Government and Politics Books

This little book is great on so many levels. It consists of, as the title would indicate, of questions concerning Business, Politics and Ethics. There are a total of 223 questions. The book is completely and absolutely nonjudgemental, as it gives no answers to the questions nor does it supply any opinions. This job is left up to you! The questions are well written and very plane it that they are, at first glance simple. Far from it. When you read one of the questions here, you will have almost an instant "gut" reaction, or instant answer, but, after giving it some thought, you will find you self thinking, "hey, this is not as easy as I thought." This is a wonderful book for group discussions, but beware, some of the questions could be discussed for days and days, answers would change and opinions swayed...it is just that type of book. I love to brouse through it, read a question, and then just think, asking myself questions about the questions asked. The issues addressed here are ones we face on a daily basis in our society and are not particularly addressed only to business and politics. Highly recommend this one!

Far too many of us wait until faced with an ethical dilemma before figuring out what our personal ethical stand is. This book, used correctly, provides the opportunity to flex your brain muscle and reflect on your ethical perspective before it becomes necessary.

I use it to challenge my site management team every morning with great effect.

The only criticism I would have is that some questions while provacative are not for the meek.

Great job Mr Stock

The original "Book of Questions" made a good conversation-starter and, in my opinion, inspirational tool for writing or journaling. "The Book of Questions: Love and Sex" is better for helping you to see your own relationship values and how they may be helping and harming you and your loved one, and it can also be used to help open up communication in a relationship if approached carefully. "The Book of Questions: Business, Politics and Ethics," on the other hand, is perhaps best for pushing you to explore your own moral values and how well you're living up to them.

What's most impressive about this is that very few of the questions seem to imply a "right" answer or try to push some sort of specific realization, and even those that do sort of come across that way don't have to be read in that way. Dr. Stock specifically says that he doesn't want to push an agenda--he merely wants to spur people to think more carefully about what it is they're doing and why.

The questions run the gamut from economic programs to health care, international policy to business. There are questions about hiring and firing employees, stealing from or betraying employers, tradeoffs in public programs and government spending, and so on. Many of the questions seem particularly relevant to today's political situations. While I wasn't as fond of the tradeoff questions in the "Love and Sex" book, I think that in this one they come across much better. Somehow they end up feeling less arbitrary and more like realistic quandaries.

Dr. Stock tries not to give us easy questions with easy answers, instead forcing us to truly think about the hard issues.

I have the screen saver version of this book, which is integrated with the original The Book of Questions for Windows computers. The graphics and sound effects are great and I get lots of people in the office asking me about it. It's a real head turner that engages people in conversation.

I am an avid fan of crime story related books, this one rates up there with the best of them. The authors ability to set up a crime, from the background, to the crime itself and then to the afterfall is fantastic. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it in a heartbeat.

While I'm not an avid reader of Boston crime narratives, I am a fan of this particular writer. His ability to capture the quotidian details of the city's d.a. office and make them compelling to me is a rare mark of intelligence and good writing.

In speaking to another reviewer's point, I don't believe the goal of this book was to present a biography of Ralph Martin. I also don't believe it does a disservice to the d.a.'s office of Boston. I believe, instead, that it sheds light on many of the most important cases and issues faced by the city's law enforcement officials. The writing manages to make the kind of grisly details we see on the nightly news interesting and informative without being pedantic.

I think the book rises to the top of its genre with a bullet, although I'm not sure that the distinction of bullets is really the point.

I've been waiting for a book from this author for years. His work in magazines and newspapers is unparalleled, and his writing leaps off the page. If you want a good read, just look for Sean Flynn's by-line. I highly recommend BOSTON DA. I can't wait for his next book.

