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Bernie Sanders of Vermont uses the story of his 1996 reelection campaign to paint the picture of what it's like to be the first Independent elected to the House of Representatives in 40 years and the only one ever elected to four consecutive terms. Outsider in the House provides a good look at such recent political skirmishes as the Gulf War, NAFTA, and health care reform. In his concluding chapter, Sanders puts forward explicit proposals for tackling such issues as bridging the gap between rich and poor (develop a truly progressive tax code, he says); campaign reform (establish automatic voter registration, end soft money, cap total election expenditures and provide free TV time for political ads); and balancing the budget (drastically cut defense and corporate welfare). ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This book converted me to Sanders fandom
I was skeptical of Bernie Sanders prior to reading this book.While he is the lone Independent in the House, his behavior to my knowledge, had rarely been independent.For example, he has refused to support Ralph Nader in his runs for office, despite sharing his views much more than the Democratic Party slime who have run since Sanders' 1990 election to Congress.Furthermore, the Progressive Party of Vermont that sprung up around Sanders' political activities has had less than 100% (to put it mildly) of Sanders' backing when it might "offend" the Democratic elites that he depends on for political clout.

However, with all that out of the way, I found this book to be incredibly enjoyable and informative, and I have come away from it realizing that while he may not be perfect, Bernie Sanders is unquestionably the best and most independent member of Congress.

This book provides a lot of insight into the inner workings of campaigning and the actual business of Congress-- from a perspective outside the two major parties.It also contains a platform for restoring America to its past greatness-- a platform that would win national support if not for the corporate stranglehold on the "free press" and the peonage of the two party electoral dictatorship to these same corporate interests-- and this is a subject explored at some length as well.

I still cannot understand how Sanders can expect people to support him when he refuses to support any non-Democrats-- but despite his age, I am still hopeful for a Sanders For President run in 2008.

One more thing: Sanders is a self-described socialist, though I have never been able to discren any truly socialist notions from his platform positions.The ignorant conservatives who do not understand the differences between liberalism, populism, progressivism, socialism, communism and social democracy, anything this side of fascism is "socialist"-- but to the educated, few could rightfully call what Sanders advocates anything beyond social democracy.I can't wait for Sanders to retire so that he might write a little more about what socialism means to him without fears of political repricussions.

Well Done
I am not a big fan of Bernie Sanders at all. I can not support him in any way because he is too radical for my taste as a Moderate Democrat. But this book was very well written. The writing clearly reflects something that he went through as a member of the US House. But I did notice that Bernie accuses everyone for America's problems. It's always someone else's fault. He never mentions his failures which are important to understand as a public official, and what he has really done. I found Bernie to complain almost all the time, but on the other hand, it was very well written, interesting and informative in vermont politics. I enjoyed it, but the more I read it, the more I liked the Republican caniddate that was running against him in 1996.

Very enlightening
Sanders does a few wonderful things in this book - first off, he showswhat socialists truly believe - I now realize that, while I don't agreewith them, I got a false impression of their views from the mass media. The book also gives a detailed account of how hard it is to make it as athird party candidate in America, and does so without becoming dull at anypoints.Finally, Sanders covers a wide range in issues in this book. Overall, very interesting for anyone even remotely interested in Americanpolitics.

A wonderful book by the only Independent in the Congress!
OUTSIDER IN THE HOUSE is an interesting and intriguing book by the only Independent in the Hosue of Representatives, and the only Independent *ever* elected to four consecutive terms! How did formerly conservative Vermont elect a democratic socialist as its Representative in the House?This book will tell you. How did Bernie Sanders first get elected Mayor of Vermont's largest city?What did he tell Bill Clinton when they met?What does it feel like to see your Congressional colleagues gutting welfare? What is the 52-member Progressive Ccaucus, and why did Bernie Sanders help found it? This book answers all these questions in a fast-paced narrative which weaves together Sanders'most recent re-election campaign (targeted by the Republican leadership, the NRA, and corporate America, he managed to win by 23 points!), his fights on Capitol Hill, and a brief history of the most successful progressive political movement in modern America. And if that is not enough, the book concludes with a clear-eyed look at America's major problems -- and presents reasonable ways of addressing each of them. Highly recommended. [Of course, you might consider that this review was written by the book's co-author, Huck Gutman....] Still, I think you will like it, and be energized by reading it. Our purpose in writing it, after all, was to give people hope: it is really possible to take on the corporate powers and big money interests, and beat them at the electoral game. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

style good; facts awful
The author's style is catchy; reminds me a bit of Fletcher Pratt. But there are errors of fact on almost every page! Save your money.

factual errors
Before buying this book you should read James McPherson's scathing review in the recent issue of The Nation concerning the multitude of factual errors which permeate this book.
Caveat emptor.

Lincoln & Grant - making sense of the civil war
Perret has a knack for putting complex social realities into thoughtful context. He is not a traditional academic or military historian. Instead he writes well and pushes the reader to think new thoughts (and even learn a new word or two). My advice is to make the investment -- which is made easier because the writing is so good. Reading this digestible summary of Lincoln as the main force in the civil war was made even richer for me because I had read Perret's essential bio on U.S. Grant. In this period of nostalgia about World war II and doubts about Iraq, I also recommend that readers search for copies of Perret's "There's a War to be Won" (on WWII's army) and "A nation made by war" (on the important ways our nation's wars have had on US history.

Lincoln's War
While I found the author's style a bit florid for a history and analysis book, I have enjoyed it nonetheless. His analysis of Lincoln's military genus has been describe in a more condensed way then Shelby Foote's "The Civil War", but in doing so brings it to the forefront of the readers attention. Great battles are reduced to a page or two, which may disappoint many readers who love the details of all the various military units and commanders. This book concentrates on how a lawyer from Illinois becomes, in the course of three years, one of the greatest military minds of the 19th century. One note that is bound to create controversy is the statement that U.S. Grant was the greatest general the United States ever produced. The R.E. Lee and T. Jackson fans are sure to be angry for that. I highly recommend buying this book and intend to purchase another as a gift for a dear friend.

Don't be fooled again ...
Reading Geoffrey Perret is like going out with what you think is Jessica Simpson. At first, it all looks good, even immaculate: the snazzy dresser, bright teeth, urbane wit ... and then you begin to delve into what's there ... the empty head, the superficial smile, the sense that you are being conned by yet another effort to separate you from your hard-earned money for some more Civil War fluff. And in this case, you finally discover that it's not Jessica Simpson across the table after all, but some dyed blonde wannabe who's invested a lot of money with her surgeon, dentist, and makeup staff ... as you find out when the foundation peels off and the liposuction gives way. He's a combination of Michael Caine and Hugh Grant, minus any real sparkle, charisma, or brains, and not quite as visually appealing. But if you like that sort of thing, then Perret's the man for you.

