Society Books

Brazilian Science Fiction: Cultural Myths And Nationhood In The Land Of The Future is an in-depth discussion of Brazillian science fiction and what it has to tell us about Brazilian culture and society by Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian literature M. Elizabeth Ginway. Chapters examine the cross-narrative icons of the robot, the alien, the spaceship, and the wasteland; dystopian science fiction; reflections on the changing roles of women; and influences of the post-dictatorship Brazilian generation and its delvings into "hard" SF, cyberpunk, alien encounters, alternate histories and parallel universes, and more. Black-and-white photographs of science fiction book covers illustrate this thoughtful and thorough examination which is especially recommended for academic library literary studies collections.

Ginway has been in Brazil several times since 2000 in preparation for this book, and she has read more Brazilian SF than most Brazilian readers.

Ginway is a "Brazilianist," a scholar of Brazilian history and culture, and in her remarkable book she employs techniques of cultural criticism to explore what some 50 years of local science fiction has to say about Brazil's cultural myths in relation to technology and modernization in that country, most of it ocurred during and troubled by a military dictatorship (1964-1985). Ecofeminist theory is among her approaches, along with Gary K. Wolfe's technique of symbol reading present in his book "The Known and the Unknown: The Iconography of Science Fiction." A certain comparative stance arises when she contrasts Brazilian myths embedded in Brazilian SF, with American myths present in American SF.

Ginway refrains from making literary criticism--judgements on literary values and accomplishments regarding the works she analises.

The book was called "fascinating" by Charles N. Brown, the editor of "Locus--The Newspaper of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field," which has included Ginways study in its recommended list for 2005 (making it elegible for the Locus Award for best non-fiction book).

Let me say that *Brazilian Science Fiction* transcends its subject in the way that its attentive reading may reveal a device that would allow one to understand how other Third World of even Eastern Europe science fictions are much closer to their cultures than it was once supposed. One would need, of course, to have a strong familiarity and understanding of that culture in order to see how even the most comomplace SF icons--such as the robot, the starship, the alien--can be revealing of the heart and soul of that culture, even when its science fiction seems to be superficially imitative of Anglo-American SF.

A book that can work as a telescope to makes us see global SF in quite a different way.

This is a book to keep and read every once in a while, just to make sure that there are people in Brazil who produce good literary SF.

From the early works of the XIX Century to the Cyberpunk and Alternate History of the new millenium, Ginway built a very clever and well researched book about the few writers who dare to write about the future and the space in a country where the past is still present.

How to tame a land, how to built its destiny if the high technology is for a few? How to imagine and elaborate the growth of a Nation if our people is still chained by analphabetism? How to be a Portuguese spoken country and, at the same time, wish for the stars?

Yes, there is a Brazilian Science Fiction. And is plural, original, strong and juicy. Sometimes it's even very good. Most of the times.

You definetly must try it.

Political violence roiled the Jewish state from its beginning, and Ehud Sprinzak gives context to today's turmoil in Brother against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination.

Sprinzak is a partisan who believes in Labor's two-state solution to the Palestinian question. Nonetheless, his portraits of the Right's early leaders, particularly Begin, often are quite flattering. Even Rabin's assassin is examined in an objective, even-handed way; the portrayal is similar to the treatment of Timothy McVeigh in American Terrorist.

Sprinzak gives a lot of insight into the early struggle for the Jewish state and the excesses that fed the Palestinian hatred that continues to fester. Massacres of Arab villagers at the hands of Jews, and other atrocities committed by Israel's founders, are laid bare. Sprinzak makes the case that the 1967 War both united the country and helped seal the political divide between those who seek accomodation with the Arabs and those who view peace as illusory. Rabin's assassination is seen not as an aberration but a predictable response by the opposition.

Like many of his countrymen, the author exudes a combination of pride and angst over the history and future of Israel. The Altalena incident, in which the Right's attempt to arm its supporters was foiled by violence at the hands of the Laborites, sets the stage and never seems far removed from what is happening 50 years later.

This is a tremendous, instructive book that never becomes a diatribe despite the author's political leanings.

Sprinzak does an excellent job at both presenting and analysing the history of political extremism in Israel. This is helped considerably by the fact that Israel as a modern state has such a relatively short history, so the project is not as epic as it might be if if one was going to attempt a similar catalogue/anthology of the political violence and extremism in France, for instance. Add to that that Sprinzak was one of Israel's pre-eminent scholars and as such, was given tremendous access in terms of what he could see and what information he was privy to.

