Events Books

I loved the cover. How did Mandery draw all of those characters onto the book jacket? Very impressive!

This is not only an interesting, easy to read book, it shows a side of politcal campaigning from an interesting point of view. Mandery is an objective observer with an inside seat. He was part of the campaign, but not part of the culture. That, in my opinion, is to his credit.

The book he has written is rife with funny anecdotes, touching scenes and aggravating politics as usual. Mandery keeps his perspective through the whole mess.

This book is the most insightful book about the nature of the modern campaign I have ever read. As a professional campaigner I know this from first hand experience. Here is a chance for the citizen to peel back the veil and view the inner workings of the campaigns that, in so many ways, choose our officials and shape our nation.

The great thing about the book is that much of it is universally true and important. The issues that Mandery writes about from fundraising, to polling, to the dangers of ethnic politics, to the motivations of the press are as true in the high-flying campaigns of Bill Clinton as they are the failed campaign of Ruth Messinger. The mayoral campaign is, in many ways, simply an entertaining backdrop to a thoughtful guide of the ins and outs of American politics.

That said, the book offers particular insights into the mind of the Mayor who would be Senator. New Yorkers in general and reporters in particular would do well to sit up and take notice before the coming election.

Mandery has a superb lucid writing style. The text brings to bear Mandery's unique perspective combines the laser like analysis of a Harvard lawyer with the ironic sense of humor of one of New York City's hottest amateur stand up comedians.

Mandery brings to life a host of characters that range from the entertaining to the downright bizarre that will keep you turning pages even though we all know how it ends.

In his literary debut Mandery delivers a unique and thoughtful rumination on the machinations of a modern political campaign. With the fresh perspective of a campaign neophyte and his considerable skills of lawyerly analysis, Mandery offers a refreshingly honest chronicling of the 1997 New York mayoral race. Mandery's razor-sharp wit adds zip and readability to a topic lesser authors have consistently made bland.

Mandery asserts that the book is about modern political campaigns in general, and only "incidentally about the 1997 mayoral campaign." Indeed, his position as research director for the Messinger campaign affords the reader a fascinating insider's view of the nuts and bolts of a political campaign at the end of the twentieth century. We are privy to all of the key players, the sometimes-stilted decision-making process, strategy sessions, various private letters between campaigns, focus group sessions, and the research operations. We are even told how much the famous political consultants are paid (it will make you consider a career change!).

At each step of the way Mandery offers his insightful analysis of campaign maneuvers and press coverage. He asks the commonsense questions that any thoughtful outsider might ask. His logic is consistently solid, systematically and lucidly cutting through the muck of political "spin" to reveal the truth of the matter at hand. Though he often wonders aloud whether he can possibly be objective given his position, Mandery scores points for his even-handed critique of both sides.

Perhaps more importantly, and most interestingly, Mandery brings into high relief the cast of characters involved -- the men and women who eat, drink and sleep politics, whose lives move from one campaign to the next. From his boorish campaign manager Jim to colorful rival Sharpton and hilarious longshot Menendez, Mandery describes real characters to rival any of fiction's most entertaining. As Mandery himself might agree, 'you can't make this stuff up.'

I wouldn't describe this book as one that "I couldn't put down" as they say, but it made some interesting points. Maps of dangerous areas can mislead, for example, by giving the impression that a danger is especially great in one area because it is concentrated there, even though it may actually be worse elsewhere where population density is greater. Readers may also overreact to obvious and publicized hazards, such as a power plant, while ignoring more common threats such as auto accidents. Anyone who likes maps or uses them extensively for information will get something from this publication.

A great overview of how to convey information through cartography. The author chooses to focus on mapping environmental hazards to demonstrate this; their may be other topics that would lend itself to the exercise but the chosen subject seems a perfect fit. Entertaining and accessible.

I use this book as additional reading for my Technology in Emergency Management course. This is a great book connecting mapping, hazards, and technology. It is written so non-technical types, like me, can understand. If you are interested in disasters, hazards, vulnerability assessments, or familiar with CAMEO, ALOHA, FEMA and NRC, etc. this book should be on your bookshelf.

