5 comments about Jack and Rochelle: A Holocaust Story of Love and Resistance.

1. This is a truly amazing story of human courage. Jack and Rochelle were not only brave enough to run away from their Germany captors, but then spent years living in the woods surviving and fighting back. Even after the Russian liberation and their departure from the woods, Jack and Rochelle fought danger constantly until they could get to an American displaced persons camp. They were such survivors. I can't imagine living through what they did, especially at their young ages.
   
   I read this in a day because I couldn't put it down.



2. Jack and Rochelle Sutin were Jewish and met during WWII. I have read many stories of the holocaust from the perspective of the concentration camp. But never a story like Jack and Rochelle's!! They escaped from the ghetto and hid out it the woods during the war. (Small groups of Jews banded together in the woods.) Sound idyllic? Their existence was horrific, dreadful, and desperate! They were often reduced to being like animals. If a woman arrived pregnant, no one wanted her in their group - a baby is noisy and would be too risky. (If the woman was accepted into the group despite her pregnancy, she was forced to kill her newborn or someone in the group killed it for her.) Jewish women, who were alone and did not find a group of Jews to join, often had to perform sexual favors to find someone to take them in or help them. (Cruel and heartless Russian partisans were the worst offenders!) Despite the absolute horror of this true story, the story of Jack and Rochelle is inspiring. They met in the woods, and survived - overcoming great odds. They later married and came to the USA. The book is also well-written, and is an "easy read" in regards to the writing style.



3. Jack and Rochelle is probably one of the best books I have read in the past 5 yrs. It is truly amazing what they endure during the war and how they survive. There truly isn't any words to describe how much I loved this book. Thank you Jack and Rochelle for writing your experiences! This is a well written and easy to read book. The story is very easy to follow and so important to be read! I hope that everyone has a chance to read this book. It makes you realize you need to be a kinder and more understanding person to others. Hate is an awful thing....and there is still too much of it in our world! Thank you Jack and Rochelle! God bless you both!



4. Ably edited by their son Lawrence, the instructive and inspiring Holocaust narrative of Jack and Rochelle Sutin provides ample proof of both the degradation implicit in the Shoah and the astounding strength and courage Jewish partisans demonstrated in their battle against the attempted Nazi genocide. "Jack and Rochelle" is a deceptively easy book to read; the chapters consist of blended chronological testimonies; Lawrence Sutin honorably avoids imposing his own voice on his parents, instead allowing his mother and father to describe, in their own words, their own cadences, the horrors they faced and the gritty resolve they mustered to fight back. Rarely does a subtitle so accurately depict the contents of a memoir as does their own: "A Holocaust Story of Love and Resistance."

   Both Jack and Rochelle came from educated and enlightened eastern European Jewish families. As the two of them chronicle the onset of anti-Jewish depradations, they remind us of the rich texture of their pre-war lives. This dimension of humanity, of lives complicated by strained love relations, competitive urges and the deeply felt need for independence, makes the Nazi onslaught all the more unsettling and horrific.

   Several themes predominate in the Sutins' braided lives. First is the omnipresence of Jew hatred, whether it be in pre or post war Poland, in the brutally repressive Soviet bureaucracy or the finely honed hatred of Nazi Germany. Indifferent neighbors, vicious anti-Jewish Russian partisans (who commit ghastly sexual offenses against women who want nothing more than to join them in battling a common enemy), and the active participants in human eradication, the Nazis, make the Sutins' world one of constant peril. Survival is never taken for granted, and Jack and Rochelle's descriptions of their physical torment, often undertated, is wrenching to read. Personal sacrifice exists on every level: physical, social and spiritual. Rochelle's first child dies within a day due to exposure when its survival imperils others; Jack is literally covered with pus-filled boils as a result of living outside the boundaries of human habitation.

   Yet, neither Jack or Rochelle never complain, never give themselves away to self-pity. Instead, they are infused with the Judaic command to remember and Rochelle's mother's insistence on revenge, to take action to avenge the murder of their people. In this charged atmosphere of sanguine justice and physical erosion, amidst the rank and fetid habitat of primitive partisan surroundings, hope and love survive. Jack dreams that Rochelle will appear. She does. Despite sexual abuse and spiritual depletion, Rochelle gradually accepts and receives Jack's love. He has never stopped loving her.

