Associations and Clubs Books

This is an excellent, scholarly study of the inner-work of the trade-guilds of France, illuminating the beginnings of trades-unionism and FreeMasonry.
Just who was that "maitre Jacques"?

Girl staters in Texas will never forget her. Francis Goff is an important lady in Texas history because she had three wonderful careers. First, she worked as a legislative aide and State Budget Director. Then, she put in countless years at the famous M.. D. Anderson Cancer Center as special assistant to its founder Dr. R. Lee Clark. Finally, she served for decades as the director of Bluebonnet Girl's State where thousands of Texas high school girls got their first glimpse of real politics. Francis Goff is a Texas legend who was friend to George Bush, Barbara Jordan, and Lyndon Johnson. This book has some wonderful photos and includes a forward by Ann Richards.

This is sort of a weird book. Yves starts the book writing in the style of a wannabe Hunter S. Thompson and then decides that he may as well just start "writing". I would say that the abrupt transition starts in maybe the first 80 pages.

I believe that Yves Lavigne is probably the most knowledgeable author in the world about the major motorcycle clubs, other than insiders like Barger (or even Wethern) or undercovers like Queen or Dobyns (through authors), or in-touch contacts like Thompson.

But Yves has some sort of agenda that makes him report every myth and fantasy that has EVER been posited as if it is a FACT. It doesn't take long to tire of this book if you have read everything else, because you have to believe, based upon acquired knowledge, that 30% of what he says is suspect, at best.

I respect Lavigne for his obviously superior knowledge of the topic as a whole. But read every other account and determine for yourself if he has some personal agenda, even if it is as simple as money.

Long live the Big Red Machine! 8181818181818181818181.......

I grew up in the the near west suburbs of Chicago from 55-73, when we moved to DuPage County. There were 2 large biker gangs in the Lyons,IL area called the Chicago Outlaws and the Hells Henchmen. I knew several of the Outlaws as acquaintances, there were a few members who I had casually met that were not very nice and I was afraid of them. One member of the Outlaws was my best friends boyfriends older brother, John Klimes. He was always very nice to both me and my girlfriend whenever we saw him. He was murdered in McCook, IL in 1981. There was a huge biker funeral for him and it was on the local news. They never arrested anyone for his murder,but rumor has it that they wanted to kill both John and his girlfriend. His girlfriend worked at a local strip club, Michael's Magic Touch, she could placed the head of the Outlaws as the last person seen with a young woman the night before she was found dead in Busse Woods. There was also speculation that the head of the Outlaws was afraid that John was going to take over the Outlaws Lyons chapter. The talk around town at the time was that "they" were trying to kill both John and his girlfriend. A bomb was planted under John's Bronco and when he went over train tracks in McCook,IL it exploded killing him, his girlfriend was not in the vehicle at the time. I was saddened at John's death because he had always been very nice to me and came to my defense when one of the bikers was threatening me. During the news footage I discovered he had been under surveillance by the FBI for drugs trafficing, prostitution and other illegal activites. That side of him I had never seen. His younger brother was anti-drugs and a very nice guy, we did not meet him until he came home from Vietman in 70-71. John "Burrito" Klimes murder has never been solved. If you go the the McCook Police department website, the open murder is posted there. This book filled in some of the information I was not aware of. Interesting read!

This is one of the most difficult books to read from a stylistic standpoint. It is choppy and seems to bounce all over the place. The editor of this book should be fired - there is way too much extra "stuff" in the text. There is so much fluff that should have been cut out that would have made this a lot easier to read. The author's choice to use slang (to the point of vulgarity) did not go over so well with me either. I understand that this is a book about the Hell's Angels - there is going to be a lot of choice language in it, but he continues to refer to the slang when describing items that are not HA quotes. I don't think this was a necessary device considering the type of book this is - it would have worked for a fictional piece, but not for something as factual as this.

There are many other books out there on the topic of the Hell's Angels or Outlaw Mototcyle Gangs. I would suggest starting elsewhere if you are looking to read about the topic. This book as some interesting parts of it, but you'd be better looking at another title.

