Uncle Tom's Cabin (Bantam Classics)
by HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
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Mass Market Paperback (01 December, 1982)
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Reviews (124)

An outstanding story
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a very melodramatic book. I have read it several times over the past twenty years and must say that it has something new for every decade or even for every generation. When considered for our time, Uncle Tom's stands out as a classic prose that hits directly at those turbulent times before the Civil War, and reflects issues of war and principles today. Harriet Beecher Stowe had a great cause to write about and wrote a work that still is as relevant today as it was during his time.

The author's masterful story summarizes the conflicting attitudes of a nation on the brink of civil war. Melodramatic though it is, it was written in the style of the times and for a situation that required it. With parts that reminded me of DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, WAR AND PEACE, I enjoyed this story all the way through. This is a highly recommended book.

I've read this book.
Personally, I've read this book and thought it was interesting. Although, I would have to say it was a complete waste of time and utter crap. Now I will point out it was an interesting read. What would it have been like to be a slave? Hmm? I wonder.. Well I'm guessing since this is fiction, this is a complete waste of my time. The author wasn't a slave on the ship. The book has much detail that can bring images into your head of what it may have been like.

The plot structure is ok in the beginning however, it has many holes in it and destroys the whole story. I don't even understand why I had to read this crap in middle school. I look back now that I'm in college and notice that this was a waste of my childhood. This book was created to give an insight into the world of slavery and the shipment of slaves. I personally think racism shouldn't be taught because it was a crazy individualized thought made up by someone as crazy as Adolf Hitler. Not a choice made by a society but led up by an individual to get others to conform to their thought. In this day and age. I'd love to see someone try that with all the technological advancements we've made.

Racism is a thing of the past. I would have rather read a book on conformity. That way I would have kept an individualized mind.

Timeless literature, or historical relic?
A notorious anecdote about "Uncle Tom's Cabin" relates that Abraham Lincoln, upon greeting Harriet Beecher Stowe at a White House reception, jokingly referred to her as the lady who wrote the book that started the Civil War.Sardonic as it is, the implication does some basis; appearing in 1852, eleven years before the Emancipation Proclamation, this novel forcefully decrying the institution of slavery and helping to stir the nation towards abolition was probably the most incendiary of the century.That it is often crude and quaintly primitive compared to contemporaneous works by Hawthorne and Melville only seems to increase the sense of its mission, oddly enough.

Simply put, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" dramatizes the conditions of American slavery.Stowe bases her characters and their stories on actual accounts of which she had known or heard, but more notably her imagination is fostered by an ethical conscience whose predominant source is the Bible.(It is not surprising to learn that she came from a family of preachers; there are passages in this novel that read like "The Pilgrim's Progress.")She tries awkwardly to maintain a balance in the novel between high melodrama, low comedy, tales of adventure and suspense, and noble but obtrusive exhortations about the inhumanity and unchristianity of slavery.

The hero is "Uncle" Tom, a religious patriarch and evangelist among everyone he meets, who is separated from his family and is sold from owner to owner--the kind but dissolute Augustine St. Clare, and the nasty and cruel Simon Legree--in an odyssey that parallels the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt, a sort of journey to redemption.In addition to Tom's travails, the novel tells the story of a married couple of fugitive slaves named George and Eliza who have escaped from their respective owners to save their baby son from being sold to a trader and to flee to freedom in Canada, aided by Quakers and other sympathetic northerners.

In his introduction to the Bantam Classics edition, the critic Alfred Kazin defends "Uncle Tom's Cabin" with hand placed firmly on hilt, equating its artistry to its honorable abolitionist sentiments and its historical importance.I respectfully differ with Kazin in this case.I don't consider moral outrage to be solid ground on which to build a work of fiction.Dickens does it best, though that is the least of what makes him a great writer.Stowe, whose overbearing piety outshines her attention to language and narration, is not so skillful.

Stylistically, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is uncannily similar to Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" (1906), a book written for a very different reason but with the same magnitude of passionate indignation--both are novels of sloppily overwrought prose intertwining drab narratives of two-dimensional characters and heavy-handed pathos with finger-wagging social commentary.The atrocity of slavery and the problem of unnecessarily unhealthy, dangerous working conditions are too serious to be represented by shabby fictionalizations.Should Stowe and Sinclair be regarded as bad novelists or competent pamphleteers?If the latter, then those who somehow are not already convinced that slavery is blatantly evil should by all means read "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

... Read more

Isbn: 0553212184
Sales Rank: 2974
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. Fiction / Classics   

The Communist Manifesto
by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
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Mass Market Paperback (01 October, 1998)
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"A spectre is haunting Europe," Karl Marx and Frederic Engels wrote in 1848, "the spectre of Communism." This new edition of The Communist Manifesto, commemorating the 150th anniversary of its publication, includes an introduction by renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm which reminds us of the document's continued relevance. Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be enacting its principles. ... Read more

Reviews (209)

Not "fantasy" as one reviewer calls it
On reviewer wrote this: "reward those who don't produce, and punish those who do," as the main theme of the Manifesto, calling it fantasy.Is it possible that Bill Gates "produces" 2.5 billion times more and than a minimum-wage worker does who actually does the producing?Not only is this an illogical point, it is not at all any kind of point being made by the Manifesto.Punish those who oppress those who produce and let those who produce organize society.That's the point of it.

This is a wonderful piece of writing that is extraordinarily well grounded in history and the study of classes in society.It is not perfect and there is no reason to think it should be, but it holds more wisdom and less "fantasy" than, say, the Bible, which is a work of fiction with moral lessons that is the best selling book in the world.

It is hard to look at our culture from the point of view of someone wanting to change it when you are surrounded by messages that make you feel hopeless, by corporate media that does not report the news.This is a look into that.

handbook for change
This book is simple to read, yet very complicated. It should be read by all those who wish to change from this dog eat dog world to a more humane, peaceful one.

Non-sense
This book is most likely the biggest piece of garbage that I have ever read. The concepts that are in this book are right out of a fantasy world. The main concept of this book is "reward those who don't produce, and punish those who do." ... Read more

Isbn: 0451527100
Subjects:  1. Communism    2. Economic Conditions    3. History & Theory - Radical Thought    4. Philosophy    5. Political    6. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    7. Politics - Current Events   

The Second Sex
by SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
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Paperback (17 December, 1989)
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In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir posed questions many men, and women, had yet to ponder when the book was released in 1953."One wonders if women still exist, if they will always exist, whether or not it is desirable that they should ...," she says in this comprehensive treatise on women. She weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and a host of other disciplines to show women's place in the world and to postulate on the power of sexuality. This is a powerful piece of writing in a time before "feminism" was even a phrase, much less a movement. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

An ingenious book by an ingenious author !
Simone De Beauvoir is a prominent French philosopher that has written a worldly classic book "The Second Sex." Her book has been a study requirement in many universities in the women studies courses.
It is a brilliant and enlightening book about the feminine mystique in a patriarchal chauvinistic male dominated world.

An objective inquiry into the feminine situation
This book started an era in feminism called The Second Wave and represents the turn towards psychology and sociology from the political principles of liberty, justice and equality around which First Wave feminists argued.

The book painstakinlgy traces the causes of much of women's psychological and behavioural evolution over millenia. de Beauvoir, is more concerned about appraising the situation correctly rather than apologizing for it, and this makes the analysis very objective and in some respects also inconoclastic because she demolishes both good and bad stereotypes of women -- from Montherant's misogyny, to Caudwell's celebration of feminity.

At the same time, she does not pretentiously portray women as something they are not -- quite the same as men, far superior in everything, always in the right etc. This makes the book wonderful reading for its rich well researched, well argued insights and objectivity, although it is a tad apologetic at times and somewhat unilateral in its presentation of men as just the nameless, faceless,'other' of women.

Again many Second Wave feminists have largely concentrated on either the cosmetic-beauty imperialism, or some other aspect and not the entire yoke than bogs women. This is by far the most comprehnsive and well-rounded statement of both the feminine situation and the feminist position.

