Reviews (25)

Story of modern White Nationalism and its greatest leader
This book is an extremely fair and balanced approach to a highly controversial subject: The life and ideas of Dr. William Pierce, author of The Turner Diaries, and the ideology of the organization he leads, the National Alliance ... >Ever since the Oklahoma City bombing, all sorts of leftist hack writers have attempted to make a few bucks off sensationalistic exposes of the far-right, leading to the publication of a great many books of minimal merit, either literary or historical. This book is in a different class. The author is a serious academic who specializes in the study of the outer-fringe of American society. Thus, while he does not agree with Dr. Pierce and the Alliance perspective, he is also is not setting out to discredit and distort Dr. Pierce's ideas, but rather to make them known to those peope who, for whatever reason, find them to be a subject of interest.
Consequently, this book is simply outstanding as a primer on White Nationalist ideas, both for the would-be Aryan crusader and the simply curious. The author does an extremely good job spelling out the origins of Dr. Pierce's ideological take on our society and its place within the greater scheme of things. All sorts of influences on Dr. Pierce's intellectual and spiritual development are thoroughly detailed, from George Bernard Shaw, Oswald Spengler and Friedrich Nietzsche to Dr. Revilo P. Oliver and Adolf Hitler. Additionally, many people who's lives have intersected with Dr. Pierce, such as George Lincoln Rockwell and Robert Matthews, figure prominently in the book.
This is a very serious and meaningful work that all people with an interest in public affairs should read. While the ideas of the National Alliance are not yet very popular, there is no doubt that they are spreading at a very rapid rate in White society (outside of cosmopolitan Yuppie circles, in any event) and other than perhaps the excessively Utopian doctrines of libertarianism, represent the only rational and cohesive attempt to face squarely the reality of our difficulties and to seek solutions for them (Marxism, social democracy and liberal democratic capitalism having clearly out-lived their usefulness, assuming they ever had any, as we begin the 21st century).
If you want to have an advance look at what is sure to be one of the major Western political currents in years and decades to come, not to mention short-circuit the ludicrous propaganda of the media elite, who will tell you that Dr. Pierce is little more than a slavering "hater," rather than the highly sophisticated and philosophical thinker that he will surely impress you as being, then you must read The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds.

First Rate Biography!
Robert Griffin has done an amazing job at writing what will likely be the definitive biography of William L. Pierce, Ph.D., the late Chairman of the National Alliance.

Until his recent death, Dr. Pierce was primary known as the writer of "The Turner Diaries," a fictional work he wrote under the pseudonym of "Andrew Macdonald" and which was credited with inspiring Timothy McVeigh, convicted and put to death for the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, OK.

Griffin devotes only two chapters to the "Turner Diaries," however, and properly devotes the bulk of his book to a proper biographical treatment of a complex man who went from being a professor of physics to the leader of the largest nationalist organization in the United States. Griffin is a biographer, not a polemicist, and allows Pierce's words to speak for themselves (the author spent a month with Pierce at the National Vanguard's compound in West Virginia; and Pierce is unabashed in his views).

This is very much an intellectual biography, with the author tracing the development of Pierce's views and his involvement with organizations from early years in the John Birch Society, to George Lincoln Rockwell's American Nazi Party -- later called the National Socialist White People's Party -- to the National Alliance. Along the way, he references not only Pierce's radio broadcasts and writings but other writings which influenced Pierce.

There should be no mistake about it: Pierce was a fierce nationalist, racist and anti-Semite and he does not dodge these issues in his interviews with the author. Individuals who hated Pierce in his lifetime, and/or regarded him as a dangerous figure, will not change their minds on the basis of this book (nor is that the author's intention). Those who praised Pierce as a heroic champion of the white race will continue to adhere to that position. This is the nature of individuals and events which tend toward achieving polarization.

All of this notwithstanding, it cannot be denied that Griffin has done a first-rate job as a biographer and those individuals who want to gain a greater understanding of a controversial figure on the radical finges of American politics, whatever their own personal feelings about the man, will not be disappointed.

Well written, fair, and interesting.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I had always
been curious about Dr. Pierce and didn't know that
much about where he'd come from or how he'd gotten
to be the man he was. This book answered all those
questions and more, and upon finishing it I had
a deeper respect for him.

I like the fact that he comes across as a man with
a sense of humor and a sort of worldliness that often
goes missing in men who take on the issues he took on
in his lifetime. He did not oversimplify things nor
did he work at making things complex in ways that weren't
necessary. I came to appreciate the *way* he thought
about things and the *way* he proceeded with his life
because of reading this book. Because of these things,
I found the book to be personally inspirational.

I was also delighted to find that Robert Griffin did
neither demonize nor glorify Dr. Pierce. I think he
portrayed Dr. Pierce as a man, the personal man being
the source for the public figure; faults and all.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is
curious about Dr. Pierce and doesn't want to read
something that is either fawning or villifying.
Well done, Mr. Griffin.

A Great book about a Great Man
Why is it that people who have never read the book, have nothing to contribute to the reviews, are allowed to post things such as hoping that a car hits another person?

Dr. Pierce was yet another person who didn't fit the liberal image of White Nationalists. Dr. Pierce had an IQ that was off the charts, and was capable of debating any subject a person could bring up, in any field. In this book, Dr. Pierce looks back on his life, and gives his view on issues and people associated with White Nationalism. Dr. Pierce did more for the WN movement in America over the last 25 or so years then any man not named David Duke. Even today, when I listen to the archives of his radio broadcasts, and hear that distincitve Hello that he started each broadcast with, I smile. Buy this book if you want a fair and balanced book about Dr. Pierce and White Nationalism.

AN EYE OPENER
I read this book over two years ago, and it remains one of my favorites.
Professor Robert Griffin does a great job and an invaluable service to the Late Dr. William Pierce by portraying him in an unbiased way, and without any kind of sarcastic arrogance which characterizes most other works on the topic of white racialism. Dr. William Pierce was not a violent fanatic nor evil racist nut who hid in the hills armed to the teeth with guns and missiles as the controlled media and certain jewish 'human rights' organizations want you to think: Dr. Pierce was a spiritual person who was not corrupted by the stale materialism and diversity of American society. He was incorruptible and actually lived by higher principles that do our present 'leaders', if you can call them that.
Dr. Pierce saw straight into the soul of Western civilization and realized it's successes, failures, potential, and the danger in which it is in today. He strived to reach as many Europeans with his message and inspired them to regain their pride, self-esteem and dignity by removing the blinders of apathy, ignorance and multiculturalism from their eyes and opened them to the naked truth of nature, history and the will to start on the upward path.
Dr. William Pierce's untimely death has been a very sad and shocking occurrence, but he has made us all proud white European men and women much more stronger, and his message will undoubtedly be carried on by those who have the strength, foresight and intelligence to listen. Without Dr. William Pierce, we would surely be in a much worse situation today.
All people of European ancestry should read this book and learn the ultimate truth that to be white and proud is natural, healthy and right, no matter what others say. ... Read more

