No comments about Madame de Stael: The First Modern Woman.

5 comments about Skydog: The Duane Allman Story.

1. I'd already read Freeman's "Midnight Riders" and there is nothing new here.
   Add a star if your a Guitar Gearhead - the history of Duane's axes is well done.



2. What an awesome read! Gives a great biography on Duane. A great chapter on Derek and The Dominoes. A must read for the Allman Brothers fan.



3. Beautifully written biography by Randy Poe on a true rock legend. I highly recommend this book to any fans looking for an entertaining read with a lot of very good information on the career of Duane Allman. The reason I gave it four stars, and this of course is my own opinion, is because there wasn't very many personal details on his life and I would've liked it if Poe had given a little more insight as to the kind of person Duane was outside of rock n'roll. Nevertheless, it is a great story on the very successful journey Diane Allman had leading up to his days with the Allman Brothers Band and eventually to his far too premature death. Just don't expect the story to get personal at all because it really only focuses on his career. Overall, four stars seems to suit my judgment on the story and I definitely do recommend it.



4. It was interesting to read this book and afterwards, Clapton' autobiography and compare between the two as to the Derek and the Dominos story. Not surprising that while spreading some nice words about Duane Allman (as expected), Clapton doesn't really gives him the credit Duane really, really deserves. Randy Poe, on the other hand, puts things in place- in simple and clear language, he describes the real story of Duane Allman.Not that the funs didn't know the facts, they knew it but, this is the one book that gives it all. I will not repeat other reviewers' remarks as to the greatness of Duane, I will only say that Duane really wrote from zero point the rule of the electric guitar in a rock band, and this is the real contribution, gift and legacy to the world. Clapton?? A gifted song writer that does the same guitar solo for the last 40 years. No wonder that every time that I have to choose between the two, I find myself listening to the Fillmore East record for the 1,000 time and enjoy myself as it was my first time.



5. This book is a must read for Allman fans, guitar players or music fans in general!
   Never has been written such a thorough analysis of The Man and his legacy.

5 comments about Tough Choices: A Memoir.

1. I found this book in a used book store, and decided to read it after hearing all the criticism of Carly from various acquaintances who work or worked at H-P. For those of us born and raised in what came to be known as Silicon Valley, the rise and fall and rise again of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation has been interesting to watch. (Disclaimer: I never worked at H-P, and just follow(ed) it as an investor, and as a resident in the area)
   
   In her book "Tough Choices", Former CEO Carly Fiorina clearly has scores to settle, which get in the way of what might have been a fascinating story.
   
   To Fiorina's credit, she does not have a ghostwriter, and her book, unlike the works of Jack Welch and Lee Iacocca, has fewer trite nostrums and pretentious pontifications. Her insights into the business world are fascinating and enlightening.
   
   However, while Carly Fiorina clearly does have interesting corporate war stories, she appears to have forgotten that utterly bogus "affirmative action" policies were at least partly responsible for her rise to power. She should be bitter. No one wanted her just for her mind.
   
   And let's face it Carly, Compaq was a dog, arf arf, given what H-P paid for it.
   
   Ultimately, while the book is often insightful, some of it is undeniably a self serving story with little evidence of honest insight. There is simply not enough honest responsibility on Carly's part for some demonstrably poor decisions. For example, Ms. Fiorina calls some unidentified directors "amateurish and immature." Indeed, the H-P board later was racked by scandal and resignations. But Ms. Fiorina sidesteps her own responsibility. She was chairman during most of her H-P days, with the power to remake the 10-member board. She brought in only two fresh faces while accepting several Compaq directors who gained H-P board seats after the 2002 merger.



2. Carly is truly an inspiration- and a talented writer! I enjoyed reading about her story on how she got to where she is in life, and she has alot of funny anecdotes and stories mixed among some amazing insightful advice to keep it all interesting.



