University of Oregon Books

The Real Deal! No "Steve Mcqueen" character, but everyone a true hero.The Great Escape

It's a shame the publisher decided to put a picture on the cover of Steve McQueen wrapped up in the barbed wire at the end of his big motorcycle escape attempt. Because, you see, that never happened in the TRUE story of the Great Escape contained in this book. The movie (while good) took serious dramatic license, while Brickhill's book presents the facts. And they are quite inspiring and thrilling enough without the addition of fictional elements such as McQueen's stunt riding.
I first read this book while in elementary school, and was hooked to the extent that I've read it many times since over the decades. A truly outstanding story.

If you want to know how to make something out of nothing, this is the book for you. I've been reading and re-reading this book since early childhood and that's how I learned to make a needed item out of just what was at hand. McGyver had NUTHIN' on these guys.

MRS. Dee Schauer
Texas

I love the movie the Great Escape and I loved reading the book it was based on. The movie did an excellant job of following the book but reading the book gave me so much more of an understanding of what these men went through and the courage they had. To truely understand the courage these men had and what they went through, you have to read the book.

This is the (true) story of the efforts of a multinational group of POWs to escape during WW2, and led to what is one of my favourite films.

I anticipated the book to be a bit of a let down after seeing the movie, but it really wasn't. They emphasize quite different aspects, and some parts of the movie were clearly made up with entertainment value in mind (people jumping motorcycles over fences for instance!). I can't blame the movie makers of course, because the compelling essence of this story is the daily slog of tunnelling set against the backdrop of the mind-numbing drudgery of incarceration. No movie could be long enough to get this point across, but the book allows one to build up a better picture of what captivity was like, particularly because it provides such incredible details. I was really struck by the ingenious ways the prisoners found to fake German uniforms and official passes, improvise tools, and build radios and other vital pieces of equipment. The book provides sufficient descriptions to allow you to get an impression of the main characters and camp layout, though I personally would have enjoyed a few photographs of the people involved (good and bad), though I realise these wouldn't have been easy to obtain.

The author has a relatively dry style typical of a historian rather than a dramatist, and at times relates key events remarkably passionately. The book ratchets up the tension without having to try too hard however, and I could sense the tension that existed whenever the guards entered the barracks to check for tunnels. The depression that accompanies every uncovered tunnel jumps out of the page, as does the resolve to keep trying to escape without ever accepting captivity.

I was also pleased that the author described the events some time after the final escape, so that I could see how thoroughly the Allied authorities pursued the main protagonists, and what was their evetual fate.

This book was a fine testament to the memory of the brave men who didn't wilt despite literally years of incarceration in conditions that can best be desribed as spartan. If they had all died without anyone knowing their story the world would be a poorer place.

While I agree with those who contend that even in large doses vitamin C undoubtedly doesn't cure cancer, neither do the deadly poisons of chemotherapy and radiation. Unlike the horrible side effects and life shortening poisons of chemotherpy and radiation, even in large doses vitamin C won't poison your system and shorten your life. Having said that, I convinced that you can take to much of even an excellent vitamin such as C.

The mildest form of chemotherapy, mustard gas was used in WWI. It was so difiguring that it's use was outlawed at that time. The form most often used in present day cancer treatment is the most toxic form available. As it burns the tissues, radiation is no safer than chemotherapy.

In the 1970's Nixon declared a war on cnacer, which meant he was declaring war on our bodies. I'm not war with my body, but rather desire to do all in my power to treat as the fearfully and wonderful made creation of God that it is.

While not a cure for cancer either, a truly healthy diet, optimal doses of all vitamins and minerals, fresh air, moderate sun exposure, plenty of rest, dealing with emotional issures, etc, can prolong people's lifes, give them a better quality of life with less pain and in less advanced cases even reverse the disease. Way to often we are looking for a magic bullet supplement or treatment for disease. There are no magice bullets, but rather we all need to take "responsibility" and care for our bodies the way they were designed to be cared for. Prevention of disease not cure should be our emphasis.

