5 comments about Confessions of a Yakuza: A Life in Japan's Underworld.

1. There is much to like about this book - it simply taking place in Japan, a culture so different than the United States, makes it interesting; another layer of interest is in the time frame, which begins in the early 1900s; and, of course, the most obvious twist of all is in its exploration of the organized crime syndicate, the Yakuza. It is important to have an account of the sort of life one would live under these circumstances in that far from the Hollywood presentation we've grown accustomed to, this tells the story very honestly and without much glamor. On the other hand, it is told in a retrospective, anecdotal fashion; as this is not a Yakuza boss's memoir but the story of a Yakuza boss's life as narrated to another, recorded on tape and transcribed to text, it loses much of the emotion and immediacy that it would have if told in the moment. Its being narrated to another presents us only with pieces of a larger picture, as well - Eiji's prison terms, military conscription and time spent as a night boatman, transporting people through the darkness, hidden from the eyes of the corrupt police force, for example, could have multiple chapters devoted to them, but instead we only get one or two of the most interesting anecdotes of each. The darker parts of the biography detailing murders and men selling their wives so as to keep up their gambling habits are disturbing but detached; one chapter ends with the sentence "It's pretty frightening, really, when you think about it...." which I think sums up the feeling pretty well - we shake our heads but do not feel truly disturbed, as we might if the story were presented in a different voice. Though the editor's note explains that he removed some of the more confusing and tedious parts, I doubt that this would alter the feeling that we are simply getting a few glimpses at a much larger picture. Another gripe is that some of the humor gets lost in translation, and when someone tries to make a joke, simply the way it is phrased ruins it. For example, the gambler Tsukada Saburo tells him, "Well, making things is just my line - I can even make babies with other men's wives! - and this was a cinch for me." I'm sure that you get the idea. But that is a small flaw, and the book as a whole, while not being entirely enveloping or emotionally gripping, is still very interesting and enjoyable, and worth a read for sure.



2. A great way to look into the yakuza world and not have Hollywood mucking it up. I recently did some research on the yakuza and out of all the books I read, this one was by far one of the best. Even though he's kind of recounting tales to this doctor, the story is still very involved and engrossing. A great read!



3. it is a great book that combines history and the orginazied crime family that played a large part of many people's lives. It is an insider view of a world that very few knows exists.



4. Somehow, I thought this would be some blood drenched melodrama, and along the way I would learn a thing or two about the Yakuza way.
   
   But this book was far more subtle and deeply real. It is clear that in the old days, a good Yakuza boss keep a low profile and maintained good connections with his community. All of this is very subtly and carefully portrayed. Many times, it is his careful and diplomatic efforts that yield some of the best results.
   
   And yet, his story is underscored by how he lived outside of society often times. On top of all this, it conveys a time in Japan long ago, and did so very graphically.
   
   All in all, an very good book.



5. It may sound odd that I use the word honor in the context of a gangster which is exactly what the yakuza were and are, but the man profiled here is completely old school in all its best connotations. Essentially, the background concerns a very old man about to die who tells his story to the random doctor who happens to examine him. The interviews are conducted over a series of weeks and they occur at the yakuza's home. To say that he lived in interesting times is definitely an understatement. Most of the action occurs before World War II, and, in those days, being a yakuza meant only running gambling houses. To do anything else was beneath them. One can see why the police were rather tolerant in regards to their general operations in light of this eventuality. The man described here eventually became the head of a local branch of the brotherhood, but the stories of his rise and his ever-so-complicated interactions with women were what most impressed this reviewer. This was a pretty fantastic read, and its value is all the greater should you be rather ignorant about Japan (as was the case with this reviewer).

3 comments about Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky: His Life and Legacy.

1. Saul David Alinsky, the subject of this biography, is oft written about but rarely presented without the bias of the writer leaking through. Alinsky's life was, by design, controversial. He maddened, inspired, angered and incited. Who can blame his critics from all sides of the political spectrum from having a last go at it now that he's gone.
   That being said, Horwitt's biography presents Alinsky in the clearest and fullest light of any who have undertaken this difficult chronicling. He does not get in the way of the wonderful stories and experiences that made up Alinsky's life. He brings alive Alinsky and the world he helped shape.



2. Saul Alinsky was a complex and colorful man of great integrity and a civic activist with world-wide influence. Dedicated to empowering the politically weak and unorganized, Alinsky is rightly credited as the founder of community self-help. In this highly readable account, we come to appreciate Alinsky's empathic genius and his flair for showmanship. He had an uncanny personal gift for discerning which acts of protest would get attention and results, as well as an ability to teach others some of the tricks of the trade. Of all the anecdotes in the book, perhaps the most memorable concerns the time that young Alinsky was hauled before his rabbi for socking a kid who had beat up his own best friend. Alinsky excuses his behavior as "eye for an eye", and part of the "American way". His rabbi's answer is memorable. "You think you're a man because you do what everyone else does. Now I want to tell you something the great Rabbi Hillel said: 'Where there are no men, be thou a man.' I want you to remember that." And Alinsky did.