Book Description

Amazon.com

British journalist Anthony Sampson first met Nelson Mandela in 1951, when Sampson was editing a black magazine in Johannesburg, and his biography of the leader benefits greatly from his long familiarity with South Africa and his access to the 81-year-old statesman's unpublished letters and documents. These are particularly helpful in chronicling Mandela's political and spiritual odyssey during 27 years in prison, when the fiery anti-apartheid militant condemned to life imprisonment in 1964 evolved into a dignified, authoritative leader convinced that "reconciliation would be essential to survival." The roots of this stance lie deep in African history; Sampson's excellent chapters on Mandela's rural youth remind readers that he was the aristocratic scion of a royal family who early imbibed the tribal tradition of ubuntu (mutual responsibility and compassion) and the local king's emphasis on ruling by consensus. South Africa's relatively peaceful transition to multiracial democracy owes much to Mandela's ability to voice these concepts in contemporary terms. And Sampson's detailed explication of the ins and outs of revolutionary politics over five decades--though sometimes heavy going for the general reader--vividly reveals how his subject achieved the political and moral maturity that made his 1994 election as the nation's first black president both inevitable and exhilarating. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Amazing life of imprisonment to leadership!
What an amazing life this man had. He was born on the rural plains in South Africa.. His father was absent due to forced circumstances. Mandela later received an education in law and began the practice of law. Political causes led to his imprisonment for nearly thirty years in Robbins Prison. The book tells the wrenching tale of his separation of his family during his imprisonment, yet the family (the second marriage, to Winnie) remained intact during his long imprisonment and only dissolved after the release from prison. The book is very heavy on the political activity in whch Mandela was involved. This is an interesting book of personal triumph over overwhelming odds.

More than you ever wanted to know ..
The author obviously knows a great deal about Mandela and South Africa. However, there is so much detail that I found the book just deadening over time. The writing style was not engaging enough to sustain me through all the blow-by-blow accounts that one has to plod through . -I was surprised and disappointed that the book was not more enjoyable.

A well-told education in character and leadership.
If you believe there are no modern heroes - that fortitude and unselfish judgement in the face of adversity are out-of-date virtues, you need to read this book. That Sampson shows the whole man so well (with admittedly a few frailities) adds depth to the tremendous courage, excellent judgement, and magnanimity Mandela demonstrated his entire life, even when the cause of the ANC he led seemed hopeless. Along the way the book gives an excellent view of South African history during Mandela's adulthood. If you are not very familiar with Mandela or South Africa you might do better to start with Mandela's own book, "Long Walk to Freedom" which doesn't cover quite so much ground and is more on a human scale. Both books are inspiring.

A very good introduction to a deep man
If you need to know Nelson Mandela, this is the book to read. This book's weaknesses are evident: It is written from a British viewpoint, and basically takes for granted a knowledge of South African history and geography most Americans do not possess (though they should). It also soft pedals the problems in Mandela's relationship with Winnie, though that is understandable. I have a feeling that not too many people could understand it. But it does a great job of making us see how the man was shaped and became what he is, and how he stands as a fearless, remarkable leader.

A Hero for our times!
I knew very little of Nelson Mandela before reading this book, but now I am confident that I have an excellent feel for what makes this man tick. This is an excellent book and one that should be read by anyone who wants to be inspired! ... Read more

Book Description

By the time he was killed in the jungles of Bolivia, where his body was displayed like a deposed Christ, Ernesto "Che" Guevara had become a synonym for revolution everywhere from Cuba to the barricades of Paris. This extraordinary biography peels aside the veil of the Guevara legend to reveal the charismatic, restless man behind it.

Drawing on archival materials from three continents and on interviews with Guevara's family and associates, Castaneda follows Che from his childhood in the Argentine middle class through the years of pilgrimage that turned him into a committed revolutionary. He examines Guevara's complex relationship with Fidel Castro, and analyzes the flaws of character that compelled him to leave Cuba and expend his energies, and ultimately his life, in quixotic adventures in the Congo and Bolivia. A masterpiece of scholarship, Companero is the definitive portrait of a figure who continues to fascinate and inspire the world over.
... Read more

Reviews (15)

Passionate and informative
This very passionate work does a good job of clearing up misconceptions and making Che's ideas and philosohy more readily available. Che has become a sort of enigmatic figure in our times and it is disturbing how so many people just plaster his image and "claim" to be a "compa~nero" without really knowing what Che stood for and what he accomplished in his life. This is a very welcome biography on one of the most influential and misunderstood revolutionaries. This book was written by someone who is not only passionate about it, but who is also able to be objective. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Che.

An materful work, a brilliant conclusion
As a bit of a Cuban Revolution scholar, I found Castaneda's book to add a depth and insight found no where else in the Che literature. The volume of footnotes may frighten some off, but they can mostly be ignored. This book gives a remarkable sense of the incredibly difficult task of actually trying to run a country after a revolution and in the face of such opposition. While much of the book is complex research at its' best, the final chapter is a thing of beauty. Castaneda give meaning to both the life of Che and meaning to the impact of the 1960's on the society at large. The final two pages are brilliant.

Well written but?
If anyone has seen the documentary about Who betrayed Che Cuevara on the history channel you will know that this guy was supposed to have read police reports, interrogation documents etc on the Bolivian two Bustos and Debray. Of course it is obvious he did not asnd has either made up or followed everyone else in accusing the wrong people of being traitors to Che. If a writer of historical books cannot get this right then this book lacks very much from the difinitive writing of Anderson. its worth reading but I'd buy Anderson's first.

a no spin look at Che Guevara
I was tired of seeing his face on all the t-shirts (as I am a college student) and not knowing just who Che was. Having read Castaneda's book, I now feel that I can say with confidence that I understand why Che's face has become such a countercultural symbol. Castaneda has definitely done his homework in preparing to write this compelling account of Guevara's life and death. The author does not attempt to glorify the revolutionary or to paint him as a villian, but rather provides the reader with details from both camps in order to allow him or her to make their own decision. The Che that emerges is a superb visionary and one of the few truly pure Marxist socialist leaders of the modern era, a throwback to the Bulsheviks of the early 20th century. This book has encouraged me to read more into Che's theories, and is one that I absolutely recommend to anyone, especially those readers who would tend to quickly denounce socialism due to there familiarity only with the corrupt brand practisted by the Soviet and Chinese camps. If only more of us were like Che Guevara in sticking with our convictions no matter what they may be!

Che for grown-ups
Castaneda's is by far the best work yet done on the subject, not only better written, but also more penetrating and authoritative than either of the other recent big bios--and all at something like half the length. Also, though Castaneda clearly admires Che, his insights and conclusions are still clear-eyed and uncompromising. This is Che for grown-ups, a real-life saint, as exasperating as he is inspiring, and all the more compelling for it. In fact, since reading this I can't think about the guy without getting a lump in my throat. No lie. So Hasta La Victoria Siempre, Commandante... wherever you are. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Henry "Scoop" Jackson may be one of the most underappreciated American politicians of the second half of the 20th century. He was certainly one of the Democrats' greatest cold warriors, and a man who might have saved his party from the doomed politics of McGovernism if he had only won the presidency, an office he sought twice. (He was, in fact, John F. Kennedy's first choice for a running mate in 1960, until Kennedy became convinced he needed a Southerner on the ticket.) The distinguished gentleman from the state of Washington began his congressional career during the Roosevelt administration, and it ended with his death in 1983 during the Reagan years--a tenure spanning nine presidents. Robert G. Kaufman's comprehensive biography sheds some well-deserved light on its neglected subject. Jackson fought against Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, for civil rights in the 1960s, and against détente with the Communists in the 1970s. He's best known for this last crusade: "Jackson contributed enormously to ensuring that the United States fought and prevailed in this epochal struggle against Soviet totalitarianism."

