Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, Book 1)

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This first volume of a new trilogy from one of fantasy's most popular and skilled authors will delight longtime Hobb fans as well as first-time readers of her work.

FitzChivalry, the hero of The Farseer trilogy, now lives an isolated and quiet life with his foster son Hap and his Wit partner wolf, Nighteyes, until he is sought out by his old mentor Chade and the enigmatic, charming Fool. Once again, duty calls: Fitz must find a missing prince and prevent political chaos in the Six Duchies. The mission will test his conflicting loyalty to country and family, his uneasy compromise with his own magic, and all the relationships he values most.

If you're a fantasy fan who hasn't yet explored the Farseer world, this is a fine place to start: Hobb deftly provides new readers with all the needed information. The finely detailed world building and intensive character development rarely slow down the action of the story. Fool's Errand is a complex, beautifully written and sometimes heart-rending examination of the consequences of duty and love. --Roz Genessee

Book Description

Robin Hobb has emerged as one of today’s foremost fantasy authors. Now she continues the adventures of one of her most popular heroes in the first book of what promises to be her most spectacular trilogy yet.

Fool’s Errand

For fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But that is about to change when destiny seeks him once again. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished and FitzChivalry, possessed of magical skills both royal and profane, is the only one who can retrieve him in time for his betrothal ceremony--thus sparing the Six Duchies profound political embarrassment...or worse. But even Fitz does not suspect the web of treachery that awaits him or how his loyalties to his Queen, his partner, and those who share his magic will be tested to the breaking point.

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Robin Hobb has emerged as one of today's foremost fantasy authors. Now she continues the adventures of one of her most popular heroes in the first book of what promises to be her most spectacular trilogy yet.

For fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But that is about to change when destiny seeks him once again. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished and FitzChivalry, possessed of magical skills both royal and profane, is the only one who can retrieve him in time for his betrothal ceremony -- thus sparing the Six Duchies profound political embarrassment...or worse.

But even Fitz does not suspect the web of treachery that awaits him or how his loyalties to his Queen, his partner, and those who share his magic will be tested to the breaking point.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing, but don't start here.......2007-07-20

The Tawny Man series is the conclusion to the Farseer trilogy--in fact, I'm not exactly sure why these books have a different title since I don't think you'll enough them if you haven't read Farseer. All told, though, these six books are the epitome of both fantasy and fiction in general--I can't recommend them highly enough. Sure, you'll find a tedious 50 pages or so occasionally--but I challenge any lengthy work, including Tolkien, to avoid that. In these books, Hobb outclasses Martin, Bishop and anything else you've experienced, with the possible exception of the first Thomas Covenant book, Lord Foul's Bane.

foolish to pass [no spoilers].......2007-06-26

"The Tawny Man: Fool's Errand" begins "The Tawny Man Trilogy" with former assassin to the Six Duchies FitzChivalry Farseer narrating about his new responsibilities to the crown following a 15 year retirement. Where the earlier series involving Fitz, "The Farseer Trilogy", had two differing magics of the Skill and Wit, a new magic emerges performed by one known as a Hedge-Witch and strangely is better received than the animalistic Wit. However, the author continues to skillfully create character and environmental descriptions without any court politics supporting the storyline.

There are connections between the Farseer chronicles and "The Liveship Traders Trilogy", mingling geography and legends along with one huge shocker concerning the Fool. The majority of the novel focuses on Fitz and Nighteyes (granted it is an autobiography) with the rare individuals Fitz remained in contact with over the years and a couple new characters. Prince Dutiful and Jinna with their respective magical abilities appear to have great potential but Fitz's daughter Nettle might be the hidden treasure toward the end of the saga.

During his reflections, he addresses much needed history and teaching behind the Wit. Readers hoping Fitz resume his duties or replace Chade as the kingdom's assassin will be disappointed. A more detailed map of the significant terrains and comprehensive appendix would have been useful.

I highly recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre.

Thank you.

Awesome Series.......2007-06-08

I loved every book in this series and the trilogy before it. Robin Hobb is a great story teller and I'm never disappointed when I pick up one of her books.

