Editorial Review

Northampton, Massachusetts, boasts a rich history that dates back to the 17th century. It is home to Mount Holyoke, which has been climbed by Charles Dickens and Henry James (among others), and to Sylvia Plath's alma mater, Smith College. It has always been the quintessential New England town, while becoming in recent years a politically progressive small city, whose population of 30,000 has WASPs rubbing elbows with lesbians, immigrants, students, and the homeless. Driven by a narrative force comparable to that of the best fiction, Read more

Reviews (54)

Pretty Dull
I kept waiting for something to happen. The book contains a few good descriptions but overall is quite tedious. May be interesting if one knows Northampton and can relate to the vignettes. Dull.

Center of Paradise
Northampton has been transformed within my lifetime.As a high schooler, looking for a college, the town was so sleepy it appeared to me as a "has-been" sort of place.I went to Boston instead.That was 30 years ago!Now I am lucky enough to live within a half hour of N'hampton and I love to visit there on a weekly basis.It is the center of culture and art for this area.Yes, it has problems, like all cities do.Thank you to Tracy Kidder for describing this special place so well and with such care.I only wish that I had read it sooner.He gives us a sense of the rich local history without dwelling on the past.He is truly acomplished in his non-fiction style, and I am inspired by this work!I recommend this to all locals and anyone who wants to be filled with hope.

Tedious and Boring
I had high expectations for this book.However, I found myself skipping pages and feeling very disappointed.Kidder did not engage me at all, his writing was prosaic in the worse sense, and the pace of the book was plodding.Read "The Shipping News", "The Kite Runner", "Three Junes", "The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor".While I realize that these books are fiction and Kidder's book is non-fiction, I still felt that I was reading a bad "Dragnet" script. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Case studies    3. City and town life    4. Community    5. Community life    6. Government - U.S. Government    7. History    8. Massachusetts    9. Northampton    10. Northampton (Mass.)    11. Police    12. Social Science    13. Social conditions    14. Sociology    15. Sociology - Urban    16. United States    17. United States - State & Local - General    18. Current Events / American   

Reviews (4)

An intriguing, eye-opening discussion
What happens when multinational corporations decide that the use of armed force is really business? When companies line up with warlords and armies to make a profit? When corporate interests dictate war or peace? Madelaine Drohan's meticulously researched and impressively wrfitten expose, Making A Killing, shows just what happens in a world of multinational power, drawing important connections between corporate armed forces and history and providing food for thought for corporations, policy makers and national leaders alike -- the result is an intriguing, eye-opening discussion.
A pantheon of predators
Resource control is the core of Madelaine Drohan's book.Where the image of empire was once faceless armies, religious zealots or expanding trade, modern conditions have changed this view.Instead of governments launching empires, suit-clad businessmen now decide where the action lies.Decisions to exploit resource areas are not made in ministry offices, but in corporate boardrooms.Businessmen, "and they are almost always men", choose locations, make investments, recruit workers and begin operations.Until there is unrest.Then they call in governments to support their enterprise.If governments cannot or will not respond, the entrepreneur's answer is the "private army".Mercenary professional military men act as "security" teams, policemen or replacement armies.And they are accountable to no-one but the firm that has hired them.

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business Ethics    3. Corporate & Business History - Strategies    4. Corrupt practices    5. International - General    6. International business enterpr    7. International business enterprises    8. Mercenary troops    9. Moral and ethical aspects    10. Murder - General    11. Police, Private    12. Political Process - Political Parties    13. Political Science    14. Politics/International Relations    15. Current Events / General   

Reviews (55)

It's merely her opinion....
I have not read her book-yet- but from the rewiews I've been reading,she is no different than Anne Coulter who also has her take on the left and no matter how much you read on books about liberals or conservatives, it never ends!! All these books do is get us upset and further alienates us from the real issue. Namely, that neither party has all the answers!
A Confused Book
The author admits she is a lesbian who had an affair with a former actress, and admits that she is apart of the "left".
The most important book I read this year
I do not agree with Tammy on some very important issues - especially her pro-choice position.I do think that this book is a must read however.It will make you angry and it will depress you, and maybe it will make you want to do something to stop this spiral into "anything goes."When she points out that we in this country can smile when a Christian icon like the Virgin Mary is portrayed with vaginas all around her and human feces plastered upon her even while we "faint in horror" that someone might flush a Koran down a toilet we can begin to see just how much hatred there is for our country among our citizenry.When a left-wing child psychologist writes that adult males having sex with children is in fact a good thing for both partners or we hear that priests are known to be sex compulsives and it is said to be their privacy right that should be guaranteed, we begin to see just how close we are to true moral depravation.Unlike so many propagandists today Tammy does not just make up facts to support her charges but documents each and every one.If you read just one book this year, this is the one you should read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Culture conflict    2. Moral conditions    3. Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism    4. Politics / Current Events    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Social History    7. Social ethics    8. Social values    9. United States    10. Current Events / General   

