Politics & Government
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There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | "As a memoir this is hard to put down; if you are seeking a better American future you should pick it up.”—Timothy Snyder, New York Times best-selling author of On Tyranny
A celebrated foreign policy expert and key impeachment witness reveals how declining opportunity has set America on the grim path of modern Russia—and draws on her personal journey out of poverty, as well as her unique perspectives as an historian and policy maker, to show how we can return hope to our forgotten places.
Fiona Hill grew up in a world of terminal decay. The last of the local mines had closed, businesses were shuttering, and despair was etched in the faces around her. Her father urged her to get out of their blighted corner of northern England: “There is nothing for you here, pet,” he said.
The coal-miner’s daughter managed to go further than he ever could have dreamed. She studied in Moscow and at Harvard, became an American citizen, and served three U.S. Presidents. But in the heartlands of both Russia and the United States, she saw troubling reflections of her hometown and similar populist impulses. By the time she offered her brave testimony in the first impeachment inquiry of President Trump, Hill knew that the desperation of forgotten people was driving American politics over the brink—and that we were running out of time to save ourselves from Russia’s fate. In this powerful, deeply personal account, she shares what she has learned, and shows why expanding opportunity is the only long-term hope for our democracy.
Editorial Reviews
A New York Times Bestseller
A Washington Post Bestseller
"The rare Trump insider memoir that doesn't obsess over Trump . . . As it turns out, we should have paid more attention to Hill's life story. Though her book does feature first-person accounts of Trump and his inner circle, There is Nothing for You Here is a more ambitious and personal effort."
-The Washington Post
"Hill is a lucid writer, delivering her reminiscences in a vivid and wry style. . . . with immediacy, tenderness and a good bit of gallows humor."
-The New York Times
"Valuable and riveting . . . Hill's personal, professional and political lives form a coherent whole so that each part illuminates the other . . . a memoir that will give pleasure to readers today - and will be an important document for historians of the future."
-Financial Times
"The alarm [Hill] sounds is urgent . . . She sees striking similarities between the impoverished region of her roots and disadvantaged areas of both America and Russia. . . . Her journey from disadvantaged origins to success has echoes of the bestselling tales of Tara Westover's Educated and J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy."
-Economist
"This book has a miraculous quality. Fiona Hill has transformed her own predicaments in the Trump administration into a prescription for a better America. Known as an outstanding expert on Russia and an exemplary public servant, she reveals herself here as a wise observer and a beautiful writer. As a memoir this is hard to put down; if you are seeking a better American future you should pick it up."
-Timothy Snyder, Yale University, New York Times best-selling author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
"[An] ambitious, immensely compelling memoir, Hill interweaves her interesting life story with events and issues she has continued to observe during her career . . . The author persuasively argues that America may be heading in a similar direction to Russia unless we address the crucial challenges facing much of the country, specifically regarding education, health care, and job opportunities. Drawing insightful parallels between Trump and Putin, she unpacks how the threat of populism can quickly undermine democracy . . . A shrewd, absorbing memoir that casts a sharp eye on America's future while offering feasible solutions for change."
-Kirkus Reviews, *starred* review
"In this captivating chronicle of her improbable life, Fiona Hill takes us from a Northern England of idled coal mines and deindustrialization to Trump's Oval Office, demonstrating how individual bio...
A Washington Post Bestseller
"The rare Trump insider memoir that doesn't obsess over Trump . . . As it turns out, we should have paid more attention to Hill's life story. Though her book does feature first-person accounts of Trump and his inner circle, There is Nothing for You Here is a more ambitious and personal effort."
-The Washington Post
"Hill is a lucid writer, delivering her reminiscences in a vivid and wry style. . . . with immediacy, tenderness and a good bit of gallows humor."
-The New York Times
"Valuable and riveting . . . Hill's personal, professional and political lives form a coherent whole so that each part illuminates the other . . . a memoir that will give pleasure to readers today - and will be an important document for historians of the future."
-Financial Times
"The alarm [Hill] sounds is urgent . . . She sees striking similarities between the impoverished region of her roots and disadvantaged areas of both America and Russia. . . . Her journey from disadvantaged origins to success has echoes of the bestselling tales of Tara Westover's Educated and J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy."
-Economist
"This book has a miraculous quality. Fiona Hill has transformed her own predicaments in the Trump administration into a prescription for a better America. Known as an outstanding expert on Russia and an exemplary public servant, she reveals herself here as a wise observer and a beautiful writer. As a memoir this is hard to put down; if you are seeking a better American future you should pick it up."
