Book Description

A fascinating portrait of two giants of twentieth-century politics locked in a conflict that defined their era. Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy loathed each other. Politics, of course, is full of heated rivalry, and the nature of the game is more often defined by power and personality than by ideas. But the animosity between these two was of a different order, marked by a bitterness so acute and abiding that they could barely speak in each other's presence. After the death of John Kennedy, they were the dominant political personalities of the 1960s. Each spent the decade listening for footsteps, looking over his shoulder, making few important decisions without first considering the feud. Their antagonism spawned political turf battles across the United States, and it captivated the newly powerful media, which portrayed their every disagreement as part of a deliberate battle to claim the legacy of the fallen president. Memoirs, biographies, previously unexamined documents, and scores of interviews have provided threads of this story, and Jeff Shesol weaves them into a gripping and coherent narrative that reflects the profound impact of this relationship on politics, civil rights, the war in Vietnam, and the war on poverty. Like a Greek tragedy played out on a nation's center stage, this book provides a prism through which to view two men, their times, and the nature of power.

"Our President [JFK] was a gentleman and a human being; this man [Johnson] is not. . . . He's mean, bitter, vicious--an animal in many ways."--Robert F. Kennedy, 1964

"Johnson and Kennedy's battle is the white noise in the background, the political education of their successors in the White House and Congress. It is a textbook on the impact of personality on politics. It is great reading, and great history."--from the Introduction ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Clearly the best of the recent JFK/LBJ/RFK/White House books
Recent months have seen the publication of a spate of books regarding presidential politics in the turbulent decade that was the 1960s. Taking Charge, The Kennedy Tapes, Shadow Play, LBJ's War, Kennedy and Nixon, The Walls of Jericho, The Living and the Dead, Guns and Butter, Dereliction of Duty, The Other Missiles of October---all these books offered some insight into the thoughts, beliefs, actions and geopolitical decisions of the men (and they were all men) who ran our country during that difficult and often painful period. Many of them are well-researched, some are well-written, a few have become best-sellers, but all of them are missing a vital piece of the puzzle, a flaw which leaves each of them, for all af their research and erudition, strangely unsatisfying and incomplete. This magnificent new book supplies that vital missing piece and, in doing so, paradoxically renders each of the others both more valuable and at the same time obsolete.

Shesol's thesis, which he amply substantiates with tapes, documents and personal interviews, is that the feud between RFK and LBJ was pivotal not only in the later stages in their respective political careers, but also in a wide range of policy decisions taken by Johnson, as President, and Kennedy, as Attorney General and then as Senator from New York. He enlivens his book with commentary and anecdote from a variety of important figures of the time, inclding Arthur Schlesinger, who is also quoted approvingly on the dust jacket. This is both an important piece of historical research and a thoroghly enjoyable read.

This delightfully written, important, book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the Vietnam War, the Johnson Presidency, the catastrophic results of the Great Society which we are still living with today, or, indeed, the 1960s in general. It should certainly be read in preference to any of the other books mentioned above.

An excellent study of the effect of power on personality.
What comes to the fore in this book is that power influenced both LBJ and RFK negatively -- especially with respect to their treatment of each other. During the 1960 presidential campaign and then during the JFK administration, Robert Kennedy's innate dislike and scorn of LBJ was put into practice by his uniquely powerful position within JFK's cabinet. Clearly, RFK held the upper hand from 1960 through 1963, and he used his influence to shut LBJ out of important meetings and events and to make sure that LBJ's role was little more than that of "water boy." LBJ, for his part, fumed at the repeated slights from RFK during JFK's tenure, and -- as Shesol well demonstrates -- allowed the hurt and resentment that had built up during those three years to play much too large a role in his decision-making calculus during his own administration. If anything, LBJ's well-documented personal insecurities (which may have reached the level of clinical paranoia by the time he left the presidency) and mastery of the political game made his ostracism of "all things RFK" even more effective than RFK himself had ever been able to manage.

What all this means is that the personal animosity that these two important men felt toward one another was best effected by each during his own time of greatest power and influence. As a result, the talents and resources that each of these two great public servants had available to contribute were underutilized (at best) or squandered (at worst) at a time when the country desperately needed both men to help see it through some of its most difficult times. To the largest extent, Shesol does not ascribe greater fault or worse judgment to either man, and indeed he cannot, as each took advantage of his own personal power to minimize the influence of the other. That is the sad theme underlying Shesol's important and fascinating book.

I wish I had written this book
This was a wonderful book. Having recently read Master of the Senate, by Robert Caro, and Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur Schlesinger, this seemed the natural next read. I was not disappointed. The author presents a balanced account of both men. It is not a biography of either man, instead telling of the years in which their lives ran together. Their disagreements are told in great detail, through the eyes of participants on both sides. One advantage to this is that the reader sees not only the character of RFK or LBJ, but of their staffers, like Dick Goodwin or George Reedy. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in politics or history, and a great follow up to reading a full scale biography of either man.

AT SWORDS' POINTS
Robert Kennedy and LBJ were truly at political, ideological and philosophical swords' points. As one reviewer aptly noted, was their "feud" really one that defined the 1960s? That point is questionable at best, doubtful at worst. The very position these men occupied during that period (Attorney General and later Senator/President respectively) certainly does command the world's interest and attention.

Both men are drawn in stark relief to each other. One point I think is worth mentioning is that they really did have a lot in common. Both men were very bright, very aggressive and very determined. Both men had strong convictions and personalities to match. As has been duly recorded over time, one major point of contention was the Vietnam War.

I agree with one reviewer who questioned the harsh description of Johnson's character. I happen to believe that Johnson was a good, effective administrator. As for the Vietnam War, he inherited that headache and as an unfortunate consequence, followed bad advice about that war instead of bailing out sooner. RFK seemed to feel LBJ was wholly responsible for the war escalation. He neglected to note in his arguments and criticisms of President Johnson that the Vietnam conflict began in the late 1950s! (ca 1957, under Eisenhower's administation). During President Kennedy's tenure in office, the Vietnam conflict was well underway, but it is interesting to note that this author does not really point out that fact.

