Cultural Books

This book is an excellent introduction into home schooling today. As a home school graduate I think he captured much of the spirit of the movement today. However, he misses one point. He looks to Holt as the beginning of the movement. His bias towards the secular home schoolers blinds him to the private school movement that led to Christian home schools. The exodus of the Christians started during the time that Holt was writing. Thus, both movements were happening around the same time. He misses the fact that Christians such as R. J. Rushdoony were writing before Holt on the need to leave the public schools. Thus, the Christians were seeing the danger in the schools at the same time if not before the secular crowd. The Christians did not hijack a secular movement.

The Mitchell Stevens does a great job of accurately representing the two broadest classifications of homeschoolers. As someone who lives in the county with the highest homeschool population (13,000+) I can tell you every homeschooler I ever met was accurately represented in this book.

I am a conservative Christian (what the author labels "Godly Women") but I practice Attachment Parenting (what the author labeled "Natural Mother"). I spend a lot of time and know lots of people in both camps, and I can tell you the author did an outstanding job of respectfully explaining them. He also explains how the different philosophies/world views have led to legislative and media domination by the conservative Christian homeschool organizations. With that knowledge new homeschools are given insight to as to the cultural divisions in open vs. closed support groups. Being familiar with both cultures can help avoid unnecessary conflict.

This book covers the first wave of homeschoolers. There are essentially 3. I Saw the Angel in the Marble by Chris and Ellyn Davis covers all 3 in one of the essays. It is an excellent companion book to Kingdom of Children. It covers the roughly 6 different ways people homeschool, the 4 different subcultures homeschoolers fall into, and the chronology of the 3 waves of homeschooling.

The Davises call the first wave "Pioneers"- people who were not happy with institutional settings for religious or philosophical reasons. They emerged throughout the 1980s. That's who Kingdom of Children is about.

The second wave are called "Settlers"- people who are not categorically opposed to institutions, but are enjoying the academic excellence and flexible lifestyle that homeschooling affords. They showed up in the early 1990s after the test scores of pioneer kids were widely publicized.

In the late 1990s and after the turn of the new century the flood gates opened and group 3 known as "Refugees" poured in. They are fleeing a failed system and are unable to access a private school of their liking. They are probably the fastest growing group where I live. They are not steeped in homeschool philosophy, and usually mimic school at home. (They are also called "school at homers" instead of homeschoolers by current Pioneers and some of today's Settlers.)

SPOILER ALERT!
I was surprised Kingdom of Children let the cat out of the bag. The author's observations led him to the conclusion that women homeschool. No matter what camp they are in, no matter what they say about biblical hierarchy, in the end women develop the educational philosophy and research materials and do the work of teaching. Women set up support groups, networks, and enrichment activities. They also handle the lion share of the child rearing and household management at the same time. There are books and convention workshops that tout the idea of father significantly participating in and overseeing the process. How can they? They are working so hard to provide for us so we can enjoy the amazing and challenging experience of being a homeschool mom, it leaves little time for hands on instruction by dads. We're so appreciative that they do. Anyone considering this lifestyle needs to be ware of that reality.

Dads-read Help! I'm Married to a Homeschooling Mom by Todd Wilson. Your wife will be soooo glad you did!

Mitchell Stevens provides the first in depth study of the American home schooling movement. Instead of assuming that home schoolers are right wing fanatics or left wing bohemians, he takes the time to attend their meetings, visit their homes and read their literature. From his in depth study, he concludes that home schooling is an activity that grows out of long traditions in American politics and is an honest, and possibly successful, attempt at reconstructing education so that it meets the needs of children.

The focus of Mitchell's book is the division between home schoolers who view home schooling as a form of Christian education and those who view home schooling as a secular activity. Mitchell's thesis is that this division defines much of the discourse, organization and politics of home schooling. It also reflects concepts of womanhood, childhood and family.

From a sociological perspective, I think that this book's biggest contributions is an implicit critique of some themes in the sociology of education, where schools are seen as propagators of the status quo. Here, we have an example of how an institution, public education, is relaxing its grip and new forms of education are being created. This is not to say that public education is on the path to extinction, but this book shows how viables alternatives to dominant institutions emerge.

To summarize: first in depth sociological work on home schooling, takes home schoolers seriously as people, clear

writing and very little jargon and furthers our understanding of educational institutions and social change. A sure winner!

We have been homeschooling since the early 70's. earlier if you consider my homeschooling in the 50's. This is why I was eager to read this book and why I recommend it. Because the author gives the reader one of the most complete and balanced view from the outside, of who homeschools and why.

I also like the fact that the author was interested in parents and families and not simply whether or not the homeschooled child tests better, gets enough socialization, have their own friends and get into college. What the author set out to find is what drives the parent to homeschool. And what "practical household decisions" make homeschooling possible. Because as he notes "conventional parenting is a lot of work" and he "suspected that homeschooling is even more labor intensive." And he set out to find out "how people decided that they could afford the time, lost wages, and mental energy that homeschooling costs." And "how homeschoolers assemble the help they need to get the job done."

He also include the study in 1995 that sociologist "Maralee Mayberry and her colleagues released the best comprehensive statistical study of home educators to date." The authors fifty-six item questionnaire included measures of parental occupation, educational attainment, religious affiliation, household size and income and the divisions of domestic labour. Working with a sample of home educating families in Nevada, Utah and Washington the researchers painted a picture of a predominantly white, middle class and religious movement. Ninety-eight percent of the survey respondents were white 1 percent were Asian Americans, the rest a mix of African American, Native American and Hispanics. Most parents were under age forty and the vast majority or 97% were married. 43% claimed at least some post secondary education, and additional 33 percent were college graduate. Professional and technical and managerial and administrative occupations were heavily represented among the fathers some were craft or service workers and a few were ranchers or farmers. 57% reported incomes of between 25 and 50k, 26% reported less. Compared to the general public the respondents were better educated slightly more affluent and more likely to be white. They also found that homeschooling is heavily gendered. 78% of mothers do the homeschooling. Also of interest to is the religious aspect. 91% reported that religious commitment was very important. 78% claim they attend church weekly. Yet 20% say they are not religious per se. 12% didn't answer the religious question. What surprised me was the fact we know more Asian and Jewish homeschoolers that any group, so this study should have studied homeschoolers in NYC, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco as well in order to get a better read on a more diverse section. The states studied are higher income and better educated so the results make sense.

