U Books

Hi I'm Zoe Whilton, and Childhood Hills is an excellent book. Each poem is a masterpiece of its own. My favorite poems are, "The Lie", "The Elevator", and "Your First Day at Dolly's" (by Annemarie Mullan Whilton, aka my mother, I am the girl at preschool, my sister is the one crying). I hope that Pat Mullan continues to write poetry.

Reviewed by Diane Morgan - Editor, ... .

Pat Mullan takes us on a poetic journey through Ireland, the world and childhood. His evocative poetry creates for us lush landscapes, towering cities and weeping hearts that share the sorrow within all of us.

Relationships are key to his poetry, love, loss and remembering. I truly enjoyed his style of writing; it wasn't at all like the rhyming cliché poetry we are overburdened with as we read aspiring poets; it has a rhythm all its own; one could almost hear an Irish lilt to it.

He adds to the end of his book a section in memory of James Dickey that is poignant and stirring reminding us of the vast heritage we have of poets often forgotten.

Childhood Hills
by Pat Mullan

Reading this collection of poetry and writings was like holding a conversation with a very interesting person who can fascinate with a hypnotic flow of words. His muse is an old country bard who whispered secrets of the ancient days in the poet's ear. Pat Mullan has translated those secrets onto these pages.

You will be moved to joy and sorrow as you traverse the winding path over these Childhood Hills. Within these hills dwells a child who remembers the man he was, not a man dreaming over a lost youth. He still lives in the poetry contained here.

This author is a spirit freed from the fears of childhood that we all have shared, no matter what shape those fears take, what horrid dreams they inspire. If you allow him, this poet will guide you through imagery and images, familiar and strange, to a destination where understanding waits.

A poem is music of the soul that takes its inspiration from ordinary events, places, and people. It is a music you hear with your heart. I recommend you read Childhood Hills slowly and listen carefully. It will quicken the spirit that lives within.

I am the author of "THE FEELINGS AND IMAGINATION OF A BAREFOOT BOY STILL INSIDE MY HEAD!: Poems and Short Stories for Boys and Girls Ages 9 to 12," which will be available online soon! I bought Childhood Hills to read another author's poetry. In Pat's book, here are several of my favorites: THE QUARRY HOLE, WE NEVER TALKED, BICYCLE RIDE, SMALL VICTORY, GRANNY BUNTY'S BUTTON BOX, and MY CAT (this one is by Annemarie Mullan Whilton). As I read, Pat's poetry created a vivid picture in my mind. The poems about Pat's childhood were particularly moving. Great Book Pat!

It's an amazing way of painting a picture from a really interesting life and Childhood of this irish author. For me it was sometimes intellectuall demanding and sometimes easy to follow. My Favourites are: 'The turning point' and 'Granny Bunty's Button Box'

This is by far the best book of stories written with teens in mind. I've been a youth leader for the past 11 years and I use this book often. In fact, this past weekend I loaned it to an 18 year old high school senior to use for our lock-in worship. He said he started reading the stories and couldn't stop! He said he was going to get a copy (but I should't tell anyone.) I told him to keep my copy and he did. Buy one for you and one to share. You will not be disappointed!!

I highly recommend this book to all teenagers and everyone else, also. I reviewed the manuscript in an early form, and I'm pictured on the front cover, along with my brother and other friends...Reading the stories made me laugh and cry, they were all very touching. It's a great book.

This book was an inspiration to me. I am going through a lot of hard times right now and this book has helped me see that my problems aren't as bad as I thought they were. One of my favorite stories would have to be "Miracle at the Mall" on page 314. There's always a different way God lets people know he cares and loves us. I look forward to future books by Alice Gray. Also, I would like to thank the people who allowed their stories to be published.

THIS BOOK IS A GREAT READ FOR TEENS.THE STORIES ARE FUNNY,HEART
WARMING AND AT TIMES SAD.MOST OF THE STORIES TEACH VAUABLE LESSONS ON LIFE.MY FAVORITE STORY IN THE BOOK WAS DUMP BOY.THE LESSON THE CHILDREN LEARN AT THE END WAS REALLY TOUCHING.ANOTHER
FAVORITE WAS A POEM CALLED MAKING SARAH CRY(WHICH WILL HAVE ALL
YOU SCHOOL BULLYS WISHING FOR A SECOND CHANCE.BUY THIS BOOK AND LOVE THE STORIES JUST LIKE I DID.YOU WON'T BE DISAPPIONTED.

Man....I dunno where to begin with this book. Yeah its that awesome! I've just started reading it and I'm abt 80 pages into it but lemme tell ya , Its just as good if not better than the rest of them in the "Stories 4 the Teens heart" series! I don't think the stories are just for teens either , anyone can read them and they are sure to enjoy them. The stories talk about real life situations and how others have coped with them. This book can really cheer a person up and help them out. I hope anyone who veiws this would read it and enjoy it! Best wishes to all ya'll out there!

C. Vann Woodward's "The Strange Career of Jim Crow" remains one of the most important books written about post-Reconstruction Southern America. In the space of very few pages, Woodward brings to us the proposal that the assumptions we have all been making about Jim Crow laws and the development of segregation were all wrong from the very beginning. We are taught the lie from grade school forward that "that's just the way it always has been in the South." Not so, according to Woodward.

We learn very quickly when reading this book that not only were there three or four decades following the Civil War wherein there was virtually no major segregation in the South - but the conditions with regards to segregation and equal rights in the South were actually better than in the North for several decades as well.

The lies of a racist South and a desperate North (desperate to make a moral issue of something that they too were guilty of in trying to keep blacks from having equal rights) somehow stuck in the Southern psyche, and all along we've been thinking that people were racist because "that's all they knew." Woodward blows this theory out of the water, and exposes the truth about the post-Reconstruction South.

Not only was segregation not popular in the South in much of the late 19th Century, but blacks voted often. There was very good participation - enough to put a lot of blacks and Republicans in public office in the South - for a time. It was not until the 1870s that a gradual change began in the South. That change brought about the Jim Crow laws - changes that were unwelcome to all of humanity. Booker T. Washington believed that the South could not advance and still leave the blacks behind: Woodward came about a few decades later and showed us all just how right Washington really was.

