The Institute has reviewed a civility-related book in our quarterly newsletter since 1998.  Our goal is to keep our subscribers aware of resources available to them for further reference.  Listed below are the books we have read and reviewed.  These books represent a wide range of information on civility, politics, history and national culture.  Some have been best sellers, while others are a bit more obscure.  You can find history, humor, inspiration, instruction, reflections, and more.  Some are quite academic while others are not.  We encourage you to check back often as new books are added.  Read further and enjoy!

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Master List of Books Reviewed

1998

Politics for People

by David Matthews.  Published by The University of Illinois Press, 1994

ISBN 022067630                    ISBN  0-252-06382-1

Politics for Dummies

by Ann DeLaney.  Published by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. 1995

ISBN 13: 9780764508875      ISBN  1-56884-381-X

Inside Congress

by Ronald Kessler.  Published by Pocket Books, 1997

ISBN 0671003860

1999

The Politics of Meaning – Restoring Hope and Possibility in an Age of Cynicism

by Michael Lerner.  Published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1997.

The Power of Public Ideas,

edited by Robert Reich.  Published by Harvard University Press, 1988

Civility – Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy

by Stephen Carter.  Published by Basic Books, 1998

ISBN  0-06-097759-0             ISBN  0-465-02384-3

Courage is Contagious

by John Kasich.  Published by Doubleday, 1998

2000

A House Divided

by Mark Gerzon.  Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996

ISBN  0-87477-874-3

If the Gods had meant us to Vote, They would have given us Candidates  

by Jim Hightower.  Published by HarperCollins Publishers, 2000

ISBN  0-06-019393-X

The Argument Culture – Stopping America’s War of Words

by Deborah Tannen.  Published by The Balentine Publishing Group, 1998

Dialogic Civility in a Cynical Age

by Ronald C. Arnett.  Published by State University of New York Press, 1999

 2001

On Toleration

by Michael Walzer.  Published by Yale University Press, 1997

GodViews

by Jack Haberer.  Published by Geneva Press, 2001

ISBN  0-664-50190-7

The Magic of Dialogue – Transforming Conflict into Cooperation

by Daniel Yankelovich.  Published by Simon & Schuster, 1999

ISBN  0-684-85457-0

Next – the Road to the good society

by Amitai Etzioni.  Published by Basic Books, 2001

 2002

The Uncivil War – The Rise of Hate, Violence, and Terrorism in America

by Stephen Singular.  Published by New Millenium Press, 2001

ISBN  1893224-19-8

Chasing the Red, White and Blue – A Journey in Tocqueville’s Footsteps Through  Contemporary America

by David Cohen.  Published by Picador USA, 2001

ISBN  0-312-26154-3

The Passion of the Western Mind – Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View

by Richard Tarnas.  Published by Ballantine Books, 1991

ISBN  0-345-36809-6

The Art of Political Warfare

by John J. Pitney, Jr..  Published by University of Oklahoma Press, 2000

ISBN  0-8061-3382-1

2003

The Spirit of Community – The Reinvention of American Society

by Amitai Etzioni.  Published by Simon & Schuster, 1993

ISBN  0-671-88524-3

The Tipping Point – How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Malcolm Gladwell.  Published by Little, Brown, and Company, 2000, 2002

ISBN  0-316-34662-4

Nonviolent Communication – A Language of Compassion

by Marshall B. Rosenberg.  Published by Puddle Dancer Press, 1999

ISBN  1-892005-02-6

Jihad vs McWorld – Terrorism’s Challenge to Democracy

by Benjamin R. Barber.  Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1995

ISBN  0-345-38304-4

 2004

How to Speak, How to Listen

by Mortimer Adler.  Published by Touchstone of Simon & Schuster, 1983

ISBN  0-684-84647-0

The Character of Leadership:  Political Realism and Public Virtue in Nonprofit Organizations

by Michael Jinkins.  Published by Jossey-Bass Publisher, 1998.

Bowling Alone – The Collapse and Revival of American Community

by Robert D. Putnam.  Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2000.

ISBN  0-7432-0304-6 (or -0?)

2005

Choosing Civility:  The Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct

by Dr. P.M. Forni. Published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, New York, 2002.

ISBN  10:0-312-30250-9        ISBN 13:  978-0-312-30250-4

Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements

by Bill Moyer, JoAnn McAllister, Mary Lou Finley, and Steven Soifer.  Published by New Society Publishers, British Columbia, Canada, 2001.

