Events Books

This is an excellent collection of interviews on the subject of the neoconservative counterrevolution in Washington, and the strategies surrounding 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Behind the public statements of the administration lie the deeper motives of the operation: control of dwindling resources, intimidation with a display of military strength, and a neoconservative philosophy promoting an explicit imperialism. Exploiting the anxieties of the 9/11 catastrophe is the crux of the propaganda game. The text includes interviews with Tariq Ali, Chomsky, Benjamin Barber, Chalmers Johnson, and Shadia Drury who provides an interesting commentary on the hidden Straussianism of the neoconservative clique.

You might consider buying this one and giving it to everyone you can think of. It's preaching to the choir of course: most of us who see it understand that the NeoCon group's approach to foreign policy is horrifyingly similar to that of Gary Cooper in HIGH NOON (the quintessential go-it-alone guy.) It's amazing to watch this film and realize how long the propaganda has been coming at us, manipulating us through our fears. If you're worried about the Wolfowitz/Rumsfeld/Bush triumverate and their quest for empire, this will only make you worry more. It's a very unsettling movie. At times, you might find yourself wishing you could turn off the background music, which is a bit melodramatic. But all told, this is an urgently important film - I only wish we could figure out how to get the Bush supporters to watch it. Any suggestions?

Nothing new here. Anyone with the lights on knows what has been going on since the rise of the Bushies. This film, however, patches together much of the key information that helps blow away the smokescreen hoo-ha that the neo-cons have invented to sell their agenda. These cats (Bush, "Wolf"owitz, Cheney et. al.) make the Romans seem like schoolyard pranksters. There is only one problem with this film: it promotes the very thing it is trying to dispell ---- fear. All in all a great counterpunch but I suspect it will be another example of preaching to the choir.

"Hijacking Catastrophe" is a well-researched educational documentary of the 9/11 attacks, the context that gave birth to them, and the way the US government has used them to promote its preconceived plan to solidify American empire through a global War on Terrorism. Unlike many other 9/11 films, like "Loose Change" and "Improbable Collapse" (both worth seeing), this film does not speculate about government complicity, it merely explains the roots of the neoconservative philosophy--a philosophy that does not shirk at deceiving the public to advance its selfish economic and political goals. Note, however, that this is not the DVD. This is the book version. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the DVD is not available on Amazon. If possible, you'll definitely want to get your hands on a copy. Along with "Hijacking Catastrophe," I would also recommend the DVD "9/11 Mysteries: Demolitions" and David Griffin's incisive, and well-argued book, "The New Pearl Harbor". Both are invaluable for understanding the inherent contradictions and scientific absurdities of the official 9/11 story.

j.w.k.

First, I saw this as a documentary on a DVD of the same name, and that is how I plan to review this item. Produced by the Media Education Foundation, it most effectively presents the argument that the Bush administration "sold" the war via the most popular conduit of news - television. Using video news clips from mainstream media such as FoxNews, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS, as well as interviews with extraordinarily credible officials and experts, Hijacking Catastrophe describes in chilling visual format how the NeoCons used 9/11 to push the country to accepting a military solution in fighting terrorism. Awful in its implications, this documentary should be seen by everyone who feels violated and mislead by our leaders. And some way should be found to show this to friends and family who still prefer the sleep of the deluded. I certainly wish I had the funds to buy thousands and leave them in every mailbox in the county.

If you are interested in the history of the American Left or are a militant trying to understand some of the past lessons of our history concerning the communist response to various social and labor questions this book is for you. This book is part of a continuing series of volumes of the writings of James P. Cannon that were published by the organization he founded, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), in the 1970's and 1980's. Cannon died in 1974. Look in this space for other related reviews of this series of documents on and by an important American Communist.

In their introduction the editors motivate the purpose for the publication of the book by stating the Cannon was the finest Communist leader that America had ever produced. This an intriguing question that has underlined this reviewer's approach to these volumes. The editors trace their political lineage back to Cannon's leadership of the early Communist Party and later after his expulsion to the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party so their perspective is obvious. What does the documentation provided here show? This certainly is the period of Cannon's political maturation, and the beginning of a long political collaboration working with Trotsky. The period under discussion- from the late 1920's when he was expelled as leader of the American Communist Party through the early 1930's with the start of the great labor upsurge which would bring wide spread unionization to the working class to 1938 and the formation of the SWP. Cannon won his spurs in this struggle to orient those organizations toward a revolutionary path. One thing is sure- in his prime, which includes this period- Cannon had the instincts to want to lead a revolution and had the evident capacity to do so. That he never had an opportunity to lead a revolution is his personal tragedy and ours as well.

This book is based on a series of lectures that Cannon gave in New York in 1943 before he, along with 17 other party leaders, went to prison for revolutionary opposition to World War II. Volumes of his writings, as noted above, published later have dealt much more fully with some of the subjects of these lectures. I note The History of American Communism on the origins of the Communist party; The Left Opposition, 1928-31 on the early "dog days" after his expulsion from the Communist Party; The Communist League of America, 1932-1934 on the fight to go to the masses with an upsurge in labor struggles; and, the separately published James P. Cannon and the Early American Communist Movement on the internal struggle in the early period. Thus, I want to take up for review and analysis here the last part of the present book the period and policies which have come down in the history of the international Trotskyist movement as the `French turn'. In America this policy meant that the Workers Party, predecessor of the SWP formed in 1934, dissolved and entered the Socialist Party (SP) as part of an international tactic of revolutionary regroupment in the process of forming a vanguard party.

This writer has long been interested in and a little uneasy about the implementation of the policy of the `French turn'. Since it is not immediately apparent why one political organization would enter another organization for such a purpose and because many of today's militants may not be familiar with the period a little pre-history is in order. After the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1933 and after the defeat of the heroic Austrian working class in 1934 there was great turmoil and leftward motion in the international labor movement. That movement, in reaction and disgust at the erroneous policies of the Communist International and its `third period' catastrophic theory of capitalist collapse, gravitated toward the international social democracy.

Trotsky, after declaring the Communist International and its parties dead as revolutionary organizations in the wake of Hitler's rise in Germany maintained that new parties internationally and a new International was on the political agenda. Thus, the question for the mainly small and somewhat poorly organized pro-Trotskyist propaganda groupings was to move away from acting as a faction of the Comintern in order to take advantage of this movement to break out of their isolation and create at least small vanguard parties. Trotsky responded by strongly suggesting that his followers, at first in France then later elsewhere, enter social democratic and labor organizations in order to take advantage of this leftward movement.

In America, under Cannon's leadership, the Communist League of America (CLA) after successfully leading labor strikes in Minneapolis and elsewhere, fused with other radical labor activists in 1934 into the American Workers Party headed by A.J. Muste to form the Workers Party (WP) in 1934. While the cadre of the CLA were politically well educated and theoretically grounded that was not as true of Muste's forces. In a sense this fusion represented on the American terrain an application of the Trotsky-inspired international entry policy. Nevertheless, Cannon led the drive for what amounted to a second use of the entry tactic into the Socialist Party in order to intersect the growing left wing there.

