5 comments about JIMMY CARTER: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Post-Presidency.

1. I walked through the isles of my public library looking for something to read. There was a large book with the words ' JIMMY CARTER' written on it that was sticking out of a shelf. I picked it up and decided to read it. This has been one of the best choices for reading I have ever made. Jimmy Carter is an extrodinary man, who's life is a lot more detailed and complex than I would have thought. This biography traces his life from birth, through the Navy, State Senatorial duties, Governorship and his Presidency. Jimmy Carter is shown as the admirable and honest man that he is. A real role model for all, Jimmy Carter is amazing, and so is this book.



2. Over the last several years I've read more than 35 presidential biographies, usually taking the advice of Amazon readers who have steered me toward the best available choices. While not among the very best of biographies, Bourne's effort is near or in the top ten presidential biographies.
   
   Jimmy Carter is probably the most intelligent president of my lifetime, an extremely hard worker, ambitious, very religious and thoughtful about his religion but also willing to compromise his principles to get ahead. He is also stubborn and not willing to be shown up. He has usually viewed himself as an outsider, and while this helped convince Americans to elect him president, it did not prepare him to work well with Washington politicians and insiders to achieve many of his goals.
   
   Along with describing Carter's life prior to the presidency, the first half is fascinating for its description of race and politics in the South during the 60's and 70's, laying out an outline of how to win the presidency through a grass roots campaign, the suspicion that Carters religious beliefs caused, and as a reminder of issues that campaigns focused on in the 70's (election ethics, environmental issues, education reform, national health insurance, and other populist sorts of themes) - the four year campaign for president is told in detail (150 pages), and in ways it seems overly long, but this is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Carter's life. The strategy and effort to elect an unknown governor to be president is pretty fascinating stuff.
   
   I started to fear Bourne would run out of energy and pages to provide much detail about Carter's presidency. I was wrong. He captures the problems Carter and America faced, the often ineffective policy implementation of the Carter White House, and Carter's unwillingness to compromise or "play the game" with Congress. Carter's post-presidential years are cevered well.
   
   Bourne has been a Carter advisor for nearly 30 years, but his book is balanced and thoughtful. He is not shy about criticizing Carter. Bourne writes well, and kept my interest throughout the narrative. In some ways the book appears to be published on the cheap. Double spacing between sections doesn't happen. There is no table of contents or chapter names. Despite these few limitations this is a highly recommended presidential biography.



3. I'm a Republican who nevertheless admired Jimmy Carter greatly, and I am saddened by his recent petulant rants agains President George W. Bush. He has every right to diagree with him but succumbing to the conspiracy theories of the wacko left is unseemly for a former President. Bourne needs to write a sequel.



4. Bourne shows how the the Carter family values and the values of the South shaped Jimmy and the impact that these values had on his presidency. His father's frugality and work ethic are manifest throughout Carter's life, while his mother's racial tolerance and kindness are as well. But his blind devotion to principle and weak managerial skills hindered relations with Washington power brokers and ultimately damaged his presidency.
   
   Some of the most interesting reading is how Carter won the White House, coming from a complete unknown and total outsider to become the most powerful man in the world. And Bourne does an excellent job describing the election campaign. A surprising subtheme of the book is how some of the elements of the Reagan revolution were foreshadowed in Carter's policies, such as the emphasis on a strong defense and confronting the Soviets.
   
   One weakness of the book is the author's hatred of the Reagan administration. He can hardly mention Reagan's name without calling him racist, a charge that is baseless as far as I know. He also assumes that the charges that Reagan interfered in the Iran hostage release in order to win the election are true without discussing the evidence. As far as I know, the evidence for this is controversial at best. Finally, the discussion of his administration could have been better organized--I could not determine if it was chronological or thematic.
   
   The book reveals the complexity of Carter. Although he participated in Southern Baptist Home Mission Board outreach programs, he was either pro-choice or pro-abortion. Although he did more for blacks as governor of Georgia than any previous governor, he was also a supporter of the arch-segregationist George Wallace. Although he was willing to sacrifice almost anything for principle, he ran some awfully dirty campaigns for office in Georgia. Bourne is to be commended for not shying away from describing these complexities.
   