ISBN  0-86571-418-5

An Ethics for Enemies – Forgiveness in Politics

by Donald W. Shriver, Jr..  Published by Oxford University Press, New York, 1995.

Leadership and Self-Deception – Getting out of the Box

by The Arbinger Institute.  Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. San Francisco,   2000.

ISBN   1-57675-174-0

 2006

turning to one another – simple conversations to restore hope to the future

by Margaret Wheatley.  Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. San Francisco, 2002.

ISBN  1-57675-145-7

Hope Unraveled: The People’s Retreat and Our Way Back

by Richard C. Harwood.  Published by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Dayton, Ohio, 2005.

ISBN  0-923993-14-2

The Values Divide

by John Kenneth White.  Published by Chatham House Publishers of Seven Bridges  Press, LLC, New York, New York, 2003.

ISBN  1-88911-975-X

Simple Truths on Values, Civility and Our Common Good

by Stephen Bauman.  Published by Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 2006.

ISBN  0-687-33341-5

2007

Faith and Politics – How the “Moral Values” Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together

by John Danforth.  Published by Viking Penguin, New York, 2006.

ISBN  0-670-03787-7

Reclaiming Civility in the Public Square – 10 Rules That Work

by Cassandra Dahnke, Tomas Spath, and Donna Bowling.  Published by Wingspan Press, Livermore, California, 2007.

ISBN  9781-59594-150-3

George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior…and other important writings

by George Washington.  Published by Sourcebooks, Inc., Naperville, Illinois, 2007.

ISBN-13:  978-1-4022-1084-6                        ISBN-10:  1-4022-1084-1

 2008

The Anatomy of Peace – Resolving the Heart of Conflict

by The Arbinger Institute.  Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, 2006.

          ISBN-10: 1-57675-334-4        ISBN-13:  978-1-57675-334-7

 The Uses of Argument

by Stephen Toulmin.  Published by Cambridge University Press, New York, 1958/2003.

ISBN:  978-0-521-53483-3

Moyers on Democracy

by Bill Moyers.  Published by Doubleday, New York, 2008.

ISBN:  978-0-385-52380-6

The Civility Solution – What to do When People Are Rude

by P.M. Forni. Published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, London, 2008.

ISBN 13: 978-0-312-36849-4             ISBN 10:0-312-36849-6

2009

This I Believe – The personal philosophies of remarkable men and women

Foreword by Studs Terkel, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman with John Gregory and Viki Merrick.  Published by Holt Paperbacks, New York, New York, 2006.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8658-4             ISBN-10:0-8050-8658-7

The Case for Civility and why our future depends on it

by Os Guinness.  Published by HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York, 2008.

ISBN:  978-0-06-135343-7

Common Ground – How to Stop the Partisan War that is Destroying America

by Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel.  Published by HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York, 2007.

The Third Side – Why We Fight and How We Can Stop

by William L. Ury.  (Previously published as Getting to Peace) Published by Viking Penguin, New York, New York, 1999, 2000.

ISBN: 0-14-029634-4

2010

The Cure For Our Broken Political Process – How We Can Get Our Politicians to Resolve the Issues Tearing Our Country Apart

by Sol Erdman and Lawrence Susskind.  Published by Potomac Books, Inc., Washington, DC, 2008.

ISBN:  978-1-59797-269-7

A Short History of Rudeness:  Manners, Morals, and Misbehavior in Modern America

by Mark Caldwell.  Published by Picador USA, New York, New York, 1999.

ISBN:  0-312-26389-9

Difficult Conversations – How to Discuss What Matters Most

by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen.  Published by the Penguin Group, New York, New York, 1999.

ISBN:  978-0-14-028852-0

Fight Club Politics – How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives

by Juliet Eilperin.  Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, Maryland, 2006.

ISBN:  978-0-7425-5118-3     ISBN:  0-7425-5118-0

2011

Confessions of a Political Hitman

by Stephen Marks.  Published by Sourcebooks, Inc., Naperville, Illinois, 2007.

ISBN: 1402208545

29 Gifts

by Cami Walker.  Published by Da Capo Press, U.S.A., 2009.

In Defense of Civility

by James Calvin Davis.  Published by Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 2010.

Saving Civility – 52 Ways to Tame Rude, Crude & Attitude for a Polite Planet

by Sara Hacala.  Published by SkyLight Paths Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont, 2011.

2012

The Thinking Life – How to Thrive in the Age of Distraction

 by P. M. Forni.  Published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, New York, 2011.

