Government Books

The interviews are well put together. He asked important questions, and allowed those being interviewed to share their thoughts. Some of the answers are entertaining, and others really give you the insight that only a person that was there can give.

Read only the interviews you want, or catch your fancy.

I, too, am glad that AK Press re-printed this (unabridged) oral history project by the late great Paul Avrich. In this classic tome, Avrich brilliantly brings to life the fascinating stories of the heroic women and men, most of them immigrants, involved in the anarchist movement of the early 20th century. I especially found interesting the stories about Emma Goldman, Sacco and Vanzetti and the free schools inspired by the work of Francisco Ferrer. That said , I was a little dismayed that a few of the individuals interviewed espoused ideas that many activists today wound consider reactionary, such as support for Zionism and the Cuban exile movement. It bewilders me, for example, how any anticapitalist could denounce Salvador Allende and the social experiment he attempted in Chile. Likewise, I was troubled by the fact that the bulk of the book dealt almost exclusively with issues of economic exploitation and the state, ignoring equally important topics like race, gender, sexual orientation and the environment. Nevertheless, this is an important book, and despite its enormity, a surprisingly quick and enjoyable read.

Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America is a real treasure. It's more than 450 pages long, but I couldn't put it down. The book allowed me to escape into the lives of the real participants of the Anarchist movement of North America in its previous heyday of the 1890s-1930s. Originally published in 1995, Paul Avrich interviewed hundreds of Anarchists and former Anarchists who were mainly in their eighties and nineties in the 1970s, the majority dying within a few years of the interviews. I was especially impressed by this, since it gave hundreds of people who had led amazing lives a sort of last memoir before they passed, much in the same style as Working by [by whom?]

It is divided into six sections covering much of the American Anarchist movement. It is mainly centered around the east coast, especially New York. They are 1) Pioneers, which focuses on relatives and close friends of the famous Anarchists like Alexander Berkman and Ben Reitman, 2) Emma Goldman, who was hugely influential and left a strong impression on everyone interviewed 3) Sacco and Venzetti, which details mostly Italian Anarchist experiences around the famous trials and frame-up of the Italian immigrants, 4) Schools and Colonies, which focus on the Modern School movement like the Ferrer school or the Stelton colony in which Anarchists tried to build communities and separate themselves into a lifestyle, 5) the Ethnic Anarchists, focusing on different groups which really brought ideological Anarchism to the United States, like the Russians, Jews, Spanish, and Italian immigrants, 6) the 1920s and beyond, which links the activities after the big decline on the US Anarchist movement after the 1920s until the 1960s and the rise of the "new anarchist movement" starting in the 1980s.

What really struck me about this book was how similar some of the arguments of the Anarchist movement were in the past to those of the present. Past divisions between sub-groups were detailed in the text as well. As Avrich explains, the main split was between the Anarcho-syndicalists/communists and the Anarcho-individualists. Today, the main split is between the Anarcho-syndicalists/communists and the eco-anarchists. The discussion also includes people who got burnt out on anarchists because they thought the anarchists were ineffective. Many do not regret their involvement in the movement and look back on the years they spent in the movement as the best years of their lives.

In the end, the book is very inspiring because so many of the interviewees still call themselves Anarchists and see that the fight for a better world will continue no matter what. Many of them remain idealists and are hopeful that the world they have worked towards will come about someday. They have hope despite having seen the world nearly destroy itself, supposed comrades (like the Communists) betray them, and enough bickering to make anyone cynical. Many of them had not been involved in the Anarchist Movement for many years, or had simply been involved in book clubs or discussion groups that passed on the ideas. And yet they are still committed to the idea that all humans should be free of oppression and that no government can make you free no matter where you are on this earth.

I'm very, very happy that AK has reissued this book. Previously, it was only available in expensive hardcover.

What it is is nothing less than a living, breathing, oral history of the real anarchist communities which existed in the United States mostly before the second world war.

Instead of dry theory you have the voices of the people who have read the theory and have applied it in their lives in an actual movement.

You have people from the Italian Anarchist community in America, you have references to the Spanish one and how they organized in America while the CNT, the major Anarcho-Syndialist Union in Spain, was in existence.

You have recollections of the major Anarchists in America from people who actually knew them; you even have gossip over things like Sacco and Vanzetti by Anarchists theorizing about the case.

Plus, accounts of Anarcho-Communes, which did exist well into the 20th century.

If you ever wanted to experience what it would be like to sit at a table back in the first half of the century and hear the Anarchists of the time talk about their lives, their strategies to organize for social change in their communities, and their take on politics and anarchism, well, here it is.

The book is invaluable.

Better than trying to struggle over pointless legal theory in "What is Property?" by Proudhon...although other of Proudhon's works are good.

Hear the living, breathing, heart of the early 20th century anarchist movement: read this book.

Reads like a cloak and dagger thriller at times. This is a riveting account of the end of apartheid and the birth of democracy in a society that should be, by all rights, engaged in civil war at this time. Instead, Ms. Waldmeir gives us the reasons, historically and diplomatically, as to why this amazing transition took place in relative peace. She tries to give a fair representation of the roles of all the major players in this incredibly complex real life drama. I found the writing to be very insightful as an academic work while at the same time it was told as the dramatic, tension filled drama that the story truly is.

Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa
This book came on time and was delivered directly to my place of residence within two days. So far this book is worth more than just an assignment for class. This book also helps me to see another side of conflict that most people may never see in their life time; unless they live within a collective culture where group needs are put before the individual self.

This is surely the most informative book to have been written on the subject of South Africa since the end of the white regime. Ms Waldmeiris a superb writer, with a perceptive and self -deprecating wit.May she write heaps more. Dermot Ros

Anatomy of a Miracle is one of those history books you never forget. It does such a good job putting you there. You feel like you are at the meeting between Mandela and DeKlerk. This is history at its best. Anyone interested in Current Events or the History of South Africa and its transformation from Apartheid and White Rule to One Man One Vote and Democracy needs to read this book. I had no idea that Mandela and the South African government had been in negotiation long before Mandela's release. I also had no idea how well Mandela used his ability to speak Afrikaaner and his knowledge of Afrikaaner History to while negotiating to end Apartheid. You see the challenges DeKlerk, Mandela, and all of South Africa had to overcome. And they did. This is a short book, but after reading this you will become an expert on the events that led to the end of Apartheid and the beginning of Democracy in South Africa. This is a great book.

One of the best books from Emmanuel Swedenborg. A one never to be missed if we are to understand God and the way the governs the universe

I loved this book because of the depth it gave my Bible study. It goes in-depth into the language of the Bible, with the meaning of the word choice. It also talks about the nature of the Lord, helping me know He understands what sorts of things I struggle with and how He can guide me. In looking for a fuller way of life and faith, this book is full of ideas for improving the quality and depth of my life and faith. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants an easy yet deep reading about the Lord and life!

I don't think I can say enough about this book! It is actually four smaller works bound together, each one adding amazing depth to reading the Bible and knowledge of God and life in general. The Biblical support that is all through them is fabulously arranged, with clear connections and ideas. This edition of the book is small and very portable, allowing me to take it basically anywhere. It has improved my Bible studying and the quality of my life--because now I know more about how to bring God's love into my life and share it with others. If you are looking for a more intense Bible study, or ideas on how to truly live, this is the book to read!

This book contains four short introductory works by the profound Swedish writer and thinker Emanuel Swedenborg, who lived and wrote in the 1700s. His works as a whole offer thoughtful Christians a richness of insight and spiritual development comparable to the greatest religious texts of Eastern religions, like the Bhagavad Gita, the Yogasutras, the Dhammapada. These short works on faith, spiritual life, sacred scripture and the Lord show the reader some of what Swedenborg's longer works offer - a thorough renewal and revaluation of Christianity, focusing on revelation, doctrine and charity. As with all spiritual texts, these give the reader back many times the value he or she puts into working with them.

The book is in excellent condition and the delivery time was quite brief. Great service and great product!

Ferguson's book is a powerful analysis of the epistemological bottlenecks that plague development policy and the World Bank's approach in Africa. World Bank's economists usually put a discount upon rigorous social research requirements in the way they explain cause-effect relationships of the African economic deficits. With commanding persuasive force Ferguson shows how the peculiarities of the African context are dissolved in a (anti-contextual) cut-and-ready, illogical analytical framework, rendered 'logical' to best accommodate World Bank's internal bureaucratic rationality. One should not wonder why the policies born out of such an 'Anti-Politics Machine' by and large remain in de-phase with the very notion of development.

By
Cyril FEGUE

I was referred to this book by my lecturer in applied athropology. Reading it caused me to rethink and rewrite my assignment. Fergusson can be a bit irritating but he certainly has researched his field well and shows a great insight into the politics of foreign aid and economic development in the 3rd World.

Ferguson's study of development projects in Lesotho brings a much needed dose of reality to the subject of modernization and aid. While others might stress the need for appropriate technology or bog the reader down in economic formulae, Ferguson examines the ways in which local and global politics influence the success of even the most carefully planned and well-meaning of projects. A must-read for anyone interested in the development business.

Miller has taken a little-known set of antebellum incidents and made them live. The book is both a scholarly work and highly readable for the layman. Miller provides a modicum of "modern parallels" and editorial asides that would, if they weren't so intelligent, be inappropriate. As it is, his observations along these lines as the book progresses makes the work more interesting rather than less. This book is more interesting that last year's biography of John Quincy Adams, which I also enjoyed.

William Lee Miller, the wonderfully readable historian and author of a number of political history books, here turns his attentian to the United States Congress. His protaganist is John Quincy Adams, (of recent AMISTED fame) fighting the Southern block of congressmen who want to keep petitions for the abolition of slavery off the floor of the House of Representatives. The question of wether Adams will eventually defeat the "Gag Rule" builds from begining to end.

Miller's real strength, however, is his ability to write. He turns what could have been a dry history of congressional politics into a battle for the very soul of the nation. When Adams finnaly wins the battle, in the end, while nearly dying on the floor of congress, you want to stand up and cheer.

This episode of American history has rarely been given more than a line or two from the average college textbook. But by reading this book, you become half convinced this was one of the most momentous occasions in the history of the American nation, and perhaps that is the finist compliment I can give William Lee Miller.

