Clubs Books

It has a lot of good information on poaching in North Africa and a lot of other places in the world that elephants were poached at. It really makes you see the world like an elephant as though you were an elephant. it brings out your greatest fantasies about elephants that you would never dream of. This book was just really great.

While Douglas H. Chadwick's extraordinary book is titled "The Fate of the Elephant" and does an incredible job of presenting the decidedly bleak future of this magnificent animal in the face of an incredible human-induced onslaught, it does more than just examine that issue. At its heart, this book is about the fate of the "natural world"; that is, the world as it was/is before it has been shaped by human contact. The explosion in the human population is increasingly reducing and destroying the habitat of not just elephants, but other animal species in general, and Chadwick recognizes this. Chadwick's book is thoroughly researched, decidedly well-written, and a joy to read. As stated by another reviewer, as clear as it is that Chadwick's sympathies lie with the elephant itself, he shows remarkable restraint in not condemning those who make the future of the elephant so bleak. As such, the book makes the reader realize that while it is quite easy to sit in our comfortable homes and condemn those who are forcing these elephants into fewer and fewer numbers, there are real problems and concerns on the other side of the coin as well. Without stealing any of the author's thunder, I would just say that this is easily one of the best books I have ever read, and while my sympathies are definitely on the side of the elephants, this book was a sobering and tremendously informative look at the full scope of the problem that elephants and animal species in general face. Furthermore, the best thing this book did, in my opinion, was force me to really think about humankind, its relationship to the other species on the planet, how certain dominant views of that relationship have led us to the where we are today, and what might need to be done in order to prevent large scale extinctions in this upcoming century (which is where I personally fear we might be headed).

Incredibly detailed reporting and an easy, conversational writing style make this one of the most rewarding books I have ever read. The author writes of travelling the world, observing human and elephant interactions in dozens of different countries; part travelogue, part eco-primer, and wholly absorbing. And Chadwick makes a convincing case for keeping the African elephant on the endangered species list. This book is perhaps even more important now than when it was published _ only recently CITES (the UN group that makes the endangered species list) decided to allow some southern African countries to sell ivory again. I'd love to see the author's thoughts on these new developments. Anyone concerned with conservation or animal welfare should read this book. Personally, I found Chadwick's work so interesting and educational that after reading it I booked a trip to Africa to see these great beasts _ before the opportunity is gone forever

In a mere 475 pages, Douglas Chadwick's The Fate of the Elephant manages to thoroughly cover a range of subjects almost as large as the elephants that serve as its focus. Originally assigned by National Geographic as a piece on "elephants of the world," each chapter in the book opens in a new setting, from the elephant enclosure at an American zoo, to the parts of Africa and Asia where elephants can still be found in the wild. From the workshop of Japanese ivory artisans to a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) conference in Switzerland, he also journeys to elephantless areas where their presence is still felt.

Knowing a little about man's history with elephants, I assumed-even daresay expected-that at least some parts of the book would be dedicated to the kind of finger-pointing induction of guilt that has come to be seen as a means to inspire action on the part of the general public. Refreshingly, there is none of that to be found here, yet the final emotions that the reader comes away with are no less strong. Chadwick does not trivialize the fact that, for him, writing The Fate of the Elephant was as much a personal exploration of a subject of lifetime interest as a travel adventure undertaken for the sake of National Geographic. His frankly portrayed moments of sheer joy and of utter frustration become highs and lows for the reader as well.

Along these same lines, Chadwick skillfully avoids simplifying those engaged in the struggle over what should be done with elephants into "good guy" and "bad guy" camps. Though having just seen the body of a faceless and bloody young bull elephant lying in the bush, he does not celebrate when reports of killed poachers come across his radio. Likening poaching to the illegal drug trade, he knows that the crises of a burgeoning population have pushed many of those living on the margins into these high-risk jobs, while those orchestrating it all sit out of the way in relative safety. The ever-growing human population also drives habitat degradation, the other main threat to African wildlife. It comes as a shot of realism when Chadwick points out that these days, even Africans have to go to parks and zoos to see African wildlife.

Describing the World War I bolt-action guns with which many park rangers must ridiculously face off against AK-47-toting poachers, Chadwick highlights one of the great challenges to wildlife conservation: economics. Not only does poaching rob resources from local economies, but even legal industries such as tourism pay few monetary returns at the local level. He advocates the need to make conservation economically viable to local people, not just something imposed by the government of the moment.

Chadwick integrates scientific concepts in a subtle way that guarantees that even those simply looking for a good "animal tale" will come away as more knowledgeable armchair naturalists. Judging from the brevity of his bibliography relative to the amount of material packed into the book, this integrated approach may be the same way that Chadwick picked up much of his technical knowledge of elephants-not by purely poring over scientific texts as much as by living alongside some of the best in the field, in the field.

The only missing element in Chadwick's work seems to be information about the time period in which he was in each place. While perhaps intended as a testament to the timeless quality of life spent in elephants' presence, it seemed most peculiar in a book whose message was a sense of urgency, that time was of the utmost importance.

