No comments about Africa's Winds of Change: Memoirs of an International Tanzanian.

4 comments about Crossing the Jordan River (International Relations - Diplomacy).

1. Jacob Rosen, a seasoned diplomat writes a serious, but entertaining book about his experiences in the diplomatic world which takes him on assignments throughout the Arab world. A collection of short stories that at times can be very amusing and at others, quite thought provoking. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict throughan unreported look at the culture and every day life of Arabs and Israelis.



2. If you want to read a book that can bring you to a deeper grasp of the Arab culture, try this one. Mr. Rosens book brings to your table a thoroughly digestable understanding of the ins and outs of Arab life.



3. Jacob Rosen's book is hilarious, as well as serious
   in parts, giving an insight into the peoples of the
   Middle East.
   I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to
   know and understand the different nations living side
   by side, who do not even understand themselves!
   An excellent light hearted short-story book of the
   daily lives of the average person in the Middle East
   and which should be read by and be on the bookshelves
   of every home and book shop in the region.

   Well, done Mr. Rosen for sharing your experiences
   and having this book published for the world to
   read.




4. Hello Jacob, I loved your book. I understand now that the problems in the Middle East are not so easy to solve. But the world needs people like you, who have understanding for other meanings and believes. Your stories are short but do have a deeper meening and are somethimes very sad. I hope that a new book of you will soon be ready. I will again order it a.s.a.p. at Amazon.com.
   best regards and greetings to your family.

5 comments about Homegrown Democrat.

1. Very good reading.
   A hard book to find anywhere else, especially at this great price.
   
   The service from Amazon was exceptionally good.I thought.



2. Well, Keillor is truly a gift to the nation and as a fellow Midwesterner, so much of his story resonates with my own experience.
   This book recounts the good that government can do; it is, after all, what civilizes us.
   For the Republicant's - can't do public schools, so quit, can't have a United Nations, so quit, can't trust your fellow Americans, so gate yourself off to count your money - be warned! You may not like what you're about to read!



3. There are really two Garrison Keillors. You are likely familiar with the first, the brilliant homespun humorist and storyteller on A Prairie Home Companion, which is broadcast from St. Paul, MN, Keillor's hometown, once a week on public radio. Keillor also does short (too short) bits daily on public radio under the title A Writer's Almanac, during which he talks about writers living and dead and actually reads poetry--poetry!-- on the air. It is through this venue that a more serious and scholarly-- though equally sensitive--Keillor emerges.
   
   In Homegrown Democrat, he tries to merge the two personas, with his serious side turned toward politics. Although he does not always achieve a smooth blending, often bouncing back and forth between the humorist and the social critic from one paragraph to the next, the book is a wonderfully worthwhile read, perhaps especially because it does give us a broader exposure to the mind and thought of this champion of American bedrock values with a perennial twinkle in his eye.
   
   A graduate of the University of Minnesota, the author is obviously an intellectual. Yet, more than perhaps any city-dwelling writer today, he has maintained a strong connection with, and affection and respect for, the lives and cares and ideals of average people. He opens the book with the Golden Rule, which, among other things, he says, formed his basic morality. Although he came to maturity in the 1960s, he says that he was more influenced by the values of his parents' generation than by the events of that time. More than once in the book he writes: "liberalism is the politics of kindness," and he goes on to list a few things that "do-gooder Democrats have done" for us all: civil rights legislation, opportunities for girls to participate in sports, clean air, Medicare, the right to abortion, public consideration for the handicapped (as in building construction), improved law enforcement, and an overall greater level of tolerance in society. The only major "gap in the social compact" that he sees is the lack of universal health care, about which he says, "our denial of the benefits to so many is downright stone-hearted."
   
   In contrast, he calls the Republicans the "screw-you party"--which even screws its own. He notes (as have others) that what he calls the "corporate Bourbon wing" of the party gets the tax cuts and deregulation, while "the Bibleists get a few vague gestures on symbolic issues such as gay marriage and school prayer." As an example, he notes, disdainfully, that CEOs (based on the latest data available in 2004) now earn 476 times as much as the average worker¬¬--up from 42 times as much in 1980.
   
   The only times Keillor stumbles are when he uses excessive hyperbole in attacking the conservatives. Thus, for example, in positing a hypothetical marriage law of the future, he says: "Marriage...shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman, or, in Utah, women." Unfortunately, if truth be told, the Mormon Church banned polygamy years ago. This, of course, is the humorist bothering the social commentator while he writes, but such exaggeration does little except to dull blunt the force of the author's otherwise valid criticisms.
   
