Adam Books

"Let the Sea Make a Noise" forges historical scholarship with insightful notions about the realms encompassing the north Pacific ocean. The author, Walter A. McDougall, spent untold hours researching and organizing minutia then interweaving vast history replete with sensory details; human and political failings, dreams, and successes; meteorological and geographic facts; and overlooked, obscure bits of history.

Consequently, the book itself is somewhat overwhelming for it is nearly impossible to absorb this level of detail or maintain a clear understanding of the myriad relationships and ideologies.

Of course, having too much detail is better than not enough in any book of this sort, and Mr. McDougall is never shy about throwing in what may be a touch of conjecture. One cannot really know what some of the many people profiled here might have been thinking, but ultimately the scope of the book prevails, and one must admire the tenacity and effort funneled in to this book.

Be prepared to invest some time reading this history but be forewarned that you may have to put the book down from time to time to let the facts and information swamp you like a big wave.

Imperialists used to say that trade follows the flag. As Walter McDougall shows in 'Let the Sea Make a Noise . . .,' they had it backward. The struggle for hegemony in the North Pacific, which was the last place in the world to have its great power interests sorted out, was created by traders.
And in the end, trade and settlement had at least as much impact on the outcome as military power, maybe more.
Hawaii was discovered by a technician (surveyor and mapmaker) and merchant, Capt. James Cook, sailing in a humble converted collier; while the haughty alii (Hawaiian chiefs) in their elegant war canoes did not discover England.
University of Pennsylvania Professor McDougall, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his history of the space age, lays out a provoking, thoughtful, surprising, opinionated, exciting history of my neck of the woods.
The characters are astounding. In an attempt to grapple with the possible personal motivations behind the public actions, McDougall calls up the shades of some of the most interesting of them, and in interludes -- which he calls by the Hawaiian term `aha iki -- he holds imaginary colloquies with them.
I found this offputting at first but got used to it. It does allow McDougall to lob in comments, many of them politically incorrect, that otherwise would hardly appear in a serious history.
In the third `aha iki, he says of American historiography: 'Now we stress the shame and leave the glory out.'
Refreshingly, McDougall leaves the glory in. The organization of the North Pacific area politically was very much the result of individual efforts of singular personalities. Though he is not treated extensively, Kamehameha the Great was one. There is no reason to think that if he had not lived some other chief would have combined the motivations and skills that he had. (The Hawaii representative in the `aha iki discussions is not Kamehameha but his wife Kaahumanu, who was regent after his death and sponsored the first written law code in the islands -- half the 10 Commandents.)
But though McDougall subscribes to the 'great man' view of history, he tempers it with the environmental or social view. Thus, early in the book he identifies an obscure event that, in his analysis, controlled the destiny of the North Pacific, though that was not stabilized for another 250 years.
The event was the conflict between Russians expanding through Siberia with East Asians in the Amur River valley. The Russians could perhaps have controlled that valley, but they turned away to seek furs in the forests. But the Amur, McDougall says, was the only area within reach of Russian expansionists in East Asia that could have produced enough grain to sustain a successful Russian settlement of the North Pacific Rim.
Thus, although the small bands of Russians managed much later to establish toeholds in Hawaii and California, they were not numerous enough to sustain themselves. Their supply line was too fragile.
'Tragic,' comments McDougall, 'if you are Russian, for the brave efforts still to come had already been rendered vain -- in 1689 -- at Nerchinsk.'
Hawaii, naturally, plays an important role in this long story. As for the outcome of the struggle for hegemony, after all the adventures and stress, McDougall settles for realpolitik as the explanation:
'In sum, control of Hawaii meant absolute security for the eastern Pacific (for America), whereas foreign control of it meant substantial insecurity.' The legalities of annexation do not, in this view, count for much.
But the reason for spending 700 pages with Walter McDougall is not just that he has a lot of interesting tales to tell. The virtue of 'Let the Sea Make a Noise . . . ' is that he lets almost all the conflicting emotions and desires of the four centuries have their moments.
The ambiguity of the situation is always acknowledged. 'The whites on the Pacific shore,' he says, 'have always been paranoid, as if they knew they were interlopers.'
At the same time, McDougall writes, 'To me, the Pacific Ocean still suggests cleanliness, sweetness and strangeness.'
Few of the dozens of tales in this book are clean or sweet, but they are all strange.