C. Vann Woodward's "The Strange Career of Jim Crow" was the first major effort to analyze the segregation system in the American South. Appearing in 1955, the author's treatment of this institution refuted contemporary statements made by several public figures who argued that racial separation was an ancient phenomenon that would last indefinitely. Not so, argued Woodward, as he proceeded to prove that the South experienced a time after the Civil War when the two races often intermingled without widespread hostility on the part of southern whites. Woodward's book expresses the heartfelt belief that since segregation was a recent development, the possibility existed for the South to reject its separatist doctrine and eventually embrace integrationist principles. The first chapters deal with the period during and after Reconstruction, what Woodward refers to as the First Reconstruction, when the South grudgingly accepted conditions forced upon it by the North. The author argues that blacks in southern urban areas often lived side by side with white citizens, as well as rode in the same streetcars and dined in many of the same restaurants. There were exceptions to these incidents, but overall monolithic, legalized segregation measures simply did not exist.

One of the reasons for this lack of overarching segregation policies concerned southern politics in the post-Civil War South. The author outlines three political philosophies during the 1880s and 1890s that worked to capitalize upon black support. Southern liberalism went nowhere with its arguments that all citizens must have equal rights in all social spheres. Conservative southerners took a position between liberals and radical racists, arguing that in every society there existed superior and inferior elements. Obviously, conservatives claimed, blacks occupied an inferior position to whites. This did not mean that blacks should be treated harshly or denied privileges. The conservatives were paternalists and used the goodwill they earned from blacks to capture elective offices from the Redeemers. The conservative political philosophy collapsed when widespread corruption swept its proponents from office. The Populists, the last southern political structure Woodward discusses, also attempted an alliance with blacks. The movement was short lived, and with external pressures of the 1880s and 1890s such as economic depression and northern indifference to blacks, southerners blamed blacks for their social ills. Moreover, southern politicians weary of the years of malicious infighting decided to seek a measure of unification, and they achieved this fusion by blaming black voters for economic and political discord. It is at this time, writes the author, when segregation laws blossomed across the South.

The second section of the book deals with the emergence and consequences of what Woodward calls the Second Reconstruction. Starting during the Second World War and emerging fully during the 1950s and 1960s, this era of race relations saw increasing waves of attacks directed against Jim Crow in the South. The first maneuvers came from the White House, with Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman launching several initiatives aimed at integrating defense jobs and the armed services. The second wave came with a series of Supreme Court actions seeking to integrate the school systems. With action came reaction as the segregationists finally launched an offensive against Brown vs. The Board of Education when lower court judges in the South upheld the higher court's ruling. The resulting attempts to undercut the judgment by southern state governments coupled with periodic outbreaks of violence led to even more civil rights initiatives from the federal government. Kennedy proposed and Johnson pushed through Congress measures aimed at accelerating integration and restoring the black vote in the South. The Second Reconstruction ended after the riots of the 1960s in northern cities caused civil rights organizations to shift from a role of non-violence to militant black nationalism. Woodward's book concludes on a rather pessimistic note when he observes that black-white relations seem to be reverting to a new form of racial separation.

It is difficult to find problems with "The Strange Career of Jim Crow." The book was the first work to sum up the civil rights movement in the United States. Moreover, the author wrote a book broad enough to give historians plenty of material for further research, something scholars always appreciate. Even the form of the book, with its lack of footnotes and energetic style, is more of a plus than a minus. By writing a friendly, accessible treatment of the issue, Woodward managed to reach beyond the walls of academia and find a wide public audience. It is not difficult to imagine that many of the young people registering black voters or going on freedom rides could cite this book as a major influence in their decision to make a stand against segregation. As the afterword shows, even Martin Luther King, Jr read and quoted Woodward on occasion. Finally, the fact that this book has never gone out of print underscores its seminal influence on the country at large.

No book is immune to criticism, however. Woodward often fails to incorporate into his narrative what actions blacks took in response to segregation. This critique is not always valid: the author does cite a black newspaperman who toured the South in the late 1800s, along with several members of the Black Panther Party. But in several places the book needs some description of black agency, especially the chapter concerning southern politics. Woodward presents the black population in the 1880s and 1890s as a passive force palmed off from one white political faction to another. Are we to assume that black voters simply bowed their heads and acted the role of dupes to savvy white politicians? Perhaps many did due to a lack of education and a lingering submissiveness from the days of slavery, but there were people who attempted to participate in the system in order to earn their rights.

The most fascinating thing about this book is not just the particular events in history, or the misconceptions and myths that Woodward discusses, but rather how truly complex the issue of race is in America. Since emancipation, there has always been a struggle between and among whites and blacks to figure out how to understand each other and themselves, and how to occupy the same place. This history is indeed strange, and to have an idea of why race is still such an issue today, it helps to know how racism, segregation, and civil rights changed over time.

Woodward's book cautions us against taking simplified views that the South was always racist, and the North was not, and he begins by describing various accounts of life in the South right after the Civil War. According to Woodward, the venomous prejudice that sustained the Jim Crow laws decades later wasn't foreseeable at that time. Much of his explanation of the racist sentiment that so desired segregation is framed in the context of politics, and he tries to analyze many of the events he discusses in terms of political and economic pressures, as well as in terms of reactions to preceding actions.

If the Civil War is to be seen as a war for racial equality (and there are many other ways of seeing it), then it can easily be argued that it continues to this day. It is often most comforting to think of the wiping out of Native Americans, and then the enslavement of Africans as hideous scars that America carries in the past, while believing that America today is a different, tolerant place. But Jim Crow laws were a product of the twentieth century, and the racial tensions still exist in a very real way. Woodward's book, first published in 1955, and last revised in 1974, is still immensely relevant today, and reading it can only enhance your sense of American history.

I have the 1957 edition of the book, and so can't comment on the new chapter.
This is a fascinating book which should be read by anyone interested in racial issues, US history, or US politics.
The major surprise to me is Woodward's description, complete with many contemporary quotes, of a time in the late 1800's post-Reconstruction South where African Americans were treated largely equally with regard to public accomodations and voting. Segregation, then, was considered to be a "lower-class white attitude."
It wasn't until approximately 1900 that a very segregationist attitude came about in the South, largely as the result of the interplay of Republican, Democratic, and Progressive politics.
This is course gives the lie to assertion through much of the 1900's that de jure racial segregation was a time-honored part of Southern life, and there was no possible alternative.
Woodward then goes on to describe the depths to which Jim Crow legislation sank, describing the effect of African American migration within the country, World War II, how our segregationist policies hurt the US image abroad, and on to the beginnings of the civil rights movement, ending shortly after _Brown v. Board of Education_, well before the major civil rights events and legislation.
Fairly quick read, and a great book!

C. Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow is not only a fine introduction to its topic -- the segregationist period in the South -- but one of the most significant and influential books of its time.

Originally published in 1955 (by Oxford University Press), Professor Woodward's tome kicked off the Civil Rights era with a bang, debunking the ludicrous myth (and mantra among segregationists) that separation of the races had always existed in Southern life, and generally dissecting an ugly monstrosity which had come to be accepted simply as "the way things are." Ten years later, in a second revision which came just as the legal battle against segregation was almost won, Woodward added a wealth of information which helped finish the job of winning the people's hearts and minds: in the words of Robert Penn Warren, Woodward's work was "a witty, learned, and unsettling book. The depth of the unsettling becomes more obvious day by day; which is a way of saying that it is a book of permanent significance." And ten years later still, in this -- the third and final revision -- Woodward capped off the era with an examination of the more violent, less integrationist movements which arose after Watts, with leaders like Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver and Bobby Seale.

Woodward is an equal-opportunity myth-exploder. On the one hand, he demonstrates at great length that segregation was not a mere expression of racism, but in fact a complex and corrupt outworking of many political and economic interests in the impoverished, post-Reconstruction South. On the other hand, he also shows conclusively that segregation took time to develop: it was not, as its supporters claimed, the way things had always been, or even the way things had come to be immediately following the war, but had actually arisen thirty and even forty years later, with the removal of Northern troops, the disintegration of Republican influence, a national "taking up of the white man's burden" with regard to "colored" peoples abroad, and increasing economic distress which allowed successive Populists and Democrats to consolidate power by limiting white exposure to the threat of competing (and competitive) blacks. These things, combined with a series of Supreme Court rulings sanctioning segregation, produced a wicked stew which more modern readers found extremely unpalatable upon Woodward's closer examination.

Beyond these things, Woodward's treatment of the Jim Crow era itself, as well its demise, were and are excellent, and were especially provocative at the time of their writing. Based on a series of lectures delivered at the University of Virginia in 1954, the book is not annotated, and even in a third edition remains quite brief; yet it is thorough and engaging, and suffers only a bit for these points. In all, it remains not only an excellent history -- produced by one of America's finest scholars -- but also a key source document of its era, and is a very good read as well. It continues to be vital to a proper understanding of the South, as well as the whole misbegotten concept of "separate but equal."

John Lewis Gaddis is probably the foremost historian of the Cold War.

Strategies of Containment provides a complete basic overview of the subject of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. It is specifically a history of the U.S.'s containment policy toward the Soviet Union and the Communist-bloc and its evolution over time.

It begins with U.S. diplomat George Kennan's famous memomorandum or "long telegram" from the Soviet Union which provided the guide for interpreting the intentions of the Soviet that was used by the State Department and the Executive Branch in formulating U.S. foreign policy towards the Soviet Union and the Communist-bloc nations - especially during the early stages of the Cold War. If a U.S. foreign service officer or other U.S. official wanted to understand the Soviet Union's foreign policy or history and the considerations which would impact the Soviet leadership's behavior - he or she was directed to read it.

The initial assessment by Kennan and his subsequent use of the term "containment" in a Foreign Affairs magazine for the first time, was controversial and volumes have been written on what he meant.

His approach basically was to advise against a wholesale reordering of the world order based on U.S. values which would cause consternation in the Soviet leadership and trigger Soviet defensive diplomatic (and potentially more drastic measures) in opposing the new international framework.

Kennan wanted diversity in the international system, to allow the Soviet Union to participate within it, and not undermine or be alienated from it, and thus transformed by it over time. The history of the Soviet Union's participation in the UN and its institutions confirms his analysis.

Kennan initially argued for a particularist approach as opposed to a universalist approach. He also argued for strong point as opposed to wide-scale perimeter opposition to expanding Soviet spheres of influence.

Kennan's writings set the stage for an interpretation of Soviet behavior and intentions. He studied Soviet and Russian history and knew that the Soviet Union would seek to build buffer zones between it and any potential adversary. The Napolean invasion, Germany's invasion, etc. as well as the Crimean War, and the Russo-Japanes War of 1905, and the U.S. and European intervention in the Russian civil war, all shaped the Soviet leadership's thinking.

Kennan wanted to restore a balance of power at the interface between the East and West in the European theater as well as in Asia, but without contesting every Soviet move for influence along its borders and without alienating the Soviet Union from the new international order.

Truman subsequently instituted a policy review process that led to NSC-68 which expressly stated that the U.S. policy was to promote U.S. values of freedom and human dignity. Containment then moved into the shape of a perimeter-type defensive strategy in which Soviet moves on its periphery for political and military influence was to be contested.

The book then describes U.S. national security policy and how U.S. containment evolved over time into Eisenhower's "New Look" policy in which no further Soviet expansion of its power into other nations was to be uncontested and then later into "flexible response" under Kennedy and Johnson and then detente under Kissinger.

The book is an excellent introduction to the Cold War, the U.S. policy of containment and its evolution.

This book show us the strategies of Containment in the Cold War Era; an important beginning had been made with the Truman Doctrine and the Containment thesis, which established a defensive position holding back Soviet expansionism.
In 1947 the US had an exclusive monopoly on the ultimate weapon, the atomic weapon, and this monopoly should be used -the bomb "makes politically possible....the domination of the world by a single sufficiently large state". The architect of containment was George Frost Kennan, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War.
He later wrote standard histories of the relations between Russia and the Western powers. The NSC-68, the most important of all Cold War documents, was "a plan of military rearment and development is at present going forward". It's the central document of the Cold War that transformed containment into a global crusade. Approved by Harry Truman in April 1950, it still lacked Congressional funding and support, and Truman was too weak a president to push it throught in the absence of a major crisis.
It would have been interesting if the author of the book had also used an approach from the Soviet point of view, as well as one in the West and the United States. In addition, Henry Kissinger has been widely studied and detailed, but it seems that is not mentioned in the book the figure of the first Secretary of State of the Nixon presidency, William Rodgers.

