Book Description
Respected scholar William Bennett reacquaints America with its heritage in the second volume of
America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II). This engaging narrative slices through the cobwebs of time, memory, and prevailing cynicism to reinvigorate America with an informed patriotism.
Book Description
Former Secretary of Education Rod Paige gives the inside story of how teachers' unions are selfishly shackling our students to a failing education system, exposing the bullying techniques of the National Education Association-how these unions terrorize teachers, students, and their parents.
Customer Reviews:
Correct on Some Points, Misleading On Others.......2007-07-30
I am a veteran public school teacher and read this entire captivating book in one sitting. Paige does make some valid arguments about the corrupt, anti-child actions of teachers unions. Some of his frustrations I share 100%. First of all, I agree that unions make it very difficult for school districts to fire blatantly incompetent teachers. I know that because being a teacher myself, I have had to work with some of these teachers. They are a cancer on our profession and make us all look bad. For example, a few years ago, I taught in a classroom next to a teacher who would scream and yell at her 3rd grade children (mostly Hispanic) that they were "stupid and lazy." One day, we could hear her yelling such vicious things at her students that even a few of my own 5th grade students started crying. In tears, one girl asked me why that teacher "was allowed to treat little kids that way" and if I could go next door and ask her to stop. This teacher would also have some of the very lowest test scores in the district year after year after year, therefore bringing down the academic ranking of our entire school. Everyone, including the principal, knew how horrible this teacher was, but the principal refused to do anything because she knew that the union would protect this teacher 100% and that therefore any attempt to discipline her would be a futile waste of time and effort.
I also agree with Paige that because of union contracts, there is very little incentive, apart from a teacher's own conscience, to go "above and beyond" to help the students learn. The teacher pay scale applies to every single teacher, regardless of his/her competence or effectiveness, and is based only on seniority and continuing education units. Therefore, the veteran 30-year teacher who does the bare minimum will usually make at least TWICE as much as the new teacher down the hall who comes to work early, stays late, works hard, and does a darn good job teaching the kids. Paige cites research which claims that a teacher's effectiveness declines after he/she has been on the job for five years. If this claim is accurate, it is probably due to the fact that a teacher's salary does not correlate even one bit to how good that teacher is. Once a teacher has been in the system for a while, he/she begins to realize this and as a result, there is a decline in motivation to perform the job well.
However, I do take issue with Paige on some points. First of all, it appears that he wants to make teachers unions the "scapegoat" and implies that these unions are the main cause (if not the sole cause) for low academic achievement. However, although teachers unions should bear some of the responsibility, they are by no means the only ones at fault. In fact, one reason why we need a union is to protect us from incompetent administrators in our school districts. The elimination of tenure would allow a principal to arbitrarily dismiss a teacher for any reason, even if that teacher is the most skilled and competent in the school. Such reasons might include something as trivial as a mere personality conflict or the adminstrator's own personal and subjective opinions about the teacher's performance. Teachers would be afraid to "blow the whistle" on a corrupt principal or administrator for fear of being fired. I can tell you that it would be very difficult for me to give my full attention to teaching the children if I were consistently worrying in the back of my head whether or not I would have a job the next year to pay my bills and support my own kids. Still, the fact remains that tenure does protect some pretty LOUSY teachers, but completely eliminating it would be even more disastrous for our students. I would also suggest that in my exprience, tenure and unions are not the only reasons why so many incompetent teachers remain in the clasroom. Often, the school principal is also to blame by not properly documenting a teacher's deficiencies, as well as top school district administrators who will not support principals who choose to take steps to have an incompetent teacher dismissed.
Paige also suggests that teacher pay should be tied with student academic performance measures (i.e. standardized tests). This suggestion is based on a deeply flawed assumption that if students are performing at a high level academically, their teacher must be outstanding, and that if students are failing, the teacher must be lousy. The idea of "merit pay" would end up harming the very students it aims in theory to protect. If merit pay ever became a reality, most of the nation's best teachers would flock to school districts in affluent suburban neighborhoods that have the highest test scores. The students in low income areas, the ones who need good teachers the most, would be stuck with whatever is "left over." This is the inevitable result of a system that would penalize an outstanding teacher just because that teacher works in a school with high poverty or with students still learning English as a second language, while at the same time handsomely rewarding a terrible teacher who is lucky enough to teach in an affluent district with more socioeconomically privileged students who would still ace the standardized tests even if they had been taught by a fruitfly!
There are really no easy answers regarding these issues, but for Paige to place the blame squarely on teachers unions misses the point and ignores many other factors that have contributed to the failure of many of our public schools. Nonetheless, the book is well written, correct on many points (whether teachers or their unions like it or not), and very insightful. It is definitely worth the read for anyone holding a stake in the education of our children.
The Ball Is in the Union's Court.......2007-06-26
I have written many critiques of articles and books, but this book had my head swirling. I was a teacher and union building rep (at the same time) for many years and although I did not agree with everything the union did (who does?) I was never aware of the union's practices and history that Paige reports.
I have always considered a union necessary because of the practices and working conditions foisted on teachers by principals and district staffers (for the superintendent and board). Even though I walked picket lines and encouraged fellow teachers to join with full membership, I never protected an obviously-incompetent or racist teacher. In fact, I encouraged the principal to deal with him or her--to the consternation of my union Higher-Up. (You see, we teachers don't always blindly follow the union...or the administrators.)
One repeating problem in my school and district was caused by the upper-level administration placing on teachers the burden of one educational fad after another--all (to my knowledge) ending in failure and the waste of millions of the taxpayers' dollars.
And just like some teachers pass students along with no justification, so do some teacher college professors pass potential teachers who immediately or eventually fail our students, the community and the nation.
As Paige would seem to agree, I think teachers' unions should be only a business entity dealing with working conditions and pay. Leave the curriculum up to the superintendent (not that he or she has done a great job), or, as in charter schools, up to the local school.
Yes, I have once or twice been the subject of union harassment by one or more of the union's "blind" followers, but I was tough enough to handle it. And I didn't consider this treatment pervasive. Paige has revealed many negative practices by teachers' unions that need to be answered by them. But, remember, unions do not hire teachers (even if a certain board may be in a union's pocket, as Paige reports), so blame the boards of education, the administrator and curriculum developers at the administration headquarters.
I am not in sympathy with the idea--pushed by Paige--that teachers should receive merit or performance pay for a job well done. In my own classes I had students who learned much faster than others--and all of my students were poor enough to have a lunch subsidy. I worked very hard to get results, but a teacher in an area where most students are on level can get the same results or better and not have to put in the hours and effort I did, and he or she may receive merit pay, but not me. So, additional pay based on test scores (measured against a standard) is not fair to teachers.
Let me explain further. I say hire only quality teachers and check that quality not by how the students meet a standard, but how much progress the students have made toward that standard. If--and I'm not exaggerating here, especially for big-city schools--50 to 75 percent of my 8th graders enter my class not knowing their times tables (which means their math is hardly above grade 3) and they leave my room testing at the end of grade 6, they have made around 3 years of progress in one year! Yet, they are still 2 years behind being ready to move into grade 9. This means, they don't meet the acceptable standard for math. And I don't deserve performance pay. This is what I know and it is what teachers' unions know. "Merit" pay is a theory in the field of teaching youngsters. If it's put into practice and schools still don't improve performance that much (meaning some teachers may be fired), what are we to do, given that teaching has one of the greatest turn-over rates of any profession? The reality is that up to 50% of new teachers leave the profession within five years. I think supporters of performance pay are barking up the wrong tree.
