Editorial Review

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Reviews (58)

100% Recommended
It recounts the hellish 12 months that Primo Levi, an Italian jew, spent as Haftling 174517, at the notorious Deathcamp (during 1939 and 1944 2 million people were murdered there). He was captured by the Fascist Militia in December 1943 and wished to be charged based on his religious beliefs rather than his political ones in the view that he would be treated more leniently. After a period in a detention camp at Fossili, Modena, he along with the rest of the Jews are transferred to the concentration camps. The opening chapters describe the horrific conditions of the transfer and the hasty selection process used to determine who would go to the camp and who would go to the gas chambers at Birkenau; all the women, children and infirm were sent to cremation without question. In some ways he was fortunate to have avoided arrest until the latter stages of the war as the Germans decided that the prisoners in the lagers would be of more use to them alive than dead, at Auschwitz they were detailed to build a Buna - a synthetic rubber processing plant which never saw a day of production. Prior to this the prisoners were killed without recourse.
Primo Levi enthusiasts: This is a re-issue of 'If this is a man'
It's a great book. But if you've already got 'If this is a man', don't buy this.

Brutual & Clinical Look of Survival
I stopped reading books of the Holocaust several years ago simply because the stories that come out of the Holocaust are heart-wrenching, bitter, courgaeous, guilt-ridden .... all of the emotions and thoughts that we human have produced can be a lot to digest at one time.
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Subjects:  1. Auschwitz (Concentration camp)    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Historical - Holocaust    4. History: World    5. Holocaust    6. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    7. Italy    8. Jewish Holocaust Personal Narratives    9. Levi, Primo    10. Levi, Primo - Prose & Criticism    11. Literary    12. Personal narratives    13. Personal narratives, Italian    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. European history: Second World War    16. History / Jewish    17. Poland    18. The Holocaust   

Reviews (37)

You have to read this!
As a young person who is baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I can relate to some of the things that Simone has to go through, like persecution at school (although never anywhere NEAR the degree she faced.) I couldn't believe what she had to go through. I was moved to tears many, many times throughout the book. Simone's strength is incredibly encouraging to me. Even if you aren't one of Jehovah's Witnesses, this book will still capture you. I would recommend it to everyone!

A must read!!
This book was truly amazing!!I enjoyed every word, and as a person who does not do a lot of "pleasure reading" I was amazed that I could not put it down, I finished it in 2 days!!Those who have accepted pure worship, and have come to understand the truth from God's word the bible will have appreciation for this little girl who at such a young age decided to accept Jehovah as the only true God, and to worship him to her death if necessary.The truth in the Gospels shone through when she and her mother aquired a bible of their own and realized that the teachings they were learning at church were not accurate.Her strength and conviction and complete trust in Jehovah is an example that we all do well to follow as the end of this system draws ever so close, we do well to keep examples like Sister Leibster in the front of our minds as we enter into our time of persecution.This book will strengthen any person no matter what religion or background you may be, I am glad that I had the chance to read about a fellow believer who stayed faithful, and I am reminded too, as we all should that African American decendents, Homosexuals, Gypsies, the mentally and physically disabled, Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses and many more suffered together as a human race.We hear so many accounts of certain religious groups being tortured under Hitlers regime, this book reminds us that not just one but many groups suffered, and we may feel inclined toward the suffering of one group over another, however, they were all people, strong people, and this book reminds us that the ones who suffered were mothers, fathers, someones sister or brother, child or grandparent!!That is what you should remember when you finish reading this book!!

