Government Books

I can't find this book ? Can somebody help me to find a place to buy it ?

What started out as a collection of articles in Australian newspapers The Courier Mail, the Australian and the Age has become one of the best and even now, one of the most relevant and well thought out political commentaries on political power in Australia.

Garrett is passionate, prophetic and coherent. His argument is timeless. Further more, it shows Australian politics has changed little in nearly 20 years.

Hard to find but worth the effort. Australia's most passionate voice

Wonderful writer, passionate man

After literally years trying to find this book at used bookstores around the world over the internet, I discovered that my local library could get it for me via an inter-library exchange. Boston Public Library has a copy.

- An Oils fan.

Very clear and concise analysis and overview of International Political Studies.

Of course neo-conservatives and the pro-war left will chant at me that the world has changed since the US/UK entente acted bilaterally and did not approach the UN for a second resolution on Iraq. Save your breath! I've heard it all before...

When the dust settles and there is a world realignment, the realist tendencies of states will again rise to dominate IR. You can even quote me on it.

I'm sure the framers of NAFTA and the FTAA had just these ideas in mind. Students of IPE: take notes!

This is an extremely pertinent book for the next millenium. It is also quite popular in policy circles inside the Beltway. It is an indeispensible text for all Americans concerned with the future of international trade and the ongoing pathologies of our current trade regimes and the power relations they sustain to the detriment of the vast majority of human beings and the planet. It is thorough and scholarly throughout. While it is best read with a cup of Joe on a rainy day, it is worth the time and pays rereading many times over in light of current events. It's only shortcoming is it's neglect of the ecological dimensions of international trade and politics, nevertheless, it is a book for all who care about the human future.

Robert Gilpin's work is excellent addition to the study of political economics, albeit one that is starting to show its age 20 years after being written. This notwithstanding, the theoretical components of the book are mostly still valid and have been built upon by Gilpin in further works. As a matter of historical record and of economic history, it makes fascinating reading and it is especially interesting to consider the author's speculation as to the future of American hegemony prior to the fall of the Soviet Union. Obviously many of the authors fears were ill-founded, but it is interesting to note how different it could have all been. Additionally, many of the examples used, primarily dealing with the economic ascendancy of Japan, could today almost be replaced with China. It will be interesting to see whether this time it is the end of US hegemony or whether history will repeat itself.

Overall well worth the read.

Robert Gilpin's in-depth coverage of the multi-faceted world of political economy comes to fruition in tedium in the pages of this book. There is not a single author who puts together a traditional or classical view of the enviornment, international relations, economic policy, and strategy in such a comprehensive manner. Gilpin shows his true scholarly intellect of those before him and provides encouragement for those to follow.

Of course, this is perhaps the foremost book on political theory of the last fifty years - basically required reading for anyone with claims to being a political philosopher or interpreter. It is an examination of the nature of political thinking and its connectedness and importance with regard to economics, religion, and the broader society from the time of Plato to the Bush II administration.

This expanded version of the book consists of seventeen somewhat independent chapters devoted to leading political thinkers, such as Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Marx, Nietzsche, and to such concepts as liberalism, community, democracy, and totalitarianism. Given the nature of the subjects the reading is slow going, though quite informative. There does seem to be a certain amount of needless repetition, even within chapters, and the overall affect is more one of fragmentation than of a unifying thread. For most, undoubtedly multiple readings would be required for full assimilation.

There will be no attempt here to offer any sort of critique of the substance of the book - a large project to be sure. There is an interesting chapter that dissects the political writings of John Rawls, the leading political theorist of the late twentieth century. The impact of Superpower and corporate dominance on the possibilities for democratic action in the current era is explored. It is clear that the notion of what is political is ever-changing and is not without its complexities.

This eminently readable work can be picked up and put down as time permits--no small virtue in a busy time, and essential for a proper education in political ideas that still very much shape our world. Without making many explicit comparisons or contrasts, Wolin somehow manages to suggest numerous points of intersection between our political dilemmas today and those that beset people thousands of years ago. This is an erudite, witty, accessible book. It should be required reading for all Americans--especially for those of us who like to shoot our mouths off about liberals, conservatives, and other such oddities in the common bestiary. I wouldn't let my copy go for five times what I paid for it.

