BIG COTTON: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map. By Stephen Yafa. Viking. 398 pp. $25.95
BORN LOSERS: A History of Failure in America. By Scott A. Sandage. Harvard Univ. Press. 362 pp. $35
JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH: His Life, His Politics, His Economics. By Richard Parker. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 820 pp. $35
Sorting out the prospects and promises of Social Security reform.
“The Constitutionalization of Democratic Politics” by Richard H. Pildes, in Harvard Law Review (Nov. 2004), Gannett House, 1511 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 02138.
“The Inventor of Modern Conservatism” by David Gelernter, in The Weekly Standard (Feb. 7, 2005), 1150 17th St., N.W., Ste. 505, Washington, D.C. 20036.
“Faith Full” by E. J. Dionne, Jr., “Fact Finders” by Jonathan Chait, “Not Much Left” by Martin Peretz, and “Structural Flaw” by John B. Judis, in The New Republic (Feb. 28, 2005), 1331 H St., N.W., Ste. 700, Washington, D.C. 20005.
“The ‘War on Terror’: Good Cause, Wrong Concept” by Gilles Andréani, in Survival (Winter 2004–05), International Institute for Strategic Studies, Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel St., Temple Pl., London WC2R 3DX, England.
“American Maximalism” by Stephen Sestanovich, in The National Interest (Spring 2005), 1615 L St., N.W., Ste. 1230, Washington, D.C. 20036.
“Outsourcing War” by P. W. Singer, in Foreign Affairs (Mar.–Apr. 2005), 58 E. 68th St., New York, N.Y. 10021.