In this reading, one gets the feeling that Robert Kennedy was still working to protect the interest and reputation of his late brother. Since President Johnson assumed office after President Kennedy's death, one could sympathize with the Attorney General's resentment of anyone assuming that office.

The whole description of the "feud" is really a clashing of ideologies; it is really the parting of ways over issues. This author, to his credit does a thorough job in researching this subject and portrays historical events accurately.

It is hoped that in time, the general perception of LBJ will be softened; LBJ was by far and away the most progressive administrator on domestic issues since FDR. LBJ had more bills enacted during his tenure in office than any other president to date. He took a strong stand on environmental, education and civil rights issues that have positive impacts to this day. He was the president who negotiated and succeeded in securing public/subsidized housing, Head Start programs for underprivileged school children; MediCaid/MediCare and the 1965 Voters' Rights Acts which have today a positive impact on the large number of minorities who vote today. It is the opinion of this reviewer that President Johnson was a good and decent man whose many bills, budgets and proposals have had many positive impacts on the world as we now know it.

Robert Kennedy, the tireless worker who actively became involved in Civil Rights after the death of his brother, provided a parallel view of the work Johnson was already immersed in. Both men shared a vision and a quest for a better world with more advantages extended to all persons and with the rights of all persons more fully protected and enacted.

Robert Kennedy was in many ways not too different from President Johnson in objectives.

An interesting argument taken a touch too far
After reading this book, one can hardly contest the author's assertion that Johnson and RFK disliked, feared and resented each other even more than is the case in most political relationships. That no doubt arose largely because of the exceptional circumstances created by JFK's assassination. But did their feud really "define a decade"? No, because the political and social canvas on which their rivalry was played out was far greater than the author allows. That said, the book is extremely well researched, and the wealth of primary sources that are used enables the reader to reach his own conclusions. My main complaint is that the author seems unduly influenced by the views of some of the young "radical" advisors who surrounded RFK. The book also seems to tilt in a slightly bitter manner against Johnson toward the end. Was Johnson really that bad? Looking at what came after him, one is permitted to think not. ... Read more

Book Description

An introduction to one of the most complex writers of the 20th century. B/W illustrations throughout. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

pretty good intro to joyce for the money
it won't pass you in a high level college course but it's got lots of info- a great intro and primer i'd have to say!

Should be read BEFORE reading any of Joyce's works...
This is an excellent introduction to the life and writings of James Joyce, the former being essential to understanding the later, on any level. Mr. Norris's text and Mr. Clint's illustrations (which are actually rather functional) bring a sense of insight to any who attempt to take on one of the most complex writers in Western literature. The outline of "Ulysses" is excellent, and Mr. Norris even takes on the daunting task of begining to explain what has to be one of the most utterly demanding books ever, "Finnegan's Wake," and illustrates, literally, that it is not just some great joke or jibberish as others who probably have tried and failed to interpet, claim it is. And the keen advice from Mr. Norris, although rather pedestrian, disproves the popular notion of Joyce being unreadable. I would strongly recommend this and any of the other editions in this excellent series (I have since purchased, "Introducing Kafka.")

Excellent insight and introduction into Joyce's work.
Introducing Joyce really gives the reader insight into Joyce's methods of writing, how much of his work was autobiographical, and helps one better grasp this great writer's unique style. I was also amused with the interesting illustrations throughout the book. These illustrations make it impossible for the reading to become at all monotonous. One learns many things that are incorporated into his work that you would never know without reading this book. Overall, an excellent way to prepare for the experience of Joyce's writing. ... Read more

Book Description

The definitive life of Jefferson in one volume, this biography relates Jefferson's private life and thought to his prominent public position and reveals the rich complexity of his development.As Peterson explores the dominant themes guiding Jefferson's career--democracy, nationality, and enlightenment--and Jefferson's powerful role in shaping America, he simultaneously tells the story of nation coming into being. ... Read more

Book Description

From the foreword:

"Carefully researched, elegantly written, and thoughtfully argued. . . . A superb case study of a professor who plowed the fields of racial change in Virginia before, during, and following World War II. . . . Jackson's determined and indefatigable voting rights crusade helped blacks move from the past to the present, from the indignities of Jim Crow to the new freedoms and responsibilities of full citizenship."

"No student of mid-century America can fully understand the transformation of the South and the origins of the civil rights movement without reference to the work and life of Luther P. Jackson. . . . [This work] sheds light on the evolution of African-American ideology, the roots of the civil rights movement, and the unraveling of segregation."--Andrew Lewis, coeditor of The Moderates' Dilemma: Massive Resistance to School Desegregation in Virginia

During the 1930s and 1940s, when America had little interest in addressing racial inequality, Luther P. Jackson became a leading voice in the struggle for racial justice. This biography tells the story of the professor and political activist who cajoled, implored, and lobbied black Virginians to vote--a man who fervently believed that education was at the core of the search for social change.

Long before the sit-ins and freedom marches of the 1960s, Jackson strove to erase the assumptions of racial inferiority that infected African Americans. Understanding that blacks had to change their minds before they could change their world, he set out to make people "vote conscious."

Descended from ex-slaves, Jackson was born in 1892, attended school in Lexington, Kentucky, and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fisk University in Tennessee and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Until his untimely death in 1950, he taught at Virginia State University in Petersburg. Convinced that teachers could sow the seeds of racial equality, he mobilized them along with their students and families. By publishing, organizing, and proselytizing on behalf of voting, Jackson stimulated a political awakening among black Virginians.

As a target for racial recrimination and hostility, Jackson walked a tightrope of protest and accommodation, one that jeopardized his health, family, and career. Yet he was a tenacious optimist with faith in the political process. He took the long view, Michael Dennis notes, recognizing that failed legislative maneuvers did not render conventional institutions useless.

Largely forgotten, even in Virginia, until the author resurrected his story, Jackson was involved in almost every important civil rights and liberal initiative in the South in the second quarter of the 20th century. His forceful program of political education laid the groundwork for the full-fledged assault on segregation of the 1950s, when Martin Luther King and other leaders of the civil rights movement emerged to stand on Jackson's shoulders. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Great Poems
The poems in this book are wonderful to read and the pictures in this book are great. I really like the poems a lot and I like to read them in my room. Michael Jackson did a great job with his poems in this book and I hope he continues to write poetry in the future.