This book began my journey from Liberalism to Conservatism
When I read this book in college, I thought of myself as a progressive thinker. The philosophy I read in the book was so twisted and exaggerated, it began a long, slow and comprehensive change in my entire paradigm of policital thinking. ... Read more

Isbn: 0679724516
Subjects:  1. Feminism & Feminist Theory    2. Sociology    3. Women    4. Women's Studies - General    5. Social Science / Women's Studies   

The Prince
by Niccolo Machiavelli, Daniel Donno
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Mass Market Paperback (01 August, 1984)
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When Lorenzo de' Medici seized control of the Florentine Republic in 1512, he summarily fired the Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria and set in motion a fundamental change in the way we think about politics. The person who held the aforementioned office with the tongue-twisting title was none other than Niccolò Machiavelli, who, suddenly finding himself out of a job after 14 years of patriotic service, followed the career trajectory of many modern politicians into punditry. Unable to become an on-air political analyst for a television network, he only wrote a book. But what a book The Prince is. Its essential contribution to modern political thought lies in Machiavelli's assertion of the then revolutionary idea that theological and moral imperatives have no place in the political arena. "It must be understood," Machiavelli avers, "that a prince ... cannot observe all of those virtues for which men are reputed good, because it is often necessary to act against mercy, against faith, against humanity, against frankness, against religion, in order to preserve the state." With just a little imagination, readers can discern parallels between a 16th-century principality and a 20th-century presidency.--Tim Hogan ... Read more

Reviews (211)

Compelling ... Especially for Despots
Perhaps it is fair to call Nicollo Machiavelli a teacher of the tyrants. After all, this early sixteenth century book has long served as a reference guide to the likes of Hitler and Mussolini, despots who ruled with an iron fist and unmitigated cruelty. Yet, certain aspects of Machiavelli's text might also serve in some capacity to aid a free society as well.

Written by Niccolo Machiavelli (a Florentine nobleman of the early sixteenth century) to a local ruler, "The Prince" is a short text of just over 100 pages which reads very much like a personal letter. The text was sent as a gift by Machiavelli with an explanation that he could not afford to purchase a gift and had written this instead. It is, at the very least, likely that the gift was meant to find the author a place in the royals hearts and obtain Machiavelli some recognition.

"The Prince" is simply a guide. It instructs the reader on becoming a ruler and in the maintenance of power. From launching attacks on fellow kingdoms to conducting oneself in public, this book covers it all. Machiavelli dictates that a ruler must be affable, yet must stand above others at all times. He must know how to please both his guards and his peasants. He must form alliances and know when to break them. He must never let down his guard.

More controversial are the many cruel "necessities" dictated by Machiavelli. Machiavelli unabashedly declares that when taking over (deposing) or otherwise unseating a leader you must kill all of his/her bloodline. There must be no one left to vie for the throne. And that is one of many of the mandates that has fixed him forever with a terrible reputation. One nickname for Satan himself is Ol' Nick, probably taken from the Niccolo in Machiavelli's name. When it comes to grabbing and maintaining power, Machiavelli pulls no punches. His suggestion of eradicating a leader's bloodline harkens one back to the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 Russia, When Czar Nicholas and his family were slain. It is easy to imagine "The Prince" having been used as a reference by many of the world's cruel dictators.

Machiavelli also cites many examples from governments of his time, such as the emperors of the Roman Empire. In each case he explains why the leadership did or did not work and what we can learn from it.

I found this book very entertaining. "The Prince" is as harsh as anything being published today and enthralling, but it will appeal more to history or political fans than others. It is also short enough not to be too daunting a read. "War and Peace" it is not.

While Machiavelli's arguments are valid (albeit cruel) there is one bothersome detail in his work that serves as a blaring irony. Upon exacting on us some barbaric charge that bloodlines must be slain or that untrustworthy officers must be killed, the author will turn around and give reference to God and declare that a good leader should always keep aware of him. Ol' Nick vows to slay and then to do God's good work all in the same breath. Hmmm...

Fascinating. Edifying. "The Prince" makes me more aware of the world around me and even more certain that I never want to go into politics. One final thought is the much-used quote by Machiavelli, taken from "The Prince:"

"Fortune is a woman and must be taken by force."

That's a standard Machiavellian idea for you. Pick up a copy of The Prince, and judge the book for yourself. For those of you who HATE the idea of power and tyranny, let me make a contrasting recommendation -- a recent Amazon purchase I truly enjoyed -- 180 degrees opposite from the philosophy of Machiavelli - it's a book called THE LOSERS CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez, a very engaging, comic novel told from the point of view of an admitted "weakling." Thank goodness.

Great introduction to politics.
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is a great introduction to politics. Machiavelli encourages rulers to do what is expedient rather than what is moral.

A short guidebook on how to retain political power
In The Prince, Machiavelli advises 16th century Italian rulers to let ideals take a back seat when dealing with the sober realities of governing a state.The author suggests that it is often necessary for the ruler to be ruthless and unjust during both war and peacetime in order to retain power.In fact, Machiavelli asserts that it's better to gain respect by cowing the citizens into submission rather than being generous and gaining their love.

I found The Prince to be very interesting and enjoyable.Aside from the stuff dealing with what kinds of soldiers to use in war,the advice in it is still relevant today though perhaps more applicable to corporate management than to running a country.Human rights in the modern world are generally well protected and any unwarranted cruelties and injustices would be widely publicized and the ruler chastised.But in the competitive corporate world, putting nice and innocent employees out on the street in order to meet the bottom line is a daily occurrence.Or when someone makes it to an executive position, he/she frequently demotes rivals.Of course, when it comes to dealing with competitors, it's take no prisoners.I'm not saying it's right to do these things, but that's unfortunately how the business world works.

After reading this book, I wondered whether I would be capable of being Machiavelli's ideal prince.If I had to make certain unpleasant decisions in order to safeguard the state, could I follow through on them in good conscience?For example, if I uncover a rival's plot to assassinate me and then put him to death, Machiavelli wants me to murder the rival's entire family so that no revengeful action will be forthcoming.I suppose that I have a difficult time relating to the way people thought about human rights four hundred years ago.

More to the point, since I work in the corporate world I may one day have to make unpleasant decisions.I think that I just might consult The Prince to help me make those decisions.It's certainly not *the* authority on these kinds of things, but offers a sound, logical viewpoint that's worth listening to. ... Read more

Isbn: 0553212788
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Early works to 1800    3. European - Italian    4. History & Theory - General    5. Literary Criticism    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature: Classics    8. Political ethics    9. Political science    10. Fiction / Classics   

Silent Spring
by Rachel Carson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (22 October, 2002)
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Silent Spring, released in 1962, offered the first shattering look at widespread ecological degradation and touched off an environmental awareness that still exists. Rachel Carson's book focused on the poisons from insecticides, weed killers, and other common products as well as the use of sprays in agriculture, a practice that led to dangerous chemicals to the food source. Carson argued that those chemicals were more dangerous than radiation and that for the first time in history, humans were exposed to chemicals that stayed in their systems from birth to death. Presented with thorough documentation, the book opened more than a few eyes about the dangers of the modern world and stands today as a landmark work. ... Read more

Reviews (108)

Reverberated pesticide abuse
The book "Silent Spring" By Rachel Carson is not by any means a novel.This book examines the assertion of an early environmentalist (Rachel Carson) that the use of pesticides and poisons for agricultural purposes is destroying the earth's environment.To the average reader this book will pose a challenge of comprehension and completion.With no interesting characters and/or exciting plot this book is difficult to read.The redeeming value in this book is that we are made to think about the consequences of our actions with chemicals released to the environment.This is good, as it would not always be considered good to sprout a third arm as did Zaphod Beeblebrox.From a moral perspective the courage of the main character to stick to her story, despite everyone trying to discredit her, is impressive.A more responsible (older) person may even use the word "inspiring." With a name like "Silent Spring" you would think that there would be a story similar to "Tuck Everlasting" where a family drinks from a spring in the forest which gives them eternal life."Silent Spring" would be like a water spring which turns you invisible or grants you the ability to be absolutely quite no matter what you do.But no, this book is entirely factual with no plot, and not a real cool story.
A word to the wise; do not read this book if you want a good story.If you want a cool story read "Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy" by Douglass Adams.For all you tree huggers out there this story is a good morale booster which should be placed on your tofu table as a conversational piece.

Thank God For Rachel Carson and Her Courage!
The legacy of Rachel Carson's famous work is living on today and is still the nemesis of the chemical industry. It appears that a few chemical snake-oil pushers and/or their apologists have been leavingbad reviews amongst the mostlyglowing reviews, confirming the success and timeless message of Carson's work long after her passing in 1964.

Indeed, *Silent Spring* is still one of the most referenced works when it comes to environment and chemical contamination of the environment. One will understand why after reading this monumental achievement.

Ms Carson's work put environment and ecology squarely into our collective consciousness and part of that success is owed, inadvertently,to the chemical manufacturers who ruthlessly attacked her as a person and the integrity of her work. She was called before congress to testify about the dangers of pesticide/herbicide use and to prove her work while simultaneously being challenged by scientists and chemical manufacturer representatives.