Strategies of Containment, by John Lewis Gaddis, is a description of the evolving strategy of containment that was the basis of US policy toward the Soviet Union from 1946 through 1989. Gaddis traces the concept of containment from its inception by George F. Kennan through the modifications applied by five administrations and assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and effectiveness of each version. This book is more than another chronology of the cold war; it provides deep insights into strategic thinking and is essential reading for any serious student of the cold war. Here's a brief summary:

Kennan's Original Doctrine of Containment

* Identify and defend vital interests based on the centers of industrial strength - Britain, Western Europe, Japan -don't try to defend the entire world.
* Use all instruments of power: economic, diplomatic, political, and cultural power as well as military power. Rebuilding the economic vitality of the above areas is a high priority.
* Seek to divide the communist world. Our primary adversary is the Soviet Union. Other communist countries, if not actively supporting Soviet policy, may be led to serve as quasi-allies by depriving the Soviets of their support.
* General war with the Soviets is unlikely, so we can afford to take risks. We can limit our defense spending and not try to defend the world. A point defense of our vital interests is probably adequate.
* Define threats in light of US vital interests, not in terms of Soviet capabilities

Truman and NSC-68

* The policies articulated in NSC-68 moved toward a perimeter defense covering the entire world rather than a point defense of vital interests.
* Primary emphasis was switched to military power and to the entire spectrum of war
* US interests were redefined in response to perceived threats (anything that is threatened must be an interest).
* US strategy became based on a symmetric response to threats - responding in the same time, place, and with the same means as the adversary (e.g., the Korean War).

Eisenhower, Dulles, and the New Look

* Eisenhower's guiding philosophy was that defense is not just defeating the enemy - it is the preservation of our economic and political systems.
* Spending too much on defense could destroy these systems by leading to either inflation or the imposition of autocratic controls. He reduced the defense budget by 33% from Truman's last year and held it at about that level for eight years.
* Alliances relied on allies for ground forces with the US providing Air and Naval support.
* The nuclear threat became the cornerstone of deterrence across the spectrum of conflict - with goal of avoiding war - in belief that any war was all too likely to escalate to nuclear.
* Asymmetric response to threats - response need not be in same place or using same methods as Soviet threat
* Anti-colonial Conundrum: The communists are fomenting wars of national liberation while the US is trying to rebuild Europe (the colonial powers). If the US backs decolonization, it undermines the European allies it is trying to rebuild. If the US backs the colonial powers, it loses any chance of support from the colonies. The Soviets really put us in a no-win position on this issue.

Kennedy, Johnson, and Flexible Response

* Kennedy and Johnson return to NSC-68 reasoning by lowering threat of nuclear response and replaced it with flexible response, requiring a direct, symmetric response to threats - a respond in same time and place using the same means.
* These administrations applied a circular logic: Threats create interests which demand responses which require capabilities even where no interest previously had been identified. This was articulated in the "bear any burden, pay any price" rhetoric.
* This strategy necessitated greater reliance on military response versus economic, political, etc which increased demands on the defense budget.
* Kennedy abandoned Eisenhower's commitment to a balanced budget and relied on Keynesian fiscal policy to stimulate the economy. Spending was predicated on the potential of the economy rather than its actual performance. Lack of budgetary constraints led to inability to prioritize, to distinguish the essential from the peripheral, the feasible from the infeasible which encouraged more "bear any burden, pay and price' reasoning because it wasn't real money.
* Flexible response led to graduated escalation in Viet Nam which became "never enough to defeat the enemy, just enough to prolong the war". Stakes were repeatedly raised to prevent the humiliation of a defeat but this only made the eventual defeat more humiliating.
* Calibrated escalation yielded the initiative to the enemy - allowed him to define the terms of conflict. Deterrence can be made effective only if the adversary can be made to doubt that he can retain control of the situation. Taking the nuclear option away encouraged adversaries to call our bluff.

Nixon, Kissinger and Détente

* Nixon and Kissinger moved the US government from a bi-polar to a multi-polar world view by positing the existence of five significant power centers: US, USSR, Western Europe, China, and Japan. They recognized that these five power centers were far from equal. Only the US and USSR were superpowers able to exert substantial influence via military, economic, political, or diplomatic means. This strategy was a return to the balance of power envisioned by Kennan.
* In the military arena, they focused on sufficiency rather than superiority over the Soviet Union and sought to persuade Brezhnev that a similar policy would be in his country's best interest as well. Sufficiency won the logical argument over superiority because the latter invariably provoked the other side into matching every military advance, producing and endless and unwinnable arms race.
* Conceptually, Kissinger and Nixon changed the country's strategic definition of US interests and threats to those interests. For most of the interval between Kennan and Nixon-Kissinger, the US strategic view had started with the USSR, its capabilities and intentions, then identified the impact these capabilities could have. These impacts became viewed as threats and US interests were defined as anything thus threatened. Nixon and Kissinger reversed the logical flow, much as Kennan did, starting with the identification of US interests, independent of any adversary. They then identified as an adversary an entity with capability and intent to harm these interests.
* Again returning to Kennan's approach, Nixon-Kissinger sought to use negotiations to influence Soviet behavior. They took a long-term approach to negotiations, discarding the tendency of previous administrations from Roosevelt on to use negotiations and agreements with the Soviets for domestic political purposes. They discarded the approach of seeking agreements on specific areas where they could be reached and adopted a strategy of linkage - maintaining that Soviet unwillingness to negotiate in good faith on military and strategic issues of importance to the US would result in US refusal to accommodate Soviet desires for economic and trade relations and recognition of the post war division of Europe.
* The next step in the Nixon-Kissinger strategy was to seek an accommodation with China to reduce US-Chinese tensions and, thereby, free China to take a more assertive stance in its own dealings with the USSR. This was a return to Kennan's goal of dividing communism and redefined our prime enemy as the Soviet Union

Reagan

Reagan continued the return to Kennan's original concept of containment:
* Adopt an asymmetric strategy - don't let the enemy determine the time, place, and terms of conflict
* Apply economic, political, diplomatic, and moral power more than military power. A prime example was his Berlin speech: "Mr. Gorbachev! Tear down this wall!" He put the Soviets in the same kind of no-win position that they had inflicted on Eisenhower over colonialism in the 1950s by setting the Eastern Europeans at odds with the Kremlin.
* He recognized that Soviet system was bankrupt financially, intellectually, morally and turned up the pressure until it collapsed.
* Reagan was also lucky. Kennan had hoped to transform the Soviet Union with the help of a new generation of Russian leaders. Gorbachev turned out to be the leader Kennan had hoped for. He and Reagan together ended the cold war and transformed the Soviet Union from a totalitarian system to one that might have evolved into a more liberal one had the 1991 coup d'état not destroyed it first.

