Senator John McCain (1936—2018) entered the Naval Academy in June
of 1954. He served in the United States Navy until 1981. He was
elected to the US House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982 and
to the Senate in 1986. He was the Republican Party’s nominee for
president in the 2008 election. He is the author of Faith of My
Fathers, Worth Fighting For, Why Courage Matters, Character Is
Destiny, Thirteen Soldiers, and The Restless Wave.
Mark Salter has collaborated with John McCain on all seven of their
books, including The Restless Wave, Faith of My Fathers, Worth the
Fighting For, Why Courage Matters, Character Is Destiny, Hard Call,
and Thirteen Soldiers. He served on Senator McCain’s staff for
eighteen years.
“Senator Lindsey Graham once described his friend John McCain as
someone who would ‘run across the street to get in a good fight.’
McCain’s final battle came straight to him. I’m not talking about
the one against brain cancer…I’m talking about the one against
Donald Trump. He wages it in a forthcoming book, The Restless
Wave...McCain has always believed, to his core, in sacrifice, honor
and allegiance to something larger than oneself…Such grace is
unimaginable from Trump. That’s why it’s so vital that McCain is
using his waning time to model it.” —Frank Bruni, The New York
Times
"You can see McCain in this book struggling to reconcile himself to
what his Republican Party has largely become…The six-term senator
from Arizona slips in a few careful mentions of Donald J. Trump,
and expresses concern about the rancor that has overtaken the
country…He consistently returns again and again to what seems for
him to be a core commitment: a fervent belief in American
exceptionalism...his faith in his country’s beneficence remains
undimmed." —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
"In what may be his final public act, John McCain this month will
publish a book that bequeaths us a rare gift....the volume does not
burden us with a lot of high-minded advice based on lessons
learned, nor does it pull us down into treacly memoir. McCain is
still very much McCain....What he does offer, though, at this
peculiar moment of our history, is far more precious: a reminder of
the values and principles that our nation has long stood for, and a
spur to us to recover from this unhealthy interlude and stand for
them again. Without preaching, instead by recounting stories of
battles won and (often) lost, McCain unspools something akin to a
self-help manual for a country that has, at least for the moment,
lost its way." —Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post
“It should be required reading for anyone who wants to lead in a
democracy.” —Senator Lindsey Graham, The New York Times
“History matters to McCain, and for him America is and was about
its promise. The book is his farewell address, a mixture of the
personal and the political. 'I have loved my life,' he writes. 'All
of it.' The Restless Wave is a fitting valedictory for a man
who seldom backed down.” —The Guardian, US
"Remarkable....a book-length meditation on what it means to face
the hard challenges of long life and the sobering likelihood of
imminent death. John McCain’s valedictory message, at the
booksellers under the title The Restless Wave, is a 400-page
reflection on hardship, a homily on purpose, a celebration of life
— and a challenge to Americans to live up to their values and
founding principles at a time when both are in jeopardy." —The
Boston Globe
"This is not just a book that offers a vision of how politics might
be done differently, it is essentially a blueprint for how to live
a life well." —The New Statesman
“In this thoughtful valedictory, [McCain] delivers…Unlike the
previous six books McCain and Salter have composed together, this
one wasn’t written for voters. It was written for history…With what
time he has left, the “maverick” — an appellation he has worn
throughout his career, at some times more comfortably than at
others — is going to put country first and tell the truth…His book
will be remembered for its genuine concern about the future of our
republic and the West.” —James Hohmann, The Washington
Post
"McCain’s The Restless Wave coalesces a series of poignant and
striking warnings of the perils facing the United States, from
Russian aggression worldwide to an escalated American divide and
partisanship fights to isolationist efforts and racism…He also
expresses a theme of gratitude for living a life larger than he
envisioned." —Stars and Stripes
“Written in McCain’s plain-spoken, occasionally brusque manner, the
senator and Vietnam war veteran…offers a wide-ranging appraisal of
his own career, one marked by unrealized presidential ambitions and
a lofty view of America on the international stage.” —The
Guardian
“John McCain always said he’d go down fighting, and so he
has…McCain became, throughout his career, the embodiment of the
noble nonconformist on the Hill, the politician who was all too
willing to sacrifice party loyalty to do what he thought was right
for the country, to do so loudly and consistently, and to
fearlessly pronounce everyone, including the occupant of the Oval
Office, dead wrong if they disagreed with him. Over nearly four
decades in Washington, McCain has given a master class in
maverickism, and it is for this he will be most remembered. So it
is fitting, perhaps that the inveterate fighter is taking on
Trump—another Republican politician who rose by bucking GOP
orthodoxy—in his final battle, and bequeathing to the nation a
bookful of advice on how to be the right kind of
maverick.” —Politico
“It is clear McCain wants this book—sure to be his last—to be a
guide for standing up for oppressed people around the globe, as he
has done for decades.” —CNN
“Republican Senator John McCain is known as a maverick, familiar
with tough fights, from prison camps in Vietnam to the floor of the
U.S. Senate. Recently, he has been staying close to the Arizona
ranch he calls home, as he undergoes treatment for brain cancer…but
he still speaks his mind…[In The Restless Wave] there are
reflections about living and past decisions, but it also makes
clear that McCain still has plenty to say about America, American
society, and politics in the age of President Trump.” —PBS
NewsHour
"The Restless Wave is the seventh and final book McCain has
written with longtime collaborator Mark Salter. Focused on his
past 20 years of public life and a few major topics, it's McCain on
McCain, even more uncensored than usual. Which makes it fun, no
matter your politics." —New York Daily News
"Sometimes rueful, sometimes defiant, always affecting. Even
McCain’s political opponents should admire the fiery grace with
which he’s exiting the world." —Kirkus Review
"It is rich in his beliefs on a number of subjects critical to
America....He has a particular gift for illustrating his points
with stories of a wide variety of people whom he has encountered,
at home and abroad....Mr. McCain as a politician was positive and
irascible, an interesting combination. His well-known disposition
toward 'straight talk' is evident throughout the book....America
will miss this man in our public life. This book makes it very
clear why." —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"If you haven't gotten the book, it is really worth getting. You
don't need to agree politically, but as an American and as a human
being, I think this is a book everybody should read." —Whoopi
Goldberg, The View
“An elegiac memoir… the maverick Republican senator from Arizona
has produced a personal memoir that is frank, poignant and
ultimately a sobering commentary about the state of American
democracy and world leadership.” —The Financial Times
"Moving....Rather than a response to extraordinary times, this fine
memoir reads more like a requiem of a long, patriotic
life." —Publishers Weekly Online
"Revisit a life fully lived in Senator John McCain’s swan
song, The Restless Wave." —Entertainment Weekly
"This is a very different look back at a remarkable life and
career....McCain and Salter’s book is definitely worth reading; in
fact, it’s one that I wish every member of Congress and staffer
would read. His vantage point on what has happened in politics and
in Congress, through the eyes of someone who has lived through what
he has, makes it all the more worthwhile." —National
Journal
"Even if you had never heard of John McCain, reading The Restless
Wave would make you want to pick him for your team." —VVA Veteran
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