1 comments about Terrorism: The Bottom Line.

1. This edition is an excellent review of Terrorim. It provides the history on how terrorism was used in the past and an excellent anology of the current events. I am using the book for undergrad students at the university and highly recommend it.

5 comments about Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up.

1. While I was at times confused by the legal problems Walsh's team were confronted with, I did clearly understand why Lawrence Walsh did not get very far with his investigation. Mainly it was because the targets of his investigation had designed a highly secretive plot and had the protection of the CIA or the National Security Council. Documents were denied or shredded, subjects lied or refused to testify all on the basis of "national security" or out of a belief that Congress had no right to interfere in foreign policy. After reading this book, I was shaken by the realization that under the guise of a "higher purpose" or holy war our democratic principles could so easily be dispensed with. Oliver North and President Reagan were rewarded with national affection despite showing utter contempt for the rule of law! Iran-Contra was a true case of Machiavellian politics because all of our most sacred principles were run over for the sake of the dictators ideology - that the end justifies the means. Firewall reveals the incipient dictatorship lurking beneath our fragile democracy.



2. At times, this reads as a text book. At times, it reads as a spy thriller. Walsh goes into great detail on the investigation and attempted prosecution of those involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. This book is best suited for those interested in the affair, and are anti Reagan/Bush. I was moved by the compassion of Walsh when after interviewing Reagan, felt it would have been more damaging to our nation to try and prosecute Reagan when it was apparent alzheimers had set in. Walsh felt Reagan knew more then he said, but he also knew that the alzheimers would have been humilitaing to Reagan, and would have made prosecution impossible.



3. This book is the story of a life-long Republican retired federal judge's seven year struggle to unravel the truth behind a vast government conspiracy to conceal willful violations of our country's laws by President Ronald Reagan and many members of his cabinet,CIA officials, members of his national security team and assorted Republican political operatives both inside Congress and out. Mr. Walsh does yeoman work in presenting the unvarnished truth he and his many assistants were finally able to decipher out of hundreds of thousands of original documents and the direct testimony of those his team were able to catch in their lies and bring into court under indictment. The complex legal issues and large cast of perpetrators makes this a difficult and necessarily repetitve slog, but the chilling story is one that Americans of any political persuasion need to be aware of. Lead by a naive President in the early stages of Alzheimers disease,and guided by a perverse notion of patriotic anticommunism that was the bedrock of cold war Republicanism, our top leaders deliberately violated laws put in place by Congress and even their own foreign policies relating to terrorism. When discovered these "patriots" launched an unprecedented web of lies and stonewalling to save Reagan from possible impeachment. Mr. Walsh was impeded at every step of his investigation and by all branches of the government. The importance of this account by Mr. Walsh is that irregardless of the legal results of the investigations, the truth of what happened and who did it is revealed for all to see. When this party touts its patriotism, beliefs in the rule of law and self responsiblity and the importance of character, remember what happened here.



4. The Iran-Contra case is well known as a bipartisan bludgeon. Are the news outlines of it accurate? Was the affair a minor bureaucratic transgression preyed upon by liberal hacks; a deceitful attack on the constitutional separation of powers (checks and balances); or a hyped media event?
   
   Presiding (Republican) Judge Lawrence E. Walsh skillfully relates the jurisdictional history of the investigation and trial in `Firewall.' This includes the record of defendants Oliver North and Admiral Poindexter (both convicted), as well as Judge Silberman (known as `our ambassador to Iran' before he overturned the verdicts).
   
   Media star Oliver North now makes an bountiful living hawking American `New-Order' patriotism for Australian Rupert Murdock. Admiral Poindexter left the current administration only after he sponsored a prospective internet website speculating (wagering) on terrorism targets. Judge Silberman was recently enlisted for an intelligence committee report (to obscure the 9/11 Commission findings?).
   
   Though this may seem ancient history, the principals remain active. Walsh provides the best vehicle to examine their early history. You decide.



5. We at this point in history are required to grow misty eyed at the sudden recent discovery some twenty years later of alleged carefully hand written diaries beautifully bound of the now hallowed Reagan's recollections of times and events he later swore under oath he could not recall. We must remember earlier alleged handwritten diaries said to have been passed poolside at Managua's Intercontinental Hotel prior to a devastatng earthquake, from the scrawny hand of the elder Howard Hughes to an author later revealed as a fraud.
   
