Events Books

Captain Vogel has done an excellent job explaining the profound impact that social / political decisions can make on our military's readiness. Constant Bearing-Decreasing Range is an enjoyable story that left me questioning positions that I had held for years. My only thought at the end of the book was "Wow".

Written by 20-year Navy veteran Skip Vogel, Constant Bearing - Decreasing Range: The Collision of Public Policy and National Defense is a novel based on true-life ramifications of President Lyndon Johnson's ill-advised choice to swell the American military's ranks by allowing freshly convicted criminals to join. The result was a souring of the nation's armed forces; the misfits and felons that entered its ranks proved difficult to integrate and sometimes became the nation's worst enemy. Constant Bearing - Decreasing Range also focuses upon the personal story of one high-risk sailor named Sam, as the military strives to shape him into a true soldier without jeopardizing the success of its missions. A captivating, action-packed read with insights about the dangers of lowering military recruitment standards too low that are immediately relevant in today's modern age.

Skip Vogel uses his 20 years of Navy experience to weave an intricate tale of life aboard a major warship in the 1970's.
The aircraft carrier USS UNION is the stage on which Vogel's story plays out. It's the 1970's, and several civilian judiciary systems have taken to allowing convicted criminals to serve in the military instead of serving their time. While this experiment bears fruit with a small percentage of misguided youth, by and large it results in several criminal and psychotic personnel being inducted into the Navy in general and onto the UNION in particular. Against this tide of dishonor stand Admiral Yorel, YN3 Byrd, and some other good sailors, chiefs, and officers who realize that they are in dire straits, and who set out to make it right. Vogel does an excellent job of capturing the leadership challenges involved, and also the frustration of the lead characters as they fight not only a criminal element in the crew, but a bureaucratic Navy that is more concerned with paperwork and political correctness than it is about national defense. Well written and engrossing, this book illustrates the conflict that sometimes ensues between public policy and defending this country. Suggested for Navy veterans, leadership students, and those interested in social justice.

I thought the author did a good job of portraying the life of some people in the Navy, and how enlistment practices affected them and affected the capibilities of the ship.

As a retired naval officer who had a tour on an aircraft carrier I found Skip Vogel's book, Constant Bearing-Decreasing Range an outstanding read. I was caught up in the story in the first few pages and had trouble putting it down until I could finish it. Skip Vogel has a wonderful writing style and is very accurate in his descriptions of life in a carrier during the 1970s. Do doubt this a reflection of personal experience but for anyone who just loves a great story this is a must read.

This wonderful collection of true stories is deeply moving. What an uplifting and encouraging book!

Bought the book last week and we are passing it around the house-everyone wants to read The Day I Met God, we have nearly worn it out! Theis collection of stories will touch your heart and move you as you see God's faithfulness. Get an extra copy for a friend!

We're buying four more copies to give away as gifts, and we'll probably buy more later. It can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. This book was so fun (and easy) to read. My wife and I loved reading the wide range of fascinating testimonials to God's life-changing power! We felt compelled to share these stories with others. Plus, where else can you find a book that is truly invaluable and inspiring for less than 9 bucks!

I couldn't put the book down. I kept reading, story after story, waiting for one to be a "dud." But I was never disappointed. Each story was equally inspiring and filled me with encouragement and hope. There are as many different stories as there are people writing them, all unique, all different.

THE DAY I MET GOD is filled with inspiring and amazing stories of people who had an encounter with God....even the most unlikely of individuals. There's a story for everyone in this book. It will reach anyone and soften the hardest heart! If you have a friend who is need of God's healing power or truth, this is the book for them. These stories will lead them to God! I particularly was moved by the story of the young man was robbing a man who agreed to give him his money, but told the burglar that he needed to give his heart to the Lord. There's is no doubt in mind that this victim must have prayed for the man who robbed him, because he was later led to the Lord. The criminal was really haunted by the man's words until he gave his life to the Lord. I won't spoil the surprise of how he turned his life around! A great evangelical tool, this is a book that Christians can give to their non-Christian friends without fear of offending them. This book''s gentle stories speak loudly of everyone's need for God and also it shows how we are all individuals and how God meets us not just where we are but in such a special way that it validates how well he knows his children.

really a great analysis! I had no clue about EU affairs beforehand, now I understand a bit better what is going on. And, I know that the official media outlets would not have helped me to understand what is going on behind the scenes.

