George Books

Bataille's 3-volume masterwork is the triumph of his life's work in the philosophy of expenditure. For beginners seeking a comprehensive introduction to this most important of 20th century philosophers (a title Foucault bestowed upon Bataille), I recommend reading "Erotism: Death and Sensuality" first, then the three volumes of "The Accursed Share," and finally "The Tears of Eros."

To what has already been written here about "The Accursed Share," I would add a few words about the book's content. Bataille proposes that the sovereign state--that condition of ultimate value, in which we are removed from the world that tallies our value in terms of the work we perform, in which we exist for our own sake--is the secret goal of all humanity. However, this sovereignty is not so much a development of humanity as a return to our lost animal state, a return along the trajectory of self-consciousness that resulted from becoming human. Bataille defines the human as an eternal dialectic between this lost animality and the human world of work and reason.

His masterwork develops ideas that will benefit the fields of study including economics, morality, humanities, politics, aesthetics, Nietzschean philosophy, theology, and ontology, for Bataille elucidates some of the principles that link all these fields together--principles that many of these fields have loathed to discuss for themselves.

I am taking an extremely dim view (I was thinking about theology, but the final sentence of volume 1 mentions teleology, an antiquated teleology, at that, instead) of THE ACCURSED SHARE by Georges Bataille by limiting my review to those issues that were mentioned in Ezra, which I believe was written at the time that the earliest books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, were compiled in the form some people are familiar with today. The first section of Leviticus, The Ritual of Sacrifice, in chapters 1-7, concludes with a portion for Aaron and his sons by orders of Yahweh binding the sons of Israel for all generations. Ezra opens with Cyrus King of Persia declaring that the temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt and returning vessels of the temple which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem. The greatness and glory associated with this effort is a triumph like "Mankind's Accomplishments Linked to that of the American Economy" on pages 188-189 of ACCURSED SHARE and the final sentence of volume one, "More open, the mind discerns, instead of an antiquated theology, the truth that silence alone does not betray." (p. 190).

The book was written in France to offer support for the American Marshall Plan to rebuild a prosperous global economy after World War II. On the final page of notes, the question, "Why deny the fact that there can no longer be a true initiative toward independence on the part of countries other than the USSR or the USA?" (n. 17, p. 197), states the geopolitical frame of reference that millionaires and billionaires with global interests seem to have risen above today, with the greatness of America as a superpower driving economic expansion in those areas where natural resources, access to capital, and wage levels allow maximum profits to appear when money can flow to those areas where it will accomplish the most. As the millionaire who has spent the most to advertise his views in the states with early presidential primaries, Mitt Romney has proudly proclaimed the greatness of America, but the underlying structure of the political hierarchy is similar in nature to the parallels between Ezra and Bataille's ACCRSED SHARE.

Chapters 9 and 10 of Ezra deal with a problem like the desire of people to move to the United States in order to make more money today. It was reported, "The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, have not broken with the natives of the countries who are steeped in abominations--Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites--but have found wives among these foreign women for themselves and for their sons; the holy race has been mingling with the natives of the countries; in this act of treachery the chief men and officials have led the way." (Ezra 9:1-2). It was such a massive problem that it took from the first day of the tenth month to the first day of the first month to officially process all the separations from foreign wives. This reminded me of Aztec customs which linked the victims to "The individual who brought back a captive had just as much of a share in the sacred office as the priest. A first bowl of the victim's blood, drained from the wound, was offered to the sun by the priests. A second bowl was collected by the sacrificer. The latter would go before the images of the gods and wet their lips with the warm blood. The body of the sacrificed was his by right; he would carry it home, setting aside the head, and the rest would be eaten at a banquet, cooked without salt or spices -- but eaten by the invited guests, not by the sacrificer, who regarded his victim as a son, as a second self. At the dance that ended the feast, the warrior would hold the victim's head in his hand." (Bataille, pp. 53-54).