Monmonier, a professor of geography at Syracuse University, discusses the art and science of hazard-zone mapping, "a momentous adaptation of electronics and numerical analysis", in this clearly-written explanation of the possibilities and limitations of the new cartographic genre.
Assuming no special cartographic knowledge on the part of the reader, the author begins with the basics of scale in map-making, and proceeds to explore the ways in which tornadoes, earthquakes, environmental pollution hazards, crime, and other risks are analyzed and translated into usable graphical form.
Noting that "it is wise to question the map maker's motives", Monmonier also encourages the reader to view risk-maps with some healthy skepticism as "partly rhetorical,,,social constructions" which "can always be manipulated".
With numerous charts, graphs, and maps, Monmonier's work is highly recommended as a clear exposition of geographic hazards and a useful tool for evaluating one's own level of risk.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

Had this book for an MPA class--it was the hidden gem for that semester! The advice is given in an easy-to-read narrative, presented as personal correspondence between an uncle and his neice/nephew who are aspiring to public service careers. The insights are powerful and the prose is well-written. A must-read for those with an interest in the public or non-profit sectors.

This is an excellent book for beginning students of public administration or practitioners new to public service. It makes an excellent companion to an introductory textbook in Public Administration or American Government. Ashworth wrote the book as a series of letters to a niece who has decided to enter public service as a career. Each letter covers a theme of public service from an experienced practitioner's viewpoint, and is jam packed with useful advice. I especially found Ashworth's reflections on the political nature of public service useful and insightful.

I have very few problems with this book. One problem is that some of the chapters ramble, just like a real letter would. This makes each chapter very readable and a welcomed break from the dry approach most textbooks take to the subject. This is why it makes an excellent supplementary text to an introductory public administration textbook. However, this approach might make it difficult for students to remember the insights and practical advice of each letter.

Another problem is that a few of Ashworth's reflections are superficial. For example, his chapter on ethics comes across to me as pontification, not unlike a good person who has rarely studied the foundations of ethics, but now ponders such questions after a successful and fulfilling career. I have found that older professors in universities often believe they are qualified to teach ethics merely because they have lived a long time and want to indulge in some personal reflections. They ask questions about ethics without taking a disciplined approach to discover how others have attempted to answer such questions or why they reached their conclusions. Then, such professors make some remarks about their own ethics, leaving the foundational questions unanswered. In other words, the assumption made is that we need to be good and assume the great ethical questions do not need to be answered. This unstructured approach may reflect many people's approach to ethics. However, ethics is a discipline that, while being more like an art and than a science, is more structured and logical than Ashworth seems to indicate (for a better approach to public ethics, I recommend Practical Ethics in Public Administration by Dean Geuras and Charles Garofalo, or for a more academic approach, Ethics in the Public Service, by the same authors). As a result of his approach, I didn't find this chapter in his book very useful. Still, it is one small chapter out of a larger selection of excellent reflections about government service.

So, I strongly recommend this book for its practical advice and insights into the everyday workings of government. I use it as a required supplementary text in my introductory public administration courses.

In his book "Caught between the dog and the fireplug", Ashworth has managed to take the sometimes boring subject of public service and made it humorous and anecdotal. Definitely a worthwhile reading for any student of public administration and especially beneficial to me, since I am involved in the educational field of public sector. It gives us real life applications of public administration theories and models used to formulate public policies by the author and behind the scenes look at public policy in the making. Ashworth feels the pressures of being a public servant who is required to serve the needs of the people but is at the same time has to answer to the requests of elected officials who are "never equal" in status to a public servant. It gives credence to theories by many experts who believe that elaborate constraints on public managers deprive them of authority to carry out their jobs and frustrate them professionally. In spite of this the author continues to do his job the best he can inside of the constraints of his domain and manages to influence public policy to benefit the public that he serves from the "bottom-up".