I am not a news junkie but I liked the way Ralph T. Niemeyer presented facts in this book. It was quite entertaining although it was about EU finances, politics, strategies etc, which I usually couldn't care less about. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know a bit more about what is going on in our democracies. The author is right: The Information Age is over, the only question is whether it ever existed?!

It's true what other reviewers said: the analysis is unbeatable! I like the facts-based style of the articles and although I am neither an economist nor educated in political sciences I am able to understand complex issues raised by the author. I felt as if my granddad took my hand and explained the world to me without being teacherous.

This is really the best ever analysis of what is really going on! Everyone who is really interested in the present financial crisis after August 11 and the upcoming war against Iran should read this book as it gives a credible account of the strategies and hidden agendas when China let's the Myanmar military dictators shoot at the monks of Burma. One can learn from this book how the West and China fight proxy wars in Africa (Sudan) and Asia (Burma). Read it and spread the word for democracy for all of us is at stake!

Gorgeous! Well done, Ralph T. Niemeyer! You really made someone like me who normally wouldn't care too much about politics read through the whole book in one go and find tears in my eyes, most of them because of laughter, some because the state our society is in makes me sad, but then again, you tell me about it with a twinkle in the eye.

Awesome book is a must read if more people in DC thought this way we would still be a republic instead of on our way of being a socialist government like the old USSR

This is a collection of Prof. Walter Williams's newspaper columns. It's in his usual plainspoken, tough minded style. A must for the Prof. Williams fan.

This book is a compilation of columns by America's strongest voice of liberty, Dr. Walter E. Williams. In this book Dr. Williams offers his common sense, freedom-loving take on the vital issues of the day. He fearlessly confronts the many liberal fallacies responsible for eroding our precious liberties. A must read for anyone wanting to expand their base of knowledge and unafraid to confront stark truths. A great antidote to the toxic political propaganda many of our universities dispense. And, a great book for Blacks brave enough to challenge the ethnic grievance industry (Jackson-Sharpton).

Everything Walter Williams writes is worth reading. His amazing capacity to convey economic truths combines with his wisdom, humor, eloquence, and keen powers of observation to make him one of America's top pundits. Williams is that rare bird: a truly courageous pundit who is also a genuine scholar.

Over the past 15 years I have read numerous works by many libertarian writers. Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Ayn Rand, Charles Murray, P.J. O'Rourke, Dave Barry, Henry Hazlitt, F.A. Hayek, Ludwig Von Mises, Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard, Julian Simon, and many others. Walter Williams is my definite favorite libertarian writer. He tells the plain, simple truth in a way that is very easy to understand. He presents the facts in such a way that only a fool could read him and then walk away without becoming a libertarian. This book is pretty much on par with his others. Which is to say, it is excellent. Mr Williams is a true supporter of individual liberty, freedom, private property rights, and strict limits on the size of government. Good for him!

I would like not to see the parallels. Any rational and compassionate person should like not to see the parallels. But the parallels are there, and Miller lays them bare in this devastating and meticulous extended analogy.

This is an astonishing book. Its thesis is provocative, to say the least, and it may not be for everyone -- but if you've ever wondered if just maybe our current federal drug policy wasn't delivering quite what you'd hoped, crack this book open and prepare to lose sleep.

The author has done the work and now the citizens must spread the "gospel". Like a seer Lawrence is able to anticipate the insane trajectory of where this drug war is leading. Though the picture he paints is ugly, if these drug warrior zealots are not vigorously challenged now he clearly shows how much uglier it will become. The evil of Nazi Germany and that of the US drug war are clearly shown to progress via the same chain of events: identification, ostracism, confiscation, concentration, and the final solution ie annihilation. Miller is an American hero doing the best he can to awaken conciousness.

This is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. Richard L. Miller deserves an award. In this book, the author details the erosion of civil liberties by the current war on drugs. For those familiar with this area, he trots out the typical points: harsh penalties for minor violations and loss of civil liberties for all.

But what makes this book special is the author's analysis of legal issues and history. Richard Miller is an independent scholar who has written about Nazi justice (in "Nazi Justiz"). I thought his application of Nazi jurisprudence to the drug war was overkill at first. Little did I know just how wrong I was. As one reviewer put it, this book will help you lose weight.

What sets this book above the others on the drug war is that Miller explains how the war effects the innocent, and how innocence is no longer an adequate defense. In fact, Miller has a Justice Department official quoted as saying that innocence was not a defense to forfeiture of assets. He argues that asset forfeiture has corrupted law enforcement at all levels.