One For The Fans
Dancing the Dream is unquestionably a must have for any Michael Jackson fan. Reading poetry and short stories in HIS own words is a thrill for the die-hards, and eye-opening to the critics.

Michael Jackson is more than meets the eye, and Dancing the Dream proves that ten times over. Including great quality photos, this is not a waste of money! If your a MJ fan, what are you doing? Get this book NOW!!

Breathtaking
This book is without doubt the best one I've ever read, no book has touched me like this one. It has such great messages and it's almost as if you can feel the magic by reading it that Michael probably felt when he wrote it. This is a must read for both fans and non-fans, because either way, this is a master piece.

Proof that Michael Jackson Is Very Intelligent & Loving
This was the most wonderful book I have ever read. As soon as I heard about it I had to have it because I have always been a huge Michael Jackson fan, and always will be. However, though I expected it to be good. I did not expect this. The poems and essays are so well thought out and beautifully written. The man has a true gift. Every single work is filled with the joy of life and is a true inspiration. It has even inspired me to start writing poetry, but I am not nearly as good as this. They made me smile, laugh, and cry. Whenever I have a bad day I read either "The Heart Said No" or "Grew Wings Without Me" or "Trust" and they truly lift my spirit. There are also great essays and poems about nature and animals like "When the Elephants March" and "Look Again, Baby Seal." Also, there are poems about the love of God. Furthermore you will discover how Michael really feels about children in poems like "Children of the World," "On Children," "When Babies Smile," and "Wise Little Girl." This man is the last person in the world that I would worry about being with children. After reading this, I trust him not to hurt children more than I do myself! And I adore children! This book is truly beautiful and will show the path of love and righteousness to anyone who reads it. I would recommend this to someone whether or not they have ever bought a Michael Jackson record. If you want to be inspired beyond belief, read this. If you want to know who the REAL Michael Jackson is, don't watch the news, read this.

Another Rich Chapter in The Life Of The King Of Pop
Michael Jackson wrote some Great Poems here and they cover many topics.Alot Of Folks don't Understand or Know How Talented he Really is.The Man has Been GIfted for so Long.He is a Great Talent. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Michael Jackson is to music what Ali is to boxing - #1
I've always wanted to just sit down and speak with Michael Jackson to find out what kind of person he is. What makes him tick? What does he think of the media who's always riding him about his personal life? What about the rumors and myths such as him buying the elephant man's bones and sleeping in an machine.
This book gives clear insight on the life of Michael Jackson through the eyes of Michael Jackson (not the press or the National Inquirer or any other media outlet). If you find this book, treasure it - I absolutely love autobiographies because you'll never here a story told from the view of that individual unless you hear it directly from him or her. I've read it once and I will read "Moonwalk" again!
ERIC

Michael's Own Words
This book was clearly written from his heart and is the truth about his life.Only Michael himself knows how he thinks and how he feels in his heart.Michael Jackson is one of the most misunderstood person on earth.He tells about his relationships with his brothers,family,and fans.If your a michael Jackson fan you will find out new things about Michael,and if your not a fan of him you will see you totaly misjudged the King Of Pop.His Autobiography is a great book and only takes about 3 hours to read.So take the time to find out things you never hear about him,and get the truth instead of the rumors.

Should have been advertised as fiction
A total whitewash...a world as Michael Jackson thinks it should be.

A MUST HAVE for every MJ fan!
If you've ever wondered about the early years of Michael's life, this book is for you. Written by Mike himself, the book goes into details about his childhood, the way to success with Jackson 5, the beginning of his solo career and the stories behind his famous songs like "Billie Jean". The only bad thing is that it's too short. It made me want more. I hope a follow-up will be written.

What do we REALLY know about MJ? This book will tell you...
Okay, we all may know what Michael Jackson is all about these days. We know that he dangled his youngest child over a balcony in Germany, he has totally altered his face since the earlier days,and yes, his skin is currently white, but wait! Stop there for just a second.

Go back to the year 1988. Michael Jackson is still capitalizing on the success of his first two major-label albums and has just released his third album, Bad. He is wondering what's next for him. He decides to write a tell-all autobiography, explaining his past, present, and future in music and the entertainment business. He also explains his love life, his ability to come up with extraordiary music, short films, and even dance moves, and also tries to clear up some of the nasty rumors that have since plagued his career.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the single greatest autobiography I have ever read in my life! Not only does Michael express his feelings about music, children, and personal life, but he also displays true detail and emotion within every single sentence. If you are a die-hard Michael Jackson fan, you will really want this book!

No matter what anybody will ever say about him, Michael Jackson is, has been, and always will be the greatest musical artist in the history of this world! ... Read more

Book Description

A pop superstar since the age of eleven, Michael Jackson went on to earn enormous wealth and international adoration. But by the 1980s, things had already begun to get weird, what with Michael's bizarre facial reconstructions and skin bleaching, his odd preoccupations and phobias, and his unhealthy obsession with young boys. Before the eyes of the world, Michael Jackson was unraveling, culminating in his shocking indictment on child molestation charges. FREAK! is the riveting, no-holds-barred story of the rise and fall of a true American icon -- a blazing star who spun madly out of orbit.

Reviews (26)

Who're Calling A Freak??
It is very disturbing to think that someone out there could have enjoyed this read. But then again, we have all kinds of different people who allow themselves to be stuffed with all kinds of different stories and fabrications without even questioning them. Those are the people who refuse to think for themselves because it's a lot easier to let somebody else do it for them. And as it is in this case, the "somebody else" is the media. Humans have an interesting feature called the mind. Use it! And don't let the media make conclusions for you; don't let them turn you into fools!

Michael Jackson gave up his childhood; he gave up his life so we could be entertained. Anyone who's entertained with this kind of literature, however, is obviously not capable of reaching below the surface and understanding more important and meaningful things in life. It's easy for us to stick a label upon someone else's forehead. That doesn't mean we don't have one...

