Reviews (14)

Not as good as he says or as bad as his worse enemies make him out to be
One can accept the Soros version of Soros , or one can search elsewhere and find far more critical versions. Soros is to himself someone dedicated to making the world a better place, someone strongly committed to the idea of the open- society for mankind as a whole. He believes his own rare combination of great wealth, an original set of principles of life,a strong desire to help humanity,make him uniquely suited to understand what the world needs now, and how to give it to it.
It's a Worthwhile Education
Soros probably writes too many books and doesn't spend enough time crafting them. Certainly he stuffs each book with too many ideas and topics, some of them decidedly under-developed. For all that, the insights are well worth the slog.
yet another hopeless philosopher
After reading Mr. Soros's book, which is not an easy task, I believe he had to deal with his conscience. It must be extremely difficult for a forteen year old Jewish boy escaping Hitler's racial vilification and death sentence, by false identity-papers.
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Subjects:  1. 21st century    2. Civilization, Modern    3. Democracy    4. Essays    5. National characteristics, American    6. Political Advocacy    7. Political Freedom & Security - General    8. Political Ideologies - Democracy    9. Political Science    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Sociology    13. U.S. - Contemporary Politics    14. War on Terrorism, 2001-    15. Human rights    16. USA   

Editorial Review

One of the greatest of American stories has found its great chronicler in Taylor Branch. Beginning with Read more

Reviews (26)

Leadership, charisma and iron will.
As King's star rises, Green's book opens up wide to the national and world stage. Cannaan transitions from an essential biography of King to a complex social and historical account of America in the mid 60's. By the late 60's, race was a hot button that super charged the fabric of all things American. One scholar pointedly stated, "if you want to look at the motivations behind all historic American politics and policies -- follow the race card." Cannan's follows the call for racial justice as it moves north and the long sharp lens of Green focuses on the race riots in LA, Queens, Detroit and Chicago. Each chapter is a fascinating look at people vs. political power and the passionate personalities that sparked bloody confrontations. Adding complexity to the issues of the day, Green correctly weaves in our last and fatal commitments in Vietnam and the political pressure that was brought to bare on the opposite side of the Johnson house, literally squeezing the administration between two crisises. In many ways, the three book series is a apt study in modern man's stubborn nature to selfishly preserve their own tribe over all others -- blood lust and all. Somewhere in this series an astute observer comments, "racial prejudice, drawn to it's natural conclusion, is the practice of genocide, plain and simple." Man killing man. Of course Canaan does not end on that morbid conclusion. It ends optimistically, depicting King as the first modern American to preach, practice and deliver radical social change through peaceful mass demonstration. In his fine, broad wake peaceful demonstrations have prevailed and will again and again... thanks in large part to leadership, charisma and iron will. 9/11/06

A (slightly) flawed conclusion to a great story
This is the third volume of an epic history of King, the Civil Rights movement and America during a pivotal moment.
Heartbreaking Story, of our Divisive Racial History
Taylor Branch continues to be the best source for our troubled racial history. We've developed a mythology of the movement, that it was heroic, which it was, but that's an incomplete picture. This should be read by every American. Especially those right wing conservatives who seem to forget how recent we were bombing churches in this Country. It was just yesterday that people went to jail (Parchman prison even in Ms) for voter registration activities. Mr. Branch also shows the seems that begin to wear, how Dr. King became reviled by the Radicals because his devotion to non-violence brought him to oppose the War in Vietnam and brought condescension from the Black Power advocates like Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown, who began to (understandably) promote a violent response to the violence which the SNVCC had suffered for years. This is an important book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1929-1968    2. 20th century    3. African Americans    4. Civil rights    5. Civil rights movements    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History - U.S.    10. History: American    11. Jr.,    12. King, Martin Luther,    13. People of Color    14. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    15. U.S. - Political And Civil Rights Of Blacks    16. U.S. History - 1960s    17. United States    18. United States - 20th Century    19. United States - 20th Century/60s    20. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    21. Black studies    22. History / United States / 20th Century    23. Human rights    24. USA    25. c 1960 to c 1970   

Reviews (3)

Great piece of oral history
Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer have collected a small sampling of civil rights oral history that has yet to be duplicated in a modern book on the era.They have included all of the key figures involved in the movement, Dr. King and Malcolm X, along with Stokely Carmichael, John Lewis and Andrew Young.What they have also done is give readers the non-famous persons perspective on the various events surrounding the movement. This has been invaluable to me in my research and a truly enjoyable read.It should be a must read for everyone!

