George Books

"Leave No Man Behind" is the true guidepost to the painful saga of resolving the search for POWs and MIAs in Indochina. It should be required for anyone interested in the details and history of the quest. The author, a genuine hero, spent most of 20 years, 1973-1993, interviewing refugees, battling U.S. bureaucrats (military and civilian) and wrestling with Communist officials in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. He was also this country's senior field investigator, searching remote crash and burial sites for remains of U.S. military. Along the way he was actively involved in the final evacuation from Saigon in 1975. He learned several distinct Vietnamese dialects, the better to communicate/negotiate with the adversary. Few Americans would be that conscientious. Those of us who have followed and supported the search for POWs/MIAs all these years know how venally, dishonestly and even cruelly the Vietnamese have acted. They deny storing remains and then repatriate bodies with obvious evidence of chemical storage. They allow us to "investigate" crash sites that have been clearly sanitized in advance. Bodies are dug up, moved and reinterred. After payment of search fees, permits, excavation fees and other "costs", remains are found! And so it goes, on and on, year after frustrating year. But when Vietnamese act that way, they are being themselves! How can we explain or describe American officials, civilian and military, who descend to the same level? Mr.Bell makes it perfectly clear that a POW assignment was all too often a just soft "REMF" job. These guys did not want too many POWs being repatriated all at once. How would that look? The longer the searches went on, the longer the comfortable gigs. In the words of a previous reviewer, the whole deal was nothing more than a meal ticket. This reviewer has always suspected that we were own worst enemy and the list of "usual suspects" is long and sickening. There is no doubt in this quarter that these quislings would never want any American MIA found alive. They would be too frightened to explain the reappearance! One specific suspect on the list of lowlife Americans is President Carter, who tried very hard to underfund the original search efforts and nip them in the very bud. Another is not President Clinton but John Kerry. He was so in love with normalizing relations with North Vietnam that his so-called Senate Select Committee swept whitewashed the entire POW/MIA effort. All so his family owned company received exclusive American rights to real estate deals in North Vietnam. How Mr. Bell kept his calm and perspective dealing with so man cowardly and selfish Americans is a mystery. This review could continue at great length, but I'm sure my amazon friends have the picture clearly. In a review of Bernard Fall's "Street Without Joy", this observer closed by writing that the author would be "a great guy to have a few beers with". I feel the same about Mr. Bell except that he would not have to pay for a round. The author is a true American hero. I'll conclude this review by restating that "Leave No Man Behind" is required reading for anyone concerned with the resolution of the 1,845 men still missing in Indochina.

It was fascinating to read and learn from this author, who is multi-lingual and deeply immersed in Vietnamese culture and history, as
well as American military experience. While the writing was not always as interesting as the subject matter, this book really brought home the passion and commitment of the author in finding out what happened to the many missing soldiers from the Vietnam War.

Leave No Man Behind had me griting me teeth and cussing. The stonewall that Bill Bell runs into time after time, yet keeps getting up for more is remakable. I've always knew the MIA / POW issue hasn't been dealth with directly and honorably by the ones having the power to do so. Bill Bell breaks it down in an intelligent way for the rest of us, he's been there, done that. From the Vietnamese using our missing troops to ferther their agenda and look like the innocent, to our own people covering their ass with a smile, Leave No Man Behind connects the dots for me and gives hope that all the soldiers lost in Viet Nam will be found.

Whether or not a reader has the same take on the history of the POW-MIA issue as Bill Bell, most will be able to acknowledge that he took the issue to heart in a very active way. His commitment to the study of the languages of the region set him head and shoulders above the vast majority of NCOs and certainly all of the officers who were assigned to work the issue, and those linguistic skills for the most part served him very very well. Unfortunately, by the time Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia began to open up and the many years of almost hopeless interviews in refugee camps came to an end, the "issue" had devolved into a series of highly-publicized scams and silly bureaucratic turf struggles between bureaucracies with no missions, and inevitably was exploited by the odd politician or three. We ended up not serving the missing or their families as well as the naive among us would have expected. What was once a sacred cause degenerated into a comfortable meal ticket for many of those "involved," but in spite of all that, Bill often took stances which he knew would bring him his fair share of abuse. If anyone made an honest effort for an extended period of years, Bill did. Those that have hung on for decades sitting idle at the trough have much to answer for. Bill Bell was active in the pursuit of his life-defining mission, and that alone makes his writing worth our time and our respect.

