History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Second World War, Volume 6: Triumph and Tragedy

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Churchill comes full circle
The End
The abrupt conclusion leaves unanswered questions
Winni; as he was known to the British during WW11
Missing the point

The Second World War, Volume 6: Triumph and Tragedy
Winston S. Churchill
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0395410606

Book Description

From the Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944 the Second World War had only fourteen months to run. This final volume of the account covers events right up to the unconditional surrender of Japan. Churchill's six-volume history of World War II - the definitive work, remarkable both for its sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, universally acknowledged as a magnificent historical reconstruction and an enduring work of literature.

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The end of World War II, the crushing of Germany and the devastating bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.and the entrance into an uneasy and clouded peace as Churchill is dismissed from his office and the Allies embark upon a tragic, misguided and atomic-haunted Cold War. The concluding volume of Churchill's great chronicle of the War which was responsible for his winning the Noble Prize in Literature.

Customer Reviews:

Churchill comes full circle.......2007-08-13

Volume 6 "Triumph and Tragedy" covers the time frame of June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945 and closes Churchill's account. The war is moving towards its' climax as the Allies land and push forward towards Paris and then on towards Berlin. Failure in Italy to pursue the Germans was reached as `Anvil', Riviera landing Southern France, reduced troop strength and was one of the factors that change the future of Poland and the rest of the Balkans. The Moscow conference has Churchill and Stalin discussing percentages of influence. At Quebec Churchill was very anxious to forestall the Russians in certain area of Central Europe. Unfortunately Churchill's influence consisted mainly in a warning voice. He was caught between a rock and a hard spot as he tries to appease Stalin and also not to sever England's life line with FDR and America. Yalta brought hopes and promises to a war weary world. Perhaps if Roosevelt had lived maybe these could have been achieved but his death left many agreements open ended and unfulfilled. Truman steps into office and the problems of `Unconditional Surrender' surface as surrender with Germany and Japan becomes eminent. Poland, one of the main reason for England's entering the War, is once again on stage for their sacrifice. The future of Europe and the World is being decided and the Cold War stands in the wings.

Churchill's and England's influence has waned. Even as Potsdam was failing all he can find is a concerned voice. England was deep in debt and tired of War. With Germany surrendering, there was no more desire to fight another battle especially with Russia. The Atomic bomb is dropped on Japan's two cities and Churchill finds that he has been voted out of office. On July 26, 1945 he bids farewell to the Nation that he served and steps out of what he considered as an unfinished office. He states that the "power to shape the future would be denied him". He wished he could have stayed to help with the needed peace but out of office all he could do was speak. He was not to return again for another 6 years and by then it was to late for another coalition government.

This is an important volume and series in understanding a great deal about WWII history and the start of the Cold War. The volume is well name. Victory blocked Nazism and then unleashed the power of the atom. The World would never again be the same. Old fears were replaced with new ones and national hegemony reared its' ugly head. The peace that Churchill wanted was not to be. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

The End.......2007-05-10

This is the final volume of Churchill's war memoires, telling the story of the war from D-Day until its conclusion. The ending is somewhat curtailed due to the fact that the Conservatives lost the 1945 General Election, with the result that Churchill ceased to be Prime Minister before the end of the war with Japan.

Churchill's account is at its best when he relates the problems with the fate of Greece and Poland, also when he tells of the deteriorating relationships with the USSR. What does become apparent is that Great Britain was by now a part-player in the end of the war, tolerated at the top table only because of her efforts in the war. The country, and its influence, was near exhaustion.

The problems with Churchill's previous volumes persist in this one. For example, an inadequate account of the bombing campaign: Dresden is dealt with in one sentence, and the assessment of the campaign as a whole is brief and uneasy. The Final Solution is accorded the briefest of mentions. The development of the atom bomb is hardly referred to until the success of the first test explosion.

These "faults" do not detract totally from the interesting parts of the book. But what is already good could have been far better. In the end, all six volumes are a fascinating account of the war from one of its key figures.

G Rodgers

The abrupt conclusion leaves unanswered questions.......2007-01-08

The sixth and final volume of Churchill's Second World War sees us through from D Day to victory. While the progression of the war itself is covered in much the same fashion as the first five volumes, it is here more than anywhere that Churchill starts looking forward to the post war world and the final disposition of power in Europe. Well before the actual end of the conflict, with victory certain, we see how the Soviet Union began closing off its regions of control from Allied scrutiny despite all efforts at openness and fairness from Britain and America. In particular, the Polish question weighed heavily on Churchill's mind and he devotes several chapters entirely to that problem. We see that Poland was the standard example of how Communist puppet governments were set up behind closed doors, while Stalin maintained an entirely straight face in claiming only a desire for peace and security. Churchill ends by noting the irony that as the war closed it was thought that The United States would possibly serve as a political buffer between the British and Soviet governments.

One can sense the frustration Churchill had as events were increasingly out of his control. By war's end Britain was decisively third ranked in terms of troops in action. After leading the only significant resistance to German war making for two full years, he found himself in disagreement with both major allies on various issues, major in the case of the Soviets and considerably less significant with regard to the U.S., but his feeling of encroaching loss is felt in this volume. Though he would later return to the Prime Minister's office, he ends the narrative as abruptly as he did his period of leadership (though he does skip ahead to the end of the Pacific war), with the great post-war questions unanswered.

Winni; as he was known to the British during WW11.......2005-03-14

I was born toward the end of world war two, and I'll never forget how this brilliant and intrepid man, through his daily, radio speaches, made the British people feel that they would never be defeated by Hitler. Winston Churchill, saw, before anyone else in England, that Germany would invade the rest of Europe and Great Britian in his iniquitous bid to conquer, control and kill millions of innocent people, without a thought of anything else but his evil ideas of what he, a mad-man, wanted at any cost.
As I grew older, my family told me more about the war. An uncle, who was in the Royal Air force, had his plane shot down and he spent nearly five years in a German P.O.W camp. My mother, when the dreaded dozzel bug bombs bombarded London day and night, had one drop very near her. She was pushing a pram with my twin sister and me in it, two older sisters were with her as she heard the engine stop and watched it fall; it was a dud and never exploded or we wouldn't be alive today. What terror she must have felt; I can not imagine. But Winston Churchill's daily radio addresses made her and so many other people gather their courage and continue on despite the very real danger of living in London.
Winston Churchill was a hero, beyond compare, to the people of Great Britain, during its time of greatest peril.
So many brave Americans went to fly for the Royal Air Force before America had entered the war. And so many of them perished -- such heros!!! To fight and die for England and freedom before they had to: brave crusaders!!
Then America also was at war with Germany and brought so much hope to the British people. They fought and so many of them died.
I read so much about this time in history. And these books, although definately not light reading, tell about a time when not only the men, but the women and even the children did whatever they could to rid this world of such evil. And so much of the braveness, the will to go on, despite everything, of the British people was because of this great man: Winston Churchill, who told them, and made them believe, every night by his radio speaches, that they could and would beat the Nazi threat.

Missing the point.......2003-11-22

I just had to add my two cents after finishing the sixth volume all of about 15 minutes ago. I ask my fellow reviewers who accuse Churchill of a completely selfish designation of "tragedy" on his loss of power in Britain to make sure they have actually read the right book; I can't see how it can be anything other than incredibly obvious that the "tragedy" he refers to is the inability of the Allies to halt Russian encroachment and lay the foundation for a peace which wouldn't be eventually and unavoidably interrupted by the potential for World War Three. This conclusion to Churchill's brilliant series is once again fantastic in scope and offers invaluable perspective. Most importantly, it is also incredibly prescient, as shown by 30 years of Cold War which we only escaped a decade ago.