I also like the book because the author notes the SAT study by Jon Wartes of Washington State homeschooled students. Although these were done in the 80's. The author does note the HSLDA funded study by Lawrence Rudner and I was happy the author noted "The study's findings must be tempered by the fact the research was built with a nonrandom convince sample, financed by a highly interested advocacy organization, and has received criticism from both within and beyond the homeschool community."

The author also explains the while homeschooling is legal in all states that some states have strict rules as far as parents reporting to state educational authorities. This is often one of the first questions I get from a parent asking about homeschooling. Is it legal? How do I find out? And I like the fact the author noted the Sikkink study that shows that homeschool parents are more involved in cicvic life than public school parents.

And the history of homeschooling since the 80s is covered well. And I am glad ton see that John Holt and Holt Associates are given good coverage since this is the one organization we joined in the early 80s and was the most secular or accepting of all homeschool families. So often all I hear is that the majority of homeschoolers are conservative Christians, even though my experience since the early 1970s shows (yes I live in a more liberal area of California) that there are more secular homeschoolers, or at least ones who are free spirits.

This is a book that any fair minded person interested in homeschooling should read. This is one of my top 3 homeschool books.

Rather than tell you what the book says (see other reviews) let me just say that having read this just as we are beginning homeschooling with our children, I have a much deeper understanding of the people we are going to be relating to in the future. Many of his insights have already been borne out in my observations. I appreciated the fact that this book is fairly up-to-date (written in the late 90's). I think I will be able to relate to other homeschooling families in an understanding way after reading this book.

This is phenomenal book! There's a slight bit of difficulty with so many Indian names, which are unfamiliar to Western ears and a bit difficult to keep track of. My solution was to turn around when I finished the book and immediately re-read it. I was totally unaware that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands even existed until reading this book, and now I'm mad to see them for myself. The story of the destruction of these ancient tribes over the last 200 years is one of the saddest things you will ever read, and it makes you root even harder for those people on Sentinel Island, who have resisted all attempts at contact by the "civilized" world and are shooting Stone Age arrows at our airplanes when they fly over. Let's hope they're able to maintain their independence--

Madhusree Mukerjee's writing is so compelling I didn't want to stop reading. The historical background she relates is based on solid scholarly research, but the book should easily appeal to popular audiences. Readers will admire the author's persistence on her visits to the Andaman Islands in striving against bureaucratic resistance and other difficulties to search out, experience, and report on the current situations of the aboriginals.

In reading the book, I continually found myself, as the author did, identifying with the native peoples in their confrontations and interactions with the invading visitors, settlers and administrators. Mukerjee has an excellent way with words, including the manner in which she describes the many ironies and the bunglings by the governing bureaucracies. Regarding the resulting messes, she uses perfect imagery: "One could always blame the previous administration, a long line of pointing fingers fading into history."

It's unfortunate and sad how, over much of the world, so-called civilized outsiders continue to arrogantly and ignorantly devastate other lands and their inhabitants, intentionally, unintentionally, and through greed and indifference. Even though the facts recounted in the book eloquently speak for themselves, the manner in which Mukerjee frequently relates her own reactions and feelings on her visits seems entirely appropriate. Hopefully, this book will draw considerable attention, both in India and worldwide among concerned citizens and officials positions to influence policies.

The book is excellent, beautifully written, even poetic in places. The author describes the history of contact by the 'civilized world' with the people of this lost world on the Andaman Islands, a world about which I knew nothing. She uses an interesting novelistic device of weaving together past and current events to described the world of the Andamanese and of her trials and tribulations of trying to work through an uncooperative bureaucracy to meet the fascinating original inhabitants. The cast of characters is huge and includes historical figures from as far back as 1771 to people of today. The role of the author is that of compassionate observer. Ultimately the tale is sad; thoughout I kept asking, "What are we doing?".

Discussions of endangered peoples often invokes stories about Amazonian natives, Kalahari Bushmen, and Australian aborigines to name a few. The people of the Andaman and Nicobar islands are seldom mentioned however. Mukerjee does a great service to the indigenous people of these islands by exposing the destruction wrought upon them by modern intrusions.

The Andamanese and Nicobarese have lived in isolation from the modern world in the Bay of Bengal for thousands of years. They were portrayed in travelogues, including Marco Polo's, as ferocious, cannabilistic, and uncivilized to the highest degree. These impressions were often based not upon direct interaction but rather on distant observation of a unabashedly naked people with a hunter-gatherer culture. When actual interaction did occur primarily by the British, the Andamanese and Nicobarese were often ferociously defensive as can be expected when confronted by an imperialist power intent on conquering and also gathering human specimens to study and display on the mainland. Even in the face of these dangers, they attempted to maintain some peaceable interaction with their conquerors and displayed the great attributes of their cultures.

Mukerjee spent some time in the islands in an attempt to interact with the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa, Nicobarese, and Sentinelese and in the process, has exposed the Indian government's wrongheaded and destructive policies toward these indigenous peoples. It is apparent that most Indian bureacrats in the islands are there to live the easy life and make a quick buck, and the few who desire to make change often are faced with insurmountable obstacles in their attempt to improve policy toward the natives. Mukerjee describes her subjects in affectionate detail, and her love for them and her sorrow for their plight are evident throughout the book. Her feelings for them culminates as she approaches the Sentinel Islands, home to possibly the most undisturbed culture on earth. As her boat nears the islands, she begins to regret her intrusion and thinks to herself "Please please please, let us not destroy this last haven."