For many readers of Arthur Miller, "Incident at Vichy" may seem like a departure from his typical fare. Set in France during 1942, this one act play takes place in a detention room as nine men question their fate. These men and one fourteen-year-old boy were randomly pulled off the street; initially they believe that it is an identity check, to make sure there isn't anyone with false papers, but as they are assembled together, they soon realize there is something more sinister behind their detainment.

Thrown together are men from a variety of backgrounds - a painter, an electrician, a buisnessman, an actor, a doctor, a waiter, a Prince, a Gypsy and and old Jew. As they voice their questions and concerns, they soon come to realize that they are there on suspicion of being Jewish. One by one they are called into the interrogation room where they are either given a pass to freedom, or will be taken away to the terrible fates they are just now learning exist. None of these men wants to admit that they are or aren't Jewish which only adds to the tension as they argue and attempt to formulate a futile escape plan.

"Incident at Vichy" is a quick read filled with questions that are bigger than the play. Miller throws questions at the audience that do not necessarily have answers. The ending finds only two men left to be interviewed - the Austrian Prince who was disgusted when his countrymen embraced the Nazis, and the doctor who reveals that he is a Jew and in hiding. Their confrontation turns both of their worlds upside down and creates an ending with no resolution.

Incident at Vichy, first published in 1964, is one of Miller's lesser known works, but I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I conclude once again, as I did earlier this year after reading Death of a Salesman.... Miller is a genius!
The Crucible is another gem that everyone should read! Really, he is fantastically good.
Incident at Vichy takes place in 1942, in Nazi-occupied France [Vichy].
The setting is very simple. A detention room, where eight men and a young boy are being held. One by one, they are interrogated in an adjoining room and none of them are sure of the reason for their arrest.
In the tense interim, as would be expected, they talk with one another.
Some of these men are Jews, and some are not.
Soon, the consensus is that Jewishness is indeed the "crime" for which they've been rounded up, and rumors and speculations are exchanged.
Those who feel that their interrogation may end with a "pass" allowing them to leave, become optimistic. Those who know that they themselves are Jewish, panic. And the tension in the room mounts.
Should they try to escape? Should they behave themselves and hope for release? Surely, surely their worst fears cannot be true?
Soon there are only two men left in the room, awaiting judgment.
And Miller ends this 70-page nerve-rattler with a wonderful twist.
I'll only say that it is amazing how little paper Miller needs to show us the worst and the best of what it means to be a human being.

Apparently, the story itself came from a tale that Miller had heard about a Holocaust survivor, told to Miller by his psychiatrist. It was about a Jew who was rescued from the Nazis by a total stranger.
Miller speaks of directing a production of Incident at Vichy some 20 years after the end of the war and, to his astonishment, having to explain to the young actors what the SS was!
The only other play that had dealt with the topic in the twenty years since the end of the war was The Diary of Anne Frank. Miller said, "There is something wrong when an audience can see a play about the Nazi treatment of a group of Jews hiding in an attic and come away feeling . . . gratification."

From the time that he was very young, Miller was aware of being "different" (Jewish) and felt a sort of warning atmosphere from adults. Whatever it was that gave him this feeling of foreboding, he was aware of it hanging over him. He writes at length of his mother's "mysticism" and her fervor extending even to the point of feeling that the dead communicated with her. And in fact, she may have been right.
While they were vacationing, and she was in a deep sleep, she suddenly sat up and said, "My mother died."
She was right. Her mother had died during that exact hour.

Miller said that his experiences with this sensing of lurking danger was something he had learned, but he had not been taught "how to defend against it. The dilemma would last a long time. The ... effort to locate in the human species a counterforce to the randomness of victimization, underlie the political aspect of my play, Incident at Vichy."

The play, then, attempts to answer the question of how to defend against danger, or evil. A topic that seems to enthrall many people [including myself].
Most critics panned it as being too lecture-riddled. Too didactic. Vichy was banned in the Soviet Union.

All I can say is that I am glad it is available to us today.
Listen, I encourage you to spend some time with Incident at Vichy.
You can read it inside an hour or so.
It is truly unforgettable.

Incident at Vichy is set in a detention center in Vichy, France. Nine men and a boy have been taken into custody for reasons unknown to them. One by one, they are taken into the office for interrogation. Some leave the office, some do not. The dialogue that between the men grows more intense each time another man leaves the stage.

During the Nazi occupation, each for the men was apprehended for looking Jewish. They bear the burden of proof for proving themselves to be gentiles. The main twist comes when Leduc, a psychiatrist, states that "each man has his Jew, ... even the Jews have their Jews to vilify and destroy." This diatribe causes the former Austrian prince Von Berg to surrender his freedom pass to Leduc, allowing him to escape certain death. Von Berg's guilt comes from silently allowing Jews to be cast out of Austria by his cousin Barron Kessler.

I find myself to be very appreciative of plays that only use one set. While I found the ending be somewhat of a letdown by Arthur Miller standards, it is a solid work. By combining facts with an intense storyline, a great peace of drama is created. Although I imagine all the discussion of circumcision and male genitals leaves the play unpopular in many circles, I enjoyed it.