This book is so rich and it is about so many things that it is difficult to praise in a brief blurb, but suffice it to say that it presents the development of political thinking since Plato to Roman political thought in the age of the Empire to the rise of the Catholic Church to the Reformation, to the reawakening of Classical theory in Machiavelli and onward to the development of modern ideas of the state, of order and security, representation of the polity, democracy, and authoritarianism. Each chapter is written like an individual essay, but with a depth unmatched my most other books on the subject. Perhaps Q. Skinner's development of western political thought is an approximation.

This book is not just a brief summary of the major figures and ideas; it is a discursis of THE tradition, THE language, THE development of theories AND praxis of human beings applying reason to organize themselves into groups for better protection against scarcity and death. Sexy, hmm?!

It would be interesting to read an equivalent book on the Eastern political tradition, as China is not covered here.

But otherwise, I cannot praise this book more highly. It is one to reread every year or so. When you have some free time that is. And after you reread Hamlet. Or maybe you're better off rereading Robinson Crusoe. Same question, different answer, anyhow.

This is an exemplary work that engages the entire history of political thought in the Western tradition. Wolin has added four significant chapters to the original 1960 book and one addresses postmodernism looking at the Nietzschean background to our epoch. For any one doing serious scholarly work in political thoery, philosophy, critical theory, history this book is a necessary possession. For the rest, probably the best general work of Western political thought available.

That there are people waiting to buy our used copies of this book is a testiment in itself: this is simply a classic of political thought, one which has enriched political theorizing and instructed many a pupil in our traditions over the years. However, Wolin is working on a new edition which will (according to him), "repair" an "error" in this text, whatever it is.

I decided to read The Politics of American Religious Identity after reading a recommendation of it by Elder Oaks in his interview for the PBS documentary The Mormons (http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f11cb868474e3110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=9ae411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD).

Flake's book is a fantastic read of a very fascinating period in Church history. I was struck by her account of how the Church's leadership's understanding of what it meant to be "Mormon" and the Church's core beliefs in the nature of God, priesthood authority, and revelation really came into focus during this time. In her description of these events--from the view of what I assume is a non-Mormon scholar--one can see the divine hand of revelation as God worked through President Joseph F. Smith and the Quorum of the Twelve to refine the Church and its people.

That said, it is a wonderful piece of scholarship and a enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

This is an excellent book by an expert historian on the events that began the integration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into American life. Kathleen Flake discusses in detail the three-year-long hearings to determine if Senator and LDS Apostle Reed Smoot should retain his senate seat.

This book is not only about Reed Smoot, but also about then Church President and Prophet Joseph F. Smith. Perhaps Smith is the most interesting person in the book. His 5-day testimony before the Senate committee shows the quandary of demonstrating that the church was no longer teaching polygamy without alienating church members who were then praciticing that doctrine, which many believed to be the crowning revelation of church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. Perhaps today's faithful may be surprised that the LDS presidency and quorum of the twelve performed plural marriages after the 1890 Manifesto. (An apologetic treatment of this era is located on the FAIR LDS web site under the title "Polygamy, Prophets, and Prevarication.") Despite his careful statements as a witness (to the point of deception), Smith satisfies no one: not the senate, not the American public, and not the Church membership.

The 1900-era LDS church is also an interesting element in this book. The tension between the pioneer generations and their offspring over polygamy and the 1890 Manifesto fits the enduring theme of generational conflict, but also the ability of the LDS church to evolve in response to changing societal conditions.

Joseph F. Smith ultimately led the church through the transition away from polygamy and into American Life by focusing on the First Vision of the church's founder, the Prophet Joseph (who was Joseph F. Smith's Uncle.) To understand why this was effective you will have to read the book. Flake's discussion of Joseph F. Smith's eventual success in this regard is insightful and was a new wrinkle to me. Not only did Joseph F. Smith lead the church away from polygamy but he also revitalized the church's European missions, changed the policy of the "gathering to Zion" into one of building an international church; and encouraged church members to reject their isolationism and engage with their fellow Americans. Joseph F. Smith's support of Smoot's senatorial service while Smoot retained his role as Apostle proves to be a stroke of genius and ranks as perhaps Joseph F. Smith's most daring and visionary act as the President of the LDS church.

