1 comments about Lincoln's Youth: Indiana Years, Seven to Twenty-One, 1816-1830.

1. For many years this was the standard account of Lincoln's passage from childhood into teenage years and the verge of adulthood. Although the parts devoted to Lincoln may be superceded by a later treatment, Warren's volume contains many details of pioneer Indiana that aren't collected together elsewhere.

5 comments about Ataturk.

1. The author does a fine job in what is obviously a very thoroughly-researched and well-written work. The main thing I liked about this book is that it didn't just discuss a chronology of Ataturk's career but also looked into the ideas and influences which molded the future leader of the Turkish Republic. A little long at places, the book nevertheless makes sure the context of developments is known to the reader as well as the events themselves. While not destined to be a favorite book of mine I can certainly recommend it as a great work in this field of history.



2. This book contains everything you ever wanted to know about Ataturk and much, much, much more. I found that the book devoted so much detail to essentially insignificant parts of Atturk's life that it diminished the story of his rise to power and his use of it to bring about enormous changes in Turkey in an amazingly short period of time.



3. This is an excellent book for what it is---but it was not quite what I was looking for. Ataturk is a fascinating individual who dictated wideranging reforms. I wanted to know how and why he came by his phylosophies--other than he believed the church was a huge detriment to society.
   
   This is a very detailed history, including names of associates, political intrigues, battles, who moved what troops where, etc, but short on the reforms and their reasons. For example, page 468, "An obedient assembly continued to pass laws imported from Europe: court procedure was reformed, the German commercial code and Swiss law on bankruptcy were adopted; agricultural cooperatives were established". This is the only mention of any of these important things in the entire book.
   
   I'm certainly don't regret reading it and I learned a great deal. Now I need a book that goes into all the changed Ataturk made. If someone has a recommendation, pleas email me.



4. I found this book to be an exhaustive review of the almost day to day schedule of Mustapha Kemal throughout his life. Although extremely thorough, it is quite easy to get lost in the minutiae. The author dissects each vignette in excruciating detail in an attempt to separate fact from self-serving legend, but what little analysis is provided simply excuses or downplays the ruthlessness of the protagonist. Outright murder, exile and/or jailing of his political opponents such as journalists are excused with statements such as in any revolution, a few must fall by the wayside. Massacres and deportations of Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds are barely alluded to, while the author's main sympathies are revealed in statements such as "General Muglali's career ended sadly...he was courtmartialed for having ordered the shooting of thirty-three Kurdish tribesman" (p.477). Mustafa Kemal's curious habit of adopting "daughters" is noted throughout the text with barely a comment until the very end of the book when the author reveals that a black eunuch guards his harem, and one of his daughters, Atef, is in fact his "intimate companion". In my opinion, the best part of the book consists of the last several chapters, when the author summarizes the Gazi's career and his role in Turkish and world history. Unfortunately, it took 500 uncritical pages to get there.



5. Andrew Mango has obviously done a great deal of research into his fascinating subject. The book is a thorough history of the life and career of Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Even though he was autocratic in many respects, there can be no denying that he was a visionary who built a powerful modern Western nation out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. The current rulers of Turkey, specifically Erdogan and Gul, ought to spend some time acquainting themselves with Ataturk before plunging the country headlong down the Islamist path.
   
   The main problem with the book is that Mango is not much of a writer. His prose is pedestrian, and he has no flair for narrative. Having read "1453" by Roger Crowley, the fascinating story of the fall of Constantinople, I know that history can be every bit as exciting as an adventure novel. Alas, "Ataturk" at times resembles a mere recitation of events in the protagonist's life.
   
   So although I have given the book 5 stars, the reader should be aware that he/she is in for a long, hard slog at times.

5 comments about Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks.

1. A marvelous book that captures the seldom recognized strength and courage of this civil rights pioneer President. Prof. Gardner eloquently tells of Truman's ground breaking and couragous actions that changed the landscape of civil rights within the United States. Every American should read this book and learn about how Truman's moral convictions guided him and gave him the unwavering strength to take on widespread racist in the US without fear. Truman's story is an inspiration -- from his endearing and solid relationships with his wife and mother, to his passionate speeches before the NAACP and on the Lincoln Memorial steps. Prof. Gardner has truly painted a fabulous portrait of this remarkable President. This book is a must read!



2. A crucial aspect of American history finally told. Truman is an American hero and Gardner captures the courageousness of Truman's civil rights crusade in a compelling fashion. This important story is a must read -- and a fantastic holiday gift!