A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present

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American History From the Victims' Perspective
A Little Matter of Genocide review
States of Denial
Fast and Perfect Condition
An Eye-Opener

A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present
Ward Churchill
Manufacturer: City Lights Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0872863239

Book Description

Ward Churchill has achieved an unparalleled reputation as a scholar-activist and analyst of indigenous issues in North America. Here, he explores the history of holocaust and denial in this hemisphere, beginning with the arrival of Columbus and continuing on into the present.

He frames the matter by examining both "revisionist" denial of the nazi-perpatrated Holocaust and the opposing claim of its exclusive "uniqueness," using the full scope of what happened in Europe as a backdrop against which to demonstrate that genocide is precisely what has been-and still is-carried out against the American Indians.

Churchill lays bare the means by which many of these realities have remained hidden, how public understanding of this most monstrous of crimes has been subverted not only by its perpetrators and their beneficiaries but by the institutions and individuals who perceive advantages in the confusion. In particular, he outlines the reasons underlying the United States's 40-year refusal to ratify the Genocide Convention, as well as the implications of the attempt to exempt itself from compliance when it finally offered its "endorsement."

In conclusion, Churchill proposes a more adequate and coherent definition of the crime as a basis for identifying, punishing, and preventing genocidal practices, wherever and whenever they occur.

Ward Churchill (enrolled Keetoowah Cherokee) is Professor of American Indian Studies with the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder. A member of the American Indian Movement since 1972, he has been a leader of the Colorado chapter for the past fifteen years. Among his previous books have been Fantasies of a Master Race, Struggle for the Land, Since Predator Came, and From a Native Son.

Customer Reviews:

American History From the Victims' Perspective.......2006-07-03

This book is a must read for anyone seriously interested in the true historical origins of the United States. Ward Churchill wastes no time dispelling the myth that the German Nazis were the originators of the systematic extermination of a cultural group. Likewise, he demonstrates that the Jewish people were not the first nor the last to be the victims of a Holocaust. Through his meticulous research of historical records, Churchill gives us the facts surrounding the theft of this nation from its native peoples. Afterwards, you may never look at Columbus and the discovery of the "New World" with the same rose-colored glasses.

A Little Matter of Genocide review.......2006-03-05

Professor Churchill has done a magnificant job writing this very comprehensive,extremely well-researched book.This book makes people aware that the Jews are not the only victims of Genocide.This book examines the history of Genocides dating back to 1492 to the present day .This book is very important because it educates people about the many occurances of Genocide.Mankind needs to know the past so that mankind can strive to make certain that the tragedies of history will not be repeated.

States of Denial.......2006-02-15

"A Little Matter" is worth reading simply for its discussion of the term "genocide". But there's so much more. If I get started I'm going to blather on at extreme length, so I won't.

The content of this book has been well covered by the reviewers before me, so I simply want to add my 5 stars. If you're interested in the issues suggested by the title, you've found an insightful, solidly referenced, powerfully argued resource.

Ward Churchill has an axe to grind, certainly, but he also has a forest to cut through. There are so many lies abroad in the world that we are all choking on them, I think, both victors and victims. This is a book I'm grateful to have read.

Stannard's wonderful and terrible "American Holocaust" is another. As are John Pilger's "Secret Country", and "Blood on the Wattle" by Bruce Elder, both of which concern Australia, my own sad, similarly haunted homeland.

Fast and Perfect Condition.......2005-09-30

I will continue to purchase all of my texts from Amazon.com.

An Eye-Opener.......2005-06-13

This book is primarily a collection of essays that Churchill has written and published elsewhere. Churchill's main focus in this book is on the genocide perpetrated in the Americas by the Europeans against the various indigenous peoples, and documents how the livelihoods, cultures, and lives of these peoples were decimated over the course of several centuries. What makes the book most worthwhile is the extended discussion on the meaning of the term "genocide" - a term that I consider used often incorrectly, and way too narrowly - towards the beginning and end of the book. The definition of genocide that he uses can be readily applied to various other atrocities, such as the genocide that occurred in Rwanda, Israel (Israelis against Palestinians), Vietnam (first by the French, and later the US), and most recently Iraq (perpetrated by the US) and Sudan.

Recommended for social scientists attempting to understand the causes and consequences of genocide, and well-suited to an educated lay audience as well. The book is a recommended companion to Stannard's "American Holocaust."

The Second World War, Volume 2: Their Finest Hour

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"Victory at all Costs!".....
Britain's first solo stand
Myth-Making
The Finest (but last) Days of the Aristocracy
The Finest of the Series

The Second World War, Volume 2: Their Finest Hour
Winston S. Churchill
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0395410568

Book Description

The eight uneasy, dangerous months from May to December 1940, as Britain stands isolated and Germany follows its war path.

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The second volume of Churchill's Nobel-Prize winning six-part chronicle of World War II. Their "finest hour" refers to Britain that struggled alone to survive overwhelming German advantage; detailed reconstruction of the bombing of London, the Battle of Britain. Churchill, here wartime Prime Minister, incorporate contemporary documentation and his own reminiscence.

Customer Reviews:

"Victory at all Costs!"............2006-11-15

In the first half of Vol. 2, 'Their Finest Hour', Churchill covers the Battle of France. As new Prime Minister he sets up his Coalition Government to fight the 'common cause' and prepare for the War. Germany was already in France and the Western Front was under attack. The Belgian Government was striving to remain neutral and soon all was being lost in the 'deluge of disaster'. The Germans broke the Maginot line and soon the Battle of France was lost. There was the successful deliverance of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk and the preparations to defend the home front.

The second half deals with the Battle of Britain with Hitler preparing for 'Operation Sea Lion'. In order for the invasion of England to be successful, Germany first had to control the air. London and various areas were shaken but neither the spirit nor the Country destroyed. Italy was on the move, in the Mediterranean, and invading the African coast. The Battle of Britain was won and the RAF had 'Their finest Hour', but the War was far from over. This volume covers the timeline of May 10, 1940 to Jan. 5, 1941.

It should be noted and remembered that England stands in a different position militarily than France. England is a small, ancient, insular island that has withstood many centuries of assaults and attempted invasions. So when Hitler and his forces sought to make the same attempt, not only the RAF and the Royal Navy but history was standing against them. Also it wasn't just England alone that was fighting. It was also their devoted Commonwealth, Dominions and Empirical Attachments that were involved in the war. England was pulling resources from all over their Empire. For instance, Australia and New Zealand were fighting on the African coast and in Greece.

America, under FDR, was moving closer to the war with the Lend-Lease Act and Japan was watching in the wings. Hilter was changing his war direction and moving into the Eastern Front. Stalin was changing his alliance with Hitler and moving closer to Britian and the United States. The impact and weight of the World's destiny was in the balance and starting to slowly shift. Nothing was yet certain and U-Boat packs still prowled the ocean.

This is another of those 'deserves to be read' books. Churchill fills in the volume with his correspondence and hindsight. It is good to read and become acquainted with Churchill's thoughts and this fateful time, in history, so that hopefully there will be no repeating of these terrible events. Well worth adding to the Library.

