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Events
Ending Poverty As We Know It: Guaranteeing A Right To A Job
Published in Paperback by Temple University Press (2003-06-01)
Author: William Quigley
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Ending Poverty as we Know It
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-27
The book is a unique compilation of information that cogently makes the case that poverty is largely misunderstood by the non-poor, mis-diagnosed by politicians and pundits, and the remedies usually prescribed are nearly always nostrums and panaceas which only add misery to the miserable.

The book lists commonly held but untrue myths about poverty and poor people, and gives evidence that such attitudes are the heritage of English law established nearly 500 years ago and carried forward into the colonies and later states. Think of "Oliver Twist" and the social norms and attitudes toward poor people of that time - that's out heritage.

The book is a comprehensive deflation of the overwrought fear mongering, character assination, and easy dismissal of the poor. It proposes a down to earth, realistic focus on and admission thatlow wages are the root cause of most poverty in America today. The author, Bill Quigley proposes adoption of a constitutional amendment to establish a right to a job that pays a living wage to all Americans who can work. Polly Anna? That's what was said about Child labor laws, minimum wage, mandatory overtime pay, social security and many other rights and protections we now take for granted. Additionally, the book details the cost of poverty to Americans, who in truth are now subsidizing commercial enterprises. That subsidy comes by way of their taxes, used to supplement the income and the survival of workers paid so little that they and their children cannot live without "public assistance". Most poor work!

If you are opposed to the concept, I urge you to read the book nonetheless, if only to know more about how history has shaped our views, prejudices and laws dealing with poverty issues and the poor. If you have a better answer to reducing poverty and its costs - go for it!! But learn a little reality before you define the problem. Read this book.

Passing an amendment to end poverty
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-28
While I would like to see everyone in America able to achieve a good job at a wage that feeds their family and houses them comfortably, the facts of economics fight against this dream. Creating a Constitutional Amendment to guarantee a right to a good-paying job is foolish in the face of the basic economic laws of supply and demand. Someone supplies a job based on their need for the labor; someone agrees to do the job based on their willingness to work and their need for money, and the number of competitors willing to do such work and qualified to do the work. While I nearly cried when I visited the Tenement Museum of the Lower East Side of New York, and while I believe in the reforms that moved workers out of sweatshops, sweatshops still exist and immigrants coming legally or illegally to the US are doing labor for less than minimum wage. Why? Because they need the money, and the competition abroad from lower wage earners make our minimum wage unprofitable for business.

How do we bridge the gap between low cost foreign work (where even high-tech and skilled jobs are flowing) and our own cost of living, which is admittedly high? This book has NONE of the answers. Merely passing a law cannot push back the massive forces of economics. The author suggests Lester Thurow's solution of a massive government jobs program. The last time this was tried, it created sinecures for those privileged to land a government program job, and didn't teach anyone marketable skills. Even HeadStart is paying low wages to teachers, neither improving their skills or improving the readiness of the hapless client children who are supposed to be getting an education from this low-paid government job holders. There are countless examples of why what Dr. Quigley suggests has already failed, and passing a Constitutional Amendment is just another brick on the way to a failed socialistic system that costs the American worker a percentage of what they earn and throws it away on those who don't produce (the bureaucrats and their clientele that are not meeting market needs.)

Why don't we find a way to make American products and services in demand, free up business to fuel an economy with high demand for all labor services? Remember when unemployment was so low, jobs went begging? It was barely five years ago. We can have that again, and have even the poorest able to find work at more than minimum wage. But not this way.

Noble Cause, Arguments Insufficient
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-01
It's an enticing proposition: eliminate poverty as we know it, simply by giving everyone the right to a job and a living wage. But is it valid? This is the question I kept asking as I made my way from chapter to chapter.

A key problem Quigley doesn't even address: the globalization of labor. It's not just low-skilled manufacturing jobs that American companies outsource to China et al. nowadays. It's white collar desk jobs too; highly educated Indians gladly take $5,000/year for a job that would cost $50,000 in the US. It's a king's ransom for them, but for us, it's illegally below minimum wage. This is a problematic anomaly which stands as a major threat to America's economy. If we implemented Quigley's constitutional amendment, the threat might loom closer still. The author's utter silence here was most disappointing.