3. Gardner has examined one facet of Harry Truman, probably the most important and significant facet of Truman's time in office, which was his willingness to risk power for a moral imperative - the equality of all Americans. Even though David McCullough talks about it in his book "Truman," HST still has received far too little credit for his role as a major catalyst of the modern civil rights movement, mainly because it didn't "take root" for about ten years after he left office. But this in no way detracts from the significance of Truman's courage, which was demonstrated by his willingness to split the Democratic party and thereby risk the 1948 election for what he felt was something that was not only politically necessary, but, quite simply, morally right (although unpopular). It was HST's Civil Rights Commission and his Executive Order integrating the armed forces that finally gave the US Civil Rights movement the inertia it needed to overcome the gravity of American tradition which was still flourishing in the form of "Jim Crow."

   I was not especially impressed by the writing skills of Gardner. There is far too much repetition, and not enough anecdote...especially about the African American servicemen who were being lynched as they returned from WWII. It was this inconceivable injustice that provided the moral imperative that struck Harry Truman so hard and caused him to take the steps he took. As a result, WWII became THE seminal event in 20th Century US History.




4. I bought this book after seeing Mr. Gardner on CNN and I couldn't stop reading it until I was done. As a native Missourian, Gardner eloquently tells the story of a brilliant, humble President who is our Country's little known civil rights hero. Gardner does a masterful job detailing Truman's politically fearless efforts while marvelously weaving in Truman's personal letters, thoughts and life experiences. Gardner captures Truman's political triumphs and personal victories brilliantly. Truman and Gardner's book make me proud to be a Missourian. I highly recommend this book to everyone!



5. In reading Gardner's book, I learned a lot about Truman's impressive record as a civil rights advocate during his tenure as president. Gardner presents more than ample evidence to support his thesis that HST demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to Black civil rights, despite weak (white) public interest in this issue and the political risks of alienating a powerful block of Dixiecrats. He is successful in describing the many facets of racism -- rigid segregation, voter intimidation, lynching, all-white juries, etc. -- that African Americans encountered as they returned home after presumably fighting for 'freedom and democracy' in WWII. Truman, he aptly shows, refused to ignore the glaring contradiction between U.S. ideals and practices, and understood that racism on the home front undermined the country's foreign policy goals.
   
   Gardner is, however, so preoccupied with establishing HST as a moral and courageous leader that he tends to neglect elements of Truman's social and political environment that made it possible for him to advance a civil rights agenda and indeed, get elected in 1948 against all the odds. For example, there WAS a legacy of Black resistance to oppression by this time... and not just the nascent stirrings of a civil rights movement to which Gardner alludes. Marvey Garvey had fired the imaginations and aspirations of tens of thousands of Blacks with the organziation of the UNIA. The NAACP was well-established and published The Crisis under the editorship of W.E.B. DuBois. Langston Hughes offered up brilliant poetry and fiction that touched on the sting of Black experience in a racist America. Billie Holiday recorded the haunting song about lynching, "Strange Fruit." And of course, there were liberal Euro-Americans who genuinely believed in racial equality and human rights, just as Truman did. There is no way he could have pulled off his victory in the 1948 election without deep connections to and alliances with moderate and liberal supporters.
   
   Gardner points out that Truman's hands were tied by Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress when it came to passing civil rights legislation. Instead, the president showed great political savvy by using his Executive Order powers (as he did when he desegregated the armed services) and appointing like-minded friends to the courts. One was Fred Vinson, who became Truman's chief justice and presided over a handful of Supreme Courts cases that laid the groundwork for the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. Gardner provides a compelling description of these cases in Chapter 11, "Truman and the Vinson Court."
   
   This book does have one major flaw, and a couple reviewers have made reference to it. Gardner repeats himself ad naseum, making the same point over and over in the same chapter and sometimes across chapters. Too much of the time, I felt like I was reading an unedited dissertation. For example, Garder (appropriately) uses quotes from a variety of primary sources, but then, rather than clarifying or elaborating on the points made in the quote, he writes virtually the same thing in a follow-up paragraph. The repetition was VERY annoying, and I found myself barely skimming sections of the book in search of the next substantive point.
   
   Overall, there is certainly enough substance in the book to make it worth reading. Gardner does shed valuable light on Truman's civil rights record. A good editor, however, would have made for a much better reading experience.

1 comments about The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. (American Presidency Series).

