2 comments about Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945.

1. This is Mr. Burns' companion volume to his Lion and the Fox (check that out). This focuses on FDR's WWII War Administration: policies, attitudes, hopes and worldly goals.

   FDR's dedication to the well-being of the United States in WWII is evidenced by the fact that to start with, he didn't want a third term in office come 1940. Indeed, such aspirations were frowned upon in the political community. It did not stop him; as he saw it, it was his duty and obligation to the American people to keep familiar leadership in time of international turmoil. Other obstacles: struggles to arm allies, constant planning and meeting with allied leaders, and gradual, failing health. Burns also shows FDR's political savvy, using the utilization for war to the nation's advantage. Many unemployed workers were put back to work, which helped shift American industry into an overdrive that didn't stop for decades. Vision: as a disciple of Woodrow Wilson, he had a vision of a United Nations. One that he did not live to see.

   For anyone reading about FDR, or World War II, this companion volume on his war administration is a must for anyone's collection, as it has become in mine.




2. This scholarly, yet elegant, book won the Pulitzer Prize, Francis Parkman Prize, and National Book Award. It thoroughly covers Roosevelt's presidency leading up to and including World War II, and yet the prose is unusually engaging for a work with so much information.
   
   "Soldier of Freedom" covers America's dilemma leading up the war. Should America get involved or not? How should Roosevelt lead an isolationist America to responsibly confront the war that waged in Europe? How should America plan for the threat? What strategy to win the biggest war in history? What kind of peace?
   
   Once the war began, America needed to become mobilized. This book tells the story of war administration in scholarly detail. It covers especially well Roosevelt's diplomacy, so important for victory. He understood that alliances would be crucial to win World War Two, which meant tactful maneuvers and calculated trade-offs. The book also presents Roosevelt's interpretation of the meaning of the war and his vision for a better post-war world.
   
   As one of the reviews states on the back of the book, "Soldier of Freedom" combines rigorous scholarship while being enjoyable to read.
   
   "The Time 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century" named Einstein, Gandi and Franklin D. Roosevelt the three most important people of that Century. This book partly explains why FDR was the most important politician of the 20th Century.
   
   FDR created the modern, powerful presidency. He transformed America from weak, uninvolved isolationism into an active superpower. He established the firm posture of moral, yet pragmatic, international leadership (FDR Americanism) that would serve America (and the world) so well through the Cold War.
   
   James MacGregor Burns, the author, is a great scholar and biographer, and therefore I believe this to be a highly authoritative biography. For example, Burns also wrote one of the best biographies of George Washington. He has authored several excellent works about leadership, including the book "Transforming Leadership." I believe his scholarship is highly authoritative and fair.
   
   I remember reading quotes that Burns made in newspaper stating that Ronald Reagan was "a great or near-great president" because Reagan was a "transforming" president, like Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt. (Reagan, by the way, adored FDR, voted for him multiple times, and attended one of FDR's inaugurations - a deeply moving event for Reagan).
   
   General readers interested in Franklin Roosevelt can also choose from many other one-volume biographies by other authors, such as Black's superb "Champion of Freedom," "Leuchtenburg's "Franklin D. Roosevelt," Friedel's "Rendezvous with Destiny," or Jenkins' brief "Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
   
   Finally, Roosevelt was a powerful speaker. In one survey of speech experts, Roosevelt was ranked the greates presidential speeker, with Reagan coming in second. (Reagan borrowed heavily from Roosevelt, both in style and content). Roosevelt's inauguration speech in 1940 is regarded as one of the ten greatest presidential speeches. It wonderfully defined the impending struggle for freedom against Hitler. Here is Roosevelt's speech:
   
   "On each national day of inauguration since 1789, the people have renewed their sense of dedication to the United States.
   
   "In Washington's day the task of the people was to create and weld together a nation.
   
   "In Lincoln's day the task of the people was to preserve that Nation from disruption from within.
   
   "In this day the task of the people is to save that Nation and its institutions from disruption from without.
   
   "To us there has come a time, in the midst of swift happenings, to pause for a moment and take stock--to recall what our place in history has been, and to rediscover what we are and what we may be. If we do not, we risk the real peril of inaction.
   
   "Lives of nations are determined not by the count of years, but by the lifetime of the human spirit. The life of a man is three-score years and ten: a little more, a little less. The life of a nation is the fullness of the measure of its will to live.
   
   "There are men who doubt this. There are men who believe that democracy, as a form of Government and a frame of life, is limited or measured by a kind of mystical and artificial fate that, for some unexplained reason, tyranny and slavery have become the surging wave of the future--and that freedom is an ebbing tide.
   
   "But we Americans know that this is not true.
   
   "Eight years ago, when the life of this Republic seemed frozen by a fatalistic terror, we proved that this is not true. We were in the midst of shock--but we acted. We acted quickly, boldly, decisively.
   
