Book Description
In this, his first major book, Mark Steyn--probably the most widely read, and wittiest, columnist in the English-speaking world--takes on the great poison of the twenty-first century: the anti-Americanism that fuels both Old Europe and radical Islam. America, Steyn argues, will have to stand alone. The world will be divided between America and the rest; and for our sake America had better win.
Customer Reviews:
Unfortunately True.......2007-10-14
Every single American should read this book! He explains exactly how the Muslims are conquering the world. More wives = more babies = more Muslims = more terrorism. This is a religion that should nor even exist in the 21st century. They are commanded to murder everyone that refuses to convert to Islam. Most Americans do not understand that the greatest threat to the future of the world (especially America) is the Muslim religion.
America Alone.......2007-10-11
Every person in the USA should read this book. Today in the Dallas Morning news(10/10/07)there is an editorial by Anne Applebaum verifing one of the facts stated it this book. Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is under death threat because of her comments about the mistreatment of women in the Dutch Muslin community had to move to the US because the Dutch say it is too expensive to protect her and she will not shut up. No free speech for her. Mohammed Bouyeri murdered the Dutch writer, Theo Van Gohg, because he made a film about the oppression of Muslim women.
Funny, but also an important message........2007-10-11
While I cannot say that anybody reading this should have more kids just out of the guilt this book might give you, it is an important message about the sad effects of low birthrates. Mark Steyn has a quick wit and funny tone that is clearly not politically correct (good for him). Anybody who enjoys a good laugh or is concerned about terrorism should read this.
A Must-Read!.......2007-10-10
This book was every bit as good as I had heard. I've always enjoyed Mark Steyn, but hadn't gotten a chance to read this yet because I had a stack of books in front of it. That's my loss, because this was one of the most profound and eye-opening books I've ever read. To be honest, I pay pretty close attention to this conflict we find ourselves in, so most of the individual facts in this book weren't exactly foreign to me. But Steyn pulls all this together and presents it in such a concise, clear and entertaining way that I was able to put the pieces together in a way I hadn't even imagined. His demographic data alone is shocking, and should make every person in Europe and Canada sit up and take serious note - I'll be paying very close attention to what happens over the next few years "across the pond", as they say, for how goes Europe, so will eventually go America. I plan to buy several more copies of this book and hand them out to friends and family. I highly suggest it.
Excelent book. Really crunches the numbers like no other book........2007-10-05
This book really lays out the problems with hard numbers and facts in a way I have never seen and is easy to understand. I recomend this book to anyone who is worried about the muslim issue. People in Europe better read it asap!
Amazon.com
The Greatest Manhunt in American History
For 12 days after his brazen assassination of Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth was at large, and in Manhunt, historian James L. Swanson tells the vivid, fully documented tale of his escape and the wild, massive pursuit. Get a taste of the daily drama from this timeline of the desperate search.
| April 14, 1865 |
Around noon, Booth learns that Lincoln is coming to Ford's Theatre that night. He has eight hours to prepare his plan.
10:15 pm: Booth shoots the president, leaps to the stage, and escapes on a waiting horse.
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders the manhunt to begin. |
| April 15 |
About 4:00 am: Booth seeks treatment for a broken leg at Dr. Samuel Mudd's farm near Beantown, Maryland. Cavalry patrol heads south toward Mudd farm.
Confederate operative Thomas Jones hides Booth in a remote pine thicket for five days, frustrating the manhunters. |
| April 19 |
Tens of thousands watch the procession to the U.S. Capitol, where President Lincoln lies in state. Wild rumors and stories of false sightings of Booth spread. | |
|
| April 20 |
Stanton offers a $100,000 reward for the assassins, and threatens death to any citizen who helps them.
After hiding Booth in Maryland, Jones puts him in a rowboat on the Potomac River, bound for Virginia. More than a thousand manhunters are still searching in Maryland. In the dark, Booth rows the wrong way and first ends up back in Maryland. |
| April 20-24 |
Booth lands in the northern neck of Virginia, and Confederate agents and sympathizers guide him to Port Conway, Virginia. |
| April 24 |
Booth befriends three Confederate soldiers who help him cross the Rappahannock River to Port Royal and then guide him further southwest to the Garrett farm.
Union troops in Washington receive a report of a Booth sighting. They board a U.S. Navy tug and steam south, right past Booth's hideout at the Garrett farm. |
| April 25 |
The 16th New York Calvary, realizing their error, turns around and surrounds the Garrett farm after midnight that night. | |
|
| April 26 |
When Booth refuses to surrender, troops set the barn on fire, and Boston Corbett shoots the assassin. Booth dies a few hours later, at sunrise. |
| April 26-27 |
Booth's body is brought back to Washington, where it is autopsied, photographed, and buried in a secret grave. | |
|
Book Description
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, led Union cavalry and detectives on a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.
James L. Swanson's Manhunt is a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.
Customer Reviews:
Fact or Fiction?.......2007-10-16
Based on the hundreds of glowing reviews on this website, I appear to be in a tiny minority regarding my opinion. Please read this review as a counterpoint to some of MANHUNT's praise.
MANHUNT has its merits. I'll point you to many other well-written reviews for evidence. Here's my beef: The author seems to mix fact with imaginative embellishment (read: fiction) for hightened drama. When setting most scenes, Mr. Swanson describes particular sensory conditions with great specificity like smells, lighting conditions, facial expressions, and most impresively, Booth's emotions.
My question is this: Where would he get this information from such a wide range of sources 140 years later? Eyewitness reports? I doubt it, especially when it comes to "enhancements" of Booth's motivations, emotions, and thought processes. (The man was killed before he had time to jot down a memoir...) Therefore, very large portions of this text must have come out of the author's imagination.
All this does "spice up" what's turned into a plausable historical tale. But what's real? What's not? It's impossible to know. Not that I would only endorse dry historic chronicles. This story would be intriguing and exciting enough without the author's efforts to "take it up a notch".
I couldn't take it seriously, and therefore couldn't finish it. Grade: D.
a great read... i was there!!.......2007-09-29
I have not read many books lately and have just started to get back to it. Manhunt was the latest book I read and it was AMAZING!! The vivid descriptions put you everywhere John W Booth and his cohorts are and makes for a fascinating depiction of history.
Brings history to life..........2007-09-14
I enjoy nonfiction books that read like novels, and James L. Swanson's Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer provides a dose of history in an enjoyable format.
Manhunt didn't include much information about the assassination that I didn't already know. But I did learn quite a bit about the 12-day pursuit of John Wilkes Booth and the hunt for his conspirators, as well as some other assassination trivia. It was especially interesting in that my husband and I often travel this same path through Maryland and Virginia when driving south. We pass right by the historic marker near the Garrett house barn (where Booth was captured and killed), although we've never stopped to see the actual location.