I picked this book up on the recommendation of a friend. Since then, I have read it three times...and I almost never read history. McDougall has a knack for combining storytelling with history, so that general trends in the lands surrounding the Pacific are illustrated with fascinating stories about the people involved. This format is so effective that I found that after the first reading, I actually remembered all the salient features of McDougall's book (and probably bored my friends by sharing my exciting new knowledge with them on a road trip). His illustrative anecdotes combine with his knowledge of history to show you why people's actions made sense to them at the time. For example, why didn't the Russians consolidate their holdings in East Asia and Alaska? In hindsight, it looks crazy, but with McDougall and the characters (like Count Witte) that he brings to life, you understand and sympathize. McDougall's book contains a certain amount of subtle U.S. nationalism, tempered by criticism of stupid American policies, past and present. It is not jingoistic, but rather cognizant of the fact that of all the governments jockeying around the Pacific, the U.S. was about the most enlightened. So if you ever wanted to know why a relatively advanced island nation like Japan never really opened up to the world, why British Columbia almost became part of the U.S., how close Russia came to owning the West Coast down to California (they built a fort there, once), or how the U.S. got the whole Louisiana purchase when they really wanted New Orleans, read this book. You won't be sorry.

This is a must read for any serious history advocate.In simple English, you learn why Japan and China don't own land in the US, why Russia failed here, and why Hawaii isn't british, french or Roman catholic. What happened in Europe, Russia and the US from the 1600's to present times is tied to what happened in the northern pacific. It's a world-wide lesson in riveting doses of prose and fiction that will make you read all night

McDougall's book is excellent. I am a graduate student in Russian history who read this book for the first time while in between my master's and doctoral programs, and it was extremely influential in shaping the subsequent course of my program. I had long been fascinated by the fact that Russia is the only "European" nation that is also part of the Pacific Rim and once ruled Alaska. McDougall considers both these developments in due course, while fitting them into the larger context of the history of the North Pacific as a coherent region. He writes history in episodic chapters that give the book a sort of novelistic feel, complete with cliffhangers. Yet the book is not "dumbed-down" for a general audience. While not exactly scholarly (there are no footnotes, for example), it is obviously well-researched and presents many general questions for further consideration (or research). The book has the merit of focusing on the common history of regions not always thought of as connected: China, Japan, & Korea, Russia, the North American West, and Hawaii. It was a pleasure to read and inspired me greatly. It was enough to motivate me both to begin to study Chinese lanuage and take a year-long survey course on Japanese history. I cannot recommend McDougall's book highly enough!

I started reading A Likely Story last night after I went to bed and found myself laughing out loud so many times. Dr. Adams has so many tales to tell, and he tells them delightfully. I can hardly wait to finish the book so I can pass it on to the rest of my family.

A Likely Story appears to be an autobiography. However, its true identity is soon revealed. This is a gripping, page-turning story of the American experience. For those who have also lived through Glenn's experiences there is an immediate and powerful connection. For those who haven't, Glenn's story foreshadows the pain, hope, joy and eventually triumph that life can bring.

A Likely Story: The Unlikely Adventures Of A Boy And A Man, is an astonishing work - so very personal and revealing, like a Neil Diamond song.

I read A Likely Story as soon as it arrived. I couldn't put it down. Its humor is wonderful, the madcap adventures, the follies and reverses of youth, and the writing is all of one piece. What emerges at the end is a love story, which is very deep yet understated. I was moved to tears at the description of Glenn's wife leaving the hospital's snowy parking lot as he watched from his hospital window. It is an excellent social history of life in the United States during the turbulent `50s and `60s. This is the story of a significant life and a unique human being.
Jean - University Place, WA

A Likely Story covers the extraordinary events in the author's life from the age of eight into his seventh decade. This is a fascinating narrative and written with candor, whether relating to the adventures of childhood, the sometimes arduous process of growing into adulthood, or the tragedies that life has a way of inflicting upon us. The thing I love most about this book is the wonderful sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud while reading numerous accounts. This is a truly remarkable story. Audrey

It's an excellent anthology. Here are some of the writers, playwrights, authors, and others who have contributed to this text.