The book is quite thorough; it gives background on the pre-state militias (Haganah, Irgun, Lehi), as well as discusses their feuds- it opens with the Altalena affair and goes on to examine "The Hunting Season". It then moves forward to describe, in turn, violence and extremism from the ultra-orthodox, the political left, the nationalist-religious right, and Israel's famed quasi-fascist, Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was expelled from the Knesset for having a racist platform. The book culminates in examining the Rabin Assassination.

This book is very interesting as it not only gives much-needed background and context on the extreme right, who dominate much of the current attention given to Israeli politics, but also points out the history and extremism of OTHER camps and ideologies, such as the ultra-orthodox and the left. Not only is this interesting, it is typical of Sprinzak's sense of "fair play". While a fair amount of the book focuses on the misdeeds of the right, Sprinzak is not a name caller, nor a finger-wagger- he is merely a chronicler. And as such, he feels compelled to point out the violence of ALL members of Israeli society.

Impressively, Sprinzak is able to do all this while maintaining an objective professionalism. While he clearly identifies himself as a Laborite, he soundly condemns all political violence, AND simultaneously seems to give the impression that he sympathizes with many of the people he describes- not because he approves of what they do, but rather, he understands the frustration that drives them to their actions. The result is very powerful, and very balanced. Best of all, like any good academic, Sprinzak is thorough enough to give us SOURCES!

I must admit, it was quite refreshing to be able to learn about a part of Israel's history that is often referenced but rarely directly spoken about, for fear it will be exploited. The fact that Sprinzak chose to isolate INTERNAL Israeli violence from the continuous Middle East conflict was another crucial and excellent choice; to muddle up his research with background on the PLO, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad would have done nothing but distract readers from the main purpose of the book: taking an honest look at both examing and understanding the roots of ISRAELI political violence and extremism. For many non-Israeli readers, this may be the first time you realize that the Middle East conflict is not just about Israelis vs. Palestinians. It's not just "who gets a state", but also "what kind of state will we have"? This book goes a long way to giving people an inside view into the political history of Israel- and how far some people have been willing to go.

The book's one drawback is that the epilogue, in which Sprinzak describes various scenarios that might result in the short-term aftermath of Rabin's killing now seem outdated. It is a shame he was not able to publish a second edition before his death.

In short, the book gets points for being easy to read (Sprinzak apparently learned from his earlier book, "The Ascendance of Israel's Radical Right", which in some places, was painful to read), having a lot of interesting (and for many, NEW) information, and for being able to maintain a good sense of balance. It's only negative mark (perhaps worthy of a half or quater-point deduction) is that it was written in 1996, rather than 2003; it would have been nice to get Sprinzak's take on the current goings-on in Israel.

A fitting capstone to this great man's legacy. I look forward to the day when a similar project (in both scope and honesty) is completed by a Palestinian scholar.

I have this book. Ehud was one of my Proffessers at the Hebrew University Political Science Dept. in the 70's and this is an excelent book about Israeli Violent Politics. It is a unique study. It covers a long period. Although the book is New, it reflects the situation before Ehud Barak got elected. But the first Chapters about the Altalena are also very interesting. Ehud told us then that from 1948 till 1967 extra-parliementary Politics was getting less. Since the Idelogical Problem of what to do with the territories taken in 1967 there has been a rise in Politics outside the Knesset. The book also covers Kahanism and the background to the Tragic murder of Rabin.

It is hard to write reviews for Lang's fairy tale books which are as unique as each collection. The Brown Fairy Book once again has tales from many cultures. Included tales are: How Some Wild Animals Became Tame Ones, Story of the King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate, The Mermaid and the Boy, The Sister of the Sun, Which Was The Foolishest?, and many others. I always enjoy the illustrations, too, although some children are disappointed they are black and white drawings.

For some odd reason, this has to be one of my favorite editions of Andrew Lang's collection. I'm not sure why. But as always, we get a good, varying dose of excellent fairy tales from different countries, bettered by the fact that these tales are little known. So, yep, I recommend this for all collectors and those who just plain love a good fairy tale.

A Beautifully illustrated collection of fairy tales from different cultures, its refreshing to read tales that aren't just european. When I first bought it I was very disappointed that they weren't the traditional French, German, and English fairy tales but after reading them I found them to be compelling and beautiful. These tales are imaginative, strange, beautiful, wistful, and gorgous. The illustrations are wonderful, they stand in a class of their own. Modern illustrators should use them as inspiration.