The implementation of this policy was the subject of two internal fights in the WP before the policy was finally approved. The first fight was led those who were opposed to such an entry on the principle that revolutionaries could not enter a party affiliated with the betrayers of the Second International (the Oehlerites). That policy leads to sectarianism and isolation. The second fight, led by Muste himself, was concerned with the separate organizational integrity of the WP. That policy leads to organizational fetishism and isolation. At the time, and in hindsight, no militant could or should have argued on either of these grounds. Nevertheless, this writer believes an argument could be made on tactical grounds against entry in the Socialist Party. Why? Because of the untested nature of the newly-formed and politically undereducated WP. A sophisicated maneuver such as entry against a hardened, opportunist Socialist left wing with such forces would cause later problems. As indeed they did. The reviewer's alternative. United front, that is march separately but fight together, the Socialist Party to death whenever and whenever common issues came up, especially on trade union policy in the rising CIO, the role of their Socialist Pary comrades in the Spanish Civil War and their response to the frame-up Moscow Trials.

Cannon, in defending the policy at the time mentions that, despite the onerous conditions of entry set by the left-wing leadership, he believed, and with him Trotsky also, that the results of entry were justified by the organizational wreckage of the Socialist Party after the expulsion of the Trotskyist forces. Additional factors included the accrual of new forces, the freezing out of the Stalinists from influence in the Socialist Party and the work of the Trotsky Defense Committee. Those results may be credit able but this writer believes that such results could have been obtained more easily from the outside.

The reviewer's position has always been colored by looking at the policy from the hindsight of the divisive and fundamental faction fight of the 1939-40 period which basically split the party in two over the question of defense of the Soviet Union when it became really operative. Not an inconsiderable section of the opposition to defense of the Soviet Union came from the forces, especially from the socialist youth group, recruited during the entry. Thus, I still remain troubled by the policy. In the future militants will once again have to face this problem of regroupment of revolutionary forces, if under different conditions. Read this section of the book and make up your own mind.

cCannon never explains numbers here. Yet, this is the history of a group of revolutionists who went from two or three leaders of the Communist party who learned of Trotsky's critique of Stalin, to a group of a few dozens--The Generals without an Army they were call. They went from only a few ideas to merging and mixing with new currents of workers who came forward as the CIO Upsurge came forward. Their principles helped spark the organization of revolutionary workers in the great strikes in Minneapolis in 1934 and aftewrwards, then to influence workers in the sit down strikes in Flint and Dearborn and Detroit. Then to find thousands of young workers, intellectuals, and student youth in the Socialist party and battle the reformists there, to build Found the Socialist Workers party, found with thousands of members before World War II. But this is not about those numbers. Through most of history, real revolutionists real communists have been forced to fight in small organizations like the movement Cannon built. What this is about is the principles, the ideas, the lessons, the history, how to do things theoretically, how to do them practically, and how to do them right.

For those who wonder whether the American working class is capable of revolution -- read this book and be convinced by an engaging scrapper and committed working class hero who was there at the very beginning. Millions placed their hopes for a new dawn on the young Russian revolution, only to be betrayed by Stalin. Cannon tells the story of how he found his way out of the impasse, stumbling on a document by Leon Trotsky at a Moscow convention in 1928. He smuggled it out (in the days before photocopies and computer discs, no mean feat) and spent the next ten years involved in political faction fights, world-changing strikes, mobilizations against fascism...all leading up to the founding of the Socialist Workers Party in the US in 1938. Descriptions of building a fledgeling revolutionary party without funds for a telephone or office rent, are woven in with discourse on the implications of international debate on whether to defend the USSR in the looming world war. He explains the tactical manoevres, gives acerbic thumbnail sketches of various characters -- and makes hard work and fighting for what's right look like a very realistic option.

Sufrimos una época de guerras y revolución porque el sistema actual, fundado en la avaricia individual, padece cada vez más de sus trastornos mortales. Ya que año con año se avecina la Tercera Guerra Mundial, la editorial Pathfinder nos aconseja aprender de las otras dos ocasiones en que nos llevó al borde de la barbarie.

Los libros de Cannon no son sobre el pasado, sino cómo sacar mayor ventaja de las aperturas y oportunidades que necesariamente se van a presentar en el camino para forjar partidos de los trabajadores de común acuerdo en aprender de las luchas de los explotados donde sea que surgen y unidos en la trayectoria de construir un mundo libre del capitalismo.

Cannon era miembro fundador del movimiento del Obrero Mundial (IWW), los antecedentes del Partido Comunista y el Partido mismo. En los 20 era dirigente de la Defensa Internacional del Obrero (ILD) y fue representante norteamericano en el presidio del Internacional Comunista con Lenin y Trotsky.

Dado que el estalinismo ya no trompea el camino para que los luchadores se reúnen, hoy en día el movimiento comunista no necesita valerse del nombre "trotskista" para diferenciarse de los estalinistas; con este simple cambio de nomenclatura el contenido de La historia del trotskismo estadounidense sigue en pie de lucha. Traza la continuidad ideológica y marca la pauta para que detengamos la marcha de los explotadores hacia su tercera guerra mundial, que ellos mismos no pueden parar debido a su permanente caída en la taza de ganancias.

This book relates an important chapter of American history. However, this book speaks so well to real problems real people face every day, that despite the title, I don't think of it as history, but as a guide about how to fight to win. . . I read and discussed this book with a handful of Young Socialists in Washington, DC in 1967 when I wasn't sure about what to do about my life. After I read this I was sure, and I am still sure. . . This book tells the story and mines the experiences of a small band of revolutionary workers who wouldn't succumb to Stalin, to Roosevelt, to anyone, but continued the fight for principled communist politics and built the Socialist Workers Party. I am not surprised that out of the four of five of us who studied this book then, most are still fighting to change the world, and several became nationally known figures in the antiwar, Black rights, and women's movements. . . . There are so many lessons of practical life, of political organization, and of how to wage struggles in the labor movement, against persecution, against fascism, and about internationalism and true solidarity here. Someday, when the struggles of working people will be more pronounced and the fight to build a movement against capitalism more massive, this will be a handbook that millions of fighters will cherish. Know it now!

While this book is not always available on Amazon, it is always available from BooksfromPathfinder, an Amazon Z store that you can get to by clicking on New and Used further up this page!

Hysterically Entertaining

Enchanted by the quagmires, challenges, and events that surround the lives of attorneys, media commentators, and entertainers?

Interested in the inside scoop on high profile cases, courtroom dramas, actors, players, and the personal boundaries that attorney's often face?

Want to read something that will make you laugh out loud, get teary eyed, stir your nerves, rock your views, and motivate you to live each day as you see fit?

If your answers are yes - then "How Can You Defend Those People" is a MUST READ! It's rare to find a book where readers are so moved by one man's life experiences! Mickey Sherman's accounts are so vividly cast and frankly depicted that they leave you yearning for more and wondering how all these interesting events could possibly have happened to one person! From Michael Skakel, OJ Simpson, Scott Peterson, Martha Stewart, the Menedez brothers ... to the quite unknown yet poignant story of Roger Ligon ... this book is well-written, exciting, and hysterically entertaining!

