5 comments about Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America.

1. I enjoyed reading about bruce Babbit's interpretation of where land use should focus in the years to come. He also laid the groundwork for the development process for several urban areas and national parks. I found it to be a very worthwhile read and I would recommend it to othere.



2. Cities in the Wilderness
   By Bruce Babbitt
   
   Book Review
   By Dan Warren
   
   In today's republican political arena with the Bush administrations compelling interest in land expansion the outlook for Environmental causes let along protection would appear to have a dark and gloomy cloud atop any progress. However, Bruce Babbitt the author of Cities in the Wilderness has some new innovative ideas about land use in America. As the U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1993 to 2001, governor of Arizona from 1978 to 1987 and as Arizona's Attorney General for three years he brings with him experience and a most impressive track record of success in an effort that is largely opposed and unsuccessful; Environmental land preservation efforts and even restoration.
   Within the pages of his book Babbitt gives illustrations of success and of failure. He provides detailed rational in each instance drawing on history, public opinion, media, legal requirements, county state and federal involvements, as well as a plethora of other mitigation factors that explain the success or failure. From these Babbitt pieces together an extraordinary working illustration of how we can be better stewards of our land in America.
   Furthermore, whether directly or indirectly Babbitt addresses the political climate and gives examples of how to over come the counter movements that oppose his unique vision of land use. Within the confines of his five short easy to read straight forward chapters Babbitt is clear, concise, and well structured in order to piece his ideology together followed by appropriate explanation. His thesis is essentially a parallel, contrary to much of his opposition's belief, as will be detailed later in this review, that our country has historically viewed land development not as a local, county, or even State matter, but as a Federal matter. As such Babbitt will contend that we need to continue to have a Federal interest in land use and development while making a joining effort with more localities but still governed by Federal legislation and direction.
   As a native Floridian the everglades are a state treasure. Anyone who has ever driven route one through this magnificent area will feel immersed in nature. For anyone who has not experienced this, all you have to do is watch CBS's hit show CSI: Miami and in most of the episodes as well as in the shows introduction can get a glimpse of what the everglades are from viewing it across their television sets. However, this schema that will be created by this in no way gives justice to the real thing. While either which way will introduce you to the Florida Everglades, it will not reveal its unique history.
   In Babbitt's first chapter he uses his experience with the preservation of the Everglades as an introduction to his idea. The devastation caused by hurricane Andrew in the early 1990's also included the destruction of Homestead Air force base in Florida. In the aftermath the government came to the decision to not to rebuild this base, but rather to sell the property commercially for redevelopment. The proposed plan was initially to make the property into a jet port thus generating jobs and commerce. While at first glance this idea makes serves to help the many who became jobless with the closure of the Air force base, it was highly controversial because the proposed site was only miles from the entrance to the everglades.
   The balancing of these two conflicting interests: land preservation and development for the sake of commerce is the first conflict that Babbitt faces. It is within these conflicts that are the heart of his book and subsequently in looking at each of these that the most benefit for policy and future decision can be justified on. In this particular issue Babbitt allied with the Army Core of Engineers, a most unexpected partnership. The Army Core who wants to build and Babbitt whose interests are to protect creates a uniquely original idea; the two can actually achieve preservation by essentially constructing preservation.
   As pointed out by Babbitt, in earlier years it was the Army Core of Engineers who by direct engineering was in-directly causing devastating affects to the Everglades. As such the remedy was to undo that which was previously done by the efforts of the Army Core of Engineers. While this sounds simple in concept it was very costly and took great effort before it would be later approved for its application. So what exactly would this "undoing" so to speak entail? It would set a new precedent, we would actually spend money not to development but essentially to UN-develop already developed land and for what cause, to preserve the Everglades. This is essentially a step in a new direction in favor of environmental preservation. However, this did not come easily or without coincidence. It was a project that took over eight years, had an eight billion dollar price tag, and according to Babbitt, "the everglades success was an aberration, a case of being in the right place when in came to make a down payment on a presidential election" .
   So what is there to be learned from this experience and success in the Everglades? Babbitt goes on to say,
   "is there an urgent lesson to be derived from the Florida Everglades, it is that we must invent new federal-state partnerships for managing and restoring our lands, partnerships that have sufficient charisma and public support to withstand destructive efforts by later administrations. Which leads us back to the central question posed: could the Everglades effort mark the beginning of a national commitment to large-scale restoration of degraded ecosystems" ?
   The answer to Babbitt's question is two fold. In law when a case is decided the decision is called stare decisis which essentially equates to a precedent that other cases can be decided upon. In the same this narrowly tailored example does in its most simplistic form create a sort of precedent that may act as a catalyst or at least a reference to which other matters related to land conservation can be decided upon.
   As Babbitt moves on in his book he provides another success story in California however this is contrasted with a failure Mississippi. In a later chapter Babbitt faces a new conflict of interests. The issue at essence here is a legal one, it involves the interpretation of what constitutes an endangered species and how exactly the Endangered Species Act is used in conjuncture with the rights of landowners. The discussion centers on an endangered bird. What is truly interesting in this example drawn from Babbitt's personal experience is that it utilized a scientific research study in order to investigate the natural habitat of the endangered species so as to have an information base to which decisions can be based off rather then guestimating. Again Babbitt's efforts were successful; however he cited that this is due to good press and public support.
   The Endangered Species Act was the legal key to success according to the author. It provided the legal authority to act and to protect in this case. What seems difficult about this is the actually application of the act itself. From the text it does not appear that there is a guideline as to how to implement the acts authority and for the most part serves as a guideline that is to be implemented on the local level and the only Federal participation is to create the act itself but does not provide any governing agency to enforce the act. Rather it relies on its compliance at the local level who it seems in most instances are the ones opposing the act as it in most cases reduces expansion and thus tax revenues for that city, county, or even state.
   An interesting remark made by the author is that when it comes to The Endangered Species Act, it is not proactive in protecting but rather reactive in that it does not take affect until after the damage is done. What is gained from this is the ideology that perhaps we need to be proactive with our environment, land use, and species conservation. As with youth we try to teach intervention programs that seek to solve the problem of juvenile delinquency before it starts, in the same we need to solve environmental concerns before they start. Again with this parallel prevention programs cost far less and have much less damage when successful with juveniles as this applies to our environment. We spent 8 billion to undo land development that we had already paid to have developed. Here if we add the research and science base before we make a decision we can avoid these types of environmental concerns before they even exist.
   In subsequent chapters Babbitt applies the concepts thus far discussed to the Midwest in regional restoration. He does a great job of finding money in already current budgets to use towards restoration efforts. For instance he mentions a fifteen million dollar account used for a farm program account. Babbitt also explains that all that needs to occur for this to work is to make it into the farmer's best interests to embrace this program and with the requirements of the global economy they will be more then willing.
   One molecule of oxygen and two of hydrogen create the world's universal solvent and the substance that sustains life on earth: water. The tragedy is that we are wasting it. Again returning to the argument that we need not leave matters to a localized government, but rather we must make them a federal concern, water with all of its importance needs be a chief central concern. As brought up by Buttell, one avenue in promoting environmentalism is a global view point. Babbitt does a good job emphasizing the importance of making water a Federal matter in the U.S. (as his book's title contains the phrase "Land use in America", I feel that on a matter as internationally important as water it only makes sense to start at the top being Federally regulated and then enforced on each level. Again how we Federally regulate it is just as important but I think we can take this a step further and Internationally regulate water as it is more important then any petroleum based resource, everyone globally needs it to survive and I think more emphasis should be given to this concern, not specifically to this text as again it seeks to speak out about U.S. policy, but rather in other avenues.
   While Babbitt's text has a feel good syntax to it, his conclusion brings reality back into play. He finishes up by giving an impressive history and emphasizes the importance of our land. He goes so far as to call it an "American Treasure". Despite this he ends his text with
   "Today, however, our public land institutions are under unprecedented attack from both the president and the Congress. This is a season for all Americans to take renewed interest in defending their heritage- the freedom and glory of wide open public spaces."
   This call to action that he ends with is a powerful one. However, I am doubtful that with the low voting rates of my generation and the ignorance we as a country have towards our Environment I am weary of our future. Will we use the powerful tools that Babbitt has empowered us with; will we be proactive and preventative rather then responsive after the fact before we have done irreversible harm to our Continent? These questions are serious and meaningful and will affect later generations of Americans.