If one is wondering if teachers need unions, one needs only read of the history of U.S. teaching to get an answer. (See my book, MT. HOREB: THE LITTLE WHITE SCHOOLHOUSE ON LITTLE DEER CREEK to get a short history; then check the bibliography.) We can't go back to the days when teachers were basically educational missionaries: Paige lauds those teachers that spend their days, nights and weekends (yes, cell-phone available) "serving" their students and indicating that this is what he thinks is a good example of dedication.
And for some interesting and moving labor songs (union history) get the lively CD "Classic Labor Songs."
I agree with Paige that for the sake of the students and the nation changes in most teachers' unions' non-student/teacher-oriented power needs to change. How those changes can be crafted to the benefit of all does need to be hammered out. Paige gives some of his ideas for improvement. How are the unions going to react? How are parents going to react? His book is against teachers' unions (of course, he will protest that, mildly)--though he does rightly praise a few union "mavericks," as he calls them. He says (after much criticism) that he thinks most teachers are praiseworthy, except that they are not quite so because of their blind allegiance to their unions who, he says, blinded them. He thinks he has strongly presented his evidence, now let the strong unions counter.
Let's hope this sorry state of affairs is soon corrected. It's not practical to think we can throw the babies (some unions, boards, teachers, teachers' colleges and even parents) out with the bath water (techniques for change), but let's do change the diapers (some present philosophies).
take back our schools.......2007-05-07
This book did an excellent job uncovering the danger our public schools are experiencing.It is a must read for all Americans.We must force our elected officials to address the teachers unions and make teachers accountable.The education system should reward excellent teachers and extract bad ones.The time is now.Encourage good business people to run for school boards.The system has to be changed to secure America's future.
I hope this is read by everyone who pays taxes to fund our public schools.......2007-04-25
This topic is so heated that it is easy for each side to accuse the other of bad faith and to make accusations that do not have substance. Let me say right out that I believe that nearly all classroom teachers are dedicated people who care about their students and most are good at what they do. Some are excellent and some are incompetent, but this is something that is known by everyone about people who work in every field of endeavor. Also, I am NOT against labor unions.
I do think they are most often brought about by bad employers, but there are also unions who are brought about by politics. And it is the mix of politics and union economic power that is as toxic as the mix of big business and politics. Each situation hurts society by stifling competition and moving the purpose of the organization from producing what it was created to do to providing jobs or economic rents for parties with the political power. Both are bad things and should be fought against, strenuously.
Neither is Rod Paige, the author of this book, attacking teachers or even unions in general. What he is against is that in our present educational system, the unions have linked their identity as the classroom teachers when they are something apart from them even while representing them. The unions have not only tremendous political power to stifle reform, they also have often hand picked and gotten elected the board that is supposed to negotiate with the unions in setting the rules and signing the contracts. How can this be good? And if the kids aren't learning, what is the use of providing jobs for the teachers in the first place? It would be similar to create a car factory that could not build proper cars, but all the energy went into issues surround those building the cars (that weren't being built well) instead of facing squarely why the cars were coming off the line in such poor condition. Obviously, in the real world such a company would face competition and, if it couldn't fix its problems, would simply go out of business. However, for some reason we feel we cannot allow competition to improve the quality of education our children receive. This craziness isn't the fault of the teachers, but of the system that empowers the unions to block meaningful reform and competition.
This is an excellent book that should be read by everyone interested in the power of the teacher's unions and how they behave in preventing meaningful change or even experimentation in trying to find a better way for educating our children.
Let me say again, I am PRO TEACHER. I think they need to be paid fairly. However, we have school systems to educate OUR children. They do not belong to society. They belong to us. We pay the tax dollars that fund the schools. We should have almost complete say in how our school systems are run, how they are funded, and the curriculum taught. Yet, we do not. This book can help you understand who has that power, how they got it, and why we can't seem to get it back. The author points out that when people are crying out for more funding, as they always do, they are really saying they are out of meaningful ideas. Money never fixes anything. That is true.
Here is a little thought experiment. People say we need to pay teachers more to get improvement by getting the best teachers. But when we raise teacher pay, do we get rid of the existing teachers and hire in new and better teachers at the new higher pay? Of course not! We just pay the existing people more. How does that get us better teachers? If you go to McDonalds and pay $2 more for a Big Mac, does it become a better hamburger? No. It is exactly the same. It doesn't change simply because you pay more for it. You would need to go to a place that serves better hamburgers at the higher price to get a better burger.
As long as the same people occupy their places they are not going to improve over increased salaries. There may be things we can do with infrastructure that can help. But simply stuffing the teachers' pockets or hiring more administrators (heaven forfend) will not educate our children more effectively.
The idea that we exist simply to provide tax dollars and do the bidding of the present education establishment while they make all the decisions about curriculum and get their advantages made into laws further disenfranchising those who should be in control of the school districts is obscene to me. But you will have to decide for yourself. This book can present you with great information about the present situation.
Book Description
America
, how well do you know your history?
- Who quelled a coup d'etat by putting on a pair of reading glasses?
- Which U.S. senator was nearly caned to death on the Senate floor?
- Which first lady refused to serve alcohol in the White House?
- What famous inventor was called to find the assassin's bullet in President Garfield's back?
- Which successful candidate for president insisted on telling the truth about his sex scandal?
- Which beloved ex-president raced with death and poverty to write his best-selling memoirs and which famous humorist came to his rescue?
- Which president carefully read the trial notes of 303 condemned Sioux warriors and spared all but 38 from the hangman's noose?
- Which "four-eyed" future president beat up a drunken bully in a saloon?
In his Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan said if we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are. This book, written by one of Reagan's most loyal lieutenants, responds to Reagan's heartfelt call for an informed patriotism.
We all need to know more about this land we love. In this gripping tale of a nation, our country's past comes alive. Here is the story of those we chose to lead us and what they did with the awesome power we gave them. Join Bill Bennett for the great adventure. America's teacher will lead you on a voyage of discovery.
What others are saying:
"William J. Bennett artfully and subtly makes connections between our past and current events, reminding us ... that we are intimately and immediately connected to the extraordinary Americans who have bestowed upon us our great heritage.... [T]he importance of
America: The Last Best Hope probably exceeds anything Dr. Bennett has ever written, and it is more elegantly crafted and eminently readable than any comprehensive work of history I've read in a very long time. It's silly to compare great works of history to great novels, but this book truly is a page-turner.... Prepare to have your faith in, hope for, and love of America renewed."
-Brad Miner, American Compass
"The Role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important. He puts our nation's triumphs, along with its lapses, into the context of a narrative about the progress of freedom. Every now and then it's useful to be reminded that we are a fortunate people, blessed with generations of leaders who repeatedly renewed the meaning of America."
-Walter Isaacson,
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
"For too long Americans have been looking for a history of our country that tells the story of America's triumphs as well as its tragedies. Now Bill Bennett has come forward with
America: The Last Best Hope, which tells the story-fairly and fully-from 1492 to 1914. Americans who have been reading recent biographies of the Founding Fathers will love this book."
-Michael Barone,
US News & World Report
"Bill Bennett's book will stand as perhaps the most important addition to American scholarship at this, the start of the new century. For the past fifty years American historians have either distorted American history or reduced it to a mess of boring indictments of our cultural and political heritage. With this book Bennett offers to Americans young and old an exciting and enjoyable history of what makes America the greatest nation on earth.
