1 comments about The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. (American Presidency Series).

1. Several years ago, a young co-worker asked me about Jimmy Carter and my response was that he was a much better ex-president than he was a president. His subsequent work in areas such as Habitat for Humanity as well as international relations has been excellent. He has served as a goodwill ambassador, election monitor and has negotiated several international agreements that favored the United States. He has also continued to be a champion of human rights causes throughout the world.
   Contrasting his success after his presidency with his performance while in office demonstrates the reasons why his presidency is generally assigned a mediocre grade. His idealism in championing human rights was the most obvious example of the truism that idealism may help get you elected, but it gets in the way of governing effectively. In the age of the cold war and international tensions, a cold, heartless pragmatism seems to be the only thing that works.
   I found Kaufman's explanations of the Carter presidency to be the most even-handed and honest that I have read. Carter made many mistakes, had some made for him and in other cases was just the victim of circumstances. Nevertheless, he did have some striking successes, the two most notable being the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt and the treaty relinquishing the Panama canal. In these events, Carter showed how much potential he really had as a president. I remember when the networks pre-empted their regular programming as Carter, Sadat and Begin came back from Camp David with the agreement in hand. It was a stunning achievement and it amazed the world. The magic of that moment is captured in the book, as well as the subsequent problems that continue to plague the region. Despite all the violence in the area of Palestine and Lebanon in the years since the accords were signed, the fact that Israel and Egypt still continue to have formal relations and are at peace show how sturdy those agreements are.
   As someone who lived through those years and followed the Carter presidency in great detail, reading this book brought back a great deal of memories. Without attempting to boast, I do have an excellent memory, and the recounting of the events are all exactly as I remember them.
   The author closes with a very important and often overlooked point. Carter's presidency is considered a failure, and yet he refused to negotiate away anything in order to release the hostages in Iran. Reagan's presidency is considered a success and yet he attempted a bribe for the release of the hostages in Lebanon by selling armaments to Iran. There is no doubt that on that point, Carter bests Reagan.
   I would like to close this review with a personal point. Yes, Carter's pushing of human rights did create problems. But, when you consider that some of those whose rights were being violated, Walesa in Poland and Havel in the Czech Republic, rose to the leadership of their nations, perhaps he was just ahead of his time.

No comments about Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady (Biography).

5 comments about Born Again (Hendrickson Classic Biographies).

1. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from Born Again, and Colson shares them as opposed to teaching them, with the fresh, excited style of new convert so that the reader if he is a crusty old saint (like me) is carried back to the days of his first love.
   
   The book is part political insight, part Wartergate/Nixon history, but mostly testimony, and the testimony of God dealing with and finally saving someone who wasn't particularly looking or particularly worthy or even, in spite of prison coming on, particularly desperate. The issue and focus of the book is on God dealing with man, and the backdrop is Watergate and prison which makes it interesting to a broad spectrum, but the focus is always on the gift of the cross. Colson is a decent, in fact, pretty good writer, and unlike many Watergate figures apparently did his own writing. It still flows, but flows within a framework of authenticity as opposed to slick ghost-writing. I've read a few other of his books, but this is the cornerstone, and it is probably worth reading even to the secular because it was such a pivotal story. Not many testimonies become movies, even Billy Graham movies, and that sort of underlines the significance. Probably to the late 70s and early 80s what Cross and the Switchblade was to the earlier Jesus Freak era. I really enjoyed this book, it both informs and inspires. Critics looking for some disavowal of everything America and conservatism stands for will be disappointed, but again, that's not what the book is about- the politics are merely a vehicle for the story of redemption, and it is spiritual and not political redemption.



2. Charles Colson resembles the adulterous minister in the Scarlet Letter. Before his parishioners, Arthur Dimmesdale confesses error freely but gives no specifics. Colson too confesses overweening pride, but gives no, or few, specifics. And where he gives specifics, he confesses no error. He denies involvement in Watergate but acknowledges defaming Daniel Ellsberg, an action that he alleges is no crime. In fact, he says he had to convince the judge to allow him to plead guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the Ellsberg matter even though technically he broke no law. Colson did nothing, saw nothing, said nothing. He is a great sinner in the abstract but not in the concrete.
   