Aesop; Matthew Arnold;
Anne Bradstreet; Aphra Behn; William Blake; Robert Burns; Lord Byron; Elizabeth Barrett Browning; Robert Browning; Robert Bridges;
Thomas Campion; Richard Crashaw; Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Lewis Carroll;
Michael Drayton; John Donne; John Dryden; Emily Dickinson;
Anne Finch;
Thomas Gray;
Robert Herrick; George Herbert; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Frances E.W. Harper; Thomas Hardy;
Henrik Ibsen;
Ben Jonson;
Henry King; John Keats;
Richard Lovelace;
Christopher Marlowe; John Milton; Andrew Marvell; Moliere;
Thomas Nashe;
Katherine Phillips; Alexander Pope; Edgar Allan Poe;
Sir Walter Raleigh; Christina Rossetti;
Sophocles; Saint Luke; Edmund Spenser; Sir Philip Sidney; William Shakespeare; Jonathan Swift; Percy Shelley;
Edward Taylor; Lord Alfred Tennyson; Mark Twain;
Sir Thomas Wyatt; Edmyund Waller; Phyllis Wheatley; William Wordsworth; Cornelius Whur; Walt Whitman;

Obviously I purchased this for class, but unlike some textbooks which can be boring this one was really great. It's more of a collection of plays, stories, poems, etc. than a "literature is blah, blah, blah". It's also very informative, some of the english books I've had for other classes have been really boring or they've cut some of the authors work short. This one gives you so much that I'd really call it more of a book of collected works than a textbook.

It's also broken into sections like Fiction, Poems, which makes it easy to navigate through and the sections are further broken into chapters such as theme, setting, etc. with works that correspond, so you really get a good example of what each chapter is talking about.

One negative though would be the size, it's really big but with all that's included I guess it only makes sense that it would be that massive.

All in all it was a great purchase plus I think I bought it from someone on Amazon for a $1 (for a hardcover!) so it was also a good buy. My suggestion would be that more English professosrs should use it or for anyone who just wants to be informed literally, this is a really good book.

Used for my college English II class, this text presents many literary ideas which could be useful for fully learning the many apsects of english.

There is an adjunct video course also usually taught in conjunction with this text, and its available for free on demand online at learner dot org.

I've kept this text for the many stories and usefull English info. Worth having.

This is not a review. I am searching for a teacher's manual for this book. Is there one?

This book has a companion video series called Literary Visions. That series alsoo includes a study guide. I would highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Allison King for RebeccasReads (5/08)

As I began reading "The Midlife Bible: A Woman's Survival Guide," I felt as though Dr. Goodman was reading my mind. Menopause had always been a `hushed' topic that you didn't discuss as I was growing up. Dr. Goodman discusses alternatives to normal drug options for menopause and other health issues that arise in midlife for women. As a woman about to go through `the change' myself, it scares me that I might not be aware of all of the options for health issues that may arise. This book has given me a step forward in being more informed and confident when going in to a doctor's office.

Dr. Goodman writes in a simple language that makes it easy to understand the abundance of information he gives out in this book. He covers many health topics that a `midlife' woman might go through from the different phrases of menopause to sexuality, bone density and insomnia. He talks about not only the drug options available to assist in getting through different medical conditions, but notes how much a change of lifestyle (food and exercise) can be beneficial too. I liked how Dr. Goodman was very open to referencing and referring to other doctor's theories, books and websites to go to for more information on specific topics.

I would recommend this book for all women and even men to read to get a better understanding of how this midlife event can change the lives of everyone around you. Dr. Goodman has even written a book for men on the topic called "MEN-opause: The Book for MEN."

"The Midlife Bible: A Woman's Survival Guide" has given me hope that there are doctors still out there that are willing to listen to their patients and give alternative treatment options. The author `gets it' that not all women (or men) are alike and should not be given a standard treatment, but look at options that may be best for that individual person. As a woman in the society we live in now, we need to be informed and prepared to put our foot down when it comes to our own health decisions.