-Brian Kennedy, president, The Claremont Institute
Customer Reviews:
Good general coverage on US History.......2007-10-02
Many reviews state this book is void of great detail and only scratches the surface. Bear in mind it's a two volume set on the entire history of the US. How detailed could you be in just too volumes. I contend the book serves its purposes wonderfully. Yes, it's concise but a pleasure to read and a great refresher on the History we were taught in our high schools days. I wouldn't expect the book to go into exhaustive detail as the book is on US general history. I'd use this book as path to lead me to explore US history topics in greater detail. I like the un-political correctness usually taught these days - poor Indians, white man bad, stealing of lands from Mexico, Jefferson and Washington were terrible because they were slaveholders... The injustices taught nowadays can go on and on. But this book does not conform and gives us something we should truly be proud about - our heritage. The author is proud of his heritage as he conveys it. He uses humor and whit while the book moves along keeping the readers attentions. Its refreshing to read a positive view our history. My only negative is that this book does have some obvious spelling and grammar error better editing should have been used. The "story" is told of the founding and existence of a great country. It will undoubtedly leave the reader more proud than when he/she starting reading. And rightfully so! We live in a great country of rich history. Enjoy!
I actually LOVE history now........2007-09-23
I never wanted to learn history. Seemed boring. I opened this book and now can't put it down. It's so wonderful to learn these things and be able to relate them to our lives today. This should be a mandatory book for all students.
Thanks Bill!
History at its best.......2007-09-10
I bought this book after reading volume II, which I also loved. History is one of my weakest areas - I was never good at memorizing names and dates and am embarrassed about my lack of knowledge. Bennett makes American history come alive. After you read it, you feel like you know the previous presidents and their contemporaries personally. There is sometimes a little repetition between chapters, perhaps that was intentional. Other reviewers said that this book reads like a novel. Perhaps not as "quick" as a novel, but it's really a pleasure to read. Both volumes were so good I would read them again.
Wonderful Review of American History.......2007-09-04
Mr. Bennett not only provides a well researched and documented review of American History but makes it a pleasure and entertaining to read! I bought it to read and can't pull it away from my 18 year old son who doesn't like to read... until now!
Something has to be done....................2007-08-28
to rebuff the garbage written in the mandated leftist history books forced upon teachers. There may be mistakes in this book, but not nearly so many as in today's current crop of leftist propaganda.
I never ceased to be amazed by the leftist America-hating perverts who use the rights given to them by their Constitution to rage against the very system that gave them every right and freedom of life we all enjoy. I have to be honest, I despise these people for ruining the greatest free country in the history of the earth. I see it slip farther and farther into the depths as every day goes by and I mourn for our youth as the leftists, atheists, and other perverts dismantle our freedom and attempt to rebuild our country with their own "values".
Amazon.com
Journalist Mark Bowden delivers a strikingly detailed account of the 1993 nightmare operation in Mogadishu that left 18 American soldiers dead and many more wounded. This early foreign-policy disaster for the Clinton administration led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and a total troop withdrawal from Somalia. Bowden does not spend much time considering the context; instead he provides a moment-by-moment chronicle of what happened in the air and on the ground. His gritty narrative tells of how Rangers and elite Delta Force troops embarked on a mission to capture a pair of high-ranking deputies to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid only to find themselves surrounded in a hostile African city. Their high-tech MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down and a number of other miscues left them trapped through the night. Bowden describes Mogadishu as a place of Mad Max-like anarchy--implying strongly that there was never any peace for the supposed peacekeepers to keep. He makes full use of the defense bureaucracy's extensive paper trail--which includes official reports, investigations, and even radio transcripts--to describe the combat with great accuracy, right down to the actual dialogue. He supplements this with hundreds of his own interviews, turning Black Hawk Down into a completely authentic nonfiction novel, a lively page-turner that will make readers feel like they're standing beside the embattled troops. This will quickly be realized as a modern military classic. --John J. Miller
Book Description
The acclaimed New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down is "a shocking account of modern warfare . . . gripping and horrifying" (San Francisco Chronicle)
Destined to become a classic of war reporting, Black Hawk Down is Mark Bowden's brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3rd, 1993, about a hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take an hour. Instead they found themselves pinned down through a long and terrible night fighting against thousands of heavily armed Somalis. The following morning, eighteen Americans were dead and more than seventy had been badly injured.
Drawing on interviews from both sides, army records, audiotapes, and videos (some of the material is still classified), Bowden's minute-by-minute narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern combat ever written--a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle.
"Black Hawk Down ranks among the best books ever written about infantry combat. . . . A descendent of books like The Killer Angels and We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young."-- Bob Shacochis, The New York Observer
"If Black Hawk Down were fiction we'd rank it up there with the best war novels: The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer, or The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien."-- Tom Walker, The Denver Post
"Stands in a league with Shelby Foote's stirring Civil War Diary, Shiloh."-- Jim Haner, The Baltimore Sun
"One of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written."-- Kirk Spitzer, USA Today
"Amazing . . . One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable."-- The Philadelphia Inquirer
A New York Times bestseller for 14 weeks
Bowden's Black Hawk Down series, which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Hal Boyle Award for best foreign reporting
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and revealing.......2007-08-29
The beginning of this book kinda made me want to be a soldier but as it got into the actual horrors of war it seriously scared a strong sense of reality into me. Anyone who is thinking of joining the military should read this book first. Not that I'm trying to discourage people but just that they should take it seriously and not just think of it as an easy way to pay off school loans or something.
Anyway, the book is fantastic. Get it and read it.
One of the greatest combat books I have ever read.......2007-08-16
This book is great. It tells about the Battle of the Black Sea extremly well with several different perspectives. From stories of some of the Delta opperators to the Habr Gidr clan members fighting them, this book tells it very, very well. Only Flags of Our Fathers rivals Black Hawk Down. If you like combat books, I highly recommend this book.
Great Story Highly Recommended .......2007-07-13
Let me incorporate, by reference the many well earned accolades of the other reviews. This is an exceptional book and deserves the praise. However, there are some limitations.
The first is that two men watching the same person do nothing more than walk down the street may have perceptions of the event that would make it appear that they observed two different events, the second is that some of the intimate observations of those who fought there may have been reserved during interviews and the third is that Bowden may have received some politically correct guidance from above. Finally there is something enlightening in the unedited words of some of the experienced participants.
MSG Howe, a legend in the Special Forces community wrote an excellent book , Leadership and Training For the Fight. Deliberately misses the well edited polish as he uses presents personal combat experience to illustrate the key subjects he is discussing. Much of the action is on the ground as a participant in what became knows as Blackhawk Down. Howe discusses the critical differences in between the Rangers and Special Forces as they fought together. The second additional reference are the two books by Durant, In The Company of Heroes and Night Stalkers.
One of the messages of the other books on the subject which directly conflicts with the conclusions of Blackhawk Down is the impact of the removal of the AC-130's from the area had on the operation. The theater commander was denied the AC-130 gunships and American armor. Bowden repeats the Washington spin that the gunships would have been ineffective in the urban environment. However, Durant notes the huge psych impact when the gunships were returned to the fight a fee days later, while he was still held prisoner. It is further reported that the Secy of Defense came down to the SF camp once they were home to apologize for the removal of the gunships and soften the blow that there would be no formal after action report.
The performance of the gunships in several firefights in Afghanistan clearly demonstrated that they could work very closely with troops on the ground who were vastly outnumbered and fighting for survival within stone throwing distance. There also no doubt that the Little Birds and gunships could have been used together.
Durant and Howe provide the framework to understand the tactics and mission of those on the ground and in the air on those fateful days.
All three books leave the reader stunned at the quality, dedication and effectiveness of those who serve our country.
First Rate Military History -- move over Cornelius Ryan.......2007-07-12
This rates as one of the best military histories I have ever read.
Mark Bowden is scrupulously careful, balanced, and thorough. He presents a very complex incident with color, passion, and detail, cataloging the sounds, smells, and visuals of this frightful engagement.