In one example, Miller tells of an elderly couple in one California county who owned a mutil-million dollar ranch adjacent to a national park. Apparently, the Park Service wanted the land, the local law enforcement the assets (in the form of the house, possessions, etc.). Thus, police had to get a warrant to raid the property. First, they searched it illegally. This is a typical tactic of DEA agents and local law enforcement, who search a house and either plant or discover evidence that they can use to get a warrent later. Regardless, the courts have determined that even illegal searches and seizures are acceptable in the war on drugs. All of this is documented in the book. Even in the illegal search, no drugs were discovered. An elderly couple, go figure?

If you think that stopped the police, DEA, et al., then you haven't read the book. One local officer testified before a judge that "thousands" of marijuana plants were being cultivated on the property. This testimony was based on a lie told to the officer by another. Although both were aware of the lie (and the couple's complete innocence of ANYTHING), this way neither officer could be chared with perjury. Needless to say, the judge issued the warrant.

During the raid, the husband was sleeping. He was roused awake by his wife's screaming and was shot to death as he put down his rifle, which he had becuase he thought he was being robbed and was defending his wife. The agents participating in the raid evicted the wife. Even agents of the U.S. Park Service were involved, in case you doubted their complicity.

It gets better. The location of the ranch was in a different county than the one in which the local police were from! They went out of their own jurisdiction for the express purpose of seizing property from people THEY KNEW were innocent. All of this was expressed by the county prosecutor (where the ranch was), when he said that they appeared to be motivated by a desire to obtain the property and assests of its owners.

This book is meticulously documented and researched. The analysis of the legal issues with references to the Nuremburg Tribunal and Nazi legal principles is stunning. As well as his telling of the internment of Japenese-Americans to demonstrate how segments of society can be treated if the propaganda warriors desire their elimination.

If you're not enraged by the time you're finished reading this book, your heart is dead.

This is one of the best books I have read. I am against prohibition. Many people are but whenever the subject comes up in conversation the retort to my sugestion that prohibition be repealed is typically something along the line of "all you want to do is smoke pot" ...followed by some chuckling and then some stories about the days when we use to get high as kids.
This book is not about smoking pot. It is about the use of the drug war and prohibition law to circumvent Americans civil liberties. It is very well written. It helped me to form reasonable counter arguments to the for mentioned statement such as... "is it OK to strip search a child?"
This book is made even more relative when used as background material to analyze what I witness while watching the Judge Alito confirmatio hearings.
The scariest part of this book is watching the events described come alive right before our eyes on C-span.
I think you should read this if you, like me, suspect that something is rotten in Denmark and the official version of what is happening just isn't making sense.

This book is an anomaly amidst the typical drug policy literature available. Miller's argument stems from his scholarship on Nazism. He applies Raul Hilberg's "chain of destruction" to the current "war," not on drugs, but on drug users. William Bennett was less than secretive about his abhorrence for those who used drugs, especially those "hard-core users who were too far gone to care about" - stated differently, the real issue is not the drugs themselves, but the type of people who use drugs. America is full of social problems, e.g. poverty, crime, &c.; problems that most politicians are timid in addressing because of the complexities involved in solving them. Yet, politicians need a platform to stand on and the American public needs a scapegoat. Drug users, that most alien element in the population, according to Miller, are the perfect group to identify, ostracize, confiscate, concentrate, and then annihilate as scapegoats for all the ills in society: in fact this sequence of stages is Hilberg's "chain of destruction." It is from his "seminal" study on the Holocaust, later published as: The Destruction of the European Jews, that Hilberg constructed his theory of the chain of destruction. Nazi Germany, like America, was in the throes of profound social discord and the public demanded a scapegoat. The Jews became the literal manifestation of a scapegoat for the German people. Hitler, faced with harsh social problems, exercised his own prejudices to isolate, blame and thus use the Jews as a scapegoat for Germany's problems. It was identification of the scapegoat with a real entity and the eventual acceptance of this scapegoat by a German majority that led to the conceptualization and employment of a "final solution" for the riddance of social ills from German society. Miller's argument is provocative, to say the least, in that he sees a direct correlation between the processes of Nazism and the processes of the "drug warriors." Moral indignation when it is directed toward a highly specified group of people can have disastrous consequences. Miller is not the only scholar who has applied the scapegoat theory to drug users in American society, but he is the first to take it to its disturbing, but logical end.