His views prefigured those of the Reagan administration, which was filled with Jackson's neoconservative admirers. Jackson was, in a sense, the very first Reagan Democrat. Kaufman cites Howard Baker, the onetime senator and Reagan's chief of staff: "Jackson made sure we did not lose the Cold War during the 1970s so that Ronald Reagan could win it in the 1980s." If Henry M. Jackson: A Life in Politics is an admiring work, it's because there's so much to admire. Our TV-driven culture tends to lavish its attention on the executive branch and showboating legislators, rather than uncharismatic men of principle like Jackson. That's why serious biographies like this one are so essential--so that history will recognize the role-players who shaped what we have become. --John J. Miller ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A model biography of a good man
Henry 'Scoop' Jackson is rarely referred to in contemporary political debate. The American polity and indeed the western alliance are much the poorer for his absence. This is a fitting - indeed, a model - biography of a notable American patriot.

Senator Jackson represented a distinctive, honourable and above all prescient tradition in American politics: that of the liberal hawk. He was unfortunate, in respect of his presidential ambitions, to hold consistently to his pro-western principles at a time when the Democratic Party was abandoning (or at least, compromising) the staunchly anti-Communist tradition of Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Humphrey. Rent asunder by the experience of Vietnam and the rise of the New Left, the Democrats polarised around Jackson, on the one hand, and the party's disastrous 1972 presidential nominee, George McGovern, on the other. Only because of Watergate - and even then, only by a whisker - did a Democrat win the White House in 1976, and his presidency proved to be the most ineffectual in living memory.

Kaufmann describes this political background with a sure touch. He is unflinchingly honest in his depiction of Jackson's personal flaws, such as periodic irascibility with aides, but the essential Jackson - a man of deep humanitarian impulses, evident in such causes as his campaign for persecuted Soviet Jewry, and searing moral insight into the nature of Communist totalitarianism - shines through. The book is a fine political biography, but also a most touching personal portrait. It depicts admirably and with fine insight the circle around Jackson, some of whom later held office in the Reagan administration. I was unaware, for example, that the common view that Jackson's adviser, Richard Perle, was responsible for Jackson's unwavering support for Israel has it exactly the wrong way round. In fact, Perle, a secular Jew, came to see the urgency of supporting Israel because of the influence of Jackson - a Niebuhrian Protestant who understood better than any post-war American politician the moral import of a liberal democracy's struggle for survival while assailed by totalitarian states and terrorist organisations.

Jackson has the biography he deserves; I hope it is widely read and studied.

A great look at Scoop's influence on U.S. politics
There is no doubt that here in Washington state, the U.S. Senate tandem of Henry "Scoop" Jackson and Warren Magnuson were a valuable asset to Washington's - and the nation's - development in the 20th century. So much of our state's infrastructure, institutions, and industries can be credited to these political heavyweights. But yet, so little had been written about their immense legacies up until a couple of years ago. First we got a decent bio of Magnuson written by Shelby Scates. But then came this book - "Henry M. Jackson: A Life In Politics" - which is an outstanding portrait of the man and the legacy.

The author's main focus in this work is the profound and unquestioned effect Sen. Jackson had on U.S. foreign policy. The book brilliantly delves into Jackson's evolution from simple legislator to foreign policy guru. Much attention is made to Jackson's stances on a variety of foriegn policy issues, including his infamous battles with Henry Kissinger over the issues of detente, Soviet dissidents, and pro-Israel issues. Jackson proved a great foil for - and perhaps huge thorn in the side of - Dr. Kissinger, but with time and further examination, their debates likely benefitted U.S. foreign policy in the long run.

Make no mistake: while there is much on Jackson's foreign policy expertise, this is a solid biography of the man in total. We get a good look at his upbringing in and around Everett, his entry into politics, his failed presidential bids, and - eventually - his sudden and surprising death in the early '80's. Also included are the events at the infamous 1960 Democratic convention, where Jackson was very nearly chosen as JFK's running mate.

All in all, this is a very fair and solid biography, presenting an excellent look at the life of Sen. Jackson. This should be a must-read for political-junkies. Those of a conservative/Republican ideology should also make it a must-read, because it is made very evident how much of the current Republican stances on foreign policy were founded by Henry Jackson.

It has been said of "Scoop" Jackson that he was "the last good Democrat". For the citizens of Washington state, that is unquestioned and still lamented to this day. For the nation, the realization of this statement is slow to develop, but hopefully with this book, "Scoop"'s legacy will be recognized with the respect and stature that it truly is.

Thought-provoking but sloppy
Having seen "Scoop" Jackson's name in a dozen places yet knowing little about who he was, I thought I'd learn something about the man by reading this book. I wasn't disappointed. Kaufman's biography does a good job of detailing his political life, especially his role and legacy in foreign affairs. Yet the book is more than just an examination of Jackson's life, as Kaufman also offers an interesting examination of both Jackson's philosophical approach to Cold War foreign policy as well as the historiography of late-Cold War memoirs in an effort to award Jackson with the title of "Soviet Union-killer."

That being said, it was also a disappointingly written book in a number of respects. By focusing so much on Jackson's role in foreign policy and defense matters, Kaufman overshadows what the senator did in domestic policy. Moreover, after an initial examination, Kaufman virtually ignores Washington state politics, which leaves me wondering if the author might not have supplied a complete explanation as to how Jackson was so dominant in his reelection campaigns. Finally, Kaufman's habit of continually refering to political figures by their full titles was a little annoying, while the editing of the book was a little sloppy (every time I saw "Republic senator" on the page I wanted to grab a pen and add in the missing letters). In the end, it was an informative book, but not definitive.

The last of his breed
"Henry Jackson ranks high in the pantheon of American legislators." So opens Robert Kaufman's richly detailed biography of Senator Scoop Jackson, whose career in Congress spanned nine presidents from FDR to Reagan. He compares Jackson favorably to legislative titans such as Clay, LaFollette and Taft, who were "at once revered and reviled, never attained the presidency, but nevertheless had a decisive impact on history."

Scoop Jackson was the last of the liberal Democrats in the New Deal-Fair Deal tradition, who combined a passion for government activism in economic affairs with strident, unremitting anti-communism. Jackson used his stature and influence in the Senate to oppose detente and the concilliatory policies vis-a-vis the Soviets of Nixon, Kissinger, Ford and Carter. Kaufman quotes Howard Baker as saying: "Jackson did not allow us to lose the Cold War during the 1970s, so that Reagan's policies could win the Cold War in the 1980s."

Indeed, many key actors in Reagan's foreign policy team, Kaufman observes, were Jackson disciples -- Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Richard Perle, Elliott Abrams, Edward Rowny, etc., etc.. These pro-defense-spending, fiercely anti-communist hawks were disaffected by the increasingly dovish policies of the Democratic party in the 1970s.

Although he did not live to see the final US victory in the Cold War, Jackson was prescient in foreseeing how US policies could hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Scoop" Jackson Gets the Biography He Deserves
It's about time. Henry M. Jackson, one of the greatest legislators of the 20th century has finally become the subject of a full scale biography.

Robert Kaufman does an excellent job in describing Jackson's work on national security and foreign policy. By providing background information and extensive footnotes Kaufman makes it easier to understand Jackson in context and to fully appreciate his role in shaping policy during the Cold War.

As significant as Jackson's accomplishments in national defense were, Ronald Reagan won the Cold War, in large part, by implementing Jackson's policies, they were only one part of his legacy.