Certainly the Aztecs were more harsh than the restrictions which the federal government wishes to put on drivers licenses in New York for those who are not American citizens or authorized by the United States government to live within the United States. The question of who is who here can have numerous answers, like questions about whether waterboarding is torture, or how people detained in Iraq compare to illegal combatants. Even a nominee for Attorney General might wish to equivocate about certain questions. Bataille picture people in Tibet willing to maintain a large number of monasteries to keep the young men from serving in an army. "In Tibet, even more so than in China, the military profession is held in contempt. Even after the reforms of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, a family of nobles complained of having had a son commissioned as an officer." (p. 110).

I was drafted once myself, so I read about these things after years of not knowing if I would serve in Nam; then, after I got to Nam, I was even told to go to Cambodia. Though Nixon thought sending troops into Cambodia might make Vietnam safer in 1970, it was also a risky move for those who were on helicopters that crashed. The feeling generated by such changes in the expectations associated with my ultimate objective is described by Bataille:

The victim is a surplus taken from the mass of useful wealth. And he can only be withdrawn from it in order to be consumed profitlessly, and therefore utterly destroyed. Once chosen, he is the accursed share, destined for violent consumption. But the curse tears him away from the order of things; it gives him a recognizable figure, which now radiates intimacy, anguish, the profundity of living beings. (p. 59).

In modern society, people who are not talented enough to be known by millions of people are nobodies. John Lennon was not entirely unwelcome in New York City; he was merely shot down in the street. Government has become so awful at facing any kind of issue, Congress after World War II attempted to define a c.o. as someone who believed in a Supreme Being who prohibits a c.o. from taking part in any war. The Department of Justice was not generous in denying the status to boxer Cassius Clay all the way up to the Supreme Court, where most justices finally agreed that the Department of Justice was wrong about when Cassius Clay needed to file for a determination. Such questions plague anyone who has rules like the clean and unclean beasts in chapter 11 of Leviticus, which then considers leprosy in chapter 13, sexual impurities in chapter 15, nakedness in chapter 18, and handing over any children to Moloch in chapter 20. There are things which must not be worshiped:

"You must make no idols; you must set up neither carved image nor standing stone, set up no sculptured stone in your land, to prostrate yourself in front of it; for it is I, Yahweh, who am your God." (Leviticus 26:1).

It does not directly prohibit saluting the flag or pledging allegiance, but anyone who doesn't is likely to be sacrificed in some other way, like John Lennon certainly was, and Martin Luther King, Jr., both of whom opposed certain aspects of the Vietnam war. The call to support the troops is like something in THE ACCURSED SHARE for me, but so much so that my list will not go on.

In this book, Georges Bataille explores the connection between man's religious and economic pursuits. By focusing in on such divergent practices as human sacrifice and ritualized warfare in Aztec society, the practice of "potlach" in native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest, Tibetan Lamaism, and the conflagrations of our most recent World Wars, the author seeks to overturn classical models of economics. Instead of economics being driven by individuals seeking to satisfy their personal needs, Bataille proposes that economics is actually a social process that seeks to destroy, excrete, and expend excess goods and services. His unique perspective centers around the idea that the systematic destruction and loss of goods and services is intimately connected to our age old struggle to attain the Beyond. The French philosopher Michel Foucault once stated that Bataille said what had never been said before. After reading this first volume of Bataille's three volume work "The Accursed Share", you can begin to understand why Foucault believed as he did.

Read both books that contain all three volumes: in a way, the summation of Bataille's thoughts and written with clarity. It's not just the consumption-expenditure approach to analysing human activity that's orginial, he is (as he states towards the end of vol. 3) the closest thinker to Nietzsche. That is an assertion that bears merit as Bataille examines in as thorough a way possible (and in many ways supplements and is a good commentary on) Nietzsche's ideas of the overman, which he calls the sovereign man. At the core of his thoughts is Hamlet's last line, 'The rest is silence'. Sovereignty is NOTHING. A brilliant and vital contribution to the century's history of ideas.

Adventure of Becoming an Airline Pilot: My Story as a High School Dropout Who Succeeded by Doing What I Dreamed is the straightforward life story of a pilot who achieved his dream of earning a living through flying for decades, until his retirement in 1995. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate his no-nonsense story of living a pilot's day-to-day life, the pressures, the all-too-minimal pay, close calls with disaster, the experience of handling different types of aircraft, and much more. An extremely candid portrait of a life and career devoted to skillfully handling airplanes, especially recommended for anyone contemplating a similar occupational path for their own life.

