Reviews (26)

Political correctness triumphs over integrity
I got this book prompted by Allison's brilliant "Essence of Decision" on the Cuban Missile Crisis.Nuclear Terrorism starts out well with an informative discussion of the nuts and bolts and history of nuclear proliferation.However, the final third of the book was a major disappointment.I suspect that Dr. Allison was mostly concerned with continuing to receive invitations to stylish cocktail parties in academia and felt obliged to bash the Bush policy on Iraq and to tout precisely the namby-pamby gutless policies he had just pointed out had failed to work consistently in the past.We should have a more "humble" foreign policy and get all other nations to agree not to let any other nations have nuclear weapons.That's what we tried to do during the 1990s and now face a nuclear North Korea, Pakistan, and possibly Iran, whereas Bush's get-tough policy kicked Libya out of the potential nuclear club.I would have expected better of Allison.

Depressing
According to a growing number of authorities I have read in recent years, a nuclear attack on the United States is almost inevitable.The bomb(s) will not come by intercontinental missile, but will be smuggled into the country, carried by car to most likely New York or Washington D.C., and detonated.Hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of people will die.It will be the worst catastrophe to befall the US ever and may result in world-wide social, political and economic chaos.The US may or may not know who planted the bomb, but you can be sure that some action will be taken, possibly of a nuclear nature.
Informative, interesting and hair-raising...
There are very few books I have read which have actually changed the way I live my life. This book is one of them. With solid facts, talented writing and attention to a singe topic, Graham Allison paints a vision of a possible future in which nuclear terrorism will become a part of American history.
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Subjects:  1. Government - U.S. Government    2. International Relations - Arms Control    3. Nuclear Proliferation    4. Nuclear terrorism    5. Nuclear weapons    6. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    7. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    8. Political Ideologies - General    9. Political Science    10. Political Terrorism    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Prevention    14. Terrorism    15. United States    16. Political Science / Arms Control   

Reviews (70)

Send in the clown...
Executive summary: should you read this book? Answer, if you want to see a vivid imagination at work, yes. If you're looking for a sober, carefully-argued work, no.
Timely, Accurate and Amazing!
Tony Blankley gets it right in this book.It's time for all the politically correct ideology to end and for the West to assert itself.Any religion that does not allow for alternate beliefs is not a religion, it's a cause.In this case, it's a cause for nut-jobs!
Tightening the screws
This book was well written and entertaining until the end.I gave him one star for knowing how to write.Mr. Blankley told the story of the threat we face quite skillfully but in the end he dropped the ball and really didn't have any ground breaking suggestions or creative ideas as to how to avert the disasters that are sure to come.
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Subjects:  1. 21st century    2. Civilization, Western    3. Europe    4. International Relations (Specific Aspects)    5. International Relations - General    6. Islam    7. Islamic influences    8. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    9. Political Science    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Religion, Politics & State    13. Political science & theory   

Reviews (15)

Truthful contrast
Dr. Franklin is an extraordinary savant.His writing technique is grabbing and august.He presents his life in a clear unquestionable manner; causing the reader to feel the emotion in which he experienced throughout his life journey.
Autobiography of John Hope Franklin
Every page is a valuable learning opportunity.Written in a factual, insightful way that creates a focus on lessons learned and then makes these same lessons implements of progress and growth for others.This is a book everyone should read and then find ways to incorporate the example if Dr. Franklin in concrete ways in their individual lives.

From Sisters Nineties Literary Group, Linda Smith, Book Review Editor, Reviews
Professor John Hope Franklin's story, Mirror to America, is a chronicle of his life embellished with the history of African Americans in the United States.A rare jewel, Professor Franklin decided early in his education at Fisk University, where he earned his undergraduate degree, that he would make a life long committment to pursue the history of African Americans in this country as a scholar.He attend Harvard University where he earned his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in history, remaining committed to pursue African beginnings in America without compromise and with impeccable courage in the time where racial prejudice was practiced in every phase of American culture.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. African American historians    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography And Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)    9. Educators    10. Historians    11. Historical - U.S.    12. Novelists, American    13. People of Color    14. Personal Memoirs    15. U.S. History - 20th Century (General)    16. United States    17. United States - 20th Century    18. Zabor, Rafi    19. Biography & Autobiography / General    20. Biography: general    21. Black studies    22. Civil rights & citizenship    23. Political activism    24. USA   

Reviews (87)

A fascinating story
I bought this book from a spontaneously decision while engaged with THE KITE RUNNER. It is an amazing story of the life of an Afghan family that is keenly observed and portrayed by the author who lived with them for several months and observed their lives listened to their stories and finally came to relate to them. Though from quite a wealthy educated background, the family's story is still a struggle for self-esteem in a domineering culture of hierarchy that favors males and the elders, a culture of denial that often looks for scapegoats. Polygamy, oriental way of engaging in business, the status of women in the tribal and religious arrangement of southern Asia and the backdrop of the Afghan war all contributed to make this story enticing and gave a view of Afghanistan that many foreigners are not aware of.Union Moujik, Swallows of kabul,Usurper and Others, Bricklane are other titles which helps us foreigners understand what the news do not present.