Unfortunately, disease and war has wiped out most of the islands' population. Construction and deforestation is wiping out native habitats. The islanders are impotent to change the situation, and the Indian government will ultimately be responsible for protecting these vulnerable and beautiful people.

I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned with the disappearance of a people who have not been able to fight back and are quickly disappearing from our earth.

_The Land of Naked People_ by Madhusree Mukerjee is an interesting and informative account of one of the last stone age peoples in the world (or what is left of them), native peoples of the Andaman Islands, a archipelago located north of the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, a people that according to archaeologists, linguists, and geneticists have been isolated from the rest of the world for tens of thousands of years. Mukerjee interwove personal accounts of travels to the islands and interviews with government officials, researchers, activists, local residents, and the tribesmen themselves with vivid historical narratives of early contact situations, warfare with, and research on these aboriginal peoples.

The people of the Andamans, long known to Asian and European travelers, were feared for centuries as cannibals and headhunters. They were often referred to as "dog-people," as sub-human; in the nineteenth century some were displayed in the Calcutta zoo, where Bengali visitors took them to be descendents of the monkey god Hanuman, and as late as 1925 a paper published in _Man_, a journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, defined the Andaman as a new species of human, _Homo mincopoeus_. Simultaneously intriguing and repulsing Arab, Chinese, and British travelers by their casual nudity (the natives wore virtually no clothing), ferocity towards outsiders (many of the historical accounts are of hostile first encounters and "punitive expeditions" against islanders), and their physical features that were more African than Asian, the islanders were little bothered for centuries, the islands mostly unsettled despite being located on major trade routes between India and China. Though outside civilization has become increasingly dominant in the last 200 years or so, there are still remote areas in the archipelago; the one hundred or so individuals who make the island of North Sentinel their home are still very much a stone age people (though many technically no longer use stone but rather work metal from nuts and bolts that wash up on their shores into arrowheads) who may be among the most isolated humans on earth (though how long they will stay isolated is a matter of some concern).

Mukerjee divided the Andaman islanders into four groups. About ten tribes (at one time during colonial times comprised of as many as 5,000-8,000 people) made up a group called the Great Andamanese, occupying most of the Great Andamans (the South, Middle, and North Andaman Islands) and several adjacent smaller islands. They were at war with the elusive Jarawa, a small group that numbered at one time as many as 600, a group that lived in the dense western forest of South Andaman. Seven hundred or so Onge tribal members lived on Little Andaman, a sizable island farther south, and a hundred Sentinelese lived on the eighteen square miles of North Sentinel off to the west.

The author painted a vivid picture of an interesting group of people. Though only distantly related to the Congo Pygmies, they were originally similar in many respects; they lived in dense, moist tropical forests in small bands, had peppercorn hair, painted their naked bodies with clay (a practice which the author discussed at length), used bows, arrows, and nets to obtain food, and had extraordinary botanical knowledge. Hunter-gatherers, they subsisted on a variety of plant products, fish, sea turtles (a favorite), dugongs (now virtually extinct in the islands), and a number of forest animals, the most favored of which was the wild boar, believed by some to have descended from the southern Chinese pig. The natives cared greatly for children; among the Great Andamanese it was considered a compliment and a mark of friendship if a married man, after paying a visit, asked his hosts to adopt one of their children; these parents would in turn not only visit frequently their own but adopt others. Several of the groups had taboos against killing certain creatures. The Great Andamanese for instance ruled that it was taboo to kill a certain spider, a type of beetle, two bird species, two fish species, a certain mollusk, and two types of trees. Cicada grubs were much coveted in several of the islands as food, but many were fearful of upsetting Biliku, the northeastern monsoon wind, whom the cicada was the child of; the islanders would be "silent as a mouse" during early morning and late evening singing of the cicadas, not doing any work or making any noise.

Unfortunately much of the book is about the very sad state of the Andaman Islanders. Massive, often illegal, deforestation, even in the protected tribal reserves, has resulted in huge erosion problems, silt runoff that has killed nearshore corals and local fisheries, and deprived the islanders of much food and shelter on every island but North Sentinel. Only 42 Great Andamanese remain, most of them alcoholics (a dependency on alcohol and other substances in the past deliberately encouraged by the authorities), suffering from malnutrition thanks to a diet largely of oil and starch, and many of the children fathered by the welfare staff who are supposed to care for them, Mukerjee documenting how the social workers sometimes took cruel advantage of them. The remaining 100 or so Onge are only a little better off. Disease in the past devastated the islanders and still thins their numbers to this day as they are a people without previous exposure to such illnesses as pneumonia, mumps, and even the common cold. The Jarawa are famous for their resistance, having fiercely fought logging and road construction in their forests, killing laborers and travelers as recently as 1998. Much feared, laborers required guards, police had to escort travelers on the road through their forest; one person told the author, if asked if he ever saw a Jarawa, replied, no, "To see is to die." Though there have been some reverses in favor of the Jarawa in the end it seems that they are doomed to be assimilated into Indian culture if they don't perish from disease and deforestation first.

I agree that this is the best book on Malcolm X and the evolution of his thought and action in the last year of his life. Breitman does well to faithfully draw out, including the contradictions Malcolm was working through, the pathways Malcolm was pursuing... his aims, his objectives, his goals... Breitman gives good context, clearly debunks myths and obfuscations and tackles common attacks that were levied against Malcolm in the year before and after his murder. Should be read hand in hand with Malcolm X Speaks... pretty much essential if you care at all about anything really.

