Widely recognized as one of the greatest autobiographies ever written, this 1,500 year old book still speaks loudly and clearly to Modern Christians.

St. Augustine, the first Christian philosopher -- tied for the greatest with St. Thomas Aquinas -- tells the story of his conversion from paganism to the Christian faith.

In addition to insight into this great thinker, readers are treated to a vivid description of life in Roman Africa.

Very accessible.  Don't be deterred by the notion that it's just full of philosophy and nothing else.  There is a lot of philosophy, but you don't have to be a philosopher to understand it.  Highly, highly recommended. 

Old school conservative Kevin Phillips, widely acknowledged as one of the best political analysts in America, rips the Bush administration a new one in American Theocracy.

The man who contributed key strategies for Nixon's election now turns his analytical mind loose on the mistakes of the Bush administration.  In particular, the book examines Bush's core constituencies: the oil industry, far right conservative Christians and the financial industry.  This unusual marriage, he claims, has forced the Republican party into a corner from which there is no exit.  Current policy, he claims, is locking America into a direction that can only lead to disaster -- no oil, too much debt, and too far right.

Whether you're a die-hard Democrat or Republican, this book will make you think -- and think hard.

Great read, highest recommendation. 

Henry Adams occupies a special place in the pantheon of American historians.  He not only wrote about politics and history, he spent his life moving around in those worlds.  The great-grandson of John Adams and the grandson of John Quincy Adams, he enjoyed special access to the moving and shaking of American politics his entire life.  The insight from this access afforded him a unique position to comment on the nation's history.

Democracy was not Adams' only attempt at fiction, but it's his most well-known attempt.  To be honest, it's not that great of a read, especially if you're unfamiliar with his other works.  Non-fiction was his vocation, for sure, but this stab at fiction does give a reader another window into his thinking about where the nation was at the end of the nineteenth century and where it was headed in the twentieth.

American history fans will enjoy it for what it is, but don't wait for the film. 

In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight.  Let those who worship evil's might beware my power, Green Lantern's light! 

Simon Singh's history of cryptography is a an awesome read.  From the secret codes and ciphers used by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks all the way into the future -- quantum cryptography -- Singh gives a solid birds' eye view of the history of keeping secrets.

The good news: great book.  The bad news: no secret is safe forever.