Reed Smoot is shown to be a remarkable individual. His senate career was almost 30 years long and in that time he became one of the most powerful senators and an adviser to three presidents, all the while serving in the highest quorum of the LDS church. I would have welcomed more biographical information about Smoot. Indeed this is the one shortcoming of the book.

With regard to religious bigotry in America, this book is poignant. With the candidacy of Mitt Romney, a faithful Mormon, we see the same accusations that were raised 100 years ago against Smoot: Questions of allegiance to the United States, dark implications about sacred LDS temple ordinances, suggestions that the LDS church is a subversive organization that aims to undermine the U.S. government.

It is not surprising that these repeatedly discredited accusations are once again being made by Protestant Churches and individuals. Flake shows that the Smoot Hearings were initiated, articulated, and sponsored by the Protestant churches and leading ministers of the day. Such is the state we once again find ourselves in 2007.

The drive to unseat Smoot ultimately failed for a number of reasons, including a natural inclination of Americans to allow freedom of religion, a movement away from Polygamy by the LDS church (after which the accusations against Smoot changed to questioning his loyalty to the nation), and also by Smoot's engaging personality and exemplary service as a senator.

I would like to believe we have come a long way as a tolerant nation in the past 100 years. However, it appears that we have not.

I've grown up in the LDS church, served a mission, am married in the temple, but I never really knew much about church history past 1847 and the arrival of the saints in the Salt Lake valley. I've started to become more interested in how the isolated Rocky Mountain church has grown into the worldwide organization that it is. At the same time, I'm also interested in politics, having studied law. This book was a real eye-opener for me. I found the explanation about the church deciding to reach back east across the Rockies to find acceptance to be very interesting. I also learned a great deal about Joseph F. Smith. He realized that the controversy surrounding polygamy was so great that it was taking away from the mission of the church to continue to proselytise and grow the kingdom.

It was also interesting to see how members of the United States Senate were actually arguing that Mormons didn't deserve the basic rights of citizenship that we take for granted today. Even in today's heightened sensitivity to different religions of the world, I don't think anyone would suggest that non-Christians duly elected to public office should not be seated in the office to which they were elected. Yet many believed that Reed Smoot should have been ineligible to serve because he was Mormon. Ultimately he was seated due more to political pragmatism rather than because of a true belief in the First Amendment.

Kathleen Flake does an excellent job of presenting all sides of the issues, and provides a large amount of sources in the endnotes. I would definitely recommend this book to all members of the LDS church to help understand how today's worldwide church grew from that small group of "peculiar people" in 19th century Utah.

This is a superbly written book, and one of the few works of professional, objective history that examines 20th century Mormonism. Flake's central thesis is that pressure from the US Government in the form of the Smoot hearings forced the church to abandon polygamy once and for all. Faced with the loss of its most cogent identity marker, the Mormon hierarchy needed to find a way for the Latter-day Saints to distinguish themselves from other denominations. They did so by emphasizing the restoration message contained within Joseph Smith's 1838 account of his first vision. By pointing to the vision's statement that Mormonism was a unique restoration of primitive Christianity, the Saints were able to set aside the practice that had made them unique up to that point: polygamy. Flake's arguments are basically sound, but somewhat overstated. For instance, the first vision had been used for this purpose since at least the 1880s, and she selectively sorts through the existing scholarship on the vision to skirt this fact. She also places too much emphasis on the symbolic importance of the centennial of Joseph Smith's birth and the monument that commemorates it. Nevertheless, this book easily joins the pantheon of "must read" books in Mormon history, and no student of the early 20th century church can fail to grapple with Flake's conclusions. An excellent and highly recommended work.

This is a superb book.

The book brings history to life as it clearly and cleverly recounts a demanding and difficult time in Mormon and US history. It weaves together the social, political, and spiritual themes in an easy to read and engaging way. It offers remarkable insights on how religion and politics co-mingle. It brings to life Senator Smoot and his demanding role as senator and religious leader. It offers insights into the operations of the Mormon church as it dealt with a sensitive and important issue. It offers insights into the political process at the turn of the Century and how political processes are shaped by individuals. Dr. Flake has a unique ability to bring history to life and to help us learn from this history. This book is academically credible and yet easy to access.