   Bourne was the health advisor for part of the Carter administration, so this is definitely an insider view of his presidency. But Bourne does a good job describing all of Carter's life, from childhood to Navy service to Georgia politics to the presidency to post-presidency, ending with Carter's 70th birthday in 1994.
   
   Overall, a good biography, although it inevitably suffers from being written by an insider and by the lack of historical distance from the main actor. But you will come to know Carter in his glories and his failings.



5. The preface starts off indicating the original idea for this book: as a campaign book and biography. So put on those rose-colored glasses and read about Jimmy in third-person. I don't like the posturing, this book reads like it was written to impress rather than give the reader a glimpse of who Jimmy is. Seems to me the author was too close to the president to offer an objective viewpoint. His early life is glossed over and it's just the 'character building' traits which are revealed. I thought Colin Powell's "My American Journey" and Anderson's "Che" did a much better job of revealing the person, and telling the story.
   
   An odd part of this book was the long family history in the beginning. Maybe this was one facet Jimmy inserted, but it just went off on a long tangent.

5 comments about Shrub : The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.

1. If I was an American voter and I wished to for information about the Republican candidate prior to the 2000 election I would have bought the first edition of Ms Ivins' book. A read would have been enough to ensure that I would not have voted for Mr Bush even though Ms Ivins paints quite an attractive picture of him. She emphasises his campaigning abilities and the undoubted fact that unlike the present crop of Republican candidates he was able in his gubernatorial elections to unite the two quite separate parts of the American right, the fundamental Christians and the old time Republicans. However she also hands out low marks for ability and honesty. Bush does emerge as a Daddy's boy with Bush Senior's friends only too willing to hand out loans to shaky business enterprises and later to election expenses. I amazed that this book did not attract that much attention when the first edition was published.



2. No matter your political beliefs, it is interesting to read about the background of our elected leaders; even though it is freightening and sad at times.



3. Oh, that the subtitle of this wonderful little book had proved true. The world would be a much happier place. Texas writers Ivins and Dubose sat at ringside for Dubya's pre-presidential career, and herein offer a fascinating and humorous report card. George W. Bush had done very little to qualify himself as a presidential candidate beyond being born, which, one could argue, was not exactly his choice. (Karmic destiny, et. al, aside.) And he has done very little governing, because Texas has a "weak governor" system, in which the governor is actually the fifth most powerful elected official, with limited appointment responsibility. It is largely a bully pulpit position. Their report appears to be accurate and carefully documented - often by court documents. The record suggests that a Bush presidency would be very good for business and a disaster for the rest of us, most particularly a disaster for the environment. Bush had a clear environmental agenda: eliminate regulation, reporting, testing, oversight, fines, lawsuits or anything else which might prevent an industry from doing as it damn well pleases. His preceeding business career was almost entirely underwritten by Dad's friends and supporters, who might possibly have seen some advantage in being Junior's benefactor. His one big financial win, a capital gain when he sold his share of the Texas Rangers baseball team, came as the result of the use of eminent domain action to force below market sale of property to the team for a new stadium. Publicly, of course, Bush lobbies hard against government "taking," but he apparently didn't mind making $15 million on it himself. (This is somewhat reminiscent of that other Texan, Ross Perot, who railed against big government after making his millions via Medicare contracts.) As for his new mantra of "compassionate conservatism," George magazine reported that Dubya was the co-creator (with Lee Atwater) of the infamous Willie Horton TV ad which virtually labelled Michael Dukakis as a murderer. Atwater apologized to Dukakis from his death bed, but there is nothing in SHRUB to suggest that Dubya has ever expressed similar remorse. In the most repulsive quote in this book, Bush mocked Karla Faye Tucker's appeal for clemency in a September 1999 interview with a Talk magazine reporter. "'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me.'" The reporter noted that he must have looked shocked, as the Governor immedicately dropped his customary smirk. A good read. Scarier than Stephen King because it is real. Full of fun asides, coincidences and local color. Oh, if only the Washington press corps had read this in 2000, and paid attention, instead of offering voters their opinion that Bush would be a fun beer-drinking companion.