The book is an interesting account of the struggle for western Virginia in 1861. It follows that year's rolls of Generals McClellan and Lee; the former using the successes of the campaign to further his reputation and career, and the latter struggling to straighten out a quagmire and failing to do so.

Newell covers some of the same territory as The Glories of War: Small Battle and Early Heroes of 1861 by Charles P. Poland, Jr., a longer book which discusses the 1861 actions in eastern Virginia as well.

The counties of Virginia between Ohio and the Allegheny Mountains are the scene for the action in Newell's book. They would eventually become the state of West Virginia, one of the results of Union victories there.

The campaign for West Virginia is little-known today, eclipsed by First Manassas and subsequent battles. This book tells you how it was important and takes you to the scenes of the interesting events that happened there in 1861.

Don't let the above fool you.

For as author Newell points out so clearly and so accurately in this captivating account of the little-known Fall 1861 campaign in West Virginia, McClellan had much going for him as Lee had much against him.

For McClellan and the Union, it was McClellan's devout yet crusty subordinate, General William S. Rosecrans who deserves much of the credit for the Union victory. Rosecrans was aggressive, and he didn't hesitate whereas his boss did. Indeed, Rosecrans own career skyrocketed after his success in West Virginia, only to nose dive so quickly two years later at Chickamauga.

McClellan also had the services of General Jacob Cox of Ohio, who would later distinguish himself in Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, and of the famed explorer Frederic West Lander, who at one time rivalled Fremont in his Westward explorations, but who died so suddenly after the West Virginia campaign.

Also involved was a then little-known NCO named Ambrose Bierce, whose own macabre writings, including "A Horse-Man in the Sky" and "The Mocking Bird" came directly out of his experiences serving in an Indiana regiment during the fighting in West Virginia. If you like the twist and turns of Bierce's fiction, then this non-fiction work is a must.

Also going for McClellan was the key factor of a mountain populace that was on his side.

In contrast Lee suffered from poor generals - one of them, John B. Floyd, bicked constantly with his fellow generals. Floyd, the treasonous Secretary of War in the pre-Lincoln Buchanan Administration, was in constant fear of being captured and hanged. One of the more gifted Generals, Robert Garnett, was killed early on in the retreat from Rich Mountain. Garnett's cousin, Richard, would die in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg almost two years later.

Lee's troops suffered from poor morale - a fact not lost on the future Confederate commander, who learned from his lessons here, whereas McClellan quickly forgot his.

Of additional note is the fact that two future Presidents - Rutherford Hayes and William McKinley, served in the 24th Ohio during the West Virginia battles, while the Grandfather of George S. Patton fought with the Confederate forces.

Not only does Newell cover fresh ground, but the illustrations, particularly those at the beginning of each chapter, give the reader a "you are there" feel.

Western Virginia in 1861 was a Union dream come true and a Confederate nightmare. As both sides struggle to lean how make war, Western Virginia succeeded from the Confederate States of America. This is the story of the first campaign of the Civil War, the foundation of George B. McClellan's reputation. Facing a divided Confederate command structure, aided by William Rosecrans and operating in friendly territory Mac had all the trumps. Robert E. Lee, unable to grasp the idea that any Virginian would not follow the state's lead was slow to react. When he finally was forced to take command, it was to late and his reputation suffers for it. Granny Lee the King of spades was one of the nicer things said about him.

This well written book has maps in the right place and illustrations of the main players. An Epilogue covers how many of the characters fared during and after the war. Over all, this is an above average account of a small but important campaign.

After listening to Clayton Newell during one of his many speaking engagements I went out and purchased this book. The anaylsis of General Robert E. Lee vs. George B. McClellan is both riviting and thought provoking - cover to cover. In 1861 both sides had little in the way of experienced officers who commanded higher than the regimental level, yet these two men took up that challenge and the end results are still being debated to this day.