Swanson does a commendable job of bringing the complex Booth to life. The author describes him as "impossibly vain, preening, emotionally flamboyant, possessed of raw talent and splendid elan." Yet, this handsome and charismatic actor was willing to sacrifice everything for "his cause." After the assassination, he was stunned and enraged to discover that his acts not only met with outrage, but also, made Lincoln a martyr. I was surprised to learn that on April 16, 1865, CSA Lt. General R. S. Ewell sent Secretary of War Stanton a letter that was cosigned by 16 other Confederate generals. In the letter, Ewell wrote of their "unqualified abhorrence and indignation" at Lincoln's killing. He claimed that they were shocked by this appalling crime and that Southern men "are not assassins" nor their "allies."
Manhunt has a good number of pictures, drawings, maps and photographs related to the assassination. He also includes an excellent Epilogue where he tells the "story after the story." Swanson also provides a poignant description of the events of that time. When Lincoln died at the Peterson house, a "crude, improvised coffin" was brought to transport his body back to the White House. The people in the street were upset. "The box looked like a shipping crate, not a proper coffin for a head of state. Lincoln would not have minded. He was always a man of simple tastes. This was the plain, roughly hewn coffin of a rail-splitter."
After reading Manhunt, I intend on reading an earlier work that Swanson co-wrote called Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trail and Execution.
What a book..........2007-09-04
I bought this book for a teachers gift, he loves Lincoln and that whole period of our country's life. He said the book is one of the best he's ever read on the subject.
Well written, a quick read........2007-09-03
As a person who's read quite a bit on Lincoln and his assination, I figured I should finally get around to this text. I've been telling people for years that Dr. Samuel Mudd's family lobbied for years to get Mudd's name cleared--that he was simply a physician treating a patient with a broken leg. A colleague of mine suggested that this book denies that. It does, indeed.
I read a lot but am a slower reader than I'd like. So I like a book (1) that doesn't have microscopic print and (2) keeps me interested. This qualified on both counts. I don't mean it was large print, like a children's book. But it didn't have so much detail that I could maybe win a trivia contest but be none the wiser.
In fact, one item that I liked most was that Thomas Jones apparently kept Booth and his accomplice, Davey Herold, in a pine thicket for something like four days and five nights. Jones was freed of any responsibility for harboring perhaps the most wanted man in the US for those 12 days, but told the truth some years later. (When he was selling a book admitting to that, he was apparently attacked by some Union veterans!)
Among the things I liked too about the book was the admission by the author that Lincoln was not particularly popular at the time of his assination. Indeed, Booth was discouraged after the assasination that he'd created a martyr there there might not have been one.
Another thing I liked about the structure of the book is that the author ended with a kind of "where are they now," or what happened to the actors in the "drama." That's where I learned of the Jones story, for example.
What I didn't like about the book was the speculation the author did on what was going on in Booth's mind while he was in the Garret barn where he was eventually shot. I'm conscious of that ever since a good friend and former boss and I talked about a book years ago in which he accused I think it was Halberstram of doing that. "How could he know was was going on in [so-and-so]'s mind?" he asked. Of course he can guess, but then such speculation needed to be stated as such.
I must confess too that I almost downgraded the review by one star too because of what I saw in the book's acknowledgements. You see, Swanson thanked is friends "at the Heritage Foundation." What's the matter with that? Well, Heritage is extremely ideological. (I know, for, among other reasons, I have a distant cousin who works there.) How would one have felt after reading such a book if the author had said, "Many thanks to all my buddies at the Communist Party." It might make you want to find another more credible book because that party tends to be ideological. Heritage may be the other side of the political spectrum but is no less ideological, so it made me wonder about the author's motives and objectivity. But, despite Heritage, I found the book worth reading and, yes, difficult to put down. So, over and above the Booth speculation, I recommend it.
Average customer rating:
- Fantastic!
- TEAM OF RIVALS
- team of rivals
- Firsst Rate
- When Minor Characters Get Leading Roles
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Team of Rivals
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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ASIN: 0684824906
Release Date: 2005-10-25 |
Amazon.com
The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals, esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods.
Ten years in the making, this engaging work reveals why "Lincoln's road to success was longer, more tortuous, and far less likely" than the other men, and why, when opportunity beckoned, Lincoln was "the best prepared to answer the call." This multiple biography further provides valuable background and insights into the contributions and talents of Seward, Chase, and Bates. Lincoln may have been "the indispensable ingredient of the Civil War," but these three men were invaluable to Lincoln and they played key roles in keeping the nation intact. --Shawn Carkonen
The Team of Rivals
| Team of Rivals doesn't just tell the story of Abraham Lincoln. It is a multiple biography of the entire team of personal and political competitors that he put together to lead the country through its greatest crisis. Here, Doris Kearns Goodwin profiles five of the key players in her book, four of whom contended for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and all of whom later worked together in Lincoln's cabinet. |
 |
1. Edwin M. Stanton
Stanton treated Lincoln with utter contempt at their initial acquaintance when the two men were involved in a celebrated law case in the summer of 1855. Unimaginable as it might seem after Stanton's demeaning behavior, Lincoln offered him "the most powerful civilian post within his gift"--the post of secretary of war--at their next encounter six years later. On his first day in office as Simon Cameron's replacement, the energetic, hardworking Stanton instituted "an entirely new regime" in the War Department. After nearly a year of disappointment with Cameron, Lincoln had found in Stanton the leader the War Department desperately needed. Lincoln's choice of Stanton revealed his singular ability to transcend personal vendetta, humiliation, or bitterness. As for Stanton, despite his initial contempt for the man he once described as a "long armed Ape," he not only accepted the offer but came to respect and love Lincoln more than any person outside of his immediate family. He was beside himself with grief for weeks after the president's death.
2. Salmon P. Chase
Chase, an Ohioan, had been both senator and governor, had played a central role in the formation of the national Republican Party, and had shown an unflagging commitment to the cause of the black man. No individual felt he deserved the presidency as a natural result of his past contributions more than Chase himself, but he refused to engage in the practical methods by which nominations are won. He had virtually no campaign and he failed to conciliate his many enemies in Ohio itself. As a result, he alone among the candidates came to the convention without the united support of his own state. Chase never ceased to underestimate Lincoln, nor to resent the fact that he had lost the presidency to a man he considered his inferior. His frustration with his position as secretary of the treasury was alleviated only by his his dogged hope that he, rather than Lincoln, would be the Republican nominee in 1864, and he steadfastly worked to that end. The president put up with Chase's machinations and haughty yet fundamentally insecure nature because he recognized his superlative accomplishments at treasury. Eventually, however, Chase threatened to split the Republican Party by continuing to fill key positions with partisans who supported his presidential hopes. When Lincoln stepped in, Chase tendered his resignation as he had three times before, but this time Lincoln stunned Chase by calling his bluff and accepting the offer.