   His conversion seems to be genuine but limited. He went from being the grandest political operative to being the grandest sinner. After he found Christ, rather than going home, falling to his knees, opening his heart, and closing his mouth, he went to White House prayer breakfasts and discussed his conversion on "60 Minutes." He surrendered all but the spotlight.
   
   An interesting autobiography still. The portion in which he writes about his prison experience sounds authentic.



3. "Born Again" is the story of Chuck Colson's life from the Nixon presidency to his release from the Maxwell AFB prison facility with some comments on his early life.
   
   The first 250 or so pages deal with his time serving Nixon and of the circumstances that led to his accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord. The book's last 100 pages or so deal with his relationships with other prisoners in the Maxwell facility.
   
   Indeed, some skeptics question whether Colson had a true conversion and is using the book to promote himself. If so, then why does Colson mention a positive change in relationships with his political enemies after becoming a Christian? Indeed, one of his strongest supporters (Harold Hughes) was a Democratic senator from Iowa (Colson was a Republican). Oh well!
   
   The book flows freely and is intensely interesting. "Born Again" reflects the popularity and enjoyable reading of other Colson books. Whether you are a Republican or Democrat (sorry political junkies, God is neither!), a Colson supporter or hater, a Nixon supporter or hater, you will enjoy Colson's "Born Again".
   
   Colson's prison experience was not wasted. God used this time to burden Colson with the need to minister to prisoners today through the worldwide Prison Fellowship ministry. Yet again, God can take something good out of something bad.
   
   Read and enjoy the book and be challenged to realize that despite your background, God can work great and mighty things through a person who is surrendered to Him!
   
   Highly recommended.



4. . . . as readers of my reviews have probably figured out. I have been familiar with this book for many years, but only recently have I taken the time to sit down and read it through.
   
   "Born Again" is an honest and forthright admission of sinfulness and forgiveness, tracing Mr. Colson's path through Watergate and prison to the freedom in Christ he now enjoys.
   
   To the best of my recollection, this is the first book to be published by one of the "Watergate figures". Magruder's book came out shortly afterward, and Haldeman wrote two (contradictory) books on the subject. I wonder if the Charles Colson of 2005 would view the events of 1972-1974 as the Charles Colson of 1976 did. I wonder if he would have made some of the same choices now as he did as a brand-new Christian (with a great deal of guilt on his conscience).
   
   Regardless, both as an "insider's account" of the Nixon White House, and as a testimony of how Christ can change a life, "Born Again" is definitely worth a read.



5. Colson's version of what happened during Watergate is a self-serving, sanctimonious whitewash of what he did and what he was responsible for. As the self-syled " Go-to guy" when something needed to be done. As Howard Hunt's boss, it defies belief that he was ignorant of what went on. He managed to get away without any responsibility for what he was surely guilty of and plead guilty to a crime of his choosing, which he hoped not to serve any time for.Surely to be "Born Again" he needs to tell the whole truth rather than this sanitized version.

5 comments about Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War: Authorized Edition (Che Guevara Publishing Project).

1. If you wondered what revolution looks and feels like, of what the daily life-or-death struggle consists, this book will show you. This isn't a Hollywood fantasy, nor is it airy theorizing. Sure, there's some analysis, especially as regards the various personalities and their respective groupings, as they all advanced their respective agendas. Overall, though, this book consists in descriptions of what the rebels and revolutionaries did in the Cuban revolution.
   