In this stunning play, set in a holding room in Vichy, France, in 1942, Arthur Miller introduces nine men who have been picked up on suspicion that they are Jews or Jewish sympathizers. As they are called, one by one, to be interrogated by Nazi officials before being released or put on the thirty-car freight train waiting at the station, they reveal their thinking, their rationalizations for having been picked up, and their belief that this is all a big mistake. A German major involved in the interrogations also begins to question his own role, reminding his colleague, a professor in charge of carrying out Nazi racial policies, that he is a "line officer," not trained for his role.

Waiting to be questioned are an actor, a waiter, a businessman, a psychoanalyst, a Marxist railroad worker, a gypsy, an ancient Hasid, a fourteen-year-old boy, and an Austrian prince. As they talk and begin to share bits of information, Miller examines the tendency of ordinary men, who are often victims, to become immobilized when faced with "an atrocity...that is inconceivable," to refuse to believe that such behavior can possibly happen in a civilized world. At the same time, he also examines those others, the Nazis and their collaborators in France, who serve an ideology, not mankind, those who subordinate themselves so completely to an abstract concept that they believe "there are no persons anymore."

As the truth about the waiting train and its destination slowly emerges, the sense of dread becomes palpable. The psychoanalyst tries to make his fellow captives understand that it is their belief that the world is essentially rational that is their main problem, and his conversations with the prince, von Berg, are pivotal to the action. Von Berg, a Christian who left his property and thousand-year-old heritage to escape to France, does not understand that he himself is complicit in the rise of the Nazis for not taking action when he had the chance.

Beautifully paced, the play is an unusually sophisticated treatment of this subject. Miller does not see events purely in black and white, showing instead that everyone creates his own reality to keep from accepting the unthinkable. Written in 1964, while Miller was representing the New York Herald Tribune at the Frankfurt war crimes trials of officials from Auschwitz/Birkenau, this play is Miller's creative reaction to the atrocities he has heard first-hand--and one of his most powerful plays. Mary Whipple

I spent most of the summer reading this wonderful book. I only read it on the weekends relaxing on my porch and was always anxious to reacquaint with the young man who would become FDR. It is a testament to this biography that after reading almost 800 pages I was sorry to see it end.

With all this praise one might think that I understood FDR. I finished this book no less able to draw a conclusion about the man who would lead our country through two of its greatest crisis. Question abound in my mind that probably can never be answered. The first and most difficult question is what was so special about this man that he could lead. As this book points out he was not a giant intellect,nor a hard worker or even a visionary. Somewhat like our current President he muddled through his youth. Most of what he accomplished was a result of his family name. The easy answer is that polio changed him. That is not satisfying when it is recognized he is nominated for Vice President before he got sick.

I remain uncertain and Mr. Ward does not really help in answering the unanswerable other than possibly in his prologue. From reading this book one might come to the conclusion that FDR did not really relate to anyone. He lived a distant life from his wife and children. Possibly it was only Lucy Mercer who reached him. He was dominated by his mother but even there he was independent. LOuis Howe and Missy Le Hand were totally devoted to him but it does not appear he spent much time with Missy when she become ill.

His battle with polio is beautifully told. I take away from that his ability to be optimistic and positive against all odds. He showed perserverance but only really when his ambition was involved. Yet even in this case he chose to spend his time in Warms Springs somewhat removed from the other visitors and did not spend time with him family.

As the above review shows, a First Class Temperment is a wonderful book because it presents the subject in tremendous detail. It does not draw conclusions. Mr. Ward introduces us to FDR in transition. We meet him and see him grow. We see what kind of president he will be. I admire FDR. I am not sure that I like him much. I know I loved the journey and thank Mr. Ward for setting it out for us.

I hope that Mr. Ward will read the review and maybe indicate what he thought of his subject. Maybe he will even write the next volume.

For me I will continue my education by rereading No Ordinary Times, Conrad Black's biography and Arthur Schlesinger"s 3 volume set. I doubt it will answer any of my questions but I look forward to the experience.

Geoffrey Ward thanks for the experience.

Ward's first 2 book's on FDR's life are a masterpiece. When will he finish this epic account?

Geoffrey Ward shares the ability of David McCullough, and that is to take a scholarly topic and write about it intelligently and coherently. He also makes the journey fun for the reader and he showcases this ability in this excellent book. FDR as a young man (pre polio) was a very different man from the President he was to become. Polio was the defining moment that both changed FDR and deepended his compassion and understanding for the downtrodden.

In this second volume of Ward's Roosevelt trilogy, he illuminates FDR's dominating mother and the problems she caused between Franklin and Eleanor. One almost cringes when the obtrusive Sarah Roosevelt plans her son's honeymoon, buys homes for him (with connecting doors for her to intrude upon)and basically usurps FDR's own decision-making processes.

Franklin Roosevelt was not a great man, or a particularly engrossing man when young. He achieved greatness only after tragedy befell him, but Ward sets the stage here for Roosevelt's later greatness. If you're interested in Roosevelt or the flighty, banal rich New York set of WWI and the Washington social scene, then this is your cup of tea. It is also a fine book.