   "Jack and Rochelle" is above all a cry of victory. It is a cry that murder and eradication cannot conquer a people. It is a cry that memory and consecration to life will prevail over death. It is a cry that love can endure, even if it is formed in the absolute crucible of death.




5. A true story well told. An uplifting story about the power of love, faith, and self reliance. The unbelievable resiliance of humans to survive and keep their sanity in a world gone crazy. The book does not dwell on the horrors or even give explicit descriptions. The two main characters had a hard enough time and were not physically tortured or held prisoner. They simply hid out and lived in terror for several years until miraculously making their escape to the West. These were two lucky people who nevertheless suffered years of fear and depradation.

5 comments about Blind Ambition: The White House Years.

1. ... it took me nearly 1 year to finish reading this book ... not because I am bored with Watergate ... the book just had sections that just dragged on and on and on and on ... There are a few bits that were very interesting though like how a young person can & did one day find himself the lawyer of the President of the United States. I, too, would prefer to be Lucky than Good.



2. In 1970 John Dean was interviewed as the next counsel to the President; a little over four years later he was in jail. He rose, and fell, by being a willing servant. Dean's office was the center of Nixon's intelligence operation (lawyers have client confidentiality). His story was recreated from documents and taped conversations. Dean was working for the Justice Dept. when he was asked about working at the White House by Bud Krogh. John Mitchell advised him that the WH "was not a healthy place" (p.12). (Was this relatively young lawyer recruited to be a future fall guy?) The expenses for the San Clemente complex had been safely buried in inconspicuous budgets (p.16). Dean joined the WH, and soon learned "to keep my mouth shut" (p.23). Dean learned how interior decorating kept political scores (pp.29-30)! He also learned how to move upwards in influence by traveling downward through power plays, corruption, and outright crimes (p.30). Just as he made it to the top, he actually touched bottom.

   Dean's education began when he read the "Huston Plan", which removed most legal restraints on wiretaps, mail intercepts, and burglaries. J. Edgar hoover vetoed the plan - the risk was greater than the reward (or turf protection?). More mundane matters are listed on pages 39-40. Page 45 tells of his first liability over a burglary. Page 51 tells how Erlichman won his power struggle against Mitchell. The Dita Beard letter is discussed on pages 53-59. J. Edgar Hoover said it was genuine, another action that infuriated the Nixon WH. The next liability was hiding the Town House Operation (pp.59-62). By May 1972 the ITT scandal ended and Kleindienst was confirmed; it looked like the end of the problems. Chapter 3 tells of the Howard Hughes affair. No mention of the Wallace shooting at all; Wallace's removal from the campaign allowed Nixon to win in a landslide. Dean tells the details of political intelligence for Nixon.

   Chapter 4 begins with the burglary at the Watergate. Dean was called for advice, and told to investigate the "plumbers". The most important thing in all this is the friction and conflict among Nixon's men (pp.94-95). When Dean met Liddy they went for a walk outside; was this to avoid bugs (p.96)? If Strachan knew, Haldeman knew, and so did Nixon (p.98). It went up to the top of the chain. Next Strachan came to confess to Dean that he purged Haldeman's files (p.100). Then Sloan called to confess giving "large bundles of cash" to Liddy. Colson disavowed any knowledge or responsibility for Hunt. But Hunt was still on the WH payroll and had an office there (p.103). Page 121 summarizes the problems in defending the Administration, and how Dean hid evidence by turning it over to the FBI (p.122). He then crossed the line into criminal culpability. Dean's personal rapport allowed him access to the warring factions (p.125); but this sucked him into the conspiracy.

   Chapter 5 tells of his new powers: one of the top people, meeting many new women (p.127). The Press ignored the scandal. Dean was "stunned" by Nixon's "bold lies" at a press conference (p.128). Dean was dazed by Nixon's claims (p.129). Later he began to suspect being set up as a fall guy (p.131). Note how a few pawns were sacrificed to save the king (p.133). Page 136 tells about assigning a case to an Nixon appointed judge! Dean's description of Nixon on page 138 suggests a personal problem. Page 143 explains Nixon's concern for civil liberties, and campaign contributions. Page 148 tells of the massive purge planned by Nixon; "he'll regret this" (p.149). Did this plan amount to a power grab? Stans explained his fund raising: wealthy targets owed a fixed percentage of their income (p.158). When Dean looks up "obstruction of justice" he realizes they're all guilty (p.168)! Hunt's missing notebooks were destroyed by Pat Gray (p.171). Then they hear from McCord: "it will be a scorched desert" (p.177). Dean destroyed evidence (p.182). Do you see where this is heading? Dean wrote a very readable book.