   Let us rather bravely face the truth about the Reagan dynastic empire, run by papa bush (who claimed to be "out of the loop" while actually weaving it), and father to our present peril. Judge Walsh tells all, and then some, and describes all the subterfuge used to prevent his careful and judicious investigation from bearing any other fruit than an Ollie North career change.
   
   As incredible as it may now appear, this book bears the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, supportable in a court of law as verifiable. Read it and watch how far down this darkly machiavellian path we have now proceeded, from this former time a generation ago in which the courts could still have possibly considered objective truth such as this.
   
   This thick tome merits a place of honor upon your night reading stand. A more complete report may not be found in one place, but scattered throughout several other books and journals of that time. The criminals received no other punishment for their crimes against humanity and our Constitution than continued residence in the Oval Office.
   
   Venceremos. No hay mal que dura un siglo.

5 comments about Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Courage and Compassion.

1. Very good book! Amazing stories from very brave and courageous women! You Go Girls!



2. When I wrote my review of this incredible book, I accidentally gave it 2 stars instead of my intended 5 stars. I apologize for my mistake and give this book the highest points possible. It will move you deeply.



3. Susan Hagen and Mary Carouba did an excellent job of bringing to the readers of "Women At Ground Zero" the fact that women also served, were injured, or killed at the World Trade Center complex in New York City. They knew women had to be there but yet the media didn't cover them. So they went in search of them. People forget that women are also members of the fire, police and medical departments around the country. They didn't "want the women...to fade into the background of American History" nor "future generations of children...believing that only men are strong, brave and heroic."

   They interviewed women from the NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department (PAPD), and other women who were there that fateful day and many days thereafter. Each chapter tells another woman's story so be prepared to read 30 gut-wrenching stories. They also interviewed women who were at the scene in other capacities. AND something very few people know about-three women died that day while in the service of saving others: Captain Kathy Mazza (PAPD), Moira Smith (NYPD), and Yamel Merino (EMT). There are chapters about those women as well.

   These women and so many others saw crushed vehicles, dead bodies and body parts, along with airplane parts. They witnessed more in a short period of time then most people do in a lifetime. Some of their stories are very graphic while others brushed over that part. They talked about what they experienced and saw, their injuries, feelings and more. Its no wonder they continue to have problems BUT more importantly-most of them have all returned to the jobs they held on 11 September 2001. They continue to serve their community. They are all heroines and definitely role models for young girls to follow in years to come.

   This is a book well worth reading though if you are like me it may take you awhile to get through it. I admit I had a hard time reading each chapter. With my background I felt everything these women went through without actually having been there. Be prepared for your own emotions to run the gamut. Be prepared to relive that day and the days that followed over again through these women's eyes. But take the time to read "Women At Ground Zero".




4. Harrowing, engrossing, and well-written firsthand accounts put you right beside police officers, firefighters, and paramedics on that terrible day 9/11/01 (and afterward, too). I could not put it down.



5. I loved this book! It brought out stories that I never heard in all the media blitz after this unforgettable and horrific event. It truly shows another side of the story, and yet they made it very clear that the book was "not to diminish the contributions of the men who lost or put their lives at risk at Ground Zero". I had hesitated and worried that this might be a "feminist - male bashing" viewpoint. Not at all!

   It rounds out the story. Something that needed to happen. I feel more of a connection with what happened now than ever before.

   I highly recommend this to all - men and women alike. I hope it becomes a standard for reading about women in history and should be in every home for pre-teens on up to learn more about what happened and to offer inspiration.

   Buy it! It's a keeper!!

No comments about The CIA and the Culture of Failure: U.S. Intelligence from the End of the Cold War to the Invasion of Iraq.

4 comments about The Threat: A Novel (Dan Lenson Novels).

1. This is easily the best Lenson story in the entire saga. I got the book and read it in a day and a half. I was riveted. The action was
   great, moving along constantly. It literally had me on the edge of my seat. Character development was super. As was the descriptiveness of it. I could see myself there. I also developed an extreme dislike for some of the characters. If that is what it is like in DC, I want nooooooo part of
   politics.
   I could see this one being made into a movie pretty easily. I think it
   would play well on the screen and would be pretty easy to do I think.
   Get this book. If you haven't read the rest of the series, or Mr Poyer's other series' get them to.
   I'm retired Navy, and this author has it down pat. Almost feel like I'm still in when I read them. Great Read!