Since I was about nine years old back in the 1960s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been my favorite U.S. president. My mother, who grew up poor in the Great Depression, is probably responsible for this. She bought me a kiddie biography about FDR which I devoured many times over. She also encouraged my interest in Eleanor Roosevelt, whose life I relived through another kiddie biography. My mother made sure during one summer vacation that our family visited Hyde Park. Time did not abate my fascination with the thirty-second president. As a young teen, I borrowed from our local library all the books about FDR that I could find. I wanted to know everything about his life, his political views, his achievements, and his impact on Americans, America and the world. One of the more poignant works I read in those days was Bernard Asbell's "When FDR Died," which told of the sweeping affect his death in April 1945 had on Americans. When I was in high school, my family visited Hyde Park again. This time, I was so moved that, after I got home, I wrote an account of an imaginary encounter with FDR's ghost.

Then I went to college, got married, and found employment, and my youthful obsession with FDR took a back seat to everyday concerns. But my dormant interest awoke recently when I felt compelled to watch the Biography channel's two-part special, "FDR: A Presidency Revealed," and then the HBO drama, "Warm Springs." I suddenly remembered that I had a book sitting on my shelf that I'd never seemed to have time to read, one I'd purchased some 15 years ago- Geoffrey C. Ward's "A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt," first published in 1989. The day after the "Warm Springs" drama I took the book down and read it during every spare moment, creating some spare moments that wouldn't have otherwise existed. Now that I'm done, I feel the need to share my thoughts about Ward's hefty tome.

I'm giving this book five stars, although it is not quite a perfect work. I'll start with the positives. First, it's extremely well-written, and generally reads like a novel. I love the literary prologue, "The End of Algonac," a flash-forward (rather than a flashback) in which a measure of FDR's fortitude dies in 1941 with his very elderly mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, who had been the one constant in his life. The end of the last chapter, "It is Time," concludes brilliantly in 1928 with Sara excitedly climbing up the front steps of her son's brownstone in the wee hours of election night to tell him that, despite the discouraging early returns, he'd won the New York Governor's race after all.

Ward has done a superhuman job of sifting through the gargantuan archives at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, the collections of papers and oral histories housed at other institutions, the ridiculous number of biographies about all the Roosevelts that came before, and his records of interviews with numerous eyewitnesses to some aspect of the lives of FDR and Eleanor. I know from experience how hard it is to synthesize and express as a readable whole the varying and innumerable strands of factoids produced by voluminous research, and I stand in awe of Ward's accomplishment.

A chief result of this accomplishment is the opportunity afforded readers to learn about the less well-known part of FDR's life-his youth. One discovers in "A First-Class Temperament" the divergent personalities possessed by Franklin and Eleanor even as newlyweds in their early twenties. In 1905, Franklin was 23 and already larger-than-life, a tall, lanky man brimming with optimism but not introspective by nature, blessed with the chiseled good looks of a Greek or Roman bust, and bursting with a charming, self-confident, effusive personality. Eleanor was 21 then, and mostly the opposite of her new husband. Plain (but cruelly, and unfairly, labeled "ugly" by her dysfunctional family growing up), shy, deferential, pessimistic and exceedingly introspective by nature, and burdened by a self-esteem that had been stomped on by others, she typically gave herself wholly to Franklin's interests and preferences, as well as those of her new mother-in-law.

In a way, the real story of Ward's book is how Franklin and Eleanor slowly broke out of their early molds and refashioned themselves in a manner that would eventually make them the most formidable and effective husband-and-wife team ever to take up residence in the White House. Eleanor would later remark that Franklin strongly desired "broad human contact," something that had been missing from his privileged but sheltered upbringing. It seemed that he entered politics for this reason. Ward brings us to the starting point of Franklin's transformational journey when he was a naïvely brash, in-your-face, freshman New York State legislator. In first running for office, Franklin took steps toward satisfying his craving for "broad human contact" by energetically and enthusiastically courting the ordinary folk of Dutchess County, although it would later become clear that he didn't have a vision for how to serve them. Nearly 20 years later, by the end of the journey, at the time he was elected Governor of New York, he had become a more measured, thoughtful politician of remarkable oratorical gifts and a coveted elder statesman of the Democratic Party.

How did this transformation occur? Certainly, his experience during the Wilson Administration as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (which saw him embark on a constructive relationship with labor almost from the beginning) and his number two place on the doomed Democratic ticket with Presidential nominee James M. Cox in 1920 afforded him the knowledge and street smarts (many would say deviousness) that he would need to advance his name and master the ropes of government. But his horrific bout with polio in 1921 at age 39 was, as virtually all historians believe, the transformative event that took his people skills in a whole new direction. Desirous as a young man of emulating his distant cousin Teddy Roosevelt to the full, he eventually found his own political identity, divorced from Teddy's blustery American chauvinism.

Eleanor, on the other hand, went from a quintessential anti-feminist who initially opposed women's suffrage (and was shocked by Franklin's support of it) to someone who returned to her first love, social work, by World War One, and, battling her shyness and insecurity, struck out on her own during the 1920s as a political activist. Ward shows that her transformation was at least partly due to her discovery of Franklin's affair with her secretary, Lucy Mercer, which meant to her that she had to rely on herself rather than others for self-fulfillment. Franklin and Eleanor stayed together, but whatever romance had existed in their lives up to that time was replaced by a unique friendship.