3. Abraham Lincoln
When Lincoln won the Republican presidential nomination in 1860 he seemed to have come from nowhere--a backwoods lawyer who had served one undistinguished term in the House of Representatives and lost two consecutive contests for the U.S. Senate. Contemporaries attributed his surprising nomination to chance, to his moderate position on slavery, and to the fact that he hailed from the battleground state of Illinois. But Lincoln's triumph, particularly when viewed against the efforts of his rivals, owed much to a remarkable, unsuspected political acuity and an emotional strength forged in the crucible of hardship and defeat. That Lincoln, after winning the presidency, made the unprecedented decision to incorporate his eminent rivals into his political family, the cabinet, was evidence of an uncanny self-confidence and an indication of what would prove to others a most unexpected greatness.
4. William H. Seward
A celebrated senator from New York for more than a decade and governor of his state for two terms before going to Washington, Seward was certain he was going to receive his party's nomination for president in 1860. The weekend before the convention in Chicago opened he had already composed a first draft of the valedictory speech he expected to make to the Senate, assuming that he would resign his position as soon as the decision in Chicago was made. His mortification at not having received the nomination never fully abated, and when he was offered his cabinet post as secretary of state he intended to have a major role in choosing the remaining cabinet members, conferring upon himself a position in the new government more commanding than that of Lincoln himself. He quickly realized the futility of his plan to relegate the president to a figurehead role. Though the feisty New Yorker would continue to debate numerous issues with Lincoln in the years ahead, exactly as Lincoln had hoped and needed him to do, Seward would become his closest friend, advisor, and ally in the administration. More than any other cabinet member Seward appreciated Lincoln's peerless skill in balancing factions both within his administration and in the country at large.
5. Edward Bates
A widely respected elder statesman, a delegate to the convention that framed the Missouri Constitution, and a former Missouri congressman whose opinions on national matters were still widely sought, Bates's ambitions for political success were gradually displaced by love for his wife and large family, and he withdrew from public life in the late 1840s. For the next 20 years he was asked repeatedly to run or once again accept high government posts but he consistently declined. However in early 1860, with letters and newspaper editorials advocating his candidacy crowding in upon him, he decided to try for the highest office in the land. After losing to Lincoln he vowed, in his diary, to decline a cabinet position if one were to be offered, but with the country "in trouble and danger" he felt it was his duty to accept when Lincoln asked him to be attorney general. Though Bates initially viewed Lincoln as a well-meaning but incompetent administrator, he eventually concluded that the president was an unmatched leader, "very near being a 'perfect man.'" |
The Essential Doris Kearns Goodwin
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir |
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II |
Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream |
More New Reading on the Civil War
Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk |
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The March: A Novel by E.L. Doctorow |
Book Description
Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president.
On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry.
Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires.
It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war.
We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through.
This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic!.......2007-10-15
Excellnt book. I just wish that the author had continued on after Lincoln's death to discuss post-war reconstruction. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating look at Lincoln and his cabinet.
TEAM OF RIVALS.......2007-10-13
TEAM OF RIVALS IS AN EXCELLENT REPRESENTATION OF LINCOLN'S CABINET WHICH WAS CURIOUSLY MADE OF FOUR POLITICAL OPPONENTS AND THREE PARTISAN MEMBERS. DORIS KEARNS GODWIN, WELL KNOWN HISTORIAN, DESCRIBES THEIR BACKGROUNDS AND THEIR POLITICAL DIFFERENCES WHICH INVITES THE READER INTO THEIR CHARACTERS, POLICIES AND BACKGROUNDS. IT IS A NEW VIEW OF LINCOLN, AS WELL AS, HIS CABINET. IT IS SO INTERESTING THAT ALTHOUGH LONG, YOU WON'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN.
team of rivals.......2007-10-05
great look at the inner workings of the executive branch This cabinet was hardly a "team". In comparison to the way cabinets members are selelected in our era of political, Lincoln showed incredible political courage to select this group.
Firsst Rate.......2007-09-25
Well written, captivating. Brings to life Lincoln's great intellect and personality. Facinating detailed character development of Lincoln's rivals and his attempts to heal and unify.
When Minor Characters Get Leading Roles.......2007-09-18
The Civil War is America's great epic story and Abraham Lincoln is our great national hero. It is a beautiful story almost perfect in its every detail. Consequently, it has been told many times in the one hundred and forty two years since its conclusion. Doris Kearns Goodwin needed to find a new angle in order to write her Lincoln biography. Her take was to write a group of biography of Lincoln and the men who formed his War Cabinet.
For her approach to work, relatively minor characters must be elevated to leading roles. The Civil War is such a compelling story with so many memorable characters. While reading this book, I had to wonder why Kearns Goodwin devoted so many pages to Edward Bates' early legal career or Kate Chase's social life. The pages she devotes to them, takes away from more important characters and events.
This is a very long book and it takes some measure of fortitude to finish it. Although, I had to wonder about Kearns Goodwin's focus on these relatively minor characters, I stuck with the book because she is such a strong writer. You would have to be a very hard person not to tear up while reading her description of Lincoln's last day. In the final analysis, Doris Kearns Goodwin is up to the task of re-telling our great national story. Recommended.
Book Description
A century after Appomattox, the civil rights movement won full citizenship for black Americans in the South. It should not have been necessary: by 1870 those rights were set in the Constitution. This is the story of the terrorist campaign that took them away.
Nicholas Lemann opens his extraordinary new book with a riveting account of the horrific events of Easter 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana, where a white militia of Confederate veterans-turned-vigilantes attacked the black community there and massacred hundreds of people in a gruesome killing spree. This was the start of an insurgency that changed the course of American history: for the next few years white Southern Democrats waged a campaign of political terrorism aiming to overturn the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and challenge President Grant’ssupport for the emergent structures of black political power. The remorseless strategy of well-financed “White Line” organizations was to create chaos and keep blacks from voting out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Redemption is the first book to describe in uncompromising detail this organized racial violence, which reached its apogee in Mississippi in 1875.
Lemann bases his devastating account on a wealth of military records, congressional investigations, memoirs, press reports, and the invaluable papers of Adelbert Ames, the war hero from Maine who was Mississippi’s governor at the time. When Ames pleaded with Grant for federal troops who could thwart the white terrorists violently disrupting Republican political activities, Grant wavered, and the result was a bloody, corrupt election in which Mississippi was
“redeemed”—that is, returned to white control.
Redemption makes clear that this is what led to the death of Reconstruction—and of the rights encoded in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. We are still living with the consequences.
Customer Reviews:
A Needed Corrective.......2007-04-11
Nicholas Lemann's book "Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War," focuses on mostly forgotten and often sanitized versions of specific incidents that marked the end of Reconstruction and the regaining by White Southerns of state and local government institutions leading to Jim Crow and Segregation that continued for another 90 years or so. The book, relatively brief, examines in detail several incidents, one in Lousiana, the others in Mississippi where local vigalante groups seized control from local black officials through intimidation and massacres. It is perhaps not coincidential that the worst offenses took place in Mississippi, and perhaps some sort of rough justice that in exchange Mississippi remained for decades afterwards on the lowest rung of the ladder among the states in nearly every social and economic ranking.