Caught Between The Dog And The Fireplug, Or How To Survive Public Service by Kenneth Ashworth (adjunct professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin) is a unique employment guidebook and commentary filled with practical and sound advice for anyone considering, pursuing, or currently working in a career related to federal, state, or local government. Ashworth writes in the novel format of numerous, entertaining, and wryly informative letters from a sympathetic uncle to a niece or nephew beginning a government career. A "must" for all anyone aspiring to a career in public service at any level, Caught Between The Dog And The Fireplug is highly readable yet filled with sensible observations and recommendations.

How does someone find out about the organizational structure and the people within the Securitate (the secret security police of Romania)? Well, this book gives those details. An organization that is devoted to secrecy is opened to the public by this book.

The Securitate was used effectively and efficiently by Ceausescu to remove all opposition to his rule and to keep his citizens in line through terror and fear. Ordinary citizens sometimes knew the agents installed in their schools, at their workspaces, or at their meeting places ... but they weren't always obvious ... many never knew who was an agent or an informer ... friends, coworkers, even family.

How did normal, otherwise good people allow themselves to become a part of this repressive arm of Ceausescu's communist regime? Well, many of the answers are in this book. It discusses how the Communist Party gained support for the Securitate, how they coerced people into complying with the Securitate's demands, and even how some tried to rebel against the omnipresent Securitate.

Although the long list of names, many of whom I have never heard of before, is occasionally boring, at least I know where to find them if I ever read about one of them. This is a subject that could consume many volumes if covered in detail (there are millions of files on citizens), but this book does an excellent job in the extent of its coverage while keeping the book small enough to hold in my lap.

Unfortunately, the book is VERY hard to find. But if you can find it, you will be glad you bought it!

This is in my view the most authoritative study of the Ceausescu system to have been published since the dictator's execution in 1989. Very well written and quite fascinating. It puts more sensationalist and hastily produced works to shame.

Probabaly what drew me to the book was the knowledge that Deletant had a long association with the regime of Ceasuescu and a strong academic understanding of the system. He writes with personal candour and an eye for a good story. He also has the ability to bring large numbers of facts together with consummate ease. Probably the best researched volume on the subject.

This British author speaks fluent Romanian, married a Romanian wife, and lived in Communist Romania. The result is well-researched history, supplemented by personal experience (such as his attempts to get an emigration permit for his wife).

The 20th century was cursed with two murderous ideologies: communism and Nazism. Nazism slaughtered 6 million Jews, while communism killed at least 100 million people, and managed to enslave vast swaths of the globe. Besancon wonders why Nazism has become the prototype for evil while communism's evils are largely ignored.



In this important essay, Besancon points out the many similarities between communism and Nazism. "Ideological language is charged with the magical role of forcing reality to conform to a particular vision of the world" (p 14). Who can forget "scientific Marxism" or the false journalists of communism? Or replacing truth with invented histories of an Aryan civilization? And both persecuted religion while trying to substitute their ideologies for religion. "These two doctrines ...have in common the idea of a collective salvation coming in history" (p 60), a biblical idea wholly unknown in the eastern world.



Besancon actually dares to point out that "a Nazi or communist presents a clinical case for psychiatric examination" (p 16). Furthermore, "These artificial mental illnesses were...epidemic and contagious" (p 16). Germany and the USSR woke up years later like patients recovering from comas.



What is most striking is that the atrocious actions of both ideologies, the monstrous death camps, the gulag, the mass starvations, the horrors of Pol Pot and Mao, were all committed by people sure they were doing these things in the name of good.



Why did madness strike the 20th century? What does it say about human nature and what does it say about our future?

This book is amazing! It completely and descriptively compares the two most evil Ideologies of the 20th Century. It describes how the crimes associated with Nazism unfortunately overshadow the crimes associated with communism, which claimed the lives of over 12 times that of Nazism; because Nazism promoted the reign of one race and was dedicated to the complete obliteration of another. But people often forget that communism was as genocidal at times as Nazim, not to mention the murder and "reeducation" of anyone who did not conform to their ideas of equality. We condemn Nazism because of the over 6 million dead. But most people condemn communism because of its opposition to capitalism, not because of the hundred million or so murdered, plus all those who were tortured just for thinking a different way.
Alain Besancon opens our eyes to this and tells us not to forget the crimes of Nazism, but to remember the injustice and the still alive evil of the communist idea. An amazing read.