MC
This is an outstanding book. It shows how important it is for parents to train the children early in the way they shoud grow up. This girl was not baptised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses but she conducted herself in an a manner that showed she had dedicated her life to God, (Jehovah)> ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Childhood Memoir    5. Historical - General    6. Historical - Holocaust    7. History / Military / World War II    8. Women    9. Biography & Autobiography / General    10. Childhood and youth    11. History    12. Jehovah's Witnesses    13. Liebster, Simone Arnold    14. Military - World War II    15. World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (6)

Queen Emma and the Vikings
It is difficult to write a positive review of this book. I would not call it good. The writer begins each chapter with a fanciful, novel- style account of what Queen Emma might have felt and done, which, in my view, is out of place in a scholarly work. This is not to be confused with actual historical fact. Also the book is permeated with slang terms that irritate. In addition there is a great deal of detail on subjects that have nothing whatsoever to do with the Queen, such as cures for pimples and warts. These sorts of reminiscences are more in line with a book on the life and times of Anglo Saxon England than with Queen Emma herself. Historical fact on the Queen is thin and is hidden in a lot of extraneuous detail. It is a mildly interesting book, once you get past all the irrelevant detail, but no more than that. In short, the author could have written the details of the Queen'slife in half the words she has used.

Kudo's to the Authoress
I absolutely loved this book, and I am confident that any fan of European, British, or medieval history will love it as well. The authoress deserves praise not only for her research and captivating writing style, but because she refreshingly tackled a new subject by writing a biography of a relatively now-obscure queen who lived a millenia ago but whose story deserves to be told. To someone such as myself who enjoys reading history and despairs that the farther back in time one goes the less information there is to read about, Miss O'Briens biography is a
Queen Emma
I have not been able to give this book my full attentioin as yet, but in browsing through it appears to have the sort of info that I expect to find on the period in question.So I really cannot give the book a fair rating until I have read it.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. England    6. Great Britain    7. Historical - British    8. Historical - General    9. Normans    10. Queens    11. Royalty    12. Vikings    13. Women    14. World - General   

Editorial Review

As with most books written by politicians while in office (or at least aiming for one), Read more

Reviews (689)

profile of a president wanna be
I just thought I was a detailed person - Hilary has me beat.Easy enough reading, but felt I was being prepped for her future presidential campaign.

Not a page turner.
Don't get me wrong. I like Hillary. Anyone who was a first lady pushing broom behind Bill, then deciding that wasnt enough and got elected to the Senate to reperesent people from New York has to have nothing but guts or a lot of stupidity. The latter she most certainly is not. A writer...? Not really. At least in the autobiographical sense. This book is too too too full of sweet and syrup and praise and love and admiration and high regard and laughter and tears of joy and feel good and hugs and and and and and... Doesnt anything really piss this woman off?? I know it does but you wont see it in this book. I KNOW that a sitting Senator and perhaps Presidential candidate is going to be real carful about what people and issues they talk about. Positive or negative. Politicions writing books about themselves and their professions are done so that no one gets offended or forgotten. Husband Bills book is full of that. Not that were looking for sex and drugs and rock and roll. We'll get all those after they leave office and retire. Hillary has a style that is very good reading if warm, fuzzy and cuddly is what you want in a "its all about me" book. It just didnt leave much of an impression about the person on me. It was more like reading (or being read to) a childrens book for adults. I'd rather Hillary rewrite this book so we can get a look at the real person, not a lot of translucent fluff. If it was TV, it would have come off like a 10 hour interview with Katy Cuoric. Sorry folks to be so negative on this one but the book really did end up reading like a political campaign speech. A good speech though.

Living, Lying, and Reconstructing History
Remember, this is the woman who is an attorney, and didn't follow the Sunshine Rules when trying to coordinate a national healthcare program.She is also a woman who couldn't remember a thing about the billing records from the Rose Law Firm she had misplaced in her private quarters.She also served on the board of directors of Walmart for many years, then when it was politically expeditious to do so, blasted their policies, which helped earned her fees.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. First Ladies    5. General    6. Historical - U.S.    7. Political    8. Biography & Autobiography / General    9. Women legislators    10. Political    11. First Ladies   

Reviews (141)

WHATISIT ?/
uhmm well ive seen the reveiws listed but one question still racks my brain... whay type of book is this ? is it a book that consists of multiple tales of black people or it it one book that comcludes a story of "A Black Boy" ???
Required reading
This is one of the most moving books that I have read. Its message stays with you and motivates you to considered thought about it long after you have finished it.