Britain's first solo stand.......2006-09-12

The second volume of Churchill's history of the Second World War continues in much the same style as the first. Now Prime Minister, Churchill tells of the formidable, even overwhelming obstacles that an increasingly alone Britain faces in its struggle against Nazi Germany. He begins the narrative with France as an ally and Italy still out of the war. But, as most readers will already know, France falls and splits apart. Italy does join the war effort on the side of Germany. America and the Soviets stay out, and Britain stands more or less alone.

After the fall of France, the main topic remains the Battle of Britain, the air war fought over English skies. Nonetheless, Churchill shines his laser-like focus on all areas of the war effort. One could say he primarily covers British efforts, but to say otherwise would be absurd, as this volume covers the months when there were few other efforts to be found. Nonetheless, from his supreme vantage point in the Prime Minister's office Churchill presents as the absolute right man for the job. As in the first volume, more so even, primary source documents are included extensively and Churchill's own words at the time are allowed to show the reader not only what was happening, but also how a government dealt with it directly. Any interested reader can find countless books covering the war from a more remote narrative viewpoint and may even find clarity that sometimes does get lost in the detail here, but nowhere in easily accessed book form will anyone find this story from the top, and that remains the greatest strength of the series.

Myth-Making.......2006-08-30

This is the second volume of Churchill's war memoirs, basically covering the year 1940, particularly the fall of France, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, and Churchill's attempts to coax aid from the United States and to draw that nation closer to active participation in the conflict.

The defeat of France and the need for US aid was really a consequence of the lack of preparedness for war discussed by Churchill in volume 1 of the series. Churchill was clear that US involvement on the side of the Western Allies would be a major factor in the defeat of Germany (particularly as no-one at the time could predict precisely when Hitler would attack the Soviet Union). These considerations make this a somewhat troublesome volume because it reflects and perhaps contributed towards some of the more prevalent myths and half-myths regarding this period of history: such misinterpretations have entered the collective British psyche almost as Gospel.

The first such one is the "triumph" of Dunkirk and France's responsibility for the military collapse in 1940. True, Dunkirk was an amazing achievement in the face of great adversity, but as Churchill points out, the British as well as the French were culpable for the defeat. The French were in overall charge, but the British failed to be as active as they should have been in planning the defence of the West, and the size of the BEF was small compared to the effort made in 1914. The magnificent effort to save the BEF and the rhetoric around it, necessary to raise morale at the time no doubt, have masked the collective responsibility for the disaster.

The myth that Britain "stood alone" has also become deeply rooted. Of course, it was not true - Britain at one and the same time had the largest territorial empire the world had known, yet was "alone". One must remember that the Viceroy of India had declared war on behalf of millions of Indians. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand troops were in Britain in 1940 as well as exiled European troops. This is not of course to denegrate the courage and effort of the British, but the myth is powerful - at its worst producing an insular arrogance which manifests itself still. Even Churchill's terminology is confused: at various times he refers to the "British", "the British race", "the British Empire", and "the British Commonwealth of Nations".

Interesting too is Churchill's criticism of Soviet policy: a country whose impatience later in the war over the lack of a second front masked the fact that it had formed an alliance with Germany in 1939.

Perhaps for the reasons above, this is a more problematic read than Volume 1. Nonetheless it's beautifully written and very interesting - not least because once again it reads as a fascinating period piece.

G Rodgers

The Finest (but last) Days of the Aristocracy.......2005-04-30

Americans have a warped view of history, and little understanding of the role of aristocracy and class in history--our own or Britain's. Churchill was a card carrying member of the aristocracy; one of the small group of men who ran England up to, and through, World War II. Their Finest Hour is an amazing documentation of the very height, and at the same time, end, of the all powerful aristocracy in England.

Churchill's second volume of his Six Volume history of the Second World War begins with May, 1940, as the German army is rolling through Luxembourg and Belgium (both clinging to their neutrality right up to the minute the German tanks crossed the border), toward a woefully unprepared France (still reliant upon the Maginot Line, which in turn depended on Luxembourg and Belgium neutrality.

Churchill has just assumed the post of Prime Minister, after having spent the prior year (and several before that) as an outsider bemoaning the refusal of Britain (and France) to prepare to meet the rising German threat. Those years of exile are the subject of volume one.

The present volume focuses on the extraordinary difficulties Churchill and others in the British government faced once the war actually began. Once France was forced to surrender, Germany was left in what most of us think of as continental Europe without any enemies. It had allied itself with fascist Italy, made peace with Stalin, conquered Poland and France, neutralized Spain, and occupied Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, and the Netherlands.

In this sense, Britain stood alone. There was a very real risk that Germany could invade and conquer Britain in the Summer and early Fall of 1940. The German bombing of London was increasingly effective, and the British army was in total disarray, having just been forced to abandon France, leaving most of its equipment behind. Just how worried Churchill was comes through clearly and terrifyingly in this volume. Had Germany succeeded, the world might look very different today--the Second World War would have been transformed into a truly intercontinental war, with Asia and Europe allied against North America.

Of course, Britain was not really "Alone." Greece and Turkey were firm allies; Bulgaria and Yugoslavia stood against Hitler and Italy; and Britain controlled most of what we today think of as the third world--from Gibraltar at the southern tip of Europe, to Egypt, to South Africa, India, Malaysia and Burma, and Australia. Only by adopting a firmly eurocentric view of the world (which Churchill clearly had) can he title this volume "Alone."

Churchill and the rest of his government were able to move seamlessly into power, and immediately take control of this world wide empire precisely because of the peculiarly insular class system that ruled Britain. Even as an outsider, Churchill clearly had full access to all of the centers of power. He could not bend and shape them, but he was fully in the loop. Personal relationships and lifelong associations meant that he regularly met with leaders at all levels of the power structure--including most importantly (but by no means exclusively) top politicians and naval personnel. This sort of access by "losing" politicians in the United States today is unimaginable. Can anyone seriously envision Bush allowing the head of the CIA to meet regularly with Howard Dean to review the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

The only weakness in this volume is Churchill's over reliance on his own contemporaneous telegrams and memos. he was absolutely prolific, apparently having dictated dozens of multi-page memos daily--yet still finding time to run the government. While fascinating historically, they really are bureaucratic memos. The first volume, by relying more on narration and less on historical documents, allowed Churchill greater reign to his incredible skill with the English language. Here, long sections read like just what they are--official documents written in haste, for the historical record.

That said, his brilliant use of words shines through. The most stirring passage is toward the end--his eulogy in November, 1940, for Neville Chamberlain, who more than anyone was responsible for "appeasing" Hitler. Rather than lapse into "I told you so", he marshals some of the most stirring words ever written to praise Chamberlain; urging history to judge him on the strength of his character rather than the results of his actions, which are subject to the fickleness of history.

In sum, this is a remarkable book, chronicling a remarkable time in history, written by a remarkable man who played a central roll in events. I can think of no other book by anyone at anytime which brings together all three of these elements--and is well written!

The Finest of the Series.......2004-02-04

After reading this book, you truly begin to see how narrow minded the average American perception of World War II really is. Not to discount the magnificant American battles such as the landing at Normandy or the Battle for Midway, but the Battle for Britain was absolutely the finest display of honor and courage throughout the entire war. This tiny island and it's courageous people stood alone and stood tall against not only the behemoth Nazi-German menace, but at the same time fought the Mussolini in northern Africa and awaited the Japanese onslaught in their Australasian colonies. It's an absolutely inspiring work, and it's an absolute sin that American schools don't teach the story of how the British people shined so brightly during their darkest hour.