3. Saul Alinsky, a complex and colorful man of great integrity and a civic activist with world-wide influence, deserves more than one biography. More than any other person, Alinsky was dedicated to empowering others and is rightly credited as the founding father of community self-help. In this highly readable account, we come to appreciate Alinsky's empathic genius and his flair for showmanship. He had an uncanny personal gift for discerning which acts of protest would get attention and results, as well as an ability to teach others some of the tricks of the trade. Of all the anecdotes in the book, perhaps the most memorable concerns the time that young Alinsky was hauled before his rabbi for socking a kid who had beat up his own best friend. Alinsky excuses his behavior as "eye for an eye" and part of the "American way." His rabbi's response is memorable. "You think you're a man because you do what everybody does. Now I want to tell you something the great Rabbi Hillel said: 'Where there are no men, be thou a man.' I want you to remember that.'" And Alinsky did.

5 comments about Elizabeth & Leicester: Power, Passion, Politics.

1. I loved this book, its very detailed and goes into the real lives of the people, inculding their letters . If you love real history, not fiction, this is the book for you. Loved it. For real Tudor buffs!!!



2. Gives the account of the ever-interesting relationship between Elizabeth I and her Master of the Horse, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. If you love Elizabeth, you will LOVE this analysis on her famous, and sometimes infamous relationship. Very interesting section analyzing Amy Dudley's death and her possible murder/suicide/accidental death...



3. 
   With the primary documents basically known and castles and historic sites fully documented, 21st century writers are providing general readers with more focus on specific aspects of Tudor history and more interpretation. Recently I've read : The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire, Edward VI: The Lost King of England and After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England These books, like this one, are devoted entirely to a particular aspect of a Tudor reign (or as in the case of one, the end of the Tudor reigns).
   
   Gristwood zeros in on the unique relationship of Elizabeth and Leicester who has been euphemistically called her "favorite". Griswold explores what this might be a euphemism for. There are lots of possibilities, but the author sticks with what is documented and what is credible. She also sticks with her focus, and brings in issues and people only as they relate to her main subject.
   
   I did not know of Leicester's role in sending Mary of Scotland her second husband, nor his role in Elizabeth's French flirtations. I knew of the death of his wife, Amy, but nothing of the other two women in his life. While I had assumed his motives in this royal romance, I never considered his emotional state as he waited for Elizabeth with whom he had shared the experiences of having a beheaded parent. Gristwood, who has obviously poured over every word related to these two as a couple, interprets her findings in a wonderfully readable way.
   
   I eagerly await the many more of these focused Tudor histories, that I presume are in the works. I'm guessing that the next generation of writing will provide more psychological analyis. Some of the topics are suggested by this book. They could be how the royals and their courtiers respond to the socially repressive dangers of the times or how their behavior or political posture results from the trauma in their respective families. One such interesting history could be a serious study of the Essex revolt through a psychological lens.



4. Sarah Gristwood's new book is good, especially for understanding Elizabeth's relationship with her chief favorite, Robert Dudley, later Earl of Leicester.
   
   Gristwood tells the familiar story of Elizabeth's background and upbringing, and the not-so-familiar one of Dudley's. His father and grandfather were supporters of Edward VI and Henry VII, and were executed for their pains. The narrative picks up with earnest at Elizabeth's accession and appointment of Dudley as Master of the Horse. Rumors soon began about the queen's relationship with him, and Dudley's wife died in mysterious circumstances not too long after. Gristwood evenhandedly examines the possible explanations for her death, and with plenty of hedging, suggests that Cecil was the main beneficiary.
   
   Immediately after his wife's death, Dudley fell out of favor with Elizabeth for some time. Reconciliation followed, as did many more fallings out and reconciliations. Her many suitors were a source of conflict (and Dudley was one of them), as were the ladies at court who caught his eye and that he secretly married or promised to marry. Nevertheless, Dudley was at Elizabeth's side through most of her reign, influential and supportive, resented and admired.
   
   But this book is also disappointing in some ways. There are passages where so many rhetorical questions are used that the implications aren't clear; and awkward modern phrases occasionally intrude (e.g., regarding the birth of his long-awaited heir: "emotionally he must have been in the money"). Charts of family connections would also have been useful, especially for the Dudleys and Elizabeth's maternal relations.
   
   This subject is timely, what with all the recent interest in Elizabeth I and her favorites (Leicester and Essex respectively in the two parts of the HBO miniseries with Helen Mirren, Elizabeth I; and Leicester and Raleigh in the two movies with Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth (Spotlight Series) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age). For an introduction to Elizabeth's life and reign, I prefer Christopher Hibbert's The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius of the Golden Age. I recommend Sarah Gristwood's book for thorough collectors of Elizabethan material, or for people specifically interested in Leicester himself (books about him are somewhat hard to come by, but Derek Wilson's The Uncrowned Kings of England: The Black History of the Dudleys and the Tudor Throne is an alternative).



5. Fun-to-read book about the romance of Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester. There seemed to be a lot of information compiled from many sources to make this a fascinating "tell-all" which is no small feat considering the limitations of digging up such old records which were often all but scarce. This book not only showed Queen Elizabeth I as a woman who could love, but also showed her intelligence in using her head as well as her heart to make her relationships work also to her advantage as queen and for love of her country and able to keep Leicester loyal to the crown until his death. The author did a great job.

