No matter how you voted in the 2010 election, both Democrats and Republicans can agree that there is one indispensable guide to people, politics, and power in Washington. The Almanac of American Politics is the gold standard—the book everyone involved, invested, or interested in American politics must have on their reference shelf.

As in previous editions, the 2012 Almanac includes profiles of every member of Congress and every governor. It offers in-depth and completely up-to-date narrative profiles of all 50 states and 435 House districts, covering everything from economics to history to, of course, politics. The new edition also contains Michael Barone’s sharp-eyed analysis of the 2010 congressional elections, detailing significant trends, redistricting initiatives, and the like.

Full of maps, census data, and information on topics ranging from campaign expenditures to voting records to interest group ratings, the 2012 Almanac of American Politics presents everything you need to know about American politics in snappy prose and framed by cogent analysis.

“Real political junkies get two Almanacs: one for the home and one for the office.”—Chuck Todd, NBC

“It’s simply the oxygen of the political world. We have the most dog-eared copy in town.”—Judy Woodruff, PBS News Hour

“Michael Barone is to politics what statistician-writer Bill James is to baseball, a mix of historian, social observer, and numbers cruncher who illuminates his subject with  perspective and a touch of irreverence.”—Chicago Tribune

“Indispensable . . . this compendium of statistics and information has gone as far as humanly possible.”—Washington Post