The work is profound, commensurate to the regimes of terror it seeks to understand. Working through the experiences of the most thoughtful who suffered these two regimes and those who led them, all militant atheists, Besancon reaches an astonishing theological conclusion. A mark of its profundity is that as you first read it, you soon know you will have to reread it soon.

This text in the French essay tradition is a reflection on the 20th century's twin totalitarian evils. Besancon muses on their nature, why the one is considered evil incarnate whilst the other gets off lightly, and why the Shoah/Holocaust is unique in last century's atrocity exhibition. Although Communism - including Maoism - caused far more deaths than Nazism it is not stigmatized equally. To better define this disparity, Besancon refers to a collective "amnesia" and "amnesty" where Communism is concerned versus "hypernesia" regarding Nazism.

This is due to our culture's dominant moral relativism, a PoMo morality that asserts universal relativism whilst clinging to temporary absolutes dictated by intellectual trends. The collapse of the Soviet Empire and the fall of the Berlin Wall have driven most of the Leftist Faithful into Marxism's latest mutations environmentalism, feminism and multiculturalism. Chantal Delsol unmasked a type of European piety prevalent in academic and media circles as an empty morality of despair and withdrawal. She calls it the clandestine or black market ideology of our time; sickly sentimental, arbitrary and intolerant despite claims to the contrary.

It inspires nausea to see a hip fashion brand like Soviet Jeans using Soviet imagery in their advertising. Trade in Nazi paraphernalia is restricted to the murkier media and overt Nazi styles are associated with violent skinheads, for now. The visual imagery, lyrics and manner of delivery of the most popular German rock group Rammstein reveal an aesthetic of blood- and power lust, death-worship, ferocity and sadism, concludes Claire Berlinski after thorough investigation including several interviews with band members. In a series of absorbing arguments in the entertaining Menace in Europe she shows how the black-market German nationalism of Rammstein resembles the Third Reich's dramaturgy, mythology, propaganda and vocabulary.

Like all sects of Sinisterism, Communism and Nazism were collectivist and justified mass murder but they surpassed all the others in scale of massacre. They caused similar physical, moral and psychological destruction and would have killed consciousness itself if it were possible. As competing strains of the power-worshiping sinisterist religion they regarded as rivals Christianity and Judaism. A perceptive thinker, perhaps William Nicholls or Robert Wistrich, referred to Western utopian movements as the "secular salvationist offspring of Christianity."

They fit neatly into Eric Hoffer's descriptions of the mass movement driven by disaffected true believers hell-bent on mutilating reality through sociopathic behavior in their search for "meaning." For Besancon, ideology offers a type of temporal salvation that claims to correspond to a cosmic pattern which must be enforced on earth in order to recreate paradise.

The total destruction of existing values is the immediate goal; a drastic departure from history in pursuit of the ideology which is believed will lead to utopia. The "salvationist" label is thus applicable and appropriate. Analyzing and comparing the structure of their thought-forms and taking into consideration their host cultures Germany and Russia (and less frequently China), he explores their promise/s in relation to the beliefs they attempted to eradicate.

This led Besancon to question whether there was something fundamentally unusual about the murder of the 6 million as compared to all the other victims of the Nazis and Communists. He does not seek the answer in the method of murder or in the depths of suffering that are after all impossible to measure, but in the impulse or intent. He also addresses differences in the perception of the horror as determined by religious beliefs. For Christians, the word "holocaust" with its sacrificial connotation made sense. Some Jews objected precisely because of the implication of human sacrifice which is abhorrent to Judaism, choosing the word "shoah" which means disaster or catastrophe.

Besancon's expression "twin evils" reminds me of today's prominent evil twins that predated, thrived in and survived Communism and Nazism: Anti-Americanism and Anti-Zionism. More than mere remnants of Besancon's twins they are mind parasites with remarkable powers of mutation and survival.

Anti-Zionism is one expression of the hydra-headed New Antisemitism which is a blend of several 20th century strains that evolved out of the post-Enlightenment variety which in turn emerged from Anti-Judaism that goes back all the way to the origins of Christianity. The roots of Anti-Americanism - which also sprouted several variants - are embedded in European elitism.