-Timothy Snyder, Yale University, New York Times best-selling author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
"[An] ambitious, immensely compelling memoir, Hill interweaves her interesting life story with events and issues she has continued to observe during her career . . . The author persuasively argues that America may be heading in a similar direction to Russia unless we address the crucial challenges facing much of the country, specifically regarding education, health care, and job opportunities. Drawing insightful parallels between Trump and Putin, she unpacks how the threat of populism can quickly undermine democracy . . . A shrewd, absorbing memoir that casts a sharp eye on America's future while offering feasible solutions for change."
-Kirkus Reviews, *starred* review
"In this captivating chronicle of her improbable life, Fiona Hill takes us from a Northern England of idled coal mines and deindustrialization to Trump's Oval Office, demonstrating how individual bio...
Readers Top Reviews
Dead Fred Sales
I'll be back soon after I have read it . . I usually get my star selection correct .
D. C. Eller
This is a great book and being able to have someone read it to me is a lot of fun. I want to re-read (re-listen) to this book preferably twice a year - it's that good.
DisneyDenizen
Intelligent interesting read. You'll be reading more about England than you expect.
Trudie Barreras
It goes without saying that having become a cable TV addict since 2016, I was well aware of the strong presence and personality of Dr. Fiona Hill, the “Russian expert” whose testimony in the first impeachment hearings of the 45th President was so telling. I was therefore amazed and fascinated when I watched several of Hill's pre-publication interviews on that same cable channel discussing her memoir “There is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century”. What fascinated me the most was the very different personality that came through at that time. Not only was her hairstyle different, but her entire self-presentation was remarkably warm and humorous, characteristics not evident during her Congressional testimony. Despite the fact that my Kindle budget is stretched thin, I decided I really needed to get to know this woman better. As a memoir, “There Is Nothing for You Here” is warm, insightful, honest, and thoroughly enjoyable. Her intellectual acumen and probing insights on the parallels of the economic and social crises in the UK, the U.S. and Russia from the 1970’s to the present are extraordinarily valuable. Hill was born in 1965, which means she is the same age as my own youngest daughter, and I could not help but reflect on the differences in their career trajectories. My daughter fortuitously found employment right out of high school in a tech firm; opted not to pursue further education; and was able to grow and advance through many changes in management. She is now planning to retire from the same organization. Dr. Hill, as the daughter of a coal miner in Northern England, had to strive for educational opportunities; chose an academic path studying Russian history and language; and became a valued expert. Her appointment to the NSC in the Trump White House was not “political” however, which provided her with the unique ability to be an objective observer. Her objectivity is exceptional, which puts in sharp relief the numerous outrageous assaults on her personality and qualifications to which many of the sycophants of the previous administration have subjected her. The main thrust of Hill’s personal and philosophical reflection, though, may be seen in her subtitle: “Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century.” Her own life, of course, is a saga of seeking opportunity, finding it, and seizing it. Of the many passages in this narrative I’ve bookmarked for myself, this is the one I choose to share: “As citizens of a democracy, we are all responsible for effecting change, especially when doing so will shore up the political system that we have inherited… “Many discriminatory barriers, as I discovered firsthand, are deliberately used by specific groups to reduce competition for scarce resources, including access to elite universities and jobs.”(pp. 408-9) And further on the author continues: <br...
linda galella
the inner circle of the White House, “There Is Nothing for You Here” is Fiona Hill’s memoir and political prescription for helping us prepare a better future. Hill was born into a coal mining family and poverty. The book’s title comes from words her father said, urging her to get out of the area, “there’s nothing here for you.” She went off to study Russian and history in Scotland, Moscow and Harvard, all preparing her to serve 3 administrations in Russian & European policy. The book provides a very detailed look at her childhood and life in northern England with descriptive prose that’s not typical of most political writers; I enjoyed it. Her accounting of events in the White House and with President Trump seem somewhat circumspect to me. Hill has an unique assessment of Trump and his relationship with Putin, (no, she doesn’t think he worked for him!), that also involves the current path America is heading towards Socialism/Communism. Because of her early life in English coal country, time in Russia and years in the USA and DC, Hill is able to comment on personal experience as well as historical events and future possibilities concerning Russia. Many political writers will give their grand ideas, helpful tips, platitudes for fixing everything that ails our country. Most of it is highly partisan, impossible to accomplish or some buzz phrase being bandied about cyberspace. Hill provides quite a detailed collection of suggestions that are broken down by people groups, ages, access and makes specific suggestions rather than broad generalizations. She draws on all her life’s experience and makes this portion of the book real and achievable for everyone at any age or economic level. This is the summary, the subtitle - “Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century” and it’s here that Hill’s writing comes to its best?