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"Never Be Separated from the Americans"
Churchill and America Review
Another Fine Churchill Volume by Martin Gilbert
Gilbert's Notes
Churchill, with the passing of years, becomes ever larger

Churchill and America
Martin Gilbert
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743259920

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In this stirring book, Martin Gilbert tells the intensely human story of Winston Churchill's profound connection to America, a relationship that resulted in an Anglo-American alliance that has stood at the center of international relations for more than a century.

Winston Churchill, whose mother, Jennie Jerome, the daughter of a leading American entrepreneur, was born in Brooklyn in 1854, spent much of his seventy adult years in close contact with the United States. In two world wars, his was the main British voice urging the closest possible cooperation with the United States. From before the First World War, he understood the power of the United States, the "gigantic boiler," which, once lit, would drive the great engine forward.

Sir Martin Gilbert was appointed Churchill's official biographer in 1968 and has ever since been collecting archival and personal documentation that explores every twist and turn of Churchill's relationship with the United States, revealing the golden thread running through it of friendship and understanding despite many setbacks and disappointments. Drawing on this extensive store of Churchill's own words -- in his private letters, his articles and speeches, and press conferences and interviews given to American journalists on his numerous journeys throughout the United States -- Gilbert paints a rich portrait of the Anglo-American relationship that began at the turn of the last century.

Churchill first visited the United States in 1895, when he was twenty-one. During that first visit, he was invited to West Point and was fascinated by New York City. "What an extraordinary people the Americans are!" he wrote to his mother. "This is a very great country, my dear Jack," he told his brother. During three subsequent visits before the Second World War, he traveled widely and formed a clear understanding of both the physical and moral strength of Americans.

During the First World War, Churchill was Britain's Minister of Munitions, working closely with his American counterpart Bernard Baruch to secure the material needed for the joint war effort, and argued with his colleagues that it would be a grave mistake to launch a renewed assault before the Americans arrived.

Churchill's historic alliance with Franklin Roosevelt during the Second World War is brilliantly portrayed here with much new material, as are his subsequent ties with President Truman, which contributed to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.

In his final words to his Cabinet in 1955, on the eve of his retirement as Prime Minister, Churchill gave his colleagues this advice: "Never be separated from the Americans."

In Churchill and America, Gilbert explores how Churchill's intense rapport with this country resulted in no less than the liberation of Europe and the preservation of European democracy and freedom. It also set the stage for the ongoing alliance that has survived into the twenty-first century.

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"In this stirring book, Martin Gilbert tells the intensely human story of Winston Churchill's profound connection to America, a relationship that resulted in an Anglo-American alliance that has stood at the center of international relations for more than a century. Winston Churchill, whose mother, Jennie Jerome, the daughter of a leading American entrepreneur, was born in Brooklyn in 1854, spent much of his seventy adult years in close contact with the United States. In two world wars, his was the main British voice urging the closest possible cooperation with the United States. From before the First World War, he understood the power of the United States, the ""gigantic boiler,"" which, once lit, would drive the great engine forward. Sir Martin Gilbert was appointed Churchill's official biographer in 1968 and has ever since been collecting archival and personal documentation that explores every twist and turn of Churchill's relationship with the United States, revealing the golden thread running through it of friendship and understanding despite many setbacks and disappointments. Drawing on this extensive store of Churchill's own words -- in his private letters, his articles and speeches, and press conferences and interviews given to American journalists on his numerous journeys throughout the United States -- Gilbert paints a rich portrait of the Anglo-American relationship that began at the turn of the last century. Churchill first visited the United States in 1895, when he was twenty-one. During that first visit, he was invited to West Point and was fascinated by New York City. ""What an extraordinary people the Americans are!"" he wrote to his mother. ""This is a very great country, my dear Jack,"" he told his brother. During three subsequent visits before the Second World War, he traveled widely and formed a clear understanding of both the physical and moral strength of Americans. During the First World War, Churchill was Britain's Minister of Munitions, working closely with his American counterpart Bernard Baruch to secure the material needed for the joint war effort, and argued with his colleagues that it would be a grave mistake to launch a renewed assault before the Americans arrived. Churchill's historic alliance with Franklin Roosevelt during the Second World War is brilliantly portrayed here with much new material, as are his subsequent ties with President Truman, which contributed to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. In his final words to his Cabinet in 1955, on the eve of his retirement as Prime Minister, Churchill gave his colleagues this advice: ""Never be separated from the Americans."" In Churchill and America, Gilbert explores how Churchill's intense rapport with this country resulted in no less than the liberation of Europe and the preservation of European democracy and freedom. It also set the stage for the ongoing alliance that has survived into the twenty-first century. "

Customer Reviews:

"Never Be Separated from the Americans".......2006-08-11

This is a brilliant book!

I love well-written history, especially about Winston Churchill, one of history's great and truly interesting figures.

In "Churchill and America" Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, proves himself, once again, a tremendously talented historian and writer. He describes Churchill and the British leader's love affair with America with passion and skill. He highlights Churchill's American roots (his mother was American) and his growing affection with the United States over the course of a life time.

No interesting detail is overlooked. George Washington was part of Churchill's family pedigree. Three of his ancestors fought against the British in the American Revolution. And Churchill himself was an honorary American citizen, an honor of which he was immensely proud.

Churchill first visited the United States in 1895, when he was twenty-one. "What an extraordinary people the Americans are!" he wrote to his mother. During both the First and Second World Wars he worked closely and effectively with his American counterparts to defeat Germany. His love and understanding of the United States and its people helped to ensure that the Allies emerged victorious, especially in WWII. His close relationship with FDR was seminal to that victory. He sought to ensure that Great Britain and America remained friends forever and cautioned his colleagues upon his retirement as Prime Minister: "Never be separated from the Americans."

Churchill and America Review.......2006-06-26

I am an avid reader of history. Martin Gilbert is an excellent writer who is the preeminent Churchill historian. As with all Gilbert books on Churchill, he adds new details to an extraordinary life for us normal folk. Churchill loved America and was anxious to see the US enter WWII for obvious reasons. Gilbert goes far beyond that period in this excellent history of Churchill. I recommend this book to anyone who loves history and enjoys the history of Churchill.

Another Fine Churchill Volume by Martin Gilbert.......2005-12-07

I don't think it would be possible for Sir Martin to write other than a superb book about Churchill if he tried. And this latest volume is no exception. The only thing better than reading it is to hear the author, as I did recently at the National Archives, speak about the book and take questions. One of the most remarkable things about Gilbert is that despite the fact he has written so extensively on WC, he still manages to add something new or a novel perspective.

I think if a single theme dominates the book, it is that WC fought a life-long battle against British anti-Americanism. In the mid-1930's, WC began using the expression "English-speaking Peoples," which was another device to build unity between the two countries. I had assumed the book would begin with WWI, but I was very wrong in that regard. Rather, Gilbert begins by looking at WC's parents, and particularly the American connections of his mother, Jenny Jerome. WC makes his first visit to America in 1895. Each visit thereafter (some 17 or so) is discussed, and an important bonus feature is an appendix containing maps of WC's various U.S. travels.

But the book is about far more than visits. It is about the manifold way WC interacted with Americans over nearly 70 years, sometimes to his benefit, other times resulting in frustration. For example, WC always maintained that the U.S. refusal to enter the League of Nations played a major role in the rise of Nazism and the need to fight a second great war. There were also constant negotiations during and after both wars relative to British debt and the means of repayment. Gilbert is particularly effective in discussing the 1930's period when the European war was about to commence and how WC interacted with FDR in trying to secure necessary materials and induce the U.S. to join in the battle. The discussion of the "special link" between FDR and WC is acutely perceptive and much attention is devoted to it. A relationship full of affection and joint success, but also marred by fundamental disagreements, such as the priority of the cross-Channel invasion and whether Ike should race to beat the Russians to Berlin.