User "L. POWER lp542": while Linus Pauling is a great mind and his vitamin regimine is a wonderful way to maintain a healthy immune system, his mega-doses of Vitamin C are ABSOLUTELY NOT a primary treatment for cancer, as you suggested. It is irresponsible of you to suggest that taking large doses of vitamin C can push one's cancer into remission. The only effective prescriptions for cancer are those offered by leading oncologists, like surgery, if possible; chemotherapy; radiation treatment; radiofrequency ablation; monoclonal antibodies; etc. It is irresponsible and morally abhorrent to suggest that vitamins can be an effective primary treatment for cancer when leading oncologists have never supported this hogwash. You are presenting a supplementary treatment as a primary treatment. And, since cancer is a fatal disease, your advice can actually shorten the lives of patients who would otherwise be receiving treatments that actually work and have been proven to do so in double-blind randomized placebo trials. Do you really believe that a random book (written by a Nobel laureate or not) contains secret cancer fighting tools that leading researchers and oncologists are not aware of? If vitamin C loading was so groundbreaking in the treatment of cancer, don't you think there would be articles about it in major medical journals and presentations on it at the annual ASCO (American Society of Clinincal Oncology) convention? There is a reason that mega-doses of vitamins are not used as primary treatment at cancer hospitals. That reason is that vitamin C loading is NOT a proven primary treatment for any type of cancer. There are NO studies proving that vitamins can push any type of cancer into remission. Those cancer patients you mentioned who are alive today are not living because of their vitamin loading. They're alive because of the primary treatment (e.g. chemotherapy, radiation, monoclonal antibodies, etc.) they received.

I have not read this book, but I somehow doubt that Linus Pauling would suggest in it that vitamins are a good primary treatment for cancer. In fact, I'm sure he didn't. Something this riculous could only come from a crackpot poster on Amazon...

Linus Carl Pauling is regarded by many as the premier chemist of the twentieth century. Pauling received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his campaign against above-ground nuclear testing, and is the only person to win two Nobel prizes that were not shared with another recipient. The other people who have received two Nobel prizes are Marie Curie (physics and chemistry), John Bardeen (both in physics) and Frederick Sanger (both in chemistry). Later in life, he became an advocate for greatly increased consumption of vitamin C and other nutrients. He generalized his ideas to define orthomolecular medicine, which is still regarded as unorthodox by conventional medicine. He popularized his concepts, analyses, research and insights in several successful but controversial books centered around vitamin C and orthomolecular medicine

Linus Pauling, best known as an advocate of the health value of mega doses of Vitamin C, and a two time Nobel Prize winner.

In a major cancer hospital in 1976, they carried out a study of terminal patients for whom conventional treatment was stopped. The control group of 1,000 who had no Vitamin C therapy all died by August 10, 1976. The test group of 100 patients who were treated with Ascorbate (Vitamin C) had eighteen people surviving by this date. The average survival time of those getting Vitamin C therapy was 4.2 times longer than the control group, on average living over 300 days longer. Some of this group continued to live indefinitely. You can probably imagine that people in a less dire state would show even better results.

Another study indicated that people with cancer tend to have lower amounts of Vitamin C. It is possible that the Vitamin C is depleted because it is being used by the body to fight disease, and therefore it might be reasonable concluded, according to Dr Pauling, that an ill person would need more of this supplement.

Dr Pauling himself took about 18g a day.

There are anecdotal stories in the book. One in particular of a man who took 10-12g a day for a 52mm liver cancer lesion. The cancer was stopped from progressing, and eventually much to the surprise of medical experts shrunk 32%. Dr Pauling recommended he up the dose to 25g daily, and he eventually on his own initiative went to 36 g. At the time he wrote to Dr Pauling he had survived two years.

One of the key issues we face as we grow older is disease of our connective tissue, and inflammation. This is manifested through conditions such as arthritis. I remember reading somewhere that about 80% of people age 60 have some form of arthritis. Vitamin C is an excellent anti inflammatory, and also great for allergies and colds.

If you are interested in learning more about health and longevity, I recommend reading this book.

If you were to find this review helpful, please click yes.

My grandmother was taking about 26 different meds for all sorts of conditions, COPD, arthritis, diabetes, cholesterol, fibromylagia, etc. etc. I figured most of her symptoms were a result of over medication and side effects. I first got the book "Best pills, Worst Pills" to review her meds. I highly recommend it. Then I started getting books on nutrition and vitamin supplementation. This book by Pauling is the best I have read. After you read it, it will give you a better understanding of how to look at you health from a big picture point of view. The other book I highly recommend is a book by Hoffer called "Putting it all together: The New Orthomolecular Medicine". He writes more about his clinical experiences. If you read the Hoffer book first, you would probably be a little more skeptical, but if you read the Linus book first, it will give you a better foundation for accepting Hoffer's propositions. GET THE BOOKS!!