   "These later years have been living years--fruitful years for the people of this democracy. For they have brought to us greater security and, I hope, a better understanding that life's ideals are to be measured in other than material things.
   
   "Most vital to our present and our future is this experience of a democracy which successfully survived crisis at home; put away many evil things; built new structures on enduring lines; and, through it all, maintained the fact of its democracy.
   
   "For action has been taken within the three-way framework of the Constitution of the United States. The coordinate branches of the Government continue freely to function. The Bill of Rights remains inviolate. The freedom of elections is wholly maintained. Prophets of the downfall of American democracy have seen their dire predictions come to naught.
   
   "Democracy is not dying.
   
   "We know it because we have seen it revive--and grow.
   
   "We know it cannot die--because it is built on the unhampered initiative of individual men and women joined together in a common enterprise--an enterprise undertaken and carried through by the free expression of a free majority.
   
   "We know it because democracy alone, of all forms of government, enlists the full force of men's enlightened will.
   
   "We know it because democracy alone has constructed an unlimited civilization capable of infinite progress in the improvement of human life.
   
   "We know it because, if we look below the surface, we sense it still spreading on every continent--for it is the most humane, the most advanced, and in the end the most unconquerable of all forms of human society.
   
   "A nation, like a person, has a body--a body that must be fed and clothed and housed, invigorated and rested, in a manner that measures up to the objectives of our time.
   
   "A nation, like a person, has a mind--a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself, that understands the hopes and the needs of its neighbors--all the other nations that live within the narrowing circle of the world.
   
   "And a nation, like a person, has something deeper, something more permanent, something larger than the sum of all its parts. It is that something which matters most to its future--which calls forth the most sacred guarding of its present.
   
   "It is a thing for which we find it difficult--even impossible--to hit upon a single, simple word.
   
   "And yet we all understand what it is--the spirit--the faith of America. It is the product of centuries. It was born in the multitudes of those who came from many lands--some of high degree, but mostly plain people, who sought here, early and late, to find freedom more freely.
   
   "The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history. It is human history. It permeated the ancient life of early peoples. It blazed anew in the middle ages. It was written in Magna Charta.
   
   "In the Americas its impact has been irresistible. America has been the New World in all tongues, to all peoples, not because this continent was a new-found land, but because all those who came here believed they could create upon this continent a new life--a life that should be new in freedom.
   
   "Its vitality was written into our own Mayflower Compact, into the Declaration of Independence, into the Constitution of the United States, into the Gettysburg Address.
   
   "Those who first came here to carry out the longings of their spirit, and the millions who followed, and the stock that sprang from them--all have moved forward constantly and consistently toward an ideal which in itself has gained stature and clarity with each generation.
   
   "The hopes of the Republic cannot forever tolerate either undeserved poverty or self-serving wealth.
   
   "We know that we still have far to go; that we must more greatly build the security and the opportunity and the knowledge of every citizen, in the measure justified by the resources and the capacity of the land.
   
   "But it is not enough to achieve these purposes alone. It is not enough to clothe and feed the body of this Nation, and instruct and inform its mind. For there is also the spirit. And of the three, the greatest is the spirit.
   
   "Without the body and the mind, as all men know, the Nation could not live.
   
   "But if the spirit of America were killed, even though the Nation's body and mind, constricted in an alien world, lived on, the America we know would have perished.
   
   "That spirit--that faith--speaks to us in our daily lives in ways often unnoticed, because they seem so obvious. It speaks to us here in the Capital of the Nation. It speaks to us through the processes of governing in the sovereignties of 48 States. It speaks to us in our counties, in our cities, in our towns, and in our villages. It speaks to us from the other nations of the hemisphere, and from those across the seas--the enslaved, as well as the free. Sometimes we fail to hear or heed these voices of freedom because to us the privilege of our freedom is such an old, old story.
   
   "The destiny of America was proclaimed in words of prophecy spoken by our first President in his first inaugural in 1789--words almost directed, it would seem, to this year of 1941: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered ... deeply, ... finally, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people."
   
   "If we lose that sacred fire--if we let it be smothered with doubt and fear--then we shall reject the destiny which Washington strove so valiantly and so triumphantly to establish. The preservation of the spirit and faith of the Nation does, and will, furnish the highest justification for every sacrifice that we may make in the cause of national defense.
   
   "In the face of great perils never before encountered, our strong purpose is to protect and to perpetuate the integrity of democracy.
   
   "For this we muster the spirit of America, and the faith of America.
   
   "We do not retreat. We are not content to stand still. As Americans, we go forward, in the service of our country, by the will of God."

5 comments about HITLER'S SPY CHIEF: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery (Cassell).

1. There has been relatively little written about German spying during World War II. And most of what is written comes from the viewpoint of the American or British side. The British, for instance in their capturing and turning all of the German agents sent to England.
   