Dr. Goodman's book is a real lifesaver for someone like me who has entered perimenopause. It is thorough and easy to understand. I feel well-prepared now to talk with my doctor and find the best solution for my mid-life issues and symptoms. I just wish Dr. Goodman could have a clone of himself in every major city in the U.S.!

I have lots of girlfriends at my yoga studio going through perimenopause. We are all trying to take a holistic approach to aging, trying to find the mind/body balance in a natural way. This book has given us a truly balanced viewpoint of hormone replacement theraphy vs. using herbs and other botanicals. It gives good information and insight about the lifestyle changes that can make the greatest difference - ladies there is no magic pill, but Dr. Goodman gives excellent advice about how to navigate the change with grace and wellness. Thanks to the "Bible" we've gained a better understanding about ourselves and can now tell the facts from the fiction.

Michael P. Goodman, M.D., Certified Menopausal Practitioner and sex therapist, has written a complete, yet concise, informative, readable, up to date, affordable book that covers all the issues of feminine midlife. It is an excellent educational overview.

Dr. Goodman provides specific instruction on natural, nutritional, lifestyle and hormonal approaches to PMS, Peri-menopause, and menopause. The book deals with sexuality, stress, hormone alternatives, breast cancer, and bone density, as well as relationship issues. Case studies illustrate some alternative choices for dealing with specific symptoms.

Dee Adams' illustrations add a touch of subtle humor with droll captions to lighten up the frustrations of the transitional adjustments of midlife.

I enjoyed Michael's conversational writing style. After reading his book for men "Men-opause" I felt compelled to read more on the subject of midlife survival for women to better understand the changes my wife is experiencing so that we can work together to experience an ongoing, growing, and intimate relationship.

"The Midlife Bible" is an invaluable resource tool for women experiencing menopausal transitions and for husbands who want a better understanding of how to be supportive for their partner during this traumatic stage in life.

I am extremely fortunate to be one of Dr. Goodman's patients! In an era where HMO's have a stranglehold on the standard of medical care we receive and most doctors are forced to treat their patients in an "assembly-line" fashion, it's very refreshing to find an experienced and caring physician who has successfully rebelled against that trend for the sake of being able to totally care for his patients. He spends the time to truly listen to the concerns of women, and takes a holistic approach to the challenges most women face during perimenopause and menopause.

All of the care and concern that one would experience in an office visit with him comes through in this book. Using a friendly, conversational style rather than complex medical terminology, Dr. Goodman's book reviews all of the changes women may experience during midlife, and discusses an array of options for treatment to alleviate symptoms. Everything is covered in depth and is easy to understand.

I have already given the book to a few of my friends, who have also praised it heartily. If you are beginning perimenopause and are struggling with the changes within your body, you're not going crazy! Purchase this book and be informed about your options as to how to ease the natural transition into a new phase of your life. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

This was a thoroughly delightful book which my 6-year old grandson enjoyed immensely particularly so since his grandfather's name is also a palindrome. It was humourous, clever and very educational.

Great book for children interested in the words and vocabulary. I enjoyed it. I purchased it for my grand daughter age 4. Not sure she will appreciate it until she is older. My daughter really enjoyed it. Think it is a book adults can appreciate as well as children.

Poor Bob is shocked to discover that he is a palindrome, and what is more, so is almost everyone in his family. No matter what he tries it seems he cannot escape them; there are palindromes everywhere. The cover promises more than 101 palindromes hidden in the book. Check out the palindromes embedded in the dedication by these two clever guys. Children (and adults) will have a great time finding them. Don't overlook the book titles on the shelves, the baby's gurgle, and the angry sound of the truck horn. The bold pictures underscore Bob's frantic feelings. A great book for teaching wordplay.

As a fourth grade teacher I purchased this book to use with my students. They absolutely loved it and found the book funny. After I read it to them they searched high and low for other words that were palindromes.

I read this book to my niece and nephew and they wanted me to read it over again rather than switching to a new book. It passes the "Uncle test"!

This is avery enjoyable read. I took the challenge after seeing the mini-series John Adams. The son is as key to a great American as his father. This book should raise Mr. JQ Adams on the list of great Americans.