This book is a philosophy treatise in disguise. Beware all who enter here! You'll not only get a knowledge of mosses and lichens, but a lot more! I couldn't put it down! Thanks, RWK!

Book came in time for birthday, in spite of bad weather and recipient was delighted.

Since, I've been recommending this book to all my friends with botanical interests ever since I read it two months ago, I might as well try to sing its praises to a broader public. I found it to be a book of a different order from most other nature books I've read. I'm not talking about comparative rankings here, though there is much to praise, but about its uniqueness. The only book in my acquaintance that I'm tempted to compare it to (though with a deeply respectful nod to the books of Lewis Thomas) is Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac". Both Leopold and Kimmerer have created essays with seemingly effortless grace and formal purpose, and both leave the reader with an enduring impression of someone writing who is, first and foremost, not a writer or a scientist or an environmental moralist, but, plainly and sincerely, a human being living and learning from and cherishing earth's nonhuman creatures insofar as possible on their own terms. We are most and best human when living in such caring wonder.

I've never purchased one of those books Amazon suggests when you're buying other books. But I'm glad I bought this one. Kimmerer is a scientist, a poet, a mother, a Native American and all these strands are blended in this remarkable book about her passion: bryophytes. Each chapter is a story that not only introduces fascinating information about these tiny but ubiquitous plants, but makes the entry into their world easy for a non-bryologist, AND leads to deep reflection about life. I found myself reading the book slowly, savoring and reflecting on each chapter. I plan to read it again before the year is out.

I bought this book because the author was coming to the environmental center I volunteer for. It is a wonderful book and the woman who wrote it is so deserving of our respect and praise. To quote someone who says it all, Janisse Ray said "something I took for granted has come alive, because I have been given its story. After reading this book, I took a magnifying glass outside and pored over the tree trunks. I have seen Robin Kimmerer's miniature landscape for myself. Yet, this is so much more than a book about mosses. This is a Native American woman speaking. This is a mother's story. This is a science revealed through human psyche. Robin Kimmerer is a scientist who combines empiricism with all other forms of knowing. Hers is a spectacularly different view of the world and her voice needs to be heard."

I heartily recommend this book.

I couldn't put this book down -- from beginning to end the narrator takes your breath away with her dazzling descriptions of the remote and beautiful Driftwood Valley; the accounts of the valley in dead of winter, covered in twenty feet of snow with wolves singing mournfully and stars and northern lights dancing in the sky, brought tears to my eyes. The physical hardships and hair raising adventures she shares with her husband and their animals, her descriptions of the native people and wildlife, fascinating commentary on wilderness survival, and most of all her heartfelt love of the land itself, are nature and adventure writing at their best.

I read this book after finding it in a box in my parents attic at the age of ten. I have been trying to remember the title or author for years so I could read it again! This book is a magical read for anyone familiar with the ebb and flow of life in the wild. It inspired me to move to the Pacific Northwest and I am now planning my own trip to the Driftwood Valley. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys spending time outdoors and reading about nature! Top notch!

I am pleased to see this book has recently been reissued. I have an old, but treasured paperback copy. The author is observant of, informative about, and acutely responsive to the environment she describes. Having experienced winters in that region I would say she is especially adept at rendering the harsh, but radiant winters.

This book is an amazing journey into the frontiers of nature, exploration and science in the 1930's.

I have an autographeed copy the ©1946 edition of Driftwood Valley. I had the privilege of growing up in the same rural Pennsylvania town as Ms. Fletcher. When I was a teenager, I was employed by Ms. Fletcher to clean house for her one summer while she was away. She is a very nice woman with a remarkable background. She has set aside a nature conservatory in Northeast Pennsylvania which is open to the public. She has always been active in protecting the environment and wildlife. I re-read Driftwood Valley every couple of years and just love the adventure and challenges of this true-life story. What made it even more exiting for me is that the author was from my hometown.

