Politics Books

I am only 12 years old, but believe me when I say that this is one of the best books I've ever read! I had to do a report on a scientist for school and I chose Edward Teller because I had heard of him from my mother and he sounded interesting. Rather than being just another boring book report, I really did enjoy this book. It gave me a lot of information for my report and was not incredibly hard to read. I decided to do a movie for my report and filmed it as if Teller were writing journal entries. I got a 100++ on my project which is what I would give this book...a 100++!

There is no way that everyone would agree as to what events, or even list of events were the most noteworthy of the 20th Century. I do believe that most would agree that the splitting of the atom, the creation of atomic and then thermonuclear weapons would likely have a place on any list. If the controversy surrounding the use of nuclear power to create electricity for public consumption is added, I think the topic has a place assured on any list.

One person among many who was at the center of these topics, events and developments is Dr. Edward Teller. He stands out from the groups he was involved in for many reasons but two are for his longevity in to his 90s' and the participation in the direction of all the associated research his long life has allowed him, and secondly for the controversy he often found himself at the center of. Another book I read not long ago, "Brotherhood of the Bomb", went in to great detail about the very controversial decision to strip Dr. Robert Oppenheimer of his security clearance and the role that Dr. Teller was said to have played in the security clearance not being renewed. In this book of just over 600 pages a large portion is spent on the issue including many pages of transcripts from the actual hearing when Dr. Teller answered questions with Dr. Oppenheimer present.

I don't believe it is fair to judge from a handful of pages culled from over 1,000 whether Dr. Teller alone was the cause of the non-renewal of the security clearance. My impression from what I read was that it was clear there was a strong group that did not want the clearance continued, and to the extent anything negative was said about Dr. Oppenheimer they were going to make the most of it. Unless the pages that are shared intentionally mislead, Dr. Teller repeatedly stated he did not believe Dr. Oppenheimer would intentionally harm the security of The United States. However, if Dr. Teller believed that stating that Dr. Oppenheimer's actions slowed the development of the Hydrogen Bomb development by several years were not going to greatly harm Dr. Oppenheimer, he was either naïve or calculating then, and or now. Only he knows the answer.

There are many large topics this book deals with but one that fascinated me was the perception of Nuclear Power Generation plants for electrical production for civilian use. Unless the reader knows the answer prior to reading the book they may be surprised by what percentage of electricity is still produced by nuclear plants in the USA today. It does not rival France or Japan, but the numbers are still quite large.

In the end perception will carry the day. On average over 50,000 people die every year in The United States in car accidents. An Iranian airliner crashed yesterday killing 307 people, 400,000+ die annually from tobacco use in the USA annually. However, we continue to drive, fly, and about 50,000,000 continue to smoke.

Are nuclear powered plants 100% safe, they are not and the book does not suggest they have been or that they are. The book does discuss the Three Mile Island accident, the incident in England, and the folly that was Chernobyl. Chernobyl must be in a category of its own for the shear scale of stupidity, negligence and intentional harm that was allowed to take place at that plant. To use the former USSR's conduct with nuclear energy as a measure for the rest of the world is absurd.

Despite decades of knowledge that remaining dependent largely on imported oil is shear negligence the reality remains that we as a nation continue to do so. Events are still fluid but we may have a second war in just over 10 years because an individual that controls a nation in the heart of the planet's current oil supply makes us nervous. All the talk of alternative methods of energy have amounted to meaningless practical change, environmental concerns prohibit the pursuit of much domestic oil, so the question remains, what are we going to do?

There are indeed some hybrid cars on the road and there are some that use natural gas, and there is the latest promise of hydrogen fuelled cars that made for a sound byte at the most recent state of the union address. Taken as a whole, their practical impact is nearly meaningless.

Many may not like Dr. Teller's suggestions, and I too would prefer clean production of the energy we need. But the reality is we will change nothing until there is a massive and permanent impact on our economy and or way of life, and then it will be a prolonged painful transition, as opposed to being serious about the issue now and using all talents available to create reliable, sustainable clean energy sources. This man who is in his 90s' has seen decade after decade go by with no change to our consumption of fossil fuels. Those decades are lost, how many more will be?

Sometimes you get the feeling that Edward Teller is simply making too many excuses. Maybe he is making them to preserve his record for posterity. A man who measured his influence by the number of enemies he had, he probably would not make excuses to justify his actions to his detractors. Given this stance, Teller was surprisingly thin-skinned, and unintended slights could cut him to the quick.
Yet you also get the feeling that Teller is being apologetic, that he wants to, but cannot quite admit, that personal misgivings and ambitions frequently coloured his massive and extraordinarily powerful rational power of thinking, that behind the domineering presence, there is hidden a sensitive man, larger than life and generous with his friends, who simply was overwhelmed by his alter egos. Unfortunately, when you are as brilliant and vocal as Teller, your mistakes leave a much bigger mark on history than those of lesser mortals, and you cannot erase the voices that the will emerge from the void of the future that will judge you. Those voices would speak to the mute volume of memoirs that Teller penned towards the end of his years, as a heroic and unique survivor of an extraordinary time.

No scientist in the latter half of the twentieth century has exercised so much influence over governments and the arms race as Teller. No scientist has been maligned so much for his actions. And yet Teller's life began in innocence, in fair Budapest in 1908, when the world was a much different place. When he died in 2003, it had profoundly changed, and Teller was no small contributor to that change. Teller's childhood was marked by a deeply ingrained hatred of communism, inculcated by the regimes that were toppling democracy and enforcing the rule of force in Hungary. Teller was not alone in having these resentments; his compatriots John von Neumann, Eugene Wigner, Theodor von Karman, and Leo Szilard also felt them. All would become exceptionally brilliant scientists, all would flee from totalitarianism and immigrate to the United States, all would be instrumental in the making of the atomic bomb and the harnessing of the nuclear genie, yet nobody would demonstrate a temperament as volatile and emotional as Teller and nobody would have such far-reaching influences that would define a period of turmoil and imminent catastrophe. Teller's descriptions of his childhood make heartwarming reading, they speak of a lost time and place, the idyllic and innocent paradise of central and Eastern Europe, which would get heartbreakingly devastated and permanently marred in a few years. Teller talks with painful affection about his childhood friends, many of whom perished in the concentration camps in World War 2. He tries to hide the agony of being different and special in a matter of fact tone, sometimes laced with humour, and with affectionate Hungarian poems; throughout his life, Teller retained a great appreciation of literature and poetry, and was a pianist of almost professional caliber.