Readaable, Even-handed
Fantastic, relavent, engrossing. A Treasure! One of the most moving books about the Movement
Starting with the murder of Emmett Till and ending with the political activism in the 80s, this book gives a moving overview of the civil rights movement. Each of the 31 chapters first gives a short summary of the events and then redraws the situation with eye-witness accounts. Many activists like Coretta Scott King, Harry Belafonte and members of the Black Panther Party, to name a few, give intriguing details. This moving book is easy to read and especially recommended for young people who need first hand information about the movement. Really recommended! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1877-1964    2. 20th century    3. Afro-Americans    4. Civil rights    5. Civil rights movements    6. Discrimination & Racism    7. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    8. General    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: American    12. Sources    13. United States    14. Human rights    15. Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations    16. USA   

Editorial Review

Anonymous wears a black shroud and a hangman's noose. Unnamed and masked, perhaps he or she will avoid the fate suggested in the haunting photograph that graces the cover of this remarkable book. Anonymous is one of the mostly unsung heroes interviewed by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo who are fighting for human rights in places where torture, imprisonment, and death are the side effects of speaking out against such atrocities as child soldiers, sex slavery, honor killings, and repression of political rights. In Anonymous's case, teaching Sudanese women their rights where a civil war is being waged by Islamic extremists could land him or her in a "ghost house" of torture, or, if lucky, in prison for an undetermined amount of time. In an age when heroes seem almost a thing of the past, these 51 human rights defenders demonstrate that real moral courage is alive and well on planet Earth. As Kennedy Cuomo writes in her introduction, these are the Martin Luther Kings of the world, and "courage, with its affirmation of possibility and change, is what defines them." Read more

Reviews (6)

Excellent, touching reading
I bought this book for the sole purpose of a class where I was required to do some outside reading.This book was on our recommended reading list.I read the entire book, only one story was required.It was astonishing how these people change the world.I was moved by these stories.

almost religious in its power
The stories and photographs are deeply moving profiles of several of the most courageous people in the world.There are few terms to describe the total power, since I turn to this work on many occasions to gain some inspiration. Shallow Treatment of a Vital Subject
The people described in this book are true heroes, and their stories make me feel humbled and ashamed. But the book attempts to describe 50 different people. Each person gets 3-6 pages, and at least one of the pages is a photograph, leaving room for only a short, unsatisfying glimpse of each life story. Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Human Rights    3. Human rights workers    4. Interviews    5. Pictorial works    6. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    7. Political Science    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Portraits    11. Current Events / General   

Reviews (9)

The Best Reading In a Decade
I thought that I knew a lot about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but this book has really opened up to me his true character. As I read his precious speeches, articles and books I am so happy that I purchased this compilation of Dr. Kings' works and I have been given a special glimpse into the life of such a genuine and extraordinary individual.

An Indispensible Collection
A Testament of Hope is indispensible for a complete understanding of MLK Jr. the man. He was so much more than a monolithic figure of the Civil Rights movement. He was a pastor, theologian, philosopher, diplomat, husband, and father. A Testament of Hope helps the reader to grasp the multifaceted life of this icon of the twentieth century. This book lets the reader into the very human life of MLK Jr. Nowhere have I discovered a more cogent explanation of passive resistance than in the various speeches and essays contained in this book. If you are engaged in the struggle for civil rights or if you seek to better understand modern humanity more completely add this book to your library and consult it often.
5 Star author, 2 star editor
I've studied the works of Dr. King since I was 7 years old, and now my 7 year old is studying him with great interest.I figured this book (a gift) would be a good summation of his career instead of the other half dozen individual books I have in my library.Well, as with his other work, there are many, many typographical errors.I feel that a man of his education would be offended to see his works corroded by half-assed spell checking. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Blacks    3. Christianity - Evangelism    4. Civil rights    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    6. Inspirational    7. Inspirational - General    8. Race relations    9. Sociology    10. United States    11. Human rights    12. Other prose: from c 1900 -    13. Religion / Evangelism    14. USA   