3. Having worked at a Cambridge based business school for a little over seven years as an administrative assistant, the story of Carly Fiorina really caught my interest, because I was curious about the gender dynamics and or biases in the business world, if indeed there really were and are any. But according to Fiorina's intepretative slant, there are. To a certain extent, I believe her; she was a controversal CEO, and in reading some of the reviews, there do seem to be some people who have an axe to grind in regards to her leadership, especially in HP's acquisition of Compaq, among some other happenings.
   
   With a background in medieval history and philosophy, one would not think that that would be a stable foundation for a life in business, but it was always her obedience to her parents and those around her that prevented her from flourishing into what she ultimately became, and I think that is ultimately what Fiorina's core message is to her readers, that people have to follow their own instincts. People can not always follow the path that others have laid out for them, no matter how good intentioned it may be. The person's individual instincts must come first.
   
   Yet with the judgements and bickering aside, Tough Choices is actually a good memoir and very well written, lucid, direct and not overdone with protective hyperbole; the memoir is not suggestive of a pity party or a woman who is trying to find redemption through all the chaos of criticism. What was really conveyed was how Carly Fiorina rose through the ranks to become the CEO of Hewlett-Packard in the first place.
   
   She gives illuminating details of her various stints at AT&T, Lucent Technologies and all the various offshoots until she was recruited by HP. She also details her family life, her numerous trips abroad (the meeting in Japan with the assigned geisha brought a smile to my face), to the various firings she had to commit to in order to see the industry through. And there are those moments where she writes about her encounters with sexism. They were not indicative of the companies that she worked for, just certain people who unfortunately did not know any better. That may sound weak, but it is true nonetheless.
   
   Overall, Tough Choices was a fine read, and I learned something from it. When a person is in a position of authority, irrelevant of gender, not everybody is going to be pleased. Sometimes it is just what is best for the company? CEOs have to look down the road, not at just the moment, and Carly Fiorina did that, to the best of her ability until the Board decided that new leadership needed to be gleaned from a pool of likeminded candidates. Lastly, I would not take the totality of Tough Choices as one hundred percent truth, as memoirs and autobiographies can always be manipulated so only one side is conveyed. I am sure there were plenty of screw-ups that were not acknowledged, but as a basic memoir, Tough Choices was a worthwhile read.



4. The fabulous story of one bright-young-girl growing into the top executive in a world class Fortune 125 company. Intriguing to read about the roadblocks she faces in corporate America as a woman rather than a member of the good-old-boys network...and my oh my, how WELL she did it indeed. Extremely well written - I could not put it down. This should be required reading for all teenage girls in America - and the boys could learn a thing or two too. I nominate Carly Fiorina for President of the United States! She could do it and do it well!!



5. I am a big fan of biographies, but after reading this book, I came to a conclusion that biography is more interesting when it's written by a third party. When a person writes about his/her life, the author tends to write all the "cool" stories, and there is nothing I can learn about the real person who has failed, became angry and upset, and surviveed from it. I am sure Ms. Fiorina is an extremely interesting and strong person, but I could not feel it from this book, which is a collection of stories to show how great she is, and that's just about it.
   
   In addition, I was a little ticked about her opinion on law school being a place to learn all the old stuff and not creating anything new. As a law school graduate, I remember the excitement of reading cases like Brown vs. Board of Education and Wade vs. Roe. Law does create new things too, and it seems that Ms. Fiorina could not see that after studying the law only one semester. It make me question though... Ms. Fiorina majored history as her undergraduate study. Isn't it the ultimate study of learning the "old stuff"? Her opinion of law school seems to me is just another self-serving "execuse" and not the real reason.
   
   Anyhow, it was like reading a biography of a robott. Very shallow and not interesting at all.

5 comments about Forward From Here: Leaving Middle Age--and Other Unexpected Adventures.