Many months back, I compared Teller to Otto Octavius of Spiderman-2 fame in a post, in which I summarized the details of his life. Teller grew in fame and achievements through definitive decades of the century- as a graduate student with Werner Heisenberg, as a professor in England and in the United States, and finally, as the foremost and most enthusiastic proponent and designer of nuclear weapons that probably will ever be born. During this time, he rubbed shoulders, and also fell from the graces of, the greatest minds of the century- along with his fellow Hungarians, Teller stood with Enrico Fermi, Robert Oppenheimer, Hans Bethe, and scores of others. He went down in history as Leo Szilard's chauffer; he drove Szilard to meet Einstein, the meeting in which the eminent physicist wrote the now famous letter warning President Roosevelt of the discovery of nuclear fission, and the ominous possibility of the Nazis building an atomic bomb. After this incident, Teller, more than anyone else, worked to make US authorities aware of the gravity of the situation. It is an amusing irony of politics and history that is was not American scientists but `enemy aliens' from Europe who egged the US Government on to pursue the development of atomic energy.

Teller's journey into fame and infamy, into endearment and notoriety, began with his work on the Manhattan Project. In the summer of 1942, at Oppenheimer's beckoning, he joined an elite and small group of physicists who worked out the basic physics of atomic weapons in Oppenheimer's office at the University of California, Berkeley. While the other participants, including Hans Bethe, pursued the elusive goal of trying to achieve an explosion that would shine brighter than a thousand suns, Teller was distracted by the power of the sun itself; whether instead of fission, one could achieve nuclear fusion by using the energy of a fission weapon, thus harnessing the source of energy that has kept the sun burning for billions of years. Needless to say, this was distracting at a time when the fission bomb was far from being a reality. Another time, Teller raised the ominous possibility of the atmosphere getting ignited by an atomic explosion, a possibility that was quickly shown to be `almost impossible' by the thoroughgoing Hans Bethe.
During the Manhattan Project, Teller was outraged when he was passed over by Oppenheimer to be director of the theoretical division, the key section of the project. Oppenheimer instead chose Bethe, who was much more consistent and meticulous, and not given to wild, if brilliant, fantasizing like Teller. When Teller refused to work on the complex implosion calculations that were necessary for the atomic bomb, the patient Oppenheimer formed a group for Teller to pursue his own ideas on fusion. This created a gap in the fission group, a gap that had to be filled with three or four other scientists to compensate for the brilliant Hungarian's abilities. From this time on, in spite of some valuable contributions, Teller created more problems than solved them. His late-night piano playing did not help. As was aptly put, "Teller managed to keep more Nobel Laureates awake than he could have done at any other place in the world".
Teller was brilliant beyond words, but highly erratic and inconsistent, volatile and moody, and somewhat sloppy in his calculations. These were qualities that would define his persona and his actions in crucial times to come. As a scientist put it, "Nine out of ten of Teller's ideas are bad. He needs other more methodical people to bring the tenth idea to fruition, which is usually a stroke of genius"

After the war, while most of his colleagues withdrew from atomic research or pursued arms disarmament, Teller became a hawk and a vehement anti-communist. He was enormously helped by the political climate of the times, and rode on the emotions of the zealous anti-communists in the state department. In his pursuit of the hydrogen bomb, which he deemed necessary to prevent the Soviet Union from dominating the world, he became an obsessive fanatic. In spite of this, when he lobbied vigorously in 1949 for the government to support a crash program for development of that awesome and horrible weapon, he had no technical proof that it would work. The proof came in 1950, largely supplied by a brooding, reserved and brilliant Polish émigré mathematician, Stanislaw Ulam. The division of credit between Teller and Ulam as to the crucial idea which made the H-bomb work, is part of nuclear and historical folklore and debate, and I would not delve into it right now because it would be a colourful topic for another post. It is a constant controversy that never seems to die, although now most people believe that it was Ulam who at least was solely responsible for the initial idea; that of using the enormous compression supplied by an atomic weapon to efficiently and successfully cause nuclear fusion. Ulam seems to have thought of shock waves that would do this, while Teller quickly realized that the radiation from the fission explosion would do the job much more quickly. Whatever the case was, Teller has never given due credit to Ulam in public, and has proudly worn the epithet of `father of the H-bomb' on his lapel (Bethe has drolly remarked that Teller should actually be the `mother of the H-bomb' because he carried the baby for so long...)

It is also to Teller's discredit that the US detonated their first fusion behemoth in 1952, thus frustrating the efforts of many to bring about a moratorium on testing that would have stalled Soviet H bomb development. Many also believe that Teller actually encouraged that development with his insistence on an early test; the radioactive fallout from an H-bomb test contains the characteristic signature of the design of the bomb, which could have made the Russians aware of the crucial idea of compression.

Teller's damning testimony at Robert Oppenheimer's infamous security hearing in 1954 also has become part of nuclear folklore that has rankled deep. While allegations that Oppenheimer actually hampered H-bomb development have now been shown to be false and misunderstood based on recently declassified documents (Priscilla McMillan, 2005), and while allegations about his loyalty were too far-fetched and preposterous to be considered anyway, Oppenheimer's bizarre testimony a few years before about a left leaning friend that cost the friend his career, was apparently seen by Teller as a betrayal. Later, Teller justified his testimony against Oppenheimer as a reinforcement of his ideals of not behaving ambiguously with friends. He seems to have overlooked the fact that his testimony itself had a calculated ambiguity which turned out to have devastating consequences that cost Oppenheimer his security clearance. In the years that followed, Teller's true intentions and behaviour have never been fully explained, and he never chose to do that in interviews, but whatever the facts, recently Teller has been appearing more and more as the villain in a period which all too resembled the current age of neo-conservative coercion and informal totalitarianism.