A patient debut for chapter II.......2007-02-20

Fool's Errand is the first book of the Tawny Man Trilogy. This is the second series that focuses on Fitzchivalry Farseer, the royal bastard and the world of the Six Duchies. The first series was called the Farseer trilogy. It is recommended that one reads the Farseer trilogy before starting this book and series. However, It is not necessary as Hobb takes care to fill the reader in on the backstory as the book progresses.

As reviewers have noted, the story begins with Fitzchivalry and his wolf companion, Nighteyes fifteen years removed from saving the Six Duchies from the terrors of the outislands Red Ship raiders and the cruel regime of King Regal. Fitz is living the quiet life with his adopted son Hap, and Nighteyes in a remote cabin. Fitz has severed most of his ties with those from his past and removed himself from the intrigue and politics of the royal court. This quiet life is interupted when he gets a visit from his old friend the Fool, who not only looks completely different from his days as a King's fool, but who has assumed the guise of a motley Jamaillian noble known as Lord Golden. The sole heir to the six duchies throne, Prince Dutiful, is in trouble and the Six Duchies needs his help.

This book centers on the hostile environment that has been created towards the Wit, a magic known by some as "beast magic", in the wake of King Regal's reign. Fitz and Dutiful both possess the Wit, as well as "the Skill" and there are those who would exploit that knowledge. Fitz must take on a new guise himself in his quest along with Lord Golden.

As one who loved the Farseer trilogy, I was not disappointed in this novel. Coming back to Fitz and the six duchies was like coming back to an old friend. Hobb displays her keen insight into humanity and knack for flowing and attentive detail. This book is a must for any fan of the first trilogy and any fantasy fan, however as I have stated before that although this is an adventure novel, it has a measured pace and spends more time on character development and intrigue. This book does stand alone, and does not leave one feeling as though there is no ending as the first book of the first series does, however it most definitely sets the stage for the second book. I can tell you that after this book it gets even better.

Gripping from beginning to end.......2007-02-19

I read the Assassin series many years ago and was afraid that I would be unable to pick up where it left off, while reading Fool's Errand. I was mistaken. Hobb takes a significant amount of time to bring the reader back to how Fitzchivalry came to be and how he has fared 15 years later. She does it in a way that captivates the reader, without being tedious or repetitive. Yes, it was a little slow in the beginning but the pace quickens and the reader is swept away into the Farseer saga once again. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

A Fool's Errand (Notable American Authors)

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"A Fool lies here - - -"
A surprisingly readable interpretation of post-Civil War Reconstruction
Moral Melee

A Fool's Errand (Notable American Authors)
Albion Winegar Tourgee
Manufacturer: Reprint Services Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0781297834

Book Description

Now available from Waveland Press, this thinly veiled account of Judge Albion W. Tourgee's own career as a forceful advocate of civil rights was a bestseller in the 1880s and continues to occupy a place in the history of American literature. Judge Tourgee's reflections on the fundamental post- abolition problem of how to build a bridge from black emancipation to black equality provide readers with a clear picture of the South during the Reconstruction era. Presented as a work of fiction, this engaging and provocative work discusses Reconstruction and the many problems surrounding it. An introduction by George Fredrickson provides historical context for both the author and the novel.

Customer Reviews:

"A Fool lies here - - -".......2007-08-30

The era of "Reconstruction" in the aftermath of the Civil War remains one of the most controversial periods of American history, furiously argued over to this day, and "A Fools Errand" is one of the most valuable windows into it that we moderns, and especially the general reader, have access to, giving us an account of those times "straight from the horse's mouth".

Tourgeé was right in the middle of the events he describes, as one of the bitterly (and often unfairly) derided "carpetbaggers" in North Carolina, where he held various public offices, principally as a judge. A Union soldier, he settled there in 1865 with all kinds of high hopes for the rebuilding of the defeated South. Fourteen years later he returned North, utterly defeated and disillusioned.