Despite that lapse, I recommend a reading. Its diverse facts and figures, while often repetitive, can be eye-opening. The numbers suggest we pay for poverty one way or another. At present, we subsidize parasitic employers and grant wealthy corporations obscenely generous loopholes. Redeploying our public assets to help the less fortunate into dignified employment might be a good idea. I smile at the simple beauty of it.

Note from Author
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-25
Two people that I respect very much have this to say about this book.
Lani Guinier, Harvard Law Prof and co-author of Miner's Canary says:
ýBill Quigley draws on the common sense of Thomas Paine, the moral inspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the political wisdom of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to issue a bold challenge for our society: to guarantee people who want to work the right to a job at a living wage. In a brave and witty book that is both visionary and practical, Quigley reminds us that if once-radical ideas like social security and the abolition of slavery can become realities, then the current partnership between poverty and work can be upended too.ý
Sr. Helen Prejean, social activist and author of Dead Man Walking says: "Bill Quigley's book makes us believe that America can really change for the better and provide a decent job and a fair wage to hard-working families. This is a very important book. Bill brings a lifeteim of knowledge and commitment to this; and he really shows us, step by step, how it can be done."
This book points out that over 45 million people in the US live in poverty. Over 30 million work and earn less than $8.20 an hour and another 15 million people are either out of work or working part-time and would like to be working full-time. I review the real facts and stories about poverty in the US today, especially among the working poor. After reviewing our history and surprising public and religious support for the right to a job and the right to a living wage, I call for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing every person the right to a job at a living wage.
Hope this helps explain what it is about. Peace!

Events
Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, 1956-58
Published in Paperback by Pathfinder Press (NY) (1996-02-01)
Author: Ernesto Guevara
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Firsthand account of how revolutions and their leaders are made
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-24
"Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, 1956-58" is Ernesto Guevara’s own account of the final 2 years of the revolutionary war that led to the first socialist revolution of the Americas. Ernesto “Che” Guevara, born in Argentina in 1928, became a central leader of the Cuban revolution of 1959. Many people in the United States today know only a romanticized version of this outstanding communist leader through such things as the recent film, “The Motorcycle Diaries.” "Episodes" is an unexaggerated, honest account of how the last years of the Cuban revolutionary war were conducted. This marvelous book tells the real story of how the young, adventurous Ernesto Guevara – whose compassion for and interest in the peoples of Latin America shows even in “The Motorcycle Diaries” – became Che Guevara, the committed, Marxist leader. Full of warmth, eloquence, and, at times, poetic sensibilities, Che’s diaries show us how the Cuban communist leadership was forged in battle; how the revolutionary combatants cemented bonds with peasants in the countryside and with workers in the cities; and how a popular revolutionary government was built on these foundations. This book is a must-read for any revolutionary minded fighter today.

Superb edition of Che's diaries
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-29
Why does Cuba provide doctors for underdeveloped countries throughout the world-something which far richer countries are unwilling to do? This book by Che shows how Fidel Castro's revolutionary movement has always taken the moral high ground, going back to their triumph over hated dictator Batista. Che documents the reasons for this in these articles, many of which were written as the fighting was going on. He discusses the revolutionaries' respect for the peasants and the way the peasants helped to move the revolutionaries toward a deeper understanding of the class forces involved in the Cuban revolution. This made it possible to integrate many peasants into the revolutionary army. Che describes the care that was taken to treat rank and file enemy soldiers well, especially the wounded. His crystal clear writing style and fine sense of humor are based on a total grasp of the situation. This book includes two superb articles on Che, one by his comrade Fidel Castro and another by the editor, Mary-Alice Waters, as well as valuable notes, glossary, chronology, and index. While amazon may list this book as unavailable from time to time, it is always available from booksfrompathfinder listed under "new and used" at the top of this page.

Che should have been an author!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-24
Che's unique and splendid writting style manifests itself in this excellent book, detailing the myriad battles and episodes of the Cuban Revolution. A must for all!!!

First hand account of the Cuban Revolution
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-31
First, a great book! Second, the author is none other than Che Guevara. Third, humorously and eloquently written, Che explains a revolutionary's fight for a better life in Cuba leading up to the victory in 1959! A must read for any Che or Cuba fan!

Events
The Erstaz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Sixth)
Published in Paperback by Scholastic (2002)
Author: Lemony Snicket
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The Ersatz Elevator
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-30
This sixth book of A Series of Unfortunate Events is breathtaking. The orphans are in search for the 2 Qaugmire triplets while staying in a 72 room penthouse apartment. Later on they find an ersatz elevator with the Quagmire triplets at the bottom. The triplets tell their friends arout the count's evil plans. Will the orphans save the triplets before count olaf suceeds? Check it out in this spontaneous novel.

