According to the New York Times, Noam Chomsky is "arguably the most important intellectual alive." But he isn't easy to read . . . or at least he wasn't until these books came along. Published as four short books in the famous Real Story series-What Uncle Sam Really Wants; The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many; Secrets, Lies and Democracy; and The Common Good-they've collectively sold almost 600,000 copies. And they continue to sell year after year after year because Chomsky's ideas become, if anything, more relevant as time goes by. For example, twenty years ago he pointed out that "in 1970, about 90% of international capital was used for trade and long-term investment-more or less productive things-and 10% for speculation. By 1990, those figures had reversed."