5 comments about Zachary Taylor : Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest.

1. Very Enjoyable. An easy read. President Taylor is a cousin of mine, and it was fun to learn a little bit about him.
   Fred Clark
   www.reverbnation.com/fredclark
   www.myspace.com/fredclarkmusic



2. Sadly, after one slogs through an exhautive accounting of Zachary Taylor's military career presented here, you are neither greatly informed nor satisfactorily influemced about the man himself. Beyond gauging that Taylor was a relatively witless minion bouyed by circumstance into the presidency, one is left empty of opinion as to the depth of his character and definition of his nature. One can know just as little about Taylor without reading this dry and bland text, and enjoy life just a bit more in the not reading.



3. This book is a tough one to get through, not through any fault of the Author but due to the dryness of the material. I am currently in the process of reading a book on every US President and this book seemed to be the best one out there on Zachary Taylor.
   
   I would recommend if you are trying to find out more about the subject, but if you are looking for a great historical page turner, you need to look elsewhere.



4. I am currently reading a biography of every President in order and Bauer's book seemed like the obvious choice for Zachary Taylor.
   
   This book is a bit difficult to rate fairly as I doubt any full biography of Zachary Taylor could be made into a great read. Indeed, Bauer's biography is excellently researched and organized. The writing, although a bit uninspired, is easy to read and well presented. At times, however, this book is very dull and in my opinion Bauer tends to error on the side of going into too much detail. Taylor's military career had few standout moments and most of the first part of the book focuses more on Taylor's transfer from fort to fort along the western frontier.
   
   If there is a President for which a short biography would suffice Taylor is it, and while at slightly over 300 pages of text Bauer's tome is by no means exceedingly long, at the end of the book I felt that it could certainly have been cut down by about 100 pages while still providing a comprehensive biography. Undoubtedly, however, this is the best one volume biography of Taylor available (why anyone would need to read Holman Hamilton's two volume work is beyond me) and certainly more than adequate for its task.



5. This was a terrible attempt at scholarship. The book is poorly written and gives an overview with no specifics except for military encounters. This author should have focused his efforts on a military account of Taylor's life because after reading I feel I know nothing about the man. Admittedly there are severe source deficiencies when dealing with this subject but a much wider study could have been undertaken. Sadly there is not much written on Taylor and this does a poor job of adding to the scholarship.

No comments about How Presidents Test Reality: Decisions on Vietnam 1954 and 1965.

No comments about Tag Teaming the Press: How Bill and Hillary Clinton Work Together to Handle the Media (Communication, Media, and Politics).

5 comments about Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years.

1. 
   I'm sure Lowry has some good points. Clinton was not any saint.
   Be that as it may - the premise of this book is a joke, when you realize it is another attempt at a pre-emptive assault on the "left."
   
   The book that should be written, and now doubt will, in various forms, will be - the same title, only with "Bush" inserted.
   
   Compare America now, after Bush, compared to 2000, after Clinton. Case closed. Now how long will it take to recover from the nightmare of Bush and his policies...if ever...
   
   Very clever of righties like Lowry to somehow have the knack to anticipate what wind is coming, and pre-emptively go on the attack, in kind.



2. Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years by Rich Lowry provides the reader with an intense and thorough analysis of the Clinton Era. Legacy is rich with actual quotations from Clinton, his wife and, most importantly, the people from his inner political circle, his aides and advisors. The book immerses deep into Clinton's insidious past and presents a wealth of forgotten truths to the reader, not as conservative propaganda, but, as cold hard facts. Lowry's powerful use of syntax and diction paints a very deep and honest portrait of Clinton. From Clinton's insecurities and capricious behavior to his inability to take action and responsibility, Rich Lowry does NOT hold back from exposing Clinton for what he truly is...a self-absorbed coward. Overall, Lowry does a splendid job of compressing eight years of mistakes, scandals and lies into one book. I applaud him. Being in the military, I experienced much of the aftermath from Clinton's budget cuts and other bogus endeavors and I can attest that we, as Americans, have paid a heavy and painful price for his cowardice and dishonesty. I encourage all Americans to open their eyes, read this book and acknowledge the fact for now is time to know the truth about Clinton.



3. it kind of tells it like it was. He as not the smiling guy he comes off as. Get it at the library for free. I gave it three stars because it does bring out some of the seedy things he did. I really never finished it.



4. Wow, what a difference five years makes.
   
   For all the flaws Lowry finds in Clinton (and there are several which bear noting), even the most serious pale to what we now find in the Executive Branch. If only we had a president who cared about his legacy enough to correct mistakes in judgement and reverse course when desperately needed. If only we had a president today who cared about polls, and the will of the people. If only we had a leader who acted cautiously, intellectually, and with the aid of evidence rather than "gut feelings".
   