Arguing About Slavery has a very difficult subject to make live, what William Lee Miller calls the "tedium and sublimity" of republican debate. The historian's duty to be evenhanded even when faced with the moral pit of slavery doesn't make the job any easier. Yet, Miller handles these problems with aplomb and, more, handily succeeds.

At about 500 pages, Arguing About Slavery is concerned with the parliamentary debate and tactics used by pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in the Congress in the 1830's and 40's. It shows how, nearly single handedly, John Quincy Adams insistence on the right to petition exposed the South's determination to controvert the Constitution in its quest to shelter the practice of slavery from congressional criticism. By the time the Congress puts the "gag rule" to rest, Adam's exposé had made abolitionism a powerful and accepted political force in the North.

Miller storytelling skills has the reader discovering the extent of sophistry the pro-slavery forces were willing to go to as they were forced to resort to deeper and deeper hypocrisy. He does this, however, without denigrating the men of the South. Indeed, much of the enjoyment you'll derive from reading Arguing About Slavery will come from the rhetorical skills the Southern Congressmen liberally display throughout.

Although Miller's protagonist is clearly J.Q. Adams, he spends considerable effort on a broad cast of characters, from the original abolitionists and their puritan backgrounds -- the Grimké sisters, Theodore Weld, Elizur Wright, Elijah Lovejoy -- to Adam's allies in the House -- Joshua Giddings, William Slade -- to the pro-slavery giants -- John C. Calhoun, Caleb Cushing, Francis Pinkens -- and moderates like Henry Pinkney (whose gag rule ironically was intended as a compromise) and President Martin Van Buren. If these biographies are not familiar to you, these and others in Arguing About Slavery should be. Miller describes the history and premises of all parties involved, but doesn't interrupt the flow of the tale to do so.

Miller does an incredible job of making the tedium and sublimity of republican debate come alive and at the end of the book you better understand the place of liberty in America's national consciousness, the intellectual forces that led to the Civil War, and the nature of the founders' relationship to the practice of slavery itself. The only criticism I have is that sometimes Miller's rhetoric is a bit too partisan, which reduces the value of the book as ammunition against slavery's apologists, which do still exist. But that has nothing to do with merits of the book as a work of the historical art, which are excellent.

This is an excellent book, one that surpassed any expectation I might have had for it. And my expectations were high, because the critics spoke so highly of it when it was released. Still, I doubted whether a decade-long legislative battle could carry my interest for 300+ pages. I was wrong. Every page and character was interesting, and the consistent imagery of John Quincy Adams, in the sunset of his political career, battling the southern foes in Congress on a daily basis is an enduring one. Books like this one should be substituted for the dry history curriculum that I had in high school.

John T. Flynn's book titled AS WE GO MARCHING is indeed a classic study of Fascism whatever that political disapproval word means. Flynn's study gives the historical background to late 19th century and early 20th century Italy and German. The book concludes with the U.S. political and economic schemes before, during, and after World War I. Flynn also compares U.S. economic planning and control with that of "Fascist" Italy and Germany.

Flynn introduces readers to the economic realities in the second half of the 19th. century in Italy and Germany. A good point is the fact that deficit spending, protectionism, and economic classifications originated in 19th. century and were not new to rise of Fascism. Flynn provides "chatper-and-verse" statistics of the Italians and German budgets prior to World War I. Flynn's economic analysis is connected with the political changes that occured in these two countries. Flynn cites the "Classical Liberals" and their political allies who preached limited government and balanced budgets but voted for deficits and expanded military budgets.

Flynn patiently explains the rise of Mussolini and Hitler. These two political dictators did not rise to power through luck or what some consider gangsterism. Both Mussolini and Hitler got power due to the political climate and laws that were enacted in Italy and Germany in the late 19th. and early 20th. century. Given the legal and political conditions, both Mussolini and Hitler rose to power via quite legal means. The naive view that they used gangster tactics disintegrates when exposed to reality. Flynn is very clear on this point in pages 149-153.

Flynn then compares the political and economic problems with the background to the U.S. New Deal and the economic schemes that were enacted as part of the New Deal. Flynn makes the remark that the New Deal was not new at all, and FDR'S "Brain Trust" merely emulated their German abnd Italian counterparts. The New Dealers created government corporations, and Fascist Italy was known as The Coporate State. The tax and budget plans of Germany were adopted in by the New Dealers. The Italian and German "Fascists" resorted to borrowing and deficint spending when taxes were too high. The New Dealers did the same. The late A.J.P. Taylor made an interesting remark in his book titled THE ORIGINS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. On page 72 or page 70 in the newer edition of this book, Taylor wrote that Hitler stumbled on the economics of full employment exactly as FDR did. The only difference is that the German New Deal worked better and did indeed eliminate unemployment.

Those in the U.S. who equate Fascism with militarism should look in the miooro. Flynn argued that military expendatures were part of the economic plans in German and Italy. Had Flynn had access to Burton Klein's book titled GERMANY'S ECONOMIC PREPARATIONS FOR WAR, he would have altered his views. Klein cites German and U.S. documents ( not hysteria)to clearly prove that the British and French spend more for guns and munitions than the Germans. The record of the U.S. during World War II until the present dwarfs anything the Germans did prior to and during World War II.

