October 1962. The Soviet Union has smuggled missiles into Cuba. Kennedy and Khrushchev are in the midst of a military face-off that could lead to nuclear conflagration. Warships and submarines are on the move. Planes are in the air. Troops are at the ready. Both leaders are surrounded by advisers clamoring for war. The only way for the two leaders to negotiate safely is to open a “back channel”—a surreptitious path of communication hidden from their own people. They need a clandestine emissary nobody would ever suspect. If the secret gets out, her life will be at risk . . . but they’re careful not to tell her that. Stephen L. Carter’s gripping new novel, Back Channel, is a brilliant amalgam of fact and fiction—a suspenseful retelling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which the fate of the world rests unexpectedly on the shoulders of a young college student. On the island of Curaçao, a visiting Soviet chess champion whispers state secrets to an American acquaintance. In the Atlantic Ocean, a freighter struggles through a squall while trying to avoid surveillance. And in Ithaca, New York, Margo Jensen, one of the few black women at Cornell, is asked to go to Eastern Europe to babysit a madman. As the clock ticks toward World War III, Margo undertakes her harrowing journey. Pursued by the hawks on both sides, protected by nothing but her own ingenuity and courage, Margo is drawn ever more deeply into the crossfire—and into her own family’s hidden past.

From the best-selling author of The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White, a daring reimagining of one of the most tumultuous moments in our nation’s past   Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial . . . Twenty-one-year-old Abigail Canner is a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin, a letter of employment from the law firm that has undertaken Lincoln’s defense, and the iron-strong conviction, learned from her late mother, that “whatever limitations society might place on ordinary negroes, they would never apply to her.” And so Abigail embarks on a life that defies the norms of every stratum of Washington society: working side by side with a white clerk, meeting the great and powerful of the nation, including the president himself.  But when Lincoln’s lead counsel is found brutally murdered on the eve of the trial, Abigail is plunged into a treacherous web of intrigue and conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the divided government. Here is a vividly imagined work of historical fiction that captures the emotional tenor of post–Civil War America, a brilliantly realized courtroom drama that explores the always contentious question of the nature of presidential authority, and a galvanizing story of political suspense.

The murder of a renowned African-American economist opens a door on the racial complications of this town's past, on one family's secrets, and on the most hidden and powerful bastions of African-American political influence. This book presents a story that explores the profound difference between allegiance to ideas and to people.

Product Description: "The man who many considered the peace candidate in the last election was transformed into a war president," writes bestselling author and leading academic Stephen l. Carter inThe Violence of Peace, his new book decoding what President Barack Obama's views on war mean for America and its role in military conflict, now and going forward...read more

A riveting spy thriller, Jericho's Fall is the spellbinding story of a young woman running for her life from shadowy government forces. In a secluded mountain retreat, Jericho Ainsley, former CIA director and former secretary of defense, is dying of cancer. To his bedside he has called Rebecca DeForde, a young, single mother, who was once his lover. Instead of simply bidding farewell, however, Ainsley imparts an explosive secret and DeForde finds herself thrown into a world of international intrigue, involving ex-CIA executives, local police, private investigators, and even a US senator. With no one to trust, DeForde is suddenly on the run, relying on her own wits and the lessons she learned from Ainsley to stay alive.   

Product Description: In the peaceful New England university town of Elm Harbor, a murder threatens to unravel the thin veneer hiding the racial complications of the town's past, the hidden secrets of a prominent family, and African-American political influence in the United States...read more

“Carter twists plotlines like pretzels while wryly skewering America’s wealthy intellectual elite.” —PeopleJohn Grisham called Stephen L. Carter’s first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park, “beautifully written and cleverly plotted. A rich, complex family saga, one deftly woven through a fine legal thriller.” The Chicago Tribune hailed Carter’s next book, New England White, as “a whodunit with conscience.” Now this best-selling novelist returns with an electrifying political thriller set in the turbulent era of Watergate and Vietnam, giving us one of the most riveting and naked portraits of Nixon ever written.In the summer of 1952, twenty prominent men gather at a secret meeting on Martha’s Vineyard and devise a plot to manipulate the President of the United States. Soon after, the body of one of these men is found by Eddie Wesley, Harlem’s rising literary star. When Eddie’s younger sister mysteriously disappears, Eddie and the woman he loves, Aurelia Treene, are pulled into what becomes a twenty-year search for the truth. As Eddie and Aurelia uncover layer upon layer of intrigue, their odyssey takes them from the wealthy drawing rooms of New York through the shady corners of radical politics, all the way to the Oval Office.Stephen Carter’s novel is as complex as it is suspenseful, and with his unique ability to turn stereotypes inside out, Palace Council is certain to enthrall readers to the very last page.

Product Description: Book by Stephen L. Carter

After the death of his father, the flamboyant and controversial Judge Oliver Garland, his son Talcott must unravel the truth about his father's life, a quest that brings him face to face with old scandals and family secrets.

Judge Oliver Garland has just died in suspicious circumstances. Conservative and famously controversial, Garland has made many enemies. Many years ago, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. This is a work of fiction, a crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, and justice gone terribly wrong.

After the death of the accomplished, flamboyant, and controversial Judge Oliver Garland, his son Talcott, a law professor, must unravel the truth about his father's life, a quest that brings him face to face with old scandals, family secrets, and justice gone wrong. By the author of The Culture of Disbelief. A first novel.

The sequel to Culture of Disbelief discusses the role of religion in cultural politics and argues that the religious perspective is essential to American politics, presenting a series of historical and contemporary examples that illuminate the various ways in which politics and religion do an do not mesh well. Reprint. 30,000 first printing. (view table of contents)

The sequel to Culture of Disbelief discusses the role of religion in cultural politics and argues that the religious perspective is essential to American politics, presenting a series of historical and contemporary examples that illuminate the various ways in which politics and religion do an do not mesh well. (view table of contents)

Integrates everyday examples with conjecture on their significance to analyze integrity in terms of its ramifications in politics, the media, sports, business, and personal life

A leading intellectual and scholar considers the causes and nature of the moral crisis in America today and offers ways in which families, individuals, and politicians can improve the country by adhering to basic principles of civility. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

Product Description: The acclaimed author of "The Culture of Disbelief" proves to readers that manners matter to the future of America.

Argues that civil disobedience is necessary to the progress and prosperity of a democracy (view table of contents)

A critical analysis reviews such heated confirmation battles as those involving Clarence Thomas, Lani Guinier, and Zoe Baird, places the battles in historical context, and argues that such tactics typically damage worthy candidates. Reprint.

In an updated version of his successful book, the author of Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby argues that religion can play a role in the nation's politics, law and culture while maintaining its separation from state. Reprint.

A Yale law professor reflects on his own experience with affirmative action--the benefits he reaped and suffering he experienced as a black man who was able to take advantage of affirmative action programs. Reprint. NYT.