1. Several years ago, a young co-worker asked me about Jimmy Carter and my response was that he was a much better ex-president than he was a president. His subsequent work in areas such as Habitat for Humanity as well as international relations has been excellent. He has served as a goodwill ambassador, election monitor and has negotiated several international agreements that favored the United States. He has also continued to be a champion of human rights causes throughout the world.
   Contrasting his success after his presidency with his performance while in office demonstrates the reasons why his presidency is generally assigned a mediocre grade. His idealism in championing human rights was the most obvious example of the truism that idealism may help get you elected, but it gets in the way of governing effectively. In the age of the cold war and international tensions, a cold, heartless pragmatism seems to be the only thing that works.
   I found Kaufman's explanations of the Carter presidency to be the most even-handed and honest that I have read. Carter made many mistakes, had some made for him and in other cases was just the victim of circumstances. Nevertheless, he did have some striking successes, the two most notable being the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt and the treaty relinquishing the Panama canal. In these events, Carter showed how much potential he really had as a president. I remember when the networks pre-empted their regular programming as Carter, Sadat and Begin came back from Camp David with the agreement in hand. It was a stunning achievement and it amazed the world. The magic of that moment is captured in the book, as well as the subsequent problems that continue to plague the region. Despite all the violence in the area of Palestine and Lebanon in the years since the accords were signed, the fact that Israel and Egypt still continue to have formal relations and are at peace show how sturdy those agreements are.
   As someone who lived through those years and followed the Carter presidency in great detail, reading this book brought back a great deal of memories. Without attempting to boast, I do have an excellent memory, and the recounting of the events are all exactly as I remember them.
   The author closes with a very important and often overlooked point. Carter's presidency is considered a failure, and yet he refused to negotiate away anything in order to release the hostages in Iran. Reagan's presidency is considered a success and yet he attempted a bribe for the release of the hostages in Lebanon by selling armaments to Iran. There is no doubt that on that point, Carter bests Reagan.
   I would like to close this review with a personal point. Yes, Carter's pushing of human rights did create problems. But, when you consider that some of those whose rights were being violated, Walesa in Poland and Havel in the Czech Republic, rose to the leadership of their nations, perhaps he was just ahead of his time.

3 comments about Intelligence Was My Line: Inside Eisenhower's Other Command.

1. This book is a facinating read, providing never seen before insight into US Intelligence prior to and during the European Theater of WWII. I would highly recommend this book to those who are interested in the beginning of the US Intelligence Branch of government and WWII buffs.



2. Hauenstein does an excellent job sharing his memories of his role in WWII as an intelligence officer. I recommend this to anyone with an interest in WWII.



3. I enjoy reading military memoirs, but this one was just a bit too stilted and careful in its tone. Hauenstein is, of course several decades removed from his WWII experiences by now, but his memory seems intact. I especially enjoyed the first part of the book when he talked about his Army officer "training" when he commanded and worked at CCC camps in western Michigan. Locations like Bitely and Walkerville, as well as his home in Grand Rapids, made it all seem very real to me, as I am a west Michigander myself. I also enjoyed the section on his tour in Iceland immediately before the U.S. entered the war. Many interesting revelations there. But once he was transferred to London after the Pearl Harbor, the narrative became rather pedantic and tedious, with too many military and government-ese acronyms and explanations of them. I'm quite sure I would very much enjoy a more detailed memoir of Hauenstein's early life, but, at 96, he probably won't be writing any more books. I applaud him for finally telling this story, with the able help of his co-writer, Donald Markle. - Tim Bazzett, author of the ReedCityBoy trilogy

5 comments about The Assault on Reason (Large Print Press).

1. Oh Al, if only you had spoken like this when you were running for president the country might not be in the mess it is in today. I have no desire to get lost in what if, but with the Assault on Reason, Gore gives us a glimpse into what life could have been like with a president that got A's in school instead of C's. (Which turned out to be more important that we thought it would, especially since in school all one ever hears is "if you at least make the average you to can do well in whatever you choose." Man was that wrong.) Gore's guiding principal is that with the advent of the television and the decline in reading, a culture that holds no emphasis on such things as facts and logic has emerged. Gore's book is eloquent in a manner one would not assume he possessed, what with his performance on the campaign trail. Like all books of this type Gore makes his point in the first two thirds and spends the last third dragging it out until forever, but its still good.



2. Who would have thought Al Gore could be so eloquent, persuasive, and passionate? Well, he is. And he has no qualms with monopolizing the market of inconvenient truths. "The Assault on Reason" reveals a truth that, if we aren't already well-aware of, almost certainly intuit: reason, logic, and truth are in alarming short-supply in this country and if we, as a people, don't open our eyes, turn off our televisions, and engage in the national political discourse, the sovereignty of our country may slip away. One such reason for this lack of reason, as it were, is America's obsession with television and the four hours and thirty-five minutes we spend, on average, watching it *every* day. The bumper-sticker advice, "Kill your television", is now more important and timely than ever. Nevertheless, Gore brackets his points re: television with a discussion of the internet at the end of the book and how, if allowed to develop largely free of government intervention, could revive the national discourse, stave off further anti-intellectualism, and steer this country back toward a country of the people, by the people, for the people. In sum, Gore's treatise is well-written, artfully presented, and capable of inspiring rage, disgust, and...the motivation to return our government to one of laws -- not incompetent, power-obsessed, religiously crazed men.