Flynn made brief comment of the terrribly dislocations in Europe after Wrold War I. He should have placed more emphasis on these tragic times which would explain why powerful political leaders labeled Fascists got power. These Fascists got power due to mass support during desparate times.

Flynn's book AS WE GO MARCHING is well worth reading. Those interested should also read Lawrence Dennis' THE DYNAMICS OF WAR AND REVOLUTION and John Maynard Keynes' THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF PEACE. A solid study of the German economy before and during World War II is Burton Klein's book titled GERMAN'S ECONOMIC PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. Another interesting aspect is the comment Keynes made in his German edition of THE GENERAL THEORY in which he stated that his economic theories were more suited to Totalitarians systems than those of laissez-faire. This can be found in James J. Martins' book titled REVISIONIST VIEWPOINTS. A careful reading of Flynn's book plus the others cited above introduces readers to serious political realities and honest history.

"As We Go Marching" is a three-part examination of fascism in Italy (part 1) and Germany (part 2). Part 3 ties things together with an examination of Franklin D. Roosevelt's so-called "New Deal."

The book covers periods from the mid-1800's, the time of the respective unification of Italy and Germany, to mid-WWII. Briefly, neither Mussolini nor Hitler laid the foundations, let alone invented, the social-government systems that supported their regimes. Both systems of fascism, Italian and German, had roots in the early days of industrialization, with deep and powerful roots in the concept of syndicalism. Mr. Flynn opines that, absent certain events related to The Great War, neither Mussolini nor Hitler would ever have amounted to much more than minor political nuisances; but that someone else could very well have held power and governed via fascism through pre-existing government institutions. (eg, imagine a German Chancellor without the anti-semitism but still with the militarism.)

The third part of "Marching" concerns the intellectual and systemic relationships between Italian and German fascism, and FDR's New Deals (there were at least three of them). Although the reader will learn a lot of Italian and German hisotry, the entire book concerns what FDR was doing to the United States in the 1930's. Mr. Flynn's view is through a lens of what had happened in Italy and Germany.

In 1944, some critics called Mr. Flynn's publication of "Marching" treasonous. But I doubt they read the book before doing so. Mr. Flynn was labeled, in his day, as a "Roosevelt-hater," and summarily dismissed in polite company of the time. Many people worked overtime to discredit him and his books. But to this modern reader, Mr. Flynn offers a historical and logical, well written and consistent study of fascism, with a disturbingly accurate critique of FDR and his programs.

You will gain additional perspective by reading Mr. Flynn's "The Roosevelt Myth" (1948/rev 1956). This latter book utterly demolishes FDR and his four terms of office, like a fast freight train hitting a stalled pickup truck. "The Roosevelt Myth" should be required reading in every US history course. No, that is not quite right. What I really mean is that the legend of FDR the Great President and Wartime Leader cannot co-exist in any universe in which a single copy of "The Roosevelt Myth" remains unburned.

John T. Flynn -- a forgotten master from a different era.

_As We Go Marching_ by John T. Flynn, first published in 1944 during the Second World War, and reprinted in The Right Wing Individualist Tradition in America series, is an attempt to come to grips with fascism by an opponent of the New Deal and a non-interventionist. Flynn, who began his career as a proponent of progressive economic policies, came to oppose Roosevelt's New Deal policies and the entry of the United States into the Second World War. In this book, Flynn predicts how these policies are leading in the direction of increasing militarism, socialism, and eventually totalitarianism and fascism. Flynn's understanding of fascism is in economic terms, an attempt to overturn the capitalist system through state borrowing and continued militarism (i.e. the state sanctioned continuation of perpetual revolution) and corporativism. While Flynn recognizes the defects in the capitalist system, particularly those that have led to the coming crisis, he believes that this system is far superior to that of fascism in which individual liberties are trampled upon. In this sense, Flynn may be seen as an advocate for classical liberalism against government intervention and the debt based economy.