I have lived in Boston all my life and this book gave me new insights and insider information on some of the most well publicized crimes in the city over the past 10 years.It reads like a thriller and reminds me somewhat of an Ann Rule book. Flynn does a good job in his characterization of Ralph Martin, a popular DA, and possible mayoral candidate in the future. Mr. Martin is a black Republican who has managed to thrive in a white, Democratic City. this is a must read for anybody interested in the psychological, sociological, political and criminal interactions in a major urban area.

This is a very important book and as another review notes, it is truly a good thing that it is back in print.

As we migrate from the industrial era of pyramidal top-down command and control empires and police states, into the information era where We the People can impose home rule and buycotts that restore morality and kinship, this author's views are an essential part of the whole pciture, but not the whole picture.

Below I list ten other books, evenly divided betwee "top down is broken" and "bottom up is emergent."

Top down is broken books:
The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025
Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush

Bottom up is emergent books:
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace

I fully agree with the earlier reviewer. "Breakdown" is one of the seminal pieces of economic & political theory of the 20th century.

And perhaps one of the most prophetic. Originally published in 1957, Kohr draws a map of a "broken down" Europe -- that is, a Europe composed of much smaller units than the then-Great Powers -- that would be easier to unify. Much of that map, particularly in Eastern Europe, has come true. Many of the parts that aren't yet independent have growing independence movements. Still, even as these movements re-draw the map, Europe has indeed crept closer and closer to unification, just as Kohr predicted.

From the depths of the Cold War, this was an extraordinarily uncommon leap of analysis to make.

Recommended in the highest possible terms.

Kohr is trying to sell the masses on the idea that breaking up larger countries and forming a global federal government would be a good thing for all. In Europe he advocates breaking things up on the basis of ethnicity or language and that produces small, homogeneous states. In the USA a European-american ethnostate would be too powerful so he would unite non-whites in their own ethnostates and break up European-Americans into states with conflicting economic interests so that they will be easier to dominate. Above the ethnostates would be a world federal government run by elites.

Many layers of government would separate "citizens" from the global meta-government and that would help the rulers override objections to redistributing the wealth created by people of European ancestry and using it to buy the votes of the backward peoples of the world. If the world government didn't redistribute the wealth in this way Marxists would overthrow it. Probably an "economically dominant" minority (as described in "World on Fire" by Amy Chua) would allow a leader of the backward "colonized" peoples to come to power democratically and then bribe him for protection while he stays in power as a dictator (like Ferdinand Marcos, according to Chua). Marxists would favor Kohr's plan because it would produce a highly unstable world government that they could take over. "Economically dominant minorities" would favor it because it provides a pseudo-altruistic cover story for a bid for world power. They could manipulate such a government even more easily and safely than the existing democracies. Hard-core capitalists would favor Kohr's plan because it would create a global free market with no obstacles to the race to the bottom.

I think that both parties in USA favor massive immigration because they are controlled by economically dominant minorities, hard core capitalists and Marxists. When USA breaks up Kohr's plan will influence where the new borders are drawn.

Sometimes I think some intellectuals are trying to create a meta-religion to bolster a world federal government. Read "Explorations at the Edge of Time" by Richard Falk and decide for yourself.

Yussuf Kly has written a book, "A Popular Guide to Minority Rights," where he advocates non-territorial (portable) ethnic autonomy enforced by the United Nations. That would be just the ticket for an economically dominant minority that is dispersed across many countries. They could use this newly minted civil right to get protection from the global federal government when there is a backlash from the indigenous people. Few would argue that "group rights" are not a major factor in USA even though they have nothing to do with the individual rights of classical liberalism. We are moving closer to Kly's proposal all the time.

According to Amy Chua the ethnic Chinese make up 1% of the population of the Philippines and control 70% of the economy. The whole world could end up like that with an economically dominant minority ruling through a dictator drawn from one of the backward groups, like Ferdinand Marcos.

I would prefer a world of nearly homogeneous nation-states that are as economically independent as possible. Ethno-nationalism isn't evil. I think an ethnic bond is the best way, in the long run, to bridge class differences and avoid putting all humanity's eggs in one basket.