All his and his fellows' work had been thwarted by a ruthless and efficient terrorist campaign, enjoying the near-total support of the local (white) community, and which the authorities in Washington were quite unable, and, as things dragged on, increasingly unwilling, to combat in any effective way.

In some ways this book has an oddly "modern" sound, perhaps reflecting the fact that much of the story remains so relevant today. Tourgeé's observations on his hero's (and by implication his own) resolution to enlist in 1861 display a dry cynicism worthy of the 21st Century, while this hero's letter to a northern Senator complains of the mishandling of the reconstruction programme in terms which anticipate later criticisms of another "reconstruction" following the fall of Baghdad.

It is interesting to note Tourgeé's complaints about the persistent tendency, even in the North, to romanticise the southern cause. He grumbles that before long, at this rate, men will be ashamed to admit that they ever fought for the Union. And this was written in 1879, over 60 years before "Gone With The Wind" and even 35 years before "Birth of a Nation". Clearly the will to sympathise with the fallen foe (once they were safely defeated) began far earlier than most people realise.

Yet he himself can show, if not sympathy, then at least understanding of the feelings of those who so brutally destroyed his work. One of the best things about the book is its ability, much rarer now in an age which takes colour-blind democracy for granted, to get inside the heads of those who rejected it - who saw themselves (and were seen by many others) as serving an honourable cause, though by the most dishonourable methods.

Tourgeé gives a vivid illustration of the levels of resistance which even a totally defeated society can bring to bear against the efforts of well meaning outsiders, even when the latter are backed by seemingly overwhelming force. At one point (Ch XXI) with an eerie topicality, he equates the depth of Southern commitment to white supremacy with "the zeal of Islam", and when (Ch XLV) he speaks of north and south as "convenient names for two distinct, hostile and irreconcilable ideas.- two civilisations" he again anticipates the language of the "war on terror". One recalls those lines of Kipling's

"And the end of the fight is a tombstone white
with the name of the late deceased
And the epitaph drear 'A fool lies here,
who tried to hustle the east'".

Substitute "south" for "east" and that pretty well sums it up. But perhaps there is another (middle) eastern example in our own day for those with eyes to see it.

This book is Tourgeé's "retrospect" on that part of his life. Sadder but infinitely wiser, he calls himself a "Fool" for his youthful aspirations, yet one somehow feels that that he retains a sympathy for that young idealist, and deep down still thinks the young Tourgeé (alias "Comfort Servosse") a better man than his world-weary older self. I am reminded of the survivor from World War One, who dedicated his memoirs "With deep emotion, to the man I used to be".

A surprisingly readable interpretation of post-Civil War Reconstruction.......2007-02-11

Though Tourgee wastes no time in presenting his views on the matter - they are in the title, after all - the rhymes and reasons of Northern Pro-Recon; Northern Anti-Recon; and Southerners are all presented in a lovely non-biased light, giving the reader all of the firepower needed to agree or disagree with Tourgee. All of this is presented in a genuinely engaging storybook fashion. Recommended as an introduction to Reconstruction or as a supplement to prior learning.

Moral Melee.......2001-04-06

I was particularly impressed by Tourgee's use of dialogue. By constantly hearing both sides of each design and every brainchild, the reader is allowed to come to his or her own conclusions. Whether A Fool's Errand would be considered a historical account or a novel is ambiguous, but then maybe such a combination of fact and fiction is what allows literature to survive the passage of time as this work has. I was enamored as well by the way Tourgee, sitting as judge to all, openly and maliciously attacked both the plaintiff and the defendant for their contribution to the melee we know as "reconstruction". This is the only truly nonbiased approach, and it was marvelously implemented here. I feel too many works are skewed to facilitate the author's motives, especially those written about this era. Like a refreshing breeze from far away, this work brings clarity and insight to a misinterpreted time in our nation's past.