Now in a revised edition, Strategies Of Containment: A Critical Appraisal Of American National Security Policy During The Cold War is a revised and expanded edition of Bancroft Prize winner and Cold War expert John Lewis Gaddis' classic on understanding the history of containment as a policy, its role in bringing the Cold War to an end, and its possible value or pitfalls in the future. Originally published during the Regan presidency when the Soviet Union was still a superpower, Strategies Of Containment includes a greatly expanded chapter on Reagan, Gorbachev, and the completion of containment, as well as a new epilogue. A welcome scrutiny of history with the advantage of post-Cold War hindsight.

This book is still useful even 20 years after publication. Gaddis view US policy toward the USSR as a pendulum that swings between"symmetrical" and "asymmetrical" approaches. The periods are split into: Kennan's original containment, NSC-68, Eisenhower's "New Look", JFK and Nixon's détente. There is a coda covering Carter, but it is less helpful.

The symmetrical approach confronts the USSR wherever the USSR chooses to probe. In this approach, wherever the Soviets seek to advance is, by their very actions, a US interest. In contrast, the asymmetrical view seeks to identify those areas that are inherently vital US interests and protect those.

The first seeks to build a fence (containment) around the Soviets. The second approach builds its fences around US interests and lets the USSR do what it wants - within reason - elsewhere. Heck, why let them do that? The answer is "means." Gaddis stresses the point that US means are not unlimited. The US must balance means and ends and this leads to the pendulum swings.

The reasons I do not give the book the last star are: It does not cover the Carter-Reagan-Bush era and Smith over draws the magnitude of the swings. The book makes it sound like there were tremendous differences between the various administrations and does not pay enough attention to the essential consistency of US Cold War strategy. Smith acknowledges this in a retrospective on his own book available at the Hoover Institute web site.

I am not a therapist nor am I studying to become one. Regardless, I loved this book. It is a fascinating account of human nature. The author sets out on an adventure to meet up with a handful of his previous patients. Thirty years have passed since he has counseled them and his quest is to find out, not only how they turned out, but if they truly did benefit from his therapy.

The author does not *really* find out the answer to that latter question. It is impossible to know whether they would have turned out the same without his therapy. However, the adventure is still a compelling one. When hearing each person's story of how they entered into therapy, even I was dying to know how they turned out. You will be, as well.

I enjoyed the first story, about Naomi, the most. Akeret is an excellent writer...he draws you into his adventure completely. I can imagine that this book would attract many readers who are in the field of psychology/psychotherapy. I am fairly certain that every therapist has at least one patient who they would like an update on years later. However, such follow-up, I believe, is frowned upon in the field. Akeret throws caution to the wind and indulges himself. In turn, he indulges the reader.

I give this book 5 stars. It is more interesting than many works of fiction that I have read.

I found myself recently telling somebody about a particular story from this book--which I read years ago when it first came out. The "polar bear" story has stuck with me for YEARS...so revealing about how our environment as children shapes our psycology! (All the stories in this book are for GREAT for party conversation!)...I just went back into therapy, and decided to pick it up again to read--and I forgot how intriguing each story was! This book not only follows up on the "endings" of his patients...it's also kind of a travel-questlike tale. A quick, easy read, but NOT lacking in content whatsoever!

I don't know much about psychotherapy - this was an interesting way to learn about it. The stories are fascinating, well-written, and Akeret provides very meaningful, humanistic commentary.

Although this book reads like a novel, it contains the real-life stories of the journeys of five of Robert's most memorable patients. Starting with the work that began within the walls of the therapy room, each chapter takes a peek into how the lives of the individual patients have progressed in the space and time beyond the sessions. On so many levels, this book illustrates how the real effects of therapy transcend quantifiable in-session measures, and have an immeasurably profound influence on the rest of the patient's life. These stories speak for themselves and illustrate that the therapy is indeed healing when life after therapy can truly be a life.

I have done therapy myself for many years and I really enjoyed reading Akeret's book. Before I knew it, I had finished the book, wishing for more. When I first went into this line of work, my supervisor said to me that people are funnier than a barrel full of monkeys. People never cease to amaze me. Seeing the tremendous variation in personalities and getting a look at what made them the way they are leads to one becoming much more tolerant of others and also much more tolerant of one's own idiosyncracies. But first and foremost this book was very entertaining without being fantasy. (I'm the type who doesn't like fantasy because I just keep saying to myself "oh, c'mon!") A man falling in love with a polar bear? but he explained how it could happen. And people who think thoughts can kill - Mary in the book. Read the book. You'll be glad you did.

Why when this set, deck and book can be had brand new for 32$ and change, why are you charging so much? I am not out to offend but as an avid collector I would like to know what makes this set worth the asking price?????
Yes I love this deck....I am not just a collector I read and have 2 favorite decks, this being one and the other is Magickal Tarot by anthony clark both are great decks, so if I am missing something here as far as the Tarot of Ceremonial Magick somebody please clue me in!!!!~!!!

...If I were stranded on a desert island" This is what a friend of mine told me when I purchased this book and deck. I figured that this was his usual superlative personality, until I studied it in depth.
Other decks merely scratch the surface of the correspondences between the Tarot, Astrology, Kabbala and the Hebrew alphabet; however, this one goes beyond the others by delving into Enochian, and Goetic attributes of the various cards. The book's appendices also have the Enochian calls as well as the various Goetic invocations.
Lon is a Thelemite, which is demonstrated not only his use of the same names of the Major Arcana of the Thoth deck, but also by the Thelemic imagery on many of the cards. That being said, this set is a perfect accompanyment to the book of Thoth. It helps decipher some of Crowleys more cryptic divinitory meanings.
This set is for anyone who has any interest in the Hermetic Arts. Everyone, from the greenest of Neophytes, to the most adept Magi can benefit from this set.
Do yourself a favor and buy this set!

This is not another novelty Tarot deck. In fact, it recaptures the true magical tradition of the Tarot as few decks have ever done. I have to admit that it isn't as pretty as the Crowley/Harris Thoth Deck or the Cicero's Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot, but it has something more than either of these classics ... in-your-face Magick!

The four Elemental Tablets of the Enochian system of John Dee adorn the Aces - with the Aces and Court Cards you can construct the powerful Enochian Tablet of Union. The Small Cards bear the names and sigils of all 72 Spirits of the Goetia, and the names of the 72 Qabalistic Angels of the Shemhamaphorash, and the degrees of the zodiac and days of the year sacred to these spirits. Want to project your astral body into the elemental worlds? The Aces and Court Cards display colored tattwa symbols used for that very purpose. DuQuette didn't just throw this stuff on some cards and call it Tarot. All these magical correspondences, even the colors, are organized with anal retentive perfection in strict conformity to the most revered magical and qabalistic traditions concerning the Tarot.