3. Nixon will always take the blame for the dishonorable acts of Dean and others. The book is interesting for the authors discussion of how power corrupts. But don't assume that he presents the true facts to us. Certainly G Gordon Liddy says this book is untrueful. Liddy recommends that one read Silent Coupe for the most likely truth.

   Dean occasionally appears on TV as commentator of current events and oftens comes across as a spokeman for the democrate party, that he once ordered others to bug.

   Only for students of the Watergate era.




4. This story is quite interesting. When I first read it, during the 1970s, I bought Mr. Dean's version of events hook, line and sinker -- and boy did he suck me in. He postured himself as someone involved way over his head who ended up being, in effect, a victim. I have concluded that some of the presented details are true, and some are not. The presentation, however, is uniformly riveting.

   Read additional Watergate material for a broader view and better picture. The lesson here is that you can't always believe the story which appears, at first glance, to be the most convincing.




5. I've never learned so much about the unseen world of politics as I have in this one book. George Stephanopolous' book pales in comparison to the amount of insight this book reveals. It's something we've known all along about government - just put into straightforward terms that everyone can understand. None of that NewSpeak politics that we hear about in the mainstream press, that limit our range of thought.

   Anyone who gives this book a bad ranking is a government operative, seeking to hide information from the populace.

   *A*

4 comments about Queen Victoria.

1. this book is a good little read with a overview of the life of queen victoria.



2. Actually, I probably shouldn't review this book as I am more familiar with the approximately 600 page biography of Queen Victoria that the Countess of Longford published in 1965. It is excellent. I only mention this as one reviewer was disappointed by the length of this version. Those seeking a far more in-depth account by the same author should search for QUEEN VICTORIA-BORN TO SUCCEED.



3. I enjoyed reading this book. It gave a good overview of Queen Victoria's life. The information was complete and pertinent.
   
   I also found it to be a very quick read.



4. I was expecting a bigger book, so I was surprised when this whimpy little paperback arrived. It reads more like a textbook, but is full of great information. Highly recommend if you are looking for a fact filled biography.

5 comments about Story of Cole Younger: By Himself (Borealis Books).

1. THIS IS A MUST READ FOR HISTORIANS. ALTHOUGH COLE OMITS SOME OF THE UNLAWFUL EVENTS. IT'S A GREAT AND EASY READ.



2. interesting -- although need to keep in mind that Cole Younger was as big a liar as he was an outlaw.



3. Inside the mind of a Missouri guerrilla, that alone is reason to pick up and read this wonderful first-hand account of a sad and violent time on the Missouri-Kansas border. The events are real and the tempers do not quickly disappear. Both sides considered themselves in the right and some Confederates never truly surrendered though the cause was clearly lost. What happened to those men and women when the fighting was ended by officials? Read and find yourself drawn in to relate to those you may have previously despised.



4. I must recommend this first hand account of Cole's own story. It is not the only story but must always be the most important source and story of someone's life. I would have given this book a 5 as I would have several other books of this time period were it not for the "out-of-place" intro. Someone must have decided that it was important to censor and disclaim Cole's first hand account at the very front of the book. As I have done in the past, I taped these pages of attempted censorship together and noted to subsequent readers my advice on just skipping this questionable intro. Since my books usually get passed around a great deal I felt this was necessary to preserve the great and rare first hand account that Cole provided us of his life.



5. Cole was a cousin of my grandfather and I remember him talking of Cole visiting them after he was released from prison. Therefore, this was a very interesting insite into the person that was Cole Younger. It also gave some information of his background that I did not know before. An interesting look in to the thinking of a person who most people know as a name but not as a person.

1 comments about The First Samurai: The Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel, Taira Masakado.

1. I ordered this book thinking it would be akin to The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori. The book begins promisingly after the subject, Taira Masakado, is killed in battle and his head is paraded to Kyoto and hung in a tree. The author spends some time discussing tales of the dead warrior's remains and retribution for disrespect at the body's last resting place.
   