The outcome was that chemicals such as DDT, which were wiping-out non-targeted life forms such as the Bald Eagle, were eventually banned from use in the U.S.

The controversy over pesticide use stirred-up another importantissue and that was the chemical manufacturers insidious influence ofuniversity-level research. Manufacturers have always fundeduniversity research with rich grants for which they expect data to support their products success in the market-place. Researchers are often coerced by threat of loosing funding or their credibility challenged if their findings are not favorable to industry. Unfortunately, a few of those researchers are gladly willing to take part in this nefarious pseudo-science and seem not to loose any sleep over it.

After the backlash of government and public outcry caused by Ms Carson`s efforts, chemical manufacturers to this day think twice before attempting to publicly defame decent/honest chemical detractors, indeed, the possibility of being exposed by the dreaded "Silent Spring Syndrome" haunts them in a poetic gesture to the memory and work of Rachel Carson.

After Ms Carson's exhaustive studies and field work, where the damage of pesticides and herbicides showed their insidious bad habits of spreading beyond target areas, polluting and disrupting biomes, her clear message to the public was simply stated:

"Now at last, as it has become apparent that the heedless and unrestrained use of chemicals is a greater menace to ourselves than to the targets (bugs), the river which is the science of biotic control flows again, fed by new streams of thought."(p 279) Indeed!


Carson's legacy is enhanced by a host of dedicated people who keep her work not only referenced, but updated and disseminatedthrough such beautiful books as: Sandra Steingraber's "Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment" and for empathy and understanding of the insect world, there is Joanne E. Lauck's "The Voice of the Infinite in the Small: Re-visioning the Insect-Human Connection".

In 1964, and after Ms Carson died, Robert L. Rudd, a zoologist and expert on the dangers pesticides, published his
study: "Pesticides and the Living Landscape". This work underscored and corraberated the importance Ms Carson's work and showed that many scientists could not be bought or intimidated by the chemical companies.

The sad irony of the chemical manufacturer's dangerous assault on insects is that all bugs have a purpose, but then so do the chemical companies: to make a ton of money selling insanity to an unwitting and uneducated public. This constitutes one ofthe most irresponsible and insidious snake-oil scams in history.

To learn more about Rachel Carson's legacy and resources for action, go to: www.rachelcarson.org and the Racel Carson Council: http://members.aol.com/rccouncil/ourpage/

Silent Spring
I found Silent Spring to be monotonous and depressing.Carson's 355 page book is filled with 17 different chapters, with the last 59 pages dedicated to footnotes.She draws the reader in, at first, with painting a beautiful countryside, then destroying it.She calls her short story "A Fable for Tomorrow", and then backs up the horror by telling us all the different maladies that overcame her perfect town actually happened in reality.
However, this haunting beginning is followed by a two chapters ("The Obligation to Endure" and "Elixirs of Death") that merely describe what poisons we use and why.They are morbidly interesting, since she follows up each deathly "elixir" with a more potent, more frightening one, up to the most deadly of them all, endrin, which can be up to 300 times more poisonous as DDT to some birds.
Now that the reader has a who's who of poisons, Carson then moves on through the next 6 chapters to show us their effect in water ("Surface Waters and Underground Seas"), soil ("Realms of the Soil"), plants ("The Earth's Green Mantle"), wildlife ("Needless Havoc"), birds ("And No Birds Sing"), and fish ("Rivers of Death").With each chapter, she shows us a picture of how life was before the pesticides, and then tells us the story of how it was destroyed.She lists example after example of life wilting before the toxins.Birds are found trembling or dead, fish are eradicated from major rivers for miles and miles.I found it to be extremely depressing at first, then, after several chapters, it became numbing and monotonous.I hear about so much death, so many losses, the only comfort I have is to know that laws prohibit the same flow of toxins into our environment, through it is a naiveté that is quickly dissipating.But I digress.
Chapter 10, "Indiscriminately from the Skies", details the effects and cost of aerial spraying with pesticides.The next four chapters ("Beyond the Dreams of the Borgias", "The Human Price", "Through a Narrow Window", and "One in Every Four".) explain the effect of pesticides on humans.The last of the four is upsetting, to say the least.The title is an estimation of how many people will develop cancer, and quotes the American Cancer society in predicting that it will strike two out of every three families.It is within this chapter Carson blames DDT for being a carcinogen.
And just when things seemed they could not get worse, Carson throws two last, depressing chapters at us."Nature Fights Back" and "The Rumblings of an Avalanche" describe how the pesticides we use today are becoming ineffective as insects adapt, evolve, and resist our battles, and come back stronger than before, now that their predators are poisoned to eradication.This unfortunately results in the use of more powerful chemicals, and then, in time, the cycle repeats itself and even more powerful chemicals are required.
In her last chapter, "The Other Road", Carson gives us a solution.Through sterilization methods, lures, repellants, venoms, bacterial diseases, and biological control (importing their natural enemies), insects can be controlled continuously, and, she adds, some pesticide control is not out of order now and then.
Though Carson's style of writing did not change throughout the book, I found the facts haunting, and understand how this book may have been the stone that started the avalanche that changed how people look at a tree, a forest, and the world. ... Read more

Isbn: 0618249060
Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental aspects    4. Nature    5. Nature / Field Guide Books    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Pesticides    8. Pesticides and wildlife    9. Toxicology    10. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection   

Mein Kampf/My Struggle
by Adolf Hitler
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 March, 2003)
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Reviews (18)

This is still a horrible children's book.
My previous review for this book was erased - ostensibly b/c I gave the book only two stars. Guess what, now it's getting one.

The struggle of Hitler, Stalin & Mao
The disgusting book "Mein Kampf" by Adolph Hitler ranks down with the film "Triumph of the Will" and with "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and the little "Red book" by Mao (each also available). Many people try to single out Hitler as unique, but it is unfortunate that he was matched or surpassed in monstrosity as a member of the socialist trio of atrocities (Hitler, Mao, Stalin) that led to the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part): 62 million killed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 35 million by the Peoples' Republic of China, 21 million by the National Socialist German Workers' Party. http://rexcurry.net/socialists.html

The National Socialist German Workers' Party and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics started as allies in 1939 to invade Poland in a pact to divide up Europe.Before, during and after the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics killed even more people.The Peoples' Republic of China then followed.Stalin, Mao and Hitler qualify as a true tragedy.The slaughter was so large that Holocaust Museums would quadruple in size and scope as Wholecaust Museums. http://rexcurry.net/wholecaust-museum.htmlFight the Holocaust deniers and the Wholecaust deniers.

The book "Mein Kampf" and the film "Triumph of the Will" make for astounding comparisons.In both the book and the film, socialism is extolled throughout by the very word "socialist."The words "fascist" and "Nazi" are never used -not a single time- in reference to the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

The 1934 film, directed by Leni Riefenstahl, was propaganda for the sixth annual congress of the National Socialist German Workers' Party in Nuremburg.

The socialist cliches in both are so thick they are comic.In the film it is impossible to forget (once it is heard) the phrase "Present Shovels!" barked to the industrial army of adoring "worker-soldiers" each carrying his G.I. shovel as though it was a gun.The only thing missing at that point of hilarity is a choreographed dance routine with the ditch-diggers. (Who could resist mentioning here that Hitler had a family name of schickelgruber?).The glorious comrades needed their "weapons" to shovel all the socialist manure piling up in "Triumph." It is unfortunate that the shovel army was later used to bury the victims of the incredibly deadly dogma.

The book and film contain references to God.Hitler indicates that he is on a God-given mission.In the film, he states that "the Party will be like a religious order."No one can dispute that Hitler was a preying person.

The similarities are terrifying when compared to dogma preached by Francis Bellamy and Edward Bellamy in the USA from 1888.Francis Bellamy was a preacher, and both Bellamys were part of the "Society of Christian Socialists."The Bellamys were self-proclaimed national socialists who supported the "Nationalist" magazine and the "Nationalist Educational Association" in the USA three decades before the Nazis began.The Bellamys idolized the military and openly advocated "military socialism" to create an "industrial army" to nationalize the entire economy, including all schools.Francis Bellamy created the straight-arm salute as part of the original pledge of allegiance to the USA's flag as discovered by the historian Rex Curry. http://rexcurry.net/pledgesalute.htmlIt salute did not come from ancient Rome. Photos can be viewed via a web search for "original socialist salute" and at http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.htmlFrancis Bellamy wanted flags in government schools to promote nationalization and socialism. It was a philosophy that led to the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part) where millions were murdered.That is why the Bellamys are known as America's Nazis.