   In this book the viewpoint is of that of the head of the German Abwehr, the German Secret Service. Canaris had been a success at nearly everything he did. And the organization that he built up was quite effective.
   
   This book takes the point of view that Canaris did an awful lot to help the allied cause. Most of this took the form of putting a bias into the reports sent to Hitler. For instance the reports about what the invasion of Britain was facing showed England having more than twice as many divisions to oppose the landing as were actually present. It is difficult to say if this was deliberate or a part of British disinformation.
   
   Canaris was a member of the Hitler inner circle. This was a furiously competitive atmosphere, and in the end he lost as they fought over who would lead the falling nation.



2. 
   
   Hitler's Spy Chief is subtitled "The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery," but it is not entirely clear what should be so mysterious about this perhaps somewhat enigmatic but ultimately more frustrating than indecipherable man.
   
   Bassett begins with a glimpse of Canaris' youth, and quickly moves into very strong and informative chapters on his start with the German Imperial Navy prior to and during World War I. His adventures in South America and then Spain are fascinating, and make clear Canaris' patriotism, intelligence, and resourcefulness. Germany's collapse in 1918 affected him deeply, and he became fervently anti-communist and somewhat reactionary. Bassett's writing on the interwar period is excelent, highlighting the fascinating world of arms trading and multinational business against the backdrop of illegal German rearmament in the wake of Versailles. Canaris' networking skills were invariably at work on behalf of the German military, whether cooperating with the British, the Russians, or the Spanish; his personal preferences seemed to play no part, he had no private agenda to speak of. The biography so far is of a promising soldier and intelligence man. By the time Hitler was appointed Chancellor, and Canaris was eventually made chief of military intelligence, he was a loyal and obedient Nazi. Only two years later he was working behind the scenes to bring the government of Nazi Germany down. What changed?
   
   Bassett's position seems to be that Canaris was appalled was the immoral/illegal conduct of Hitler and his henchmen, although he himself did not appear to waver when pursuing illegal activities during the interwar period, not excluding political assassination. Bassett repeatedly returns to Canaris' Catholic upbringing, contrasting this with the "pagan" Nazi regime, but there seems little evidence of Canaris' devout and pious Christianity in his career beyond this assertion. In any event, Canaris soon turned on the regime, and began working in secret to bring it down. Unfortunately for both Germany and the balance of the world, he failed completely. Once the war began, he worked essentially as an Allied agent (complete with assigned number), while working sincerely but utterly ineffectually to bring about some type of negotiated peace. Once victory for the Allies was in sight, and the unconditional surrender doctrine announced, Canaris' efforts became truly futile. Inevitably the Nazis uncovered this, and initially (and unusually leniently) simply retired him. After the July 1944 plot against Hitler, Canaris was arrested and eventually executed for treason.
   
   Bassett chronicles Canaris' dealings with the Allies in frustratingly general terms, and there is a lot of writing about what must have been discussed at meetings that we cannot confirm were ever even held, where the principals were not necessarily even in the same country at the same time. Connections with Churchill and others are suggested, but not proven (and given the nature of the espionage world, as well as the passage of time and destroyed or classified records) or perhaps provable. Large parts of chapters seem largely built upon suppositions and conjecture. The book's strengths are definitely in the WWI and interwar periods, where there is much more solid source material to work from, and where Bassett's admiration for the adventurous and dashing Canaris in his prime shines through.
   
   Bassett's conclusion is essentially that Canaris sought to halt the seemingly inexorable march to war by the Nazis; to end that war with some type of negotiated settlement once it had begun; and finally to hasten Germany's defeat when a settlement proved of no interest to first the Nazis and then the Allies. That he failed in every one of these goals, the author insists, should not be held against him. This last is nonsense; of course it should be held against him. Canaris as the head of the Abwehr certainly had tremendous and unique means and almost unlimited opportunity for eight consecutive years to bring about `regime change' in Germany, including constant personal access to Hitler himself. That he would use the opportunity to betray Germany to the Allies, yet fight the Russians, all the while waiting for someone else to do the dirty work of taking out Hitler and his clique is appalling. Several - too few - German officers had the courage required to attempt it; given what we have learned about Canaris as a younger man, one is surprised to learn that he apparently did not. The end result was that millions more soldiers and civilians of all nationalities died.
   
   Reading the second half of this book is in many ways like watching a train wreck. Bassett writes well, has good command of the often thin sources, but ultimately seems not to know what to make of his subject. Well worth reading nonetheless.



