Book Description

Robert McNeely -- President Bill Clinton's official photographer from 1992 to 1998 -- has traveled the world and roamed the halls of the White House, a virtual fly-on-the-wall, documenting the day-to-day political and private lives of President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Clinton Years presents in dramatic detail a behind-the-scenes look at the White House with intriguing glimpses into the personal side of Clinton's presidency.

Clinton trusted McNeely's vision completely and granted him full access to the inner workings of the presidency. McNeely was Clinton's constant shadow, quietly recording for posterity the president's moods, his reactions to key moments and events, his prowess as a politician, his personal charisma and presence, and his interactions with world leaders. An intimate look at the man behind the politician, this collection also reveals Clinton's relationships with his wife, his staff, his public and the world. These striking images compel the viewer to recognize what an extraordinarily complex individual Bill Clinton is. It is more than a portrait of a president; it is an education about the presidency. The Clinton Years is an essential record of Bill Clinton's legacy.

"The Clinton Years tells for the first time the real story of this administration in photos. For those of us who were there, these photos by White House photographer Bob McNeely are more revealing in their emotions than all of the words that have been written about this president." ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Great photos of the presidency
This is a beautiful book documenting the life of a President. The photographer, Robert McNeely, did a great job in choosing photographs that depict the life of a president. It is apparent that McNeely choose shots that he thought would draw a reader into the book, versus standard press shots or pictures that have ran in thousands of magazines and newspapers. I was a disappointed that McNeely didn't elaborate more on the pictures and tell about the events that led to the picture being taken or what happened after the picture was taken. McNeely does give some insight into the Clinton presidency in the endnotes of his book. In all a great book and a different view of the presidency.

Love or Hate him...it's a rare look inside the White House
Although the pictures are of Clinton, this book is not about him.

In that respect the title is accurate. The Clinton Years is not about Clinton -- it's an inside look at the last eight years.

Regardless of political leanings, this book is about America and the people behind the curtain that make it work. Not many people have an opportunity to see any President in candid moments of success and failure. Now we have that chance.

McNeely is a talented photographer and his skills are on display here. He does well to make the viewer an eyewitness to American History as it plays out through the President. Colin Powell, Al Gore, Hillary, and Janet Reno are just a few notables frozen by McNeely's lens as they interact with Clinton.

If you don't appreciate the power and intrigue of a President --whether Kennedy, Regan, Nixon or Clinton -- this book will not do anything for you. But if you do appreciate the mystique of American Presidents, you're going to miss something if you do not sit down with this book and walk through the past eight years with our last President.

Camelot Revisited
Former President Bill Clinton's white house photographer was given freedom of access and freedom to publish. The result is
an astonishingly honest look at Clinton in unguarded moments as seen by a man with a gift for capturing time through photographs. It is not political by any stretch of the imagination and instead shows the regality of the Presidency in all its glory. It truly is a glimpse at the fabled Kennedy Camelot in the modern era.

An fantastic inside
The Clinton Years offers an fantastic inside to the White House and the years of Bill Clinton. The fantastic black and white pictures make you feel you were there and experienced the presidency first hand.

THE CLINTON YEARS
ROBERT McNEELY - President Bill Clinton's official photographer from 1992 to 1998 - has traveled the world and roamed the halls of the White House, a virtual fly - on - the - wall, documenting the day - to - day political and private lives of President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Clinton Years presents in dramatic detail a behind - the - scenes look at the White House with intriguing glimpses into the personal side of Clinton's presidency.

Clinton trusted McNeely's vision completely and granted him full access to the inner workings of the presidency. McNeely was Clinton's constant shadow, quietly recording for posterity the president's moods, his reactions to key moments and events, his prowess as a politican, his personal charisma and presence, and his interactions with world leaders. An intimate look at the man behind the politician, this collection also reveals Clinton's relationships with his wife, his staff, his public and the world. These striking images compel the viewer to recognize what an extraordinarily complex individual Bill Clinton is. It is more than a portrait of a president; it is an education about the presidency. The Clinton Years is an essential record of Bill Clinton's legacy. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the story of Maria Callas, who transformed herself from a chubby, painfully shy girl into a magnificent celebrated soprano, the likes of which we've yet to see again. ... Read more

Amazon.com

It seems that being a Friend of Bill is all too often just the first step on that slippery slope to disgrace and the hoosegow. Take, for example, Jim McDougal, Susan McDougal, and Webster Hubbell--all former First Friends now facing stiff prison sentences. Susan McDougal has refused to talk about her case at all, while her ex-husband Jim is saving his material for a grand jury; Webb Hubbell, however, has decided to bare both his soul and his legal difficulties in Friends in High Places, an account of his rise in Little Rock and fall in Washington, DC. In a nutshell, Hubbell--a former law partner of Hillary Clinton's--confessed to stealing almost half a million dollars from the law firm and its clients. His book purports to reveal the full inside story. Readers looking for dirt on the Clintons will be disappointed--Hubbell takes full responsibility for his crimes, absolving the White House of any knowledge about his shady financial dealings. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Truth that is Better than Fiction
This is an excellent look into the world that revolved around Webb Hubbell in Little Rock and Washington DC. Mr. Hubbell is an adept storyteller who cuts through all of the partisan politics and simply tells the truth about his relationship with The President and First Lady. Mr. Hubbell also does something few men are willing to do nowadays. He accepts responsibilty for his mistakes without casting blame and doesn't try to glorify his standing with the Clintons or blame Kenn Starr for his failures. A good read that provides one of the only truly first hand accounts of the Clinton's days in Little Rock.