A thrilling, and sometimes downright spooky, common thread in Ward's book is the foreshadowing of Franklin's future greatness-not through the use of literary artifice, but simply by Ward's relation of countless anecdotes that demonstrate the loyalty and awe FDR inspired in numerous people who encountered him or who signed on with him in one way or another. In fact, predictions of Franklin's greatness came from the diverse likes of Endicott Peabody, the headmaster of his prep school (Groton) and Louis Howe, the rumpled, gruff journalist who decided to devote his life and career to Franklin. Even Josephus Daniels, Franklin's beleaguered boss at the Navy Department, good-naturedly tolerated the younger man's behavior that often bordered on being, or actually was, insubordinate, treasuring Franklin like a dear son, and marveling at his classical attractiveness and charisma. It was as if Franklin, still boyish as a thirty-something Assistant Secretary of the Navy, were walking around with the Presidential Seal floating above his head.

But the best portion of the book is Ward's sensitive and dramatic recounting of FDR's contraction of polio and how hard he worked to overcome, or at least adapt to, the severe limitations posed by his useless legs. It is a gripping human interest story told with the knowing tone of an author who, as Ward reveals in the book's source notes, had had his own battle with polio.

"A First-Class Temperament" does have some faults, mainly in some of its analyses. Ward seems unsure whether Franklin's characteristically courteous treatment of all people, regardless of social class, religion or race, was innate or, as the author tends toward, simply a matter of a patrician upbringing that emphasized graciousness. Admittedly, one of the challenges faced by Ward, and all of FDR's other biographers, is the matter of divining Roosevelt's real feelings about things when he almost always kept his feelings under close counsel, even from friends and family. Nevertheless, a reasonable conclusion may be reached that Franklin's polite manner was so effortless and natural as to mean that, at some point, he had internalized the notion of respect for others rather than just exhibited this quality as a matter of habit.

The fact that, during the 1910s, Franklin sought the company of educated Jews, who were not his "social equals," not to mention, heaven forefend, also Jewish, was puzzling and disconcerting to his wife (whose pan-humanism hadn't yet manifested itself) and mother. Just as it is reasonable to conclude that FDR actually believed in respecting others, it is unduly cynical to question the sincerity of Franklin's friendship with Henry Morgenthau. Did it matter whether Franklin had established a profound bond with Morgenthau or was just friendly with his fellow Dutchess County resident? Either way, FDR's interest in Morgenthau's companionship was not necessarily any less genuine or significant than if Morgenthau had been a social equal. Indeed, as the 1920s wore on, and Franklin was spending increasing amounts of time at his home-away-from-home, Warm Springs, Georgia, in what would become a fruitless effort to revivify his legs by swimming in the purportedly magical waters of the town, he managed to ingratiate himself with the local, economically deprived populace. Ward highlights the remarks of one of Franklin's physiotherapists to suggest that Franklin's relationship with the people of Warm Springs and its environs was merely political courtship. Yet, as one area resident fondly put it decades later, Franklin could "talk to anybody about anything." More demonstrative of Franklin's feelings for regular people were the real help and encouragement he gave fellow polios who hoped, like he did, that the waters would restore their health and vitality.

In the chapter titled "The Limits of His Possibilities," Ward levels the unfounded charge that Franklin's business investments during the 1920s were of similar recklessness to the wild speculative activities of many other businessmen during that decade. The conclusion that, by virtue of these investments FDR's conduct was no better than that of the speculators who bore responsibility for the 1929 stock market crash is completely unsupported by the information that Ward provides. The business investments that Franklin made during that decade, "...everything from selling advertising space in taxicabs to harnessing the tidal power of Passamaquoddy Bay...," sound on their face no better or worse than any number of ventures that people in America embark on all the time and do not of themselves evidence the kind of blind opportunism that led to the Great Depression. If Ward had wanted to make a point about Franklin's investments, he should have tried to show how Franklin's "schemes" were qualitatively comparable to the schemes of the careless speculators of the era.

Franklin's intellect doesn't get an entirely favorable review, either, as if the author is surreptitiously captivated by the viewpoint of Roosevelt's misguided detractors that he was an intellectual lightweight. On the one hand, Ward relates the young man's articulateness, sharp wit, ability to dictate a series of flawless letters in rapid succession, and talent for quickly assimilating huge quantities of information and then using them, for example, to skillfully fend off tough questioning by a U.S. Senate panel during his time at the Navy Department. "A First-Class Temperament" also quotes extensively from correspondence Franklin wrote to members of his family and to his friends, which often reveal an impressive literary flair, such as this excerpt from a letter written while sailing to Europe during World War One:

...the good old Ocean is so absolutely normal-just as it has always been-sometimes tumbling about and throwing spray like this morning-sometimes gently lolling about with occasional points of light like tonight-but always something known-something like an old friend of moods and power....