The Series of Unfortunate Events
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-12
The book, The Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator is about three young orphans who are trying to find their two friends that seem to have the same misfortune as the Bartlaire orphans. Count Olaf, the evil villain, is trying to steel both their fortunes. The Quagmires tried to help the Bartlaires get out of Olaf's clutches. When he found out about their fortune, he kidnapped them. The Bartlaire orphans have been tying to find them ever since. You have to read the book if you want to find out if the story had a happy ending!

A woeful and yet exciting book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-16
After reading The Ersatz Elevator I felt that the book was great. I also felt bad for the Baudelaire orphans because of the ending. Another feeling that I felt was that I couldn't wait to read the next book. This book was what I expected and so much more.

In this book the Baudelaires are on their way to go meet the Squalors, their new guardians. When they finally get to the penthouse of the apartment building on Dark Avenue after climbing all of those flights of steps they are exhausted. Day by day they learn more and more about what is in and out from Eseme Squalor, one of their new guardians, while trying to figure out what Count Olaf is up to. Lemony Snicket made this book completely fictional. He also wrote the other books in the Series of Unfortunate Events.

I liked this book because of how the Baudelaires make several mistakes to trying to figure out how to save the Quagmire triplets before Count Olaf gets them. Another reason why I loved this book was because that once the Baudelaires were starting to figure stuff out the book got way more exciting.

I liked this book. I really think that you should read the first five books in the series before reading this book, but don't let my opinion stop you from reading this excellent book. I think that this book was made for ages 10 and up.

The Ersatz Elevator
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-04
I think this is a great book to read beacuse "Lemony Snicket" included conflicts towards the characters that makes you keep on reading so you can find out what will happen next. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Events
An Essay on the Principle of Population (Great Minds Series)
Published in Paperback by Prometheus Books (1999-03)
Author: T. R. Malthus
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Taking Account of Malthus
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-04
"The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the course of a few thousand years." --Thomas R. Malthus, Principle of Population

When I filled out and mailed my census questionnaire in 2000, I reflected upon Malthus's sobering classic, An Essay on the Principle of Population. When I was in elementary school in the 1960's, I remember reading optimistic reports in my Weekly Reader that new high-yielding crops would make it possible to meet the food requirements of the world. If those utopians were familiar with Malthus's essay, their visions for the future welfare of humanity might have been less optimistic. However, if there was over-optimism then, it has largely vanished now.

Who has not viewed educational television programs discussing the severe stresses on the global environment due to our excessive consumption of both renewable and nonrenewable resources? Environmentalists highlight the dire energy and environmental problems facing us in the future. The poorer countries would also like to enjoy the benefits of industrialization that will, of course, further tax our resources and stress our environment. Even if we assume the environmentalists exaggerate our circumstances, even the scientifically illiterate comprehend that the capacity of the earth to support life is finite. In the face of such problems, Malthus's three "incontrovertible truths" are as relevant today as the day he penned them:

"That population cannot increase without the means of subsistence, is a proposition so evident, that it needs no illustration.

"That population does invariably increase, where there are the means of subsistence, the history of every people that have ever existed will abundantly prove.

"And, that the superior power of population cannot be checked, without producing misery or vice, the ample portion of these too bitter ingredients in the cup of human life, and the continuance of the physical causes that seem to have produced them, bear too convincing a testimony."

Both liberals and conservatives have hated Malthus's essay. It dumps cold water on humanitarian hopes and can be used in support of abortion rights and government restrictions on family size. To our peril, we would like to live, aided by technology, in denial of Malthus's postulate, "Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio." To our endangerment, we would prefer to luxuriate in ignorance of his observation that his postulate "implies a strong and constantly operating check on population fromn the difficulty of subsistence." Says Malthus, "This difficulty must fall some where; and must necessarily be severely felt by a large portion of mankind." Where will this "difficulty of subsistence" put a check on our currently growing world population?

When I was born in 1957, the world population was just under 2.9 billion. It is now over 6 billion. The U.S. Bureau of the Census estimates that the world population will reach 9.3 billion in 2050. With the technological enhancement of our ability to augment our means of subsistence, have we deceived ourselves into believing that we can indefinitely defy the principles of population that Malthus contended were "incontrovertible truths"? Are we robbing from our future by building up a high-interest debt to nature that will lead us to bankruptcy?

