Events Books

The book is a large collection of very short cop recollections. Most of them are sentimental and warm and fuzzy. Like one tale about rescuing GI. Joe from a storm drain. Awwwwwww!

I dont recommend the book for boredom relief.

A COP'S LIFE, by Sutton, is what you want.

I believe that this book really captures a lot of what being a cop is about. People who aren't cops that read this book will be shocked at some of the things we see and do, but it's true. I think it should help them appreciate us more. As a cop, I found the book to be entertaining and motivational.

This really reminds me of when there is a lull in calls and we are able to sit around, drink some coffee, and tell some "You remember when..." stories.

So... This is an amazing book that allows you to reach down deep into the minds and souls of the police officers. Just like Sutton's "A Cops Life" I found this book to be amazing. It also has a section dedicated to the officers of 9/11. Sure we have all heard about 9/11 but have you heard true behind the scenes, in the hearts and minds of a police officer who responded that horrible day and survives?

Randy Sutton has done a superlative job of putting together the best collection of police stories I have ever seen. He touches the soul of the law enforcement officer from the mundane to the terrifying and heart rending, with each story standing alone as a classic--and a tribute to all who have worn the badge. Some of the shortest are the most touching, and behind the solid image that all cops are asked to maintain, one gets to hear the emotions they keep to themselves because no one wants to hear them. This is not a collection for those greedy for blazing gun battles and wild chases, though there are a few, as there should be, and they are painful to read--the horror of survival is not like television, brushing off the dust and "back to work."

These are stories by men and women who work a world of darkness and strive to find, in it all, a little humor, a little humanity, a little something to hang on to. My hat is off to all who contributed to this book--I know it wasn't easy.

This is the book I suggest cops hold onto and leave for those after them to read. They'll understand.

Andy O'Hara, Badge of Life

John Conroy performed a courageous feat of journalism with this book. As an American writer he put himself in the midst of the conflict and in incredible danger at times to capture the true picture of Belfast in the 80's. The stories of the people he encountered and the tough environment he experienced and witnessed is indispensible reading for anyone who wants to understand what the conflict was all about at the street level.
While Belfast seems to be enjoying more peaceful times at the moment this book is a reminder of just how volatile a political climate there is and provides the reader with a much fuller understanding of the how , the why and major developments in the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Not only do I admire John Conroy's writing, but I admire his courage to put himself right in the middle of 'the troubles' just to get the story right. It would one thing if Conroy was a Belfast resident and was just reporting on his day to day life, but he is not. He is an American who more or less stumbled upon this assignment and saw it through.

It struck me a few times in the book just how close Conroy was coming to being killed in a place where death is a way of life. He is to be commended for this and we owe a debt of gratitude for making this sacrifice just so we could get a look right from the belly of the beast.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought that Conroy did a great job putting the 'Troubles' in Belfast into perspective from an American living in the midst of it all. Having visted the area that he writes of brought back memories. I referred to his map at least 50 times during my reading of the book to recall the streets that I walked in relation to where he wrote the book and spent his time in Belfast. I highly recommend this book.

of what it is like to live, work and experience the turmoil of "The Troubles." Conroy covered the Troubles the right way...he went in and lived among the people in Belfast instead of swooping in for drive-by interviews like too many journalists have done in the past. He also manages to convey what he experienced while maintaining objectivity...this skill when dealing with terrorist and paramilitary violence is something writers covering the "War on Terror" these days could learn from. Required reading for anybody interested in Northern Ireland, its history and how to possibly make a better future in that wartorn nation...

This book was recommended to me as excellent reading about the Troubles, particularly for Americans. I whole-heartedly agree; it is all that and more. Conroy does describe the daily workings of life in Northern Ireland but he also tackles the prejudices and ignorance of Americans (and the U.S. government) when it comes to the political climate in Northern Ireland. He pulls no punches and sugar-coats no issues. He explicates the situation as he sees it and is not afraid to indict those who turn blind eyes. The version I read was older so I have not yet seen the updated book that includes information on semi-recent IRA ceasefires. But I do think many of Conroy's observations are still applicable, changes in administration notwithstanding. He describes the intolerant view towards Sinn Fein taken by the American government in the 80s and the biased, oversimplified treatment of the Troubles by the American media. Indeed as Conroy notes it has not been hard to sell the British point-of-view to American audiences but what of the counterpoint? When do proponents of the other side get a chance? Conroy also concludes that for as long as Northern Ireland remains a British enclave, continued violence is guaranteed. For that reason alone, Americans owe it to themselves to read _Belfast Diary_.