   However in approximately 140 pages of text the author expends an inordinate amount of space to the histories of those involved in hunting down and punishing Masakado for his illegal revolution, discussions of military equipment and tactics of the Heian era that seem disconnected from the history of the individual, and similar matters. The author struggles with a lack of definitive historical materials and does a poor job of carrying his theme throughout the book. He skips back and forth between historical events relevant to the Masakado uprising and events totally unrelated, at one point even essentially summarizing [[ASIN:0804833184 The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War] a more deftly presented history of events about a century later. It is almost as if the author is seeking filler because there's not enough about his subject to fill a book.
   
   In the end I'm not sure there's any basis for the title, "First Samurai," because the author does not make it the central theme of the book. Instead he starts at the end, recites chronological events of about a three year period disjointedly, and ends with Masakado's death and the delivery of his head to Kyoto, where he started the book. Throughout the author is easily distracted, following tale after tale, forgetting his thesis.
   
   I cannot recommend the book to any but the most avid Japanese History readers who have a foundation in Japanese history that allows them to follow the twists and turns of this author. Even then I suspect there are better reads in Japanese History they have not yet read.

5 comments about Tom Paine: A Political Life (Grove Great Lives).

1. This is the kind of biography that makes reading history worthwhile. The writing style is intelligent and clear, marshalling innumerable facts and interesting anecdotes. It gives us the full scope of Paine's remarkable life - a man who was one of the intellectual midwives at the birth of the era of democratic revolution.
   
   He fought for free political expression as a citizen of three countries in the throes of revolutionary change: born in England where he fought against monarchy, moved to America where he became a writer of inspirational tracts for independence, and finally, made citizen of France during the violence of the Revolution where he argued, at great risk to himself, to spare the life of King Louis XVI. If his positions seem contradictory they actually reflect a philosophy of consistant political moderation.
   
   Secondly, this biography is a story about the struggle to realize ideas against great odds. Everywhere he went he was fortunate to escape death at the hands of his murderous foes. In spite of these threats, Paine fought tirelessly for his ideals.
   
   Thirdly, the author gives contempory meaning to Paine's goals. Paine was against religious literalism because he saw the adherence to strict doctrine as an obstacle to extablishing a civic society in which people could live together harmoniously.
   This position was a cause of much suffering for Paine at the end of his life as his anti-traditional ideas incited deep personal hatred. Without needing to conclude whether he was misguided or not, suffice to say, the difficulty he tried to tackle remains with us today...in the headlines. And I don't think we've come all that far in solving the problem he recognized. That he saw its importance at the inception of modern civic society makes him a visionary of the highest importance worthy of our respect whether we agree with the totality of his ideas or not.



2. An interesting biography, heavily- if not well- researched. Partisan, but Keane does manage a bit of perspective. The main problems come with the background. There is both too much - I for one could do without the often inaccurate disquisitions on eighteenth-century England - and too much WRONG. Keane seems to think that Britain and America were at war in 1787, and that Adam Smith visited Paris at that time (p.284-5). Hobbes is both more and less than a 'philosopher of counterrrevolution.'
   Furthermore, it seems a man only had to bump into Paine for Keane to count him a 'close friend'. What was the extent of Paine's friendship with Goldsmith (this is interesting) and with Burke (very important)?
   I get the impression that Keane did all his research for the book and had no grounding in the subject before. But it's an engrossing read for all that.



3. As I read this book, I couldn't help but think, where is the Tom Paine of our time? The insights that Tom Paine had are needed today more than ever.



4. Crackerjack biography of Old Tom (Paine) in the four stages of his life, from his early years in England til Ben Franklin advises him to reach America, the period of _Common Sense_ and the American Revolt, then the _Rights of Man_ and the French Revolution, and finally his return to America, where the reputation of the _Age of Reason_ caught up with him, and his great early popularity was replaced with the jibes of those in a suddenly religious republic, whose liberties were won by more secular sorts (cf. Gordon Wood's book on the Revolution, such as Paine. It is a sad ending to a magnificent tale for a true champion of freedom, one who brought the democratic idea to a republican experiment in constitutions. The phenomenal nature of the sales of his books, whose profits he renounced in the name of his cause, is an episode almost world-historical in its seminal influence. Paine's trek is also a classic snapshot of the 'classic' liberal in his revolutionary phase, and the subtleties of great tomes politcal philosophy seem prefigured in the sheer horse-sense of this man who saw the gist of it all, and somehow at a glance. Witness his instinctive in the spectral course of the French Revolution from the Girondins to the Terror to the dungeons, which he survived. It may finally be that his reputation has recovered at last its nineteenth century shadows where the truest of patriots was consigned.