I, like the author, believe that the Autobiography of Malcolm X left out crucial elements to understanding Malcolm's life and sentiments because it did not cover his life to the last day. This book actually looks at Malcolm's life in three separate stages: his life up until and including being a Nation of Islam spokesperson, his transition period while he was breaking with the Nation of Islam and shortly thereafter, and the path he was setting for himself as he was killed.

This book aims to prove that Malcolm was setting an anti-imperialist path, and internationalist path, an anti-capitalist path, a truly revolutionary and truly dangerous (for the ruling classes) path.

I think the book proves it, and I respect Malcolm all the more for it.

This book also contains criticisms of Malcolm by various people, notably some liberals, and so it's good to get an idea of where people stood, who was really afraid of Malcolm and what he was really starting to represent.

This is a great book for the period of time in Malcolm's life that might be the least covered. Not to long of a read, but full of information not readily available when looking for Malcolm.

It dispels the idea of Malcolm just being a racist anti Semite, how he was portrayed by the media during and after his life, but installs the belief that he was a revolutionary fighting for the human rights of all, and nothing could more truthful.

I was surprised when I read this book. It gives Malcolm X's speech announcing his political program for fighting for Black control of the black community and Justice. I didnt know what that was before I read it. I read the talk Malcolm gave introducing the program and he talks about how he was supposed to bring Che Guevara up to the meeting, but Che couldn't make it. Heavy Stuff. Breitman is pretty good at defending Malcolm X against critics and showing what the man stood for without imposing his own views on him. We need to see how Malcolm X was in action to get a better idea how we can advance the struggle.

This excellent little book traces the evolution of the thought and action of Malcolm X in the last eleven months of his life.Malcolm rejected the anti-Semitism and anti-woman policies of the Nation of Islam, and its refusal to involve itself in the civil rights movement. He continued to more and more place the Black struggle in this country in the world context : in the context of the struggle of the workers and farmers in Asia , Africa, and Latin America against imperialism, Yanki imperialism in the first place. He continued to expose the role of the Democratic Party to fool the masses of working people into thinking that we have a friend among our oppressors and exploiters. More and more, he spoke out against capitialism as the cause of racism and described himself unabashedly as pro-socialist.He spoke of the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cuban revolutions as examples of what we working people must do HERE for the future of all humanity. The author is no academic ' observer'; he covered Malcolm's evolution for The Militant newspaper, the only place Malcolm's speeches were published in full and undistorted after he left the Nation of Islam. This book is an excellent companion volume to read alongside Malcolm's actual speeches, also published by Pathfinder Press.

The author, a judge, has researched and laid out all the evidence for the reader. Her opus transcends anything written on this subject before. The history of the Protocols and its many manifestations and clones reads like an unfolding mistery. The Lie That Would Not Die continues to resurface: in the crude threats and vituperations of Moslem jihadists and mullahs; in the speeches of so called ambassadors at the United Nations; in the fulminations of "elected" leaders such as the President of
Iran; in schoolbooks throughout Arab and Moslem nations;in the broadcast and printed media; and most lamentably, in the halls of academe even in prestigious Ivy League schools. This is must reading and belongs on the shelves of all libraries and schools.

This is a great study into the fabrication of a "Jewish Conspiracy" to World domination. People, mostly uneducated from the "Ultra-Right" or Over Educated from the Ultra-Left percieve this mid 19th Century Tzarist Forgery as fact or even attempt to entertain this rubbish. If one might take into the consideration of researching into the origional work will find its relationship to Napolean and his quests. One could develop this same lie about wealthy Non-Jewish families; Rockefellers, Fords, Carnagees, Morgans and many others with the same outcome. Today people do not place any of their reading habbits into researching or dismantling any and all of these rediculous claims even when most are public figures or public corporations which release by law their Corporate information: Jews own the Media, actual fact dictates that Arab/Moslems own far more share in all mainstream media. Jews own the Banking researching the earlier mentioned names, that claim is also a myth and the same trend relates to all of these mythical claims. This work is a good understanding of how this lie was fabricated, for what purposes and shares the factual lies within each. Usually people who entertain this "Protocals" garbage are ignorant and have never read a creditable book on the History of these people and are unlearned on the entire topic of Anti-Semitism which are blindly lead. This is a great book to defute this widely circulated promulgation. Might I suggest Paul Johnson's "A History of the Jews", Marvin Perry's "Anti-Semitism" and Joan Peters "From time Immemorial". All are fabulous, well documented and I'd consider the latter a piece of source material that should be accepted as a text for Academia.

I would just like to say that since the author is a Judge and not a historian the one thing that I didn't like about the book was the fact that no footnotes or endnotes were present. In case I wanted to look up something the author had written, I would be at a disadvantage as I wouldn't know where to begin to find that information.

Other than that, this is to date the most comprehensive book that I've read on the history of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." This is my fourth book on the subject and I must commend the author on her diligence. Although at times I thought the "emotions" ascribed to the characters in this book were a bit overboard, the story will draw you in like a modern mystery thriller.

The characters are well developed and we learn about each one as well as their motivations and what they planned to get out of either creating this forgery or propagating it. I personally never knew that so many people had taken part in this forgery, in terms of both its creation and distribution in Russia, not to speak of Europe, which followed closely after. It was also in Europe that this forgery made the biggest impact and not in Russia where it was initially supposed to have been used, it was mentioned and readily forgotten after investigations into its authenticity proved that it was a fake.

To describe all the layers of this story is beyond this review, suffice it to say that I would highly recommend this book. The book is well written with a few typos here and there easily overlooked. The author does a good job handling so much material and so many characters so that the reader is hardly ever confused about who is being discussed, during what time period, and in what location. What more is there to say? A proven forgery, over and over again, with nothing in its defense aside from the fact that it exists. Learn its tragic story here. I will only add that sadly there is no concrete evidence as to why this book was written, theories exist and there is circumstantial proof for a few of them, but nothing that will support a 'beyond a reasonable doubt' type reason. Even so, the fact that this is a forgery and easily proven to be just that is the truth of the matter, the exact reason for this forgery's creation will have to remain a mystery.