Perret's ignorance about Ulysses S. Grant is known to all who are familiar with his book, in which he becomes the author who couldn't write straight (there's a double meaning to this phrase, revealed in his musings about the homoerotic appeal of John Rawlins, whom he likens to James Dean and River Phoenix). Perret's an effete fop who has personal issues to work out (he once wrote about MacArthur's "member" as a little crooked thing). Now he returns to the scene of his previous crime, hopeful that his smooth prose and turn of phrase will entrap those who don't know any better (although his prose fails to sustain that promise). There's nothing, nothing new here, the reviews by non-experts for LJ and PW notwithstanding. My goodness, the poor chap even botched up his description of the Kennedy assassination, although at least it was corrected in the paperback (he had the Kennedys sitting FACING the Connallys -- hello, have we seen the Zapruder film?).

There are better books on Lincoln, and even T. Harry Williams did a better job in the badly dated LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS. People who are impressed by pseudo-urbane flash (usually those with self-esteem issues) may find Perret an intriguing character, but anyone who suffered through his C-SPAN Booknotes interview knows his work is plagued by some serious problems that can not be smiled away. I imagine he thinks he's Edmund Morris or a good-looking Henry Adams, except that he's already at work on his next fatuous opus. As for this book, you'll come away aware that you've read this all before--except, of course, where it's hilariously wrongheaded--and that you've been snookered. BUYER BEWARE! ... Read more

Book Description

Benjamin Franklin is one of the best known and least understood figures in the history of eighteenth-century political thought. Alan Houston clarifies our understanding of his thought by making available a representative selection of his most important political writings. The entire text of the Autobiography is included alongside letters, essays, pamphlets, and manuscript notes that cover political economy, moral psychology, and religious belief and practice, among other topics. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Balanced & Engrossing. A brilliant biography.
This biography was originally released over 20 years ago when the stage version of "EVITA" was a worldwide smash. At the time, this book was definately the best book ever released on the subject (along side Julie Taylor's EVA PERON: THE MYTHS OF A WOMAN) mainly because of it's fair treatment of Eva and also due to the fact that it was well researched and balanced. Twenty years later and nothing has changed since it remains the BEST biography ever written in the English language about the brilliant but controversial Maria Eva Duarte de Peron. Somehow the writers managed to write a biography that is engrossing, informative and extremely helpful especially in understanding the late Evita's character and personality. It also digs deep into her life and it gives us great insight into her charitable works. I had originally read this book over 10 years ago and was delighted to see it re-issued in 1996 (to co-inside with the release of the film "Evita"). The new re-issued version includes a NEW INTRO and an epilogue which includes some insight into the stage musical.

What impressed me about this book is that it's written in a non-biased manner. Unfortunately (for Eva) many of the books written about her in the English language are maliciously one-sided and hostile to her character and morals. On the flipside, most of the books written about her in Spanish are extremely sugary and convert her into some sort of madonna (NO, not that MADONNA!!). Either way, the reader is given a prejudiced account of Eva's life history and the reader will end up either loathing her or venerating her. This book displays Eva's life as it should be seen and it portrays Eva as a flawed but still exceptional human being. Both her admirers and her enemies agree that the woman was anything but dull. Yet they all convert her into an utterly dreary, one dimensional being with solely one purpose in life and totally lacking in realistic qualities. Even Evita's beauty is treated differently by her different audiences. She is either a blonde sex fiend who used her sex and beauty as a viscious weapon or she's a saintly, sexless deity whose loveliness is to be admired in the most asexual manner. Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro show us the human Eva Duarte with all of her flaws and strenghts, and although she still comes across as a larger than life Goddess, the author's portrayal of her is fair and consistant and back up their claims with witness testimony and historical fact. I have seen several interviews with Marysa Navarro and you can tell she is absolutely intrigued by Eva Peron and always refers to her in a positive light. One must keep in mind that she has spent a lifetime researching this enigmatic woman and has published several books on her in spanish - her spanish biography EVITA is also excellent and is probably the greatest in-depth account of Eva ever published in any language. The only minor complaint I have regarding the book is the lack of photographs. Don't get me wrong because there are several photos included of the lovely leading lady but when we're dealing with someone who was as glamorous as Eva Peron was, the more the better.

This book is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the subject. Let me put it this way, if you have to get JUST ONE BOOK on Evita, then this is definately the book to buy. Revealing, absorbing and surprisingly accurate, this IS THE BEST BIOGRAPHY EVER WRITTEN on the subject.

Eva Peron would be proud.

The definitive biography of Evita
EVITA: THE REAL LIFE OF EVA PERON is the definitive biography of the woman most famously known as the subject of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. What this book has that all other biographies lack is: research. The authors visited Argentina in the process of their writing, and interviewed dozens of people who knew and worked with Evita.

The other key ingredient to the success of this book is the neutrality of the authors. They don't have anything invested in what the reader thinks of Eva Peron. They do not want to sway the reader in any particular direction. The authors are neither "pro" nor "anti"-Evita. In the preface to the book they make the promise to try to present Eva as a human being, but concede that this is not as simple a task as it sounds. Evita, they claim, is buried beneath more myth and fantasy than any other historical figure of modern times.

Originally published in 1980 as EVA PERON, this re-issue, made to coincide with the release of the movie starring Madonna, contains a new introduction and epilogue in which Nicholas Fraser comments on the odd re-emergence of Evita as a late 20th Century phenomenon. Astonishingly, the re-emergence was predicted by Evita, who said, "I will return and I will be millions," shortly before she died. Though her story is at last a part of history in her homeland, "In the rest of the world," writes the author, "she has attained the condition of apotheosis." Fraser theorizes that the return may have to do with the fact that we live in a celebrity obsessed era where actors are paid more attention than politicians, making Evita - an actress-turned-politician who was accused by her opponents of turning national political life into show business - the perfect minor deity.

I would recommend EVITA: THE REAL LIFE OF EVA PERON to anyone interested in a somewhat scholarly rendering of Evita's life, as opposed to sensational pop biography (such as EVA PERON by Alicia Dujovne Ortiz).

You may remember her...
You may remember her, Eva Peron, I do not in fact, purly because of my age, but you may remember her. She spoke words in which brought courage to a weak nation, those words, beautiful, passionate and ever so powerful. I feel this piece of respective litriture portrays her soul, better that any photograph.

This was an enjoyable way to hear a true story.
After seeing a documentary on Evita, I thought I knew everything about her. This book added more interesting parts of her life (as well as what happened after she died). I'd read it again. I can't see how anyone could not enjoy it.

Most balanced view of Evita I have found.
This book is very well written and balanced. The authors are interested in Evita but they never choose sides or let their personal biases get in the way of being objective and separating fact from fiction.