Despite all this evidence of a good mind, the book's introduction has FDR, as the president-elect in 1932, paying a visit to the ancient, recently retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, after which Holmes remarked that his visitor had a "second-class intellect" but a "first-class temperament." The anecdote serves as the source of, and justification for, the book's title. However, the author points out that Franklin never opened the books he avidly collected. Ward thus intimates that Franklin didn't read books at all, even though it was possible that FDR merely didn't read the books (perhaps vintage volumes) that he sought to line the walls of his library. But if he didn't read anything of value, where did his demonstrable literary talent come from?

A lengthy footnote examines Franklin's youthful reputation for effeminacy among the testosterone-drenched Oyster Bay branch of the Roosevelt family (headed by Teddy) due to his gentility, slender rather than hulking body type, and stunning facial features. Understandably, this reputation was a source of frustration for Franklin, who aspired to be like Cousin Teddy, and avidly engaged in such "manly" activities as hunting and fishing. The author expands his discussion of Franklin's perceived feminine side- and, by doing so, teeters on the brink of sexism-when he again questions FDR's intellect in pointing to his apparent penchant for solving problems intuitively rather than through logic, which, according to the author, Roosevelt was unable to master. Ward fails to reconcile the inconsistency of a supposedly illogical nature with Franklin's ability to swiftly consume and cleverly use large quantities of information to his advantage in arduous U.S. Senate hearings.

Ward seems to want to depict Franklin as brave and resilient during his battle with polio, but dilutes this portrait in repeatedly reminding the reader of FDR's upbringing in which he was expected to be stoic and uncomplaining. The author points to the conduct of Franklin as a boy, emotionally steady as his tooth was accidentally knocked out and the underlying nerve exposed, and the calm demeanor of his mother, who, in her late sixties and touring a foreign country with some of her grandchildren, fell and injured her thigh but continued sightseeing. The reader must conclude that neither of these instances of stoicism can be considered a match for Franklin's tenacity in overcoming his polio-induced disability. Neither his mother nor Eleanor expected that he would or could continue with his political career once it was clear that Franklin's legs were paralyzed. That he toppled an apparently insurmountable obstacle no one could have predicted.

One may justifiably overlook the problems with Ward's discussions of certain aspects of Franklin's personality and conduct and readily acknowledge the prodigiousness of the writer's multi-layered, complex portrait of a man who to this day continues to inspire new biographies and in April was selected by Time magazine as the 20th century's second most important person (next to Albert Einstein). In the final analysis, "A First-Class Temperament" is the sort of book that fans of FDR or of American history will mull over and hungrily revisit long after first voraciously reading the book's 800-odd pages of facile writing.

These collection of short stories will have you on the edge of your seat! But that's always the case when you pick up a Ray Fraser book! If you love stories full of suspense, you will not be disappointed when you read Flight Of The Monarch. Just make sure you hang on tight because the collection of mystical journeys will take you on the ride of your life.

A collection of short stories that have plots which are unpredictable and increase the suspense. Ray's down to earth descriptions of his characters make them real people. Each story has a new theme, but the same intensity to want to continue reading. And although fiction, the stories still make you ponder the existence of the metaphysical world in its whole.

This is a must read if you like suspense. Each story will keep you turning the page to find out what happens next. You'll never guess the ending of each. I especially liked the story "Lost". This story will give you much to think about!! Even though the stories are fiction there is much metaphysical truth woven into each story. Ray's style of writing will keep you wanting more and you'll be sad when the book ends.

Flight of the Monarch is a group of stories that you have got to read to believe. I found myself wondering where Ray came up with the ideas for these stories. I hope he has more. If you like a change of pace with a twist, read this book.

Captivating, poetic, descriptions of the fundamental machinery of the green world. Here is a chance to learn to see anew and to reverence this natural world which we have bruised so nearly to death.

Another classic from the great writer/naturalist.This is Peattie's non-technical history of flowering plants,beautifuly written and highly educational,but you don't need to have a degree in botany to understand it.Highly recomended for all nature lovers.

In this distinguished history of the plant kingdom, Donald Culross Peattie, botanist and nature writer extraordinaire, imaginatively demonstrates that the fates of all living things are bound together. This is nature writing at its best. In the intervening years since this book was written, scientists have made many new discoveries, but few nature writers have surpassed the stylistic beauty and illuminative insight displayed by the author in Flowering Earth. I recommend it to anyone interested in nature. The thoughts expressed are timeless

Every so often there is a book that is worth reading simply for the pleasure of the words in it, separate from whatever the author is trying to say or tell the reader. This is such a book. The effect is akin to being immersed in the depths of a symphony of words. Otherwise Peattie does an excellent job of explaining the evolution and development of the earths flowering plants. His writing is easily understood and opens botany to the more or less uninformed reader. Read this book for pleasure or for information. You will be pleased you sampled it. This is my second copy. I lent the first out and lost a friend to the book

