No comments about Gordon Brown: Past, Present and Future.

No comments about Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies).

No comments about American Presidents Eminent Lives Boxed Set: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant.

No comments about Rutherford B. Hayes: And His America.

No comments about My Vision.

No comments about Min Yong-Hwan: A Political Biography (Hawaii Studies on Korea).

3 comments about Hitler in Vienna, 1907-1913: Clues to the Future.

1. This is a book which gives the reader uncommon insight into what could well be the unseen fermenting origins of the most evil mastermind and destroyer in human history(Adolf Hitler). This detailed account of the degenerate class of life in which Hitler resided at the start of his manhood encompasses a curious mixture of the little-known facts about his obscure poverty, in stark contrast to the series of events revolving around Vienna which led directly to World War I. A positive aspect of this interesting work is the fact that as we witness the tramp and the homeless Hitler, his life is told without omission of detail, and most importantly, it is told independent of any direct comparison to the future leader who would eventually come to rule the Third Reich. A must for those who crave the hidden details beneath the ordinary texts.



2. this book is not only incredible for its meticulous detail and unknown information about hitler but its also a social discourse on life in general of the old hapsburg empire and vienna at the turn of the century.the fact that this man was a bum who almost died of sickness and spent a few years sleeping in doorways and parks and was very close to starving but survived to be master of not only a country but a continent and almost the world is just further proof that fact is indeed stranger than fiction. stories about his adventures with many friends who were jewish is astonishing and in direct contradiction to his rantings in mein kampf where he liked to say he became an ant semite in vienna. its not true and suggests that hitler was only bieng an anti semite because it was politically advantageous in a land where anti semitism was widespread. if that is true that makes him even scarier. he was a close friend of a jew named joseph nueman and many of the mens homes he lived in were run by jews. he only liked to do business with jews and it was a jew who helped him from freezing to death by giving him a coat and many jews bought and sold his paintings for him.a very engrossing book for anyone interested in the subject of what shaped hitlers thinking



3. Extremely interesting and informative insight into a fascinating (time)...Much insight into the character of A.Hitler ( and friends)..As an amateur historian i learned much I didnt know..The author wrote without prejudice(s) and merely presented facts..The opinions should be left to the reader...If your interested in this subject you will enjoy the book...

No comments about The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume 7, 1829 (Utp Papers Andrew Jackson).

No comments about Richard M. Nixon: An American Enigma (Library of American Biography Series) (Library of American Biography).

2 comments about Ronald Reagan: A Life In Politics.

1. I am confused why they sell these books at the Reagan Library. Admittedly they are long, through, and have wonderful cover at. But the content is what disturbs me. Not the entire content, but just three things.
   
   The first snag is that Cannon does not like Reagan. He clearly admits this in-in his footnotes:
   
   "It was the only time Reagan ever complimented me on anything I write." (Governor, 311n)
   
   This quote sums up the books main negative bias. This book is a history of Reagan as filtered through Cannon's philosophical grid. This makes for a tedious read. He takes Reagan on Lou Cannon's terms. Maybe that is why Cannon had a weekly column that included "Reaganisms," (President, 102n).
   
   Cannon is, however, fascinated by him. He freely admits this in the 1991 preface to President Reagan. This provides a positive bias, which saves the book from being a multi-volume hit piece.
   
   The second snag, is the books are almost all context. It is always "Reagan And": Reagan and Unruh, Reagan and Meese, Reagan and Reagan, and Reagan and Nancy. But we never see Reagan as an individual.
   
   The Gipper's tag-line is the Great Communicator, but Cannon rarely quotes him. This sucks the life out of the Regan magic. Read Michael Reagan's quote book on his father and then read this book. It is like seeing two different men. One is a lively and deep thinker; the other is a vague buffoon. But will the real Ronald Regan please stand up?
   