George's book is very well written. Interesting to read about the older planes and their means of navigation. The training from the old days to today was not changed much it seems also. A very inspiring book for the novice pilot to airline captains.
Great Job!

Brad Springstead-ATP

I enjoyed this book greatly!! It was unexpectedly funny. A must read for anybody interested in the Airline industry.

I've had the pleasure of knowing Capt. George Flavell for over twenty-five years. I was one of those military trained DC-9 pilots who flew for New York Air in LaGuardia and later transitioned to Continental Airlines in Houston that he mentions in his book. I also served in both line and management capacities at both airlines. His aviation exploits have always been fascinating to me for a couple of reasons.

First, his background and job experiences are without equal. Secondly, I've always been astounded by his ability to remember people, places and events from many years ago like they occurred yesterday afternoon. Most pilots remember momentous events or challenges that have occurred in their careers but few can associate those events with exact names, times, places and dates. George can...and that's one of the reasons that his book is so enjoyable to read.

His ability to regale the reader with fascinating stories is outstanding and makes this book fun to read whether the reader is a pilot, flight attendant, gate agent, mechanic or just an aviation enthusiast. I know several of the people mentioned in his book and I've heard of many of the others. George knows literally thousands of pilots at every level of the profession. I think each and everyone of them will enjoy his effort at documenting a remarkable and enjoyable career. George's book is well worth the small investment, just for the trip down memory lane.

I'm actually looking forward to "Adventure.....part deux" since I know he has many, many more interesting stories that are yet untold.

Capt. Bruce J. Blue, Continental Airlines (Ret.). New York Air former Director of Pilot Training, B-737 Fleet Chief Pilot

Yes, it's old. Yes, much of the data is outdated. But what isn't usable is at the very least amusing.

Okay, so I read this 1989 book about 5 years ago. It still has good advice for all but the most seasoned traveller.

I read this book back in 1989 when it came out. I was sitting in some airport east of the Colorado river waiting for a connecting flight when I stepped into the gift/book shop to get a soda and a candy bar. Somehow I spotted this book and bought it, and spent the rest of my waiting period and flight reading it.

The book is full advice regarding air travel that was excellent at the time. I haven't read the book since then, so I'm sure that a lot is out of date. But, I still use some of the major principles from the book when I fly today, particularly those relating packing and boarding and exiting the plane.

One example of the out of date nature of the book is that the author suggests that wheeled luggage will never catch on because they are just too noisy and embarass the user. While that statement might have been accurate for an older person in 1989, wheeled luggage is common now, and there are few people alive today who would avoid a wheeled suitcase for that reason.

The book is well written and the author has quite a sense of humor. It had a lot of helpful information at the time.

Interestingly, at the end of the book, the author asks people to write to him (c/o the publisher) and states that he intends to update the book periodically. Its too bad that he didn't.

If anyone knows what happened to the author, please let me know!

OK, let's put some things in perspective here. This book was published in 1989 and the first three chapters on choosing your flight are totally out of date. Consider those three chapters a history lesson at best.

However, this book is extremely well organized and does offer good tips and advice. The writing is direct with no fluff unlike some of these new travel books. The author displays a good sense of humor which a nice bonus.

If you can get this out-of-print book for a couple of books somewhere, I believe it is well worth it.

It gets 5 stars from me not because it is a completely up-to-date book, but for the value I got out of it. How I wish this book would be revised for curent times!

A very readable primer for beginner as well as experienced investor. This book is sure to give a good case of heartburn to "financial planners" and "life retirement consultants" who make their living on portfolio maintenance charges. Chapter by chapter, George Fisher uncomplicates the world of dividend reinvestment and direct stock purchase plans, and shows the reader that it's just not as hard as it seems to become one's own self-reliant investor. Section "Best Of The Best" which profiles 16 top companies is alone worth the price of the book.