Ask Me No Questions And I Will Tell You No Lies!
Webb Hubbell's begins his long climb back to manhood. The book outlines the short glory and long tragedy of a fellow colleague Webb Hubbell. Some call him a cover up artist, others brand him a liar, but whatever description one might try to apply to Mr. Hubbell one can never say he is snitch. Webb was given two choices, either inform on your President or we are going to burn you. What the hell does that mean, "Inform On Your Friends To Save Your Hide?" There was a time Webb Hubbell could see the difference between right and wrong. Like all who aspire to learn and practice the Law one cannot wait to be put in positions to help many. Webb got to the mountain of power and after his fall he could have gave up. Webb didn't sale out, he refused to buy his future by selling out his friends. Some would describe this as twisted integrity, others misplaced loyalty and a few such as I as uncommon character accompanied by the courage to accept his fate, punishment and seek out atonement. I won't judge what Webb did as right or wrong. I will leave that to others with far more thoughts of their ability to do so regardless of rank or position. He no longer deserves to be hounded by reporters, destroyed by opponents, laughed at by peers or condemned by the public. If there is one thing this life teaches us it is we all fall sometime, we all get muddy and many have a cold and friendless tide find us leaving us with an amputated spirit. Well, Webb Hubbell did his time, protected his family and has repented and now needs acceptance so he can atone. If another colleague Ken Starr saw no reason to call for his incarceration upon a third conviction plea, then I see no reason to condemn Webb any longer. He now needs to be embraced, protected and given new opportunities to accomplish new endeavors. I am satisfied with less so long as Webb continues on his path towards righteousness and now there is no reason why he will not and deserves another chance.

One cannot blame others when they plead guilty!
Webb Hubbell is a tragedy in life and Public Service. He cheated, lied and stole and then blamed others like Ken Starr, the media and his family. The book is an excuse of misjudgments not an admission of guilt, repentance or atonement. The same justification of deeds he should be ashamed of but instead makes claims of shame as a badge of honor. What is more tragic is that when it is all over. And the Clinton'' have left the scene and pities of power he will be forgotten as much as he forgot about them under cross examination. He will be like his wife, avoiding laundry by sending it out, because she was to lazy to change. In the end, he is will rue the day he undermined the Rule of Law, ran from the truth and remained silent in the face of justice calling out for vindication. No one believed him then, and after this book no one believes in him now. Webb needs to know that penitence and forgiveness does not mean avoidance of punishment. He has done neither, and thus, cannot really go on in this life proud of anything he has accomplished. He will and is a failure just like this book was trying to tell us he is innocent. When one tells half lies they often forget where they placed the truth ever again! This will be Webb Hubbell's legacy. The book will be forgotten sooner than when you close it. if you open it at all? I suggest you won't!

the hazards of credit card debt
The value of the book for me was how Mr Hubbell handled his debt load...he stole. He told himself he would pay it back but you know how that goes when you get caughtup in DC politics. His discription of prison life was the most interesting and enlightening part of the book. This autobibliographic public confession was a plea for forgiveness to all those back in Arkansas. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Revealing Look at the Life of the American Culinary Icon
The significance of the title of this book by Robert Clark is that James Beard had a somewhat rocky childhood, failed at his first love of being an actor, and never seemed to achieve any great satisfaction from his awkwardly homosexual inclination. Food was Beard's consolation.

One major change in my view of the world due to my reading this book together with a reading of a biography of Julia Child is that I believe that Child and not Beard is the preeminant influence on American eating habits in the 20th century. Whether this is real or a failure of this book to communicate Beard's influence I am not sure. This question makes me feel this book is less than what it could have been. It almost seems as if the book were written about Hemingway without dealing with the foundations of Hemingway's literary art. An easier analogy may be that it is like a biography of Richard Feynman which makes no attempt to explain to the intelligent layman what it is about Feynman's work which made him a great physicist.

In spite of this reservation, the book succeeds in communicating the facts of Beard's life in a highly readable, sympathetic presentation. Like other reviewers, I could not put the book down as long as I had the free time to read it. I cannot make the same unqualifiedly positive statement about the aforementioned biography of Child.

One of the most interesting things about Beard's career is that were it not for his failure in front of the TV camera in the fiftys, he may have stolen a march on Child and had a greater impact on his American audience. He may have even become even more like the kind of trademark that Martha Stewart has become, in that many of the writings attributed to him were done by a staff of ghost writers, many of whom have become major names in American food writing. These include Marian Cunningham and Barbara Kafka.

Another similarity to Stewart which tends to diminish him in comparison to Child is his very common practice of endorsing products and letting that endorsement interfere with his work. I may even give Martha Stewart the nod here in that Stewart has always taken an active interest in the quality of the products to which she has lent her name. A third similarity to Stewart is the fact that both began their career in food writing as caterers in the New York area.

In the final analysis, this book does succeed in showing how Beard came to represent American Cookery at its best, even if it does not manage to show why he succeeded. This is an important book for understanding American food writing.