   Part of the real value of this book comes through the expression of Guevara's temperament and personality. It is easy to see how he could lead a body of men (and a few women) in an enterprise of great danger such as this was--for he had the capacity to make cold decisions about executing traitors or people who endangered the morale of the other soldiers in the rebel army...while at the same time performing many acts of real tenderness, such as providing rudimentary dental service for peasants. His remarks in this book show that he had awareness of his own limitations, and he sometimes expressed this in a humorous way. It's a good sign when a man who holds life-or-death decisions over you can laugh at himself.
   
   Revolution is not a video game nor any other kind of game; this book shows the real item, not some poeticized fantasy. It was only the desperation of the Cuban people--especially the great majority, the impoverished subsistence farmers who constituted the peasantry--that made possible the guerrilla struggle and its later fruition as the rebel army. This appears to me to be honest history, and is correspondingly valuable.
   
   I read the 2006 edition of this book, and it includes some supplementary essays and documents by Che, as well as a number of photographs taken in the Sierra Mastre mountains during their time of struggle.



2. Che goes through memories of the Revolutionary War in Cuba. His writing style is engaging and interesting.



3. This book is great for getting a bird's eye of the Cuban Revolution from an individual perspective. Guevara is meticulous in his notation of events and people. This is not the book to read if you are looking for a general study of the Revolution. Guevara does speak of Castro and Cienfuegos among others but this is Guevara's story. What most impressed me was his honesty about his men, his mistakes, and the conditions under which the Revolution occured. The bugs, the heat, the lack of food, the support from the residents of the Sierra Maestro are so well described that you truly get a sense of what the experience must have been like. Don't pass this book up.



4. This collection of memories conveys the excitement, zeal, possibilities, problems and limitations of Guevara's "guerilla warfare" strategy as it was practiced in the Sierra Maestra. At times, one can almost hear Guevara wheezing as he traverses the rugged terrain. It is, in general, light on ideological substance and heavy on battlefield drama. A classic nonetheless...



5. This first hand account of the Cuban Revolution through the eyes of Che give the reader the feeling and emotion that Che felt as he wrote these words. We can see and feel the emotion from his words and can see how complex he was. At times he was cruel and hard driving, at others, compassionate and unsure. Good reading for anyone interested in Che

5 comments about Lincoln as I Knew Him: Gossip, Tributes and Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemies.

1. for this little delight of a book.
   
   Since I was in elementary school, Honest Abe has been one of my (political) heroes. (My other political heroes are Thomas Jefferson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, Golda Meir, and Rudy Giuliani.)
   
   Here are my two absolute favorite parts:
   
   The story about how Lincoln and some friends were riding on a country road after a very severe windstorm. He saw two little birds who had been blown from their nest and were too young to fly. The mother bird, naturally, was in great distress.
   My beloved Mr. Abraham Lincoln spent an hour, with the two baby birds in his hand, hunting down the nest. His compatriots laughed at him. This man with "the tenderest heart for anyone in distress, whether man, beast or bird," responded to their laughter by saying, "Gentlemen, you may laugh, but I could not have slept well to-night if I had not saved those birds. Their cries would have rung in my ears."
   
   The other story is about what a wonderfully indulgent, patient, loving parent he was. His kids could come to his office and mess up the entire place, and it didn't bother him. In fact, his fellow lawyer writes, "Had they (the kids) s--t in Lincoln's hat and rubbed it on his boots, he would have laughed and thought it smart...." While I was roaring with laughter at that sentence, my heart was filled to overflowing with love for the wonderful man that Abraham Lincoln was.
   
   Order this book now. It's a winner!



2. Lots of books have been written about Lincoln. Most tackled this subject through Presidential Papers. Few took the time to look at those who knew Lincoln. Holzer does this by reading all the available material about Lincoln and getting together the writings of those people who knew Lincoln. This book is a summary of some of those people remembering Lincoln. It is great reading.
   One is struck by the Lincoln in this book. He comes across as a very human person. He was ugly and not very cultured. He was smart, friendly, and did not take on an attitude with his high position. He was approachable and easy to talk with. A baby sitter reveals his humanity with her encounters. He was not a racist, in a age when most white people were. He was ready to forgive a people who broke the nation apart. He was a rare human being. This comes across in the writting.
   For those interested in the real Abe Lincoln, this is a great book.