Reviews (5)

More Like Kafka

An engrossing, condemning eyewitness account
The author was a second-generation British Muslim born and raised in England, and was seized from his family home in Pakistan in 2002, accused by the U.S. of being a terrorist, and held for over three years. His story of his imprisonment and detention including two years at Guantanamo Bay provides the first account by a detainee of life inside the prison. From his intense interrogations to his release in 2005, this account is co-authored by Victoria Brittain, former foreign editor of the UK Guardian, and provides an engrossing, condemning eyewitness account of the US prison system and civil rights pertaining to terrorist suspects.
1/3 through the book - this is a poorly edited book
So far, I've made it through about a hundred pages, and this book sounds hollow and fake. The author jumps around in his timeframes, and by changing his vocabulary and perspective, makes it very difficult for the reader to keep a perspective on his actions and history.
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Subjects:  1. Abuse of    2. Afghan War, 2001-    3. Afghanistan    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography And Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Penology    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Personal narratives, British    11. Political    12. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    13. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    14. Prisoners of war    15. War on Terrorism, 2001-    16. Biography & Autobiography / Political    17. Human rights   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. African Americans    3. Civil rights    4. Civil rights movements    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    7. Historiography    8. History    9. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Sources    13. U.S. - Political And Civil Rights Of Blacks    14. United States    15. United States - 20th Century (1945 to 2000)    16. History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)    17. History / United States / 19th Century    18. Human rights    19. Multicultural studies    20. Pressure groups & lobbying    21. Social history    22. Social issues    23. USA    24. c 1945 to c 1960    25. c 1960 to c 1970   

Reviews (4)

Excellently Honest
Anyone who doubts that North Korea is an "Axis of Evil" needs to read this book. Kang gives a straightforward first-person account of his life inside an aquarium called North Korea, where there is only fear, propaganda, corruption, prisons, hard labor and starvation. He gives us his memoir of enduring all these hardships and his astonishment at the freedoms of South Korea, which present him with new challenges. If you want to know the truth about North Korea, it doesn't come much closer than this first-hand experience.

A very disturbing look into the world's last Stalinist country
Aquariums of Pyongyang is the story of one man's life through ten years of captivity in a North Korean gulag....an incredible story of struggle against man's inhumanity to man. Many who read this book will probably view his family as highly naive for leaving Japan for North Korea and in believing North Korean propaganda over what they heard firsthand from people who had been there. On the docks before leaving, they were warned about going back and about the conditions to be found in North Korea. But, the elder family members were ardent supporters of Kim Il-Sung, and believed the propaganda put out on a daily basis. Little did they know they were putting their kids into a deathtrap from which they would have to endure many years of beatings and privation at the hands of the guards. The reeducation lessons are particularly noteworthy, as readers can gain valuable insight into how this regime works. Even dead people were not immune from being used to inculcate hate.....the picture of the prisoners being forced to throw rocks at the people hanging on the gallows (because they were enemies of the state no less, even when dead!) until they were unrecognizable is one of the most chilling things I have ever read. All in the name of propping up one of the worst ideologies the world has ever known.
Wow
An exceptional book.A first hand account of life in a NK concentration camp.The account is horrifyingly similar to other diaries of Nazi concentration camps and the Russian Gulag, but fifty years closer to the present. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Christianity - General    4. Personal Memoirs    5. Religion    6. Travelers    7. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    8. Biography: historical    9. Human rights    10. North Korea   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (30)