Jackson's work on environmental issues was also highly significant. He understood the need to balance environmental preservation and economic development better than any public figure. His National Environmental Policy Act was one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation in history. As Chairman of the Senate Interior Committee , Jacskon was adept at meeting the most important concerns of environmentalists and business interests that came before his committee. I would have liked to see more in the book about Jackson's achievements in this area.

In an era when sound bites and focus groups came to the fore, Jackson represented integrity and well thought out views on issues of public concern. This may have made him boring as a Presidential candidate, but it enabled him to build a significant record of achievement and to leave the world a better place. ... Read more

Book Description

Winner of the 2002 Kiriyama Prize in Nonfiction

In 1988 Dr John Casey, a Cambridge don visiting Burma, was told of a waiter in Mandalay with a passion for the works of James Joyce. Intrigued by this unlikely story, he visited the restaurant, where he met Pascal Khoo Thwe. The encounter was to change both their lives.

Pascal grew up as a member of the tiny, remote Kayan Padaung tribe, famous for their 'giraffenecked' women. The Padaung practiced a combination of ancient animist and Buddhist customs mixed with the Catholicism introduced by Italian missionaries. Theirs was a dream culture, a world in which ancestors were worshipped and ghosts were a constant presence. Pascal was the first member of his community ever to study English at university. But in Burma, English books were rare, and independent thought was discouraged. Photocopies of the few approved texts would be passed from student to student, while tuition consisted of lecturers reciting essays that the students learned by rote.

Within a few months of his chance meeting with Dr Casey, Pascal's world lay in ruins. Successive economic crises brought about by Burma's military dictatorship meant he had to give up his studies. The regime's repression grew more brutal, and Pascal's student-lover, who had become involved in the movement for democracy, was arrested, raped and finally murdered by the armed forces. Pascal fled to the jungle, becoming a guerrilla fighter in the life-or-death struggle against the government and seeing many of his friends and comrades die in battle. At a moment of desperation, he remembered the Englishman he had met in Mandalay and wrote him a letter, with little expectation of ever receiving a reply.

Miraculously, the letter reached its destination on the other side of the world. Not only that, it would lead to Pascal's being rescued from the jungle and enrolling to study English at Cambridge University, the first Burmese tribesman ever to do so.

From the Land of Green Ghosts is the autobiographical tale of a remarkable triumph of hope over despair, and of an encounter between two very different worlds. Hauntingly and poetically written, it unforgettably evokes the realities of life in modern-day Burma and one young man's long journey to freedom despite almost unimaginable odds.

Reviews (12)

Highly Recommended
Culture, family, tradition, humorous or more severe anecdotes followed by a harrowing clash with a corrupt and brutal military government characterize From the Land of the Green Ghosts. Meanwhile, the story is told so gracefully that one feels eased into a desperate life and death struggle rather than abruptly confronted by it (as one might be with a Western writer.) The advantage is that when the author, the gifted Pascal Khoo Thwe, punctuates his narrative with a precise, violent detail, it stands out (as it should) in the reader's mind. At the same time, such frightening scenes are so immediate that they feel neither moral nor immoral, just simply horrifying, indicative of the repressive violence inflicted upon the people of Burma by the military junta controlling the country.

The author is unpretentious, highly perceptive, and graced with a gift for language and writing few possess (all the more remarkable because English was not his first, second or even third language.) Mr. Thwe is also candid about his fears that none of these qualities exist in him. He is mistaken. Moreover, what might seem an apparent pipe dream or convenient rationale for escaping jungle warfare -- that of "helping" his people through receiving an education at one of the world's most elite colleges -- is undone by the book itself. Certainly, it is easier to write beautiful prose while sitting in England than to dodge bullets and mortars (or succumbing to malaria) in the hot jungles along the Thai-Burmese border; but it would be impossible to conclude that any rebel fighter could have better informed the world about Burma's plight than has been done here by Pascal Khoo Thwe.

A Beautiful Book
This is a wonderful book and a very interesting read. It offers a both a detailed description of life growing up in a hill tribe in Burma and a broader look at the tragic consequences of years of totalitarian rule by the corrupt and failed government of Burma (now "officially" Myanmar). The author's journey to the border and subsequent escape from the country almost reads like a fiction novel. However, this true story is written with the respect and insight of a man well aware of the gravity of his country's plight. His book does the reader, and the people of his troubled country, a great service.

Great Memoir
Extraordinary memoir by a gifted writer with an extremely unusual story to tell.

A truly inspiring read
I don't post reviews, but this book was such a great one that I had to add my opinion.

The author's very personal insights into the Burma's struggles are profound. His early memories growing up in a tribal Padaung culture present a fascinating look at how the Catholicisim taught by missionaries coexisted with tribal myths (a favorite quote, from his grandmother: "The gods are like government officials. If you want things done quickly, you have to bribe the small ones.")

As his education progressed, so too did the unbelievable repression of the various Burmese regimes of the day (1960s to 80s). His experience as a student freedom fighter are gripping, as is his remarkable account of how a chance meeting with a Cambridge professor led to his eventual escape to England.

For me, this book did 3 things. First, it helped me glimpse the contemporary history of Burma (aka Myanmar), a nation that's always intrigued me, but a place of which I had very little knowledge. Second, it opened my eyes to some of the feelings and courage behind rebels and freedom fighters in oppressively-ruled nations, which allows me to read contemporary accounts of world events in a much richer context. Finally, it made me re-examine my own role in the world. While Pascal was fighting for his life as he made an unimaginable transition (to me anyway) from tribal to contemporary cultures, I was hawking software at trade shows or enjoying the tourist face of neighboring Thailand -- all with no idea of what was really happening in Burma. It was stunning that I could have been so ignorant to what was happening there at a time when I considered myself to be pretty aware of what was going on in the world.

A fascinating and extremely well-written book.

A Voice from the Burma Nobody Knows
Burma (aka Myanmar) is a country of many, many different ethnic and tribal groups. While the majority (69%) are Burman, there are many others including Karen, Kachin, Shan, Mon, and the author's own Padaung tribe. (The Padaung are most famous in the West for their "giraffe women" who wear golden rings about their necks that elongate their profile to freakish dimensions.)

Pascal Khoo Thwee's book is a narrative of his life as an ambitious young Padaung man trying to negotiate his way through the brutal, murderous, politically-dysfunctional culture that is modern-day Burma. It is an incredible story, cinematic in its dimensions and bizarre, fortuitous coincidences. Thwe gives voice to the Burma that nobody knows, i.e., life as experienced by one of its minority tribal groups.

Thwe's descriptions of his life among the Padaung are extraordinarly rich, with all the subtle nuances that only an insider could provide. His account of his flight from a hideous regime and life among the anti-government insurgents in the jungle is equally riveting. Eventually, he escapes to the rarified academic milieu of Cambridge University. It is a great story (and would make a fine movie.)

Unfortunately, it is in the account of his political awakening/transformation (the bridge between the two stories above) that the book falls flat. This was the most momentous and revolutionary period in the history of modern day Burma. It was when Aung San Suu Kyi came to world prominence and Burma looked like it had a hope of abandoning its decades long isolation and rejoing the modern (democratic?) world. One would expect that Thwe's narrative would sing at this point. Yet, it seems curiously detached -- almost mailed-in. It seems, in fact, to be reconstructed in significant measure from secondary sources. Only the death of his lover/girlfriend at the hand of the government has any resonance in accounting for his ultimate apostasy from General Ne Win's abominable political ideology.