3. This book includes only a tiny blurb on the author, which mentions that he was a correspondent for The Times. From his writing style, it seems that he must have been either an MI6 agent or one of their many bought and paid for journalists. Objective evidence: he refers to MI6 by its official name, or rather by its official initials, which in my reading experience is something almost exclusively done by those in government employ. Subjective evidence: his fawning attitude is that of a man talking about his masters. Whether or not SIS is literally his paymaster, he certainly regards intelligence agents, and other "exalted" civil servants, as of a superior caste to himself - and the rest of humanity.
   
   With that said, the author only goes on like that on the topic of personalities, and there is not a lot of characterisation in this book. I have never before read a biography which reduces its subject to a cliché, but this one does. In fact, he reduces every person in this book to a cliché. He goes on about stiff, dogmatic, close-minded generals, usually but not always Prussians, versus the cunning, world-wise, open-minded intelligence agents or chiefs. It is not so much bad as it is silly.
   
   How then could this book be worth reading? The majority of the book is taken up in describing what Canaris was doing, rather than trying to describe Canaris himself. There is quite a bit on how the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) operated, which is of considerable interest. Also, Canaris seems to have concerned himself a great deal with the highest levels of politics, also of great interest to me. The book goes into great length and some detail on the collusion of Canaris with Sir Stewart Menzies, head of MI6 (the official name changed afterward) and the financial-political elites behind both of them, to oust Hitler and Churchill, bring Britain into the fascist fold, and lead a Europe united in dictatorship against the Soviet Union. The scope of the author on this area is remarkably broad, especially for a biography, and broader than any other source I have yet found, including some specifically on this topic. He talks about the knowledge and use by all intelligence agencies of international arms dealers, who sold to any and all sides in a conflict. He talks about how the City of London financially supported the Nationalists in Spain and the Nazi Government. He even finds a note of black comedy while explaining the weapons trade between Britain and Germany: the British complained about slow and late deliveries in the summer of 1939, and he quotes a German replying that soon the British might be even less appreciative of the Germans bringing weapons into British territory.
   
   All in all, this is not a good book on Wilhelm Canaris, or the personalities of the Nazi era. It is a reasonable account of the operations of the Abwehr. It is a good and broad introduction to the cooperation and collusion of intelligence agencies in undermining the governments they are supposedly answerable to, both for this specific period and in general.



4. Abwehr was the German secret service until it was merged into the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence branch of the SS during World War II. At the center of Abwehr was Wilhelm Canaris, whose career in the military and intelligence spanned both world wars (Hh rose to the rank of admiral). His story is ably told by Richard Bassett in a concise and informative biography.
   
   This is a man whose clandestine life altered the course of World War II. Picked in January 1935 to be chief of Military Intelligence, Canaris (at first attracted to National Socialism) grew to detest Hitler and spent much of his energy undermining the war effort. He hoped somehow to bring about a negotiated end to the war. Roosevelt's understandable demand of unconditional surrender ended all chances of negotiations.
   
   Bassett is masterful in weighing his judgments of events and refusing to speculate beyond reasonable interpretation of the evidence. He conveys Canaris' history in evenhanded terms, admiring his work when warranted and criticizing his character when needed: "The temptation to beatify must be resisted . . . he was for far too long a `believer.'" Bassett uses previously unexamined material from British and German archives to construct a fascinating history of this hidden man.
   
   --David Lang at Advance Book Reviews



5. A biography of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, the chief of German military intelligence during World War II. A minor military hero of World War I (during that conflict, he daringly escaped from internment in Chile to return to Germany), he continued a distinguished career in the German navy during the interwar period. He welcomed Hitler's accession to power, and he was named head of the Abwehr, but he turned against the Fuhrer as he became sure his militarism was leading the nation to a disaster. Once the war started, he tried to secretly undermine the Nazi war effort. A lifelong anticommunist, he tried unsuccessfully to end Germany's war against England, so that they could both fight together against the Soviet Union. When Hitler learned about this, he ordered him hanged along with his closest associates. Unfortunately, Author Richard Bassett is not a very good writer, and he doesn't have a lot of source material to work with (documents, memos and the like). Canaris, who was and old fashioned gentleman and a political conservative, led an obviously interesting life, but here he comes off as a quite unsympathetic figure, both devious and naïve at the same time. In his murky dealings during World War II, he tried to bite much more than what he could possibly chew, and end up paying a very high price for that. Also, in the book we never get to learn the real Canaris - perhaps fitting for an intelligence chief.

1 comments about An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln.

1. In An Honest Calling attorney Mark E. Steiner makes good use of his professional training and years spent in helping to compile Lincoln's legal papers.
   
   Study of Lincoln's law career has long been hampered by the scattered nature of Lincoln's court documents throughout Illinois and the Midwest. Now they are gathered together, and Steiner has made a fine presentation of what they reveal about Lincoln's "day job," which may have consumed as much of his time as politics did. Steiner deals with Lincoln's law practice in general and with some individual cases revealing Lincoln's handling of particular issues (including slavery and railroad corporations). Civil and criminal practices are covered.
   