Lessons In Sociology
Richard Wright, born in 1908, tells his life's story while living in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and later, the more accepting city of Chicago, in this interesting and eloquently written autobiography.
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Subjects:  1. 1908-1960    2. 20th century    3. African Americans    4. American - General    5. Authors, American    6. Biography    7. Biography & Autobiography    8. Biography / Autobiography    9. Biography/Autobiography    10. Childhood and youth    11. Historical - U.S.    12. Homes and haunts    13. Literary    14. Mississippi    15. People of Color    16. Social life and customs    17. Wright, Richard,    18. Wright, Richard, 1908-1960    19. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color    20. Modern fiction    21. Wright, Richard    22. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Even to those without Marxist sympathies, Che Guevara (1928-67) was a dashing, charismatic figure: the asthmatic son of an aristocratic Argentine family whose sympathy for the world's oppressed turned him into a socialist revolutionary, the valued comrade-in-arms of Cuba's Fidel Castro and a leader of guerilla warfare in Latin America and Africa. Journalist Jon Lee Anderson's lengthy and absorbing portrait captures the complexities of international politics (revolutionary and counter); his painstaking research has unearthed a remarkable amount of new material, including information about Guevara's death at the hands of the Bolivian military. ... Read more

Reviews (119)

Interesting, but maybe not for everyone.
If you want an in-depth study of Che Guevara from birth to death, this is the book for you.This book is scrupulously researched and detailed (almost to a fault).I wouldn't purchase this book if you want a shortened, glamourized version of his life that continues to propogate "the cult of Che".I think some reviewers have confused liking the subject (Che) with liking the actual book.Che was not a likable character.He was selfish, sexist, misguided, arrogant, and an absent parent.None of this is the fault of the author.Che was was also a passionate, idealistic and dedicated visionary on a mission to revolutionize social injustice. In my opinion, the author presents an unbiased and even-handed account of one of the most enigmatic figures in recent history.However, the story is a bit rambling and in all honesty once you've read the entire work, you will find yourself wondering if this was a man worthy an 800 page biography delivered by such a diligent biographer.One thing I can guarantee you is that after reading this you'll get a good chuckle every time you see someone wearing a Che t-shirt.

The complete bio of El Che
Aha, here you go, the full bio of El Che
Total Che
I don't think you will find a more thorough account of Che Guevara anywhere.The author exhausts all sources of information and goes above a beyond the expected subject matter to give the reader ample information about the communist/socialist revolution that occured during the 50's and 60's in Central and South America.
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Subjects:  1. 1928-1967    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Guerrillas    7. Guevara, Ernesto,    8. Historical - General    9. Latin America    10. Political    11. Biography: general    12. Political leaders & leadership   

Reviews (6)

Very Good Treatment of a Little Known Subject
I generally agree with the other reviewers that this is an outstanding work, made all the more remarkable by the recognition that Hunter has remained so obscure to the general reader over the 200+ years since he lived and worked.Author Moore's writing style is engaging and straightforward, and the book is an easy and enlightening read.But I do have a couple of cavils.First, and even considering our two centuries' remove, there is a discernible remoteness or lack of intimacy in the description of Hunter and his activities, e.g., "he must have thought", "he probably knew", and so forth that is a bit off-putting until the reader is informed near the end of the book that Hunter's spiteful brother-in-law burned most of his papers, including correspondence with prized pupils like Jenner, after Hunter's death, inevitably depriving biographers of enriching details.I believe it would have been helpful if she explained this fact earlier in the work.Second, the book just cries out for illustrations.The sole "portrait" of Hunter is a small, almost cartoonish depiction, and Moore constantly--if inadvertently--teases the reader with references to the superb illustrators who worked for Hunter over the years, but does not include even one of their drawings; very frustrating.With these exceptions, readers who enjoy the work of physician-cum-historian Roy Porter will certainly feel right at home with this very entertaining book.

