• The Best Political Books of 2019 - Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade
  • The Best Political Books of 2019 - The Economists' Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society by Binyamin Appelbaum
  • The Best Political Books of 2019 - Transaction Man: The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream by Nicholas Lemann
  • The Best Political Books of 2019 - American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump by Tim Alberta
  • The Best Political Books of 2019 - The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future by Andrew Yang

The Best Political Books of 2019, recommended by John Harwood

With the 2020 presidential race underway and a possible impeachment of President Trump on the horizon, 2019 has been an action-packed year so far in American politics. Here to discuss five new political books that break down how we got to where we are is CNBC editor-at-large John Harwood, whose razor-sharp analysis has put him at the forefront of our television screens and the nation’s political discourse.

  • The best books on White Supremacy - What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America by Peggy Pascoe
  • The best books on White Supremacy - Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race by Matthew Frye Jacobson
  • The best books on White Supremacy - Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America by Alexandra Minna Stern
  • The best books on White Supremacy - From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America by Elizabeth Hinton
  • The best books on White Supremacy - The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas by Monica Muñoz Martinez

The best books on White Supremacy, recommended by Kathleen Belew

Defined by University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew, white supremacy is a “broad system of laws, norms and customs that create a society with unequal opportunities for people based on race”. It persists to this day, and has surprising intersections with issues of labor and women’s reproduction. Here, she recommends books for coming to grips with the history of this complex topic.

  • The best books on Interracial Relationships - The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
  • The best books on Interracial Relationships - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • The best books on Interracial Relationships - Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  • The best books on Interracial Relationships - Caucasia by Danzy Senna
  • The best books on Interracial Relationships - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The best books on Interracial Relationships, recommended by Tineka Smith and Alex Court

You might think that books about interracial couples aren’t relevant unless you’re part of one or are close to someone who is, but nothing could be further from the truth. In Mixed Up: Confessions of an Interracial Couple, a fascinating audiobook narrated by Tineka Smith and Alex Court, the husband and wife duo tell the story of their own relationship and, in doing so, give the listener unique insights into racism and racial identity. Here, they recommend their top books on interracial relationships.

  • The best books on The Cold War - The Cold War: A World History by Odd Arne Westad
  • The best books on The Cold War - For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War by Melvyn P Leffler
  • The best books on The Cold War - Russia and the Idea of the West by Robert English
  • The best books on The Cold War - The Enigma of 1989: The USSR and the Liberation of Eastern Europe Jacques Lévesque (trans. Keith Martin)
  • The best books on The Cold War - Reagan and Gorbachev by Jack Matlock

The best books on The Cold War, recommended by Archie Brown

American military and economic superiority cannot explain why the Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s and early 1990s. According to the historian Archie Brown, you need to accept the primacy of politics and human agency both in the USSR and the West. He chooses five books to understand the Cold War and offers some broader reflections on the qualities of good political leadership—then and now.

  • The best books on Impeachment - High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump by Frank O. Bowman III
  • The best books on Impeachment - Impeachment in America by N. E. H. Hull & Peter Charles Hoffer
  • The best books on Impeachment - Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment by United States Congress
  • The best books on Impeachment - Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems by Raoul Berger
  • The best books on Impeachment - Impeachment: A Handbook by Charles L. Jr. Black

The best books on Impeachment, recommended by Michael J. Gerhardt

In the 1998 Clinton impeachment proceedings, only one legal scholar was called as a joint witness: Michael J. Gerhardt, now a Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a prolific expert on subjects of constitutional history, the legislative process, and impeachment. With the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump well underway, he recommends five books crucial to understanding the subject.

  • The best books on The Kurds - My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Family's Past by Ariel Sabar
  • The best books on The Kurds - A Modern History of the Kurds by David McDowall
  • The best books on The Kurds - Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence by Aliza Marcus
  • The best books on The Kurds - A Problem from Hell by Samantha Power
  • The best books on The Kurds - Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East by Quil Lawrence

The best books on The Kurds, recommended by Peter W. Galbraith

The Kurds lost 11,000 lives fighting Islamic State and hoped the West would support them in their quest for nationhood. But as the Kurdish saying goes, ‘The Kurds have no friends but the mountains.’ Author and diplomat Peter W. Galbraith, a longtime advocate of the Kurdish people, recommends the best books on the Kurds—and predicts that one day there will be an independent Kurdistan.

  • The best books on Justice and the Law - A Time To Kill by John Grisham
  • The best books on Justice and the Law - The Rule of Law by Tom Bingham
  • The best books on Justice and the Law - The Children Act by Ian McEwan
  • The best books on Justice and the Law - Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman
  • The best books on Justice and the Law - Law and Disorder: Confessions of a Pupil Barrister by Tim Kevan

The best books on Justice and the Law, recommended by The Secret Barrister

The English legal system is struggling to ensure justice. Drastic government cuts and disastrous reforms have led to innocent people being let down by the system again and again. Reporting anonymously from the front line, The Secret Barrister sees it as their duty to keep the public informed. Here they discuss the books that have shaped the way they think about justice and its relation to the law.