This New Anti-Semitism with its many faces provides clues to the Shoah's uniqueness when viewed as a toxic tree:

(a) With its roots in the New Testament, the Shoah was the culmination of 1900 years of deligitimization and dehumanization. Its trunk is composed of the writings of the "church fathers", discriminatory laws that became especially harsh after the victory of Constantine Christianity, psychological repression and projection amongst a religiously brutalized populace that reached fever pitch in the late Middle Ages and Augustine's replacement theology that migrated to Protestantism through Luther. The branches bearing poisoned fruit are the "salvationist" ideologies like Communism, Fascism, Nationalism and Nazism, the one in which the virus finally took genocidal form.

(b) A hatred honed for maximum contagious capacity was unleashed in the Nazi branch in an effort to annihilate a people and a religion. Consuming massive resources, the effort was fueled by such frenzied insanity that it became the Nazi priority even to the extent of hindering the war effort.

In other words, the factors that make the Shoah unique are (a) the long centuries of preparation (b) the contagious and epidemic hatred that inspired and guided it.

During the Anti-War demonstrations of 2003, Christopher Hitchens and Julie Burchill both commented on a peculiar behavioral pattern observed in some of the marchers: a type of frenzy with erotic undertones. It has since become more commonplace, particularly at anti-Israel and anti-American demonstrations on college campuses. The eroticism is often expressed by gestures that incorporate serpentine writhing. I now suspect that this erotic quality has always been present in outbreaks of Judeopathy.

Andre Glucksmann has warned that the concept of a contagion of hatred must be taken literally as a mental disorder that invades minds, bodies and society. Immune to reason, such an outbreak inoculates itself against opposing opinions and emotions. But at least we have identified a particular manner of its expression that may well point to Judeo-Christian myth. Now it is up to the irreverent, to South Park and stand-up comedians to ridicule, mimic and mock it. What is immune to reason is vulnerable to humor.

Written in an accessible and vivacious style, this book brings hope. Scholar and activist (not an oxymoron), Judith Stiehm, shares her detailed research into the lives and work of the very few women (12) who have received the Nobel Peace Prize. As a scholar, she inquires about the influence of their social economic status (class, education, race, religion) on their ability to gain international recognition for peace. She finds what they share is not at all their social backgrounds, but rather their goal: recognition for justice and peace - not for their personal achievements.

The path they have chosen is hard; all were repeatedly ridiculed; several spent time in jail. In explaining why and how they suffered, Stiehm increases our understanding (p. 33) of William James who argued that working for peace required "the moral equivalent of war" (sacrifice, solidarity, loyalty). In analyzing their difficult journeys, Stiehm finds their voices agreeing that peace cannot come without justice. Several awards make this link quite explicit, for the women did not work directly for peace (Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991: Shirin Ebadi, 2003; Wangari Maathai, 2004). Yet the author teaches us that these winners of a peace prize, from Bertha von Suttner (1905) onward, always linked justice with peace.

Stiehm reveals portraits of the women's lives which show them all quite idealist, but very realist. She offers details about their work to show how they sustained this seeming contradiction. Most important is the analysis of how the women built networks and organizations to empower others, and then often, stepping aside as the work continued. They were not individual heroes; their goals depended on social organization. They would very much agree with a fellow laureate, who protested that too much attention was given to his person: Nelson Mandela had to repeatedly admonish the international press that he did not liberate himself from prison; the organized people did.

On the back cover of the book, Barbara Ehrenreich, asks that you give this book to your daughters. Yes, but for the above reasons, you need to give the book especially to your sons.

The book is highly appropriate for the classroom, from high school to graduate classes. How possible? For the younger students, it will inspire them while showing the sacrifices for peace. For the more analytical, this political theorist raises all the important questions that can be debated: Must a peace maker be a pacifist? What is conscientious non-violence vs. pragmatic nonviolence? How does peace relate to development? What is the interaction between leadership and organizational power? The book shows that each one of us can join the debates, from youth to elders, and begin to commit to peace (time, energy, taxes, honor) more than to war.