I acknowledge that this may be unfair to Thwe in that I am thinking like a Westerner. He is candid in talking about his difficulties in coming to terms with concepts such as "human rights", "democracy", and "freedom of thought." Still, I feel that his account of the pressures that pushed him toward exile is woefully underdeveloped.

On the whole, this is a fine book. I learned much about minority cultures in Burma that I probably would not learn anywhere else. But. . .if you want to understand the revolutionary events that led to the great Burmese uprising of 1988 I would suggest that you look elsewhere. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Cavalry officer Slavomir Rawicz was captured by the Red Army in 1939 during theGerman-Soviet partition of Poland and was sent to the Siberian Gulag along with other captivePoles, Finns, Ukranians, Czechs, Greeks, and even a few English, French, and Americanunfortunates who had been caught up in the fighting. A year later, he and six comrades fromvarious countries escaped from a labor camp in Yakutsk and made their way, on foot, thousands ofmiles south to British India, where Rawicz reenlisted in the Polish army and fought against theGermans. The Long Walk recounts that adventure, which is surely one of the most curioustreks in history. ... Read more

Reviews (209)

Facts, Facts, Facts
I read this book eagerly, given the fact that the book jacket described Rawicz's journey as "Homeric." Though he may have travelled as far as Odysseus, he certainly doesn't possess the literary skills of a Homer, even with the help of a ghost writer. The Long Walk was a plainly told tale of extraordinary endurance. In fact, I agree with one reviewer who found the tale so extraordinary as to be unbelievable. I might be willing to accept the truth of Rawicz's story had there been some introduction or some verifiable historical facts within the tale itself. Unfortunately, my edition had none of this and the result was fairly implausible. I could easily catalogue the story's absurdities: the fact that the Polish officers all died along the way, leaving only Rawicz and a few untraceable companions at the end; the claims that the party walked for days with no food or no water (read _In the Heart of the Sea_ or _Endurance_ for a more plausible survival tales, and you'll realize how difficult this is); the idea that the party traversed some of the most daunting territory on the earth in handmade fur garments (?!). Even if his story is true, Rawicz never bothers to analyze his experience, or mull over what it might mean. He and his companions managed to reach the relatively hospitable Mongolia and encountered dozens of boats heading for China, yet still chose to walk not only through the Gobi desert but over the Himalayas, with tragic consequences. Without some thoughts about the meaning of the experience and about his post-war life, Rawicz's tale is hardly more interesting than the map that marks his party's estimated route through the wilds of Asia.

A Story You'll Never Forget.
Although The Long Walk is well written, that has nothing to do with why it's a good book. People should read this book because it chronicles perhaps the most extraordinary true story of human endurance in recorded history.

Slavomir Rawicz is unjustly imprisoned by the Communist Russians early in World War II. He is confined to a cell so small that he literally cannot sit, but must sleep by collapsing with his knees against the wall and his feet steeped in his own waste. He is later transported to Siberia by train, and then marched through the cold countryside to a Soviet Gulag, witnessing the death by exposure and exhaustion of other unfortunate captives along the way. In the prison camp he is set in forced labor, kept in horrendous conditions, over-worked, and underfed.

Near the end of his rope, Rawicz and a handful of companions orchestrate a daring and desperate escape, and then proceed to run for their lives, on foot, toward freedom in India--4,000 miles away. Then the fun begins. They must conquer the frozen Siberian tundra, the Gobi desert, the Himalayan Mountains, starvation, the Soviets, and their own inner demons.

Slavomir's ordeal overshadows every other survival tale I've every read, including Admiral Scott's Polar expedition and Krakauer's Everest disaster. This is up there with the Donner Expedition in terms of grim conditions and the indomitable human spirit. Trust me. If you've got a teenager who's complaining because they think they have it rough, let 'em read this one. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

A great examination of the surviving spirit
There have have been questions about the truth od this book. What rings true is the deep emotional turmoil of the author as he hangs on to his hatred for his tormentors, and there's no doubt thess dark passions helped spur him on during his long and often seeminly endless trek. It's a sad book. An amazing journey of the mind and the soul can be found in IN THE GHOST COUNTRY by Peter Hillary, a mind-bending account of his haunted journey to the South Pole. Deep stuff.

not believable
This book purports to describe the travels of a polish
officer in 1942 escaping from Siberia across China and
into freedom in India. As a travel book, it doesn't
hold up. As anyone who has travelled to these areas can
tell you, no small unsupported group of people is going
to just walk across those deserts without water or cross through
Tibet north to south during the coldest months of the year.
There are no landmarks to speak of presented in the book that
in any way line up to the geography of where he claims to have
gone. Beyond that, his story of escape from the russian camp is pure unbelievable melodrama. And for good measure, it contains
a bigfoot (or snowman) sighting near the end.

I suppose a few people will believe that some of the worst
deserts in the world are just there to walk across or that
you can just kind of find your way over the Himalayas during
the coldest part of the year to India.

I also couldn't help but wonder where his companions ended up
after. Did they all just fall off the face of the earth
after arriving in India? And on a journey like this, why would
you only know one of your companions as "Mr. Smith". Most people
would learn the entire life stories of the others on a trip like
this supposedly was. Or at the very least learn the names of
those your moving with.

If you want to read real survival stories, try something
about Shakelton or the book Great Heart.

When freedom calls
This book is the story about a young Polish officer who is imprisoned and tortured by the Soviets. In a mockery of a trial he is sentanced to twenty-five years in a Soviet prison camp. It is here the real story begins.

In the middle of Siberia, this Polish officer plans the unthinkable: escape! He selects six other companions to attept this act of deparation with him. In planning his escape, another reviewer indicates that he receives help from an unexpected source. You will not believe who assists him in his quest for freedom!

The balance of the work deals in the trek across Siberia, Mogolia, the Gobi desert, and finally the Himalayas.

In the annuals of human history you would be hard pressed to indentify a person whose sigle mindedness approaches Slavomir Rawicz.

This is a terrific book! ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (12)

JQA - The Overview
John Quincy Adams is remembered today (if at all) as the first son to follow in his father's footsteps to the presidency. Adams, or "JQA" as historian/author Robert Remini refers to him, had a brilliant diplomatic and political career--albiet under his father's long shadow--before becoming president in a disputed election (the other similarity he shares with the current occupant of The White House). Among his other major accomplishments, Adams the second negotiated the end of the war of 1812 and as Secretary of State formulated the priciples that would later become known as The Monroe Doctrine. Unfortunately, Admas's skills as a diplomat were of little help during his largely unsuccessful presidency, in which he was overshadowed from the beginning by the popular Andrew Jackson, who bitterly opposed almost every move he made. The split between the two would revive America's two party system after over a decade of dormancy.

Remini documents all of the major events of JQA's life, from the "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay that propelled Adams to the presidency to his unhappy personal life. For all of his brilliance, Adams was a tormented man, brutalized emotionally by his domineering mother (the otherwise revered Abigail) as well as by his failure to secure the hand of the one true love of his life. The equally overbearing upbringing he fostered upon his own sons resulted in tragedy for two of them.

The sense the reader gets from Remini's book is that JQA was one of the more fascinating and tragic figures ever to become president. Unfortunately, at only a brief 155 pages of narrative the book only scratches the surface of the man. Still, Remini is a first rate writer and historian, and his easily readable prose makes this a very accessible work of history.

Overall, a breezy historical account documenting the life of an often overlooked president.

John Who? Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States, but much less well known than his father John Adams, the second President of the USA.