This book is a page turner. The author takes you on a journey with him as he bushwacks across the state of Oregon. He tells you of the interesting characters he meets, the animals, the dangers, everything. The story that unfolds is compelling. He writes both from his daily journal, as well as little interesting snippets of history about the ground he covers.
I just gave a gift copy to my wife. I also remember a camping trip some years ago. I went with a writer friend. I brought the book along to read a bit when I got into my sleeping bag each night. During the days, I'd leave for hikes and leave the book behind. When I returned, she was deeply into the book - couldn't put it down. I'd invite to go on hikes, she politely refused each day. That whole weekend, she barely came out of the tent, or when she did, the book was in her hand. She spent the entire camping trip reading that book - she loved it.
It's an awesome trip to take with the author. Enjoy

I bought this book used and quite cheap at a used bookstore (Powell's downtown) based solely on the cover. I was pleasantly suprised and really enjoyed it. It really takes you away from the hustle & bustle of everyday life through the wilderness which seems to be constantly shrinking in this Country. I would love to do a hike/trip like that someday.

This book was a Christmas present for my boyfriend, but I snagged it first and did nothing but rave about it as I read it.

The writing style is perfect - educational, personal, and almost like you are actually there with him on the hike. The tidbits of history, geology, botany are blended with observations of those met along the way and the writer's own growth.

I'm not a hiker (not even close!) but this book made me feel like I could get out there and do it - at least until reality set in. Even so, I enjoyed every step of the author's trip.

I just finished this book today and I must say, I hated coming to the end of the trail on this one (pun intented). From the opening to the close, this book takes you right into the author's daily trek. Through lunch, second lunch, dinner, through rain, sun, heat, cold, etc.

I have to say though, the very best attribute of this book is the author's writing skill. He entertains while informing, and while taking us along step-by-step through the beautiful wildernes he continually encounters.

Thanks Mr. Sullivan for taking the time not only to complete such a difficult journey, but also for having the discipline to keep a journal throughout and then to turn it into a fun, engaging book. We get to go with you without bearing a 55 pound pack along the way.

Reading this book felt a lot like taking a very long walk with a smart, aware, brave and sensitive friend. Here is someone who really knows how to live in the present. It's so inspiring that after I'd finished reading the book, I just wanted the journey of discovery and insight to continue. So today I'm going out to see what new paths I can discover on the outskirts of the city of Ashland. This is a book I know I'll revisit again and again.

I read this book when I was about 12 and I was completely captivated. I could not put it down and even after I finished reading it I kept thinking about the characters and the events. Some 20 years later, I still remember snipets from the book and the only problem is that I cannot find a copy to get my hands on for myself and my four nieces. Get it back in print - people everywhere are being deprived!

It's only loosely based on facts, but still a very good book. When I read it as a hyperactive 6th grader, I couldn't put it down. I wonder what ever happened to those Sager kids...

I couldn't remember the name of the book that so enthralled me in the classroom as a child. I do remember hanging on every single word that was uttered from my teacher's mouth as she took our class through the harrowing adventures of the Sager children. I couldn't wait til class the next day! Now as my book-a-holic daughter scours the shelves for her next great adventure, I come looking for a copy of this incredible tale...and I won't be letting go of it once I find it! A great read for all ages.

I remember being enthralled by this book when I was a kid growing up in India. Its not just an American story in that sense, because it a wonderful story of human courage, heroism and spirit. I highly recommend it to all lovers of adventure stories, adult or children. I recently moved to Oregon and re-read it and it is still incredible.

I too am amazed that there are not thousands of devoted American fans of this amazing book. Get it back in print and into your schools and libraries! Today I found this book at a Second Hand Book Fair in Brisbane, Australia, and have been firmly planted in my chair all night reading it from cover to cover. My only complaint is that it finished - I would love to know what happened to the children after they arrived in Oregon. The writing was simple and to the point - the story extraordinary. As our little girl listens to the story cds, I often quip to my husband that Pa from the Ingalls Wilder books frequently seems rather foolhardy - as a child I thought him magnificent and clever - as an adult and parent I see him taking ridiculous risks with his family's wellbeing and happiness. These people travelling to Oregon in their wagon trains make him look staid and careful. John Sager and his brother and sisters undertake an even more dreadful journey and this book keeps you frantically turning the pages - there are moments of terrible sadness, despair and horror - I cannot begin to imagine how children could survive this - but all the while you are so filled with admiration for their bravery and determination - and the descriptions of their surrounding environments are spellbinding. I am sure adults faced with the same odds would have just laid down and died. If you find a copy of this book read it - you will be captivated. I will never forget John, Louise, Francis, Cathie, Matilda, Lizzie, Independtia, Anna, Walter and Oscar. Incredible!