Government schools teach that the pledge was created to sell flags to schools and Francis Bellamy is described as an advertising pioneer.That is a whitewashed piece of the whole story.A better description is that Bellamy was a propaganda pioneer, comparable to Leni Riefenstahl.

"Triumph" shows repetitive use of the infamous straight-arm salute of the National Socialists. Some scenes appear to show the straight-arm gesture delivered with a military-style salute to the heart before extending outward, or after retracting.That also has a prior history in variations on the pledge of allegiance in the USA.

The book and the film include Bellamyisms.They both give clues to how the German people pledged their loyalty to the Nazi-Sozis.In keeping with their socialist dogma, the film shows Hitler praised as an "epitome of altruism" and the speakers refer to each other as "comrades" who will cause a "revolution of the people and workers" to end "class struggle" and create "egalitarianism."Similar ideas are in "Mein Kampf."

Many people forget that "Nazi" means "National Socialist German Workers' Party" because the shorthand is overused by media mouthpieces who never say the actual name of the Party.A good mnemonic device is that the swastika was used as intermeshed "S" letters for "socialism" under the National Socialist German Workers' Party, a news-breaking discovery by the historian Rex Curry. http://rexcurry.net/swastikanews.html

Both film and book show repetitive use of the word "victory" which in German is "sieg" and related to the "S"-shaped "sieg" rune used in their symbols in the film, including the Hakenkreuz.The book "Mein Kampf" might contain Hitler's only written comments about the "swastika." It is a brief section and can be interpreted as Hitler stating that the Hakenkreuz was used as alphabetic symbolism of overlapping "sig" or "sieg" runes representing "S" letters for "socialism" or the "socialist victory."

Although the swastika was an ancient symbol for "good luck" in India, that is not why it was used by the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The swastika as a symbol for "socialism" is also shown elsewhere in many of their posters, flags, banners, books, medals and other paraphernalia.

Here is another interesting fact: the word "swastika" does not appear in the film nor in the book (in the German version). Only the term "Hakenkreuz" (hooked cross) is used. "Swastika" was a bad English translation of "Hakenkreuz."

The film also shows other symbols that most people have never seen and never will.

Some educated socialists (socialists who know the origin of the pledge) laugh at so-called conservatives who support robotic pledging in government schools, because socialists know that most "conservatives" in the USA have been duped into supporting socialism and are ignorant of the pledge's socialist origin. Conservatives don't arise each morning to gather with neighbors and robotically chant, as they only "love" the pledge when government's schools lead children in robotic chanting every morning for twelve years of their lives upon the ring of a bell, like Pavlov's lapdogs of the state.

The Bellamys advocated a government takeover of education. After the government took over education, segregation was imposed by law and became institutionalized by government in its schools and racism was taught as official policy. During that time children in government-schools were required by law to salute the flag with the straight-armed salute in military formation daily on the ring of a government bell, like Pavlov's lapdogs of the state.It is an ominous parallel that is covered-up in government schools in the U.S. and neither the schools nor the media will ever show a historic photograph of the original pledge of allegiance.

Germans learned bad American behavior via old films, via WWI, and via the widespread use of the straight-arm salute by German-American groups (including the German American Bund) in the USA, and from Germans who were educated in the USA or resided in the USA, and vice versa. Itled to its adoption later by the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party).
http://rexcurry.net/pledgebund.html

Bellamy believed that government schools with pledges and flags were needed to brainwash children to embrace nationalism, militarism, and socialism.

Bellamy wanted the government to takeover everything and impose the military's "efficiency," as he said. It is the origin of the modern military-socialist complex.

Bellamy wanted a flag over every school because he wanted to nationalize and militarize everything, including all schools, and eliminate all of the better alternatives. During Bellamy's time the government was taking over education.

Bellamy wanted government schools to ape the military.Government schools were intended to create an "industrial army" (another Bellamy phrase, and the word "army" was not metaphorical) and to help nationalize everything else.

Because of the Bellamy way of thinking, government-schools spread and they mandated segregation by law and taught racism as official policy and did so even after the National Socialists were defeated, and well beyond. http://www.rexcurry.net/stopthepledge4.html

Thereafter, the government's segregation legacy caused more police-state racism of forced busing that destroyed communities and neighborhoods and deepened hostilities.

Because of the Bellamy way of thinking, government-schools spread and they mandated the Nazi-style salute by law, flags in every classroom, and daily robotic chanting of the pledge of allegiance in military formation like Pavlov's lapdogs of the state.

The bizarre practices served as an example for three decades before they were adopted by the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

When Jesse Owens competed in the 1936 Olympics in Germany, his neighbors attended segregated government schools where they saluted the flag with the Nazi salute.

As under Nazism, children in the USA (including Jehovah's Witnesses and blacks and the Jewish and others) attended government schools where segregation was imposed by law, where racism was taught as official policy, and where they were required by law to perform the Nazi salute and robotically chant a pledge to a flag. If they refused, then they were persecuted and expelled from government schools and had to use the many better alternatives. There were also acts of physical violence.

The hypnotic "Sieg Heil" salute to a flag symbol mesmerized Americans long before it brainwashed Germans.

Jehovah's Witnesses were among the first people to publicly fight the government and its pledge ritual in the USA, during the same time that they fought it in Nazi Germany.They eventually achieved total victory over Nazi socialism.They achieved only partial victory over similar socialism in the USA.The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they could not be forced to perform the pledge.Laws still make teachers lead children in robotic chants of the socialist's pledge daily, on cue from the government. Jehovah's Witnesses and other children in government schools must watch the ritual performed by others.

The pledge gesture was altered and explicit school segregation by government ended. The Government's schools still exist, the federal flag brands government schools, and government's teachers must chant the pledge daily. Students are kept ignorant of the pledge's original salute and history. That is why the pledge still exists.Those are the many reasons why Francis Bellamy and his also-famous cousin Edward Bellamy are known as the "American Hitlers" and as the first "American Nazis." http://rexcurry.net/pledge1.html

The shovel brigade in "Triumph" is a reminder of how the National Socialists built highways as make-work programs and government boondoggles.It is an ominous parallel that the USA followed the example.

During the period of the National Socialists in Germany, the USA's federal government was growing massively and attempting to nationalize the economy in many ways.The US Supreme Court struck down much of the copycat legislation as unconstitutional until justices were pressured by the "switch in time that socialized nine" under the USA's worst president, the socialist FDR.

In 1935, the USA's government stepped onto the same path with the social security scam and its Nazi numbering at the height of Nazi power in Germany.

Today, some proposed social security reforms would invest social security taxes in private businesses and provide an avenue for the government to nationalize all private businesses in addition to schools. It is a scheme that would impress the Bellamys. It is an avenue for Bush to nationalize the entire U.S. economy. Conservatives support the Nazi-like scam because they don't have the ethics nor intellectual honesty to do the right thing: end government involvement in education, and end the social security scam, its taxes and its Nazi numbering.

After WWII ended, the government's schools in the USA continued segregation and racism, stopping in the 1960's.The USA also continued its Nazi numbering and its robotic pledge, with no stopping.

Thereafter, the Bellamy legacy caused more police-state racism of forced busing that destroyed communities and neighborhoods and deepened hostilities.

Today, the USA numbers babies, and government schools demand the numbers for enrollment, and the numbers track homes, workplaces, incomes, finances, and more, for life.School laws still tout the daily pledge, a bizarre ritual shunned by every other country.

The film's cinematragraphy shows how socialism is pure Hollywood.Socialism is conceited politician-actors delivering prepared lines and pretending to create food, clothing, and shelter on film.In the reality off camera, their socialism destroys food, clothing and shelter and kills millions.

Overall, the book and the film that followed it are both terrifying.

A man that lucidly saw the truth.
I have to admit I am just on Chapter 3, reading the Mannheim 1960's version in English.

Most people don't realize that it is difficult to translate from Deutsch to English.Also, he was not German, rather Austrian, where the locals have their own way of using the German language to communicate.

So far, the book has been a much better read than what I believe it would be.A.H. wrote with brilliance & at times, even charm.I've caught myself chuckling as sometimes he amuses the reader w/ his humour.There are times where he does dwell upon a topic too much.But that is the way the Deutsch language tends to be, at times long sentences.