   This is an excellent introduction to Lincoln's law practice, and will also interest persons seeking information about the influence of attorneys on the Western frontier.

5 comments about Memoirs.

1. Mikhail Gorbachev's writing has always been difficult at best. As a lawyer and a life-long aparatchik, never have more exciting ideas been presented in such bland and even obtuse prose. Nevertheless, Gorbachev's Memoirs are worth reading for anyone interested in the historic changes that brought an end to the Cold War and the nuclear arms race. Even books by such knowledgeable Americans as former Ambassador Jack F. Matlock's Autopsy On An Empire, can't hold a candle to Gorbachev's detailed, olympian perspective on the events he was so instrumental in creating. Gorbachev also makes some remarkably candid comments about some other world leaders. As a man who has met most of the more powerful and successful people of his era, Gorbachev's Memoirs are well worth the effort. His book is indispensible for anyone interested in foreign policy.



2. Gorbashev presents and excelent and candid view into the recent history of Rusia. The book provides background knowlege with insight as to the reasons of Rusia`s economical, social and political problems. More importantly, after reading it, I have a deeper understanding as to the current problems that exist with the different countries that are a product of the desintegrated Rusia. To mention a very resent example, Kosovo. It is very easy to get caught in the "media web" and misunderstand other countries problems. There is no substitude for reading. I recommend reading the book, that is why I give it five stars.



3. In the latter part of the 20th Century, Mikhail Gorbachev changed the history of the world. He undid the unhappy results of the Russian Revolution and its version of communism which imprisoned Russia and the Soviet Union in totalitarianism. Almost single-handed, he brought the nerve-wracking Cold War to a peaceful end.

   In his determination to rid his country of the stultifying bureaucratic thought and practices which prevented the full flowering of an idealistic version of Socialism, he broke open old seals to let in light, fresh air and innovative thought. Alas, for Soviet-style communism, the new air and new light caused it to shrivel and die.

   Little did Mr. Gorbachev realize the unintended consequences of his acts, first as General Secretary of the Communist Party and later as Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet. Little did he realize that when the ties of totalitariansim were loosened that the Soviet Union would disintegrate almost overnight.

   Well, that's all history now -- and it is an historical "given" that Gorbachev's innovations of glasnost and perestroika stimulated thought and ambition and the courage to break from the past. His Memoirs are important -- not for the political analysis of why what happened actually did happen but for what they tell about the man Gorbachev, his ambitions for himself and for his country.

   Some might find the day by day chronicle irritating slow, but I did not. In the first third of this long book, Mr. Gorbachev relates his life prior to his rise to power; interesting because he describes his rural, farm-life background which explains much about the man he ultimately became. The final two-thirds of his Memoirs describes Soviet history and Mr. Gorbachev's role in it during its last days.

   Famous, historical personalities populate its pages. He was diplomatically kind in describing the U.S. presidents he had to deal with -- Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush. In contrast, he was severely critical of some of his Russian colleagues, particularly Boris Yeltsin who, not surprisingly, comes off like a crude, duplicitous vodka-swilling opportunist.

   The world has not been the same since Mikhail Gorbachev's ascendency in the Soviet Union. His personal Memoirs are historically important and worth the time -- and occasionally -- the patient effort to read them.




4. Patience, and a lot of it. That's what you'll need if you want to read this book, especially if you aren't Russian or a Sovietologist (do they still exist?). The division of the book is into four parts, the first deals with the years before he took the helm in the former USSR. This is the part that you really have to slog it out, especially with the names, places, and also the various positions that he held in the Communist party (the glossary at the end is definitely necessary)... For me this was the least interesting part of the book and if you can get over this initial hump, the rest of the book is very interesting and of course informative.

   The second part is especially interesting since it deals with Gorbachev's ascent into the highest seat in the Soviet Union. He goes into quite some length dealing with the issues surrounding Perestroika and the difficulties involved in making Perestroika work. He is good enough to give the reader some background information on the Communist party, its structures, and the founding fathers, Lenin and Stalin, as well as his other predecessors, Brezhnev, Adropov etc...Quite personal at times and very insightful, especially for those who aren't very familiar with the former Soviet Union.

   Part III, which deals with the USSR's relationship with the outside world is a must read, especially as it deals with how Gorbachev, and not the U.S was the one who began the process that culminated in the end of the "Cold war". Gorbachev also speaks about how Yeltsin's lust for power was one of the factors that led to the breakup of the Soviet Union, and here perhaps the reader would be wise to consult other books that give Yeltsin's point of view.

   The 1991 coup is dealt with in the last part. It is a very personal account of the coup with some private notes from his wife, Raisa Maksimovna's journal. You can't help but pity him for the treatment he received at the hands of Boris Yeltsin after his resignation.
   This is quite a lengthy book, but well worth the effort. I'd suggest this book to anyone interested in the history of Russia or Perestroika and the man behind it.