   Reagan also had a gift for humor. Peggy Noonan observed that Reagan had "an encyclopedic memory for jokes." (When Character Was King, 228). However, Cannon, in his chapter on Reagan's humor, talks about his humor in the abstract and recounts his juicier ethnic jokes (President, 101-102).
   
   The last snag is in the area of analogy. The second book is subtitled "The role of a Lifetime." His rhetorical device is to cast Reagan merely as an actor who gets the chance to play a president. This is a combination of "I'm not a president, but I play one on TV" and the plot to the film "Dave."
   
   Hover, this rhetorical device affects his logic. David Hackett Fischer calls this "the fallacy of insidious analogy" ("Historians' Fallacies," 244ff). The problem is that Cannon's analogy takes over his writing. It also become contradictory at times.
   
   For example, Chapter six of the presidential book discuses what Canon calls "the script." What he means by the script is the core philosophical ideas that Reagan had that attracted the voters. Cannon freely admits, "But it was the script that was compelling, and it was Reagan who wrote it." (President, 66). Then in later chapters he speaks of Reagan taking direction and needing a director (President, Chapter 10, p. 25, 32, 116, ).
   
   Cannon may misunderstand the necessity of delegation. The role of the president is to be the leader. That is, he articulates the vision, and then empowers his staff and cabinet to implement the vision. That is why he said, ""Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided is carried out." (President, 150). Ill timed or not, it is not only sound advice, it is the only way to run a country. A micromanager could not last three second as president.
   
   To be sure, Reagan may not have done follow-up as well as he should have, but he did understand the genius of individual people. He was not just remaking country, but truing everyone into demi-gods by empowering them.
   
   I think I have said enough, but there is one comment that just grates me. In Chapter 9 of the president book, Canon describes the rise and fall of the M/X missile. During one Cabinet meeting, Regan showed up with a cartoon of Uncle Sam playing as hell-game with Brezhnev. This clinched the issue for Reagan. (President, 138). Cannon conclude the chapter saying that Reagan was a "president who skimped on preparation, avoided complexities and news conferences, and depended far too heavily on anecdotes, charts, graphics, and cartoons." (President, 140)
   
   Cannon forgets that Reagan had an intuitive sense of people, and was able to connect without the use of the Cabinet and Bureaucracy (President, 119). One obvious was he did that was by listening to them. Another way was attuning himself to the humor. Cannon forgets the power of humor and that George burns said, "Truth is the basis of all good comedy."(Governor, 107). That one political cartoon illustrated a truth that would do honor to Socrates or Kierkegaard. For Cannon, the medium was the message. End of story.
   
   The gubernatorial book is the better book. Cannon does not feel the need to cover as much as he does in the Presidential book (Some of the material is redundant). The Presidential one has long chapters that sometimes get muddled. Chapter 8 covers Reagan's humor and thought patterns, and Chapter 11 covers Regan's early life-kind of late in the book for that. Also, Hinckley isn't mentioned by name in the narrative about the assassination, which is covered in half a paragraph, and then resumed in the narrative about the melt-down of Alex Haige.
   
   What would have helped this book? First of all, Cannon needs to sort out what he really thinks about Reagan. He is fascinated and even at times charmed by Reagan. But it is a love-hate relationship. Cannon disagrees with Reagan politically and philosophically. It is almost like Canon is afraid of Regan and feels the need to cut him down a notch.
   
   Canon makes the comment that Reagan may have never read E. B. White (President, 97). I suggest the same for Cannon: Remember Strunk and White's first rule of Composition: Place Yourself in the background (Strunk and White, 70).
   
   Secondly, "Check your premises." Figure out why you have this attraction to reign, and name concretes. Both were Irish and had Alcoholic fathers (President, 174n), but there is something deeper.



2. I did read the whole book just so I could comment on it. The part about him being docile when visiting his parents home made me throw up. But I persevered and read the rest of it. I just don't understand why the President and Nancy let this book happen. If you hate Reagan and you hate Conservatives, then this book should make you very happy. I threw my copy away. No way was I going to give this to the library like I usually do.