4. There is no other writer that has such a witty presentation on such a difficult subject. She saw George W. Bush and his impact on Texas and with her wonderful sense of humor told the American citizens what to expect with regard to education, guns, laws and leadership. As I read I was amazed at the warnings we had, but we "elected" him anyway. Molly said what so many think, but are afraid to say outloud. This book is not heavy or difficult, but explains what GWB did and would do while injecting lots of humor to keep us from crying.



5. This provides a good insight into George W. Bush's character as governor of Texas, a character that keeps "shining". Even though this book also has a political agenda, it also spells out why voters need to do their own research prior to voting.

5 comments about Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America.

1. If the story told here could be verified, then it would validate the methods behind our war on terror...yes, even the invasion of Iraq. While Mr. Bodansky, apparently a well-knowned counter-terrorism "expert", writes with thematic clarity, he fails in a major regard to verification. Although the book has a list of sources in the back, they are not cross-referenced to any of the material in the book. This leaves the reader with several choices. 1. Accept his premise entirely, 2. Accept parts of his premise (which parts are fact, which parts are fiction?), or 3. reject his premise entirely. What a conundrum. I can reject item 3 because I would have had to have been living on the moon for the last 20 years to escape the wealth of information negating that premise. I cannot accept premise 1 either due to the lack of a well thought out set of footnotes and references that could be checked for veracity. That leaves item 2 as the only choice available...hmmm...what to believe and what not to believe. Like I said, a conundrum.
   In the age of everyone writes a book and the "drive-by" work of literature, I hope that these authors will soon learn that some of us would like a detailed reference list so we can verify what is truth and what is only truth in their own reality.



2. Here is a book written before 9-11 which documents a connection between Saddam Hussein and bin Laden including their cooperative pursuit of WMD. But Iraq comes across as almost a reluctant participant in the Islamist movement, becoming involved out of desperation, believing that a U.S. invasion was certain. The movement is sponsored primarily by Iran, Pakistan and Sudan. The reader may then wonder why the U.S. invaded Iraq rather than these countries.
   
   There should be no surprise that insurgent terrorists are present after the recent Iraq War. Bin Laden had made a pact with Saddam Hussein. Terrorism had been expected following an earlier attack on Iraq. Also, any Western intrusion into an Arab country sparks increased Islamist terrorism.
   
   U.S. ineptness is revealed in the book. Perhaps most glaring is the Abu-Umar al-Ameriki Incident wherein The Clinton administration reportedly made a secret deal with the Islamists to sacrifice U.S. support for Egypt in exchanged for reduced Islamist pressure in Bosnia - Herzegovina. Egypt's President Mubarak found out about the deal and joined the Islamists to save his own skin. The U.S. was oblivious to this realignment which came just as the U.S. sought support against Iraq.
   
   Islamist motives for terrorism are clearly indicated in the book: constant meddling by the West in the Arab and Muslim world, including exploitation of oil, support of puppet governments, desecration of religious sites, and mistreatment of Muslims, most notably by the founding of Israel at the expense of the native Palestinian population. The current Islamist movement can be traced to the Afghanistan war against Russia wherein Islamists from all over the Middle East were brought together in a military brotherhood. "Afghan" veterans became the leaders in the terrorist war against the West, primarily the U.S.
   
   Perhaps the most alarming revelation in the book is the Islamist capability in WMD. It was stated that if conventional weapons fail to accomplish the Islamist objectives, WMD may be deployed.
   
   BOOK QUALITY
   The book is more about the Islamist movement in general than a story of bin Laden. It comes across as very credible with it's choking detail and it's well-informed author, the director of the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. But the book is a very difficult read with many names and organizations and an elusive time line. The story could have been told more concisely and with a much better overview.
   
   Page breakdown: table of contents - 1, table of abbreviations and organizations - 1, text (including introductory material) - 434, glossary - 4, sources - 5, and index - 22. One map, provided inside the front cover, is of the broader Middle East, but it lacks detail. There should have been other maps, organizational charts, and a timeline to keep track of events.



3. Anyone looking for an authoritative book on Bin Laden would do better to consult either of Peter Bergen's works, or Rohan Gunaratna. While many of the details in Bodansky's book are plausible, and even correspond with those of other authors, no footnotes are given throughout, and many details (such as Al Qaeda's possession of nuclear weapons) are highly suspect if not patently false. Bodansky portray's Bin Laden as largely a state-sponsored terrorist, and I think he fails utterly to show the grass roots genesis of Islamist resistance. In fact, most of the book isn't even on Bin Laden, save one chapter, and deals with background events of Islamist terrorism. Most damaging is Bodansky's failure to be transparent about his sources and convincing about his facts. A critical reader should suspect an agenda or ideological lens in this work that is absent from Bergen and Gunaratna.