Much of the book is through the eyes of one Adelbert Ames, a Union general, senator and governor of Mississippi, as revealed in the copius correspondence with his wife, Blanche Butler, who most of the time remained at home in the North. Because of weariness of the part of the North, insufficient troops, deliberate foot-dragging by US officials sympathetic to the South, and indecisiveness on the part of President Grant, these events from 1874-76 were allowed to precede with little intervention and protection of Black citizens. In effect, the withdrawal of Northern troops in 1877, the result of a compromise that ended the electoral stalemate in the Hayes/Tilden presidential election of 1876, overturned a major achievement of the Civil War, namely full citizenship and voting privileges for former African slaves. The result was another dark stain on American history and our pretenses of a just and equitable society where everyone has the chance to be president.
Because of its brevity, the book suffers from a lack of context of how overall Reconstruction had proceeded in the South, it's weaknesses and its victories. The book also would have been improved through a map, particularly Mississippi and the various places where the rampages of the vigantes took place. Another improvement would have been photographs of the several colorful characters portrayed. But all in all, for a brief look at an important moment in American history, the book is highly recommended.
Last Battle?.......2007-03-14
The subtitle is a little bit of a cheat, for the Civil War was long over by the time the massacres of 1875 began, but after reading Nicholas Lemann's book on the failure of Reconstruction and the life of Civil War General Adelbert Ames, I can see why he decided to bend the truth and capture the huge Civil War market.
he shows how JFK was a patsy to the Southern Conservative myth of Reconstruction and how, in PROFILES IN COURAGE (1956) Kennedy included Lucius Lamar of Mississippi as an avatar of courage, when in actuality he was a liar and a bigot and was personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Mississippi freedmen. What was JFK thinking? Well, as Lemann points out, this was not an anomaly in Kennedy's otherwise antiracist public profile. Indeed it was part and parcel of his curiously suspect voting record and public stand towards the race question. It was as though, in the polarized 1950s, he had to keep the Southern Democrats happy in order to win their support for the campaign he saw coming his way. PROFILES IN COURAGE dismisses Adelbert Ames, Lemann's (admittedly flawed) hero, as a mere carpetbagger, not worthy of living in Mississippi, a `foreigner' and an Abolitionist. The strange thing is that, he lived so long (at age 98, he was the oldest surviving Civil War officer) his daughter Blanche was on hand to shame Kennedy into agreeing to change future editions of PROFILES. Then her years of disappointment began, for even though Senator, and then President Kennedy, had agreed to re-research Reconstruction, he never did, and when she kept bugging him he enlisted the help of her grandson, "Paper Lion" George Plimpton, to call his honorable kinswoman off his back. Of course all of these people had incredible privilege and wealth.
A needed corrective to the Reconstruction story.......2007-02-24
Having lived in the South for the first 21 years of my life, I can attest to the staying power of the myths of Reconstruction and the succeeding era which I was taught to call Redemption.
The central motif of these myths is that of courageous, heroic whites finally standing up to a brutal Northern occupation, but turning to violence only when physically threatened.
Some prominent historians -- Eric Foner in particular -- have been forthright and comprehensive in setting out the true facts. In my readings, there have been two aspects still missing from such large-scale works. First of all, a visceral, detailed accounting of the intensity of white-on-black violence has been needed. Second, we have lacked a nuanced, detailed biography of Adelbert Ames, perhaps the best exemplar of the promise interracial cooperation held for the South.
In "Redemption", journalist Nicholas Lemann makes an attempt to remedy both these insufficiencies in a narrative aimed at the non-specialist reader. Instead of giving us a comprehensive study of how integrated southern state governments were driven from power, Lemann chooses instead to focus primarily on the single example of Mississippi, with some inclusion of parallel events in neighboring Louisiana. And the story of Reconstruction Mississippi cannot successfully be understood without considering the career of New Englander Adelbert Ames, a Union veteran who became first the state's senator and then governor during this period.
Lemann recounts instance upon instance of politically-inspired and deadly violence that steadily drove Republican voters, especially blacks, from the polls. While many leading white Democrats maintained deniability and claimed that such attacks were rare and always provoked by the other side, and while President Grant's commitment to federal protection decisively waned, Governor Ames cast off his naivete and tried to counter with what forces he could muster. But without timely federal intervention, this proved an impossible task. Ames was finally forced to face facts, and he resigned the governorship and left the state for good. The Solid South was born with violence as midwife.
Lemann's choices mean that he needs to do three things well. First, with respect to bringing home the intensity, pervasiveness, and comprehensive effects of the violence, Lemann is especially convincing, at least within Mississippi (and to a less significant extent Louisiana). Second, his incorporation of an Ames biography is in itself valuable and multi-faceted. But it doesn't serve as a full-fledged biography due to the author's chronological boundaries. We do learn of Ames' background and his significant relationships with others, most notably his wife and father-in-law; these are important in understanding Ames' behavior in Mississippi. But for Ames' life after Mississippi, Lemann takes only a cursory wrap-up approach.
Finally, we should expect Lemann to do a convincing job of integrating these two intersecting narratives. In this he is largely successful. But there are moments when his attention to the details of Ames' life, while welcome to this reader, may yet seem only remotely relevant to the larger story of the Redemption era.
In 1933 Adelbert Ames became the last Civil War officer to die. The myths of Redemption have lived on long after, and Lemann's book is a significant contribution to puncturing those myths and establishing the truth.
Mississippi Burning.......2007-02-09
This is a story on how government failed, how the civil rights of freed slaves and blacks became a political playground of hate and deceit and how victory on the battlefield was lost to thugs & cowards. It clearly shows how history can be manipulated by the criminals who ushered in a sordid era of Jim Crow laws while others looked away.
Author Nicholas Lemann does a magnificent job in detailing the death of Reconstruction through white terrorism in Mississippi in the 1870s, which emboldened the white racists throughout the south to institute what became known as the "Mississippi Plan" of intimidation and murder to seize power in every government institution and to kick blacks back into servitude.
The heroes are the victims - the blacks and some white Republicans - who boldly stood alone while the mobs seized control in a revolution of aversion, and then afterwards wrote the articles and books, whose key lies are still being taught as factual history today.
You will be angered as Lemann explains as a reporter how Reconstruction was lost. But then look around, and realize that the subtitle, The Last Battle of the Civil War, may be incorrect. Unless this country confronts the harsh realities of the past, the last battle of the Civil War has yet to be fought, or won.
America's Own Terrorists.......2007-02-04
In this short historical account, Nicholas Lemann tells the disturbing story of how ex-confederates in Mississippi brought about the end of Reconstruction in 1875 through an orchestrated campaign of savagery and deception.