3. I received this book as a gift when it first came out. I had always admired this great president, but hadn't read anything else on Lincoln prior to this book. I found that I couldn't put it done and read it in like 3 days. I almost would describe the book as a picture album full of snapsnots taken by Lincoln's friends, family, and acquaintances. I write this review nearly 4 years later because I picked it up again to read after a recent Lincoln program on PBS aired on television. I fell in love with the book and the man once again. One does not have to be a history or political buff to admire and treasure this small book.



4. One of the challenges one faces when studying the life of Abraham Lincoln is the rampant deification that began virtually when John Wilkes Boothe fired his fatal shot on the evening of April 14, 1865.

   Since that day biographies have abounded that have, in most instances painted the venerable president in the most friendly and adoring hues possible, making it difficult, if not impossible to have a true look at one of the greatest men to ever live. Where can one go who wants a quick and accurate overview?

   This small book, Lincoln as I Knew Him: Gossip, Tributes and Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemies, edited by Harold Holzer, offers a solution.

   The book offers excerpts from the personal writings of many who knew him best. These memoirs offer views of a complex individual who suffered from fits of nearly overpowering depression and doubt, was one of the tallest figures of his time and extremely down-to-earth and accessible. These personal accounts provide detail about his numerous idiosyncrasies regarding personal grooming, and diet.

   Lincoln As I Knew Him is a wonderful book, offering and up close and personal look a man whose life and impact on the United States will be remembered for forever. If you've read numerous Lincoln biographies as I have you still won't want to miss this one.
   
   Douglas McAllister




5. I have about 100 books on Lincoln and this is one of the best, it draws on stories from some others but it is an easy and very good read for those who want incites into perhaps or greatest President as told by those who knew him and heard him speak.

4 comments about Brazza, A Life for Africa.

1. I have lived and traveled in Africa a great deal. I recently acquired a copy of Maria Petringa's book
   on Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza and thoroughly enjoyed it. What a fascinating man. This book would make a great movie and I would hope somebody in the industry would pick it up and do just that. It is a good book and I highly recommend reading it. Pat Clark



2. I took the book along on a short rest and relaxation trip, which was all the more enjoyable because of the time I spent on the Brazza adventure. I knew that the story of Brazza's Central Africa explorations would be interesting but Maria Petringa's excellent account of the man and his mission was engaging and a delightful reading experience.



3. As I enjoy reading historic accounts of charismatic figures who blaze trails, both geographically and politically, I found Maria Petringa's book highly informative and very entertaining. It is also relevant to the volatility of today's geopolitical climate.



4. This biography of Pierre de Brazza gives us an inspiring portrait of a very good man in a very bad time, the age of European colonialism in Africa. Brazza, who explored and administered French Equatorial Africa at the end of the 19th century, tried desperately to civilize the colonialists' treatment of the African natives. He ultimately failed, though his ideals and efforts are inspiring. His failure shows, however, that the "heart of darkness" was not an aberration, that colonial exploitation of Africa was incurably corrupt and cruel, for the French as for the Belgians. Reading this book dispels any lingering sentimentality for this enterprise, provides the reader with a fascinating portrait of an important though (at least in the English-speaking world) largely forgotten man,
   and gives us a devastating picture of nineteenth-century imperialism. "Brazza, A Life for Africa" is hard to put down.

5 comments about George III: A Personal History.

1. Who was the English King at the time of The American Revolution? I dunno!!! Well, now I do know and, furthermore, I now know something about his private and public life before and after The American Revolution. He reigned for over 50 years and the last years of his reign were about 200 "short" years ago. One thing that impressed me was the sorry state of "the medical art" even in those days. Taking blood from sick people was supposed to cure them. Giving arsenic was supposed to cure certain ailments. Today, we are way ahead of these primitive practices....all we do is give medicines that are "poison" such as depression medication and cold medicine and "antibiotics" for viruses which have no effect.....and doctors do unnecessary surgeries frequently so they can get money from the naive and trusting patients. But, that's another story and another book! Read about King George 3rd; you'll find it interesting. Boland7214@aol



2. I used this book extensively for a research paper I wrote on George III. This book does a great job at dispelling the myths about George III and his character.



3. Christopher Hibbert is one of those historians that seems to write about everything. Peter Gay is another that comes to mind. Hibbert provides us a very readale account of George's life. The early years are a bit confusing keeping track of the lineage and order of succession in the Royal family. Many biographies of monarchs suffer from this problem because there are so many family connections to keep track of. Once we get past this point and the young george becomes king, the book starts to pick up.
   
   What becomes apparent is that George III was extremely fare and decent man for his time. We should have such politicians today with this kind of integrity! The emphsasis in this bio is on George's private life. His dealings with his German Queen Charlotte, his son and sucessor the future George IV, who was a continual source of stress for him. The chapters on his dealings with the colonies provided a much less bias account than one normally hears from most US historians. The King was willing to come to any reasonable settlement short of independence. This book shows how he tried to grapple with the American problem, but that it just got out of control.
   
   His dealings with the various parliamentry governments provides a classic example of how personalities shape governments. Petty likes and dislikes lead to complete policies that are often inane. Still, the British people stuck by their old George, espesically when the excesses of the French Revolution became known.
   
   The book gives a good account of some of the other Royals, including George IV, the Duke of York, etc. Most come across as aristocratic fopps and losers, but some manage to have some merit. Over all a great book which chronicles both the life and times of Georgian England. The life of George III was indeed that of England in its heyday. A great read for the time and persoanlities concerned.



4. This very well-written and researched book provides a wealth of detail on the life of Britain's King George III and his family.
   
   The last British king of the American colonies, George III directed the ill-advised war against his independence-minded colonies. Long and terribly destructive, the war saw the defeat of George's armies and navies in North America. Still, having spent eight years fighting the Americans, the King quickly decided to lay the foundations of a lasting peace and friendship between the two countries.
   
   Hibbert depicts King George as a constitutionally-minded monarch and a competent ruler. Initially detested by his people, he ended his life and reign greatly loved. Certainly his greatest challenges revolved around his large and dysfunctional family and his fight with porphyria and insanity.
   
   "George III" is a scholarly work. Though not an easy read, it is an interesting one!



5. Nice overview of the times. The fact that George III was just as determined to maintain the credibility of the British empire as that other George was at finding a way to separate from it. A renewal of the more believable story of 'mad king george'.

5 comments about Hitler: The Pathology of Evil.

1. The author studies the childhood and adolescence of Hitler in great detail;
   the facts are well-known, but the author provides interesting, psychological insights.
   The author then goes on to describe Hitler's development in the pre-WWII years, and relates it to his childhood and adolescence.
   The treatment of the pre-WWII years deserves 4 stars.
   
   The weak point of this book is its treatment of the war years 1939-45 in Chapter 16 (Conquest and Annihilation): it is incomplete, simplistic and at times not convincing.
   In particular, the military decisions discussed are more complex than the author admits or realizes.
   The author, apparently lacking military expertise, relies on popular myths (in part due to German generals, who blamed Hitler for all mistakes, including their own);
   he tends to downplay military considerations in military decisions;
   he tends to neglect the Prussian-German tradition of conducting war, the stab-in-the-back legend, the experience made in past operations (WWI and WWII), the military situation on the ground and the military and political institutions involved in the decision-making process.
   Furthermore, the author neglects the significance of social-psychological processes: e.g. it is possible that Hitler's interactions with other sinister individuals (Goebbels, Bormann, Himmler and Heydrich) made him more radical (sometimes called group polarization: small, cohesive groups with similar opinions can make opinions more extreme).
   
   More generally, the author fails to show the limitations of his psychological point of view.
   
   It is the war years (the aggressive conduct of war, the war crimes and the holocaust) that sets Hitler apart from countless other dictators,
   and it is the treatment of the war years that is the weak point of this book;
   hence 3 stars instead of 4 stars.



2. While my interests is mainly the establishment of the Nazi party in Germany, this book gave a really good background of Hitler himself. It was fascinating. Be prepared for something which deals a lot with psychology and psychoanalysis. It is good to read this book about the same you read Sebastian Haffner or Claudia Koontz's books on Hitler and the Nazi party.
   
   It is a quick read and really well written.
   
   While we can never excuse the actions of the Nazis, we can understand what led them to do what they did and how we can keep it from happening again.



3. This book attempts to un-demonize Hitler long enough to understand his development as an abused child, a failed person, and as the most evil dictator in human history. Only a Jewish Psychololgist could attempt such a feat, and the author, George Victor, has done a remarkable job. Most interesting was how Victor pointed out in great detail the conflicted personality of Hitler, piece by piece, and tied those conflicts to the abuse that he and his beloved mother suffered at the hands of his father.
   
   Virtually everything Hitler said or did was a contradiction, due to his extreme self-loathing, wherein he masked his own intense hatred of himself and his father, by pretending to be superhuman, while projecting everything he hated about himself and his family, a tall order, onto every other group imaginable, all of whom paid the ultimate price for reminding Hitler of himself.
   
   Must read for anybody interested in WWII and/or German/Austrian history.



4. someone has made sense out of it all...by filling in Hitler's background,as it has never been revealed before...we can understand how madness and evil converged in the persona of one man who managed to murder millions because of his completely illogical beliefs..My whole life I have been trying to understand him(his evil influence),and this book has really helped me considerably.I can even see how his vile minions,the SS,were attracted to him and his ruthlessness..and obeyed him til the end.This is a fact-filled book,yes,but it is extremely well-written and researched,and I have read it over the course of two days.If you are, as I am,fascinated and repulsed at the same time about the most powerful and evil (well..I can't use bad language here,so fill in the blanks)"human being" of the 20th century...then this most excellent book will help you further in understanding just what happened,and why.



5. Not to be confused with "Hitler: the search for the origins of his evil".
   I advise readers not to be concerned at seeing the word psychoanalysis being bandied about here. It is true that Victor comes from a background in this but the book does not lean on the spurious nature of psychoanalysis and it makes sense in its own terms. I strongly recommend the book. Now Hitler makes perfect sense. An essential supplement to a Hitler biography for students of the man.

5 comments about The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst.

1. This book is a real winner! What a whirlwind of a life! I loved it!



2. An excellent, well-written book chronicling the life and times of an individual who may well belong in the first-tier, and certainly at least in the second-tier, of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century. The writing is lively, vivid and engaging. The times in which he lived are carefully woven into the story Mr. Hearst's evolution of thought and action over his life, demonstrating what an inconsistent, cipher of a man he really was. Much attention is paid to the many different characters surrounding "The Chief", which only adds to the overall high-quality of the book. A must read before visiting San Simeon.



3. This book is much more than I thought it would be. I'm really enjoying all the detail and learning so much. Life was so different back then and it's fascinating to be "transported" back to another time and another class.



4. I loved this book. I find Hearst fascinating. Imagine being such an important, rich and busy man--and he just loved playing solitaire and buying beautiful furnishings and accessories for his great ranch. I think he contributed a lot to society and I really enjoyed reading most of it. The political and parts where he got involved with the war, etc., I kind of either read over or skipped past as those parts of books come to an easy conclusion without having to read all the gory details. I wanted to read about the substance of what made a guy like this tick. I think I got a good idea of him through Nasaw's book.