He allows the participants among American and Somali soldiers and noncombatants to tell their own stories in their own words. Occasionally he steps back and presents historical/political background to let the reader see this "Battle of the Black Sea" in context.
The movie version (Ridley Scott directing) was exceptionally well done, fast-paced, fierce, gritty, and like the battle itself, ultimately very sad and leaving a sense of futility, given that the U.S. scampered out of Somalia shortly after the battle. Yet the movie was light and almost careless of many details compared with this book.
Move over, Cornelius Ryan.
Unbelievable.......2007-04-30
I'm so upset that I watched the movie first. In my opinion the book is 100x's better and I'm surprised to see how many story lines that they have changed. The details just make you shake your head in shock. In the movie they didn't really mention (I can't recall) Air Force Combat Controller's. Honestly if it wasn't for them there would have more casualties. It's an amazing modern war story that won't put you to sleep. I enjoyed the pictures at the end of the book. I like to put names and faces together.
A great read from beginning to end.
Amazon.com
Book Description
Written with the sweep of an epic novel and grounded in extensive research into contemporary documents, Savage Peace is a striking portrait of American democracy under stress. It is the surprising story of America in the year 1919.
In the aftermath of an unprecedented worldwide war and a flu pandemic, Americans began the year full of hope, expecting to reap the benefits of peace. But instead, the fear of terrorism filled their days. Bolshevism was the new menace, and the federal government, utilizing a vast network of domestic spies, began to watch anyone deemed suspicious. A young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover headed a brand-new intelligence division of the Bureau of Investigation (later to become the FBI). Bombs exploded on the doorstep of the attorney general's home in Washington, D.C., and 36 parcels containing bombs were discovered at post offices across the country. Poet and journalist Carl Sandburg, recently returned from abroad with a trunk full of Bolshevik literature, was detained in New York, his trunk seized. A 21-year-old Russian girl living in New York was sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting U.S. intervention in Arctic Russia, where thousands of American soldiers remained after the Armistice, ostensibly to guard supplies but in reality to join a British force meant to be a warning to the new Bolshevik government.
In 1919, wartime legislation intended to curb criticism of the government was extended and even strengthened. Labor strife was a daily occurrence. And decorated African-American soldiers, returning home to claim the democracy for which they had risked their lives, were badly disappointed. Lynchings continued, race riots would erupt in 26 cities before the year ended, and secret agents from the government's "Negro Subversion" unit routinely shadowed outspoken African-Americans.
Adding a vivid human drama to the greater historical narrative, Savage Peace brings 1919 alive through the people who played a major role in making the year so remarkable. Among them are William Monroe Trotter, who tried to put democracy for African-Americans on the agenda at the Paris peace talks; Supreme Court associate justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who struggled to find a balance between free speech and legitimate government restrictions for reasons of national security, producing a memorable decision for the future of free speech in America; and journalist Ray Stannard Baker, confidant of President Woodrow Wilson, who watched carefully as Wilson's idealism crumbled and wrote the best accounts we have of the president's frustration and disappointment.
Weaving together the stories of a panoramic cast of characters, from Albert Einstein to Helen Keller, Ann Hagedorn brilliantly illuminates America at a pivotal moment.
An Exclusive Note to Readers from Ann Hagedorn
Savage Peace is the biography of the year 1919 in America told through interweaving narratives that connect the reader to the individuals, events and themes that make the year so hugely significant. My quest is always to make history as accessible as possible to the general public using storytelling techniques and so I structured Savage Peace like a work of fiction with main characters and story arcs. It is, however, based firmly on facts gleaned from primary sources housed in archives nationwide, including declassified military intelligence and justice department records. I spent more than five years researching and writing the book in an effort of course to get to the very core of the significance of the year 1919 and to deliver that truth to you, the reader, in an entertaining style.
But why 1919? First, I consider the year a missing page in our history. We typically associate 1919 with the Paris Peace Conference, Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations--all important aspects of the year, of course. But there is far more to the year than what happened in Paris. In fact, Savage Peace tells the story of what happened in America while Wilson was in Paris. Remember that 1919 was the aftermath of a world war, a flu pandemic, and the Russian Revolution. It was an uncertain, very intense year that shaped policies and attitudes for nearly a century in America. In many respects it was the year that made modern America. Consider that the foundation of our domestic intelligence system was firmly established in 1919; that our "cold" relationship with the Soviet Union emerged from events such as U.S. intervention in north Russia that year and the government's raid on the Soviet Bureau in Manhattan; and that our response to the 1919 race riots (in 26 cities) was to use segregation as the solution instead of identifying it as the problem. One of the things that drew me to the year was that it offers us all an opportunity to observe democracy under extreme duress. This was a time when Americans were caught between the promise of democracy--Wilson told us we were fighting the war to make the world safe for democracy--and the penalties for exercising democratic rights at home in the aftermath of the war. After the Armistice, certain wartime measures and laws were kept in place in the name of protecting the nation from the new threat of Bolshevism. This allowed the nation to stay immersed in the mentality of war, the culture of fear, and a state of perpetual crisis, which in turn justified an attack on Democratic rights and raised the issue of the delicate balance between national security and the safety of the constitution.
During World War I, a massive domestic intelligence system was put in place to protect Americans on their own soil, to outsmart German spies, and to identify German sympathizers. It was indeed the largest corps of homeland spies ever assembled in any nation during wartime and it included at least 300,000 volunteer spies in organizations such as the American Protective League, the National Security League, the Liberty League, the Home Defense League, the Sedition Slammers, and the Boy Spies of America. There were wartime laws too, such as the Espionage Act of 1917, which made it a crime to obstruct the war and to criticize the war, and among other things, gave the postmaster general the right to censor "seditious" magazines and newspapers. The Sedition Act in 1918 (an amended version of the Espionage Act) went further and said it was a crime to "willfully utter, print, write or publish" any expression of disloyalty toward or criticism of the U.S. government, its Constitution, its flag, or its military uniforms.
In 1919, these laws and the domestic intelligence network were still in tact. Now the task was to identify those who favored leniency for Germany in the ensuing peace negotiations and, as the Justice Dept. told the Washington Post on Armistice Day, to keep a "vigilant watch over anarchists, plotters and aliens." Soon dissent in America was bundled into one package labeled Bolshevism. Hiram Johnson, the Republican senator from California who was loudly speaking out against U.S. intervention in north Russia--a military adventure unauthorized and in fact unknown by most Congressmen and one that evolved into a civil war in which we were fighting with the White Army against the Reds--said in one of his speeches to the U.S. Senate, "It is a dangerous and delicate thing to speak of Russia and to even inquire concerning our activities there. During the war it became fashionable to call all who disagreed with any governmental policy pro-German. Now the fashion has changed: and any man who will not accept the wrongful edict of entrenched power is by that token a Bolsheviki."
In Savage Peace I show that one of the people who best understood just how hard it would be to free the nation and the Constitution from the emergency restrictions put in place during the war was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., then an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In March of 1919 he issued an opinion saying effectively that the right of free speech could be taken away if the speech or circular contained wording that presented a "clear and present danger" of causing unlawful acts. His critics argued that expression could not be censored on the basis of the possibility that it might incite such acts as the acts could be punished when and if they occurred.
That summer and autumn Holmes reconsidered the limitations and the protections of free speech in America. And in November, he modified his view in a dissenting opinion that expanded the definition of protected speech in America. In that opinion he wrote: "When men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas--that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market... We should be eternally vigilant against the attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purpose of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country."
Fortunately, Holmes' words outlived the hysteria of the year in which he wrote them. So did Democracy.