The "Mississippi Plan" employed an ugly and brutal pattern: when freed slaves attempted to exercise their political rights--by convening political rallies, becoming candidates for office or simply trying to vote--southern whites responded with hellish violence, not merely fighting the freed slaves, but coldly murdering them in front of friends or family or, worse, hunting them down if they fled.
To justify their heinous conduct, the whites invented an emotionally laden cover story that, to this very day, resonates among the American public. In their view, the violence was necessary to forestall imminent "Negro uprisings," prevent rape and pillage by brutish and bestial blacks, and redeem the honor of the south from the depredation of northern carpetbaggers who seized control of the political system by duping or bribing the newly freed slaves.
The key to the Mississippi Plan was the public relations tactic of presenting the organized slaughter of blacks as random local incidents, a tactic that discouraged President Grant from sending federal troops to secure the rights of the newly enfranchised citizens. Absent this safeguard, the intimidation worked, and the Democrats won control of key offices, despite significant Republican majorities among registered or potential voters. With the outcome of the presidential election of 1876 in dispute, the nation embraced the "Compromise of 1877" in which the Democrats agreed to let Rutherford Hayes become president and the Republicans agreed to the removal of the remaining federal troops from the South. Reconstruction was over.
Much of this tale is told through the eyes of Adelbert Ames, a Northerner and celebrated Union Army general who was elected Governor of Mississippi by the multitude of new black voters. Sometimes the book reads like a biography of Ames. Only at the end does Lemann step back from the detailed account and provide the larger picture of how the "Mississippi Plan" became the blueprint for the entire Southern strategy to end Reconstruction and how the nation shamefully abandoned its commitment to true citizenship for blacks.
As I read "Redemption," a profound sense of disgust and outrage rose within me. So horrific, repulsive, and needless was the conduct of the Southern Democrats that, at times, I felt Lemann must have been omitting facts that would have balanced the story. But this is precisely Lemann's point: when Southerners today celebrate the honor and courage of Dixie, they are endorsing a fiction that was invented in 1875. There was no honor, only terror of helpless black victims.
Book Description
One womanÂ's story of why she left the culture of Islamic Jihad to support American liberty and tolerance
Why are so many Muslims embracing jihad and cheering for al-Qaeda and Hamas? Why are even the modern, secularized Arab states such as Egypt producing a generation of angry young extremists?
Nonie Darwish knows why. When she was eight, her father died while leading Fedayeen raids into Israel. Her family moved from Gaza back to Cairo, where they were honored as survivors of a “shahid”—a martyr for jihad. She grew up learning the same lessons as millions of Muslim children: to hate Jews, destroy Israel, oppose America, and submit to dictatorship.
But Darwish became increasingly appalled by the anger and hatred in her culture, and in 1978 she emigrated to America. Since 9/11 she has been lecturing and writing on behalf of moderate Arabs and Arab-Americans. Extremists have denounced her as an infidel and threatened her life.
In this fascinating book, she speaks out against the dark side of her native culture—women abused by Islamic traditions; the poor and uneducated mistreated by the elites; bribery and corruption as a way of life. Her former friends and neighbors blamed all the their troubles on Jews and Americans, but Darwish rejects their bigotry and calls for the Arab world to make peace with the West.
The only hope for the future, she writes, is for America to continue waging its War on Terror, seeding the Middle East with the values of democracy, respect for women, and tolerance for all religions.
Customer Reviews:
An Informative Perspective.......2007-09-15
If you're like me, you might know very little about Mideastern culture and life. This book is a highly readable and personal account of one woman's life, experiences and views on Muslim culture. I'm enjoying it; she puts a "human face" on this part of the world and it's issues.
Eye-opening insights into the causes of Islamic extremism........2007-09-11
The author grew up in Egypt under Nasser's dictatorship, but later moved to America. Her father was an Egyptian military officer killed in Gaza by Israel because he organized raids to cause mayhem inside Israel. She reports on the problems in Egypt and Gaza, and on the government and religious propaganda which is polarizing the Islamic world to the point of Jihad. This is an eye-opening read, and it gives insight into how difficult it will be to ever correct this problem.
EXCELLENT BOOK.......2007-09-01
THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW THE MIDDLE EAST FEALS ABOUT AMERICA AND WHY. NONIE DARWISH IS A VERY BRAVE WOMAN AND I THANK GOD SHE HAD THE GUTS TO WRITE THE TRUTH.
Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror.......2007-08-25
This is an excellen book for those seeking to understand Arab Muslim perspectives. The culture is based on a background, history and value system entirely foreign to our way of thinking. The author relates her life from early childhood, through her school years and early adulthood living first in Gaza then Cairo. She is from the upper middle class, the daughter of a high ranking military officer who is martyred. She describes what it is like to be a woman in the arab muslim world. She raises the issuesleading to a lack of trust both within the society and in relation to other societies. She discusses the inner thinking and the daily propaganda regarding Israel. She also gives important information on the Arab view of Palestines role in the conflict. She distinguishes between the radical Islamic movements and moderate Islam. She notes the purpose and intent of fundalmentalist Islam is the eventual overtaking the world. She discusses how this is being taken to countries throughout the world to bring about this change. We need to understand those with whom we are dealing. This is a book that is easy to read, direct and highly informative.
Demonstrating the Power of Love.......2007-08-15
Now They Call me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America,
Israel, and the War on Terror, by Nonie Darwish.
Sentinel, Penguin Books, 2006, 258 pp
From our first encounter with Nonie Darwish, through her articles and first web site, we felt that she was someone special. We were attracted by her open and obvious love for America. That web site disappeared, only to reappear as [..] , with this unique opening statement:
To Muslims and Arabs across the globe: Reject hate, embrace love. Bring out the best in Islam by showing your compassion, gratitude and forgiveness. Make the holy land truly holy by giving Israel and the Jewish people the respect they deserve in their tiny little country. This is not a crisis over land. It is a crisis of the soul; a crisis in our faith, judgement and self confidence. Israel should not be regarded as an enemy, but as a blessing to our neighborhood. We need not fear peace, but embrace it.
These are remarkable words to be coming from the daughter of a "shahid" (a martyr for jihad) who was assassinated while serving as a high-ranking Egyptian military officer stationed in Gaza specifically to be of assistance to the Palestinians.
The September 2001 attack on the twin towers in New York was life-changing for many people. From that moment on Nonie Darwish felt compelled to take a stand. It led her to write her life story "Now They Call Me Infidel" which is a pure gift to all of us. She also stepped out into public life with all its demands of speaking engagements, and the disapproval she was bound to experience.