3. I use "realistic" in scare quotes as an alternative to "idealistic" environmentalism without commenting on the moral value or desirability of either approach.
   
   Babbitt, Clinton's sole Secretary of the Interior, and governor of Arizona before that, is a career politician with a non-extractive industries Westerner's love of nature of his native land.
   
   Those two come together in his thoughts for how the Endangered Species Act and the 1906 Antiquities Act, used in new ways, can be two of the cornerstones of a 21st century environmentalism, primarily in the West, but indeed nationally.
   
   The other cornerstones are state lead-taking in land-use planning, in conjunction with federal support, and a new day in federal-state environmental cooperation in general.
   
   More obvious observations about the anti-environmentalism of people like President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Congressman Richard Pombo aside, Babbitt offers a moderate amount, but not a great deal, of prescriptive specifics on how to do this.
   
   His own success as Interior Secretary was constrained by the change of administrations.
   
   Babbitt pushed Clinton into "new-style" national monuments remaining outside National Park Service control, such as Grand Staircase-Escalante NM in Utah and Giant Sequoia NM in California (not to be confused with Sequoia NP). The idea was that the landholding federal agency of record (the Bureau of Land Management in Utah and the National Forest Service in California) would develop a better conservationist ethic through being committed to national monument management of a monument that retained multi-use characteristics.
   
   While this might be true to some degree of the BLM, it certainly isn't of the Forest Service, and likely won't be unless that agency sees a MAJOR shake-up. (My prescription: Move the Forest Service out of Agriculture and into Interior.)
   
   That, and the book's relative slimness, keep it from a better rating, as it barely hits 4 stars.



4. Babbitt begins by telling us that relentless building of highways have spearheaded landscape destruction as land speculators and developers follow. Local governments generally have neither the political will, expertise, nor financial resources to stand up to well-financed developers and their political contributions. Babbitt then goes on to make the case for federal leadership in making land use regulation more effective, and uses examples from his experience involving the Everglades, Southern California, and the Chesapeake Bay to make the point.
   
   The shrinking Everglades problem was caused by farms, canals, dikes, housing developments; its solution began during the early '90s, and moved forward despite Congress' tilting towards reduced spending. The first step occurred when then Interior Secretary Babbitt met with the Army Corps of Engineers, and reached agreement with them to develop a study and proposal on changing the drainage system. There was also a problem with excess fertilizer draining from sugar plantations into the Everglades - causing cattails to displace natural saw grass. They agreed to cut their fertilizer applications in half (were using too much - at the chemical companies behest), and to plant cattails at the draining end of their fields to soak up the rest of the excess. (Babbitt points out that the "ideal" solution would have been to simply end expensive sugar subsidies, allow foreign sugar into the U.S. at much lower price, and allow the sugar plantations to revert to the Everglades.) Another requirement was buying out landowners "suckered" into buying swampland that were clamoring for more levees so they could use their land. The happy outcome was a proposal backed by all sides that was enacted by Congress in 2000. (Side Note: Everglade bog land used for sugar growing has a limited life anyway - it had already dried out, was blowing away, and sunk 12 feet, and had not much further to sink before reaching limestone.)
   
   Babbitt learned in other efforts that it was much simpler to work on a project limited to a single state, and the importance of using sound science in administering the Endangered Species Act.
   
   Babbitt points out that the federal government has always been involved in land-use planning - improving river navigability, surveying, staking out, and subsidizing transcontinental railroad routes, flood control projects, dams, interstate highways. While these efforts were all aimed at land development, he believes that it now time to also boost land conservation as well.



5. Bruce Babbitt continues to labor under the self deception that he know best in determining the future of the "common people" his ideas always consume like serfs found to be useless in the feifdom. Read it for the future it suggests of an end to private property and a beginning of the sort of Stalinism and federal tyranny that Babbitt favors. Don't think it was written by any true westerner who "grew up on a ranch." It was written by a political lackey and opportunist who was kicked off his grandfather's spread in Arizona and has always yearned for power--especially power over what he calls the "agricultural apparatchiks."

5 comments about Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox 1882-1940.

1. This is the best account of pre-WWII FDR that has been written. Burns combines established facts with a commentary that examines the 32nd President's possible psychological views on issues. From major decisions during the New Deal to relationships with Eleanor and staff members, Burns paints an objective picture of FDR. The picture is neither rosy nor clouded, but is an intimate portrait of the longest- serving President in American history.