5. William Randolph Hearst was loved and hated by millions. He became one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. He ran for President, created one of the grandest homes ever built, and lived one of the most complex, fascinating lives of the 20th century. Loving and devoted to his wife, Millicent, and their five children on the East Coast, he lived openly with his mistress, Marion Davies, on the West Coast. An avid supporter of unions and the "common man," he was one of the most ruthless "barons" and fought unions, communism and Franklin Roosevelt ferociously. He was the first to "vertically integrate" his businesses, leveraging the same material in newspapers, magazines, newsreels and movies. What a life!
   
   If they know anything about Hearst at all, most people think they know him from Orson Welles' movie, "Citizen Kane." While "Kane" is, without doubt, one of the very best films ever made (if you haven't seen it, by all means rent the DVD! It's fantastic!) it is unfortunately a terribly shallow and vindictive caricature of the real man. Welles was associated with political movements that had labeled Hearst "public enemy number one" in the 1930's, and the film reflects his point of view.
   
   While Hearst was selfish and ego-manical, his rampant collecting also saved vast warehouses of art and antiques from destruction, creating his "Enchanted Hill" in San Simeon, California. In 1959, when his estate gave the property to California as a park, it was valued at $55 million, and it is by far the most extraordinary personal residence ever built in the United States. If you haven't seen in, put it on your life-list of things to see!
   
   But why read the book? Here's my short list of essential reasons: (1) He was a man of courage. It's easy to disagree, or even have contempt for, many of his opinions and actions but he stood by them. (2) He was a visionary and many of the positions he advocated were ahead of his time. Our world today looks remarkably similar to what he predicted, and we can learn from that. (3) He was extraordinarily resilient. When his personal foibles combined with the depression to drive him nearly bankrupt in the late 1930's, he fought back. He never gave up.
   
   Nasaw does a remarkable job of telling a complex story and I found the book highly readable. This is great history and an inspiring story. To understand the 20th century, and to be personally inspired, read this book. You'll be richer for it.

5 comments about Character Counts: Leadership Qualities in Washington, Wilberforce, Lincoln, and Solzhenitsyn.

1. Guinness chooses four outstanding men, from the past 250 years, to demonstrate the moral leadership qualities that are sorely lacking in our world today. These individuals, George Washington, William Wilberforce, Abraham Lincoln, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn all have left unmistakable footprints of integrity across the pages of time. By virtually any standard these are truly great men, and they are great because of their excellence of character. In an age that honors image and bows at the feet of spin-doctors, it is refreshing to be reminded that it has not always been so. And one can wish, if the Lord tarries, that we might once again live in a world in which integrity is back in style.
   
   That is not to say that all four of our heroes were true Christians. Wilberforce seems the best candidate, followed by Solzhenitsyn, Lincoln and Washington. This book however does not give any concrete evidence for the conversion of any of these men, save Wilberforce. Of course we are all rooting for them, but the sad truth is that while each possessed great virtues, most likely they lacked saving faith in Jesus Christ. This is almost certainly the case of Washington, who remained a Deist until the end of his life. And while honest Abe spoke much of God and often quoted Scripture, Christ and His saving grace is missing from his speeches and writings. Many have reported that Solzhenitsyn is a believer, but this volume provides no proof.



2. Following a rather politically charged introduction (the Lewinsky scandal is mentioned in the first sentence), the book has eight chapters, with two each apportioned to George Washington, William Wilberforce, Abraham Lincoln, and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. The inclusion of Washington is baffling: if did anything that required character, it is certainly not described in his chapters, which include a short biography and a summary of his views on religious liberty. The chapters on Wilberforce and Lincoln are good. Those on Solzhenitsyn are so brief (and heavily edited) as to be unmoving.



3. I'm dismayed to see the severely outdated political agenda of the Allens of North Carolina overshadow their opinions and reviews of Dr. Guinness' excellent book. I really doubt that the Oxford-educated Dr. Guinness should be "ashamed" of himself for his "lack of scholarship" in any area he chooses to write. Nor do I believe he is simply parroting the "Yankee propaganda," (referred to in another Allen "review") which is an entirely laughable concept.