Cultural anthropology for dummies
This book is a must for anyone who is trying to understand a culture so uniquely different from ours that it defies belief. It is beautifully written which makes it an easy read and because it reports on "daily" life in a Kabul home, it makes its comparisons by story telling. You get wrapped up in their way of life as reported by an outsider, and you understand their perspectives from a non-biased view. The author is Norwegian and does a fantastic job of describing their lives without bias or value judgements. The conclusions you draw about life styles, like the role of women, male oriented societies and the Taliban, are yours not hers. I think this should be required reading for high school students and anyone who knows nothing about the Islamic way of life. It certainly defines the dilemnas that we in the U.S. are facing today.

Excellent, very easy read.
I was very impressed with this book.It was an easy read but showed so much of Afghan culture.While at times I felt angry it also gave me a hunger to learn more about this intriguing country.I felt the author gave an excellent recounting of what she had seen and heard.
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Subjects:  1. Afghanistan    2. Asia - Central Asia    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Book Sellers, Dealers, Distributors    6. Booksellers and bookselling    7. Contemporary Politics - Asia    8. Ethnic Cultures - General    9. General    10. Islamic Studies    11. Kabul    12. Kabul (Afghanistan)    13. Khan family    14. Political Science    15. Politics/International Relations    16. Current Events / International   

Editorial Review

"Hutus kill Tutsis, then Tutsis kill Hutus--if that's really all there is to it, then no wonder we can't be bothered with it," Philip Gourevitch writes, imagining the response of somebody in a country far from the ethnic strife and mass killings of Rwanda. But the situation is not so simple, and in this complex and wrenching book, he explains why the Rwandan genocide should not be written off as just another tribal dispute.Read more

Reviews (199)

Disappointed
I was disappointed by the tone of the first chapter.
Remarkable and Life-Changing
This book will change your worldview.Gourevitch makes you realize how much we marginalize Africa, and how we refuse to recognize unpleasant realities to avoid the responsibility for dealing with them.While his account includes a lot of horrible examples of inhumanity, there are also some splendidly inspiring examples of humanity, which make you believe that change is possible, and even ultimately inevitable.

What a horrific tale
A lot of books I've read down through the years, even books I have enjoyed, I have forgotten almost as soon as I finished them.
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Subjects:  1. Africa - General    2. Current Affairs    3. Ethnic relations    4. Genocide    5. Government - Comparative    6. International    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics and government    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Rwanda    11. Armed conflict   

Reviews (3)

Courageous and brilliant
Everything about this book was unexpected and revealing. Kalfus shatters our ideas about heroism in the wake of tragedy and shows in hilarious detail how we can't help but be who we are: a nation of self-obsessed individuals who only contend with the world around when our own inner turmoil doesn't get in the way. You have to read this book.

Unworthy
This book was a major disappointment.
Haven't read it either...
...but if it isn't a requirement that one actually read a book before "reviewing" it, then I'll say this: I heard an interview with the author on NPR. He pointed out that the "national mourning" aspect of 9/11 is only one way to relate to what happened--that putting that somber blanket over it all (as he said Oliver Stone's movie does) takes away from the truth of people's varied reactions, which (no surprise) can as easily be personal and selfish as noble and compassionate. In Israel, a country long used to terrorist attacks, the people are encouraged to continue to live... to not live in fear. But here, we have been urged to live in fear, even though no one can tell us exactly what to be afraid of. I'm looking forward to reading the book. Then maybe I'll write a real review. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Domestic fiction    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. General    5. Marital conflict    6. Novel    7. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001    8. Fiction / General   

Reviews (199)

