Robert Rubin's Reading List

""Paris 1919," by Margaret MacMillan, which I'm rereading"

"Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence," which I just finished."

"There's a biography by Victoria Glendinning I really like called "Vita." It's about the life of Vita Sackville-West, an author and intellectual who was part of the Bloomsbury Group."

"I recently finished a book called "1215: The Year of Magna Carta," by Danny Danziger and John Gillingham. What I found so fascinating was that even though the events he describes occurred more than 800 years ago... issues of personality — self-interest, pride and ego — played the same role they do in major decisions today."

"His book "America's Bank" (which I reviewed for The Times), for example, tells the history of the creation of the Federal Reserve — not always considered the most scintillating subject — in a way that embraces complexity while still being deeply engaging."

"There are already some terrific nonfiction books, such as Chris Whipple's "The Gatekeepers," that provide insight into how government and policymaking function"

"some of my favorites are "A Coffin for Dimitrios," by Eric Ambler, and anything by the Scottish American author Helen MacInnes."

"That's easy. "The Underclass," by Ken Auletta. It follows a nonprofit organization as it attempts to improve the lives of some of New York's lowest-income residents, and when I read it in 1982, it completely changed the way I think about poverty in America."

"Drew is an exceptional historian and storyteller, so I'm very much looking forward to diving into her memoir."