This book traces the history of fascism as it developed in Italy and Germany and then turns its attention to the United States, where Flynn sees a creeping fascism. Against those who argue that "it cannot happen here" or who point to the various pro-German or outright Nazi groups in America at the time as the only fascist threat, Flynn argues that the fundamental basis for the totalitarian state is already established and that all that remains is for the President to claim for himself absolute power. Flynn begins by tracing the origins of fascism in the Italian state under Mussolini. In particular, he shows the conflicts that arose between various socialist groups who sought to abolish the capitalist system and conservative groups. While conservative groups often represented a reaction of the most heavily taxed, it became apparent that while they would not support the growth of public welfare projects that they would support an increase in militarism. In particular, militarism became a means to achieve full employment. In addition, rather than trying to achieve a balanced budget, the government became based upon a system of tax and borrow and spend. Another important point to note is the growth of syndicalism as a viable alternative to socialism. While socialism had sought for the state to seize control of the means of production, being little more than "state capitalism", syndicalism proposed the alternative that the means of production should actually be controlled by the workers themselves and the state composed of worker's counsels. The theory of syndicalism was advocated by Georges Sorel as the alternative to socialism and as an answer to the crisis in capitalism and was taken up by the young Mussolini. Indeed, Mussolini's system came to make use of syndicalism as well as militarism in its quest to achieve total dominance of the state. This apparent alliance between the forces represented by the far Left and those of the conservative Right was achieved under Mussolini who continued to tax, borrow, and spend his way to dominance. Flynn also turns his attention to Hitler's Germany. In much the same way, the economic system of Hitler's Germany can be understood. The new breed of economists came to deny the importance of a balanced budget while at the same time claiming that the debt was unimportant as an attempted cure for the depression. In particular, it must be noted that Germany's economy had been crippled because of reparations owed for the First World War. It was the Treaty of Versailles which Hitler came to use as a strong point which he rallied against. A second important point to note is the role of militarism (conscription even during peacetime) and imperialism as part of Hitler's fascism. These components along with the absolute rule of the dictator allowed for the creation of fascism in Hitler's Germany. Following this discussion, Flynn turns his attention to the most controversial component of his thesis. This is the rise of fascism in America brought about by similar forces and a debt based economy with a government operating on the principles of tax, borrow, and spend. In particular, Flynn shows how the executive branch has subtly usurped the powers of Congress allowing for the rise of a potential dictatorship. Flynn also shows how militarism, the draft, and American imperialism have made for a particularly dangerous concoction especially in light of the growing absolute powers of the executive. Flynn shows how Anglo-Saxon imperialism shares many of the same racialist underpinnings as fascist imperialism and has come even to reject the Teuton as racially inferior. This difference is particularly striking in light of the entry of the United States into the Second World War. While Flynn calls attention to the presence of pro-German or pro-Nazi forces in America at the time, he believes these do not constitute the greatest fascist threat, which arises from the government itself. In light of these remarks, Flynn ends the book with this chilling warning, "My only purpose is to sound a warning against the dark road upon which we have set our feet as we go marching to the salvation of the world and along which every step we now take leads us farther and farther from the things we want and the things that we cherish." In a time in which the nation again is involved in war, Flynn's warnings are particularly prescient.

John T Flynn was a business journalist who originally covered graft and Wall Street scandals in the 1920s and 1930s. Originally a supporter of Roosevelt, he came to believe the New Deal's compulsory cartels under the NRA was a betrayal of traditional 'trust busting' liberalism. He saw FDR's massive reliance on public borrowing and deficit spending, rather than fiscal reform, was dangerous. A former Nye Committee investigator, Flynn was involved in Nye's exposure of the role major banks and munitions makers played in President Wilson's march to war in 1918. Flynn believed the failure of the New Deal to bring jobs would see FDR turn to military spending as an economic cure. When this prediction eventuated, Flynn became a leading spokesman for the America First Committee. After the war, wrote one of the first exposes arguing FDR had prior knowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack. Flynn stayed a committed "isolationist" after the war, believing the same pattern of was re-emerging in the then new Cold War.

This book was written in 1944. I read the 1973 reprint "Free Life" edition of the book. It includes an excellent preface essay by Ronald Radosh summarising Flynn's life and work and placing his ideas in a broader context. Radosh compares Flynn's analysis to that of Indian / British communist writer R. Palme Dutt whose "Fascism and Social Revolution: A Study of the Economics and Politics of the Extreme Stages of Capitalism in Decay" provides something of an interesting "odd couple" pairing.

"As We Go Marching" provides an analysis of fascism that looks beyond the biographies of Mussolini and Hitler, and even the histories of the fascist and nazi parties. Flynn is interested in the political economy roots of fascism. This he locates in the economic crisis, but he goes beyond the depression, into the on-going political and economic crises of his subject states.

This is really two books in one. Flynn provides a background to the development of fascism in Italy and Germany and then looks as fascistic trends in the US during the war and pre-war periods. If Flynn had excluded the US chapters his well written book would have been more broadly acknowledged as a dissection of the roots of nazism. His American chapters however are what make the book controversial, especially as most (but not all) of the faults he identifies are rooted in the New Deal. Has he left the American material out he would probably have had a wider audience. Thankfully he didn't. But even the most one eyed liberal reader will find something to appreciate in his non-American sections.

Flynn shows how non-fascist politicians paved the way for fascist and nazi rule in Italy and Germany. The Weimar Constitution, with it's dictatorial Article 48 provision, exploited opportunistically by non-authoritarian politicians, was a time bomb waiting to explode. In both countries, it was non-fascist leaders, opportunists dealing with crises, paved the way for later dictators. They did so by building centralised emergency administrations and autarchic economic policies, all in the name of rational economic planning. They fostered syndicalism and corporatism, these tended in time to blur and the top down government element grew. They generated massive cycles of public spending and public debt. Debt and the growing cost of servicing it generated opposition from the saving, investing and taxpaying classes. Both Mussolin and Hitler were opportunists who felt unconstrained by tradition, ethics and even their own parties' platform. In order to win and maintain support from debt burdened taxpayers, they found militarism the path of least resistance, and the form of public spending least likely to alienate the savers. And to keep militarism alive they needed infusions of imperialism.

Flynn walks through this process in both Italy and Germany and highlights similar steps then being taken in the USA. Flynn's journalistic experience shines through and his writing is clear and argument logical. Some of his writing in the section dealing with America's turn-of-the-century experience with imperialism in the Philippines and Cuba is superb. Indeed Flynn's discussion of the linkages between depression, debt, militarism and war, what would later be called "military Keynesianism", is some of the best written.