5. This is a detailed and fairly honest account from the man that changed the world.
   
   The first part of the memoirs discusses his early life and rise to General Secretary. It is interesting in that it gives insight into the Kruschev/Breshnev system at different levels.
   
   The second and much larger part describes his time as General Secretary. It is a detailed blow by blow account of people and plenums etc. But not so much on the actual policies and issues. Quite a lot on interactions with foreign leaders -- his description of Reagon is interesting. But Rememeber that Gorbachev was about the USSR, not the USA etc.
   
   Be aware that these are memoirs, not an objective history. Gorbachev writes from his own perspective.
   
   Gorbachev largely failed in the end. Could someone else have succeded? I doubt it, there were just too many obsticles. Indeed the situation in the USSR states today could be a lot worse, and their semi-democratic systems are tribute to Gorbachev.
   
   As a foreign reader I did become a little lost in the detail of communist burocracy. This detail was, of course, the life of Gorbachev, but he does assume that you know it. There is a very poorly written forward that tries to cover the gap, the work deserves better.
   
   There are probably better books that discuss this period of soviet history. But this is from the man himself, source material.

3 comments about Barefoot Pirate: The Tall Ships and Tales of Windjammer.

1. I have been doing windjammer cruises for over 20 years. The book shows what happens behind the scenes and how windjammers got there start. But it's more a book about a very interesting man.



2. Barefoot Pirate will have a huge appeal to anybody (including me) that has ever sailed on one of the Windjammer fleet's vessels. It details Mike Burke's (the founders) career and gives the history of each of the sailing vessels in the fleet. As a prior windjammer reading the book, it took me far away from my normal office job- even though I have not sailed Flying Cloud for over 30 years! I still have vivid memories to this day.
   On the down side, the book is understandably biased and does not give a full
   accounts of the safety and financial issues that have dogged the business, and the quality of the photographs in the book are not nearly what we expect in modern printing. Many are grainy and many others lack detail.
   As I write this (March 2008) the future of the entire fleet is uncertain, and books like this may ultimately be the final historical repository for the Windjammer fleet of sailing vessels.



3. Great book !!
   I used to be a " barefoot" sailor, on the Flying Cloud,-
   Mandalay,- -Yankee Clipper,-Yankee Trader, -
   so this evokes some wonderfull memories, wish Windjammer was still operational.
   This book captures the essence of "Windjammer", and explains some of the dedication that was part of its creation.
   
   Reccomend this to any FREE !!! spirits left out there---

1 comments about William Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863-1910.

1. This is a good book! Well researched! Smoothly written! But after a while, just reading about Hearst's frantic life, his manic style of newspapering, got a little tiring... (or tiresome!) Still, if you're looking for an account of the man's early years, YOU COULD DEFINITELY DO WORSE!!!

5 comments about Infinite Potential: The Life And Times Of David Bohm.

1. This is an excellent account of David Bohm, his work and his philosophy. It details his encounters with some of the leading thinkers of his day, including Albert Einstein, Jiddu Krishnamurti and Richard Feynman. Bohm's treatment of his theory of the explicate order and implicate order is described in a very eloquent way by the author. It also addresses how David Bohm was one of those super intellectuals whom the United States had difficulty in accepting and how he "lost" his citizenship over his beliefs. It is a book that is worthwhile reading!



2. This book illuminates the life of David Bohm as both man and scientist--who was nothing at all like I imagined. I knew of Bohm chiefly through the reputation of "Wholeness & the Implicate Order" among New-Age/Fringe Science circles, and through his collaboration with J. Krishnamurti (the darling Theosophical saint, of lately tarnished reputation.) Here, we see Bohm *exactly* as depicted on the cover, wrinkles in high relief and all. Betrayed by squealing Oppenheimer, mentor to famous Feynmann, dumped by Jiddhu Krishnamurti, he was stripped of his citizenship and lived a sorrowful life, despondent & frequently bitter that he had not been given a fair chance to realize his true potential, his scientific contributions not properly acknowledged. He clung to his materialist Marxist philosophy throughout his life; indeed, his Communist connections partially explain (along with Oppenheimer's "tissue of lies") his citizenship problems. Most importantly for would-be devotees, Bohm's life-long devotion to Marxist dogma strongly influenced his materialist interpretation of quantum mechanics and should give pause to those attracted to the "Implicate Order" as somehow acknowledging consciousness in science and the universe. All in all, a good biography of a strangely moving man



3. I can say, without question, that Peat's biography is a disappointment. The book's only redeeming characteristic is that Peat makes ample use of interviews that would otherwise be unavailable or nonexistent. In other areas, however, Bohm is not well represented. Peat uses information obtained from Russell Olwell concerning Bohm's case before HUAC. Unfortunately, Peat corrupted much of Olwell's work and presented an inaccurate picture of Bohm's case. Further, Peat fails to fully explore the impact of Bohm's work in the foundation of quantum physics and his alternative interpretation. In his review of the book Dr. James Cushing wrote that Bohm deserved better. Sadly, Dr. Cushing is correct.