Reviews (4)

A truly amazing organized crime book
Claire Sterling does an amazing job of exposing the new world order of organized crime. Her references seem impeccable and the story she tells is one of world governments crippled by an inability to coordinate and cooperate to the degree that counter-governments (ie, crime families) are cooperating. As a result, the world Sterling paints is one where crime is rapidly becoming the single dominant force in world politics and economics.

A Book Without Boundaries
For anyone who wants to know the indepth ramifications of the new threat of global organized crime then look no further than Claire Sterlings supberb effort. I have read two other of Claire Sterling's books and was impressed. Very few authors can boast such a talent for researching as Mrs Sterling does. A Book Without Boundaries
For anyone who wants to know the indepth ramifications of the new threat of global organized crime then look no further than Claire Sterlings supberb effort. I have read two other of Claire Sterling's books and was impressed. Very few authors can boast such a talent for researching as Mrs Sterling does. Read more

Subjects:  1. Criminology    2. Europe    3. General    4. Organized Crime    5. Politics - Current Events    6. Russia (Federation)    7. Sociology    8. Current Events / General   

Reviews (3)

A must read on drug effectiveness and commercialization
This is an excellent account of the effects of allowing marketing of Tamnbocor (flecainide) as an anti-arrhythmic based on "surrogate"intermediate endpoints. Later there was recognition thatin fact the drugwas associated with increased cardiac death rates when a "goldstandard" randomized controlled trial was undertaken. It also showsthe problematic relationships between the payment and support of academicresearchers into drug effectiveness and the drug firms, many of whoseproducts have been life saving and life transforming. A very well balancedbook and very enjoyable reading. The author erroneously describes RA Fisheras an American Genius which would irritate the very English (& laterAustralian) Cambridge professor of Genetics!

Unbelievable but TRUE story how prescription drugs kill!
This important investigative work explainsHOW and WHY the American Pharmaceutical Industry KILLS and no one seems seriously interested in stopping it, least of all the FDA! Legally prescribed drugs are now the 4thLEADING cause of death in the US. We are trying to change this by helpingto train physicians and the public to use natural approaches instead ofdrugs, inspite of the continous FDA and FTC harrassment of all doctors inAlternative Medicine. Our system that financially rewards doctors millionsof dollars for KILLING people is seriously out of control. If naturaltherapies are even alleged to have slightly harmed even 1 patient, the FDAstands ready to seize ALL of the supplies and put everyone involved injail. Yet drugs are provably killing over 100,000 each year and the GAMEgoes on. I believe this book could help everyone understand that thismust all change and soon. This book merely describes the tip of the icebergand the 70,000 dead from these heart medicines described in detail here, is just a fraction of the real number needlessly killed by Americanmedicine and surgery everyday at great taxpayor expense. WE have safe andEFFECTIVE alternatives to virtually every drug, including aspirin (nottylenol!) and most heart surgery is done on the WRONG plaque and does notsignificantly reduce the likelihood of a heart attack. There are SAFEnatural alternatives not just for heart disease but for virtually every oneof the major diseases today! contact G.F. Gordon M.D.D.O. PresidentGordonresearch.com and InCALM.com 1-520-472-9086 Payson AZ