3. Regardless of your political disposition, everyone should read this book. It is NOT about global warming, it is about the current state of our democracy, and what we can do to improve it. Highly recommended!



4. Don Stacy
   Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
   August 13, 2008
   
   Al Gore
   Nashville, TN, USA
   
   Dear Mr Gore,
   
   Ocassionally I will be prompted to write to an author whose work I
   found interesting or informative or of exceptional literary value. I
   have been deeply moved by what you have said so far in The Assault on
   Reason. Obviously you are the only person who could have written this
   very unusual critique of the present weakened state of public
   discourse.
   
   Not only have you produced an unassailable indictment of the
   fault-filled Bush years in the White House, and of his appalling
   disregard for authortative reports from various people to whom he
   should have paid careful attention, but you have also easily
   vindicated yourself for America's failure to elect you as President in
   2000.
   
   Before I moved to China to teach English at a "software college" in
   Yunnan Province, I had been studying computer science at a small
   university in Idaho. I was particularly interested in your metaphore
   of a massively parallel system in comparison to the public workings of
   Democracy and Capitalism. I thought it rather illuminating--but then
   your entire book is exceedingly illuminating and I must thank you for
   having written it.
   
   I hope that not a few Conservatives will have the simple courage and
   good sense to read your book, thus innoculating themselves against the
   further tendency to immerse their heads in the moist warm sand of
   willful neglect of the truth. But of course there are those, some whom
   you refer to, the radio hosts and so forth, who will deride you as
   before hoping to seek a laugh from their gullible audience, who smugly
   retain their shallow views and unwittingly mock Truth itself in doing
   so.
   
   When you pointed out that Capitalism has proven to be a far more
   efficiently workable economic system than Communism, you illustrated
   this with the emaciation that is North Korea, and the lumbering
   corruption-ridden former Soviet Union. You might have also mentioned
   Cuba. The one country you did not mention--which would have interfered
   with your argument--is China, a timely topic right now, considering the
   Olympic Games.
   
   I've only read a few books about the modern political history of
   China, most recently a biography of one of their Presidents, Zhang
   Zhemin. Now, we are all perfectly aware thanks to TV coverage of the
   Olympics just what China has become in so astonishingly short a time.
   The Chinese are accustomed to change like no other people on the
   planet, I believe. And thanks to Deng Xiao Ping and his hand-picked
   successor, Zhang Zhemin, the country is now on its way to surpassing
   the United States as an economic power, a thought which would have
   been inconceivable twenty years ago.
   
   I'd be curious to know your views on China. Perhaps someday you will
   publish a book which touches upon the relations between the United
   States and this protean nation so crowded with people, so determined
   toward prosperity, so different from anything we have seen before.
   
   Respectfully yours,
   
   Don Stacy



5. This book is the literary equivalent of having a bucket of cold water thrown on you while you sleep, and its exactly what we all need right now. As i read through this book I found myself getting angry, angry because I realized that I had given up my right to change the course of this country by allowing someone else to make the decisions for me. For allowing the television to make up my mind instead of studying the facts and having meanful discussions with friends and family based on those facts. I'm angry because I allow our govenment to lie, cheat, steal and torture witout being completely livid. This book could very well change the world, and its sad that every word is simple common sense aimed at everyone of us.
   Chapter by chapter it reminds us of the ways we have let our freedoms go and become subservient to a government that no longer works for us. I challenge everyone to read this book and see if they dont feel empowered to stand up and say no more! Lets get our nation back along with our minds.

No comments about George Bush: His World War II Years.

4 comments about The Lincoln No One Knows.