   As for the book:
   A person's actions stem from their beliefs, which form their character. We have all seen examples -- at the corporate, political, and personal levels -- of those in leadership exhibiting less-than-ideal character, which corrupted their actions. This wonderful book provides a pleasant contrast to some of our contemporary leaders by examining the lives, actions, and beliefs of some truly amazing people; especially and including Abraham Lincoln, a wartime president who took extraordinary strides and went through unbelievable hardships to preserve our country.

   I'm currently reading my 4th book by Dr. Guinness, and have come to admire the author as a very strong Christian thinker and writer. As others have noted, he writes in the tradition of C.S. Lewis, and it is not hard to imagine him speaking to you personally as he guides you through his observations and reasoning.

   I also recommend "Fit Bodies, Fat Minds" and "Prophetic Untimeliness," as well as "The Call."




4. In a time when our nation (United States) no longer produces true statesmen with character such as Washington, Mason, Henry, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, I'm saddened that Abraham Lincoln is seen by the editor as a man of character. It would seem, if one is to be a thinking evangelical, that the horrors that Lincoln permitted in the South would un-nerve the most honest of scholars. Here, Os Guines has done a serious disservice to the orthodox Christian community. Abraham Lincoln rejected the Virginia Peace (which included former president John Tyler) accord and Sen. Critendem's compromise for peace. Surely had Lincoln accepted these plans for peace, thousands of lives could have been saved. But most of all, the total war theory Lincoln allowed is the most offensive and repugnate to any thinking Christian. Women and children were implemented in Lincoln's so called war to save the Union. He jailed opponents of his position, threatened the Supreme Court justice Roger Taney with arrest for writing against his war plan. Lincoln usurped the Constitution of the United States by declaring War against seceded states in violation of Article I sec. 8 (this is solely congress's domain). A nation birthed in secession hardly has the right to chastise those who operated from the same principle i.e. the right to govern themselves and self-determination. Os, you should be ashamed of yourself for lack of scholarship in this arena. Particularly over such a sensitive subject as the American War Between the States (Civil War). A man (Lincoln) who waged an offensive war against those who defended their rights and family against an unjust invasion has no place in a book where character matters. Maybe Robert E. Lee or Joshua Chamberlain could have saved you the embarassment. And no, Lincoln's war was not over slavery. Men do not take bullets so 10 % can own slaves. Character counts, so does scholarship.



5. In a time when our nation (United States) no longer produces true statesmen with character such as Washington, Mason, Henry, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, I'm saddened that Abraham Lincoln is seen by the editor as a man of character. It would seem, if one is to be a thinking evangelical, that the horrors that Lincoln permitted in the South would un-nerve the most honest of scholars. Here, Os Guines has done a serious disservice to the orthodox Christian community. Abraham Lincoln rejected the Virginia Peace (which included former president John Tyler) accord and Sen. Critendem's compromise for peace. Surely had Lincoln accepted these plans for peace, thousands of lives could have been saved. But most of all, the total war theory Lincoln allowed is the most offensive and repugnate to any thinking Christian. Women and children were implemented in Lincoln's so called war to save the Union. He jailed opponents of his position, threatened the Supreme Court justice Roger Taney with arrest for writing against his war plan. Lincoln usurped the Constitution of the United States by declaring War against seceded states in violation of Article I sec. 8 (this is solely congress's domain). A nation birthed in secession hardly has the right to chastise those who operated from the same principle i.e. the right to govern themselves and self-determination. Os, you should be ashamed of yourself for lack of scholarship in this arena. Particularly over such a sensitive subject as the American War Between the States (Civil War). A man (Lincoln) who waged an offensive war against those who defended their rights and family against an unjust invasion has no place in a book where character matters. Maybe Robert E. Lee or Joshua Chamberlain could have saved you the embarassment. And no, Lincoln's war was not over slavery. Men do not take bullets so 10 % can own slaves. Character counts, so does scholarship.