The guy that wrote this book was really trying to show how cool he is. I mean the the way he wrote it was over the top. You can tell he was trying to prove something. I have read Sonny's book and others and they much better written.
This guy skips around, repeats things he's previously talked about in the book. And the way he talks to the reader is just crude. I mean, sure he's dealing with a rough subject, but come on, use better english.
And I know what I am talking about. I lived the underground life for many years. I knew people like this, and this writer is someone who has never lived this life. He writes like a person who has never been around the people he is writing about.
This book is an over the top, stereotypical view of the big red machine written by a total sidewalk commando, or rather keyboard commando.
This book could have been a much better or clearer view of the HA than it is, but the writer's crude "trying to prove how cool I am" vocabulary, unfocused chapter organization, and other poor writing errors make this book a real dud. I'm still reading it, it's not so horrible that I put it down, but it came close.
This book should have never been published the way it is. The publisher should be ashamed.

The American Spectator annually gives out the J. Gordon Coogler Award for a book that insults the intelligence of the reader. Past winners have included Anita Hill's pseudo-defense or herself, Jeffrey Toobin's nauseating "account" of the Clinton scandals, so so forth.

How Jean Hardisty's tome Mobilizing Resentment got overlooked is surprising. Hardisty promotes an "analysis" of the rise of conservatism in the latter 20th century and simultaneously attacks it, yet she regularly misses the mark and in the process demonstrates that her motive toward writing the book is the very motive she claims to abhor in "the right."

She begins with the claim that "Anger and intolerance drive protest movements." She makes it out to be that it is "right wing" anger and resentment that is the problem, citing the destruction of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City in 1995. That leftist terrorism and intolerance is far more pervasive is an inconvenient fact she ignores - through it has been there for all to see in such circumstance as the 1992 Rodney King riots, the Tawana Brawley hoax, and the hustles of Jesse Jackson.

She talks about a "kitchen table backlash" without bothering to realize that it is a backlash against genuine leftist discrimination. She also attacks "the right's attack on gay rights," except as homosexual writer Justin Raimondo has pointed out, gay rights are basically an imposition of gay values on society, and the "right wing" backlash has nothing to do with any desire to exterminate or even persecute gays and lesbians.

Again and again Hardisty tries to attack conservative arguments - in "Affirming Racial Inequality" she attacks Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell among others and strives mightily to impose a racist background to suchb writers as Nathan Glazer. There is also the tautology against The Bell Curve even as the passage of time has steadily vindicated its central arguments.

She cites a Holly Sklar tome "Chaos Or Community" to cite a "growing income inequality udner government deregulation, globalization" etc. even though none of what the tome claims is true. This typifies the "progressive" methodology, the very methodology they claim to abhor in "the right."

For all her scholariship, Hardisty is quite ignorant of history's obvious truths. That the left somehow "lives in the shadow of the right's resurgance" is flatly nonsensical - the left still dominates academia, media - her claim about how the idiot-leftist group Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting "exposes" the exclusion of liberal and progressive voices from the media is perhaps the ultimate insult to the reader's intelligence - and culture. That more and more leftists are steadily, if tacitly, coming around to admit the right had it correct all along is a fact Hardisty refuses to acknowledge - she doesn't even mention that such prominent neoconservatives as Thomas Sowell, Norman Podhoretz, and David Horowitz are themselves ex-leftists, who turned because of the very intolerance and intellecutal fraud that is the left's raison d'etre.

The bankrupcy of "progressive" thought is the reason for the rise of the free market and the steady disbandment of confiscatory government around the world. It is the basic failure of leftist thought that is the real reason for the rise of the "right." If Jean Hardisty wants to take an accurate look at the rise of the right, she needs to reexamine the bankrupcy of "progressive" thought.

This important book explains clearly and well, and how and why the radical right is such a threat to the civil rights of women, gays and lesbians, and people of color. Hardisty is a political scientist whose work helps to flesh out the scholarly literature on the religious right by the likes of sociologists Sara Diamond and Dallas Blanchard, and journalists Frederick Clarkson and Robert Boston...

An amazing book indeed. Jean Hardisty thoroughly researches and critiques the many sectors of the political right. This is a book worth reading whether you know nothing at all about the right-wing or you make a point to know. It is especially important in view of present day politics. She not only takes the right seriously in their ability to organize and mobilize but she reveals what their true message is. As a fellow progressive I appreciate her not glossing over the Progressive Movements own weaknesses. Once we truly understand the political right as well as bravely admit to our own faults we will grow into a greater movement.

Do any of these groups and/or personalities sound like radical right-wingers to you?

* The Promise Keepers is a group that spends most of its time talking about reconciliation between whites and blacks and urging men to spend time with their children.