In this splendid biography, Robert Remini has provided us with a concise volume detailing the life of John Quincy Adams. Within this book, it is easily seen why JQA is rated as "below average" as a President, but highly regarded as an international diplomat.

Remini has done a spectactular job in describing the whole life of John Quincy Adams, and helps us to understand why Adams' life is being reclassified as more successful than previously recognized, despite the fact that his Presidency was a failure.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a basic understanding of Adams the man, not just as the President.

an error about an error
Referring to Marshall Newman's review. The Macaulay that JQA read and Remini mentions was Catherine Macaulay (1731-1791), an historian and a distant relative of T.B. Macaulay (1800-1859).

Not History's Favorite.
This is one of the few, possibly the only, early American President I am aware of who is consistently treated poorly by historians. It is almost like there is some unspoken conspiracy to paint the man as some kind of slacker. The closest we can come to this kind of consensual disapproval is how the American press treated Gerald Ford's athleticism. In Ford's case, this former center for the University of Michigan football team, an excellent recreational skier and a man who consistently shot golf in the low 70's was treated as an uncoordinated clod, who could not put one foot in front of another. Something similar is going on with the depiction of JQA.

Independent of his parents in Europe for 6 years, much of that time by his own choice, his biographers treat him as a mama's boy. That's right, the same man who undertook his first diplomatic mission for the United States at age 14! And it goes down hill from there.

Incredible successes as Secretary of State under James Monroe are glossed over, a Presidential vision for America that was the equal of Washington, Adams (his father), Jefferson, Madison and Monroe's combined, formulator of the Monroe Doctrine, extender of the Continental limits of the United States from sea to sea, ardent abolitionist who fought the Gag Rule in the House of Representatives for 9 years (that's right, he defends our most fundamental of freedoms, freedom of speech, and during a 9 year Congressional battle, defeats those who would have suppressed this freedom within our own Congress), founder of the Smithsonian, the list of this man's unbelievable accomplishments goes on and on.

Professor Remini should be embarrassed for this mediocre effort. Was JQA stiff, prickly and unyielding? Of course he was. Was he obstinate, arrogant and difficult? Again JQA is guilty. But after his outstanding works on Jackson, Webster, and Clay for Professor Remini to simply repeat Nagel's poor work and not take the time and opportunity to fairly and accurately report on this man's life accomplishments has got to be some form of academic bankruptcy. This book is only 155 pages long. And those pages are small. That should tell you something. Save your money.

Too much Freud at the begining.
Full disclosure. John Quincy Adams is one of my heroes. I eagerly grabbed this book but almost didn't finish it. The strong later chapters which effectively describe the Adams election, administration and later time in congress are paid for by a load of psycoanalisys of Abagail Adams, John Quincy to the point where the reader just wants to say ENOUGH!

When the writer calls Adams is a poor father and follows it up with a description of him informing his sons they should work hard, avoid drinking, and follow religion I must conclude that he doesn't want me raising children either. When he lambasts Adams for wanting to raise his sone the way he was raised saying that he should know better, he ignores that the method used produced one of the greatest statemen in the history of this country.

Later on it gets better the author rightly hits Adams as a poor pol but extols the virtues of his honesty and single minded devotion to what he believed was right. His chapters on Adams vision and his fight against the gag rule are great reading as are all chapters from the point that Adams serves in the Monroe administration.

The author's bias' are plain and the lens that he sees Adams life is apparent to any reader, but that lens can't cloud the life of the man, it can only make reading this story an annoyance for a time.

I suggest going right to 1816 and reading from there. The book is worth reading but it was enough to convince me that I would avoid this author in the future. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Noted for his excellent structural explanation of the Third Reich's political culture in The Hitler Myth, eminent historian Ian Kershaw shifts approach in this innovative biography of the Nazi tyrant. The first of a two-volume study, Hubris is far from a simple rehearsal of "great man" history, impressively exploring the historical forces that transformed a shiftless Austrian daydreamer into a dictator with immense power.

In his forthright introduction, Kershaw acknowledges that, as a committed social historian, he did not include biography in his original intellectual plans. However, his "growing preoccupation" with the structures of Nazi domination pushed him toward questions about Hitler's place and considerable authority within that system. He argues that the sources for Hitler's power must be sought not only in the dictator's actions but also (and more importantly) in the social circumstances of a nation that allowed him to overstep all institutional and moral barriers. In a comprehensive treatment of Hitler's life and times up through the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, Kershaw draws from documents recently made available from Russian archives and benefits from a rigorous source criticism that has discredited many records formerly understood to be reliable. Hubris thus supplants Alan Bullock's classic Hitler: A Study in Tyranny as the definitive account of a man who, with characteristic smugness, indicated that it was a divinely inspired history that made him: "I go with the certainty of a sleep walker along a path laid out for me by Providence." Kershaw's penetrating analysis of how such a certain path could emerge from the dire circumstances of post World War I Germany is the abiding strength of Hubris. --James Highfill ... Read more

Reviews (54)

A Landmark Biography
Biographies of Adolf Hitler are commonplace, but the first volume of Kershaw's new effort is well worth the read. Kershaw gets past the myths of Hitler to present a detailed, encyclopedic examination of his early life and rise to power. He manages the neat trick of remaining relatively dispassionate and objective about Hitler's political evolution. Kershaw also takes other historians to task for their assertion that Hitler was an energetic genius, revealing that much of the time Hitler was lazy and slothful and could not be bothered to pay attention to matters that did not intrigue him. The one downside of the book is that, in refusing to indulge the Hitler mythos, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris can be a bit dry in stretches. Still, it's worth it to see this new interpretation of Hitler's life and career.

Outstanding biography of Adolf Hitler.
Mr Kershaw has written a very engrossing study of Hitler's personal and political lives. The book is very well written - accessible to the general reader, but with a wealth of footnotes for those who would like to dig deeper on their own.

Kershaw has done an admirable job in trying to get at the truth of the events of Hitler's life - not an easy task with so many layers of myth obscuring the subject. One example is the time that Hitler spent in Vienna before the First World War. Using primary and secondary sources, Kershaw paints a detailed picture of Hitler's years in Vienna - a picture that is often at odds with Hitler's own version as published in Mein Kampf.

This book is an authoritative examination of Hitler's "formative years", the creation of the Nazi Party and Hitler's rise to absolute power. I am looking forward to the publication of the second volume.

No Hubris Without Complicity
It probably goes without saying that every American citizen should read at least one critical biography of Adolf Hitler over the course of a lifetime. It is hard to conceive of anyone who has influenced American life, foreign policy, and human sensitivities more than Hitler in our own times. There are past and prospective readers of this work who fought the War that he essentially started and fueled, and very few American families are untouched by his legacy of destruction.

Given his place in history, detested as that may be, it would be hard to cite a better biographical sketch of Der Fuhrer than that of Professor Ian Kershaw of the University of Sheffield in England. We all know that Hitler was bad. Kershaw takes us for a two-volume excursion that explains, as well as anyone can, how he became bad and how his evil was allowed to ferment, verily to thrive, when others in power could have squashed him.

The first volume traces Hitler's life up to and including the German reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1937, a daring but bloodless military foray that left both the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations in tatters. One might suspect that Hitler's flaunting of international law might have been halted midstream by the appropriate checks and balances of German government, business, the military and popular opinion. Obviously, this did not happen. The genius of this volume, in my view, is Kershaw's penetrating analysis of the national conditions of German life and politics that carried Hitler's agenda to fruition, at ultimately terrible cost.