Chronicles of anti-Christian bigotry
How can someone possibly manage to fill a 400-page book with example after example of Christians being persecuted in the United States? Only if there happens to be a whole lot of cases of Christian persecution. And that is just what Limbaugh demonstrates in this frightening but much-needed book.
Forgive them, Father for the Conservatives know not what they do....
Yes, I am a Christian, and I believe in all of the teachings of christianity. But I do not support the conservative's constant attack of democratic liberals.... it's the simple example of stereo-typing. I can garantee there are millions of atheist conservative republicans... I used to have a friend who was. This book is trying to make democrats look bad by using the atheists of the left against them. That's similar to Southern Black discrimination... everyone tought they were lower and disgusting because they used to be slaves. But that wasn't what they were on the inside.
Powerful book about the oppression of Christianity
Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christianity by David Limbaugh is the book that liberals should be worried about.While Ann Coulter's Godless is getting all the press, it's this book that should have them shaking in their shoes.Limbaugh doesn't use hysterical vitriolic name-calling to get his point across, he uses facts and builds his case slowly, brick by brick.He's like a prosecutor bringing forth each piece of evidence and allowing the jury to see it and listen to each witness and allowing them to make their own judgment.Many of the cases do quote the same lawyers again and again, but that really can't be helped when there are only a few groups defending the rights of Christians to express their views.The book shows case after case in schools, workplaces, and the government in which Christianity is not just being suppressed but oppressed.The good news that in many of the actual court cases, the court upheld the rights of Christians.The bad news is that most people don't bring court cases, they just quietly fold up and give in.These court cases are the exception proving the rule, and the liberals are going to continue pushing and pushing because they know that most people will give in without a fight.Limbaugh also does a great job at the end of the book proving that America was founded on Christian principles by Christian men who never intended for Christianity to be hounded out of American life.This is a good book for everyone to read. It's one of the few books that just might change people's minds. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Christianity - Christian Life - Political Issues    3. Christianity - General    4. Christians    5. Civil rights    6. Freedom of religion    7. Persecution    8. Political And Civil Rights    9. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    10. Religion    11. Religion - Socialissues    12. United States    13. Civil rights & citizenship    14. Current Events / General    15. Political Science / Reference   

Reviews (8)

Nice research, though lot of it unsubstantiated
This book is an excellent piece of work on Nuclear Proliferation. Things that I would have liked to see in this book :
The History of the "Nuke's R Us" Network

Ego = mc squared
The nuclear five missed an opportunity to give up their arsenal and get everyone's covenant to stay away from the bomb.It is only natural that some states and some nations sought to avoid the "less than equal" status by joining the nuclear club overtly and covertly.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - Pakistan    2. International Relations - Arms Control    3. Military Science    4. Nuclear nonproliferation    5. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    6. Political Science    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Security, International    10. Technology & Industrial Arts    11. Political Science / Arms Control    12. Politics | Comparative Politics | Africa   

Reviews (1)

Disappointed
I paid $97.00 for this newly released book.Pages 23-54 are missing and I have little time to deal with a complaint and return process.In skimming the book, it gives a basic intro, overview of computer hardware/software, data management; applications, project management, and future directions.This information is available in less expensive textbooks. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Administration    2. Business & Economics / Information Management    3. Computer networks    4. Data processing    5. Health services administration    6. Hospital Administration    7. Information storage and retrie    8. Information storage and retrieval    9. Medical / Administration    10. Medical / Nursing    11. Science/Mathematics    12. Business & Economics    13. Information Management   

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 (7)

Brilliant
Excellent, Brilliant and full of wisdom. This is from a philosopher who has the ability to see things from more perspectives than black and white. His book is concise and not too academic. He makes philosophy trendy. He is a new generation of thinkers that will reshape our thoughts. He tackles sensitive issues with respect for all parties. One cannot tell his sentiments due to his fairness and objectivity. The first book I will read a second time.

Accept the complex
Although K. Appiah starts on a very solid and sometimes difficult philosophical ground, the essay seems to lost itself into the richness and the complexity of humanity. Which does not necessarily make it uninteresting. On the contrary. The parallels drawn from personal experience, archeology, capitalism and so forth are at times enlightening and original. Besides the advices on how to converse properly, I was left with a taste of subtle fatality hidden behind a veil of optimism.

Citizens of the World: Please Unite
Appiah has written an intelligent, urbane, and concise analysis of, and prescription for, the global world we have come to inhabit. His title "Cosmopolitan" is intended to evoke its etymology, that we are "citizens of the world." Unlike Robert Wright in "The Moral Animal," Appiah rejects a one-world government, insisting we need to maintain a pluralistic system of governments for the ostensible purpose of creative enhancements, e.g., changes to the existent models through new insights, programs, and trial-and-error (hopefully, with errors corrected).
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Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Conduct of life    3. Cosmopolitanism    4. Ethics    5. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    6. History & Theory - General    7. International Relations - General    8. Modern - 21st Century    9. Political    10. Political Science    11. Political Science (General)    12. Politics / Current Events    13. Politics/International Relations    14. Current Events / General    15. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    16. Social & political philosophy