* Charles Colson works with the ACLU to secure rights for prisoners and advocates letting drug offenders out of prison for treatment rather than incarceration.

* The Southern Baptist Convention has categorized racism as a sin to the its denominational credo and devotes much of its energy to reaching out to impovershed African-Americans, fighting world hunger, assisting slaves and victims of human trafficking, etc.

In my own evangelical church, most of our "political" talk in recent months has centered on topics like religious freedom for Afganistan and other nations; standing in unity with other believers from other countries; letting drug users out of prison, and helping the families of prison inmates.

Do you honestly think that a religious tradition with close ties to the Quakers and the Anabaptists is out to take over the country and rob you of your civil rights? Jean Hardisty does - apparently, she thinks that religious groups insisting that they have the right to call certain sexual activities "sin" for their members is a threat to the entire American way of life. Does this sound like "liberalism" to you? I thought liberalism was supposed to tolerate diverse perspectives - not insist that everyone agree with Hollywood producers OR ELSE.

Another very stupid book. The New Class is a bunch of tired hippies who should just fade into the sunset and leave the thinking to real people.

In an election year (and, I expect, in its aftermath), Mobilizing Resentment provides invaluable information about the right-wing forces that inform today's electoral and policy debates--as they have since the start of the Reagan administration. In an atmosphere in which people often demonize those with significantly different politics, I find it refreshing to read an analysis that strives to understand WHY both leaders and followers place themselves in the right's camp. Because the mainstream media so often refers to the right as monolithic, it is particularly valuable to read an author who distinguishes among the ideas and strategies of the right's various parts, including the Christian Right, neo-conservatives, "equality feminists," and libertarians (who are, in less nuanced discussions, not perceived as part of the right).

The author's opening description of attending a Promise Keepers rally is powerful in itself, while setting the stage for a book in which she clearly and frequently locates herself in relation to her subject. In describing the right's successful grassroots organizing, she offers a thorough and tremendously informative exploration of mass fundraising, recruitment, think tanks, publications, and interconnected organizations, as well as committed and generous funders who bankroll these essential building blocks of a social movement.

Although the author mentions in passing such right-wing targets as immigrants, public education, reproductive rights, welfare recipients, and religious pluralism, she focuses on the right's attacks on gay rights and affirmative action and on the anti-feminist women's movement. She details the extensive New Right anti-gay campaign committed to convincing people, for example, that basic civil rights for lesbians and gays related to housing and jobs are somehow "special rights" to be fought vigorously. She shows how all sectors of the right view racism (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary) as a "thing of the past"--an argument that justifies opposition to affirmative action.

I find particularly fascinating the author's description of the three main strains of the anti-feminist women's movement: the Eagle Forum of Phyllis Schlafly, who was so instrumental in defeating the ERA; the less well-known, but currently far more influential, Concerned Women of America, an arm of the Christian Right; and the Independent Women's Forum, Women's Freedom Network, and assorted "equality feminists" who have been remarkably succesful in bringing their own anti-feminist message to the airwaves and OpEd pages. The book's last chapter looks to the future by focusing on activism and analysis to counter the right and to advance social and economic justice.

The author's personal voice and concrete and non-academic style make this book especially accessible to all readers, including those who might be just starting to learn about the right. Its clear, substantive analysis has much to teach everyone who shares the author's commitment to challenging the right's agenda.

The name is VERY misleading. There is very little in it about Canada and only those resorts that are AANR members get listings. There are no nude beaches listed. Should be called The AANR Club Guide. A waste of money.

The American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR) is a well established organization for clothing free/optional recreation, and one of the jewels in the AANR crown is this book.

The book thoroughly outlines each club in the US and Canada. Items such as addresses, phone numbers, and amenities of each club are meticulously detailed. So, if you're looking for a camp with a heated pool, tennis courts, sauna or snack bar, you'll easily find it herewithin.

Like many naturist/nudist publications, the book starts off with a brief intro about naturist/nudist lifestyles and why anyone would enjoy or consider a nude vacation. It is NOT a book outlining the social/political or health reasons for going nude, nor are the pictures within titillating or erotic (just like nude resorts-my favorite quote: "one nude draped on a divan is erotic; 100 nudes in line for potato salad are NOT"). It is an extremely detailed and well-researched guide to clothing free recreational areas; oh that TEXTILE CAMP GUIDES should be this thorough!