Shortly after the 1897, First Zionist Congress, a full transcript was published, according to this masterful book, which capped six years of investigation into the etymology and evil of the 1895 forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It's a reminder that the U.S. should veto all U.N. resolutions submitting to terrorist demands.

Hezbollah, the Iranian terror group that attacked Israel July 12, believes the Protocols--twice proved an 1895 forgery of Tsarist officials in Paris--are the real First Zionist Congress transcript. This libel so well matches Hezbollah's lethal designs that it collaborated with Iran on a Protocols series, broadcast on Al Manar TV in Lebanon during Ramadan in October 2003, and in Iran in 2004. Ben-Itto here examines the lie's history and continued propagation.

Egypt's culture and information ministry approved another such 41-part TV series that aired in late 2002. U.S. State Department condemnation elicited Minister Safwat El-Sherif's declaration that it "contains no anti-Semitic material." Broadcasts continued. Al-Akhbar's editor called international opprobrium "a barbaric attack on Egyptian and Arab art."

Ben-Itto first encountered the Protocols' political use at the U.N. General Assembly in 1965, while in Israel's delegation to Third Committee deliberations on human rights. Her rebuttal didn't debunk the notorious forgery. A non-Jewish diplomat later chided her, "This book is dangerous."

Indeed. The forgery's anonymous speaker presents "in concise form, a comprehensive program for the annihilation of all Christian states, proposing practical methods for achieving world domination by the Jews." It then terms describes the Jewish people as a satanic sect, "united in purpose, acting under the leadership of a group of elders, who lacked any moral consideration." Each section (24) elaborates on purported plans for a "Jewish super-government."

Although the very antithesis of Jewish thought, this false text has nevertheless for a century swayed hundreds of millions of dupes.

In 1988, while lecturing in Berne Switzerland, Ben-Itto she met the diminutive widow of Georges Brunschvig, who in October 1934 tried the Protocols, under a 1916 Swiss statute prohibiting publication of "obscene literature." The Christian judge, Walter Meyer, in 1933 determined to try the case on its merits, a year later appointed independent experts, and in 1935--after many testimonies and affidavits attesting to the Tsarist crime--ruled the text a forgery, intended to malign Jews and incite their mass murder.

How Tsarists leveraged Maurice Joly's anti-Napoleonic 1864 novel, Dialogues in Hell, is a tale of court intrigue, Russian Orthodox mysticism, peasant anti-Semitism and counter-revolutionary tactics so compelling, albeit complex, as to confound the mind. But Ben-Itto's meticulous search through French, Russian, British, South African and Swiss archives, private libraries, journalists' notes and court records on three continents--and her interviews with dozens of witnesses--prove that truth is often stranger than fiction.

Joly anonymously published his 324-page Dialogues in Geneva in 1864, hoping the staged conversation between Niccolo Machiavelli and the fictional Charles de Secondat Montesqieu would generate opposition to Napoleon III. Instead, Joly was arrested, imprisoned and "charged with inciting hatred." His banned novel remained out of print from 1865 through 1933--excepting four copies in Paris' Bibliotheque Nationale.

Yet the book intended as a force for good was soon exploited for monumental evil. In the 1880s, Edouard Drumont's anti-Semitic La Libre Parole newspaper began charging that Jews intended to economically and politically dominate the world. The "Jewish conspiracy" myth spread throughout France and in 1895 instigated false charges against Captain Alfred Dreyfus.

Russia's troubled Romanov dynasty likewise fueled the 1895 forgery plot. Tsar Nikolai II further empowered Paris Okhrana chief Piotr Ivanovich Rachkovskii, who often carefully crafted forgeries to implicate suspected revolutionaries and other Russian emigrants whom he later remunerated to spy on others.

In 1933, several non-Jewish witnesses corroborated Rachkovskii's forgeries and helped George Brunschvig unmask Rachkovskii's "most outstanding" effort in court.

Russia's 1917 provisional government sent Sergei Svatikov, a former law professor, to dissolve Okhrana's Paris office. Svatikov presented papers from Henri Bint, formerly Rachkovskii's trusted agent, including fabricated letters, pamphlets and anti-revolutionary provocations. Svatikov also testified that Bint himself had paid Rachkovskii's two forgers, including Matvei Golovinskii, to copy Joly's 1864 book in the Bibliotheque Nationale.

Vladimir Burtsev, former editor of Russia's Byloe, confirmed Golovinskii's evil, vituperative anti-Semitic character, and libelous accusations of a "Jewish world conspiracy." Moreover, former police chief Stepan Petrovich Beletskii had told Burtsev that Tsarist officials all knew the Protocols were a "crude forgery," but nevertheless disseminated them widely--to falsely discredit the Jews for "revolutionary activities."

Graf Armand Alexander du Chayla, who spent spent nine months in 1909 at Russia's Orthodox Optina Pustyn monastery with Sergei Nilus, the Protocols' virulently anti-Semitic 1905 publisher. Nilus had showed du Chayla the text and said it came from Rachkovskii in Paris.

Many trials have unequivocally proved the Protocols to be false. Yet since the 1940s, they have circulated widely in the Arab and Muslim worlds, where they are available almost everywhere--even five-star hotels--are frequently promoted by government media and government clerics.

The Hamas Charter cites the Protocols, alongside Islamic beliefs. Other promoters include such renowned clerics as Sheik Muhammad Al-Mussayer of Cairo's Al-Azhar University and Palestinian Authority-appointed Jerusalem Mufti Ikrima Sabri. Countless Islamist websites publish them. RadioIslam provides 16 translations.