Alois Schicklgruber changed his name to Alois Hitler in 1876, thirteen years before the birth of his son Adolf in 1889. [Heil Schicklgruber?] There are hints in "Mein Kampf" and other sources that Adolf Hitler's overbearing mother was unable to protect him from his father's physical outbursts of anger, though materially the family was comfortable. His secondary school reports describe him as an unmotivated underachiever, and he seems to have left formal schooling with enthusiasm only for history. In his late teens and early adult years Hitler lived an existence described by Kershaw as "parasitic idleness," drawing from inheritances and fancying himself an artist. In actuality he was refused admission on multiple occasions to institutes of advanced artistic training.

When his money ran out, Hitler gravitated to Vienna and painted postcards. He was something of a beer hall bum who worked only enough to survive in a public shelter and pontificate with other down and outers on issues of the day. Kershaw describes in vivid detail the social and political currents of Austria at the time. Nostalgic/apocalyptic pan-Germanic dreams, anti-Semitism, quirky eugenics theories, an uneven economy, and general frustration with ineffectual bureaucratic government led to the rise of energetic but scattered right wing political movements prior to World War I. Bombarded by but very congenial to such influences, Hitler's political philosophy of German preeminence began to form, and the outbreak of international hostilities seemed to galvanize and energize him.

Hitler volunteered for military service in Munich [though legally he was required to do so in Austria and barely escaped prison.] He served primarily as a messenger to the front lines, an unglamorous but respectable tour of duty, and at one point he was temporarily blinded in the line of duty. After hostilities ceased, a thoroughly demoralized Hitler was ordered to work as a teacher in a program to indoctrinate German soldiers to the dangers of Bolshevism, now a major threat to Germany's east in the wake of the Russian Revolution. In actuality such indoctrination was a closet rallying of German nationalism in the military under the restrictions of Versailles. Hitler surprised himself, and many of his influential superiors, with his rhetorical prowess. Throwing his lot with the German Workers Party, a collection of right wing militarists/socialists, Hitler gained national recognition as a spokesman of discontent with the economy and post war shame. His message was hardly unique, though-72 other such parties crowded for influence.

In 1921 he became his own party's leader, and in this capacity led a 1923 ill-timed and poorly conceived revolt against the sitting Reich government known today as the "Beer Hall Putsch" [named for its place of proclamation, not conception.] Kershaw examines the Putsch as a prime example of the way that Hitler himself was used by discontented men of influence from a variety of interest groups. By rights the Putsch should have cost Hitler his life-a treasonous act that killed several. But before a sympathetic judge, Hitler used his trial-with the judge's compliance-as a national podium to articulate his vision of a reformed and restored Germany. Here he broke ahead of the pack of other like-minded rivals for national influence. He received a ludicrously brief prison sentence in quarters that allowed him to write, receive and entertain guests, and continue to expand his political influence. After release, he was banned from speaking for a time [outdoors!] Any chance to beard the lion by the state was now lost forever.

Hitler's nationalist party, easily the loudest of Germany's political parties in the early 1930's, never captured more than a third of the popular vote, but on January 30, 1933, with Hindenburg's government in crisis, Hitler himself wrangled the position of Chancellor, second only to Hindenburg. Upon Hindenburg's death in 1934 he seized full control of the government, with the help of extensive street violence and a propaganda machine second to none. Immensely popular with the masses, he embraced wholesale rearmament and survived the resulting economic upheaval by the dramatic Rhineland venture.

Kershaw discusses Hitler's notorious anti-Semitism at considerable length, though at the conclusion of this first volume there are no clear indications of the genocide that lie ahead. Hitler spoke of segregation and exportation of Jews in private and public addresses and diplomatic meetings through 1937. The death camps, with many other horrors, were not in focus just yet.

"Everybody Loves a Winner"
The Rise

In this first of two volumes, historian Ian Kershaw portrays how a disaffected loser through diligence, and with more than a bit of good fortune, transformed himself from an embittered Veteran of World War I to a beer-hall orator, political leader, and eventually the dictator of Germany.

The prose is workmanlike, without emotion or flash. The annotations are extensive. The story is cautionary.

The Definitive Biography
There are many books that focus on the life of Adolf Hitler, but none can be compared to the work of shear perfection that is Ian Kershaw's Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris. In the first volume of his Hitler biography, Kershaw addresses the key themes that led to Hitler's rise to power. The book does not begin with any preconceived notions regarding the "evil" or "inhumanity" of Hitler, but rather examines him as he was, a flesh and blood human being. Kershaw presents Hitler as a three dimensional figure. It is this balanced view that makes this book so unique. Hitler presents a full view of its namesake's story and directly challenges and refutes many misconceptions that have become part of the Hitler myth.
The author's motivation behind writing this book is also key to the overall understanding of its significance. Kershaw states that a Hitler biography had never been part of his agenda. In fact, he was extremely hesitant to even begin undertaking this venture because of the prior works of Alan Bullock and Joachim Fest. Kershaw's prior works did not focus on individuals, but rather broader social trends surrounding Hitler's acceptance and Nazism. It was the inescapable link between Hitler and Nazi Germany that finally drove Kershaw to begin his book.
Ian Kershaw's "Hitler 1889-1936 Hubris" is the first part of the greatest biography ever written on the subject of Adolf Hitler. It is the most complete and thought provoking of all the Hitler biographies. While the work can only be described as massive, at well over 800 pages, it is well worth the read. Kershaw addresses all sides of the Hitler. He looks at the figure of Hitler independently of preconceived notions. Kershaw comments on and discredits many of the numerous Hitler myths ranging from the possible Jewish origins of his grandfather, his sexual preference, and the roots of his anti-Semitism. Kershaw references the earlier works of Joachim Fest and Alan Bullock to make his descriptions of Hitler more well rounded. This book address nearly ever key element of Hitler's early life from his boyhood days in Austria to his time in the trenches of World War I and finally to his eventual rise to power through the Nazis. The book is incredibly detailed and presents the full scope of each event in Hitler's life. Kershaw also helps to place Hitler's life in the larger context of the German nation throughout the pre-1936 era.
Perhaps the most prominent theme addressed by Kershaw is Hitler's anti-Semitism. Not only is this one of the most fundamental issues to understanding Hitler, but it is also a prime example of the skill employed by Ian Kershaw in his book. I found Kershaw's theory to be well formed and the most sound of all the other material available. The book is supplemented by a diverse collection of Hitler and Nazi photographs. These photos add to the work as they depict Hitler before he would become the Fuhrer of Germany. Some of these photos, especially of his youth, are not commonly seen and offer a different look on a man whose life is frequently analyzed throughout the world. The book is skillfully written and has a great flow, which makes its length seem almost a non-factor. After reading "Hubris" one will not be able to resist diving into the second volume "Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis." Overall, you could not find a better biography of Hitler. Kershaw does not provide "shocking" new details or "sensational" accounts he simply gives the reader the facts. I highly recommend Kershaw's book for anyone interested in Nazi Germany or history in general. ... Read more

Book Description

Daughter of the River is a memoir of China unlike any other. Born during the Great Famine of the early 1960s and raised in the slums of Chongqing, Hong Ying was constantly aware of hunger and the sacrifices required to survive. As she neared her eighteenth birthday, she became determined to unravel the secrets that left her an outsider in her own family. At the same time, a history teacher at her school began to awaken her sense of justice and her emerging womanhood. Hong Ying's wrenching coming-of-age would teach her the price of taking a stand and show her the toll of totalitarianism, poverty, and estrangement on her family. With raw intensity and fearless honesty, Daughter of the River follows China's trajectory through one woman's life, from the Great Famine through the Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

One of the better autobiographies of recent Chinese life
I have read many accounts of life in China, and I found that Hong Ying's autobiography is outstanding. Most autobiographies have been written by Chinese intellectuals, but Hong Ying grew up in abject poverty. Her very survival is a testament to incredible perseverence. That she not only survived, but became a talented writer, is nothing short of miraculous. This book has been termed a "Chinese Angela's Ashes," and I believe that that is an apt comparison.