2. Gives a fantastic account of FDR from his privileged childhood and days at Groton, to his harsh induction into the world of politics; the skill at which he maneuvered the political currents to the New York Capital in Albany, and ultimately the White House. Once there Burns gives an account of passionate dedication to the American people, both during the Depression and WWII, that most likely was not seen since Lincoln. A must for anyone's Presidential Biographical collection.



3. FDR was perhaps the craftiest politician to occupy the White House since Lincoln. The Title, "...Lion and the Fox" is an allusion to Machiavelli's dictum that one must be stouthearted like a lion and crafty like a fox. FDR combined these qualities to achieve political mastery of his time.

   This book focus on his life up to the start of WWII. It paints a thorough life portrait of the president and illustrates the events and experiences that shaped this master politician. Although enjoying congressional majorities like no other president (that certainly aided the implementation of his program), FDR had to over come the reluctance of both GOP and Democrat conservatives to rework the federal government into the active economic and social player it is today. McGreggor's book explains how FDR the man made the New Deal possible.

   This is a well written book that gives evidence of being thoroughly researched. For anyone interested in presidential history, I'd recommend this book.




4. I recently had occasion to re-read James MacGregor Burns's marvelous Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox and was deeply impressed by how well its has withstood the test of time. The early paperback edition of this book, which was originally published in 1956 and covers the period from 1882 until 1940, characterized it as the "first political biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt," and it continues to be the authoritative study of Roosevelt's preparation for and then conduct of his first two terms as president, when domestic affairs demanded most of his attention. This remains a wonderful book about this country's greatest politician of the 20th century, and it also offers many penetrating insights into the American political system.

   Burns's treatment of Roosevelt is comprehensive, "[treating] much of [Roosevelt's] personal as well as his public life, because a great politician's career remorselessly sucks everything into its vortex." Roosevelt was the only child of a member of the upstate New York landed gentry, and he could have led a life of leisure. Instead, he was sent to Groton School in Massachusetts, where the headmaster, according to Burns, "made much of his eagerness to educate his boys for political leadership." Roosevelt completed his formal education at Harvard College and Columbia University Law School. Burns writes that Roosevelt's first elective office, as a New York State Senator was a "political education," and he became a "Young Lion" in Albany. Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Washington, D.C., during World War I and was the candidate for Vice President on the Democrat Party's unsuccessful ticket in 1920. In 1921, Roosevelt was stricken with polio, and the crippling disease would have ended the public career of a less ambitious and determined man. Instead, he continued to work hard at politics, was elected Governor of New York in 1928 and then President in 1932. This was just the beginning of a remarkable career in high office.

   Burns makes clear that Roosevelt was a progressive in the tradition of Woodrow Wilson but was without strong ideas or a specific agenda. According to Burns: "The presidency, Roosevelt said shortly after his election, `is preeminently a place of moral leadership.'" Retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes offered this cutting assessment: "A second -class intellect, but a first-class temperament." Action to combat the depression was necessary to restore public confidence in government, and the first Hundred Days of Roosevelt's first term was one of the great periods of legislative achievement in American history. Burns writes: "Roosevelt was following no master program." However, in Burns's view: "The classic test of greatness in the White House has been the chief executive's capacity to lead Congress." According to that test, Roosevelt was a great president. Burns writes that, "[i]n his first two years in office Roosevelt achieved to a remarkable degree the exalted position of being President of all the people." Burns explains: "A remarkable aspect of the New Deal was the sweep and variety of the groups it helped."

   As early as 1934, however, organized conservative opposition to the New Deal was forming. (A newspaper cartoon reprinted here shows a figure identified as the Republican Party holding a sign stating: "Roosevelt is a Red!") Roosevelt was increasingly attacked as a traitor to his class, but a large measure of his genius was his ability to hold the more extreme elements of the New Deal in check. Roosevelt's political skills were tested in every way. For instance, Burns writes that Senator Robert Wagner's National Labor Relations Act, which proposed to"[vest] massive economic and political power in organized labor" "was the most radical legislation passed during the New Deal." According to Burns, Roosevelt's initial reaction to the bill was "invariably cool or evasive," and the president, with what Burns describes as "typical Rooseveltian agility," announced his support for the bill only after its passage was certain. Burns demonstrates that Roosevelt's support, both in Congress and among the public, gradually eroded in the late 1930s, but he was, of course, elected again in 1940 and 1944. Roosevelt's nomination in 1940 was especially skillful. Many in his own party favored maintaining the tradition of limiting presidents to two terms, and Democratic Party leaders lined up in the hope of succeeding Roosevelt. Roosevelt outfoxed all of them and was elected to his historic third term.

   I believe it is fair to say that Burns admires Roosevelt, but this book is not a whitewash. Burns candidly writes about Roosevelt's "deviousness." And the author is appropriately critical of Roosevelt's attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court following his overwhelming re-election in 1936. However, in my opinion, these instances simply are proof of the truism that great men are not always good men. Burns took the subtitle of this book from the Italian Renaissance political philosopher Machiavelli's dictum that a political leader must be strong like a lion and shrewd like a fox. Franklin D. Roosevelt was both, and that made him a great president. This is a great political biography of that great president




5. This first of a two volume biography of FDR gives the reader an excellent introduction to the life of this most significant icon of the Twentieth Century. Although primarily a political biography, Author James MacGregor Burns gives the reader an introduction into the ancestry and early life of FDR.
   
   FDR's education was received in the rarified air of Groton, where he under the tutelage of Rector Endicott Peabody, and Harvard, where he was a "C" student. His mother, Sara, moved to Boston to be near him during his time at Harvard, much like Douglas MacArthur's mother during his time at West Point. Formal education was completed at Columbia Law School, preparatory to his brief legal practice.
   
   Roosevelt's life in the Democratic Party began with a call to run for the state senate in 1910. His position as a reformer made him an opponent of Tammany Hall. Over time he learned to retain his reform image while learning to work with the machine. His rise was not uninterrupted, as his 1914 attempts to run first for governor and then the US Senate were unsuccessful. His service as Undersecretary of the Navy in the Wilson Administration advanced his renown so that he was nominated for vice-president in 1920.
   