About non-Whites in Europe.....well.....there would never be a Nazi Party if non-Whites were out of Europe.Hitler was a fabrication of nature, what an ethnicity or race naturally does, tries to protect its society from people outside their Civilization.If jews were w/ the arabs....they are all semites, Hitler wouldn't have risen to power.

There are a few lines in the book that stuck to me already:

1. "To `learn' history is to seek & find the forces which are the causes leading to those effects, which we perceive as historical events.".....in other words jews incited one of the most logical people on Earth, Germans, to protect their land/society from destructive Marxists.I've never encountered anyone that remotely believes Germans are illogical & emotionally unstable.One of the most focused people that see actuality rather than 'mysticism'.

2."Marxism replaces the aristocratic principles of Nature for strength in numbers.....dead weight.It denies the value of personality in man and withdraws from humanity and culture.It kills any order intellectually conceivable to man".Exactly what is happening to the present day Jewnited States.It should be no wonder why the nation previously known as the U.S. is rapidly in a downspin.

Upon reading it, it is almost as if Mr. Adolf Hitler was ahead of his time.Seeing the corrosive, ominous presence of non-Whites (jews) in our delicate civilization that Whites imagined, conceived, invented & created w/ the White essence & flavors that only Whites have.We are all different & upon comparing the White Civilization to others, it is stunningly obvious who reigns supreme.

It is a pro-Western, pro-White, book.Don't let the kosher-minded crooked scammers ;-) steer you from investigating & having an inquisitive mind......think free, be free.

Mr. Hitler did reach many goals.Lifted Germany out of the worst inflation in Human history.In only 4 years Germany was immensely powerful, what Roosevelt, w/ all of the states lands & resources utterly, miserably failed to do.Adolf also took a political party & brought it to immense power in a very short period of time.....I don't think that has ever been seen before.

Adolf also explains why the Austrian-Hungarian Empire fell.History repeats itself. Whites keep making the same mistake so many times throughout our roughly 38.000 year history.All empires fall because of non-homogeneity among it's people, Hitler saw that very clearly.

Go get a copy right now.

Be sure that it isn't a copy w/ an introduction by the ADL (anti-defamation league), as perhaps proceeds go to combat Western Civilization & promote hate towards Whites.




... Read more

Isbn: 1410102033
Sales Rank: 129020
Subjects:  1. Europe - Germany    2. Political Ideologies - Fascism & Totalitarianism    3. Political Science    4. Politics - Current Events    5. Politics/International Relations   

Guerrilla Warfare: Che Guevara
by Ernesto Guevara
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Paperback (01 December, 1998)
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Reviews (39)

THE revolutionary handbook
He covers everything from what to carry while engaging in guerrilla warfare to how to wage the propoganda war. A lot of it is Cuba-specific though. Like China, Cuba's popular uprising was cultivated in the rural areas with a promise of agrarian reform. This was a departure from the Marxism/Leninism focus on the industrial proletariat. For the industrialized world, Che's insistance on sparking the revolution from rural areas would likely fail.

Behind Che's 'foco' theory
A very insightful description of what was like to fight a guerrilla warfare in Latin America in the revolutionary 1960s. However, I would say that instead of being the "bible" for revolutionary guerrillas, Che's book was more or less a set of guidelines that drew most of its theory from his experience in Cuba. Che thought the conditions for guerrilla warfare could be created, rather than resulting from a set of vital circumstances for a revolutionary army to evolve, such as widespread discontent with the status quo and a pattern of repression that comes prior to a popular armed struggle. Again, because Che takes his theory from the Cuban campaign, it only deals with rural warfare,in a predominantly rural country. Forty years afterwards, most of the population in Latin America live in Urban centers, and Che's theory is far outdated to deal with events nowadays

In "guerrilla warfare" Che still highlights an unavoidable truth: strong support from the population is vital to keep an insurgency alive, if not victorious.

The "Shining Path" guerrillas in Peru lost popular ground because they alienated the peasants by repressing them as bad as the Army

In Colombia, the FARC have lost to the army vast areas formerly under its control because they have engaged in atrocities that have brought about considerable support in favor of a hardline government

In contrast, the Zapatistas in southern Mexico still are holding on, because they have not only support in their country, but also abroad

The reviewer who said that guerrillas (not 'gorillas') could no longer deal with a sophisticated counterinsurgency army, may want to give a look at the Iraqi fiasco. A growing and more sophisticated (in tactics, not in equipment) guerrilla campaign is being fought every hour of the day in Iraq, with no sign of slowing down. I wish some good book about modern Urban guerrilla warfare, apart from Urbano's, would come out any time soon, in which the Iraqi model could analysed and compared to other similar situations

Che'
An interesting read...if you're in the process of trying to overthrow a third-world dictatorship....With the exception of Cuba, Che was never involved in a successful, much less serious, insurgency against a standing government. Many of the lessons taught by Che in the book, some of which were practiced by the Viet Cong are useless against a well equipped and trained counter-insurgency force, as was the case in the later part of Vietnam. A fact few people realize is that the Viet Cong insurgency had been crushed by the end of the tet offensive, and even before then their achievments had been minimal at best. Che's own lessons, in the end, helped very few people, including himself. The Congo was a disaster for him, and in the end he was killed by Bolivian forces guided by CIA operatives and Green Berets. ... Read more

Isbn: 0803270755
Sales Rank: 5304
Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies - General    2. Case studies    3. Guerrilla Warfare    4. History - Military / War    5. Latin America    6. Military    7. Military - General    8. Military Science    9. Technology   

The Fate of the Earth and the Abolition: And, the Abolition (Stanford Nuclear Age Series)
by Jonathan Schell
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Paperback (01 June, 2000)
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Required Reading -- for Anyone
Schell takes the most compelling subject imaginable -- the very real possiblity of nuclear annihilation -- and puts it into gripping, passionate prose.Anyone with a concern for the human race should read Schell's account of the effect of nuclear weapons on nature and civilization.And anyone afraid of being humbled or disturbed needs Schell's reality check all the more.

The World Reduced to Grass and Insects
This book attempts to conceptualize the idea of a full scale nuclear exchange between the cold war superpowers, since the idea itself is now "unthinkable". To explore this lack of understanding the author first explains in detail the immediate and long lasting effects of full scale nuclear war. Then, he comments on the situation, making a bid for sanity in an insane situation. The author believes that self-destruction and even planetary destruction "is not something that we will pose one day in the future... it is here now" (182). Schell believes that only a fundamental change in the belief system of the people of the entire planet can erase the danger currently hanging over the world; no amount of arms limitation or reduction will end the threat of total annihilation. ... Read more

Isbn: 0804737029
Sales Rank: 429409
Subjects:  1. Deterrence (Strategy)    2. International Relations - General    3. Military - Nuclear Warfare    4. Nuclear disarmament    5. Nuclear warfare    6. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    7. Political Science    8. Politics - Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations   

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
by Eduardo H. Galeano, Cedric Belfrage
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Paperback (01 June, 1998)
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Reviews (28)

One-Sided History Is Not Good History

In the first line of his 1971 work, Eduardo Galeano clearly states, "the division of labor among nations is that some specialize in winning and others in losing." (Page 1)For Galeano, the economic well being of the United States and Europe rested on the back of Latin America.First pillaged for its gold and silver, then for it's human resources, Latin America served as the foundation for capitalist interests.This is the thesis for the book, and the author spends over 300 pages expounding on the "horrors" and "injustices" that the western world has plagued on Latin America."Latin America's industry," the author writes, "lies at the bottom of the Imperium's digestive apparatus.Our union makes their strength to the extent that our countries, not having broken from the molds of underdevelopment and dependence, integrate their own respective serfdoms." (Page 254)This, according to Galeano, resulted in the dividing up of Latin America's population into disjointed nation states, as each section of the countryside was developed to capitalize on one resource."Today," Galeano writes, "any of the multinational corporations operate with more coherence and sense of unity than the congeries of islands that is Latin America." (Page 260)

In presenting his argument Galeano divides his book into three parts.Mankind's Poverty as a Consequence of the Wealth of the Land, Development Is A Voyage With More Shipwrecks Than Navigators, and an update to the original work added in 1977 simply titled, Seven Years After.Unfortunately Galeano provides a very one-sided overview of Latin American history from the time of Columbus to the late 1960s.Within the first section's three chapters, the author paints a greed driven picture of Spanish explorers bent on finding gold at all cost, followed by European, and then American exploiters, manipulating the sugar and coffee industry for their own gains at the cost of the native peoples.While spending a large amount of text in describing the first Spanish expeditions, Galeano neglects to mention the then current situation among the Native American Indians.He never mentions the ambiguous relationships that certain Indian cultures had with their own neighbors, or the fact that the Aztecs were oppressing their own people.No mention is given at all to the fact that Corteìs had help from neighboring tribes in the overthrow of the Aztec Empire. The Indians are portrayed as simple peace loving people.