As Judith Hicks Stiehm beautifully depicts in this telling of the contributions of 12 women Nobel Peace Laureates, women are creative thinkers and leaders. And as she also points out, war is a phenomenon that is associated with men. As an evolutionary biologist I've written an exploration for why women, as a group, are biologically less inclined to use physical violence to resolve conflicts ("Women, Power, and the Biology of Peace." Judith L. Hand (not Latta)) and why women are better natural negotiators. I also argue in that book and another ("A Future Without War") why it is that the empowerment of women across the globe is the critical catalyst needed to actually put an end to wars. Women in New Zealand were the first given the vote--real political power--roughly 100 years ago. Women are becoming increasingly active in government and conflict negotiations. The women described by Stiehm are the vanguard of a flood of women who will be working to change history in a quiet revolution in exactly the way Nobel hoped would happen. Her book is an inspiration for us all, women and men of good will, because it shows us women from across the globe and all walks of life stepping up and taking their share of the responsibility for how we run our world.

Since the Nobel Peace Prize was first awarded in 1903, it has been given to only 12 women. Judith Hicks Stiehm presents the life story of each of these remarkable people, women from dramatically different backgrounds all around the globe. The stories, so cleary and compellingly told, are fascinating page-turners in themselves. And together they convey the essential point that anyone, anywhere, can work for peace, doing small things that may in fact add up to big changes to benefit the neighborhood, the locality, the region--even the world. For every reader (woman or man) who's felt disheartened and powerless in recent years, this book is both a roadmap and a real life inspiration--and the perfect gift for any young woman wondering what to do with her life.

In CHAMPIONS FOR PEACE Judith Hicks Stiehm has written in lively, highly readable prose the life stories of the twelve women who have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Beyond that, the book dramatizes the effect one person--you, perhaps?--can have. On the last page, she writes: "Each of us has different circumstances and different resources; nevertheless, each of us has the capacity to act." (p. 224)

What is most striking here is the variety in the women's origins and lives. A world map shows that three are from the United States--Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch, and Jody Williams. From Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Ireland, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan. Sweden, Alva Myrdal. Austria, Bertha von Suttner. Iran, Shirin Ebadi. Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi. Macedonia, Mother Teresa. Kenya, Wangari Muta Maathai. As the author tells us: "They have been young, middleaged, and old. They have been of titled nobility, and they have been subsistence farmers. They have held doctorates, and they have also been barely schooled." (p. ix)

What did these women have in common? Stiehm says, "a vision, a commitment to action, and a willingness to persevere in the face of criticism and, in some cases, imprisonment." (p ix)

This book itself has required a strong commitment on the part of the author to do the research and writing it required, and the accomplishment here reflects Stiehm's own extraordinary wisdom and qualifications as a writer, political scientist, and advocate. The preface and conclusion are especially helpful, as is the epilogue with its questions for U. S. readers and non-U.S. readers to think about.

While the life stories are those of women, the book is for and about men also: Stiehm lists the organizations and the men who have won the prize. She touches on the nature of wars and violence, arguing that war is violence done mostly by men to men--and she argues strenuously that the behavior of men must change: "After all, most violence is done by men, and particularly at the direction of governments. . . . This means that it is important to study the psychology and interests of the men who authorize and exercise violence." (p 224)

I'd like to see this important book in every home, every school and public library, in English where that is spoken, and in appropriate translations elsewhere. The book is easy to read and the many photographs of the women add to its appeal and to the understanding it brings.

A "progressive" view of of the overall economic system of the world. Why are the poor poor and the rich rich? What systems are in place to keep things in place? Graphic description of the dismantling of the American Dream: harder work, lower wages, greater insecurity and inequality. Good reviews from solid economists (from Wharton School, Harvard, Columbia University, and others) so this isn't baseless propaganda. Helps you understand the big picture of what's happening in our world. Published more than 10 years ago, but still very current. For example, how has NAFTA helped create the current immigration problem? Read and learn. Title of the book is stolen from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Holly Sklar always does such a complete job with her subjects. She is incredibly clear and focused. I tend to read quite a bit of this type of literature and many times it can a bit like. . . Rant over here . . . Then Rant over there, without reaching a logical conclusion. Holly Sklar has never suffered from that. This book is very very very well researched. It should be read with the idea that the title has in mind. We really do have a choice to make in this country. Let's make the decision from a point of knowledge. Bravo Holly.