5 comments about The Reign Of Napoleon Bonaparte.

1. "The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte" is the second volume on the life of Napoleon by Robert Asprey. Volume One was entitled "The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte" covering his life from his birth in 1769 on Corsica to his victory at Austerlitz in 1085. That volume ends with Napoleon as the crowned emperor. All is well with the emperor!
   In this final volume we see Napoleon meet his Waterloo as he is soundly defeated by Lord Wellington and the allies on June 18, 1815. Napoleon, who had earlier escaped from captivity on Elba where he had been exiled since his defeat at the Battle of the Nations, spent the last six years of his life on the South Sea island of St. Helena. Here Napoleon spent six miserable years of ennui, physical ailments and relatively harsh treatment from his English captors. His disdain for the governor of the ilsand Hudson Lowe was mutual. A sad end for the man who had made the great nations of Europe live in fear of the Grande Armee's military juggernaut.
   Asprey briefly covers the major battles of this period. If you wish to study them in greater depth turn to David Chandler or John Elting's fine works on these huge and bloody confrontations. Asprey is good in superficially covering Napoleon's many amours including the sexy Marie
   Walewski of Poland as well as his second wife Marie of Austria. Napoleon divorced the unfaithful Josephine but loved her until her death in 1814.
   This book is a good introduction to the life and career of France's most famous political/military man. Napoleon was complex, hot-headed and
   a man who had trouble dealing with the hand played him by Madame Fate.This
   is a readable book. The maps included are minimal and poorly drawn. The period illustrations are well reproduced. It is a good book worthy to have a place on the bookshelves of miltary history buffs.



2. Robert Asprey has written an outstanding biography about one of the world's greatest (or infamous) leaders.
   
   Not drenched in military minutia or battlefield granularity, this 2nd volume presents a balanced and fair overview of the man and his leadership of France.
   
   Asprey's literary style is entertaining and brisk. If you're looking for a bio that'll provide you with a solid foundation about how Napolean impacted Europe and the World -- you can't go wrong here.



3. This is part two of the best biography of Napoleon that I have read. It is a focus on political and military history but does a decent job of covering the social aspects of napoleon's reforms. This book really focuses on the Napoleonic empire and its eventual fall. It also covers his return to power and does an excellent job of presenting the information clearly. The prose is well done and really makes for quick and interesting reading. This is a must have for anyone studying this era.



4. I agree with Mr. Brooks' negative review on "Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte," by Robert Asprey. It would be comparable to reading a biography of Babe Ruth that was written by studying the box scores. The book has hardly anything about Napoleon's persona, which is promised in the preface, and important events are trivialized and hardly mentioned. After reading this and learning almost nothing, I opened a copy of Emil Ludwig's biograpy of Napoleon, written in 1926, which I had picked up years ago. Ludwig's book is much better.



5. The second volume of Asprey's biography of Napoleon makes the same error of the first one: he focuses entirely on Napoleon's military career while virtually ignoring every other aspect of the man's life. Asprey has billed his book as an attempt to see the whole Napoleon, but in this he fails. Napoleon's personal life, his domestic policies in France, his philosophy, are passed over with scarely a mention.

   Furthermore, even in covering Napoleon's military career, Asprey falls short. The section on the crossing of the Danube River during the 1809 Austrian Campaign, one of the most fascinating events in Napoleon's career, is covered in a confusing and slipslod manner, leaving the reader utterly at a loss to what actually happened. The Battle of Dresden, a massive engagement which lasted two days and was Napoleon's last major victory, is mentioned only in passing, without even a full sentence devoted to it. Overall, the writing gives the impression of an author in a hurry to meet a deadline, unable to carefully edit and correct his work.

   This work fails in its stated purpose to present a full view of Napoleon's life, its writing style is somewhat sloppy and overall the book fails to impress.

3 comments about Surviving the Slaughter: The Ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire (Women in Africa and the Diaspora).

1. I love this book but I am sickened by its content. I'm willing to bet that few people reading "Surviving the Slaughter" have ever had a bad year that adds up to just one day of Marie Beatrice Umutesi's many bad days depicted in this memoir. This is the story of the incredible hardship and endless courage and stamina of a lone woman who, miraculously, lived to tell her tale.
   
   Why didn't we in the USA know more about this genocide? In New York City I am surrounded by the "survivors" of the WTC attack on 9/11/01 and constantly assaulted by their self-serving weeping and wailing. If one half the population of New York City had died on 9/11/01 the numbers would begin to equal the slaughter of this one genocide in Rwanda. Reading this book definitely gives the reader a context within which to judge the relative impact and importance of current events.
   
   Having read my share of translations I must tip my hat to Julia Emerson for bringing this memoir to the attention of the English speaking world by making such a clear, readable and intelligent translation.



2. At one time an African nation composed of two large tribes has a slaughter, a genocide. The people in power, let's call them Tribe 1, decided to eliminate the Tribe 2. A few years later Tribe 2 has gained power so began the slaughter/genocide of Tribe 1.
   