Dividend reinvestment planning is the dirty little secret your broker and mutual fund salespeople don't want you to know about. Why? Because DRIPpers pay all the commissions to themselves.
To date few books about DRIPs have gone much beyond the mechanics of starting a plan and listing a number of companies that offer DRIPs. Most books describe a "one size fits all" approach to DRIPping. Yet anyone who DRIPs will tell you it is more complex than that.
All About DRIPs and DSPs breaks the mold. It could be seen as the first text book and artistic approach to dividend reinvestment planning. There is the usual material about how to begin a plan but it also begins to consider individual approaches to the process. Although individuals are responsible for choosing their own investments Mr. Fisher helps the reader develop the skills to make wise choices. He teaches an investor how to research companies through simplified analysis, looking at management and reading an annual report. He sifts these to find what is important and does it with humour. I particularly noted the sections on how to read between the lines when management speaks or how Harley Davidson has the kind of brand loyalty that causes people to tatoo the company logo to their bodies.
There are also sections on portfolio planning with DRIPs, how bonds can be DRIPped and lists of DRIP offering companies with outstanding historical performances.
DRIPs are for take charge individuals, with only small amounts of money to invest, who are tired of paying exhorbitant fees for questionable service. This book has provided me other strategies to consider than my own and broadened my approach. All About DRIPs and DSPs is for the self motivated individuals who wants to invest effectively and successfully.
This is the kind of book DRIPpers have been waiting for.

This is a very good book about buying stocks directly from the company. In this market why pay broker fees. A bunch of drunken monkeys throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal can do just as well at picking good stock as a broker and there's no fees. This is a great nuts and bolts book on buying drips. This is a good book for the beginning investor.

This book succeeds with its target audience on so many levels. It's written in a non-pretentious manner and covers all the bases very well. Due to the nature of this type of investing anyone can pick it up and be in the stock market in no time.

How much more timely could this book be? With the gut-wrenching gyrations in the stock market right now, the prudent, dollar-cost-averaging investor's style deserves a comprehensive illustration. This book provides that.

The company capsules are an excellent bonus. You don't see anything like that in the typical investing book.

Reeview of Almost Unseen by George Elliott Clarke in The Halifax Herald, Sunday, January 28, 2001.

Swede is a haiku sculptor . . . honing in on only what he needs to report. . . . a splendid voyeurism of the natural. . . . moments of profound silence . . . . His lyrics are fine, delicate, dextrous, distilled breaths of being.

An anonymous review of Almost Unseen in Frogpond (Journal of the Haiku Society of America), 2001, Volume XXIV, Number 1, p. 78.

A major collection of the haiku of one of our most significant poets. You'll find all the poems you expect here, and some less expected as well.

A review of Almost Unseen by Robert Spiess in Modern Haiku, Fall 2000, Vol. XXXI, No. 3, pp. 102-103.

George Swede of Canada is a worldwide household name for persons who are involved with haiku. . . . A "you can't go wrong with this one" book.

A review of Almost Unseen by Caroline Gourlay in Blithe Spirit: Journal of the British Haiku Society, December 2000, Volume 10, No. 4, pp. 54-55.

Of the better known haiku poets. George Swede is probably the one whose haiku are most instantly recognisable. He has made the study of human behaviour his own territory, exploring its complexities and contradictions with subtlety and sensitivity in some truly memorable poems. . . . George Swede is never dull. Why is he so compelling and entertaining? Partly, no doubt, because his haiku tell us about ourselves (and we're all interested in how we tick) but mainly because he does it with a skill that gets to the heart of the matter without superfluous words.

La Feber is a very good historian who examines the diplomatic history of the United States from its beginnings into the late 20th Century.

The book delves into the issues of the foreign policy of the United States and the people who conducted the policy. One of the more interesting chapters in the book is where La Feber looks into John Quicy Adams (who La Feber believes is the greatest Secretary of State of all-time). The chapter looks at one of the seemingly forgotten statesmen who did many great things for the young United States.

The book is a very good general look at the foreign policy of the United States a must have for those Americanist who enjoy foreign policy. La Feber also does a good job weaving the domestic policy of the United States into the reasoning and the decisions make in foreign policy.