Kohr calls for peaceful dissolution of nation states into smaller independent entities which can network or confederate as they choose. His book is a bible of the radical decentralist movement and applauded by anarchists, libertarians, greens alike. It's a fascinating read and will make you realize how much you yearn to belong to a real community and not just be an anoymous cipher in a giant nation state. Quote from Kohr, to give you a flavor:          There seems to be only one cause behind all forms of social misery: bigness. Oversimplified as this may seem, we shall find the idea more easily acceptable if we consider that bigness, or oversize, is really much more than just a social problem. It appears to be the one and only problem permeating all creation.Whenever something is wrong, something is too big.  And if the body of a people becomes diseased with the fever of aggression, brutality, collectivism, or massive idiocy, it is not because it has fallen victim to bad leadership or mental derangement. It is because human beings, so charming as individuals or in small aggregations have been welded onto overconcentrated social units. That is when they begin to slide into uncontrollable catastrophe. For social problems, to paraphrase the population doctrine of Thomas Malthus, have the unfortunate tendency to grow at a geometric ratio with the growth of the organism of which they are part, while the ability of man to cope with them, if it can be extended at all, grows only at an arithmetic ratio. Which means that, if a society grows beyond its optimum size, its problems must eventually outrun the growth of those human faculties which are necessary for dealing with them.         Hence it is always bigness, and only bigness, which is the problem of existence. The problem is not to grow but to stop growing; the answer: not union but division.  

Ambassador Palmer has provided the reader with a lucid, non-partisan therapeutic regime for an ailing world. War, terrorism, poverty, famine, torture, and other human rights abuses, by and large, result from the actions of about forty-five dictators who control roughly one third of the world's population. The removal of these tyrants through peaceful means and their replacement with responsible democratic governments is the most cogent approach to ending most of these abuses across the globe. Although the author strongly advocates the peaceful removal of tyrants where possible, he does acknowledge the need for military force in some instances. This is an important work and should become the cornerstone of US foreign policy for the next twenty-one years (or as long as it takes).

By turns brilliant argument and gritty guide, this book is an inspired field treatise on the Whys and Hows of replacing tyranny with democracy -- the sooner the better and, where possible, without violence.

We've seen a gush of books denouncing the current Bush administration etc, but Palmer's work stands out by making scores of PRACTICAL suggestions. His case studies range from Chile to the Philippines and make a lot of sense. For instance, his suggestions on handling the sensitive issue of Falun Gong in China are not only smart, they would also be a cinch to implement.

I highly recommend this educated and accessible read for matters that affect us all.

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links and new comment,

New Comment: In my view, this is the single most important work of the century with respect to American moral diplomacy. I note with concern that under Bush-Cheney "Failed States" have increased from 75 in 2005 to 177 in 2007. We've lost our mind, and our morals, as a Nation.

Ambassador Mark Palmer puts to rest all those generally unfair stereotypes of Foreign Service Officers as "cookie pushing" softies who fall in love with their host countries and blame America for any flaws in the bi-lateral relationship. With this book he provides an inspiring model for precisely what every Foreign Service Officer should aspire: to understand, to articulate, and then to implement very great goals that serve democracy and help extend the bounty of the American way of life--moral capitalism and shared wealth--to every corner of the world.

This is a detailed and practical book, not just visionary. It is useful and inspiring, not just a personal view. It is also a damning indictment of fifty years of US White House and Congressional politics, where in the name of anti-communism and cheap oil America--regardless of which party has been in power, has been willing to consort with the most despotic, ruthless, murderous regimes in the history of mankind. Still alive today and still very much "friends" of the U.S. Government are dictators that think nothing of murdering millions.

There has been some improvement, offset by an increase in partly free countries. From 69 countries not free at all in 1972 we now have 47. From 38 countries partly free in 1972 we now have 56, many of those remnants of the former Soviet Union. Free countries have nearly doubled from 43 to 89, but free and poor is quite a different thing from free and prosperous.