While no beaches are highlighted in this book (there is a WORLD guide for that), it is a perfect starting point for anyone considering a nude vacation.

This book is only for those interested in organized, family- oriented, recreational naturism in campgrounds and resorts around the U.S. If you are looking for any information on beaches or other areas to go naked, this is NOT the book for you! What little information about nude beaches that is included is woefully inadequate, so don't be fooled by the cover!

Not really detailed enough to help -- several web sights that give you this much or more info on these places -- and they are FREE -- but if you want something to travel with (as I did) -- then by all means -- take it along -- just call ahead to be sure things have not changed too much --

a member of AANR

I've got the 20th edition, haven't used it yet but it seems reasonably thorough. For your money you get a travel guide that covers just about everything briefly without being too wordy. You do not get a picture book although there are some, generally small, photographs not of the pornographic sort of people and of some of the sites. I do wish that they did a better job of telling which resorts and clubs admit singles. At least you get websites, email and mail addresses and phone numbers to contact each location.

Dear Dr. Coleman,
I was really surprised reading on page 199 of this book that "the constitutional crisis arose at the instigation of MI6 on may 15, 1991, with Milosevic, his MI6 trained Bolsheviks [...]"
Does it exist any kind of proof or evidence about it?
Dr. Coleman, readers of this book, can you prove it?
(see chapter IX, Yugoslavia in Focus)
Whitout evidence it is worth nothing...unfortunately...
I am ready to rate this book 5 stars if someone is able to prove it.
Please write to balkanboy[at]inwind.it

Coleman starts this one off by going into how the United States funding and donating troops for the U.N is completely unconstitutional and a violation of various other laws that are on the books. He also exposes the sneaky actions of the world elites in the forming of the Unites Nations. He then shows how various CIA/MI6 covert operations had a hand in the overthrow of various governments. You also get good stuff on the multitudes of holes in the "official" story of the Martin Luther King assassination.

Overall this is a good political/conspiracy book but Coleman really mangles his chapter on the Balkan/Serbian conflict in the 90s. I honestly don't think he got anything right in that chapter. He likes to quote his anonymous "sources" in the intelligence community and I don't doubt that he has them but whose to say that they aren't intentionally feeding him disinformation? Coleman gets most of what makes it into this book correct I think but he also comes up with stuff that is hard for me to swallow and I would consider some of it disinfo. He needs to do more to back up some of his claims besides quoting anonymous "sources". Most of whats in Diplomacy by Deception can be verified and have been written about in depth by left wing academic types though. This, like most books that I read, is one that I'd recomend reading if you can borrow it, check it out from the library or buy it super cheap at a used book store. Colemans books tend to get close to warranting 5 stars book but he always seems to miss the mark just a little so I can't recomend dropping the $15-30 that most books will run you these days on it.

Dr. Coleman does extensive research for this book, along with his other books. When the works in question have so much documentation behind it, how can you argue with that.
Beware the reviews that trash this work, they haven't done the research Dr. Coleman has and then written about it.
If you would like to read about hidden history, this is a great place to start... or finish.

I went back through each of my reviews to ascertain whether I ever gave a book or film one star. I haven't, until now. I like to read books on radical politics, conspiracy theories and other unusual stuff. However, nothing could prepare me for this car wreck of a book. This book reeks, and it reeks to high heaven. I will say that if John Coleman actually holds a Ph.D. (he goes by "Dr." John Coleman), I should be a shoo-in at Harvard or Yale when I begin applying for admission to graduate school.

Where should I start in criticizing this debacle? How about Coleman's grammar? This book is so loaded with every kind of grammatical error that it is hard to even understand what points the author is trying to convey. Misplaced commas, misspelled words, confusing sentences, and a total lack of organization are staples here. In one chapter, for instance, Coleman inserts a fairly lengthy section about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. While this might not be a problem if done correctly, why isn't this put in his later chapter about assassinations? One sentence that sticks out in my mind, and which is indicative of the whole book, is one in which the word "livers" is substituted for "lives." Horrible, absolutely horrible. If someone actually edited this book, they should be executed.

Coleman tries to make plenty of connections to another book he wrote about the so-called "Committee of 300", a secret cabal of power brokers who are trying to bring about a world-socialist system in which they rule over a world of slaves. That is one of the big problems in this book. Coleman drops information into the text that leaves the reader scratching his head in wonder. This "Committee" is never explained or elaborated on in any way. Apparently they consist of British and American officials, with the Brits coming under especially stern criticism. MI5 and MI6 are made out to be nothing short of the spawn of Satan, and the CIA is also taken to task. Coleman also homes in on the oil industry, blaming them for the revolutions in Mexico, the Middle East crisis, and the subversion of governments worldwide.