"He made surgery a science."
Wendy Moore's magnificent book, "The Knife Man," is a thoroughly researched account of the life and times of John Hunter, one of the most controversial and fascinating figures of the eighteenth century.Born in 1728 in Scotland, Hunter was the tenth child of humble farming parents.He was an indifferent student who preferred learning through observation and experimentation rather than by reading dusty texts.During his teenage years, John's father and six of his siblings died.This was not surprising during an era when "burials far exceeded baptisms."Matters were not helped by the use of such toxic "remedies" as bloodletting, purging, and blistering to cure the sick.Doctors never washed their hands or sterilized their instruments; if the disease didn't kill the patient, the physician's intervention would probably do the trick.
Very Good
This is a well written and enlightening biography of the great 18th century British physician-scientist John Hunter.Moore has done a real service by bringing Hunter before the reading public.Known largely to historians of medicine as an important figure in the history of surgery, Moore shows Hunter to be definitely that and much more.Hunter is also a remarkable personal story.An expatriate Scot and son of impoverished parents, largely uninterested in formal education as a youth, Hunter became the outstanding anatomist of his time under the tutelage of his older brother William and by virtue of his great natural talents.Similarly, he had relatively little in the way of formal medical education, though given the primitive state of medical theory and practice in his time, this was arguably an advantage.By the end of his life, he was perhaps the preeminent surgeon in Britain, enjoyed an international reputation as a scientist, and inspired a large number of students to pursue his brand of empirical, more scientifically oriented practice and research.Though Hunter's story is in some respects a lurid one, with the reliance on grave robbers for cadavers and the vicious professional rivalries characterizing some of his career, Moore does very well to show the essential nature of these events without letting them overpower the narrative.The most interesting aspect of the book is actually not Hunter's medical accomplishments, though these were very important, but Moore's description of his other achievements.Moore shows Hunter to be a profoundly important teacher who influenced a whole generation of British and American surgeons and physicians including important individuals like Jenner.Hunter's achievements as a biologist, particularly his work in anatomy, comparative anatomy, and what would become physiology, were substantial.Moore makes the good point that Hunter's achievements may have been unappreciated in part because credit for some of his achievements were attributed to his older brother and after John Hunter's death, appear to have been appropriated by his shameless brother-in-law.Hunter appears also to have been at the center of the British Enlightenment.His friendships included a number of notable British intellectuals like the great naturalist Joseph Banks and he was on good terms with individuals like Gibbon and Adam Smith.
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Subjects:  1. 1728-1793    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Great Britain    5. Historical - General    6. History    7. History Of Medicine    8. Hunter, John,    9. Medical - General    10. Science    11. Science/Mathematics    12. Surgeons    13. Science / General   

Reviews (31)

The Frontiersman
An excelent book on the early years of America detailing the lives of the early settlers and their tribulations.

One of the best American History Books I have ever read
I read the book The Frontiersmen several yeas ago and it was one of the best books I have ever read.I was very impressed with the way the lives of Simon Kenton and Cheif Tecumseh seem to intertwine with one another and I have never forgot about the white man who turned Indian tho I can`t remember his name or about Tecumseh`s love for a white woman that they both knew would never happen.I think every student that takes American History in high school should be required to read this fine book and they would learn alot from it as it is a very informative book about how this country was started and all the hardships they had pulling it together.

extremely interesting, entertaining, and eye-opening book
If I could rate this book higher than five stars I would. The Ohio River area has so much history that it is absolutely unbelievable. I did not realize how much blood was spilled by both the Settlers or the Native Americans for this land, until I read this book. Allan Eckert has a way of taking the often boring information of a reference book and forming it into an interesting, action-packed masterpiece. Allan Eckert is a absolutely awesome author, and "The Frontiersmen" is Allan Eckert at his best so I would encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about American history or simply wants to read an entertaining book to give "The Frontiersmen" a try. And I also recommend the other books of this series to anyone who wonders how they are. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1755-1836    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Frontier and pioneer life    7. General    8. Historical - General    9. Kenton, Simon,    10. Kings and rulers    11. Native American    12. Ohio River Valley    13. Pioneers    14. Shawnee Indians   