   I remember well the days when I thought Clinton would be the worst president our country would ever see. How quaint those days seem.



5. Book arrived on earliest date listed. Packing was simply a tight bubble wrap envelope that (I am sure) resulted in bent corners of book. Otherwise, book in great condition.

2 comments about Calvin Coolidge: A Biography (Signature Series).

1. On my journey to read at least one biography on each president, I was not impressed by this effort. It could be that the Coolidge wasn't that dynamic, but the writing style required more concentration that I've found with other presidential biographies. Was our country better off from having Coolidge in the White House? I don't think so because he was so averse to controversy that he was inaffective. Was my study of the presidents enhanced by reading this book? I guess so, but does it have to be so painful?



2. Believe it or not I frequently as I read this book laughed aloud--sometimes with Coolidge, sometimes at him. While three presidents (Jefferson, John Adams, and Monroe) have died on the 4th of July, Coolidge is the only president to have been born on the 4th of July. His rise to the presidency is actually a story of amazing luck, and McCoy tells the story very well. While in hindsight it is easy to see that Coolidge was not a great president, at the time he did everything seemingly right, and was very successful in making people think he was a good president. I found this book held my interest throughout and was a very satisfying read. I will admit that there were a few chapters on his presidency which were on topics not of interest (can one be intrigued today by, e.g., the Kellogg-Briand pact?) but since one wants to cover the entire life they have to be there. For those of you reading a biography of every president, this does very adequately for Coolidge. (Actually, I read William Allen White's A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge, but that was back on May 5, 1947, and my memory of that was not too fresh, so I thought I should read this more recent bio, and am glad I did.)

5 comments about Theodore Roosevelt.

1. I agree with many of the other reviews. I picked this up because Pringle's biography was a Pulitzer Prize winner, written close in time to the subject matter. I was disappointed in the writing style and the lack of penetrating analysis. It is like a stone skipping over the lake. Subsequent authors have done much better and that might be expected as history and the passage of time provide their separate illuminations. Still, Pringle had the benefit of first person, first generation sourcing and I expected more as a result. Pringle's three paragraph forward to the book's re-release in 1955 laid a clear foundation. He said he would have failed completely unless he proved that T.R. was never dull. I have to say Pringle tantalizingly cracks that door but doesn't expand on it. I found his sidebar comments on various contemporaries of Roosevelt, especially as some have been lost to history, more interesting. Intriguing side streets that I intend to pursue. In fact, that only would be my recommendation for this book.
   
   However, Pringle never fleshes out Roosevelt. Pringle seems to catch his outline, his reactions to events, circumstances or people, but fails to deliver T.R. himself. This might suffice as a brief introduction to Roosevelt but much more interesting and illuminating biographies are now available.



2. I found Henry F. Pringle's biography on Theodore Roosevelt to be bit overrated. Probably because it was published back in 1931 that make the material so dated. Passage of time and reassessment of Theodore Roosevelt make this book somewhat of an oddity. Despite of being published just 12 years after Roosevelt's death, it was interesting to read that this was basically a pretty negative outlook on a great American. The style of his writing, the way he jumped forward and backward simply confused the subject matter sometimes. It doesn't helped that the author never really get into the mind, personality and motives of his subject. Many of the issues surrounding Roosevelt's life are simply not in-depth enough to be interesting or informative.
   
   I supposed for readers back in the 1930s, this book had a lot to offered. But nowadays, with works by Edmund Morris, David McCullough, Nathan Miller and Kathleen Dalton, there is really very little purpose in reading this book. It doesn't offered any thing new nor offered any great insights.
   
   I read it because it was so highly acclaimed back then. It won the Pulitzer Prize and won high reviews back then. But reading it now after going through many of the modern materials on Roosevelt, make Pringle's work looked weak and stale.
   
   Not really recommended for anyone unless your curiousity get aroused by ancient work.



3. Henry Pringle's "Theodore Roosevelt" was one of the first biographies of TR and was written before the passage of time permitted an unimpassioned analysis of his life. Roosevelt scholarship has advanced over the intervening years.

   Pringle has a reputation for factual errors. I caught a few statements of his which are consistently contradicted by later biographers. Other biographers display the ability to present the facts, both those favorable and unfavorable to TR, while leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions. With a heavy hand, Pringle supplies his own opinionated conclusions, which were often critical of TR.