The man who wrote thi is insane
How can you writ a book aout someone you don't know? This book is a load of crap.

mj rocks this world!
Every day Michael Jackson is faced by judging, lying press & paparazzi. In my eyes he's a thoughtful, kind, inspiring person who is serving life for the unforgivable crime of being different. I'm a giant fan, and seeing this book makes me feel sick. The National Enquirer? Down there with the Sun and the News Of The World: would sell their soul just to get a story sold. If you want a half decent read, try his autobiography instead.

If I could have put zero I would have.
This is the worst book ever!!!! And for all of you people that thought it was great are just as ignorant as the guy who wrote it. This book contains all lies, that the tabloids have came up with in the past 20 years about Michael. Ed Breslin must not know anything about vitiligo. And also he talks about all these plastic surgerys, did he even look at what happened in the Pepsi commercial. When he had third degree burns covering half of his face. And also have you ever heard of singers getting nose jobs because it helps them breath and sing? I don't see why all he tried to do was make michael look like a twisted person and everything. The book is horrible and shouldn't be burned right next to Ed Breslin.

Freak is just the word to describe
To anyone who thinks Michael Jackson's kids are his, you're wrong. You think he has vitiligo, you're wrong. Michael jackson has been carefully scrutinized since the now infamous Bashir interview. Just look at him and you can see that he is not telling the truth. He paid all of his associates to say good things about him, but how they believe it is beyond me. Am I saying he's a bad singer? No, he's a fabulous. But his career is dead and his revenue is dried up.
This is a good book. ... Read more

Book Description

This pioneering assessment of all significant aspects of the Johnson presidency is the first book-length appraisal by a professional historian to cover all issues, decisions, and developments of consequence--from foreign affairs, Vietnam, and the space race to the Great Society, civil rights, and the war on poverty--during the span of Johnson's five years in office. At a time when unflattering portraits of Johnson's distinctive personal and governmental style prevail, this volume presents a full, thoughtful, and balanced evaluation of the administration's achievements and failures.

Vaughn Bornet draws a compelling picture of the dramatic period from late 1963 to early 1969 based on a close examination of memoirs, scholarly books and articles, manuscript materials in the central White House files, and key oral histories. Many of the sources of information have not been used before; only a few of those who worked closely with Johnson during his 1,886 days in office will be familiar with all the details of this comprehensive account.

Bornet documents that, at the very outset, Johnson ignored or dismissed information from key advisors showing that our Vietnam war efforts would fail without a major commitment. In his chapter on the hostile relations between Johnson and the media, Bornet blames both the President and the press for the so-called credibility gap. He credits Johnson, rather than Kennedy, with the moon landing. He shifts the focus from Johnson as a consummate politician to give full attention and credit to the Presidents important and talented team-- a group that included Bill Moyers, Joseph Califano, Douglass Cater, Horace Busby, Walt Rostow, McGeorge Bundy, Lawrence O'Brien, Dean Rusk, George Reedy, and Jack Valenti. And Bornet is the first to argue that it was poor health, not political pressure, that caused Johnson to decide against seeking reelection in 1968.

This book is part of the American Presidency Series. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The author makes a few comments, in perspective
I am just a bit bemused by this opportunity. The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson was commissioned by University Press of Kansas as part of its Bicentennial Series evaluating all of our Presidents. Virtually every volume has appeared, thanks to the great prowess of Don McCoy, the famous history professor at University of Kansas. I brought to the contract experience co-authoring Herbert Hoover: President of the United States, and work on Franklin D. Roosevelt; there were also three volumes on social welfare and one on labor/politics, plus a stay at RAND and 4 l/2 years in WWII. And I taught contemporary problems courses as a historian/social scientist. Mainly, with my mandate plus my inclinations, I stuck with serious matters and minimized the jazzy and conventional portrayals of Johnson's personality and character. And I really worked hard on the Johnson archives (as then open to researchers). A Moderate Republican who voted for LBJ in 1964, I got only grudging endurance from the Library director, but great help from the professionals there. The book continues to sell, for it is comprehensive, and it ventures daring judgment throughout. Scholarly reviewers were more than generous, except for Kennedy-lovers, who have never accepted even basics about President Johnson. Although many tapes have been made available, candid memoirs long since acquainted persons like me with the so-called "real LBJ." I stand by my final chapter, "History Will Judge"--a quotation from Lyndon himself as he contemplated the end. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not worth reading!
Delusional and severely unstable, the author has somehow come to the conclusion that Michael Jackson is as infatuated with her as she is of him. She provides an outline of her lifestory, and a portion of the ridiculous, obsessive letters she has sent him. I feel terribly sorry for Michael Jackson, and hope he never has to confront this woman. ... Read more

Book Description

What happened when the most powerful nation in the world gave its highest office to a man who came to believe that God was selecting his bombing targets. This examination of Lyndon Johnson, a paranoid manic-depressive, answers that question. Using virtually everything ever written about the president, this book examines what drove him throughout his life and especially during the Vietnam War. Did his bipolar disorder shape his personality? Evidence demonstrates his manic-depression dictated much of his Vietnam policy. This is the type of serious book Lyle Stuart has been associated with throughout his career of publishing best-selling books. It is a highly controversial look at the mental breakdown of President Johnson and is sure to get attention. Publication is planned around election time to get most exposure at a time when we examine our leaders with closer scrutiny. With shocking revelations, this book expands on the LBJ material that has been published. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

READ THIS BOOK!!! NOW!
We are in scary times and this book brings home one of the most impoortant issues facing our nuclear society, monitoring the president of the world's most powerful and heavily armed country... If the power of the presidents has scared you in the past, you will be a little more anxious after reading this review of the mental collapse of our past President, LBJ.
Who is watching out for Mr. Bush? Who is watching out for us?

a continuing exciting adventure
Was amazed to read the previous review from someone who obviusly never read it.
This book follows the two previously written books by the same author. The author reveals more about Lyndon Johnson than previous biographers have done. A must read for those of us who are concerned with the powers that the President possess and what can happen when one is affected by this disease. Strongly recommended in these uncertain times.