In the years after the hearing, Teller suffered a fallout with most of his friends in the community, who had testified on the brilliant Oppenheimer's behalf. But given the political climate of the times, Teller had no problem in endearing himself to hawks in the government who greatly valued his espousal of the development of grotesquely absurd and powerful weapons of destruction, and his belligerent anti-communist policies. Teller embraced and was one of the key forces behind both the putative anti-ballistic missile system of 1960 and the much debated Star Wars system of the 1980, both of which could not materialize because of the efforts of dedicated scientists and administrators who showed the technical and financial futility of the systems, and the escalation of the arms race that they would engender. But even today, proponents of National Missile Defense (the `son of Star-Wars') seem to be in the shadow of Teller's ghost.

Why am I talking about all this, instead of talking about Teller's book? Because for a man as complex and influential as Teller, one hopes that he would be demystified at least to some extent through his own book, written at a time when he could be expected to have very different perspectives on the life he has lived and the times in which he participated. Many people think Teller is emphatically answerable to history. Many activists in the 60s and 70s even labeled him as a war criminal. They think that he should justify all the heretofore-mentioned actions. Many hate him and would like to see his reputation permanently soiled. Nobel laureate Isidor Rabi, one of the clearest and most authoritative consciences of the nuclear age, actually said that we would have been better off if Teller had never been born. Whatever Edward Teller says, his friends as well as foes would be most eager to hear.

Unfortunately, I believe he fails to make a case in the book, which is otherwise extremely readable and an important document that is an ode to a remarkable age, written by one of its most important observers and participants. Most of his statements are as ambiguous as the testimony he rendered for Oppenheimer (an incident on which he predictably spends more time in the book than on any other in his life). Quite upsettingly, the book appears as another series of excuses and partial and foggy explanations that would possibly serve to absolve him. But I believe that Edward Teller had always had a very big problem saying sorry. While he does make an effort at apology for a few of his actions, I think that the weight of history is too much upon his shoulders for him to shrug it off in a massive admission of culpability. This is unfortunate, since Teller craved attention all his life, wanted to be part of the establishment and wanted to appease his friends. In the end, he probably found it much easier to be part of the anti-establishment (which ironically is usually called the establishment). He would rather face history's accusations than be ordinary. Which seems to be another misfortune, because Teller would not have been ordinary by any standards, even if he had chosen a different path in life. One suspects that if he had spent half the time he spent in weapons advocacy, in doing serious science instead, he would have stood in the same pantheon as Enrico Fermi and Hans Bethe, both Nobel laureates. The few books on physics which he has penned are a delight to read. His passion for physics and his astonishing understanding of it shines through untrammeled. He had ideas that were flowing, a tremendously fertile imagination, and an astoundingly creative mind. He made important contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, and collaborated with some of the most important scientists of the century.
But he was not a team player. He frequently let his emotions override his rational intentions, and then became inadvertently, a slave to the consequences fostered by them. He wanted to be in the driver's seat all the time, where he could run the show surrounded by a bunch of yes-men. He was extremely ambitious, but finally ended up becoming more infamous than famous. He sank into the spiral generated by his own brilliance and his beliefs that came about by a complex combination of his fierce anti-communism, the traumas of his childhood, and his unique perception of the world around him. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he lived in a time and place where he could make an enormous difference. Maybe it is fitting that not Bill Clinton but George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, two months before his death.

And yet, in the end, what one remembers is the early part of the book, when Teller talks fondly about his time in Hungary, in Germany, in Rome and England, and in the Unites States. He talks about his lifelong friendships with Enrico Fermi, Ernest Lawrence, and John von Neumann. He warmly recounts the trip when he and his wife had to amusingly watch Hans Bethe's preoccupation with his future wife, Rose; apparently, Bethe had met Rose earlier, and in 'ten minutes' had fallen desperately in love with her, and the couple wanted to get to know each other as well as possible during the trip. Teller gives us rare peeks into the human side of revered scientific giants.
Again, through the thicket of emotions, prejudices, and justifications, one can catch glimpses of the sensitive Teller, the Teller who was generous to his true friends almost to a fault, was warm to his students, and was a model of scientific integrity. The Teller who was loved by his colleagues and friends before his altercations with them, the Teller who sounds like a champion of freedom when he talks about his ideas for world government, the Teller who proposed to his childhood sweetheart Mici in the presence of cackling geese on the banks of the Danube...one wonders what happened to that Teller in later years, why he lay dormant, what those years of mistrust and dissent did to him. One feels sorry for the great man, but one also feels a sense of unwanted resentment towards him. In the end, no matter how eloquently he advocates his causes, it would be best to say that Edward Teller was complicated, and leave it at that yet again. Let that encompass all of him.

This is the English major's review, that is, the review of someone not particularly interested in science or politics. Bought the book because I heard Savage interview Teller a few years ago; in retrospect, I think Savage read part of the unauthorized bio on air, not Teller's memoirs, and it was those racy psychological bits that I wanted to revisit now in conjunction with personal questions. I mistakenly picked up "Memoirs" and struggled to get through the first quarter with its geeky tea-and-ping-pong interludes, which read like my ninety-year-old grandfather after a glass of port at the Thanksgiving table. Teller's dictation style of authorship is not intimate, and my stylistic gripes return toward the end of the book when he relates how such-and-such a captain of industry and his charming wife hosted them, etc. and in the generally weak epilogue.

But, wow, sometimes I couldn't turn pages fast enough. Where can you go to match this? "We all were lying on the ground, supposedly with our backs turned to the explosion. But I had decided to disobey that instruction and instead looked straight at the bomb." Tolstoy, maybe. The best memoirs, as with the best fiction, give clues to the great question of how to live and explore strands of fate, choice, history. For (fictional) characters of cognitive complexity and depth, one could consider Hamlet-or Teller's portrayal of Oppenheimer and Bohr.

The book nurtured me with throw-away comments one might do well to adopt as life philosophies: "Bohr was the embodiment of complementarity, the insistence that every important question has opposite sides that appear mutually exclusive; understanding of the question becomes possible only if the reality on both sides is acknowledged." At a certain point I began mining the memoirs as if reading wisdom literature. Bohr's definition of an expert, as "one who, from his own painful experiences, has discovered all the mistakes one can commit in a very narrow field," Lawrence on risk-taking, Teller's experience of shunning, the recognition of right of dissent, opposition of elitism and limitations on knowledge, all are worthy of reflection because they result from pressurized experience.

If you have an interest in the history of science
and technology, and in the scientific personalities who
carried out the revolution in physics in the first
half of the 20th century, you will be captivated
by this book.

