April 15, 2020

Democracy’s Defenders
Edited by Norman Eisen

During the Velvet Revolution, the world watched as Czechoslovakia’s communist government crumbled. “Democracy’s Defenders,” edited by Norman Eisen, provides a behind the scenes look at the role the U.S. embassy in Prague played in the months leading up to that pivotal moment. Featuring 52 newly declassified diplomatic cables, the book provides an important contribution to our understanding of U.S. diplomatic history.

Unlocking Africa’s Business Potential

By Landry Signé

Africa has been one of the fastest growing regions in the past decade. By 2030 it will be home to nearly 1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion in consumer and business spending. In “Unlocking Africa's Business Potential,” Landry Signé– examines eight sectors with the highest potential returns on investment, and explains how they will foster economic growth, job creation, and improved general welfare.

Brookings Press Spring-Fall 2020 catalog

The Spring-Fall 2020 catalog from the Brookings Institution Press is here!
Our 2020 books aim to inform and start conversations on a variety of topics from AI to inequality to our divided political landscape.

Our full selection of titles can be found on our homepage. Follow us on Twitter for more updates on our book and authors.

More on Brookings books

COVID-19 and communities of color. Brookings fellow Andre Perry was a guest of Rep. Joe Kennedy III on Facebook Live where he discussed the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and lessons we might learn during this crisis. Perry’s forthcoming book “Know Your Price” will be out next month.

Local responses to crises. Cities have been addressing serious challenges with little federal help for some time. Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak’s “The New Localism” examines this trend as cities grapple with the coronavrius panemic.

Warning signs from the Ebola outbreak. Reid Wilson, author of “Epidemic” was a guest on Roll Call’s Political Theater podcast to discuss the lessons we didn’t learn from the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

The last decades of the Soviet Union. “Mr. Reddaway’s memoir makes clear the dissidents’ cause will live on,” states a review of Peter Reddaway’s “The Dissidents” in The Economist.

Looking back at 1979. Suzanne Maloney, interim vice president and director of foreign policy at Brookings, discussed the enduring impacts of the Iranian revolution examined in her edited volume “The Iranian Revolution at Forty” on the Brookings Cafeteria podcast.