We are in need of the fortitude and love of truth that enabled Malthus to say of himself the following:

"[H]e has not acquired that command over his understanding which would enable him to believe what he wishes, without evidence, or to refuse his assent to what might be unpleasing, when accompanied with evidence."

Indeed, the evidence is clear to anyone not addicted to postmodern and new age paradigms of unreason. If we do not put a check on our population, then inevitably, as Malthus puts it, "necessity" will check it via "misery and vice." Thus, Malthus's essay is not just and old classic; it is an old classic containing a valid warning for people of our world today.

The first classic of Demography
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-26
In his excellent review on Amazon Joseph D. Widiger lists three incontrovertible principles of Malthus:

"That population cannot increase without the means of subsistence, is a proposition so evident, that it needs no illustration."( But of course today we have population declining in many areas of the world where food is superabundant. In otherwise Malthus did not foresee the kind of demographic transition Mankind is going through, precisely in those societies which have freed themselves completely from living at subsistence level.
)
The second principle is as follows:
"That population does invariably increase, where there are the means of subsistence, the history of every people that have ever existed will abundantly prove.( Again this is no longer the case. We are according to demographers such as Ben Wattenberg and Kenneth Longman living in a ' birth dearth' era at least in the most advanced societies of Europe.)

The third principle is:
"And, that the superior power of population cannot be checked, without producing misery or vice, the ample portion of these too bitter ingredients in the cup of human life, and the continuance of the physical causes that seem to have produced them, bear too convincing a testimony."
In opposite ,the global transformations involving movements of masses of people from the countryside to the city,the increase in the level of education of women, the invention of safe means of contraception have all taken the ' necessity' out of Malthus 'law'.
We live in a different situation than the one he envisaged. And even if global malnutrition does persist, it does not persist because of problems of scarcity but rather of distribution.
All of this of course, does not diminish Malthus genius, or the rightful place he has in the history of social science. For he was the first to truly give an understanding the tremendous importance that population size has on the character and quality of societies.

An Essay on the Principle of Population by Malthus
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-10-28
The Malthusian theory on population was written in 1798.
Malthus believed that the population increased faster than the supply of food available to feed people. He argued that increments in food production due to innovation would stimulate
higher increases in the population growth. Ultimately,
the population would stabilize by famine, death and disease.
Some of these basic principles are being experienced today.
Millions have died from the AIDS disease. In addition, third
world countries are plaqued by famine despite the technological
innovations in food production and distribution. The writings
of Malthus encouraged the first studies in demography.
His readings on population are very critical to an understanding
of our modern day problems with food production, distribution
and innovative techniques to manage a series of continuing
crises in the third world countries.

A book for those interested in sociology or economy.
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-07
This book by Malthus is essential for the evolution of the economy thought. Its principles were taken by others economist and sociologist to make their own theories, David Ricardo for example, one of the most important authors of the clasic school. Malthus recomendations had influenced remarkable politicians, who change importants laws in England based on Malthus ideas. A must for everyone interested in the early economy books.

Events
Essentials of Family Therapy (with MyHelpingLab), The (2nd Edition)
Published in Paperback by Allyn & Bacon (2005-12-01)
Authors: Michael P. Nichols and Richard C. Schwartz
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really great book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-12
Great summaries of different theoretical approaches to working with families including techniques and where the theory originated from.

Great Resource
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-16
This is one of the best textbooks I have encountered for the beginning family therapist. It offers great theoretical explanation with helpful application to everyday practice. I would recommend it to anyone!

The title accurately describes the text!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-10
This is a clear, concise and informative text that outlines the fundementals of family therapy. The title accurately describes the text. A must for those who are entering into family therapy!

Great Intro. To Family Therapy.
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-06
I am currently taking a Family Therapy course and I mistakenly bought this book. After buying the required text and examining the two, I decided that this one was a "keeper."

The authors are practioners in the field who have accumulated years of wisdom and knowledge about how the family functions. They do an excellent job of presenting the major treatment paradigms, without injecting their own biases into the explanation. I found this book to be immensely readable, and easy to digest and apply. I have been using this book more than the required text for the simple reason that it is very well organized, the theoretical presentations well thought out, and the writing style is warm and engaging.