   In this book Tribe 1 is the Huto, Tribe 2 is the Tutsi. Unfortunately this is a story so often repeated that the names almost do not matter. This could have been any of a number of countries.
   
   And the countries do not have to be in Africa. We had the Holocaust in Germany, Ethnic Clensing in what was left of Yugoslavia. We've had people seemingly going nuts as they did in China's Cultural Revolution. And then there are places like Israel, Northern Ireland and oh so many more.
   
   The story though keeps coming back to Africa. Taking place in the mid 1990's, this is a story of Africa, its leadership, such as it is. And it's a story of Africa before AIDS.
   
   The story in this book is a story of the survival of a Huto woman at the hands of the Tutsi. It's a story of struggle against terrible odds -- and she made it.



3. This is the tragic and triumphant autobiography of a Rwandan Hutu woman who, after living for a couple of years as an internally displaced person in Rwanda and then surviving the horrific conditions in the camps that were - illegally - set up in by the UN in Zaire within shelling distance of the Rwandan border and further down the road in the death camp at Tingi Tingi, decided, along with tens of thousands of others to try to escape from the murderous attacks of Kagame's RPF, UN bounty hunters and Kabila's troops by taking to the roads in an effort to find a way out of the country. She took around ten children, none of them her own, with her and tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to keep them alive during months of trekking through trackless tropical forests during the rainy season, walking barefoot on blistering roads, eating whatever they could scavenge in the deserted villages along the way.
   
   We have heard a lot about the tragedy of the Tutsi genocide in 1994. What we haven't heard, partly because the press has been manipulated by the current Tutsi regime in Rwanda and partly because the U. S. continues to count on Kagame to keep our access open to the minerals in Congo - particularly coltan, which is used in cell phones and computers - is that as many Hutu as Tutsi have been killed both before and after 1994. Books like "We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families" by Philip Gourevitch were highly misleading and only served to reinforce the mistaken view that all Hutu were genocidal and all Tutsi innocent victims, and as a result the world has let at least 750,000 innocent Hutu be slaughtered while their killers enjoy impunity. And that is not even counting the 3,000,000 Congolese who have died.
   
   The first chapters of the book give an overview of the history Rwanda and life in the camps, and the rest of it deals with Umutesi's trek across Zaire. It is even handed, understated, immensely powerful and very timely. It was published in French, Spanish, Catalan and Dutch before being translated into English.

5 comments about Cochrane: The Real Master and Commander.

1. Amazon.com has many comments already which praise the quality of this history of Cochrane. I thought it was good, also, and was impressed by how hard the author tried to present different viewpoints of some controversial circumstances in his life. I don't think I need to add anything to what has been written about the book's appeal to those with an interest in the age of fighting sail. I did not like the recording on the MP3 version, however, because of the length of each chapter. Tracks ranged from 20-35 minutes or so in length rather than most audio books that break up the tracks into 5-10 minute sections. Since I listen to audio books on the treadmill and am normally on the treadmill 35-50 minutes, I was always in the middle of a track when I quit and had to repeat that entire track the next day to hear the end of it. It was annoying as it is the only audio book I have that was done like this. The quality of the reading, the consistency in volume between tracks, and the clarity of the recording were excellent, however.



2. Many readers will come to David Cordingly's The Real Master and Commander from a desire as fans of Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forester to learn more about the remarkable man whose life provided the raw material for the tales of Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower. Make no mistake, however, Cordingly's excellent historical biography deserves to be read on its own merits.
   
   Lord Thomas Cochrane executed such stunningly audacious feats - successfully attacking much larger ships with his small sloop Speedy, leading an attack of fireships on the French fleet at Basque Roads, and helping Chile and Brazil establish their independence - that one might cry `what pitiful stuff' if one read it in a work of historical fiction. But it really happened.
   
   Cochrane was a flawed man who could not restrain himself from reckless attacks on powerful forces in the navy and the government generally. When he found himself entangled in an infamous stock exchange fraud (the leaders spread false rumors that Napoleon had died and then sold their shares when the market predictably spiked), he discovered that powerful men were only too happy to see him convicted and drummed out of the navy. Cordingly judiciously sifts the evidence of Cochrane's guilt or innocence from our vantage point nearly 200 years later.
   
   In addition to his naval feats Cochrane also fought for reform causes as a member of parliament. His intemperate tactics and language did him little good. Of course, he was quite right in insisting that either the electoral system would be reformed from within or reformed with a vengeance from without.
   
   After several years in the `wilderness', Cochrane sailed to South America and successfully aided the rebellion against Spain and Portugal. He eventually wore out his welcome there as well, in part due to fights over prize money. From there he went to the Greek Fiasco, as Cordingly aptly names it. He spent his remaining years fighting with some success to restore honor to his name. A sad dwindling away for this remarkable man.
   
   A must read for fans of Age of Sail historical fiction and an excellent histroical biography.



3. As a die hard Patrick O'Brian fan and an amateur history buff this book was intriguing to me. It is very well written and presents the life story of an amazing British Navy hero not well known today.
   
   David Cordingly does a superb job presenting the real life exploits of Cochrane, which incredibly are every bit as extraordinary as the fictional exploits of Captain Jack Aubrey in the Patrick O'Brian Master and Commander series.
   