Galeano also seems to make assumptions that do not stand the test of time.In writing about the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of Puerto Rico the author states, "at the same time the Philippines and Puerto Rico dropped into the United States' lap." (Page 71)He then goes on to expound, in a footnote almost half the page long, the horrors the people of Puerto Rico have faced (no say in Congress, trade controlled, Puerto Ricans drafted to fight in Vietnam) as a "colony" of the United States.He fails to point out, and as time has shown, that since the late 1970s Puerto Rico has been given the choice of either remaining the way they are, becoming independent, or becoming the 51st state.Although the margin is narrowing with every election they have always chosen to remain a commonwealth (My second wife was of Puerto Rican decent with family still living on the island.A heated debate over this issue always ensued as most of her family did not want to see Puerto Rico gain independence or statehood because it would affect their property holdings on the island.This, I later discovered, was the position most Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. but owning property on the island held).In Galeano's defense one can argue that this was not the case in 1970 when he had written the book, but as the work had been updated in 1977, and a 25th Anniversary Edition was published in 1997, this fact could have easily been added.

Another case-in-point is the author's examination of Cuba, and the effects that the sugar industry has had on that nation.While one is not arguing with his take that the "fate of the `sugar islands' to be incorporated one by one into the world market...condemned [them to produce] sugar until our day," (Page 65) has had an adverse affect on the economies of these nations, his ideological look towards the Castro revolution seems a little off base."Cuba," Galeano writes, "continues to depend on the sale of sugar, although the agrarian reforms of 1959 sparked an intensive diversification of the economy." (Page 65)For Galeano, the throwing off of American interests has allowed the Cuban economy to expand, thus ending seasonal unemployment and allowing Cubans to work beyond the "five or so months of the sugar harvest, but for twelve months in the continuous job of building a new society." (Page 65)What Galeano fails to have foreseen, is that in the 30 odds years since he penned this work, Cuba, which has had no influence from the United States, and trades freely with most of the outside world (a source of Cuban cigars from Canada flows steadily into the United States), is still one of the poorest nations in Latin America.Castro's great social revolution, even with billions of Soviet dollars poured into the country, has failed to raise the living standard of the average person, and Cuba remains one of the poorest nations in the region.

It is clear that Galeano failed to look at both sides of the issue, and fell into the trap many who study history fall into: judging historical events by late 20th century standards.The Spanish did not leave their shores with the expressed intent of destroying Latin American culture, nor did the concept of accepting native religions even occur to them.The view of the world of 1500 was a very narrow one, where the Church ruled and if you did not follow their example then you were a pagan, ripe for conversion. To the Spanish, and later British and Americans, Latin America was a resource to exploit while bringing "civilization" to this region of the world.Yes, it is true that imposing European ideals and customs on the natives destroyed their culture, just as it is true that imposing the Requerimiento, the telling of native peoples that if they did not accept Christ as their savior, then the Church would sanction the enslavement and exploitation of their cultures, was calculated and brutal. These acts however, were not a distinctly European invention, although reading Galeano would make one think it was.While raking-over-the-coals European and American involvement in the region, the author fails to mention the same conditions embarked upon by non-whites, like West African nation's participation in the slave trade, the Japanese slaughter of Chinese nationals, and in our own part of the world, (as I have already pointed out), the Aztec civilization being an oppressive culture, whose empire was built on the labor of conquered peoples also.

John Rocco Roberto
Chair, History Department
The Nelson A. Rockefeller School

History...True History....
Ups!!!...What is all this stuff?? Nothing, or very little of this was ever mentioned to me in school!!!! What is this?? Well,latino brothers, this is what really happened.This is it. If you want to have a vision of real history, read this book. It is not going to be a nice read. Not that the translation is not good,as a matter offact it is great and Galeano is a very good writer, not to say brilliant. But it is going to be hard and ugly, because you will get to know why we are what we are and why we have what we have...
So, it will be worth your time.

A must for your Latin American Collection
Eduardo Galeano writes with eloquence of Latin America's 500 years of occupation.His prose is so beautiful, even while writing of rape, pillage, abuse of power and other atrocities. I haven't been able to put this book down in years.I read it, then picked it up and read it again.It has lived in my favored bookshelf for many years and is worn from page turning. ... Read more

Isbn: 0853459916
Sales Rank: 69919
Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economic Conditions    5. Economic History    6. Latin America    7. American history   

Autobiography of Malcolm X
by MALCOLM X
Average Customer Review:
Mass Market Paperback (12 October, 1987)
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Editorial Review

Malcolm X's searing memoir belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans. And there's the vividness with which he depicts black popular culture--try as he might to criticize those lindy hops at Boston's Roseland dance hall from the perspective of his Muslim faith, he can't help but make them sound pretty wonderful. These are but a few examples. The Autobiography of Malcolm X limns an archetypal journey from ignorance and despair to knowledge and spiritual awakening. When Malcolm tells coauthor Alex Haley, "People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book," he voices the central belief underpinning every attempt to set down a personal story as an example for others. Although many believe his ethic was directly opposed to Martin Luther King Jr.'s during the civil rights struggle of the '60s, the two were not so different. Malcolm may have displayed a most un-Christian distaste for loving his enemies, but he understood with King that love of God and love of self are the necessary first steps on the road to freedom. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (241)

The single-most powerful biography I've ever read
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a truly unforgettable book. This book describes Malcolm X's remarkable journey from a childhood marred by his father's murder at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, to his racist school teachers refusing to acknowledge his academic potential, to a youth of crime and preference for white standards of beauty (both in his conk hair style and in females), to his prison days and rebirth, and finally his meteoric rise to one of America's most influential and controversial public figures.

Reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X has been one of the most important intellectual experiences in my life.

One of the Best Autobiographies Ever!
I vaguely remember when I was a teenager (1990, maybe) watching an episode of Charles S. Dutton's short-lived television show Roc in which his nephew had read The Autobiography of Malcolm X and wanted to become a Muslim. I recall the moral of this episode was something like: never allow another's passion for their religion to influence your choice to become a follower of that religion, as you should always join up for the right reasons, and that should always be borne out of your own self-awareness. Recently, when thinking about the point in my life when I first heard the name "Malcolm X," I thought about this episode.

But, no, wait. Surely I heard about Malcolm X back in Mrs. Buckner's fourth grade social studies class, during that week we studied the famous figures in black history. Was his image there, sandwiched in between the large, laminated flash cards of Sojourner Truth and George Washington Carver? Yes, I believe he was, now that I think about it. I still to this day take a lot from that week, associating Carver with peanut butter and Harriet Tubman with the Underground Railroad. The only thing I remember thinking about Malcolm X was where in the world a man would get a single letter as a last name.

So, I was exposed to Malcolm X for the first time back in fourth grade. Being arguably the most volatile and interesting personality that we studied during that week, why do I not remember anything more about him?Perhaps in 1984, public schools in Kentucky did not know how to handle Malcolm X. How do you explain to a group of young students (mostly white and overwhelmingly Christian) what Minister Malcolm stood for? Here was a man who was not a Christian, damned the government at every opportunity, and was betrayed and murdered in cold blood by his own race (albeit, with government assistance) in a bitter power-struggle. That is a can of worms that Mrs. Buckner, though courageous enough, knew she could not open back then.

But now is the time, I think, for Minister Malcolm to be exposed.

As a father and future teacher, I think Minister Malcolm's legacy is exactly what we should be teaching children, whether they be black, white, brown, yellow, or red, to borrow a familiar refrain from his speeches. Malcolm X has left something for everyone if we are courageous and open-minded enough to look.

In his autobiography, written with then-journalist Alex Haley (who would soon after make history with another work, Roots, in 1976), Minister Malcolm narratedhis journey from Harlem's criminal underworld to his pilgrimage to Mecca, impressing us with the courage he displayed in search of human truth. His legacy for African-American literature is the record of his life, in the form of his autobiography. It is proof that anyone can dig themselves out of the deepest hole.

While the source-work for Minister Malcolm's life may not satisfy a historian's devout standard of authenticity, the question remains: What do we really want from Malcolm X? His legacy, whether real or feigned, is much more beneficial to the world than the small lesson one might take from preserving authentic history. The Malcolm X that we all know is the one that was courageous enough to develop his life's philosophy in full view of the public eye. He is the one that is portrayed in this day and age as a martyr, a perfect example of how a human being can evolve spiritually, emotionally, and philosophically from the deepest pits of self-destruction and debauchery. He is the one that, above all, illustrates redemption, whether it be with a secular, lower-cased "r" or a religious, capitalized "R."