The author does an outstanding job in analyzing their strength's and weaknesses, along with their usage of junior officers. This analysis along with snippets of little known historical facts make this a most enjoyable book to read. Coming from a state born of this conflict, the studies within these pages hits real close to home!

The original version of this book, published in 1972 by Alfred A Knopf, reflects the thinking of historian Roy A Medvedev in the period of August 1962 to August 1968. The revised and expanded 1989 version must first be examined in light of the original.

The original was translated by Colleen Taylor and edited by David Joravsky of Northwestern University. Medvedev couldn't get published in the USSR, and this work thus first appeared in the West. It was written primarily during the transition from Khrushev's anti-Stalinist reforms to Brezhnev's immanent social-imperialism.

August 1968 is also the month of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslavakia and the defeat of Dubcek's "socialism with a human face." This is also the period of Mao's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

Stalin was as evil as Hitler, yet he rose to power in the first Socialist state. The Second World War played itself out as one totalitarian dictatorship in a death struggle with another, yet Stalin ended up through the course of events as an ally of the democratic and capitalist Anglo-American West in its life-or-death struggle against fascism.

Totalitarianism turns out to have been the big infatuation of the twentieth century intelligentsia. Medvedev represents Russia's awakening from this plague. He is wrong about so much, yet for his age he was so far ahead of his times.

This book is a classic, and I believe the original should be the preferred version. Stalin's terror is nearly beyond belief. It is tragic in a different way than Nazism; perhaps with consequences more evil.

If Leninism ever revives, this will be a classic, just as it is now in the wake of the Cold War defeat of Communism.

This book is a very thorough and well-written biography of Josef Stalin. It was one of the few books I read in college that I didn't mind reading. The information on Stalin's political and personal life gives the reader an opportunity to make informed judgements about Stalin's actions.

This book was the first in the Soviet Union to treat Stalin in an objective way. Prior to its release Stalin had been the great hero of the patriotic war the father of the country and so forth. Whilst the secret speech by Krushev had distanced the country from his system scholarship had not taken the step of subjecting his rule to objective analysis.

The author was a person who was an opponent of Stalin and prior to the fall of the regime was active in its criticism. The book goes through the issues associated with Stalin such as the decision to collectivize agriculture, the forced industrialization, the terror and the handling of the war. The author forms the view that Stalin was an unmitigated disaster. That is the country would have progressed economically better without him, and his handling of the war was catastrophic.

It is a good book to read with other western accounts such as Bullocks.

The late 1990's saw the publication of numerous scatterbrained, and ill-intentioned, attempts to descredit Vladimir Lenin, Nikolai Bukharin, Leon Trotsky, and Karl Marx, by associating their actions, and ideas, with those of Joseph Stalin. One must ask, "were these attempts in any way successful?" Luckily, the answer is an emphatic, no. The individuals who bought into the "Marx and Lenin created Stalinism" theory, alluded to in works such as 'The Black Book of Communism', by Mister Courtois (or Miss), 'The Passing of an Illusion', by Mister Furet, and 'The Soviet Tragedy', by Mister Malia, already harbored such fantastic illusions. Most of the population has no interest in Sovietology, so attempts at descrediting Lenin, Marx, Bukharin, and Trotsky, were, and are, virtually fruitless (I took a Public Speaking course at a local community college, and most of the students hadn't even heard of Lenin, Marx, or Trotsky!.)