   FDR's promising career was nearly brought to an end in 1921 by polio during a visit to the family cottage on Campobello Island. Burns tells the story of his convalescence and rehabilitation, culminating in his appearance at the 1924 National Convention to nominate Al Smith "The Happy Warrior".
   
   Although 1924 brought crushing defeat to the Democrats, it was the start back for Roosevelt. Smith's presidential nomination in 1928 opened the governor's office for FDR who, in another Republican year, won a narrow victory, followed by a landslide in 1930. As governor he initially had to deal with a Republican legislature over issues involving the budget, electrical power and the balance between reform and Tammany. The advent of the depression brought with it new challenges of state solvency amidst rising needs.
   
   1932 found Roosevelt as the leading Democrat in the nation, although his road to the nomination was rocky and by no means certain, with challenges from John Nance Garner, who would be placated with the vice-presidential nomination, and William McAdoo.
   
   With election election, Roosevelt started to assume responsibility for the affairs of the nation. One of his most questionable periods was during the pre-inauguration time. As Hoover attempted to respond to the worsening economic crisis, his calls for joint action were rebuffed by the president-elect. Burns skillfully addresses the issue both from the perspectives of Roosevelt's willingness to let conditions worsen and the need to retain his own ability to act.
   
   The main part of the story begins with FDR's first presidential inauguration in 1933 which started the fabled "First 100 Days", during which the Roosevelt magic was unchallenged. His proposals were passed with little or no opposition. With blurring speed, Congress passed the CCC, agricultural aid, states grants for unemployment relief, federal supervision of securities and railroads, the TVA, relief of mortgage debts and the start of the National Industrial Recovery Act.
   
   Later in the year some opposition arose. One defeated measure was the St. Lawrence Seaway, which had to await the Eisenhower administration. The diplomatic recognition of the USSR and the economic downturn weakened FDR's position. Through 1934 conservative opposition held back administration measures, which led FDR to interfere in the congressional elections, not always in support of Democrats. 1935 saw a series of Supreme Court rulings which struck down New Deal measures, setting up the 1936 elections as a referendum on the New Deal. As hard as it is to believe now, the race against Gov. Alf Landon was expected to be very close. Although not officially campaigning, Roosevelt made the most of inspection tours.
   
   The landside win in 1936 emboldened FDR to undertake his boldest initiative, the packing of the Supreme Court in order to obtain a majority which would let New Deal measures stand. Roosevelt approached the issue in total secrecy. The unveiling of his plan set off a firestorm of opposition, including much from traditional administration allies. In this he suffered his greatest defeat, mitigated only by a change which made packing unnecessary.
   
   After the defeat of the Court packing bill, the second term was a period of mixed successes and failures, which did little to change the overall trend of events. In 1938 Roosevelt attempted, with little success, a purge of Congressional opponents. Through this term, he was hampered by the active opposition of his vice-president, John Nance Garner, a situation unlikely to exist today.
   
   As the second term progressed, the focus shifted from domestic depression to the worsening foreign situation. This book does a good job in showing the reader how Roosevelt gradually turned the ship of state into the rising foreign headwinds.
   
   The final drama of the second term was Roosevelt as Sphinx, leaving everyone guessing whether he would run for a third term or not. Ultimately, conceding that he could not turn down the call of the people, his nomination was assured and his transition to a war time leader continued.
   
   Focusing on the political career of FDR, little attention is directed to his personal life, so one must look elsewhere for his relationship with Eleanor and his family. Burns skillfully presents a balanced approach of Roosevelt's career, explaining both the successes and the failures. He helps the reader understand the distinction between FDR's personal successes and the success of the Democratic Party. Neither an uncritical paean nor a hatched job, the book provides the reader with the facts of FDR's actions from his time in the New York Senate through his first eight years in the White House, with an epilogue so as not to leave the reading hanging pending the reading of the second volume. The FDR saga justifies the book and the book justifies the reading.

5 comments about Grant: A Biography.

1. This is one seriously irritating book. There may be relatively few factual errors (at least, compared to Geoffrey Perret's work on Grant, a masterpiece of unintentional humor,) but McFeely's work is riddled with what I can only believe are deliberately insulting mischaracterizations and misrepresentations, tiresomely pretentious writing, and amateur psychoanalyzing of the most obnoxious sort. McFeely is particularly fond of quoting the words of Grant or his wife on some matter or another, and then proclaiming that--no matter how clear their meaning may have been to us poor dumb non-historians--what they were REALLY saying and thinking was something else altogether. If there is anything I can't abide, it's a biographer who persists in reading a subject's mind and putting words into his or her mouth and thoughts into his or her head that were never said and never thought. McFeely not only obviously believes he is much smarter than Grant (hah!) but more percipient than his readership, as well.

   If this book is worthy of a Pulitzer, then I trust my next grocery shopping list will earn me a Nobel Prize for Literature.




2. McFeely won the Pulitzer Prize for this book in 1982, but the conclusions he reaches about his subject have drawn fire ever since. Those sympathetic to Grant correctly point to errant assumptions and mistakes in character analysis. Most glaring is McFeely's insistence that Grant gloried in carnage, was insensitive to death and suffering, and was an incompetent chief executive.

   Actually Grant was one of the most exquisitiely sensitive men ever born and was nothing like the 'butcher' that McFeely describes. However, the research in the book is quite good and there are very few factual errors to be found, though his chapters on the civil war are relatuvely weak. This contrasts markedly to Geoffrey Perret's 1997 Grant biography, which contained inaccuracies on nearly every page. McFeely is most solid in the period of Reconstruction, though he is usually overly prone to criticize the hapless Grant. Throughout many chapters, it seems the General can't buy a break.

   McFeely's greatest admiration for Grant is contained in two areas of his life: his family relationships, specifically his loving marriage to wife Julia, and his abilities as a writer. McFeely leaves no doubt that he regards Grant's 1885 Memoirs as one of the great books ever written and the best part of this biography is in explaining the processes Grant used to produce such a masterpiece, while dying of throat cancer.

   With its flaws and uneven treatment of Grant, McFeely's book cannot be considered definitive, but it is still the only complete biography of Grant written in the past 30 years. Perret's limping entry isn't even in the same league as this book, in accuracy, writing or research. To sum up: overly critical, but a must read for Civil War buffs.