1. Forward from Here is Reeve Lindbergh's best book yet. Funny, tender, compassionate, profound, Lindbergh reveals herself to be an accomplished and graceful writer--something you might already suspect if you have read her earlier books, Under a Wing (about growing up Lindbergh, with two extraordinary parents, Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh) and No More Words (about her mother's decline and death). In this book, Lindbergh (an author of books for children) explores the happiness and hazards she encounters as she journeys from middle age into her sixties--the "youth of old age." "I might as well enjoy the view as I travel along from my birth to death, inhabiting this being I call myself," she writes. "I may be a passenger on the journey, or I may be the vehicle itself, but I'm definitely not the driver. I'm here, but I'm not in charge."
   
   Maybe, but she's not just along for the ride. In this collection of nineteen personal essays, she laughs at the pleasures of her rural Vermont life--the joys of reading, writing, raising lambs and boys and encountering turtles--and takes a sober look at the challenges of living in an aging body. The vanities of youth are gone (she quotes her beloved sister Anne, now dead of cancer: "After a certain age, there's only so good you can look.") and she is making "friends with reality." Not sure that she wants to wear purple, with a red hat that doesn't go, she looks back on a time when she wore lavender eyeshadow and white lipstick (do you remember doing that? I do) and laughs at herself. In fact, she knows that's the best thing to do: "laugh at myself when laughter is called for, weep when I need to, and feel all of it, every bit of it, as much as I can for as long as I can."
   
   As far as feeling all of it goes, the most remarkable essay is the "Brain Tumor Diary," an account of the months (July 2006 through May 2007) when Lindbergh was dealing with a brain tumor--benign, thankfully, but large, intrusive, undeniably there, and needing to come out. It was a difficult time for her and her family. The saving graces were her writing and her focus on daily life: "Dailiness outlasts despair," she says. "For a while the rhythms of daily life may seem to be submerged, even drowned in disaster, but that is never true." The "Brain Tumor Diary" is a report from the front lines of daily life, lived in the face of possible disaster.
   
   The Lindberghs are no strangers to life on the front lines and in the public eye. Reeve and her siblings have had to deal with as many as fifty men who have claimed to be the Lindbergh child kidnapped in 1932. But there is more, and in her final essay, she writes movingly about the way she felt when she learned that her father, the picture of rectitude, a "stern arbiter of moral and ethical conduct," had three secret European families and seven children. Indignation, anger, rage at her father's deception and hypocrisy, shame--it's all there. But in the end, there is compassion, and even humor:
   
   I certainly could have done with his [my father's] endless lectures on the Population Explosion...A man who fathered thirteen--I think, I still have to stop and count us!--children, haranguing one of his daughters about world population figures? Give me a break!
   
   And in the end, knowing her father to be at once "deeply intelligent and incredibly energetic," and "angry, restless, opinionated...obsessed with his own ideas and concerns," she has to admit that the multiple families made a certain kind of sense: "No one woman could possibly have lived with him all the time."
   
   "I'm hoping that as I get older I'll get braver," Lindbergh writes at the close of this splendid and moving book. I'm hoping that Lindbergh will take us with her as she bravely explores her future, forward from here, and that soon we'll be able to read the next chapter of her journey.
   
   by Susan Wittig Albert
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



2. What a pleasure to read! I am not quite finished with this Kindle book and the more I read it, the more I'm enjoying it. Lindbergh is a sensitive, thoughtful, writer and I can relate to her experiences on so many levels. I, too, am a woman of a certain age, a mother, grandmother, potential (me, not her) writer. Her perspective on life, the natural world, her family just drew me in and I found myself wishing she were my friend.
   
   Thank you, Reeve, for a lovely reading experience. I'm recommending this for all my friends and if they don't buy it, they're getting a copy for their birthdays or Christmas/Chanukah.



3. FORWARD FROM HERE will delight you if:
   
   --you remember with great fondness the writings of Reeve's mother, Anne Morrow. Making allowances for the generational differences, their styles and subjects are similar: family, nature, the written word per se, etc.
   
   --you have read and enjoyed Reeve's other books. I found her UNDER A WING more tightly focused and thus, to me, more engaging; and NO MORE WORDS more frank and moving. But FORWARD FROM HERE has much of the charm of a lovely, simple dessert,what Anne Morrow Lindbergh called "something sweet at the end of the day." I was happy to have this book waiting at my bedside table for several nights, and only wished it a little longer.
   