This remarkable book starts off slowly but builds steam thereafter in an absolutely spellbinding tale of a Polygamous wife - the second wife - entangled in the web woven by the opposing and confusing contradictions of Religion, Government, self-worth, and family. To further complicate matters for this particular family, it unfolds during the time that the Mormon Church was aligning with the U.S. Govt. in the attempt to phase out the practice of plural marriage among it's members, and be accepted as a State. In a catch 22, the people are often left to fend for themselves when the wheels of bureaucracy begin to turn against a tradition.

The story illuminates the potent undercurrent running turbulently beneath the "peaceable kingdom" concept of plural marriage; that of the human element so basic that no amount of religious teaching seems to tame; that of jealousy, the need for absolute love of one person for another, mingling with the eternal struggle for survival in desperate times without enough money; coupled with the anguish of trying to raise too many children without enough other resources either - and in an already unbearable set of new and complex circumstances thrust upon them.

The chapter dealing with the "deal" made between a first wife and a second regarding the "payment of the first girl child" is written with remarkable style and feeling, leaving the reader breathless, knowing this is far too believable to be fiction and is undoubtedly drawn on from a family history of long ago.

The chapter dealing with the "return of the missionary" and the surprise he brings with him is yet another story the reader does not expect and is related with humor, emotion and, thrown in, the unexpected "throwing to the winds" of what has up to then been a binding contract of the soul.

It's a wonderful book, and one that needed to be written. I highly recommend it if the reader is searching for an unusual reading experience, and can enjoy with an open mind a different type of literature.

I've been trying since I registered with Amazon four years ago to find the courage --and enough superlatives--to review this timeless, brilliant, incomparable, exquisite, flawless, hilarious, heartbreaking, life-affirming, never-to-be-forgotten story told from the viewpoint of the second wife-in-polygamy of a Mormon tailor during the tumultuous years when Utah had to abolish polygamy in order to join the Union.

Linnae is the most human and believable, yet the most lovable & admirable, heroine in literature--and that is no easy trick.

Every chapter describes a mini-epoch in those years of her life and is an almost-stand-alone jewel of a story. You will chuckle as long as you live about Christmas day at the novel-reader's house, and Mrs. Dancey and son Horace with their narrow hands and feet who used all the precious drinking water for bathing and hid the big green glass paperweight when it became a utilitarian object. And the hat that fell in the privy, the long campaign for toe slippers, the dead baby in the icehouse, the Old & Young Mrs. Monteith's tug of war over the first baby girl, poor Olaf's efforts to treat two wives exactly the same, Mrs. Sterling and the two beautiful Norwegian sisters her husband brought home from a mission trip. (I'm grinning now.)

Ardyth Kennelly was without doubt the finest dialogist who ever put pen to paper. The conversation between Linnae and the novel-reader's husband as he walks her home on Christmas evening, the bickering of the children while Linnae is telling them for the zillionth time their favorite story about Tom Thumb's wedding, her everyday exchanges with her children--there's not a false note in the nearly-400 pages.

Because I don't want to be a spoiler I won't even try to tell you about the most breathtakingly brilliant chapter in any book I've ever read--the last chapter of this book. Enough said.

I've surely bought and given away two dozen copies of this book since I first read it as a condensed novel in Good Housekeeping. I've never failed to get a call or card from the recipient thanking me for an extraordinary gift.

Several years ago I lent my copy to a dear friend who's even older than I and the only person I know who reads more than I do. We often exchange books we like and find little to say about most of them. But when she came for coffee the next week she handed it back to me with the strangest expression I've ever seen on her face and just looked at me for a second or two before she said in an awed voice, "It's.......... the best book..... I've ever read. Can you help me find copies for myself and Sam (her daughter) and maybe one for my library?" (I found her three copies from Amazon sellers.)