The level of detail and also of brevity in this book is quite satisfying. On the one hand, Ambassador Palmer provides ample and well-documented discussion of the state of the world, on the other he does not belabor the matter--his one to two-paragraph summative descriptions of each of the dictatorships is just enough, just right.

He distinguishes between Personalistic Dictatorships (20, now less Hussein in Iraq); Monarch Dictators (7, with Saudi Arabia being the first in class); Military Dictators (5, with US allies Sudan and Pakistan and 1 and 2 respectively); Communist Dictators (5); Dominant-Party Dictators (7); and lastly, Theocratic Dictators (1, Iran).

Ambassador Palmer makes several important points with this book, and I summarize them here: 1) conventional wisdom of the past has been flawed--we should not have sacrificed our ideals for convenience; 2) dictatorships produce inordinate amounts of collateral damage that threatens the West, from genocide and mass migrations to disease, famine, and crime; 3) there is a business case to be made for ending U.S. support for dictatorships, in that business can profit more from stable democratic regimes over the long-term; and lastly, 4) that the U.S. should sanction dictators, not their peoples, and we can begin by denying them and all their cronies visas for shopping expeditions in the US.

The book has an action agenda that is worthy, but much more important is the clear and present policy that Ambassador Palmer advocates, one that is consistent with American ideals as well as universal recognition of human rights. Ambassador Palmer's work, on the one hand, shows how hypocritical and unethical past Administrations have been--both Democratic and Republican--and on the other, he provides a clear basis for getting us back on track.

I agree with his proposition that we should have a new Undersecretary for Democracy, with two Assistant Secretaries, one responsible for voluntary democratic transitions, the other for dealing with recalcitrant dictators. Such an expansion of the Department of State would work well with a similar change in the Pentagon, with a new Undersecretary for Peacekeeping Operations and Complex Emergencies, my own idea.

This is a very fine book, and if it helps future Foreign Service Officers to understand that diplomacy is not just about "getting along" but about making very significant changes in the world at large, then Ambassador Palmer's work will be of lasting value to us all.

Also recommended, with reviews:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World
War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik

Forthcoming on Amazon in February and also free at OSS.Net/CIB:
COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace, edited by Mark Tovey with a Foreword by Yochai Benkler and an Afterword by the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada. I have high hopes for all of us finally getting it right (Winston Churchill: "The Americans always do the right thing, they just try everything else first.") Now is our time to get it right. We can start by electing Senator Barack Obama as our forward-thinking always listening open-minded President.

This is a powerful exposition of the nonviolent steps the US can take to rid the world of tyrants and dictators by a man who has the experience to back it up. I predict it will make big waves.

Beautifully written a really excellent fact filled read. Well documented and a Must read for anyone interested in what is going on in our country. Excellent Excellent Exellent.

Mr. Lawrence represents the condition of our country boldy and courageously. He doesn't mince words or waste our time trying to analyze the Bush administration. He just states the facts, and the facts made me very angry. Anyone who wants to have a quick reference to all the bad this administration has done and begin to prepare for the upcoming elections, take a look.

I hate to admit it, but this book really illustrates the poor research and constant mistruths that come from my party. I was a Republican my whole life, but more importantly I'm a proud American. I find the election fraud and lies about the war the biggest offense on our freedoms and security. I am also now convinced that 9/11 would have never even happened if Al Gore had become president as he should have, the same goes for Iraq.
It is worth buying this book just to read about this alone. Some that read this review may question my loyalty to the GOP. The truth is I'm done with parties. They have all had their blunders. From now on it's about values and reality. I simply wish that everyone else would put the country first rather than loyalty to their party. This is an excellent book for everyone!