I definately recommend this book. No way I will resell this one.

Events
Europe and America
Published in Paperback by Pathfinder Press (NY) (2001-02)
Author: Leon Trotsky
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A Marxist look at world conflict today
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-31
A very useful work, presenting two speeches from the mid-1920s by Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky analyzing big developments in the world economy and political and military relations between major capitalist powers in the decade after World War I. Trotsky speaks as a tested leader of mass working class struggles and aims not just to observe developments but to help others understand what change is possible if workers and toilers of the countryside organize in a revolutionary movement. And while world has changed since the 1920's, the underlying causes of conflicts have not, making this pamphlet all the more useful to help orient oneself today.

The issues Trotsky explains should be very familiar to anyone in the early part of the 21st century: worldwide economic stagnation and poverty, sharper conflicts between major imperialist powers (France's 1923 invasion of Germany, the declining British empire, the rising American and Japanese empires), the first manifestations of fascism, the state of the labor movement. I found particularly useful Trotsky's observations on the forms of conflict Washington used in relation to the European powers, a `pacifist' imperialism that intervened militarily around the world. And they are wonderful example of the careful use of Marxism method in the scientific analysis of world developments.

As follow-up, I'd recommend Leon Trotsky on Britain, the Struggle Against Fascism in Germany, In Defense of Marxism and The Spanish Revolution (1931-39).

Illuminates US/France/UK wars on Iraq/north Korea/Iran
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-18
Disparaging the weakened European powers with the well-earned assurance of a victorious Bolshevik, Trotsky explains in the 1920s why Britain has become the handmaiden of the US, why Canada is, to all intents and purposes, a US state, and foresees another unimaginably brutal world war as Europe and America fight over Asia. This kind of sweep helps place the France vs. US bickering over exactly how to plunder and subjugate Iraq in March 2003 in the much bigger frame of a disintegrating imperial system. Trotsky backs up his conviction that social revolution -- like the one he helped lead in Russia -- can provide the only alternative to further conflagration, with concrete historical detail on the labor movement's experiences in the Europe of his time. Definitely a good thing to read at the beginning of the 21st century.

From WW I to the Iraq war, the same contradictions
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-09
The history of modern society has been marked by imperialism's need to have one top dog among the imperialist powers. First there was the struggle the fight by Germany and the US and Japan to push Britain and France aside that led to scores of millions of death in two world wars. Since the late 1960s the growing competition between Europe and Japan with the United States has come to the center of world politics. Trotsky outlines this competition in these two speeches given just after the First World War. Yet, the same contradictions are behind the two Bushes' wars against Iraq. As badly as Washington wants to prevent any nation in the Arab East from being able to defend itself against US aggression, Washington wants to use With its possession of the world's greatest murder machine--the US military-to gain the upper hand over the imperialist powers in Europe and Japan. The oil in Iraq is buts another trump card against Europe and Japan, dependant as they are on that oil. These, and not any greater proclivity for peace or concern with the rights of the peoples of Iraq, are the causes of the frictions between Washington, Bonn, and Paris over conquest of Iraq. Trotsky analyzes these frictions and explains that there is no way out of this wrangling, and the wars and disasters it breeds but replacing the rule of the imperialists with the rule of working people!


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!

U.S. role as capitalist overlord
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-05-01
Opposed to U.S. wars? Wondering about the U.S.-French friction? Read this concise outline of how the U.S. emerged into, as Trotsky described it, the capitalist overlord of Europe and the rest of the world. Trotsky outlines the economic and military basis of U.S. dominance and the deceitful stratagems it was able to employ in the early years of its world role-and still does. Trotsky's historic perspective helps us to see that U.S. aggression today operates more and more from a position of weakness. Don't be awed by the monster, understand it, learn its vulnerable points. Read this clear analysis.

Events
Everybody Had His Own Gringo: The CIA and the Contras
Published in Hardcover by Potomac Books (1992-04)
Author: Glenn Garvin
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By Far, the Best Book on the Contras
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-15
Glenn Garvin's now classic work is by far the best book ever written on the phenomenon of the Nicaraguan Contras (Chris Dickey's book would be second, in my opinion) - cleared-eyed, cynical, yet sympathetic to this violent, colorful and (yes) idealistic highland peasant army and full of his mordant wit at the folly of often contradictory and confused American policies which, as well intentioned as they can be, can have disastrous and unintended consequences. The irony is that - compared to a debacle like Iraq - the Contra War seems like a masterpiece of politics and war to achieve specific ends. I'll take Mike Lima over Ahmed Chalabi any day.

