Examines the distribution of income and wealth in the U.S., and how the economy affects the living standards of the American people.

Looks at how the office of the presidency has changed, argues that the president has become too central to national politics, and suggests ways to restore the constitutional balance.

Constructs the first modern aesthetic framework for the qasidah , the pre-Islamic oral bedouin poetry that was collected in the second or third Islamic century, and persevered throughout the classical period as a profane counterfoil to the sacred Qur'an . Includes close readings of several poems. Does not assume a knowledge of Arabic. Annotation

Capturing the full range of landscape paintings by the eminent artist, full-color reproductions of artworks from the personal collection of Hudson River School master Frederic Edwin Church, taken from Olana, his castle home on the Hudson, are accompanied by an essay on the context of Church's art, travels, and influence.