Important piece of the jigsaw showing unscientific medicine
Ralph Moss wrote an excellent review of this book in the Spring 1997 edition of the Cancer Chronicles. I am writing only to put his review into context.There have been many books written describing the shortcomings of medicine, particularly those questioning claims of the efficacy of medical intervention.These include Robert Mendelsohn's Confessions of A Medical Heretic; Richard Taylor's Medicine out of Control; Ivan Illich's Medical Nemesis; the New Medical Foundation's Dissent in Medicine; Samuel Epstein's The Politics of Cancer; Ralph Moss' Cancer Industry and Questioning Chemotherapy; Ulrich Abel's Chemotherapy of advanced epithelial cancer - a critical survey; What Doctors Don't Tell You's Cancer Handbook, What's Really Working; and Neville Hodgkinson's AIDS, the failure of scientific medicine.(I have also published two papers questioning the efficacy of surgical treatment of cancer in Medical Hypotheses.)These together support and explain the claim in the editorial in the British Medical Journal of October 1991 (Vol 303: 198-99) "Where is the wisdom...? The poverty of medical evidence" that "Only about 15% of medical interventions are supported by solid evidence... This is partly because only 1% of the articles in medical journals are scientifically sound". Thomas Moore's earlier (1989) book Heart Failure describes the poor record of treating heart problems with bypass surgery, balloon angioplasty and drugs to lower serum cholesterol.Moore's more recent book homes in on particular drugs such as those used to treat arrhythmia.With deaths from heart disease accounting for more than 40% of all deaths these two books on the inefficacy of treatments for heart problems fill an important gap. As a scientist I found the section explaining how "surrogate endpoints" are used instead of actual therapeutic benefits to test efficacy particularly useful. It explains why so many claims for the efficacy of chemotherapy are invalid. It is a pity that the book is now out of print. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cardiovascular Agents    2. Drugs - Adverse Effects    3. Flecainide    4. General    5. Health Care Delivery    6. Medical / Nursing    7. Myocardial depressants    8. Pharmaceutical policy    9. Pharmacology    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Side effects    12. United States    13. Current Events / General   

Subjects:  1. Army    2. Drill and tactics    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - Strategy    7. Military - United States    8. Military intelligence    9. United States    10. Urban warfare    11. Land forces & warfare    12. Non-Classifiable    13. USA   

Editorial Review

In this updated version of a modern classic, acclaimed historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. strikes a blow against radical multiculturalism. The rising cult of ethnicity, he argues, threatens a common American identity, imperiling the civic ideals that traditionally have bonded immigrants into a nation. Various chapters criticize bilingual education, Afrocentrism, and the use of history as group therapy for minorities.Schlesinger raised eyebrows when he first published this book in 1992 because of his impeccable liberal credentials as a one-time assistant to President Kennedy and long-standing academic champion of FDR's New Deal.This new version contains all of the original volume's edge, plus a few extras, including an appendix containing "Schlesinger's Syllabus," 13 books "indispensable to an understanding of America." Titles from this eclectic list include Read more

Reviews (23)

It's Tribalism Stupid
While this book was not as compelling as I expected it to be, I completely agree with the general premise. That being that multi-culturalism taken too far is both harmful and counter-productive. Not to mention that it is completely antithetical to what our founders envisioned for this country. Mr. Schlesinger has nothing against the teaching of cultures other than European-American, but he insists that an over-emphasis on ethnicity, ultimately promotes division and an 'us vs. them' mentality. Multi-culturalists argue that it is important for students to be taught about their own respective ethnicity in order to have self-esteem and pride. Mr. Schlesinger argues, and I firmly agree, that as Americans, we no longer belong to the ethnicities of our grandfathers. Our founding fathers were clear about this, Americans are a "new race of men" who must "cast off the European skin, never to resume it." Indeed, America was meant to be a melting pot. Schlesinger acknowledges that throughout much of our history, many minorities were forcibly excluded from fully assimilating. This is no longer the case though, and I think it is important to point out that just because a man (or a nation) fails to live up to it's ideals, does not mean that the ideals are wrong. Included in the book are quotes from various Americans about this issue, and I was somewhat surprised by some of them. For instance, the great Frederick Douglas said, "No one idea has given rise to more opression and persecution toward the colored people of this country, than that which makes Africa, not America, their home. It is that wolfish idea that elbows us off the sidewalk, and denies us the rights of citizenship."
still a spot on rendering of current immigration
I'll admit upfront...I haven't reread this in several years.But I remember the text 's main arguments as if it were last month.Nothing in the ensuing years has undercut Mr Sclesinger's main argument, and much has substantiated it.In fact...one has only to look at the recent riots in France to see that it isn't even a distinctly American phenomenon.
Clearly many of yopu didn't read the book
As usual, over the last 50 years Schlesinger puts honesty and a will to make the world a better place over dogmatism, and as usual he manages to offend the ideologues concerned with putting things in their neat little boxes. Schlesinger NEVER comes close to showing any sympathy for, yet alone endorsing eurocentrism, he spends much of the book lamenting the institutional racism of this nations past and present. What Shlesinger says is that building equally disingenous constructs of history for non white groups is also counterproducitve, and will do nothing to break the eurocentric psyche of our society. If you disagree with him why not debate the merits of his idea's, instead of calling a man who spent his life fighting for social justice a racist. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Civilization    3. Current Affairs    4. Ethnic relations    5. History & Theory - General    6. Minority Studies - Ethnic American    7. Minority Studies - Race Relations    8. Multicultural education    9. Multiculturalism    10. Pluralism (Social sciences)    11. Sociology    12. United States    13. American history    14. Canada    15. Cultural studies    16. Multicultural studies    17. Nigeria    18. Social issues    19. USA    20. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (10)