Excellent supplemental text on Nicaraguan civil war
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-04
Garvin's greatest success in "Everybody had his own Gringo" is that he addresses the contra army neither as a puppet creation of the United States nor as Robin Hood-esque freedom fighters glavanting around in the jungle. Written with mordant wit, dead-on in focus and scope, this is an excellent text on the contras. Those looking for a complete history of the Nicaraguan civil war, however, will probably want to look elsewhere.

Excellent and highly enjoyable.
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1998-09-28
Glenn Garvin's book is a wonderful and highly readable account of the peasant army which made up the Contras. The author is sympathetic but clear-eyed, and he provides a fascinating account of the motivations of the Contra soldiers and leaders, as well as describing U.S. involvement with the Contras. "Everybody Had His Own Gringo" (a great title!) is a "must-read" for anyone interested in the history of the Nicaraguan civil war and the Contras.

rights the largely wrong historical record
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1998-01-17
one of the very few books that don't blindly praise the sandinistas. this book and shirley christian's 'nicaragua: revolution in the family' are essential to understanding the civil war in nicaragua.

Events
Eye on Korea: An Insider Account of Korean-American Relations (Texas a & M University Military History Series)
Published in Hardcover by Texas A&M University Press (2003-07)
Authors: James V. Young and William Stueck
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an interesting read for both Koreaphiles and politicos
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-24
Though a part of Texas A&M's military history series, this book often serves as more of a study in the political conflicts between the Defense and State Departments. As a result, it details enough of the conflict between the two to intrigue both Koreaphiles and those interested in the political process and posturing.

The author was in the unique position to know fully about both positions during key moments in Korea's modern history. The result is a read that is sometimes funny, often insightful, and always interesting.

Perhaps what is best about this book is that while it helps to have a basic understanding of Korea's recent history in advance, it is by no means required. Young's straightforward style makes otherwise complicated issues seem as simple as night and day. It also provides a wealth of information in under 200 pages without overwhelming the reader.

Readable Modern History
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-07
Eye on Korea is a tremendous contribution to modern Korean history. It is a very easy and entertaining read. It will appeal to those who know nothing about Korea, and to those of us who have lived or travelled there extensively. There is little to no jargon, things that would not be familiar to the average reader are explained quickly and clearly.

I have spent the better part of my adult life in Korea or working with Koreans. I was surprised and delighted by the things I learned by Eye on Korea. It filled many gaps in my understanding of how things went down in the late 70's and 80's. It was full of names, places and events that I recognized, but had never before had a coherent picture of how they all related. Eye on Korea provides that coherence.

If I am forced to complain about anything, it would be the brevity. I would have enjoyed a couple hundred more pages. It's evident from what Col. Young tells us--and from what he doesn't tell us--that he knows enough to fill volume upon volume.

This is a MUST BUY for anyone interested in Modern Korea or Korean-US relations.

A Fresh Look at Contemporary Korean-American Relations
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-03
James Young, one of the American military's first area specialists, has written what may well be the most interesting and definitive book on recent Korean-American diplomatic and military relations in print today. Young, a former Army Colonel, spent almost 20 years in Asia, including 14 in Korea, where he was an advisor to five American ambassadors and several Secretaries of Defense. In this appealing memoir, he writes with the expertise of an old Korea hand.

After four years of training in Korean language and culture, Young was a first hand witness and participant as American diplomats convinced South Korean President Park Chung-hee not to develop his own nuclear weapons. The lessons from this experience might well be of use today in dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

From the perspective of a military attache,Young provides new insights into the intrigue and behind-the-scenes efforts to derail President Jimmy Carter's troop withdrawal policies. His on-the-scene account of the military coup of 1979, and subsequent events, is extraordinarily authoritative and comprehensive, and provides new information for historians. He provides personal observations on the imposition of martial law and the Kwangju incident that followed, when Korean military forces ran amok during protests in the city and killed and wounded hundreds of civilians. For the first time, he details how the United States was caught flat-footed, and how policy makers at the time failed to respond, thus sowing the seeds of anti-Americanism in the years to come.