5. I will admit that I was not immediately enamored with this book. The luciferous introduction on Keane's predecessors in Paineite biography was engaging enough, but I found his systematic, nit-picky demolition of each work to be just plain egotistical. In Keane's eyes, each previous biography "failed" or "floundered" for various reasons, thereby opening a window for his own, earth-shattering tome on the subject. Granted, it has become common practice for authors to "justify" their reasons for writing "yet another biography on _______" in the preface of their books, but this sort of self-serving, hypercritical overview left me with a seriously bad taste in my mouth. I seriously worried that the 540 pages that followed would be tinctured with the same sort of pomposity - thankfully that was not the case.
   

   
   The book is a solid biography, and I can very well see Paine enthusiasts flocking to this as one of the best biographies ever written about him. As this is the only biography of him I've read, I'll reserve my judgment on that question, but I will admit that it is an exceptional study of a peculiar man. What the general public knows of Paine is often just his authorship of Common Sense, but of course there was so much more. He penned not one but three of the best-selling books of the 18th century, and, arguably, he initiated modern political thought on the subject of democratic republicanism. Paine was born an Englishman but for most of his life considered himself a "citizen of the world," which prompted a major change in how we view national citizenship - no so much as a gift from the state, as was the 18th century perception, but rather a promise from it to preserve certain rights indigenous to its people. Yet despite his cosmopolitan leanings, Paine managed to ostracize himself from all three countries in which he declared citizenship - England, France and America - thanks to his revolutionary ideals and his fervent insistence on airing his views publicly regardless of their popularity. He would eventually face public execution in both England and France - the story of his brush with death in La Luxembourg prison during the French Reign of Terror is decidedly spine-tingling - but would survive both to end up back in America, ostracized by the generation that remembered him, and nearly forgotten by the generation that followed.
   

   
   Keane doesn't devolve into hero-worship, despite several initially-worrisome hyperbolic descriptions of him as "the greatest American revolutionary." Instead, the author deals with each of Paine's failings in a forthright manner. Paine was certainly a man driven by ego, though certainly an ego unaffected by cares for money, power, or public approbation. To put it simply, he just knew he was right, and he would never back down from any of his arguments, regardless of their popularity. Even his most unpopular anti-Christian sentiments displayed in the Age of Reason could not be moved, despite the efforts of many to make him recant on his deathbed. As for Paine's legendary alcoholism, Keane suggests it was just that - a legend. According to Keane, Paine never drank to excess when in social situations. He only drank himself into stupors later on in life when the pain of gout and bedsores became unbearable. This may or may not have been the case - I lean towards may not - but in the end it is of comparatively little importance when calculating the worth of a man whose ideas have arguably shaped many of our own modern ideas on government and civil rights.
   

   
   All told, the biography earns four stars from me on a scale of five. The rating falls short of the final star more because of style than substance. Keane's prose is certainly readable, and in most cases enjoyable, but it was a bit dry and academic for my tastes in several places. On top of that there was some strange editorial snafus, including several instances of sloppy repetition and an imprecise policy of when and when not to translate from the original French. In one chapter Keane includes an entire paragraph of French extracted from a letter (p. 405), with no accompanying translation, and yet in the next he feels it necessary to include a parenthetical translation of the decidedly uncomplicated Dissertations sur les Premiers Principes de Gouvernement as, surprisingly, or not, "Dissertations on the First Principles of Government" (p. 423).
   

   
   Regardless of my editorial trifles, the book is strong and well recommended to anyone interested in picking up a book on the life and works of Tom Paine. You'll find his life, in many respects, reads like an adventure novel, and his ideas on government and society are surprisingly, shockingly, modern.

5 comments about The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House.

1. I was reminded of Pete Seger's classic song while reading this book. Douglas Brinkley offers a fascinating examination into Jimmy Carter's post-presidential achievements, showing the many reasons why Carter should have long before been considered for a Nobel Peace Prize. The former president has been a tireless promoter of peace around the world, whether it is election-monitoring in Nicaragua, two-track diplomacy between Israel and Palestine, or fighting diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. The man had long been an international symbol of peace, extolling all the positive aspects of Christian goodwill, before finally earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. One is simply left awestruck by the width and breadth of his accomplishments through the Carter Center, Habitat for Humanity and many other organizations he either created or promoted in the 20+ years since he left office.
   