The points of increasing stress between WC and the U.S. are interesting to say the least. Among the most pressing issues were: (a) how to treat Stalin; (b) intervening in Greece; (c) the puzzle of Poland; and (d) the priority of taking Prague. Always, there are disputes about the enormous wartime and postwar British debt and whether the Americans were trying to "skin" the Brits. There is no doubt that Churchill paid a steep price at home for his heavy reliance upon the "special relationship," and he also exasperated subsequent presidents Truman and Ike. Nonetheless, this is almost a love story--Churchill and his dedication to Anglo-American interests and dominance.

Gilbert's Notes.......2005-12-03

Not a book for the person seeking to investigate the sweep of Winston Churchill's grand and worthy life. Instead, it is a plodding factual history of almost every aspect of his interaction with the United States. Sir Martin does not provide much in the way of interpretation nor does he very often cite the views of others towards Mr. Churchill's pro-American policies; almost all is mined directly from the written articles, letters, cables, or speeches of Winston Churchill.

If he ever mentioned America, it is likely in this book. I can not imagine people from other countries enjoying this particular effort. And, I think a great many here will find this book, with its repetitious statements of the vital need for a close relationship between the two countries, deadening after a full reading.

Churchill, with the passing of years, becomes ever larger.......2005-11-18

Winston Churchill was a remarkable man and Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, has spent at least thirty-six years chronicling the great man's life.

Recounting the connection(s) between a British citizen and the United States might make thin gruel for anyone other than Churchill. But it was Churchill's perceptions and obvious love for America that may have saved the world or at least Europe from generations of tyranny.

Churchill's first visit to the United States occurred in 1895. Even at 21, because of his family, Churchill was introduced to the powerful of the day. Five years later Churchill was being handsomely compensated for lecturing across the United States. In an era before broadcast radio and television, Churchill was a celebrity known for his reporting and heroism.

A few years later, Churchill was a member of the British government, working closely with his American counterparts on aspects of strategy against the common WWI enemy.

America, always America. Churchill correctly foresaw and understood the growing power and influence of the United States in the world. He cultivated his relationships with powerful Americans and was a frequent visitor to the US. During the 1930s, Churchill was one of the few who saw the need to confront Hitler, a stance that left him a political outcast until the opportunity for peace had passed by and Churchill became a wartime Prime Minister.

It is during this period that the fullness of Churchill's love for the United States and his belief in its power and capabililities becomes clear. Churchill knew that Britain could not survive without US involvement in the European war. America, at the time, manifested the same political blindness it would evidence again over Vietnam and Iraq: a refusal to confront evil. Churchill's popularity in America, built over the previous four decades; his writings; his outright appeals to the decency of the American people and, of course, his capacity for establishing productive relationships with Americans such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bernard Baruch. Gen. George Marshall all helped to bring the United States around to Churchill's thinking.

Churchill was far more than a merely decent man. He believed in freedom, though his idea of freedom had more than a bit to do withd nationality: some people simply weren't fully ready for freedom in Churchill's eyes. But America and the United Kingdom shared a special relationship and should, because of their common beliefs, essentially rule the world in order to make it a better place for all. Churchill was an idealist and this shows in his voluminous correspondence with various Americans.

There is a huge amount of detail in this volume. In lesser hands than Gilbert's, there might be a risk of boredom or lost direction. But Gilbert never fails. He paints what is a love story between Churchill and America, of a man whose love for freedom had him standing against legions of detractors. To read Churchill's correspondence with Americans and his discussions about America and Americans is moving. Fortunately we have a few politicians who, not as literate as Churchill, still walk in his footsteps, though they are mere shadows of the man.

Gilbert's "Churchill And America" is indispensable for any admirer of Churchill, student of history, those we want to know we have arrived where we are --- or those who simply want to read of an important aspect in the live of one of the greatest men to have ever walked the face of the Earth.

Jerry

The Second World War, Volume 4: The Hinge of Fate

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Losing, but knowing victory is coming
The Turning Point of the War
The Crucial Year
What Did Winston and Buffy Have in Common?
It's looking bad for the Nazis now

The Second World War, Volume 4: The Hinge of Fate
Winston S. Churchill
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0395410584

Book Description

From uninterrupted defeat to almost unbroken success: a year when Rommel is gradually thrown back in North Africa, and in the Pacific the tide turns.

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The fourth volume of Churchill's Nobel-Prize winning six-part chronicle of World War II. Civilization itself seems at stake in these early months of American intervention and the fall of France. Churchill, wartime Prime Minister through this period, incorporates contemporary documentation and his own reminiscence.

Customer Reviews:

Losing, but knowing victory is coming.......2007-09-01

As Hinge fo Fate opens in early 1942, The Japanese had just destroyed most of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor; Japan was about to drive Britain from Southeast Asia and (perhaps) invade Australia; German and Italian troops under Romel were about to invade Egypt, and Stalin's Russia was under attack by the German Army, which had completed itsoccupation of virtually all of Europe, from France to Norway, Lithuania to Greece. Parliament was calling for Churchill's head. This was a true world war (contrast, Bush's War on Terror)--and Britain was losing.

Churchill's reaction--the entry of America and Russia into the war as Britain's allies guaranteed that the Allies would ultimately win--Britain, US, and USSR simply had greater resources than Germany, Japan and Italy. Thus it was only a matter of time.

The attack by Parliament was a sign of a healthy, strong democracy--as Churchill said, how many countries had strong enough political institutions to allow this type of no holds barred debate while under attack, and still survive.

And survive they did. The first half of Hinge of Fate describes a series of worldwide disasters, unbroken by a single significant Allied victory. Then came the legendary battle of Alamein--where General Montgomery beat Rommel, the Allied landing on the north coast of Africa, the US Naval victories at Midway and in the Coral Sea, and Russia's effective resistance against the German Army at Stalingrad and in the Caucasus Mountains.

By the end of 1942, it was not yet clear that tha tAllies would win, but they looked a whole lot batter than they did at the beginning. Along the way, Churchill gives us his impressions of the politics involved--both internal British, within the larger Commonwealth, among the Allies--and particularly his relationship and struggles with Stalin--and the tension between the British (focused on Europe) and the Americans (pushing for more resources to fight the Japanese in the Pacific).

Hinge of Fate continues Churchill's inimitable style, mixing contemporaneous, detailed, memos, telegrams, letters, and directives he wrote, the responses he received, connected by new (in 1950) commentary by Churchill himself. This makes no pretesne at being an "objective" or multi-focused history of WWII. It is clearly, and exclusively, the war from Churchill's unique perspective. But, what a perspective!

The Turning Point of the War.......2007-05-06

Churchill's fourth book, `Hinge of Fate', covers the time period from January 1942 to June 1943. The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, were advancing through the Malaya peninsula and onwards towards Singapore. With bold offensive strokes Hong Kong, Burma and Singapore were soon in Japanese hands. In the Atlantic, U-boats were taking high tolls in allied shipping and soon the British, Dutch and Americans were being run out of the Pacific. The gains in the African desert were soon lost as Rommel regain the offensive and retakes Benghazi. Churchill now faced censure at home and soon he needed to reorganize his Generals. Hitler was pushing forward on the Eastern front towards Stalingrad and many setbacks were shifting the balance.