   I highly recommend it.



4. A great story and a great read about a great commander by my new favorite author, Thank You, Sir. I am going to order "Billy Ruffian".



5. I think I am correct in saying that I have read all of the biographies of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, published in the last few decades, and I would rate this volume as the being the best of all, giving good coverage of all phases of Cochrane's long naval and political careers. Unlike some authors, Cordingly is careful to match Cochrane's own accounts of his activities against other primary sources, and to give equal balance to Cochrane's activities in the wars for South American independence with those during the Napoleonic Wars.
   
   Cochrane was an extraordinary man, his genuine history perhaps more amazing than any of the fiction inspired by his real-world activities, this is a biography that does him justice, lauding his good qualities and achievements without hiding his flaws and failures.

5 comments about The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics.

1. Other reviewers have commented on the lack of detail in this book about Wallace's early and post-shooting life. This is valid but, as the title makes clear, not really the point. Carter's work is quite specifically examining the active part of Wallace's political life, and in this regard he does a stellar job of charting the rise of conservatism and Wallace's defining role in that rise, a subject all the more relevant as fundamentalism and "righteous anger" have made a comback in the start of the new century. For those with an interest in poli sci and/or the flipside of the cultural revolution of the 60's and 70's, this is an enlightening read.



2. This is an excellent study on the political career of George Wallace, the former Alabama Governor famed for his stand against integration in the early 1960's and his subsequent runs for the Presidency. Carter portrays Wallace as a complex individual, who seems to have been motivated from the start more by ambition than principle. The book gives an extremely well researched and readable account of Wallace's early life, his family, friendships and formative experiences. Carter attempts to show that Wallace early on became politically ambitious for the Alabama Governor's office and that he originally adopted the stance of a moderate (for the time) southern populist, going so far as to refuse to break away from the Democratic party in 1948 and supporting Truman over Strom Thurmond and the Dixiecrat party.
   
   In the 1958 Alabama gubernatorial election Wallace was defeated by a more blatantly racist, segregationist opponent and vowed in a famed statement of racial epithet never to be the racial moderate in any future elections. True to his word he ran a 1962 campaign on the stance of continued defiance to federal government attempts to integrate Alabama schools and extend voting rights to the state's black population. Successfully elected, he made a national name for himself by his confrontations with the federal courts (including initially trying to defy or evade the court orders of man who had once been a good friend - Federal Judge Frank Johnson) and the Kennedy Justice Department. The book doesn't shy away from the resulting violence of some of Wallace's followers and the more extreme racist comments and actions of many of those who supported him in the 1960's. I think Carter makes a good case that by his disregard for federal law enforcement agencies and civil rights protesters that Wallace in some degree bore some of the responsibility for the actions of the more extreme and violent of those opposed to integration and expanded civil rights for black citizens.
   
   Carter also provides great detail into minds of the inner circle of those men who managed Wallace's candidacy in his state and later national campaigns for President, including talented speechwriter but also violent racist Klansman Asa Carter (no relation to the author), who would later become famous as the author of the historical novel that inspired the Clint Eastwood movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales". Biographer Carter's premise is that by Wallace's strong showings in the presidential elections of 1968 and 1972 (before he was derailed by an assassination attempt) that Wallace succeeded in moving the national political debate to the right, especially in the area of social policies and politics. Carter has gone on record in other books and speeches as trying to link the Republican policies of welfare reform, re-examination of affirmative action policies and anti-crime legislation as being directly descended from Wallace's bigoted early campaigns. While I think he stretches the point I do think that some of Wallace's populist appeal did pave the way for successful Presidential campaigns of other southerners, such as Georgia's Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Arkansas' Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Carter sees Republican Ronald Reagan as more of a direct descendant of Wallace, but this reviewer sees it as a fact that most successful Presidential races since 1968 whether Republican or Democrat have taken Wallace's anti-Washington bureaucrat populist rhetoric and support for a stronger defense and lower taxes as being more important than his racial stances.
   
   Of course Wallace himself moderated his racial stances through the succeeding years, until he was running as a populist with appeal to both blacks and whites in the 1980's and appealing for forgiveness to many of those he had wronged. Carter dutifully reports this later conversion, although he seems to question some of the sincerity behind the public conversion.
   
   The book doesn't represent itself as a conventional biography as much as an examination of Wallace's life and the effects of his political campaigns on national and regional politics, and for that reason I can forgive what I see as a failure of the book to give as much detail and scrutiny to Wallace's life after 1972 as Carter gave the previous years. The book does a powerful job of conveying the reality of Lurleen Wallace's life and trials as George's wife as well as her fights with the cancer that finally killed her. Her stint as a successful stand in candidate for Governor in 1966 and her short term in office before her death is given a good overview. However I would have liked to have seen as much detail and information on Wallace's later family and personal life, including his other marriages and relationships with his children. I also would have been interested in finding out more about the Alabama political scene of the 1980's and 1990's and Wallace's lasting effect on those politics, but I can't argue with the fact that Carter has written a masterful portrait on both the man and his era and the waves he caused by his political campaigns. A definite 5 stars for this award winning (justly so, I might add) political biography.



3. In this book, Dan Carter provides a wonderfully insightful examination of a man who perhaps more than any other has defined the course of contemporary American politics. An ambitious man from the start, Carter shows how Wallace tapped the growing uneasiness of many voters towards the profound changes taking place in American society after World War II, using it to win the governorship of Alabama as a defender of segregation. Though Wallace ultimately failed in his subsequent quest for the presidency on a similar platform, his campaigns introduced themes and tactics that would become staples of postwar American politics. In this passionate yet objective account, Carter succeeds in helping the reader understand both the man and what his candidacies represented, as well as their lasting effects on the nation.



4. Since I read, on 7 Dec 1969, Professor Carter's masterful Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South I have since this book was published in 1995 wanted to read it. It tells well the story of George Wallace, four-times governor of Alabama, and his time, and is well footnoted with a good bibliography. It is disturbing that as recently as 1972 a blatantly racist message could resonate so powerfully not only in Alabama but in other states as well. A few years ago the ban on miscegenation which was in the Alabama Constitution was repealed by the people of Alabama (tho it had been inoperative by reason of a US Supreme Court ruling long before)and I found that encouraging, but one has to fear that many of the people who so raucously supported the bigoted and corrupt regime of Wallace as recently as 1972 may not have repented. Reading this book is as sobering as thinking about the fact that millions in Germany as recently as 1939 supported Nazidom.



5. Every year I teach this book for about 125 undergraduates in a course called "Race and American Politics from the New Deal to the New Right." Though it is a course that welcomes controversy, one thing that virtually all of my students agree upon is that this is a GREAT book. Carter, the dean of Southern historians, is a masterful storyteller with a matchless eye for detail and a balanced political judgment. He shows how Wallace, far from being just another Southern demogogue, opens the way to the transformation of American politics and the rise of a new conservatism whose wellsprings are the rage and fear of white Americans in the face of the civil rights revolutions of the 1950s and 1960s. It's a brilliant, absorbing book and every year when I read it again I am struck by the rich craft of Carter's prose and the deep thoughtfulness of his assessments.

5 comments about Madame de Pompadour (New York Review Books Classics).

1. Not much of a scholar of French history, but a huge fan of Nancy Mitford, I ordered this book as a tribute to the author. Once reading it, I found out much more about the French court of Louis XV and the intricate rules it observed than I ever thought I'd learn. And am very glad I learned them. The interesting, well-written biography hold the reader's attention and bring compassion to the often reviled lead character.



2. This biography was a refreshing and fun, written by a sympathetic aristocrat. The flavors, entertainment and relationships of the court come to life. It is hard not to develop a deep respect for Madame de Pompadour in the course of the book. Highly recommended.



3. Mitford was a writer who specialized in describing the intricacies of court life at Versailles , from fashions and decorum to architecture and romance. She was not quite as adept at the political situation of the time; while she doesn't gloss over it, there is no pizzazz in discussing. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book very much. It's colorful and conveys a sense of what Madame de Pompadour endured to become the most powerful woman in France and how she gained that power by being not only beautiful but very intelligent and alluring.



4. Anyone who has enjoyed Nancy Mitford's novels "The Pursuit of Love" and "Love in a Cold Climate" will appreciate what a deliciously witty writer she can be, especially when describing the lives of the privileged class. Reading her biography of Madame la Marquise de Pompadour (Mitford is strong on the use of proper aristocratic titles) one is not certain where Nancy's life ends and la Pompadour's life begins. Some of her comments are so ultra-sophisticated so as to be hilarious, such as calling the Parc aux Cerfs, where Louis XV kept his women, a "nice little brothel." This book may not be at the top of my list of serious scholarly tomes, but it is not without merit as a work of history, and one is given a colorful glimpse of another world.



5. Lord knows the Bourbons had a history of powerful courtiers, but Pompadour is in a league of her own, she had enormous influence over the king, Louis XV, and she wielded her power with great agility. She was feared and respected throughout the court, everyone knew she had the kings ear and heart. This is a fascinating book on this exceptional woman, she eclipsed the king and many more books have been written about her than the king and he outlived her and he reigned for fifty years over the most powerful country in Europe, but it was she that was memorable. I wonder what Louis would thought about all of this fuss over his mistress, we know what Pompadour would have thought....devine.

5 comments about The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi.

1. Anyone who is familiar with Musashi's reputation as a master swordsman and the many stories about his skill and bravery will enjoy this book and want to add it to their collection. This excellent and well researched (as much as is possible about events in c. 1600AD) presents biographical information in an interesting timeline that includes all of Musashi's major duels, battles and teaching engagements while including additional material on his artistic and writing accomplishments. Musashi evidently was a true renaissance man during the renaissance time, albeit some 12,000 miles away from Europe. The author also presents considerable information and explanation of Musashi's writings that summarized his life's learning on martial strategy, technique and philosophy.



2. Being a novice student of both the martial arts and Japanese culture and history (though I have a good collection of Japanese swords--fueling much of my interest in both the above subjects), I found Wilson's book both readable and enlightnening. I have read "The Book of Five Rings" three or four times, but after reading "The Lone Samurai" it is much more meaningful to me.
   