Diagnosis from a Distance
Most professional mental health specialists would eschew diagnosing a pateint they have never met. That's what, to my understanding, this book purports to do; and while it is an interesting thesis, one has to wonder about the ethics of the work if that is indeed what the author is intending. (It might not be; I looked at a copy in the bookstore, since I have an extensive collection of LBJ books, and was wondering if this one was worth adding to it. It isn't.)

No one has ever maintained that Lyndon Johnson was just an ordinary guy. He was a driven man, to say the least, capable of working hours that would exhaust most people, and prone to illness whenever his political future was in doubt. I do not doubt that his Vietnam policies were a grave mistake -- nor did his mentor in the US Senate, Richard Russell. (see John Goldsmith's excellent volume on the two men, "Colleagues") And LBJ himself, as one of the tapes transcribed in the excellent work of Michael Beschloss, had serious doubts about the enterprise.

But the whole Vietnam experience can be attributed, not to some hypothetical diagnosis of mental illness of the presidfent at the time, but to the systemic mind-set of the nation's ruling class, a mind-set that, because of its presuppositions as to America's role in the world, could not but encourage greater US involvement in Southeast Asia. And therein lies the tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: for this man had the intelligence and foresight to see where such a mind-set was leading him, his country, and his beloved Great Society...and yet he could not do anything but pour in more and more troops.

The person wishing a balanced and professional portrait of the man who I am convinced would have been, but for that stupid war, our greatest president would be far wiser to consult Robert Caro (especially "Master of the Senate") and Doris Kearns Goodwin (if you want a psychological angle based in actual contact with the subject) than this book. ... Read more

Book Description

In this provocative reassessment of C. G. Jung's thought, Richard Noll boldly argues that such ideas as the "collective unconscious" and the theory of the archetypes come as much from late nineteenth-century occultism, neo-paganism, and social Darwinian teachings as they do from natural science. Noll sees the break with Sigmund Freud in 1912 not as a split within the psychoanalytic movement but as Jung's turning away from science and his founding of a new religion, which offered a rebirth ("individuation"), surprisingly like that celebrated in ancient mystery cult teachings. Jung, in fact, consciously inaugurated a cult of personality centered on himself and passed down to the present by a body of priest-analysts extending this charismatic movement, or "personal religion," to late twentieth-century individuals.

Noll carefully reconstructs the intellectual currents of fin-de-siecle Germany which influenced Jung. In conjunction with his scientific training in medicine, Jung was drawn equally to these other ideas and teachings of the time: the vitalist school in biology associated with Naturphilosophie, the evolutionary biology and monistic religion of Hackel, racialist speculations on Aryan origins and character, Nietzsche's theory of the "new nobility," neo-pagan sun worshippers, and the speculations of philologists and archeologists on prehistoric cultures and their matriarchical religions. Many of the themes and symbols of these volkisch beliefs were used by the National Socialists and have become so identified with Hitler and the Nazis that it is difficult to disentangle the sources from this later use. Noll deftly uncovers the worldview of early twentieth-century German culture and firmly separates Jung and his teachings from the later National Socialist movement.

Richard Noll's groundbreaking work of historical reconstruction brings scholarship on C. G. Jung to a new level of sophistication. Noll's book does for Jung what Frank Sulloway's Freud: The Biologist of the Mind did for modern Freud studies. Written for the general reader this book will also be an important source for historians of science and psychiatry and will form the basis of all future Jung criticism. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

A salutary threat to the incomes of Jungian analysts
Reading some of the truly vicious customer reviews below, I cannot help but suspect that most of them were written by Jungian analysts. Having spent several years within the Jungian world (as neither a patient nor an analyst, I hasten to add), I feel that Noll has done the public a great service with his book. While I admire many of Jung's ideas as reflections of an interesting mind, I have seen no evidence of their practical applicability. Even more, I wonder about the damage done to patients by their being applied so narrowly, doggedly, slavishly by Jungian analysts. The Jungian world is filled with mediocrities -- people as unimaginative as Jung, for all his faults, was imaginative -- who band together tightly and congratulate each other endlessly on their genius, their sensitivity, their depth, their soulfulness. Meanwhile, they often seem to be engaged in particularly vicious power games, perhaps because they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge their "shadow" sides. And the patients too often seem to get lost in the shuffle, or actually damaged. Noll's book serves to underline the painful truth that the man these analysts take for a God was in fact not only deeply flawed but little concerned with the truth or otherwise of his theories, and not very interested in his patients'welfare. He has created a model of egotism that all too many Jungians seem to follow, without possessing his genius.

Well, so what?
Frankly, this was a disappointment. I went back from it with far more sympathy for Jung - and far less for Noll - than I had believed possible; and that in spite of the fact that - after a juvenile pash for Jung more than twenty years ago - I have long since given up on psychoanalysis (and in particular on the doctrine of Archetypes) as a system of knowledge and explanation; and that I was and am not impressed with Jung's private life and his abuse of patient/doctor relationships. The basic problem with this book is the juvenile, unmeditated, unintelligent pseudo-rationalism at its heart. Noll is apparently under the impression that there is something called "the historical Christ" which contradicts the teachings of historical Christianity; and therefore he approves of Freud, in spite of the howlingly obvious elements of pseudo-science, self-justification and superstition, because Freud takes religion to be a disease in need of curing rather than a legitimate way to view the world. Conversely, he opposes Jung because Jung, however distant his view from any orthodox religion, justifies religion as a state of mind. This, of course, is the reason why Jung's success continues in spite of his more than dubious scientific standing; because, however you look at them, in terms of the most basic issues of human thought Freud is a jailer, chaining us to the lowest processes of our bodies and offering us nothing more liberating than sex, and Jung is the man who turns the key and sets us free. I regard neither of them as in any way scientific, reliable or intellectually sound, but I also regard the influence of Jung as infinitely less pestiferous than that of Freud - and I owe this view to Noll's book, because it placed starkly in my face the sheer ugliness of the motives of those who attack Jung and defend Freud.

noll peered at his inner self and didnt like what he saw
The lid has been opened in the "Zaius" interview. There stands the "scholar" in full disclosure, bitter, arrogant, dismissive, full of expletives, and uncontrolled anger at the junguians. " I get no respect!" he whines again and again. He classifies his early admiration for Junguian thought, as "I was in my twenties and fool". Well, how's that for self disclosure! On the same interview, he argues that "they shouldnt be looking at my motives!". How Noll-ian!