4. Bodansky's books are to my opinion the BEST books written on middle east politics,at times you have to wonder where all the information comes from.Obviously he has contact with inside sources in the middle east,who know what is going on and he is not afraid to say what needs to be said about state sponsored terrorism and how it is cynically used without care or consideration for those whom it disastrously harms.At times you have to laugh at Bodansky's blunt style in assesing mideast politician and dictators motives and methods of operation.While you may have to disagree with some of Bodansky and his information sources you can't deny that even if he might be wrong at times,he's not far off at all.As a matter of fact like Dennis Hopper said of Kurtz in Apocolypse Now,"he may be crazy,but he may be right"!!I would finally say that someone has figured the mideast situation out enough to make sense of it,if that could ever be.Terrorism is a poor country's quick entry into world politics,an attempt by these countries to seem powerful. They do this by making large nations seem impotent to stop random,sporadic, and spectacular violence.I use Bodansky's books all the time when I see a news story on CNN and I have to know what Bodansky has to say about it.Read him cover to cover or use the back index for select topics either way "You Win"!!You're as close to an expert as you can come,now if you can just remember what you read and if you can find someone who'll listen to you,like Cassandra.As I read this book i became aware that Bin-Laden is just the tip of the iceberg on the troubled politics of the middle east.Bodansky obviously uses the Bin-laden sideshow as a forum to present even more alarming facts about state sponsored terrorism along with the rise of the mideast-suicide deathcults complete with their networks and multi-layers of deniability and financial sources.By the way in a book on hinduism i had previously read that the deathcult ideology so appealing to the arab youth of today initially came from India where it was practiced for hundreds of years.But then a person could only do so much damage with a knife.So it appeared the death cult is another scissors and paste job(gruesome too),added onto the Islamic religion.Since the suicide cult is so old it probably will never go away,and thrives on a population that views itself as surplus and super bitter.The christian desert fathers expressed their contempt for world affairs by withdrawal and self denial and austerity in their behavior but with a creative impulse like translating works of art into vernacular,but this suicide/homocide Islamic movement is something beyond comprehension. You can easily see how corrupt mid-east governments use the Arab mafia for an important link as a smoke screen of denial.Also the book leaves little doubt that Bin Laden's movement is supported largely in alot of third world countries out of pure jealous rage.The reaction of Palestinian glee at 911 is shared by a surprising majority (although not as forward about it) in these third world countries.They see Al-queda as their political voice in world affairs,it's no wonder that this organization is such a Hydra,growing a new head for everyone sliced off. He offers solutions as well,but as the title suggests,it won't be cheaply bought and do people have the stomach for it anyway.Will the medicine be as a cliche goes,"kill both the pain and the patient"?Bodansky's other book is also a 5 star and the author is never "politically correct" in the interpretations equally blistering toward American and European-
   soviet politicians as well.



5. This book is quite full of information on a man who will go down in history as one of the most evil men in the 21st Century... not just for what he did but for what he attempted to do.
   
   Falling outside the mainstream media this book actually tells quite a bit about Bin Laden's personal history, how he wound up in Afghanistan fighting the Soviets and what he did in order to fund and organize this fight, his first "jihad." One of the important facts that I took away from this book is that Bin Laden was never a U.S. "client," although he did accept some indirect assistance from the U.S. Bin Laden was anti-American from the start and while we helped the Mujideen (which later became the Northern Alliance) Bin Laden put his organization behind the Taliban. Once the Taliban controlled much of Afghanistan Bin laden's al-Qaida moved on to launching all sorts of terror attacks throughout the world, culminating in 911. His intent was no less than a global Jihad which would end with an Islamic planet.
   
   The writing in the book may be quite dry and at times it is difficult to keep track of all the names being thrown about but overall an excellent book.

5 comments about Killer Angel: A Short Biography of Planned Parenthood's Founder, Margaret Sanger.