Learned, Low-Key, Somewhat Disappointing
I would not normally have bought this book, but the dogmatic criticisms of the work from what appear to be very angry Zionists compelled me to support the author and see for myself.I can certainly understand their objections: the author provides a very fine overview of how Israel has bonded and penetrated the U.S. Government at all levels including junior staff levels in both Congress and the Executive, and how this, in combination with what I consider to be an unholy alliance with the Christian Zionists (the author names Gary Bauer, Jerry Fallwell, Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Tom Delay, and Richard Armey), has shifting U.S. policy between Palestine and Israel from being a balanced peacemaker to unleashing Israel and not holding it accountable.The author is at his best when discussing how to cease our support for Israel if they cannot be sincere in seeking a two-state or shared state solution.The author does not, as far as I could see, discuss the complete failure of the Arab nations to provide support to Palestine where it counts: aid, passports, land rights, etcetera.
The Taming of the Shrew
"'Taming American Power' - Why would one like to do that?" This seems to be the standard tongue-in-cheek reaction one gets from a fellow American student who has spotted the reviewer reading Stephen Walt's latest book. Granted, it is a bit hard to swallow Walt's line of argument at first. As the author, academic dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, himself admits, "by virtually any measure, the United States enjoys an asymmetry of power unseen since the emergence of the modern state system." And more than that: It is highly likely that it will remain the most powerful player in the international system for some time to come. So who would go about trying to tie down this omnipotent Gulliver? Walt does a good job in pointing out that reactions from across the world to America's "primacy" position (the author defines this as "being first in order, importance, or authority") are often lukewarm at best - large parts of the population in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Asia do as a matter of fact detest everything the United States stands for. And even seemingly close allies in Europe and Asia look like they have lost their (Cold War-) love for Mr. Big.
Methodologically and Substantively Weak
Taming American Power is a book about relations between and among states. Walt's starting point is a wide-ranging description of the sources and manifestations of American primacy. Then, in the most insightful part of the book ("The Roots of Resentment"), he does a superlative job of describing the ways that others see America and why their perceptions differ from how we picture ourselves. The following two chapters discuss the strategies foreign governments employ in their relations with an America that is much more powerful than they are. These strategies fall into two broad categories - opposition and accomodation, each of which is broken down into several sub-categories. In the final chapter, Walt sets forth a foreign policy that he believes would be in our national interest.
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Subjects:  1. 21st century    2. Balance of power    3. International Relations - General    4. International relations    5. Modern - 21st Century    6. Political Doctrines    7. Political Science    8. Political Science (General)    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. World politics    12. Current Events / General    13. USA   

Reviews (3)

Some Inconsistencies, But Best Synthesis of Bush-Mafia-Dictator-Privatized Intelligence Network
This is not a perfect book.It has inconsistencies and errors but this book has helped connect many dots from the other 690+ books I have reviewed.
Not a perfect book
Unlike the previous reviewer I wasn't that impressed with this book. The author puts Felix Rodriguez at the Watergate break-in, when in reality he had no involvement in it whatsoever since he was in Vietnam at the time. That was one one the mistakes I noticed. I'm sure there were more.
Indispensable
First and foremost, I think the POV is the CIA's "intelligence" wing(s) vs. the "Ops" goons, a longstanding civil war in the CIA and the other clandestine services where Trento, who has covered intelligence for 35 years, clearly sources to the inteligence side of the battle.
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Subjects:  1. 1924-    2. Bush, George,    3. Central Intelligence Agency    4. Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations    5. Government - U.S. Government    6. Intelligence service    7. Middle East - General    8. Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence    9. Political Process - Leadership    10. Political Science    11. Political Terrorism    12. Politics / Current Events    13. Politics/International Relations    14. U.S. Government - Intelligence Agencies    15. United States    16. United States.    17. Current Events / American   