Ben-Itto discusses this phenomenon--but doesn't understand the sources of Muslim acceptance--classical Islamic ideology in the Qu'ran, Hadith, jurisprudence and end-time eschatology.

Georges Vajda's 1937 essay, notes Hadith eschatology (Mohammed's reputed deeds and sayings) describing Jews as "adherents of the Dajjal--the Muslim equivalent of the Anti-Christ--and as per another tradition, the Dajjal is in fact Jewish," according to Dr. Andrew Bostom. Elsewhere, the Dajjal is expected to appear with 70,000 Jews, who will then be slaughtered.

This book is critical to understanding the grave danger now posed by the Protocols. But defeating this inhuman lie requires defeating radical Islam, its biggest current purveyors.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

This book is highly readable and provides an absorbing accounting of some of the court cases involving the so called Protocols. I especially liked the way one layer after another of evidence. That can make it hard to keep your place in the story if you only do a few pages at a time. If you like details and legal considerations then this is quite interesting.

This book is a good complement to Warrant for Genocide by Cohn. The original literary source of the Protocols is also very interesting after reading Ben-Itto's book and it's available in a modern edition titled: : The Dialogue in Hell between Machiavelli and Montesquieu: Humanitarian Despotism and the Conditions of Modern Tyranny" (Paperback) by Maurice Joly.

How ironic that Joly's material actually inspired imitation by those who instead critized and tried to crush the Jewish people unjustly. I wonder if Stalin and Hitler had a copy of this or the protocols by their bed sides. Continuing spread of the protocols shows how contagious evil can be.

Now it's time for someone (maybe our author) to pickup from this with a more pointed focus on current middle eastern mis-use of the protocols. Those turn of the century Czarist agents generated a best seller that continues to provoke outrage. What a blight on the world. People need to realize how much ugly and nasty stuff like this exists and motivates so many in our troubled world and then tell others.

Great work Ms Ben-Itto !

This wonderful book about healing and discovery should not be missed. It's incredibly well crafted. The story is fascinating, painful and uplifting.

Mary Mason, a critically acclaimed author and professor of English Literature bravely examines her own life to give an honest and revealing look at how our culture treats disabilities in particular women with disabilities.

I was completely engaged by this compelling story of this little girl growing up in the thirties with polio who overcame this incredible obstacle in addition to other tragedies to achieve success.

This book is an inspiration not only for women with disabilities but for all women. It examines the struggles we all face with tough odds to beat.

I highly reccommend it. It will touch you deeply.

This memoir is an inspiring insight into the personal life of a successful professor of English literature at a woman's college in Boston.

We gradually discover that her cheerful outward appearance at times masks a deep and profound private pain. The revelations in this book make it a spellbinding read.

Mason's account of her extraordinarily rich and productive life--traveler, educator, writer as well as wife and mother--makes us question our conventional response to what constitutes a "disability." Despite her inability to walk without crutches, Mason covered more ground than many able-bodied contemporaries. The book is a revelation and inspiration.

The author tells a compelling story of life growing up female and disabled. We read a straightforward account of a child growing up in an era when women were supposed to marry and have children first and if necessary work to help support the family. As a disabled woman, there were no expectations that one could attract a man, physically give birth, raise children, or work in any meaningful way. Mary Mason did all of those things but nowhere in this book does she claim to be a superwoman. She moves through her life making choices, and as a scholar, reviewing them over time and finding her way to a truer sense of self. Her feminist beliefs are unimpeachable. Her move toward an understanding of her place in the turbulent world of the disability movement is honest: feminism came first and more easily in both a personal and political way. The movement toward a place in the world as a disabled person required more thought and analysis because there were fewer contemporaries with whom she could share her stories as a young woman. This book is a welcome addition to the genre of memoirs, but it in no way is a familiar story. It is news, and important news about the experience of living at the intersection of the feminist and disability movements at a time when both political bodies are in flux. You will not be bored by rhetoric though you will be challenged by Mason's manner of analyzing her family life, her work life, and her intellectual life, while staying true to her desire to tell her own personal story.

Life Prints: A Memoir Of Healing And Discovery is the story of Mary Grimley, who at the age of 6 years became America's first "poster child", dining with President Roosevelt at the Warm Springs rehabilitation center and posing in her wheelchair for publicity shots. Mary went on to became a remarkable scholar in the 1950s and 60s, refusing to focus on her disability and making herself a part of the revolution of ideas. Mason has spent her life struggling against the common cultural prejudice against disabled people, including the sexism of mentors, friends, family, and even herself. It was only after many years of physical therapy and social isolation, that she could emerge from the social and psychological handicaps imposed upon her because of her physical disability to embrace feminism, discover her life's work, and come to terms with herself. Life Prints is a candid, revealing, informative, and exceptionally well written autobiography that is highly recommended for women's studies and disability issues reading lists.

The Queen of the Nile will soon be battling for historical significance with the Queen of Pop very soon. A unique take on the influence of Madonna beyond just hit records to a whole social expression that inspired other artists, feminism, and what it means to be an ambitious woman without apology.

Like so many, I find Madonna interesting. And I agree with the positive reviews of this book -- I really like it. The unique contribution here is the way the author discusses Madonna in ways that make "postmodern" an interesting, understandable, ans useful concept. And believe me, I am no fan of academic writing of or about the posrmodern. But this book can be highly and widely recommended.

Madonna:alot can be said about Her but Boring isn't one of them.thsi Book Explores the Many things that relate too the Artist&personna that is Madonna.this Book is Challenging&also puts Madonna into a Complete Perspective from start too finish.just like the Woman Herself it will keep you wondering more&what lays around the Corner.