PLEASE read the superb Wikipedia entry on the beautiful and multi-talented woman whose first novel this was. (She died only a year or so ago.) Buy a used copy of the book TODAY and let's see if we can't persuade some influential reviewer to review it again so someone will reprint it for the next generation. It is a national disgrace to let a literary & historical treasure like this slip into oblivion.

I first read this book more than 20 years ago and the memory of it has haunted me (in a good way) ever since. Set in Utah in the late 1800's, shortly after the Morman Church had repudiated polygamy, the story is told from the perspective of the second wife of a polygamous marriage. The book is wise and funny and heartfelt. It moved me between belly laughs and tears (and isn't a day with both laughter and tears bound to be memorable?). If Mark Twain had been a Morman woman he would have written this book and I think it deserves to rank with Huckleberry Finn as an American classic.

I happened on Ardyth Kennelly's books at a library 35 years ago. I re-read each of her five novels every few years. I have been concerned that her works would disapear. ("Up Home" and "The Spur" are difficult to find on the used book market). How wonderful to learn that Kennelly's first novel has been reissued. I hope "Up Home," "Marry Me, Carry Me," "Good Morning Young Lady" and "The Spur" will also be back in print soon.
"Peaceable Kingdom" is the tale of a young Mormon second wife. Her story emerges in gem-like chapters, each one of which could stand on its own as an essay or short story. This book is a lovely reading experience.

Like the other reviewer, I just happened upon this book on the shelves and was surprised at how much it moved me. It is the story of the 2nd wife (and brood) in a Mormon, polygamous marriage near the turn of the century. The author's use of language creates vivid characters and anecdotes. I wish more people knew of this book.

For anybody going on bike tours this is a humbling book to read, and hard to put down. You can't help but root for two 18 year old boys who don't know enough not to make the trip. It also has special meaning for anyone who has ever driven all or parts of I-5 from San Francisco to Seattle. In 1909 it was possible to stay on the best road between California and Washington, and still get lost. Finally you get a feel for what life was like when my grandfather was alive. The postcards the two boys sent to their parents show buildings still standing today, but life was so much different. A good read.

If you enjoy reading about cycling and living this is a great book. I've read every touring and cycling book you can imagine, but this is the best! It really gives you a new perspective on how we ride today when you look at what these two boys had to endure at the turn of the century when roads did not exists as we know today. A truly well written adventure, great venacular dialogue, credible and yet an incredible story.

This book is an amazingly well-written story of the adventures of two young men bicycling from Santa Rosa, California to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909. You are drawn into the narrative until, before you know it, you find yourself riding along with them on their trip, tasting the dust, feeling their occasional pain, and even enjoying a piece of pie with them... and then you realize that, like an Ansel Adams photograph, you have been drawn into an illusion of a reality long past. And, smiling, you dive back into the book and continue pedaling.

I bought this book thinking it would be an interesting adventure tale. It is that but so much more. The writing is poetic and heart warming. An absolutely wonderful little book!!

I first bought the book because of its Vashon Island connection, being a lifelong islander myself. But I quickly decided it's one of the best bicycle touring stories in my library -- the boys come alive in the writing, no dreary list of statistics and mileposts, just two boys becoming men on their ride north to Seattle. Puts a whole new perspective on that ride for anyone who has cycled the Pacific Coast route in modern times.

My sister already has a copy and loves it so much she wouldn't let my mother borrow it. So, I copy as a gift for my mom and she can't put it down. For anyone who is a runner and loves reading about the history of the Oregon running team and the history of Nike, this is the book for you. This book has history and sports. Enjoy!!

I knew that Bowerman coached Pre and had an influence on Nike and the jogging boom of the 70s, but Moore's biography fills in all the gaps from Medford to Mexico City. Bowerman's life reads like a case-closing defense of the Great Man theory of history, at least for track & field. His accomplishments are truly remarkable and well-rendered by Moore.

This is an invaluable read for anyone involved with coaching. The first chapters on Bowerman's ancestors also offer some insights into Oregon life in the small towns in the late 1800's early 1900's. Finally, the book is well written and easy to read. All around a worthwhile experience!

This is one of the first biographies that I could not put down. Bowerman was so much more than a running coach. This is a must read for any runner.

Bowerman was one of the best XC and Track coaches in the Nation. His story is captured in this books and tells remarkable tales of his life that will live in distance runners hearts for years to come. This is a must get book and is much better than any other book even Running with the Buffalos. Dont pass this book up!!!