4. A neat overview of an inspiring life. Unfortunately, although the book read well, it felt somewhat unsubstantial in relation to the man himself. I could not pin-point exactly what left me with this impression as the author seems to touch on all bases. Perhaps it was a result of the extent of my own admiration for Bohm, but I think it also has to do with the depth and breath of his life and work. As a man and a thinker Bohm seemed to give so much- what a huge task it is to attempt to give some back! A previous interest in Bohm places this particular view within a greater whole, in which case I would recommend this book.



5. 
   "Infinite Potential" is excellent. David Bohm's thoughts - which are sometimes difficult to understand for non-physicists - become clear the way David Peat is explaining Bohm's physics/philosophy.
   I highly recommend this book to everybody interested in reaching to a kind of solution as to how our mysterious world may function.
   
   Karen

3 comments about American Character : Curious Life of Charles Fletcher Lummis and the Rediscovery of the Southwest.

1. Mark Thompson's long & deeply researched biography of a forgotten, complex American born just before the Civil War, is fascinating. Over a long & restless life, Charles Lummis became a poet, prolific letter writer, journalist, photographer, archaeologist, editor, champion of Spanish heritage in the Americas, & Indian Rights advocate - the classic workaholic of the late 19th & early 20th Centuries.

   It was his TRAMP ACROSS THE CONTINENT in 1884, which he weekly serialized in newspaper articles, that catapulted him into the public's eye. In time, as his assignments for the newly-formed Los Angeles Times, took him deeper into the Southwest which would capture his heart & soul, & closer to the American Indians for whom he would advocate mightily, he caught the ear of a President. Theodore Roosevelt came to consider Lummis a vital part of his "cowboy cabinet," & often invited him to Washington. Lummis enjoyed a life-long influence, via his editorials & many books, on the way Americans thought of themselves.

   In this era of bland plasticity, AMERICAN CHARACTER, reminds us of how individualistic, passionate, offensive & charming our forefathers were. It also reminds us of how devastating was our impact upon the people & the land in a time when a man could bemoan the wholesale slaughter of buffalo & Indians, while not batting an eye as he shot other critters just for the thrill of it!

   In the light of today's political correctness, Charles Fletcher Lummis' love life was as gilded with misogyny as you would expect from a man of his time - he kept his first marriage secret all through his Harvard years. As in every other aspect of his life, his thirst for affection & companionship was both utilitarian & fascinatingly eccentric.

   AMERICAN CHARACTER: Charles Fletcher Lummis & the Rediscovery of the Southwest, has been named by the Western Writers of America as Winner of the 2002 Spur Award in the biography category.




2. Charles Lummis is a very interesting person in American and Southwest history, but author Thompson goes way beyond what most biographers would do and produced a richly researched and highly readable story. I read this book in my car, under a streetlight, while my wife attended a Christmas function. Does that tell you how interesting it is? I've passed Lummis's home/museum thousands of times but never visited--now I will.



3. I live within walking distance of Lummis' home El Alisal. It's fitting that it perches on the edge of what was the Arroyo Seco (dry gulch) whose raw beauty had attracted Lummis and early settlers. And symbolic in that the world's first freeway rushes past it now. In fact, El Alisal faced demolition until preservationists--always outnumbered in L.A.--saved the site. Lummis gave his adopted city a complicated heritage: he boosted its Spanish Californian image and so lured many newcomers who overwhelmed the vistas of fragile arroyo, hills and valleys with millions more homes. The millions clogged the roads, and so freeways followed, along the riverbeds now encased in concrete.
   
   Mark Thompson's biography follows that assembled two decades earlier by Lummis' daughter and edited by his son from Lummis' own manuscripts, and one biography from the mid-70s that dwelt on Lummis but with far less access to personal papers. Thompson has access, and has used his resources well to more fully explore the complexity of a truly memorable character whose legacy spanned the Southwest, as he sought to preserve and conserve Native American artifacts and cultures as well as restore the California missions, create a world-class municipal library, write for what became the city's leading newspaper, and still found time to build El Alisal from boulders in the arroyo, hold there wonderfully wacky parties, carry on love affairs, conduct archeological research, ruin three marriages, keep a menagerie of animals and people at his home, and roam off from it on even more travels that followed his first publicity stunt--he sought sponsorship by keeping a travelogue weekly sent to newspapers in an early commercial tie-in for one who sought celebrity-- on his "tramp across the continent" (or most of it!) to Los Angeles from Chillicothe, Ohio, a Harvard dropout at 25 in 1888.
   