In this book GC Guilbert shows how absolutely everything Madonna has ever done is packed with clever references. He doesn't mean that she's a plagiarist, far from it: she just uses her vast knowledge of (popular) culture, in a "postmodern" way. A fascinating read.

At last a book about Madonna that can be enjoyed by academics AND fans. There have been two or three collections of highbrow essays by various university eggheads that were a bit too hermetic. "Madonna as Postmodern Myth" is "intellectual" but crystal clear.The subtitle pretty much sums it up: Georges-Claude Guilbert does show the way the diva "rewrites" just about everything -- always cleverly -- and especially old Hollywood stars. Besides, it's a very feminist book, but a sexy feminist book (yes, it is possible). I'm sure every Cultural Studies professor is going to want to read it, as well as every Madonna fan who's ever wondered why it is exactly that makes her / him adore the "self-constructed" star, beyond the obvious: she's unique.

I read this book prior to going on a recent trip to Madrid. While not a tourist's guide specifically, I loved the mix of history, art, literature, and local color of Madrid. An excellent read before your trip and equally fascinating to re-read after your trip to Madrid.

The author's knowledge and understanding of Madrileno culture, history, literature, art and psyche are impressive. She brings all these elements together to form the big picture, and the result is a potrayal of Madrid that goes deep beyond the surface. A fascinating account.

Part way into a year in Madrid, I found this book in a bookshop near the Puerto del Sol. Having read -- mostly with disappointment -- guidebooks of the "eat here, sleep there" variety, as well as of the "observe famous site on the left" variety, I have been absolutely entranced with this book.

What it does is bring alive the stories of Madrid. It's not a guidebook, per se, although I think it would be an invaluable book to have on any visit to Spain. It's more a collection of stories, of anecdotes, that pull you into the actual life of the city as it is and as it was.

A typical example: almost all guidebooks mention the Cafe Gijon, and cite it as a good place to eat where generations of Madrid literati have dined. You are left wondering, which Madrid literati, what was the appeal, and what did they do there? Rather than leave you hanging so, Elizabeth Nash guides through the society of "tertullias" (informal but somewhat stable idle discussion groups) that once flourished in these cafes, quoting from some of the novels written about this literary life, pulling up diverse quotes and recollections. By the time you are done you even know the name and the politics of the man who sells cigarettes at the stand just inside the Cafe Gijon's door.

That's the sort of thing the book does throughout. Rather than just identify sites and give you a summary description, it takes you into tales of selected important areas of Madrid. Some are on everyone's tour itinerary, such as the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta del Sol, while others, such as the college residence hall where Dali, Bunuel and Garcia Lorca discovered each other, art and life, do not figure in the packaged tours.

While drawing on marvellously deep and diverse sources, it's also a very good read. It moves quickly.

I recommend it highly.

This is a well-written book about the history and culture of Madrid. I gained a better understanding of the culture of Madrid and how the Madrilenos live and think. For example, the lifestyle described centering around the cafes and the tertulias ("the gathering of people who meet regularly to converse or amuse themselves") enables you to visualize life in Madrid during the 1880's. The book is worth reading and instills a desire to learn about Spain's history and culture.

This little book is a delightful read: informative, well-written, and entertaining. I can't imagine a better book for anyone planning a trip to Spain.

What amazes me most is that this book is probably not even known about in most modern educational circles, yet it should be required reading in every 101 history class in academia. In fact everything Chistopher Dawson writes should be on that list. This book is brilliant on so many levels I couldn't address them all in this space. Christopher himself was one of those extreamly rare individuals who had the ability to truely see the 'forest through the trees' and even better he could write about it for the rest of us to understand. Its one thing to know about a giantic and complex topic and a whole different thing to be able to put it into understandable sentences. The amount of books he read, understood and then tied the thoughts together is itself a staggering feat. The bibliography iteslf list the 100's and 100's of books that when into forming Dawson's mind and then the concepts in this book. As Tiger is to golf Dawson is to history, particularly western cultural history. The other reviewers have done a good job of telling you what the contents of this book are about so read them to get the idea, I second all their thoughts and reviews. What I can add for you is about the author himself. He is from England and grew up in a wealthly and privilaged family of book worms. It is important to understand that he came from wealth for one reason only. He didn't have to waste time like the rest of us toiling away to make ends meet. He understood this yet didn't live the life of a rich playboy. He felt an obligation to his fellow man and dedicated his free time to learning history and then teaching it to the rest of us. He read an wrote for 5 to 10 hours each day. Married young and never divored. His uncle gave him a library full of books where he spent most of his time growing up. He went to all the finest schools and was a professor at Harvard later in his life. All I can say is that this book is well worth the effort of working your way though it. It will give you a deep down spiritual-like experience to know so much more about your roots and where you came from. Enjoy!

A rare book. It is profound, prophetic, insightful, level-headed. Christopher Dawson is one of the few authors whose books are still mandatory reading in university history circles because of the vastness of his knowldege exhibited in his books. Few writers have the ability to say as much so succinctly: reading one chapter gives you almost as much as a book on the same topic written by someone else.

We need to remember that if the West saw far, it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants. The giants of our past who, step by step, brought disparate tribes, from many races, speaking many languages and coming from different parts of the world, into one cohesive whole known as Europe. We had better find out how our ancestors did it, before we lose it all.

Catholic University Press of America is coming out with the Works of Christopher Dawson. To my mind, this is one of the most important publishing events in recent memory. In addition, these works are reset and contain solid introductions by experts in the field. This is third in the series (following Progress and Religion; and Medieval Essays).