My journey through Minister Malcolm's autobiography has earned for me a great lesson in perseverance and courage. All people, especially young African-Americans languishing in crumbling neighborhoods with seemingly no way out, would serve themselves well to experience his life as written in the autobiography. There is nothing quite like this work in literature. It is metamorphosis, it is a quest. It is perhaps one of the most important works of any century, and will be at the top of the list in the literature of the African-American struggle for as long as the memory of that struggle endures.

Back in fourth grade, as I said, I remember wondering where in the world a man would get a letter for a last name. Now I know how he got it and why. I promise that my son will not have to wait as long. The ability to shed falsehoods when we come upon truth, no matter how painful the transition, is the least of which we can teach the young. We are all wrong about something, at one time or another; and Minister Malcolm shows us that it's okay to be wrong, as long as we keep an open-mind.

One of the most important books I've read.
I totally agree with the Time magazine's characterisation of this book as being in the top 10 most important non-fiction books in the 20th century. Certainly it is a great autobiography, and although I haven't read many others as it's not my preferred genre, I can hardly imagine another one being so poignant and sharp.

People's knowledge of someone as controversial as Malcolm X will come from a whole range of different and patched sources. As a precursor to this book, I recommend the film (by Spike Lee), not because I think it's somehow "objective" but because it is based on this book (although it's very interesting to see the differences). Malcolm has been described as both a fanatic and a savior, as a racist/anti-Semite/hater and as a man who has dedicated his life to freeing his race. It's a humbling and rewarding exercise to leave your pre-conceptions about who and what he was behind and read about what he says on his life of street-hustling, drugs and crime, his prison conversion to Islam, his ministry, breaking away and the forming of his final beliefs and goals.

Personally, by the end, I found him to be strangely compelling. In my opinion, a lot of what he says comes off as offensive to many because he words things so strongly. However, after penetrating his rhetoric, I got the picture of an amazing man who has come out of both apathy and black supremacy to emerge as one who truly cared about justice for all. I wonder what he would have accomplished with his new-found views had he not been killed.

Most readers will disagree with a lot of things he says, or think that he exaggerates. Whether that's true or not, this book is an entire cross-section of 20th century African-American history and society that most people do not know much about. Furthermore, his ideas (in terms of things such as the loss of identity) can echo through to many other peoples and cultures. And it's amazing how many things he says are actually not that outrageous if you think about it!

I tend to agree with those who think this should almost be required reading. Malcolm was an extremely intelligent, outspoken and passionate human being and no matter what you may think of his views, this book is THE 20th Century tome of mutual respect and the fight for justice. ... Read more

Isbn: 0345350685
Subjects:  1. Afro-Americans    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Black Muslims    7. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    8. Islam - General    9. People of Color    10. Political    11. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    12. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color   

The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956
by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (22 January, 2002)
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Reviews (73)

The Gulag Archipelago: A Couragous Gift
This book is a beutiful piece of literature and history. It was also written while on the run from the most devastating goverment in existence. The book is much more intresting to read, literature wise, than most academic works. The truth of the horrible soviet conditions in the gulag and the horrible and equally evil denial of the west that these things happened.
This is a book that should be read in many places, at least in Russia, and for anyone else who truly wants to understand human life and the history of humanity.

A voyage through hell
"The line between good andevil runs through the heart of every human being."

This abridged edition of Solzhenitsyn's hauntingly intimate portrait of his own arrest, interrogation, imprisonment, rebellion, and eventual release during Stalin's purges is a book like no other.This book, written by a constantly watched and persecuted dissident - bent but not broken by the brutality of Stalinist work camps, shares the author's (and his other inmates') personal experiences falling into this dark, usually fatal, abyss.Solzhenitsyn's original work was published in 1971 and produced an absolutely damning indictment of communism in Russia.Indeed, the stunning quality and importance of his writing earned him a Nobel prize.

Besides his own experiences, Solzhenitsyn collected personal stories from hundreds of his fellow inmates.The sadism of interrogators, the cruelty of guards, the indifference of neighbors, the paranoia of the public, thebetrayal of stoolies, and the true comradery of innocent inmates are presented in vivid, factual detail.In addition to this, the author also presents an encyclopeadic knowledge of the entirety of the gigantic Stalinist security apparatus (normal labor camps, special labor camps, transfer camps, railroad transfers, prisons, holding cells, interrogation cells, NKVD, SMERSH, commissars, exile communities, and still more).

But at the heart of it all, the book remains an unforgettable journey through man-made hell.Stalin meant to destroy every man, woman, and child arrested, regardless of their innocence, and he largely succeeded.But survivors like Solzhenitsyn did truly 'tear down the wall' and made this world a far better place to live in.We all owe him a huge debt of gratitude!

Communism exposed
Solzhenitsyn's portrayal of life under Stalin and indeed the whole communist regime is a reminder to those of us who live in democratic nations about the importance of freedom, especially the freedom of speech and association.

Solzhenitsyn looks back into his past and into the histories told him by other survivors of this Russian `holocaust' to reveal to us the great suffering endured by thosewho lost the best years of their life to a dream gone wrong.

Much of the narrative is recollections from Solzhenitsyn about his days in interrogation, the transports and the labor camps. It is a very personal and at times moving account of lives forgotten by the world but now remembered.At times the constant repetition of the countless stories does get a bit tiring, not because it's boring but because it seems impossible that such things could happen in this modern world.

I came away from this book learning a lot of personal lessons about life, lessons that, thanks to Solzhenitsyn, I have avoided learning the hard way. For example, that when we hold on to things too tightly we sometimes cause unnecessary suffering by worrying about them. It would be better to be less tied up in our material possessions and give more thought to the weightier matters in life such as our relationships... it sounds clichéd I know, but when you are told this lesson by someone whose idea of a possession was one item of clothing on his back, then you begin to gain some perspective.

The style of writing is not very inviting at first, it's almost as if it was stream-of-consciousness writing so at times he may be longwinded and reminisce about one incident for a long time and then suddenly jump to something else that seems completely different. It took me awhile to get used to this, but I promise you, after you get half way and get used to this style of writing, you will be glad you persevered. I would highly recommend this first work to anyone interested in the history of the Soviet Union, a different (human) perspective on Communism or just a great autobiographical work.
... Read more

Isbn: 0060007761
Sales Rank: 14269
Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Concentration camps    4. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    5. Government - Comparative    6. History - General History    7. Literary    8. Penology    9. Political prisoners    10. Prisons    11. Russian & Former Soviet Union    12. Soviet Union    13. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

King Leopold's Ghost
by Adam Hochschild
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (October, 1999)
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Editorial Review

King Leopold of Belgium, writes historian Adam Hochschild in this grim history, did not much care for his native land or his subjects, all of which he dismissed as "small country, small people." Even so, he searched the globe to find a colony for Belgium, frantic that the scramble of other European powers for overseas dominions in Africa and Asia would leave nothing for himself or his people. When he eventually found a suitable location in what would become the Belgian Congo, later known as Zaire and now simply as Congo, Leopold set about establishing a rule of terror that would culminate in the deaths of 4 to 8 million indigenous people, "a death toll," Hochschild writes, "of Holocaust dimensions." Those who survived went to work mining ore or harvesting rubber, yielding a fortune for the Belgian king, who salted away billions of dollars in hidden bank accounts throughout the world. Hochschild's fine book of historical inquiry, which draws heavily on eyewitness accounts of the colonialists' savagery, brings this little-studied episode in European and African history into new light. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (134)

A planted evil
The Congo basin is the most cruelly raped part of Africa. It and its immediate northern and southern neighbors were the principal source of slaves for the American plantations. In colonial times, Belgian Congo suffered more than all the other African territories from the harshness of colonialism, a legacy that was carried overto the 1960s when efforts at liberation led to the independence of many African countries. That contemporary legacy of misrule, the fomentation of ethnic strife and genocideis what is haunting the land today, andthe Belgian king Leopold played a crucial role in bequeathing that horrible legacy. The genocide in Rwanda and the strife in Burundi are all parts of the legacy. French genocidal legacy abound in Cameroon, Algeria etc. German legacy is felt in Namibia. DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, LE GENOCIDE FRANCO-AFRICAIN,WHEN VICTIMS BECOME KILLERS, THE HERERO REBELLIONIN SOUTH WEST AFRICA , THE TROUBLED HEART OF AFRICA are some of the books thatprovide an insight into the plague.
Who should be blamed for seed of ethnic strife and genocidal tendencies that has been planted in Africa? Is itthe fault of some of thoseformer colonial masters who have not changed their ways and supportthe African leaders with the evil disposition who have hijacked their nations? On the other hand, is it the inherent fault of the Africans who fail as masses to liberate themselves from the horrible legacies?