   TR lived such a full life that any single volume biography has to seem to be shallow. This relatively short biography is no exception. For a biography of TR I would recommend Edmund Morris' "The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt" and "Theodore Rex" as well as Nathan Miller's "Theodore Roosevelt: A Life". For his early life I would recommend David McCullough's "Mornings On Horseback" (see my Amazon review on each). I would reserve Pringle's work for readers already well versed in TR lore who are seeking a thorough familiarity with TR literature.




4. Henry Pringle's "Theodore Roosevelt" was one of the first biographies of TR and was written before the passage of time permitted an unimpassioned analysis of his life. Roosevelt scholarship has advanced over the intervening years.

   Pringle has a reputation for factual errors. I caught a few statements of his which are consistently contradicted by later biographers. Other biographers display the ability to present the facts, both those favorable and unfavorable to TR, while leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions. With a heavy hand, Pringle supplies his own opinionated conclusions, which were often critical of TR.

   TR lived such a full life that any single volume biography has to seem to be shallow. This relatively short biography is no exception. For a biography of TR I would recommend Edmund Morris' "The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt" and "Theodore Rex" as well as Nathan Miller's "Theodore Roosevelt: A Life". For his early life I would recommend David McCullough's "Mornings On Horseback" (see my Amazon review on each). I would reserve Pringle's work for readers already well versed in TR lore who are seeking a thorough familiarity with TR literature.




5. The first dozen pages of this book promised one of the best biographies I would likely read, when I was quickly disabused of my expectations. Though Pringle ably exposes Roosevelt's political theories and doctrines and their strange inceptions, the presentation of the book tediously presents a few details, then gives Roosevelt's reaction, then a new set of details, then Roosevelt's reaction, ad infinitum. I realize that histories and biographies are usually chronologically linear, but even though Pringle runs forward or looks back as it suits the situation, the whole presentation seems a tedious catalog of action and reaction.

1 comments about The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents: From Washington to F.D.R. (The Freethought Library).

1. very good. it has letters by clergy's and others who wrote about the beliefs of the presidents very interesting

3 comments about Churchill and War.

1. Geoffrey Best masterfully highlights the role that war played in Winston Churchill's long life while putting to rest some myths and misconceptions on this subject. As Best puts it diplomatically at the beginning, Churchill was not a saint. Churchill was at times rough and at others smooth. Churchill's roughness was embodied in his egotism, ruthlessness, and lack of consideration. Churchill's smoothness was found in his decency, patriotism, humanity, and courage. The secret behind Churchill's greatness lied in breaking rules.
   
   Churchill was a man in a hurry, on the lookout for both fame and notice. Churchill was always wondering how he looked like if he did this or that. Churchill was looking for his "finest hours" for decades. Churchill repeatedly showed recklessness on the battlefield while believing that nothing serious could ever happen to him during his military adventures.
   
   Churchill's books, articles, and speeches were at the service of his military and political ambitions while making a living out of them. Churchill valued most his writings about war. War was the most exciting activity to man in Churchill's view. History taught him that war was ruling the destinies of nations.
   
   Churchill was never one to be idle. Churchill's great transformation began when he took to serious company and books. Churchill did not find any relish in club-lounging, party-going, dancing, and womanizing. Although Churchill was not indifferent to female charm, he was not at ease with women. Churchill was lucky to find in Clementine Hozier a gifted woman who could accommodate his sometimes difficult character.
   
   Churchill was a very hard working man and showed an unusual talent for mastering detail. Churchill had an elephantine memory on which he could rely to use facts and data for further purposes. Although Churchill had an unusual gift with words, he was not by nature an effective public speaker.
   
   Churchill had a deep interest in military strategy within which the large allied armies operated during the two world wars. Strategizing was to him the closest thing to commanding great armies in the field. Churchill's interest in generalship was at the very heart of his fascination with war, including the technologies used for waging war. Like other war leaders, Churchill found the neutrality of non-belligerents irksome.
   
   Churchill remained a democrat at times of war by not suppressing critics who annoyed him. Despite his excitement about war, Churchill considered magnanimous peacemaking important once war was over. However, Churchill had no intention to condone the atrocities committed by the Nazis against non-combatants during WWII.
   
   The older Churchill was, the more he became aware of the heavy price tag attached to war for those who did not have his luck. For all his humanity, Churchill knew very well that war was a dreadfully demanding endeavor that overturned peacetime norms and hardened man's heart. Churchill had no illusion about the increasingly lethal evolution of war during his lifetime. Unsurprisingly, Churchill promoted a peace agenda after WWII with the advent of the balance of nuclear terror.
   
   To summarize, Best helps his audience better comprehend what role war played in the existence of a man who left an indelible footprint behind him.