The accompanying book is filled with all the technical information necessary to actually begin practicing Qabalistic, Enochian, and Goetic magick. The deck/book set is in truth...REAL MAGICK IN A BOX. The first question I had to ask myself after reading it was..."Am I ready for this?"

I own the deck and book and i am pleased to say that Lon Milo DuQuette has both met and exceeded my already high expectations of his work. This deck has for me been a valuable tool and and a great teacher of different forms of magick. For an individual who wants to diversify his/her education this deck definately will help. The book that was written for it is also of great help and i would highly recommend it to you. All in all i give this deck a 10!

Best Deck Since Ciceros' Golden Dawn Tarot IMHO, there are basically four kinds of Tarot decks out there: historical decks, dating back to the Renaissance (and their modern re-drawings); visionary decks, ranging from the sublime (Thoth Tarot by Crowley) to the slightly ridiculous (Tarot of the Cats); correspondence decks, which conglomerate various occult symbols (such as astrological and kabbalistic symbols); and magical order decks (such as the Rider-Waite deck, the Thoth deck by AC, the Golden Dawn deck by the Ciceros).

Of course some decks cross over the boundaries, being visionary, including copious correspondences (not just suggestive imagery) and having their roots in a bona fide magical order.

Duquette's new deck is just such a deck; it is weighted heavily towards correspondences, so much so that its author calls it 777 (a famous book of correspondences)on cards. However it also includes very workable images which can trigger the imagination, good key words and divinatory meanings. And, it is the product of a reputable member of a magical order.

The frosting on the cake is the incorporation of the Goetic images and Enochian images.

I think this would be an excellent deck for divination (it works for me) while also conditioning the subconscious to several families of potent symbols.

I highly recommend it.

THUNDER OF ANGELS helps introduce E.D. Nixon to the rest of the world who may not realize the scope of his tremendous influence on the structure and foundation of the Civil Rights Movement in America.
Because of his guidance, strength, organizational skills, and ceaseless courageous actions; he set in motion a force greater than himself or any other one man.
Though not an eloquent speaker, his convictions and sincerity, his drive and leadership, and his tenacious ability to identify strength and potential in those around him should have secured his place in history. It did not.
THUNDER OF ANGELS should help rectify this gross oversight and help E.D. Nixon receive the credit due for all of his efforts and accomplishments.
Rodney Knolton/Davis-Kidd Booksellers/Memphis, Tn.

This remarkable book is a joy to read and it made a great gift for the holidays.

It just goes to tell you that the really important histories of this turbulent era can be written from the voice of the people down south who lived the experiences.

I applaud Mr. Donnie Williams and all the civil rights historical chroniclers for their sacrifice and literary expertise. I highly, highly recommend this book.

I hope Mr. Williams writes another book!

Donnie Williams put incredible effort into research and interviewing people who were there (in the mid century south) and people who remember racial events of this historical time period. This book brought out hard and sad times in our nation's history when innocent men, women, and children suffered unbelievable discrimination and even death. This book makes everyone aware that our knowledge of the time period is only a tip of the iceberg. Many suffered and their stories will never be heard, but Donnie Williams took time to go into their homes and their histories to learn many untold stories of unsung heroes (white and black) who fought for freedom, equality, and unity for all races. This book is well worth the read and I look forward to Donnie's upcoming books with more information on this historical time period.

This book is the best on this historical subject to come down the pike in decades. It illuminates more than the events. It makes us "feel" the people. Don't miss this chance to gain an indepth understanding of what it was like to be there that day in that city when American began to change.

Although it is pretty early in the new year I suspect that "The Thunder of Angels" just might be one of the best books I will read in 2006. Donnie Williams and Wayne Greenhaw have the uncanny knack of transporting the reader right back into the middle of the historic events that were taking place in Montgomery, Al back in 1955 and 1956. More importantly, the authors introduce us to E.D.Nixon, a humble Pullman car porter and largely unknown figure up to this point, who in myriad ways over a period of two decades helped to create what we all know today as the civil rights movement in America. "The Thunder of Angels" reveals the untold story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. You cannot help but be struck by the courage and determination displayed by so many people during those troubled times in Alabama's capitol city.
If ever there was an unlikely figure to lead such a historic movement it was E.D Nixon. As a young man he learned first hand the hard life of a sharecropper. Determined to make a better life for himself, E.D. Nixon found work as a baggage porter in Mobile in the mid 1920's. Shortly thereafter he landed a job as a Pullman car porter. The new job gave young Mr. Nixon the opportunity to travel to a great many U.S. cities including Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and New York. Growing up in a segregated city like Montgomery, he naturally assumed that Negroes were treated in the same way everywhere else. But in his travels he discovered that this simply was not the case. He saw firsthand that blacks were faring substantially better than he had been led to believe in many towns and cities across America. He quietly vowed to do whatever he could to instigate change in this beloved Montgomery. He bided his time and in December 1955 the Rosa Parks case presented itself. Because so much of the groundwork had been laid over the years by E.D. Nixon the emerging leadership of the Black community in Montgomery as well as the black man in the street correctly sensed that the time was right to demand change in their city. It proved to be a knock-down, dragged out fight but the storied case of the Montgomery Bus Boycott would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I found "The Thunder of Angels" to be one of those books that I simply could not put down. This one held my interest from cover to cover. There was so much new information that I have never seen anywhere else. I learned about many courageous men and women, black and white, the famous and the not so famous who rose to the occasion and demanded an end to segregation in Montgomery. What happened there would have a profound effect on the history of race relations in America. "The Thunder of Angels" is a "must" read for all students of U.S. history. Very highly recommended!!!

Ever wanted to become a US Army Ranger?
Well, this book will tell you what to expect if you join the ranks of recruits who hold the hope of becoming a Ranger.

This pictorial book will start where the first change occur when we sign up for duty in the armed forces; the haircut! From there it take the reader through the process of training a raw recruit from a civilian life to the life of - not only a soldier - but a US Army Ranger!

We will follow recrutis through the Ranger training, on the firing range, parachute training, patrolling at night, and not to mention the demanding physical opstacles that has to dealt with, if you want to make the pass as a US Army Ranger. The pictures take the reader close enough on the recruits so when you finish the book you can almost say: been there, done that...well almost!

The reader will get a good knowledge about how the life of a Ranger recruit is.

Read it before you sing up, if you do not want to be taken by surprise!