   --you are actively engaged in "moving forward" from 60-plus. The book deals honestly but cheerfully with a generous handful of the standard challenges of ageing. We are also offered time-tested insights on matters such as parenting, reading, writing, and modern drugs(pro and con).
   
   --you want to know a bit about Reeve's reactions to her father Charles Lindbergh's three secret simultaneous mistresses and families. (The "Lone Eagle" indeed!) Of course this long-hidden aspect of Charles Lingbergh's otherwise much-celebrated life might well be the subject of a complete and probing book of its own, written not out of prurience but with the intent to better understand the puzzling psychological and emotional temperament involved. But Reeve Lindbergh will not, I think, be the one to write such a book.



4. This is one of the best books that I've ever read. I've ordered others for my friends.



5. I usually try to read at least one book per week and, also, listen
   to one book on tape or CD . . . it was difficult to find the time to
   do the listening while away, so this past week I instead managed
   to read a second book . . . its review follows:
   
   Turning sixty is something I can relate to, in that I'll be celebrating
   that birthday next June.
   
   Anne Morrow Lindbergh in FORWARD FROM HERE describes
   how she went through a similar experience . . . as she enters
   the period her mother once described as "the youth of old
   age," the author details the many unexpected surprises
   she has encountered.
   
   Her observations were amusing at times, yet also
   oh-so-insightful--such as this one:
   
   * As I grew older and older, I got more used to the idea that death
   would happen to everybody, including me, but that in my case it
   would not happen for a very very very very long time. By the time it
   happened, I hoped, I would be so old that it wouldn't bother me. This
   is not quite true yet, but again, I think I may be getting there. I hope it
   takes me a while longer. There's no need to rush.
   
   As I journey on, I carry my lost loved ones with me: my sister, my mother,
   and all the others. I have learned over the years that I can do this, that
   love continues beyond loss. It continues not abstractly but intimately,
   and it continues forever. My experience has also made me understand
   that loss is inevitable, and that loss, too, continues forever, right along
   with love.
   
   I also liked what the author had to say about pets of all kinds . . . she
   devotes two chapters to birds . . . however, it was this observation
   about her dog that especially caught my attention:
   
   * Many of our visitors, seeing that we had a dog, entered the house
   with loud voices and waving hands, making a noisy fuss over him. This
   kind of behavior just caused the poor dog to slink off into a corner
   and stay there until the visitors left. Helen Wolff came in without
   commotion and then sat quietly and drank her tea, like the well-behaved
   guest that she was. The dog came over to greet her, eventually, sniffing
   her hand and wagging his tail, probably grateful for her good manners. She
   told me once that she felt it was better to let animals or children come
   to her, if they wished to, rather than the other way around.
   
   The part of FORWARD FROM HERE that most caught my attention
   was Lindbergh's account of how she discovered thirty years after
   the death of her father (famed aviator Charles Lindbergh) that
   he had three secret families in Europe . . . upon this discovery,
   she then went to meet them--discovering that her new extended
   family was far more complicated than she had ever imagined.

1 comments about Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas.

1. This is a great biography of a great man. Unlike the kleptocrats regularly paraded before us on the nightly news, Dr. Paul is a real human being who has displayed a consistent, conscientious devotion to a set of core principles, and this book does a great job of capturing that.
   
   The authors trace Dr. Paul's life, his commitment to family, and the development of his political philosophy. Each section highlights a different time in Dr. Paul's life, and I was pleased to find that his younger years weren't just skipped through to spend more time on 2007-2008; as exciting as that time was, it's been covered pretty heavily by others. I've been following Dr. Paul for quite some time, and a lot of the information in this book was new to me--the authors obviously did their research.
   
   Overall, this is an engaging examination of Dr. Paul's life and philosophy and well worth the read.

No comments about Hitler's Private Library: The Books That Shaped His Life.