I've found this book to be exceedingly useful in researching architecture in West Virginia. It's a shame it is not more widely available! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in preservation or taking architectural tours of the Mountain State. Well researched, must have been a massive undertaking. It's recently helped me out on a rather difficult project, so I'm very thankful I found it!

West Virginia was created through political conflict during the Civil War, and many people may think of it only as part of that part of our nation's history, or perhaps as a place of coal mines and Appalachian troubles. What Chambers shows us in this carefully researched, beautifully written book is that West Virginia has a history and an architectural heritage of great distinction and diversity. Chambers looks at the full range of this state's architecture, from the distinguished work of many state and regional as well as national architects in the principal towns and cities to the sagas of the industrial settlements, of which there are many, and the slower changing regional patterns of small town and rural areas. Buy this book, and learn that West Virginia is a state to visit, appreciate, and admire. Chambers's nuanced study takes into consideration the multiple and complex aspects of its history, and gives us all a new appreciation for an American state with a complex heritage. Anyone wanting to understand the South, Appalachia, or indeed America needs this book.

Chambers has written the book I wish I had written. If you are interested in architecture in the Mountain State, buy this book.

I was born and raised in West Virginia, but had always thought my native state nearly bereft of architecture, having only had the luck to have a succession of inferior state capitols go up in flames until the present Cass Gilbert statehouse. Chambers' book will disabuse you of that notion and make you proud of a significant architectural legacy. (The job now, of course, is to preserve what we have.)

He has performed a public service for every West Virginian, whether at home or living elsewhere.

The only nit I can pick is that he has chosen to ignore a number of significant engineering structures (mostly railroad coaling towers and coal tipples). Concrete coaling towers such as in Bluefield and Thurmond are important structures in their own right. Tipples, though not significant individually and now mostly gone, were significant as a building form. They were once nearly as common as 7-Elevens and no one who grew up in the coalfields ever quite gets over a love affair with the exposed I-beams, the corrugated metal and the jumble of roof and conveyor angles that used to be seen in the once-ubiquitous coal tipple.

Our family thoroughly enjoyed this story. The waretcolor pictures are wonderful. Knowing that this is based on a true story is a plus. It shows the love and compassion of children.

I don't know who loves this story more, myself or my daughter! I look forward to reading it every night with her. Finding a book with a positive role model for girls is not easy to do--this book has it.

This is a tender story illustrating a universal love we share with our four legged furry friends. This is a great story with warm and lively pictures.

It's sad that great children's books go out of print of so often.

This one is about a grandfather's tall tales. He joshed his granddaughter Julie about Hershel the famous astronomer, who discovered the moon is a matzah ball. And Bessie, who used her exceedingly long braids as jumping rope.

And Moishe, the goat from his village in Russia, who pulled his wagon all the way to America--9,092 miles, singing a certain famous song all the way.

But grandpa's best tale was about his real trip on packed steamer to America, and meeting Julie's grandmother Rose.

Of course, he couldn't keep himself from embellishing the story for long, and soon wove in nonsense about a castle on Hester Street, so tall that pigeons couldn't fly to the roof and had to be carried by ladder. And since he was a button peddler, he told Julie of buttons made from diamonds and gold, buttons big as saucers, and buttons used as sleds.

Our copy was a hand-me-down from family, and since there is little chance of finding another, there is no chance we'll ever part with it. Alyssa A. Lappen

A comparison review between the old version and the new:
The Castle on Hester Street by Linda Heller, a Sydney Taylor Book Award winner, was originally published in 1982 with illustrations by the author. Typical of the era, it features a limited palette of muted colors, used effectively within black and white line drawings. Now, a newly illustrated version by Boris Kulikov offers an expansive full color visual interpretation of the original text. Young Julie is visiting her grandparents, and is treated to her grandfather's tall tale version of his life history, with many interruptions and corrections from her grandmother. He tells of a singing goat named Moishe who brought him to America, and of the jewel-encrusted buttons he sold from his pushcart that were big enough to use as sleds. Grandmother, of course, insists on a more accurate history. In Heller's illustrations, a clean white background focuses attention on the characters, while Kulikov's more atmospheric scenes are filled with colorful, surreal detail. Both styles have their advantages. The original pictures, clearer and more directly illustrative of the text, work well for a librarian or teacher sharing the book with a large group. The new pictures offer a more satisfying experience for an individual reader to savor at leisure. They are whimsical, even fantastical, with unusual perspectives and very effective use of light. The grandparents as pictured by Heller are sweet, round-faced individuals. Grandfather is clean-shaven and wears a yarmulke. Kulikov makes them leaner and more energetic, adding a long Judaic-style beard to grandfather's face, but surprisingly, removing his yarmulke and depicting him bareheaded in several scenes. All in all, this updated version offers visually striking illustrations with a lot of pizazz and energy. Don't throw out your old version, but do add this attractive new edition to your shelf. For ages 5-9. Reviewed by Heidi Estrin