1. Her views were just as monstrous as Hitler's, because they came from the same philosophical genetic line of thinking. Her own words condemn her. She indeed targeted the poor and down-trodden of society with the same views as the Third Reich. She saw the black community as hitler saw the disabled of Germany "useless eaters." Read this book to find out what she really believed. Don't just listen to the emotional-laden lies of Planned Parenthood and their misinformed rabble,[..]
   
   I've never seen pro abortionists deal with the real facts concerning Margaret Sanger. The facts are presented in books like "Killer Angel," but they can't "handle" the facts. All they can do is appeal to the emotions-- "Oh the starving children..." etc. So... their solution is that the children are better off dead, than starving! Good argument!? No. Stupid argument -- just an appeal to the emotions. "Starving Children?" "Abused Children?" Why change the argument? No one said that anti-abortionists were pro starvation or pro abuse. What greater abuse can you have than the killing of innocent children? What you actually have is a promoting and philosophical acceptance of, and practice of genocide for convenience-sake. Shame on anyone who would try to defend what Margaret Sanger said and lived for. You may as well try to defend Hitler himself!



2. There's no original research here; as is clear from the footnotes, the author has just taken material from standard biographies of Sanger and used it to present her in the most negative light possible. Sanger did favor eugenics (as did most people in her era), and she was a socialist, and she had a rather unorthodox family life. There isn't much argument about the facts. But to use these facts to portray her as a monster of iniquity (and a worse murderer than Stalin or Hitler) is just silly. Actually, Sanger's work has almost certainly reduced the incidence of abortion by making birth control more accessible and reliable.



3. This is an excellent primer and succinct summary of the truth about the origins of "Planned Parenthood." Anyone who wants to know the truth about America's disgraceful abortion mills, should begin with this book. You can trust Grant to tell you the truth, in contrast to the communist propaganda we usually get fed! Thank you George!



4. The only thing worse than this book, is someone actually believing it to be based on facts. It is a wicked defamation of Ms Sanger's character for the author to express a pro-life platform.
   
   "No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose conscientiously whether she will or will not be a mother." --Margaret Sanger



5. It's easy to understand the motives, purpose, and actions of Planned Parenthood in light of its founder. Short, easy to read, and helpful for pro-lifers who are fighting PP at any level.

5 comments about Rough Edges: My Unlikely Road from Welfare to Washington.

1. What an amazing life story! I read most of this book on a plane from Washington D.C. to LA. I was actually disappointed when the plane landed because I only had a few more chapters to go and I didn't want to stop reading.
   
   The author tells of his journey from the Mission District in San Francisco to halls of Congress. The book is surprisingly enjoyable considering that the author is a lawyer (and lawyers often write in a yawn inspiring manner). The passengers on my plane kept on turning around to look at me as I laughed out loud or stiffled tears. Republican or Democrat, young or old, rich or poor...you will enjoy this book!



2. On the whole, this was an awe-inspiring story, the type of rags to riches and pull yourself up by your bootstraps book that everybody can appreciate. Mr. Rogan spends far too long though discussing his bartending stories, and far too little time discussing the reasons I bought the book 1) To read more about his time in state government 2)to understand more compleatly the reasons when he became a Republican...his 'switch' was profound and I wanted to better understand how it came to happen and 3) more about his role in the impeachment hearings. On the plus side, the stories about how he became involved in politics and the people he met were frankly awe-inspiring. The world would be better served if more youngsters had a passion for politics like Rogan had. Solid beginning, okay middle, great close, gets this book a 4.



3. I lived across the hall from one of Rogan's "Mission buddies" for nearly a year in Culver City.
   I figure that the apple doesnt fall far from the tree.
   I dont claim to be squeaky clean or innocent by any stretch, but if it "takes one to know one" and Frank DeBrose is Rogan's lifelong friend, then it is a short hop to reality in realizing that this book is perhaps the largest steaming pile of parrot droppings mixed with creative BS ever to find its way to a printing press.
   
   Delightfully written?
   Yes.
   A grain of truth in the entire book...probably not.
   