I picked it up because of my interest in
the history of physics, and because Teller has
held such a central role in the transformation
from small science to Big Science.
Hans Bethe, with whom Teller had some difficulties
during the Manhattan Project, reviewed the book
very positively in Physics Today. I was prepared
to continue to dislike Teller, because of his testimony
in the Oppenheimer hearings and his advocacy of Star
Wars, but he nevertheless quickly won me over.

Teller comes across, in his own account, as a
collegial, cooperative, driven man, who cared
greatly about both his scientific and technical work
and his relations with his colleagues.
After Teller's 1954 testimony at the Oppenheimer
security clearance hearing, Teller was vilified.
Here, he gets to explain why he testified as he
did, and how it was just one of several very
stupid things that he did in his career. (The
stupid thing in this case was to neglect to
explain that his uncertainty about Oppenheimer's
clearance was due to a transcript he was shown
about Oppenheimer's fabricated story
that implicated his friend Chevalier, and
not to Oppenheimer's opposition to development
of the H-bomb, which was widely shared among
physics academics.)

Teller makes an effort to explain the scientific
challenges in his work, such as in the early
days of quantum mechanics when he worked on
molecular dynamics. For example, he explains
Landau's reaction to what is now called the
Jahn-Teller effect (and which Teller says should be
called the "Landau-Jahn-Teller effect"), giving the
basic physical principle involved and the reason for
Landau's initial puzzlement.

Teller played an important role after WW2 in
setting up the engineering principles necessary
to make nuclear reactors safe, and in getting them
implemented.

There are many delightful anecdotes, and even
some poems that Teller wrote. His lifelong friend
Maria Goppert Mayer saved all his letters, and
these provided much material that Teller
used to refresh his memory and select from.

I found the period from 1946 until the establishment
of Livermore Lab particularly interesting and
suspenseful. This book leaves no doubt that
Teller led a fascinating life.

Professor Godfrey Mwakikagile is unquestionably one of Africa's leading academic and public intellectuals addressing our continent's problems today with intellectual verve. One has only to read his book, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation," among others, to appreciate this.

A Tanzanian by birth, but a Pan-Africanist in outlook, he draws inspiration from two African titans, the late former Presidents Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, my native land, who saw Africa as one, even if a fragmented whole. Dr. Mwakikagile also takes a continental approach, providing a sharp analysis of the modern African state which, he contends, is deeply flawed. Few would disagree with him. Just come to Africa and see for yourself. Those of us who live here know this to be true, painfully true.

I just wish that his works were more accessible to members of the general public. As hardcover and library editions, the cost is prohibitive; and as college textbooks, accessible to only a few.

His work is outstanding, nonetheless. Africa has many intellectuals of his stature and calibre, but few as committed and analytical, and as compassionate for the masses as he and a few - very few - of his colleagues are. One is also reminded of firebrands such as Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiong'o and my fellow countryman George Ayittey, an economics professor and author of "Africa Betrayed," and "Africa in Chaos." Africa is indeed in chaos. It is, in fact, chaos!

We wish we had more of such committed intellectuals. And it would be even better if our leaders paid attention to what they say. Unfortunately, they don't. Instead, they destroy them. While other countries highly value their intellectuals and the contributions they make, African countries - the leaders in particular - destroy ours. And you wonder why Africa has lost so many of them to other countries where they have the freedom to think and say what they want to say? And you wonder why so many of those still in Africa end up in the grave or rotting in prison?

Our leaders can stop this brain drain, the carnage, and the persecution of these committed intellectuals and others - just plain ordinary folks - who demand their natural right to be treated as human beings in their own countries. But such fundamental change is impossible without transparency and accountability. And it is impossible without democracy, true democracy, not the counterfeit kind so prevalent across Africa. And the author make this clear, abundantly clear, in his masterpiece, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation."

African leaders, nothing but dictators, may hate to hear what Dr. Mwakikagile says in this book and others. But they would at least be of some service to Africa if they heeded Voltaire's advice: "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it."

Unfortunately, they are not that enlightened, because of the darkness in their mind.

An excellent book, well-written, packed with vital information, highly analytical, and professorial. But not pro-African, I'm sorry to say, in spite of all its merits.

Why highly intelligent and educated people like Godfrey Mwakikagile and others of his ilk write books so critical of Africa, is beyond me. What they say is true. Rwanda made history - it was our Nazi Germany. So did Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Congo, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sudan and many others, leaving indelible scars on our continent. We couldn't even hide that from the rest of the world, and still can't, I'm ashamed to admit. They all made history. And many continue to do so.

But why help our detractors and enemies make Africa look so bad? You can say - we already look bad! And we do. It's all on television, on the radio, and in newspapers worldwide, in all kinds of languages. But that does not mean we Africans should also harp on it, like these African writers and our enemies do.

Remember the old saying: Do not air your dirty laundry in public. Although you may not always want to keep it in the closet. But don't just toss it out there in the yard, either.

Say something good about Africa, even if it's not much. So nothing good comes out of Africa, just because we have all these wars, AIDS and other diseases, hunger, illiteracy, poverty and corruption? Come on!

If Mwakikagile had plenty of good things to say about Africa in the same book, in spite of all its negative aspects, I would have been tempted to give it the highest rating, five stars, for excellence. I'm sorry I can't.

Professor Mahmoud Mamdani, a leading African scholar who teaches at Columbia University, uses Godfrey Mwakikagile's book "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation," as a textbook for graduate studies. Other professors use the book as an assigned or recommended text for graduate students in African and development studies and international affairs. It is also found in graduate school libraries across the United States like all the other books written by Godfrey Mwakikagile who, himself, is becoming an increasingly influential African scholar.

But that is not the only reason why his book, "The Modern African State...," got my attention. At a recent academic seminar on Africa, one of the participants cited George Ayittey's work, "Africa in Chaos," together with Godfrey Mwakikagile's "The Modern African State...," in his discussion of civil conflicts on the continent. Most of the participants knew or had heard about Ayittey. But that was the first time some of us heard about Mwakikagile, although quite a few had. His work, "The Modern African State...," equally trenchant as Ayittey's, is a great contribution to the growing literature about post-colonial Africa written by the Africans themselves.

It is interesting to see that more and more African intellectuals are taking an "internalist" approach to Africa's problems instead of always blaming external forces for her plight. Dr. Mwakikagile is one of them.