To find true objectivity, on the subject of Sovietology, one must reach back into the distant past, and read Roy Medvedev's incredible, 'Let History Judge'. One could refer to Medvedev's writings, as "Solzhenitsyn, without the racism and bitterness"(a spew of biographies show that Solzhenitsyn is without question anti-semitic; however, this fact doesn't mean he's no longer one of the elite writers of the twentieth century). 'Let History Judge', is not so much a history of Stalin, but a history of Russia from 1917-1953. Described, with minute detail, is Lenin's seizure of power, Lenin's benevolent feelings toward Stalin (which ended effectively after the Eleventh All-Congress of the Bolsheviks), Trotsky's role as leader of the Red Army, Trotsky's complete ineptness in regard to the left-opposition, and Stalin's remarkable, almost super-human, political abilites. In addition, one will never discover a finer description of collectivization anywhere (although I must admit Conquest's 'Harvest of Sorrow', is pretty excellent). Russia's grain production in 1930-1933, were almost certainly below pre-WWI levels, apparently, but Stalin wanted Russia to appear forceful, so he sold grain internationally, as if it were "business as usual", which resulted in the death of millions of non-guilty peasants (however, one can not deny George Carlin's classic quote, "there are no innocent people, once you're born, you're guilty as charged").The description of the horrible Gulag system is not quite as great as Solzhenitsyn's, but it's pretty darn close. Unlike Solzhenitsyn, Medvedev doesn't slander the dead, or embark on anti-semitic diatribes (thankfully, for the population at large, Medvedev critiques much of what Solzhenitsyn wrote in the 'Gulag Archipelago' with absolute clarity).

The price is pretty high, but at 800+ pages, the person isn't really buying just one book, they are buying a multitude of books, which cover a variety of subjects. In addition to, 'Let History Judge', I would also strongly recommend you read Edvard Radzinsky's 'Stalin', Volkogonov's 'Autopsy of an Empire' (being a Yeltsin staffer, Volkogonov is biased, but there is some interesting anecdotes!), and Robert Tucker's magnificent two-volume biograpy of Stalin. Unlike other works on the subject of the Russian Revolution, these works actually take a "scholarly" approach!

Those foreign-owned companies thinking of setting up shop in Japan must read Leveraging Japan first. After arriving in Japan, you'll find yourself referencing this book often.

In particular, manufacturers of consumer goods will benefit from the insights offered by these 3 authors. Manufacturers of industrial goods may get less out of this book.

Although written back in 2000, Leveraging Japan is still a tried and true analysis of the Japanese consumer market. You'll learn why Western-based manufacturers of consumer goods prefer to enter Asia via Japan, not China.

If you are not a manufacturer, then I would instead recommend a book such as Saying Yes to Japan: How Outsiders are Reviving a Trillion Dollar Services Market.

This book details the atmosphere in Japan since the Asian Crash. It contains the most current information (released 1/04/00) on Japanese market conditions. This information has assisted me both in understanding my multinational clients' needs as well as directed me toward the legal advice I need to advocate in entering this market.

For 15 years now I have consulted for US companies planning to enter the Japanese market. It has been some time since I read a book this up to date, this exciting, this accessible on the subject of entering the Japanese market in the English language. The main shortcomig of the book is its misleading title: the book is really about the changes in the Japanese market due to the changing consumer demographics and attitudes, regulatory restructuring, and the ongoing revolution in distribution systems; about the recent experiences of US entrants (1994-98) into the market; and the reasons why some succeeded while others failed. The books makes three exellent points: that the Japanese market place is changing dramatically; that foreign companies with the commitment and the resources to enter the market directly can and do make lots of money in Japan almost immediately; and that Japan offers much better profit and growh prospects to American companies than the ephemeral but fashionable emerging markets of SE Asia. The book presents issues of doing business in Japan from the point of view of large, determined, well capitalized companies entering the market through their own directly owned subsidiaries and makes the point that this may be the only fool-proof method to do well in that market. It isnt cheap, but worth its price as a guide and a reference book.

As both a Japanese and an experienced marketer who got the master degree of marketing in the U.S. recently, I do recommend this book for your "must-read." There may have been a lot of books titled such as "Marketing in Japan," and they might have taught you "Bow each other and give your name card when you see Japanese business person at the first time." It's really awkward for Japanese. And I had been very curious why foreign marketers have repeated to fail in Japan's market and why they have misunderstood or overlooked Japan's culture, infrastructure, and fundamentals as a lucrative consumer market. The book will show you the change of Japan as the most important market and the portal to Asia into new era, but will tell you the principle of multicultural marketing that has not changed, as well. The reliable statistics and tips/topics in the book are absolutely terrific to depict the real Japan. It must be helpful for you to know and success in the market.