2. I am a fan of David Poyer. The long-suffering Dan Lenson feels like my friend. But, in his early books Poyer had what I call his "Crazy Captain" theme. Seemingly every Captain that Dan served under was a nut case. I can only assume that David had some "Crazy Captain" experience of his own that makes the theme so real for him.
   
   I was thrilled when he left that theme behind in "The Command" for example.
   
   But in "The Threat" the theme of the psychologically tortured mind makes my friend Dan into a bumbling jerk who screws up every good thing in his life.
   
   David, your readers don't buy your books in order to read about screw-up heroes with performance problems. We have enough problems of our own.
   
   Stick with the great settings and high adventure. Drop the mental angst.
   
   Buy the book and read it. But, don't be surprised if you come away angry at Poyer over what he does to our friend Dan.



3. As is expected, Pyron has all of the military and technical details spot on. However, I found some of the plot to be a wee bit unbelievable and the ending extremely abrupt. In sum, though, it was still a true page-turner and as difficult to put down as the other Dan Lenson tales. Pyron is truly spell-binding in his yarns!



4. Poyer handles his characters growth well. Much action is off screen. As it would be given the character's position. The author's insights are always interesting and sometimes enlightening.

5 comments about Ku Klux Klan America's First Terrorists Exposed (Shadow History of the United States).

1. 
   What is so utterly fascinating about Mr. O'Donnell's attempt to bring light to the subject of organized terror is the perfectly ordinary way in which he goes about it. Not present in his book are the heavy-handed moralizations modern authors feel compelled to include in theirs. The effect can be chilling at times; especially when murder, rape, torture, and the demoralization of a race of people are described with the vernacular of the period. To think that once any issue regarding Black Americans was deemed "The Negro Problem" by the press of the day or how lynching was seen as an expectable deterrent to crime is disgraceful and does not need any author to point this fact out.



2. The Klan's last great attempted to capture the hearts and mind of a changing nation is documented by a collection of vintage documents in this informative book. Because of the climate of racial sensitivity and political correctness that persists today, the popularity of the Klan of the 1920s (widespread and very public) has been removed from the public discourse, and thus doing a disservice to the historians of today, the precedent voices that opposed the Klan, and all races of people that rose above oppression. This book examines both the crimes committed by the Klan as well as their social acceptance by a majority of Americans at the time; both topics will be equally shocking to the present day reader.



3. This is a good book that reveals many interesting facts about the Ku Klux Klan of the 20s. It is hard to put the book down once you start reading it.
   
   I highly recommend "Ku Klux Klan America's First Terrorists Exposed" for its insight and depth. Patrick O'Donnell has done a remarkable job in putting this book together and it should be read by all who have a serious interest in American (shadow) history and those who care about where this country might be headed in that regard.



4. The Klan (1st one) was a late comer to America as a terrorist group. 'Gangs of New York' only provides a glimpse of other terror groups. Prior to the Klan there was The Golden Circle, The Grange (depending on where your sympathies lay), The Sons of Liberty, Red Legs, etc.
   
   Terror groups existed before the War of Independence.
   
   Sensational title, but sadly very wrong.
   
   The documents are interesting. Some of the commentary is a bit heavily biased for me. Where is the "other stuff?" The other Klan and Klan-like groups that existed at the same time (as both original and reborn Klans).
   
   Interesting, good information- just not definitive.



5. In order to understand and learn about the origins of the KKK, this book was purchased. Although there are brief mentions of this detail, the book mainly consists as a manual of the rules and regulations of the KKK throughout the years. As a historical book, this was a waste but as as a detail manual of the historical rules over the many years of the Klan, this would be a justifiable purchase. The format was not interesting at the least bit and was more of a text book format. For what I expected, this was a waste of money.

1 comments about After Iraq: The Imperiled American Imperium.

1. I am in Boise, Idaho, where I came to hear Al Gore deliver the single most sensational and sensible lecture I have ever heard in my lifetime. The DVD and the book titled "Inconvenient Truth" do not do him or his message justice.
   
   It was in this context that I discovered that Boise, Idaho is a hotbed of ethical sanity. The Frank Church Institute (sponsor of Al Gore's visit to Boise) and these two authors, one of whom is the Frank Church Professor of International Relations, the other the Corporate Secretary of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, have all of the moral credibility and legitimacy that the Bush-Cheney regime lacks.
   
   I bought this book while visiting Boise State University, and I believe it may well be one of the most important works relevant to recovering from the enormously mis-guided, inept, and corrupt practices that Bush-Cheney have forced upon all of us. As a moderate but estranged Republican, I heartily embrace the solid reasoning of these two authors.
   
   The most important part of the book is the final section that I have marked very heavily. The authors highlight the number of military interventions the US has undertaken, making the important point that Bush-Cheney are not the first to abuse military power, but perhaps the first to do so in such an outrageously ill-conceived manner.
   
   They draw respectfully on historian Niall Fergusson's summary of American interventions and this is worth repeating here:
   
   1. Impressive initial military success
   2. Flawed assessment of indigenous sentiments
   3. Strategy of limited war and gradual escalation of forces
   4. Domestic disillusionment in the face of protracted and nasty conflict
   5. Premature democratization
   6. Ascendancy of domestic economic considerations
   7. Ultimate withdrawal
   
   There you have it. The authors go on to outline "Rules for Rivals" and I will not summarize those--buy the book. The most important observation made by the authors is that if one pays attention to an idea new to me, the Composite Index of National Capabilities (CINC), then one can quickly see that the US pales in comparison to China, and simply does not have the capacity for sustained global warfare in the conventional sense.
   
   The authors outline several characteristics of the emerging collapse of US foreign policy and credibility and effectiveness, not least of which is their proper emphasis on the failure of American education.
   
   This is a very important book, and it deserves to be noticed by the varied book sections, especially the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.
   
   As one who can be bombastic at times, I especially admired the manner in which the authors made their case in an even-handed relatively neutral manner. Boise, Idaho is a very sensible place! America would do well to absorb and act on the common sense thinking they are doing here.
   
   Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
   Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications
   Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble

5 comments about Soft Power: The Means To Success In World Politics.

1. The thesis of this book is that there are many ways to get people to do what you want, and that in world politics, the US has been good at using these various methods until recently with the Bush administration. I am not sure whether this book was written as a sideways attack on the Bush administration, but the points it does bring out are true and worth paying attention to. Specifically, the author states how in the past, the US has used methods such as trade deals, political favors, immigration quotas, economic investments, and other non-violent and non-confrontational techniques to convince other nations to do things the American way. The author then shows how the current Bush administration has strayed away from these methods and chosen to use more direct ones such as trade embargoes, sanctions, ultimatums, and outright military invasions to get things done. The consequences have been disastrous; loss of friends and allies, lack of cooperation from multinational bodies, bad press, and of course, good propaganda for our enemies.
   
   Many of these themes have been written about in editorials throughout the web and printed press since G W Bush came to office, and this book by the dean of one of Harvard's schools just adds weight to the arguments. The problem with this book is the insufficient coverage of all the dirty laundry of previous administrations.
   
   A thorough comparison between Bush's foreign policy, and those of every president since 1900, will show that nearly every president used force to get other countries to cooperate when alternatives were possible. Examples include the various assasinations and coups of foreign leaders orchestrated by the US throughoug the world during the 1900s. These include the leaders of Iran, Chile, Indonesia, and the Congo. Saddam Hussein himself was paid by the CIA to assasinate an Iraqi government official during his younger days. Funny how this was not mentioned. In general, most presidents use a combination of stick and carrot to deal with foreign policy situations. Previous presidents were better than Bush at showing the carrot and hiding the stick.
   
   Overall a good book, but one that tends to overemphasize the failures of the Bush administration, and skims over the failures of previous ones.



2. "Soft power" is flying over the sky. This idea is used in lectures, seminars and conferences. You may hear that Japan wants to increase its soft power by promoting sushi and comics. India desires to increase its soft power by boosting Bollywood movies. Indeed, "soft power" is not only an academic term, but also a cool phrase right now.
   
   Nye redefines power in hard and soft power. Military capability and economic strength are hard power; cultural influence and political values are soft power. In Soft Power - The Means to Success in World Politics, Nye outlines the sources, strengths and weaknesses of soft power. In writing his conclusion, Nye believes that the United States has to use power more smartly by exercising both hard and soft power.
   
   Nevertheless, it seems that the European Union and China are using soft power better than the United States in this moment. The European Union shares the same aim with the United States, but using soft power to achieve its goal rather than American's hard power. China is creating its soft power, but this soft power is different form Nye's one.
   
   Nye criticizes that the United States did not use its soft power well in the Gulf War and the war on terrorism. It is absolutely true. But what is the reason behind? Why does the United States (especially under the Bush's administration) ignore the importance of soft power? Indeed, it is very easy to answer this question from the realist or the hawkish perspective. Just because using hard power is the fastest way to achieve national goal. Let's look at Nye's comparison on hard and soft power, "...soft power resources are slower, more diffuse and more cumbersome to wield than hard power resources" (p.100). Indeed, soft power is only the second choice of the superpower, but it is always the first choice of the regional powers such as the European Union and China.
   
   The European Union, without any formidable military force, in order to expand its influence and achieve its goal, the only way is to build up soft power. It is interesting that both the United States and the European Union want to promote the ideas of democracy and human rights around the world. But the United States tends to achieve its goal by hard power such as war and economic sanction, while the European Union insists on using soft power such as cultural exchange and multilateral negotiation (recently the expansion of the European Union is regarded as one of the forms of soft power - transformative power). As Nye admits that the European Union is more attractive than the United States nowadays, and the United States is blamed for its double standards on the issues of human rights (prisoner of war in Iraq) and nuclear proliferation (Bush promised to provide India with nuclear technology although India has not signed the Non-proliferation Treaty yet).
   
   Since the rise of China has become a hot debate, the Chinese leaders acknowledge that building up soft power is the only way to solve the tensions and suspicions between China and its neighboring countries. Thus, China's soft power is not cultural, but it is practical. It is clear that cultural element such as Confucianism, democracy and human rights are not on the Chinese selling list, the selling items are practical in nature such as respecting every nation's sovereignty, denying intervention on other nation's internal policy, and developing economic prosperity among neighboring countries.
   
   In contrast, Chinese soft power is built for strategic necessities (or for regime security) in practical terms, while the soft power of European Union is built for ideology in cultural terms.
   
   Indeed, it is easier for China to promote its soft power than the United States and the European Union. It is because both the United States and the European Union are selling their own values, and these values may not be easily accepted by various countries. Nye quoted the President of Iran in his book, "The new world order and globalization that certain powers are trying to make us accept, in which the culture of the entire world is ignored, looks like a kind of neocolonialism" (p.40). However, China is now selling the common interest among nations, when China addresses that every nation's internal policy should be respected and should not be intervened by foreign powers, this notion really attracts the Arabic countries and the countries in Southeast Asia. When China calls for multilateral cooperation in foreign affairs, this also attracts the potential great powers such as Russia, India and the European Union who are disappointed with the American's unilateralism. More importantly, Nye notices that "To a large extent, international order is a public good - something everyone can consume without diminishing its availability to others. Of course, pure public goods are rare. And sometimes things that look good to Americans may not look good to everyone else, and that is why consultation is important" (p.61).
   
   In sum, hard power politics reflects the will of great power or superpower, but soft power politics reflects the international public good. I guess China's soft power will win over the American and European soft power in the coming decades. It is because there is no "clash of value" in China's soft power, but there are "clashes of values" between "the west and the rest of the world" as what Huntington said.
   
   Soft power is a very fascinating concept, but in terms of stability, peace and the suspicions of "the rest of the world", is it better to have mutual understanding and cultural assimilation rather than "power" in soft manner?



3. Came to this after reading "Imperial Grunts," a much better book. Soft Power has a valid point -- power isn't all from the end of the gun, but it doesn't help much after you acknowledge that. Perhaps I am too Republican. When I read Nye was AS Defense under Clinton, that seemed to explain a lot.



4. Joseph Nye is a renowned foreign policy expert and former government official, and some of his previous books have been highly erudite and influential. Therefore one has to wonder about the lack of depth or detailed discussion in this particular book, which was either written for the (very) general reader or was tossed off quickly without the proper amount of research effort. Nye's basic premise is strong enough. Soft power is the ability to encourage, rather than force, other political entities to contribute to your best interests, and the best way to succeed in world politics is to smartly mix soft power with hard power - a tactic that has fallen by the wayside in very recent American history. But beyond that serviceable premise, this book is poorly written and lacks a truly authoritative voice.
   