My sons will enter separate universities this Autumn. Each will enter as an Army ROTC cadet and--by plan at least--emerge four years later as a college graduate and a commissioned officer in the United States Army.

I don't fully understand what makes these strong-sensitive lads of mine yearn to enter the ranks of Americ'a warriors, particularly since their growing-up years were spent almost exclusively in Costa Rica and England. Yet knowing these two strapping third-culture kids the way I do, one or both is likely to end up in Ranger School.

I thought I'd better study up.

And what a way to begin my education! Russ Bryant's TO BE A US ARMY RANGER is not full of the agonized ethical self-doubts suffered by many of my peers. It takes the mission for granted and tells the story of how the Army's version of special operations trains an excellent soldier to be a Ranger.

Clearly, they know how to create an elite force with the highest level of skill and a devout adherence to the Ranger Creed (yes, it's called that).

I believe many families of Ranger candidates will find this book very useful in bridging the gap between what their sons experience as they earn the Ranger tab and what those of us on the outside can only begin to imagine.

I'm already proud of my two sons, who have overcome adversity, seized opportunity, and kept themselves in the game through twenty and eighteen years of life, respectively. Respect is not on the table. But when I see them in uniform for the first time, the heart will swell. And, if ever, I have a son who is a US Army Ranger, I'll remember this book and the first glimpse I had of a corps of warriors that--out there somewhere and in the mix of an ethically confused world, does unwanted tasks that by and large serve the cause of justice--keeps the Creed.

The picture quality in this book is excellent. The book also does an excellent job of keeping the pictures and information relevant and in good chronological order. Having gone through Basic and Airborne School down in Fort Benning it was great to look back and recognize so much of what was being covered. So you can be assured that these are pics of the actual places being talked about and not just replicas or places with a likeness. The book does not go into great depth on any single topic but does a great job of giving a brief synopsis of a vast majority of the events. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in reliving some experiences or in learning what can be expected from a trip to Fort Benning.

My son,who is now in Ranger training,says this book has been extremely helpful to him.Not only does it inform him of what the next course will detail but keeps him abreast of what is to follow that. Required reading for any future hopeful Rangers.

I thought this book was amazing, lots of pictures, and lots of information. Although there are downsides to the book. They only talked about being a ranger from an enlisted point of view and not of an officer, and there were some other things that i wanted to learn more about but couldn't because they didn't go into complete detail, however i understand, and still recommend this book to anyone interested in the military, and most definitely recommend it to those who want to become a ranger.

Great book for getting outdoors. Taken 4 trails since the book arrived and the author described the trails perfectly. Buy the book and take a hike taday. Recommended!

Great book! Well written and accurate descriptions of the trails. Highly recommended for anyone looking to hike in the Sacramento valley - even those with kids and/or pets.

Any who would explore the valleys or mountains of California's state capital region must have TOP TRAILS SACRAMENTO: MUST-DO HIKES FOR EVERYONE in their collection. It covers opportunities both urban and rural and joins others in the 'must do' trips series, comes from a Sacramento resident and hiker, and reveals both major routes and lesser-known regions. With its trail feature charts documenting wildlife, scenic vistas and trails and its details on weekend getaways and maps, TOP TRAILS SACRAMENTO offers up key getaways for all and is a top pick for any California library, especially those closer to Sacramento.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The details in this book helped me find some hidden natural gems just an hour or so from my home in the busy suburbs, and provided much interesting historical, geological and biological background to enrich the experience. Clear directions and trail descriptions made planning and navigating much easier. The amateur photos that I took on these hikes are like postcards - mountains, hills, streams, flowers, and incredible trees. The natural beauty and grandeur that I encountered on these hikes got me through some troubled times, and provided soothing reminders that nature's beautiful rhythms still go on despite our best efforts to interfere with them. I'm giving this book as a gift to all my central CA nature-loving friends.

I've used many hiking books over the years, but Steve Evans' Top Trails Sacramento is by far the most user friendly. The book gives you good directions to each trailhead and a realisitic assessment of difficulty. Best of all, you feel like you have the author along with you, pointing out interesting tidbits and things to watch for along the way. The maps and trail directions are also easy to follow.

This very substantial (over 1242 pages) book is a treasure trove of information given all of the current attention (including Supreme Court decisions) being devoted to Gitmo detainees and issues of possible torture of alleged terroist detainees. The book consists for the most part of government memos and reports that were written to authorize and document coercive interrogation and torture in Gitmo, Afghanistan, and Abu Ghraid among other locales.

Some 28 memos are included in their entirety that cover the period from Sept. 25, 2001 into 2004. A number of reports are reproduced as well, written by the Bar of the City of New York, The American Bar Ass'n, former defense secretary Schesllinger's report on DoD detention operations, some briefing papers, DoD responses to AP reports, and the Fay/Jones report on Abu Ghraib. There simply is nothing like having the original documents at your fingertips. The book also includes a list of pertinent documents that at the time of publication had not been publicly released; most if not all of these are now available on the internet (e.g., the key John Yoo March 14, 2003 memo).

There are also helpful introductions (including a short one by Anthony Lewis of the NYT); a list of interrogation techniques; recommended readings; a listing of torture related laws and conventions; biographical sketches of the key players (except David Addington for some reason); a timeline; and some cases relevant to the incidence of torture. Also included is an afterword with some additional documents which had been released just as the book was going to press. The book nicely complements any of the current volumes out on this issue, such as Goldsmith's "The Terror Presidency" (also reviewed on Amazon). An indispensable resource in this important area.

This is an excellent resource for any serious scholar or researcher dealing with the laws of war, the Iraq War or torture issues. It is a broad compilation of original source material, mostly post 9/11; with its depth (over 1200 pages), it may be too much for the casual reader (if so, try Torture and Truth, by Mark Danner), but for serious research, it is essential.

Michael J. Brady, PhD (international law)
Tucson, Arizona

Mostly a collection of memos. This book is only a record to let us know what some of the hub bub is all about. Let us not sweep this under the rug. This is a first step in our examination of what we are and what we may become if each citizen doesn't accept responsibility and act on what is rapidly becoming a standard operating proceedure. Does torture acheive better information, Or blind us to truth? The same amount of time spent in a search for evidence would give results. Evidence gained by torturing is an illusion that has caused the torturer to become a goon. Calling torture by some other name does not change its effect. Torture destroys its victims and demoralizes its perpetrators. For those who are pleased to dominate it gives dominance. Torture does not give facts because it is not physical evidence. The veracity of uncovered facts can not be observed, but must be further tested. Torture can destroy any resistance in the one tortured and give the dominator feelings of the power of god. The torturer is loosing the battle without physical evidence. Torturing only gives the feelings of power.
This book is the begining of the examination of official torture and might allow some of us to reconfirm that torture by any name is only the act of a despot and only dispoils free citizens.