If you've ever wondered while traveling to scenic locales whether they served as backdrops for some of the most momentous events in this country, this book has the answers. Brought to you in the lovely form of photographs taken across a glorious landscape - in conjunction with the impressions made on Lewis and Clark back in the day - this work transcends other photography books and moves in the direction of magic.

I especially enjoyed the humanistic asides on the "slave" and "female" perspective that featured so powerfully on the journey.

A beautiful book at many levels.

I was surprised and excited to receive a signed photo journal from George Thomas. I had looked in books that offered good quality, applicable pictures that I could look at while researching and reading other books (i.e. Undaughted Courage- Steven Ambrose, and Out West- Dave Duncan). I was surprised how hard it was to find a book with many pictures of the trail highlights

This book has not only pictures of the many landmarks along the trail but also suggested old camp sites and river forks described in the story books and journals (I believe they were taken around the same time of year the explorers traveled).

I would suggest this book for everyone!

This is an excellent overview of the terrain Lewis and Clark encountered on their expedition of 1804-1806. It consists mostly of gorgeous photos of scenery. As the author states in the preface,"If Lewis and Clark had had the good fortune to document their amazing journey with photographs, these are the scenes that would have been recorded because these are the scenes described in their journals." The photos cover the entire route, and at about the time of year that Lewis and Clark were there.

I recommend this book.

The photography was breathtaking. It is an excellent book for the layman. I would advise any history buff to read this book. It is also an excellent resource for teachers.

FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH

At the start of the 21st century the international labor movement faces, as it has for a long time, a crisis of revolutionary leadership. That leadership is necessary to resolve the contradiction between the outmoded profit-driven international capitalist productive system and a future production system based on social solidarity, cooperation and production for social use. In America, at least, there is also a crisis of leadership of the black liberation struggle, which is tied into the labor question as well through the key role of blacks in the labor force. More happily in the 19th century in the struggle against slavery by the slaves and former slaves for black liberation there was such a leadership and none more important than the subject of this autobiography, Frederick Douglass. Even a cursory look at his life puts today `clean' black leadership in the shades.

That Frederick Douglass was exceptional as a fighter for black freedom, women's rights and as a man there is no question. His early life story of struggle for individual escape from slavery, attempts to educate himself and take an active political role on the slavery question rightly thrilled audiences here and in Europe. I, however, believe that he definitely came into his own as a revolutionary politician when he broke from Garrisonian non-resistant abolitionism and linked up with more radical elements like John Brown and the Boston `high' abolitionists like Wendell Phillips and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. This abolitionist element pointed the way to the necessary fight to the finish strategy, arms in hand, to end slavery that eventually came to fruition in the Civil War.

At one time I personally believed that Douglass should have gone with John Brown to Harpers Ferry. He would have provided a better grasp of the political and military situation there than Brown had and would have been forceful in calling out the slaves and others in the area to aid the uprising. In no way was my position on his refusal based on his personal courage of which there was no question. I now believe that Douglass more than made up for any help he would have given Brown by his work for an emancipation proclamation and for his calls for arming blacks in the Civil War to take part in their own emancipation. As such, it is well known that Douglass was instrumental in calling for the creation of the famous Massachusetts 54th Regiment, including the recruitment of two of his sons. Yes, 200,000 black soldiers and sailors under arms fighting to the death, and under penalty of death by the rebels, for their freedom is a fitting monument to the man.


Douglass, as well as every other militant abolitionist worth his or her salt, lined up politically with the new Republican Party headed by Lincoln and Seward before, during and shortly after the Civil War. However, the Republican Party ran out of steam as a progressive force fairly shortly after the war, culminating in the sell-out Compromise of 1877 which abandoned blacks to their fate in the South. Douglass, committed to emancipation, education and `forty acres and a mule' for his fellows stayed with that party far too long. When key elements of that party lost heart in the fight for black emancipation due to their racism and other factors, moved on to other more financially rewarding interests, or accepted the traditional white leadership of the South he also should have moved on to another progressive formation. Embryonic workers parties and other such progressive formations were raising their heads in the 1870's. I do not believe that office in the Consular Service in Haiti was worth continuing to support a party going in the wrong direction. Notwithstanding that point, if you want to read about the exploits of a `big man' in the history of the struggles of the oppressed, our history, when it counted this is your stop. Honor the memory of Frederick Douglass.