The Would-be Messiah of Zurich
Psychoanalysis has existed as a recognized discipline (one hesitates to call it a science) for little more than a century. In this time, it has exerted great intellectual and social influence, far beyond what one might expect of a narrow medical specialty. Terms like "ego," "id," and "collective unconscious" have entered the popular vocabulary, and the analyst's consulting room and couch provide the setting for innumerable cartoons. Given the cultural significance of psychoanalysis, it is odd how little curiosity historians and social critics have shown about its origins. Most regard it simply as an invention of the late nineteenth century, like the light bulb or the automobile.

In "The Jung Cult," Richard Noll has brilliantly placed Jungian analysis in its historical context. He has also, in the process, shed much light on Freud and a number of his other disciples. Psychoanalysis was to a large extent the product of German philosophical and literary thought, and had much to do with the collapse of orthodox religious belief amongst the educated classes. German romanticism, the radical nihilism of Nietzsche, Haeckel's efforts to construct a modern "scientific" structure of ethical thought along religious lines, a "völkisch" hearkening back to Nordic paganism (as in Wagner's operas), and late nineteenth-century occultism as exemplified by H.P. Blavatsky, were all ingredients of the bouillabaisse out of which analysis emerged. These elements were (and remain) obscured by the trappings of science and medicine, which serve principally to give psychoanalysis an intellectual respectability it would otherwise lack.

While Freud, who described himself as a "godless Jew," believed that religion was the problem, and its elimination the solution, Jung concluded that the moral stringency of orthodox Christianity had to be replaced by another type of religious belief, ecstatic and archaic in character. In the Jungian view, the dominant philosophical background is mystical and magical, as Noll documents. He argues persuasively that Jung viewed himself as a religious figure, and that he was in some sense the founder of a kind of religion.

Noll's book has been portrayed by some Jungians as a hatchet job. While it is not written from a sympathetic point of view, it is far from that. It is thoroughly documented and copiously annotated. I found it a fascinating exercise in intellectual history. Jung stands between Joseph Smith and L. Ron Hubbard in the dubious pantheon of the founders of modern religions. For what it is worth, he accomplished what he did with far more eclat and subtlety than either of these "neighbors."

Highly recommended
"The Jung Cult" by Richard Noll is well-researched, precise, and readable. It gives penetrating insights into the mind of one of the most influential thinkers in recent history.Highly recommended for those with an interest in psychology. ... Read more

Book Description

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "Music is the passion of my soul." This essay by Stanford University Professor of Music Emeritus Sandor Salgo explores one of the lesser recognized aspects ofJefferson's life: his love of music and his talent as a violinist. Jefferson had an extensive collection of books on music and on the art of the violin in his monumental library. However, before now we have not known how his study of these books, called "tutors," influenced his musicianship and his abilities as a violinist. Salgo's deep understanding of the history and technique of the violin and ofmusicianship during Jefferson's time allow him to explore the music Jefferson played and how he acquired the knowledge to pursue the "delightful recreation" that was a central interest in his life. ... Read more

Book Description

Perhaps the most hotly debated character in American history, Jefferson stands as an enigma representing different and often contradictory ideas. This concise biography answers many of the contradictions of Jefferson's fruitful life. Specifically, it finds continuity in his evolving philosophy of political economy. Because Jefferson was not a man intellectually tied to a single ideology, he was able to embrace competing "persuasions" that seem to us incompatible today. Indeed, Jefferson's rhetoric was more a matter of time and circumstance than an element of absolute belief. The Jefferson that emerges is not only a facile thinker but also a consummate politician. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The book was hard to take notes on because it skipped around
I had to read this book for my AP U.S. History class. I like history, but it was hard to follow the political points of the book because they weren't fully dicussed. It skipped around a lot. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Balanced Look at the Presidency of LBJ
While considering this book I found a book review by American Studies Today Online, so I have posted it at the bottom of this review. I thought it was appropriate.

"Book Review: Guns or Butter: the Presidency of Lyndon Johnson by Irving Bernstein.

"Warfare, rioting, assassinations: mayhem continues to be the dominant image of America in the mid-1960s, with Lyndon Johnson presiding. This book is intended to redress an 'unfair balance' in the treatment of the man and his time in office, which has skewed our perception almost exclusively to what went wrong.

"The tragedy of Lyndon Johnson's presidency, according to the author of this new political biography, was that Johnson believed that he could have both guns and butter - that his vision of the United States as a 'great society' could be fulfilled alongside the waging of war in southeast Asia. It was to be a tragedy of epic proportions.

"In the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, and especially after the Democrats' landslide victory in the presidential election a year later, Johnson set about the task of continuing and extending his predecessor's liberal reform programme. Legislative achievements included the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare, and a series of progressive measures relating to immigration, education and conservation. Together they constituted a new 'New Deal': FDR was LBJ's political hero.

"With rapid economic growth in the mid-1960s, the Democrats could have looked forward to a lengthy stay in office during which Johnson's vision of the 'great society' might have been made still more a reality. But his decision to engage US military forces in the long-running conflict in Vietnam changed everything.

"Bernstein has produced a very readable narrative of the domestic triumphs and foreign travails of the Johnson administration, richly documented from the archives of the LBJ presidential library in Austin, Texas. His book gives fascinating insights into the American political process, and into Johnson's complex personality.

"Despite the author' s hope to rehabilitate LBJ's reputation by focussing on the domestic accomplishments, it is the descent into the quagmire of Vietnam that comes to dominate his account. The style of writing is often vivid, sometimes colloquial, always lucid. There are useful historical backgrounds given to all the issues under discussion, and brief biographical sketches of the principal policy-makers in the Johnson administration. The book is generously illustrated, and is a storehouse of material from which teachers and students can draw readily for a better understanding of those dramatic years of American hope and despair, dream and nightmare, over which LBJ presided."