   Despite the above caveat, this is a special book. It is not an episode of Prairie Home Companion in print, although there is much of the show's gentle poking-in-the-ribs to get us to laugh at ourselves and poignant description and storytelling to help us to look at ourselves and others more closely. There is also much solid displeasure here, based on the author's feeling that as a nation and a culture we are turning away from the values that make democracy possible and life worth living. As with Keillor's broadcasts, you'll come away feeling satisfied.



4. Keillor is an old style democrat in both the small and large D sense. He is a bit of a bleeding heart liberal, which he makes no attempt to hide or excuse. There is no doubt that hard-core Republicans will deride the book as the product of a naïve do-gooder mentality.
   However, the historical evidence is overwhelmingly supportive of Keillor and his positions on the role of liberalism in making the overall quality of life better for people around the world. As Keillor points out so well, liberalism has been the driving force for nearly all of the dramatic social changes that have altered the world for the better.
   No one disputes that the programs against child labor and in support of mandatory education have led to a great deal of positive change. The increase in the overall educational level of the population has led to dramatic increases in productivity and has been the driving force for many to rise out of or avoid a life of poverty.
   The greatest single anti-poverty program for the elderly has been the social security program. Before it was implemented, a large percentage of the elderly lived on the thinnest of margins. After this Democratic program was enacted, the poverty rate among the elderly plummeted.
   Keillor also mentions how liberal St. Paul, Minnesota has a program whereby paramedics and other emergency workers are never more than a few minutes away from any location in the city. He contrasts that with other areas where cutting taxes has been the mantra and where it is almost impossible for paramedics to arrive within the critical time window that means the difference between life and death.
   Liberalism has been the driving force for so much positive social change that in some sense it has matured and mellowed to a point of weakness. Many of the people who so loudly proclaim their conservative credentials would never have had the opportunities to do so if it had not been for the existence of liberal activity. The world needs to be reminded of that and Keillor does that in an honest, forceful and humorous way.



5. I'm glad Keillor took the time to write this. Outspoken support of the Democratic Party was extraordinarily rare at the time this was published. It was common to see people wearing T-shirts equating a vote for John Kerry with support of terrorism. Frank and direct criticism of the Republican party's failed attempts at governing were also rare in 2004. Keillor's contributions here are valuable, but even more refreshing is the biographical context he provides. The details of his rural roots, his early life in a large family struggling to make ends meet, his devout religious faith and the joy he took in obtaining a college education form the true pleasures of this book.

No comments about William Jennings Bryan: An Uncertain Trumpet.

4 comments about King Hussein: A Life on the Edge.

1. I completely enjoyed reading this book. It is a well written biography of a great man. King Hussein lead his country from obscurity to that of an important player in the Middle East, during the Arab-Israeli Crisis and through the long and at times extremely troubled road to Middle East Peace. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in the Middle East, and who want a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.



2. Hoping to improve my knowledge of Middle Eatsern history and politics, as well as find out more about this fascinating man, I tried Dallas's book. It was fast-paced, dynamic, gripping and very revealing. I highly reccommend it.



3. As someone who has studied the Middle East extensively, I found this book to be well-written, but ultimately -- and unfortunately -- just a rehash of secondary sources. In other words, although there's nothing particularly wrong with this book, there's nothing particularly great about it either. No inside insights into what made the enigmatic King Hussein tick, for instance, which could have been very helpful and interesting but which would have required the author to interview people who knew the King well. It also would have been interesting if the author could have untangled the many seeming contradictions in King Hussein's reign, but unfortunately he either tried but was unable to do so or just did not do the necessary legwork needed to discover some of these answers. Ultimately, it appears that the author, or perhaps his publisher, was more interested in rushing out the "first book on King Hussein since his death" than in doing a first-rate job. That's unfortunate, and ultimately a disservice to this fascinating man and also to the events he lived through and played a role in.



4. The book explains the very dangerous and exciting life of the late King Hussein. This movie would give insight into the very harsh world of a Middle East peace process and the leader that made it happen for his country, Jordan. This movie would be a great tribute to such a great leader.