This book has the ingredient most Evita biographies miss, it details how much Evita loved her husband and shows that her love for him was the motivating force behind her actions. As the book says, "of all the exaggerations made of Evita's life, the one that can never be doubted is that she would willingly die for her cause." Anyone who wants to understand Evita must take into account that her love for Peron was her motivation. If you don't realize that, you will never understand Evita. ... Read more

Book Description

On the heels of one of the greatest public scandals to rock the Catholic Church comes an explosive exposé of murder and corruption in the highest reaches of the Vatican, the oldest and most secretive autocracy in the world.

On the night of Monday, May 4, 1998, in Vatican territory, the bodies of the commander of the Swiss Guard, his wife, and a young lance corporal were found in the barracks of the picturesque force historically entrusted with protecting the pope. It was the worst bloodbath to take place in more than a century in the heart of the supreme authority of the world's one billion Roman Catholics. Four hours later, the Vatican announced that the lance corporal, twenty-three-year-old Cédric Tornay, had shot the couple, then committed suicide in "a fit of madness" brought on by frutstration with the unit's discipline -- a conclusion it reaffirmed after a nine-month internal inquiry.

But as John Follain's hard-hitting exposé shows, the official report was a travesty, a tissue of suppositions, contradictions, and omissions. Based on an exhaustive three-year investigation -- the first independent attempt to establish the truth -- City of Secrets reveals how the Vatican, the oldest and most secretive autocracy in the world, staged an elaborate plot to obstruct justice and hide the scandals it dares not confess. Echoing the pace and plotting of a highstakes thriller, Follain's true-life tale of intrigue moves from the guards' barracks and the pope's palace in Vatican City to Paris, Berlin, and the Swiss Alps, and features a fascinating cast: an old, suffering John Paul II; his chief bodyguard, formerly accused of spying for the Soviet bloc; a mysterious priest punished by the Vatican; and the powerful Opus Dei sect.

Timely and explosive, City of Secrets is the story of a still-unsolved crime committed on holy territory, and of a systematic attempt to hide the fatal failings of a security force charged with protecting one of the world's most influential leaders.

Reviews (9)

GOOD READING
ALTHOUGH THE BOOK I THINK DOES NOT FINALIZE THE CONCLUSION, I FOUND THE METHODS THE AUTHOR TRIED TO PASTE TOGETHER THE BITS AND PIECES OF TRUTH OR INFORMATION WELL WORTH THE READ. IN THE END I THINK THE BOOK ANALYZES THE CHURCH MORE THAN IT SHOULD BUT THEN AGAIN WHY NOT?

Behind the Vatican murders
The strength of John Follain's book, based on his four-year investigation, is that we end up with a firm understanding of why Tornay did it. City of Secrets is both superb journalism and an outstanding example of forensic psychology.
Secondhand investigations of sensational crimes are often nothing more than instant books. However, Follain not only took the time to contribute something of worth to the canon of crime journalism but also exposed weaknesses in the Vatican that need addressing. In this case it is the fact that the Swiss Guard, supposedly responsible for protecting the Pope, are nothing more than toy soldiers -- Dennis Chute, The Edmonton Journal

No real conclusion...
This book investigates the deaths of three people inside the Vatican in 1998. The official story is that a Swiss Guardsman murdered his commander and the commander's wife after the Guardsmen was angered by his not receiving an expected medal. The author investigates the story at the behest of the Guardsmen's mother and out of his belief that the Vatican is not telling all that it knows.

However, the book tends to be more an indictment of the Vatican and its traditions than a true investigation into the deaths. Also, the author cites much evidence for which he has nothing more than unnamed sources. Specifically, he states that he believes the murders were the result of a homosexual love tryst gone bad that the Vatican wished to cover up. However, he cites no evidence to bolster this theory.

Until new evidence is brought forth, it will have to be assumed that these murders occurred due to the reasons the Vatican has stated. And this book does not introduce any new evidence and leaves the reader without any sense of a firm conclusion.

Sex, lies and secrets
John Follain investigates the deaths of three people in the heart of the Vatican, including a young soldier and the commander of the pope's famous Swiss Guards. The evidence he finds is neither surprising nor inconsistent with the original statement about the circumstances of the death as presented the Vatican. What's interesting is how he finds his evidence and how what was not said in the original inquiry led to the pursuit of a better explanation. In the process, Follain's story reads more like Robert Ludlum mystery or a Nelson DeMille travelogue, as he tracks down people, asks first innocent then probing questions, and effectively if incompletely re-constructs the story behind the deaths.

The Catholic Church and no less the Vatican has been severely damaged by its own secrecy and secrets. While some stories are not worth taking public, an obsession with secrecy produces more distrust than does the hard, candid side of the story. Homosexuality and Opus Dei, two sometimes tawdry secrets of the church, get an airing here, and the most saddening point is the self-illusion of secrecy the church seems intent on maintaining.

Follain also finds that the storied Swiss Guards are much more ceremonial window-dressing than an effective security or intelligence force. The members of this small cadre, the ones Follain contacts, most of them disillusioned or discontented, make a pretty strong case that some men join the Guards for the wrong reasons and the Guard itself seems to be used for the wrong reasons. Tradition seem more important than a clear mission.

It is the misunderstanding and misapplication that lie behind the story of the three deaths. Although the conclusion is not dramatic, neither is it melodramatic. And it is candid and honest, not a Hollywood screenplay, not a sanitized version, and not what the mother of one of the victim's might want. And, in the telling, there is something worth reading.

'Secrets' investigates violent deaths in Vatican
Putting it mildly, John Follain knows the territory when it comes to writing about the Vatican.
In addition to serving as a Rome-based correspondent for London's Sunday Times, he was able to get behind the scenes in Vatican City and conduct his own investigation into the shocking deaths of three people in the Vatican in 1998.
"No one can remember witnessing an episode of such violence inside the city-state," writes Follain.
City of Secrets, which reads like a fast-moving novel, is as much about the inner workings of the Vatican -- the Swiss Guard in particular -- as it is about the deaths themselves. It sounds strange to say this about a true story but, if I write more, I'll give the "plot" away.
Follain does a good job of bringing the main people in this matter to life, and his ultimate conclusions are, by turns, simpler and more complex than the Vatican's "official story".
this is a book you'll sail through, and at the end, you'll appreciate the author's investigative efforts as much as his writing ability. You'll also have a good sense of how conspiracy theories come into being, and grow, because of officialdom's reluctance to come clean.
-- Ed Halloran, ... Read more

Book Description

Tras casarse muy jóven y ser madre, Gioconda Belli se unió al clandestino y emergente movimiento Sandinista, sustituyendo su deseo de ser una buena esposa por la necesidad de vivir una vida plena y comprometida con los cambios sociales en su país. Irónicamente, su pertenencia a la burguesía y su carrera como poeta renombrada, le brindaron la fachada que le permitió funcionar, secretamente, como rebelde. Desde su infancia en Managua y sus encuentros iniciales con poetas y revolucionarios, a persecuciones urbanas, reuniones con Fidel Castro, relaciones amorosas truncadas por la muerte o el exilio en México y Costa Rica, hasta su inesperado matrimonio con un periodista norteamericano, la historia de Gioconda Belli es tanto la de una mujer que se descubre a sí misma, como la de una nación que forja su destino. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Ambiguos impression of Belli's political stance.......
I've read the book (in its extremely sensitive and emphatic German translation immediately after my wife finished reading it and told me that it was a must for me to read!)