   My suspicion is that Clinton or his staff might have had the goods on aspects of Rogan's life that Rogan preferred to keep from public view.
   If Rogan's private life is anything like Frank's, and I *suspect* it was, that would be sufficient motivation for his drive to impeach a sitting President.
   It would also shed a lot of light on what really lies beneath the slick facade of most "conservative" Republicans in this day and age.
   
   Perhaps it should be listed as a work of fiction.



4. This is a fascinating book about an affable and intelligent man who overcame incredible odds. I tried to envision him as a bouncer on the Sunset Strip but could not. I've seen him speak and he was funny and witty, both traits sorely missing in our stiff Congress. Don't be surprised to see him back in action representing the OC in DC.



5. This book is a great, againt-all-odds story about a boy who could have taken a destructive path in his life under the most challenging circumstances but chose to turn his life around with sheer determination, persistence, and belief in himself. Rogan's life story is such a drama that has all the elements of the proverbial American Dream. At the end of the book, I still did not understand his switching to the Republican party and why he put himself in a position to damage the man who had been an important mentor and inspiration for him. Regardless, one cannot deny that Rogan is a man of integrity and should give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his political decisions. This book also demonstrates Rogan's razor-sharp wits honed by his tough upbringing that makes his story so readable and engaging. Reading this book was an emotional ride and a valuable educational experience. It's a must-read!

5 comments about Woman of the House: The Rise of Nancy Pelosi.

1. Speaker Pelosi, by claiming "Impeachment is off the table" gave the bush administration the go-ahead to continue the destroying of America. I would never give a penny of my money to support her in any way.



2. Vincent Bzdek takes a close look at Nancy Pelosi, the political cauldrons from whence she came, how she has risen to the challenge of well representing her Congressional district while herding together Democrats of all stripes; and the characteristics and values she's held along the way. From Baltimore to San Francisco to Washington, DC - from mother to candidate to grandmother to Minority Leader to Speaker of the House - from supporter of candidates to the woman in the limelight - and from My Job Is Mom to two heartbeats away from the most important office on the planet - Bzdek profiles the complex, consistent, and canny woman who helps keep her House in order.



3. I found this book to be very informative about Nancy Pelosi. It has many stories of her life. The author interviewed many people and they give us an inside view of Nancy and also the working of the political system. I have a much greater respect for Ms. Pelosi after reading this book.



4. In short, this is a typical rush-job first bio, especially a typical first bio of a political figure produced by a journalist rather than a professional historian.
   
   Bzdek does a decent job on Pelosi the politician, at least as far as Pelosi the political strategist. But, we don't get nearly enough about her pre-election years in San Francisco, not enough detail about how she juggled this and five children, though we do get a few anecdotes, and we don't get a long-term perspective view of how frustrated she does, or does not, feel, with how little the Democratic Congress has accomplished on Iraq in 2007.
   
   Among other things that are missing -- pictures. In a biography of one of America's top politicians, AND one who had children running all around when she was sworn in as Speaker, for this book to not have a single picture other than what's on the dust cover is ridiculous.
   
   And, for the Washington Post's news editor and/or copy editors to misspell John Dingell's name with one "l" and Charles Rangel's with two is sloppy.
   
   So, three stars it is. And, maybe, a bit generous three stars. (The fact that it is already available for under $10 new and $5 or so used should also indicate something.)



5. I must say after reading through this collection of half truths and actual deceptions that it's easy to see how the media props up this woman.....
   
   Her wickedness is almost palpable, and her treatment of the American people like the great unwashed amazes me she can get re-elected....Her abuse of her power as demonstarted by cutting off debate and electricity to her fellow congress people shows an incredible lack of appreciation for free speech.
   
   I'm sure madame dictator would be much more at home in Cuba....

5 comments about Godfather of the Kremlin: the Life and Times of Boris Berezovsky.

1. Paul Klebnikov is a modern Russian hero. He was assasinated because he tried to show the world how corrupt Russia had become at the hands of the oligarchs. "The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism" is well written and organized. It follows not only the "rise" of Berezovsky but also illustrates how the majority of the Duma (Russian Congress) was in fact acting on behalf of the gangsters or were in fact gangsters themselves holding seats in the house.
   It is a reavealing look into the saddest chapter of Russian history. A must read for anyone interested in politics or modern history. It is a shame and loss to us all that Paul was killed. Who knows what other truths he could have recovered had he lived. It is also a shame that in our modern age of information, only a few speak the truth - and if they speak to loudly they are silenced, as was Paul. May he rest in peace.
   If you enjoyed this book, Paul also did an interview called "Theft of the century: Privatization and the looting of Russia." If you google it, you will find it on the net.