"How Can You Defend Those People" is the greatest new book for spring. After being written about in novels and on television shows, Mickey Sherman has finally penned his own story of his colorful and distinguished career. Mickey Sherman is a criminal defense attorney who is also a legal analyst for CBS and a frequent media commentator on legal issues for all the major networks. Having appeared regularly on NBC's "Today Show," CNN's "Larry King Live," "20/20," and many other news shows, Mickey has now written extensively for legal publications and has lectured nationwide on criminal law issues, as well as on the media coverage of them.

This book boldly explains how the famed attorney dealt with impossible cases and sometimes extremely impossible or difficult clients. But one thing is known in the legal world: Sherman's the man to hire when you are dealing with an impossible legal mission.

But those who have read this book all rave about Mickey's literary work. Bestselling author Dominick Dunne raves about "How Can You Defend Those People." Dunne, known as a victims' advocate, said, "I'll never agree with Mickey Sherman, but I must admit I really enjoyed his book. Underneath his sometimes fierce demeanor in the courtroom, Sherman is a witty man with an amiable personality, an expert story teller, and a lover of the law who fights hard for his clients."

Even TV legal powerhouse Nancy Grace raves about reading Mickey's book. She says of defense attorneys, "They are usually my natural enemy, but I enjoyed getting inside the brain of this defense attorney." Other fans of Sherman's work include the LAPD Chief, William J. Bratton and Oscar winning director, screenwriter and producer, Barry Levinson. But fans don't stop there. The new book is doing well with everyday readers and many of the famous in Hollywood as well. Lounging recently at Beverly Hills' Polo Lounge, it was in the hands of several well known agents in the business. Wonder if they were pondering what to do with some of their clients.

Sherman's defense strategies are frequently groundbreaking and sometimes more fascinating than the clients themselves, which is why he is a frequent source for NBC's "Dateline" and "Law & Order," CBS's "48 Hours," Court TV, and all the national news channels, the "New York Times," "Time," and "Vanity Fair." He is even a recurring character in James Patterson's bestselling novels. In the tradition of bestsellers by Alan Dershowitz and Dominick Dunne, Sherman delivers a powerful, extraordinarily candid, and humorous account of his legal career that gives readers an all access backstage pass to the sausage factory that is the criminal justice system, as well as to many cases we have all lived through via TV, which Sherman has provided commentary for and insight on the various news channels. Sherman pulls no punches in his candid and often irreverent account of his experiences, observations and antics on and off the air, covering the big (and not so big) cases for the networks.

Sherman started his career as a public defender, then worked as a prosecutor, and later became a criminal defense attorney for clients such as Michael Skakel (convicted 27 years after the fact for the murder of Martha Moxley) and Alex Kelly (who, on the eve of his double-rape trial in Darien, fled to Europe for nine years). The raw Court TV coverage of his successful PTSD defense of a Vietnam veteran charged with murdering an unarmed man over a parking space argument was nominated for a Cable Ace Award. Many who know Sherman believe that his humble upbringing is what makes him such an advocate for everyone in the system. Sherman tells "Canyon News," "Whether you like criminal defense attorneys or not. We all have a job to do and if you are ever accused of a crime that you didn't commit or you did commit, wouldn't you want a defense attorney to fight for your rights? Every citizen in our nation has constitutional rights; that's what makes America so great." Another reason America's great is because of Mickey Sherman. "How Can You Defend Those People," Sherman's first book, is available at Amazon and at bookstores across the nation. Here's hoping for more of Sherman's masterful storytelling to be weaved around the pages of more books.

I've known Mickey for years and he's always a fixture in Hollywood. He navigates the terrain of entertainment as easily as he does the corridors of courtrooms around the nation. Sherman is very well known and respected in Tinseltown and when his career as an attorney is done, he's surely going to break into some field in the entertainment biz. Charming, charismatic, handsome and very witty, he's comfortable with almost anyone.

Mickey Sherman is a criminal defense attorney who lives in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. He's married to fellow author, legal analyst for FOX News, and former prosecutor, Lis Weihl.

Tommy Garrett is Editor of Canyon Newspaper in Beverly Hills and Contributing Editor of San Francisco News.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mickey Sherman last year at the Michael Skakel hearing in Stamford, Connecticut. It is difficult not to like Mickey. He is always upbeat and one of the best story-tellers I have ever encountered. I enjoyed his book from start to finish. It is very informative, but also littered with humor and is obviously written by Mickey himself. Nobody else but Mickey would think those jokes are funny! Keith A. Weeks, Legal Investigator

As a long-time employee in the legal profession and a fan of many trial-based shows, I was instantly drawn into Mickey Sherman's book and won over by his ability to make me laugh out loud and his ability to laugh at himself while still maintaining his professionalism and ethics. I agree that defense attorneys sometimes are pre-judged by who they represent and I think Mickey Sherman handles this issue in the only way possible . . . by infusing humor and compassion into his story telling. I hope there will be many more books like these in his future! I have had the honor of meeting Mr. Sherman and can honestly say that he is an excellent attorney who manages to be intelligent and extremely humble at the same time! What an extraordinary first book for this gentleman!

I once read somewhere that there are no funny lawyers, only funny people who have made a career mistake. But that's not true! Mickey Sherman is a great lawyer and TV talking head who is also very funny, and this book proves it. He's hysterically funny about the law, courts, defendants, judges, TV lawyering, and himself, all at the same time.

Hunting the American Terrorist: The FBI's War on Homegrown Terror

An amazing journey through a top FBI case. Can't wait until the next book by these authors comes out--HOMELAND INSECURITY!

As a retired FBI agent, I am finally impressed with a realistic presentation of a multiagency task force investigation. Hunting the American Terrorist captures the array of human emotions that motivate and complicate big cases. Readers will be able to enter the bull pen and proceed through the complex world of colorful personalities and bewildering puzzles that make up the daily successes and failures of an actual investigation. HAT should be required reading for anyone considering a career in law enforcement.

As a forensic psychiatrist, I believe this is an extremely important book, which works on many levels. First of all, it is the ultimate page-turner true life crime story, told by the ultimate insiders. Turchie and Puckett let their tale of hunting the Unabomber and other domestic terrorists unfold as they experienced it, allowing us a rare view of the politics and personalities that presented assistance and obstacles along the way. Told in a matter-of-fact voice, and absent the rigid and self-congratulatory tone that rightly diminishes lesser "insider" true crime books, the authors reveal their methods to us: pain-staking attention to detail, thinking outside the ultimate bureaucratic box, and, in the Unabomb case, the careful maintenance of an inquisitive and open mind in the face of FBI profilers unwilling to adapt to new evidence.

The first half of the book concentrates on the successful search for and arrest of Theodore Kaczynski, with a fascinating look at the relationship developed by Agent Puckett and Kaczynski's brother, which has evidently remained intact as David Kaczynski provides a back cover review. Puckett served as the Behavioral Analyst on the Unabomb task force, and provides unique insights into Kaczynski's personality, decision-making, and motives.