Editorial Review

Binjamin Wilkomirski (the name the author believes to be his, though he will never know for sure) was held in a Nazi concentration camp in Poland as a young child. Read more

Reviews (51)

Talk about "false memories"...
After some investigative reporting by the media, it was discovered that this alleged "true story" of a Holocaust survivor was anything but. The facts? Binjamin Wilkomirski is actually Swiss-born Bruno Grosjean Doessekker, and his experience was about as real as that of the supposed "fellow survivor" who corroborated his story, Laura Grabowski.
If Lippy likes it, you know it's garbage
Just follow the money trail, the political bantering and incessant self-victimization (which always seems to lead into getting paid one way or another) and you'll see why the most powerful of the jewish lobby (yeah, I'm not afraid to say it) will still ENDORSE IT after it has been proven to be a complete fabrication.
Zero stars
When I read this book several years ago, I did not understand how anyone could have believed it. Having known several true Holocaust survivors, and heard their stories, I certainly didn't.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Fiction    4. Historical - Holocaust    5. History: World    6. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    7. Jewish children    8. Jews    9. Poland    10. Wilkomirski, Binjamin    11. Non-Classifiable   

Editorial Review

In the States, Nick Hornby is best know as the author of Read more

Reviews (119)

A great look at sports and life
Let me begin by noting that I find soccer/football incredibly dull.Dull, dull, dull!But Hornby's book is a great read.
Amusing, but mostly average
I'll admit, its probably just me.Maybe its just that I dont understand British culture all that much, nor the culture of football or the mind of the obsessive sports fan...but aside from a few amusing passages (between LONG spells of really dull ones) I really wasnt all that impressed with this book.It had a few moments that made me chuckle, but it certainly wasnt as drop-dead funny to me as all the reviews led me to believe.It was long, drawn-out, and filled with names and places of people I've neither heard of nor cared about.But again, its just a clash of culture; this would be like someone from England reading a book about the Dawg Pound in Cleveland or the fans with terrible towels in Pittsburgh.Basically, if you're not a sports fan or if you dont know anything about soccer or its culture, I'd pass on this one.While it did give some interesting insight into the mind of the obsessive sports fan and a glimpse of a true English soccer fan I just wasnt entertained.Then again, I'm probably not the type of person to whom this book was intended...I really should have read High Fidelity!

The Mind of The Hardcore Sports Fan
Hornby takes the reader into the mind and obsessions of the hardcore sports fan in "Fever Pitch", a tale of the author's obsessive relationship with Arsenal, one of London's main football (soccer) clubs.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Authors, English    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. English authors    8. Great Britain    9. Historical - British    10. Hornby, Nick    11. Literary    12. Soccer    13. Sports - General    14. Family & Relationships / Parenting   

Reviews (4)

A 69-year-old mystery is one step closer to being solved
Everyone knows that Amelia Earhart did not finish her around-the-world flight in 1937 - and that is about the ONLY thing that anyone interested in finding out what happened next can agree on. Did she and navigator Fred Noonan crash at sea? Were they executed by the Japanese after a secret spy mission? Did Amelia somehow survive and end up living in the US under an assumed name? Was that Star Trek: Voyager episode the true solution?
A Fact-Based Theory About Amelia's Last Flight
Unsolved mysteries are a surefire way to get published and possibly turn a fast dollar or two.All it takes is a theory about what happened, bolstered by assertions presented as facts and some talent for writing the story.That's why the market is saturated with books that promise the reader "the True Story".
You Gotta Read This Book!!!!
I have been obsessed with finding out what really happened to Amelia Earhart for a number of years, and have read at least 20 -30 books written about her disappearance.
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Subjects:  1. Adventurers & Explorers    2. Aviation - History    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. History    6. History: American    7. Pacific Area    8. Search and rescue operations    9. United States    10. United States - 20th Century    11. Women    12. Women air pilots    13. Aerospace & aviation technology    14. Aircraft: general interest    15. Biography: historical    16. USA    17. World history: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (3)