5 comments about Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History.

1. Many people have a bias against history, thinking it is either boring or that it has no application and value for the modern time. As a result, many people of the past and their contributions to what we are now are never known. This book can change that. Its well written and engaging style warmly introduces the reader to many important people in Christian history, giving a brief summary of the lives of 46 Christian men and women, beginning with Polycarp down to the modern time ending with Richard Wurmbrand. We've been reading a chapter a week in our church's Wednesday night studies to a mixed crowd of adults and children. I think it says something of the author's ability to communicate when both adults and children say that have been blessed and inspired by the witness of these saints as Hannula tells their stories.



2. I'm not sure that there's a time or a place for hagiography. Anyone other than a Christian from a reformed tradition will have difficulty with the biographies here. In general they fail to show the full human-ness of the subjects -- tho' the specifically Catholic or liturgical traditions are, if not condemned outright then certainly have a disapproving eye cast upon them. This work, like others of this kind, fail dismally in that they sanitize the lives of real, sinful human beings -- a standard even the Bible does not aspire to. Yes, many of these Christians have served God faithfully -- but in many more cases God has worked in spite of their failings -- some of which count among the serious sins -- abuse of fellow creatures, adultery etc. To set these people up as some kind of standard to which all Christians should aspire is a real problem, especially when the whole story is not presented. Frankly I find it much more inspiring to know that God can work through little old me, in spite of my many sins and failings. Faithfulness in the midst of sometimes significant short-comings is a much more realistic and holy goal. I bought this book as part of our homeschooling program, but I shall re-sell it. I'm not about to subject my children to these misleading stories.



3. I use this book for homeschooling my ninth grader. It gives a great selection of short biographies on historical figures in church history. we used it regularly when studying the Dark and Middle Ages. Excellent buy.



4. This book is so informative. I have learned so much about church history from it. Although I wouldn't recommend reading it to a child under the age of 8, I think it has many good facts and lessons for a child to learn. I read this to my kids and they are always asking questions afterwards. It's thought provoking and inspiring.



5. Opinion from an Apostolic Pentecostal Family: We really like this book. We use it as part of Ambleside Online Homeschool Curriculum. We don't know of any other book except "the book of martyrs" that the Amish has out that puts Christian Martyrdom in such a sober and accurate light. The first lesson was tough becuase of the tears my children found streaming down their face. They were literally putting themselves in the story as Polycarp (for example) and said if they were him they would be "scared to die because it would hurt", but ultimately they came to the realization that in Revelations we are told that we will be forced to choose between God and ________(fill in blank) and then suffer a consequence. I want my children to be prepared to know how to handle that situation and to know that to face death for our Saviour is just one way we can show Him our commitment. He paid the ultimate price for us. We want to have a willing heart to do the same for Him. This book helped us all (age range 7 to 31) to look at this very real and serious predicament and to answer and commit to a path of action should the time come. I cannot say that this book lists all the "dirty laundry" of the folks who are respresented but I can say that it doesn't matter... the heart of the matter was to inspire us to take a more steady and stronger course of action in our personal lives when challenged to "denounce Christ" or to "go with the flow" and relax a little...
   
   Thank you Richard for this awesome and inspiring book.... I will be giving copies to family for Christmas this year...

5 comments about Flags of Our Fathers (Movie Tie-in Edition).

1. I saw the movie first and later on read the book. The book has a lot of information that re-caps events that have taken place and explains places. Bradley did a remarkable job. The story is nice and an excellent piece of literature that all Americans should read.



2. This book is a poignant reminder that freedom is never free. The book is as much a tribute to the men who gave their lives on the island of Iowa Jima as it is an exploration of the lives of those who raised the flag in one of the most iconic photos of all time. Flags of our Fathers aptly illustrates the bravery of our servicemen in the bloodiest battle in the history of the Marines. Every American needs to read Bradley's description of this battle and the human cost of our victory in WWII.
   