But such an approach must be balanced with an analysis of external involvement, including colonialism. Africa is still reeling from its devastating impact. However, this does not mean that all of Africa's problems should be placed entirely on the shoulders of her former colonial masters, as many Africans who take the "externalist" approach are fond of doing.

Most of the problems Africa faces today - rampant corruption, mismanagement, brutal repression, ethnic conflicts, hunger, illiteracy, endemic poverty and disease - are either caused or exarcebated by the Africans themselves; not by the former colonial masters who are now even being asked by some Africans to go back and rule them again. Things are that bad. And it is African writers like Mwakikagile who should be commended for taking up the challenge to tell the truth about their continent, however bitter.

It would be even more encouraging if their kith and kin here in the United States, African Americans, also faced this reality, instead of romanticizing Africa. Randall Robinson of TransAfrica is the exception, together with a few others; although their attitude is not the same as the attitude of black conservatives who are sometimes extremely hostile toward Africa and usually don't want to have anything to do with - "that place." Foregetting that white Republicans and others don't care about them either. They don't even want them in the Republic party. Alan Keyes knows that. Brilliant, highly articulate, he should have been the standard-bearer of his party, but still was not nominated as the Republican presidential candidate because he is black. And, yes, African!

But bad as their attitude is, one must not entirely ignore what black American conservatives - they hate to be called African Americans - say about Africa. Africa's problems can only be solved by Africans. We can help them, but the initiative must come from them.

It is also in this context that Dr. Godfrey Mwakikagile's highly acclaimed work, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation," must be viewed; although, unlike black American conservatives who hate Africa and by extension hate themselves, he writes out of deep concern for the well-being of his continent as much as his compatriot Professor George Ayittey does, as do many others.

This is a work of mature scholarship by one of our finest and most mature African intellectuals writing about Africa today. Having read his other writings as well, there's no question that they meet the criteria of informed scholarship and standards of rigorous analysis one would expect from a writer and scholar of this calibre.

Africa has lost an entire generation since independence because of bad leadership. And the author is blunt about it.

Highly critical of corrupt leaders across the continent, also notorious for brutal repression, he's mature enough to be on guard against blind acceptance of multiparty democracy patterned after Western parliamentary institutions, unlike many other Africans who have embraced wholesale the virtues of multipartyism as it is practised in the West, without taking African realities into account, simply because they have suffered so much under the one-party state, de jure and de facto.

Neither the one-party system, suppressing dissent, nor the multi-party system, promoting sectarianism, is ideal for Africa. The author is critical of both, yet realistic enough to give multiparty politics a chance in this highly unstable continent whose most combustible elements include conflicting ethnic loyalties transcending nationalism. How to defuse this highly volatile situation is one of the most urgent issues Godfrey Mwakikagile addresses in his book, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation."

I have only one complaint, although even this does not in any way impair the quality of his work or diminish the validity of his central thesis. AIDS is devastating Africa. Entire communities are being wiped out. The author should have devoted at least an entire chapter or two to this pandemic which has already killed more than 20 million Africans, and is killing millions more every year. May be that is a subject for one of the books he may write in the future. I hope so, on a continent with so little hope.

Mwakikagile's work is a masterpiece of fact and analysis. In the one book he manages to extensively cover the 'rebirth' of Liberia, the 'powerless' state of Sierra Leone, 'ethnic cleansing' in Rwanda, 'stateless' Somalia, slavery in Mauritania and Sudan, and the fall of Mobutu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire). Any one of the topics is the subject of a book in itself.

Mwakikagile uses the precedents of the history of other African countries, as well as other countries around the world, to make a case for the fragility of the 'African State' as an institution owing to structural flaws.

In his introduction he states, "In a very tragic way, Sierra Leone is Africa, and Africa is Sierra Leone. So is Somalia, Congo-Brazzaville, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Angola. And so is Rwanda, Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa and Nigeria."

This sets the tone for the rest of the book that is full of comparisons between countries. At times this can be confusing for someone trying to concentrate on a single issue. But then Mwakikagile deliberately does this to bring home the fact that Africa is not, or should not be, considered a collection of numerous unrelated states, but a continent with a common experience much closer than many would care to admit.

Mwakikagile does not pull any punches in condemning those who he considers guilty of causing the current woes of Africa. He also does not hesitate to name the continent's heroes.

The whole book is a great read for scholars and people merely interested in affairs on the continent. Some scholars may quibble with some of the facts as he presented them, but in general the book reads as a piece put together by someone who has taken the trouble to research his facts properly.

Recommended reading for anyone wishing to get up to speed on African affairs.

Outstanding comment on our current state of affairs in this nation of "entitlement". The liberal out there will hate this book, the patriot will love it.

This book is extremely well written and doesnt dwell a lot on numbers and stats except when needed to enforce a point of view. If you are interested in a second amendment viewpoint others than facts and figures this book will do the job.

I bought this book quite a while back and it sat around for probably 5 years. I am one of those spur of the moment buyers and have quite a collection of books I have not read. I guess after reading this one, maybe I should start reading more.

A Nation of Cowards makes your brain work. After having just read "The Law" by Frederic Bastiat a week earlier and then reading this, it just all clicks.
My rights are MY RIGHTS. My life is mine and anyone who tries to take away my ability to defend myself is at war with me and my family. I don't know what it is going to take to wake up enough folks to shake off this I have a gun to hunt or target shoot mentality. I have a gun too...but it is big black and ugly and has one purpose...to DEFEND myself against unlawful attack, be it by ANY criminal.

Personally, after studing 9/11 (= inside job) to no end and realizing that "they" have declared war against "us" and maybe it is time to start thinking hard about the reason behind the 2nd amendment. And no...it isn't to be able to shoot Bambi.

Jeff Snyder has produced an historic book. One with insight and far reaching political goals. It examines in detail the continued decline in our (America's) moral self being. The era of blame is here and Jeff dissects its story with incredible ease. The tort cases, feminization of the american male, loss of self respect and most importantly, the loss of our resolve to stand for what we believe in.
This should be on every high school students must read list, and I recommend it as gifts to friends and foe alike.

More than a collection of essays on gun control, J. Snyder's "Nation of Cowards" dares one to examine the current condition of our society. He exposes some uncomfortable truths, including the willingness of some of the citizenry of our great country to simply let others take responsibility for their safety and welfare in general. If the reader is willing (and able) to think logically, without emotion, about Mr. Snyder's comments, he cannot remain aloof about his own responsibilities.

