2003 TAM Book Awards
by Sean Hackbarth
And now, the TAM Book Awards:
- Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Lewis asks a simple question: How can the Oakland A’s win so many games with such a small payroll? He answers by giving us a portrait of A’s general manager Billy Beane and his technique for picking cheap players other teams don’t want. This is a book that transcends its subject. Moneyball is more than about baseball. It’s about personality. It’s about business. It’s about how to find a niche. In all this, Lewis tells one hell of a story. - Gulag by Anne Applebaum
There have been so many books written about the Nazi death camps, but Applebaum’s is the first on the Soviet Union’s string of forced-labor camps. This history is gut-wrenching. Honest and detailed to a gruesome fault, but it’s what all freedom-loving people need to know. If we lose the permanent fight for freedom we’ll end up with a Gulag of our own. - Of Paradise and Power by Robert Kagan
This slim book examines the political differences between the U.S. and “Old” Europe. Enlightening and crucial for understanding their opposition to America’s foreign policy direction. - The Company by Adrian Wooldridge and John Micklethwait
This short history covers this important economic instiution. How we can produce so much with so few resources is a direct result of the joint-stock company’s structural make-up. As Wooldridge and Micklethwait point out, “We are richer as a result.” - The Right Man by David Frum
This memoir gives us an inside view of President Bush’s White House during dramatic times. It’s only one man’s point of view so don’t consider this a definitive history of the time. However, it’s filled with respect and admiration for our current President.
I also think Appelbaum wrote a great book. There is one other great book on the history of the camps, though - Gulag Archipelago.