This volume is well named as there is much offensive and defensive struggles going on in the Pacific theater, the African desert and the Eastern front. All three Allied countries were up to their necks in trouble, and the Axis forces still had the upper hand. It wasn't until Alamein, on the African coast that the hinge turned in favor of the Allies. Churchill states that "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." Some of the most interesting parts of the book are Churchill's relationships with Stalin and FDR. Much has been written about these and it is nice to get Churchill's views and opinions about these men and the struggles they faced. Churchill acted, in many ways, the diplomat and statesman greasing the way between the Allied powers and paving the way for Torch (French North Africa), Bolero (Administrative preparations for invasion of France) and soon Overlord (France liberation 1944). Stalin wanted the Western front cross channel attack, of German held France in 1943 as planned, but because of the efforts on the African desert it wasn't until 1944 that Overlord was able to take place. Churchill needed great diplomacy and FDR's help to convince Stalin of the inability to make Overlord work in 1943.

It is great to read Churchill's rendition of this time and place. He was right in the middle, and at this time, still in command of the allied war effort. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

The Crucial Year.......2007-01-18

This is the longest book in Churchill's six volume history of the Second World War, and perhaps rightly so, as it concentrates on 1942, a year which saw the turning of the tide in the war. What started out as a continuation of a long catalogue of disasters ended up in real triumph. You can sense the relief that at last a long trial had started to pay dividends - what might have appeared a hopeless situation ended up with the certainty of victory.

By this fourth volume, you have come to accept the limitations of Churchill's account: whilst recognising the importance of the war in Russia, little space is devoted to it. The American setbacks in the Philippines are almost entirely missed. This is a very British history of the war. But in compensation, you get real gems, such as Churchill's candour about the lack of planning that lead up to the fall of Singapore; his fascinating descriptions of his meetings with Stalin; the problems of dealing with De Gaulle and the Vichy French; and the real difficulties faced by the British within their Empire (dealing with Gandhi and Congress in India, but also with an Australian government that realised its best route of survival lay with the USA rather than through ties to the mother country).

Here is a description of the most crucial year of the war, beautifully written, with real honesty.

G Rodgers

What Did Winston and Buffy Have in Common?.......2007-01-10

Because he was writing for a population that had lived through World War II and knew its facts, Churchill's 6-volume history of that time can be more than a little daunting for contemporary readers. His is a kind of top-down history that approaches unconscious autobiography: Churchill seems to feel that reproducting his memos, letters, and "minutes" -- in painfully small type -- will provide the reader with all the info necessary to completely know and understand the war. Of course we know it ain't so; Cornelius Ryan, John Toland, and Stephen Ambrose, just for starters, have written far more accessible and comprehensive histories that present a variety of viewpoints and don't gloss over difficult or unsavory moments. Instead, one should read Churchill in order to read Churchill-- in order to enjoy the company of that most remarkable statesman, in order to savor his impeccable prose and snicker at his wicked humor, in order to marvel at a life that began in mid-Victorian times and ended in the heyday of the Rolling Stones. The man's prescience was uncanny, not only in recognizing the evils of Hitler long before any other world leader, but in comprehending the nature and extent of what was then a genuine Soviet menace. Despite his anachronistic attitudes about people of color, Churchill was no racist; he simply lived in his world as we live in ours, and his story is an object lesson for the present. How much of what we now revere as received truth will be questoned, even debunked, 50 or 60 or 70 years from now? Yet authenticity and honesty will always last longer than glibness and flash, and Churchill has more a & h on one page than the easy-to-read historians have in their entire oevre. I'm afraid our puny and wan little world, so beset with its infantile fears and carefully nurtured insecurities, gooey with political correctness, dizzied with the hoohaw and the yelping of the media, is now far from capable of producing such a giant. Young Winston would be given Ritalin in school today and taught that white males like him are born evil. To paraphrase "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," he saved the world -- a lot -- and he did it with the English language.

It's looking bad for the Nazis now.......2006-11-07

Well, here it is. The largest of the six volumes in Winston Churchill's telling of The Second World War. There's not really much to say about volume four that hasn't been said about the previous three. Churchill continues in his style of presenting his own perspective on the war effort, including (very) extensive use of memos, reports, and telegrams written at the time both by him and other major players.

With America and the Soviet Union fully committed, the war rages hard while the western allies seek a means of striking at Nazi Germany effectively. Though this is delayed throughout this volume, and Churchill's tense relations with Stalin over this very point are prominently presented, the events leading up to just prior to the Italian campaign are presented here. The reader will see how the first real turnabouts came about.

Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America

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A Review of Churchill's, "Pacifism and Pathology"
Small but indispensable book
comfort zone politics
A sobering assessment of white illusions
The reality of revolution

Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America
Ward Churchill
Manufacturer: Arbeiter Ring
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1894037073

Book Description

Argues that while the ideology of nonviolent political action promises that the harsh realities of state power can be transcended through good feelings and purity of purpose, it is in fact a counter-revolutionary movement that defends and reinforces the same status-quo it claims to oppose. Churchill debunks the claims of historical pacifist victories, and proposes ways to diminish much of the delusion, aroma of racism, and sense of privilege which mark the covert self-defeatism of mainstream dissident politics. An important intervention, intended to generate badly-needed debate about the issue in the progressive community.

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A Review of Churchill's, "Pacifism and Pathology".......2007-06-27

Over the last few years, I have published articles about issues of US Imperialism and the social struggle movement. I came upon Ward Churchill's book "Pacifism and Pathology," as almost last minute. I had never read or taking seriously Ward Churchill's view, though I have affiliated myself as a member of the anarcho-syndicalist movement. But after reading his book, I realized my deep personnel connections with Dr. Churchill's frustrations and agony with the American social struggle movement. For some time, I affiliated myself with a social struggle movement in the University I am attending, and after almost a month I left. My reasons for leaving, where the same reasons Dr. Churchill explained in his book as the growing disorganization of these movements, and also the misunderstanding that state and private tyrannies; which have amassed great ideological confusion towards vast social and economic control, cannot be countered with the basic techniques used by the social struggle movement in the past. Indeed, Dr. Churchill warns the reader that there has been a tremendous misunderstanding with how non-violent resistance was actually used in the past. That it was a actually a mixture of both the practice of violence and non-violence, for which, if the use of non-violence was so much more tantamount, then the rewards of almost a decade and a half of resistance could not have been achieved.
Though I can connect with the social struggle movement on this university campus, it is deeply polarizing. Such polarization; I felt, was the reasons why on a number occasions they were unsuccessful in reaching out to others, and at the same time, form a coherent bases of action and influence on this campus i.e., they're not taking very seriously.
The tactics used by leaders of the social struggle movement in the United States, and even around the world, vary. I agree with Churchill on the realization that non-violent resistance can only work on a marginal basis. Indeed other countries, which implement vast terror and intimidation towards their own population, cannot rely on peaceful means to take down and tear the authoritarian political and economic system, without resorting to actual self-defense through violent means.
As the world witnesses the tearing apart of the Palestinians states, and perhaps even the fall of Palestine itself in the coming months, it is important to realize that the Palestinians; who have long tolerated state and military terror by Israel and the IDF, cannot be heard by the world through the same methodology used by American peace activists. It just does not work, and to do so, would mean the quick destruction of the Palestinian state.
But what I have to say, in a slight disagreement with Dr. Churchill, is that though the methodology of resistance to state and private terror has to change. The US cannot be won by the means of violence. Our cultural and political system is far more advance and ready for change, without the use of arm resistance and violence. Though in the media it may depict the sense of polarization and a deep divide, consensus by national polls indicate quite strikingly that the vast majority of the population is far to the left than the political and intellectual establishment wants to believe.
The means for political and social change in the US--for which, I agree with Churchill, cannot be won by the same tactics that inhibit a pathological tolerance towards the abuses that private and state systems implement on other populations and even their own. Even the possibility that these groups may be motivated for other reasons besides social change; political power, vanguard social party, all these are plausible reasons as to why Americans are stigmatized by the social struggle movement (as is the rise of the Bolshevik Party in the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party in China).
The goal of the intellectual is the most profound insight that Churchill explains. It has been a realization among many left-wing intellectuals, that the intellectual must be motivated as the tool maker and as the teacher, for which, he could impart the capacity for others to defend themselves and to act accordingly in such self-defense. His leadership is marginal at best, but his capacity to impart to others the lessons of the past and the understanding of the rich knowledge of the praxis of social change; starting with Hegel, then Marx, and many others, can be seen as the best weapon to revitalize the movement in the US. Also to realize the essential need to understand that other nations; other struggling groups, must partake their own way of defending themselves, and thus earn their capacity for a revolutionary change towards freedom and liberty.