After reading her book with eagerness, I would suggest that it is the perfect book for supplemental reading by all High School students. Let them hear about Islam from someone who has experienced it fully from birth and has turned to Christianity and America for a better life. Let them sense her loyalty and love for her new country. As she describes it--"Many immigrants come to this great nation in search of material gain, which is fine; however, the biggest prize I gained was my religious freedom and learning to love. For me it was nothing short of cataclysmic. I had turned from a culture of hatred to one of love."
In her book she describes her impressions of America. We Americans need to see our country through someone else's eyes, so that we can withstand the propaganda that insinuates that we are the culprit and instigator of all the troubles of the world. It is eye-opening to read through the chapter "A New Beginning in America" and find out why the following words are in italics; and learn just how much our culture differs from the Muslim culture in Egypt. This is specially applicable to the difficult life programmed for women. She considers "friendliness and helpfulness"," courtesy", "diversity and multiculturalism", "self-sufficiency, pride in labor", "generous, honest, and open", "informality", "women's relationships", and "child rearing".
Gradually, to Ms. Darwish's horror, she discovers that her beloved land of refuge, her America which means so much to her, is being attacked from within. She is painfully aware of those old patterns of hatred, as they eminate from mosque after mosque.
She lashes out at terrorists who are invading the Western countries: "America's Islamic enemies and critics--even those who love living in the United States - are nothing more than pirates. That's what Islamic terrorists are - pirates. Instead of building their own society as a model of what Islam should be, they leave it in ruins and look to conquer hard-working successful lands.....They cannot stand to live in a Muslim culture, and they have their eyes set on beautiful and welcoming democracies, not to blend in, but to rob those democracies of their soul and ruin the value system and culture that made them great...." p. 185. You need to get hold of this book and sense the depth of Ms. Darwish's feeling as she begs you to save our precious country from the onslaught she sees coming.
She describes her shock at the Arab world's response to 9/11. They dared to rejoice over the tragedy. When she phoned family members and close friends, whose opinions she had formerly trusted, she could not believe that many thought America deserved to suffer.
The last chapter is "Jihad Comes to America". Nonie dismisses the popular and over-used definition of jihad as merely spiritual pursuit: "there is only one meaning for jihad, and that is: a religious holy war against infidels." p. 201. She remarks that she is shocked by the radicalism she encounters on the American campus. "I am stunned to see them choose to revive the worst of Islamic culture in America rather than be part of America and demonstrate the best of Islamic culture."
On page 159 there is a moving description of Nonie's introduction to Christian worship when she and her husband and family attended a church and "listened to a message of compassion, love, acceptance, tolerance, and prayer for all humanity." There had been some violence in the Middle East and the pastor prayed for everyone--"Muslims, Jews, and Christians. It was very different message from the prayers to `destroy the infidels' that I grew up with....I learned the most important command in scripture was `Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Nonie had found what she was hungering for: "In this church, that day, my soul was revived and nourished with the love of a tolerant and forgiving God." Knowingly she was willing to be called an infidel.
After a remarkable experience of visiting Israel Nonie explains: "I now fully understand why the United States supports Israel and rightfully so. My love of America now extends to Israel." Hence the name of her new web site!
We salute another brave woman, and heartily recommend that you read this extremely important book.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
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.
Book Description
General Smedley Butler's frank book shows how American war efforts were animated by big-business interests. This extraordinary argument against war by an unexpected proponent is relevant now more than ever.
Customer Reviews:
A truth bullet right in the forehead.......2007-09-03
The word "classic", like other words in the abused English language, is regularly misused. It is not misused in describing this book. And at the pittance required to buy this edition, it can also be described as the biggest bargain you will encounter all year. To call the book an "anti-war" classic is not as accurate as it might be, however, because Gen. Butler envisions the need for a standing army and navy to defend the nation. He is merely horrified at these forces being sent to fight other people's wars. Especially at the cost of all wars.
Gen. Butler writes between the two World Wars. Having earned an estimable reputation among the troops he led, he proceeded not to desert them after the war was over. He sided with the bonus marchers who built "Hooverville", and then he finished some thoughts he had been having about the role of the United States Marine Corps in a number of lesser American military adventures. He then wrote this pamphlet to explain why the country needed to rid itself of the conmen who keep taking it to foreign wars.
The work is divided into five sections:
1. War Is A Racket!
2. Who Makes the Profits?
3. Who Pays the Bills?
4. How to Smash This Racket!
5. To Hell with War!
As another reviewer has noted, Gen. Butler rendered even greater service to his country after leaving the Marines than while serving actively. In prose that is utterly direct and unadorned, he outlines the nature of war, the identities and profit margins of the criminals, the role of the propagandizing press, and the victims of the fiscal enterprise of war. He then suggests a practical method for removing the profit from the business of war: simply conscript every owner, manager and employee of the war-making industries into the war effort, 30 days before the troops are called up, at the same pay rate as the enlisted man. During WWI, that was $30.00 per month. It is an idea so simple and brilliant that it will never be tried, unless, of course, the entire population suddenly has the wool pulled from its eyes, and passes the requisite law. As a test of industrial patriotism, this idea has no peers.
(My idea for educating the masses would be to make every thirteen-year-old boy and girl read this book, pass an exam on it, and then administer the book and the exam to their parents. This would be an annual event, and a general election would be held as soon as the parents had passed their exams.)
It is depressing to read this book in 2007, note that it was written in 1935, and reflect that nothing has changed. It is also heartening to realize that the solution to the problem of war is to convey the meaning of one four-word sentence to the masses. That sentence is the title of this book. Even in a time of sinking literacy levels and short attention spans, I can imagine no more worthy project for our country.
A must read for American Citizens.......2007-07-25
While I don't agree with all of Butler's recommendations (among which is, never fight a war), many of his recommendations are great. His documentation of the Facist plot he exposed is very important. (BTW: Prescott Bush was a co-conspirator in these coup-plans, as documented by the BBC.)
Facism was a threat then, and given the growing corporatism in the USA, a threat now.
People never learn........2007-07-23
This small book is timeless in its message. Written before WW2, it applies to much of what has happened since. As Butler wrote, " Why don't those damned oil companies fly their own flags on their personal property - maybe a flag with a gas pump on it." Two Iraq wars prove Butler's prescience.
Read this now.......2007-05-14
One of the most important books ever written by an American military figure, General Butler explains why war is a crime fought for the financial gain of a tiny class of society. This is extremely relevant for all Americans trying struggling to end wars of conquest and profit.
What Seems Is Not Reality - Read This Pamphlet.......2007-04-24
I am torn in giving this small collection a rating. In terms of importance, I would give this booklet five stars. In terms of writing style, it would earn one star. Nevertheless, this is the kind of book you must read, for it will shatter your illusions, should you have them, about the nature of American military might. These words, from pen of the most decorated American general, Brigadier General Smedley Butler, form a well supported middle finger in the face of American hegemony and neo-colonialism.
From a literary standpoint, this is not a book. It is a collection of short essays, written as you would expect a brash general to write. "War is a Racket" is but one of a several essays in this short book. In addition to its namesake, the booklet also contains an arguments against American intervention in World War II, and a photo essay of the horrors of war.