   The best contribution of Wilson's book is his emphasis on Musashi the artist. I did not know previously that Musashi is also known not only as a great swordsman (and strategist), but is one of Japan's greatest artists in the india ink painting style. It is easy to see Wilson's point about the similarity between the total commitment of a deadly sword strike and the brush stroke of non-erasable ink. (This comparison also explains and qualifies one of Musashi's most famous and apparently mistranslated quotes from "The Book of Five Rings": "The way of the warrior and the way of the pen are the same." It should read, "the way of the warrior and the way of the BRUSH," which is more accurate if not quite so profound and philosophical-sounding.)
   
   I was also very interested to learn for the first time that of Musashi's famous "over sixty duels" in fact most of them were not to the death. This, and the extensive discussion of Musashi's art, make him seem much less the grim fanatic that sometimes dominates Musashi's image.
   
   Don't be fooled, therefore, by the inappropriately lurid style of the book's cover art! This is not another sensational/specialized publication for the macho martial artist and samurai wannabees. (I delayed buying this book for years because I was so put off by the misleading cover.) "The Lone Samurai" is actually and elegant and respectful study, written in a way that balances thorough scholarship with affection and readability.
   
   My only criticism (other than the book's cover) is what other reviewers have noted already: Wilson could have included a chapter, or expanded parts of the existing book to include more context about the history and culture of Japan, especially during Musashi's time. However, this did not keep me from being able to follow the basic "plot" of the book.
   
   Also, this is not really a "288-page" book. Wilson has tried hard (and fairly) to flesh out the limited factual material available with interesting comparative sources, but be advised that the actual biography is less than 165 pages, including analysis of Musashi's "Principles."



3. He is too lifted... like a god... who says it's all true what he has done, ok ok... he must have done a lot... but i guess he wasn't the only one around there... he even got beaten too.. is that written in there...
   
   Always mushashi this and that... i don't mean disrespect here...
   
   But write me another book please about other samurais that time... without upholding the facemask of the japanese !!!
   
   Like, what do we know about jinsuke shigenobu... minamoto no yoshimitsu... and lots and lots of others...
   
   you won't fool me by telling he did it al by himself...



4. The best part of this book is the fact that the author does not pretend to KNOW everything. He lays out his opinion, which I usually agreed with, but also will lay out what other people have interpreted things as. He has laid this out in a matter that makes the
   works and writing of Musashi so easy to understand and relate to. The Book of Five Rings is a piece of work that is meant to make us think and practice the strategies over and over again. This book gives an easy way for the beginner to the expert to relate to and open ideas about Musashi's writing and ideas



5. What an interesting life this guy led. Read it, and do likewise. If you dare :-)

5 comments about Out of My Life and Thought (The Albert Schweitzer Library).

1. Albert Schweitzer had a high intellect and sought to improve the lives of many people through hard work, and dedication while sacrificing position and individual wealth. The man could have been a university professor of theology and philosophy, a Pastor of a prestigious church or a wealthy doctor. He became an accomplished organist as a musical artist, playing concerts to large audiences, and an expert in organ building; He wrote a book that became a standard in how quality instruments are to be built. Albert Schweitzer was a man of much intelligence and accomplished skills. After forging a bright future for himself he had an epiphany to be Christ like was to serve his fellow man. So he studied to become a medical doctor, so he could practice medicine where one was remote from what constituted modern society in the early twentieth century to practice medicine in Africa.
   This is an interesting read. The autobiography ends in 1932, so 25 years of his life is missing. I disagree with how this man perceived God and Jesus. He interpreted the Bible as if it were purely man made; that the Christian faith evolved through time. He determines theology based on the idea Jesus was a confused individual that expected one thing and events made Him adjust his thoughts. His view makes Jesus out to be quite pathetic. The author also believed Paul's thoughts were more informed and formed by events and his surrounding culture. Albert Schweitzer did not believe God's word was inspired through the Holy Spirit but by individual interpretation and culture.
   
   This book is an interesting read. How this man worked as a doctor - a physician in Africa yet still pursued practicing playing the Organ and intellectual pursuits. He even did this when he became a prisoner of war in the Great War. Where he eventually served as camp doctor to his fellow prisoners? I found this book a relatively easy read.



2. This book is not an easy read, but it is an interesting and worthwhile read. The chapter on why Dr. Schweitzer chose to be a medical missionary to Africa is especially interesting and meaningful. His thoughts on "Reverence For Life" are interesting and worthwhile reading, most provacative. His wide array of talent, abiltiy and interests are amazing and especially interesting, almost beyond belief and comprehension. His experiences as prisoner of war are revealing and somewhat shocking. At times the book gets tedious, especially in his philosophical thought,but don't let that stop you for slow you down. This book is well worth the read.
   
   Do men like Albert Schweitzer exist anymore? Could or would our culture let them exist?



3. This is an elegant though brief memoir written by the great man himself. One should not expect too much detail, however, as the text only gives us glimpses into the man's life and the singular events that shaped who he was and what he became and, more importantly, what he accomplished. Schweitzer focuses mainly on the development of his theological and philosophical thought, beginning with his early endeavours leading to his famous work, `The Quest for the Historical Jesus'. From this point, he continues on towards the shaping of his magnum opus, `Philosophy of Civilization'. It is in this section of the text that he discusses two worldviews of life-affirmation and life-denial and pessimism. This work evolves into his philosophical perspective of Reverence for Life.