   When King Hussein was young, he witnessed the assassination of his grandfather and was almost killed by the same gunman. His father was mentally unstable, making him unfit to be King. King Hussein had numerous wives and many children. His goal of keeping peace between Jordan and the neighboring countries was accomplished, and King Hussein was known as a peacekeeper. His life was never far from the brink of disaster. He was the master of survival, escaping many assassination attempts at the same time facing a political crisis. He had many loves: fast cars, classic guns, and beautiful women. His life was so very important that it must be made into a movie.

   King Hussein was one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. He was a precious source of stability and peace in a particularly unpredictable region of the world, the Middle East. His whole life would be a great movie of his struggles and accomplishments as leader of Jordan. His life was very important in the lives of his peoples and the peoples of neighboring countries. King Hussein was very well respect as to give a eulogy at the funeral of the former prime minister of Yitzhak Rabin. His life was peacefully ended in 1999 due to his cancer, but even in his final days at the Mayo Clinic, he contributed to the peace process by a televised appearance at the Wye meeting. No one could write a script as interesting and exciting like the life of King Hussein. The movie would give great respect to such an extraordinary leader of the Middle East.

No comments about Dean Acheson and the Creation of an American World Order.

1 comments about Marx's Fate: The Shape of a Life.

1. This is one of the most useful and interesting of the Marx biographies and shows us another Marx, behind the man of fiction who was a later invention. Christopher Hill in _The Experience of Defeat_ details a host of figures in the English Civil War, from the Levellers to the Fifth Monarchists, who were written out of history, and who had to live with failed revolutionary lifetimes. We forget the actual experience of Marx, the experience of defeat after 1848, and his persistence nonetheless without illusions documenting the capitalism of his time and era. After the grotesquerie of the twentieth century Communists it is significant to remember this other Marx.
   This is surely the experience of the current left, and one might expect it to end as forgotten as the defeated figures from Munzer onward--save that the right will not rest, and will reinvent slavery or worse if left to their devices, while the current left fantasies a series of leftist fictions, among them about Marx.
   It might help to look at the failure of Marxist theory, the experience of defeat, behind the unique brilliance of Marx, and at least know the history, starting with Marx's challenge to Hegel's philosophy of right. This work shows the problems that Marx experienced in his theoretical struggles, and shows, for example, the inability of Marx to complete his life's project, Capital. This aspect of the book is compelling, and often quietly filtered out. Marxists have rarely known what they are talking about, but, like the Levellers, will always accompany the definition of modernism.
   Very acute biography.

2 comments about The Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy.

1. After reading the recent 'partisian' criticisms of the Nixon years (written by such researchers as the anti-war activist Jeffrey Kimball, Nixon's political detractors such as William Bundy, and demagouges such as Christopher Hitchens and Anthony Summers) it was refreshing to read a dispassionate analysis of one of the Nixon Administration's most powerful (if not the most powerful) figures, Henry Kissinger. However, the book is not merely a biography but a broad glance at American foreign policy during the Nixon years.
   
   One of the foremost reasons as to why recent scholarship and works on the Nixon/Kissinger years have failed is due to the fact that most scholars did not fully engage the historical literature and their sources. Dr. Hanhimaki uses a broad range of sources but never does he take any of them at face value. But rather, he includes other contradicting sources and compares them and allows the reader to come to their own conclusion. Other scholars often cite one source and try to force the reader to prescribe to the author's viewpoint. The fair evaluation of sources is one of the vital ingredients of first rate scholarship.
   
   Although I disagree with a number of the author's conclusions, the book is soundly researched and judiciously written. This book should be required reading for any student of the cold war, diplomatice history, international relations, or the Vietnam War.



2. For once I'd like to see a scholar write a book about this man that is based on some primary source scholarship. Books based on newspaper clippings and speculation make for trashy books, not works of true scholarship. Really, don't bother with this book.

3 comments about Memoirs Duc De Saint-Simon Volume Three: 1715-1723.

1. I am a diehard fan of European royal history and I loved this book. It is the first part of the memoirs of a Duke who lived in France during the last years of Louis XIV and during the regency of Duc de Orleans, Louis XV's minority. He is very detailed, telling stories about all of the people at court. Lucy Norton has done a great job of leaving the interesting tidbits in and leaving out the dull, long stories on politics, treaties, etc. I am more interested in biographies and this book was just what I love, you really get to know a lot about court life during this period. This first volume deals with the reign of Louis XIV and all of the intrigues as he is 53-71 years old.