Fascinating, multi-faceted journey
I found this a compelling piece of writing. The starting point is certainly the life of an individual, i.e, James Beard. However, into that particular story the author weaves culinary history, social commentary, cultural analysis,and psychological insight. The result is an amazingly satisfying "read" that educates, illuminates, moves the heart, and deepens perspective both about this one man and also about the world in which he--and we--live. Robert Clark is able to paint a descriptive and insightful portrait of both the man and that world without romanticizing either. I found myself drawn into the book and reading it with relish; not wanting to put it down and also not wanting it to come to an end; and discovering that I have been enlightened, enriched, and moved by my experience with it. Sounds to me like the definition of a "good read!" ... Read more

Book Description

When the National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted its first class of players in 1936, Ty Cobb received more votes than any other player-even more than did fellow inductee Babe Ruth. Cobb, known as the "Georgia Peach," was universally recognized as the best player from the "dead ball" era. He also had the reputation of being its most ferocious player. His fierce determination to succeed helped Cobb equal or surpass more offensive records than any other player, and his career average of .367 is still the highest of all time. Cobb's unyielding and often ferocious work ethic, though, made him many enemies, and his occasional episodes of violence marked an otherwise impeccable career. Baseball author Dan Holmes offers a fresh and fair-handed look at the life of baseball's first true superstar. ... Read more

Book Description

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are widely acknowledged as the great pop poets of the 1960s, transforming the popular song into a medium for questionng the personal, social, and political norms of their times. They emerged at a time when the music industry was transforming the revolutionary sound of black music into something bland, homogenous, and fit for mass consumption. For many members of their generation, Dylan and Cohen were able to articulate what they were feeling and could not express: anti-establishement anger, angst, and despondency.

Dylan and Cohen is a fascinating political, psychological and artistic profile of these two iconic writers and performers. With reference to both biographical details and lyrics. David Boucher explores their similarities and differences, tracing the development of religious political, and social themes in their work and the ways in which those ideas engaged a new audience.

A must-read for all serious fans of either Dylan or Cohen, this book will also engage anyone interested in the North America of the 1960s, or more generally in the relationship between music, identity and politics. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Compulsively Readable
This is an excellent study of the music and lyrics of the 2 greatest rock "poets." Boucher explores whether or not their lyrics even qualify as poetry and keeps the subject interesting! He effectively delves into their psyches,as well, without getting hung up on personal, biographical details which have been over analyzed in other places. I found the final chapter "The Religious Experience" to be some of the best writing that I've seen on Dylan and Cohen's spiritual journeys. I highly recommend this to fans of either man's work.

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
The irate and intemperate person signing himself pepidude in a previous review seems incapable of being able to appreciate an argument or of understanding the nature of the exercise that David Boucher has undertaken. It is a thematic book with a wide range of references, not a book of facts about Bob Dylan.The author introduces us to the complexities of issues relating to the difference between popular music lyrics and poetry, between origins and originality, the poetry of imagination and inspiration and much more. Anyone interested in ideas and issues, and in theories as well as facts will find this book immensely stimulating and fascinating.

Poetry Always was the New Rock & Roll
David Boucher has written a book that examines in detail the contribution of both artists to the worlds of both literature and rock & roll. In his intoduction he looks at the progress of Cohen from serious poet to rock & roll recording artist and performer. This transition cost him status in the literary world but aided by the legendary "golden voice" and some consummate musicians it allowed him to reach a hitherto undreamed of audience.

Dylan, whom he refers to as "The Changing Man" in Chapter Three, was the chameleon-like performer who picked up, and discarded new personas and new musical styles at the drop of his very famous hat. The obvious example here is the infamous "electric tour" where Dylan was heckled and called "Judas". This abuse was, the book shows, not only for his perceived betrayal of the acoustic folk movement, but also a reaction to the contempt with which Dylan treated his audience. Dylan had always been a confrontational performer, and his response to such attacks was to become louder and less acoustic than ever. What David Boucher also shows is that this signified a shift from the community centred ethic of the folk movement to the excessive individualism and nihilism of the Beat poets who through the drug culture wanted, like Rimbaud, to experience the extremes.

In other chapters the myriad influences on both performers are examined as well as their involvement with political and religious organisations. Finally David Boucher gives us an insight into the road travelled by both men in search of their own personal salvation.

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are complex men and complex performers. To listen to, or to read the works of either man is always challenging. In this book the author has written an analysis that is equally challenging exploring, as it does, the anger and the angst of the 1960s and beyond. I enjoyed every minute of the challenge.

How lovely does it get...?
David Boucher's masterly work 'Dylan & Cohen' is essential reading, not simply for devotees of these 'Poets of Rock and Roll' but for anyone with an interest in the history of the radical cultural, political and musical changes in the last century.

It is clear from this eloquent book that neither Dylan nor Cohen wished to speak for anyone but themselves and equally clear that the strength of their work would be seized upon by a generation looking for a new direction. Thankfully they both continued to write through their tribulations and we have a bank of some of the most evocative music to continue to listen to.

I urge you to buy this book but with a word of warning: you won't want to stop reading once you've started.

Icons Of The 60's
This is a simply marvelous book, which has inspired me to go back to my old record collection, and re-play all the old vinyls. I recommend it to everyone interested in the political movements of the 60's and the music that characterised them. David Boucher recreates the mood and the excitement of the times and traces their careers to the present day. This book is a must buy! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Forget the Zen--This is a Great Read
This book explores John Cage from all aspects of his life and work. In my opinion, the most valuable essay is Thomas S. Hines' biographical study of the young Cage as he begins to grope towards a definition of himself that includes artist and inventor as well as his role as a gay man in straight society. We see that Cage's experimental roots were clearly evident in his relationship with his gifted, albeit wayward, father, and his rather mysterious mother. Everything was in place well before Cage's dramatic encounter with Suzuki's version of Zen, and it could be argued that Cage would have been Cage even without it. There's lots to read and think about in this volume and I continue to return to it to understand this great American gadfly of the 20th century.

vigorous essays on a Zen interdisciplinarian
These are a collection of marvelous essays Marjorie Perloff has edited. The scope of Cage is seemingly immense, the implications of his work has touched varigated corners and crevices,abandoned places: the music world, the world of poetry,conceptual art, performance art, mushroom enthusiasts,opera, and other synergistic art forms we have no label for yet. Perloff herself chooses the influence of Duchamp to discuss, the ends of things of the Western canon was a frightening yet fascinating point in the last century. And Cage always had done everything,like Duchamp with an element of the lighthearted at work. There are analysis here as well as seasoned music essayist Jann Pasler's discussion on Cage's "Composition in Retrospect" a 1981 mesostic text. Pasler helps explain what this figuritivly complex yet disarmingly word play composition means. Cage wrote many of his most important works in this structural form. And his own "Overpopulation and Art" is included here, asa a guiding means of response to these participants. This is as close as Cage gets to social and political/environmental reflection, you will not recognize Cage here. Herbert Lindenberger is a well known writer in the cloistered world of Opera and he admirably reflects on Cage's one and only Opera "Europeras" and the Aesthics that may emit itself from that varigated and multidimensional work. Although aesthtics in its traditionally bound demeanor was always and remained a by-product of the Cage edifice, here in this opera he lets other impart their aesthtic desires by allowing singers to choose their own arias to perform. Also Cage scholar Joan Retallack(who has also an impressive series of interviews with Cage) speaks here on "Poetics of a Complex Realism", and this refers to the American dimension of Cage, a topic seldom discussed. This refers to the Trancendentalists tradition of social rebellion although quite passive in retrospect. Writers like Thoreau were important to Cage. Cage activism points in mysterious and undramatic ways. The making of meaning through performance and collaboration was what Cage had valued and he contributed that legacy to the last century. Artifacts of art need continuous nurturing,scholarly explication, regular performance and tried and tested aesthetic canons to be attenuated. Rather within this insecure world, Cage's hope was to nurture a tradition of performers,of communicators equipped with a conceptual fredom of expressive means through a varied and interdisciplinary world which didn't seem to depend on any one particular discipline or technique, as the rigours of composition or, playing the violin, or writing symmetrical verse. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Not "Mommie Dearest" but still good
I liked this book a lot. I read it about six years ago and I just ordered it. It uses laughable language that was popular in the 1950s, like "licking", "hip", and others. It makes me mad to read that Gary's father beat him with belts and canes, but I don't feel too bad because Gary just TOOK IT! Why don't you grow a backbone and stand up for yourself to "the old man" (oh yes, that was another one that got real annoying).

The only thing I thought was tacky was using Christina Crawford's best seller "Mommie Dearest" on his own book cover to promote this book (the paperback). He writes something like "Joan Crawford was a Mary Poppins compared to Bing". I thought it was in bad taste. Everyone's got to do an upmanship: "You think so-and-so had it bad, wait until you hear MY story..." And for the record I think Christina had it WORSE than Gary. But this was still an enjoyable book and I'm sad that Gary's not around anymore.

A WASTE OF TIME!!!
This book was a total waste of time... I could barely force myself to finish it. Nothing but a big sob story from Gary Crosby who, at the time when he came up with this stuff, was out of a job and needed money (so he cashed in on dragging his dad's name through the dirt). I mean, you can dig up dirt on anyone----- no human being is perfect----- but tell me, which do you think is worse---- a man who wasn't the perfect father (and never claimed to be, in fact said the exact opposite), or a man who has to take the imperfections of someone else, exaggerate them, and blow em way out of proportion in order to get back into the spotlight himself. The whole book was just disgusting and a total waste of time. I suggest you read Bing's autobiography "Call Me Lucky" where he talks openly about how he raised his kids and his reasoning behind it (not to mention some hilarious stories of him, Bob Hope, and other hollywood greats). So, I highly recommend NOT getting this book unless you want to waste your time, or unless you need some good material to burn in order to keep warm this winter.

YUCK!
It is true that Bing Crosby was an absent father for much of the upbringing of his first family. It is true that he compinsated for this with strict rules, regulations, and whippings. However, Gary Crosby, (who if you read through the lines comes off as a son of much greater privledge and opportunity than others in this huge world) is a bit of a sob-story sissy, who never could quite live with his station in life. It's not greatly written with any particularly interesting style; but rather it is a series of misfortunes, usually beginning at the end of a chapter with a catch-line like "Everything was fine until...happened", spilling over to the next chapter which begins the cycle of woe all over again.
Misguided, misinterpreted, and misused, poor Gary Crosby. So?

A Fair and Honest Book
I was never a fan of Bing Crosby's regardless of the fact that he was way before my time, but I had been aware of son Gary Crosby's book and the controversy surrounding it's original release. I wanted to read for myself what Gary had to say about his famous father and upbringing, and what I found was a very enjoyable, wonderful read. In fact, after having read the book, I feel as if I have a friend in Gary. His book is very honest and straight forward. I am very saddened by the reminder that he has since passed on (1995).

I feel as if both his famous father and mother, were to blame for Gary's attitude towards life, this heavily contributing to his personal problems and demons. From very early on about the age of six or seven, he realized thru classmates that his father was famous, and began to see himself as someone "special." But his mother quickly told him that he wasn't, and that he was no better than any of his classmates. This was the beginning of Gary's way of thinking, and all the rewards that later came his way, meant nothing to him. When he got on the cover of LIFE magazine later as a teen sensation, instead of being elated, he told a friend that he was nobody special and shrugged it off. If that breaks your heart as it did mine, you'll be moved by the many similar stories Gary writes about.

For those unaware, two of Gary's three younger brothers have since committed suicide. While I did learn to like Bing Crosby as a person (he was very good to his public, which is rather rare folks), Bing is very much to blame for all the problems his four sons suffered in their adult life. It was Bing's strict upbringing and lack of love and affection that affected the four Crosby sons for the rest of their lives. This is an excellent book on a number of levels. I can't recommend reading this book enough. I've never read a book where I've come to know someone as much as I have about Gary. He's a really great guy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A must for the Churchill admirer, student, or skeptic
Sir Winston Churchill had no shortage of admirers among the generation that knew, or saw, him during his Finest Hour, 1940-1941. And they have remained legion among later generations. But in the wake of the September 11 attacks, many people -- and especially many politicians in need of stirring rhetoric -- have turned to WSC again, attracted to his reputation, perhaps, more than to the strict details of his long and eventful life.

John Ramsden's fascinating book is an analysis of how Churchill's reputation was born, was consciously shaped by the man himself, and how it has evolved in the years since his death. The bulk of the analysis focuses on the five English-Speaking nations, though Europe is included as well. Another large section looks at the famous "Iron Curtain" or "Sinews of Peace" speech at Fulton, Missouri, in 1946, and how it -- precisely as WSC intended -- transformed the world's view of him from heroic-but-passé war leader to very-much-active statesman, politician, and geopolitical strategist.

A final section, which I found the most interesting, analyses many of the key Churchill biographies written over the years, from Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert's official biography, to Lord Moran, to Manchester, to Roy Jenkins' "Churchill: A Biography" (2001), which Ramsden predicts will remain "the authoritative single text for years to come" (p. 545). Ramsden also seems to have counted every Churchill memorial statue, street, pub, and park bench in the world. And while a catalog of these things could easily become tiresome, this author skillfully keeps it from doing so.

This is no small accomplishment. People who write about Churchill are forced to deal with the sheer immensity of his life. Many respond by being prolix, or trite, or they oversimplify, or caricaturize, or fall into either blind hero-worship or equally unnuanced destructiveness. Ramsden does none of these. One way he manages this, of course, is by being fairly sparing of the details of most of WSC's life. Thus, this book will make a lot more sense to someone who already has a fairly good understanding of who the man was, what he did, and when. Another way is by filling his text with stories about, and insights into, Churchill and his contemporaries that are nearly all some combination of fascinating, entertaining, and memorable. Thus, while he's dealing with some Grand Themes, the author surrounds them with a bodyguard of anecdotes that in and of themselves almost guarantee this will be a fun read for any Churchill student or fan.

Significantly, Ramsden is not an *uncritical* admirer of Churchill, though he is clearly an admirer. The Winston we encounter here is not sugarcoated, and some of his unattractive features do come through. That and the mountainous research on display are two signs of Ramsden's chops as a historian.

Finally, as a many-year member of The Churchill Centre and its preceding organization the International Churchill Societies, I should note and commend Ramsden's coverage of this worthy organization. Far from the worshipful society of star-struck fans it is sometimes painted to be, Ramsden shows the CC to be a reputable and respectable association of clear-eyed admirers of the man of the century, warts and all.

I am always amazed at the new aspects or corners of Churchill's life and impact that people can find to write books about. This one, no question, was a book that needed to be written. And for any Churchill student or fan, it's one that needs to be read. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A flawed account of a morally corrupt great man
As Stafford says that Churchill appreciated the value of good intelligence and how it could influence the outcome of any struggle .But on the whole I must express my profound disagreement on some of the information contained in this book. The LUSITANIA episode: Fortuitously-Magdeburg incident 26th August 1914- the Room no.40 of the British Admiralty cracked German Navy's tactical codes .Bulk of naval traffic related to the movements of U-boats and German High Seas Fleet it was able to read .Churchill as the First Lord of Admiralty was privy to this fact .What now follows is difficult to digest for a rational mind .If one were to believe the author the movement of U-20(which sank the American ship)was detected and all ships in the immediate vicinity warned of its presence.Message received by LUSITANIA but ship's captain instead of changing course continued with the voyage thus courting disaster. In other words author has implied the American ship was commanded by a mad man who sent her to the watery grave, a chain of reasoning difficult to follow.It looks as though Stafford wanted to defend the British leader from accusations of his detractors who have claimed the latter staged the incident to bring America on a collision course with Germany. It is very hard to accept Churchill's innocence in certain matters because I know him as a shrewd practitioner of Realpolitik .Desmond Morton ( an influential figure in the Whitehall corridors of power and later SIS officer )connived with Churchill to forge Zinoviev's letter which damaged Labour Party's electoral prospects in the early 20's. Coming to the Second World War, soon after the captitulation of France there came invasion hysteria . Now it must be said when it came to invading Britain the Nazi dictator was strangely reluctant . Early July 1940 Hitler disclosed his intention of invading Soviet Union to Schmundt his chief-adjutant and Von Brauchitsch the Army Commander-in-Chief .Churchill via ULTRA decrypts knew that much of German troop deployments along Channel coast was sham. Yet he kept up the invasion bogey because this was bringing public support. Later in January 1941U.S.Presidential envoy Harry Hopkins visit to war-torn Britain was stage-managed to draw American support for Britains' war effort. Author has demolished claims that Churchill sacrificed Coventry (heavily bombed by Luftwaffe on 14 November 1940) for protecting ULTRA. The target was identified very late but the argument that it was not brought to PM's attention sounds skeptical. Instead Crete was sacrificed .However I am of the view that Britsh Commonwealth forces could have defended the island without blowing ULTRA.The battle for Crete hinged upon the possession of Maleme airfield . A spotter aircraft could have been sent to show it had detected the approach of German aerial armada carrying elite paratroops instead of denuding Maleme defences for masking ULTRA.The exercise is cleverly contrived attempt to cover up British Middle East Command's lack of resolve in defending Crete.I endorse Stafford's view that British leader was not knowing Japanese plans to attack Pearl Harbor.However it is difficult to accept the naivete of US political establishment in this matter . Suffice to say the US intelligence had broken codes used by Tokyo to exchange information with Consul -General Kita in Honolulu.String of messages showing Japan taking unusual interest in Pearl Harbor were intercepted . One such message intercepted divided the place into five areas asked for exact location of Pacific Fleet warships and carriers . Washington correctly guessed this could be a grid system for a bombing attack.Had Roosevelt and his men been shrewd ,vigilant, the ensuing tragedy could have been averted The author has misinterpreted the train of events that led to the German intervention in the Balkans April-May 1941. It was Mussolini who dragged Hitler into the Balkan mess .On 28 October 1940 Italian troopsinvaded Greece . Invaders were soon bogged down which gave British the pretext to land troops in that country .Besides RAF bombers started operating from bases in Crete.They had the range to strike Ploesti in Rumania from where Wehrmacht drew bulk of its oil..British deployment also menaced the southern flank of German armies slated to take part in Barbarossa :invasion of Soviet Union .Germany intervened to neutralise the flank threat . Churchill's role in fomenting guerilla warfare in Nazi-occupied Europe forms underlying theme of this book. British leader's brush with partisans in the far reaches of the Empire during heydays of his youth made him advocate this mode of fighting. It must be said , however , in the final analysis the role of the guerillas in the victory over Nazi Germany appears minimal.Owing to reasons of geography guerilla warfare never struck roots in Europe,much of the continent lay inert under the Nazi jackboot.Exceptions being Greece , Yugoslavia where mountainous terrain favoured large -scale guerilla operations .Finally a few things I like about this book: Churchill during prewar years exaggerated the capabilities of Luftwaffe,failed to appreciate the role tanks would play in the coming war ,underestimated the threat posed by Japan . Information such as that he bought Spain's neutrality in the war through bribes , came very close to compromising ULTRA during the speech marking German invasion of Soviet Union , approved a plan to assassinate Hitler , 'Operation Foxley', came close to carrying it out. Upon reading this book I gained the impression that Stafford has condoned the British leader's misdemeanours ,author no doubt is a Churchill apologist. To me Churchill was the most reactionary politician thrown up by the Western World. He stroved to ensure the Britains' domination of the post war world .He resisted Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy not because they were fascist regimes rather to their interference with Britains' imperial interests. Neverthless a remarkable man ,patriot who presided his country's fortune at a critical time of her existence .To his credit it must also be said Churchill realised, unlike other leaders of the Conservative party, the threat posed by Nazi Germany could only be contained by entering into a defence alliance with the Soviet union .In June1940 he took the decisive step in his career by deciding to continue the war against Germany.

Groundbreaking work on Churchill
"Churchill and Secret Service" documents the life long connection between him and secret intelligence. The author traces this back to Churchill's experience as a journalist in the Cuban revolt against Spain. His romantic nature, combined with the undisputed effectiveness of the guerillas, instilled in him a faith in guerilla warfare and its requirement of good intelligence. The book continues through Churchill's association with "room 40" during WWI, and his continued receipt of intelligence reports during the years "in the wilderness". Naturally the bulk of the work concerns itself with the Second World War, the creation of SOE and the secret armies. The author delves into the "special relationship" between the UK and US and reveals in detail the serious conflicts between SIS/SOE and the OSS-an area that often does not receive much attention by historians. Churchill's second term as prime minister,and subsequent retirement conclude the work. What it shows is that Churchill, probably more than any other political leader, understood the value and the dangers of secret intelligence, and knew how to employ it (most of the time). His experience provides excellent lessons to those who collect or use strategic/operational intelligence,"intelligence was not an end in itself and did not belong to those who produced it." Would that our current intelligence structure followed this advice...

Stafford does his homework !
This is an excellent work from an author that thoroughly researches every detail of the subject before it is put to print. As all of Staffords work, the factual basis is unquestionable. Anyone that reads this work will have a deep understanding of the time period and the personalities involved. ... Read more