   Brinkley takes Carter up to 1998, a time that offered much hope in finally establishing a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. The Middle East had long been Carter's most personal interest, having formed a heart-felt friendship with Anwar Sadat during the famous Camp David Accords. I was surprised to learn that it was Carter who made Arafat a player in the Peace Process, by reaching out to him and bringing him to the table when the first Bush administration had virtually ignored teh Palestinian leader. Clinton deserved a lot of credit for the lengthy peace talks between Israel and the Palestine Authority but it was Carter who did much of the groundwork in bringing these talks about.
   
   The chapters revolve around specific achievements and Carter's relationships with the various presidential administrations that followed his. It was interesting to read that Carter established such a close bond with Gerald Ford, who joined him on numerous international projects and even a few domestic projects, although the two often didn't see eye to eye on political matters. Brinkley notes how Carter was never able to break through Reagan's teflon exterior, but had a good working relationship with the Bush administration until the fallout over the Persian Gulf War, which Carter refused to accept. He and Clinton managed to form a good working relationship despite the many differences in their personalities. Clinton stole a number of pages from the Carter playbook, relied on many of his same advisors, but ended up tripping over himself on many occasions because he refused to take Carter's advice.
   
   Many view Carter's administration as a failure, but Brinkley notes the framework that was laid during that time, and how Jimmy Carter followed through on many of the initiatives he set in those four short years. Most impressive are his achievements in world health, spearheading efforts to rid the world of small pox, guineau worm and other maladies that needed his clout to get the money necessary for their eradication. Most important was Carter's political will, which seemed undaunted despite the setback he suffered in losing the 1980 election to his nemesis, Ronald Reagan.
   
   I think anyone with an interest in Jimmy Carter will greatly appreciate this book as it puts his many accomplishments in perspective and illustrates how he earned the respect of many persons across political and international boundaries, even begrudging respect from such persons as George Bush, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger. You may not agree with everything Carter has done, but his integrity is unimpeachable.



2. Only made it thru the first few chapters, but he describes Ford as someone who sent 18 men to their death for political gain. He describes Reagan as an unprincipled and deeply immoral man, and suggests the Cold War was won because Reagan followed Carter's policies. He largely endorses the idea that Reagan's team conspired with Iran to keep the hostages until Carter was out of office. He repeats without disclaimer Carter's claim that he could have won re-election if he had been willing to bomb Iran (apparently, we Americans are a bunch of bloodthirsty idiots who would have supported such an action).
   
   Given Brinkley's unbridled venom for any Republican, it is going to be hard to believe any of the rest of the book.
   
   ---Edit: although I cannot change my star rating to 3, I found Brinkley's fawning reassuring - it meant the duplicitous and arrogant behavior of Carter perhaps unwittingly revealed in the book to be the result of Carter's nature and not biographer bias. If this is the sort of book an unabashed supporter of Carter writes, then one wonders what a truly unbiased account will someday say. Overall, the best of the books on Carter I've read so far - as my own review shows, Carter is difficult to view objectively.



3. This is a biography of Jimmy Carter from the time he lost the election to Ronald Reagan in 1980 to 1997. Brinkley attempts to show how Carter, though no longer a resident of the White House, took much of the Presidency with him in terms of what interested him and the power he still might wield in having an influence on world affairs. Carter got very involved in trying to help resolve conflicts around the world, from Panama and Haiti to North Korea and Bosnia. So focused on peace (and some might say the ever-elusive Nobel Peace Prize), Carter often could be a fly in the ointment of US policy, driving presidents (especially Clinton) up the wall. Carter is a micromanager, needing to know every detail. He is also a tireless worker, especially for what he perceives to be just causes. He has always put his faith above all other things, and might rank as the most decent public official Washington has seen in a long time, or can expect to see again. Brinkley is totally pro-Carter in all respects, though he is willing to point out how and where Carter got himself into trouble along the way. An interesting book about an interesting man.



4. Jimmy Carter is usually considered a mediocre president at best, totally incompetent at worst. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book lists his presidential successes and goes on to show how they led to his influential post-presidential activities. We now can see Jimmy Carter for what he truly is, a human rights champion and a shining example to us all.



5. Regardless of how one feels about Jimmy Carter the fact is that he has become one of the most admired men in the United States and one of the most beloved Americans in the world. He left office after being voted out in a landslide and with some of the worst poll numbers in history. Now, his poll numbers are very high and any time a conservation turns to Carter someone will almost certainly say that they think Carter is the best ex-President we have ever had or the most moral man to have been in the White House in years and years. This turn around occurred in less than twenty years, and that the turn around occurred is a fact not open to question. The real question is; how and why did it happen?