2. Everybody should read this book - it helps to put the entire Litvinenko killing in perspective ; the dead Russian spy worked for Berezovsky - given Berezovsky long criminal history it would not be surprising at all that he was directly involved in murdering his own employee as part of his long ongoing campaign to overthrow the democratically elected president Putin and thereby illegally regain control of all of Russia's natural resources including in particular Russia's oil and gas wealth.



3. This book tells a powerful story that most Americans are, sadly, unfamiliar with. Mr. Klebnikov outlines in impressive detail the history of Russia during the very turbulent times of the 1990s. The development of gangster capitalism under the Yeltsin regime in an environment of political corruption was a tragic episode in Russian history and an example of an opportunity squandered. This book outlines the rise of the mafia in Russia in the post-glasnost time period and the links they had to the Chechens and to the political leaders of the time.
   
   While I sometimes became a bit lost in all the details and Russian names with which I was unfamiliar, the story came through well as Mr. Klebnikov built, step-by-step, a solid and well-documented case. This story is an important one for Americans who wish to better understand what happened during this time period and how it affected, and still affects, Russia. From political assassinations to presidential elections - the book tells a compelling and sadly disturbing story.
   
   Since I have several Russian friends, I felt I owed it to myself to become more familiar with recent Russian history. And this book did not let me down. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in understanding Russia better and I suspect it will in time become a classic for the detailed description it provides of this time period in Russian history.
   
   Highly recommended!



4. I personally witnessed the outcomes of the corrupted rule of the culprits portrayed by late Paul Klebnikov.
   Many Russians believe that the truths revealed in this book were the cause of author's murder.



5. This is a great book by a good author with a fantastic approach to the subject at hand.Even with all the warnings about some of the things being to good to be true ( or bad for that matter) the reality has surface just by watching the news about Russia.I like the fact that the author was able to track all the corrupt corporations in countries like Great Britain,Switzerland and USA.The author mentions names,dates and places with accuracy.Also i enjoyed his explanations and the political and economic ramifications that the corruption in Russia has brought.It is very sad to see how Boris Yeltsin drove Russia to the ground while pretending to be a good president.The Book shows how Yeltsin is as guilty as anyone in Russia of its problems.He was just a mummified puppet with a stupid smile.Anyone with interest in recient history of Russia should read this book.

1 comments about Obama: The Essential Guide to the Democratic Nominee.

1. This book is on sale in supermarkets, and I spent time with both this book and its counterpart for John McCain.
   
   I recommend both books as coffee table books, lots of great photos and general information about the individuals, but this book is NOT a guide.
   
   There are no statistics, no tables, no comparisons, no meaningful GUIDE to who the candidate is and what they really stand for based on their actual behavior, votes, known acquaintances, etcetera.
   
   What would be extraordinarlily valuable, if the publishers want to do a fast make-over, is a SINGLE book that compares all four candidates On the Issues and on their Values and what it all means for the federal government's future, the budget's future, and the country's future.
   
   For an idea of what I am talking about, look online for "On the Isuses,"
   and see especially the way they plot on a map relative differences.
   
   See also the book below:
   
   The Political Junkie Handbook (The Definitive Reference Book on Politics)

5 comments about Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford.

1. This book was giant, in size and in scope. I must admit I did not finish it. Jessica "Decca" Mitford was a bitchy, brilliant, fascinating, annoying, funny, sarcastic and altogether mysterious woman. This book of her letters gives us a very tiny keyhole of insight into that enormous personality. I don't mean that it fails to give us enough; I just mean no book is really capable of parsing the enigma of Decca. It would be a good addition to anyone's book collection, especially Anglophiles, Francophiles, and Bibliophiles!