John Quincy Adams is traditionally remembered for two things, that he was the son of the 2nd President of the U.S. and that he was a failure as a President. However, this book takes that into account, the tremendous amount of pressure he felt living up to the "Adams" name, and that he found himself as a politician in the House of Representatives. This wonderful portrait of man who has lived in the long shadow of his famous father, never disappoints. His fight against slavery and his defense against censure are insightful, giving the reader a clearer picture of a man who was governed by the principles created by the Founding Fathers. I enjoyed it very much!

John Quincy Adams was the son of John Adams, the second President of the United States, and a critical Founding Father. The younger John went to Europe with his father as a youth, hobnobbing in the courts of King George III, Empress Catherine II (the Great), and King Louis XVI. As an adult, he served as American ambassador to the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom, negotiating the end of the War of 1812, was sent to the US Senate from Massachusetts for one term, and spent eight years as Secretary of State to President James Monroe. Then, in the controversial election of 1824, he was elected the sixth President by the House of Representatives. His tenure was highly flawed, and, after one term, he lost reelection. Thereafter, he spent his remaining years in the House, never having lived up to his potential.

This is Adams' traditional biographical narrative, as Joseph Wheelan sees it, with the emphasis placed on his failed presidency, and his 17 years in the House of Representatives largely an afterthought (albeit one wherein he acquitted himself adequately). Wheelan devotes about sixty pages to his career up until his election to the House of Representatives in 1830, and then spends the remainder of the book on his 17 years ther, ending with his death in 1847 (in the Speaker's office, no less). Wheelan here proposes a different narrative: in Hollywood terms, the failed presidency is the big setback the catalyzes the hero's final triumph. And "hero" is the key word, because Wheelan explicitly states in the introduction that he believes we can take from Adams' example in the 21st century when looking for leaders. Herbert Butterfield would undoubtedly have clucked his tongue at this, but as I've always thought Butterfield was being far too severe in discouraging people from trying to find lessons and heroes in history. I find Wheelan's thesis very attractive. The result is a profile of Adams that focusses on his many positive qualities; it is not a hagiography, as it makes allowance for personality flaws, but these will not have much impact on how the reader sees Adams. Most relate to his presidency, and a lot of that, through this presentation at least, results from Andrew Jackson's bitterness and Adams' own overly-developed sense of fair play in the face of political reality (which most people would think as much a virtue as a flaw).

Wheelan's John Quincy Adams is a tremendously appealing figure: dedicated to being a man "of the whole country" (though he, by the point Wheelan focusses on, has really become a man of "the abolitionist North", because he revels in antagonizing the slaveholding Southern states, not that they didn't deserve it), with a very old-fashioned (in the early 19th century!) view of public service, and a strong devotion to the ideals of the Constitution's framers (he knew most of them, after all). Wheelan singles out his various causes championed during his time in Congress:

1) The First Amendment - through his nearly decade-long campaign to repeal the Southern-backed gag rule in the House that quashed the right to petition the House against slavery.
2) Womens' rights - through his defence of women involving themselves in politics (though he was not so far ahead of his time as to argue for giving them the vote).
3) Science - Adams was a lifelong proponent of the sciences, and of government sponsorship of them, and Wheelan spends some time detailing his role in the creation of the Smithsonian Institute, whcih I was not aware of.
4) The big one, his campaign against slavery. Indeed, he was perhaps the first great political opponent of the Slave Power, a friend and inspiration to future player William Seward (Lincoln's Secretary of State), and astonishingly foresighted in predicting the Civil War decades in advance (and, ultimately, welcoming it as a necessary bloodletting to purge ill from the land).

Adams is remembered today mainly as the son of another president who squeaked into office via a "corrupt bargain" (a fiction of his opponents that Wheelan spends some time arguing against) - Wheelan makes a very persuasive case for his worth as a principled politician. Certainly it makes one wish for eight years of John Quincy Adams over another son of a one-term president we are all too familiar with.

The product was sent in satisfactory time. It will be a gift and has not been read.