It was with great anticipation that I began reading Walter Lafeber's The American Age. After reading his Inevitable Revolutions, I instantly became a fan of his writings. In The American Age, LaFeber takes the issue of U.S. Foreign Policy and systematically analyses it with great clarity and focus. He has made effective use of primary sources throughout the piece and has clearly shown the different veins of U.S Foreign Policy that have arised, from the evasion of military alliances of the Washington Period, to Taft's Dollar Diplomacy. I felt that the usage of editorial cartoons throughout the text was an excellent idea, as it allowed the reader to have a sense of the public mood during the era in question. In sum, I would declare that The American Age is a must for any reader interested in American Foreign Policy, not only as a reliable guide for facts and figures but also for a thoroughly enjoyable read

I had this as a textbook for my foreign policy and decision making class last fall and found it to be a great book on the history of US foreign policy. It starts at the very roots of the history of the United States and continues to the present day, giving numerous examples of policy decisions. The book is laden with numerous political cartoons and even anecdotes from popular culture (including movies), to show how America's view of itself on both the international and national view has changed over the decades. Lafeber does not write in stilted jargon that only a true blue political science/international relations major can comprehend. This book is written in a professional yet enjoyable manner that does not get overtly dull. Read it for a good intro to America's foreign policy dillemas.

Walter LaFeber's masterwork, this text is a detailed, high-impact summation of American foriegn policy throughout our history. What truly makes the book stand out, however, is the fact that LaFeber evaluates foriegn policy with democratic ideals in mind. Rather than plunging off the deep end of ultraliberal America-hating, LaFeber evenhandedly doles out praise and criticism to foriegn policy actors depending only on which is deserved.

And as is too often NOT the case with history books, LaFeber also aviods the pitfalls of taking in too broad a sweep of subjects. Despite America's great strength, LaFeber does not pretend we are omnipotent or that our attitudes and values define the whole world's. Rather, events and actions that have the most impact on people and their lives are camly and deliberatly traced, described, and evaluated. Also to his credit, the author introduces the myriad of characters, places and ideologies that the topic demands be addressed with dashing flair and memorable phrase. While the vastness of World War Two quite nearly bests him, LaFeber, with determination and thorough scholarship, manages to write altogether servicable chaptes on the immense conflict.

One wishes only for another edition, so that the same steady hand of diligent scholarship might come to balance and explain the too-tumultuous happenings of our late era. As a former foriegn policy student, I urge other students to keep the book after the class you use it for ends. LaFeber's worth and insight will likely long continue, and the perspective he provides will help anyone better understand the current foriegn policy mess we're in, and what our priorities should be.

U.S. history, the government, and personae of American Presidents is a fascinating subject. While many scholarly work in the market have done in-depth investigation to profile American presidents, this title by David C Whitney and Robin Vaughn Whitney in its 9th edition from Reader's Digest is classically written and readily accessible to the general audience. Its objectivity and candor serves well as a gentle and educational introduction, an abridged version, on the development of American Presidents in relation to the unfolding drama of U.S. history.

The perennial best-seller, an enjoyable reading, excels in its elegance and clarity in comparison to many (auto)biographies of modern day C(orporate)EO/leadership titles.

We have been truly blessed with good men in the White House. Through the brilliant Constitution our founding fathers set up for our republic we emerged a country for all nations to envy. Through checks and balances we have created a system that works; it is at times not perfect, but there is none better.

Like any history book, "American Presidents" should not be used alone. It can not fulfill the task of evaluating the office of each of these men on its own. The author covers in detail each President's life growing up, offices held, as the executive and his achievements after the Oval Office. The vice president's, the cabinet, and historical sites are found at the end of the book. Photos are displaced throughout. One of the better books covering the Presidents.

I became increasingly interested in our Presidents, so I decide to research each one further, going as far as rating them. This is nothing new; there have been many such ratings done by scholars and intellectuals over the years. Of course I am neither. But I do find the ratings systems tend to focus on single merits and not the whole presidency. I have decided to do my own rating through these recourses:

"The American Presidents"-----Whitney
"A Patriot's History of the U.S."-----Schweikart and Allen
"The Oxford Companion to U.S. History"-----Boyer
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History"-----Woods
"Character"-----Wallace
"A Republic Not An Empire"-----Buchanan
and other misc. books

There is no way to fully list all of the positives and negatives of each Presidency. I have compiled a list of just a few of the important issues, then rated each according to the overall effect on the nation and the world. I admit bias cannot be removed totally. There will be some who will completely disagree with my system. You will find that I have lowered some who have been praised as great leaders and raised others that have been overlooked.