The "must" was worthwhile because of the incredible breadth of Belli's writing expressiveness and intensity of the emotions expressed. In this respect I felt with her and for her in all her moods, life situations, her frustrations and her moments of joy.

Reading it in that way, it is truthful, self-critical, just fascinating.

But....and the BUT is my critical BUT.....where Belli, whose dairy-like autobiography this is (because otherwise whe would never have been able to reconstract the three decades of her life she talks about in "The Country Under My Skin" where she recalls all those names an situations with the accuracy as she does), the political aspect being portrayed in the book is strikingly unfair
and is in severe contradiction to what is known to have actually happened between the terribel '72 earthquake and the end of the millenium as regards the Sandinistas and their revolution and the latter-day developments.
The political stance Ms. Belli takes throughout her narrative is heavily lop-sided, if not naïve. Ms. Belli, who has in many ways "run into her hated enemy's arms" by living in the US, and does not really appear to have had any qualms about it, nor about passing on pure hear-say about political intrigues and movemements, acribically puts down dates and names and improper behaviour of the so-called enemies of the revolution, but she does not find any need to set right the warped political picture her Sandinista ideologists have slyly - and successfully - embedded in her mind.

Ms. Belli should stick to writing her very beautiful prose - and stop loving her country by lashing out at phantoms, and painting a halo of "libertador" on irrespressive revolutionaries like Castro at al.....Nicaragua has not stopped suffering from the aftereffects of power-obsessed personalities, much as as it had been suffering from the Somoza nightmare.
To be sure that I am not just blowing off steam for the sake of criticism, I have once again taken time and consulted credible sources on the actual facts of Nicaraguas transition from Somozism to Sandinism-Tercereistas and the years that followed....and have tried to do this without being blind on one eye...

What I have finally found to be a representative truth does certainly not identify with many aspects Ms. Belli sets forth in her autobiography.
Personally, I love South America. My mother tongues were English and Spanish, having spent my childhood in Venezuela, Argentina, Perú and Colombia. ... Read more

Book Description

Featuring major wartime speeches of Winston Churchill.Memorable speeches of Great Britain's Prime Minister from the time England was all but alone, until final victory. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Best of the Best
The editor's introductions to the speeches are sometimes inaccurate, but Churchill is a wonder to listen to. Highly recommended by anyone with an appreciation for history or literature.

Sir Winston Churchill:his finest hour
Those 16 of his finest speaches made during the darkest days of WWII demonstrated courage and inner strength of a great leader in modern world. I and my 11 year old have enjoyed it very much. ... Read more

Book Description

A lively, hard-hitting biography of the pro-business, pro-Jesus, anti-government, anti-environment House majority leader who is driving today's congressional agenda.

With The Hammer, Lou Dubose and Jan Reid track the rise of Tom DeLay from owner of a pest control business to unremarkable, and hard-partying, Texas legislator (his nickname was "Hot Tub Tom"), to the congressional pinnacle of power. DeLay is the representative who has called the Environmental Protection Agency "the Gestapo of government," that he drove what he dubbed "The Campaign" to impeach Bill Clinton because Clinton lacked a "biblical worldview," that he didn't serve in Vietnam because too many minorities had signed up leaving no room for people like him, and recently stated any House adoption of a revised bill reinstating tax credits for poor families "ain't going to happen." DeLay is bold--a majority leader with extraordinary powers and extraordinary ambition--and whether he is maneuvering to redistrict Texas congressional seats or flying to Israel to critique the president, he uses that power to shape our politics here and abroad. It is time a proper introduction was made to this man, the only member of the House to keep half a dozen bullwhips on his office wall and a copy of the Ten Commandments on the windowsill. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A Powerful Reminder of Christian Faith and Community
Born Again is a somewhat trite title, but the contents of the book are not so. There are so many biographies out there that are lists of events and facts that surround a person; this is not one of them. Colson explains to you what is happening in his mind and heart. It is not merely a book about his conversion, it is the story of the changing of his heart.

Throughout the story, you see the power of God working, not only in Colson, but in the lives of the people around him. I sometimes wonder if Colson painted too bright a picture of the Christians he met like Doug Coe and Tom Phillips, but even if he did, those lights are surely what Colson saw in the midst of his darkness. The changing power of God was evident in them in this work, as was the power in him. Also evident was the power of Christian community that is often lacking in the church. Hughes' offering that the bonds of Christianity overrided their political separation and that he would be willing to give Chuck anything and trust him with it was a powerful statement.

I read this book years ago and found it good. Having grown and come back to reread it, I found it better. It is very much worth reading.

Could anything good come of Watergate?
It's been 30 years since the events of Watergate started making history. A whole generation has grown up largely unaware, I suspect, of the significance of those events. I've followed Chuck Colson's work and writing almost since the beginning of Prison Fellowship and have developed a tremendous respect for the man. But only recently have I bothered to go back and read this book which tells how it all got started. I should not have waited so long.

This is the very inspiring and honest story of Colson's early career as chief counsel, confidant and friend to President Richard Nixon. As an insider, he gives his own account of the Watergate scandal and an honest confession of his own wrongdoings. This is also the story about how God can change the life of a man caught up in the corrupting influence of political power and bring great good out of evil. Since he was not directly involved in the Watergate doings, Colson probably could have easily avoided being convicted and sent to prison. But his encounter with Jesus Christ and conversion to Christianity strengthened his conscience and led him to plead guilty to an unrelated crime that he did commit. He went to prison and saw a different side of the "law and order" society that the Nixon Administration sought to promote. Even through the fear and despair of those times, the power of God became even more evident to Chuck Colson while in prison.

This is an amazing account of how a life submitted to Jesus Christ can reconcile enemies, create strong bonds of friendship, and heal terrible wounds in the hearts of both the rich and powerful and the poor and helpless. It's wonderful to read. If this book has an impact on you, then you will also want to read its sequel, "Life Sentence".

What First Amendment?
These people are frightening!

Politics, government, law and spiritual discovery
This book is timeless. What transpired in the Nixon era is no different than what surely happens with every administration: legal issues, political adversaries, government policy and more. When you finish it, the odds are great that you'll want to pass it on to a friend!