The second half of the book discusses Puckett's study of American Lone Wolf Domestic Terrorists. The reader learns the value and method of taking a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding these offenders, as Puckett takes us on an investigative "road trip," visiting law enforecment officers, forensic scientists, and mental health experts who worked on the cases. It is rare that these disciplines reach out to each other, but each could benefit from the others knowledge and expertise. Puckett's study is the template for this type of collaboration. This is the heart of the book, and is an invaluable manual for those who hunt terrorists, domestic and foreign.

The FBI's head agent in charge of the Unabomber Task Force and one of the FBI's top behavioral analyst combine to write a fascinating book on the homegrown terrorists that have plagued our country in recent memory.
The criminal cases of Theodore Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph are the primary focus of the book. I can only imagine the monotony that might come from spending thousands of man hours tracking down false leads and suspects; but you won't find any of that here. Author Terry Turchie keeps the events fast paced and interesting.
My favorite part of the book is the telling of David and Linda Kaczynski's heroic role in the Unabomber case. They are the brother and sister-in-law of Theodore Kaczynski and their sense of duty born of a most difficult situation are very inspiring.
I came away with a new found respect for Louis Freeh and Janet Reno. In an age of a centralized FBI, this book credits their leadership that allowed agent Turchie to put in place new ideas and procedures that led to solving these cases. His methods were sometimes extremely controversial but ultimately lead to the capture and conviction of the Unabomber and drove Eric Rudolph deeply underground.
Agent Kathleen Puckett wrote Part II of the book. In it she details her work in providing a monumental psychological study of ten homegrown American terrorists. She established a set of criteria and conclusions that looked at the behavioral aspects of these ten criminals and labeled it the `Lone Wolf' mindset.
Hunting The American Terrorist is a book that is hard to put down. Although I knew the outcome and fate of the Unabomber, reading the story of how these two key FBI agents finally `get their man' is compelling.

Fascinating story, read it in one sitting. Finally the true story of the Unabom investigation and the dedicated group of people who worked tirelessly to solve the case. The book also demonstrates that the lessons learned from that investigation assisted in the identification of Eric Rudolph . Recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn the true story of the Unabom investigation.

This book is both hilarious and thoughtful. 50 full-color "modern propaganda" posters which come "from" the Bush Administration and attempt to sway Americans to support illegal wiretaps, torture, war, intelligent design, etc. Each poster is accompanied by a well-written essay summing up the salient points of the issue and devastating Bush's legal reasoning and excuses for his positions. Highly recommended.

Humor illustrates tough truths in this new book of propaganda posters from Micah Wright. This time he writes his own accompanying political text instead of relying the Center for Constitutional Research, and the book does not suffer for it... in fact, the text is both informative AND funny. A great book.

Thats almost as funny as Mr.Wrights book. If You're Not a Terrorist, Then Stop Asking Questions is a recommended satire of the evil accuring in our country today. The review I am refering to in the subject line is a perfect example of the whole "rightwing will do anything to discredit someone" for their sick cause. Lie, cheat, steal, tell freedom of expression to shut up. Foul little beasties they are. Nasty. Evil. Eh heb, anyway. I highly recommend this book it is the bomb.

Wright totally nails the style of the old propaganda posters from World War I and II in these scathing posters. Totally fresh way to point out our increasingly eroding liberties under the present regime.

I wish we could get full-size posters of these amazing pages to post all over the country so we could possibly wake up the American public that now is the time to start fighting like hell for our liberties before they are all gone.

When the President of the United States reserves the power to ignore the law, lock up American citizens without cause and deny them due process (indefinitely), torture, eavesdrop on thousands of Americans, break treaties and wage illegal wars at a whim - and the list goes on - we are indeed on the verge of losing our democracy forever. Jefferson said "Information is the currency of democracy" and the secrecy employed by this administration is breathtaking. "Democracy dies behind closed doors" is another quote that comes to mind.

This is not a "tinfoil hat" scenario. This is reality. Get this book for yourself and buy a few copies for your friends and family as well.

I did!

No other book brings to life the work and struggles of new migrants in the United States. Ness sets the stage for the impending crisis that the labor movement will most certainly confront in the years to come. The book is eye-opening political-economy that points to new strategies and directions for the labor movement and the broader the working class. Striking is the absence of unions, labor institutions, and a party capable or willing to support the new realities of what is effectively the post-NLRA era.

This book is far and away the most important book on labor in many years. While it covers immigrant laborers in the U.S. the book can be applied to U.S. workers as well. The book counters the intuitive notion that migrant workers are too afraid to organize. In fact they are the most likely to organize! Then the book provides a road map for all labor organizing, both immigrant and U.S.-born workers. Of all the books I have read, this book provides the most theoretically sound approach to labor organizing and mobilization in a clear and concise manner. The book is accessible to any reader and, without hubris or jargon, explains in a clear way that it is workers who organize first. Power is consolidated for the workers by unions. But even without unions, the book shows us that workers are more willing to take risks and are much more militant than their unions. Written clearly, the book is the best book on immigrants for university students. In my class, I found that students were so enthusiastic that the book in fact sparked discussion without my intervention. Bravo to Ness.

This is one of the very few books that addresses the issue of worker organizing and the importance of migrant workers to the oranized labor movement. The AFL-CIO increasingly recognizes the need for immigrant workers as they form a larger part of the labor force in low-wage jobs amenable to organizing. Unions have a range of responses to this newfound worker militancy, from complacency to building power and support for workers otherwise left to their own. Unlike other books, Ness shows that migrant workers from similar backgrounds tend to have strong ties to their co-workers. In fact, these strong ties contributes to solidarity and the will to confront rapacious employers. Surely U.S. workers have much to learn from migrants whose bonds of solidarity are reinforced by common religious, national, language, and ethnic identities.
U.S. workers are no less militant if confronted with identifical circumstances as immigrants. However, the rise in contingent work contributes to fewer bonds of solidarity as native-born frequently move from job to job as they seek out individual gains--mostly without success.

The case studies in this book will be instructive to international unions in seeking out new strategies for organizing immigrant and native-born workers alike. This book is the most important contribution to the literature on labor organizing in recent memory, and provides the basis for understanding the labor struggles of the early 20th century when mobilized immigrant workers formed unions and were consolidated by the national unions. This book offers hope to all of us as the government seeks to marginalize immigrants through imposing draconian laws and weaken their legal status as workers.

Immigrants, Unions, and the New US Labor Market is the most timely and intelligent examination of the implicatoins of the expansion of global capitalism on international migration. The book provides real life evidence of the human spirit of solidarity among migrant workers. This stirring book offers a roadmap for unions and employers of the eternal struggle for dignity among an outcast population that now forms an important component of American labor. This penetrating book is indispensable to understand the plight of migrants and how social conditions and human experience shapes the actions of working people. I commend the author.

Professor Immanuel Ness brings a lot to the lectern in this story of spirited, but impoverished immigrant workers organizing in New York City. Ness is a professor of political science. He's written widely on cities. And his years as a union organizer give him instant street credibility.