This book is a MUST read for anybody interested in the direction our country is going, and everyone should be interested. The reason I say that is because if you have children, your children will be affected by what is going on in the world today. The first way to change what is happening to our country is to have knowledge, and this book clearly offers you the knowledge you need to begin making a difference. I purchased the book because somebody recommended it to me,and I am glad they did because there were things I read in the book that I was not aware of. I think we should all be aware of how much the government plays a role in our daily lives. As a mother of two kids I worry what their future will be like if we don't have the knowledge to make the changes that need to be made today. Remember the saying "Knowledge is Power"! A great book, and a must read..

This is a short economic tract from the acclaimed Austrian economist known for his stern defense of free-markets. Mises' sharp verbal logic and analysis of the adverse affect that bureaucracy, socialism, and a bloated public sector has on the economy. This book is a classic. I recommend reading in tandem with his other classics like Human Action, Liberalism in the Classical Tradition, Socialism.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RIOGBMEF9HCGS Ludwig von Mises' stuff is worth reading twice and this book remains highly pertinent today.

Bureaucracy is the clearest and most concise version of the calculation critique of socialism. This books is vastly easier to read that the original 1920 article on socialist calculation. It is far shorter and more focused than Human Action. It is also much shorter than Socialism, an Economic and Sociological Analysis. Mises managed to achieve brevity without sacrificing much important content. Bureaucracy is probably his best written book.

There are many subtleties to this book, but the main points are straightforward. Mises contrasts profit management with bureaucratic management. To Mises Bureaucratic management is necessary as far as a few basic public services are concerned. However, the adoption of socialism would mean the extension of bureaucratic management to all areas of the economy. The problem with this is that bureaucracies are inflexible. Changing economic conditions require the adaptation of production. Entrepreneurs implement changes in production because they seek profit. Mises explains why bureaucrats would act irresponsibly- they are not checked by profit and loss accounting. Since public services lack a cash value as generated by markets the costs of increasing public services are unknown. Bureacratic managers would thus over expand their operations without realizing it. Such bureaucratic excesses must be limited by restrictive rules. Hence bureaucracies lack the flexibility of entrepreneurial capitalism.

Mises also considers psychological and political issues, but these points are not as well developed as his economic arguments. One could see this as a weakness, but those who want a more complete version of the von Mises critique of socialism can read his 1922 book- Socialism.

Bureaucracy is the shortest and surest path to understanding the merits of free markets and the dangers of socialism. I can think of no other book that contains so many important insights in so few pages. The closest contenders for this honor would be Menger's Principles, Buchanan's Cost and Choice, and Hayek's Road to Serfdom. Fortunately one can find accessibility and genius in some books, and Bureaucracy excels in both of these attributes.

Written by professor former Vienna Chamber of Commerce economist Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Bureaucracy is a classic economic treatise, first published in 1944, about how the efficient aspects of private ownership and control of public good production ultimately produces superior results compared to the mishmash of publically administrated plans laced with codes of "officialdom", government incompetence, unforeseen legal wranglings, graft, and other ills. "Bureaucracy in itself is neither good nor bad," Mises states; rather, bureaucracy is a valuable resource for managing certain spheres of human activity, such as policing and courts of law, yet ultimately a failure or even harmful when applied to private enterprise, simply because forced obedience to strict rules hobbles entrepreneurial managers' room to maneuver amid fluctuating market situations, and stifles their innovation in response to evolving consumer wants. "Under socialism... the beginner must please the already settled. They do not like too efficient newcomers. (Neither do old-established entrepreneurs like such men; but, under the supremacy of the consumers, they cannot prevent their competition.) In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors... The rising generation is at the mercy of the aged." As timely and insightful now as it was over half a century ago, Bureaucracy is highly recommended especially for college library and economic studies shelves.