There is so very much more I could say about the importance of 1919, especially about what we can learn from that year. Savage Peace is as the Chicago Tribune wrote in its great review of the book "a potent reminder of the fragility of civil liberties and the power of conspiratorial fantasies propagated by true believers and opportunists alike during times of war and uncertainty."
Looking at the year 1919 indeed reminds us to listen to the voices in America's past who well understood that Democracy has the capability of correcting its errors only as long as its citizens can exercise their rights. I'd like to end this note to my readers with the words of one of the individuals portrayed in Savage Peace, New York attorney Harry Weinberger, who often represented people charged with violating the Espionage Act: "Democracy lives on the exercise and functioning of democracy. As a child learns and grows by doing, a people learn democracy by acting in democratic ways. I know from the history of other countries that even the best democratic constitutions did not prevent dictatorships unless the people were trained in democracy and held themselves eternally vigilant and ready to oppose all infringements on liberty."
Thanks for reading and enjoy the book!
--Ann Hagedorn
Customer Reviews:
Mostly Fear.......2007-08-16
A modern liberal's look back on a difficult year in U.S. history. While the subtitle of this volume promises hope as well as fear, it is the fear that is delivered.
The book is strongest in reminding all of the inhuman nature of lynching and the inexcusable race relations of the time.
It is less convincing in painting President Wilson as a hero, when he was actively unhelpful in easing America's many and deep racial wrongs. Furthermore, his peace plan was a failure due to his own political missteps in selling the idea and the more basic fact that many nations--especially the U.S.--were not really ready for an effective and armed collective security mechanism for the entire world.
The author also discounts the real threat of the followers of Lenin. In 1919 a number of longstanding world empires had recently crashed with the end of the Great War. The Reds had prevailed in Russia. Given the tens of millions who later died in the 1920s and 30s in the USSR, I do not think it totally stupid for U.S. authorities to pay some attention to this domestic situation.
Finally, how does the British expedition to Brazil to prove the German's (Einstein) grand theory fit in a book focused on 1919 in America?
Interesting, enlightening in spots, but uneven.......2007-08-01
Hagerdorn is at her best in this book in describing the 1919 Red Scare and connecting it with labor rights issues. (She has a nice thumbnail on the early rise to power of J. Edgar Hoover as part of this.)
She also does well, in the context of race relations, in noting Wilson's refusal to meet with prominent black leaders, and getting the State Department to deny them passports for the Paris Peace Conference.
But, she hamstrings herself with the "history of a year" concept by not delving deeper, much deeper, into Wilson's racism, starting with any 1912 campaign promises he made about equality.
Second, in the lead-up to the Senate vote on the Treaty of Versailles, she gives short shrift to the pig-headedness of both Wilson and Senate Majority Leader Lodge.
Third, rather than using the attempt of an interracial couple to marry in New Hampshire, and spending about 40 pages on it, why didn't she talk more about lynching in the North as well as the South, if she really wanted to look at civil rights in the North?
Fourth, she didn't do a good job linking 1919 to the Roaring '20s. That includes having a scant analysis of the 1920 electoral contest, not looking at Babe Ruth being on the cusp of transitioning baseball to the live ball era, nor looking at how the Roaring '20s were a decade of escapism.
And, other than burning Wilson in effigy, she says little about the suffragist movement and the progress of the 19th Amendment.
Also, for a theoretically in-depth book, Hagerdorn gives relatively little attention to how the world of physics, outside of Eddington, reacted to Einstein's theory of general relativity and its confirmation.
The book could have been 100 pages longer, well-written, and be the right length; it could be 100 pages shorter, in the same style, and too long. It could easily be longer, and better, because just such books have been written about Versailles alone. It could be shorter, and better, with much of the interracial marriage saga replaced with narrative of a few Northern lynchings, and more focus on sports and entertainment as they got ready to lead to the Roaring '20, plus a bit more detail on all the would-be presidential candidates.
Reviewer Yardley Missed The Point of Savage Peace.......2007-07-19
Rebuttal to Jonathan Yardley
I disagree wholeheartedly with Washington Post reviewer Jonathan Yardley's review of Ann Hagedorn's Savage Peace. A year is a perfectly legitimate and even desirable way to categorize the passage of human events in our country's history. His review is petty and does not accurately reflect the true spirit of the book.
For example, Mr. Yardley's statement "Wars don't begin on the first day of a year and end on the last, nor do presidencies or natural disasters or anything else except, of course, years themselves. But that doesn't prevent journalists, astrologers and other shady characters from attempting to set each year apart from every other and read its events and dominant personalities as if they were tea leaves."
Yardley, completely misses the point of the book. The timeline of history is how we understand and make sense of the past and the course of events during a particular year is absolutely quantifiable from the vantage point of hindsight.
"Tea leaves" are not the means of Hagedorn's relaying of the year 1918 as Mr. Yardley implies as he wholesale categorizes journalists as shady characters. Solid, meticulous and impassioned research is the engine behind the stories related. The fact that Hagedorn fleshed out the lives and activities of various people both well known and obscure during the year 1918 brings a color and vibrancy to history that educates as well as entertains.
Yardley's subsequent attacks on Hagedorn's prose and credentials as well as her choice of subjects is simply unproductive reviewing. His meanspiritedness overwhelms the great reporting and research that is the true hallmark of this book It is Hagedorn's choice to decide which stories paint the portrait of 1918 and as Yardley state himself "Obviously not everything that happened during this tumultuous and difficult year can be squeezed into a single book." Again, Hagedorn's passion and vividness for the subject of 1918 transforms the reading of history which can be overly erudite in less capable hands. To lambaste her prose style is myopic and Hagedorn's pedigree as a front page Wall Street Journal reporter more than legitimizes her. The fact that Mr. Yardley does not care for her writing style hardly qualifies his final diatribe of a paragraph.
The good old days not so good. This book...excellent........2007-07-06
Pick a year, any year, a good historian can choose any year from this country's past and produce an important and interesting book on it. However few years make for as compelling a tale as 1919 especially when in the hands of so gifted a writer as Ann Hagedorn. Indeed "Savage Peace" reads like a novel replete with heroes, villains, treachery, barbarity, tragedy and pathos.
1919 is an obvious choice for a work such as this because it was so pivotal to this country's near and distant futures. The war in Europe was just over but there remained the tricky business of sorting out the peace to follow and the US role in maintaining it. Over too was the Progressive Era and the spirit of change it exemplified was taking a darker turn with sinister powers now in the hands of a few within government as epitomized by the rise of J Edgar Hoover. African Americans had served their country with valor during the war and inevitably were going to expect a more appropriate role in society. Dramatic change was possible and just how dramatic it could be was widely feared to the levels of paranoia.
The "Great War" had been over for a few months when 1919 dawned but the assault on civil liberties that it had wrought in America continued unabated gradually morphing from a fear of all things German to a full blown Bolshevik paranoia. Dissent was rampant in manners ranging from bomb wielding anarchists to organized labor strife to legislative foreign policy debate. Levels of tolerance were low but no one suffered more than those who had already suffered the most -- America's Black citizenry.
"Savage Peace" is most savage in its stories of virulent racism practiced throughout the country particularly the horrific lynchings precipitated mostly in the south. Even for seasoned readers of history such as myself, the specifics of some lynchings that Hagedorn relates with all the gory details are quite depressing indeed. As a partial antidote there are the stories of African American heroes such as W.E.B. Dubois and William Monore Trotter.
Other heroes appear although who a particular readers admire will vary. Certainly Carl Sandburg, lawyer Harry Weinberger and Senator Hiram Johnson will have their boosters. Others may take a shine to pint-sized radical Mollie Steimer or even president Woodrow Wilson.