A grandfather tells his grandaughter tall tales about each stage in his immigration to the U.S. and his early life in New York. Then the grandmother deflates each tale and explains how things really were back then. I find this two-step process to be a clever way to teach children about the experience which their grandparents went through, first hooking them with a silly story, and then hitting them with the facts. The book is especially useful for reading aloud to children whose grandparents can no longer tell the story themselves, or for inspiring children to ask their grandparents about their experience. This is a rather matter-of-fact review, so I should add that my children and I find this book funny and endearing, and have read it together many times.

Yes, this is a good book. Yes, I consider it to be five stars. But am I missing something? There is a second edition of this book published in 2007 - Cmos/Ccd Sensors and Camera Systems (Press Monograph) - by the same author as this book. It has been updated and has much of the same information as this one, written in 1996. Unless I'm missing the fact that there is a treasure map in this out-of-print edition, I'd say go with the new version and leave the used book sellers with their two hundred dollar price tags.

What is in this book? It does have good information on CCD array architecture concepts and theory of operation. It includes information on full-frame, frame transfer, inter-line transfer, progressive scan, and time-delay and integration. Camera specifications are traced to array performance parameters. It provides the background information you'd need to specify arrays and cameras using radiometric concepts. Since image quality can only be assessed by visual interpretation, both the display and the observer are integral parts of the imaging "system." Thus CRT display performance and the resolution/addressability ratio are covered in detail. There are examples included that illustrate sampling theory and aliasing. Noise analysis includes random, shot, fixed pattern, and quantization noise. Camera design issues discussed include "aperture" correction, gamma compensation, and compatibility with current video standards. Other topics include dark current, responsivity, dynamic range, and intensified CCDs. Its target audience is primarily the system integrator looking for information needed to specify a system that functions in a particular way. However, engineers who just want to know "how things work" should enjoy it too.

This is one of the best practical books I have seen to evaluate an imaging system. It goes through systematically, with worked-through examples, the evaluation of electro-optical systems. Useful for setting up the structure to compare alternatives if you are an electro-optical systems engineer trying to choose among alternatives. For a different (more top-level) approach, also check out Wyatt, "Electro-optical system design." For a more theorectical treatment, see Janesick, "Fundamentals of Charge-Coupled Devices."

WOW MAN! THIS WAS LIKE THE BEST BOOK I READ ABOUT STUFF LIKE LIGHTS SINCE I WORKED FOR THE DEAD IN THE SUMMER OF 1973 DOING THEIR LIGHT SET UPS FOR THE SHOWS. BY FAR ITS THE BEST BOOK I READ SINCE "CATCHER IN THE RYE" AND I WOULD, AND DO, RECOMEND IT FOR ALOT OF PEOPLE TO READ CAUSE ITS GOOD.

The fact that this book was written several years before 9/11 tells wonders to how deep the problem with Islamism (i.e Islamic extreminism/fundamentalism) was throughout the globe well before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As a U.S. student of international relations, this was one of the first books that exposed me to the problem of Islamic fundamentalism and I am glad it was the primer. I have gone on to read other books and I am just astonished by the disinformation and as well the misinformation presented by authors claiming to interpret the inner psyche of fundamentalists. What disturbs me the most about other authors is that most do no even read or write and Arabic. In turn, they rely on translations by others which could be easily misconstrued from a difficult dialect such as Arabic and the style and prose of Quranic verses.