Unlike some other reviewers, I found little in Gottesman's book that would inform an understanding of what is presently happening in Iraq or Afghanistan. The UNTAC mandate in Cambodia didn't even qualify as a half-hearted attempt at introducing democracy, and the attempts to analogize the situations are at best strained. In fact, the history Gottesman lays out has precious little to do with nation-building of any kind (my guess is the subtitle may have been some editor's marketing ploy). Rather, I found the book to be the clear, riveting, and ultimately pitiful inside story of a decaying communist regime. For those trumpeting the planned Khmer Rouge Trials as the day-of-reckoning for Cambodia's tormentors, guess again. After reading Gottesman's book, I'll eat my Mao cap if a single suspect is charged who, as Gottesman puts it, repented of the only real crime under communism-political opposition.

Evan Gottesman's three years of field work in Cambodia with the American Bar Association Law and Democracy Project gave him an exceptionally solid base from which he launched this study of the history of the PRK and SOC regimes. His use of documents dug out of the National Archives is, as David Chandler has remarked, "masterful." His interviews with the former holders of power provide fascinating insights into the minds of key personalities seldom reached by Westerners. The epilogue is chock full of understated, reasonable, fair, and on-the-mark assessments of the reality on the ground in Cambodia today -- "Cambodian democracy often seems an abstraction...Although the methods of control have changed, the personnel governing the country remain largely the same ... (they) have accepted a new level of political discourse, but they do so only to the extent that it does not jeopardize their power." Life and work in Cambodia as a lawyer would frustrate all but the most idealistic of men. That Mr. Gottesman came away with such a patient and objective look at Cambodia says much about both his character and his intellect. This book is a must read for our new generation of "nation builders." It will allow them to bring to bear a better sense of time scale regarding their grand plans to democratize the world, clearly a task for multiple generations of good men like Evan Gottesman, not one to be attempted by one or two four-year administrations of ambitious politicians.

Mr. Gottesman paints a vivid picture of Cambodia after 1979 that is particularly relevant in this time of reconstruction and nation building in Iraq. This is on my all time top 10 books right after the Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing.

This is a fascinating telling of the politics of the PRK. The author has adroitly woven a tapestry of the give and take between the ideologically rigid Vietnamese liberators and the ideologically-opportunistic Khmer Rouge. The irony of the title is that there was no "after the Khmer Rouge:" indeed, they are still alive and well and running the PRK's successor state, which could be called the Democratic People's Republic of Royal Camobodia, an amalgam of ex-Pol Potists, Sihounoukists and genuine deomocrats.
Gottesman is to be congratulated on his shrewd observations and the skillful way he merged the ever-morphing political landscape in Phnom Penh with the relatively static, self-serving and corrupt provinical politics that tended to ignore any central dictums that reduced local prerogatives. In sum, pretty much the story of all socialist states; proclaim endless drivel ex cathedra from the capital and pray that somebody out there listens.
This is a must read for anyone interested in a little known asterisk in the cold war and anyone interested in third world politics. Foe all American ideologues eager to proclaim Iraq the next Japan, read, learn and repent!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally a book that tells the truth. I have had cancer, twice. I do NOT want a CURE for cancer! That's correct, you heard it, I do not want a cure for cancer. I do not want you, your family or anyone else to have to suffer with cancer. I WANT A PREVENTION! NO ONE should get this preventable disease. We have all known for years that the chemicals in our environment have been causing problems. But industry backed by our government has been allowed to flourish at everyone's expense. Cancer is big business and as soon as everyone understands this maybe something will be done! Bravo for taking a stand!

"The book shows that, contrary to the impression fostered by our public relations-dominated media, we are in fact losing the much-vaunted "War on Cancer." Unlike most academics in the cancer field, Prof. Epstein is passionate about public health and cultivates a take-no-prisoners style. Repeatedly rebuffed by the powers that be, he does not hesitate to name names. He claims, for instance, that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) have both betrayed us, spending tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer and charity money "primarily targeting silver-bullet cures...while ignoring strategies for preventing cancer in the first place."