2. This is a brillant book; well researched, extremely well written and a great read!
   
   Author Geoffrey Best shows the important role war played in the life of Winston Churchill, beginning with his birth at Blenheim (built for John Churchill, first Duke of Malborough and commemorating the 1704 battle, which secured England's rising position in the world) and focusing mainly on the British leader's seminal role in the Second World War. "War was central to Churchill's life," writes Best, "He was a soldier before he was a politician."
   
   Best addresses various aspects of Churchill as a war leader, including his influence on the Grand Alliance and the strategic insight and war direction he provided to Great Britian and the Allies. While he helped to determine the outcome of the war by ensuring America's participation, Churchill's strategic vision was, at times, faulty. Certainly his resistence to Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy and the European Continent, in favor of a greater Allied commitment in Italy and the Balkans, shows him at his strategic worse.
   
   Following the Second World War, however, the British leader became less conservative and more flexible and worked fervently to avert another world war. The use of atomic weapons in another war became anathema to him. "The fact was that Churchill had lost his taste for war," records Best. "He had studied was for sixty years and lived it for fifteen of then and it had been getting worse all the time. He had never cherised illusions about it."
   
   This book dispels a great many myths about Winston Churchill and his attitudes toward war. Informative and insightful, it will alter our perceptions of a great statesman, whose life, from beginning to end, was filled with war.



3. A book for all those interested in the martial side of the great British statesman. Especially interesting to me were thoughts on WW II air raids on Dresden and the overalll tactics and morality of Bomber Command. Also, many will find Professor Best's discussion of Winston Churchill's involvement with the development of the atomic bomb and his early 1950s statements on maintaining international peace, given this new war device, especially informative.
   
   British historian Geoffrey Best writes from deep knowledge, and in a pleasing style. Readers interested in a broader treatment of Sir Winston's life would profit from reading his 2001 biography, "Churchill: a Study in Greatness."

No comments about Lee Harvey Oswald - Portrait of a Presidential Assassin (Biography).

5 comments about Hitler Was a British Agent.

1. As things stand, unfortunately the 2nd edition (October 2006) hasn't achieved the above goal yet. Despite the fact that the authors, conscious citizens from KiwiLand, argue their case rather convincingly by drawing on an array of printed sources and 'living libraries', that is intel insiders. The bulk of the text does a good job in explaining how abominable H. was groomed (being an alleged grandson of Lionel N. Rothschild's), deconstructed and then controlled via his Tavistock Psy-Ops conditioning (those 'missing years' of the government approved, politically correct biographies spent in Ireland(?) and Britain from February 1912 to April 1913)and by double agents in his coterie -- Dr. Morell with his drug cocktails among them.
   Did you know, for instance, that "Adolf Hitler had a radio receiver in his mouth wired straight to his hearing receptors. The upper palate was the main receiver and spoke directly to his subconscious brain. The two lower bridges transferred the audible sound to his ears and brought those messages into conscious thought. Hitler was a puppet with wooden and metallic strings (sex and teeth)." (p. 92)On one occassion this contributed to saving his rotten hide from a grenade blast while in WWI trenches.
   The usual suspect for puppetmaster, of course, is none other but the high-ranking, death- and blood-cultish Illuminazi Masonic brotherhood, closely intertwined -quite literally- with British royalty and the Rothschild & Co. criminal syndicate, with their power-junkie, wannabe minions in tow. Chapters discuss Hitler's sexuality (homosexual leanings, coprophilia); his psychological makeup; sickening elite deviances involving members of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha/Hannoverian dynasty, all of which were and are ideal vehicles for blackmail and manipulation in the hands of MI5-6 and related alphabet soup of spook agencies; the build-up to WWII and technology transfer between the allied and axis powers; self-sabotages; Hess's peace mission flight to and subsequent death in Britain at the hands of some military operative on 13th May, 1941; the Brits' whisking Bormann and Hitler out of Berlin under the cover of operation James Bond and Winnie the Pooh, respectively; and tons more.
   In sum, this title (bibliography, index, and scores of relevant photos included)has a lot to offer to conspiracy buffs, revisionist history enthusiasts, WWII researchers; yet -as usual- it should be taken with a spoonful of that proverbial salt. When dealing with the official version of concensus reality, even a cartload would not suffice, though!
   See also Henry Makow's review on savethemales.ca/001399.html. There are other books by the same authors in the series, such as 'Stalin's British Training', from greghallett.com.



2. After spending all that time and money on programming Hitler to 'rule the world' they (the secret, hidden forces) then allow him to enrol in the German army where, for 4 years he ducks bombs and bullets in the trenches, surviving against almost impossible odds.
   