3. The book covers the important parts of Grant's life. The book has good research on Grant's youth.



4. Any good biographer has to have, if not sympathy, at least some understanding of his or her subject. Unfortunately, although this book is well researched, you get the uneasy feeling that Mr. McFeely is examining Ulysses Grant like a bug under a microscope. This is the classic example of an academic who lacks understanding of real life and as a result cannot grasp the dynamics of a man of action, as Ulysses Grant certainly was.
   
   Mr. McFeely also unquestioningly adopts the prejudices of prior historians without thinking for himself. As a result, an historian who DID think for himself, Frank Scaturro in President Grant Reconsidered, has rendered Mr. McFeely's book obsolete. Every biography since Mr. Scaturro has reviewed the Grant Administration with a fresh and generally favorable eye. As the last civil rights President before Harry Truman, Grant certainly deserves that revised opinion.
   
   Mr. McFeely's book is no longer worth reading, if it ever was.



5. I am currently reading a biography of every President in order. I must say that none of the preceding Presidents (even Lincoln) seem to be as difficult to pin down as Grant as to their "definitive" biography. In addition to McFeely's Pulitzer prize winning effort is Geoffrey Perret's offering, which seems to be universally derided as a scholarly farce, Jean Edward Smith's biography of Grant is clearly meant for a more popular readership (indeed Smith's commitment to scholarly research is somewhat dubious himself given he was able to produce a 1,000 page biography of FDR in less than 5 years after writing his Grant bio), and finally Brooks Simpson's projected two volume biography which when complete will certainly be the most comprehensive modern effort. McFeely's biography was the Pulitzer prize winner and that ultimately swayed me in favor of it, although I was a bit concerned about some of the poor reviews it received.
   
   I will state from the outset that I think most of the criticism of McFeely's biography I have read in other reviews is either unwarranted or overstressed. This is a straightforward "old school" biography that is directed by the research and not by some new spin that the author believes will help sell the book. McFeely won the Pulitzer Prize for this work and rightfully so. This is a comprehensive and balanced biography of Grant that is a highly enjoyable read on top of that.
   
   I'm not sure what the negative reviewers expectations were before reading this book. Obviously most feel that Grant is somehow misrepresented by McFeely, however I definitely did not reach that conclusion. I believe this is the best comprehensive one volume biography of Grant available based on extensive research and solid writing.

No comments about Desmond Tutu: Rabble-Rouser for Peace: The Authorized Biography.

No comments about Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest Destiny, 1800-1821 (Library of Alabama Classics).

5 comments about Autobiography of Abbie Hoffman 2 Ed.

1. Inspirational, funny, moving. A time machine to a place called the 60's. This will open eyes and minds, give new awareness. Not for the shallow or ignorant.



2. After seeing 'Steal this movie', I had no choice but to learn more about this incredibly crazy man. This book is amazing...it made me laugh out loud, think, ponder the idea of getting out there and causing a ruckus in the name of freedom. His writing flows...like old friends reminicing about their life changing experiences. What an insane, beautiful man. I can only hope that there will be more like him to come...our country needs a good jousting in the ribs!



3. I came of age in the late 80s and the first time I heard of Abbie Hoffman was in a Rolling Stone article on the 20th anniversary of Woodstock. According to David Fricke, Hoffman was clubbed with a guitar by the Who's Pete Townshed after the former took the mike during the lenthty "Tommy" medley and spouted some obscenities in the crowd, saying that Woodstock was a "bunch of s--t while John Sinclair rots in prison." I next encountered this character when I read about the Chicago 7 trials, when Hoffman and his co-defendants made a mockery of the trial (and what gleeful mockery it was!) and the judge who was handling that controversial case.
   
   This book reveals much about who this sixties firebrand was, what drove him to do what he did, how the US government responded to sixties radicals like him (with hammer and tongs), and why he would eventually choose the life of an outlaw. Sadly, it also provides some valuable insights on why Hoffman would eventually take his own life. To his credit at least, he never became what he hated, something that cannot be said for the rest of his generation.



4. All I can say is my ABBIE HOFFMAN book collection continues to grow since I first read THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ABBIE HOFFMAN. I can only wonder what ABBIE would be doing in todays times if he was still with us. Once you read this book, I will gurantee you will see the UNITED STATES of AMERICA as the two sided nation that it truly is. (PIG NATION) Damn ABBIE could come up with the greatest of catch phrases, and did he ever leave many for the world to think about. This book will suck you in and keep you reading till the end. And I bet you'll make time to read it many more times again. I cannot think of anyone who I would truly call an amazing person as I do ABBIE HOFFMAN. The book collection and movies about ABBIE will wake you, shake you, and encourage all those who read that we as individuals allow the injustices to rain upon us. But ABBIE leaves you with the power to want to stand up and grab your soapbox and head to the nearest corner. Awesome stuff! Enjoy the book and get ready to get pumped up as you read..



5. The first time you read the Autobiagraphy of Abbie Hoffman you will find it laugh out loud funny. The second time you read it you will start to notice how much of the advertising around us is based upon premises found in this book.
   
   The "monkey warfare" techniques outlined in this book have become a near manifesto for viral marketers and those involved in marketing from an "outside the box" perspective. The third and forth reads will start to uncover not only how to create images that support your premise but how to disseminate those messages through the "free media" in order to expand your marketing budget 3 fold while gaining goodwill, acceptance and understanding for your cause.
   
   While on the surface a great read about a great American the fact of the matter is that in both his Autobiography and "Revolution for the hell of it" Abbie teaches the methods behind his madness and shows the reader how to be a more effective communicator on all levels.
   
   Sometimes humor is stronger than chains, and new ideas are always better communicated with a smile than a smack.

5 comments about Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of Americas.

1. This book inspires and educates while still being a page-turner. Roy Bourgeois is a purple heart Vietnam veteran who became a Maryknoll missionary priest. He has been in and out of Latin American countries and in and out of prison as he fights for social justice. In his struggle he discovers the now infamous School of the Americas - Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation at Fort Benning, GA. This school has trained the hemisphere's worst human rights violators. This book skillfully weaves Fr. Roy's story with that of the School of the Americas leaving the reader uplifted by the courage of a man and a movement and appalled by the secret teaching of torture and anti-democracratic use of force. Great read!