As a breastfeeding advocate myself, I wish that all young men and women were required to read this in high school, before parnethood. This book lets the reader see the conection between money, big business, and formula marketing. The book educates on the vast differences between artifical feeding and human milk, differences that the general population is unaware of. If you want to get fired-up over an issue, this is the book for you.

As someone who had to defend breastfeeding my child, I already had strong views about how society looks at the practise. The first time I read this book (first edition)I found the history behind it fascinating. What really alarmed me, though, was the truth behind formulas and what used to pass as formula! After getting the second edition, I was dismayed to find that nothing had improved in 10 years. This book is well researched an passionate. Be warned! After reading this, you may just become an activist!

I didn't understand breastfeeding advocacy until I read this book. Gabrielle Palmer covers all the bases on why we need to protect future generations from the mass marketing of infant formula, and how those products have become so prevalent throughout our society and the world. Covers the Nestle' illegal marketing tactics so thoroughly that I can't even consider buying any of their products. Background on the World Health Organisation's stance on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes made me realise what an all-encompassing public health issue breastfeeding is

I didn't understand breastfeeding advocacy until I read this book. Gabrielle Palmer covers all the bases on why we need to protect future generations from the mass marketing of infant formula, and how those products have become so prevalent throughout our society and the world. Covers the Nestle' illegal marketing tactics so thoroughly that I can't even consider buying any of their products. Background on the World Health Organisation's stance on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes made me realise what an all-encompassing public health issue breastfeeding is.

Already over ten years old, Gabrielle Palmer's eye-opening book pioneered some of the breastfeeding advocacy arguments being used by activists today.

Links obstacles placed in the way of breastfeeding mothers to the devaluation of the motherhood role which occurred during the growth of the industrial revolution.

Detailed history of breastfeeding and wet-nursing. Narrates the history of the Nestle scandal, in empathy with 3rd World perspective. A strong advocate for the rights of all babies to be nourished from the breast.

Counters anti-breastfeeding sentiment in today's society. Explains away sexuality myths which hinder women from breastfeeding in public. Terrific book for the breastfeeding professional who wants to boost their arguments!

I couldn't put this book down! The Politics of Deceit challenged my thinking on many levels. Though I am a regular voter, I often feel a sense of disconnect from the political process. By deftly blending the ideas from a variety of philosophers with his own anecdotal evidence to form a coherent argument for what he calls "freedom-to-experience", Smith has motivated me to engage in a more meaningful political dialogue with neighbors and friends. This intellectually stimulating book has reawakened my desire to explore more fully this grand experiment of democracy -- not as a bystander, but as a full participant.

While this book is titled "The Politics of Deceit: Saving Freedom and Democracy from Extinction" it is, above all, about freedom.

Smith breaks freedom into two primary categories. Freedom to will, he says, imposes restraints on others. Freedom to experience is a more extensive kind of freedom that, while limited at the boundary where others' liberties are encroached upon, also calls for responsibility to find common ground within our various differences.

From his experience in political campaigns he shows how political advertising is calculated for maximum psychological effect and that even those who are aware of its manipulation are not immune from its persuasion. If you remember, for example, a childhood memory of holding Bugs Bunny's hand at Disneyland then you'll be interested to read the chapter on televised ads.

Smith answers the question of "What is to be done" and foresees the internet and the emerging social media web sites such as web logs (blogs) as a means of democratizing the political process by encouraging broader participation.

I recommend this book for those who want to understand the deceitful manipulations of the political machine from a political insider who has a profound command of varied philosophical and scientific perspectives.

For the past several years, I have been disenchanted with the business of politics. The dishonesty, insincerity, and condescension was maddening and insulting. After reading this book, I understand why. According to Smith, we have been robbed of an authentic public sphere. Politics of Deceit delves into the roots of our democracy and defines what freedom means for us all. Smith has done his homework, as he refers to many of our greatest thinkers to back his own ideas. Smith says, it is necessary to redefine freedom because the politics of deceit demoralizes us all by substituting false idols for human freedom, by driving too many from the public sphere, and by creating a virtual polis inhabitied by oppressors who masquerade as liberators. In tackling the subjects of political advertising, news media, and voter suppression, Smith's credibility shines because of his obvious first hand knowledge. He has several practical solutions which give me hope that, if followed, I can make a difference.