It can be hard to compare a Washington to a Bush, because these men lived at different times. The state of affairs and who they followed will have a major impact. I added W. Bush with reservation. His rating, along with the others are subject to change over time. In some cases I have added the same issue or attribute in both the pro and con column. Enjoy, take your time and feel free to comment:

After I copied and pasted I realized I could not fit the pros and cons on Amazon, so I deleted them. If any of you wish to have them you can write to me.


Rating President Held office Party
1 George Washington 1st 1789-97 Federalist

2 Thomas Jefferson 3rd 1801-09 Democrat-Republican(new)

3 Abraham Lincoln 16th 1861-65 Republican (first)

4 Calvin Coolidge 13th 1923-29 Republican

5 James Monroe 5th 1818-25 Democrat-Republican

6 Ronald Reagan 40th 1981-89 Republican

7 Grover Cleveland 22nd 1885-89 Democrat
24th 1893-97

8 James Madison 4th 1809-17 Democrat-Republican

9 John Adams 2nd 1797-1801 Federalist

10 Warren Harding 29th 1921-23 Republican

11 William McKinley 25th 1897-1901 Republican

12 Rutherford Hays 19th 1877-81 Republican

13 George W. Bush 43rd 2001- Republican

14 Dwight Eisenhower 34th 1953-61 Republican

15 Andrew Jackson 7th 1829-37 Democrat (first)

16 George H.W. Bush 41st 1989-93 Republican

17 Chester Arthur 21st 1881-85 Republican

18 Andrew Johnson 17th 1865-69 Unionist (only)

19 Franklin Pierce 14th 1853-57 Democrat

20 Gerald Ford 38th 1974-77 Republican

21 Richard Nixon 37th 1969-74 Republican

22 James Polk 11th 1845-49 Democrat

23 Martin Van Buren 8th 1837-41 Democrat (father of)

24 Harry Truman 33rd 1945-53 Democrat

25 John Kennedy 35th 1961-63 Democrat

26 Theodore Roosevelt 26th 1901-09 Republican

27 James Garfield 20th 1881 Republican

28 John Tyler 10th 1841-45 Whig

29 Benjamin Harrison 23rd 1889-93 Republican

30 John Quincy Adams 6th 1825-29 Coalition (mix)

31 James Buchanan 15th 1857-61 Democrat

32 Franklin Roosevelt 32nd 1933-45 Democrat

33 Herbert Hoover 31st 1929-33 Republican

34 Jimmy Carter 39th 1977-81 Democrat

35 Woodrow Wilson 28th 1913-21 Democrat

36 Lyndon Johnson 36th 1963-69 Democrat

37 Zachary Taylor 12th 1849-50 Whig

38 William Clinton 42nd 1993-2001 Democrat

39 William Harrison 9th 1841 whig (first)

40 Ulysses Grant 18th 1869-77 Republican

41 William Taft 27th 1909-13 Republican

42 Millard Fillmore 13th 1850-53 Whig (last)

This is an excellent book. It is great for people beginning to learn about American politics. It's a great source for quick handy reminders. It's a great gift. ( I bought seven copies for that reason). This would be a great book for teachers to have their high school students study.
While it is not possible to have one book completely cover all the Presidents, this single volumn outlines many important events.
There is an index in the back for quick searches.
Political views?
I have heard people claim this book is written with a Republican slant, and other claim it's written with a Democratic slant!
Using the above paragraph, one would have to think it was pretty fairly written.
I have went back to this book more often, during the election season, to brief my memory.

As a single volumn book; I repeat, this is an excellent book.

THIS IS A WONDERFUL OVERVIEW OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, AND QUITE ACCURATE. I HAVE READ BIOGRAPHIES OF MOST PRESIDENTS, VISITED MOST PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES, AND THOUGHT DAVID WHITNEY DID A GREAT JOB ON THIS SERIES.