A major weakness in Flynn's argument is his lack of any discussion of what causes economic crises that play such a prominent role in his book. He is more interested in how politicians and political systems react to depression than what causes it.

Another weakness, by focusing on the foundations of fascism he dismisses too lightly some of the 'superstructure', namely the fuehrer prinzip, antisemitism and alike. Flynn sees these almost as 'optional extras' for a fascist state not the real meat. This may be true, but these are of course, some of the most unpleasant and inhumane aspects of the whole system. Without them, as Flynn himself notes, many firm anti-fascists would be quite happy under fascism. My suggestion is that a quick peek at Peter Viereck's discussion of some of the 'spiritual' and romantic aspects of the Nazism to fill in the gaps.

How then do Flynn's arguments stand up looking back sixty years later? Although America isn't quite the great republic it was, the US certainly didn't end up like Mussolini's Italy, let alone Hitler's Germany.

If anything, subsequent research, particularly by historian Henry Ashby Turner, has shown that, in Germany at least, big business was probably not as supportive of Hitler as Flynn, and conventional wisdom ever since, imagined. And both the corporatism and economic planning of both Italy and Germany was probably more shambolic than their friends, foes and Flynn ever imagined. So, again, maybe superstructure is more important than Flynn's foundations.

Flynn believed the US would pursue national economic planning after the war. The postwar planning fashion attracted the critique of Hayek whose "Road To Serfdom" provides something of a distant cousin to Flynn's book. Flynn believed economic planning would necessitate, if not outright economic autarchy, at least international coordination between the major corporatist nations. The New Deal planners around Dr Alven Hansen, who headed FDR's personal planning think tank, were definitely thinking along these lines. The post-war planning push was however defeated and Truman's postwar demobilisation was probably more extreme than the New Deal planners wanted. The resulting postwar boom took much of the wind out of the sails of the economic planners. Was this enough to stop the beat of the marching drums?

To a certain extent, no. By the time Eisenhower left office the 'military industrial complex' had grown to be a sufficient concern to warrant his Farewell Address warning. Flynn's fellow WW2 isolationist Lawrence Dennis noted that US military spending in the 1950s in terms of GNP percentages exceeded Nazi Germany's prior to WW2. The US ultimately didn't adopt planning, but it did embrace it "lite" as keynesianism via the Full Employment Act. So without full national planning there was no need for autarchy, or Fynn's internationally co-ordinated corporatist autarchies.

But there was Breton Woods and the push for a new dollar based world monetary system and the birth of the so-called "free trade" regime. This has evolved into today's "Washington consensus". Instead of the unilateral removal of import restrictions as advocated by Adam Smith, "free trade" has now been reinvented a series of internationally negotiated agreements. It is now forgotten, but the Truman originally wanted a UN International Trade Organisation (the forerunner to today's WTO) but due to conservative opposition could only obtain a GATT. GATT, ITO, WTO or NAFTA are probably more accurately described as "mutually assured protectionism", or "mercantilism lite". So maybe Flynn was partly right here.

Militarism and 'imperialism' have certainly progressed since Flynn's day and executive power has risen to the point where "the Imperial Presidency" is now a reality not a nightmare. I doubt whether Flynn would have imagined Truman waging a major war without Congress vote, or Nixon's and LBJ's "secret wars" (presumably the enemy knew). Or Bush's organizing of illegal mass surveillance at home and rendition and Cuban Gitmos, thus placing his policies and agents, beyond the clutches of US law.

Still, thankfully, there do seem to be barriers, however thin, between our current predicament and Flynn's fascist future. The press, law and parliamentary practice, despite real failings, have not exactly rolled over and played dead. One party rule is still a long way off. And despite the slow ratcheting upwards of government spending, the market economy has managed to outrun the worst of the assaults of depression, corporatism and the wannabe economic planners. Whether what remains of these institutions can do so forever remains to be seen.

The delivery came even before the due date and I think that was super-excellent. Keep it up.

This is the type of African-American history book I have been searching for! The Atlas of African-American History and Politics offers not only a detailed chronilogical narrative of the African-American's history from slavery to today, but also clean-crisp visuals to clarify. You will learn and see the actual routes that were taken during slave trades. Not only is this book great for African-American study courses, but every household in America should have a copy of this easy read, yet informative atlas.

This is the type of African-American history book I have been searching for! The Atlas of African-American History and Politics offers not only a detailed chronilogical narrative of the African-American's history from slavery to today, but also clean-crisp visuals to clarify. You will learn and see the actual routes that were taken during slave trades. Not only is this book great for African-American study courses, but every household in America should have a copy of this easy read, yet informative atlas.

Excellent, informative reference guide. Clear and concise information. A must for your library!

Michael Twohey sets aside the long-standing disposition to see political arguments in China in the past hundred years from a liberal or Marxist point of view, argues that to call them "Confucian" is too simple, and demonstrates their strikingly pragmatic continuity from Kang through Sun Yat-sen and the early Mao and Deng to the present. The result is a clear, powerful and persuasive intellectual history, of the first importance for understanding China in the twentieth century and its likely progress into the twenty-first.

