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Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
Jane Mayer ’77
Doubleday, $29.95

Love them or loathe them, Charles and David Koch, the multibillionaire businessmen and longtime proponents of libertarianism, have used their considerable wealth in an attempt to reshape this country’s political landscape. In this riveting book, Mayer, a veteran investigative journalist, traces a turbulent family history that includes business ties to Stalin and Hitler and bitter family rivalries, and follows the money, the influence, and the stratagems.

The Great Tradeoff: Confronting Moral Conflicts in the Era of Globalization
Steven R. Weisman ’68
Peterson Institute for International Economics, $25.95

Globalization is often seen as either a blessing or a curse. But in Weisman’s more nuanced view, international economics are better seen in terms of three fundamental moral conflicts: between “liberty and justice”; between “the need to sustain virtuous behavior and trust . . . and the need to recognize the realities of the modern global economy”; and between “ensuring economic justice for one’s own community and . . . others in the world at large.” The book focuses on how to effect compromise—“the great tradeoff”—by developing a fairer and more equal globalized system.

Thirsty Dragon: China’s Lust for Bordeaux and the Threat to the World’s Best Wines
Suzanne Mustacich ’86
Henry Holt and Company, $32

In 1979, at the dawn of state-sponsored capitalism in China, “there were no Chinese consumers yet for imported wine,” writes Mustacich. But then China discovered Bordeaux. Mustacich, a wine writer who holds a diploma in enology from the University of Bordeaux, traces in detail the wine boom that followed—and the problems that developed as a result, including smuggling and counterfeiting.

The Genius of Film Music: Hollywood Blockbusters 1960s to 1980s
John Mauceri ’67, ’70MPhil, conductor
London Philharmonic Orchestra, $14.79

Mauceri, who has conducted at the world’s great opera houses, has the grand temperament required to command a major orchestra through some of the most stirring film music ever composed. This two-CD set establishes its sweeping cinematic tone with the 24-second fanfare by Alfred Newman that introduced all Twentieth Century Fox pictures. Then come symphonic clips from the greats: Caesar and Cleopatra, The Godfather, Taras Bulba, Lawrence of Arabia, Mutiny on the Bounty, Once Upon a Time in America, the first Star Trek film—and a stunning 15-minute distillation of Psycho.

The Future of Law and Economics: Essays in Reform and Recollection Guido Calabresi ’53, ’58LLB, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law
Yale University Press, $35

In his distinguished career as professor and former dean of the Yale Law School, Calabresi has become a leading legal thinker—notably in the study of law and economics, of which he is considered a founding father. In this erudite collection of essays, Calabresi argues for a practical approach: rather than using economic analysis as a way to compare the theoretical economic efficiency of different legal rules, he says, legal scholars should seek to understand the economic, social, and legal realities of the “world as it really is.”

An Animal Alphabet
Elisha Cooper ’93
Orchard Books/Scholastic, $17.99

From aardvark to zebu, writer and illustrator Cooper offers young readers and pre-readers a delightful bestiary that will help them learn the alphabet and appreciate the natural world. Every letter gets a pageful of lively, naturalistic critters. There’s also a participatory counting hook: on each page, you have to find the eight different versions of one particular kind of critter. Why eight? For starters, it’s Cooper’s favorite. For other reasons, read on.