Searching for Virginia Dare: A Fool's Errand

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Going After Virginia Dare
Complete Waste of Time
Pretentious and silly.
A wild ride
New Way of Telling

Searching for Virginia Dare: A Fool's Errand
Marjorie Hudson
Manufacturer: Coastal Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 1928556396

Book Description

Four centuries of powerful myth surround the infant Virginia Dare. Abandoned by England in 1587 and left to fend for themselves in the Carolina wilderness, Virginia and more than a hundred other colonists disappeared, leaving behind only scattered clues about their fate. Some say the Lost Colony survived by joining local Native American tribes. Some say Virginia Dare's descendants still walk among us. Will we ever really know?

Following back roads and cold trails, author Marjorie Hudson stands toe to toe with the bones of English settlers and joins generations of historians, archeologists, and obsessed amateurs in seeking an answer to the mystery: What became of Virginia Dare and her family?

An unconventional look at history, Searching for Virginia Dare moves from research to reflection, and brings the author face to face with her own life's journey—the painful loss of a child, and family stories that, as an adult, she is only now beginning to understand. From laughter, to grief, to revelation, Searching for Virginia Dare is a unique narrative about the things that haunt us all.

In the tradition of William Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways, Hudson's story is a spellbinding journey, an invitation into a deeper understanding of America and ourselves.

Customer Reviews:

Going After Virginia Dare.......2004-09-24

In 1587, the first boatload of English colonists reached America and set up a community on Roanoake Island, straddling the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds between the North Carolina mainland and the barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. Shortly thereafter, Virginia Dare was born, the first English child in the New World, the granddaughter of the colony's Governor, John White. The colony was in trouble and just after her baptism, White took off for England for help. Unfortunately, he did not succeed in returning until 1590, when he found the colony vanished, people and buildings gone, only a cryptic carving on a post, "Croatoan," and on another, "Cro." The mystery of their disappearance haunts the region today, and in the centuries since, it has spawned theories, hoaxes, books, legends and art, and keeps historians and archeologists in business. It is difficult to visit the Outer Banks and not be romanced by the history. What happened to Virginia Dare, who represented so much hope, especially preoccupies the cultural consciousness.

Writer Marjorie Hudson turned amateur detective to go looking for Virginia Dare herself, beginning the summer of 1999, as Hurricane Dennis hovered off shore. The result is a book of creative nonfiction that mixes historical summaries, interviews with historians and archeologists, a review of the legends that have grown up around the figure of Virginia Dare, personal soul searching and creative inspirations. Hudson does not add anything new to the canon of research and imaginative products but she is most successful in summarizing salient activity. Her interviews with the real history detectives are the best part of the book. Quite honestly, though I am a fan of the creative nonfiction genre, I did not find harmony in Hudson's attempt to forge her personal history and creative interpretations of the colonists' experience with the other elements. It seems contrived.

Complete Waste of Time.......2004-07-26

This is by far the WORST book ever written on the subject, if not the WORST, yes I said WORST book, I have ever read. It is a horrible mish-mash of rehashed theory, narcissistic rumenating, and overall reads like a very long, painfully boring letter that you get from people at Christmastime. Author, do us a favor, and PLEASE DON'T SUCKER THE PUBLISHER INTO PUBLISHING MORE GARBAGE LIKE THIS!!!

Pretentious and silly........2004-05-13

You've heard the adage"Nothing new under the sun." Well,there's nothing new about Virginia Dare{my surname}in this self-indulgent book which is little than a shameless advertisement of the writer's "deep thinking". Virginia Dare becomes little more than an instrument to provide us with her searing observations during a motor trip. If you are looking for information leading to the colony's disappearance,this is not the book for you. I really don't know what value it has for anyone except the author's ego. If you're searching for Virginia Dare, read Lee Miller's excellent book on the subject. You'll find her there.

A wild ride.......2003-03-05

This author views the fascinating story of the search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke through the lens of the American family and 400 years of storytelling, legends, and lost relations. Written in a "mosaic" form that includes fiction, history, travelogue, and memoir, the book carries you along from 1587 England to the author's rocky adolescence in the sixties. A completely new way to look at this early American story--in fact, this writer's debut is a tour de force in literary writing.