I rate this book as amongst the most influential in my life. The author spends the first half of the book explaining why even though things may look much more advanced and different now than 2000 years ago, the same underlying forces are at play. The powerful are in control and we live under a system of mercantilism and not anything resembling the free trade we are taught at school.

I have read widely and believe that the solutions proposed by Dr Smith in the second half of this book focus too narrowly on the economic aspects of peoples lives and tend to be very prescriptive such as specific taxation reforms. I prefer the writings of Noam Chomsky who is less proscriptive but generally has more the right idea - that as human beings our main goal should be to let everyone live in freedom and peace where everyone is able to be himself. People just want to be free to control their own destiny and economics is only one part of this solution.

Despite not agreeing with all the solutions posed by Dr Smith I still fully rate this book because it is the first half that will blow your socks off. You do not have to agree with the second half and can pick and choose which reforms should be implemented as I did. This book changed my thinking forever and I now realise and understand the real forces at play when I see news items and read books.

Essentially this book is an extremely in-depth deconstruction of neo-liberal economics/politics. I had long thought myself almost unique (outside Academia) in the depth and breadth of my reading, but after having read this book, I realized that I understood very little about what was really going on. It was a humbling experience, to say the least. But it was also liberating, in that for the first time in my life, the opaque inconsistencies between what I had been taught in university and the realities I saw happening in the news became transparent. The author additionally offers many progressive ideas for a more just, efficient and ultimately sustainable economic system, which in my experience is very rare indeed. If you are looking for something more substantial than Michael Moore's often inarticulate rants - albeit less entertaining - than this is the book for you. BE WARNED: once you read this book, nothing will ever seem quite the same.

I've searched my whole life to the reasons for and the solution to world poverty and hunger. This work offers both in a well reasearched and thought out, realistic approach. The reasons for poverty become obvious after reading Dr. Smith's book. The posibility of ending poverty by building buying power in the Third World while improving the standard of living in the developed world is as brilliant as it feasible. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for answers to solving the world's ills

I was first impressed by JW Smith's book, The World's Wasted Wealth 2, filled as it is with ideas about how to reduce waste. His Economic Democracy book exposes the roots of world poverty and identifies how all people everywhere can become truly wealthy while respecting and conserving the world's ecology. I use several chapters in the undergraduate sociology course I teach called, Cooperation and Conflict. Every chapter is packed with information that we all need to know in order to participate responsibly in redirecting government policies.

A professor of economics once told me that "mainstream economics is 95% ideology and only 5% social science." This wonderful book by J.W. Smith shows why that is true. I found it utterly complelling and could not put it down. By exposing the macro-economic mechanisms of the past five centuries, Smith blows neo-liberal ideology right out of the water. This book should be required reading everywhere in the world. It points the way toward a liberated and decent world-order and shows that a just world-order would not be that difficult to achieve. This book lays the foundation for a new global economics of freedom and prosperity. Thank-you Dr. Smith!

I have only begun to use this reference tool but have been very impressed so far. I needed a guide to thorough citing of sources in my genealogical and historical research. I am an amateur and is has been many years since I learned documentation. I was thoroughly confused about how to document electronic sources.

This book gives numerous and specific examples of citations for a wide range of possible sources. Even if you don't choose to use an established style, you can easily discern what information is needed to provide for a return to the source of your information. It is very much worth the purchase price if you are desirous of effective documentation of your work.

"Evidence Explained" by Elizabeth Shown Mills is by far the most comprehensive resource I have seen for accurately and effectively citing historical sources. The book is well organized and the author provides excellent citation examples for just about every source imaginable. Whether you are a novice or experienced researcher, I would highly recommend this book.

This book is a must have for historical researchers and writers. Up-to-date it is a wealth of information. I would recommend this for every researchers library.

Ms. Mills latest book is a great tool for evidence citation in genealogy research. I have used it frequently since purchasing. I strongly recommend it.

Evidence Explained is the answer to a genealogist's quest for citation guidelines. With the ever-expanding Internet databases and records collections, it is becoming more and more important for serious genealogists to understand how to properly cite these sources. Evidence Explained is the guide everyone should own. Not only does it provide detailed guidance and templates for practically any source you might encounter, it presents a comprehensive text covering the theory behind citations. Evidence Explained covers far more than Internet sources, it includes use of obscure and unusual sources encountered by genealogists. I highly recommend this book to any genealogist concerned about properly citing sources.