Additionally, Young's insider account of dealing with the senior leadership in North Korea in both diplomatic negotiations and business settings makes a major contribution to understanding the internal dynamics within this secretive state.

"Eye on Korea" is a great mixture of contemporary military and diplomatic history. It offers stories that are entertaining, provocative, and often humorous. Those interested in the region, the issues, and modern Korea will value this book.

The Keen Eye of Experience
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-07
Colonel Jim Young has developed a keen analytical eye for things Korean developed over a multi-decade career of study, friendship and focus on this fascinating but enigmatic country. Young uses the vehicle of autobiography to detail some of the high points in the modern developmental history of South Korea and along the way opens the curtain to an insider's view of US governmental machinations. The Colonel had an uncanny way of being involved over many years with key events in US-Korean relations such as threatened troop withdrawals under President Carter, assassination of President Park, the death of dictator Kim Il-sung in North Korea, the murder of US Army officers and many, many other events. Final chapters discuss nuclear North Korea and the complexity of the tense situation there.
This book offers the reader a fresh insight to events and analysis not seen elsewhere. It is written for a non-technical audience but is valuable for the cognoscenti as well. I recommend 'Eye on Korea' most enthusiastically to every concerned person who wonders what the future holds for America in the vital but tumultuous environment of the Korean Peninsula.

Events
Eyes Right!: Challenging the Right Wing Backlash
Published in Paperback by South End Press (1995-09)
Author:
List price: $17.00
New price: $2.93
Used price: $0.39
Collectible price: $17.00

Average review score:

Par Excellence
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2001-10-11
This well indexed book is a window to understand the relevance of the Right Wing Groups, The Right Wing "Extremist" Ideology, The Threat of the Right Wing on America; be it the threat on the Pillars of Liberty, Freedom or perhaps the apparent threat of the right wing on the constitution.

But most importantly (dangers of) disguising of the old Right as New Right. The most likable thing in this book is that it is based on well researched works and intellectually it is very consummable material ! . Althought this book does not contain any Rhetoric whatsoever, yet It will occur to the reader that the Right Wing Extremism is undiminishing threat (just like Virus strain that changes with environments) = As the old right wants to be perceived as New Right.

The Book is (to me) a reference of the Dangers of the Right Wing's Dogmatic, Anti-Democratic Ideology -- It doesn't take long to realize and accept that The Right Wing Extremist are The Domestic Enemy #1 that USA may have.

Some the chapters go to such details to quite eloborate that the core and the base of many right wing groups in USA is very much in contradiction to the traditions, principles of liberty and freedom that are the very basis of succes of this GREAT Nation.

Read it and read into the lines --- !

Scary as Proverbial Hell
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-15
In an age where most people automatically believe the snippets and pieces they are handed by corporate media (which in the US is the Right) as the whole and absolute truth, this book is a must read and should be on the reading list of every American. The in-depth discussions of the various far right units/groups are invaluable. What you don't know CAN hurt you and WILL if given half a chance. If knowing is half the battle, then this book is your ammo.

Par Excellence
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2001-10-11
This well indexed book is a window to understand the relevance of the Right Wing Groups, The Right Wing "Extremist" Ideology, The Threat of the Right Wing on America; be it the threat on the Pillars of Liberty, Freedom or perhaps the apparent threat of the right wing on the constitution.

But most importantly (dangers of) disguising of the old Right as New Right. The most likable thing in this book is that it is based on well researched works and intellectually it is very consummable material ! . Althought this book does not contain any Rhetoric whatsoever, yet It will occur to the reader that the Right Wing Extremism is undiminishing threat (just like Virus strain that changes with environments) = As the old right wants to be perceived as New Right.

The Book is (to me) a reference of the Dangers of the Right Wing's Dogmatic, Anti-Democratic Ideology -- It doesn't take long to realize and accept that The Right Wing Extremist are The Domestic Enemy #1 that USA may have.

Some the chapters go to such details to quite eloborate that the core and the base of many right wing groups in USA is very much in contradiction to the traditions, principles of liberty and freedom that are the very basis of succes of this GREAT Nation.

Read it and read into the lines --- !

Scholars, Students, Activists... Prepare to be challenged!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2001-03-09
Eyes Right is an authoratative anthology of important research and writing about the growth of the right-wing in the United States. This work is epecially useful since it is well organized and well indexed. Contributors include such established progressive scholars as Russ Bellant, Frederick Clarkson, and Sara Diamond, who while not exactly household names, are well regarded among the politically literate. Each them have also published important books that ought to be on the reading list of anyone who starts out with this useful collection.