John Quincy Adams is never on any list of great presidents. But he should be near the top of any list of great Americans, right up there with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Joseph Wheelan's excellent new book explains why. Adams had an extraordinary political career, both before and after his single term as president. Wheelan's book focuses on Adams's seventeen-year Congressional career, which began in 1831, two years after Adams left the White House. During this period, Adams fought for women's rights and against President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Bill, which forced Native Americans to give up their traditional lands. Adams was also an unrelenting enemy of slavery, and did all in his power to fight it (see the movie Amistad). His many speeches against the "peculiar institution" caused northerners to refer to him affectionately as "Old Man Eloquent". Southerners sent him hate mail and death threats, and called him by a different name: The Madman From Massachusetts. Adams became the conscience of Congress and of the very nation itself.
Joseph Wheelan has written an important, very well written book that rescues one of America's greatest men from near obscurity. Adams is far more deserving of immortality than his arch-rival, Andrew Jackson. Read Joseph Wheelan's outstanding book and you will understand why.

Contains a number of tips I haven't seen in any other job-search books; includes tips on getting advance info on a company and surviving phone interviews. I've been recommending it to all job-hunters I know for the last 2 years.

Updated comment: Still a great book, but a bit dated with respect to email and other electronic methods.

I've read a lot of job hunting books, and this is the best one to date

Recommends job seekers approach expanding small companies. Growth can be inferred through increases in stock prices. Job seekers should; 1) study industry periodicals and investment newsletters. 2) seek comments from venture capitalists and stock pickers; 3) focus on three rapidly expanding companies at a time and target them. One strong chapter describes handling an initial screening call from a company. Read it if you have trouble responding quickly to questions. Also recommends ways of leaving messages on voice mail that invite people to call back.

Adapted from Annotated Bibliography of Learning A Living; A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding A Job for People with Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia

Cheri and Jackie,

Back on Jan 10, 1995, I bought your book, The New Rules of the Job Search Game. Upon my first reading, either I was not in the right mindset to understand the powerful secrets of the Focus Method or I did not possess the maturity to accept the reality of what it takes to obtain a high paying, white-collar job in the 1990's. The other day, I re-read your book. Thank you both for writing this book! This time around, I understand the process and what it takes to get a high-paying job. No longer will I be enslaved by employment advertising, employment agencies and random luck. Your excellent explanation of the Focus Method is what every job seeker needs to successfully obtain the job of their choice with confidence.

Pierre Johnson

I've read numerous job hunting books, but this one offers the unique perspective of the authors' experiences as recruiters. With this view from the other side of the desk (hiring), they let you in on what works and what commonly practiced job search techniques are a waste of your time.

The book is thorough in covering numerous aspects of the job search process. Some topics covered include, but are not limited to: The New Job Market, Motivating Yourself in the Search Process, Researching Industries/Companies, Telephone Skills, Resumes and Cover Letters, Getting in Front of Decesion Makers, Getting Hired, etc.

Sadly, this book is vastly underpublized.

Dr. Wright's presentation of the nation's first national debt is both engrossing and informative. Perhaps it is his background as an historian, but regardless, his presentation of economics is straightforward and makes for a good read from the layperson's point of view.

Wright shows Alexander Hamilton as the genius that he truly was. While critics of Hamilton tend to focus on his behind-the-scenes machinations during the 1800 election, Wright allows Hamilton's financial wizardry (which should be this founder's true legacy) to shine. Indeed, Hamilton grasped that a national debt and the eventual assumption of states' debts was necessary not only for the new nation to survive practically, but to maintain its international public credit.

I would recommend reading this book in concert with John Miller's biography on Alexander Hamilton, Portrait in Paradox. Both authors show that Hamilton was well ahead of his time.

The chapters read easily, with an early focus on the Dutch and English international finance models of the early and late 18th century. The chapter entitled "Life," which concentrates on a few individual Virgina debt holders, is also engrossing. Wright spotlights the stories of a few individual patriots to show that these debtholders were just as vital to the nation, with their willingness to take a chance on the early United States, as was both France and Holland in their initial financing of the War of Independence.

All in all, a great read.

Dr. Dennis Edwards
Associate Professor of Economics

Anyone intersted in US history will enjoy this book, it was an easy read on what I thought would be a complicated subject.