All this experience and knowledge is effectively woven into his book, Immigrants, Unions and the New U.S. Labor market The title is accurate although Ness rarely strays far from the battles in New York's five boroughs. New York is a kind of testing ground. Immigrant workers in New York City make up more a than half the labor force. The low wages of these immigrants explain why New York County has the biggest spread between rich and poor in America -- It's in these organizing campaigns that the struggle to keep America from sliding back to the pay and conditions of the Gilded Age are being determined.

Ness focuses on three campaigns: Mexicans who work in Korean deli's, Pakistani limo drivers; and west African grocery store workers. With dozens of candid interviews, he takes us inside these immigrant communities, to hear the voices of New York's most silent workers.

Everyone knows that immigrants have it hard. But Ness forces us to see just what it means to be delivery man from Mali and be forced to live on $1.00 an hour - plus tips of course - while working for A&P's Food Emporium.

These workers are so exploited they aren't even permitted the status of workers. They're "independent contractors" "a fiction that allows employers the right to ignore the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) regulating minimum wage, maximum hours and safety conditions. The upshot is that the grocery baggers from Mali wind up making that $1.00 an hour - which is more than they would make in Mali but not as much as Americans made a century ago. .

Ness shows us how these immigrants nevertheless have been able to come together to demand dignity, rights and a few extra dollars - at great risk, despite threats of physical harm, deportation, and job loss. It's not exactly workers of the world unite. But a triumph of the resilience of traditional social bonds which somehow survive even in the Global City. Plus it turns out they can mobilize a lot of outside support - the Mexican workers in Korean deli's got help from State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer who obligating sued the employers for back pay; a formidable community campaign sprang up on the Lower East Side to support the workers when they went on strike; the Mexican Consul-general got involved, too.

Ness' most surprising finding is that American unions - the institution you might expect to be leading the charge on behalf of the most exploited workers - the established unions - are mostly missing in action or actively undermining the immigrant organizing campaigns. There are some splendid exceptions, like Ernesto Joffre the former Chilean miner, jailed for subversion under the Pinochet dictatorship who went into exile here in New York and became head of an exemplary garment workers local. But mostly organized labor is too busy patrolling its jurisdictional boundaries to give more than perfunctory help. Almost immediately after Joffre's untimely death, his parent union liquidated support for the organizing campaign. A shady longshore union located in New Jersey wound up with sweetheart contracts with several of the Korean deli's.

Ness' accomplishment is dual: anthropology of New York's newest immigrant communities and a political science of the city's unions. It adds up to the most valuable account yet of the astringent realities of immigrant organizing in America.

I was reading somewhere that Marx had been refuted, but you never know, the way the Bush gang is acting up it's only a matter of time before the classic challenge of Marx and Engels will see its stock rise as the Ann Coulter traitors realize she meant it. But will the corpus of ideas stand up? It seemed fitting to check out the cultural fire equipment--I appointed myself for the job. This book is a nice and a breezy, well done exploration of the mainline with an interesting twist on ecology. A bit after the fact, perhaps, since the legacy of known historical Marxism in action was not good here. But the relevance of Marx to ecological questions is not a hard rabbit to pull out of a hat. As interesting was the review of the Marxist viewpoint for which one fears there are no second chances in its current form which is lodged in a series of confusions through which the author takes us unwittingly, flawed material presented as 'store items'. Yet the tradition has infinite potential if anyone can extricate the material from its Hegelian, Darwinian confusions, and regrettable fallacies of (economic) theory.
One nice part of the book is the review of Marx's materialism, and the relation to his early studies of Epicurus. Thence the Hegelian sources of Marx and a history of Marx and Engels on Darwin. The problem with Marx's materialism is that it is, despite the obvious enrichment of the Greek source, too nineteenth century, and too obsessed as contra-Hegel. To transcend bourgeois society seems to ask for a philosophy that transcends the whole (bourgeois) philosophic tradition. But didn't Hegel steal on march on that question? To pick materialism against idealism was a strategic limitation. Hegel is too clever to outwit with materialist boilerplate from the age of scientism and water cooler jargon from hallways at Nasa. One is a Marxist anti-Hegelian yet armed with pilferred Hegelian material--the result is seen in the author's discussion of Hegel on Kant, a point on which Marxists tend to toe the line, like pragmatists with their 'naturalized Hegelianism'. Marx was brilliant but Marxism was outwitted by Hegel. Why not backtrack to Kant then, a gesture the author points to without intending it in, surprisingly, Engels whose reputation sits badly with his dialectics of nature, but the book shows thinking much more cogently in private with the Kantian third critique.
The most useful part of the book is the discussion of Marxism and Darwin. But here total confusion has always reigned in the 'over the falls' embrace of Darwin. And I was fascinated to read the author's giving the game away on Marx's obvious reluctance to let selectionist theory pass. For that we must admire Marx's instincts, for he smelt a rat, but the tide turned against him reservations. I think the Darwinist embrace produced by the Seond Internationale was a great failure of Marxism, as the 'critique of evolutionary economy' failed to make it into the tradition, in part because of the agenda on materialism. In a word, our fire equipment is not ready, for this and other reasons. Interesting little book anyway.

"Marx's Ecology" by John Bellamy Foster positively reasserts the long-neglected environmental aspects of Karl Marx's writing. Foster guides the reader through a fascinating look at Marx's personal intellectual development and the various thinkers who influenced him. The author reveals a Marx who was keenly aware of capital's strategy to alienate labor from nature. Foster also makes clear that Marx worked assiduously to develop a theory that might reconnect dehumanized labor with its degraded environment in hopes of creating a better, more sustainable world.

Indeed, Foster's book is an interesting study of intellectual history, with an emphasis on the debates that raged during Marx's lifespan in the 19th century. The ideas and discoveries of Darwin, Engels, Epicurus, Hegel, Malthus, Proudhon, and others are discussed at length. Foster presents a Marx who was clearly at the vanguard of progressive thought in his era and gives us considerable insight into how Marx created his materialist theory of history. We also understand why Marx privileged the environment but explicitly rejected the fashionable teleological and racist arguments of his time.

In particular, I found the discussion concerning Epicurus to be fascinating. Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who had a profound influence on the Enlightenment and was the subject of Marx's doctoral dissertation. Foster tells us that Marx's unconventional interpretations have been confirmed by recent archaeological discoveries, although at the time Marx had been working from a small number of extant fragments of Epicurus' writings. In addition to explaining to the reader why Epicurus' ideas are important, Foster deepens our appreciation for Marx, whose intellectual capabilities were evident even at a fairly young age.

In the Epilogue, Foster shows how Marx's ecology fell out of the loop, a victim to Soviet ideology, Stalinist purges and other historical forces. But he shows how snippets of Marx's environmental thought has influenced scholars and activists throughout the 20th century. In fact, Foster suggests that Marx has been vindicated by some within the contemporary environmental movement. For example, Rachel Carson's work connecting corporate power with environmental and social degradation recalls (unconsciously?) Marx's work regarding the dialectic of nature and science. But with this book, Foster has effectively redrawn the circle, solidly connecting Marxist theory with the environment. Foster helps us understand that social justice and ecological sustainability are core Marxist values that can guide and inspire activists who are looking for solutions to today's environmental crisis.