El Libertador
Most U.S. citizens know a fair amount of their country's history, but next to nothing about the history of South America. When asked about famous South Americans, probably the name that would come to mind the most would be Simon Bolivar. This book chronicles his life and times, and his multi-year struggle to free the South American countries from Spanish rule. Bolivar himself comes across as a fully drawn figure, but just about everyone else is given short shrift by the author. Also, sometimes the book tells us more than we really need to know to appreciate Bolivar's single-minded intensity. The writing gets stiff at times, and is hard to read in a flowing manner. Otherwise, this is an excellent book to fill the knowledge gap that North Americans have concerning our sister countries to the South.

Superbly Detailed
For anything anyone has ever wanted to know about the Liberator, here it is..truly what the English-speaking world has waited for.The Liberator with all his mastery and faults presented in hard-copy, whose feats rivaled that of Alexander the Great and whose faults are greater than our accomplishments.He was unlucky enough to inherit South American Independence and charged the harder task of handing freedom to the population out of a Dostoyevsky novel.Lynch explains why the dreamer who wished to unite a continent failed to do so.Here is the tragic tale of someone who inspired by Rousseu's noble savage believed that a population could truly be democratic and found that democracy cannot be for every one and that a foreign military power cannot a build a nation.What America Washington inherited, was what misfortune Bolivar inherited.He freed/conquered more land and people than Washington, Jackson, Scott, Lee and Napolean combined.He was the greatest American General, The West ever produced and he lies forgotten as 3rd World History, and is suddenly slightly resurrected by John Lynch. Lynch proves you cannot study any revolution until you study Bolivar. He believed in a people that did not believe in itself. Half a century before the United States challenged itself to abolition, and 150 years before Great Britain accepted racist Apartheid as immoral, he politically challenged a continent to accept that slavery and racism were not only uneconomic, but an incompatible hypocrisy in a democratic society. Almost 200 years before the American Civil Rights Movement granted non-whites economic and political equality, he dragged non-whites out of poverty and into viable recognition in their societies, granting them opportunities that the United States would only do with much more bloodshed 2 centuries later. In short, Superbly Written.

