In late August 2004 the Republicans were celebrating the nomination of incumbent George W. Bush for another term as president of the United States. In the midst of the festivities, Chuck Hagel, a senator from Nebraska, was telling reporters that the Republican Party had "come loose of its moorings." This was a bold position for someone identified by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe as a prospective 2008 presidential candidate, but it was not surprising coming from a Republican senator who had also recently remarked that the occupation of Iraq was poorly planned and that it had encouraged the spread of terror cells throughout the world. Who is Chuck Hagel, what is his story, and is he a genuine player on the national political stage? Charlyne Berens sets out to answer these questions in her close and careful look at one of the most interesting and independent figures on the current American political scene. Having survived a tour of duty in Vietnam and having made a fortune as a pioneer in the cellular phone industry, Chuck Hagel seemingly came out of nowhere to beat a popular sitting governor in a race for the U.S. Senate in 1996. Berens charts Hagel's quick rise to national recognition and influence and examines the background that has led Hagel to an outspoken internationalism that often puts him at odds with his own party and president. This complex, plain-spoken Nebraskan may be on his way to the White House. Charlyne Berens explains why and how.

Two brothers--Chuck and Tom Hagel--who went to war in Vietnam, fought in the same unit, and saved each other's life. They disagreed about the war, but they fought it together. 1968. America was divided. Flag-draped caskets came home by the thousands. Riots ravaged our cities. Assassins shot our political leaders. Black fought white, young fought old, fathers fought sons. And it was the year that two brothers from Nebraska went to war. In Vietnam, Chuck and Tom Hagel served side by side in the same rifle platoon. Together they fought in the Mekong Delta, battled snipers in Saigon, chased the enemy through the jungle, and each saved the other's life under fire. But when their one-year tour was over, these two brothers came home side-by-side but no longer in step--one supporting the war, the other hating it. Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and his brother Tom epitomized the best, and withstood the worst, of the most tumultuous, shocking, and consequential year in the last half-century. Following the brothers' paths from the prairie heartland through a war on the far side of the world and back to a divided America, Our Year of War tells the story of two brothers at war--a gritty, poignant, and resonant story of a family and a nation divided yet still united.

Senator Chuck Hagel has long been admired by his colleagues on both sides of the Senate floor for his honesty, integrity, and common-sense approach to the challenges of our times. The Los Angeles Times has praised his "bold positions on foreign policy and national security" and wondered, "What's not to like?" In America: Our Next Chapter, Nebraska-born Hagel offers a hard-hitting examination of the current state of our nation and provides substantial, meaningful proposals that can guide America back onto the right path. In America: Our Next Chapter, Hagel speaks the truth as he sees it—in a direct and refreshingly unvarnished manner. Basing his suggestions on thorough research and careful thought, as well as on personal insight from his years as a political insider, successful businessman, and decorated war hero, he discusses domestic issues—including the health care crisis, immigration, and Social Security and Medicare reform—and global climate change. He confronts foreign policy problems that the current administration has bungled or ignored, including China's growing economy; control of U.S. debt; India's and Pakistan's nuclear capabilities; and Iran's aggressive political, ideological, and nuclear stances. He decries the pervasive disease of third world poverty, arguing convincingly that this is where the real fight against terrorism must begin. Always true to the beliefs instilled in his childhood on the prairie, he speaks passionately about service—to one's country and to one's fellow citizens—as the path toward a renewed America. And, of course, he gives a candid examination of the debacle that is the Iraq War. A staunch Republican yet a "hero to liberals" (Time), Hagel asks the tough questions and delivers straight answers to America's most pressing problems. America: Our Next Chapter is a serious, honest, and, ultimately, optimistic look at our nation's future, from an American original.

Based on classified documents and interviews, argues that American acts of violence against millions of Vietnamese civilians during the Vietnam War were a pervasive and systematic part of the war.

Early in his judicial career, U.S. District Judge Warren K. Urbom was assigned a yearlong string of criminal trials arising from a seventy-one-day armed standoff between the American Indian Movement and federal law enforcement at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. In Called to Justice Urbom provides the first behind-the-scenes look at what quickly became one of the most significant series of federal trials of the twentieth century. Yet Wounded Knee was only one set of monumental cases Urbom presided over during his years on the bench, a set that in turn forms but one chapter in a remarkable life story. Urbom’s memoir begins on a small farm in Nebraska during the dustbowl 1930s. From making it through the Great Depression and drought to serving in World War II, working summers for his father’s dirt-moving business, and going to school on the G.I. Bill, Urbom’s experiences constitute a classic American story of making the most of opportunity, inspiration, and a little luck. Urbom gives a candid account of his time as a trial lawyer and his early plans to become a minister—and of the effect both had on his judicial career. His story offers a rare inside view of what it means to be a federal judge—the nuts and bolts of conducting trials, weighing evidence, and making decisions—but also considers the questions of law and morality, all within the framework of a life well lived and richly recounted.

An oral history of the themes of war provides letters, photographs, and sketches from from U.S. veterans' who fought in World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf.