Until the Final Hour or Blue Skies No Fences

Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary

Author: Traudl Jung

Traudl Junge -- nйe Humps -- turned 20 in 1940 and dreamed of a career as a ballerina, but to support herself she became a secretary. Two years later the "opportunity of her life" beckoned, when Adolf Hitler, then at his headquarters in eastern Prussia known as the "Wolf's Lair," chose her from among ten candidates as his assistant. For the next two and a half years she was at his side -- at the "Wolf's Lair," at Berchtesgaden, in the besieged Berlin bunker in the spring of 1945 -- typing his correspondence, his speeches, even his private last will and testament. After the war people of all stripes -- writers, journalists, filmmakers -- approached her to find out -- how he really was, -- and in 1947, at the urging of a friend, she set out to write this journal. As she learned more and more about the horrors of the war and of the Holocaust, she put it aside, almost in shame, wracked with guilt that she had not seen past the pleasant faзade of this man who was, she now realized, evil incarnate. Finally, the writer Melissa Mьller persuaded her to allow her journal to be published, with a new foreword explaining her position. By its description of the outwardly, very normal, almost mundane quality of day-to-day life with Adolf Hitler, this work once again confirms, as did Victor Klemperer's I Will Bear Witness, Hannah Arendt's perceptive notion of the "banality of evil."

The Washington Post

Mueller's extensive postscript leaves no doubt that for the rest of her life Junge was haunted by those two years. Not long before her death she said: "Today I mourn for two things: for the fate of those millions of people who were murdered by the National Socialists. And for the girl Traudl Humps who lacked the self-confidence and good sense to speak out against them at the right moment." How many others could, and should, say the same? — Jonathan Yardley

New interesting textbook: Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution or Slouching Towards Gomorrah

Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family

Author: Lynne Cheney

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Miami and the Siege of Chicago or More Sex Is Safer Sex

Miami and the Siege of Chicago

Author: Norman Mailer

1968. The Vietnam War was raging. President Lyndon Johnson, facing a challenge in his own Democratic Party from the maverick antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy, announced that he would not seek a second term. In April, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and riots broke out in inner cities throughout America. Bobby Kennedy was killed after winning the California primary in June. In August, Republicans met in Miami, picking the little-loved Richard Nixon as their candidate, while in September, Democrats in Chicago backed the ineffectual vice president, Hubert Humphrey. TVs across the country showed antiwar protesters filling the streets of Chicago and the police running amok, beating and arresting demonstrators and delegates alike.
In Miami and the Siege of Chicago, Norman Mailer, America’s most protean and provocative writer, brings a novelist’s eye to bear on the events of 1968, a decisive year in modern American politics, from which today’s bitterly divided country arose.

See also: Human Resource Function in Emerging Enterprises or Building a Winning Career in a Technical Profession

More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics

Author: Steven E Landsburg

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Art of Deception or The Buffalo Creek Disaster

Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security

Author: Kevin D Mitnick

The world's most infamous hacker offers an insider's view of the low-tech threats to high-tech security Kevin Mitnick's exploits as a cyber-desperado and fugitive form one of the most exhaustive FBI manhunts in history and have spawned dozens of articles, books, films, and documentaries. Since his release from federal prison, in 1998, Mitnick has turned his life around and established himself as one of the most sought-after computer security experts worldwide. Now, in The Art of Deception, the world's most notorious hacker gives new meaning to the old adage, "It takes a thief to catch a thief."
Focusing on the human factors involved with information security, Mitnick explains why all the firewalls and encryption protocols in the world will never be enough to stop a savvy grifter intent on rifling a corporate database or an irate employee determined to crash a system. With the help of many fascinating true stories of successful attacks on business and government, he illustrates just how susceptible even the most locked-down information systems are to a slick con artist impersonating an IRS agent. Narrating from the points of view of both the attacker and the victims, he explains why each attack was so successful and how it could have been prevented in an engaging and highly readable style reminiscent of a true-crime novel. And, perhaps most importantly, Mitnick offers advice for preventing these types of social engineering hacks through security protocols, training programs, and manuals that address the human element of security.

Wired Magazine

He was the FBI's most-wanted hacker. But in his own eyes, Mitnick was simply a small-time con artist with an incredible memory, a knack for social engineering, and an enemy at The New York Times. That foe, John Markoff, made big bucks selling two books about Mitnick -- without ever interviewing him. This is Mitnick's account, complete with advice for how to protect yourself from similar attacks. I believe his story.

Stephen Manes - Forbes

Finally someone is on to the real cause of data security breaches--stupid humans. Notorious hacker Kevin Mit-nick--released from federal prison in January 2000 and still on probation--reveals clever tricks of the "social engineer-ing" trade and shows how to fend them off in The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security (Wiley, $27.50).

Most of the book, coauthored by William Simon (not the one running for governor of California), is a series of fictional episodes depicting the many breathtakingly clever ways that hackers can dupe trusting souls into breaching corporate and personal security--information as simple as an unlisted phone number or as complicated as plans for a top-secret product under development. The rest lays out a fairly draconian plan of action for companies that want to strengthen their defenses. Takeaway: You can put all the technology you want around critical information, but all it takes to break through is one dolt who gives up his password to a "colleague" who claims to be working from the Peoria office.

What's useful about this book is its explanation of risks in seemingly innocuous systems few people think about. The caller ID notification that proves you're talking to a top executive of your firm? Easily forged. The password your assistant logs in with? Easily guessed. The memos you tossinto the cheap office shredder? Easily reconstructed. The extension that you call in the IT department? Easily forwarded.

Physical security can be compromised, too. It's not hard to gain access to a building by "piggybacking" your way in the door amid the happy throng returning from lunch. You'd better have confidence in your IT professionals,because they're likely to have access to everything on the corporate system, including your salary and personal informa-tion. Mitnick offers some ideas for plugging these holes, like color-coded ID cards with really big photos.

Implementing the book's security action plan in full seems impossible, but it's a good idea to warn employees from the boss down to the receptionist and janitors not to give out even innocuous information to people claiming to be helpful IT folks without confirming their identity--and to use things like encryption technology as fallbacks. Plenty of would-be Mitnicks--and worse--still ply their trade in spaces cyber and psychological.

Publishers Weekly

Mitnick is the most famous computer hacker in the world. Since his first arrest in 1981, at age 17, he has spent nearly half his adult life either in prison or as a fugitive. He has been the subject of three books and his alleged 1982 hack into NORAD inspired the movie War Games. Since his plea-bargain release in 2000, he says he has reformed and is devoting his talents to helping computer security. It's not clear whether this book is a means toward that end or a, wink-wink, fictionalized account of his exploits, with his name changed to protect his parole terms. Either way, it's a tour de force, a series of tales of how some old-fashioned blarney and high-tech skills can pry any information from anyone. As entertainment, it's like reading the climaxes of a dozen complex thrillers, one after the other. As a security education, it's a great series of cautionary tales; however, the advice to employees not to give anyone their passwords is bland compared to the depth and energy of Mitnick's descriptions of how he actually hacked into systems. As a manual for a would-be hacker, it's dated and nonspecific better stuff is available on the Internet but it teaches the timeless spirit of the hack. Between the lines, a portrait emerges of the old-fashioned hacker stereotype: a socially challenged, obsessive loser addicted to an intoxicating sense of power that comes only from stalking and spying. (Oct.) Forecast: Mitnick's notoriety and his well-written, entertaining stories should generate positive word-of-mouth. With the double appeal of a true-crime memoir and a manual for computer security, this book will enjoy good sales. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The world's most famous computer hacker and cybercult hero, once the subject of a massive FBI manhunt for computer fraud, has written a blueprint for system security based on his own experiences. Mitnick, who was released from federal prison in 1998 after serving a 22-month term, explains that unauthorized intrusion into computer networks is not limited to exploiting security holes in hardware and software. He focuses instead on a common hacker technique known as social engineering in which a cybercriminal deceives an individual into providing key information rather than trying to use technology to reveal it. Mitnick illustrates the tactics comprising this "art of deception" through actual case studies, showing that even state-of-the-art security software can't protect businesses from the dangers of human error. With Mitnick's recommended security policies, readers gain the information their organizations need to detect and ward off the threat of social engineering. Required reading for IT professionals, this book is highly recommended for public, academic, and corporate libraries. [This should not be confused with Ridley Pearson's new thriller, The Art of Deception. Ed.] Joe Accardi, William Rainey Harper Coll. Lib., Palatine, IL

Table of Contents:

	Foreword	vii
	Preface	ix
	Introduction	xv
Part 1	Behind the Scenes	1
Chapter 1	Security's Weakest Link	3
Part 2	The Art of the Attacker	13
Chapter 2	When Innocuous Information Isn't	15
Chapter 3	The Direct Attack: Just Asking for It	31
Chapter 4	Building Trust	41
Chapter 5	"Let Me Help You"	55
Chapter 6	"Can You Help Me?"	77
Chapter 7	Phony Sites and Dangerous Attachments	93
Chapter 8	Using Sympathy, Guilt, and Intimidation	105
Chapter 9	The Reverse Sting	133
Part 3	Intruder Alert	147
Chapter 10	Entering the Premises	149
Chapter 11	Combining Technology and Social Engineering	173
Chapter 12	Attacks on the Entry-Level Employee	195
Chapter 13	Clever Cons	209
Chapter 14	Industrial Espionage	225
Part 4	Raising the Bar	243
Chapter 15	Information Security Awareness and Training	245
Chapter 16	Recommended Corporate Information Security Policies	259
	Security at a Glance	331
	Sources	339
	Acknowledgments	341
	Index	347

Interesting book: Recovery from Compulsive Eating or Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations

The Buffalo Creek Disaster: The Story of the Surviviors' Unprecedented Lawsuit

Author: Gerald M Stern

One Saturday morning in February 1972, an impoundment dam owned by the Pittston Coal Company burst, sending a 130 million gallon, 25 foot tidal wave of water, sludge, and debris crashing into southern West Virginia's Buffalo Creek hollow. It was one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history. 125 people were killed instantly, more than 1,000 were injured, and over 4,000 were suddenly homeless. Instead of accepting the small settlements offered by the coal company's insurance offices, a few hundred of the survivors banded together to sue. This is the story of their triumph over incredible odds and corporate irresponsibility, as told by Gerald M. Stern, who as a young lawyer and took on the case and won.

The Elephant in the Room or The End of Oil

The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party

Author: Ryan Sager

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New interesting textbook: Steal This Book or My Guantanamo Diary

The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World

Author: Paul Roberts

You live in this world. You use oil. You must read this book.

The situation is alarming and irrefutable: within thirty years, even by conservative estimates, we will have burned our way through most of the oil that is readily available to us. Already, the costly side effects of dependence on fossil fuel are taking their toll. Even as oil-related conflict threatens entire nations, individual consumers are suffering from higher prices at the gas pump, rising health problems, and the grim prospect of long-term environmental damage.

In this frank and balanced investigation, Paul Roberts offers a timely wake-up call. He talks to both oil optimists and oil pessimists, delves deep into the economics and politics of oil, and considers the promises and pitfalls of alternatives such as wind power, hybrid cars, and hydrogen. A new afterword brings the book up to the minute. Brisk, immediate, and accessible, this is essential reading for anyone who uses oil, which is to say every one of us.

The New Yorker

This dense compendium explores a troubling paradox: the more energy we use, the richer we become, but spiraling consumption also speeds us closer to the economic havoc that will result from the depletion of oil and gas reserves. For political, cultural, and economic reasons (our current energy infrastructure is worth ten trillion dollars), alternatives such as hydrogen, solar, and wind power resist widespread development. Roberts’s outspoken but even-handed account closes with four crystal-ball scenarios. In the rosiest, breakthroughs in renewable energy spur a decline in fossil-fuel use; in the direst, Arab resentment at the overthrow of Saddam Hussein leads to the downfall of the Saudi and Kuwaiti regimes, the price of oil rises to fifty dollars a barrel, and the unprepared American economy is left in tatters.

Publishers Weekly

All economic activity is rooted in the energy economy, which means a substantial portion of the current world economy is linked to the production and distribution of oil. But what will happen, Roberts asks, when the well starts to run dry? Walking readers through the modern energy economy, he suggests that grim prospect may not be as far off as we'd like to think and points out how political unrest could disrupt the world's oil supply with disastrous results. But that could be the least of our worries; some of Roberts's most persuasive passages describe an almost inevitable future shaped by global warming, especially as rapidly industrializing countries like China begin to replicate the pollution history of the U.S. Some signs of hope are visible, he believes, especially in Europe, but the stumbling progress of potential alternatives such as hydrogen power or fuel cells is additional cause for concern. And though the current administration's energy policy gets plenty of criticism, Roberts (a regular contributor to Harper's) saves some of his harshest barbs for American consumers, described as "the least energy-conscious people on the planet." If the government won't create stricter fuel efficiency standards, he argues, blame must be placed equally on our eagerness to drive around in gas-guzzling SUVs and on corporate lobbying. Stressing the dire need to act now to create any meaningful long-term effect, this measured snapshot of our oil-dependent economy forces readers to confront unsettling truths without sinking into stridency. This book may very well become for fossil fuels what Fast Food Nation was to food or High and Mighty to SUVs. (May 15) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

How black gold has shaped us socially and politically and how we can end our dependence on it. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Enjoy your SUVs while you can, gas-guzzlers: the glory days of hydrocarbons are over-and hard times are on the way. So warns freelance journalist Roberts, who's made the energy industry his beat for Harper's. "On the face of it," he writes, "our energy economy is humming along like a perpetual-motion machine." But, he adds, that's illusory: although the growing energy economy requires the constant discovery and exploitation of new stores of fossil fuels, with demand expected to grow by 50 percent in the US alone by 2020, the reality is that actual production is falling, so that the oil-dependent nations of the First World are ever more dependent on countries that feel little goodwill toward them. "By nearly any sane measure," Roberts remarks, "the quest for less problematic forms of energy and energy-efficient technologies should be a top priority for all players in the energy world." Yet that has not been the case: although, Roberts notes, the energy industry has historically shown itself to be capable of turning on a dime, the powers that be-not least of them the current US administration ("If American energy politics has always been dysfunctional, a new standard may have been set with the election of George W. Bush")-have resisted regulations requiring greater efficiencies. The road to a new energy regime is likely to be perilous, politically and economically; as Roberts notes, previous transformations have been profoundly dislocating. Yet more dislocating will be the worldwide economic shock when the news sinks in that depletion and scarcity are the order of the day: "World markets-and the political systems that depend on those markets-could deteriorate with surprising speed once itbecomes widely known that a peak has occurred," Roberts warns. So what is to be done? Well, plenty, all of it involving a great change of "energy lifestyles"-and all of it certain to cause pain. A disturbing geopolitical survey of the world energy landscape. Agent: Heather Schroder/ICM

Table of Contents:

	Prologue	1
Pt. I	The free ride
1	Lighting the fire	21
2	The last of the easy oil	44
3	The future's so bright	66
4	Energy is power	91
5	Too hot	116
Pt. II	On the road to nowhere
6	Give the people what they want	143
7	Big oil gets anxious	165
8	And now for something completely different	188
9	Less is more	213
Pt. III	Into the blue
10	Energy security	237
11	The invisible hand	259
12	Digging in our heels	281
13	How do we get there?	307
	Notes	335
	Bibliography	350
	Acknowledgments	359
	Index	361

The Shield of Achilles or Infidel

The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History

Author: Philip Bobbitt

For five centuries, the State has evolved according to epoch-making cycles of war and peace. But now our world has changed irrevocably. What faces us in this era of fear and uncertainty? How do we protect ourselves against war machines that can penetrate the defenses of any state? Visionary and prophetic, The Shield of Achilles looks back at history, at the “Long War” of 1914-1990, and at the future: the death of the nation-state and the birth of a new kind of conflict without precedent.

Publishers Weekly

The world is at a pivotal point, argues Bobbitt, as the nation-state, developed over six centuries as the optimal institution for waging war and organizing peace, gives way to the market-state. Nation-states derive legitimacy from promising to improve the material welfare of their citizens, specifically by providing security and order. Market-states offer to maximize the opportunity of their people. Nation-states use force and law to bring about desired results. Market-states use various forms of market relationships. Bobbitt, who has an endowed chair at the University of Texas and has written five previous books on constitutional law and on nuclear strategy, argues in sprawling fashion that this paradigm shift is essentially a consequence of the "Long War" of 1914-1990, a struggle among communism, fascism and parliamentarism that, through innovation and mimicry, generated a fundamentally new constitutional and strategic dynamic that in turn generated a fundamentally new "society of states." Central to Bobbitt's thesis is the postulate that international order is a consequence of domestic order. In the work's most stimulating section, Bobbitt discusses three possible ways of reorganizing the latter. The "Meadow," essentially an extrapolation of socio-political patterns currently dominant in the U.S., features high levels of individualism around the world at the expense of collective behavior at any level. The "Park," based on a European alternate, emphasizes regionalism. The "Garden" predicates successful market states disengaging from international affairs and emphasizing renewed internal community. None of these systems will eliminate war, but the nation-state is declining, Bobbitt argues, essentially because nonstate actors confront the nation-state with threats it cannot effectively respond to. This big book is provocative and richly textured, but too often Bobbitt's arguments are obscured by his historically digressive presentation. (May 20) Forecast: This book will be brandished by pundits of all stripes, particularly the IR (international relations) wonks who are its primary audience. Larger academic policy collections are also a lock. Trade sales should be slow but steady; the book can be recommended as a counterpoint to Negri and Hardt's sleeper hit Empire. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Bobbitt (constitutional law, Univ. of Texas; Constitutional Interpretation) attempts to foresee the shape of the 21st century in this study of the nation-state and how it evolves through politics and war. Bobbitt believes that the nation-state, which has dominated the last 200 years, is about to fade away and be replaced by what he calls the market state. He sees what he calls the long war of the nation-state, begun in 1914 and not ended until 1990 with the Treaty of Paris, as the major political event of the 20th century. However, the nation-states that survived this protracted struggle are seeing their legitimacy, linked to specific territories and borders, challenged by modern communications, global migration patterns, and organizations with no single territorial base. The result of these trends will be the emergence of the market state, which will be structured to maximize economic opportunities by opening markets rather than maintaining large governing establishments that attempt to maintain uniformity by means of legislation. Bobbitt's arguments are based solidly on his extensive knowledge of international security and constitutional law, and his book will be of interest to anyone concerned with foreign relations and the evolution of society. Recommended for all academic and larger public libraries. Robert J. Andrews, Duluth P.L., MN Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A brilliant, disquieting essay on geopolitics, warfare, and the future of the state. War brings peace for only a short time, argues Bobbitt (Constitutional Law/Univ. of Texas). More commonly, war brings sweeping changes in the legal order of states and societies; without it, apparently, there can be no progress, which is one reason warfare is a constant in human history. A case in point for the author is the so-called Long War that raged around the world from 1914 to 1990. This epochal conflict produced the emergent "market-state," just as the so-called Long Nineteenth Century produced the modern nation-state. Of this market-state Bobbitt writes rather vaguely-necessarily, given that no such government now exists and that the world's fortunes can turn in many possible directions (many of them terribly bad) over the next few years. Clearly, he argues, the nation-state is outmoded on several fronts. The contemporary world, for instance, is more and more inclined to insist that states respect the human rights of their citizens no matter what their internal laws, thus legitimizing interventions in places such as Afghanistan or Bosnia and weakening the old idea of the sovereign polity that can do just about whatever it wishes within its territorial borders. Advances in finance and communications have also left the nation-state behind: "There is a grotesque disparity," Bobbitt writes, "between the rapid movement of international capital and the ponderous and territorially circumscribed responses of the nation-state, as clumsy as a bear chained to a stake, trying to chase a shifting beam of light." How a government primarily concerned with providing services and dominating the market will bemore responsive to extra-mercantile issues remains to be seen, but throughout this hugely ambitious (and huge) treatise, Bobbitt poses scenarios that for ardent democrats will range from the scarcely comforting to the bleak, with rays of hope in very short supply. Few historical studies are as daring and engaging as this. Highly recommended for students of foreign policy, history, and global trends.

Table of Contents:

	Foreword	xv
	Prologue	xxi
Book I	State of War
	Introduction: Law, Strategy, and History	5
Part I	The Long War of the Nation-State
1.	Thucydides and the Epochal War	21
2.	The Struggle Begun: Fascism, Communism, Parliamentarianism, 1914-1919	24
3.	The Struggle Continued: 1919-1945	34
4.	The Struggle Ended: 1945-1990	45
Part II	A Brief History of the Modern State and its Constitutional Orders
5.	Strategy and the Constitutional Order	69
6.	From Princes to Princely States: 1494-1648	75
7.	From Kingly States to Territorial States: 1648-1776	95
8.	From State-Nations to Nation-States: 1776-1914	144
9.	The Study of the Modern State	205
Part III	The Historic Consequences of the Long War
10.	The Market-State	213
11.	Strategic Choices	243
12.	Strategy and the Market-State	283
13.	The Wars of the Market-State: Conclusion to Book I Plates I-V	344
Book II	States of Peace
	Introduction: The Origin of International Law in the Constitutional Order	353
Part I	The Society of Nation-States
14.	Colonel House and a World Made of Law	367
15.	The Kitty Genovese Incident and the War in Bosnia	411
16.	The Death of the Society of Nation-States	468
Part II	A Brief History of the Society of States and the International Order
17.	Peace and the International Order	481
18.	The Treaty of Augsburg	486
19.	The Peace of Westphalia	501
20.	The Treaty of Utrecht	520
21.	The Congress of Vienna	538
22.	The Versailles Treaty	570
23.	The Peace of Paris	609
Part III	The Society of Market-States
24.	Challenges to the New International Order	667
25.	Possible Worlds	715
26.	The Coming Age of War and Peace	776
27.	Peace in the Society of Market-States: Conclusion to Book II	798
	Epilogue	811
	Postscript: The Indian Summer	819
	Appendix	825
	A Note on Eurocentrism	825
	A Note on Causality	825
	A Note on Periodicity	827
	Notes	829
	Bibliography	889
	Acknowledgments	901
	Index	903

Go to: Beginning XML or Refactoring

Infidel

Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.

One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.

Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.

Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.

William Grimes

The circuitous, violence-filled path that led Ms. Hirsi Ali from Somalia to the Netherlands is the subject of Infidel, her brave, inspiring and beautifully written memoir. Narrated in clear, vigorous prose, it traces the author's geographical journey from Mogadishu to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, and her desperate flight to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage.
&3151; The New York Times

The Washington Post - Anne Applebaum

Infidel is a unique book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a unique writer, and both deserve to go far.

Publishers Weekly

Readers with an eye on European politics will recognize Ali as the Somali-born member of the Dutch parliament who faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against Muslim women with controversial director Theo van Gogh (who was himself assassinated). Even before then, her attacks on Islamic culture as "brutal, bigoted, [and] fixated on controlling women" had generated much controversy. In this suspenseful account of her life and her internal struggle with her Muslim faith, she discusses how these views were shaped by her experiences amid the political chaos of Somalia and other African nations, where she was subjected to genital mutilation and later forced into an unwanted marriage. While in transit to her husband in Canada, she decided to seek asylum in the Netherlands, where she marveled at the polite policemen and government bureaucrats. Ali is up-front about having lied about her background in order to obtain her citizenship, which led to further controversy in early 2006, when an immigration official sought to deport her and triggered the collapse of the Dutch coalition government. Apart from feelings of guilt over van Gogh's death, her voice is forceful and unbowed-like Irshad Manji, she delivers a powerful feminist critique of Islam informed by a genuine understanding of the religion. 8-page photo insert. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Nancy R. Ives - Library Journal

Hirsi Ali (The Caged Virgin) first came to the world's attention with the gunning down of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam by a Muslim extremist. A note pinned to van Gogh threatened Hirsi Ali's life for collaborating with him on Submission, a short film criticizing Muslims for wife beating and forced marriages. In this memoir, the Somalian-born author tells of her journey to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, undergoing genital mutilation, being schooled by strict Muslim teachers, and finally facing shame from her family and clan for turning against Islam. In her early twenties, she sought asylum in the Netherlands after escaping an arranged marriage. In Holland, the cleanliness, order, and freedom amazed her; she couldn't believe that a government could help its people and was not feared. As she adjusted to her new home, learning Dutch, attending university, acquiring citizenship, and eventually working as a translator for social services, she spoke out publicly, criticizing the Muslim treatment of women. She was elected to serve in parliament, where her controversial views brought death threats and an attempt to rescind her Dutch citizenship. During her brief tenure, she warned that radical Islam is often incompatible with modernity and democracy and that its enslavement of women presents a serious threat. A clearly written and fascinating account of exceptional courage, this book is essential for all libraries. Hirsi Ali reads her own words in clear, slightly accented English; strongly recommended.

Kirkus Reviews

Somali-born Dutch parliamentarian Hirsi Ali, now in hiding from Muslim militants angered by her outspoken views on Islam's enslavement of women (The Caged Virgin, 2005), offers a forthright, densely detailed memoir of growing up harshly amid revolution and religious restraint. "A woman alone is like a piece of sheep fat in the sun," Hirsi Ali's grandmother warned her frequently when she was a child absorbing the rigorous tenants of Islam in Mogadishu. Hirsi Ali, along with her younger sister, Haweya, and older brother, Mahad, were the children of a political dissenter of the Somalian government of Siad Barre, and frequently moved to safer places. Although their parents did not approve of circumcision, their absences allowed the strict peasant grandmother to arrange for the cutting of the three-Haweya, especially, was "never the same afterward." Their pious mother insisted on an education in the Qur'an, and their move to Saudia Arabia, without the protection of their father, proved disastrous: The mother was largely isolated, the children sent to sadistic religious schools. In Ethiopia, among the "unbelievers," they were treated more kindly, and in Nairobi, Kenya, the children attended British and Muslim schools. Here, Hirsi Ali began to read in English and have contact with Western ideas, especially about love. Recalcitrant and argumentative, she was given a fractured skull by her mother's ma'alim, or religious teacher. Amid civil war, a more conservative strain of Islam moved in, and Hirsi Ali was a convert, wearing full hidjab and practicing submission. She gained a secretarial degree and briefly indulged in a secret, short-lived marriage to her handsome cousin (the only way they couldsleep together). Reluctantly, to appease her father, she agreed to an arranged marriage, then bolted to Holland to beg for asylum-her lies about her background caught up with her later when she ran for Dutch office. Crammed with harrowing details, Hirsi Ali's account is a significant contribution to our times. Agent: Susanna Lea/Susanna Lea Associates

Crusade in Europe or Desert Queen

Crusade in Europe

Author: Dwight D Eisenhower

Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. For many historians, his memoirs of this eventful period of U.S. history have become the single most important record of the war. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as Eisenhower planned and lived it. Through his eyes, the enormous scope and drama of the war--strategy, battles, moments of fateful decision--become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory.

Yet this is also a warm and richly human account. Ike recalls the long months of waiting, planning, and working toward victory in Europe. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack--and there was no turning back--leaves no doubt of Eisenhower's travail and reveals this great man in ways that no biographer has ever surpassed.

Go to: Ultraprevention or Goddesses and Angels

Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell:Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia

Author: Janet Wallach

"Turning away from the privileged world of the "eminent Victorians," Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) explored, mapped, and excavated the world of the Arabs. Recruited by British intelligence during World War I, she played a crucial role in obtaining the loyalty of Arab leaders, and her connections and information provided the brains to match T. E. Lawrence's brawn. After the war, she played a major role in creating the modern Middle East and was, at the time, considered the most powerful woman in the British Empire." In this biography, Janet Wallach shows us the woman behind these achievements - a woman whose passion and defiant independence were at odds wit the confined and custom-bound England she left behind. Too long eclipsed by Lawrence, Gertrude Bell emerges at last in her own right as a vital player on the stage of modern history, and as a woman whose life was both a heartbreaking story and a grand adventure.

Villa and Zapata or Reluctant Welfare State

Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution

Author: Frank McLynn

Recounting the decade of bloody events that followed the eruption of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, Villa and Zapata explores the regional, international, cultural, racial, and economic strife that made the rebels Francisco (Pancho) Villa and Emiliano Zapata legends. Throughout this volume drama colludes with history, in a tale of two social outlaws who became legendary national heroes, yet—despite their triumph and only meeting, in 1914, in the Mexican capital—failed to make common cause and ultimately fell victim to intrigues more treacherous than their own. 16 pages of black-and-white photographs bring this gripping narrative to life. "McLynn ... tells it so well ... you can hear the strains of he Mexican patriotic standard ‘Zacatecas' as you read it."—Austin American-Statesman "An admirably clear account of the chaos of revolution, its rivalries and bloody struggles...."—The Spectator "Informative and insightful ... feels less like a history than a great story, as exciting as a Saturday serial Western."—Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and lasted for over a decade, a bloody and confusing saga of betrayal, corruption, misshapen politics and mislaid trusts that, in the end, accomplished little for lower- and lower-middle class Mexicans. Historian and biographer McLynn (Carl Gustav Jung; etc.) reconstructs the revolution through the biographies of its two most important figures, Francisco (Pancho) Villa, the bandit-turned-revolutionary, and Emiliano Zapata, whose declaration, "It's better to die on our feet than to live on our knees," later became La Pasionaria's Spanish Civil War slogan. Comprehensive almost to a fault, McLynn also devotes many pages to other key players: the revolution's first leader, Francisco Madero, who, having defeated President Porfirio D!az, stopped short of killing the president and members of the fallen government; and the ambitious Pascual Orozco, a controversial revolutionary figure believed by some (his pal Villa later among them) to have been on D!az's payroll. Having moved briskly and clearly through the disorganization and obfuscation of one of the bloodiest (and longest) revolutions in history, the author makes this informative, insightful study even more compelling with his witty and fluid prose. In his exhaustive research, McLynn plumbed "the ranks of the apocrypha," compared conservative histories to liberal ones and accounted for trends (economic, cultural, agricultural, industrial) concurrent with and pertinent to the revolution. McLynn grasps so completely and communicates so deftly the nuances of government corruption, the U.S. stance toward a long succession of Mexican autocrats, infighting between Zapatistas and Villistas, that this book feelsless like a history than a great story, as exciting as a Saturday serial Western. Three maps, 16 pages b&w photos. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In a rare accomplishment, McLynn, a biographer of Sir Richard Burton, Carl Jung, and Napoleon, here presents his topic in a logical and understandable manner for almost every level of reader while also incorporating the latest research. While claiming to be writing a dual biography of Mexican rebel-outlaws Francisco (Pancho) Villa and Emiliano Zapata, McLynn has actually produced a judicious analytical account of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20. He discusses the roles of the U.S. government, Gen. John J. Pershing's troops, German secret agents, and corrupt Mexican officials, drawing on a wide reading of English and Spanish studies and document collections. At the same time, his narrative is lively and gripping, leading the reader into this thoughtful study. Students and instructors of Mexican history at all levels will find the bibliographical essay invaluable. This belongs in all libraries whose patrons have even the most casual interest in Mexican history. Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Villa rides again, but this horse limps. At the outset, heavily published pop biographer McLynn (Carl Gustav Jung, 1997, etc.) points to three books that he calls a "lodestar" in studying the lives of Mexican revolutionaries Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata: Alan Knight's two-volume Mexican Revolution, John Womack's Zapata and the Mexican Revolution, and Friedrich Katz's recently published Life and Times of Pancho Villa. He is right to rely on those books, which historians regard as standard texts. Sadly, he hasn't done much with this densely written tome to match their accomplishments, except, as an English writer, to add some side notes on Winston Churchill's curious involvement in the internal affairs of faraway Mexico. (Churchill had his reasons: after all, McLynn notes, the British held 55 percent of all foreign investments in Latin America, and 29 percent of foreign investments in Mexico.) As befits a student of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, McLynn has a tendency to psychologize when writing about the likes of Porfirio Diaz and Francisco Madero, who, admittedly, had their issues. He captures well the infighting, personal as much as political in nature, which complicated the Mexican Revolution, as well as the international intrigues surrounding a decade of civil war. But while he gives a serviceable account of the lives of Villa and Zapata, among other revolutionary leaders, McLynn omits several important players and factions in the Revolution, makes frequent misstatements of fact (McLynn: "Like the Plains Indians of North America, the Mexican Indians never made common cause against their white rulers," and he's wrong about both), and offers dubious interpretations ofthe historical record. All in all, an amateurish entry in a literature already dominated by outstanding professional work.

New interesting book: The Oxford Handbook of International Business or Periodic Time Series Models

Reluctant Welfare State: Engaging History to Advance Social Work Practice in Contemporary Society

Author: Bruce S Jansson

Written in clear, lively prose by one of the foremost scholars in the area of social welfare, THE RELUCTANT WELFARE STATE: ENGAGING HISTORY TO ADVANCE SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY, Sixth Edition, places social policy into political, cultural, and societal context. Using social policy history as a catalyst, Dr. Jansson analyzes the evolution of American welfare and invites you to think critically about issues, developments, and policies in prior eras and in contemporary society, to help you develop your own "policy identity."

Table of Contents:

1. THE SYMBIOTIC AND UNEASY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIENTS, SOCIAL WORKERS, AND THE WELFARE STATE. 2. MAKING THE AMERICAN WELFARE STATE MORE HUMANE, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. 3. FASHIONING A NEW SOCIETY IN THE WILDERNESS. 4. SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC: 1789-1860. 5. LOST OPPORTUNITIES: THE FRONTIER, THE CIVIL WAR, AND INDUSTRIALIZATION. 6. SOCIAL REFORM IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA. 7. SOCIAL POLICY TO ADDRESS THE WORST ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE IN U.S. HISTORY. 8. THE ERA OF FEDERAL SOCIAL SERVICES: THE NEW FRONTIER AND THE GREAT SOCIETY. 9. THE PARADOXICAL ERA: 1968-1980. 10. THE CONSERVATIVE COUNTERREVOLUTION IN THE ERA OF REAGAN AND BUSH, SR. 11. RELUCTANCE ILLUSTRATED: POLICY UNCERTAINTY DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION. 12. BUSH'S QUEST FOR REALIGNMENT. 13. WHY HAS THE AMERICAN WELFARE STATE BEEN RELUCTANT--AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? 14. USING KNOWLEDGE OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN WELFARE STATE TO IMPROVE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY.

Beyond the White House or 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America

Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope

Author: Jimmy Carter

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Look this: How Academic Leadership Works or Strategies for Success in the New Telecommunications Marketplace

100 People Who Are Screwing Up America: (and Al Franken Is #37)

Author: Bernard Goldberg

The number one New York Times bestselling author of Bias delivers another bombshell—this time aimed at . . .

100 People Who Are Screwing Up America

No preaching. No pontificating. Just some uncommon sense about the things that have made this country great—and the culprits who are screwing it up.

Bernard Goldberg takes dead aim at the America Bashers (the cultural elites who look down their snobby noses at "ordinary" Americans) . . . the Hollywood Blowhards (incredibly ditzy celebrities who think they're smart just because they're famous) . . . the TV Schlockmeisters (including the one whose show has been compared to a churning mass of maggots devouring rotten meat) . . . the Intellectual Thugs (bigwigs at some of our best colleges, whose views run the gamut from left wing to far left wing) . . . and many more.

Goldberg names names, counting down the villains in his rogues' gallery from 100 all the way to 1—and, yes, you-know-who is number 37. Some supposedly "serious" journalists also made the list, including the journalist-diva who sold out her integrity and hosted one of the dumbest hours in the history of network television news. And there are those famous miscreants who have made America a nastier place than it ought to be—a far more selfish, vulgar, and cynical place.

But Goldberg doesn't just round up the usual suspects we have come to know and detest. He also exposes some of the people who operate away from the limelight but still manage to pull a lot of strings and do all sorts of harm to our culture. Most of all, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America is about a country where aslong as anything goes, as one of the good guys in the book puts it, sooner or later everything will go.

This is serious stuff for sure. But Goldberg will also make you laugh as he harpoons scoundrels like the congresswoman who thinks there aren't enough hurricanes named after black people, and the environmentalist to the stars who yells at total strangers driving SUVs—even though she tools around the country in a gas-guzzling private jet.

With Bias, Bernard Goldberg took us behind the scenes and exposed the way Big Journalism distorts the news. Now he has written a book that goes even further. This time he casts his eye on American culture at large—and the result is a book that is sure to become the voice of all those Americans who feel that no one is speaking for them on perhaps the most vital issue of all: the kind of country in which we want to live.

Gods Terrorists or Misunderestimated Overunderappreciated

God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad

Author: Charles Allen

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Table of Contents:

Maps     ix
Preface     xi
Acknowledgements     xiii
Introduction: 'Am I not a Pakhtun?'     1
Death of a Commissioner     23
The Puritan of the Desert     42
The False Dawn of the Imam-Mahdi     69
The Call of the Imam-Mahdi     92
The Early Summer of 1857     118
The Late Summer of 1857     139
The Ambeyla Disaster     161
The Wahabees on Trial     185
The Frontier Ablaze     212
The Brotherhood     234
The Coming Together     260
The Unholy Alliance     289
Leading Muslim personalities     298
The roots of the Al-Saud - Al-Wahhab family alliance     304
The 'Wahhabi' family tree in India     306
Glossary     308
Bibliography     320
Index     332

Book review: Scalia Dissents or Inside Delta Force

Misunderestimated & Overunderappreciated

Author: Mark Crispin Miller

"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."  —George W. Bush

 

Whether you've been an unwavering Bush protestor or only recently joined the growing legion of his disapprovers, one thing is certain: at this point, we could all use a good laugh. But the hundreds of political cartoons collected in Misunderestimated & Overunderappreciated: The George W. Bush Administration as Seen Through the Eyes of the Tribune's Syndicated Editorial Cartoonists do more than simply poke fun. They chronologically document George W. Bush's presidency in all its glory, from Bush's quotidian gaffes to his fuzzy relationship with the truth to his unflagging efforts to "embitter" both the nation and the world.

 

Placing the 400-plus cartoons—drawn by sixteen of the Tribune Media Service's cartoonists, nearly half of them Pulitzer Prize–winners—in context are cogent introductions by acclaimed media critic Mark Crispin Miller, and a foreword by Garrison Keillor provides a wry take on this unprecedented presidency. Also included are yearly timelines, contemporary news stories, and quotes from Bush himself (and many others) that really "resignate."

United States Constitution or Freedomnomics

United States Constitution: What It Says, What It Means: A Hip Pocket Guide

Author: Caroline Kennedy

Affordable, readable, and indispensable,The United States Constitution: What it Says, What it Means allows you to put the most important document in American history in your back pocket. In conjunction with Justice Learning and The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and with an introduction written by Caroline Kennedy and an afterword written by David Eisenhower, this pocket guide appeals to the broadest possible audience. Each Article and each Amendment is followed by a clear and concise explanation, in plain English, that is suitable for both middle and high school students.
On December 8, 2004 President Bush officially signed Constitution Day into law. The law mandates that each year, on September 17th, schools and colleges that receive federal money are required to teach the Constitution. The new law was championed in Congress by Sen. Robert Byrd who famously carries around a copy of the document in his pocket. Sen. Byrd became increasingly alarmed at the lack of civics education-specifically relating to the Constitution-in our public schools and he wanted to take action.
Lightweight, easy to use and easy for everyone to understand The United States Constitution: What it Says, What it Means is an excellent way for students and citizens of all ages to read and completely comprehend the building block of American democracy.
Justice Learning (www.justicelearning.org), is a comprehensive on-line resource that offers wide-ranging non-partisan materials relating to civics education.

New interesting textbook: A History of Everyday Things or An Introduction to Classical Econometric Theory

Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't

Author: John R Lott Jr

Freedomnomics is everything you wanted to know about the world but didn't know economics could tell you. Economist and bestselling author John Lott shows the logic of free market economics through clear and hard-hitting examples.

While Europe Slept or A Treasury of Great American Scandals

While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West from Within

Author: Bruce Bawer

The struggle for the soul of Europe today is every bit as dire and consequential as it was in the 1930s. Then, in Weimar, Germany, the center did not hold, and the light of civilization nearly went out. Today, the continent has entered yet another “Weimar moment.” Will Europeans rise to the challenge posed by radical Islam, or will they cave in once again to the extremists?
As an American living in Europe since 1998, Bruce Bawer has seen this problem up close. Across the continent—in Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, and Stockholm—he encountered large, rapidly expanding Muslim enclaves in which women were oppressed and abused, homosexuals persecuted and killed, “infidels” threatened and vilified, Jews demonized and attacked, barbaric traditions (such as honor killing and forced marriage) widely practiced, and freedom of speech and religion firmly repudiated.
The European political and media establishment turned a blind eye to all this, selling out women, Jews, gays, and democratic principles generally—even criminalizing free speech—in order to pacify the radical Islamists and preserve the illusion of multicultural harmony. The few heroic figures who dared to criticize Muslim extremists and speak up for true liberal values were systematically slandered as fascist bigots. Witnessing the disgraceful reaction of Europe’s elites to 9/11, to the terrorist attacks on Madrid, Beslan, and London, and to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bawer concluded that Europe was heading inexorably down a path to cultural suicide.
Europe's Muslim communities are powder kegs, brimming with an alienation born of theimmigrants’ deep antagonism toward an infidel society that rejects them and compounded by misguided immigration policies that enforce their segregation and empower the extremists in their midst. The mounting crisis produced by these deeply perverse and irresponsible policies finally burst onto our television screens in October 2005, as Paris and other European cities erupted in flames.
WHILE EUROPE SLEPT is the story of one American’s experience in Europe before and after 9/11, and of his many arguments with Europeans about the dangers of militant Islam and America’s role in combating it. This brave and invaluable book—with its riveting combination of eye-opening reportage and blunt, incisive analysis—is essential reading for anyone concerned about the fate of Europe and what it portends for the United States.

Publishers Weekly

Having recently published an indictment of Christian fundamentalist intolerance in the U.S. (Stealing Jesus), New York native Bawer relocated to Europe with his Norwegian partner in 1998 and found an even more dangerous strain of religious and cultural bigotry ensnaring Western Europe. A swarming menace called radical Islam, he writes, rings Europe's cities in smoldering Muslim ghettos, provoking everything from so-called honor killings and political assassinations to the Madrid subway bombings and the massacre of school children in Beslan. Worse, the Taliban-like theocracy Bawer sees looming inside backward immigrant populations resistant to integration flourishes under the protective wing of Western Europe's America-bashing, multicultural, liberal establishment. The latter correspond to the appeasers of Nazi Germany, in Bawer's view, since he believes that radical Islamism is every bit the threat to Western civilization that Nazism was. He scoffs at talk of "understanding" or "dialogue," indeed, at any but the most muscular response hitching Europe ever tighter to the U.S. war on terror. His clash-of-civilizations outlook means real issues often get washed away by sweeping statements designed to tar Europe's Muslims with one irredeemably hostile, welfare-sponging brush, while trading in well-worn stereotypes about virtuous American "realists" and corrupt European "idealists." (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents:

I	Before 9/11 : Europe in denial	1
II	9/11 and after : blaming Americans and Jews	77
III	Europe's Weimar moment : the liberal resistance and its prospects	153

Read also Introduction to Econometrics or Effective Small Business Management

A Treasury of Great American Scandals: Tantalizing True Tales of Historic Misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and Others Who Let Freedom Swing

Author: Michael Farquhar

Following on the heels of his national bestseller A Treasury of Royal Scandals, Michael Farquhar turns his attention to matters a little closer to home with A Treasury of Great American Scandals. From the unhappy family relationships of prominent Americans to the feuds, smear campaigns, duels, and infamous sex scandals that have punctuated our history, we see our founding fathers and other American heroes in the course of their all-too-human events. Ineffectual presidents, lazy generals, traitors; treacherous fathers, nagging mothers, ungrateful children, embarrassing siblings; and stories about insanity, death, and disturbing postmortems are all here, as are disagreeable marriages, vile habits, and, of course, sex: good sex, bad sex, and good-bad sex too. We can take comfort in the fact that we are no worse and no better than our forebears. But we do have better media coverage. Bonus educational material:

* A brief history of the United States, including scandals!
* The American Hall of Shame!
* A complete listing of presidential administrations!

Publishers Weekly

There's nothing about a certain recent president's sexual wanderings in this entertaining collection: notes Farquhar, an editor and writer at the Washington Post, "History needs a little time to percolate.... Besides, the first three centuries of American scandal should put a little perspective on the relatively minor sins of recent memory." The bad behavior is not all sexual (though there is that, too)-it sometimes involved family. George Washington kept his distance from a mother bent on publicly humiliating him. Benjamin Franklin arranged the arrest of his own son, colonial governor of New Jersey and a British loyalist. Dirty campaigns (in 1828, Andrew Jackson accused John Quincy Adams of aspiring to kingship; Adams's followers in turn called Jackson a murderer); congressional floor fights; and demagoguery all figure here. Politicians are the main offenders in this collection, but they are complemented by witch hunters in early Salem, Mass., and other "just plain strange" events. Readers who enjoyed Farquhar's earlier A Treasury of Royal Scandals will find much to savor here. (July) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

KLIATT

The subtitle, "tantalizing true tales of historic misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and others who let freedom swing," suggests the book's tone. The writing is breezy and irreverent and most stories are reduced to two to five pages, regardless of their complexity. They are fairly accurate in general outline, though, and they are tantalizing. This is a fun book to browse through. The book is divided into eight sections, and features something on just about every president, and every period of American history. Farquhar has to stretch to find something on Franklin Pierce, but there's real meat on Jefferson, LBJ, J. Edgar Hoover, and many others. These are the kind of stories that just might spark interest in a variety of subjects. Daniel J. KLIATT Codes: SA;Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2003, Penguin Putnam, 321p. bibliog., Levinson

Thomas Jefferson on Wine or Freedom for the Thought That We Hate

Thomas Jefferson on Wine

Author: John Hailman

The definitive account of a great American's lifelong passion for wine

In Thomas Jefferson on Wine, John Hailman celebrates a founding father's lifelong interest in wine and provides unprecedented insight into Jefferson's character from this unique perspective. In both his personal and public lives, Jefferson wielded his considerable expertise to influence the drinking habits of his friends, other founding fathers, and the American public away from hard liquor toward the healthier pleasures of wine.

An international wine judge and nationally syndicated wine columnist, Hailman discusses how Jefferson's tastes developed, which wines and foods he preferred at different stages of his life, and how Jefferson became the greatest wine expert of the early American republic. Hailman explores the third president's fascination with scores of wines from his student days at Williamsburg to his lengthy retirement years at Monticello, using mainly Jefferson's own words from hundreds of immensely readable and surprisingly modern letters on the subject.

Hailman examines Jefferson's five critical years in Paris, where he learned about fine wines at Europe's salons and dinner tables as American Ambassador. The book uses excerpts from Jefferson's colorful travel journals of his visits to France, Italy, and Germany, as well as his letters to friends and wine merchants, some of whose descendants still produce the wines Jefferson enjoyed. Vivid contemporaneous accounts of dinners at the White House allow readers to experience vicariously Jefferson's "Champagne diplomacy." The book concludes with an overview of the current restoration of the vineyards at Monticello and the new Monticello Wine Trail and its numerous world-class Virginia wineries. In Thomas Jefferson on Wine Hailman presents an absorbing and unique view of this towering historical figure.

Interesting textbook:

Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment

Author: Anthony Lewis

From one of the country's most esteemed experts on the First Amendment and the author of the classic Gideon's Trumpet, an eloquent essay on the importance of freedom of expression.

More than any other people on earth, Americans are free to say and write what they think. The media can air the secrets of the White House, the boardroom, or the bedroom with little fear of punishment or penalty. The reason for this extraordinary freedom is not a superior culture of tolerance, but just fourteen words in our most fundamental legal document: the free expression clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

In Lewis's telling, the story of how the right of free expression evolved along with our nation makes a compelling case for the adaptability of our constitution. Although Americans have gleefully and sometimes outrageously exercised their right to free speech since before the nation's founding, the Supreme Court did not begin to recognize this right until 1919. Freedom of speech and the press as we know it today is surprisingly recent. Anthony Lewis tells us how these rights were created, revealing a story of hard choices, heroic (and some less heroic) judges, and fascinating and eccentric defendants who forced the legal system to come face-to-face with one of America's great founding ideas.

The New York Times - Jeffrey Rosen

In the 21st century, the heroic First Amendment tradition may seem like a noble vision from a distant era, in which heroes and villains were easier to identify. But that doesn't diminish the inspiring achievements of First Amendment heroism. Conservative as well as liberal judges now agree that even speech we hate must be protected, and that is one of the glories of the American constitutional tradition. Anthony Lewis is right to celebrate it.

Publishers Weekly

The First Amendment's injunction that "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" seems cut and dried, but its application has had a vexed history, according to this lucid legal history, Lewis's first book in 15 years (after Make No Law and Gideon's Trumpet). Some suppressions of free speech passed constitutional muster in their day: the 1798 Sedition Act criminalized criticism of the president, and the WWI-era Sedition Act sentenced a minister to 15 years in prison for telling his Bible class that "a Christian can take no part in the war." Law professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-New York Times columnist Lewis explores other First Amendment legal quagmires, including libel law, privacy issues, the press's shielding of confidential sources, obscenity and hate speech. Not quite a free speech absolutist, he's for punishing "speech that urges terrorist violence to an audience... whose members are ready to act." Lewis's story is about the advancement of freedom by the likes of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Louis Brandeis and others whose "bold judicial decisions have made the country what it is." The result is an occasionally stirring account of America's evolving idea of liberty. (Jan. 14)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

School Library Journal

The First Amendment's injunction that "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" seems cut and dried, but its application has had a vexed history, according to this lucid legal history, Lewis's first book in 15 years (after Make No Law and Gideon's Trumpet). Some suppressions of free speech passed constitutional muster in their day: the 1798 Sedition Act criminalized criticism of the president, and the WWI-era Sedition Act sentenced a minister to 15 years in prison for telling his Bible class that "a Christian can take no part in the war." Law professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-New York Times columnist Lewis explores other First Amendment legal quagmires, including libel law, privacy issues, the press's shielding of confidential sources, obscenity and hate speech. Not quite a free speech absolutist, he's for punishing "speech that urges terrorist violence to an audience... whose members are ready to act." Lewis's story is about the advancement of freedom by the likes of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Louis Brandeis and others whose "bold judicial decisions have made the country what it is." The result is an occasionally stirring account of America's evolving idea of liberty. (Jan. 14)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

A superb history of the First Amendment and the body of law that has followed it. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and longtime Supreme Court observer Lewis (Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment, 1991, etc.), now retired from the New York Times, explains in the clearest of language how freedom of expression evolved in this country. Surprisingly, it was only in 1919 that a Supreme Court justice (Oliver Wendell Holmes) wrote that the First Amendment protected speech and publication, and that was in a dissent-not until 1931 did a majority on the Court begin enforcing the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech. Drawing examples from many cases, Lewis demonstrates that interpretations of the First Amendment shifted over time as the Supreme Court, and the public, began to recognize that freedom of expression was one of America's basic values. He considers the ways in which freedom can conflict with such other values as the right to privacy, protection from hate speech, the safeguarding of national security and the right to a fair trial (i.e., one uncompromised by prejudicial press coverage). He also explores the evolution of laws against libel here and in Great Britain and reports on the impact of the landmark 1964 case, New York Times v. Sullivan, which ended the press's fear of seditious libel actions and promoted the investigative spirit that led to critical coverage of the Vietnam War and Watergate. Anecdotes abound in this lively, lucid history. Among other choice bits, readers will learn which Supreme Court Justice viewing films for their possibly pornographic content took a law clerk with him to tell him what was happening on the big screen. Timely andimportant, a work that astonishes and delights as it informs.