Refreshing, encouraging, and uplifting
If ever a gust of fresh air wafted out of the smog of Watergate, the story of Christ coming into the life of Chuck Colson has to be part of it. I loved this book. It is a simple, quick, and uplifting read. Colson rejected a full scholarship to Harvard on a matter of principle, and his grittiness, perseverance, and humbling transformation shine as examples of God's artistic handiwork. As other readers have mentioned, Colson is extremely forthright and honest, both in recounting his pre-Christian mentality and his post-conversion weaknesses. He does so to the point of making himself vulnerable and willingly so. I so much appreciate that decision, as I am sure do many others. He details the "obvious" at the risk of seeming simplistic, if only because those simple observations stuck with him and impacted him. One clear example can be found upon his entry to the prison at Maxwell Air Base: "Not only were all uniforms the same drab brown; so were the expressions on the faces. Something strange here. Then it struck me--no one was smiling." This is a fine book and worth reading. One final excerpt to encourage you: "My new friend then handed me a copy of the Phillips version of the New Testament, inscribed: To Charles--It is better to fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail--God bless you! Doug. Matthew 6:33. How those words were to haunt and lead me in the days to come!" ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

A delightful work
Dr. Graff's treamtment of President Cleveland is illuminating and perfect for casual readers of history and presidential experts alike. His style is entertaining and informative and this book - and the series as a whole - is highly recommended.

A Competent Biography of a Mildly Admirable President
Everyone admires Grover Cleveland, and no one considers him a great president. This is probably because he was known for integrity which, while admirable, is never the leading quality of a great president.

A mildly successful lawyer with modest ambitions, he would have remained obscure except for extraordinary luck. He became mayor of Buffalo in 1881 when frustrated Republican reformers joined Democrats in seeking an honest candidate. No prominent figure wanted the low paying, slightly disreputable position, so it fell to Cleveland. A year later he became governor of New York when Republicans self-destructed by choosing an unpopular candidate, and Democratic frontrunners stalemated, forcing the party to pick a dark horse. Soon after assuming office, Cleveland won the approval of Samuel Tilden, still the dominant figure in the party. Luck continued to bless Cleveland, not only making him a presidential candidate after two years as governor but providing the slightly disreputable James G. Blaine as an opponent. A reputation for honesty made the difference in the close election of 1884.

The first Democratic president since the Civil War, Cleveland receives credit for leading his party back into the mainstream, but this is arguable because Democrat Tilden, not Rutherford B. Hayes, probably won the disputed 1876 election. Many writers complain that Cleveland's reputation suffers because he faced no great national crisis, but this is anachronism. Americans always believe they are undergoing a national crisis (aren't we undergoing one now?).

1880s America was tormented by a chronic agricultural depression, bitter labor disputes, rage against trusts and railroads, and rising fury at political corruption. Leaders of post-Civil War Democrats opposed social reform as stubbornly as Republicans but had less objection to honest government. Cleveland's first administration reinforced his reputation. He reorganized and reformed executive departments, vetoed many private and pork-barrel bills as well as any law that smacked of social reform. Certain that monetary policy and the tariff held the keys to prosperity, both parties devoted far too much energy to these issues that now seem arcane. Cleveland shared this obsession, but he was never an activist. His single major legislative effort, at tariff reform, failed because he considered it beneath him to lobby Congress. Attacks on his tariff policy contributed to the narrow defeat by Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

Then luck returned: a slump in 1890 doomed Harrison to a single term. Cleveland easily gained renomination in 1892; Democrats won in a landslide, controlling Congress for the first time in a generation. There are eerie parallels with Wilson's Democratic sweep in 1912 and FDR's in 1932, but those administrations were led by great presidents.

As Cleveland entered office again, the slump had become a depression. Growing populist, farmer, and labor movements poured out plenty of helpful suggestions which merely made Cleveland and party leaders nervous. They worried most about a weakening currency and social disorder. One legislative act, repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, enjoyed support among both parties. Cleveland demonstrated uncharacteristic energy in lobbying, but passage produced no noticeable effect. Nowadays everyone condemns Cleveland's attack on the pitiful Coxey's army of unemployed (a foretaste of Hoover and the Bonus Marchers during the next depression). We also fault him for crushing the Pullman strike, but contemporary editorials and the middle-class electorate generally approved.

In the 1896 Democratic convention, reformers easily swept to power and nominated Bryan. Cleveland considered this an irresponsible aberration and supported McKinley. It wasn't an aberration; the old conservative leadership never regained power, nor did the fractious Democrats until 1912. Cleveland was the last Democratic president who embodied nineteenth century Jeffersonian ideals (minimalist government, opposition to social legislation). Hoover was the last Republican Jeffersonian.

Great presidents demonstrate qualities such as vision, compassion, imagination, and energy in exercising power. None of these were in Cleveland's repertoire. A solid, honest, nonreforming leader, he belongs in the upper ranks of second-rate presidents.

American history buffs should collect every volume in the fine American President series, short biographies by mostly eminent writers (Robert Remini on John Quincy Adams is the best I've read so far). Like the subject, this biography is competent. Historian Graff tells the story of Cleveland's life, leaning over backward to find nice things to say without exaggerating his accomplishments. Allan Nevins' 1944 opus is probably the definitive biography, but it's long in the tooth and perhaps also too long for the nonspecialist. Readers looking for the best single volume work will find a lively and opinionated account in Horace Samuel Merrill's Bourbon Leader: Grover Cleveland (Little, Brown, 1957).

Integrity and Stolidity in an American President
This short book is part of "The American Presidents" series edited by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. The series devotes a short volume to the life and accomplishments of each American President. The books in the series can be read quickly, and each gives the reader an overview of the life and accomplishments of an important American figure. It is a worthy goal to encourage people to get a working understanding of our presidents and part of an attempt to reeducate Americans about their country and government. The series, Schelsinger states in his introductory note, will "give readers some understanding of the pitfalls and potentialities of the presidency and also of the responsiblities of citizenship".

Professor Graff's short study of the life of Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) fulfills the aim of the series. The book consists of a brief biography of Cleveland and covers his youth, his public (and some of his private) life before he became president, his two presidencies, and his life in retirement. The accomplishments of each of his two terms are summarized, if briefly.

As do most writers who have studied Cleveland, Professor Graff finds his strength in his integrity and common sense. He was able to persuade his fellow Americans, both before and during his presidency of his honesty. Cleveland was a President without charisma and an uninspiring public speaker. He regretted his entire life his lack of a college education, and his career shows something of a discomfort with new ideas or new approaches. Yet, he was able to turn these traits, together with his own strengths into advantages. He proved a capable and inspiring President.