I read this book in hardcover when it was published. I can't imagine a better book on the rigors, the deceptions, a true inside story of how campaigns really work. So insightful! The section on Joe Biden is certainly worth re-reading. He is an amazing man. His history is so helpful in looking at this election and comparing him to McCain's Barbie doll saviour, if any comparison is needed after her lame performance reciting practiced answers even though the answers were not to the questions asked. Duck and dodge, but the Katie Couric interviews showed she is lost in the ring and doesn't belong there. Shame on John McCain for subjecting us to the possibility of a Palin presidency.

If you haven't read this book now is the time! Whenever I am forced to chose only one book as my all time favorite What It Takes (The Way to the White House) by Richard Ben Cramer is the one...I read it when it was first published and still have yet to find another book about politics that is so enthralling..Lots of Joe Biden in the book so that alone makes it a timely book to read now...

This is a book people might shy away from since it deals with the 1988 campaign, and those candidates are basically ancient history (except for Biden). However, what the book really describes it literally 'what it takes' for any man or woman to believe they can be President.

We look at the people running today, and we see them as TV characters and sometimes buffoons, but forget that in their youth they were probably the smartest, most popular, most driven people we would have known. Just to get to a place where one can entertain the idea of running for President takes a life of very, very few wasted opportunities.

So, while this book doesn't talk about Obama or Clinton or Huckabee, etc., you can read it and at least get sort of a sense of what the candidates are like behind the masks they put on.

The best thing that can be said about "What It Takes" is that you will read it and you will appreciate that Presidential candidates actually are qualified, and while they might make terrible decisions, they really are the best we have.

"What It Takes" is an antidote for cynicism.

It's a great insight into the psyche of candidates, the jargon of campaigns -- and a demonstration of just how tough campaings are. (The author of this book is also a frequent contributer to Rolling Stone and Esquire. Some of the language in this book certainly isn't appropriate for younger readers).

Ben Cramer follows the major candidates in their races to become president in 1988. He reproduces their speaking and thinking styles in such an incredible way that you will never be able to think of any of these people (Bob Dole, GHW Bush, Jesse Jackson) in quite the same way you did before.

His intense focus on how the candidates act differently when in private than they do when they're out giving their stump speech makes for fascinating reading. If you're tired of dry books that are "nothing but the facts, ma'am," you'll love this well-written story.

It was refreshing to read some non-mainstream news reports from Iraq. I wanted to see more contact with our troops and their comments and I was disappointed that his reporting wasn't more recent but suffice it to say, Jamail did a great job reporting what he saw. The risks he took to get some of his stories left me a little shaky. I'd certainly read some more of his writing.

"Lying in bed near Rana was Hanna, fourteen years old. She had a gash on her right leg from the bullet of a U.S. soldier. Her family had been traveling in a taxi in Baghdad past a U.S. patrol that very morning, when a soldier opened fire on the car. Her father's shirt was spotted with blood from a head injury from when the taxi crashed." (page 236)

This is Jamail's eye-witness account from an Iraqi hospital and an example of the really good journalism that puts the reader inside the Iraqi experience. Understanding what civilians are subjected to under the occupation helps explain why the resistance against the U.S. is so popular. This book's relentless exposure of war crimes is a scathing contrast to the establishment media. Jamail should be on national network shows to share the truth with America about what we sent our troops into harm's way to do to another people.

This is a "slice of life" report on the reality of what is really happening in Iraq. It is nice to read a report that doesn't depend on the control by the neocons that is part of an embedded journalist's story. He was the first author to bring to me the news (since confirmed by Congressional hearings) that the Iraq "parliament has for over two year voted against our occupation of their sovereign country, wants us to set a date to leave, would help us to leave, believes that we are causing the problem, and refuses to give our country their oil. Se Congessional hearings on U N mandate for occupation of Iraq. M L G

I am placing an order for this book once I am done writing this 'review'...so, no I have not yet read it...but I have been reading Dahr's reports for the last 3+ years - you can subscribe to his dispatches at his website - and have found his work to be a hugely grounding element in my thoughts and feelings of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dahr in NYC in 2005 at one of his presentations on his trips to the country. I asked him how he ever came to the incredibly corageous decision to go to Iraq and he told me that he felt that if he *didn't* go, didn't do something, his head was going to explode. To be so motivated to actually put himself in a war zone is the kind of sincerity and passion that is sorely needed in the journalism of our time.
Dahr Jamail is one of my heroes.