New Way of Telling.......2002-11-30

The idea that fiction and history can be melded isn't new, but the way that Marjorie Hudson does it is fresh. Searching for Virginia Dare is daring, reflective, and most of all, fun to read.

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The folly of Clinton-era nation building, case-by-case
Fools Errand- Exceptional!
Fools Errand- Exceptional!
A Great Book
A Great Book

Fool's Errands
Gary Dempsey
Manufacturer: Cato Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Federal Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1930865074

Book Description

The book cuts through the excuses and uncovers the causes of Washington's pattern of failure.

Customer Reviews:

The folly of Clinton-era nation building, case-by-case .......2004-12-06

~Fool's Errands: America's Recent Encounters With Nation Building~ is a terse analysis and overview of Clinton foreign policy maladministration. It succinctly captures his sad legacy of nation building efforts in the 1990s. Driven by naïve Wilsonian idealism, perhaps rosy views of human nature, and a quixotic fixation with seeing "democratic enlargement," the Clinton State Department presided over one foreign policy boondoggle after the other. Nation building efforts in Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Kosovo were all entered with the best of intentions. Nonetheless, the end results were spurious victories with limited successes and arguably outright failures in some cases where intervention caused more harm than good. Some contests deemed triumphs are perhaps Pyrrhic victories at best. In such cases, US/UN/NATO babysitting (i.e. peacekeeping) has been deemed semi-permanent, political tripwires are everywhere, and an uneasy peace ensues.

(1) SOMALIA was an emerging crisis duly noted by Bush Senior after a coup d'état toppled the government in Mogadishu. Bush Senior sponsored increased humanitarian aid following instability and a famine, but withheld a more direct presence. After the coup, the vacuum of power was filled by rival warlords. Thereafter, Clinton soon came on the scene and pushed for more direct intervention. Dempsey and Fontaine paint a startling sketch of war torn nation and give cogent reasoning why well-meaning foreign policy goals led to disaster. Powerful warlords in the cities plundered the spoils of humanitarian aid for their own gain to buy weapons and buy off cadres of foot soldiers to do their bidding. The Somali animosity towards Westerners intensified amidst the chaos; humanitarian workers became victims of warlord violence and street crime. The Western world took note of the stark aforesaid events. The U.S. intervened under U.N. auspices. They were in the precarious position of picking allies from the warlord factions and protecting unarmed U.N. personnel. The thorn in their side was Mohammed Farah Aideed, a dominant urban warlord who pilfered foreign humanitarian aid rather than distribute it equitably. He used the spoils to buy and arm his own armies and finance his criminal syndicate. Aideed was bold and flagrantly attacked UN peacekeepers and killed foreigners. The U.S. responded to these hit-and-run attacks by targeted strikes that summer. In October 1993, 18 U.S. Army Rangers were tragically killed in fighting while hundreds of Somali causalities fell. That conflict drew ominous parallels to Beirut and the quagmire touched a nerve in Washington. Thereafter, many in Congress demanded withdrawal. Clinton lashed out at isolationist "poison" and lack of U.S. commitment in the aftermath of sharp criticism. Further scandal erupted as millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars were lost to misappropriations, corrupt contract practices and embezzlement at the behest of UNOSOM. The U.S. eventually would relent and for the most part curtailed its presence. Aideed has died in fighting in 1996. Though Somalia is not a happy ever after story, the situation has marginally improved. Having endured Marxist despotism and anarchy, markets have since started to develop in the 1990s. Neighboring Djibouti helped broker a peace conference of Somali factions while an election brought President Hassan to power. Somalia is slowly emerging from the backwater Third World and all without a significant U.S. presence in the nation.