Book Description

The consort of Janis Joplin and Rebecca De Mornay and one-time collaborator of Phil Spector, Leonard Cohen has for the last five years been a full-time resident of the Mount Baldy Zen Center near Los Angeles where he submitted to the rigors of zazen and communal living. He was officially ordained a Buddhist monk and given the name of Jikan (Silent One). Born in Montreal in 1934, Cohen received international recognition for his second collection of poems The Spice Box of the Earth in 1961, rising to prominence in 1967 with his debut album The Songs of Leonard Cohen. His most recent album, The Future, is his eleventh. He has written two novels including the cult classic Beautiful Losers, and eight volumes of poetry. Author David Sheppard explores Cohen's fifty year odyssey through Judaic mythology, drugs, alcohol, sex, and Buddhism. What he finds is a man with a unique ability to serve up bleak but heartfelt individual truth. "Cohen has always been a man of surprises, so much so that many take him to be a man of artful disguises (as he sometimes does himself). His life has always been dangerously mythic..." -- Pico Iyer ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Trivial commercial Trash, refuse delivery
Excuse me, but this book should be banned, and I'm a librarian who would fight to the death for freedom to read. To put the facts of LC's life into 60 pages, the man's almost 70 and he's been doing this his whole life. Cartoons would be better. And THEN to try to summarize his songs in a few sentences. What is this, English as a second language for people who don't speak a word yet? If for some personal reason anyone wants to read ABOUT LC, and really who needs to, it's just that he's so absent from view and I understand, then of course turn to Various Positions: a life of Leonard Cohen, by Ira B. Nadel. The publisher insisted that Mr. Nadel ask LC if his book could be called an authorized biography. I quote the book here Reply: "tolerated" adding an instant later "benignly tolerated." LC knows we hunger for him and he allowed this book to be given to us, despite his bemusement at his gift and his reluctant acceptance of hero and icon status, but he knows and lives in the same darkness we all battle every day, all our lives. Thank you to all reviewers for sharing. I never read reviews of his music before because who cares, but this morning I got up early and was going to cut the knees out from under anyone daring to give less than 5 stars to anything of his. But the reviewers fought against the packaging and wouldn't bother to have written at all, in almost all cases, because we are brothers and sisters in our need for and love of Leonard Cohen. And we pity anyone who doesn't have the solace of his songs so we want to give everyone what we've found with him.

the coolest man on planet earth
I was 1st introduced to the poetry of Leonard Cohen when I was 17 yrs old and it changed my life; I am now a published poet and I owe it all to that little spark I got from reading his work all those yrs ago. His poetry, novels, and songs are all uniformly awesome. I have followed his career for many yrs and this book was great. It's entertaining and informative,well worth the price of purchase. I hope Leonard Cohen lives forever; he's the coolest man on planet earth. ... Read more

Book Description

The exciting story of Columbus¹s life is told using the journals he kept during his four voyages tot he New World, voyages that would change world history forever. ... Read more

Book Description

In this personal, spiritual biography of President Jimmy Carter, his pastor and his family explore the development of his faith, sharing insights about both his private and his public sides. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Preacher and the Democrat.
Dan Ariail is the pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia and Maranatha is the home Church of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter where they are active members. Rev. Ariail with the assistance of Cheryl Heckler-Feltz has attempted to put together a book that sheds some light on the Carter's spiritual life. It is indeed hard to understand the Presidency and post-Presidency of James Earl Carter without coming to grips with his basic religious beliefs. After all, while most former Presidents of both parties spend most of their time making huge sums of money or just relaxing, Jimmy Carter has done more to help more people than almost any man alive has. What is it that drives this wonderful man as he seeks to do good day after day? According to this book and several by Carter himself it is the former President's faith in God and his relationship with Christ.

Unfortunately, this book is mostly made up of accounts that have already been written about by Carter in his own books. In fact, if one were to combine several of Carter's books, this could be the condensed version. There are also too many long quotes from Carter's speeches and Sunday school lessons included in the text. With the book being as short as it is I felt the space could have been better used. Especially if it had been used to gain some extra insight from a man who knows Mr. & Mrs. Carter so well. I finished this book thinking a great opportunity had been missed.

There are however several wonderful insights to be found in this book. For example there are stories of Jimmy Carter going out with his Pastor to visit new families in the community which is just as much a part of his Christian outreach as are his diplomatic efforts. The last section of the book is basically a tourist information chapter for those planning a trip to Plains. Just last year my wife and I went to Plains and this chapter would have been a great help. Especially the section about visiting Maranatha Church. We managed to make the Church visit and were in the President's Sunday school class. After the service we were able to have our picture made with the former First Family and found that they are gracious and lovely people. If nothing else, this book will help you plan for such a trip so you can share with my wife and I in this once in a lifetime experience. We would have had a much easier time if I had had this book back then.

If you are a Carter fan you will probably already be familiar with most of the material in this book but you will probably enjoy it anyway. If nothing else you will get a little insight into the personality of Billy Carter from someone outside the family. Billy was also a member of Maranatha and the Sunday we were there his widow was singing in the choir. On the other hand, if you don't really know much about the family Carter this book would be a great learning experience. For those who have already read Jimmy Carter's books this would be a two star selection while for those new to the Carter story it would be worth four stars. I guess I'll have to average it out at three. ... Read more

Book Description

Find out how explorer Christopher Columbus survived great danger on the high seas on his voyages to the New World. Longer sentences and an expanded vocabulary make this series of 48-page books slightly more challenging: Level 2 is appropriate for children who have started to read but still need help. Information boxes full of background information will stimulate inquisitive minds. These books contain between 700 and 850 words, and they are approximately 70 percent pictures and 30 percent text. The Dorling Kindersley Readers combine an enticing visual layout with high-interest, easy-to-read stories to captivate and delight young bookworms who are just getting started. Written by leading children's authors and compiled in consultation with literacy experts, these engaging books build reader confidence along with a lifelong appreciation for nonfiction, classic stories, and biographies. There is a DK Reader to interest every child at every level, from preschool to grade 4. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a classic American tale of dreams and obsession--the suspenseful, brilliantly written account of one eccentric man’s hunger to open space travel to us all: to let us rocket into orbit, return to earth, and soar yet again--thus transforming space travel forever.