Thank you Dahr for heeding the call to take you to the places few Americans allow themselves to go. This book is a true testament of the degree of devastation and misinformation we in the US are at times oblivious to. This book is a must read. Thank you for your life and for your calling.

This is the third Telushkin book I have read, and I am not disappointed. The book is not merely a summary of the key events in the Tanach. Telushkin breaks down the events into easily digestable nuggets. This approach allows Telushkin to provide suprising depth of anaylsis, drawing from both Talmudic and medieval commentaries, as well as more modern Rabbinic scholarship. Reading this book is a very enriching experience that inspires the reader to study further.

I've seen the Hebrew Bible explained by true believers of several kinds, or critics of various sorts. But never have I seen it examined with such open curiosity. With Rabbi Telushkin as a guide, I was struck as never before by the Bible's painful honesty. It faithfully records the pain of inhumanity and the cost of each moral victory. But I seem to need an unblinking guide like Telushkin to really expose this.

The book takes three passes through the Hebrew Bible. First Telushkin highlights people and events. Then he explores the development of values and ideas. Third he details the rise of Jewish law through the Torah. I want to give quotes from two of these sections.

In examining Genesis 22, Telushkin considers how Isaac and Sarah felt about Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son:

"Does he [Isaac] have trouble trusting his father after this incident? Or trusting God?

And then there is Sarah. The woman has waited almost her entire life to have a child, and Isaac's birth was her supreme joy. Yet her name is not mentioned once in this chapter. How does she react when she hears what happened? Do Abraham and Isaac tell her, or do they make a pact to keep the incident secret?

Again, we do not know, although the late Rabbi Abraham Chen points out a peculiar, seldom noted detail in the text. When Abraham returns from his trip, the Bible notes that he stays in Beersheva. Yet the second verse in the next chapter (Genesis 23:2) records that Sahah died in Kiryat Arba, and that Abraham came there to mourn for her. Although the text never explicitly says so, the implication is that Abraham and Sarah were living apart when she died. If so, did Sarah move away from him when she heard what Abraham had almost done?" (p. 41)

Concerning the development of values in the Bible story, we have this concerning the problem of theft:

"... The Bible's primary concern, however, is with aiding the victim. The first demand it makes of a theif is that he return the stolen goods to the victim. In addition, the theif is to be punished with a hundred percent fine, payable to the victim, not the state (Exodus 22:3). ... It is evident that biblical law is primarily concerned not with punishment of the thief, but with gaining restitution for the victim." (p. 447-448)

--author of "Different Visions of Love"

If you are looking to know more about Judaism one of your best investments is to buy any book written by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. Especially, "Jewish Literacy" and "Biblical Literacy" because both of these books have all the essential information about pretty much everything and they are great reference to have in your library once you are done reading them for the first time.

They are both easy to read with short chapters and you can read them front-to-back and back-to-front. Both books are great start up books for Judaism and they will make you crave for further reading as suggested in the chapters. They are both AWESOME guides to further study. Reading them you will know the essential on each subject and from there you can take your studies in any direction.

These books are addictive and once you start reading them you are going to be hooked! That is what happened to me. :-)

"Jewish Literacy" starts with an explanation of the Jewish texts and it covers topics chronologically from Genesis to current events. The chapters in "Biblical Literary" will go more in depth about the Torah and Tanach which is already covered, with less detail, in "Jewish Literacy".

Both of these books are the best introduction to Judaism books you can buy today.

This book contains summaries and explanations of the major Biblical stories. It describes the major ideas events and people of what the Christian world calls ' The Old Testament ' and the Jewish world calls " Tannach". It is done with great intelligence, insight and balanced wisdom.
But it is best used as supplement, as a tool for better understanding problematic passages and readings.
It can in no way compare to the Biblical text itself , and the effort at reading and understanding it.
This book is written in clear explicatory prose, and is filled with information.
"Tannach" itself is a poetic document in the deepest sense. It is one that reverberates with meanings , one which demands reading and rereading of to be understood.
If the reading of this particular text can be thought of as a kind of study, the reading of Tannach is study and much more than that.
Again if anyone believes that by reading this work they will understand and know the reading of Tannach, they are mistaken. This is a book of information and insight, a highly valuable one but it should be a supplement and not a substitute for the real thing.