Writers like Molly Ivins and Al Franken make us laugh and sometimes angry at how the conservatives maintain so much control in America. Glenn Smith makes us think -- about how we truly got here and how to get out. Smith shows how modern campaign practices -- the politics of deceit from the title -- corrode the system and rob us of our freedoms. To overcome the far right, Smith says progressives should quit trying to fight a war under rules written by the right. Instead, we should turn to the Net and grassroots organizing to reach out to the millions of non-voting Americans who can ultimately turn the tide. In the end, we must embrace the idea that none of us is truly free as long as one of us is not.

Smith is a troubadour of collectivist jingoism. A superior writer he employs the spectrum of propagandist tricks. From the non sequitur juxtaposition of the lynching fest (in the democratically run) old south with the unverified claims of "disenfranchisement" in the 2000 election to the skillfully employed passive voice -- the active voice requires a (falsifiable) subject -- to the howler that MoveOn.org is a grass roots organization he spins a bag of wild hairs from a crackpot old goat into a yarn thats convincing and elegant.

His flawless, graceful composition gives the perpetually banal socialist litany a lyric voice.

If only he used his powers for good instead of evil.

p.s. He took the time to proof read my review and email to me his delight in having a rightwing nutjob review his book. You're welcome.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in graduate studies in the social sciences or for those already in academia. Those who share Zinn's political and/or activist leanings have much to gain from this book. Even if one does not agree with Howard Zinn's politics, then one still needs to be immersed in these views to best learn how to refute them.

Howard Zinn is a teacher of social responsibility. This book breaks down American history into simple snapshots. He starts by examining who gains and who doesn't throughout history. The pattern is obvious. The government has had a long indifference to the poor. Zinn is a polished writer and a major force for good.

Howard Zinn tackles the biases of historians in this important book. His thesis, which he explores with case after case, is that historians employ a double-standard with regard to covering history, basically serving a propagandistic role in our society, camouflaging the bad deeds of business and government, even as they claim to be objective and neutral outsiders.

It's a similar argument that's made with the media, and no less important here. He argues persuasively (and thoroughly) for a radical approach to history, changing the role of historian to sideline cheerleader for the status quo to active participant in true social change.

Because this book deals with a lot of history, it may be of limited interest to folks who aren't already into history, hence the four-star rating. But for anybody who does find history interesting, I strongly recommend it.

Howard Zinn has the distinction of being both one of the most distinguished and provocative historians of the United States. His leftist philosophy permeates his writings and never fails to challenge his readers. "The Politics of History" is a superb collection of his earlier writings, originally published in 1970 but still persuasive in the twenty-first century. The twenty essays in the volume range from labor political history to historiography to issues of race/class/nationalism to freedom and responsibility. Throughout Zinn asserts a radical approach to history, one that "participate[s] a bit in the social combat of the time" (p. 3). He believes that the historian should be not just a reporter of the past but an advocate who interprets the past for the benefit of the present. He confessed, "My chief hope is to provoke more historical writing which is consciously activist on behalf of the kind of world which history has not yet disclosed, but perhaps hinted at" (p. 3).

Zinn explicitly pursues historical studies what adhere to the accepted standards of scholarship that also encourages "a higher proportion of socially relevant, value-motivated, action-inducing historical work" (p. 2). He believes it is time that scholars earn their keep in the world, and the best way to do that is to cease to be neutral, instead agitating for change in the world. All of his studies, including those in this collection, do just that by telling the story of the underrepresented, the dispossessed, and the trod upon. His emphasis is on class struggle, bigotry and racial strife, inequality and feelings of superiority, injustice, and nationalistic fervor.