In his year-end column for World War II Magazine, book review editor Robert Citino selected American Warriors as one of the best World War II books of the year. I agree. History books should be informative, accurate and readable; American Warriors is all of these and more. The author brings to light the military careers of five of our recent presidents, highlighting their naval service in the Pacific. Extensively end-noted, American Warriors draws on interviews with more than 100 veterans who served with the presidents as well as on a comprehensive bibliography of primary sources. Folklore has no place in this well-researched book. Presidential scholars will find it a dependable resource; more casual readers will find it swift paced and enjoyable. I highly recommend American Warriors.

As we currently ponder our country's military involvements and the credentials of those who would be President, a.k.a. Commander in Chief, this is a timely book to digest.

American Warriors is a highly readable, yet detailed account of the naval service of five United States presidents. Before picking up this informative book, I knew that presidents Kennedy and Bush Sr. served in World War II. I certainly did not know that five presidents were naval officers in the Pacific.

I am particularly impressed with the author's interviews of well over 100 veterans who served with the presidents. American Warriors is a reflection of his diligent pursuit of the details that are often passed over by political biographers. Time and again he sorts out conflicting testimony with rational explanations of events seen through multiple eyes.

Many Americans are aware that President Kennedy was the skipper of PT 109, which was sunk by a Japanese destroyer. I would venture a guess that very few are aware that Kennedy skippered a second PT boat, or equally surprising, that Presidents Nixon and Ford each served in the Pacific longer than either Kennedy or Bush.

American Warriors sets the standard for reporting these five presidents' military service. Presidential biographers would do well to take note of this insightful book. Military history fans will be delighted.

American Warriors is a detailed, annotated account of five American Presidents who also happened to serve their country as soldiers in the Pacific theater during WWII. The author has thoroughly researched the naval careers of each of these men, and has skillfully annotated their records by interviewing the many veterans who served with them.

The thoroughness of the research in American Warriors does not affect its readability. The accounts range from Lyndon Johnson's reconnaissance mission for General MacArthur, to the rescue of George H. W. Bush after his near fatal glide-bombing attack in his VT-51 Avenger. The details describing John F. Kennedy's heroism and dedication to his crew after the ramming of his PT-109 provide an equally important "rest of the story." The particulars of Richard Nixon as a young ground aviation officer stationed in the Solomon Islands present an interesting contrast to the Machiavellian characteristics that he later exhibited. And the natural leadership qualities of Gerald Ford are clearly displayed during his duty under fire as officer-of-the-deck on the carrier Monterey. In summary, the exploits documented in American Warriors serve as fascinating prologues, that should enhance the reader's knowledge of the more well-known political personas later developed by these Commanders-in-Chief.

American Warriors is highly recommended for those interested in modern presidential history.

American Warriors chronicals the time spent by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Bush in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Most of us knew these five men from their times as President and their poltical careers prior to becoming President. Some of us knew about President Kennedy and the PT-109 story and the dangers he faced while serving his country in WWII; but few of us knew that the other Presidents served in the war and faced life-threatening situations that shaped their future views of the world prior to entering the political area.
All of these Presidents had to make decisions during their Presidency to send others to war. The book shows that these men knew war first-hand and were undoubtedly influenced in their future political careers by their dangerous wartime experiences. American Warriors provides information on these five Presidents that is not typically addressed in other biographies using interviews with veterans who were there to corroborate events during these Presidents' service in the Pacific Theater of WWII.

Do you know why the capitalist rulers broke virtually every promise to Native Americans as they waged genocidal wars against them? Who made the American Revolution? How did this great liberation struggle give way to the solidification of slavery? How did the slavocracy rise to become a world power, only to meet defeat at the hands of the industrial capitalist class, which proceeded to enforce brutal apartheid-like conditions on freed Blacks? How did the U.S. monopolists rise to their position as the world's mightiest-and last-empire? This book gives the scientific answers workers need to know.If not available from Amazon, booksfrompathfinder will have it--click on "new and used" near the top of the page.

I first read this book while taking U.S. history in high school. A friend recommended it as an antidote to the required text. I am not exaggerating when I say this book saved me from emerging from that course muddled in confusion about this country's past. Now that I have become a teacher I rely on it.