In short, I strongly recommend this book for readers who are interested in intellectual history and/or eco-socialist theory, and congratulate Foster for an outstanding piece of research.

This book is a hot knife through the rancid butter of existing views of the ties between science, ecology, and the politics of the human future.

Foster presents prodigious historical evidence for his thesis that, despite a century-and-a-half of obtuseness on both right and left, Karl Marx was one of the greatest and deepest inheritors and advancers of the best tradition of both "Enlightenment materialism-humanism" and ecological realism.

Foster shows that, contrary to traditional interpretations, Marx was neither an admirer of crude mechanistic science nor an airy Hegelian dreamer. If one actually bothers to read the earliest and the lesser-known Marx, it turns out that the bearded one was quite consciously an exponent of the supple, open-ended materialism embodied in the Epicurean tradition and in the best ideas of its Enlightenment elaborators, including giants of science like Bacon and Darwin.

This unappreciated fact, Foster also shows, meant that Marx was also a very profound ecologist. Up to speed on the most important ecological debates of his epoch, Marx's whole project, Foster convincingly demonstrates, rested on the kind of hard-headed, historically-sensitive, and politically clear-sighted concern for the world's ecological welfare that is so sorely lacking in today's sterile debates between status-quo ostriches and "radical" nature worshippers.

This book has opened my eyes and greatly deepened my appreciation of Marx, ecological thought, the history and future of science, and the best meaning of humanism. Anybody interested in these vital issues ought to get and digest this ground-breaking tour-de-force!

My group and I used this book for a presentation in our class in Marx and Marxism over at CSUF (go Dr. Avila!) and we would recommend this book to anyone not only interested in Marx and ecology but natural history and the divergent systems of socialism that sprung up in tandem with Marx. Paul Proudhon, Charles Darwin, Malthus, John Evelyn, Francis Bacon, Epicurus and a doven others are the stars of this Altmanesque vehicle, each getting their due. So vast is its scope in terms of not only the social/political/scientific movements but also the personalities that created them and so compact and taut is the prose that this book becomes not just informative but fun and... dare I say it?... rather thrilling to read.

In "Marx's Ecology," John Bellamy Foster defies conventional green thinking by raising the banner of materialism rather than spirituality in the fight to save the planet and humanity from ecological ruin. In addition to restoring materialism to its proper place, Foster also shows that ecological questions were central not only to Marx, but other Marxists such as Bebel and Bukharin. By restoring this lost tradition, Foster hopes to create a new basis for ecosocialism grounded in Marxist science rather than mysticism.

Although most students of Marx are aware of materialist thought in such early works as the 1845 "Theses on Feuerbach," Foster argues convincingly that materialism made its debut in Marx's doctoral dissertation on the "Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature," written four years earlier. According to Foster, the standard explanation for the dissertation is that Marx saw Epicurus as a kindred rebel spirit. This Epicurus sought to overthrow the totalizing philosophy of Aristotle, just as the post-Hegelians--including the young Marx--rose up against Hegel. What is missing here is the element of materialism, which drew Marx to Epicurus in the first place. Marx identified with the Enlightenment, for which Epicurus serves as a forerunner to the radical democrats of the 17th and 18th century. The materialism they all shared was crucial to an attack on the status quo, ancient or modern.

The Greek materialists, especially Epicurus, are important to Marx because they represent the first systematic opposition to idealist and essentialist thought. Just as importantly, Epicurus in particular anticipates the scientific revolution of the Enlightenment. His dicta that "Nothing is ever created by divine power out of nothing" and "nature . . . never reduces anything to nothing" are in harmony with what we now know as "the principle of conservation." Foster also notes that Lucretius, another materialist of the classical era, "alluded to air pollution due to mining, to the lessening of harvests through the degradation of soil, and to the disappearance of the forests; as well as arguing that human beings were not radically different from animals."

In their early writings, Marx and Engels wed the materialism of the Enlightenment to a political critique of the capitalist system, particularly targeting ideologues such as Malthus. Taking aim at his false piety, the 1844 "Outlines of a Critique of Political Economy" challenges private property, especially in the land, asserting that:

"To make earth an object of huckstering--the earth which is our one and all, the first condition of our existence--was the last step in making oneself an object of huckstering. It was and is to this very day an immortality of self-alienation. And the original appropriation--the monopolization of the earth by a few, the exclusion of the rest from that which is the condition of their life--yields nothing in immorality to the subsequent huckstering of the earth."

By restoring Marx's materialism to its proper place, "Marx's Ecology" provides a theoretical foundation for further explorations in ecosocialism. Once we understand the proper connection between nature and society, we can begin to act to confront the major problems facing humanity, from global warming to diminishing fresh water supplies. In the final chapter, Foster cites a number of Marxist thinkers who belong to the materialist tradition. Their examples can help to inspire a new generation of ecologically minded socialists.

Foster presents an unfamiliar side of Bukharin. His "Philosophical Arabesques," only made available in 1992, reveals a sophisticated dialectical materialist who grounds his analysis of society in ecology. Bukharin writes of the "earth's atmosphere, full of infinitely varied life, from the smallest microorganisms in water, on land and in the air, to human beings. Many people do not imagine the vast richness of these forms, or their direct participation in the physical and chemical processes of nature."

As one of the founders of German Social Democracy, August Bebel not only spoke with some authority in the 1884 "Woman Under Socialism," he also seemed to be anticipating the dire consequences experienced today in the wake of clear-cutting:

"The mad sacrifice of the appreciable deterioration of climate and decline in the fertility of the soil in the provinces of Prussian and Pomerania, in Syria, Italy and France, and Spain. Frequent inundations are the consequence of stripping high ground of trees. The inundations of the Rhine and Vistula are chiefly attributed to the devastation of forest land in Switzerland and Poland."

Finally, in an instance that seems to address Joel Kovel's complaint about the lack of spirituality in Marxism and a possible alternative to Lewis Henry Morgan's obsession with "improvement,", we have the example of Rosa Luxemburg who wrote from prison in May, 1917:

"What am I reading? For the most part, natural science: geography of plants and animals. Only yesterday I read why the warblers are disappearing from Germany. Increasingly systematic forestry, gardening and agriculture are, step by step destroying all natural nesting and breeding places: hollow trees, fallow land, thickets of shrubs, withered leaves on the garden grounds. It pained me so when I read that. Not because of the song they sing for people, but rather it was the picture of the silent, irresistible extinction of these defenseless little creatures which hurt me to the point that I had to cry. It reminded me of a Russian book which I read while still in Zurich, a book by Professor Sieber about the ravage of the redskins in North America. In exactly the same way, step by step, they have been pushed from their land by civilized men and abandoned to perish silently and cruelly."

Black's "Impeachment" is the ideal guide for the average citizen who hasn't studied constitutional law. Black gives a thumbnail sketch of the impeachment process' mechanics and explains what we know about the framers' intentions. He discusses the most often debated impeachment issues, and he offers his own interpretation of the process in general and comments on Nixon's impeachment.