I just realized I could write more, but I don't want to think about this book any longer. I'll use it to help light logs in my fireplace this winter. It's a shame, because some of Coleman's ideas do have merit. We all know that the oil industry has had dirty hands for years, and anyone who thinks the Gulf War had nothing to do with oil is living in fairyland. This book can actually cause blindness and a precipitous drop in IQ. Avoid!

Every chapter in Diplomacy by Deception is a new subject. I am just guessing, but, it appears to me that Dr. Coleman took a selection of monographs he wrote, and, made them into a book.

Having brought attention to the dangers of hazing in his first book Broken Pledges, Hank Nuwer expands on this work with Wrongs of Passage and makes another outstanding contribution to the literature on hazing. He elucidates the dangers of hazing from many angles, and while coining the term "greekthink," takes an important step in describing the often elusive dynamics which enable hazing to persist.

Wrongs of Passage is a commendable achievement and a valuable resource for students, parents, teachers, school administrators and others. Having first hand experience with hazing as a victim, perpetrator and anti-hazing educator, I gained yet another perspective by reading Wrongs of Passage. The knowledge and sensitivity that Hank Nuwer brings to the subject of hazing is unparalleled. I found his history of hazing enlightening, his first-hand accounts heart-wrenching and his strategies for change a sorely needed call to action. This is not a "fraternity-bashing" tirade but rather an in-depth analysis of hazing from multiple perspectives. Hank Nuwer shames those who continue to participate in hazing, and lauds those that have taken positive steps to eradicate these deadly practices. This book should be required reading by students, teachers, parents, and anyone who works with and cares about the future of our nation's youth.

This book should be appreciated for what it is, a collection of college hazing examples. It is written more like a reference book than anything else. There are many, many, stories about how Greek fraternity (and sorority) members died or were seriously injured in senseless hazing and prank incidents. The tales of idiotic jokes and barbaric rituals are disconcerting because you realize that people actually lost their lives over such trivial matters. But, what the book fails to do is to present a coherent picture of the hazing problem or a useful analysis of why it is so prevalent.

Read this book if you want examples and anecdotes about actual hazing incidents and a bibliography of further resources. There is also a 43 page appendix titled "A chronology of deaths" that exemplifies what the book really is, a reference guide. I imagine that anyone interested in this book realizes that hazing, hell weeks, and frat pranks are all malicious and senseless. I believe that Nuwer is doing a service by documenting these tragedies, but after the 50th story about a college kid drinking himself to death while his "friends" laugh and watch, the book gets redundant quickly.

Hank Nuwer, the author of this book, WAS in fact a member of a greek organization. Although he wouldn't reveal to me which one, it would explain to me how he knew so much about the inner workings of a fraternity. And, incidently, he is not against the abolition of fraternities either - so before you go off on someone next time, do a little research, it helps.

If the challenge is to Greeks to read about the horrors of hazing, I think it should from a different source. I am quite tired of non-Greeks painting fraternities and sororities as these black-hearted, behind-closed-doors operations. National Fraternities (to my experience, since I am male) generally have anti-hazing speeches before pledging and have the pledges sign vows that they will report hazing. This text focuses on the ugliness and mistakes of a few and generalizes it to the whole population. I think that the hazing described here is from our parents' past and not what goes on now. I am sick of groups of men and women who rally behind a few Greek letters getting more criticism than any similar group (eg. athletics teams) who don't have such letters. Hazing for sports teams is still rampant... don't blame the Greeks.

On a firsthand basis, I have experienced what it has been like to be a pledge and I have to say, many people mis-label and are deceived into thinking that all sororities and fraternities haze, and are into drinking/drugs. The California State University campus that I attend requires the rushees to sign a form stating that no hazing, drinking, or drugs will be involved with the recruitment process. I wasn't completely sure anyway, but they were right. At all of the houses we attended involved with the Panhellenic Council, (that forbids hazing, drinking, and drugs with recruitment), the other rushees and I were only greeted with smiles and friendly faces, waiting to be invited into the house of our choice. This is not saying that I do not believe hazing goes on anywhere, just that while looking into being a pledge, research what the process is all about, before you label sororities and fraternities as hazing, drinking, and drug parties.