2. The one thing that stands out the most about this book for me is that this priest was only standing for truth, freedom and justice. Yet the one country that he fought for during the Vietnam War prosecuted him for these beliefs. So much suffering in the world today is simply based on greed. One country trying to profit by controlling the government and natural resources of a smaller, weaker country.That is really what it is all about and the truth is there as long as we do not turn a blind eye as we did on Father Roy Bourgeois. Too many people today simply do as they are told and believe what they hear. You should read this book because the greatest threat facing the world is not knowing or ignoring the truth and sadly the world will continue to suffer at the hands of a few powerful people if we do not open our eyes.



3. Disturbing the Peace is a compelling story of a cleric who has dedicated his life to waging what some might call a quixotic battle against the highest military and political forces of the United States. These same forces look away from the evil they have wrought in other lands, specifically Latin America, and in American-run jails in Iraq.
   These evils, thanks to the machinations of the School of the Americas, include torture, murder, rape, and pillage. The school, costing Americans millions of dollars to maintain at Ft. Benning, Ga., is at the center of Bourgeois' relentless crusade. Bourgeois, who as a young man of the Louisiana bayoulands had beauteous Cajun mademoiselles at his beck and call and almost married one, chose the priesthood after heroic service and a Purple Heart in Vietnam. Following discharge, Bourgeois was appalled at America's foreign policy, which fawned upon megalomaniacal foreign dictators and which gave rise to the founding of the School of the Americas.
   This is no Bush-bashing book. Presidents of recent years have all contributed to the shameful institution that teaches young foreign soldiers how to commit the most nefarious crimes, then sends them back home to put into practice what they have been taught on American soil by American teachers.
   Item: Dismembering a 55-year-old woman with a chainsaw.
   Item: Torturing a priest before throwing him out of a high-flying helicopter.
   Item: Killing an archbishop, priests, and nuns in cold blood.
   Bourgeois and his followers have served time in jail and have had their lives threatened over their never-ending crusade to close down this inhumane cancer of the American military. Irony aside, the subject of this insightful, provocative biography is a modern Thomas Paine in clerical garb, indefatigably fighting for justice everywhere and against tranny in his own country.



4. Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois is a further example of the US repression of our religious expression.
   
   When Bob Dole went to Nicaragua for a Nixon-style Kitchen debate with freely and fairly elected Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega prior to the 1984 US elections, Dole accused the Nicaraguan government of religious repression. President Ortega, accompanied by hisministers of foreign relations and of education and of culture, Fathers Ernesto Cardenal, his Jesuit brother, and Maryknoll Father Miguel D'Escoto, pulled out a photograph of Father Roy Bourgeois being arrested and dragged away by US military forces at Fort Benning Georgia. This spelled the end of Bob Dole's presidential aspirations and political carreer, to be replaced with an interesting advertising endorsement.
   
   On the other hand the Reverend Father Roy has never wavered from his carreer and his commitment to preaching and to living the Gospel of Peace and Justice in Jesus Christ, with orthodoxy through orthopraxis, to the final consequences, running ever bravely in the footsteps of Our Lord. He remains strong in opposing those assassins of his own Maryknoll brothers and sisters like Bill Woods, and as on the cover here, Maryknoll Sister Ita Ford, killers and generals trained and directed from the SOA in terrorism, torture and homicide, who did not flinch from killing even the greatest prophet, martyr and saint of the Americas, Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero.
   
   Father Roy finds his duty and obligation as Catholic, as priest, as true follower of Jesus Christ, to call to stop the killing and oppression, the torture and genocide. Father Roy never fails to stnad tall as a true prophet of Peace and of Jesus Christ. Let us learn by his holy example to do as well, for as long, in life-long commitment to peace, justice and the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullest daily, courageous expression.
   
   Read this book. Every Christian must read this book. All Americans must read this book. Each Catholic must embrace this book as lectio divina, as our own hagiography, as manual and rulebook of how to live as Catholics under this present military regime, courageously, integrally, standing up for peace and for Jesus Christ in our darkened and bloody day.
   
   Read this book before you judge him or stand with those who condemned Jesus Christ before the Sanhedrin. Father Roy is a great man, a great Catholic, an excellent priest, and a fine American, the kind we truly most need for our national moral and ethical recovery.
   
   Please read as well School of Assassins: The Case for Closing the School of the Americas and for Fundamentally Changing U.S. Foreign Policy, Ita Ford: Missionary Martyr, Witnesses to the Kingdom: The Martyrs of El Salvador and the Crucified Peoples, Rigoberta Menchu, Salvador Allende, General Noriega, ARENA in El Salvador, the contra, etc., etc., etc.



5. I began James Hodge's and Linda Cooper's "Disturbing the Peace" (2005, 244-page paperback) with high expectations. This chronicle of Father Roy Boureois' movement to close the US Military's "School of the Americas" promised to be a riveting narrative, in the genre of Oscar Romero, for advocacy and activism. As a Liberation Theology enthusiast (and advocate for the poor) myself, I relished the opportunity to learn from a colleague's experience. With the book's conclusion, however, only one word describes my encounter with this text- disappointing.
   
   The padre's odyssey to re-form government policy and actions is sometimes astonishing, often pedantic, and always interesting. For him, there is redemption and recognition in rebellion against his demons.
   
   Father Boureois is a product of his era's two extremes influences: his US Navy participation in the Viet Nam War and his Roman Catholic Liberation Theology religious training. These opposing, and sometimes polarizing, positions brought him to activism for the poor and oppressed. His story is brilliantly captivating, convincing, and converting! Perhaps, there is redemption in rebellion.
   
   The book is written with seventeen short chapters, fifteen pages of relevant black and white photos, but with only a brief six-page bibliography. It is disappointing that the text contains no footnotes or endnotes (causing it to earn fewer stars). Hodge and Cooper should remember that undocumented history is nothing more than novel fiction. Without retraceable source referencing one does not confidently believe presented material. Father Boureois' story deserves better.
   
   "Disturbing the Peace", as a quick read novel, is cautiously recommended to everyone interested in late 20th century American activism, anti-war advocacy, modern central and south American life, and Liberation Theology.

5 comments about James Madison: A Biography.

1. I read this book working toward my goal of reading a biography of each President. I'm now nearly half way though and this was by FAR the toughest one to finish.
   
   I read Stephen Ambrose's entire three-part, 18000 page series on Nixon faster than I read this nearly 700 page book on Madison. I can't say I wasn't warned because all the reviews said it was deep and detailed but I didn't want to take the easy way out because the experts say this is by far the book to read on Madison.
   
