In normal times, a memoir on leadership by a former Federal Bureau of Investigations director wouldn’t send jaws dropping to the floor and drive the news cycle for days. But, as even the most cursory glance at the headlines will reveal, we are not living in normal times in American politics.
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, the James B. Comey memoir that hit the shelves and has been hailed as one of the most anticipated books releases of the year. In it, the former FBI director finally gets to lead the narrative, in his own words, about the controversial events that engulfed the 2016 election, the chaos reigning inside the Trump White House, and the circumstances he says led the president to fire him last year. Fueling the buzz is the fact that Comey’s explosive tell-all reportedly touches on many of those only-in-2018 storylines that dominate the news today, but might have seemed far-fetched for even the craziest political thriller a few years ago. There’s the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a president described as having a penchant for serial mistreatment of both women and the truth, and, of course, the infamous alleged “Pee Tape” involving Trump and Russian prostitutes.
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership
Given the reactions, it’s no surprise that the book is expected to fly off the shelves — both online and IRL. Publisher Macmillan says it ordered an eye-popping 850,000 copies for its first run and the memoir is currently #1 on Amazon.com’s best-sellers list. But while its debut is making a major splash, A Higher Loyalty is far from the first political book of the Trump era to turn heads and drive sales. If the onslaught of titles released in the last year and sky-high sales are any indication, Americans have a big appetite for books that break down these tumultuous political times and help explain what just might have been the craziest and nontraditional elections in history and the unusual period of governing that’s followed. Here are some additional titles on how (and why) we got here that you can add to your queue once you’re done with Comey’s book.
What Happened
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