1. I have not bought this book as I would not let one penney fall into Garrison's pocket, but I've perused this volume heavily. I wish that I could have given it 0 stars. The author is an unreconstructed Confederate who, whenever there is a remotely possible sinister way of interpreting Lincoln's actions, prefers to submit that view rather than acknowledge the findings of recognized scholars' research. For example, he claims that Lincoln is responsible for the creation of the "Imperial Presidency", making possible the abuses of Nixon, Vietnam, etc. But he does not show that Lincoln's powers were often balanced by a war conduct committee, that the Presidency went on to lose considerable authority and esteem in the Reconstruction years, and that Lincoln himself acknowledged that, except in the case of national emergencies, as the Civil War was viewed, the President lacked powers to do many things (like the Emancipation Proclamation). Garrison also blames Lincoln for being uncompromising and contends, without proof, that the Confederacy's desire to continue as a separate nation would have faded, if allowed, resulting in reunification. But most scholars acknowledge that the individual states would have sooner seceded even further into smaller nations, and that other states in the Union would have found reason to secede into new confederacies. Thus, as I've said, Garrison's trash has been disproven yet he pretends as though it has not even been noticed by scholars. It is the vitriolic spite of an unenlightened Confederate clinging to the bitterness of ancestors. This book should be relegated to the heap of trash-writing never to be recovered.



2. Some may find the book ofensive.As Lincoln is one of the greatest American Presidents and heros of all time,but I think to read this book you need to keep an open mind.
   Pople I think do not like for when histrorians and such dig through his hstory and prefer to enjoy the egnima that the man we all love is known today.
   Having said that I would be weary reading this book if you have not read or done lots of resarch on the man.
   I give this book three stars mostly becaouse I knew alot of the information that the book had ,but the point of view the author was giving was intersting.



3. This book is an excellent addition to anyone's library of books about this critical figure in American history. Unlike some reviewers, I actually bought, and read this book, and bothered to research some of the authors surprising assertions.

   It amazes me how hysterical and insulting people will get when faced with facts about something contrary to what they are familiar with. So many Lincoln quotes, for instance, have long been known to be sheer fabrication; mythology, simply untrue and not originating from Lincoln at all. So many assertions about Lincoln's intentions and beliefs have been made that are utterly contrary to what Lincoln himself said and wrote. As with any historical figure, there are people that idolize and create myths, and there are those who are real historians, who actually do their homework. This book is a product of the work of a person in the latter category.

   Shocking and contrary to what we were told as school children about Lincoln, the story of the real Lincoln is much more interesting and base than the myth makers would have us believe. Lincoln was, after all, a politician, a Statist, and a Federalist. He declared martial law, took away citizens basic constitutional rights, jailed newspaper reporters and statesmen that disagreed with him, and went against the founding father's explicit intentions as well as the Constitution and Bill of Rights in creating a massive, unrestricted, powerful centralized federal government. Lincoln, as it turns out, was no saint after all. The real story is always grittier and more interesting than the fantasy. If you want a taste of the real Lincoln, and if you are capable of dealing with some unpleasant facts about the man and the legend, read this book, it's a good start.




4. This book is mistitled because it contains absolutely nothing that is new and certainly nothing that is not presented in better fashion elsewhere. It also lacks any sources, which grants Garrison the freedom to embellish what he doesn't know, e.g., his claim that Lincoln earned $5,000 every year as an attorney.

1 comments about Inward Hunger: The Education of a Prime Minister.

1. "When the author, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, was a lad, his country was a British Crown Colony, and its government offered one university scholarship a year to the entire population. Young Williams won it, and went off to Oxford to study history and politics. He became an authority on West Indian history and, back home, founded the People's National Movement Party, which has repeatedly returned him to office. Mr. Williams' education has endowed him with a lucid style and, despite his dedication to his homeland, a mind that is anything but insular. This account of his efforts to make a new nation closes in 1968; one looks forward to another installment." -New Yorker
   In the meantime, this autobiography has become a classic in African-Caribbean history.
   Just Published
   
   Paperback Info:
   ISBN 10 digit: 1-55876-387-2
   ISBN 13 digit: 978-1-55876-387-6
   $24.95
   About Eric Williams:
   Eric Williams built his reputation as a professor of political science at Howard University. He later took an active role in politics, leading Trinidad and Tobago's independence movement and becoming the state's prime minister. Colin Palmer, Princeton University, is the author of Passageways: An Interpretive History of Black America.

2 comments about Maximum Danger: Kennedy, the Missiles, and the Crisis of American Confidence.

1. "A powerful and provocative look at what the publics view was on the Cuban missile crisis. Maximum Danger reveals startling information from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. Robert Weisbort tells the real story of what Kennedy and his administration endured through almost near nuclear holocaust."



2. Robert Weisbrot's Maximum Danger provides another cogent analysis of the Kennedy/Cuba crisis: this from the viewpoint of Kennedy's overall attitude toward the Soviet Union's growing missile strength. Weisbrot argues that John Kennedy attempted to minimize confrontations with the Soviets, pursuing different options to avert the crisis. Maximum Danger provides an engaging, thoughtful series of different viewpoints about the missile crisis.