They All Laughed at Christopher Columbus

Gary Hudson was seven years old when Sputnik flew, nineteen when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and all he ever wanted to do was to travel into space. Between 1970 and 1996 he founded and disbanded five separate rocket-building companies, none meeting with much success. Then, in 1997, at the age of forty-seven, he launched Rotary Rocket. His goal was to develop and build the Roton, the world’s first manned, single-stage-to-orbit, fully reusable spaceship, capable of shuttling ordinary people into orbit and back in a single day. Elizabeth Weil followed Gary for two years, and in this book she brings to vivid life a seductively--perhaps delusionally--optimistic world where science and science fiction meld and fuse, and where imagination and invention collide.

In California’s bleak and windswept Mojave Desert, Gary assembled a fanatical, mismatched crew of engineers and technicians, and Weil bears witness to their Roton endeavor, from first conception to final test flight. The cast includes a pyromaniacal engineer, a world expert on composite airframes, two former Navy test pilots, Gary’s infinitely patient wife, a third-generation Mojave motel owner, and an enigmatic and resourceful financier. At their center shines Gary himself, a man eternally reflecting the glow of a better, lighter, higher world--a world that, despite his flaws and failures, he perpetually convinces us we’re all about to reach. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Required reading for all Space Cadets
There seem to be two reactions to this book: pro-space activists think it's trash, while the normal people who seemingly read it by accident all love it. Here's a third perspective: I strongly believe that we need cheap, reusable, privately owned launch vehicles like the one Rotary Rocket tried to develop. But I love this book because it reveals exactly why none of the many Mom & Pop rocket companies have ever produced one. The main problem is that the people who are strongly motivated to start such firms are mostly impractical dreamers who lack the technical skills and business sense to make them work. Reading Weil's dispassionate description of the Roton development program is like watching the film "Ed Wood" -- you can't believe that these people actually existed and actually believed they were building a workable rocketship. The sane part of the space community always knew that the Roton would be a miserable technical failure for all the reasons given on p.167, but it is really scary to see just how out of touch with reality the major players like Gary Hudson and Walt Anderson really were. And these guys are still active in the alt.space community! I sure hope Elon Musk's SpaceX project succeeds so we don't have to watch any more of these painful failures.

For Those Who Love Frustration
As I was reading this, I noticed a pattern for Gary Hudson :
Start a rocket company, hype it, get money, fail;
Repeat as needed (maybe Gary Hudson NEEDED to?).
I found the "smoking gun", however, in a very telling passage, where Gary laments that he wasted all of these years on trying to make rockets for the dreams he had of space travel, and that he was led astray by a book, "Profiles of the Future", by arthur C. CLarke.
Now, I thumbed open my own well-read copy of "Profiles", and here is what I read :
"It is an act of faith among science-fiction writers, and an increasing number of people in the astronautics business, that there must be some safer, quieter, cheaper, and generally less messy way of getting to the planets than rockets."
Next time, Gary READ THE BOOK ("Profiles"), OK?

don`t waste your money on this one...
this book has major technical errors, and setting errors. On average there is at least one biased or negatively slanted characterization or poorly attributed comment - apparently thrown in to criticize non-NASA workers - per page. These faults are in addition to a writing style that is disjointed, at best.

Don`t waste your money in buying it, or your time in borrowing it from the library.

A Disappointing Book About A Fascinating Topic
The problem with Weil's book is that, if you pick it up in order to read about what is involved in trying to build a new, low-cost space launch vehicle, it doesn't tell you very much at all. Rather, it is a colorful "human interest" story about the people of Rotary Rocket Company, who tried to build such a vehicle, but failed in that particular attempt. For those who are seriously interested in the question of how to get from where we are today to a vehicle that can make space affordable and accessible, this book will disappoint. She treats the whole enterprise as a science fiction fantasy, completely lacking in any rational justification. Weil fails to make any of the obvious comparisons with the people and ventures responsible for building the aviation industry - literally from the ground up - in the early years of the last century. Some of them were successful, many failed, and many kept on trying until they did succeed. The aviation pioneers were considered eccentric at best, or crazy at worst. Maybe some of them were, but millions of airline passengers benefit from their craziness on a regular basis. If you like to read about interesting people, then maybe you'll enjoy this book. If you want insight into the many technical and business issues that need to be addressed in the process of building spaceships, don't expect much here.

Technical Errors Hint at Other Errors?
Some technical errors popped out at me while reading this book. The rocket equation needs parentheses. Triggering an igniter several seconds prior to t-minus zero does not 'allow' mixing, it prevents a fuel build-up from leading to an explosion. Specific impulse is not 'the amount of time it takes to achieve a pound of thrust' but the amount of time a pound of fuel can sustain a pound of thrust. Unmanned vehicles are not two thousand times more likely to fail than manned vehicles, the unmanned Delta has a 97% success rate versus 98% for the Shuttle.

Did the author have an engineer review her book, or is technical fact-checking optional for writers who get into the New York Times Literary Supplement? This inattention to simple technical detail makes me wonder how accurate the rest of the book is, and whether the quotes are accurate as well.

One thing does emerge: building a tall helicopter when you're supposed to build a spaceship is not the greatest idea in the world. ... Read more