   Bradley deftly humanizes the flag raisers, painting their lives with careful detail. He is always fair, portraying their successes and failures with an even, historical tone. At times there is a sentimental quality to his writing, but this doesn't detract from the book as a whole. Who would not have a certain level of sentimentality writing about their war-hero father and his comrades?
   
   This book is a captivating examination of all that is right, and unfortunately, all that is wrong with America and the WWII era. The selflessness of the servicemen both in combat and then as part of war bond drives is both heroic and admirable. The way the US government treated these men, and the way they preyed on their heroism is disgusting and shameful. The US propaganda machine, the racism suffered by the Native American Ezra Hayes, and the failure to offer our soldiers any real counseling or assistance with their mental health after their return to the States are equally disgraceful.
   
   It would be nice, if some 60 years later things had changed, but just go to a movie theater and wait for a National Guard commercial, and you'll realize that as a Nation we are still using our servicemen and women as pawns in political machinations. Research the way soldiers returning from Iraq suffering PTSD are being treated, and it quickly becomes apparent that we have many of the same problems now that we did then. We need to start acknowledging our soldier's bravery and sacrifice without entangling them in the dirty world of politics. We also need to take responsibility for their mental health after we send them to war.
   
   Flags of our Fathers does not take a stance on the modern context of these issues. It doesn't need to. It describes what America did well, what it didn't, and the very real consequences of both extremes in the lives of the men portrayed in the book. It should be a lesson to us all, and this is why I believe every American should read it.



3. I was very surprised after reading this book to learn that the flagraising on Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima was nothing more than a simple replacement flag implant. These six men were brought together from all parts of the country, assigned to Iwo Jima along with thousands of other young American men and women, and by sheer circumstance, helped one another replace a crippled original flag on top of the mountain. A photographer happened to snap a shot of the flagraising, and instantly became a national symbol of courage and eventually the monument of The Marine Corps Memorial. The book is filled with clear images of life for a World War II soldier (Pacific Theater), strength, love, friendship, humility, fear, courage, and extreme struggle. I recommend this book to every American citizen.



4. I gave this as a birthday gift to my husband and I finished reading it before he did. I thought it was well researched and written. Very sad, but helped me understand what they went through. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the famous picture and statue.



5. Perhaps the best book I've ever read. This book captures the action, the drama, the immense human sacrifices paid by the soldiers, their courage, the brutality of war, the history of the era and the war, the biographical background of the young soldiers and their families both before, during and after the war. Superb isn't strong enough to describe how well written this book is as it tells an amazing story about our young men you go off to war to save their country and the world from ruthless military dictatorships. The stories are gut wrenching and tear jerking. You will travel into the belly of the beast that is war and be nourished by the courage and committment to the mission's success and emotionally devastated by the carnage and loss of life and limb that followed these poor souls 24/7. The men and women who fought in WW2 truly were American's greatest generation. Read this book.

No comments about Winging It: Dispatches from an (Almost) Empty Nest.

5 comments about From Third World to First : The Singapore Story: 1965-2000.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Lee Kuan Yew. Besides being a genious at governing the man is a gifted writer. The book is full of information for those, like me, that were curious about how this gentleman, along with his associates, pulled out the feat of transforming an underdeveloped society into a model society. He, almost singlehandedly, achieved what other countries and societies with far more resources only dream of. Pick this book if you wish to learn and, at the same time, be entertained.



2. I loved this book. Lee is insightful and a great writer.
   
   His chapter on Taiwan, however, was mad hypocrisy. He critices Taiwan for "pulling away" by teaching in schools primarily the history/geography of the island instead of China, as before. Funny this is coming from a guy known for getting rid of all Chinese-language universities in Singapore. He spoke about ensuring he brought Malays along in his trip to China, and conducting meetings in English, to ensure China recognizes Singapore's unique identity.
   