State by State – A Panoramic Portrait of America

Edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey.  Published by HarperCollins, New York, New York, 2009.

The Righteous Mind – Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

by Jonathan Haidt.  Published by Pantheon Books, New York, 2012

You’re Not as Crazy as I Thought – (But You’re Still Wrong)

by Phil Neisser and Jacob Hess.   Published by Potomac Books, Washington, DC, 2012.

2013

Why Can’t We Talk? – Christian Wisdom on Dialogue as a Habit of the Heart

by John Backman. Published by SkyLight Paths Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont, 2013.

Civility and Democracy in America A Reasonable Understanding

Edited by Cornell Clayton and Richard Elgar.  Published by Washington State University Press, Pullman, Washington, 2012.

Leading Through Conflict – How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities

by Mark Gerzon.  Published by Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts, 2006.

Predisposed – Liberals, Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Differences

by John R. Hibbing, Kevin B. Smith and John R. Alford established the Political Physi- ology Lab at the Uniublished by Routledge, New York, New York, 2014.

2014

 Talk to the Hand

by Lynne Truss.  Published by Gotham Books, New York, 2005.

This Land of Strangers

by Robert Hall.  Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press, Austin, Texas, 2012.

The Power of Nice – How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness

by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval.   Published by Doubleday, New York, New York, 2006.

City of Rivals – Restoring the Glorious Mess of American Democracy

by Jason Grumet.  Published by Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2014.

2015

American Story

by Bob Dotson.  Published by Plume, part of the Penguin Group, New York, New York, 2014.

The Age of American Unreason

by Susan Jacoby.  Published by Pantheon Books, New York, New York, 2008.

American Nations

by Colin Woodard.  Published by Viking Penguin, New York, New York, 2011.

The Ecology of Democracy – Finding Ways to Have a Stronger Hand in Shaping Our Future

by David Matthews.  Published by the Kettering Foundation Press, Dayton, Ohio, 2014.

2016

American Colossus – The Triumph of Capitalism 1865-1900

by H.W. Brands.  Published by Double Day, New York, 2010.

The Lost Art of Listening

By H.W. Brands.  Published by The Guilford Press, New York, New York, 2009.

Unlikely Friendships

By Jennifer S. Holland.  Published by Workman Publishing, New York, New York, 2011.

The Kindness Diaries

By Leon Legothetis.  Published by Readers Digest, New York, New York, 2015.

2017

How Civility Works

By Keith J. Bybee.  Published by Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2016.

The 30% Solution – How Civility at Work Increases Retention, Engagement and Profitability

By Lewena Bayer.  Published by Motivational Press, Inc., Melbourne, Florida, 2016.

Civility – A Cultural History

By Benet Davetian.  Published by University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada, 2009.

Braving the Wilderness

By Brené Brown.  Published by Random House, New York, New York, 2017.

2018

 Treating People Well – The Extraordinary Power of Civility at Work and in Life

By Lea Berman & Jeremy Bernard.  Published by Scribner, New York, New York, 2018.

The Common Good

By Robert B. Reich.  Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, New York, 2018.

Dealing with the Elephant in the Room

By Dr. Mike Bechtle.  Published by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2015.

The Reunited States of America – How We Can Bridge the Partisan Divide

By Mark Gerzon.  Published by Barrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., Oakland, California, 2016.

2019

Let’s Talk Politics – Restoring Civility Through Exploratory Discussion

By Adolf. G. Gundersen and Suzanne Goodney Lea.  Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013.

The Road to Character

By David Brooks.  Published by Random House, New York, New York, 2015.

Love Your Enemies – How Decent People Can Save America from a Culture of Contempt

By Albert C. Brooks.  Published by HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York, 2019.

The Wisdom of Group Decisions

By Craig Freshley.  Published by Good Group Decisions, Brunswick, Maine, 2010.

2020

Creating a New Civility

By Joy Marsella.  Published by the University of Akron Press, Akron, Ohio, 2020.

The CogJam Effect and the Path to Healing Divisive Community and Fractured Science

By Laurel Hughes.  Published by Kharis Publishing, 2019.

The Path of Civility Perfecting the Lessons of a President By Applying the Wisdom of a Buddha

By Robert Sachs.  Published by John Hunt Publisher, United Kingdom, 2020.

Kindness and Wonder Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever

By Gavin Edwards.  Published by Gavin Edwards, 2019. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York.