The Making of Europe: An Introduction to the History of European Unity is an important book, which came out in 1932. Dawson highlights the central factors and contributions in the formation of European unity - the Roman Empire, Classical Culture, Christianity, the Barbarians, the Byzantines and Islam. Although Dawson was a Catholic, the book is balanced and can be enjoyed by just about anyone. I liked in particular the fair overview of Islam. It's fashionable to say that history books of the past ignored the contributions of other culture and only contemporary (and leftist) historians rescued us from the evils of "eurocentrism" and "ethnocentrism." This is silly, as anyone who has read history books from the past knows. (In addition, take for example the success of books in the nineteenth century such as Salambo by Flaubert, or the exaggerated claims of Masons of the contributions of Egyptians, which rival the "Black Athena" crowd).

In particular, I enjoyed Alexander Murray's introductory essay, which updates some of Dawson's arguments in light of current scholarship and also places this work within his oeuvre.

This concise little work attempts to cover the rise of nations from the crumbling Roman and Byzantine empires and the progress of Christianity all in less than 250 pages. Amazingly, the feat is accomplished with entertaining text. There is one shortfall in that there are no maps but the political characters and the events that brought about the European nations are given life. Very well done and a wonderful overview in its brevity and clarrity without paying the expense of literary color.

This book has to be the best survey of the beginnings of European, i.e. Western, civilization in the English language.

It reveals that European culture has its origins in the confluence of four vital elements: (1) the Roman Empire; (2) the classical, or Hellenistic, tradition; (3) Christianity (more specifically, the Catholic Church); (4) and the barbarians who infiltrated the collapsing Western Roman Empire. Each is treated in detail, and the combination of Dawson's encyclopedic knowledge and eloquent diction has the singular merit of making a vast and complex subject accessible and appealing to the educated reader.

To me what makes this book so special is the author's unique capacity to project the reader into the period under discussion without filtering it through the distorted lens of modern mores and attitudes that seem typically to color texts dealing with medieval history. He seems to have an intuitive understanding of what was important to the people of the period, and conveys this to the reader while at the same time he refrains from disparaging the so-called "dark ages" with remarks that emphasize its "primitiveness" by constantly comparing it to contemporary culture. (Aside from technological superiority, I see little basis for superciliousness on our part) Such parochialism of viewpoint is entirely absent from The Making of Europe, and for this, and other compelling reasons, I am sure that the interested and discriminating reader will find that it is, indeed, indispensible.

I bought this as a gift for a friend who dreams of moving to Montana. Since I purchased it well before Christmas, I took the time to go through it myself. It is such an impressive piece, I might move to Montana.

Great pointers on wonderful scenery and places to visit. Buy this book on Montana first if you are traveling there!

Because I'm the photographer!

The has recently won the prestigious SAPPI Gold Medal Award as Best Book in North America!

Hope you think so too!

Thanks

This is one of the finest photographic books ever irregardless of it being a state book. The compositions are fantastic and varied.

The book is destined to become a classic and Mr. Vasapolli a place amongst the finest photographers ever!

I love Montana and I own almost every book on Montana. This one in particular is destined to be a classic amongst photographic essays. The compositions are varied in itself and each a fantastic journey of Montana cities and wildernesses. Not a weak one in the whole lot- except the ugly bighorn sheep shedding it's winter coat- the sheep is ugly, but the surroundings are still beautiful.

It's a book bound for several editions and Mr. Vasapolli a place along side the photographic greats of all time.

THIS BOOK IS POWERFUL, ITS SHOCKING, AND IT IS ASPIRING. THERE IS NOTHING ON CHANNEL 11 THAT BRINGS THE HONEST, INSIGHTFUL, VERY REAL ACCOUNT THAT MR.DOUGLASS DOES IN HIS BOOK. FROM SLAVE TO FREE-MAN, THIS IS TRUELY AN AMERICAN SUCCESS. SKIP THE INTRO, AND JUMP INTO IT.

Douglass's second, and lengthier, narrative fills in many of the gaps left in his first autobiography: we learn about his mother, his siblings, and more details about his psychological transformation from brute to man. It's quite insightful, as Douglass is careful to relate each of his personal experiences to the innate evil of the peculiar instituition, for both the slave and the slave holder.

What are your impressions of Frederick Douglass? What would you say about Douglass observation that "conscience cannot stand much violence? Do you think it was possible to be a good slave owner?Why or why not? Why does Douglass view slaveholders as well as slaves as victims of slavery? Why is education incompatible with slavery? Why do you think the white children's attitude toward slavery is different from that of their parents? How would you describe Douglass attitude towards Mrs. Auld?

Having read a biography of Douglass many years ago, I thought I knew his story. Hearing through his pen was an entirely different matter. What a master of the language and insighful set of observations on human nature.

I am a man of many words, but words fail me in my endorsement of this book. The letter to his former master in the appendix is worth the price of the book by itself.

Standing in line at the Lincoln Memorial, a book beckoned to me that I previously hadn't seen before. The face of Frederick Douglas grabbed my attention; a man that I've respected for many years, encountering him mainly through my study of Abraham Lincoln. On the spur of the moment, I snatched up a copy of "My Bondage and My Freedom", and within a few days, my admiration in Frederick Douglass was transformed from interest to awe.

Frederick Douglass orginially penned his book as a response to people's accusations that someone as articulate and composed as he couldn't possibly be a former slave. With that goal in mind, Douglass wrote his memoirs, in a straight forward, powerful way. In the book, he painfully and honestly documents the path his early life took; the memories of being owned, how slaves coped during these times, and how he managed to pull himself out of it all.

While Douglass' life in itself is amazing, (as he describes the amazing process he undertook to learn how to read), what amazed me even more are Douglass' discourses that he sprinkles through the book, discussing relevant issues during the time. In one instance, he addresses the concern about why slaves simply didn't run away from their oppressive situations. It's almost as if you can actually hear the people talking to Douglass and he responding to them.

This book does not only tell the tale of a truly amazing American, but gives us a unique insight to the times. This book should be required reading in every high school in this country.