Branch's Trilogy
Volume one of Branch's biography of King, though interesting most of the time, suffers from Branch's sometime tortuous syntax and lack of focus, it seems._Parting the Waters_, overall, was excellent, but I only wish that it flowed always when it only flowed some of the time.
Impossible not to be a letdown
Any follow up to Parting the Waters is destined to be anticlimatic. Concedingly, there are a few drawbacks to Pillar of Fire. Nonetheless, this is another classic work from Branch.
Keeps the Fire Aflame...Pillared Story of the Shaping of America
Taylor Branch has certainly done better work with his first Pulitzer Prize winning Civil Rights movement work, "Parting the Waters,' but that doesn't mean you should be brushing aside this good history writing in "Pillar of Fire."There's a quote out there...that I can't seem to find right now...that says something to the effect of, "If we don't learn from history, we will find ourselves repeating mistakes already made."In the realm of social justice and American Civil Rights history there is no finer capturing of our society's mistakes and the heroic struggle undertaken by civil rights movement leaders than the history written by Taylor Branch on the subject.The entire trilogy should be required reading for all liberal arts majors (all other under grad majors for that matter) as an education in the important history that shaped the America we know today.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. African Americans    3. Civil rights    4. Civil rights movements    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History - U.S.    9. History: American    10. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    11. Political Science    12. U.S. - Political And Civil Rights Of Blacks    13. U.S. History - 1960s    14. United States    15. United States - 20th Century/60s    16. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Human rights    18. King, Martin Luther    19. Political Science / Civil Rights    20. Racism & racial discrimination    21. USA    22. c 1960 to c 1970   

Reviews (4)

Serious, but accessible
I got "domination" for a class, which does not tend to bias me in favor of liking a book. However, I have tentatively enjoyed reading it. It is a serious, scholarly book, but the topic is engaging and the case studies and historical examples cited are always interesting. I think that the author supports his complex thesis very well, and I would recommend this book to people who want to read something serious about race and culture.

Domination and the Arts of Resistance
This book is a clear indication of the problems with modern historians: the tendency toward presumption and the discovery of common sense as if it were a new planet. Scott claims to understand the REAL story beneath ordinary daily discourses, going so far as to state that young inner city black men play a game that involves tradinginsults in order to "practice" reacting to racism in non-violent ways. How ridiculous!

Subjects:  1. Dominance (Psychology)    2. General    3. Interpersonal relations    4. Passive resistance    5. Philosophy    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Power (Social sciences)    8. Social groups    9. Violence in Society    10. Human rights    11. Philosophy / General    12. Political structure & processes    13. Social groups & communities    14. Social, group or collective psychology   

Reviews (30)

Powerful and compelling account of a woman on the reservation
This is a very powerful book about Mary Crow Dog's experiences growing up as a Lakota (Sioux) woman on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.It should be required reading for anyone who feigns ignorance of the ways that Native Americans continue to be treated in the US today.Local whites, the state of South Dakota, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the rest of the power establishment have their inhumanity exposed.
Unforgettable impact.
I read this when it first came out in 1990, but it is timeless: her struggle and success in surviving a time and place difficult for her race and sex, and much on her own, is profoundly touching. Even if you have read "In The Spirit of Crazyhorse", this adds to that since it is a very personal story told by a Native American woman who was a part of AIM and who gave birth to her first child under fire at the siege at Wounded Knee in 1973. But the story of how her personal strength was forged and tested begins prior to that when she leaves her one-room cabin on the reservation as a child for missionary school, which then sends her on a downward spiral from which it took hard years to recover. Some feelings are shared by women across the boundaries of race and time.

This is how America acted only 30 odd years ago...