(2) HAITI is another horror story of good intentions gone awry. Haiti has a sad history of being mired in poverty, instability, corruption and economic stagnation with a paltry $250 per capita income. Clinton insisted on making democracy a grandiose cause in trying to strong arm a military junta out of power, and seeking the return of a democratically elected Marxist named Jean Aristide. The consequences of a naïve insistence on making the world safe for lofty democratic platitudes are well documented. The Clinton Administration made a fundamental mistake of economic sanctions to expedite a regime change. Clinton only succeeded in cutting the Haitian GDP by fully one-third after the nominal foreign businesses that were there packed their bags. In the end, U.S.-U.N. sponsored sanctions only hurt the Haitian people. The effects of sanctions will likely have repercussions for decades. Clinton sent in Marines to restore Aristide to his palace in Port-au-Prince which was simple enough. Afterwards came massive aid packages and troops that were deemed necessary to train Aristide's security forces and maintain order. The Haitian markets and economic development remained stagnate. Aristide only proved himself to be a corrupt kleptocrat who plundered the lion share of humanitarian aid to line his pockets while buying off protection for himself and his cronies. Haiti has since been mired in more crime and poverty as the corrupt Aristide rigged subsequent elections. Aristide was eventually toppled at dawn of this century, and many observers welcomed it. The present Bush Administration refused to restore him to power much to chagrin of the Fidel-coddling Rep. Charles Rangel of New York. Clinton's policies in Haiti spelled a disaster, and rested on naïve insistence on bringing a corrupt, avowed Marxist back to power in the name of democracy. It was also part of a politically correct agenda since Haiti in the early 1990's was being lead by a French Haitian in an essentially black republic. This was a touchstone of intervention for a Democratic administration obliged to defend political correctness over our vital security interests.

(3) BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, that is a multi-ethnic Bosnian democracy, can be surmised as wishful thinking. The malfeasance in the nation-building campaign by the U.S. and NATO is Bosnia is captured by the chapter's subtitle, the Potemkin State. Potemkin, of course, alludes to the illusory idyllic village settings that were fabricated by Gen. Potemkin in eighteenth century Russia to awe Catherine the Great's courtesans from a distance as they toured her ostensibly idyllic kingdom. The artificiality of the Potemkin Villages came to embody the superficial and halfhearted attempts to reform and liberalize Catherine's kingdom. Happy peasants and happy villages were all a façade. Likewise, Bosnia remains an illusory farce, a state that exists merely on paper. It is deeply divided into mono-ethnic regions with separate standing armies and security forces. Germany helped foment the problem by recognizing the Bosnian State amidst a Civil War. By recognizing a independent Bosnia, Germany and NATO gave a carte blanche to the Bosniacs to wage war against the Serbs. The brokered peace at the Dayton Accord and negotiations came far too late. Germany and NATO exacerbated the crisis and the death toll by their intervention. Thereafter the Albright State Department decided that political correctness and the need for "multiethnic democracy" trumped the rights of Croats and Serbs. Croats abdicated their Croat settlements in Bosnia as are the Serbs in the New Bosnia. Technically, there really isn't such thing as an ethnic Bosnian. The so called Bosniacs are merely Muslims who live in Bosnia. The conflict in Bosnia was a proving ground for radical Islamists who trained and fought there, and networked with Mujahideen and Al Qaeda. War crimes committed by those other than Serbs are downplayed if not ignored, though all sides have unclean hands. I'm not a Serb apologist nor do I dismiss their atrocities in pointing out that Croats and Bosniacs committed their share as well. The difference is the outside world turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the later two nationalities. Serbs didn't initiate hostilities and something has to be said about the fact that the first refugees in 1992 were 40,000 Serbs. Not surprisingly, the prospects for ethnic reintegration are bleak and a multiethnic, cooperative, democratic Bosnia is an illusory farce and a modern Potemkin State. Bosnia is a veritable powder keg ready to go off.