FORBIDDEN DREAMS BY LEONID PRYMAK HAS TOUCHED MY RUSSIAN SOUL AND ANCESTORY. I WAS CARRIED AWAY BY A SENSUAL RAPTURE, THAT PAGE BY PAGE, CONSUMED MY HOURS WITH LOVE, HUMOR, PASSION AND COMMITMENT. YOU CAN FEEL THE ARMS OF THE OLD SOUTHERN CAPITAL, RICHMOND, GENTLY SURROUND YOU AND LEAD YOU DOWN MONUMENT AVENUE OF OFF TO THE SYMPHONY. I EMOTIONALLY VISITED MOSCOW WITH FEAR AND SADNESS AND WANTED TO LEAP BETWEEN THE PAGES AND COMFORT VLADIMIR WITH LOVE, COMPASSION AND FORGIVENESS. HIS CONVEYANCE OF LOVE WILL TOUCH DEEP WITHIN, AND HIS ADVERSITIES WILL COST YOU TEARS. PRYMAK HAS WRITTEN WITH SUCH BITTERSWEET STYLE. HIS RUSSIAN LOVE STORY WILL TAKE YOU TO ANOTHER DIMENSION IN TIME, AND YOU WILL PATIENTLY WAIT FOR THE CONTINUATION OF YOUR JOURNEY INTO HIS NEXT NOVEL.

Enter into a delightful and voyueristic journey of love that never dies, transported through the portals of time to reunite lost souls so deeply intertwined. If you enjoy romance, and have a deep-rooted passion for love and the arts, this book will delight you on all levels.

I am not generally a fan of non-fiction, particularly romance, but was pleasantly surprised how captivated I was by Leonid Prymak's 'Forbidden Dreams'. Every time I put it down, the anticipation of getting back into it would start. His method of jumping back and forth through time was quite easy to follow and, as the story progressed, made perfect sense. I could hear the main characters thick Russian accent in my head as he tries working his way through the English language, which gave it an authentic feel. Again, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Bravo, Leonid!

Leonid Prymak's novel, Forbidden Dreams is a rip-roaring roller coaster ride! The twist and turns in this real-life love story keeps you hanging on, white knuckled to your seat. Prymak treats your senses to a heart-riveting round trip journey from Richmond to Moscow with such clarity that you can still feel the crunchy-white Russian snow on your boots on Monument Avenue. The cold snow melts quickly, however, by Prymak's remarkable ability to suck his readers into the moist-hot passions of his characters. I became a willing victim, bound cover to cover by Prymak's captivating words. Like a crazed voyeur, I read faster and faster, tormented by the deliciously painful life and love of Vladimir--all the while, dreading the ending. Life of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and its musicians also adds special flavor to his novel. I can't wait for Prymak to write more! Judy Harris Richmond, VA

I am not a fan of wrestling so this book actually opened up a new world of adventure for me. The story is wonderful, exciting and I couldn't put it down. The characters are well written and human and you sympathize with them. I read the book within a couple of days and really enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down. A great book for die hard wrestling fans and everyone else, too.

IF you're interested in adventure stories, you'll love, From Parts Unknown. It's hero, Stephen, is an ordinary man, thrust unwillingly into an extraordinary situation. His family and his humanity are under threat. how he deals with this threat is a major theme of the novel. His arch nemesis, Vornaki, is a classic villain, complete with minions, evil schemes, and a plan to take over the universe.

The novel is based in the wrestling world, and this gives the author an opportunity to incorporate elements of comic books and satire to illustrate his main points. It also allows him to pepper the novel with a cast of intriguing and unusual characters.

Humour, pathos and fast paced story telling make this a novel for people of all ages. I recommend it for anybody who is interested in a traditional good versus evil story.

If you're interested in adventure stories, you'll love, From Parts Unknown. It's hero, Stephen, is an ordinary man, thrust unwillingly into an extraordinary situation. His family and his humanity are under threat. how he deals with this threat is a major theme of the novel. His arch nemesis, Vornaki, is a classic villain, complete with minions, evil schemes, and a plan to take over the universe.

The novel is based in the wrestling world, and this gives the author an opportunity to incorporate elements of comic books and satire to illustrate his main points. It also allows him to pepper the novel with a cast of intriguing and unusual characters.

Humour, pathos and fast paced story telling make this a novel for people of all ages. I recommend it for anybody who is interested in a traditional good versus evil story.

"From Parts Unkown" is a wonderfully wirtten and well researched book. The author has obviously spent a great deal of time researching the subject of wrestling. A ""Must-Read"" for wrestling fans, both young and old. Easy on the eyes and imagination. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves wrestling and reading alike. I opened the book on Monday night and finished it tuesday morning, I Could not put it down.

This book is really exciting and is good for people at 9 upwards but if you were looking for something serious and fun this is the right book for you.It contains alot of laughter and shocking things but it is still a really good book.

I LOVE CLUB STEPHANIE! THEY ARE SUCH GOOD BOOKS! I WANT TO READ THE NEXT ONE CAUSE THE LAST ONE LEKT ME HANGING WITH QUESTIONS

This book is cute. I now read more mature books, like Sweet Valley University, since I'm a teenager and all. But I remember when I read Full House books. The good ole Club Stephanie. It's cute and funny how every summer they always end up with the Flamingoes, and the same routine. The Flamingoes play tricks on them, they fight over the guys, etc. This book is great and really gives you the feeling of young summer love.