2. I am a diehard fan of European royal history and I loved this book. It is the first part of the memoirs of a Duke who lived in France during the last years of Louis XIV and during the regency of Duc de Orleans, Louis XV's minority. He is very detailed, telling stories about all of the people at court. Lucy Norton has done a great job of leaving the interesting tidbits in and leaving out the dull, long stories on politics, treaties, etc. I am more interested in biographies and this book was just what I love, you really get to know a lot about court life during this period. This third volume deals with the regency of the Duc d'Oreleans and the coronation of Louis XV.



3. The Memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon is one of those rare books that compel one to pick up a pen and try their own hand at the literary caper. The easy flow of the narrative, and, as the Memoirs progress, his delightful vitriol read as if receiving a letter from a long lost friend. The very fact that Saint-Simon's everyday life revolved around the French court of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries makes it all the more fascinating for the modern reader. A word of warning - the long-winded French names and the plethora of ever changing titles can get confusing.

   There would be few who could not be moved by Saint-Simon's rapturous delight at the defeat of his enemies, where his writing is at its unequalled best. However, by far the greatest strength of these Memoirs is the authors humbleness. Time and again he apologies to his reader for lengthy diversions, and for his inability to handle the material well, yet it cannot be denied that he is the greatest memoir writer to have lived, in all senses of the word. His conclusion, admiting that he can be repetitive and long winded is a tour de force, and we are allowed a knowing smile when we recollect that his pride has so often shone through elsewhere - there is nothing more pleasant to read than the work of a HUMAN author, with all the quirks and failings of our own. The translator's (Lucy Norton) footnotes are extremely helpful without being cumbersome. While the length of the three volumes will alienate many a potential reader, they are well worth any time invested in their perusal.

1 comments about Alan Greenspan: The Oracle Behind the Curtain.

1. I read this book twice to make sure I understood. It is very readable and enjoyable, as much as one can enjoy any of the usual conspiracy theory books which abound, today. At least this is a scholarly conspiracy theory book.
   
   Let's look at the book in a few short sentences, via the Lenses of Political Machinations, Historical Insight and Cynical Squint.
   
   How does our present day political contest appear when translated by this book?
   
   The McCain is his usual cynical self. It's OK to pander to the anti-Castroites and give them a few "Cuba Libre" salutes in Florida -- how else does anyone obtain votes down there? After he is elected, all bets are off, just as in every political race. He has some muddled ideas about how to fix the financial system, but in the end will rely upon another Greenspan.
   
   Hussein Obama is, of course, a liberal and a sycophant of the Marcuse theory of "democracy". In his mind, you sleep with the Devil (and enjoy the Hell out of it) and get what you want.
   
   Now what be happening when Obama be President? Pretty much what happened when political scientists studied the regimes of LBJ, HST, and FDR. A number of studies were made in the late 1990's which attempted to show how much disaster a far-left President could create by his Supreme Court appointments and by his pushing the Congress to do his liberal bidding.
   
   You might be surprised that LBJ came out on top as the most liberal social activist president.
   
   Aha, you say, but what about Carter and his Global yada yada? Nie'chevo, as Lenin would have said -- nada on his yada.
   
   Compare LBJ -- a deep-south mentality pork-barrel politician of the Kingfish genre (Louisiana, not Amos 'n Andy) -- with Carter. LBJ's social activism and program have historically far outweighed anything which Carter attempted. Carter was small peanuts compared to the socialism of LBJ. Long story made short, we wouldn't be in the African-American culture crisis we are in today except for LBJ and "The Great Society".
   
   You will probably not be surprised that FDR came out on top as the most liberal fiscal policy activist president. Long story made short, we wouldn't be in the Social Security mess we are in today except for FDR and his interpretation of Keynes' theories.
   
   President Obama will be Just Another Liberal, who will tinker around with Keynes, tossing out any vestiges of Reagan's Macroeconomics. He will appoint at least two and perhaps as many as four Supreme Court Justices during his eight years. Justices all held up to the Liberal Standards of the Democratic Party 2001, of course.
   
   The coupe d'main will be the Supremo's interpretation of the US Constitution's interpretation by the previous liberal court's interpretation by the previous liberal court's interpretation.
   
   The book is too expensive. I was going to purchase it, but checked it out from the library, instead.
   
   As for me, I am voting for Judge Judy.
   
   Dave