Professor Graff does not engage in hero-worship. If anything, I thought that he somewhat undervalued Cleveland and his accomplishment. He describes some aspects of Cleveland's presidencies which seem to run counter to the picture of Cleveland as a reformer and as given to complete probity and openness.(For examples, Graff discusses the abrupt dismissals of many Republican civil servants at the outset of his terms and the secret operation on Cleveland's jaw which was held on a ship offshore to conceal it from the public at the beginning of Cleveland's second term.) Yet Graff finds much to admire in Cleveland in his hard work, acknolwedgement of his illegitimate child, financial probity, and Civil Service reform. Graff praises Cleveland for his refusal to support the annexation of Hawaii when its queen was overthrown under dubious circumstances. Cleveland restored public faith in government at a time when it was sorely lacking. I think he was the first President who could be desribed as attempting to govern by principles that he believed were both "conservative" and "compassionate." In this he is an inspiration whose goals, if not all his specific decisions, could be followed and expanded upon.

This is not a complete study of Grover Cleveland but it succeeds well in giving the reader a sense of his accomplishment. The reader who wants to learn more might read Allan Nevins', "Grover Cleveland, A Study in Courage" (1944) which remains the standard biography of Cleveland.

WORTH A SECOND LOOK
Widely remembered as the only president to serve two non- consecutive terms, Cleveland hasn't gotten the attention and praise he merits. Although a Democrat, it would be no surprise that most of his views would clash with those taken by Democrats today as well as Republicans.

Following the Panic of '83, the public lost confidence in the efficacy of paper money. Cleveland believed the only solution to the restoration of prosperity was to place the country on a gold standard.

Cleveland's anti-imperialist stance would dismay many who promote the U.S. as the Hall Monitor of the World, clinging to the imperishable ideal of the Declaration that all men have the right to self-government. He was outraged to hear how the rulers of Hawaii were overthrown and replaced with a rump democracy. He attempted to undo the wrong wrought by forcible intervention. For Cleveland it was "the only honourable course for our government to pursue."

His words should be carved above some door to the Pentagon, or the Department of Defense:

"The United States," he wrote, "can not allow itself to refuse to redress an injury inflicted through an abuse of power by officers clothed with its authority and wearing its uniform; and on the same ground, if a feeble but friendly state is in danger of being robbed of its independence and its sovereignty by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United States can not fail to vindicate its honor and its sense of justice by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation."

Why did Hawaii hope for the restoration of self-sovereignty? Because "she could place implicit reliance upon the justice of the United States." Someone in those scattered islands must have read the same texts the beleaguered pro-democracy students in China read when they erected a crude facsimile of the Statue of Liberty in Tianmanen Square. Too bad they were kicked in the teeth.

He opposed and vetoed bills that would have provided federal handouts for numerous groups and individuals, some deserving, most bogus. But he was not blind to a "widening gulf between employers and employed. His concern was not a squishy "kinder, gentler" budget-increasing type.

Anticipating the Encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XI, and Laborem Exercens of Pope John Paul II, he wrote that "Communism is a hateful thing . . . but the communism of combined wealth and capital, the outgrowth of overweening cupidity and selfishness, is not less dangerous."

He was an honorable man when honor in a public office was scorned. Democrats and Republicans take heed.

Extremely solid, but limited by the subject matter
This is the fourth installment of an exciting new series in which major presidential scholars provide brief, critical biographies of all the American presidents. Arthur Schlesinger, who among many other things is famous for his overseeing the group of presidential scholars who rank all the American presidents, edits the series. In the most recent version of Schlesinger's list, Grover Cleveland is ranked 12th out of 39 presidents, at the top of the "Above Average" category and just missing the "Near Great" presidents. As Graff, the author of this volume, puts it, "Grover Cleveland is the best Unknown President." And that is the great virtue of this series: not in providing short biographies of figures like Abraham Lincoln and FDR, but less well known figures like Cleveland, and such future subjects as Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan.

While Grover Cleveland emerges in this biography as an admirable, laudable, and highly capable president, he also strikes the reader today, as he did Americans in the late 19th century, as a terribly unexciting person. Of our better presidents, Cleveland was unquestionably the one with the least outgoing personality. Being respectful, one might describe him as "solid" rather than "dull." Although not someone possessed with a great deal of charisma, he was nonetheless impressive by his own great personal honesty and integrity, and the enormous amount of hard work he put into his job. After a series of presidents whose time in office was marred by corruption, Cleveland did a great deal to restore integrity and respect to the White House.

Graff does a fine job within the confines of this biography to detail both the highpoints of Cleveland's relatively (for a president) uneventful life and of detailing many of the issues surrounding both his elections and his terms of office. Many of these issues will be familiar to students of American history, but when I have read of these before, it has been in the context of the country as a whole, and not from the viewpoint of a particular administration.

Despite not being a terribly exciting individual, a number of aspects of Cleveland's life and presidency are of note. He is the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. He is the only president to be married in the White House. I found the section dealing with his highly secret surgery for cancer of the mouth to be fascinating. To keep his political opponents ignorant of his condition, he was transported to New York, placed in a yacht that was anchored near Bellevue Hospital, and operated on while on the boat. Because the surgery necessitated the removal of much of his jaw, he was fitted with a prosthetic jaw. Bizarrely, the public did not learn of any of this until a decade after his death.

I can strongly recommend this slender volume to anyone who wants to know more about the life of one of our better yet least known presidents, and to get a better grasp of the political life of the United States near the end of the 19th century. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Trying to live life as it is...
Each human being's life is itself of great value and meaning.
And so, life should be lived just as life itself, not as a means for other doctrines or propaganda. No one is expendable.
The author also gives a sharp insight into monetary economy in which we live in. Day after day we are getting subject to the Lord of Money, and money becomes our Lord.
So parodoxically, the more money one make, the more subject to money we get.That's absurd.
This book shares much in common with 'To have or To Be' by Erich Fromm.
The author is a real humanist, who wanted every living being live the life as it deserves. Not being deceived by the illusions that we meet in our daily lives.
I really want to recommend this book to all those who looks upon all living beings as a united One, each not a separate pieces of life against life.