America was a brutal angry country in 1919 but paradoxically it was full of hope and opportunity with a million new ideas and millions of characters of all stripes. No, "Savage Peace" doesn't capture it all. Surely there could have been more on the cultural scene, the daily lives of ordinary Americans and immigration and...well the list can go on. But it's quite unfair to take Hagedorn to task for what isn't in her book when there is so much that IS in it and it so masterfully captures the highlights.
One of the best things a book like "Savage Peace" does is cause readers to be curious about some of the people and events it touches upon. The best books are the one that make you want to read ten more. "Savage Peace" is both an excellent book for those of us with a long standing interest in this time period and a great intro to readers unfamiliar with the terrain.
Metaphorical History.......2007-07-02
This slow-paced but nevertheless excellent book can be read as a straightforward "biography" of the pivotal year of 1919, or, as Hagedorn overtly intended, as a metaphor for our present era, a time which in many ways bears a striking similarity to what was happening nationally and internationally in 1919. Paying heavy emphasis on the government's role as suppressor of civil liberties, on racial issues---perhaps concentrating too much on race issues, in my opinion---and on the involvement of American troops in an undeclared war on foreign soil: in this case stationed in Russia against public sentiment in both the US and abroad, in an effort to establish a democratic government in a nation strongly resisting US interference. Hagedorn provides many shocking details on how vigorously the US government used the Red Scare, the fear of anarchists, and the canopy of pro-Americanism to attack and imprison ordinary citizens guilty of little more than dissent, including the poet Carl Sandburg, all in the name of national defense and patriotism. This is the story of persecuted labor leaders and of discarded soldiers returning home to a less than ideal welcome in the land of freedom. Savage Peace is also a book about the coinciding epidemic of lynchings in the deep south, and the pandemic of Spanish Influenza which struck every corner of the American nation, sparing neither old nor young, rich nor poor, black nor white, destabilizing an already hyperactive and fragile society, adding fuel to the fires of radical and reactionary dogmas. In its dense chapters one reads about back room deals between big business and elected officials, of the hypocrisy of Wilsonian ideology, and of the undermining of the Bill of Rights. In this expose one discovers a coldly frightening version of the United States of America that one would like to relegate to the past, but which every reader will all too obviously recognize for its reflection of who we have once again become today. This is not a pleasant book, but it is a very good one that was written at exactly the proper time.
Book Description
Zainab Salbi's media profile soared with her first book, Between Two Worlds, a memoir of growing up in Saddam Hussein's inner circle. She has been a guest on "Oprah," has been interviewed by Katie Couric, Al Franken, and George Stephanopoulos, and has been profiled in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and People magazine. Her organization, Women for Women International, plays a vital role in helping to heal war-torn nations including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo, Sudan, and Colombia.
With stunning images by award-winning photographers Susan Meiselas, Lekha Singh, and Sylvia Plachy, Salbi presents a riveting collection of letters and first-person narratives by amazing women who survived war's devastation and now must find the strength to rebuild families and communities. Throbbing with pain and loss yet glowing with courage and hope, The Other Side of War explores six regions where Women for Women International has helped survivors of the world's most tumultuous countries learn new skills, open small businesses and forge bonds with sponsors.
Overviews by the author explain how each nation's history led to violent conflict; then, with searing eloquence, the women tell their stories—of horror, cruelty, and suffering but also of profound inspiration as they work toward renewal and toward the day their fierce determination is rewarded with productivity, prosperity, and lasting joy.
Customer Reviews:
The Other Side of War, not just a women's issue.......2007-02-07
The is a book that should be read and taught to students. It gives a real view of what war is and how it impacts everyone. It shows how women that have been so effected by war can help make changes in their areas, not just for their families, but for their society.
Wow!.......2007-01-09
What an honest and unusual life story! My daughter and I were not able to put this book down. The naive courage of the author comes through. She is not one to think "Someone should do something about that" but "I've got to do something about that", and begins an international charitable foundation from the basement, literally from the ground up. Most of us stand around wringing our hands in the face of cruel injustices; this is an example of what can be done by one determined person.
Restoring Faith in Humanity.......2006-10-14
Years ago, when I lived in Washington, DC, I had the privilege to know Zainab Salbi when she was first starting Women for Women (called Women for Women in Bosnia at that time). There was a glow of inspiration in her face when she spoke of the plight of women and there was also incredible strength in her. In a time when I am often ashamed of the gross inhumanity we practice upon our fellow man, women like Zainab and the others courageous enough to share thier stories in this book, restore my faith that one day humanity will actually deserve to call itself civilized. Until then, we must rely on the courage of the few, who like Zainab, see beyond themselves and into the hearts of the world.
The Other Side of War- Captivating, Encouraging and REAL.......2006-10-12
Once again Zainab Salbi and Laurie Becklund have brought a riveting picture of the reality of war from the perspective of those who are left to hold the pieces together- the women. My organization, Soroptimist International, has been working in partnership with Women for Women International on a project called Project Independence Women Survivors of War for 3 1/2 years and I have had the privilege to go "to the field" on three occasions and meet women in the program. It is not an accident that this amazing organization, through the leadership of Zainab- was just awarded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Award last month. They are the first women's organization to ever recieve it- and the impact of the $1.5 million dollar gift will continue to transform lives of women who are currently socially isolated and desperate and in one year- they will be well on towards their journey of becoming self sufficient and active citizens. These stories are genuine, courageous and TRUE "snapshots" of the unspeakable costs of war- particularly on women. This is a must read! Dawn Marie Lemonds, Soroptimist International
Beautifully inspiring.......2006-10-10
Zainab Salbi's new book is a beautifully inspiring example of photo journalism and the heart-rending story about the other side of war. It will make a wonderful gift for the holidays. The women in the pictures reach out from the pages and touch your heart, while Salbi's words touch your soul. The message truly inspires me to not only be more thankful for all that life has given me, but also more understanding to what life has given others and seek out more ways to help these women survivors of war. The organization, Women for Women International is an amazing organization, doing amazing work; this new book is equally amazing!
Book Description
Is the United States a force for democracy? In this classic and unique volume that answers this question, William Blum serves up a forensic overview of U.S. foreign policy spanning sixty years. Remarks from the previous edition: "Far and away the best book on the topic."-Noam Chomsky "A valuable reference for anyone interested in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy."- Choice "I enjoyed it immensely."-Gore Vidal "The single most useful summary of CIA history."-John Stockwell "Each chapter I read makes me more and more angry."-Helen Caldicott "A very useful piece of work, daunting in scope, important."-Thomas Powers, author and Pulitzer Prize--winning journalist "A very valuable book. The research and organization are extremely impressive."-A.J. Langguth, author and former New York Times bureau chief For those who want the details on our most famous -actions (Chile, Cuba, Vietnam, to name a few), and for those who want to learn about our lesser-known efforts (France, China, Bolivia, Brazil, for example), this book provides a window on what our foreign policy goals really are. William Blum is the author of Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower .
Customer Reviews:
The Best Reference Out.......2007-08-13
The book does a great job showing the irony in the double-standards the US has used in its foreign policy since WWII, as State department officials confessed to (shown in the last chapter). This also makes for a more entertaining read than most other books on the topic. All together though, the book's use of these contradictions are just used to propel a central idea the author has, as stated in his introduction - that the communist threat was largely imagined, either intenionally at times or unintentionally, and that the US media failed to rationalize the discrepancies of state doctrines. So, if you believe this, you'll enjoy the book, otherwise, you'll find it a "worthless left-wing propanganda."
The book does take for granted a large degree of knowledge by the reader. That is, the author only explains US activities (as the book's title plainly states) in particular regions, but general history between time periods and other nations' influences are usually omitted. So if your history isn't up to par it may be a little confusing keeping track of changing foreign attitudes and policies.