   It was truly a very well researched and informative book. However, there were chunks of the book that were too detailed and moved too slowly. For instance, I don't care what Dolley Madison wore to balls or how the decorations looked or what political couples attended and what the other wives were wearing. I also don't care how tough the trip was for everyone to get everywhere and how Madison got sick everytime the wind blew the wrong way on the Potomac.
   
   What I do care about is how Madison worked with Jefferson and others to shape our form of government. I care about his time in congress, how he handled his duties during the revolution, the circumstances that lead to his Presidency, how he managed the war of 1812, what role he played in critical issues such as the development of the national bank and the treatment of American sailors by the British navy. I also really wanted to know about his relationship with other well known historical figures.
   
   All of that information is in there but it is buried amongst stuff that to be honest I just didn't care about.
   
   Ketcham is obviously "The Man" when it comes to James Madison and I'm quite sure in historical circles this book is highly respected because it is such a complete bio of him. But, it definitely isn't for your average reader.
   
   For those new bio readers interested in Presidents I would suggest Robert Dallek's book on JFK or Jead Edward Smith's bio of Grant. Those are detailed but they are told with the backdrop of better known periods - Civil War/Reconstruction and WWII/Cold War. Those are more interesting periods I think and those bios seemed to move faster.
   
   This book was good but you've got to be ready to get into it and pay attention because the details and stuff that you really care about can be hidden and very laborious at times to get to.



2. I will start this review by saying that this book is not for the casual reader. To enjoy this book, you have to have a serious interest in the life and political thought of James Madison. The writing style, while certainly not as bad as other reviews have stated, is a straightforward academic presentation that at times can be a bit tedious. That being said, in terms of content this is as excellent a one volume biography as I believe you will find. Ketcham manages to present a full portrait of James Madison with thoughtful and excellent analysis in a surprisingly short amount of text. After reading this volume, I came away with a much better understanding of, and appreciation for, James Madison. Unlike other biographers, who sometimes waste more text than necessary on their own analyses, Ketcham interjects his analysis sparingly but brilliantly.
   
   My minor criticisms are similar to others. The beginning of the book is the most difficult part to read and reflects Ketcham's main weakness as an author - narrative biography. This is especially pronounced in one instance, where he tells the story of Madison's first trip to Princeton, admitting that the story is based on his own best construction of what probably happened since no records are available, and then proceeds with the most boring narrative imaginable. If you are going to tell a conjectural story, at least make it interesting. Ketcham also overuses to annoyance the term "bilious" and frequently uses the word "insure" incorrectly where "ensure" should be used.
   
   Ultimately, my criticisms of this volume are more for providing a two sided review than real detractions. Ketchams volume, while not lively reading, is a superb biography and undoubtedly the best one volume biography of James Madison currently available. Indeed, this biography is perfectly in line with the personality of Madison - while not exciting for its own sake, thoroughly well researched and executed, and ultimately essential.



3. James Madison was the man who did research and wrote for the politicians of his era. He was the brains behind the speaker (John Adams), the warrior (George Washington), and the diplomat (Thomas Jefferson). He held true to the republican principles, to a fault, literally.
   
   This book can be tedious. It is dense. But it is the very best explanation of the circumstances leading to the War of 1812 I have ever found.
   
   Plan on having another book going at the same time you are reading this one. Or, plan on some good naps along the way because it is complex reading.



4. Ralph Ketcham's JAMES MADISON: A BIOGRAPHY was originally published in 1971 and was a national book award nominee. This biography is comprehensive (671 pages), and looks like it is the result of long study of our fourth president by this professor of history emeritus at my graduate school alma mater, Syracuse University.
   
   This presidential biography took me 10 months to read (about halfway through, I quit reading it straight and took other book "breaks" between chapters), but I found it enjoyable. Ketcham really sketches a detailed portrait of Madison's life by closely examining almost all of its aspects, from what life must have been like for him growing up in Orange County, Virginia, to his work as "Father of the Constitution," his work on the Federalist Papers, his work as Secretary of State and as president, as well as a lengthy final chapter on his productive and active retirement (including his involvement with the founding of the University of Virginia).
   
   This is not a fast read, clearly, but I can't help imagine that it is the definitive work on Madison's formative years, education, political career and contribution to our country. I learned a great deal about his relationships with the other framers of our democracy, his Republicanism, his stance on separation of church and state as well as slavery.
   
   An interesting thing about Madison, to me, is that he was a slight man, who was often ill with some kind of recurring "attacks." He was only 5'4" and weighed about 100 pounds, and he did not have a charismatic presence or strong speaking style. While a man who made this wee of a physical impression would not be likely to be president today in our media age, this book demonstrates the level to which we owe Madison for the shape of our government, political system and political philosophy today. He informed the development of a free America at every step of the way through his keen intelligence, his ability to communicate his arguments and his affiliations with the other framers, who liked and respected him for his intellect and dedication to the cause of democracy.
   
   I found one of the most interesting sections to be on Madison's presidency during the War of 1812. Ketcham details the war's events along with the political temperature in the nation at the time, including the opposition to Madison and his decision to go to war with England at this time. I always find it fascinating that the men and women we venerate as the founders of our nation were subjected to similar (if not worse) public abuse for their decisions -- decisions that our knowledge of history help us understand in a way their contemporaries could not. Madison took a great deal of criticism over this war, but by the end of his presidency, he was triumphant. This chapter also illustrates some ways in which Madison's inability to act without feeling he had clearly thought through all ramifications hurt him and his administration at times. (I also noted that several Little Rock streets are named for War of 1812 military leaders, which made this book more "local" to me.)
   
   While Ketcham details the loss of an early love of Madison's when he traces the development of this relationship with some personal detail, Ketcham does not include a great deal about Dolley Madison in this book (her presence here does not compare to Abigail Adams' presence in McCullough's John Adams), which I found somewhat disappointing. Their family life is interesting, as she was a widow when he married her with a son, Payne Todd, who later became a lazy, shiftless, wanderer and gambler, who had to be bailed out of quite a few fiscal scrapes by his stepfather. Dolley and James Madison never had children together, and the portrait this book paints of her is fainter than I had expected.
   
   This book is the book I would recommend to anyone who really wanted to dig into the life, career and impact of James Madison. The writing is authoritative and objective, giving the reader a sound education in our fourth president. While this book is not my favorite of the four biographies on presidents I have read so far, I think Adams and Madison are my favorite individuals I've studied in this effort to read about each president of the United States.