I was very satisfied with the text book. It is in almost perfect condition and was delievered in a timely fashion. Impressive! Plus I saved a lot of needed money.

One of the major things that striked me about this book is Lauren's acknowledgement that the concept of human rights is not a completely Western creation. Traditions around the world, political, cultural, and religious, have stressed justice and equality.
Lauren's treatment of Human Rights is quite thorough. I have to commend him for the fact that he does not value judgements on any of the events he described. He acknowledges the mistakes made but does not dwell on them.
I also learned a lot of things about history that wasn't touched about in my history classes. I can say that I actually felt smarter reading this book. :)

"For scholars of international human rights, it is difficult to imagine a finer gift on the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights than this study of the Declaration's complex and far-reaching impact. Paul Gordon Lauren has skillfully combined a detailed history of the legal documents with the political, philosophical, and social contexts in which they developed. He has further enriched his study with the personal visions of leading individuals so that the story comes alive, unfolding with a human drama supported by meticulous scholarly research." -- American Historical Review

Awarded an Outstanding Academic Book for 1999 Award from Choice Magazine

The author Paul Gordon Lauren deserves kudos!! A very well written book on Human Rights Theory. A must for all those who seriously want to go into depth on this subject. The concept of Human Rights is not limited to the western world nor it is proper to say that it has arisen mainly from Europe, an idea which has been very well captured in this book.

I wanted so badly to give this book 4 stars but couldn't bring myself to do it.
The concept of the book is interesting and Mr. Olson tackled it very well. The early part of the book details Mr. Olson's experiences growing up in Iowa, attending the University of Iowa Law School (Go Hawks!), how he came to join the CIA, and gave a brief summary of his career, although I say it was TOO brief and if Mr. Olson ever wrote a biography about his experiences in the Agency it would make a tremendously interesting read. He also mentioned that when he was recruited into the CIA, all he knew about it was what he had learned in Allen Dulles' book The Craft of Intelligence, which is ironic because I ordered that book on the same day as Fair Play. Both turned out to be greatly enjoyable.
The largest portion of Fair Play focuses on different (hypothetical) moral dilemmas potentially faced by Intelligence Officers, with each dilemma being asked in question form, "Would it be moral if..." Following each posed dilemma several people give their opinions and answer the posed question, answering either `yea' or `nay,' and telling why they answered in that way. At the conclusion of each `dilemma,' Mr. Olson himself chimes in and gives some basic background on the issue raised (these are the most informative parts of each section).
In the back of the book is an index explaining certain words and concepts, used throughout the text, that those outside the intelligence community may not fully grasp, which was nice to have as a reference. He also lists some of his most highly recommended books regarding the Intelligence community. Again, nice bonus.
All in all, it's a great book. So, why did I want to give it only 4 stars? ...Because the book wasn't entirely informative, as I prefer. That is to say, the questions were posed and people were allowed to give their opinions. Granted, the purpose of the book is to highlight the various dilemmas and take into consideration various perspectives, but that can grow tired after a bit. At times it made me feel like I was sitting in a moral dilemma debate conference.
However, in taking the following into consideration I feel obligated to give it 5 stars and absolutely recommend it: the informative reference section, the real-world input of the author, and the recommended reading list add a lot of value to the books content. Heck, even the small font causes the pages to be jam-packed with content. And lastly, Mr. Olson does indeed what he set out to do. It's worth the price!

Great book, great intro. to the intelligence field, and gives you a birdeye's view on the little spoken subfield, which is the morality of the intelligence field. Great demystifier of this field.

In the vast genre of intelligence writing, this book is simply unique. In presenting the moral dilemmas faced by intelligence officers, this work is indispensible--both for practical training for the professionals and for educating the public about the realities of the profession.

Where the book falls down, I'm afraid, is in its judgments about other works of intelligence writing. Olson's list of the best books for a professional library include two that have been discredited as historical works. He also repeats the mythical canard that Winston Churchill allowed Coventry to be bombed during World War II so as not to let the Germans know their communications were being read; he needs to read David Stafford, Martin Gilbert, and R.V. Jones on this score. Being taken in by [...] or by myths are disturbing failings for a former chief of counterintelligence.