   That's the question Douglas Brinkley attempts to answer with this book. Brinkley basically starts with Carter's 1980 defeat and follows Carter's career for the next twenty years. On this journey the reader will meet Jimmy Carter the Baptist missionary, the Habitat carpenter, the lay physician out to heal the world, and the ex-President who refuses to profit from his former office but is at the same time a tireless fund raiser for his Carter Center. We also get to see the tireless diplomat who is willing to put himself in great personal danger to try and secure a peaceful resolution to conflicts around the world. This is truly a man who takes to heart his faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ. On the other hand we also see a somewhat darker side of the former peanut farmer. We see an ego as big as all outdoors, a tendency to grandstand, a self-righteous zealot, and a serious stubborn streak. The reader will also find a great clue in Carter's post presidency to the failure of his administration. The aforementioned faults of course did not help his presidential efforts but it may well have been his inability to prioritize that lead to his political downfall. It seems that Carter will give small details and events the same attention he gives to massive undertakings without taking into account the real importance of the event. One can easily see how a President with this trait would very quickly become bogged down and accomplish very little.

   Brinkley does an excellent job of telling this remarkable story. He had access to both President and Mrs. Carter along with their papers and also did many interviews with their fellow workers and friends. Interestingly, many of the people who had worked with Carter on some of his projects critiqued some of the draft chapters and pointed out mistakes. Make no mistake, most of these people are Carter intimates but steadfast Republican James Baker is also among those who offered both insights and critiques. The writing style that is found in this book is generally easy to read although the narrative does seem to drag in places. The biggest fault I could find in this book is the printing. I read the paperback version and the printing is tiny. I suppose that in discussing Jimmy Carter, Biblical type print is understandable but it still hurts the eyes. Still, this book is well worth the effort so break out the bifocals and enjoy.

5 comments about The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes.

1. This particular book is the BEST bio of Pancho Barnes.
   
   She was quite a figure. Some of the ranchier parts are left out by others who mention her.
   
   This book appears to be matter-of-fact and complete, including the horrors of her solitary death cooped up with dozens of hungry yorkies, etc (you get the picture).
   
   The seller offered this book at a very good price.
   They shipped it well and quickly.
   
   If anything, it was in better (tip top) shape than I expected.



2. The only thing you can say to yourself when you finish "The Happy Bottom Riding Club" is Wow, what a life!

   This book takes you into the fantasy like life of Florence "Pancho" Barnes. She had one heck of a life and it is certainly fun to read about it. From the cross country flying races to the rowdy parties packed with Hollywood celebrities and flying aces, Pancho Barnes did it all.

   How many women are considered among the pioneers of aviation? How many women got to hang out with Jimmy Doolittle? How many women had direst access to military brass? How many women as influential as Pancho Barnes could get away with what amounted to a brothel in the middle of the desert?

   Throughout her entire life, Pancho seemed to be in the right place at the right time. She had her share of defeats and problems (she was not much of a looker), but she remains a very interesting woman, and the stories of her experiences are even better.

   I am not an aviation or history buff, but I do enjoy a good book. This is a good book and I definitely enjoyed it. I think most people will too.




3. A thoroughly enjoyable biography about a wild and adventurous woman. I have heard so much about Pancho in my flying career and my aviation studies. It was nice to know the whole story. I would have loved to have met Pancho. Perhaps, I'm glad I didn't. I know I'm glad I read this book! Enjoy! CAVU! Dash



4. This book is MUST READ for anyone interested in the histories of aviation, of the 1920s, of Los Angeles, of the California desert, and of Edwards Air Force Base in particular. Pancho Barnes is a larger-than-life character. A slightly sad one, in a way, since she spent her way out of fortune into poverty; but, wow, if you are going to burn the candle at both ends, this is the way to do it. Flying booze in from Mexico during probihition, stunt riding for Hollywood movies (and the Foursquare Gospel), barnstorming the country, giving daily parties for the earliest movie stars, and then providing round-the-clock R&R for all the Right Stuff pilots in the earliest days of experimental jet and rocket flight. Pancho knew how to live it up, tell a story, and deliver a line, and fortunately was appreciated and looked after in her declining years by the pilots she had entertained in the 40s and 50s. This story has hardly even been told (one TV movie was ridiculous) and is still largely esoteric knowledge to the fraternity of pilots.