I would recommend this booklet to anyone going off to fight yet another war based on lies and secretly intended for the profit of the ruling class. Parents, read this before considering allowing your child to join forces of evil.
Amazon.com
The thesis of this provocative and potentially important book is the increasing threat of violence arising from renewed conflicts between countries and cultures that base their traditions on religious faith and dogma. This argument moves past the notion of ethnicity to examine the growing influence of a handful of major cultures--Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin American, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu, and African--in current struggles across the globe. Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist at Harvard University and foreign policy aide to President Clinton, argues that policymakers should be mindful of this development when they interfere in other nations' affairs.
Book Description
Based on the author's seminal article in Foreign Affairs, Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is a provocative and prescient analysis of the state of world politics after the fall of communism. In this incisive work, the renowned political scientist explains how "civilizations" have replaced nations and ideologies as the driving force in global politics today and offers a brilliant analysis of the current climate and future possibilities of our world's volatile political culture.
Customer Reviews:
Pure hate... Author wants to blame everything to muslims.......2007-07-11
It scares me to find out that educated (so called intellectuals) are writing this type of hate infested books that are aimed at nothing but inflaming more hate and voilence in the world. Author has a stubborn belief that all muslim cultures have speriority complex and they are there to destroy the western influence. He needs to wake up and understand that every culture even western or african or latin is sustaining because there are good things there to fullfill the needs of the people along with bad things that represent historical events/influence, economic or social problems etc. Author completely ignores the fact that one (Malaysia) out of all muslim countries are run by our appointed dictators with the exception of Iran and Syria who are kept in isolation so they have no reason to praise us have any dialog going. I would suggest that the author should cosider psychotherepy and need to start reading outside of his shell.
A Classic?.......2007-05-18
As a retired agronomist with a strong science background I tend to check out references that are commonly used. This book is very often quoted, not always favorably. If you have recently, like I, become interested in world politics and especially Islam this is definitely one of the texts you should read. From my weak politics and history background I found Dr. Huntington making a lot of interesting observations. I found the book very intriguing and educational. I really enjoyed his take on the Bosnian War.
Helps you to understand current global affairs.......2007-05-16
This book helps you to understand current global affairs. Although one might not agree with some of the author's theories.
Although this book is from the Western perspective, the author does not glorify the western civilization and has shown respect for other civilizations.
Clash of Cultures and Politico-Religious Hegemony.......2007-05-11
Huntington provoked worldwide outrage by this book, both from conservative westerners who thought he was too "nice" about Muslim extremists, and from non-conservatives who believed him to be arrogant and ethnocentric. My opinion is that both are correct: there is a clash between those using religious identities to promote political agendas, and those attempting to keep religion at the personal level and politics at the macro level of society. This book infuriated many non-readers because of its apparent linking of Islam with political terrorism. Careful readers understood that this was merely reporting of what "experts" said, and not a personal attack by Huntington on faithful adherents to Islam. Below are a few of my favorite quotes:
--"This awakening is comprehensive--it is not just about individual piety; it is not just intellectual or cultural, nor is it just political. It is all of these, a comprehensive reconstruction of society from top to bottom."
--One study of militant leaders of Egyptian Islamist groups found they had five major characteristics, which appear to be typical of Islamists in other countries. They were young, overwhelmingly in their twenties and thirties. Eighty percent were university students or university graduates. Over half came from elite colleges or from the intellectually most demanding fields of technical specialization such as medicine or engineering. Over 70 percent were from lower middle-class, "modest, but not poor backgrounds," and were the first generation in their family to get higher education. They spent their childhoods in small towns or rural areas but had become residents of large cities. While students and intellectuals formed the militant cadres and shock troops of Islamist movements, urban middle-class people made up the bulk of the active membership. In some degree these came from what are often termed "traditional" middle class groups: merchants, traders, small business proprietors, bazaaris.
--Islamist activists "probably include a disproportionately large number of the best-educated and most intelligent young people in their respective populations," including doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, teachers, civil servants.
There is a clash today, and Huntington calls it rightly. There is violent conflict between those seeking political power through the power base of religious identities are opposed by those unwilling to give up values and ideals in their secular political system.
Already happening?.......2007-05-06
What exactly makes a 'civilization'? Why do tribal conflicts in Africa not spread too far outward? Why did the conflict in Yugoslavia prompt Orthodox Russia to support the Serbs, and Muslim Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Islamic states to support the Bosnians? Why couldn't the civil war in Lebanon be solved by dialogue? Why are Islam's borders so bloody? Even though Saddam Hussein was a vicious tyrant and killed many of his own fellow Muslims, why did so many in the Islamic world proclaim him a hero when the United States invaded Iraq? Will demographic decline in the West change the balance of economic and military power in the world? Is the West in severe decline and can it turn itself around?
If there is any book that can fit into the context of today's global political sphere and shed light on the questions above, it is this book. The book defines what a civilization consists of, and why some are incompatible with each other. World demographics are depicted and used to make predictions about the future balance of world powers. The buildup of non-Western armed forces is highlighted and used to show how the West could lose its military dominance, and what will the future hold with such a change in power. Will it be multiculturalism and tolerance, or will it end up being a giant Lebanon or Yugoslavia, and how could we prevent such a disaster if it were to occur?
Regardless of your political position on the book, I must say it is by far the most comprehensive one I have come across on this subject. Accurately and extensively researched and documented, this outstanding book may be the most important one explaining the conflicts of the 21st century.
Book Description
"Bernays' honest and practical manual provides much insight into some of the most powerful and influential institutions of contemporary industrial state capitalist democracies."-Noam Chomsky
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country."-Edward Bernays, Propaganda
A seminal and controversial figure in the history of political thought and public relations, Edward Bernays (1891–1995), pioneered the scientific technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion, which he famously dubbed "engineering of consent." During World War I, he was an integral part of the U.S. Committee on Public Information (CPI), a powerful propaganda apparatus that was mobilized to package, advertise and sell the war to the American people as one that would "Make the World Safe for Democracy." The CPI would become the blueprint in which marketing strategies for future wars would be based upon.
Bernays applied the techniques he had learned in the CPI and, incorporating some of the ideas of Walter Lipmann, became an outspoken proponent of propaganda as a tool for democratic and corporate manipulation of the population. His 1928 bombshell Propaganda lays out his eerily prescient vision for using propaganda to regiment the collective mind in a variety of areas, including government, politics, art, science and education. To read this book today is to frightfully comprehend what our contemporary institutions of government and business have become in regards to organized manipulation of the masses.
This is the first reprint of Propaganda in over 30 years and features an introduction by Mark Crispin Miller, author of The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant - but he already knew that.......2007-10-04
Edward bernays laying the groundwork for the control of population via descrete means. Enjoy BEING the product, TV watchers!