   Also funny was Lee KY's attributing Lee Teng-hui's provocative behavior to Lee TH's Japanophilia and being "powered" by the spirit of the Bushido warrior." Yet throughout the book Lee KY talks about how British he is, e.g., his habit of drinking tea in the morning! Furthermore, he spoke of the great sentiments associated with attaining British knighthood, which according to him, was the greatest honor he had ever received. I couldn't help laugh when reading the British knight accuse the Bushido warrior of Japanophilia, when he himself is brimming with Anglophilia.



3. great book. lee is the most impressive character i've ever read in history book.



4. This book is a detailed account of Singapore's history beginning from its independence and its development to a first world country under Lee Kuan Yew's leadership, and the second part is Lee's diplomatic relationships with different nations and his dealings and views on their leaders.
   
   It is a very entertaining and insightful read, Lee goes deep into details in problems looming over Singapore in its infancy and in developing the nation to feed its population. How he tried to persuade the British to maintain its military base there to protect Singapore from its two dangerous neighbours and communism from China and in within, and when failed how he placed utmost importance in building a working army to defend itself.
   
   Lee realizes the importance of a clean and competent government, whereby he believes a good paycheck would help curb corruption and an anti-corruption agency with a high degree of power was formed to further prevent it. He was able to gather a group of honest and able people to form an efficient government, which was vital in building any nation.
   
   He created a safe and secure environment through the rule of law and honest public administration to attract foreign direct investment to build up factories in Singapore, this was essentially the main driver behind Singapore's phenomenal growth. Through this he created thousands of jobs and gave the Singaporeans adequate livings.
   
   He knows the importance of human resources given that's the only resource Singapore has, he stresses on education and the English language to effectively connect Singapore to the world. He had to close down the Chinese-speaking Nanyang University because most graduates had a hard time finding job.
   
   He also gave explanations on some of his rather controversial actions in suing newspapers and political opponents, which seem reasonable.
   
   Overall, he has done a remarkable job in creating an honest and efficient government, a sound legal system with the rule of law, excellent infrastructure and he was able to provide jobs and a good living to his people. All these are the factors to Singapore's miraculous transformation. And on top of that, he retired from his prime ministerial post and passed on the baton, albeit still holding a senior minister post.
   
   All in all, Lee has done a spectacular job in transforming Singapore to the only other first world country in Asia aside from Japan, heads off to him.



5. The book is very good in its sincere attempt to delivery the story on how Singapore was built. Perhaps with an intention, on the side, to 1) lay down guidelines that other asian countries could follow, and 2) further promote Singapore to foreign investors. His emphasis on discipline and strict public policies--that may be deemed oppressive in other countries--to jumpstart progress could be well-intentioned points as well. The reader cannot miss the pride on every passage that highlights the successes of Singapore as a small state-country.
   
   But not everyone can agree with Lee Kwan Yew's setting-aside, for example, of a free press. Freedom of expression is a right; the fruits of progress is not complete without it.
   
   An authoritarian government cannot hide, as well, the hypocrisy that is probably vital to compromise certain liberties, in exchange for a 'highway' towards progress. Sometimes one can also see how money is used in Singapore to discipline, and as a only parameter in decision. One case in point: a young professional Singaporean shared a story that Lee Kwan Yew once pompously said that as long as he is alive, there will be no casino in Singapore. Well, yes, he is still right, there are two casinoes now being built simultaneously in the Marina area! And what with the Geylang red-light district that the government has to acknowledge quasi-legally? Is the rationale for both of these is that they are still business ventures that Singapore will still profit from in the end?
   
   Lee's omission of his own compromises/hypocrisy in fact weakens the book's commentary and criticism of other countries' priorities. (He has tons of advise and lay downs on neigbors in southeast asia--taiwan, philippines, malaysia). Singapore is known as a good place to work at, but not to live in.
   
   The book is very thick. Ive concentrated most of the history on early Singapore (good read!) and some opinions on the state of asian countries today. There are some repetitions and convolutions as well. I think this book could have used a good editor before publishing.
   
   Still a good buy, but 3 stars only for not being as in-your face that I would have personally wanted. Hypocrisies that he should still acknowledge (and explain).