5. Pancho Barnes is undeniably an incredible character in aviation history. But this book could have done a better job telling her story. The narrative was extremely repetitious, stating certain character traits over and over again, as if the reader had forgotten them. There wasn't enough detail; certain events that seemed important were glossed over or mentioned in passing as if the author hadn't done her homework.

   But the worst part of the book (for me) was the author's statement that Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean nonstop. Anyone knowledgeable about aviation knows that this feat was accomplished in 1919 by Alcock and Brown in a Vickers Vimy biplane. Almost 100 aviators crossed the Atlantic BEFORE Lindbergh. This statement, which was so matter-of-fact yet so incorrect, makes me wonder how many other "facts" the author got wrong.

5 comments about Hemingway in Love and War: The Lost Diary of Agnes Von Kurowsky.

1. It is no secret that Ernest Hemingway went to Italy in 1918 with a volunteer ambulance unit, was wounded in the leg, and had an affair with one of the nurses (Agnes Von Kurowsky) while recovering in a hospital. (Many of the scenes in his A FAREWELL TO ARMS are based on these experiences.) This volume contains her diary and letters she wrote to him at the time (his letters to her are lost), as well as a few other pieces. One significant revelation is that it seems their relationship was platonic: when Agnes broke it off she said she felt more like "a mother than a sweetheart" (she was also 7 years older than he was). The letters reveal interesting insights into who Hemingway was at a time before the macho aura completely took over his personality. A so-so movie was based on this book.



2. Its just really a deep analyse of the dream in Ernest his life.
   I agree agree totally with Dr. Verheyen:

   Hemingway and (the false) Agnes in projection of real life!.

   Romance of oné site (Ernest Hemingway anyway).

   I am doctorating in psychology in beautiful Rome: Italy.

   I live back in New York City (after my doctorating?).




3. As a Dr. in Psychology, I can antherstand Hemingway and obvious Agnes. I suppose this romance was to beautiful to hold stand!. Anyway I antherstand 1961( Ernest did suicide WITH Agnes her letters next to him) AFTER 4 TRYING? to forget Agnes! MARRIAGE'S. This prover real eternity love exists, only both have to FORGIVE, and that's the hard way (I do know personnell). They were really made for each other, sad, so sad: stubborn Ernie and WHY?. Dr. Patrick Verheyen (U.S. Graduated ;-).



4. Please, does anyone knows if the book "Hemingway, in love and war" has been traslated in italian?. Thank you very much, Massimo.



5. After seeing the movie "In Love and War" with Sandra Bullock and Chris O'Donnell, I was left wanting to learn more of the events of this tragic love story. The book clued me in to the actual events that led to the affair and the events that occured afterwards and the truth was actually more tragic than the movie had let on. I was once involved in a romance with a much younger man, he was 18 and I was 24, and there was so much passion but eventually the fantasy fades and reality sets in and sometimes you make decisions that at the time seem like the most sane but later on wonder "what if....?" This book is for anyone who has ever loved and lost. A must read for every romantic.

1 comments about High Latitudes: An Arctic Journey.

1. A sad book. High Latitudes focuses on the disintegrating culture of North Canadian Natives. Much of the book is transcription of the natives in their own words and gives excellent insight into their plight. An overriding theme of the book is the devastating effect bureaucratic decisions of government and big business has had on these Inuits (Eskimos) and others.

   This wasn't the adventure story I was expecting from Farley Mowat like "People of the Deer" in which he lived with an arctic community. This trip, taken in 1966, he travels by plane. Still none the less an adventure, he keenly describes a variety of northern communities including: Churchill ("a ...collection of mostly wooden structures between taiga and open tundra"), Povungnituk (the place that stinks), Old Crow (where "people catch lots of rats, won't let you go hungry there"), and many others. In typical fashion, Farley Mowat creates a gripping pathos about past cultures and events never to return, and often includes rich historical background for places he explores.

   If you're a Farley Mowat fan, I would rate this as important but not as engaging as some of his other books (I've read four others: "People of the Deer", "And No Birds Sang", "Never Cry Wolf", and "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float"). The book ends somewhat abruptly but he saves a great anecdote from the Yukon Territory for the end. A frustrating aspect about the events you read about in this book is that they took place in the sixties. I'd like to know how these settlements he visited have done since then. I'll probably never know.