"In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both hispolitical education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency--a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil"--

At a time when people around the world are wondering whether democracy is in decline, Condoleeza Rice shares insights from her experiences as a policymaker, scholar, and citizen in order to put democracy's challenges into perspective. When the United States was founded, it was the only attempt at self-government in the world. Today more than half of all countries qualify as democracies, and in the long run that number will continue to grow. Yet nothing...