As a result, he says, cancer rates have escalated to epidemic proportions, now striking one in every two American men, and more than one in every three women.

This is an angry, impassioned and important book. Much of this book is very technical in nature. It thus requires some effort to read and digest. For the person who is seriously interested in understanding the failure of our society to address issues of industry pollution, this book is indispensable. For those who are ready to join the fight against greed and corruption in the cancer field, it will also be an enormously rewarding experience. As with Prof. Epstein's earlier books, one comes away with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of how chemicals have polluted our environment, and how those who manufacture such chemicals have similarly polluted our political system."
Review by Dr. Ralph Moss
To which the people said: Amen!

The ACS spends only 16% of contributions on research! More than half of all donations given to them go for their overhead and administrative costs - including six-figure incomes to their executives, fleets of cars, and buying real estate. I call that obscene.

How do they get away with it? Here's how:

All donations are first sent to ACS headquarters where half of it is skimmed off for "overhead." Then fixed budget amounts are sent back to ACS branch offices. That way, when you call a branch office and ask them what their overhead is, they will tell you, "Oh, it's only 5 or 6%." They NEVER tell you that headquarters keeps over 50% of all donations for themselves.

ACS holds about one BILLION dollars in cash!! Why is that not being spent on research?

Don't give your donations to the corrupt ACS. Find a charity that gives more than 75% of your donation to research.

The statistics now predict that 1 out of 2 people will get cancer. Why isn't this front page news?! In other words, we are
looking at a medical emergency akin to the Black Plague; your chances of getting sick are about the same.

The Cancer Society spends about 10 percent of its monies on prevention. That's right. And most of that is spent telling people not to smoke, eat their veggies, and get some exercise. It's all lifestyle advice that says "If you get cancer, it's YOUR FAULT." This book states unequivocally that we're getting sick from our environment: the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the detergent we use to wash our clothes, our toothpaste, shampoo, etc.etc. It's bloody horrifying. The bottom line is, cancer is big business; the money is all about drugs and treatment, while our government sits idly by, not informing consumers about anything. I could go on all day. Read this book - for the sake of your children, for the sake of your own health.

Politics Western Style should be required reading for every voter or future voter in Idaho and Washington. Andrus' book is rare among political memoirs; he relates his experiences while not overinflating his role. The book is written in a style that befits Idaho's last Democratic governor, humorous, insightful, and never too urbane. Before he was "The Guv" Andrus was a logger, and his writing demonstrates the intelligence of the man while never, as they say in West Virginia, "gittin' 'buv his raisins". While not every Idahoan agreed with Andrus, they voted for him because, just like his book, Andrus stayed true to who he was. This book provides not only good stories, but a roadmap to responsible government. Read it.

Yes, Cecil Andrus is a politician, but he also is a man almost everyone could admire. His book tells about how he came to the political world, and how he learned how to successfully navigate and maintain his dignity. A book Bill Clinton, Newt Gringrich and George Bush Jr should read to pick up a few pointers on character, doing the right thing and keeping the work of the people foremost in their minds. A great read.

Andrus does a good job of showing just how ad hoc the situation is in Idaho and how subject it is to outside influence. For a State that had a population of independant thinkers Idaho has done a poor job of perserving its way of life. Folks are slow to make up their mind and difficult to organize. Because of this big money from outside and inside the state can do things before the people can bring themselves to react. I was raised as a poor farm boy in the southern part of the state and have live all over the world since. Still have a small farm there and try to participate in the local politics as an amatuer pundit if that is not a paradox?

Well...I was assigned to read this book for my poli sci class and at first, thought it was going to be boring...boy was i wrong;) This book is great! It bears down in detail the things Andrus fought through while being the Secretary of the Interior under President Jimmy Carters cabinet. It also tells you the environmental issues that he fought through to preserve things such as the spawning grounds for salmon and a lot more. Anyways...If I where you, I'd read this book. It rocks!