Geoffrey Hawthorn University of Cambridge

Twohey's book re-thinks the usual Confucian-centered view of the development of Chinese political and economic thought. Focussing instead on the influence of Xunzi, Twohey convincingly demonstrates that China's leadership has, for centuries (and particualarly at the present time), relied extensively on the practical thought of Xunzi to provide sound economic and social moorings for the development of China. His views on New Authoritarianism help one better understand the philosophy and thought processes behind the decisions of China's modern leadership. I found the book to be readable, thorough, and well-researched. I strongly reccomend this book to academics, business people, or anyone else interested in China

In this thought-provoking study, Michael Twohey persuasively argues that the Confucian conception of the relationship between authority and welfare, informed by Xunzi's political thought, is a pertinent frame of reference for understanding contemporary Chinese statecraft. He has demonstrated that familiarity with Xunzi's ideas of group, natural inequality and great harmony can significantly enhance our appreciation of the rhetoric and ritual of exercising power in the People's Republic of China. His analysis of the debates on New Authoritarianism offers a fresh perspective on democracy and socialism in China.

Tu Weiming Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy, Harvard University and Director, the Harvard-Yenching Institute

Michael Twohey has written a book that is vast in scope, innovative in theme and clear in execution. Who would have thought Confucius irrelevant to Chinese political traditions? Who would have thought Deng Xiaoping a follower of ancient philosophical virtues? These and other revelations come to the fore as Twohey challenges one orthodoxy after another, supports his arguments with over six years of extensive research and re-positions contemporary Chinese authoritarianism on Xunzi's classical notion of welfare. The result is a must read for China specialists and non-specialists alike.

Dr. Sepideh Gharai Thornhill, Ontario Canada

Excellent!!!

Anyone who has been on the receiving end of what has been calling itself "church" and "spiritual authority" for the past 30 years will certainly vibrate with the reality of the perspective that Dr. Crosby brings to the table. This book can serve as an excellent road mad into what God is after for His Church, helping its readers avoid everything from dead ends, and cliff diving to cool aid. For "leadership" it is a wake-up call for the repentance so necessary if we are ever to return to the light that God's Church had at the first.

Thank you!!! Thank You!!!

If the words "authority," "covering," "submission," "government," and "apostolic," are familiar to you within a church context, please read this book. In it, itinerant minister Steve Crosby lays out a sensitive, Christ-centered, exegetically sound critique of the spirit of control and undue authority that is arising amongst the leadership of many charismatic churches as part of the "New Apostolic Reformation."

If you are already troubled by the status quo in this movement, you will find that Crosby gives expression to many things you were already thinking and explains the New Covenant, scriptural basis for them. You will not, however, find argument for a democratic (or anarchic) way of doing church. Crosby is not reactionary or incendiary, and he knows that leadership authority of a proper nature and function is vital to the church.

If you are in a church preaching "submission to authority" and "restoration of God's governmental order" and you see nothing wrong with the status quo, this book will (I pray) serve as an eye-opener. Please read it, with the understanding that it will for the most part run against the grain of what you have been taught on the subject of leadership in the church.

[...]

Reading this book is like stopping at a scenic overlook for the first time. It may look down on a valley in which you've always lived, but seeing it from a different vantage point brings a new and fresh appreciation for the everyday things that surround you. Familiarity with the up-close details of our own limited environment can actually cause us to lose perspective of where it all fits in context with the rest of the scenery. As we take the effort to get out of our comfort zone, and look at the lay of the land from a broader point of view, everything takes on new and fresh beauty that we couldn't have imagined before. This book breathes new life into the Biblical landscape of authority and submission.

During my life of faith, even as a child or a young man, I have often had inner thoughts and views, concerning the landscape of Kingdom life, which I would be hard-pressed to voice with clarity to someone else. It was like everyone else was seeing the forest, but I was seeing the trees. I knew intuitively, deep inside of me, that what I was seeing was correct, but I couldn't adequately explain myself. Numerous times, while reading this book, I found my spirit saying: "That's it! I knew it all along!"

Much of what Steve shares in this book is in sharp contrast and confrontation to the status quo. It's startling enough to make your eyes pop open wide; but simultaneously with the shock, your spirit shouts, "That's the truth!" A lot of this book cuts to the heart! It hurts. But a skilled surgeon is more concerned with your long-term survival, than with your immediate physical comfort. Reading this book is also like undergoing a spiritual corrective surgery.

Taking in a scenic overlook is fun. Having surgery is not. Both can be necessary in this life. Someone who has become burned out through seeing the same things and doing the same tasks day after day, and is tired of the routine needs to experience the delight of a scenic overlook to fill them with new hope and life. Someone who is limping badly because of torn ligaments needs corrective surgery to straighten everything and restore proper functionality to the damaged areas. Reading Steve's book can help in both situations.

During the last several years, I have observed Pastor Steve pour out his heart and soul to bring maturity to the body of Christ; in the U.S., the Philippines, and in Great Britain. His concern has not been establishing a financial support system for himself, but truly connecting believers with Christ their life-source. Then he quietly steps away, and lets the life flow. This book is written in that same spirit.