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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Brave Bird, Mary    5. Dakota Indians    6. Ethnic Cultures - Native Americans    7. Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies    8. Social conditions    9. Teton women    10. Women's Studies - General    11. Biography: general    12. Ethnic studies    13. Human rights    14. Social Science / Native American Studies    15. USA   

Subjects:  1. 1960-1980    2. 1980-    3. Anthropology - Cultural    4. Race relations    5. Social Science    6. Social conditions    7. Sociology    8. Sociology - General    9. United States    10. Human rights    11. Multicultural studies    12. Social groups & communities    13. Social issues    14. USA    15. c 1960 to c 1970    16. c 1970 to c 1980    17. c 1980 to c 1990    18. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (3)

A bit dry, but worth the effort!
I am interested in Mill's contributions to utilitarian philosophy. Utilitarianism holds that morals should be based upon those acts which promote the greatest good to the greatest number of people. Human actions which foster happiness are held to be right, while those which yield the converse are wrong. Mill defines happiness as intended pleasure with the absence of pain. Also, he maintains that intended pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as personal ends. Pleasure which employs one's higher faculties tends to give more satisfaction than baser pleasures, or mere sensations. Few humans would exchange their limited, fleeting pleasures for the fullest ration of the pleasures of the "lower" animals. Since a noble character is made happier by its nobleness, utilitarianism can only attain its end towards the multiplication of happiness through a general elevation of the nobleness of the character of the larger population.
A must read for anyone interested in political ideology...
One of the main writers on liberty, J.S. Mill is often overlooked in introductory courses in Political Theory courses. I bought this books as a supplement in my class and it was a wonderful read that gave me an advantage. This book contains some of Mill's best work and the notes added by Schneewind give them an extra dimention and a few explanations that I am glad I had.

Liberty: The Basics
Not that Mill was ever obscure or inaccessible, but while Prof Schneewind's Introduction adds little value, the notes and annotations by Dale E Miller certainly renders this compendium transparent, even to folks like me who have been dumbed down by years of television debates as primary intellectual nourishment.He enlightens each of Mill's chapters with a short and easily assimilated introductory overview. Complementing this with text annotations, collected at the back of the book. The annotations appear to be very well selected, as they are never too numerous to make flipping to the back of the book tedious, yet they manage to illuminate every aspect or item I might have found even remotely confusing, ambiguous or otherwise incomprehensible in the modern idiom. Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    2. Liberty    3. Philosophy    4. Philosophy Of The 19th Century    5. Political    6. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    7. Political Philosophy    8. Representative government and    9. Representative government and representation    10. Utilitarianism    11. Women's rights    12. Human rights    13. Political Science / General    14. Western philosophy, c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (3)

An excellent introduction
An excellent introduction to International Human Rights. I enjoyed the extensive bibliography and the objectivity (not neutrality) of the author's commentaries.

all bark no bite
This book describes in great detail the instruments that exist to codify and protect human rights but which illustrates all too clearly the problem of inadequate enforcement instruments and procedures. The "law" empowers the UN or other bodies to "do a study" on complaints of non-compliance or violations. The creation of so many of these tools has been so politicized as to make many functions of the laws and treaties virtually useless and sometimes, apparently, contradictory (or at least open to debate and interpretation). What good is a "thorough study"? With no teeth, no authority and a backdrop of outside interfering factors (economic and political especially), these "norms" might be interpreted as existing in name only. In a section on gross violations of human rights and the UN Charter, one reads, "The required magnitude of the concept of `massive' or `gross' violations may also gradually require a lower threshold of severity as the international community becomes less tolerant of what is lawful behavior under the Charter. Viewed in this light, the human rights provisions of the Charter are `elastic clauses' whose expansion is tied to the evolving standards of international legality and decency."
In depth but HORRIBLE to read
International Human Rights in a Nutshell does one thing correctly: It spells out the law in clear, black and white language on human rights and some of the formations of the UN, EU, American System, and African States. On the other hand it is EXTREMELY hard to read as a book because all of the citations are put right in the middle of the reading; as such it doesn't flow at all. It still remains a very definitive reference that any scholar on human rights should have. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Human rights    2. International    3. Law    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    6. International human rights law   

Subjects:  1. Developing countries    2. Economic development    3. Human rights    4. Law    5. Political Advocacy    6. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    7. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    8. Political Science    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Aid & relief programmes   

Reviews (2)

A Must for transfolk and their allies
Transgender Rights