Fair Play offers the reader a peek into the murky world of espionage. CIA veteran Jim Olson has a unique perspective that few other authors can offer to anyone interested in intelligence. Fair Play is not your standard historical narrative. It is an interactive experience, which invites the reader to participate in fifty realistic and morally challenging scenarios that our spies must contend with. Olson adds further credibility to Fair Play by sharing with the reader a cross section of responses to his very realistic scenarios. These elicited responses are from accomplished professionals, whose vocations vary from the former Deputy Director of the CIA to practicing physicians.
Fair Play includes chapters on Olson's under cover career in the CIA, changing U.S. attitudes toward espionage from the Revolutionary War to the present, and historical, biblical, and philosophical justifications for committing espionage. Armed with this requisite knowledge, the reader is thrust into true-to-life situations that U.S. spies actually face in the shadows today. This approach redirects the reader from the role of arm chair quarterback to active participant by asking what he/she would do in that same situation. Among the many topics covered are assassinations, kidnappings, interrogation, torture, drugs, seduction, sexual entrapment, and blackmail.
Morality and espionage are not mutually exclusive. As Olson says, it is about time someone started thinking about how morality and spying fit together in today's world. The community he continues to serve faces monumental challenges. Its operators need to have a clearly defined moral code with which to take the fight to our enemies. This book represents a great first step towards providing such a moral code to our clandestine warriors.

FAIR PLAY could've been featured in our Military Shelf section - after all, it's by the former chief of CIA counterintelligence - but deserves a much broader reading audience than those who frequent military libraries. FAIR PLAY presents both a survey of the real world of spying and espionage and a concurrent survey of moral and ethical issues involved in spying, and dilemmas which come from field experience every day. The blend of intelligence history, political insights, and social issues makes for a survey which advocates a clearer moral sense in U.S. intelligence officers - and that holds many lessons for civilians as well. Even the general-interest lending library will find it a unique, compelling read.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Strother, a Texas bred Democrat consultant who served as a mentor to better known figures such as James Carville, recounts his experiences in the rough and tumble world of politics. In many hands, this could have been a very factual, dry and boring book. Luckily for the reader, Strother is an uproarious storyteller.

The son of a fervent union man in Port Arthur, Texas, Strother more or less falls into the political consulting business by default. He begins his career in Louisana, a hotbed of corruption and questionable ethics. Thru his journey, we relive his often painful and hilarious campaign experiences with country singer Jimmie Davis, Gary Hart and Bill Clinton.

Current politics are dirty business and not for the weak of heart. Idealists are often rudely discarded before they even realize what's happened. Strother considers himself a man of integrity in a profession that increasingly looks at such a trait as a weakness. He not only has to deal with Republican adversaries but underhanded tactics by members of his own party. Strother is honest in his analysis of his work and colleagues and spares no one including other Democrats who employed dirty tricks against his firm.

No matter what side your political beliefs fall, this is a good read if you want to understand how politics work behind the scenes.

I had the pleasure of visiting with Raymond last week in Montana,and hearing him tell some of the stories that were not in the book was an interesting evening.

Even though I have lived in La. all of my life so many of the stories in the book I had never heard!Raymond brought them all to life.

Books about politics by insiders get most of the business right, but only Ray Strother tells you what it is really like to work in national politics in plain, unhyped prose.

Ray Strother's chronicle of the industry that brings us our leaders is fascinating. His story is also an "American Success Story". From the giants of the U.S. Senate includingRussell Long (recently passed) and Lloyd Bentsen to today's leaders in the Senate - Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln and Zell Miller - Strother has woven a tapestry of stories that enthral and make us consider our democracy.

This is a first-rate, fast-read of an industry that is seldom discussed but that brings us world leaders. Ad agency execs marvel at their brilliance but at the end of the day they sell sugar water to children. Strother has given an insight to a world seldom seen, but of importance to all of us.

Get the book - read it and pass it around. This is one of those books that flys below the radar but could become a movie.

happy reading

Raymond Strother's warts-and-all memoir of his life as a political consultant is a fun, must-read for all students of American politics. Strother's career began when there was still some innocence in campaigning, and winds up during the frustrating years of ego-driven hacks whose self-importance overshadows their candidates, to the detriment of government. Ray Strother's genuinity was formed the old-fashioned way: he grew up poor and learned to appreciate other people.

Strother's tales of Southern political skirmishes will entertain. He's a smooth storyteller who should write more, now that he's out of the maelstrom of the Washington kill-or-be-killed consultant circuit.

Caveat: I am a Republican, and although Strother's life has been spent around Democrats, his tales are compelling across the board.