Thank you!

Small but indispensable book.......2005-08-22

One of the previous reviewers sums it up very well: In this book, and pulling no punches, Churchill lays out his case against white progressives-to be precise the liberal/social democratic complacent legions of mostly well-educated midlle and upper middle class activists-who are delusional not only in the ineffectual tactics and strategies they pursue (which the ruling elites are only too happy to accommodate as per a well-scripted minuet), but in the belief that they are actually performing revolutionary acts...So, like it or not, Churchill is correct in pointing out that these liberals will do everything except assume actual risk in opposing the system..and that, being mostly interested in practicing "comfort zone" politics, they will almost invariably indulge in essentially worthless "cathartic" posturizing instead of solid opposition. By the way, the same writer is NOT correct in saying that nonviolence has achieved huge transformations. The Iranian revolution (1979) was far from a nonviolent process: the Shah had been opposed for decades by above ground and underground groups, several of which practiced armed struggle and paid a horrific price for it, while the last month of his rule saw masses of people in most Iranian cities, but especially Tehran, literally storming strong points and tanks in the streets with their bare chests and being mowed down...until more and more soldiers simply gave up and melted away or switched sides. As for the collapse of the USSR (1991), that came about as a result of complex processes that did not involve invested CLASS PRIVILEGES, as we have here and in other corporate-dominated nations. As for South Africa, the end of apartheid did not issue from a nonviolent process. Decades-long protests against the fascist legislation escalated until 1958 when the tragedy of Sharpeville occurred. Soon thereafter the government tried to suppress opposition through the sledgehammer approach of bannings and systematic "targeted repression". The first to be hit were the ANC and the PAC, but such bannings merely caused the organisations to go underground and become even more militant. The "armed struggle" therefore began in earnest in 1958 and by 1970 was beginning to affect the South African economy as greater and greater manpower was required to maintain an ever increasing army. Thus, Mandela's organization, the ANC had both a civil and a military arm, even if the latter developed after all roads to a peaceful elimination of Apartheid had proved futile, and long after the beneficiaries of the status quo had demonstrated through their unrelenting savagery that only armed struggle would move history forward. As for the much revered Arundhati Roy I do not think for a minute that she got it right in her speech in New York, where she argued "that there is no way to defeat the Empire by force and that its component parts must be isolated and paralyzed one by one." Sounds terrific and we only wish it were true, but Ms. Roy is also, like her liberal counterparts, utterly delusional. Furthermore, all the acclamation in the chi-chi salons and media precincts she's accustomed to will not change that simple fact. How does she propose to paralyze these component parts of the most heavily armed, cynical, and ruthless class privilege system in history without some form of REAL confrontation? With 2-hour candlelight vigils and some symbolic arrests which, by the way, may or may not be reported by the corporate-owned media? If THAT was all that was required to get rid of an immoral, deeply rooted capitalist system, a Nazi terror regime, a vicious landowning oligarchy as in Salvador, and so on, humanity would have moved past these filthy horrors decades if not centuries ago. As Churchill points out in his book, Nazi Germany was defeated by the massive application of force; the racist American South was similarly juridically defeated in the 1860s by massive military force, by organized all-out violence, (I say juridically because in practice it took 100 more years of struggle that saw innumerable crimes before African Americans could begin to take their rightful place among their fellow citizens)...There is not a single case in history where a deeply entrenched system of class or racial exploitation was overthrown by moral suasion and symbolic protests...If real change came about it was because force was being applied somewhere else alongside the nonviolent tracks...That's the point that Churchill is making in this book. It's a discomfiting point, but I'm afraid it is a true fact. Social change does not come cheap. Well, I could go on, but if you're a liberal I'm sure that facts will matter far less than attachment to convenient fantasies.

comfort zone politics.......2005-07-24

I loved this book. I think it teaches the reality of our current situation. The "progressive left" in North America are practicing "comfort zone politics". The protests that the progressive left organizes (with permission) hardly cause the state any harm. As mentioned in the essay by Mike Ryan, "They(the protests) reinforce the popular myth of American democracy." You have to wonder how effective these practices of soley using nonviolence really are. In my opinion, I think that you can't have one without the other. Yes, nonviolence can be effective, but so can violence (or rather self-defense). We should never completely throw out the use of violence in our constant struggle for justice. The comfort zone politics of the progressive left have only slowed down the emergence of any real revolution that we hope to achieve. There is a quote in the book by The Last Poets that says, "Don't speak to me of revolution until you're ready to eat rats to survive..." This keeps playing over and over in my head. Stop being so delusional...we will never achieve our goal as long as our movement consists of only pacifist ideologies. That is what I got out of this extremely informative book. It is important to note (which Churchill states in the conclusion) that the purpose of the essay was to critque pacifist thinking and practice, not to give alternatives.

A sobering assessment of white illusions.......2005-04-16

In this book Churchill lays out his case against white progressives, who he feels are oblivious to the ineffectiveness of their efforts. He indicts them for a phony pacifism that seeks not to embrace risk in a confrontation with state power, but rather, to avoid risk entirely in an effort to substitute feel good symbolism for real change. He suggests most white progressives are kidding themselves about favoring revolutionary change. Their simplistic ideas are delusional and their "comfort-zone" politics self-serving.
Churchill's frustration with the rituals of marching in circles, "demanding" change by carrying signs, and lighting candles for peace is certainly understandable. And he is right that such tactics are impotent without force being exercised somewhere else. His prescription for white progressives to become intimately acquainted with this fact through a kind of "revolutionary therapy" strips away many layers of pseudo-pacifist illusion in very short order. Churchill does not call for the abandonment of nonviolent action, merely for the recognition that without force being part of the equation other tactics are doomed to failure. I can't dispute the essence of what he says, but think he overplays the violence angle. While not due to pacifist action per se we do nevertheless have examples of sweeping social change occurring without violent revolution . . . . . the Iranian revolution (1979), the collapse of the USSR (1991), the end of apartheid . . . I think Arundhati Roy got it right in her speech in New York just after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. She said there is no way to defeat the Empire by force and that its component parts must be isolated and paralyzed one by one.

