The following books are available from our imprint, Potomac Books. Read below to learn more about these new releases!

Troubling the Water by Abby Seiff

Troubling the Water follows ordinary Cambodians coping with the rapid erasure of a long-held way of life. Drawing on years of reporting in Cambodia, Abby Seiff traces the changes on the Tonle Sap—weaving together vivid stories of those most affected with sharp insight into one of the most threatened lakes in the world. For the millions who depend on it, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Available Now!

Murder Inc. by James H. Johnston

Sourced from in-depth research into the “secret files” declassified by the JFK Records Act and now stored in the National Archives and Records Administration, Murder, Inc. is the first book to narrate in detail the CIA’s plots against Castro and to delve into the question of why retaliation by Castro against Kennedy was not investigated.

Now available in paperback!

Drunk in China by Derek Sandhaus

Drunk in China follows Derek Sandhaus’s journey of discovery into the world’s oldest drinking culture. He travels throughout the country and around the globe to meet with distillers, brewers, snake-oil salesmen, archaeologists, and ordinary drinkers. He examines the many ways in which alcohol has shaped Chinese society and its rituals. He visits production floors, karaoke parlors, hotpot joints, and speakeasies. Along the way he uncovers a tradition spanning more than nine thousand years and explores how recent economic and political developments have conspired to push Chinese alcohol beyond the nation’s borders for the first time.

Now available in paperback!

Quest for the Presidency by Bob Riel

Quest for the Presidency gathers in a single volume the compelling stories behind every presidential campaign in American history, from 1789 through 2020. Bob Riel takes us inside the 1800 clash between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the 1860 election that launched the Civil War, the 1948 whistle-stop comeback of Harry Truman, the Kennedy-Nixon drama of 1960, the 1980 Reagan Revolution, the historic 2008 election of Barack Obama, the turbulent 2020 battle between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and everything in between.

Now available!

Clash by Jon Marshall

Clash explores the political, economic, social, and technological forces that have shaped the relationship between U.S. presidents and the press during times of crisis. In addition to Trump’s presidency, Clash examines those of John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Some of these presidents faced military or international crises. Others were challenged by economic downturns or political scandals. And sometimes the survival of America’s system of government was at stake.

Now available!

The Winning Ticket by Rob Sand and Reid Forgrave

Both a story of small-town America and a true-crime saga about the largest lottery-rigging scheme in American history, The Winning Ticket follows the investigation all the way down the rabbit hole to uncover how Eddie Tipton was able to cheat the system to win jackpots over $16 million and go more than a decade without being caught—until Sand inherited the case.

Now available!

America’s Forgotten Terrorist by Jeffery D. Simon

Though largely forgotten today, one of the most destructive terrorist groups in the United States was the Galleanists, a fiery band of Italian anarchists active during the early 1900s. In America’s Forgotten Terrorists, Jeffrey D. Simon shows how alienation and frustration among segments of a community were transformed into a militant extremist movement

Now available!

A Woman of Adventure by Annette B. Dunlap

History has long since forgotten the breadth of her achievements, but Lou Henry Hoover’s powerful legacy endures in the ongoing success of the Girl Scouts, the music and physical therapy degree programs at Stanford University, athletic opportunities for women, and the countless unknown men and women who received an education thanks to Lou’s anonymous financial support.

Conveying Lou’s humor, personality, and intelligence, A Woman of Adventure takes a fresh look at the first lady who preceded Eleanor Roosevelt and her also-extraordinary accomplishments.

Available June 1!

The Devil’s Toy Box by Andrew Fox

In The Devil’s Toy Box, Andrew Fox lays out seven decades of preemptive analysis and shows that while homeland security has explored, in depth, the possible Promethean threats the world faces, it has failed to forecast the most likely attacks. Using fictional scenarios Fox teaches how to predict future threats and how to forecast which ones are likely to be used by bad actors within the next five to ten years. Combining the skills of homeland security experts and the imaginations of speculative fiction writers, he then offers an analytical method to deter, counter, or abate these threats, rather than adopting an attitude of resigned fatalism.

Available June 1!

The Turtle and the Dreamboat by Jim Leeke

The ‘Turtle’ and the ‘Dreamboat’  is the first detailed account of the race for long-distance flight records between the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy less than fourteen months after World War II. The flights were risky and unprecedented. Each service intended to demonstrate its offensive capabilities during the dawning nuclear age, a time when America was realigning its military structure and preparing to create a new armed service—the United States Air Force.

Available June 1!

Cartography by Katherine Schifani

At the heart of Cartography is Schifani’s quest to understand the Iraqi landscape and the Special Forces culture of American men she worked alongside as a gay woman and a member of the air force. Her memoir examines both the perils of being undertrained and underequipped to perform the job assigned to her in her role as an advisor and some of the unique situations—good and bad—her gender created in such an irregular combat environment. Schifani’s deployment was an exercise in exploration, observation, and navigating a wholly foreign land.

Available June 1!

Eye on the World by Anthony C. E. Quainton

Eye on the World is the autobiography of diplomat Anthony C. E. Quainton, the story of a long and varied life lived in eleven countries on six continents. Rather than a formal history, this is Quainton’s reflection on his interactions with the events of those times, beginning with George VI’s historic visit to North America in 1939, through the years of the Cold War, the efforts to contain and then defeat the Soviet Union, and finally the two decades of uneasy peace that came after the fall of the Berlin Wall. To some of these events Quainton was merely a spectator. In other areas––India, Nicaragua, Kuwait, and Peru––he was actively involved either as a participant in the policy process in Washington or as the senior representative of the United States in those countries.

Available July 1!

Connected Soldiers by John Spencer

John Spencer was a new second lieutenant in 2003 when he parachuted into Iraq leading a platoon of infantry soldiers into battle. During that combat tour he learned how important unit cohesion was to surviving a war, both physically and mentally. He observed that this cohesion developed as the soldiers experienced the horrors of combat as a group, spending their downtime together and processing their shared experiences.

In Connected Soldiers Spencer delivers lessons learned about effective methods for building teams in a way that overcomes the distractions of home and the outside world, without reducing the benefits gained from connections to family.

Available July 1!