{"title":"Ben Rhodes","description":"\u003cp\u003eBen Rhodes offers incisive explorations of contemporary history and global politics, weaving personal insight with detailed analysis. His works provide a nuanced view of international affairs and the complexities of diplomacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect compelling narratives that illuminate the challenges and decisions shaping our world today, presented with clarity and depth in the realms of \u003cem\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Military\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ePolitics \u0026amp; Current Affairs\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"after-the-fall-by-ben-rhodes-9781526642073","title":"After the Fall","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLING AUTHOR\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A dystopian odyssey through the dark authoritarian landscape of the modern world’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTo be born American in the late twentieth century was to take the fact of a particular kind of American exceptionalism as granted – a state of nature arrived at after all else had failed. In the span of just thirty years, this assumption would come crashing down.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAfter the fall, we must determine what it means to be American again.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2017, as Ben Rhodes was helping Barack Obama begin his next chapter, the legacy they worked to build for eight years was being taken apart. To understand what was happening in America, Rhodes decided to look outwards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOver the next three years, he travelled to dozens of countries, meeting with politicians, activists, and dissidents confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that was tearing America apart. Along the way, a Russian opposition leader he spends time with is poisoned, the Hong Kong protesters he comes to know see their movement snuffed out, and America itself reaches the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a second chance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAfter the Fall\u003c\/i\u003e is a hugely ambitious and essential work of discovery. Throughout, Rhodes comes to realize how much America’s fingerprints are on a world it helped to shape: through the excesses of the post-Cold War embrace of unbridled capitalism, post-9\/11 nationalism and militarism, mania for technology and social media, and the racism that shaped the backlash to the Obama presidency. At the same time, he learns from a diverse set of characters – from Obama to rebels to a rising generation of leaders – how looking squarely at where America has gone wrong only makes it more essential to fight for what America is supposed to be – for itself, and for the entire world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46829701726444,"sku":"9781526642073","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14928243482731.jpg?v=1758256031"},{"product_id":"all-we-say-by-ben-rhodes-9781847928894","title":"All We Say","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA vital account of fifteen speeches and orators—from Benjamin Franklin to Barack Obama—that tells the story of the United States as a battle over what it means to be an American, from a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author and former presidential speechwriter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis sweeping history of the United States through fifteen key speeches relives the battle for American identity—from a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author and one of President Obama's former speechwriters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor 250 years, America has debated what it means to be American. The question shaped the compromises in their constitution and the arguments they've had ever since, spawning abolitionism, secession and civil war, populism, mass migration and global leadership, movements for reform and the backlashes to them. \u003cem\u003eAll We Say\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of the United States through fifteen speeches—some iconic, others long forgotten, all pivotal—from its founding to the intense divisions of our times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough riveting and beautifully rendered accounts of the people, movements and moments that produced these speeches, Rhodes traces the history of America's battle over identity. The result is a singular and revealing portrait of the United States—a nation divided between two stories—one of inheritance, power, and exclusion, the other of equality, striving, and belonging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on a decade of writing for Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes also reveals how words can redirect a nation, what makes a speech enduring, and why oratory is a unique form of persuasion in a democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Benjamin Franklin's call for compromise at the Constitutional Convention to Alexander Stephens' case for white supremacy as the cornerstone of the Confederacy, from Martin Luther King's dream of true equality to Donald Trump's rallying cry against democracy itself, these speeches remind us that history is a living argument. At a time when American identity—and truth—is contested, \u003cem\u003eAll We Say\u003c\/em\u003e offers a fresh and powerful look at who America really is, and who it could still become.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47754112237804,"sku":"9781847928894","price":40.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781847928894-all-we-say.jpg?v=1781656984"},{"product_id":"the-world-as-it-is-by-ben-rhodes-9781784708252","title":"The World As It Is","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA revelatory, behind-the-scenes account of the Obama presidency from perhaps his closest collaborator, and a political memoir about the power of words to change our world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'One of the most compelling stories I've seen about what it's actually like to serve the American people' \u003c\/em\u003eBARACK OBAMA\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a book about two people making the most important decisions in the world. One is Barack Obama. The other is Ben Rhodes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA young writer and Washington outsider, Rhodes was plucked from obscurity aged 29. For nearly ten years, he was at the centre of the Obama Administration - first as a speech-writer, then a policy maker, and finally a close collaborator.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHere, Rhodes tells the full story of his partnership - and, ultimately, friendship - with a historic president. From the early days of the Obama campaign to the final hours in the Oval Office, he puts us in the room at the most tense and poignant moments in recent history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'Vivid, lucid, enjoyable... A compelling account of life in the Obama White House'\u003c\/em\u003e Justin Webb, The Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A stylish, beautifully written political memoir'\u003c\/em\u003e Colum McCann\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48147896697068,"sku":"9781784708252","price":38.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781784708252-the-world-as-it-is.jpg?v=1786453629"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/ben-rhodes.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}