I found especially useful Howard Zinn's statement in his essay in this volume on "LaGuardia and the Jazz Age": "There is an underside to every Age about which history does not often speak, because history is written from records left by the privileged. We learn about politics from the political leaders, about economics from the entrepreneurs, about slavery from the plantation owners, about the thinking of an age from its intellectual elite" (p. 102). His work represents an effort to move history in another direction. As he concluded in the essay, "Philosophers, Historians, and Causation," which also closes this volume: "So here is something for us to do: we can begin the withdrawal of allegiance from the state and its machines of war, from business and its ferocious drive for profit, from all states, all bullying authorities, all dogmas" (p. 368). Only in this way can historians begin to offer a new history of the world, and in the process, he hoped, become a cause of change.

This is a provocative collection, one that should be read by all who want to explore the history of the United States. It is alternative history at its best. It is political commentary that is both powerful and inviting.

Zinn makes perhaps the best points in this book early on, in his first essay "Knowledge as a Form of Power." Here he quite correctly notes that academia in America (and this is equally valid elsewhere in the world) tends to produce mountains of "inconsequential studies" which do little to add to our general knowledge or understanding, much less provide a basis for future action. What makes this statement so damning is that Zinn first wrote it over 30 years ago, and it's still applies today. Most of the essays in this book are dedicated to arguing that history and other social sciences should be more socially active, and that its practitioners should not hide behind objectivity and neutrality but rather "put their knowledge to work." Zinn backs the latter point by noting that even in the `hard' sciences there is subjectivity, which is what formulating theories is all about. Even so, several times he warns against omission or doctoring facts to suit the needs of idealism or ideologically driven agendas - in this context, he wisely includes this truism by Mannheim: "while ideology is the tendency of those in power to falsify, utopianism is the tendency of those out of power to distort." Zinn's views on scholarship and the philosophy of history are illuminating, and his specific essays dealing with the Ludlow Massacre during a miners' strike in Colorado in 1913, Hiroshima or the Allied bombing of the French town coastal town of Royan even after Nazi withdrawal (in which Zinn himself participated as a bombardier in U.S. warplane) provide a great deal of otherwise hard-to-find information and commentary on these events.

As we enter another Presidential Political campaign, where the issues of saving Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will be hotly debated, this is an important book that documents the history of the Medicare program from the 1930's to the ultimate passage of the program in 1965. Professor Marmor is uniquely qualified to bring life to the events. It should be read by all who will want to understand how we "got where we are", and perhaps give insight to ways to make these important social programs more vibrant in the 21 st century

Have you ever wondered how Medicare-the federal health insurance program for the elderly and some disabled--became such a hot news topic, or why its administration and benefit package (the lack of outpatient drug coverage, for example) seems so inexplicable and byzantine?

If so, Theodore Marmor's reissue and revision of The Politics of Medicare is the book you want to pick up. There is no comparable book of its kind. Other scholars have studied Medicare's origins. Journalists trace the ebb and flow of contemporary Washington battles over Social Security and Medicare. But Marmor, a Yale professor and health policy guru, has written the definitive analysis of how the political battles waged over health insurance and Medicare from the 1940s onward powerfully shape the debate over the program to this day.

Wondering why Medicare, unlike almost all major private insurance plans, fails to cover most prescription drugs? The seeds of an answer may be found in the fears of 1960s legislators that the unpredictable cost of drugs could swamp the program at its outset. Unsure why medical expenditures took off in the 1960s and 1970s? Partly because doctors, who had led the charge against a government-sponsored social insurance program for the aged, benefited enormously from generous rules that were designed to assauge their fears about participation. Puzzled how Medicare became such a political hot potato after years of uninterrupted popularity? Marmor deftly shows how the Reagan administration reoriented widely-held fears about medical inflation into narrower fears about the supposedly unsustainable cost of public programs.

Another reason that this astute volume bears reading, or rereading: Marmor shows that elections can really matter. In the absence of the Democratic majority in Congress that emerged from the 1964 elections, passage of Medicare would have been delayed or forestalled altogether.

Within the cozy world of health policy analysts, Marmor is known for being a staunch proponent of national health insurance and a skeptic about the potential of HMOs and different forms of "managed competition" to control health costs and delivery quality care. His convictions enliven the text rather than detracting from its rigorous logic. This is a book that anyone interested in the politics of health care, and in American politics in general, will appreciate.