The book itself is a fantastic example of very thorough investigative journalism. The writers obviously spent years doing massive amounts of research and interviews. It reads very well and presents a cast of characters as they truly are. It is written for the layman and casual reader. Once you put it down you will be extraordinarily disheartened at how the S&L crisis came about. The book sheds light on the roots and origins - the push for industry deregulation in the '80s and its massive, and quite apparently not well thought through, embrace by legislators. But it does a fair and balanced portrayal of the actors - highlighting that the worst people were already professional con artists and had links to organized crime. What is truly disheartening is the massive participation by and interference by top level career politicians (a handful of whom are still around)- many of whom were found by their peers to have severely violated ethics standards. It does a good job of portraying why regulation and oversight of certain industries - particularly the financial services industry, is so difficult. The rulemakers (legislators) are often severely conflicted because they are so heavily funded by the industry - most people don't like taking shots at their meal ticket. Some legislators, as detailed here, won't even hesitate to attack regulators when they threaten their lobbyist/campaign lifeline - rather than protect their citizens overall.

This is a very good read in light of current events with the mortgage lending crisis. One will find creepy, even shocking similarities. The bottom line is the same - poorly written loans (given to an elite group in the S&L case) with no real, credible basis for believing they would be repaid - shoddy underwriting, shoddy controls, shoddy monitoring, weak regulation/deregulation/regulation with no teeth [which is always exploited by those opportunistic few who quite literally make a living as con artists (criminals)], massive interference by the rich and connected.

The best, and saddest part, is this book is real - the events really happened, the facts are portrayed very objectively (the writers did an extraordinary job with research and documenting sources of information), the people involved were people well known and are still around in some circles, the costs and consequences are real and still being paid for to this day. Reading this book in light of current events will make one pause...pause and worry.

A must read - will leave you speechless and much wiser.

I give this 4.5 stars out of 5 - very well done. The most accessible, well-documented history of the S&L crisis caused by Reagan in the 80's. Even though the topic is dated, the book provides a good subject for students of history, and also an eye-opener for people interested in the irresponsible (and costly) fiscal policies of the neo-con right wing.

In the first few pages, this book summarizes a problem (a scam, actually) perpetuated on the American taxpayers by a small handful of ultra-wealthy elitists. In just a few minutes, you will have a firm grasp on how the scam works, and the long term effects on the US economy - something even the press never really understood and failed to adequately convey to the public. The author uses metaphors and plain language, and even though it is dense, the book is easy to read.

Besides being a good overview, what I found most interesting was the secion on Neil Bush and his insurance fraud scams (over 100 of them), and how George H Bush was able to pardon him before the public or press got full wind of his embezzlement. Subsequently, I read the book "Silverado: Neil Bush and the Savings & Loan Scandal" - which was also very good, but franky, I thought that the short section on Bush in the Inside Job did more than an adequate job of covering all the facts.

Except for the historian, economist, or political scientist, this book is probably too much detail for the average reader. For those of you who want the quick & dirty fact, I suggest reading about it online (Wikipedia), or getting the the abridged version of this book, or listening to the abridged audio book. But the length of the book does not detract from my positive rating - very well done.

I highly recommend this to those of us who were not adults at the time: in the 80's, I was still a kid - I couldn't be bothered to know what was happening in the world of S&Ls. Little did I know, but those high-flyers would affect my taxes for years (and years and years).

The book is easy to read - not too technical. It was a bit repetitive at times, but I think that's because many of the S&L crooks used the same types of illegal ponzi schemes to move money from one pocket to the other.

If you're like me, and knew very little about the S&L debacle, then let this book educate you. It's a telling tale of the problems brought-about by rampant de-regulation. I never knew that the S&L scandal(s) involved the wholesale looting of these banks (and American taxpayers - since they were federally protected deposits).

If you're already well-versed in the subject, you can read this to get some of the more personal stories of theft and graft.

There were also stories of corrupt politicians. I know it's a shock, but to me there's nothing more disgusting than a public trustee bending the rules to their advantage: they work for us.

This is a tragic story of the looting of hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayers money, money that could've gone for needed social services or other things. The government let it happen and this book tells you how.