The Economist reads | The hunt for votes

What to read to understand American election campaigns

The five best books on the path to the White House, chosen by our former Washington correspondent

US President Bill Clinton addresses an audience in Bowling Green, Ohio, on August 26, 1996 from the back of his campaign train "The 21 century Express". - Clinton's train is taking him towards the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he is scheduled to arrive on August 28. (Photo by Paul J. RICHARDS / AFP)

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Books for young children that you can read over and over and over

Parents will enjoy these, too

Books that imagine that history took a different course

What if Hitler had won and Hillary Rodham had broken up with Bill Clinton?


What to read about America’s culture wars

Four books on controversies that helped to shape the presidential election


What to read about grief and bereavement

Six books about feelings that are both universal and unique to the person experiencing them

Books that probe the secrets of the Mossad

Seven books on Israeli intelligence agencies, which are spearheading the offensive against Hizbullah in Lebanon

An introduction to Lebanon, perhaps the next front in a wider war

Four books and a film on a pivotal Middle Eastern country