The author keeps the subject interesting by mixing the "big picture" of international finance with political skullduggery at home and shines more light on the much maligned Alexander Hamilton's role in safeguarding America's first years.

This book provides rare insight into the financial foundations of the US economy. Supporting data, trends, and documentation add additional color to this thoughtful commentary on early american economic history. This obviously knowledgeable author writes in a very readeable style. The book was fantastically insightful.

Why do governments go into debt ? How do they pay for it ? Is that debt a good thing or a bad thing; that is to say, is a national debt a blessing or a curse ? Just what was the breakdown and nature of America's first national debt ? These are just some of the questions answered in Robert Wright's latest work.
It would not be bad bet to wager that few of us in the United States know how and why we incurred our first national debt. Maybe more importantly, even fewer of us probably realize just how much there is to contrast between now and then. Just after the adoption of our Constitution, our debt became, under the care and genius of a young Alexander Hamilton, a relatively temporary and useful tool for putting the credit of the United States on solid footing with Europe; while simultaneously serving as a a positive example to our merchants and businessmen, on whom so much of our finances were dependent. Today, our debt would appear to be nothing more than something for career politicans to continually run up for the sake of votes. Indeed, in today's modern American Nanny State, our so-called care takers seem to have no thought to paying the debt down, nevermind off. A far cry from some 200 years ago ! In Robert Wright's new book, such unfortunate differencees between now and then become all too clear.
There is even something for the more socially minded Historian in Wright's breakdown of those who were our nation's very first creditors. He sheds light on just who these first true patriots were.
In sum, this is a well written book on a very important subject matter.

Bob Wright's tenth book proves once again his keen ability to link our economic history to present trends. In these times of economic instability, one owes it to oneself to become educated. This does not mean education in regard to the current and near future "guesses" of what may come financially, but more importantly on how we have arrived here.
A must read. Regards... Michael W. Vasta

anyone who is a race fan should read this book. This goes to show people that the Petty family is a very remarkable family! And what a great way to honor their late son Adam with Victory Junction. they ate truley a remarkable family!!!! and this book just shows you that.

This is one great book. Tons of never before seen pictures and great stories from friends,fellow drivers and family members. Its worth every penny!

Adam was my sister's age when he died. I personalized him so much it was good to see pictures of him and the family growing up. It also chronicles NASCAR growing up. There have always been the Pettys in NASCAR. Sadly, that might not be true in the future. It's a great book and a wonderful cause.

This book made me feel as though I was sitting in the Petty's living room looking at old photos and reminising.A great tribute to Adam Petty with the proceeds going to the Victory Junction Camp. Great idea and great photos...Thanks to the Petty family for letting me into their lives.

I ordered this the day I heard it was coming out - it is a truly wonderful book - lots and lots of never seen before photographs. It is actually a tribute to Adam and proceeds go to a great cause!!!

Know these Vignettes! Nothing more to say. They will be tested over. Period :)

This book is small enough to fit in your white coat pocket for those down times on the ward. It is much more concise than Microbiology Made Ridiculously Easy and a much better study tool for Step 1 and Step 2. Microbiology is one of those very important areas of medicine that comes up again and again, regardless of what field you decide to go into. Mastering it is key and you'll get a good grip on it with this book. Very useful.

Great review of all the high-yield bugs in case-based format. Really liked the book's style, presentation, and content. Also has good figures and answer explanations, which helped me understand several important concepts better. Definitely worth the money.

If you want to do better than just pass step 1, you have to read more than First Aid for the Boards. I would recommend this series as a great complement to enhance your understanding and knowledge of important, high yield topics for the exam. This volume is a good representation of what the series is like - concise, high yield, and containing lots of good figures and photos. The case explanations are fantastic and pragmatic.

Wonderful review series for USMLE Step 1 preparation. This volume in particular lives up to its name, with outstanding case presentations and explanations that make sure you understand the underlying pathophysiology concepts. Memorization was not as important as key concept understanding on my exam, and this book, as well as the rest of the series, contained the high-yield info that was on my exam (took 6 weeks ago).

My score ended up being higher than I had hoped for, and I give much of the credit to this book and the rest of the series. Strongly recommend for Step 1 review!