I heard the author speak on PBS radio and then read the book. Sklar explains how and why we Americans are working harder than ever today, but seem to get "nowhere." I think every business owner, politician, teacher, and parent should read this book to better understand how we can help one another in this country and the world!

Important, a compendium of shocking statistics and stories about the sorry state of the state. Most depressing, but most enlightening. Occasionally bogs down in statistics, and perhaps too many tables,though it's always nice to have these for reference. Much to be learned here. I plan to reread this one again soon. Alan Nicoll

I have been helping folks produce and market their books since 1985. This is one of the best tools for finding an "angle" to pitch your book. Thanks for keeping it updated. Linda F. Radke, Five Star Publications (AZ)

This is my third copy. I use this book for my business every month, sometimes more often. I use it for marketing ideas. I bought the new edition because the older books don't have all of the environmental events in them. This is a great business source. If you are planning sales or events for you business this will help you know what events take place every month.
I teach marketing at my company and urge all of my new agents to own a copy of this book.

"Chase's" is a terrific resource for me. I write a cooking column and I use it to stay abreast of even the smallest events. When writing a weekly column it can be a chore coming up with fresh story lines and subjects. "Chase's" helps me keep my subjects current and me on top of what's happening, which I know is appreciated by my readers who must wonder where I get all my ideas...now the secret is out! Pork Chops and Applesauce: A Collection of Recipes and Reflections

We sell Fresh-Wave products, a consumer line that appeals to a multitude of markets. So special events and creative marketing has to be a big part of our mix. Chase's helps us identify fun opprtunties for promoting our line. Since may TV and radio producers use this book it helps get their attention when your event is tied into something they are already talking about!

...sino es el Che verdadero hablando por el mismo.Explica el porque el cambio social no es haciendo por personas solitarias individualistas ; se trata como la revolucio`n cubana descubrio` " el camino de Marx " como gui`a de accio`n mientras haciendo la revolucio`n ;de la technologi`a como arma de la revolucio`n ; y de el papel de una organizacio`n disciplinada de joven comunistas que son educado en el Marxismo ( y educada por los trabajadores
y campesinos mismos en lucha ) en la vanguardia de la revolucio`n. La introduccio`n de la editor Mary-Alice Waters,una dirigente socialista norteamericana , se trata de la relevancia del texto a jovenes rebeldes mundiales de hoy di`a.

...sino es el Che verdadero hablando por el mismo.Explica el porque el cambio social no es haciendo por personas solitarias individualistas ; se trata como la revolucio`n cubana descubrio` " el camino de Marx " como gui`a de accio`n mientras haciendo la revolucio`n ;de la technologi`a como arma de la revolucio`n ; y de el papel de una organizacio`n disciplinada de joven comunistas que son educado en el Marxismo ( y educada por los trabajadores
y campesinos mismos en lucha ) en la vanguardia de la revolucio`n. La introduccio`n de la editor Mary-Alice Waters,una dirigente socialista norteamericana , se trata de la relevancia del texto a jovenes rebeldes mundiales de hoy di`a.

Los títulos de los discursos lo dice todo para que este libro quede de cabecera para todo rebelde.

Siendo médico él, explicó que no basta ser buena gente para ser médico revolucionario, sino hay que hacer una revolución. Ya victoriosa la revolución, explicó la que tiene que hacer la juventud comunista. Se puede tomar este consejo bastante a pecho, porque hay demasiada gente que quiere ser buena persona y hasta allí.

Lee el Ché en su propia voz, para que juzgas con tu propio criterio. Es en esto que se destaca la editorial Pathfinder: dar espacio los revolucionarios hablar por si mismo, y bien merecedora es esta adición a su "serie" de "Habla..."