One thing alone mars this otherwise impressive book: its packaging. Sadly, any seven-year old with access to Microsoft Excel could have improved on the volume's rudimentary and unappealing charts and graphics. But the reader shouldn't let this superficial flaw detract from Marmor's important and unusually well-written book.

The first edition of The Politics of Medicare, reprinted in part for the second edition, provides an engaging analytical structure for understanding the complex forces of governments and politics. While studying under the author, a gifted political scientist, years ago, the first edition was a cornerstone in our studies of healthcare politics and programs in the United States. The book equips the reader with the tools and knowledge to understand political forces well beyond the Medicare program.

The analysis of Medicare in the 1990s, found in the current volume, is excellent. This is an ideal time to read or reread the book since Medicare program changes will face our new President and the newly elected or reelected members of our House of Representatives and Senate during 2001. This fall I read the second edition and found the book very informative and enjoyable.

Revised for the first time since 1973, Marmor's *The Politics of Medicare* still stands as the best single book on the political genesis of Medicare. In this valuable new edition, Marmor brings his classic analysis up to date while addressing the arguments of contemporary critics of the program. During an election year in which Medicare looms large, there is no better guide to the political past and future of America's public health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

I have read two reviews of this book in odd places, both of which are highly favorable. According to John Glasel of the Musician's Union in NYC, Professor Marmor's 'perceptive work analyzes the partisan squabbling that hs shaped Medicare over the years. The first part, a reprint of the first edition of this book, traces the history of the fight for government health insurance from the 1930s to the passage of Medicare in l965. The book's second part, completely new in this edition, brings the history up to date. Many scholars, according to Glasel, have long considered the first edition of this book the "definitive work on the subject. Its new edition should now be accorded that distinction." I agree with that judgement very much. So does Jeff Levine of WebMD's Washington Bureau, who described The Politics of Medicare as "a book for serious students of public policy," one which does not simply recite "historical facts" but analyzes the origins of Medicare and then, in a complex and thoughtful way, tells the story from l965 to l999.

Karp, author of the brilliant book Indispensable Enemies, comes through again in this fascinating history book. Karp's underlying premise is that polticians start wars to destroy internal reforms wanted by the people. Here he shows how the Progressive movement was stymied by the Democrats and Republicans, with war as their chosen instrument.

Part I is a history of the Spanish-American War and here Karp shows how both parties colluded to bring on an unnecessary war. He firmly disagrees with the traditional historians who blame the war on the press. Part II continues this analysis, applied this time to the years leading up to another unnecessary war, World War I. Karp shows how Wilson drags the country into war, while all the time talking of peace. Once again the motivation is the same: thwart reform at home. Once the war has begun, Wilson uses the fake threat of German treachery to suppress the press and free speech of the American public. The last chapter is particularly chilling, as Karp gives the example of a woman jailed for saying the government is for the profiteers.

No political history has ever been done better. I am proud to give this book a 5 star rating and encourage anyone interested in history or politics to read this book.

This book is most provocative in its treatment of the generally revered Woodrow Wilson and the story of how (according to Karp) he cynically engineered our entry into WW I, motivated by Anglophilia and a messianic (and in Karp's view delusional) conviction that he could bring a new era of peace and justice to the world.

A number of books have made similar allegations about FDR and our entry into WW II, but at the end of the day, who cares? Does anyone really think the world would be a better place if the U.S. had stayed out of World War II?

WW I was quite a different kettle of fish, as Karp points out. It was not in any way clear that the U.S. had something to gain from involving itself in a sordid struggle in which neither side held the moral high ground. And Karp argues rather convincingly that Wilson was played for a fool -- he tipped the balance to Britain's Lloyd George and France's Clemenceau, only to see these enormously cynical and skillful politicians torpedo his "just peace" in favor of viciously punitive terms which ultimately led to the rise of Adolph Hitler.

Karp also discusses Wilson's suppression of free speech and his aggressive use of propaganda in favor of the war effort.

Karp was a frequent contributor to Harper's magazine who unfortunately died quite young a number of years ago. This little-known book should be read by anyone interested in America in the WW I era and in the development of modern American political culture. It's also worth studying if you want to understand better why U.S. public opinion was so resolutely isolationist up until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wilson got his war, but the experience left a very bad taste in the mouth of the American public.