Rare Breed of Love or An Inconvenient Book

Rare Breed of Love: The True Story of Baby and the Mission She Inspired to Help Dogs Everywhere

Author: Jana Kohl

A tale of hope, courage, and the amazing journey of one special dog.
When you meet Baby, the first thing you notice is her limp. She only has three legs, you see -- she lost one following years of mistreatment at a puppy mill. But spend a little more time with Baby and her irrepressible "Ma," Jana Kohl, and you'll hear the story of how this gentle creature has gone from puppy-mill victim to celebrity "spokesdog" -- hobnobbing with celebrities, lobbying politicians, and inspiring an entire movement to end the kind of animal abuse she suffered for so many years.
Several years ago, Jana decided she wanted to buy a toy poodle. But the nightmarish conditions she was confronted with at a breeder's farm -- hundreds of dogs confined to small, dirty cages for their entire lives until they were killed for the crime of being too old to produce puppies -- opened her eyes to abuses in the world of commercial breeding. There are thousands of puppy mills all across the United States, and most of those cute little puppies in pet store windows are products of such nightmarish places. Jana knew this was a wrong she couldn't ignore.
Her first step was to adopt a rescued adult dog instead of buying a puppy from a commercial breeder. And that's how she found Baby, a roughly nine-year-old poodle who had been locked in a cage. But Jana's mission didn't stop there. Soon, Jana and Baby (whose sweet face and three-legged hobble attract attention wherever she goes) found themselves speaking to groups about the terrible conditions at many breeders' farms and urging politicians to change the lax laws that regulate this industry. Today, Baby is the unofficial spokesdog for the Humane Society ofthe United States on the topic of puppy mills, and she and Jana travel around the country lobbying for reform on this important issue.
A Rare Breed of Love contains more than sixty photographs of Baby with many of her high-profile fans, from Barack Obama to Judge Judy to Patti LaBelle, as well as original essays from luminaries such as Alice Walker and Gloria Steinem about the special love we all have for the pets in our lives. In this heartbreaking, compelling, and ultimately heartwarming book, Jana Kohl and Baby offer practical advice on what each of us can do to raise awareness, make a difference, and stop animal suffering everywhere.

Publishers Weekly

It's hard to think of anything cuter than a pet store puppy or anything more horrifying than the places from which most originate. Thanks to Kohl and her rescued poodle, Baby, the movement to eradicate puppy mills now has a face—plus three legs and a wagging tail. Kohl exposes an industry profiting off of "legalized abuse," where dogs are forcibly bred each heat cycle and sequestered in cages so small that some never learn to walk. Leavening the grim accounts are original essays from contributors such as Gloria Steinem and Alice Walker and advice on how ordinary citizens can help by boycotting pet stores and Internet suppliers in favor of adopting animals from shelters and reputable breeders. Pictures of Baby with her famous fans and advocates—Barack Obama, Steven Tyler, Bill Maher, the New York Mets—provide the book with some lighter moments. While the passages "written" by Baby are slightly cloying, Kohl's accounts of how dogs suffer at the hands of puppy mill breeders (Baby's vocal cords were slashed to keep her from barking) will doubtlessly rally new crusaders to this cause. (June 3)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interesting textbook:

An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems

Author: Glenn Beck

FUNNY.

OUTRAGEOUS.

TRUE.

Have you ever wondered why some of the biggest problems we face, from illegal immigration to global warming to poverty, never seem to get fixed? The reason is simple: the solutions just aren't very convenient. Fortunately, radio and television host Glenn Beck doesn't care much about convenience; he cares about common sense.

Take the issue of poverty, for example. Over the last forty years, America's ten poorest cities all had one simple thing in common, but self-serving politicians will never tell you what that is (or explain how easy it would be to change): Glenn Beck will (see chapter 20).

Global warming is another issue that's ripe with lies and distortion. How many times have you heard that carbon dioxide is responsible for huge natural disasters that have killed millions of people? The truth is, it's actually the other way around: as CO2 has increased, deaths from extreme weather have decreased. Bet you'll never see that in an Al Gore slide show.

An Inconvenient Book contains hundreds of these same "why have I never heard that before?" types of facts that will leave you wondering how political correctness, special interests, and outright stupidity have gotten us so far away from the commonsense solutions this country was built on.

As the host of a nationally syndicated radio show, The Glenn Beck Program, and a prime-time television show on CNN Headline News, Glenn Beck combines a refreshing level of honesty with a biting sense of humor and a lot of research to find solutions that will open your eyes while entertaining you along the way.

Publishers Weekly

In this appraisal of America's woes, conservative TV and talk-radio host Beck (The Real America) lays lighthearted siege to everything that makes the world worse. "[P]olitical correctness is the biggest threat this nation faces today," he declares, as it makes us prey for Islamic fundamentalists, renders taboo the roots of our economic troubles (poor people are, in fact, lazy, he argues) and creates rampant distortion in the media. Beck goes paragraph for paragraph with global-warming alarmist Al Gore, merrily slaughtering the sacred cows of the environmentalist crowd. Not sated by the hide of the former vice president, he goes after everything and everyone from poverty to "perverts," offering solutions to these and other problems (e.g., "the key to success in the capitalist system is to believe in it"). While often informative, as in his chapter on global warming, Beck is sometimes tedious, particularly when dealing with Islam and education ("France is literally teetering on the edge, and our biggest ally, England, is about to be turned inside out as well"). He's at his best when most absurd, and funniest when he's his own target (the father of four is "little more than a flesh-and-bone jungle gym"). This should make a good read for conservatives. (Nov.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Reconciliation or Give Me Liberty

Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West

Author: Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007, after eight years of exile, hopeful that she could be a catalyst for change. Upon a tumultuous reception, she survived a suicide-bomb attack that killed nearly two hundred of her countrymen. But she continued to forge ahead, with more courage and conviction than ever, since she knew that time was running out--for the future of her nation, and for her life.

In Reconciliation, Bhutto recounts in gripping detail her final months in Pakistan and offers a bold new agenda for how to stem the tide of Islamic radicalism and to rediscover the values of tolerance and justice that lie at the heart of her religion. With extremist Islam on the rise throughout the world, the peaceful, pluralistic message of Islam has been exploited and manipulated by fanatics. Bhutto persuasively argues that America and Britain are fueling this turn toward radicalization by supporting groups that serve only short-term interests. She believed that by enabling dictators, the West was actually contributing to the frustration and extremism that lead to terrorism. With her experience governing Pakistan and living and studying in the West, Benazir Bhutto was versed in the complexities of the conflict from both sides. She was a renaissance woman who offered a way out.

In this riveting and deeply insightful book, Bhutto explores the complicated history between the Middle East and the West. She traces the roots of international terrorism across the world, including American support for Pakistani general Zia-ul-Haq, who destroyed political parties, eliminated an independent judiciary, marginalized NGOs, suspended the protection of human rights, and aligned Pakistani intelligence agencies with the most radical elements of the Afghan mujahideen. She speaks out not just to the West, but to the Muslims across the globe who are at a crossroads between the past and the future, between education and ignorance, between peace and terrorism, and between dictatorship and democracy. Democracy and Islam are not incompatible, and the clash between Islam and the West is not inevitable. Bhutto presents an image of modern Islam that defies the negative caricatures often seen in the West. After reading this book, it will become even clearer what the world has lost by her assassination.

The Washington Post - Pamela Constable

Her book argues that Islam is not incompatible with democracy, but that its credo of tolerance and freedom has been hijacked by purveyors of terror. The real "clash of civilizations" lies within Islam, she asserted, and the West should seek to bolster its moderate center as the best means of countering the radical extremes. A poised public figure given to flowery speeches and cagey ambiguity, Bhutto wrote the book with uncharacteristic bluntness, suggesting an awareness that both she and her country had little time left. Pointing fingers and naming names—especially those of several chiefs of Pakistan's powerful intelligence service—she blamed a combination of autocratic rulers, manipulative religious leaders and meddling Western governments for sabotaging democracy's chances in Pakistan and other parts of the Muslim world, and for pushing Islam in ever more radical directions.

The New York Times - Fareed Zakaria

Written while she was preparing to re-enter political life, it is a book of enormous intelligence, courage and clarity. It contains the best-written and most persuasive modern interpretation of Islam I have read…Washington should arrange to have the portions of the book about Islam republished as a separate volume and translated into several languages. It would do more to win the battle of ideas within Islam than anything an American president could ever say.

Interesting book:

Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries

Author: Naomi Wolf

As the practice of democracy becomes a lost art, Americans are increasingly desperate for a restored nation. Many have a general sense that the "system" is in disorder — if not on the road to functional collapse. But though it is easy to identify our political problems, the solutions are not always as clear. In Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries, bestselling author Naomi Wolf illustrates the breathtaking changes that can take place when ordinary citizens engage in the democratic system the way the founders intended and tells how to use that system, right now, to change your life, your community, and ultimately, the nation.

The Washington Post - Suki Casanave

Give Me Liberty is essentially an act of optimism…Wolf's goal is to educate a wave of "democracy commandos": Learn how to write a news release and how to be safe as you protest. Get tips on how to speak in public, how to raise funds and how government works. In short, use this book to study up, and you'll be ready to start your own movement. Which is precisely what Wolf hopes readers will do.