Professor Tibi, on the other hand, does not suffer from this pathology. Aside from being able to speak and write fluently in Arabic, Professor Tibi is an Arab as well as a devout Muslim - a moderate one at that. Furthermore, Professor Tibi has actually traveled all over the world, into some of the most violent and volatile regional hotbeds to experience first hand the problem with Islamic fundamentalism. To understand the roots the problem, I believe one cannot sit in the comfort of Washington, D.C. think tanks or American universities: the dimensional problems associated with Islamic fundamentalism require proactive engagement. But thankfully, most readers and students will not have to experience such hardship because of Professor. Tibi's work.

It would be difficult to do justice to Professor Tibi works in such a short review. Having said that, here are three important points I felt are worthy of notice. First, Prof. Tibi contends that Islamic fundamentalism is not at war with the West, but at war with secular nation-states. He contends convincingly that the concept of the nation-state is foreign to Islam. He cites several passages from the Quran that support this contention and goes on to explain how such an political arrangement - often advocated by the West - is incompatible with current understanding of Islam by followers. Second, he strongly advocates that Islamic fundamentalism (he refers to it as Islamism as well) as a pure political apparatus to undermine the apologists of the nation-state. He does this by showing the contradictions between the interpretations of fundamentalist teachings and works to that of the Quran. By following this methodology, Professor Tibi lays out the framework for Islam as the peaceful religion and its rogue opposite (Islamism) which twists the teachings in the Quran to sanction terrorism as means to its political ends. Third, he discusses the West's inability to escapes its "Orientalism" when it comes to interpreting and understanding Islamic fundamentalism. Orientalism implies the Western perspective of old-fashioned and prejudiced outsider interpretations of other cultures and peoples. In other words, an ethnocentric bias to which the West consistently interprets the events of fundamentalism. He believes that as long as the West continues viewing the problem of fundamentalism through this prism, the problem will continue perhaps perpetually.

Needless to say this book really expanded my "horizons" on this contentious subject. Considering that I am not Arab, Islamic, or born in the Middle East, I think what I appreciated most about this book is how the entire discourse is underpinned in peace studies from an individual that fills all three of these voids. Such an approach ultimately advocates a pragmatic solution to the problem with Islamism and helps preserve Islam as a spiritual faith.

I actually read this book (or main essays therefrom) in German. (The author teaches at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, and I believe publishes in that language) Having grown up in the Middle-East, I found Prof. Tibi's description of both events and realities on the ground to be very faithful to the truth. The very satisfying thing about his writing is his scientific-neutral (with a twist of anthropology, economics as well as just plain common sense) approach. There are countless books out there written by Arab "scholars" and "I've been there and understand it all" western journalists who more often than not just highlight one fact without showing interdependence of economic conditions, sociological stratification and cultural alienation that help explain the mess brought about by the rapid introduction of modernity into a world that heretofore had a limited sense of nationhood, let alone a secular societal organization.

Bassam Tibi has this very rare objectivity due to not having the inferiority complex vis-a-vis the "West" which unfortunately plagues most if not all Arab and Middle-Eastern academia.

This brilliant and prescient volume (written in 1997) belongs in the library of anyone interested in military history or world affairs as well as general academic circulation. It should be mandatory reading for anyone in Western government. It's one of the most important books written about the turmoil in our world today. A non-academic, I found it a revelation. Questions about the silence of the non-violent, "moderate" Muslims receive tentative answers in these pages. It also deals with the widespread fundamental movement within Islam of which the terrorists compose only a tiny percentage. It sets the historical framework for the acceptance of Islamic fundamentalism, in its many imperfect forms, as a reaction to the foolish post WWI decision of the French and British foreign offices in dividing the Arabic Middle East into arbitrary nation-states. They were never accepted by many Muslims who regarded them as an irrevelent impostion by the West. As a Muslim, Tibi demonstrates great courage in detailing the inherent inconsistences in Islamic fundamentalism thought as well as its lack of historical grounding in traditional Islam. He places Islamic fundamentalism in the political arena. Nothing is more potent than religion coupled to political drive for change. He's careful to point out there are many fundamental movements worldwide that have nothing to do with Islam. I've just touched the surface of the many important points Tibi raises.

This is one of the best Chan meditation resource - certainly a recommended read for everyone - interested in meditation or not.