Ok.. So I am a little biased, being that I am Jewish, but I do believe that most would agree. This book presents the "important" aspects of the "Hebrew Bible" with Telushkin's use of excellent language. I have tried other Biblical interpretations from various Rabbis and have often found myself creeping into a steady decline to sleepy-land. But this book is an exception! I have read the author's other works and decided to give this one a try (despite the 700 page factor being a mild intimidation). This book ultimately has lead me to appreciate my Jewishness. Thanks Rabbi Telushkin!

So far many of the names I've been reading in the newspapers are coming to life in this fun read! Just enough mayhem to wet your appetite for more! The format makes it easy to read and pick back up and I find myself using it as a reference book at this point as I'm going through various newspaper articles. I'm still in the process but am learning quite a bit about mobsters outside of the Chicago area. Must have for those getting started like myself!

I was given this book as a birthday present... This book is a must have for any organized crime geek... Its meticulously written in a straight forward manner. Covering a wide range of topics from Prohibition era gangsters like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and others like Al Capone and other wild gangsters of Chicago... Most of the focus is in the Chicago area and Outlaw Prohibition type bandits... It does have some dates concerning happenings in Detroit, Cleveland, New York, etc...

In the beginning of the book it has brief bio's of most of the major gangsters of the 1920's era... In the back it has two pages covering the dates various gangsters died... Over all its a well written book complete with other stories woven in with the almanac... This book is a must have for your organized crime library whether your just a mafia buff, amateur crime researcher, or just into reading about Prohibition era crime...

wonderful book.informative.makes good late night reading.i love reading about local gangsters/crimes.what an era!and this author really dug out the details.

Respected authors William Helmer and Rick Mattix have provided us with a reference book of nearly 900 pages relating to "the gangster and outlaw era: 1920--1940." The book is divided into seven sections dealing with all facets of crime during this turbulent era. Parts of this book can be read like any other book while criminal incidents from various years are listed chronologically. I feel this part of the book can be best used as a reference. The book contains numerous photos, several of which I have never seen before. The big shots of both Chicago and New York are all here as are the depression-era desperadoes. Depending on your interest level you may feel you are being told more than you care to know. However, as I said, much of this book can be used as a useful reference book to your crime library. If you do have such a library this book would be a worthy addition. Co-author Rick Mattix has reviewed numerous crime books on Amazon, and his opinion carries considerable weight with me in whether or not I decide to purchase a book.

This is a must have referance/gangster/outlaw book. If this subject or even this era of history intrests you at all this book is a goldmine.

This is a great book, all of Kapuscinski`s books are great. It takes you for a journey you don`t expect. Great style and I always regret it`s over, after I finish to read his book.

As stated in most of the reviews of this book, Kapuscinski is a great writer. If you have not read him allready, read this book and understand why. If you allready have read him, you are going to read this book based on what you allready have learned to know.

Having given Kapuscinski the credit he obviously deserves for his writing, I believe there is some points that should be done.

-First Kapuscinski stands on the shoulders of giants. His writing is to a great extent the result of the local people that he meets on his journeys and agrees to open their region and their lifes to him.

-Kapuscinski is a very gifted writer endeed, that have read a lot about the places and peoples that he visits. On one hand this is what always makes his writing so alive, something to go back to and read agian, so informative. On the other hand gret litterature sometimes can serve as a way of getting away with having little or nothing to really report from the battleground when his plan fails or when he does not get what he intended out of a trip. Striking examples of this is his journey at the Trans-siberian railway where he only observes the Soviet Union through the train window or to Nagarno Karabakh where he is stuck inside an airport, a car and a flat. That his stories is as intriguing, even when he hardly experience "what the war looks like on the ground" is a clear sign that his capabilities as dramaturg and writer can make up for a rather thin story. Even when he gets the chance to write the story he intended from a place he visits, the timeframe and the difficulties he worked under limits his insights compared to the writers that have covered the area afer him.

-Some paragraphs in the book makes me a bit uncertain about how good the translation is (my review is based upon the Norwegian translation). In the first chapter - Pinsk '39 the comment of a NKVD officer visiting their house "Muzh kuda?" is traslated "where is your husband" instead of the correct "Where have your husband gone", meaning that the NKVD officer allready knows that he has recently been in the house, meaning someone has infomed the NKVD that Kapuscinski's father (a hunted partisan) has recently been in the house. Things like this is not a big deal, but it makes you start thinking about the quality of the translation in general and if it can be the case that the author underplays the role of ordinary people as informers in the terror.

-In his story about the war in Pinsk 1939, his memory of the events as a child probably is an important expalianation behind the qualities of the stories. In the memory of a child events that would probably be described as horrorful and sad by a grown up, in the eyes of a smal shild gets exciting, intriguing, colorful and down to earth.