Gross, and Engrossing.
This is an account of the Congo's history. It covers in quite vivid detail the lives of the players and the played who went into the capture of, the taking of, and the liberation of the Congo. King Leopold 2 of Belgium, several Americans, and a certian explorer whose reputation was well entwined with this privately owned colony. Not for those with weak stomachs. In my opinion this proves that Leopold was perhaps the greatest conartist and despot of his time.

An excellent non-fiction companion to Heart of Darkness
This is an extremely readable book, but its title is deceptive.While the full title is King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, the book is not about Africa at all.Instead, the vast majority of this book is about diplomacy and protest movements in Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States with regards to Belgian rule in Congo.If you pick this book up looking to find the details of the governance and rule of the Congo Free State or the history of the major rebellions against Belgian rule, you will be sorely disappointed.

This is not a criticism of the author, who likely didn't select his own title anyway. If you look at the book from the standpoint of what Hochschild wanted to write, it is a good but not great work.Hochschild was mostly interested in European/American personalities and focuses on them instead of a chronology of events either in the West or in Africa.At times, this makes the book confusing, as Hochschild does not use a lot of dates to help the reader sort out the order of events.On the other hand, the personalities of the day are vivid and fascinating.Hochschild has mined the vast majority of the available evidence to give us stunningly detailed (and at times salacious) details on King Leopold and his major opponents.

Perhaps the most important feature of Hochschild's writing is that he doesn't shy away from the imperfections of his heros or try to brush away the moral ambiguities of his subject.He is the first to admit that slavery was a problem even before the first major European contact with central Africa even while showing how the European/American system was far more pernicious and devastating than anything the natives had devised.He acknowledges that some of his protagonists are conceited and provides the background to show why they became so; this makes the ultimate sacrifices of some of his heroes that much more significant.

Hochschild is a journalist by training, and this explains many of the strengths and weaknesses of King Leopold's Ghost.The two main strengths are this books readability and accessibility.I am not normally a fast reader but I flew through this book thanks to its clear prose and Hochschild's highly developed sense of irony.I also read this book as someone who knows relatively little about African history, but I never felt as though Hochschild was either condescending or assuming a level of knowledge that the average reader would not have.

However, there are some weaknesses that result from the journalistic style as well.Most significant of these is the relative paucity of bibliographic information, as Hochschild only provides specific sourcing to direct quotations.Hochschild is the first to admit that it is nearly impossible to find African sources for his material, but that makes the identities of those sources that much more interesting, especially for readers who want to learn more about the subject at hand.Finally, this is likely a book that will not interest experts on African history, both because of its superficial treatment of what actually happened in Africa and because of the lack of analysis of the causes of events other than psychological sketches of Leopold, his supporters, and his opponents.

That said, this is a superior work overall.If, like me, you read Heart of Darkness in a high school English class without getting any of the background on Conrad's time, you will find this work to be revelatory.Even if you have only a passing interest in Africa, you will find yourself more intrigued by its history when you finish than when you started.
... Read more

Isbn: 0618001905
Subjects:  1. 1885-1908    2. 19th century    3. 20th century    4. Africa - General    5. Congo (Democratic Republic)    6. Forced labor    7. General    8. History    9. History - General History    10. History: World    11. Indigenous peoples    12. Political History    13. Politics and government    14. History / Africa   

"A Problem from Hell" : America and the Age of Genocide
by Samantha Power
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (06 May, 2003)
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Editorial Review

During the three years (1993-1996) Samantha Power spent covering the grisly events in Bosnia and Srebrenica, she became increasingly frustrated with how little the United States was willing to do to counteract the genocide occurring there. After much research, she discovered a pattern: "The United States had never in its history intervened to stop genocide and had in fact rarely even made a point of condemning it as it occurred," she writes in this impressive book. Debunking the notion that U.S. leaders were unaware of the horrors as they were occurring against Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Iraqi Kurds, Rwandan Tutsis, and Bosnians during the past century, Power discusses how much was known and when, and argues that much human suffering could have been alleviated through a greater effort by the U.S. She does not claim that the U.S. alone could have prevented such horrors, but does make a convincing case that even a modest effort would have had significant impact. Based on declassified information, private papers, and interviews with more than 300 American policymakers, Power makes it clear that a lack of political will was the most significant factor for this failure to intervene. Some courageous U.S. leaders did work to combat and call attention to ethnic cleansing as it occurred, but the vast majority of politicians and diplomats ignored the issue, as did the American public, leading Power to note that "no U.S. president has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on." This powerful book is a call to make such indifference a thing of the past. --Shawn Carkonen ... Read more

Reviews (151)

Not Facing the Facts
The real problem that is missed by this book, and by others of similar outlook, is that in order for the United States to act as a "World Policeman" would require that the U.S. Government be totalitarian in its ability to project the power and use theforce needed to stop genocides. In fact to give the government such power would require at minimum a curtailment of U.S. citizen rights.

There is one way, and one way only, to stop or at least minimize the possibilities of successful genocide. Simply put all people must realize that they have a God given right to defend themselves their families and fellow citizens from aggression in all its forms.

Unfortunately, to teach such a viewpoint wpould be diametrically opposite to the beliefs of most authors who decry Genocide.

Half of history is missed
It just astonished me as how certain discursive formations can actually lead people to believe as the 'real' reality. It does not matter whether for an event to 'really happen' or not. What matters is that you hear it on a radio or read it on a newspaper or website or even talk about it at the water-cooler. Those who have had the chance to watch 'Wag the Dog' might get the idea of how such 'reality' is constructed. Building blocks of a discourse in which certain linkages, here and there, add to what ordinary people believe on the street.

Now obviously Hitler was one of the worst things that happened during the 20th century. This is commonsense. But to add certain 'material' so as to advance another claim by building upon Hitler, is something that should be carefully approached, at least for people who at least visit and read stuff through Amazon.
If a chain in a series of discursive formations can be shown to be weak or invalid than it would be proven that that chain of a discourse is on shaky grounds, and that most of what is known about it is likely to be false.
Unfortunately we see certain 'material' is attached to certain claims so as to resemble the Holocaust. Let us revisit a single claim on part of those would like to exploit the events during the early 20th century. A reviewer, for instance, obviously bought one claim and thus knows it to be the 'truth'

Adolf Hitler: "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

Now has anybody bothered to investigate it. No, of course. "It sounds like as if it is true, so why not believe it". Well fortunately there are still people who like investigating such stuff.
Read for example :
Heath W. Lowry
Washington, D.C.
Political Communication and Persuasion, Volume 3, Number 2 (1985)
Abstract This article traces the history of a purported Adolf Hitler quote which cites the perecent of the world's lack of reaction to the fate of Armenians during the First World War as a justification for his planned extermination of European Jewry in the course of the Second World War. By a detailed examination of the genesis of this quotation the author demonstrates that there is no historical basis for attributing such a statement to Hitler...
[...]
If one is serious about really getting into history, rather than believing simply what is out their in the popular press,
I would additionally suggest to take a tour of the documents of Ambassador Morgenthau. First let us not take any word for having a Godly truth 'Its ambassador so its gotta be true' mentality is ok if you're ok with it (respect of thought). But there are historical evidence that suggests that Morgenthau did not even know Ottoman scripture, and that this is proved throughout his letters when he attempts to translate 'words' and 'dates' of events. Do not hesitate to read...
[...]


For those who have CAREFULLY read what I have written so far, notice I am not either on one side of the argument between Armenian historians or historians of the Ottoman empire, but that I have just thrown out some thought provoking information so that one will at least ask some questions before believing what they read. Doubtless there will be those occasional pointless replies to this review, but again all I am saying is, think before you react. Now one could argue that I am saying is a postmodernist crituque and historical relativism. That would be false. I believe in historical analysis, as a scientific enterprise (and only the scientific version of it). But then again let us not forget that some American historians who were studying the case at hand were bombed by Armenians. Now if history is written by historians and that some historians (i.e. UCLA professor Stanford Shaw)are bullied so as not to investigate certain historical matters than, at least if you have a capacity to think critically