The other reviewers are correct, -- this book is light, anecdotal, badly written, etc. I happen to find it charming. It's kind of like reading a version of history written by a scandal sheet, -- for those who don't know of Dashwood, Lord Sandwich (described as "the most universally hated man in all of England"), and the great Chevalier d'Eon, I recommend this book. It also gives a lurid angle on the exploits of John Wilkes and other more well-known characters of the time. The story of Ben Franklin tricking the English into thinking he had magic powers I'd never heard anywhere else. This is a perfect book for the airport, the two-hour plane flight (you'll finish it just in time for landing so you won't have to resort to those awful airline magazines), or the daily visit to the toilet we all have to make.... If you like this sort of easy-reading, instant-entertainment sort of thing, I have to recommend "The Mammoth Book of Oddballs & Eccentrics" which has plenty more characters in the same line, including the great Charles Waterton and Lord John Mytton. Also I recommend the same author's "History of Torture".

There doesn't seem to be another easily searchable book on the subject in the ranks of amazon.com or anywhere else. Considering the time it was written, this book isn't boring or inhibiting in its presentation. It's in a very "bare facts" sort of nature, shouldn't be so bothersome.

Sir Francis Dashwood and his debaucherous endeavors with the Hellfire Club are fascinating and admirable no matter what your moral platform is. This is a clear, cut-in-stone example of how a lack of repression can sometimes be conducive to greatness. However, the author seems to spare elaborations for his detail-oriented readers to his assertions about the "coulda shoulda's". At times, he acts as an armchair critic of the political climate in the hands of some of the 18th century's most brilliant, powerful, and blasphemous aristocrats, which is beside the point.

This book should accompany another one for the interested reader.

This popular paperback was most people's introduction to Francis Dashwood & The Hellfire Club. A painting of Dashwood still hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. He was a rake, a libertine, & a man who most likely colluded with Ben Franklin to help create the US of A. Franklin told friends he was going to a "Franciscan" retreat, while participating in debauchery at Dashwood's Hellfire Abbey at High Whycombe. Back at home, he preached the virtue of clean living in his Poor Richard's Almanac.

not a bad book,and historically accurate,but it really doesnt tell us many details about this infamous club.very repetetive "they had orgies,they drank a lot" etc, etc..ad naueseum.i was really disappointed by the lack of insight into the minds of these people.this may have been considered a wild book when it came out in 1959 but it seems timid today

This book serves as a very interesting and entertaining introduction into the topic; very fun reading, and provocative in a few of its statements.

Right off the bat, it should be obvious to the reader that this is not a serious analytical or academic study of the topic, but more of an overview and a baptism into the subject it treats. There are no citations, as other reviewers have mentioned. That is perhaps a downside to the book. No indices, citations, or tables of contents tells any reader from the start that this book is not trying to create a reputation for itself as a definitive reference work.

This book itself should be read for entertainment purposes, and as a teaser to draw a reader into the topic. If you're looking for a definitive history and unbiased reference and academic treatment of the subject, look elsewhere. But if you have no idea of the Hell-Fire Club in the mid 1700's involving Sir Francis Dashwood, John Wilkes, the Earl of Sandwich among others, this will definitely whet your appetite.

This book does include many references (not in an academic manner, mind you) that give a reader some insight into the rumors and myths surrounding the club scene of the 1700's and some of what life was like in England during those times. It took me a day to read this book, and I don't count it a wasted day. Fascinating reading, the book itself is well-written in an easily readable style. Names are mentioned and subjects touched on in a way to provide the reader, should he or she so choose, with the names and subjects to look into and do some more investigative reading. I know that I will.

And the cover is cool too. ...

Create a web community for a business or family using the power of the Internet and this 'Poor Richard's' guide, which focuses on inexpensive methods of achieving such a goal. From locating and participating in mailing lists to joining web-based communities for business and pleasure, this imparts the basics of understanding how such groups function.

As someone new working in the world of online communities, I found this book to be a great resource. It provides not only technical tips but also gets at the larger social issues of how to manage communities, help them grow, deal with problems, etc. Good overview of lots of topics with links and references of where to go to get more information.

Community building is a fast growing concern, both on the Internet and off. Margaret Levine Young and John Levine's Poor Richard's Building Online Communities is a valuable treasure of knowledge to a vast assortment of Internet related communities.