The main points I took from this book are that impeachment gravely frays the fabric of American society, and that partisan politics has no place in the process; the linchpin of impeachment is the solemn statesmanship of our congressmen. If another impeachment comes about in my lifetime, I'll let my congressmen know early in the proceedings that I'm counting on them to act without partisan bias.

Black's book is now a bit dated, and his treatment is certainly more broad-brush than that of, say, Michael Gerhardt's "The Federal Impeachment Process" but this is still a wonderful book. A classic and, like all Black's works, beautifully written. If you're interested in impeachment (and who isn't these days?) this ought to be the first book you read.

Black's book is remarkably relevent to the current impeachment situation, even after 25 years. Though his examples are comtemporary to the Nixon near-impeachment (and prior to his resignation), it is refreshing to read a treatise on impeachment that does not constantly refer to Starr, Lewinsky, Tripp, et al. It is not written for the lawyer, so it has a popular flavor that made it a quick read while still imparting a great deal of information.

'The process of presidential impeachment and trial thereon, culminates in a judgement of the Senate, either that the president is not guilty, or that he is guilty on one or more of the Articles of Impeachment voted by the House, and is to be removed from office. Is this judgement of conviction final, or is it in some manner appealable, to the United States Supreme Court or elsewhere'?

Good question, huh? And so begins Chapter 4 of Charles L. Black's marvelous essay on the subject of impeachment. Black wrote this book when President Richard M. Nixon occupied the White House, yet the clarity of his writing, the reasonableness of his arguments and the vigor of his analysis, still hold true today nearly a quarter of a century later. This edition, republished in 1998, includes an impressive new forward by Prof Akhil Reed Amar of Yale University. If you're looking somewhat bewildered by the goings on Capitol Hill, and by implication, the lead stories on the news, rest assured you're not alone. One moment you hear the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee recommending four Articles of Impeachment and the next moment you see the House vote to send the President to be tried by the Senate. What gives? You ask.

Black's book takes the reader on a journey in search of the facts relating to impeachment: what it means, where it originated and how we apply tests to determine the case for or against an impeachable offence. Black also examines the role of lawyers and of the Courts.

The author's objective throughout is not so much as to provide the reader with solutions, rather it is to illuminate why certain answers are incorrect. He does this by laying the evidence before the reader, so that the reader has every chance to examine both the evidence and his conscience, prior to arriving at a determination. As in other aspects of life, the book highlights that not all issues are clearly defined, and there is indeed room for some interpretation Irrespective of whether you're keen to turn the first sod in the political grave of the President William Jefferson Clinton, or whether you'd prefer to stand at his side as the United States Senate charges him; Black's essay is lucid, elegant and entertaining. As a contribution to the debate it is invaluable.

Black's book is now a bit dated, and his treatment is certainly more broad-brush than that of, say, Michael Gerhardt's "The Federal Impeachment Process" but this is still a wonderful book. It ought to be brought back into print and -- given political events at the moment -- maybe it will be. A classic and, like all Black's works, beautifully written.

This set of articles, written in the early 1990s, is even more relevant today than when they were first written. In contrast to the George Bush the elder's boast that the US was leading us all into a "New World Order" of peace and prosperity, the perspective here is a sober and realistic one: the US is leading the world toward economic depression, a renewal of fascist movements, and if the working class does not take power, World War III. This assessment was based on a series of events, including the gigantic stock market crash of 1987. Preventing World War III, and all that would accompany it, is the challenge facing working people around the world and we need to organize NOW to make sure this is not our future. In light of this, this issue of New International includes an extremely informative article on Cuba, which shows that despite the "Special Period" they were living through, without aid from the Soviet Union, the Cubans were still fighting for a socialist society and because they refused to bow down to capitalist America, they continued to be a thorn in the side of the US. All of this is even more true today, as the stock market bubble of the 1990s has now decisively burst. And what is most striking today is how the jockeying for position heading into the war with Iraq is showing just what this article said: that competition between "allies" within NATO would sharpen. Just look at all the anti-French and German propaganda going around right now and you'll see just how accurate this set of articles was and still is today.

This book explains the meaning of the 1987 New York stock market crash and its repercussions; the "Special Period" (term used in Cuba for the economic crisis caused by the collapse in trade with the former USSR and Eastern Bloc, the tightening of the U.S. trade embargo, and the revolution's own admitted errors); the struggle against Stalinism and the "pockets of capitalism" in Cuba, led by the Cuban Communist Party and the revolutionary government; and why the Cuban revolution is still an inspiration for working people all over the world. The march led by Yanqui-U.S. imperialism, in the first place, toward fascism and world war, against its allies/imperialist rivals, against the post-capitalist economic foundations which survive in the workers states ( ex-USSR, Eastern Europe, China, etc.) and against the workers and farmers the world over, including those in the imperialist countries, is explained as well. Finally, this book points out that there is only one road forward for the resistance to this barbarous future: to follow the example of the Bolshevik revolution and the example of the Cuban revolution, applied to the specific conditions of each country, which is both possible and necessary even in the imperialist countries, the U.S. included. Above all, this book is a message of hope and scientific confidence in the workers and farmers of the whole world, based on the experience of the militants who are building the beginnings of a revolutionary workers party in the belly of the Imperial Beast.

This 1994 volume takes up the long-term economic crisis of capitalism and how it drives the U.S. rulers toward more severe conflicts with their international rivals, and toward a showdown with workers and farmers at home. It explains the rise of fascist perspectives, such as those of Patrick Buchanan and Jean-Marie Le Pen, as the inevitable product of the social crisis that is unfolding. And it describes the increasing use of military force to defend the interests of U.S. capitalism as the result of the needs of a declining empire, not just as the choice of certain politicians.

This book's main article is a resolution adopted in 1988 by the Socialist Workers Party explaining the causes and results of the stock market crash. It is a remarkable picture of the growing conflicts between the big capitalist powers--the US, Europe, and Japan--and the economic crises, colonial wars, and other problems that have issued from those conflicts since then. Moreover, there is a program, just as relevant then and today for workers, youth, farmers, racial and national minorities to fight their way out of that to socialism. Not prophecy, but scientific socialist answers about where we have been and where we are going.

"OCTOBER 1987: a near-meltdown of stock exchanges world wide lays bare capitalism's new vulnerability and increaing instability. 1989-91: counterrevolutionary Stalinist police apparatuses in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union come tumbling down. 1991: a war against Iraq that Washington seeks to portray as victory of a new world order results instead in increasing conflicts among NATO powers themselves, and between them and others in the 'victorious coalition,' from Moscow to Riyadh.

1991-1992: in Gulf War's aftermath, it becomes clear that world capitalism has sunk into depression conditions for the first time in half a century; polarization between wealth and poverty grows, insecurity deepens, and ultrarightist forces gain new ground. 1994: despite most difficult conditions in 35 years, Cuba's working people fight to maintain proletarian social relations conquered through their revolution, giving the lie to expectations of 'friend' and foe alike.