I am a student of history and enjoyed this book. It gives a real good look at behind the scene at political manipulation on a national level and you can draw comparisons to the present administration.

This is one of the best history books I have read in a long time.The first part of the book is about America's involvment in the Spanish American War and is very interesting,but it is the rest of the book,which deals with America's long slide into WWI that makes the book great.Karp totally demolishes all the old fairy tales about "peace loving" Woodrow Wilson being reluctantly forced into declaring war on Germany in 1917.Instead we see a Wilson who worked tirelessly for three years to drag the US into the war against the wishes of the vast majority of his nation's people.As Karp shows,Wilson and his ambassador in England,Walter Hines Page,virtually committed treason in their efforts to get the US into the war,routinely ignoring British violations of America's neutral rights and generaly putting the interests of England ahead of their own nation.The resistance of the American people was able to block Wilson's ambitions for almost three years,but in the end the wishes of the people didn't matter and the politicians(plus the press and Wall Street) got the war they had been hoping for.Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Walter Karp's "The Politics of War" is simply the most concise and powerful study in history I've ever read. Simply by sticking to the premise that history is made not by anonymous "forces" but by men of power acting out of self-interest, Karp turns stuff that was frankly dull in your high school textbooks - you remember the names: the Progressive Era, the gold standard, William Jennings Bryan, the Lusitania - into something not only gripping, but eerily reminiscent of what our nation is currently experiencing. Karp's portrait of Woodrow Wilson as a self-deluded, self-righteous, vainglorious would-be messiah determined to drag an unwilling nation into war to suit his own dreams of glory is especially powerful and damning.

The final chapter, "The Old America That Was Free and Is Now Dead," is simply the most powerful piece of writing I've ever read in a nonfiction work, comparable only to the conclusion of Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem." No one could ever accuse Walter Karp of hating his country; he hated what a few people had done to it, and that, as all too many would like us to forget these days, is something very different.

"Dr. Excitement" has produced a political opus, a symphony of warring factions and dueling backwoods politicians that pokes at the cerebrum and plucks at the heartstrings. Dr. Lamplugh has outdone himself yet again. Jolly, jolly good show.

Dr. George Lamplugh's use of language in this book is phenomenal. This man is by far the greatest book about Georgia politics ever written. Any true Southerner, in fact, will adore this book. The book is so fascinating that I couldn't stop reading it, even when I was driving. I had a long road trip to the beach, and I read it the entire way down, while driving. I unfortunately careened into a ditch and I lost my book. It was the worst day of my life. Much Love.

even though i'm ownlee a young school boy, i can appree-shee-ate good books when i read them. doctor lamploo is probubly the bestest author i've ever read or even heard about even bwetter then shakespeer or hemwingway , dr. zhivago or probably even ronald mcdonald. when i was sick in bed i asked my mum to read me "politics on the periphery". i couldn't fall asleep until i made her stop since its kept me on me toes and there was this one chapter on the yazoo crisis i thinks and it sounded like yahoo chocolate milk and it made me feel warm and safe, even tho i couldn't stop coffing. besides dr. seuss and the barenstein bears, dr. lamploo's book is my favurite i hope i never get better so i can listen to it every night. i am so sowy i lied and said i was thurteen but i had to let ever-wee-one kno how good this book is. i have to to to sleep now i go to braves game soon i hope we win. if you make one big hugest misstake yuore whoole life dontt let it bee not gettingg this book becuz it changes lives!

I cannot possible convey how much this book has changed my entire perception of Goergia Politics. I am stupified and would love for anyone else who thinks of themselves as knowledgeable in Georgia politics to read this book. I could not stop turning the pages. I could not wait to see what was going to be on the next page. Thanks, Dr. Lamplugh. Now I truly see why they pay you the big bucks. My eyes are open for the very first time!!!!!

A real "page-turner," Politics on the Periphery served as the sole source of enjoyment in my life. And it will for you too! You see, I was on the verge of dieing forom the rare diease, Kolioscosis (the doctors gave me a month at best), but this book gave me a reason to live. Live it said! Live! LIVE! Thank you George Lamplugh. Thank you so very much.