American Studies Today Online

A overdue look at what went right with LBJ's presidency.
I've read this book twice and each time my admiration grows. Bernstein has written a book that accurately assesses what went right with Johnson's presidency. Johnson, on domestic policy, rivaled FDR in brilliance. Although Bernstein's goal is to show us the "forgotten" LBJ, he doesn't shrink from showing us how badly he failed when it came to the Vietnam War. This book contained lots of information but it never got bogged down in the details. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Although Edna O'Brien has never trafficked in James Joyce'shead-over-heels brand of high modernism, she does have a couple of characteristics in common with her great predecessor. After all, both authors engaged in a profoundly ambivalent excoriation of their native Ireland. And while O'Brien's sexual politics can make Joyce seem like a fusty Edwardian by comparison, both novelists got a certain amount of flack for their erotic frankness. So this latest match from the Penguin Lives series seems like a good one--and largely lives up to its promise. O'Brien makes no pretense of competing with Richard Ellmann's immense, magisterial portrait. Instead she has concocted in James Joyce something that resembles one of her own novels: a spirited, lyrical, and acerbic narrative that just happens to feature the author of Ulysses in the starring role.

Having experienced the constrictions of Irish life firsthand, O'Brien is particularly good on Joyce's downwardly mobile childhood. Was his resulting hatred of his native land exaggerated? Apparently not:

No one who has not lived in such straitened and hideous circumstances can understand the battering of that upbringing. All the more because they had come down in the world, a tumble from semi-gentility, servants, a nicely laid table, cut glasses, a piano, the accoutrements of middle-class life, relegated to the near slums in Mountjoy Square, the gaunt spectral mansions in which children sat like mice in the gaping doorways.

Reviews (13)

A Joycean Primer
As is almost consistently the case, the series of biographies produced under the collection of Penguin Lives has once again succeeded in providing a palatable doorway through which the hungry but busy reader can find the substance of an important if historically tough writer or artist. Edna O'Brien, herself an accomplished writer, here provides us with a fellow Irishman's view of the incredibly important writer James Joyce. Though most of us have at least read his 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' and have seen plays and film adaptations of some of his other works, few of us feel we understand this complexly brilliant mind enough to say that approaching 'Ulysses' or 'Finnegan's Wake' would be easy reading. O'Brien gives us not only the chronology of Joyce's life, she also picks up on individual instances in his youth and manhood that served as fodder for his detailed novels of his Irish heritage. The writing is brisk, acerbic, challenging, and ultimately rewardingly educational. Finish this brief history and you most probably will run to the book shelf for another go at the master!

A perceptive account of a monster of a writer
Irish writer Edna O'Brien's brief (179 page) biography of James Joyce was aimed at people like me who are curious about Joyce's life, but not curious enough to undertake Richard Ellman's definitive but massive biography. O'Brien venerates Joyce's writing, but recognizes the high cost to most everyone who had any contact with Joyce.

Although she argues (without convincing me) that Joyce was not a misogynist, she does not attempt to defend him from being viewed as a monster; instead, she answers her question "Do writers have to be such monsters in order to create? I believe that they do."

O'Brien provides interesting responses to Joyce's life and lifework. Hard-core Joyceans will already have processed Ellman's biography--regarded by some as the best biography of any writer ever written. The somewhat curious have a fine guide in O'Brien. Her book is generally readable, and I am inclined to trust her sense (as a novelist, as an Irish novelist) of what in Joyce's fiction is autobiographical.

The volume is an excellent match of biographer and subject, like Edmund White's biographical meditation on Marcel Proust that began the series of Penguin Brief Lives, a welcome antidote to the mountains of details that make so many biographies daunting.

a great writer on a great writer
Biographies in this series are the perfect fun size. Light, but long enough to have a lot of real stuff in them, more than a mere introduction.

The very first sentence of this book invites you into Joyce with an imitation of his writing style, & after that Edna O'Brien shares generously & mellifluously her great understanding of the man, his life, & his work, drawing on scholarly commentary of his books & from the journals & letters of him & the people around him so that you know how they all felt about his life & their lives in themselves & for the purposes of this biography in relation to him. It's so well-written & so interesting -- what a life he had, crazy as he was, that -- I could hardly put it down. Edna O'Brien's great interest in him comes across truly.

Short but sweet
I read this book at the Jersey shore. Joyce's life was as bizarre as his fiction. This book gives you an insight into what Joyce was trying to do with "Ulysses" and later "Finegan's Wake." Of course, the Ellmann bio is still the definitive. This is a great little read with sand and roasted peanuts.

A Singular Genius
This is one of several volumes in the Penguin Lives Series, each of which written by a distinguished author in her or his own right. Each provides a concise but remarkably comprehensive biography of its subject in combination with a penetrating analysis of the significance of that subject's life and career. I think this is a brilliant concept. My only complaint (albeit a quibble) is that even an abbreviated index is not provided. Those who wish to learn more about the given subject are directed to other sources.

When preparing to review various volumes in this series, I have struggled with determining what would be of greatest interest and assistance to those who read my reviews. Finally I decided that a few brief excerpts and then some concluding comments of my own would be appropriate.