The Chan Handbook condenses the essential principles of chan meditation as taught by the late Tripitika Master Hsuan Hua, former instructor at the Nan Hua Monastery in Canton, China, into straightforward quotes of the Master's words taken from a 40-year period during the course of his life. Pages relate in plain terms accessible to lay readers the benefits of meditation, how to meditate, the states of meditation, how to reach nirvana, and more. Subdivided sections of The Chan Handbook are only a few paragraphs or pages long, each clarifying a core principle such as "Only quiet contemplation can initiate Chan", "Concentrate on a single meditation topic", or "Enlightenment must be certified before it counts". An excellent introduction to the concept of chan meditation, preserving the wisdom of a teacher for those who never had the opportunity to learn from him directly.

Intimate advice on meditation from Master Hua (1918-1995). Rather than just stimulating me to think about Chan Buddhism, these talks did indeed lead me to sit down and practice. That's good because as a book reader and reviewer, reading too much and thinking too much are real dangers for me. Not that reading about Buddhism and meditation are bad, they have been a big help in deepening my Buddhist understanding and practice, but to do so to the exclusion of practice wouldn't help me. To the extent I continue without going to a teacher, books like this one are essential. How many of them is another question. Too many cooks?

Master Hua's teachings on mediations seem consistent with those of Master Sheng Yen (Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism). As outstanding as Master Sheng Yen is, Master Hua seemed more intimate and focused on sitting meditation and the use of a meditation topic ("huatou" as Master Sheng Yen refers to it): Master Sheng Yen provides more details but after reading Master Hua I am not sure such details are necessary. "The Chan Handbook" is well-organized, 6 chapters of teachings, divided into several page subsections, followed by a question and answer chapter, a chapter of verses by Master Hua, the Eighteen Great Vows of Venerable Master Hua (which serve as a strong reminder of Chan Buddhism's place within Mahayana Buddhism) and a list of contacts for the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, the most notable being the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Northern California (which is one of the largest Buddhist communities in the West). Somehow until I found this book I did not know of Master Hua and the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas: the world is full of treasures if one only looks!

Master Hua teaches in this book out of his own wisdom: there are some references, of course, to earlier Chan masters but not so much to Chan Buddhist history or any intellectualizing (as may be found with the contemporary Zen master Gudo Nishijima's efforts to explain the Four Noble Truths in terms of Dogen's explanatory style in A Heart To Heart Chat On Buddhism With Old Master Gudo. There is less precision and thoroughness than may be found in Master Sheng Yen's Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism but now that I have read this book, I am not sure Master Sheng Yen's details are necessary. Different styles at any rate, Nishijima, Sheng Yen and Hua, I could not say one would be best for you.

Master Hua uses both gradual enlightenment and sudden enlightenment in his teachings: he explains that sudden enlightenment depends on daily cultivation. He speaks of "sweet dew", a sweetening of the saliva during meditation, that sounds Taoist. I have not looked for that or experienced that (yet). He teaches using a story that a Chan master will be able to control his/her own birth and death. How literally to take this? Is it intended only to emphasize the benefits of the presence and energy that comes with Chan meditation? I don't know.

I will continue my reading and reviewing of other books on Chan but if I could not, this would be a more than adequate place to stop. Between this book (The Chan Handbook: Talks About Meditation ), Master Sheng Yen's Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism and Peter D. Hershock's Chan Buddhism (Dimensions of Asian Spirituality), I have more than enough to guide my meditation practice. "The Chan Handbook" is a valued addition to my Buddhist library and has already brought me back to practicing more and thinking about practicing less. No small feat.

This book might be the most important book I've ever read, and I've read many. There is a conspiracy to create one all-powerful army for the entire world. This book will convince you of that. It will also motivate you to spread the word because fear is a great motivator. It might also make you cry about what is happening. But don't let that stop you from exposing the conspiracy. I bought 50 of these books recently and am going to hand them out at a street fair booth that I'm going to reserve a spot for. Remember what Edmund Burke said: "The biggest mistake a man ever made was to do nothing because he could only do a little."

The United Nations didn't start out with good intentions and go wrong along the way. This is a gripping, well documented, easy to read description of how influential Americans were involved in creating the UN and have been consistantly undermining and chipping away at US sovereignty. You cannot be a patriotic American and a UN supporter. Read this book. Learn.

As we approach the 21st Century (which begins in 2001) there is no question more important to our nation than whether it will survive as a sovereign republic or be subjected to the status of just one more "member state" of a One World Government. Our sovereignty cannot be taken as long as we have a free and powerful military defense. That's why certain traitors have been working for years to (1) reduce our military strength, and (2) give what's left away to the United Nations.

REAL AMERICANS DON'T WEAR U.N. BLUE!