Editorial Review

Harvard prides itself on being a melting pot: the student body is 19 percent Asian, 7 percent foreigners, and more than one-third of all of the students are minorities. So when a junior from Ethiopia, Sinedu Tadesse, stabbed her roommate 45 times and then hung herself, the university came under immediate scrutiny from the press. Melanie Thernstrom approaches this tragedy with the sensitivity of someone who cares about Harvard, as an alumna and daughter of a professor, and she engages the reader with an unassuming, personal style. In the end, Read more

Reviews (27)

Was important information overlooked in this book?
Review by Rosie Meysenburg
worth reading, if you have patience
Halfway Heaven is half the length of Melanie Thernstrom's other book, The Dead Girl, but it is a less compelling read.
Halfway Heaven
Stirring up Harvard's feathers is a wonderful thing. This book certainly did this. It is a comprehensive book about a very troubled student who gave plenty of warning signs in her personal file which the head of Dunster House, Professor Liem, looked at and filed away shortlybefore the horrible murder/suicide in which an innocent girl was fately stabbed 45 times by her room-mate. The most interesing thing about this true story is Harvard's attempt at cover up and downright intimidation of staff and students alike. Nobody connected with Harvard wanted to be interviewed for fear of dismisal from the staff or student body. The author's job at the New Yorker was even threatened. It is all about preserving Harvard's "sacred image" so the well heeled Alumni will keep supporting them. Harvard's poor excuse for a student mental health program, not to mention their greed, has finally been exposed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography/Autobiography    2. Case studies    3. General    4. Ho, Trang Phuong,    5. Homicide    6. Infamous Crimes And Criminals    7. Massachusetts    8. Murder    9. Murder - General    10. Nonfiction - True Crime / Espionage    11. Tadesse, Sinedu    12. True Crime    13. Crime & mystery    14. Current Events / General    15. Ho, Trang Phuong   

Reviews (58)

Well-told story of arrest and rescue in Afghanistan
Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry were Christian humanitarian aide workers in Kabul, Afghanistan, who had been arrested by the Taliban shortly before September 11th for proselytizing the Christian faith.Their 105-day detainment captured the attention of this nation as well as the attention of the world.This is the story of their arrest, imprisonment, and rescue (with assistance from freelance writer Stacy Mattingly).
Arrogant and selfish
Read this book and see Christian zealotry at its worst.Let's see, we have two amazingly naive girls who want to help the needy and change the world.Hey, that's good.Hummm, well, there just are not enough needy folks here in the US, so let's be world travelers!Yeah, that's the ticket!More, let's go where it is illegal to preach our religion! Yes, let's live dangerously! More still, let's endanger folks who are so poor they consider clean water a gift and let's preach our illegal stuff to them. These two nitwits are shameful, silly, and - make no mistake - dangerous.Their selfish acts endangered innocent people - poor, destitute people.Sadly, when one considers that they were treated as "heroes" upon their rescue (which endangered military personnel), we are in bad shape and things are getting worse.Thank God that we are not a theocracy ............... yet.
More Than Just A Thriller
This is a terrific book on several levels.First, just the love that these two women have for the people of Afghanastan and the picture they paint of life under the Taliban is interesting in and of itself.In places it reads like a thriller, especially when they are arrested and their daring rescue.Finally, just the incredible faith that these women exhibited under such trying circumstances is an inspiration to me.Not that they are perfect, and they are the first to admit they struggled at times in those dark hours in prison, even bickering among themselves at times.But in the end, their deep faith prevailed and a miracle occurred. I felt like I was with them before, during and after their imprisonment, and that is a tribute to the great writing of this book.And, by the way, much of the negatives reviews I've read here sound a lot more like anti-Christian bigotry then thoughtful criticisms.Ignore them, and buy this inspirational, wonderful book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Afghanistan    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Christian biography    5. Curry, Dayna    6. Mercer, Heather    7. Political Science    8. Political prisoners    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Reference    11. Religious    12. Travelers    13. Women    14. Current Events / General   

Subjects:  1. Administration - General    2. California    3. Case studies    4. Charter schools    5. Education    6. Education, Urban    7. Educational Policy & Reform    8. Educational equalization    9. Government - U.S. Government    10. Oakland    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Public Policy - General    13. Current Events / American   

Subjects:  1. Economic Conditions    2. Economic Conditions Of Labor    3. Economic aspects    4. Family    5. Income distribution    6. Labor    7. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Public Policy - Social Services & Welfare    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - General    13. United States    14. Wages    15. Current Events / General    16. Employment & unemployment    17. Poverty    18. USA    19. Work & labour