Recently a colleague criticized the U.S. history textbook currently used in our school for giving too much prominence to Crispus Attucks. This African American sailor escaped from slavery and later became the first to fall under a hail of British bullets in the Boston Massacre of 1770. She complained the four paragraph biography and picture of him in the school textbook was "multiculturalism run amuck." Thanks to what I learned in America's Revolutionary Heritage I was able to answer her by explaining that, on the contrary, it was Attucks and thousands of ordinary people like him -- too often dismissed as "the rabble" -- who were decisive in the making of the first American revolution. Novack shows how when the well-to-do colonialists, the merchants and plantation owners -- the ones most often featured in the writing of U.S. history -- waffled on independence from Britain, it was the servants, sailors, small farmers, carpenters, day laborers and mechanics who stood fast and pushed the movement forward.

Malcolm X once said, "Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research." An understanding of our history can be a great weapon in the fight for social justice. This book was written as such a tool for the "rabble," the modern-day Crispus Attuckses, to arm them with an awareness of their power as the unsung heroes, the true shapers of history.

There are a lot of writers of history who claim to be Marxist. Most of them are academics that simply see Marxism as an angle for them to hold onto cushy university jobs.
This is the most important work of American history by a real Marxist. George Novack was a real Marxist, a fighter to build the real struggles for workers, Blacks, women, Latinos, and other oppressed in the world. Like a real Marxist, like Marx, he worked not on gaining a university chair, but in fighting to build an international revolutionary movement of Socialist Workers. He fought to free the Scottsboro Boys, he worked directly with Leon Trotsky, to expose the crimes of Stalin's Moscow trials, he defended worker militants who would not succumb to FDR's war drive, he worked to publicize the ideas of Che Guevera, Fidel Castro, Malcolm X, and he was a key figure in the struggle to expose the FBI's Cointelpro. He fought this capitalism for 50 years!!!
This is real Marxist history because as a fighter, Novack understood the real lives, the real struggles, the real history of all the American revolutionary fighters in this history and many besides. That is why this book is not just a nice look at our past, but a tool workers, youth, intellectuals, not just in the USA, but around the world can use to fight for a future where the world is ruled by working people and farmers, not by the filthy rich.

A lively and very informative collection of writings on U.S. history-- scientific, factual explanation of how and why things happened as they did. George Novack was a leading Marxist political activist and writer on philosophy, history and politics. These articles aim to help us understand events so as to learn from the past to organize to change society today.

The book takes up the fight for independence and the 1776 revolution, slavery and the genocidal wars against Native Americans and their role in the development of U.S. capitalism, the rise of Big Business monopolies, the capitalist two-party system, and the emergence of the United States as an empire-building world power. I found particularly useful the explanation of political and social forms that are often presented almost as divine wonders (the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the so-called "system of checks and balances," etc.) and their actual roots in the particular development of a class divided society on the North American continent. And particularly inspiring the stories of the revolutionary fighters who struggled against the misery, oppression and barbarity of this rising capitalist society, including Tom Paine, Mercy Otis Warren, John Brown and Martin R. Delaney.

I'd recommend reading this along with the two-volume series Revolutionary Continuity by Farrell Dobbs that traces the complicated and persistent efforts to forge a revolutionary working class movement in the United States from 1848 through 1922.

This book is absolutely beautiful. Simple to read and understand. The artwork is also beaufiful. Great information about the Archangels and how we can work with them to make our lives better. It talks about how each Archangel has a specific ray of Light that shines down on the Earth more strongly on specific days of the week, and how we can work with the Archangels and their Light so that we grow spiritually. Wonderful book for yourself or as a gift.

I found this book very interesting and informative. It is one of the best books I have read for the information I was looking for on the Archangels.
I am thrilled that I now own this book.

Angels of Love and Light: The Great Archangels & Their Divine Complements, the Archeiai
A great little book for those who want to know about the archangels and their female complements called the "archeiai," including Michael and Faith, Jophiel and Christine, Chamuel and Charity, Gabriel and Hope, Raphael and Mary, Uriel and Aurora, and Zadkiel and Amethyst. Learn about the seven rays of color (blue, gold, pink, white, green, ruby, and violet) in relationship to the archangels.

This is an excellent book which gives a detailed unbiased and rather loving view of the angels of Christian doctrine. If you have ever been interested in Gabriel , Michael or any other Angels I would recommend this book , as it will give you gorgeous pictures and all the information you will ever need on these beings.