- As an author myself, I recommend that you purchase this book for personal study. "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is a fascinating book and video that helped me understand one of my relatives.
Author. "Knowledge For Tomorrow" Quinton Douglass Crawford

I think this is a must-read book. Douglass is a wonderful example of a man who "made lemonade out of lemons." Really, he is a terrific role model...a man of integrity, incredible intelligence, and an overflowing heart.

This book, written in Douglass' later years, not only lifted my spirits but did a great deal to reestablish my faith in humanity. This was a man who had every opportunity, and reason, to be bitter and/or vengeful. He, instead, chose to fight, with his intellect and his golden tongue, for what he, and others chained in slavery and social subservience, rightfully disserved as a member of our human race. He was a man of conviction and inner strength who taught himself to write with an elegance that I have never seen equaled. I strongly recommend this book.

This book is a must read for children to get a proper perspective of history. Public school textbooks will not reflect our Christian roots. Parents should read the regular version. My 9 year old granddaughter says this is her favorite book.

Great and educational book. My son loved it and he does not care to read. This is a must for all out there.

This is a good book for Christian homeschooling moms. I bought it for my daughter, who is homeschooling her children.

Like the adult book of the same title, The Light and the Glory for Children examines evidence for America's Christian roots. The authors reveal a past that is not at all smooth. The challenges of settling this land and building a new nation are shown in their harsh reality. Equally, the faith that strengthened the people for these challenges is presented as inspiration for tomorrow's citizens and leaders. Review questions in the back of the book helped my children explore their own values and beliefs about their country. There could be no better way to raise responsible citizens than to have them investigate our Christian heritage through this book.

Beautifully illustrated and with all of the girly frills, A Little Girl After God's Own Heart is an attractive and sweet story that is sure to reach every little girl's heart. Characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control are the focus of the story.

Elizabeth George brings the meaning of those traits to life in a poetic form, and by using practical illustrations and catchy rhymes that a child can easily memorize. Short prayers are inserted where they fit and demonstrations of how to better handle situations are highlighted. For example: (on gentleness) "When things go wrong, take a step back--calm down, be thoughtful, and please, don't attack!" These are words of wisdom to live by. I recommend this book as an instruction guide for children as young as 18 months old, and up through about second grade. - Michelle Sutton, Christian Book Previews.com

This book is timeless, and beautifully illustrated! I purchased this book before my daughter was born 6 mos ago in hopes of giving it to her when she is able to understand it and appreciate it. The book offers, simply, the attributes that we should be teaching our little girls so that they grow into fine young women. This would also make a wonderful baby shower gift for the parent who knows the sex of their baby. (The boy version, by Jim George, is also available and makes a great gift.)

This review was written for Christian Book Preview's site.
Beautifully illustrated and with all of the girly frills, A Little Girl After God's Own Heart is an attractive and sweet story that is sure to reach every little girl's heart. Characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control are the focus of the story. The author brings the meaning of those traits to life in a poetic form and by using practical illustrations and catchy rhymes that a child can easily memorize. Short prayers are inserted where they fit and demonstrations of how to better handle situations are highlighted. For example: (on gentlesness) "When things go wrong, take a step back--Calm down, be thoughtful, and please, don't attack! Words of wisdom to live by. I recommend this book as an instruction guide for children as young as 18 months old and up through about second grade.

Written by Elizabeth George with paintings by Judy Luenebrink, A Little Girl After Gods Own Heart is a picturebook written especially for Christian little girls, listing positive qualities to strive for in one's heart. Love, Joy and Peace, Patience, Kindness and Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control are all extolled as precious virtues to cultivate in God's eyes, as revealed in quotes from holy scripture. The illustrations reveal the adoration and wonder of the artist, in this giftbook meant to be cherished as an uplifting source of inspiration for young female children.