Solid Scholarship
I am a novice regarding South American history, though Simon Bolivar has always interested me. A trip to Ecuador, where I saw one of the Liberator's swords in Quito, further spurred my curiosity about him. For those who don't know, Simon Bolivar (1782-1830) was the George Washington of South America, a general who liberated Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Ecuador from Spanish rule. The country of Bolivia, which became a test case in the 1820s for Bolivar's constitutional ideas, is named after him. Unfortunately, books about the general (and later president) are hard to find in the States. The most popular is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "The General in His Labyrinth," which explored Bolivar's last, frustrated days. In the novel, "El Liberator" is succumbing to consumption and curses the Revolution he had unleashed. No English biography of Bolivar has been written in 50 years. To fill the gap in Bolivar historiography, John Lynch, an Emeritus professor of Latin American history at University of London, has produced a solid work of scholarship. His likely audience for this book would be graduate students about to study for their comperehensive exams or people who are somewhat familiar with Bolivar's accomplishments. Lynch's book is informative, but isn't as easy to read as some biographies are, such as David McCullough's "John Adams." "Simon Bolivar: A Life" doesn't begin with Bolivar's birth, but an earthquake that rocked Venezuela (place of SB's birth) in 1812. The earthquake was seen by some royalist clergymen as divine punishment for Venezuelans revolting against the Spanish. Lynch's book is relatively brief (300 pages), but dense. One will not find short, reader-friendly paragraphs in these pages. The author does not write for a popular audience, but a learned one. We are given much information, not just about Bolivar's life, but the social, political, and economic aspects of the Revolutionary period in South America (from the 1810s to the 1820s). Lynch's work will help students of Latin America who must answer such questions as, "how revolutionary was the Revolution? Could Bolivar's model of govenment have worked?" To some extent, Bolivar's only real accomplishment was throwing off Spanish rule. Slaves in the liberated countries were not freed in the general's lifetime, and the plight of the Indians did not improve very much after the Spanish were defeated. Warlords quickly filled the political vacuum left by the royalist government. Bolivar was a creature of the Enlightenment, but he did not believe that South America could ape the American or French Revolutions. The general sought to apply revolutionary ideas in a South American context: he knew monarchy was disliked, but also that democracy couldn't work. South America's problem was that it was too democratic, too chaotic. When the Spanish left, warlords sought to control local communities at the expense of Bolivar's desire to have a centralized republic. To use an analogy from early U.S. history, Bolivar was more Hamiltonian than Jeffersonian, more a Federalist than a Republican. He knew that the areas his Colombian army did not control were a political free-for-all. Added to the problem of home rule in South America were racial divisions between the ruling "white" elites (of which Bolivar was one), mixed-race Americans, black slaves, and Indians (Lynch, writing from less politically correct England, never uses the term Native American). Bolivar, who hated racism, struggled with these racial and political divisions. Victory was relatively easy; the peace was what was hard. Bolivar unleashed liberation on a land that was not ready for republicanism. His political dream was a "Gran Colombia" with a strong leader, something along the lines of the British constitutional monarchy (sans the king). But the people didn't want it. As soon as the Spanish were kicked out, the liberated countries wanted to go their own way. Was Bolivar right about the need for a strong, single leader ruling the liberated countries? Or does it even matter, because his centralized republic could never have worked? Such are questions for debate. In helping answer these historical questions, Lynch's organization of facts and subjects is impeccable. If the book has a flaw, it is that it reads at times more like a history of the Revolutionary period than a biography. As informative as it is, I still didn't quite feel that I had learned enough about Bolivar the man. Overall, Lynch's writing perhaps could use more dashes of romanticism. Still, it is a very good book. As a final note: those who don't know Spanish might want to keep a Spanish dictionary handy. Some words aren't explained or can't be surmised from context. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1783-1830    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Bolâivar, Simâon,    7. Heads of state    8. Historical - General    9. History    10. South America    11. Wars of Independence, 1806-1830    12. Biography & Autobiography / Historical    13. Biography: historical    14. Latin America    15. World history: c 1750 to c 1900   

Reviews (13)

More revelations
I just finished reading this book and it was a wakeup call for more than jsut the 911 families.After reading this and the roadblocks put in their paths to get this commission formed...then to read subsequently some fo the highlights from Bob Woodwards new book "In Denial", and the same Condaleeza Rice staffer who stonewalled and hid information about some briefings prior to 911 that he was involved in...really makes clearer the misinformation and coverup of this commission. Thank you Kristen for telling us your struggles and accomplishments in the wake of so much tragedy. Now if the rest of America will wake up and vote....and if we can ever get accountability back to answer all those 'unanswered' questions they would not even dignify with a response.
Her firsthand account of what she experienced is eye-opening.
I can feel her agony and frustration with the group on Capitol Hill.I am so glad that I took the time to read this book because Kristen Breitweiser gave a voice to so many of my feeling about our current political situations

Complacent Housewife. Activist Widow.
I believe Kristen Breitweiser's account of her life following 9/11 is very aptly named, "Wake-Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow." In this straightforward and easy-to-read book, she reveals not only who she is and where she came from, but also her focused and driven reasons for maintaining a position in the public eye. It hasn't been for fame, money or glory. It has been to get to the bottom of how and why the terrorist attacks on 9/11 happened and how to prevent them from happening again. Through raw pain and unspeakable grief caused by the murder of her husband, she shares her love story and her motives. One can't help but admire her for her courage, strength, intelligence, endurance, and most importantly, her honesty.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. New Jersey    6. Personal Memoirs    7. Personal narratives    8. Political    9. Political Terrorism    10. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001    11. Terrorism victims' families    12. Widows    13. Women    14. Women In The U.S.    15. 21st century    16. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Biography & Autobiography / General    18. Biography: historical    19. Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle    20. USA