(4) KOSOVO is a quagmire, and perhaps the biggest failure of any nation-building scheme the Clinton Administration contrived. Historically, Serbia has the strongest ties to Kosovo with more than a millennium of ties to the region. The battle of Kosovo against the Ottoman Turks was fought there. Moreover, it is home to innumerable sacred Serbian Orthodox shrines, many of which have been desecrated by Muslim militants. Nonetheless, the policies of the internationalist overseers are inherently philo-Albananian. While the occupiers and the Western media sensationalized accounts of Muslim victims of Serb aggression, many Serbs, Macedonians and Gypsies in the region have suffered immensely and many refugees of the later three nationalities have fled Kosovo. For all the hue and cry about ethnic cleansing, the unintended consequences of NATO policy was the massive ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians. War and terror atrocities only seem to get reported though when Serbs are the culprits. The West-NATO-US aligned itself with the Albanian KLA, which was nothing more than a corrupt, narco-terrorist group involved in illegal drug and arms trafficking as well as white slavery. The CIA, in fact, has long classified the KLA as a terrorist group. The KLA has little interest in the aims of the internationalist cadre behind KFOR, preferring instead a Greater Albania including Kosovo purified of non-Albananians. Kosovo will likely remain in the economic doldrums since its political status remains in limbo. The only foreign investment seems to be in security forces, building and maintenance of support structures for occupying peacekeepers. The economic prospects of Kosovo are in limbo, and international controls greatly hinder prospects of burgeoning markets or foreign investment. Investors simply lack confidence in an unstable region that is locked in political limbo for perpetuity.

President Bush said prior to his election in 2000, "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building." I tend to agree, but I have not changed mind on the subject. This book is vitally requisite for addressing the contemporary issues as the issue United States continues to be naively obsessed with reckless intervention in the name of "democratic enlargement," furtherance of Wilsonian idealistic ideology and international human rights agendas. If we want lessons from history, we have to look no further than the last decade of the last century. Nation building takes more than imperious regime changing by superpowers and copious amounts of foreign aid. Free governments cannot be simply imposed. Nations must be built from within from slow cultural and political transitions. The Clinton foreign policy gurus act as though democracy is some tangible commodity for export abroad, and ignore how fragile the institutions of free government really are. They misread cultural, historical and strategic considerations before inaugurating their campaign of reckless interventionism and nation building. Bombing a region or country into the ground and whimsically rebuilding it into a free democracy seldom goes as planned. Gunpoint democracy has proven itself to be an illusory farce; the four major attempts at nation building in the 1990's were dismal failures. Dempsey and Fontaine substantiate this assertion in their book with sound reasoning and a trenchant analysis.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana

Fools Errand- Exceptional!.......2002-03-19

Fools Errand is an extraordinary account of failed attempts at "nation building" during the Clinton Administration. Gary Dempsey's expertise is evident as he guides the reader through a maze of disturbingly flawed policy, astonishing bureaucracy, arrogance and stupidity that doomed nation building attempts to failure. Dempsey's analysis is brilliant, and he relates complex events with remarkable clarity.

Fools Errand- Exceptional!.......2002-03-19

Fools Errand is an extraordinary account of failed attempts at "nation building" during the Clinton Administration. Gary Dempsey's expertise is evident as guides the reader through a maze of disturbingly flawed policy, astonishing bureaucracy, arrogance and stupidity that doomed nation building attempts to failure. Dempsey's analysis is brilliant, and he relates complex events with remarkable clarity.

A Great Book.......2001-12-05

Dempsey's Fool's Errands is brilliant. He methodically recounts the pitfalls of an indiscriminate nation building policy. Anyone who is serious about shaping or understanding America's foreign policy should read this.

A Great Book.......2001-12-05

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Fool's Errand (Tawny Man)
Robin Hobb
Manufacturer: Voyager
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Fool's Errand
One of the Fools
Manufacturer: Fords, Howard & Hulbert
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HI4X58

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Downer: Fool's Errand
Kyle Hunter
Manufacturer: Paizo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1601251068

Book Description

Downer-Volume 2: Fool's Errand continues the tale of Downer Tarantula and his band of wandering monsters as they venture to the surface world to deliver an obscure relic to a cagey dragon. Collected from the popular Dungeon cartoon created by Kyle Stanley Hunter.

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Fool's Errand
Marc Norman
Manufacturer: Holt, Rinehard & Winston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P3ZDHW

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Fool's Errand
Marc Norman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0345280601
Release Date: 1979-03-12

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Fool's Errand
Robin Hobb
Manufacturer: Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8UD0K

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