De índole histórico, en esta colección se puede trazar la maduración intelectual de este personaje, de la manera en que se estaba llegando a cuajar las ideas que resultaron en el primer proyecto socialista solidaria, que se volvió a tomar en 1985 -justo a tiempo antes de que la URSS empezó a estremecer-.

El libro publica ocho discursos pronunciados por el dirigente de la revolución cubana, Ernesto Che Guevara, en reuniones con estudiantes y trabajadores cubanos, y jóvenes de otros países solidarios con la revolución. Nos da un vistazo importante a algunos aspectos claves en la historia de la revolución cubana. Y realmente los discursos son aún más importantes por su relevancia hoy en día para trabajadores y jóvenes de todo el mundo.

Che habla del desarrollo de la revolución, del subdesarrollo económico y los pasos necesarios para transformar la sociedad, de los enfrentamientos con el gobierno norteamericano, de la reforma agraria y su importancia para cualquier país en un proceso revolucionario. Habla también del papel del individuo en la sociedad, presentando una perspectiva no de caridad sino de solidaridad con los oprimidos y explotados. Expresa una confianza enorme en la capacidad de jóvenes -- estudiantes, obreros y campesinos-- de superarse en el proceso de cambiar la sociedad.

¡Léalo! ¡Compártalo! ¡Discútalo! ¡Qué sea de provecho!

Ché Guevara Speaks to Youth
The titles of these speeches are enough to tell why this should be every rebel's handbook.

As a physician, he explained that being good people is not enough to become a revolutionary doctor - one must make a revolution. Once that revolution had won through, he explained the tasks communist youth face. This advice may be taken well to heart, because there are too many people who try to be good persons, and leave it at that.

Read el Ché in his own voice, so you can make up your own mind. This is what Pathfinder Press stands out for: offering space for revolutionaries to speak for themselves. And well earned is this addition to the "...Speaks" "series."

Historically, this individual's intellectual development may be traced in this volume. The reader can see how the ideas gelled into what was to become the first experiment in the socialism of solidarity, which was retaken in 1985, just in time before the USSR began to quaver.

...as an equal.Too many books are out there "interpreting" Che Guevara ; most often by academics who fear and hate revolution.Here Che speaks for himself : how the Cuban revolution discovered the "road of Marx" by breaking out of the Yanqui Empire fror good; how "lone wolf" individualists do NOT make social revolutions; how to be a revolutionary MD or anything else "first a revolution must be made"; the need for a disciplined revolutionary youth organization;how to learn from fighting workers and peasants while fighting alongside them;internationalism as a necessity and a duty; the fight against postrevolution bureaucracy.These ideas as guide to action are how revolutionary Cuba has survived and will survive.Young and not-so-young fighters REQUIRE THIS BOOK as "globalized capitalism" tears our lives apart.To fight back "intelligently, as Malcolm X would say.Read "Cuba And The Coming American Revolution" by Jack Barnes side by side with this gem of a book.

Even if you are not so young person like myself, you can find your youth and your belief in the future,through Che's vision in these speeches. Whether speaking to a group of medical students in Havana, or a Latin American Youth Congress, or to anti-imperialist youth from around the world gathered in Algeria, Che's message to young people was not watered down. These speeches are a serious charge to young people to take the present and the future in their hands, and follow his vision of struggle for socialism, for the needs of working people, the oppressed, around the world. The ideas in this book are just as, or perhaps, even more valid than when Che lived.


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Che Guevara was an Argentinean-born revolutionary who helped lead the first socialist revolution in the Americas and initiate the renewal of Marxism. In Che Guevara Talks To Young People, he speaks as an equal with the youth of Cuba and the world as he challenges them to work, become disciplined, and join in the struggles for justice at home and abroad. Guevara excites youth to read, study, aspire to become revolutionary combatants, politicize the organizations and institutions they are part of, and in the process to politicize themselves. The talks collected in this single volume are prefaced by Armando Hart, and were compiled with the cooperation of Casa Editora Abril in Cuba. Che Guevara Talks To Young People is highly recommended reading for students of Marxism, the Socialist struggle in the Americas, as well as the life and thought of Che Guevara.