All in all, Kapuscinski is good reading and Imperium is a great intruduciton to the former Soviet Republics. To get true insight in the contemporary former Soviet Republics, you will need further reading though.

Perhaps history will never be told better than through the eye of this travelling writer (or is it a writing traveller?). Read and be awed by the staggering proportions of recent history in the vast empire that is no more, the Sovjet Union. And be chilled to the bones by the unimaginable amounts of suffering inflicted by the sovjet leaders on their own people. And be astonished that in the midst of the most utter despair, poverty, and enslavement, Kapuscinski can find optimism, humor, and love of life.

I purchased this book after reading about the author in the Wall Street Journal. He died earlier this year. The author, a journalist, kept two notebooks while on assignments throughout the world, one for his assignment and one for himself. In this book he combined his observations from several trips he took within Russia and its states over a span of many decades. At times his writing style can be quite poetic, and the book is not unlike a travel book, although Soviet Russia was not a friendly place at the times of his visits. I intend to read his other books, and highly recommend this one.

A lyrical masterpiece by this superlative writer! Nowhere have I found a dissection of the Evil Empire done with such fluid verse. He goes from the periphery into the heart of the beast and everywhere he discovers that appearances deceive and what seems to signal change is really a re-hash of old. Kapuczinski's sharp analysis and trenchant comments will be sorely missed!

Interesting book really makes you think about self defense in todays world. I grew up with guns, hunting and target shooting so I might have a different perspective than most. Having a loaded gun readily accessable is a huge responsibility that can either save your life or ruin it forever.

If you even thought about owning a gun you should have this book. It is full of factual information regarding crime statistics, dos and don'ts regarding gun ownership and use. It is written by a women for women and I bought it for my wife but I read every page. I recommend it highly.

Larry C

Informative
Great to give your lady if you would like her to consider arming herself

Thoughtful, informative and written in simple language for the woman who has, or is intending to own/carry a concealed weapon.
Covers types of handguns, true life experiences, other means of self defense and consequences of using lethal force.

I bought it for her and she thought it was worthwhile. So much so I ordered some similar titles. These books aren't crazy. They're for women that refuse to be victims.

This is a comprehensive examination of gambling in America, so well written I put aside the thriller I was reading to pick this up each night. Well researched, balanced, and thorough, it should be read by everyone on both sides of the gambling issue.

I read this book this year (2006) and was staggered by its accuracy in describing the events of the last eight years in the gaming industry. It is far more insightful than most accounts written after the fact. O'Brien takes a historical perspective, inspired by a genuine appreciation for gamblers and gambling along with a rare cool-eyed and unsentimental realism about the casino business. Too many other authors, horrified by the crime and corruption associated with the business, forget that the urge to gamble is deep and ancient; the opposite camp too often uses romantic gambling fiction to distract from the undeniable rottenness that suffuses the legal and illegal industry.

O'Brien tells the stories of gamblers of various stripes, from hapless victim to celebrity successes, types who rarely coexist in the same book. Entrepreneurs are featured as well, weak crooks, clever crooks and genius visionaries. He cites in damning detail the negative effects of legal gambling on local economies, society and political institutions; but there is no suggestion of throwing out the baby with the bathwater, this book is the beginning of a blueprint for how to reform the industry, not outlaw it (or even less plausibly, to stop gambling).

If all of this makes the book sound like a dull policy text or dated account of once-current events, it's not. It's an entertaining read, and more relevant now than when it was written.

Mostly an interesting, well-written, and throroughly researched book. The anthopological and historical information about gambling in the US was very informative. The vignettes about individual gamblers were thought provoking. However, often the descriptions of gambling take awkward twists into very biased and unfounded criticisms. It reads that someone combined a readable historical and cultural treatment of gambling with a distorted rant about the horrible evils of gambling. Despite the confusion, there were many parts of the book that were well done.

Mr. O'Brien has written a thought-provoking book, the thesis of which is that casinos rely on a small percentage of problem gamblers for most of their profits. I was a little surprised that he didn't interview Frank Scoblete, the top gaming author in the world and my personal favorite because I would have liked to read Scoblete's opinions on O'Brien's thesis. But that is a minor quibble. The book is definitely worth reading. I tend to agree with O'Brien. Too many people are out of control when it comes to gambling.