   The concept of soft power is not very wide-ranging, and this subject matter would be presented better in a short but hard-hitting journal article. And while this book only has 147 pages of text, it still feels padded with flimsy examples and repetitive explanations of the basic concept. Nye has a particular problem with formulating believable examples to support his argument. For instance, the fact that AIDS originated in Africa and SARS originated in Asia is used as evidence that America is not dominant in globalization (yes you read that correctly), and pop culture items are supposedly filled with "subliminal" messages about American lifestyles (Nye may have meant "subtle"). Another problem with this book is that quantities of cultural and political accomplishments are often used in arguments about the quality of soft power exercised by America and other nations. And finally, Nye is capable of far more in-depth analysis on current events than the rather shallow punditry that he has written here. [~doomsdayer520~]



5. As a beginning student of international relations, I found this book to be of great assistance. Professor Nye accurately and honestly critiques the Bush Administration's actions on the world stage and the theories behind them. In a social and political milieu that has been dominated by neoconservatism for much of the past six years, it was refreshing to read a different point of view so ardently put forth. After reading this book, one can clearly see the danger that America faces if we continue down the path of unilateralism and continue to unabashedly embrace the concept of an "American empire." As this book argues with excellent clarity, we must return to the combination of hard and soft power that constructed and cemented the international alliances which defeated communism and prepared much of Eastern Europe for democracy.

No comments about Terrorism and Public Health: A Balanced Approach to Strengthening Systems and Protecting People.

5 comments about The Good Terrorist (Vintage International).

1. We'd do well to read, or re-read, this literary masterpiece by Doris Lessing which dissects for us the common-place, undramatic way in which many people in our Western society can get involved with terrorism. At the same time, the novel is a criticsm, full of irony and subtlety, of the hypocrisy and lack of values of western middle classes . In my opinion, this novel is far more scary than reading a black and white view of society, something Doris Lessing certainly never does here, since it is the blurry quality of grey what makes us confused when we have to judge.
   
   Alice Mellings, the main charater of this novel, has all the qualifications for being the perfect middle-class home-maker: she cleans, decorates, cooks, and in general takes care of housekeeping and looks after her people. In the first of the great ironies of the book, though, Alice is not a middle-class housewife, but someone who "rebelled" against her middle class family in her youth by becoming a squatter, and is still trying to determine just the exact meaning of that. The people Alice looks after in such a motherly way are a group of squatters, mainly people who have abhorred their middle-class roots and have failed to find their place in the London society of the day. The house Alice tries to make into a nice, cozy home for all of them is an old, abandoned house where they are illegally living.
   
   From the point of view of the protagonist, Alice, we follow the dozens of small problems and mishaps she has to overcome in order to reach her goal of creating a comfortable home for "her people". We follow her when she goes to her despised middle-class mother's house and steals money (an important source of income) or she speaks with the city council authorities to have electricity or water at home. We see these home-making activities are all-important in her aimless life, while she pays little attention to politics as they are discussed by the people who live with her.
   
   These people vow to make revolution against capitalism (most of them, but especially the most rabid of these characters -I won't say more or it would be a spoiler- come from well-off families) and eventually begin to talk of aiding the IRA in their terrorist actions in London (the novel was written in the eighties...). Again, ironically, we know nothing of Alice's political opininos. In fact, she doesn't seem to be interested in politics at all. She is just "Anti-system", without knowing very well what it means, but, anyhow, her comrades seem to be very sure about it so she goes along with them....And thus, though passively, Alice is finally involved in the terror these people create in London.
   
   What is masterly in this novel is the concept that terrorism, although obviously a political weapon, must rely in the actions of persons. That these persons, involved in terrorist actions, are certainly not good citizens or exemplary members of society, but usually psychollogical misfits who, once having found the explanation for their particular grudge and the easy justification for violence that extremist ideologies provide , are impossible to control.
   
   But the best concept in the novel is that it shows how what we consider the best elements in our society (from the very home-making impulses of the protagonist to the idealization of youthful rebelliousness, to the "democratic" way in which the squatters' home is ruled, to the altruistic ideals the squatters seem to share...)are ironically being handled in a context and situation far from what we would consider idealistic. And we see how these very western concepts can ultimately be used against our society when they are not backed by human values. When abstract words such as "system" "capitalism" "socialism" "class struggle" "revolution" and many others (that, in the case of these novel, the characters manipulate without knowing very well what they mean), are seen as more important than the single, objective concept "human being", our best values are lost. Our society is creating monsters. And no matter how much we repeat that the threat of terror comes from outside. Ideas might come from outside, and that cannot be stopped....but the terror is inside. Doris Lessing helps to make us aware of this.