The Great Humanist, Scott Nearing
Many people try to live keeping their conviction. However it is difficult to keep it and it is even not easy to have a right conviction. Scott Nearing was the sociologist who practiced the right things that he believed and lived all his life as a naturalist. He lived for true convictions. After reading this book, I reflected my past. At least I think, it could be fortunate to have a opportunity to think of our spiritual slackening in the midst of material prosperity. I recommend this autobiography. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Paul Klebnikov tells the incredible story of Boris Berezovsky, a one-time Russian car dealer who assembled a huge--and illicit--fortune after the collapse of Communism. "This individual had risen out of nowhere to become the richest businessman in Russia and one of the most powerful individuals in the country," writes Klebnikov, a respected reporter for Forbes. "This is a story of corruption so profound that many readers might have trouble believing it." Yet Godfather of the Kremlin is a careful work of journalism in which Klebnikov documents the business dealings of a man who once bragged to the Financial Times that he and six other men controlled half of the Russian economy and rigged Boris Yeltsin's reelection in 1996. Berezovsky survived both an assassination attempt and a murder investigation, and paved the way to power for Vladimir Putin. He and the other crony capitalists of post-Soviet Russia like to rationalize their deeds, writes Klebnikov: "Whenever I asked Russia's business magnates about the orgy of crime produced by the market reforms, they invariably excused it by pointing to the robber barons of American capitalism. Russia's bandit capitalism was no different from American capitalism in the late nineteenth century, they argued." Yet nothing could be further from the truth: Carnegie, Rockefeller, and their peers transformed the United States into an economic superpower. Berezovsky, on the other hand, has "produced no benefit to Russia's consumers, industries, or treasury." It's not that he didn't have an opportunity. To pick one example among many, he took over Aeroflot when it had a monopoly position in a booming market. But the company barely grew, and instead experienced myriad problems. Berezovsky controlled many businesses, but he was a lousy business manager; his only authentic success--as an auto dealer--depended on collusion. His real skill is shady dealmaking, especially with corrupt government officials. That's the way to success in modern Russia, as this well-told but troubling book reveals. --John J. Miller ... Read more

Reviews (41)

A good read about capital flight.......
What is capital flight? According to the author, a man named Boris Berezovsky was quite the expert at this. Take over a Russian company with government funds, kill anyone who gets in the way, and take over its assets by funnelling them out of the country, or filling filthy Chechen rebels' pockets with ransom money thus stripping the country of its vital tax assets to pay for social programs, pensions and wages.

What isn't good about this book has been the reviews. Some are calling it bunk because Berezovsky is in Spain now, or the author wrote the book at the time he was involved in a lawsuit with the man, but they don't get specific enough about why this discredits the book. To dismiss Berezovsky as not being capable of the fiscal atrocities he has caused Russia is to dismiss Stalin, Hitler and Napoleon as well. Of course the former didn't commit his acts alone(the book is clear about this) and neither did the latter.

Insofar as to the credibility of this manuscript, Harcourt and Amazon.com both have some apologizing to do for selling what could be a complete joke or they don't have to do anything at all because what Klebnikov wrote is indeed factual.

What do I believe? I truly believe this book confirms that Boris Yeltsin screwed the Russian people out of millions of their own rubles and did so because he allowed a kniving little Russian business mogul and thief named Boris Berezovsky to do so. This book explains this relationship very well. I would also like to request that any negative review of this book be accompanied by similarly massive appendices and footnotes to the contrary that Klebnikov afforded his readers to clarify his findings.

He paid with his life
Paul Klebnikov died yesterday (7/10/04) in Moscow because he had the courage to print the truth as he uncovered it through relentless investigative journalism. Anyone--such as some of the reviewers at this site--who dismisses this book because of some trivial libel suit brought by Berezovsky in London is making a mistake. Klebnikov was no small-time journalist with an axe to grind. He had a PhD in Russian history from the London School of Economics and was a senior editor for Forbes magazine. He was an American of Russian heritage who spoke Russian fluently and who used his abilities to investigate the looting of Russia that took place in the early 1990's. He loved Russia and wrote what he learned about the looting that was going on.

Everything Klebnikov says in this book can also be found in The Oligarchs by Hoffman (Washington Post), Putin's Russia by Shevtsova (Carnegie Endowment) and The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms by Reddaway (George Washington University). They all cite and/or quote Klebnikov with approval.

I can't recommend this book highly enough to anyone who wants an introduction to the murky world of Russian privatization during the '90's.

Incidentally, Berezovsky actually took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to tell the world he is not a crook. However, like some of the other oligarchs, he is wanted in Russia for tax evasion, fraud, etc. Read the book and find out all about him.

Good Man, Good Book, Great Loss
Sadly, I did not pick up Paul Klebnikov's book until July 9, 2004, the day of his gruesome murder. I have always had a passing interest in Russian culture and was a reader, and admirer, of Mr. Klebnikov's pieces in Forbes.

-Godfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism- reads like a novel. However, these events did happen, despite the blind eye Mr. Yeltsin turned. Mr. Klebnikov puts together strong arguments and raises some disturbing questions as to what was going on in Russia during the 1990's.

Further, his murder has done nothing but confirm, in my eyes, what he had written and discovered.

I hope others continue his work, and I hope Forbes continues to employ those with Paul Klebnikov's thirst for knowledge and truth.

I send my deepest regrests to his family.

True hero
He is a real Russian hero and ironically an American. Honest and fearless, he was doing it all for Russia which he truely loved. My condolences go to his family, people who knew and understood Paul....

A good guy
I also write upon hearing about Paul's tragic death. I knew him in high school and hadn't talked since, but he was a bright, cheerful, memorable person. He was clearly trying to "do the right thing" in Russia and I'll never forget him for it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

With all the suspense and intrigue of a Cold War thriller,Operation Solo tells the remarkable and true story of Morris Childs, code named "Agent 58", who, for twenty-seven years, provided the United States with the Kremlin's innermost secrets duringfifty-two clandestine missions to the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Incredible story
This book details the history of a little known FBI espionage operation that may have changed world history. It tells the story of Morris Childs, his wife Eva, and brother Jack and how they came to be secret agents working for the FBI while aiding the highest echelons of the US Communist Party and serving as advisors to the Kremlin throughout the Cold War. Barron begins with a description of Morris Childs' early life, how he immigrated with his family to the US from Russia at the age of 5, how he became a Communist Party activist in the early part of the 20th century, attended training school in the Soviet Union, and was eventually abandoned by the party when stricken by heart disease in his 40s. During the McCarthy era, the FBI approached his brother Jack to see if he might be interested in providing information about US Communist Party operations, and Jack got them in touch with Morris. Subsequently, Morris rose to become the number 2 man in the US Communist Party while Jack served the role of supplying cash from the KGB to the US Communist Party leaders, all under the auspices of the FBI. According to Barron's account, Morris was so trusted by Kremlin leaders, that they hardly dared make a foreign policy decision without consulting him. Brezhnev even sought his advice on what clothes to wear while meeting with Nixon. As a result of Morris' consultations with the Kremlin and his later debriefings with the FBI, US leaders were aware of what the Soviets were thinking as they entered into negotiations with them and with Chinese leaders. Barron suggests that world history during the Cold War would have been much different if it hadn't been for Morris Childs helping to calm Soviet fears and letting US presidents know how far the Soviets were willing to go.