I live near one of the big casino riverboats mentioned in O'Brien's book and I read this book out of curiosity more than anything. Prior to reading this, I had NO idea how much intense lobbying - as well as graft and corruption - were behind the gambling industry.

One tidbit I found especially disturbing is the story behind how gambling was legalized in my home state.

"Bad Bet" tells of a former Midwest governor who was in power when Argosy Gaming made it's big push to get gambling legalized in this state. (Argosy won) Now that we have riverboats all over our state, this former governor now *works* for Argosy Gaming.

Rapes and robberies went up 33% in Atlantic City, New Jersey after the casinos opened there.

"Bad Bet" it tells of the subtle and overt techniques casinos use to lure people in and entice them - to keep the money flowing. Even the layout of casinos is done with much forethought as to the best way to separate people from their money.

And O'Brien talks about how the gambling industry goes looking for communities in economic straights to set up shop. (which is exactly what happened in our city)

This is a powerful book. I think every local or civic leader that has a casino in their community or is even considering allowing casinos in, should pause and read this book. It'll open their sleepy eyes to some hard ugly truths.

Having lived in a community that invited the riverboats in, I see firsthand that O'Brien is telling the truth about what to expect when big gambling comes to town. It's a sad affair.

I wanted to know the real scoop for years on the Geronimo Pratt case. Although I'm not yet finished reading the book, it is very obvious that Mt. Pratt got screwed, like so many others caught up in the "good old USA" system. Obviously this one is a case of racial prejudice, but it could have just as easily been some other kind of prejudice. It is clear that the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" is just a nice theory that should be strictly adhered to but rarely is. The presumed guilt is clear from the get go on the part of the police. It continues on to the top with lies and deception on the part of the police to get a conviction at any cost, especially with regard to the truth. It's frightening and a relief to know it's not me. But next time it could be me, or anyone who gets targeted by individuals in a position of power, who have no integrity, and don't give a hoot about the constitution of the US.

This is certainly one of the best books I've ever read. Jack Olsen did an outstanding job of weaving together all the facts in a highly readable narrative of one of the most blatant chapters of injustice in 20th century legal history.

I already had considerable knowledge of the case before I read this book. In the early 1990s, the case was being publicized again. I was a reporter for Wave Newspapers in Los Angeles and journeyed with a co-worker to the state prison at Tehachapi where Pratt was then being held and we interviewed him. I then wrote several stories about his situation.

Pratt was imprisoned for 27 years for a crime he clearly did not commit. The prosecution was part of the FBI's notorious COINTELPRO operation-essentially a war against numerous dissenting groups in the 1960s including the Black Panther Party. As Olsen makes clear, in Pratt's case this also involved LAPD and the L.A. County District Attorney's office.

Pratt was convicted of the December 1968 Santa Monica tennis-court murder of school teacher Caroline Olsen. There was considerable doubt about the credibility of key-witness Julius Butler, who had a previous falling out with Pratt, and was later proven to be an informant. (When I was a reporter, I actually contacted Butler. He yelled that he was "tired of this" and hung up on me.) Plus, numerous other Panthers could have confirmed he was at a meeting in Oakland the day of the murder but most wouldn't testify because of a severe split in the ranks.

Appeal after appeal was turned down despite more and more evidence being discovered pointing to Pratt's innocence. In all probability the crime was committed by two low-level Panther members to obtain money for drugs.

That ties in with the only complaint I would make about Olsen's book. He really glossed over the fact that the FBI and police campaign against the Panthers (which I am not defending) was not just because of their militant political rhetoric. They had a lot of criminal types within the group.

Regardless, this is an extraordinary book about another era and the governmental abuses of that time. Johnnie Cochran redeemed himself in my eyes by getting Pratt released. That was after he was involved in a travesty of justice, himself, by getting O.J. Simpson off. But that's another story.

The courage and essential goodness of Geronimo Pratt, in spite of receiving a life sentence for a crime he did not commit, is truly inspiring. This is a wonderful book.

Geronimo Pratt had one of the most honorable and incredible lives I have ever heard of. This book documents his entire life, from is Morgan City childhood to his unjust incarceration for the murder of Caroline Olsen. I literally had trouble putting this book down. It is a great read for anyone interested in the judicial system, the FBI's COINTELPRO, the Black Panther Party, and racism in general. READ THIS BOOK!!!

This book should be mandatory reading for every black person when they turn 15 years old. To read what the gov't put this man through was utterly shocking. After you read this book read "The Judas Factor - The Plot to Kill Malcolm X." You'll be numb after reading these two books back to back.