I found it a difficult book 'to read' simply because the material is only relevant to the specific job (or focus) at hand. I think that its greatest value would be found in troubleshooting and dealing with various services or utilities that are, or will be outdated if they are not already.

There is also a wealth of more important, timeless information such as the purposes behind building online communities and the various manner of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour for each type of community.

I don't wish to belittle the value of the book, or all the information and insight that it does provide. There is information here that is unlikely to appear in any other books on community building, such as the one by Amy Jo Kim's. If you can afford to...Building Online Communities completes or enhances a community building library.

As a Community Director for a website that talks to/with huge numbers of consumers daily, I found this book really, really helpful. It outlined several different approaches to the Community challenges without espousing one way only. This is great because not every site has the same needs for a their community. The links to other helpful sources alone were well worth the price of the book. All the advice and information was useable, applicable--nothing was so radical or off-beat that we could not relate. It is now on my desk as a reference tool as we build and rebuild our Community porton of our website.

John and I have written a lot of books "For Dummies," including "The Internet For Dummies," and we have been involved in online communities for years. The topic has become glitzy of late, but we want people to know that you don't have to be a big company or have a large budget to be able to create and run online communities for your friends, co-hobbyists, family, or customers.

"Poor Richard's Building Online Community" is intended for individuals or small organizations that want to use the Internet to host discussions. Does your church want to run Bible study classes online? Would you like to discuss your hobby or favorite books with others who share your interests? Does your company need a way to get your sales managers together for online meetings? Would the teachers in your school district benefit from an online way to share schedules and ideas? You can set up online communities for groups like these at little or no cost.

The book gives step-by-step instructions for joining or creating communities in the form of mailing lists, newgroups, and Web-based message boards and chat rooms. We also give advice about how to set and enforce rules for participation, so your community is a pleasant and useful experience for its members.

For more information about the book, take a look at its Web site at http://community.gurus.com/. And thanks for your interest!

Warning:This is a a self-published, right wing advocacy attack on teachers unions written by a Republican lobbyist from Washington D.C. Here's a sampling:" Given the way PTAs are governed, it is virtually impossible for parents to dissent from the views of the teachers' unions. A parent who attempts an open discussion of school choice or teacher tenure at a PTA meeting could cost her child a varsity position or a lead in the school play." Scary, isn't it?
The premise of this book is very simple, if not crude: Teachers unions tend to be dominated by liberal- minded teachers; right wing education professionals were unable to gain control of the unions; ergo: unions must be destroyed. This swift-boating blueprint has been used on countless other unions by Republicans eager for power. This lobbyist fully reaped the benefits of collective bargaining protected education and employment through out her life. And now, in the twilight of her years, fully protected by generous union-negotiated retirement benefits, she uses the Republican dime to sacrifice the system on the altar of political expediency. Et tu, Brute?

Former school teacher and senatorial candidate, and current President of the Education Policy Institute, Charlene Haar, relates a thorough and fascinating story of an organization we all thought we knew, but probably did not. Haar traces the origins of The National Congress of Parents and Teachers (PTA) to the first assemblage of the National Congress of Mothers at the end of the 19th century, a time when schooling, and the status of women, were strikingly different than they are now. She then follows the evolution of the organization as parents, and later teachers, and still later the teachers' unions, are added to the mix.

Haar demonstrates how the better organized and more powerful elements of the coalition - the teachers' unions - were able to steer the organization's mission over time along a path they preferred, as was, perhaps, inevitable. Haar reminds us, however, that teacher and parent interests do not always coincide and, indeed, seem to have grown more divergent over time. Ironically, however, the PTA's continuing steadfast support of the public education status quo has generated only meager success, for example, in terms of favorable legislation passed in the U.S. Congress, where the PTA has spent a substantial proportion of its resources in lobbying efforts. Meanwhile, parent membership in the PTA continues steadily to decline.

The Politics of the PTA is meticulously well-written and very well-organized.

Richard P. Phelps is the author of Kill the Messenger: The War on Standardized Testing

Haar's research is unrivaled. While the PTA name is commonly associated with the many hard-working local groups at US schools (even though more than 75% of those groups are no longer associated with the official PTA organization), Haar paints a tough picture of a central bureaucracy increasingly disconnected from its member groups. A must-read for anyone trying to get past the bake sale reputation of PTA and into the actual goings-on behind the scenes of this organization.