The essays are clearly written, well thought out, and concise. I highly recommend this book to everyone who truly considers themselves a Citizen of the U.S.A.

I wonder why this book did not come to my notice little earlier! I have read this book only recently and have greatly admired the writer. The writer, Professor Emeritus Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, of the University of London, has done an oustanding work that should be appreciated by we all. It is a work of a commendable magnitude accomplish by an oustanding scholar. I fully agree with Professor Mitchell Reiss that books on international relations are many, but I am yet to come across a book that may be found comparable with Professor Rai Chowdhuri's "Nuclear Politics: Towards A Safer World".

This book should be read by everyone who are concerned about world security.

Hats off to Professor Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri !!!

Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri has done a great job. The book is really brilliant, with a very enriching history of the nuclear weapons and related power-play of the last five decades.

A worthy book. Everybody should read it.

I was just spellbound when I started reading this book. The Prologue is so philosophical! I have not come across a similar book in International Affairs in recent days!

This books covers from Plato and Aristotle to President George Bush Senior. A masterpiece of work for newcomers in the fields of Politics and International Relations, in order to have a thorough conceptualisation of what is going on ... in nuclear politics.

This work deals with the destructive potential of the `ultimate weapons' and at the same time the ways of dealing with the problems these weapons might pose to international peace and security. The book helps both generalists and the specialists understand how the policies of nuclear-weapon states affect our lives. The book covers the period from 1945 to 2003 and examines essential parts that both political acts and actors must play before any negotiation process can begin, if the objective is to end proliferation and eventually bring about abolition of nuclear weapons.

The book is a considerably good piece of literature. I enjoyed reading it and have reasons to believe that others will enjoy this book too.

I have gone through every details of this book and, I recommend this book all persons who look beyond themselves. I believe this book will be liked by all. Emeritus Professor Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri deserves kudos for doing such a wonderful work.

Me and my Mother loved this book. It really opened our eyes to whats happening out there.

Good briefing on run-up to Iraq war. Now a bit dated (Sept. 2003), so doesn't include much on rise of Iraqi resistance. Still, the history sections on colonialism in Mesopotamia make for an informative background to current quagmire. Noteworthy also for detailed account of horrendous effects of US-UN sponsored sanctions, surely one of the great crimes of recent history. Book's thrust fits well with US's strategic drive to dominate planet, using oil as key control lever.Though not an "in depth" treatment, all the relevant bases are covered, particularly the deceptions used to cover the criminal invasion. There's also a handy appendix capsulizing the salient deceits for quick reference. Those expecting a strong ideological denunciation from Mr. Everest may be disappointed. Although his characterization of imperialist designs is straightforward, I think it's fair to say that the book could have been written by a muck-raking liberal. Recommended for ease of access and breadth of coverage.

I saw Mr. Everest on Book TV (C-SPAN) today (May 23)--would love to have him lecture at my college. He's done his homework on this one. He brought up two other topics that I researched during the last two semesters and he hit the mark on both (gay marriage and women's rights). After watching him, I went to Barne & Nobles to purchase this book. They did not have one copy. Needless to say, I'm ordering from Amazon.

Larry Everest does a great job of making the "big picture" of the hidden Bush agenda in Iraq and the Middle East obvious and clear. This book will open your eyes, and will make you angry when you understand and realize how unethical, immoral and illegal our agressions against Iraq and the entire Middle East.

I just saw Larry Everest on CSpan as well. This man is no nutcase-- he makes the kind of sense that gives a chilling credibility to one's worst suspicions and fears about what is going on in this country right now. I knew nothing about him or his book but I'm about to buy it innediately!

'Over Dose' is quite simply a 'MUST READ'. Dr. Jay Cohen goes into detail how and why so many drugs are harmful and/or overdosed to patients more than ever before. In short, he discusses the moral and societal failings of 'big pharma', the FDA, 'bought and sold' politicians, falsified drug safety trials, and misled Doctors who unknowingly prescribe much higher doses than necessary, often harming or killing unsuspecting patients! The huge power and influence these multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies wield is getting worse and worse, and the major 'conflict of interest' that exists in the FDA is unethical, immoral, and dangerous. Folks, this is criminality at it's highest levels, protected by big corporate power and profit interests. This book is, without a doubt, a milestone necessary read for every American!

Finally, someone has put into print an accurate and factual picture of what the drug manufacturing industry does to place profits way ahead of patient benefit and safety. Anyone who takes prescription medications should read this book. Maybe it gets a little too technical in spots for people not in the health professions, but there is plenty of excellent information and suggestions to make this a very valuable reference for consumer-oriented patients.
I am a doctoral-level clinical pharmacist, and I found myself in agreement with most all of what Dr. Cohen has written and recommended in this book. This should be required reading for every practicing physician, medical student, pharmacist, and nurse in the country. Medical schools should add this to their curriculum for all of our doctors-to-be to read before they take their pharmacology course and start their clinical training.

I began working in pharmacy in the late 1960's. I helped dispense drugs at a retail drugstore in my home town and I did the same in the largest hospital in Chicago. I kept it up at another hospital and then started "doing" it on my own when I opened my retail store in 1983. I read the manufacturers' package inserts and I followed the prescriptions as they were ordered - and I noticed that many people had problems with the "recommended" dose. Sometimes they got used to the dose and sometimes it had to be changed. In any event, the recommended dose was not always accurate accurate - it was often dangerously WRONG.

I don't know what I thought about all the problems with prescription drugs. I guess I just presumed the patients were overly sensitive, or just unlucky. I didn't often think too much about it - until I became aware of Dr. Jay Cohen and his "Case Against the Drug Companies." His shocking book is called "OVER DOSE" and it describes in good detail the dangers of relying on the manufacturers' package inserts to prescribe drugs.