On Joyce and Ireland: "Of all the great Irish writers, Joyce's relationship with his country remains the most incensed and yet the most meditative. Beckett, a much more cloistered man, was unequivocal; he made France his home and eventually wrote in French and though his elegiac works carry the breath of his native land, he did not expect Foxrock, his birthplace, to be etched in the consciousness of the world. Joyce did. He determined to reinvent the city where he had been marginalized, laughed at and barred from literary circles. he would be the poet of his race." (page 15)

On criticisms of his portrayal of Dublin: Joyce "said he was not to be blamed for the odor of ash pits and rotted cabbage and offal in these stories [i.e. in Dubliners] because that was how he saw his city. 'We are foolish, comic, motionless, corrupted, yet we are worthy of sympathy too,' he laughed haughtily and added that if Ireland were to deny that sympathy to its characters, the rest of the world would not. In this he was mistaken." (page 78)

On his deteriorating health: "The strains were beginning to show. he had endocrine treatment for his arthritis, had to have all his teeth removed and was fitted with permanent plates. His eyesight so worsened that he had only one-seventh normal vision. He was given iodine leeches for his bad eye but soon it was clear that they would have to operate." (page 130)

On his enigmatic nature: "The truth is that the Joyce [others] saw was a fraction of the inner man. No one knew Joyce, only himself, no one could. His imagination was meteoric, his mind ceaseless in the accruing of knowledge, words crackling in his head, images crowding in on him 'like the shades at the entrance to the underworld.' What he wanted to do was to wrest the secret from life and that could only be done through language because, as he said, the history of people is the history of language." (pages 165-166)

As is also true of the other volumes in the "Penguin Lives" series, this one provides all of the essential historical and biographical information but its greatest strength lies in the extended commentary, in this instance by Edna O'Brien. She also includes a brief but sufficient "Bibliography" for those who wish to learn more about Joyce. I hope these brief excerpts encourage those who read this review to read O'Brien's biography. It is indeed a brilliant achievement. ... Read more

Book Description

Empire of Liberty takes a new look at the public life, thought, and ambiguous legacy of one of America's most revered statesmen, offering new insight into the meaning of Jefferson in the American experience. This work examines Jefferson's legacy for American foreign policy in the light of several critical themes which continue to be highly significant today: the struggle between isolationists and interventionists, the historic ambivalence over the nation's role as a crusader for liberty, and the relationship between democracy and peace. Written by two distinguished scholars, this book provides invaluable insight into the classic ideas of American diplomacy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Empire of Liberty
By examining United States foreign policy between 1783 and 1809 in their book "Empire of Liberty," Robert W. Tucker and David C. Hendrickson put the myth of Thomas Jefferson under fire. Tucker and Hendrickson's central thesis is that Jefferson's statecraft wavered between two contradictory principles of liberty and empire. While president, Jefferson often found himself torn between pursuing a foreign policy role that provided examples of liberty, and a role as an "active crusader in international affairs" (Chaudhuri, American Political Science Review, September 1991). Tucker and Hendrickson claim that Jefferson tried in vain to accomplish both of these conflicting goals. The aim of his "new diplomacy" was to pursue the traditional ends of security and prestige while renouncing the traditional means of entangling alliances and wars that had been constantly used by European powers in the past (Mayer, Washington Post, August 2, 1990). Instead, Jefferson would rely upon what he called "peaceable coercion"--a foreign policy establishing security by commercial arrangements, through the force of American ideals. Jefferson believed that liberty and empire could go hand in hand in the formation of United States foreign policy.
Tucker and Hendrickson analyze several policies during the Jefferson administration to give historiographical context to their argument. The 1803 Louisiana Purchase is mentioned as a case in point. On the surface, the acquisition of almost half a continent at a negligible price was a great triumph of statecraft. Jefferson believed that this incredible land acquisition "preserved the republican character of the Union by removing the presence of dangerous neighbors and the prospect of wars that must result in the imposition of unbearable burdens on society" (Dallek, New York Times, July 1, 1990). It also insured that a predominantly agricultural political economy would be sustained while the United States experienced a steady increase in population. The Louisiana Purchase appeared to be clearly within the interests of the United States.
However, Tucker and Hendrickson point out that in order to make this purchase, Jefferson abandoned several of his sacred principles of liberty. In acquiring Louisiana, Jefferson abandoned his deeply held commitment to strict construction of the Constitution, which did not specifically mention a power to acquire territory (Dallek 1990). Tucker and Hendrickson question this abandonment of principle in light of the circumstances revolving around the purchase. They point out that Napoleon would most likely have not repudiated the agreement if action had been delayed, and that the speedy ratification of the treaty that Jefferson advocated was not necessary (Cunningham, Journal of the Early Republic, September 1991). Like Henry Adams, whose history of Jefferson's administration the authors admire and frequently draw upon, Tucker and Hendrickson emphasize the president's abandonment of strict construction in regard to the Louisiana Purchase as evidence of his desire to establish an empire.
This book has many notable strengths. Tucker and Hendrickson advance their ideas with a portrayal of Jefferson's statecraft that is very comprehensive. Most of the main foreign policy circumstances and events of the Jefferson era are described in detail--in addition to the Louisiana Purchase and policies regarding Native Americans, the authors provide comprehensive analysis on the maritime crisis with Great Britain, and Jefferson's views on Napoleon. Tucker and Hendrickson give a freshness to historical subjects of the Jeffersonian era that have already been mulled over by countless historians.
Along with its strengths, a couple weaknesses exist in "Empire of Liberty." Occasionally the authors press their points too hard. Although Jefferson somewhat abandoned his embrace of free trade in 1807, Tucker and Hendrickson exaggerate his original devotion to the principle. Additionally, labeling him as a "true believer in strict constructionism" until the Louisiana Purchase ignores his acceptance of Hamiltonian policies from the inception of his administration (Kaplan, Journal of American History, June 1991). Tucker and Hendrickson's critique of Jefferson's foreign policy is perhaps somewhat overbearing.
Regardless of any shortcomings Tucker and Hendrickson's analysis may have, they do an exceptional job of making a definite contribution to Jeffersonian literature. They create a picture of Jefferson somewhat different than the image conveyed by such historians as Gilbert Chinard, Merrill Peterson and Dumas Malone. "Empire of Liberty" tends to lean more towards to so-called "darker side" of Jefferson represented by the work of Leonard Levy. Overall, by provoking thoughts on Jeffersonian foreign policy, Tucker and Hendrickson's work contributes monumentally to the discourse on the life of Thomas Jefferson. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Jefferson--Hemings
An excellent counterweight to the usual deification of Jefferson but factually incorrect when she says (p.72) "DNA testing in 1998 proved that Jefferson had indeed fathered at least one of Heming's children."

The testing proved only that "a" Jefferson did so as the authors of the study have labored to make clear. There are other more likely candidates.

Fascinating
Readable story that puts Lewis and Clark in context.

Skulduggery in the West
I enjoyed &