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General Motors' former leadership was "appalling" and the company had no idea how much cash it had on hand, the Obama administration's former "car czar" says. In his new book, Steven Rattner offers an insider's perspective on the government's ultimately successful efforts to rescue GM and Chrysler from failure.

The recession that started in December 2007 ended in June 2009, according to a group that dates the beginning and end of recessions. The downturn lasted 18 months, making it the longest since World War II, the National Bureau of Economic Research said.

Readers know Roald Dahl through his books, specifically his children's stories. But Donald Sturrock's Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl delves much deeper into the life of the famed author.

Math is the only truly exact science, but numbers can also be used to fudge and deceive. Author Charles Seife explores the ways numbers can lie in his new book, Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception.

When superspy James Bond hit the silver screen in 1962, he launched one of the most successful and enduring series in film history. And, author Sinclair McKay says, James Bond gave the British the opportunity to save the world, too.

Criminal groups are increasingly opting to deal in stolen smokes, police say. Some are even more interested in them than they are in illegal drugs. The money to be made is tempting. And gangs are willing to kill for it.

David Lipsky says that his favorite comic, Runaways, is both a brilliant reading experience — and an embarrassment festival. The tiny digests by Brian K. Vaughan have been a fount of guilt, awkwardness and grave personal doubts, but he still pulls them out on the subway, because they are just that good.

The Border Patrol's indicators of success for Operation Streamline don't always add up and neither do the numbers: No one knows just how much the program costs. The Border Patrol makes arrests, but the Justice Department and federal courts provide the logistics of convicting those who cross illegally.

Dr. Donald Berwick, federal chief of Medicare and Medicaid, asked insurers for their help in making health overhaul a success and to achieve common goals. Cheaper, better health care is in everyone's interest, he said.

If the tax cut for wealthiest Americans is allowed to expire, those households making over $250,000 would see their income tax rate rise from 33 percent to 36 percent and those making upwards of $375,000 would go from a 35 percent rate to 39.6 percent. But does it make sense for the tax rate for someone making six figures to be the same as for multimillionaires?