Worthless Left-Wing Propaganda.......2007-04-09
I'm sorry to say that I actually spent money on this! I had thought of returning it but I didn't want to allow these misconstrued fantasies to be further spread so I destroyed it. It's sad that the author used biased references and half truths to support his position. As a retired USAF military member I'm ashamed to think that I protected his rights for over twenty years. If he's so against the U.S why doesn't he leave this country and go peddle his stories somewhere else.
Essential Reference, Some Warts.......2007-02-18
Over-all, this is a very precious book, and an essential reference on the history of US intervention, both military and clandestine or covert.
As a former Marine Corps infantry office and former clandestine services case officer, and as an avid reader of non-fiction, I will gladly state on the record that this author has it largely right.
I took off one star because the book has NOT been properly updated. The list of U.S. military interventions still ends in 1945, only the the CIA assassination plot list has been updated.
There are other books that complement this one--everything by Noam Chomspky, Derek Leebaert's "The Fifty-Year Wound," Chalmers Johnson on "Sorrows of Empire," Robert McNamara et al, "Wilson's Ghost," the DVD "Why We Fight," Ambassador Palmer's "The Real Axis of Evil" (on the 45 dictators we SUPPORT), and--with respect to the ignorance of America about reality, the two books, "Fog Facts," and "Lost History." See also Marine General Smedley Butler's short but hard-hitting work, "War is a Racket."
While I take the author with a grain of salt and do not appreciate his collaboration with Phil Agee, who betrayed his oaths to the US, whatever his reasons, on balance this book is an essential reference for anyone who wishes to understand why the rest of the world is beginning to conclude that we are the worst of all evils in our foreign policy behavior and misbehavior.
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Wilson's Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century
Why We Fight
Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025
War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth'
Fog Facts : Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin (Nation Books)
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
What every American should know about reality.......2006-11-13
"The greatest purveyor of violence on Earth is my own government." Martin Luther King Jr.
This is still true in 2006.
Killing Hope has nothing to do with wacko conspiracy theories. It's history. Untold, untaught history--but fact, not fiction.
"Read the history of the place where you're living/and stop letting corporate news teach lies to your children." Immortal Technique
This book is an encyclopedia of the terrorism, assassinations, and covert wars the US government has committed around the world since WWII. Other reviewers will undoubtedly deny this books factuality. In fact, Mr. Blum. a former CIA station chief, fought an extensive legal battle with the CIA over his right to publish it. The court's decision was to allow publishing, but that the proceeds of all sales would be given to the CIA! So, as Mr. Blum says, don't buy this book, borrow it from a friend or a library.
WHY DOES THE REST OF THE WORLD HATE US (except for the world's wealthy elite)? This book helps dispell the myths of "islamic fascism," "anti-americanism," and other lies that perport to explain those that oppose the US government and the corporations it serves. Unlike what you hear on FOX News, those who oppose US global dominance DO have good reasons. Usually it's because our government tortures and murders their families.
What HOPE is the US Govt. and the world's wealthy elite trying to KILL? The threat of a good example alternative to unbridled capitalism (iow nothing in life has value unless a dollar amount can be attached to it). Ever wondered what Washington has against poor, unthreatening Cuba? Or why the US supports brutal dictatorships around the world (Columbia, Saudia Arabia, Pakistan etc.), and opposes genuine democracies (Venezuela, France). Or how about why Americans have been taught to oppose universal health care, or free university education (hint, these ideas make people more important than profit).
For those who claim to be history buffs, I challenge you to read this. You don't know squat about modern history unless you understand the episodes described in this book.
Read this to understand why the population of the US must learn to think for themselves, before "our" government destroys the world for profit. Make no mistake, the survival of humanity, and certainly our prospects for peace and happiness depend upon the American public not continuing down the road first trod by the "good Germans."
The giant should remain strong no matter what........2006-09-26
I read this book and it confirmed my feelings that USA, as the only super power, should ALWAYS remain STRONG.
The book is composed of some 400 pages full of critiques as if the author wanted America to be the haven of saints when the world has been full of crocodiles, for instance the introduction brings about a fair resume of the author's intentions
How!
In the Introduction I came across a passage which I hereby quote `''It was in the early days of the Vietnam War that a Vietcong officer said to his American prisoner _' You were our heroes after the war, and a common phrase in those days was `'to be as rich and as wise as an American'' - What happened `''.
The title `Killing Hope' - updated edition 2004 - by William Blum, and many of the contents are indeed offensive to the USA because it speaks about U.S military and C.I.A 'interventions' since World War II and endeavours to portray them as the bad guys.
C.I.A (USA) intervensions?
Didn't such 'intervension' save many countries that now live under the 'shades' of democracies, in Europe and the Far East (Japan) enjoying unprecedented richness and prosperity, with a high standard of living for their nationals.
As one individual out of six billion living on this planet, do I blame the USA for protecting the interest of its citizens.
USA is The World Giant and one has to learn how to convince them of one's view points , rather than garrulously defy them with boring speeches and empty written words.
Book Description
Imagine you're a young boy—maybe as young as three or four—separated from your family by civil war, traversing deserts and mountains with little food or water, no medical care, and no protection from wild animals. Imagine watching hundreds of boys perish around you from hunger, disease, or attacks by enemy soldiers and wild animals. To most of us, it is unimaginable, but this was reality for "The Lost Boys of Sudan," thousands of young boys who were separated from their families and forced to walk approximately 1,000 miles to reach safe refuge from war and certain death.
For the first time, this award winning book offers readers a chronological timeline of the epic journey taken by these children, beginning in their rural villages of Southern Sudan and ending with their arrival as young men to the United States. Narrated through the voice of Joan Hecht, one of their American mentors, whom they lovingly call "mom" or "Mama Joan;" "The Journey of the Lost Boys" is a compelling story of courage, faith and the sheer determination to survive by a group of young orphaned boys. Because of Joan Hecht's personal relationship with them, she is able to portray their story in a way that most famous reporters and authors cannot. In addition to her extensive research of the political and historical events surrounding the long lasting civil war in Sudan, are the heart-rending personal stories and original drawings of the boys themselves. A must read for anyone interested in the the true story of the Lost Boys of Sudan!
Customer Reviews:
The tragedy of the children of Sudan.......2007-03-31
I can only summarize my comment about this book in a few words. The author Joan Hecht did a wonderful task in narrating the frightening and heartbreaking experience of the thousands of lost boys of the Sudan,Africa's largest country. Their dangerous journey involving thousands of miles in a very hostile landscape is incredible. The author's very kind heart,sincere consideration and admiration for these children is worth more than all the gold of the world. Very highly recommended for young and old.
Learning about Sudan? START HERE.......2006-10-15
This is the book you need to read if you are unfamiliar with the background of the issues in Sudan, the Lost Boys, and the issues faced by refugees who come to America. Ms. Hecht might not be an " academic", but she is the person with an enormous amount of first hand information on these subjects, and she breaks it down into managable pieces. Even if you are knowledgable on these subjects, this book is still useful as a clarifying tool. Ms. Hecht is also very committed, and that comes through on every page.
OUTSTANDING BOOK .......2006-08-11
Readers of this book will be touched by the stories of these incredible young men, who, at an early age, were separated from their parents and families. The atrocities witnessed by the boys are unspeakable. The author has provided the readers with stories that make those who have lived a life without fear take a new appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy in the United States.