Events
F1 Through the Eyes of Damon Hill: Inside the World of Formula 1
Published in Hardcover by Little Brown and Company (1999-11)
Author: Damon Hill
List price: $29.95
New price: $182.81
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Average review score:

a fascinating insider view of F1
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-05
Since Damon Hill retired from the grand prix circuit and writes for a certain very popular English motorsport magazine we know that the guy can write. What we learn from this book is that he already had that gift when he was still driving! The book was made in 1998 when Damon was on his last F1 stint with the Jordan team, during that emotional year when Jordan scored a historic 1-2 in Spa. The F1-educated reader who knows what happened in '99 (Damon fired by Eddie Jordan because he was consistently outperformed by team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen) will find his remarks on the team a poignant read.
The book touches all the major aspects of Formula One motorsport: technology, image, media pressure, professional rivalry, the fear, money and fame. Damon also talks about his famous father Graham Hill and "his" race: Monte Carlo (GH won Monte Carlo 5 times and was only fairly recently surpassed by Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher in this feat). Damon explores how having a famous race driver as a father influenced his own career path and attitude towards the sport.
The book is overall very well crafted. Damon's text is supported and enhanced by the superb photography of Keith Sutton, England's premier F1 photographer. Overall a very good read and a pleasure to the eye, certainly a must-have for every serious F1-fan, even you Schumacher fans: Damon has some very interesting things to say about his famous rivalry with Michael!

Damon Hill - like his father before him...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2001-11-18
Damon Hill is seen by many fans as the "loser" champion, the champion who had it, he had the drive, he had the car, he had the intelligence, he had the motivation and dedication, but there was Schumacher in the way, as there was Clark that came Graham's way. It must be said that, even if the 1995 season, climax of the 90's, is most remembered and pictures Damon's defeat, Damon's 96 title is thorougly deserved and well acomplished. Damon deserves much respect for his acomplishmnet in the sport; even during his last and terrible f1 season, 1999, where he was outshined by his very fast team-mate Heinz Harald Frentzen, Damon was not to be looked pathetic next to him - instead he was to be held tremendous respect and would not receive any contempt from any TRUE F1 fan. Damon was not the fastest driver ever, but he holds his place among the other World Champions and stands as one of the Lords of this sport.

Damon Hill - like his father before him...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2001-11-18
Damon Hill is seen by many fans as the "loser" champion, the champion who had it, he had the drive, he had the car, he had the intelligence, he had the motivation and dedication, but there was Schumacher in the way, as there was Clark that came Graham's way. It must be said that, even if the 1995 season, climax of the 90's, is most remembered and pictures Damon's defeat, Damon's 96 title is thorougly deserved and well acomplished. Damon deserves much respect for his acomplishmnet in the sport; even during his last and terrible f1 season, 1999, where he was outshined by his very fast team-mate Heinz Harald Frentzen, Damon was not to be looked pathetic next to him - instead he was to be held tremendous respect and would not receive any contempt from any TRUE F1 fan. Damon was not the fastest driver ever, but he holds his place among the other World Champions and stands as one of the Lords of this sport.

So what does a F1 Driver think? Well, here you go!
Helpful Votes: 14 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 1999-06-26
From the moment I recieved this book, I could tell a lot of time and energy (money) went into making it. The cover is made of a nice, almost sliky paper material, which just makes you feel like it is worth the price. However, the real treat is inside. Damon Hill is a very eloquent writer, and makes some very personal revelations. If you ever wanted to know what makes an F1 World Champion tick, here's your chance. His gives his feelings about his early years driving with legends such as Aryton Senna, and Alain Prost, as well as his current on-going rivaly with M. Schumacher. Also, the photographs taken by Keith Sutton are an added bonus. As Damon said in his book, "So here it is. A book about all that (F1 life). But you can just look at the pictures if you prefer..." Yes! You really can; the pictures are fabulous. It's a shame about his retirement, and i actually would have felt that this book would have been better off, if he retired first and then published it, so that his writing wouldn't be so restrained. Even so, it gives the most comprehensive first-person's view of the things that transpire in the world of F1. Personally, I am a Damon Hill fan, so I can recommend this book to all those who also follow this "gentlemen's racer."


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