The reality of revolution.......2003-12-27

This little book has changed the way I think about nonviolence as a be all end all strategy for social change. Churchill makes it very clear that the oppressed cannot expect the oppressor to some how take his moral position of nonviolence just because the oppressed practice it as a strategy for social change.

Another important point I picked up from this book is that proponents of nonviolence CANNOT excommunicate those who want to use violence as a strategy to bring about social change. And usually the be all end all strategy of nonviolence is common among a white progressive elite, not among the colonized, the victims of violence and most citizens of third world countries.
As churchill points out, if we truly want social change in the United States, and beyond our borders, we can't expect to get it from a strategy of pacifism only. History has proven him correct.

Book Description

For five consecutive generations, from roughly 1880Ã¢Â€Â“1980, Native American children in the United States and Canada were forcibly taken from their families and relocated to residential schools. The stated goal of this government program was to "kill the Indian to save the man." Half of the children did not survive the experience, and those who did were left permanently scarred. The resulting alcoholism, suicide, and the transmission of trauma to their own children has led to a social disintegration with results that can only be described as genocidal.

Ward Churchill is the author of A Little Matter of Genocide, among other books. He is currently a Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Customer Reviews:

interesting subject-uninspiring author.......2006-01-13

This book covers a facinating and underexamined area of US history. I was very much looking forward to reading it. The author clearly is extremely well-educated on this subject. The problem is -- he's boring. Ward Churchill writes like your typical college professor who turned you off history forever by being pedantic and uninspiring. I've worked as a book editor in the past and I have found that often the more education a writer has the worse his or her books are. Churchill seems to be underlining his scholarship with tediousness and seems to be over his head in information with no way to convey it in an readable manner. His editor should be fired for not making this book comprehensible to a wider audience. It isn't a doctoral thesis, for crying out loud. It's a disappointing treatment of what should have been an enlightening and educating experience. I wish I'd saved my money and hope, considering all the books Churchill has listed on Amazon, that he has, or will, learn to write well.

A core contribution to Native American Studies .......2005-03-10

From 1880 to 1980 the families of Native Americans were cruelly disrupted by the United States and Canadian governments who forcibly removed children from their homes and relocated them in residential schools. The stated goal of this intrusive and brutal governmental program was to "kill the Indian to save the man". Half of the children died in this process of cultural remodeling refashioning aboriginal children into the clothing, hairstyles, attitdudes, and langauges of the larger white culture, and those who survived were often left permanently scarred resulting in alcoholism, suicide, and the transmission of trauma to succeeding generations down to the present day. A core contribution to Native American Studies curriculums and academic library reference collections, Ward Churchill (a Keetowah Cherokee and Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder) clearly lays out this unhappy chapter in Native American history with considerable detail and expertise in Kill The Indian, Save The Man: The Genocidal Impact Of American Indian Residential Schools.

Struggle for the Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide, and Colonization

Average customer rating:

A very good, rather convincing book
A highly recommended collection of fiery essays

Struggle for the Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide, and Colonization
Ward Churchill
Manufacturer: City Lights Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0872864146

Book Description

This seminal book established Churchill as an intellectual force to be reckoned with in indigenous land rights debates. Required reading for anyone interested in Native North America and ecological justice. Revised and expanded edition.

Ward Churchill (Keetowah Cherokee) has achieved an unparalleled reputation as a scholar-activist and analyst of indigenous issues. He is a Professor of American Indian Studies, a leading member of AIM, and has been a delegate to the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations.

Customer Reviews:

A very good, rather convincing book.......2005-04-08

I found this book to be very well put together and supported with mountains of evidence. Recently Mr Churhcill has come under fire from the right for some remarks he has made in the classroom. This does not surprise me since this book is a rather damning indictment of past american treatment of native americans.

I was interested in this book for it's environmental implications since that is my field. Regardless, I found myself more and more interested in the humanitarian issues contained within as the book marched on. So, while I lack the socio-ethical background to provide any in depth critique of those issues, I will say that it is well put together, is interesting, and won my sympathy.

All in all definately one of the better books I've read.

A highly recommended collection of fiery essays.......2003-02-13

Long out of print, this new edition of Ward Churchill's Struggle For The Land: Native North American Resistance To Genocide, Ecocide And Colonization is an impressive and very highly recommended collection of fiery essays that will give the contemporary reader pause concerning the American government's systematic exploitation of the land and elimination of the Native American peoples who have inhabited it, and the bittersweet results of the Native American attempts to defend the land from defoliation, strip-mining, and other destructive depredation of the 19th and 20th centuries. An extensive detailed collection of essays chronicling such events as the Lakota struggle for the Black Hills, an acute perspective on the Navajo-Hopi land dispute, a stringent presentation of the American Indian diaspora, and more, make Struggle For The Land a core addition to community and academic Native American Studies collections.

From a Native Son: Selected Essays in Indigenism, 1985-1995

Average customer rating:

a phoney
America will never look the same after this [4 1/2 stars]
An Extraordinary Effort!

From a Native Son: Selected Essays in Indigenism, 1985-1995
Ward Churchill
Manufacturer: South End Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0896085538

Customer Reviews:

a phoney.......2007-03-06

The fact that Mr. Churchill is a phoney should discredit anything he writes. If Churchill identifies himself as non-indian, then, perhaps what he writes could be credible. But to masquerade as something other than what he is, is so disingenuous that nothing he writes should or can be taken seriously.

America will never look the same after this [4 1/2 stars].......2001-11-19

This is perhaps the finest work of many by a leading American Indian scholar-activist of his generation. Its superiority is partly because of its comprehensive length, incorporating many of his best essays. Churchill's forte, here and elsewhere, is the power of his denunciation of injustices and genocidal practices against the Native Americans both past and present---the crimes continue even today, as do indigenous peoples' courageous resistance. I assigned parts of this work for a class in American environmental history, and it genuinely shook up the students, who were seeing our history from a radically different perspective. Sadly, those who really need to read Churchill most likely never will.

Why 4 1/2 stars? Since many of Churchill's titles reprint essays published elsewhere, there is considerable overlap with the contents of other books. Thus someone who owns, say, 4 of his works (including this one) may actually possess only 3 full books of original material. Churchill's writings are thoroughly documented, but in contrast to Vine Deloria Jr., to whom he is often compared, Churchill's style is decidedly humorless. But Deloria's sensibility is exceptional under any circumstances, and ultimately, what Churchill discusses simply isn't amusing at all---it's tragic and outrageous.

An Extraordinary Effort!.......2001-04-07

Here is a book that everyone, Indian or non-Indian, should read by tomorrow at the very latest. Ward Churchill is an extraordinarily gifted Indian (a term he prefers over "Native American" or "Aboriginal") activist whose prose cuts like a curve-bladed scalpal. Churchill doesn't want to memorialize what American society likes to think of as ancient (and therefore, best forgotten) wrongs; he wants to talk about how white society destroyed and keeps on destroying the Original People of the New World. And he isn't going to do it with quaint tales and stories. He wants you to understand that his people are dying. Right now. This very second.

This book, a collection of essays collected over the years, isn't full of the latest spiritual word from Indian Country; don't read this if you want to learn how to construct a sweat lodge "like the real Indians did." Read this book in order to learn how to be a member of the Wannabe Tribe and you will experience deep spiritual anguish as Churchill's words tear you a new exhust pipe. He doesn't care about your spiritual development; he wants you to understand that genocide is being committed even as you read these words.

Get this book. It will hurt a lot to read it, but its better than shutting your eyes to over five centuries of genocide.

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