A good term paper.......2006-07-26
The endless conflict in Sudan is another calamity that the press should have been bombarding us with daily for years. A tragedy of such dimensions should torment our collective conscience. This is exactly why it deserves a better telling than Ms. Hecht is able to offer us. The writing is amateurish and the text cries out for the editing it appears not to have been subjected to. Easy streamlining and the correction of some grammatical errors would make the book more readable and more powerful. Ms. Hecht's devotion to the cause of the Lost Boys is clearly sincere and praiseworthy, however, and she does deserve thanks for contributing to making us aware of the atrocities that go on in the world while we turn the other way.
An accurate, heartfelt and well-written account.......2006-06-28
Joan Hecht's "Journey" is in this reviewer's opinion the most interesting and accurate book available on the topic of the Lost Boys. As a former foster father to one of the lost boys and a fellow author and researcher, I recommend the book without hesitation. It presents an extraordinarily complicated situation in a manner that is comprehensible, fascinating and accurate. It gives the reader a true sense of the horror, courage and hope that has gripped a generation of young Sudanese men.
For its rare photos, clear and organized presentation and sincere prose, I highly recommend this informative and inspiring book and thank the author for her outstanding efforts.
Product Description
A Year of Absence follows the lives of six women whose husbands, all members of the U.S. Armys First Armored Division based in Germany, deploy to Iraq in April 2003. A young lieutenants wife comes dangerously close to alcoholism. Marriages are pushed to the breaking point by the constant strain of fifteen months apart. Each morning the women anxiously scan the headlines, wondering if they still have a husband, if their children still have a father. Some form friendships that become their lifeline. Others somehow find courage despite their isolation. Through tearful goodbyes, long-awaited communication from the front, and joyful yet troubled reunions, A Year of Absence captures what life is like for many families of deployed soldiers: the ever-present fear of death, the pressures of single-parenthood, and the strength and comfort that come with the support of close friends. Book excerpt Jena was strolling home from walking the dog when she noticed an official U.S. Army car carrying two soldiers in Class A uniforms heading toward her street. She felt her pulse quicken and, without meaning to, she started doing the math. If the soldiers stopped at her building, there was a one-in-twenty-four chance that Adam was dead. If they stopped at her stairwell, it was one-in-eight. Dont come down here, she prayed silently. Please let it be somebody else.
Customer Reviews:
Been there.............2007-09-18
This book describes it exactly as it is! I was at that post in Germany during that deployment and my boyfriend (back then, now he is my husband) was the Rear Detachment Officer. ( named in the book:-)) I read the book as soon as it came out and I could not stop crying. Make sure you have a box of tissues on hand. I am really glad this book was written, that way non military/civilians might be able to understand what it means to be an Army Wife.
Wonderful book!.......2007-04-25
This was such a wonderful and insightful book. The writing was superb and the women's stories were heartfelt and very true to life during a deployment.
This is definitely a must read for anyone with a loved one not only in the Army, but any branch of the military.
Excellent book that portrays true emotions.......2006-11-18
I loved all the similarities and differences of the characters. I could identify with each of them in some way. It was a nice accurate description of the emotions and feelings that go along with a long deployment. This book is truly brilliant and a must read for all wives, as well as husbands and others to help understand what the war is like from back home. I love this book.
The story that has not been told - Until Now!.......2006-10-29
When I went off to the Vietnam War back in 1967, not many of us were career soldiers--most of us were draftees, or just doing our enlistments. We all wanted to get the hell out of the service as fast as we could. We were mostly single men. The vast majority of us did not deploy as a unit but went as individual replacements. For those of us who had spouses and children they would find a world with no support systems in place. These families would become isolated in various parts of the country. I honestly never gave any deep thoughts to what it was like back in the states for those families left behind, or for those who were married with children.
Author Jessica Redmond paints a vivid picture of what was never talked about or seen by most of us old veterans (or the public) in her riveting account of those left behind by their spouses deployed to Iraq. Her book "A Year Of Absence - Six women's stories of courage, hope, and love" was an eye and heart opener for me. She gives us an insider view of what life is like for those family members who have to survive and carry on without their spouses for a year.
Her book is a well written chronicle of the intimate lives of six women left behind on a US Army base in Baumholder, Germany. Her women soon discover how little the government can really do to help them and they soon realize that they have to take care of each other. They face all the normal family issues plus the added stresses of having their loved ones thousands of miles away in a combat zone. Jessica captures the feelings and the emotions and the reality of the life they faced. It is a hard honest look at what their lives were like for one year. You cannot help but be captivated by their stories. I think, as the title implies, these women's stories were about love and courage and so much more.
This book should be required reading for all spouses of military personnel. Military life is not easy in an all volunteer Army (or any of the services) and those marriages that do manage to survive until retirement certainly have something special going for them. This book is a look at how these women handled things and how they felt. It spares us little--all of their emotions are opened up to view; the fears, the depression and even the joy of reunions. It is not an easy life and this book exposes that truth for all to see.
The book itself is very well written and structured so that readers can follow along on this year long journey as if you are a member of the family. One of the best written accounts on the social impact of modern war; a must read book! Given the MWSA HIGHEST RATING - FIVE STARS!
2005 Gold Medal Award for Non-Fiction!
Has mass-market appeal.......2006-05-05
Redmond's book is written with mass-market appeal. With an ensemble cast of six women, it reads almost like a novel. If you are looking for a scholarly narrative approach to the subject, however, be advised to search elsewhere.
Book Description
From the outset, the war in Iraq was directed from Washington and executed by troops on the ground. Between Washington and the battlefields was the Green Zone, a four-square-mile enclave that hosted the American Embassy annex, the Iraqi Reconstruction Management Office, the planning, policy, strategy, and communications sections of Headquarters, Multi-national Force-Iraq, and the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq. Hope Is Not a Plan takes the reader inside the Green Zone courtesy of participant-observers brought to Iraq to diagnose the insurgency and develop a get-well plan. Focusing on the critical months of late 2004 and early 2005 --when a new sovereign government in Iraq tried to build legitimacy, and the coalition force tried to find the best way to help it do so--it looks at a slice of the war not previously examined. This is not the Beltway story, nor the grunt and jarhead story. Rather, the book looks at the process of taking political and military goals and turning them into action. In telling that story, Hope Is Not a Plan helps explain how Iraq got to where it is today. Organized by topic rather than on a strict chronological basis, it is practical, not theoretical, examining doctrines and lessons learned, not abstractions of the ivory tower. The book describes what happened in the Green Zone during this period and compares that reality with what history, experience, and doctrine suggests should have happened. Finally, it reflects on what can be learned from the experience. Rich in detail, the book is written to be accessible to anyone interested in first-hand information about the workings of a coalition staff during wartime--or to anyone who wants to understand how things in Iraq went so very wrong.
Customer Reviews:
Sanity, Reality, and US Military Doctrine.......2007-08-12
Hope is Not a Plan provides an unfortunate coda to my military career.
I spent the last four years of my active duty service working with senior leaders of all services, colonels, captains, generals, and admirals, providing training based on assessments of the first Gulf War. My suspicions of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, based on discussions with those same senior leaders, led me to suspect that the current political leadership in the national command authority had ignored the lessons we learned in Southeast Asia and applied in Operation Desert Storm. This book confirms my suspicions.
Thomas Mowle and the other members of the strategy team have done an excellent job of evaluating current military operations from the perspective of existing US military doctrine. This area, doctrine and theater operations, is the cornerstone of effective military policy and operations.
Hope is Not a Plan will be one of the standard texts of the after action analysis of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Middle Managers and the Iraqi Insurgency.......2007-04-29
In July 2004, the Major General in charge of the Strategic Political/Military section in Iraq asked the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy to send him some "Strategic Thinkers" to help with the war effort. Within tw
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America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War
Power to the People
America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
Our Country's Founders
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