   It's not Hitler who is a product of some ridiculous conspiracy theory, but this silly book itself! No hard evidence just explanations which can have other, and mind you, more complete, rival explanations.



3. The sad thing about any book professing to be about top secret activities is that it is impossible to prove the author wrong. That said, time and again Mr. Hallett mentioned details that I knew to be correct and such incidences were not limited to things of common knowledge rather they were events that I have gleaned by years of living and working closely with the intelligence community.
   
   Although the author bats 1000 when it comes to those events that I can verify, I am not ready to jump on the band wagon and swallow the rest of the stories hook, line, and sinker - especially as some of his stories conflict with other source with equal reliability (or lack thereof). Even though one should not believe any of his stories without independent corroboration, it is a cornucopia of tantalizing tales that could be the foundation of some interesting research. Hallett adds to this potpourri a measure of New Zealand tongue-in cheek humor and an interesting perspective on the relationship of sexual perversion and positions of power.
   
   Regardless of the veracity of the content or ones alignment with the political views of the author, this is a book that can be enriching for those with an open mind.
   
   I was disappointed with the book in a couple of respects. Firstly, the material repeats itself many times over making for an overly long tome (of course, this has an advantage if one is reading only isolated chapters since they can stand independently) and some topics drift far from the central theme. Secondly, the thesis of sexual perversion being central to political advancement is somewhat tarnished by the derisive manner in which the topic is presented. Even a modern Western society that is accepting of what two consenting adults do in private will still condemn certain sexual acts, so maybe the author's attitude is proper, yet I found myself frequently questioning his motivations and prejudices.



4. Hallett's book has a racy, irreverent style not usually associated with history books - but it's not the usual pompous, pious history served up by the victors to their victuals!
   
   His hypothesis, if true, would explain many things and crack open many secrets of the "New World Order." Hallett attributes his original narrative to oral accounts by intelligence insiders. Hopefully other workers may be able to corroborate some of his data with written records of the period.
   
   Henry Makow Ph.D. had this to say about it:
   
   "Greg Hallett's book 'Hitler Was A British Agent' depicts war as a ghoulish illusion conjured by occult magicians in order to degrade and eventually enslave humanity in world government.
   
   Hallett's claim that Hitler was a 'British' agent is based on the testimony of a shadowy network of retired intelligence agents. While he fails to provide documentary proof, Hallett does offer persuasive circumstantial evidence.
   
   For example, Adolph Hitler was in England in 1912-1913, a fact supported by his sister-in-law's book: 'The Memoirs of Bridget Hitler'(1979). Many historians including Hitler biographer John Toland have ignored this startling information. (If Hallett is right, historians like Toland are guilty of sanitizing Hitler...)
   
   Hallett's hypothesis explains 1)Why Hitler was able to expand into the Rhineland etc. without fear of retaliation. 2) Why the Nazi war machine was financed and built by the Bank of England and a Who's Who of Anglo American corporations controlled by the Illuminati. 3) Why Hitler never sealed the Mediterranean at Gibraltar; and why the Spanish dictator Franco remained neutral, despite the huge debt he owed the Nazis from the Civil War. 4) Why I.G. Farben headquarters in Frankfurt was never bombed. This became CIA headquarters."



5. Whether Hallett's tomb on history is 100 percent accurate should not be the stumbling block for more mainstream people to understand the hidden hand that is and has always been behind human affairs on this planet. The pain, outrage and embarrassment of being mere puppets in a very well orchestrated play will cause those same people to turn a blind eye to Hallett's version. Brilliant discussions on Dunkirk, body doubles, compromising leaders by recording their sexual deviance, and mind control / physiological changes by remote electro-magnetic means. The description and function of Hitler's dental work alone will astonish you. Overall, one of the most fascinating books I have ever layed eyes on, of any genre. Endlessly relevant to today's political and economic climate. His general philosophy is that the World is run on shame, and that pedophilia / homosexuality / Satanic murder / drug use are the principle generators of human shame, thus the people who are into these avenues are incredibly important to the "controllers" because they can be profoundly compromised, which is why they are always promoted and positioned into powerful roles within our modern socities. By proxy then, gay drug-using Satanic pedophiles are the creme of the crop and often become Presidents, Prime Ministers, Cardinals, Generals, CEOs, and media moguls. So bloody true and seemingly obvious once said. Thus, the so-called "elite" of our modern societies are almost never self-made; rather they are selected, groomed, and then positioned so that they can do the bidding of the controllers, who masterfully use shame for total compliance. Diabolical in its brilliance, but ancient in application. My only critique is its repetitiveness on some themes / statements; in other words, it could have used a better editor.