China, and Islam’s golden age to Europe’s rise, the steam-powered Industrial Revolution, and America’s century. Today, freshwater scarcity is one of the twenty-first century’s decisive, looming challenges and is driving the new political, economic, and environmental realities across the globe.

As modern society runs short of its most indispensable resource and the planet’s renewable water ecosystems grow depleted, an explosive new fault line is dividing humanity into water Haves and Have-nots. Genocides, epidemic diseases, failed states, and civil warfare increasingly emanate from water-starved, overpopulated parts of Africa and Asia. Water famines threaten to ignite new wars in the bone-dry Middle East. Faltering clean water supplies menace the sustainable growth and ability of China and India to feed themselves. Water scarcity is inseparably interrelated to the global crises of energy, food, and climate change. For Western democracies, water represents no less than the new oil—demanding a major rethink of basic domestic and foreign policies—but also offering a momentous opportunity to relaunch wealth and global leadership through exploiting a comparative advantage in freshwater reserves.

Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Steven Solomon’s Water is a groundbreaking account of man’s most critical resource in shaping human destinies, from ancient times to our dawning age of water scarcity.

Book: The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
Author: Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
Publisher: Bloomsbury Press, 2009

Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Location: Economic Policy Institute
1333 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

Click Here for Registration Information

The eye-opening and headline-generating UK bestseller that shows how one single factor—the gap between its richest and poorest members—can determine the health and well-being of a society.

“This is a book with a big idea, big enough to change political thinking…In half a page [The Spirit Level] tells you more about the pain of inequality than any play or novel could.”
—Sunday Times (UK )

It is well established that in rich societies the poor have shorter lives and suffer more from almost every social problem. Now a groundbreaking book, based on thirty years’ research, takes an important step past this idea. The Spirit Level shows that there is one common factor that links the healthiest and happiest societies: the degree of equality among their members. Not wealth; not resources; not culture, climate, diet, or system of government. Furthermore, more-unequal societies are bad for almost everyone within them—the well-off as well as the poor.

The remarkable data assembled in The Spirit Level reveals striking differences, not only among the nations of the first world but even within America’s fifty states. Almost every modern social problem—ill-health, violence, lack of community life, teen pregnancy, mental illness—is more likely to occur in a less-equal society. This is why America, by most measures the richest country on earth, has per capita shorter average lifespan, more cases of mental illness, more obesity, and more of its citizens in prison than any other developed nation.

Wilkinson and Pickett lay bare the contradiction between material success and social failure in today’s world, but they do not simply provide a diagnosis of our woes. They offer readers a way toward a new political outlook, shifting from self-interested consumerism to a friendlier, more sustainable society. The Spirit Level is pioneering in its research, powerful in its revelations, and inspiring in its conclusion: Armed with this new understanding of why communities prosper, we have the tools to revitalize our politics and help all our fellow citizens, from the bottom of the ladder to the top.

Book: Faith Under Fire: An Army Chaplain's Memoir
Author: Roger Benimoff and Eve Conant
Publisher: Crown, 2009

Date: Wednesday, January 11-13, 2010
Location: Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
5000 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA 22311

Click Here for Registration Information

As he left for his second tour of duty as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Roger Benimoff noted in his journal: I am excited and I am scared. I am on fire for God…He is my hope, strength, and focus.

But not long after returning to Iraq, the burdens of his job–the memorial services for soldiers killed in action, the therapy sessions after contact with the enemy, the perilous excursions “outside the wire” while under enemy ﬁre–began to overwhelm him. Amid the dust, heat, and blood of Iraq, Benimoff felt the pillar of strength he’d always relied on to hold him up–his faith in God–begin to crumble.

Unable to make sense of the senseless, Benimoff turned to his journal. What did it mean to believe in a God who would allow the utter horror and injustice of war? Did He want these brave young men and women to die? In his darkest moment, Benimoff wrote: Why am I so angry? I do not want anything to do with God. I am sick of religion. It is a crutch for the weak.

Benimoff’s spiritual crisis heightened upon his return home to Fort Carson, Colorado. He withdrew emotionally from wife and sons, creating tensions that threatened to shatter the family. He was assigned to work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he counseled returning soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder–until he was diagnosed himself with PTSD.

Finding himself in the role of patient rather than caregiver, connecting as an equal with his fellow sufferers, and revisiting scriptural readings that once again rang with meaning and truth, he began his most decisive battle: for the love of his family and for the chance to once again open his heart to the healing grace of God.

Intimate and powerful, drawing on Benimoff’s and his wife’s journals, Faith Under Fire chronicles a spiritual struggle through war, loss, and the hard process of learning to believe again.

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