This is an "eye opener" book and it angers me. How is it that we have this overriding desire to place the bottom line above decent care for health? There are some great things happening in medicine - all around the world. But I think that all the good can be quickly undone by hanging on to a misguided philosophy that insists that profits trump everything else. Its time for a change and Dr. Cohen is part of the changing process. I promise to do my part for change. One thing is to expose potential problems (like Dr. Cohen has done) and another is to encourage people to think about the issues (that's my goal). Please get a copy of this book. Read it and then think about what it really means. When we reach a critical mass changes will happen. You can bank on it! (pun intended)

The aphorism, the cure is worse than the disease, is an apropos motto for "Over Dose." Drug company policies rake in billions while harming the very patients they are meant to help. Dr. Jay S. Cohen opens more cans of worms than a fisherman could hook in his lifetime. The evidence is horrifically overwhelming - America is being overmedicated.

Dr. Cohen is not anti-medication; he advocates the reasonable usage of these powerful meds. His mantra is "start low, go slow." The well researched (53 pages of references) is adept at uncovering the shortcomings of the pharmaceutical companies and their adverse effects on the public - 46% of Americans take at least one prescription daily. Cohen shows how the drug companies' one-size-fits-all dosage is literally killing people. Nearly 300 people die daily due to a medication reaction. The dire facts keep on coming. The author's case against the drug companies is convincing.

Dr. Cohen's precise writing is somber. But the real sad part of this tragedy is how avoidable it can be. Dr. Cohen is equally effective in offering realistic solutions. He clearly states, "My goal in writing `Over Dose' is to provide you with informed consent about the unacceptable state of medication treatment today...to reduce your risks-and to begin to end the side-effect epidemic." "Over Dose" is a must have; the expose may alter you life for the better and perhaps even save it.

Bohdan Kot

A valuable theme disclosing inadequate testing by the drug companies and woeful evaluations by the FDA of prescription drugs. The main thesis is well-taken: lower doses of many drugs could minimize side-effects, including death. Actually does not go far enough in exposing all the major drug classes that do not increase lifespan at all!
Also available from Amazon: Prescription for Disaster by Thomas Moore and The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs by Ross Pelton and James LaValle.

A useful compendium of Machiavelli's works that reveals a breadth of views not typically ascribed to Machiavelli; yes, we have The Prince, but we also have his Discourses, and even The Mandrake Root.

Reading the dedication to the Prince and following it up immediately with the dedication to the Discourses will show you either how Machiavellian Machiavelli was, or, more optimistically, how much one can change as one progresses through his years.

In a few words:

This is a thick, but fascinating example of Machiavelli.

In quite a few words:

"The Portable" series is generally used to combine the most important works of an author and present them to the public at comfortable, convenient prices for comfortable, convenient books. With Machiavelli, however, the most famous work is rather thin - a small slice out of this thick, well-packed book.

Yes, the most incredible "The Prince" is here, tucked away neatly between other Machiavelli writings. It is remarkably readable (either thanks to the translation, or simply because Machiavelli wrote it so) and amazingly interesting. It is rather like a small history coupled with tactics and tips on "How to Rule Your Kingdom - Ideas for a Young Prince".

If someone is looking only for "The Prince", they could get it here, but as it is not the first piece in the book, this may be inconvenient, and may wish to turn elsewhere to get that book. For people looking for Machiavelli on the whole, this is your book.

"The Portable Machiavelli" doesn't just give us the main published works. Machiavelli's letters are thrust in, as are quite a few plays. On the whole, this book is full of intriguing surprises which may lure readers who enjoyed "The Prince" to purchase this. And that would be a good purchase.

Quite recommended.

Machiavelli was only political philosopher who introduced political doctrines to a ruler.

He had a famouse statement: a prince must have qualities of two beasts, a fox to identify deception and a lion in order to engage confrantion with a enemy.

Here it is, Machiavelli's work in its sinister glory for all to behold. The truth of man's corruption and dishonesty is exposed for all the world to see.

The wise Florentine is not to be blamed and scandalised for lifting the veil on the
cesspool of politics, religion and royalty. No, he is to be congratulated for summarising the dastardly deeds committed by Popes, Princes, Kings and Emperors. Without Machiavelli to set us right, some of us may believe politics is a noble profession.

Use "The Portable Machiavelli" to see through the hazy rhetoric used by spin doctors, or as a tool to aid effective management strategies, or simply for entertainment purposes.

If you are unfamiliar with Machiavelli's work then prepare yourself for a shock. It's not a guidebook for tyrants, as many commentators may suggest, it's more of a literary equivalent of smelling salts. Once we have read Machiavelli's work we awaken with a clearer idea of the reality around us.

Lessons from Machiavelli

1)He who hesitates as a ruler is lost
2) Mercenary armies are never to be trusted. To rule securely one must have a defense force made of one's own people.
3) Christian virtue is the opposite of political wisdom.
4) A government of one type, whether it be monarchy, oligarchy, or democracy will become corrupt. 'Mixed government is good government.'
5) A ruler must be ruthless with his enemies.
6) Inflexibility for a ruler will inevitably lead to failure.
7) There are times it is wise to negotiate. Machiavelli felt his beloved Florence was conquered by the Spaniards only because the Florentines refused at a time propitious to them , negotiations.
8) The ancient Greeks and Romans ruled at times more wisely than the city- state Italians of his own times.
9) 'Courage does help make ' Fortune' but Fortune is nonetheless fickle and unreliable even to the brave.
10) It is better for a ruler to be feared than to be loved.
11) Political murder is justified when it leads to the preservation of the polity.
12)Even the greatest of men are subject to Fortune.
13) The study of ancient socieites and history gives relevant lessons for present political behavior.
14)If one does not have an Army one cannot preserve one's power.
15)The political task of Religion is inspiration of public loyalty.
16) The commonwealth, the political entity is more important than the individual.
17)

During the 50 years following the Civil War, the presidency of U. S. Grant was completely distored in an attempt to diminish the accomplishments of the Grant era (Civil Rights) and to take away some of the luster from the man who saved the Union.

The Democratic party- particullary of the South- stiffled the great civil rights efforts of the Republicans during reconstruction. As time passed, and voting rights and other legislative initatives of the Granta administration were dismembered by the Southern Demacrats, they constantly sought to sully the memory of Grant. One of the keys to that effort was portraying the Grant administration in a bad light in terms of corruption. This was done by distortion history, and the outright falsification of the facts involved in the Grant administration. To a large extent these distortions have not been challanged.

Grant Reconsidered presents the historical record in a straight fowrward manner: The Grant presidency offered tremendous acomplishments- and really offered a bridge from a slave nation to a nation where all men have the same rights. An outstanding book!!