2. In this book, Lessing has an ax to grind against the kids--so noisy, so dirty, so infuriatingly idealistic about the left politics she herself has abandoned. Naturally those idealistic kids are really thieves, liars, manipulative, clinically crazy, and...terrorists! Lessing is a writer strongly motivated by spite, particularly spite against ideas about which she has become disillusioned. (In fact, she has some very interesting things to say about the functions of spite in parts of the Golden Notebook.) Unlike her disillusioned writing about the left in the Children of Violence cycle and the Golden Notebook, this book contains not one person who is both an ordinary, functional human being and a person who seriously believes that society can be improved--and even her disillusioned former-liberal characters have rolled over to Thatcherism with such feeble excuses about the laziness and pettiness of the youth! Her villains are laughably crazy and manipulative--at least the villainous left wingers in the Golden Notebook were complex enough that you could understand their power. (An awful lot of people who have never done political activism or met a left-wing person read this book and assume that it really depicts the world of activists, because people who don't really care too much about politics assume that those who do are crazy zealots.) Lessing's other, better work shows that world more accurately in both its bright and dark aspects. (On that note, I feel that Lessing has written herself out about the left by the end of the Children of Violence cycle--later, wonderful books like Diary of a Good Neighbor and merely very good books like Mara and Dan deal with new issues. One of the amazing things about Doris Lessing is that where many writers go through one or at most two big themes/phases in their writing careers, she has gone through, oh, four or five.)



3. Although I was quite disappointed with the story's plot, I found one of the best character composers today and, most importantly, a woman that converts tiny little things of ordinary life ( imperceptible for most of us, most of the time) in events of extraordinary importance, in events that deserve a lot of thinking and reflection.
   How can such a writer perform poorly in the most important, central part of any novel (its plot)? Well, I don't have an answer for that dilemma.



4. As I post this review, I have read six of Lessing's novels from different time periods in her career. This is one of her later works and it contains only some of the feminine perspectives, dialogues, analysis, and commentary that is associated with Lessing - but not all and toned down drastically from other novels. It is an interesting novel about a 35 year old woman who is a terrorist and a home-maker of sorts. Because of this home-maker twist, she is called "the good terrorist." But, she is a terrorist.
   
   Doris Lessing (1919 - ) is the 2007 Nobel Prize winner in literature. She has a score of novels and many other works. Her complex novel The Golden Notebook (1957), her first novel The Grass is Singing (1950), and The Summer Before The Dark (1973) are considered to be her representative works. I read those three.
   
   The present novel is good. It is not complicated in the fashion of The Golden Notebook. It is closer to being a conventional novel. It has a good set of characters and an interesting plot. Without giving away the plot, Lessing describes the personality of the female protagonist living in Britain who is university educated, but has never worked. She has an uncaring boyfriend. They are squatters taking over abandoned houses. In many ways this is a parody of serious terrorists; but, the book is not all humor.
   
   I liked the book and would recommend it. It is a short quick read that takes two evenings to read. It does not contain the feminine arguments found in some of her longer works, but the present work is far easier read than The Golden Notebok (far, far easier) and it is a well written novel. If I had to pick one book that is easy to read and contains her arguments, this is not a bad choice, but The Grass is Singing is a more innovative work and also easy to read.



5. 
   Alice and her boyfriend Jasper join a squat of left wing activists intent on overthrowing the establishment and forging links with the IRA and Soviet communists.
   This is a wonderfully observed and paced novel. Alice is the 36 year old daughter of a well to do middle class family who has never held a job and is constantly seething about the wrongs of society. She constantly deludes herself-Jasper is homosexual but she sticks with him despite his obvious dislike and dependancy on her; she works to create a home with human comforts in the squat,she uses her parents for money;her and her fellow revolutionaries (all middle class) just aereate absract ideologies ,too self righteous and angry with their own lives to think out any consequences of what they do or stand for.
   Lessing observes group dynamics perfectly. Some of the squat do all the work,others laze about, others dominate with their views-a society like any other no matter what the hot air rhetoric is!
   This book perhaps has more meaning now than when it was written (1985) as communism has since collapsed and today only the seriously deluded attach much credability to Marxism. Perhaps the 'islamic' extremism is todays outlet for the left rather than Marx-in the UK its painful to see some left wingers supporting extreme right wing racists on the islamic platform for God alone knows what reasons (Lessing would enjoy the contradictions/hypocricy of these new age 'revolutionaries' no doubt!)There's always got to be some cause to enable what Roth called 'the perpetual protest'!
   A great book which I thorughly enjoyed.