Passing for Who You Really Are

Falsely labeled as a "black" author because of his book of poetry and short stories, CANE (which deals almost exclusively with multiracial people), Toomer fought a life-long battle to be recognized for what he truly was. His theories of a "universal man" beyond racial demarcation makes him an important dissenting voice against the hypodescent status quo.

This is one of the best books I have ever read! Because I am a huge fan of CANE, I had to read this bio of Toomer. It is very detailed, very insightful, and provides a full view of Toomer and his family, leaving it to the reader to make a judgement about The Toomer family and Jean Toomer. I feel Toomer was a genius, and yes he was an egomaniac, but who cares? He was sensitive and spiritual and sexual and hungry for understanding and all those qualities come across in CANE and in this bio. Interestingly enough, his detatchment from blackness makes him more interesting because he forces you to think outside the box. [After all, the Black race is the only one in the US history to be said to hinge on "one drop" which is pretty ridiculous. "One drop" was a tool to keep lightskinned blacks from getting access to the money of their fathers.] I only wish Toomer could have written 1 or 2 more books in the vein of CANE.

This is a great book focusing on a man who had the courage to reject society's efforts to impose a "racial" identity upon him. He steadfastly refused to be labeled "colored" (black) or "white" and considered classification the nemesis of mankind, a reflection of intellectual empty-headedness. A quote from the book: "Thus Toomer propounded the rather unpopular view that the racial issue in America would be resolved only when white America could accept the fact that its racial 'purity' was a myth, that indeed its racial isolation produced blandness and lack of character. On the other hand, racial purity among blacks was just as much a myth and only encouraged defensiveness and unconscious imitation, like that of an adolescent who defines his revolt against his parents by the very values he is trying to renounce. Race, he said, was a fictional construct, of no use for understanding people." We need more people like Jean Toomer today!

The authors make it clear that Toomer rejected the racist ideologies of both 'blackness' and 'whiteness':

"And he had lived among blacks, among whites, among Jews, and in groups organized without racial labels around a shared interest such as literature or psychology, moving freely from any one of these groups to any other. One mark of membership in the 'colored' group, he said, was acceptance of the 'color line' with its attendant expectations; neither his family nor he had ever been so bound. To be in the white group would also imply the exclusion of the other."

It's a great book!

Overall, I liked this book. The story of JR's early racing days and his travels with Jim McElreath as they followed the IMCA circuit was good reading. In addition, the details of his 1966 Eldora crash and recovery as well as his experience driving the Smokey Yunick NASCAR Chevy in 1963 was very interesting. I would have liked more technical detail on what happened to his race cars to cause poor finishes at Indy in 1973, 1982, etc.

If you are a fan of Johnny Rutherford and racing in general, this is the book for you. The book gives insight from inside the racing world. It is a highly detailed account of Johnny's personal life and his racing career. I found his personal struggle to become a big time driver very interesting, as he started at a relatively late age for his era. It was also interesting for me to read his explanation of the many changes in racing and what was expected of a driver from his first race until his retirement. The candid comments and numerous photographs, make the reader fell like he has had a personal converstaion with J.R. himself. I believe almost anyone will enjoy this book.

If you are a fan of Johnny Rutherford and racing in general, this is the book for you. The book gives insight from inside the racing world. It is a highly detailed account of Johnny's personal life and his racing career. I found his personal struggle to become a big time driver very interesting, as he started at a relatively late age for his era. It was also interesting for me to read his explanation of the many changes in racing and what was expected of a driver from his first race until his retirement. The candid comments and numerous photographs, make the reader fell like he has had a personal converstaion with J.R. himself. I believe almost anyone will enjoy this book.

If you are a fan of Johnny Rutherford and racing in general, this is the book for you. The book gives insight from inside the racing world. It is a highly detailed account of Johnny's personal life and his racing career. I found his personal struggle to become a big time driver very interesting, as he started at a relatively late age for his era. It was also interesting to me to read his explanation of the many changes in racing and what was expected of a driver from his first race until his retirement. The candid comments and numerous photographs, make you fell like you've had a personal converstaion with J.R. himself. I believe almost anyone will enjoy this book.