Wonderful reading...
Daughter of The River is a story of a young woman dealing with the many adversities that she faced in the slums of China. Hong Ying writes this book from her perspective as an 18 year old although she was in her 30's when this was written. Her family was extremely unemotional and unattached to her throughout her childhood, and as young as she was she always wondered why. It wasn't until she turned 18 that she found out the "secret" as to why everyone in her family treated her as if she was invisible. Of course everything was about "face" and protecting the family name which only compounded her troubles.

Ms. Ying has overcomed her many stuggles to become a successful writer, yet from her book you can feel how deep the scars truly are. My only complaint would be that she tends to jump around in telling her story, but overall it is a sad, yet delightful read knowing that with determination and a strong will she made it out of the slums.

If you must read it, borrow it from the library.
I just had a hard time reading/understanding/finishing this book. I did finally finish it because I wanted to know the mystery behind the author's father, but in the end the whole book was disappointing. I guess it's a matter of the book's structure. The author jumps from one time setting to another so often, it gets totally confusing! Also she intertwines different stories of different family members and other people in her life, that it's easy to confuse the characters. Some of the language sounds awkward, the curse words seem...forced. Also after a while, the author's unceasing bitterness towards life tended to grate on my nerves.

This is the second book that I've been unable to finish
Rarely have I been unable to finish a book, even when it's quite terrible. However, this book was unreadable to me.

There is no rhyme or reason to this book. There's no linear progression. It's more of a "This happened when I was 5. This happened when I was 15. This happened when I was 12. This happened when I was 5." The book goes nowhere and there is no plot to follow.

After reading the glowing reviews here on Amazon, I was very much looking forward to reading this book. However, after reading half of it, it's in a box in the closet...

P.U.
a totally fictionalized auotbio/memoir. author was 2 yrs old, yet recalls events as if she was really there. The prose is vapid and purple. far from being a non-person, she and her family were part of the old elites/reactionaries. of course they suffered; that was the point of the popular revolution. save your m,oney, this book is an awful bore and poorly written ... Read more

Book Description

An intimate portrait of the first president of the 20th century

The warm and knowing biography traces Roosevelt's involvement in the politics of New York City and New York State, his celebrated ,military career, and his ascent to the national political stage.Caricatured through history as the "bull moose", Roosevelt was in fact a man of extraordinary discipline whose refined and literate tastes actually helped spawn his fascination with the rough-and-ready world of war and wilderness.
... Read more

Reviews (8)

Good book for a tough subject to pin down.
This book serves as a good introduction to Theodore Roosevelt to either satisfy or stimulate one's curiosity before indulging in a lengthier biography. This is a "short" bio, and not meant to be a treatise on T.R. The author was better with his Penguin Lives book on Woodrow Wilson, but he seemed to have more fun with Roosevelt.
As a subject T.R. is especially enjoyable, but more for his forceful character than for any of his objective accomplishments (for which the author notes several, e.g., negotiating the peace between Japan and Russia, and his national conservationist orders, etc.).
The author addresses Roosevelt's sense that his presidency was relatively unspectacular, and since war time presidents receive the most historical attention (e.g., leading to positive evaluations for Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, but negative for Wilson due to his post war failures), Roosevelt felt himself cheated from his place of greatness due to being a peacetime president.
As this author notes, many of T.R.'s beliefs had long lasting value (especially, I feel, his beliefs on the limitations of capitalism as spoken by a pro-business chief executive). Those who followed him, though, soon abandoned these attitudes. The reason for this seems to rest with T.R. He accomplished much emphasizing the forcefulness of his personality and took credit for improvements as being uniquely his. Since he can be the only T.R., his philosophy could not be transmitted to others. When out of office, he was no longer "T.R." and his so-called system collapsed as with a deck of cards. He was ultimately left a shell of his former self.
What if Roosevelt had toned down some of his tendencies? Might he have extended his influence over the next administrations and the country? If so, might this have led to a different result in how America influenced the developing European disputes that resulted in the First World War? These are some of the questions that remained with me from reading this book.

Excellent Series
This is the second volume in the new American Presidents series edited by Arthur M. Schlessinger, and like the first on James Madison, provides excellent, although brief insight into one of America's most fascinating characters. The prime focus of this book is on TR's presidential and post-presidential years. Limited space does not allow for anything more than a brief summary of Roosevelt's early life, which may actually be his most interesting period. Still there is enough to give the reader a basis for understanding Roosevelt's revolutionary power-expanding actions as President. Auchincloss does a wonderful job of filling this short volume with all of the important events of Roosevelt's life while keeping to a very enjoyable and readable style. It is a good introduction to Roosevelt and will leave you wanting to learn more.

John the Baptist to Edmund Morris's Volume III
This slim volume may serve as a excellent introduction to the life of TR, or as a bracing romp through familiar landscape for devoted TR aficionados. The book itself is a little pricey for what you get, however (I hope a paperback edition of this American Presidents series is made available eventually), and it is pretty evident to the informed reader that Auchincloss is merely reviewing the conclusions of previous biographers. Auchincloss does attend to a particularly interesting period of TR's life, i.e. his decline and fall. From TR's impulsive public declaration not to seek a "third" term, the bloodletting in Africa, his quixotic Bull Moose campaign, the misadventure in the Amazon, to TR's death shortly following the death of his youngest son in WWI ("poor Quinnikins"), Auchincloss's volume was for me a tantalizing foreshadowing of what is certain to be a grand event in biography -- the third volume of Edmund Morris's TR trilogy. This book should help keep you satisfied (if only for a few hours) until the release of Morris' next volume. And after you read Auchincloss's TR, you should read his THE RECTOR OF JUSTIN if you've never done so, and also Edward Renehan's THE LAST LION (excellent mini-biographies of TR's sons, fascinating characters in their own right).

Good book for a tough subject to pin down.
This book serves as a good introduction to Theodore Roosevelt to either satisfy or stimulate one's curiosity before indulging in a lengthier biography. This is a "short" bio, and not meant to be a treatise on T.R. The author was better with his Penguin Lives book on Woodrow Wilson, but he seemed to have more fun with Roosevelt.
As a subject T.R. is especially enjoyable, but more for his forceful character than for any of his objective accomplishments (for which the author notes several, e.g., negotiating the peace between Japan and Russia, and his national conservationist orders, etc.).
The author addresses Roosevelt's sense that his presidency was relatively unspectacular, and since war time presidents receive the most historical attention (e.g., leading to positive evaluations for Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, but negative for Wilson due to his post war failures), Roosevelt felt himself cheated from his place of greatness due to being a peacetime president.
As this author notes, many of T.R.'s beliefs had long lasting value (especially, I feel, his beliefs on the limitations of capitalism as spoken by a pro-business ch