(All that was my original review of the book last November while I was privileged to preview it, before it went to the publisher.) Since then, I've heard many of the book's topics covered by Dr. Crosby in a seminar format - and every ear was tuned in, every heart mesmerized to have the changes between Old and New Covenants (Testaments) explained so clearly. Sitting in those seminars, I've heard many an "OHHHH!" from folks who just had their life changed with a paradigm shift. It is really neat to see folks come alive to the Kingdom, when before they were saddled with burnout and disillusionment.

Kevin Stafford

I have been a Christian since my teenage years, witnessed to by Baptists first, and then by Pentecostals in the late 1970's. At first, I fellowshipped in small home church meetings run Jesus Movement style. Then both myself and my future husband went to the original Jesus Festivals in Orlando, Florida! Later on, throughout the years, my family and I ran the gauntlet of many non-denominational Charismatic churches in different states as we moved around for college and then for work.

What distressed me the most was a noticeable over-control in many of these churches, and yet I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong. As the reigns were tightened more and more, I watched the Holy Spirit being "quenched" as we would call it. What was astonishing was how little regard there came to be for the physical healings or other wonderful things that could happen as people prayed for one another -- things that came to be almost 'disallowed' from the church scene, even as they were being preached as important! Even more disturbing was the loss of the simple Christian love and care I once took for granted.

Instead, what seemed more important to so many was how prominent they were, how much control they had over other people, and how many numbers their churches could draw into themselves. As religious abuse became far all too commonplace over the years, my husband and I watched our Charismatic roots devolve into ugly power plays and cynical money-drive market decisions. Bible illiteracy flourished, and excuses abounded as both leaders and followers kept themselves from being accountable to both truth and reason. Noticed by many and yet spoken of by few, "Charismatic" had became lost in grips of something that could be called "Charismania" -- drifting sea and far away from its original Biblical moorings.

When did Spirit-filled Christianity become an ugly shadow of itself, and how? For answers, I began my own Bible studies. I closely considered the teachings of the Shepherding Movement and their effect, as well as what the new up and coming "stars" of the "Third Wave" had to say for themselves as far as their teachings, plans, and promises. As I looked into these things, I found some interesting correlations in attitudes and philosophies, and although I did not have the Greek expertise to speak with authority on it, I noticed that certain Bible translations seemed to lean toward the possibilities of abuse of power. My eventual conclusion was that there were just too many things that conspired together to contradict Jesus' directive to us Christians not to "Lord it over" one another (Luke 22:25-27) , and once we lord it over each other, it is only a short leap before we "lord" it over God's Spirit too, tossing the Bible aside too in the process.

But now we have a book that is more than just a little useful in the battle for our spiritual heritage. Dr. Stephen Crosby's book is more than I could have ever imagined or dreamed of. He thoroughly exposes and addresses the numerous false beliefs and teachings that many of us have unknowing embraced. Not only that, but he explains what one of my friends calls the "flat hierarchy" -- the way that Christians are really supposed to relate to each other, and how healthy leadership is really supposed to lead, and not domineer. Everyone preaches revival, trying to reclaim the thrills of the past, but few have thought deeply about all that we have lost, or what we could regain if we got back to our roots. Dr. Stephen Crosby's book shakes the dust off our feet, and gives us a good foot-washing besides! Read it, pass it on, teach it, and better yet -- live it.

It's well worth it.

This book - if you can find a copy - is a witty and entertaining companion to the television series. It covers Cooper's life from childhood [and his first audio recorder] through his FBI career [including the tragedies surrounding his partner Windom Earle], and finally ends where the TV series begins. It offers more insight and exploration into Cooper's character beyond what we already see in the show and film.

This, along with The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (A Twin Peaks Book) and the faux travelguide: Twin Peaks: An Access Guide to the Town, completes a set of official book companions to the series.

One last note: as with "The Secret Diary..." there are a few inconsistencies between the description of some events in the books versus the TV series and the film prequel "Fire Walk With Me", but not enough to detract from the book's value overall.

^o^

This is a wonderful tie-in to the whole "Twin Peaks" mythos. The book is written in the style of a transcript of tapes that Dale Cooper made throughout his life - from childhood, through the initial Windham Earl affair, and ending with the call for Cooper to head to Twin Peaks. (Oddly enough, that's where "Diane..." the audiobook picks up.) Author Scott Frost (brother of Mark Frost, co-creator of "Twin Peaks" with David Lynch) captures the quirky nature of Dale Cooper and the Twin Peaks universe perfectly. From amusing anecdotes in childhood to experiments in college (seeing how long he can go without sleep, without urinating) and beyond, "My Life, My Tapes" helps fill in the unknown quantities of the enigmatic Dale Cooper. If you're a "Twin Peaks" fan who hasn't found a copy of this book yet, I encourage you to do so. It is a wonderful read.

Dale Cooper, How could someone like this write spmething like this? it's beyond me. Dale's life seems to much for anyone but he managed to keep himself together. His closest friends and family all desert him one way or another yet somehow he keeps his head up. I was so amazed by this book and this life thatI am in the process of writing a dramatic script to coinside with it. This book is someone's life this should be shared with everyone. Dale Cooper His Life- His Tapes

I bought this book when I was in eight grade and I connected with it instantly. I'm 24 now and it is still as touching as it was then. I really feel for dale coopers's character. He has so much go wrong and yet he keeps his inocent perspective on the turbulent world around him. This my sound lame, but I think this is a truly great coming of age story.