"These are just a few of the events analyzed in this issue of New International that have transformed world politics and frame the growing class conflicts and military confrontations before us today. How the working class and its allies respond to the accelerated capitalist disorder will determine whether or not imperialism's march toward fascism and war can be stopped....And whether a road to the communist future of humanity will be opened" (from the back cover).

The title is "The Improving State of the World" and Goklany shows the state of the world
is improving. By nearly every measure of human wellbeing, we are better off than we used
to be. Life expectancy is increasing. Starvation and malnourishment is decreasing. The air
is cleaner. The water is cleaner. Child labor is less prevalent. Literacy is increasing.
Personal income is increasing. There are many more. The good news applies to the world
as a whole, the developed world, and the developing world. But this is not just cheering
for the status quo. He identifies the exceptions to the general trends, and does it for
each of the measures of wellbeing. Most of the exceptions are in Africa south of the Sahara,
and in the former soviet empire.

The subtitle is "Why we're living longer, healthier, more comfortable lives on a cleaner planet".
The reason is technology, economic growth, human capital, education, the rule of law, and
private property, all linked together in many interconnected "virtuous cycles." For example,
economic growth means more money to buy technology such as fertilizer and tractors which means
more food and less hunger, and time for education so more children can make even better
technology and sell it for less to more well fed, less sick, longer lived people who can use
their energy for economic growth. With better infrastructure, less food rots before it is eaten,
so less land is needed for farms so there is more room for biodiversity. With economic security,
families tend to be smaller. Each improvement makes improvements in other areas more likely.

The book was published by Cato Institute, the well known conservative think tank. Liberals
should consider the message, rather than the messenger. You don't get up before dawn and look
west just because Hitler said the sun rises in the east.

It is easy to evaluate the arguments and check the claims in the 420 pages of text. There are
85 pages of notes. Most of the links in the virtuous cycles are fully explained by statistics.
There are a few places were Goklany resorts to qualitative explanations, but these are clearly
stated to be not quantitative. The statistical data is used more fairly than in any other work
I can recall. Almost all the time series analysis uses all the data available; the few exceptions
are explained and justified. He uses data from advocates of positions opposite what he will
conclude. For example, he accepts the data from IPCC and uses it in his analysis that shows
adaptation to changing climate is better than intervention to try to prevent the change. He uses
consistent rules for fitting trend lines. Sometimes, there are different statistics that seem to
be about the same reality. He sometimes explains why one source might be undercounting or
overcounting. He often will do the analysis with both sets of data.

Some of Goklany's arguments clearly follow Maslow's hierarchy of needs. People do not care about
the environment when they are hungry. People do not care about quality of life next year when
they are concerned about surviving this year. Economic growth allows people to care about the
environment. Technical advances allow them to do something about it.

The tone is level and matter of fact. This is not a hate book, but some will hate some of the
conclusions. He presents the arguments for other conclusions fairly. Those that reach other
conclusions are not portrayed as evil or stupid, or even as paid shills of some vast conspiracy.

The book is optimistic about our future, with the emphasis on what is good for people. He does not
praise or deplore large families, but notes the strong trend towards smaller families as wealth
increases. Wealth brings health and less infant mortality, so an increase in population, but
increased family size happens only for a while.

The conclusions Goklany reaches will seem correct to more conservatives than liberals. The book will
not appeal to the extremes of either political wing, but it could be a big help to most of us
in the middle that wonder what we can do to help humanity.

This is not an entertaining read. There is a lot of information to absorb. There are many steps in
some of the virtuous cycles. Some of the vicious cycles Goklany debunks have to be examined in
detail to show they are wrong. You do not have to read it straight through to benefit from this
book. The next time you are invited on a crusade or bandwagon, pause and check it out. Use the
detailed index and find out all sides of the issue. You might find enough information to satisfy
yourself in just a few pages. But most things influence most other things and you might want to dig
deeper. You might find you have read half the book by the time you cover all the issues that are
related to the topic that was your starting point.

This is an important and excellent book. I highly recommend it.

Finally someone has taken the time to document how things have improved. Easy to read, lots of good information.

Many believe that globalization and growth are degrading the environment and, ultimately, human desires, but THE IMPROVING STATE OF THE WORLD: WHY WE'RE LIVING LONGER, HEALTHIER, MORE COMFORTABLE LIVES ON A CLEANER PLANET is the first to analyze long-term trends from a range of indicators of environmental health, offering up data drawing important links between economic growth, technological change, and free trade - which have actually helped foster a 'cycle of progress' leading to improvements in the human condition. THE IMPROVING STATE OF THE WORLD is a milestone study highly recommended for college-level holdings strong on social issues and environmental and political affairs: it is especially recommended for college-level classroom debate and is unparalleled in its scope.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Indur Goklany has written a very convincing and fact-filled work arguing that Mankind is thanks primarily to technological development on a progressive path towards greater and greater well- being. As the subtitle of the book says he argues that we are living longer , healthier more comfortable lives on a cleaner planet.

In an outstanding review of this book in 'Foreign Affairs'James Suroweicki suggests it is the Industrial Revolution that is at the heart of the economic and social transformation which is the subject of this book.
"In the West, above all, the effects of this transformation have been so massive as to be practically unfathomable. Real income, life expectancy, literacy and education rates, and food consumption have soared, while infant mortality, hours worked, and food prices have plummeted. And although the West has been the biggest beneficiary of these changes, the diffusion of technology, medicine, and agricultural techniques has meant that developing countries have enjoyed dramatic improvements in what the United Nations calls "human development indicators," even if most of their citizens remain poor. One consequence of this is that people at a given income level today are likely to be healthier and to live longer than people at the same income level did 40 or 50 years ago.
But Suroweicki takes objection to the idea that it is unregulated free market which alone can deal with environmental problems and points out that it is only through various government initiatives that the quality of air and water has improved in most Western cities.
This book does a good job of debunking the work of the doomsayer demographers of the Ehrlich, Club of Rome school which were at the heart of public awareness in the nineteen seventies.
To do this it amasses a tremendous amount of evidence as to the generally improved quality of life in most geographical regions. It does note the exceptions in sub- Saharan Africa and Russia.
Yet it does not give sufficient attention to such possibly catastrophic processes as nuclear proliferation. Nor does he consider the full effect of radical fundamentalist Islam both on the standards, level of economic development in Islamic societies- but on their general capacity for bringing through war disruption and even disaster to the world.
Nor does he consider the damage wrought by new technology on the family, and the overall mental health - profile of mankind. The great growth in mental illness, primarily Depression certainly is related to disruptive effects of new technology.
Thus while presenting a very convincing case that technological progress has given us longer, more prosperous lives Goklany does not reckon fully the negative consequences which have also come with this.

Probably one of the most important, well written, and throughly researched books on the topic of human development and the way we interact with our environment to come out in the past decade. It is a detailed and unapologetic look at what is really going on and where we should properly focus our attention in the future.
It is a brilliant answer to the eco-doom "best-sellers" that have proliferated recently. Highly recommended for those who want to KNOW, not just pontificate and pursue a political agenda.