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Alumni Work Among New York Times Best Books of 2013

Two of the ten best books of 2013 as chosen by The New York Times were written by Wilson Center scholars while they were in residence.

The New York Times has selected its list of Best Books of 2013. Two of the ten best books chosen were written by Wilson Center scholars while they were in residence.

They are detailed below: 

Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House
by Peter Baker, Public Policy Scholar, 2010-2011

Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House (Doubleday, 2013) was authored by Peter Baker, Public Policy Scholar from 2010-2011 and Chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times. During his time at the Center, Baker studied George W. Bush’s second term of presidency. His book examines the historic relationship between the President and Vice President over the course of a tumultuous eight years that were defined by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Hurricane Katrina, and the financial crisis.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death at a Storm-Ravaged Hospital
by Sheri Fink, Public Policy Scholar, 2010

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death at a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (Crown, 2013) was authored by Sheri Fink, Public Policy Scholar in 2010. In harrowing detail, Fink describes the hellish days at a hospital during and after Hurricane Katrina, when desperate medical professionals were suspected of administering lethal injections to critically ill patients. Masterfully and compassionately reported and as gripping as a thriller, the book poses reverberating questions about end-of-life care, race discrimination in medicine and how individuals and institutions break down during disasters.