THE TORTURE PAPERS contains 1,242 eye-popping pages of documents--memos, legal opinions, reports, interrogation transcripts, etc.--gathered and conveniently ordered in one handy volume. The government documents show, among other things, that what happened at Abu Ghraib was not the result of a few bad apples on the nightshift, as the Pentagon has maintained, but was a result of the Bush administration's own operational rationale (i.e., by direction of the civilians installed by Bush/Cheney at the Pentagon and Justice Department). The reasoning behind both the war and the manner in which it was conducted is all laid out in amazing detail in the official documents. They themselves have provided the "smoking gun." It's all here folks, in their own words, if you take the time to read it. Unfortunately, even Democrats in Congress don't take the time, which is shamefully obvious in the congressional hearings.

Despite the extensive documentary evidence collected in this book, the Bush administration maintains that "we don't torture." Journalists don't seem to be able to cut through to the main issue, rarely--if ever--confronting Bush with the most damning documents. Moreover, journalists pose inadequate questions that fail to clarify. Just yesterday I watched Larry King interviewing Dick Cheney. Larry King brought up the subject of torture. Cheney claimed that they don't torture. Larry pressed Cheney a little and Cheney admitted that they use certain techniques, but never said what those interrogation techniques were. That was that.

But philosophers such as Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Ludwig Wittgenstein emphasize how different people mean vastly different things by the same words. Just because you share a word in common doesn't mean you're thinking the same thing by it. To sort out controversies, it's imperative that key terms be clarified. What does torture mean? To clarify the issue of whether we torture or not, journalists first need to establish what torture is. When Bush or Cheney claim that they don't use torture, the journalist must ask them what their working DEFINITION is: How do they define torture? There is probably a vast difference between what they mean by torture and what most Americans consider to be torture. The next step a journalist/interviewer must take is to ask whether specific acts constitute torture. Bush people might refuse to answer, saying that they don't comment about specific techniques, but it is in itself significant when they refuse to acknowledge that a specific technique, such as waterboarding or beatings, constitutes torture. Whenever SPECIFIC techniques are discussed, it makes them uncomfortable, which is exactly what the journalists should strive for on this topic.

It is often said that the President and his stooges have effectively "redefined" torture, or changed the law. Actually, what they did is REINTERPRET the law, which is vague in determining what torture is. As the documents in the book show, Bush's lawyers claim that only actions that result in organ failure or death constitute torture. If that is your definition, then the pulling out of fingernails is not torture. Thus, by simply reinterpreting the term, they can technically deny that they employ torture, but all the while they can be putting heads underwater and pulling out fingernails. The fact that the law can be so easily reinterpreted points to a severe shortcoming in the law itself, in how it is written (too much ambiguity). In any case, journalists must do a better job of establishing what the administration's working definitions of key terms are. If the Press simply did that, as well as use more documentary evidence (such as the plethora found in this book), so much more light, so much less confusion, obfuscation, and ambiguity, would result, taking the national dialogue up to a whole different level. Until then, we have books such as THE TOTURE PAPERS that gather the primary evidence on how the Bush administration has operated. Until the law is changed and made clearer in how it defines torture, Civil Rights lawyers will have an uphill battle fighting on this front. There's plenty of grounds for impeachment, though. It's a shame, in my opinion, that the Dems did not choose to bring Bush or Cheney to justice. Their actions NOW STAND AS PRECEDENT! But thanks to their own documents, at least history will record the amorality of the Bush administration in damning detail.

UPDATE: On 10/17/07, at a White House press conference, a journalist asked President Bush how he defined torture, a straightforward question. Bush's response? His definition, Bush said, was the same as the legal definition. Then he called on another journalist, running away from the question. Bush's answer was a clever, if cynical, dodge, since the ambiguity resides in how Bush's laywers INTERPRET the legal definition of torture. The definition of torture in the U.S. Code is intentionally vague, opening the way for the Bush administration's re-interpretation of the term. How Bush and his legal team interpret torture is found in Memo 14, "Standards of Conduct for Interrogation" (August 1, 2002), on page 172 of THE TORTURE PAPERS. 18 U.S.C, Sections 2340-2340A, states that for an act to constitute torture it must cause "severe physical or mental pain or suffering." But the law, at least this section of it, doesn't define "severe" or specify what acts do (or don't) constitute torture. The Bush people pounce on this vagueness and define "severe pain" by turning to another area of the law: statutes governing health care benefits which define what constitutes an "emergency medical condition for the purpose of providing health benefits." This area of the law defines "severe pain" as something that places the "health of the individual . . . (i) in serious jeopardy" or causes "(ii) serious impairment to bodily functions, or (iii) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part." So they apply this definition to their interpretation of torture and conclude that for an interrogation technique to constitute torture, it "must rise to the level of death, organ failure, or the permanent impairment of a significant body function." (They go on to similarly interpret "severe mental pain or suffering.") Using this perverse definition of torture, a definition that takes "severe" to mean organ failure and/or death, interrogation techniques that have traditionally been considered torture such as the pulling out of nails or the temporary cutting off of the air supply to a person's lungs are no longer considered torture. Moreover, the memo observes that "certain acts may be cruel, inhuman, or degrading, but still not produce pain and suffering of the requisite intensity to fall within Section 2340A's proscription against torture." But their definition of torture sanctions virtually all that transpired at Abu Ghraib. Yet they blamed it all on just a "few bad apples." (What a demonic lie!) When Bush claims that he defines torture the way the law defines it, he leaves unsaid how he interprets the legal definition. The old adage is true: the devil lies in the details, a fact the Bush team exploits to the hilt. Instead of asking Bush how he defines torture, probably a better way is to ask Bush and his goons to clarify how they define the phrase "severe pain" in the law. The interviewer can even anticipate the answer by directly citing what I cited above.

This comprehensive and current compilation makes clear that our government has sanctioned practices not only outlawed by international conventions against torture, to which we are signatories, but which discracefully echo the techniques of tyrants through the ages. The documentation will make it impossible for Americans to claim that they didn't know what is being done in our name. This work should be required reading for every citizen as our nation confronts an official policy that claims our only defense against terrorism is our own use of teror and torture.