   Naturally an exciting story, but Thompson digs deeper into how Lummis reflected but overcame some of the prejudices common to the East Coast elite from whose lower ranks he came, and how he struggled with a tempestuous personal life and a libido that created tension, led to an early stroke, and led him on even more intimate adventures much less documented. The readable yet thoroughly documented text reads at a brisk pace; all facets of Lummis' many angles gain clarity. Well-chosen photos capture the idiosyncracies of this unforgettable sombrero-bright green corduroy suit-and-Navajo belt attired eccentric, who did so much to both sustain and unwittingly erase the traces of the Spanish and Native California he came to love.

1 comments about Casting Her Own Shadow.

1. Negotiating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the United Nations was not the only post-FDR contribution of Eleanor Roosevelt. This extraordinary woman was a powerful force within the Democratic Party and America until the day she died and left a legacy in her own right on issues of civil rights and civil liberties that finds voice even today.

   Black's book focuses on Roosevelt's post-White House years and brings ER's domestic front activities and contributions to light--showing the long-term and deep nature of Eleanor Roosevelt's convictions. The book traces ER's growth in understanding of issues and underscores the courage it took to live her life in the forefront of debate and controversy.

   This book should be read by anyone interested in Eleanor Roosevelt for the insight it brings and the truly interesting stories it tells. I particularly found the chapter on ER's relationship with John F. Kennedy fascinating and learned that ER withheld her support for his candidacy until he promised her action on civil rights. Ever the consumate tactition, she even rearranged the chairs at the famous meeting between them at Val Kil so she would be sitting higher than him.

   "Casting" is pain-stakingly researched and well documented. Allida Black's interpretation of ER is founded on years of work with Roosevelt's papers and other sources.

5 comments about From a Ruined Garden: The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry (Indiana-Holocaust Museum Reprint).

1. What this book does, like nothing else, is to recreate the diversity of Jewish life in Eastern Europe prior to the Holocaust. Carefully selected excerpts from hundreds of memorial books in the YIVO library, this book isn't just about some shtetl, but about Zionists and Misnagdim and town councils and about town that, well, "most towns have a town fool, our town was so small that our village idiot was only half-crazy."



2. Rarely is a book published that causes an entirely new genre of studies to open up. This was the result of the first edition of this book printed in 1983. Before 1983, some scholars, librarians, and genealogical researchers knew of yizkher bikher in general, but up to that time there had not been a major focus on these books as social, historical, and genealogical sources of first-hand knowledge of destroyed communities, to some extent because of language barriers. But as more lay persons began searching their roots in the late 1970s, with interest building in the 1980s and exploding in the 1990s, they started to tap into these remarkable books. The publication of From a Ruined Garden, containing over 70 translated excerpts from Polish yizkor books, illuminated for many lay persons the lost world depicted in these books from which they had been cut off because they could not read them in their original languages, primarily Yiddish and Hebrew. The first edition has long been out of print, but again, in another bit of fortunate timing, a second, expanded edition has been published.



3. This is a truly splendid compendium of excerpts from various memorial books written after the Holocaust to commemorate the vanished world of Eastern European Jewish life in the shtetlach of Poland. I read it in a sitting and will re-read it in the future. For anyone with the slightest interest in this vanished world, I URGE you to buy this book - give it to your friends, as well.



4. Fantastic book. Reading it is like exploring the vanished world of polish stetels. Although I found only one chapter regarding Szczebrzeszyn I highly recomend the book. I wish there would be more translations of Yizkor Books.



5. This book contains selections from seventy of the more than five- hundred Memorial books of Jewish communities in Poland. As the editors make clear in their introduction 'the memorial books' aim to make certain that the destroyed world of Polish Jewry will not be forgotten.
   The books provide in some sense a record of the town they are written about, and often a picture of the people themselves. They connect up with the Jewish traditional Literature of Lamentation. In the words of the authors, " The memorial books came to be seen as substitute gravestones. " The memorial books are structured on a continuum from simple acts of naming to highly elaborated acts of narrative." The authors make clear that even a list of names serves the purpose of remembering. In their introduction the authors quote Shlomo Pultusker," When I review in thought my life in Rozhan, events, splinterrs of half- forgotten memories, appear before my eyes. People , formerly flesh and blood and everyday Jews, were transformed by the tragic events into figures similar to heroes in the dramas one reads.Of all the people of that time, individuals stand out whose names stick in memory..And to these people, most of whose remains lie in no cemetary, may my humble words about them serve as an eternal monument and redeem them from merciless oblivion. With trembling and fear of God I write my modest words, which are no more than a pale reflection of what was in reality."
   
   Three million Polish Jews were murdered in the Shoah.
   These books are the fragmented, inadequate witness of what they were.