While not as explosive as "Friend or Flamingo," this first novel in the Club Stephanie series explores social incongruities in post-Cold War San Francisico. Wrapped around a bare bones Steinbeck-like narrative detailing the struggles of setting up a summer camp for neighborhood children, the book moves at such a blistering pace that it's easy to miss Quin-Harkin and Taaffe's subtle nuances. Indeed, their scope of intertextual references ranging from Chaucer to Pete Townshend fix the battle between the two groups on a wider social level, foreshadowing the LA riots and Atlanta Olympics.

The influence of William Golding is not lost on the authors either. Indeed, her paradise is all too easily corrupted. Stephanie emerges in the novel as a flawed heroine, whose victories depend upon her ability to arrive at universal truths. All the while, she remains engaging and entertaining to the reader.

While my love of the series leads me to award a 5 star rating to this book, my mixed feelings on the dualistic ending put it at 4 stars. The ending definitely raises more questions than it answers, leaving many a reader, myself included, feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

" Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralising. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends." That profound quote from Oscar Wilde leading off the robot section tells you that this is not simply another stylish, colour- drenched coffee table collector's book, but one which marries brief text and evocative photos to cast its subject in a new light. "This book celebrates the design, novelty and colour of these highly fascinating toys," the authors write, exactly the same elements that readers and collectors find so fascinating.

In 225 pages, they present hundreds of colour photos of rare and iconic robots and space toys, along with brief informative blurbs. A rare feature is a listing of manufacturers' marks, both fascinating and helpful in identifying toys. Another rarity is the many photos of original boxes, along with numerous colour and style variants. Amazon suggests you buy this book along with Blast Off! I'd make the same suggestion. Blast Off! has lots of reading, unusual in a collector's book, while the stunning photography and layout lift this British book well above the ordinary.

I have to agree with the comments made by the author himself, both " ...informative & visually stimulating ...". If that was what he set out to achieve by writing this excellent book, then he has surpassed it. Superb colour pictures of the type of tin robots & space toys we all played with in our younger days brought the memories flooding back. For collectors of this type of toy, this has to be a classic. Clear photography, excellent description of each toy, rare items and original boxes and a desirability guide. A must for both new & experienced collectors alike !

Altho I'm not a Space Toy collector, this will be on my shelf just for the quality and quantity of the fantastic vintage graphic images of the toys and their boxes.

For the Space Toy afficianado, this has the best, large scale, clearest photos I've seen. Thee is brief, but concise information on each toy that includes the size, maker, year, country, desirability, & description. There are several pages of trademark logos. It's a real trip down memory lane and should serve as one of the top ranked refrence books out there.

The authors have done a superb job in presenting a classic piece of collectible reference. The book is filled to the bubble with all the greats and done with taste and care. One of the nice sections is a complete listing of toy manufacturers trademarks. No effort was made to price the robots and space toys, which I'm gratefully thankful for, since any attempt would certainly have dated the work. As a collector this will be one of my future guides as I pursue what has become a rewarding if albeit expensive pastime! Bravo...and my compliments. To all others the least bit interested...get this book!

You are never going to sing the song, "I've Been Working On The Railroad" quite the same again after reading this air hammer of a book. The milieu of the Fifties and the pressure to conform is as stifling as a 102 degree summer day standing on the rail lines with your pick and shovel in Central Ohio. You can sense the pressure, feel the heat and the limestone dust seeps in and stuffs up your nostrils and clogs your lungs. What this boy goes through and what happens to him still wakes me up sweating in the night. Best of all, it's Part I of a four part novel... I can't wait to get the rest of this series!

Excellent! In the song, Gandy Dancer's Ball, you'd think a gandy (railroad section hand) would get to dance. This one missed the ball all around and I won't reveal the big surprise ending...The story is absolutely masterfully handled.

Before Elvis and Rock and Roll and Marlon and James Dean the Fifties "Happy Days" were pure teen hell, and some of us expatriates were around to notice. Damn, this 44288 guy got it down; you feel like you're there, or back there, and you just want to come up to suck real air. It's a wonder anybody survived and more of a miracle anybody managed to grow up. Kudos to 44288, I really would have liked to have met the man. And kudos to Perry Aayr for rescuing this treasure from certain destruction. National Book Award class. I look forward eagerly to the rest of the Some Die Mad series: Gandy; Auschwitz, Ohio; The Place To Wait; Islands In Time. Get in at the beginning on a sure international winner.

Gandy Dancing is a super book. As lead volume in a four book series called Some Die Mad, it just couldn't be better. It has got the ten scene of the Fifties DOWN, baby. Why you can just feel all the pressures of conformist youthful hell before the explosions of Elvis, Jimmy Dean, Marlon Brando and the tumultuous Sixties. Perry Aayr's presentation of 44288's work does this world a service. I've also read Auschwitz, Ohio, which is Part II of Some Die Mad and the implosion of this man, this time and this era is like you're standing in a pressure cooker with the lid closed and the heat turned on high. Believe you me, this baby is going places and I can see there's a big bang cooking up in the real near future...