2. I got this as a gift for my brother and I was lucky enough to receive it as a Christmas present a few months later. Jessica Mitford Treuhaft was one of the famous Mitford sisters. Her sister Nancy wrote novels of manners such as "Love In A Cold Climate", her sister Unity was a Hitler groupie who shot herself in Munich shortly after WWII was declared and spent the remainder of her life with severe brain damage, her sister Diana divorced Brian Guinness to marry the head of the Union of British Fascists, and her sister Deborah is the current dowager Duchess of Devonshire. Jessica, or Decca as she was called since childhood, ran away from home to elope with a Communist named Esmond Romilly and to fight against fascism in Spain; all of this caused rather a major rift with her family. The couple eventually moved to America; Esmond was killed in action after joing the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Decca ended up in Oakland, CA married to a radical lawyer named Bob Treuhaft. But like many who grew up in her time and class, she wrote wonderful letters - quirky, funny, sometimes about awful serious matters but always with a sense of the absurd. She was committed to the work of the Communist Party in the early civil rights movemement in California and traveled to many parts of the country to demonstrate; she and her husband were targets of Congressional investigations and denied passports for years, and she became an effective community activist. After falling away from the CPUSA, she continued her activism, and her letters describe some of the most important struggles of progressive America in the '40s, '50s and '60s. She really came into public awareness in a bigger way when she wrote a groundbreaking expose of the predatory practices of the funeral industry, "The American Way of Death." She followed that up with exposes of the prison industry and other abuses and was active until shortly before her death in the late 90s.
   The letters are gems - when I finished the book, I thought, "I'd really have loved to have known this woman and to have received some of these wonderful letters." Some made me laugh out loud, others made me recognize anew the courage of those who had the vision and the foresight to combat racism in America at a time when it was simply taken for granted. They show a concern for family that is poignant as well as a sense of honor that is almost rigid - when Winston Churchill, who was her cousin, freed her sister Diana and Diana's husband Oswald Mosley from prison after WWII, she wrote to him in protest, saying that their work on behalf of fascism was a danger to freedom everywhere and that they belonged in prison, and that the fact that Diana was her sister did not alter her opinion about that.
   The only shadow I found over this wonderful collection of letters was the lack of any sense of real recognition of the evil committed in the name of Communism by Stalin, Mao and others. She defended against this criticism by pointing out that no one but the CPUSA was taking serious action on civil rights when she came to this country in the '40s, but she never really acknowledges the darker side of the party's international activity. One gets the impression that she sees it as the lesser of two evils; and as much as one can recognize that at that time and place Fascism was certainly the more immediate and powerful threat, one is still troubled by Decca's lack in this area of the uncompromising commitment to truth that characterizes so many of her activities.
   I cannot imagine anyone who is familiar with this period of history in England and America not being fully engaged by this wonderful book. I can't recommend it highly enough.



3. the book itself is well put together and edited. the book's subject is self centered and likes mostly to hear herself talk. i found it to be boring.



4. Sussman does a great job of, first, setting the scene and then laying out in a very readable way this enormous collection of Jessica Mitford's letters. She's always been a favorite of mine. This collection is adding greatly to my appreciation.



5. Mitford-despisers complain that we fans too easily forgive them their sins on account of their rare wit and charm. Well, in the case of Decca at least, this charge is unfair. She was funny (and cruel): her account of a 1962 house party at Chatsworth is quite delicious; ditto her accounts of what passes for high society on Mull. But she was also brave, in journalism and in life. A deathbed letter to Bob - 'It's so odd to be dying, so I must just jot a few thoughts' - is a model of clarity (though perhaps you would expect this in one who had so much time and energy railing against an industry that so pointlessly prettified corpses); so, too, is a letter to Benjamin in which she urges him to seek help for his illness. The fact remains that as an example of what a woman can do once she has rid herself of, or at least decided to ignore, the expectations of others - family, men, society - Jessica Mitford will always take some beating. That she is also a hoot is merely the icing on the cake.

2 comments about Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Penguin Classics).

1. I thought this book was written a little differently, but I also found it helpful. It was cool how Sojourner Truth's Book of Life was written inside of it along with a whole separate book. There was a lot of good information in it. I used this book for a school project and it worked out great. The book was useful and interesting to read because there are letters from people she knew that were written to her. I enjoyed reading this also recieved info from it.



2. This book is an excellent biography. It goes a little further into the creases and crefices of the life of this great woman. I used it for a presentation in one of my doctoral courses and found it on a level that fit my needs.