Throughout the book, Barron stresses that Operation SOLO had been a very secret FBI operation, and very few people in the FBI, let alone others outside the FBI, such as CIA operatives knew about the project. This secrecy was what enabled Operation SOLO to continue for decades undiscovered. But with so few people aware of its existence, it's hard now to develop an objective measure of how important Childs' information really was. A few weeks ago, I asked a former CIA operative, who had been a Soviet specialist very high up in the Agency during the Cold War, about Operation SOLO- -was he aware of it? How significant was it? The CIA operative told me that he had never heard of Operation SOLO, and doubted that it amounted to much at all since it was connected with FBI. Such a reaction is just what one would expect, given Barron's description of the secrecy of the project. But it still leaves me with the nagging question, just how significant were Childs' efforts after all? Is there any way to get an answer to this beyond taking Barron's word?

True American Heroes
John Barron does a remarkable job of weaving 40 years of a day-to-day spy operation into an exciting page turner. Morris, Eva and Jack Childs are the spies who dedicated their lives to penetrating the Iron Curtain and defeating communism. Reagan, Nixon and Kissinger credit them with providing the tools to ultimately defeat the Soviet Empire while simultaneously engaging China.

In addition, Barron does an excellent job of reminding the reader that the FBI is made up of real men and women with real lives who dedicate themselves to the safety of America.

Operation SOLO is a beautiful tribute to American exceptionalism. It is reminds us that the Cold War was real, that communism is evil and that individuals make a difference. I am grateful that Morris, Eva and Jack Childs dedicated themselves to this dangerous and complex task. Their patriotism and self-sacrifice has made this world a much safer place and liberated millions of people from the shackles of communism.

SON OF AGENT
I am the son of the FBI agent Richard Hansen. I can attest to the secrecy of this operation by explaining how I learned about it. In 1997 I was looking through the new arrivals at my local library. I started leafing through this book and did a double take when I saw my dad's name. I checked out the book, rushed home, called my dad. Sure enough, he admitted that he was the agent in the book. It is an amazing testament to his fidelity that he did not speak of this operation(even after he retired), until this book came out.

One reason we won the Cold War
This is a great book. From the second I opened the book to the second I turned the last page I was enthralled. I left this book with a deep appreciation for the sacrifices made by people around the world in the overthrow of the Soviet Union, and the protection of the United States.

If you are a history buff, a fan of the spy novel, or are just looking for a good book, you have found your next great read.

Fascinating
I loved this book. I read it years ago and am still able to fascinate people with the Childs's story. My kids have started asking me about it again now that they are in college (they knew the story, but wanted the name of the book so they could read it themselves.)
If anyone thinks the public should be privy to all the goings-on in the government at all times- I recommend this book. Without these underground heros, the Berlin wall probably would still be standing. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

No that Interesting
Andrews has no access to Arnold, and minimal time with the A-man's associates. So he does what he can, showing an Arnold with the midas touch who sets a goal, goes for it, and gets it. (Like in his pre-success 70's, saying he would marry into a powerful American family, and later "sweeping Maria Shriver off her feet"). Andrews is rarely negative, and praises Arnold's films more than most critics, for sure. The only "criticism" is a very minimal handful of he said he/she said comments from former co-workers... and Andrews' frustrations with his lack of access. With so little input, Andrews espouses cultural meaning to Arnold's work that may not, or may, exist. For example, Andrews may read more political ambition into Arnold's work than is really there... or, he is amazingly prescient. The book was published in 1995, yet Andrews projects - seriously - Arnold as Governor and U.S. President (post new Ammendment that would allow foreign borns to serve). In my humble opinion... Andrews gives too much cultural/political weight to Arnold's art. (Maybe my bias -- I buy into a lot of political interpretation to Warren Beatty's work... see book recommendation below). On page 195, Andrews describes Arnold's expansion from his 80's Reaganesque tough guy films:

Kindergarten Cop hints at the healing age of peacemaking with Russia and at President Bush's 'new world order'. The sentimental subplots about children reaching entente with divorced parents adumbrate both the messianic geo-political accords that had taken place under Reagan and the family values mandates that had issued from his and Bush's White House.

Uhhhhhh?

Ultimately, despite the potentially great material that is Arnold, I didn't find the book that interesting. Maybe there is something incongruous about a British intellectual like Andrews writing about a man of action like Arnold. The writing style lacks a certain muscle and speed (or even controversy :-)... to reflect Arnold's style.

Books I like more:
"Warren Beatty and Desert Eyes: A Life and a Story."
"Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder."

Bunch of bull
This author is out to make Arnold look bad, not to sure about this book...I think its a bunch of BS myself. Arnold is a true Idol, a star, a person someone wants to be. This guy makes Arnold out to be a pure bonified *%*$*@*...I do not believe the bullcrap from this book at all...

Great Book.
Great Book. Takes an honest look at the real life "Arnold Schwarzenegger". It may take the magic out of the man for some , but it puts a human face on one of the greatest personalities of our times. The book points out that, like all of us, Arnold has his imperfections, but through sheer will and a fanatical determination to succeed, he pulled himself up by his boot straps and propelled himself to success. An absolute "MUST READ" for all true Arnold fans.

I wish I never read this book...
I used to think Schwarzenegger was great... now I'm not so sure!!

This book makes you realise that he is just one big marketing ploy. You also get to see that he is not a nice person - he tramples over people to get what he wants, and makes you realise that most of the charity work he does is only to make him look like a good person...

I think this quote from the book sums him up, "I admire people like hitler..."

EEK. Will change the way you see him drastically. I preferred my blind opinion of him before!!

One version of the truth
This book is crippled by a couple of factors, including the author's fetish for mocking Arnold's accent about twice a page. More seriously, no one close to Arnold cooperated in its writing (a fact that the author acknowledges and laments.)

That understood, however, the books does offer a compelling version of Arnold's rise to prominence first as a bodybuilder and then as an actor. Written from a reasonably neutral standpoint -- the author comes across as more gadfly than antagonist, while certainly not a sycophant -- it seems fair in its criticisms and appropriate in its praise. ... Read more

Book Description

What is race for? That bracing question animates every page of The Accidental Asian, a powerful work from one
of the nation's leading young voices. In these personal and poignant reflections on assimilation,
Eric Liu articulates a vision of American identity that will provoke and inspire. For Liu, the price of
assimilation became clear when he tried to read a memorial book about his father's life, composed in Chinese,
and found himself staring at a blur of indecipherable characters. There in his hands was the measure of his
inheritance. Liu, meanwhile, has watched with both wonder and concern as a pan-ethnic Asian American
identity has taken shape. Here now is a race that offers a new source of roots--but also tightens the hold that
color has upon our minds.
Like so many in the second generation, Liu doesn't know whether to embrace, resist, or redefine assimilation--
and ends up doing all three at once. He speaks candidly about his journey from a fierce pursuit of racelessness to a slow
rapprochement with race. He is not afraid to reveal his ambivalence. At bottom, Liu is an "accidental Asian"--someone who has stumbled upon a sense of race, who is not always sure what to do with it.
         Weaving narrative and analysis into a series of elegant e