Readers looking for a history of Grant's presidency will be sorely disappointed. The author assumes that the reader has at least a passing familiarity with previous biographies of Grant and of such events as Reconstruction, the Crédit Mobilier scandal, the Whiskey Ring and the Treaty of Washington. Nevertheless, "President Grant Reconsidered" is an important book that should help reshape debate about these events and rehabilitate the reputation of perhaps the most underrated President in American history.

Readers looking for a history of Grant's presidency will be sorely disappointed. The author assumes that the reader has at least a passing familiarity with previous biographies of Grant and of such events as Reconstruction, the Crédit Mobilier scandal, the Whiskey Ring and the Treaty of Washington. Nevertheless, "President Grant Reconsidered" is an important book that should help reshape debate about these events and rehabilitate the reputation of perhaps the most underrated President in American history.

It really is about time for a thoughtful, well-researched book on President Grant. Too many historians don't do the work required to present truth, hence this book is a real contribution. Now, someone needs to call up the White House and have the "official" biography changed. The current one is pathetic. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This is probably the bravest Grant book ever written. Even those biographers favorable to him have a tendency, like so many sheep, to parrot the same old lines about him as the bumbling, inept politician who presided over one of the most corrupt administrations is American history. It does not seem to bother these historians that they are, for the most part, simply repeating partisan attacks that had been made against him by his political enemies for their own questionable (to say the least) reasons.

Frank Scaturro is the first writer I have ever seen to use a fresh approach to the Grant presidency, pointing out not only that the much touted scandals of his term in office were frequently based on weak or exaggerated evidence, but that Grant himself was a strong, enlightened leader who accomplished more than most want to admit. It seems that the victor of Vicksburg and Appomattox was not all that different from the man who occupied the White House, after all.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to hear "the other side of the story" of Grant's oft-belittled political career.

"The President's Astrologer" is a perfect summer read, although I'd recommend it for any season. It has all the ingredients that make a book hard to put down: an exciting, suspensful plot, appealing characters who make you care about them, and easy to understand information about a fascinating subject, in this case, astrology. I was sorry when it ended. My hat is off to the author. Her command of dialogue constantly made me feel that this book would make an excellent film or mini series.

"The President's Astrologer" is a perfect summer read, although I'd recommend it for any season. It has all the ingredients that make a book hard to put down: an exciting, suspensful plot, appealing characters who make you care about them, and easy to understand information about a fascinating subject, in this case, astrology. I was sorry when it ended. My hat is off to the author. Her command of dialogue constantly made me feel that this book would make an excellent film or mini series.

This book is a blast. I truly enjoyed it from cover to cover. As an Astrologer living in Santa Fe, I really got a kick out of all the locations that were used here in the Southwest...And all the astrological jargon was fun for me too. I think she did a great job and here's hoping she will write another. Kudos to you, Barbara

It is amazing that this novel didn't get snapped up by a major publisher, but perhaps a film maker will be smart and option it. I haven't read something this fascinating and surprising in quite a while. It's a bit of "Air Force One" mixed with Ray Bradbury and a little new age awareness. Very enjoyable, and highly recommended.

This novel successfully crosses genres, and is filled with drama, mystery, romance & intrigue. The science fictional elements come into play only late in the story yet are integral in making all the various story lines come together. The use of astrology throughout the book is represented in terms and language that are completely accessible to the layman, yet are done with the thoroughness of one who is an expert in the field. The debate between science versus astrology is approached through the protagonist's personal relationship as well as her credibility to the public at large. And Barbara Shafferman is likely to expand a few minds along the way. This is a "must read" for all and is a fine first novel for the author. Highly Recommended.

I worked for Hughes during the time of the event described as his "kidnapping." At the time, the entire Staff on Romaine street was in a major uproar, ostensibly because of a "falling out" between Hughes and Noah Detrich. However, the behavior of some members of the staff subsequent to this event have convinced me that a great degree of truth is contained in Gemstone.

I just recieved this book some days ago and I just cannot put it down (well you know what I mean). It is VERY well constructed, and previous knowledge of the "Gemstone Files" and connected theories (I see them as truths) need not be a requirement for this reading. This is in NO way to undermind/understate this superb book. I have shown it to people who know little or nothing of the Onassis-Kennedy connection conspiracy, how even just reading the introduction sparked intrest in some of the most non-believers I know (or have talked to about these subjects). This is a true 5 star book... If any of the subject matter makes you wonder, question or as I said just spark some interest. Get this book! Other popular books on the Gemstone Files are also worthy reading... The full Gemstone Files will be released soon, and all the skeptics that still believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone will be in for a BIG surprise. The Kennedys were right on, dismantle the CIA, crack down on mob activity (well infused within the CIA) and get the United States of America back on a rightous track. Something we are suffering from since the "cold-war" and the "arms-race"...to today with the Bush (let's kill more people and lie to the American public) USA I feel so ashamed to be a part of. But I am only a man, a civilian, who feels he deserves to know the truth like the rest of the America and the world should. I am not a patriot at all (at least not in the right-wing way), I do love the USA and our country. This is why these books that reveal how corrupt our government is, and globally connected to other countries for well, POWER SUPREME are SO important. The couragious people who revealed these hidden truths, are primarily dead and from "suspicious circumstances" are no conincidence... Read for yourself. Be Aware, beware and be a "true" American. Big Brother is upon us and growing day by day. Project Seek is a great starting point for those seeking to piece the "Global Puzzle" together...piece by piece it will come out.

Peace everyone and I wish it was as simple as that...

Gerald A. Carroll spent years researching the Gemstone File history, and produced the best volume of documentation and analysis yet available. Well written and great reading, reads like an excellent mystery story but it's all true.

Gerald Carroll did a marvelous job of seeking out the truth behind the "Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File." With several hundred pages from Bruce Porter Roberts' original Gemstone papers published in "The Gemstone File - A Memoir", "Project Seek" is still an excellent, well-written and well-researched supplement for people who want to understand more about what has happened to our world over the last 50 years.

This thick new volume on the famous Gemstone Files is complete with additional research and photos. An extremely valuable book that looks into the roles of Howard Hughes, (Aristotle) Onassis, World War II conspiracies and the Kennedy assassinations in the light of a mysterious document known as the "Gemstone File."