   The biography ends in the year 1931, well before the advent of the Second World War. Schweitzer was only fifty-six years of age when he penned this work, well before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, living and working for another forty-four years. Curiously, when his publisher requested that he write an autobiography, he was hesitant, as he was more or less still in his prime. However, as he wrote to his publisher fourteen years later on his seventieth birthday, memory fades with age, and he believed that writing about himself at that stage of his life, he could put down those important memories that remained fresh in his mind.

   Schweitzer is certainly an inspiration - a man of immense strength, physically, emotionally and spiritually, with an almost endless capacity for work. The man worked in the most difficult of circumstances. Practicing medicine in intense tropical heat, day after day, disease run rampant; constant worry over funds to purchase much needed medical supplies. Moreover, the terrible events of two world wars - the odds he worked against to maintain the Lambarene Hospital, to my mind, is simply unimaginable. But the man persisted, rising every morning to meet disease, suffering, violence, death and loneliness.

   This is an inspiring little book, charming and entertaining.




4. There is no better short book available on the mind and thoughts of Albert Schweitzer than this book. His theology on Jesus and Paul, his thoughts on Bach and organ building, his philosophy on Reverence for Life are all laid out here.

   George Marshall (see my review of Marshall's excellent biography: Schweitzer) once asked Dr. Schweitzer what professors would best provide him an education on Schweitzer's thoughts. He replied that Marshall should not go to professors but "read my books! No one can express the ideas of a man as well as he has expressed them himself.... read my books".

   Bob Frost of "Biography Magazine" once wrote, "Albert Schweitzer is not exactly forgotten today, but his name won't crop up in daily conversation. Fifty years ago, though, people talked about Schweitzer all the time. An American magazine selected him, ahead of Albert Einstein, as the "world's greatest living nonpolitical person." He was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, won the Nobel Peace Prize, and appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Fueled by idealism and burning spiritual passion, this medical missionary led one of the most intense lives of the 20th century."

   Be apprized that "Out of my Life and Thoughts" is not an easy read. Dr. Schweitzer's theology and philosophy, though dense, is not incomprehensible. And due to the translation from French to English, you many find yourself reading a passage multiple times to get the gist his thoughts.

   That said, for students of this great mind, this is a must read. Strongly recommended. 4.5 stars.




5. "Since my first years at the university I had grown increasingly to doubt the idea that mankind is steadily moving toward improvement. My impression was that the fire of its ideas was burning out without anyone noticing or worrying about it. ... What was just and equitable seemed to be pursued with only lukewarm zeal. I noticed a number of symptoms of intellectual and spiritual fatigue in this generation that is so proud of its achievements."
   Albert Schweitzer was a man of action -- humanitarian, theologian, historian, musician, musical technologist, medical doctor, author, philosopher, missionary, professor, environmentalist, prisoner of war, recipient of the Nobel Prize. He writes an interesting autobiography, which is not surprising when one considers the breadth of his interests and of his achievements in science, the humanities and the arts. In his later years he was perhaps the most widely admired and respected person in the Western world.
   Jimmy Carter offers a foreword in this volume; it is economical, a mere six sentences. Schweitzer's philosophical work may be well studied, but does not particularly distinguish itself in this volume (with some notable exceptions). His theological work (i.e., Christology) is generally questionable -- bound to Enlightenment fallacies of a "historical Jesus." I was happy to be concurrently reading the thoughts of a far better theologian, CS Lewis, on the idea of "discovering" a "historical" Jesus. While some of Schweitzer's ideas are [rightly] not highly regarded, his "life and thought" makes for unusually interesting biography. His "reverence for life" precept certainly has great value, but seems to be a less profoundly unique idea than he held it to be. Perhaps my view here is merely ignorant of the world in which Schweitzer lived.
   He considered this book to be his best, or at least his preferred, writing, but if you are going to read only one book considering theological and historical exegetics, this is probably the wrong book. On the other hand, Schweitzer makes many observations cleanly and powerfully: "Our world rots in deceit. Our very attempt to manipulate truth itself brings us to ... [a truth] based on a skepticism that has become belief... It is superficial and inflexible." Kant had observed the intellectual paralysis of such "a skepticism that has become belief," but Schweitzer goes further, recognizing it as an even deeper spiritual paralysis.
   While Schweitzer's Christology is, at the least, arguable, his firm commitment to Christ's commandment of love is a strong example of the Christian life led in the light of its Teacher's example. The author is [rightly] given to referring to Christianity as "the religion of love." In this aspect, Schweitzer at once offers the non-Christian a true image of Christianity and offers the Christian an important, if gentle, reminder. "[God] announces Himself in us as the will to love. The First Cause of Being, as He manifests Himself in nature, is to us always impersonal. To the First Cause of Being that is revealed to us in the will to love, however, we relate as to an ethical personality." And quoting Paul: "Love never faileth: but where there be knowledge it shall be done away."