5. This book took me forever to read. I am not a slow reader.
   
   This book is a great book to get at who was Madison, what did he accomplish, how did his mind work, etc. But, it is not very entertaining or any kind of a fast read.
   
   If you want to get to know Madison, this is a wonderful resource. I agree with other reviewers that his early life is a series of guesses by the author and seems a bit dreamlike in the retelling. Not a huge flaw, but I am sure someone can do better in the future.
   
   This is a scholar's biography. As a scholar's biography is rates as an A or A-, as a fun read it rates more like a B-. As I work through biographies of all the Presidents, this was one I needed to read - I do not think I will read it again.
   
   Joseph Valentine Dworak

5 comments about Operation Solo: The FBI's Man in the Kremlin.

1. I am the son of the FBI agent Richard Hansen. I can attest to the secrecy of this operation by explaining how I learned about it. In 1997 I was looking through the new arrivals at my local library. I started leafing through this book and did a double take when I saw my dad's name. I checked out the book, rushed home, called my dad. Sure enough, he admitted that he was the agent in the book. It is an amazing testament to his fidelity that he did not speak of this operation(even after he retired), until this book came out.



2. This is an incredible story of a courageous couple of brothers and their wives who, while initially being drawn into Communism, were able to see the ugly truth behind it, and use their backgrounds to become the greatest spies in history. The book is written very well and as such it is hard to put down. Aside from a great story of intrigue, the book also offers a unique perspective on what really went on in the Kremlin as well as (parts of) the FBI.



3. The only thing more incredible than the story of Morris and Jack Childs, brothers who, from the early 1950s through the late 1970s, were FBI assets within the American Communist Party, and who were personal friends of Soviet leaders, is that Hollywood has yet to commit this to celluloid. Here were four brave Americans--to include their intrepid wives, Eva and Roz--who for decades risked their lives to report to the FBI (and from the Bureau to the President) on the thoughts and intentions of Soviet leaders. So trusted by their friends in the Soviet leadership, they served as secret Soviet emissaries to China and Cuba, reporting back to the Soviets the attitudes and positions of Mao and Castro. Thus successive U.S. presidents enjoyed unique intelligence on the thinking of not only the Soviets, but of the Chinese and the Cubans as well. The story told in OPERATION SOLO is spellbinding, frought with tension, occasionally leavened by the earthy humor of its principal players. This is, in short, a terrific story about great Americans--hardworking FBI agents who shied away from the spotlight, and their courageous assets--that demands to be read or, someday, seen on screen.
   
   A couple of points about John Barron's book. It is well written overall and reads quickly. It is not without faults, however. (1) The story is sometimes interrupted to introduce fairly extensive citations of reports written or passed along by the Childs. Without greater historical context, though, these passages are somewhat sterile and dry. Someday, one hopes, a more detailed study will add historical material external to SOLO that would, along with insightful analysis, demonstrate the true value of the SOLO reporting (as another reviewer here has suggested). (2) The section that deals with Martin Luther King is disappointing. For one thing, Barron is historically inaccurate or incomplete when the author states that "No one could have been more sympathetic to King than the Kennedy brothers." See Robert Dallek's excellent book on JFK for a better treatment of the Kennedys' complex relationship with King. Barron also downplays King's true significance as a great civil rights leader in order to discuss Communist ties to his inner circle of advisors. Furthermore, in an egregious departure from journalistic objectivity, Barron appears to excuse FBI's excessive campaign against King, including the infamous hotel wiretaps, on the pretext that King's private behavior was "inconsistent with [that] of a Christian minister and moral exemplar."
   
   These misgivings aside, this is a truly amazing tale. Read the book and then amaze your friends in recounting the story. Are you listening, Hollywood?



4. Barron's prose is articulate and well-phrased without wandering into pedantic posturing. We rarely know his opinion of all the goings-on, and what events he describes! We are quickly lost in this real world of espionage and deception, thoughtfully recreated by an author who knows his business and tells it well. An exciting read.



5. This is a compelling story of high stakes espionage in the Cold War. The amazing thing is that it is not fiction--it is history. The understanding that the author has about espionage and the intelligence community is right on. If you love history and are interested in the spy game--this is the book for you.

5 comments about Loyal to the Sky: Notes from an Activist.

1. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. In these uncertain and often dark days, this is a relevant and hopeful book about making a difference. And, it manages to be humorous and entertaining too. Handler writes beautiful and accessible prose. She comes across as an honest, lovable, brave and inspiring person. You'll wish you had been with her as she traveled the globe and was an eyewitness to (and in some cases participant in) many of the recent social and political shifts of our time. Luckily, you can read about it.



2. Short of having the opportunity to travel the world yourself, read this book and be transported to lands near and far as if it were actually you, in search of global justice. Handler's vivid and colorful narrative of her experiences invite the reader along as if she/he were traveling in the author's back pocket. The tales of humanity - from an Indian man's description of local Muslim-Hindu race relations to the perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict voiced by University students around the country - are conveyed with passion that do justice to the "human voice"; something that is so real in each of the geographic experiences described by Handler.



3. 
   Author Marisa Handler takes you along on her courageous journey through many lands and through many formative, life experiences exposing different cultures and the struggles they encounter. She eloquently articulates the injustices that are taking place throughout the world and in her own backyard. Highlighting political demonstrations Ms. Handler provides a voice for those who are not otherwise heard. The author's passion for justice combined with her astute way of guiding the reader through history and through her own personal accounts makes this book one not to be missed.



4. Ever wonder why a fraction of the world's population is lavished in wealth, yet emotionally impoverished, while others eek by on little to nothing feeling rich? Handler beautifully responds to this global dichotomy in "Loyal to the Sky." Her social commentary about our common humanity divided by numbing drive for success and oppressive politics that maintain the status quo is spot on. Her inner-voice unfiltered by political correctness, is hysterical. And, her courage to engage strangers, from Nepalese politicians to the Miami-Dade police is inspirational. Handler's memoir is a breath of fresh air in a world of stifling avoidance. Don't miss this colorful work.



5. Marisa Handler has written a wonderful account that tells her story of growing up in South Africa, the hope and promise of the US in contradistinction to the reality of life here, her journey as an activist, and her spiritual awakening. It's a surprisingly witty and moving story which I highly recommend. Idealists of all kind will feel a kinship with her story.