Insightful and Essential.......2007-01-30
A master of his craft, in "Propaganda" Edward Bernays splendidly advocates the art he defines as the "consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea or group." (p.52). Some may recoil from his assertions that propaganda is necessary to give order to a chaotic world and that in a democracy an intelligent minority must "regiment and guide the masses" ... "to clear understanding and intelligent action." (p.127 & 128)
As refreshing today as when he wrote eighty years ago, Bernays explains that, contrary to what many believe, propaganda is not confined to corporate advertising, but is indispensable to political parties, special interest groups, news media, and some government agencies. Indeed, today's global warming "crisis" would cease to exist without it.
Bernays declares propagandists should maintain certain principles including refusing clients believed to be dishonest, products that are fraudulent, and not engaging in deceit or outright lying. Though severely criticized for establishing the successful cigarette advertising campaigns for tobacco companies, he demonstrated his integrity by dropping the companies as clients when he became convinced of the strong association between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer. Unfortunately, many modern practitioners are not as scrupulous.
This concise book is compelling for those who dare to think on their own rather than being told by an elite few what to think and how to act.
Conceptually Brilliant.......2006-11-28
From the creator of public relations, Edward Bernays describes how he discovered to manipulate and engineer the consent of public opinion. This book is a conceptual model for governments, corporations, and lobbying firms to show the principles behind swaying public thought and opinion and controlling the masses. As the nephew of Sigmund Freud, Edward Bernays was able to learn from the master of psychoanalysis and through his many opportunities working for various of the United States largest corporations.
This book was incredibly useful and informational. I would recommend it to anyone interested in swaying opinion or being able to identify it in advertising, news, or public figures. Edward Bernays is the utmost authority on the subject so much so that even the Germans in the Nazi political party used this book to spread their policy beliefs. This book is still relevant today in a world of spin.
Edward Bernays runs through the psychology of developing public opinion and runs through several different areas where it could be applied from government to being implimented in the education system. Regardless of the brilliance this book contains, it still was written as though a lay-person was the intended audience. I would highly definitely recommend this book.
Very Revealing Expose of Present Day Government.......2006-11-04
This book clearly shows how those in power think of the every day citizen. Bernays provided a "peek" into the world of propaganda where what you eat, drink, watch, and drive is really managed to the extent that you do not really know what is going on. In additioin the attitudes that brought this about are clearly explained.
If you want a primmer on how the elite looks at you, check this out.
Propaganda and the manufacture of consent!.......2006-09-10
Bernays, the Guru of prapaganda who pioneered the technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion which he named "engineered consent," has written an iteresting book on this topic that might be worth reviewing. His book has superficially tackled the propaganda techniques, and gave the reader a taste of the mass manipulation machine.
However, I found the cover page to be the most profound and enlightening. It contains Bernays' views which reflect the reality and the condition of the masses or the bewildered herd (as called by Walter Lippmann, another propagandist), as well as the genuine elitist view on the stupidity of the people. Here are some examples from the cover page: "Only through the active energy of the intelligent few can the public at large become aware and act upon new ideas." "A presidential candidate may be drafted in response to overwhelming popular demand, but it is well known that his name may be decided upon by half a dozen men sitting around a table in a hotel room." "Democracy is administered by the intelligent minority who know how to regiment and guide the masses."
This book might be an eye opening reading for the oblivious person.
Customer Reviews:
Chittums predictions are coming true.......2007-03-26
One look at what's happening with our porous southwestern border, the throng of illegals streaming across it, and our ineffectual government's refusal to seal and protect it makes this important analysis a must read for those who know the score concerning the looming national disaster that the evening news refuses to cover.
Very Good Book.......2007-02-26
Chittum talks about phases of Civil War II: 1. Tribalization, or the undermining of the concept of citizenship. 2. The creeping loss of democracy to private, governmental institutions and international bodies. 3. Gradually falling wages. 4. The slow decay of infrastructure in our cities and the abandonment by Americans and their replacement by minorities wedded to welfare and affirmative action. 5. Growing legal and illegal immigration to transform America into a typical Third World country. 6. Massive drive for gun control to cripple military potential from the working class. 7. Cooperation of the mass media to dumb down the population.
Near the end of the book he makes projections that you can see happening right now:
1.Shrinking hourly wage. 2. More immigrants than Americans. 3. Foreigners hold most Federal Debt. 4. Twenty million Third World slums on our borders known as `colonias'. 5. Manufacturing jobs moved out of the USA making it impossible for us to make or sell anything to the world. 6. Republican and Democratic politicians refusing to deal with the immigration crisis. Worse, both parties aid and abet it. 7. Growing power of advocates of Aztlan or the reconquest of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas by Mexico.
Buy This Book. Your Life May Depend Upon It........2007-02-01
I moved cross country because of this book. I spent months doing my own research, trying to refute the claims by this author and couldn't. Multicultural nations are filled with animosity, fear, distrust and ultimately do not survive. Even the liberal Harvard researcher Robert Putnam (author of "Bowling Alone") reluctantly admitted that people "hunker down" in diverse neighborhoods and don't trust either people who look like them and amazingly, people who do look like them. According to Putnam, Los Angeles had the lowest levels of trust of any city, while Chittum stated that Los Angeles would be ground zero for the coming civil war. Putnam was so distressed by his findings that he said "we must create a new us." Only an intellectual could come up with something so foolish.
The best part of the book is that he provides a geographical map of where the new nations are likely to be. He even maps out the white enclave areas in Texas, Georgia etc. and shows you the lack of viability and logistical problems of remaining in these spots.
The checklist will make a believer out of you. Some of these trends were somewhat apparent in 1996, but the vast majority were not. This man either had a crystal ball, or he knows what he's talking about. I gladly paid over $50 for this book, but now you can buy it for much less, so what are you waiting for? I literally have hundreds of books in my personal library, but if I were only allowed to keep one, it would be Civil War II.
A glimpse of the present and the future.......2007-01-30
Great book!! The chapter titled Civil War Checklist is especially disturbing because many things he mentions have already come to pass.
The breakup of America is inevitable. The chaos and bloodshed will make the Balkans and our first civil war look like some sort of game.
Dont buy this book unless you are ready for some startleing revelation's.......2007-01-10
This book written about ten year's ago is unfolding like the daily newspaper.SO many truths that are being shown so many lies being unvealed for people who are ready for a life changeing reality check here it is if this dont get you you motivated nothing will.
Books:
- Battle Colors: Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the Eighth Air Force in World War II: Vol.1: (VIII) Bomber Command
- Be Expert With Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook
- Benedict Arnold's Navy
- Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat
- Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 7)
- Coal Black Horse
- Cocktails In Tahiti
- Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Politics and Society in Twentieth Century America)
- Corporate Aviation Management (Southern Illinois University Press Series in Aviation Management)
- Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families
Books Index
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