Table of Contents:

Contents

PART I:

What is "America" ? Not a Country, a State of Mind

Introduction 3

Freedom Is Intended as a Challenge 13

Fake Patriotism 23

Fake Democracy 33

PART II :

Core Values

Principle One: We Are Required to Speak Freely 91

Principle Two: We Have a Duty to Rebel Continually Against Injustice and Oppression 105

Principle Three: Ordinary People Are Supposed to Run Things 125

Principle Four: Americans Cherish the Rule of Law 141

Principle Five: America Establishes No God 157

Principle Six: Americans Deliberate with Their Neighbors; We Disagree Without Violence 173

Principle Seven: Liberty is Universal: America Cannot Maintain an Oppressive Empire 189

A New American Revolution 209

PART III :

America: The User's Guide

I. Driving Change 215

"Democracy Commandos" [Curtis Ellis] 215

Additional Resources 218

II. Speech 219

How to Petition 219

Additional Resources 220

How to Play Hardball Once You Have Petitioned 220

Become the Media Yourself 221

How to Write a Press Release [Lisa Witter] 222

Create the Debate Yourself 226

Help Frame the News Coverage 228

How to Leak to an Investigative Reporter 229

How to Pitch a Feature Piece 231

Radio 232

TV 233

Additional Resources 235

Produce New Media 235

How to Create a Blog [Elizabeth Curtis] 236

Additional Resources 240

How to Create a Web Video [Will Coghlan] 241

Additional Resources 243

III. Protest 245

How to Drive a Boycott 245

AdditionalResources 246

How to Take to the Streets [Marjorie Cohn] 247

Staging a Protest 251

Additional Resources 252

How to be Safe as You Protest 252

Arrest 253

The Permit System [Heidi Boghosian] 256

How to Speak in Any Public Context 260

IV. Deliberate, Community-Build,and Organize 265

How to Start a Political Movement 265

Direct-Action Activism [Trevor "Oyate"] 265

Starting Your Own Political Movement [Raymond D. Powell] 267

Organize a Town Hall Meeting 271

How to Run a Meeting [Wende Jager-Hyman] 273

Deliberate with Your Neighbors [Mary Jacksteit] 277

Additional Resources 281

Become the Leaders of America 283

How to Start a Nonprofit Organization 283

Additional Resources 285

How to Fund-raise [Stephanie Berger] 286

Additional Resources 291

V. Rule of Law: Create or Change Laws Yourself 293

Initiatives and Referenda 293

Additional Resources 295

Make Every Vote Count [Mark Crispin Miller] 296

Additional Resources 299

Organize a National Hearing [Annette Warren Dickerson] 300

Expose Government Secrecy: A Guide to Getting Government Files [Lauren Melodia] 303

Additional Resources 312

VI . Dismantle an Oppressive Empire: Remake U.S. Foreign Policy 313

How to Promote Democracy Overseas through Investment [Diane Keefe] 313

Additional Resources 315

VI . Understand How Your System Works 317

Overview [Curtis Ellis] 317

What is the Electoral College? [Wende Jager-Hyman] 321

User's Guide to the Constitution and Bill of Rights

[Steven C. Bennett] 326

Additional Resources 343

VI . Wish List for the Fu ture 344

Direct Democracy 344

Voting [Curtis Ellis] 344

A Twelve-Step Program to Save U.S. Democracy [Mark Crispin Miller] 345

Additional Wish List Items 347

Notes 351

Bibliography 371

Acknowledgments 375

About the Author 377

The Mayor of Castro Street or Long Emergency

The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

Author: Randy Shilts

Known as “The Mayor of Castro Street” even before he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Harvey Milk’s personal life, public career, and final assassination reflect the dramatic emergence of the gay community as a political power in America. It is a story full of personal tragedies and political intrigues, assassinations at City Hall, massive riots in the streets, the miscarriage of justice, and the consolidation of gay power and gay hope.

Harvey Milk has been the subject of numerous books and movies, including the Academy Award–winning 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk.  His life is also the basis of a 2008 major motion picture, Milk, starring Sean Penn.

Table of Contents:

	Acknowledgments	xi
	Author's Note	xiii
	Prologue	xv
Part I	The Years Without Hope	1
1	The Men without Their Shirts	3
2	Gay Everyman	12
3	Judy Garland's Dead	30
4	Sodom by the Sea	47
Part II	The Mayor of Castro Street	67
5	Politics as Theater	69
6	The Early Invaders	81
7	The First Skirmish	95
8	Gay Main Street	111
9	Harvey Milk vs. The Machine	127
10	Orange Tuesday	153
11	Showdown on Castro Street	169
Part III	Supervisor Harvey Milk	187
12	Media Star	189
13	Willkommen Castro	211
14	Deadline Pressure	229
15	Curtain Call	252
16	No Cross, No Crown	263
Part IV	The Legend Begins	297
17	Justice and Thieves	299
18	The Final Act	324
	Epilogue	340
Appendix I.	A Populist Looks at the City Speech to the Joint International Longshoremen & Warehouseman's Union of San Francisco September 10, 1973	349
Appendix II.	A City of Neighborhoods Address at Inaugural Dinner January 10, 1978	353
Appendix III.	The Hope Speech Keynote Address to Gay Caucus of California Democratic Council (San Diego) March 10, 1978	359
Appendix IV.	That's What America Is Speech at Gay Freedom Day Rally June 25, 1978	364
Appendix V.	Harvey Milk's Political Will Tape-recorded November 18, 1977	372
	Notes on Sources	376
	Index	381

Books about: Mes Confitures or Jane Brodys Good Food Gourmet

Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century

Author: James Howard Kunstler

With his classics of social commentary The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, James Howard Kunstler has established himself as one of the great commentators on American space and place. Now, with The Long Emergency, he offers a shocking vision of a post-oil future. As a result of artificially cheap fossil-fuel energy, we have developed global models of industry, commerce, food production, and finance over the last 200 years. But the oil age, which peaked in 1970, is at an end. The depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuels is about to radically change life as we know it, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore. It is bound to become a classic of social science.

Publishers Weekly

The indictment of suburbia and the car culture that the author presented in The Geography of Nowhere turns apocalyptic in this vigorous, if overwrought, jeremiad. Kunstler notes signs that global oil production has peaked and will soon dwindle, and argues in an eye-opening, although not entirely convincing, analysis that alternative energy sources cannot fill the gap, especially in transportation. The result will be a Dark Age in which "the center does not hold" and "all bets are off about civilization's future." Absent cheap oil, auto-dependent suburbs and big cities will collapse, along with industry and mechanized agriculture; serfdom and horse-drawn carts will stage a comeback; hunger will cause massive "die-back"; otherwise "impotent" governments will engineer "designer viruses" to cull the surplus population; and Asian pirates will plunder California. Kunstler takes a grim satisfaction in this prospect, which promises to settle his many grudges against modernity. A "dazed and crippled America," he hopes, will regroup around walkable, human-scale towns; organic local economies of small farmers and tradesmen will replace an alienating corporate globalism; strong bonds of social solidarity will be reforged; and our heedless, childish culture of consumerism will be forced to grow up. Kunstler's critique of contemporary society is caustic and scintillating as usual, but his prognostications strain credibility. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

With the discovery of new oil fields at a crawl and alternative energy sources not up to snuff, we're facing some big changes. So argues Kunstler, who writes regularly on economic and environmental issues. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Move over, Malthus. According to suburbia-hater Kunstler (Home from Nowhere, 1996, etc.), the world's going to hell in a handbasket-and in about 15 minutes, too. Aiming at the broadest side of the barn, Kunstler asserts that we're living in "a much darker time than 1938, the eve of World War Two." Why so? Well, for one, because the world's population is vastly overextended-never mind that Julian Simon and Paul Ehrlich hashed that argument out a generation ago, with Malthusian arguments taking a beating in the bargain. All right, because there's a superplague about to descend on the world, or maybe AIDS in mutated form, or a designer virus unleashed to rid a given polity of its surplus population, the elites having been inoculated beforehand. ("If this sounds too fantastic," Kunstler helpfully adds, "imagine how outlandish the liquidation of European Jewry might have seemed to civilized Berliners in 1913. Yet it happened." No bites? All right, it's because we're about to run out of oil, and there's nothing to replace oil. Now we're getting somewhere-except, oil economists such as Kenneth Deffeyes (Beyond Oil, p. 31) have remarked, the peak in world oil production is probably happening right now, and it will take some time to bleed the pump dry, by which point alternative technologies may have been employed to carry at least some of the load. That presupposes a shared view that the oil-based economy is on the way to profound change and that we're all in big trouble; but we're a delusional bunch, Kunstler avows, content to ugly up and pollute our world so long as we are able "to quickly escape the vicinity in cars luxuriously appointed with the finest digital stereo sound, air-conditioning,and cup holders for iced beverages." Aha. It's the fault of the ice-chewers in this age of global warming. But look at the bright side, Kunstler urges: At least when the air conditioners fail, the mega-churches will have to close down, a death blow to Republican civilization. Cant-filled and overwrought: a crying-wolf approach to real but largely addressable issues, long on jeremiads but absent of remedies.