The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World

Book Description

The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister is a sweeping, dramatic account of how three great figures changed the course of history, as told by John O'Sullivan, former editor of National Review and the Times of London, who knew all three and has conducted exclusive interviews that shed extraordinary new light on these giants of the twentieth century.

Customer Reviews:

The President The Pope and The Prime Minister.......2007-10-11

3 people who advanced democracy around the world. Principals over politics. Today we only have wimps instead of statesmen like these three

And they all lived happily ever after..........2007-07-19

I try. I really try to get through this sort of stuff. But I'm familiar with a tourist's view of Washington, DC and realize that most people want the "founding fathers," for example, to be Disney characters.

O'Sullivan knows that his audience wants that too.

Does anyone remember the "social contract?" You know, when a few people felt we have responsibilities to each other? Reagan was, in real life, the lieutenant of a few ideologues who wanted to get us away from that infectious attitude.

As to Maggie Thatcher, excuse me, LADY Thatcher, she was ultimately responsible for "The Full Monty." You know, let's break up the unions and put well-paid working people out of work. Then there's J2P2. Actually, the pope said some worthwhile things, challenging what we're doing to Iraq, for example. But I think it was Penny Lernoux who suggested before she died that he was more appropriate to a Soviet satellite state than he was in a Church in which adults make up their own minds.

In short, this really is a kid's book. And if you have a mind capable of recognizing that the world is more complex than the Bros. Grimm, don't waste your money on it.

Two Great Men, One Great Woman.......2007-07-15

There is a theory in history called the Great Man Theory, which seeks to explain the events of history principally by looking at the impact of pivotal men and women who played a role in world events. On it's most simplistic level, the theory does make some sense. It's hard to imagine the American Revolution happening the way it did without the role played by men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or even King George III. It's equally hard to imagine World War II and all that has happened since without taking into account the individual decisions and personalities of Roosevelt, Churchill, Hitler, and Stalin.

The academic left, though, has generally rejected the Great Man Theory and looks to economic, technological, and other factors to explain history. To them, the role of the individual in history is insignificant compared to the role that these "forces" play. What they forget, of course, is that economics, technology, and culture are all created by individuals. So arguing that "forces" rule history and that individual's are irrelevant is inherently irrational.

In reading The President, The Pope, And The Prime Minister, it's easy to see where John O'Sullivan comes down in this debate. He clearly believes that individuals play a vital role in history, and considering the three individuals he profiles -- Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Margaret Thatcher -- it's hard to argue with him.

The hyopthesis of O'Sullivan's book is fairly straightforward. Three individuals who, in the years just before they came to power, were believed to be outside of the mainstream of 1970s era thinking worked together, sometimes at cross purposes and often not consciously, to change the world by putting in place forces that led to the downfall of the Soviet Empire and the remaking of the world.

As O'Sullivan makes clear, the spark was lit in October 1978 when the Catholic Church did the unthinkable by electing a non-Italian Pope for the first time in over 450 years. And not only a non-Italian, put a man who came from behind the Iron Curtain and who had spent much of his career as a priest and bishop resisting tyranny, first from the Nazis and then from the Communists. His election set off a firestorm in Poland that led directly to the formation of Solidarity and its preservation through nearly a decade of martial law.

O'Sullivan also pays considerable attention to former President Reagan, his dealings with the Soviet Union, and, most interestingly, his view of the role of nuclear weapons in the Cold War. Though it was not generally known at the time, and goes against what was being said about Reagan by his critics and even some of his supporters, it has become fairly clear in the years since he left office from the release of private writings that Reagan despised nuclear weapons and pursued a policy that had as its conscious goal their eventual elimination. While some might consider this attitude naive (after all, you can't put the nuclear genie back in the bottle), it sheds a new light on his approach to negotiations with the Soviets and the SDI program. Reagan knew that the Soviets could not compete with America technologically, and that they would never give up their nuclear arsenal willingly. So, he essentially played a waiting game until the "correlation of forces", to borrow a Marxist phrase, were such that that Soviets had no choice but to make a deal in a last ditch effort to save first their empire, and then their very existence.

Reagan told John Paul about his views on nuclear weapons, the Soviets, and the future of Europe early on. And the Holy Father clearly supported these views, as evidenced by the fact that while Catholic Bishops in the United States often spoke out against U.S. foreign policy in the 1980s (sometimes to the consternation of the Vatican), the Holy See rarely did.

O'Sullivan's perspective on Thatcher, and her relationships with Reagan, the Pope, and the Soviets are interesting especially given his connections to the British Conservative Party. What is clear, though, is that even Thatcher herself, clearly one of Reagan's closest friends in world politics, had no idea just how idealistic he was.

This book isn't ground breaking academic research, but it offers an interesting perspective on the life, times, and historical impact on three people who clearly changed the world for the better.

Ron, Maggie and the Pope.......2007-06-03

I read one review that said that they weren't on the same planet as these three leaders were doing their work. I was also on a different planet. I got so disilusioned with the Carter years that I completely turned politics off, and only took care of me and my family. As the years accumilated and GHW Bush became president, I had to return to reality. I have learned a lot about Reagan and JPII over the last few years especially after Mr. Reagan's death. Maggie is still an enigma to me. I want to really like her, but I understand that she was a real bugger to work for while Reagan was wonderful and of course JPII was a saint. Not to be outdone, Mikail was a horrible leader and was the primary reason, along with the decline of the Russian economy, crop disasters and an inempt military, Russia would have self destructed, I think, without much trouble. But the pressure that these THREE placed on the communist system from within is what crumpled the horrible experiment.

Along with Peggy Noonan's two books, one on Reagan and the other on John Paul II, this one is one of the best of the events of Reagans presidency and John Paul's term.

I recommend this book for anyone who want's to get to know how the wall fell and how God can help.

History as it should be written: fact-filled, detached and light on the bias.......2007-05-29

Very readable, smooth flowing inter-weaving of the stories of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II and how, working together, they changed the world. This is history as it should be written. Fact-filled. Detached. Light on the bias. Fascinating. The book is quick to read and hard to put down.

This is the story of three disparate personalities and their unlikely (and synchronous) rises to power. The elderly B-movie actor. The school-marmish scold. The non-Italian Catholic living under the thumb of officially atheistic communism. Together, they defeat the scourge of communism while simultaneously rescuing their respective polities from the slow death spiral of the 60s and 70s, whether than be Reagan resurrecting American swagger and putting the U.S. economy on sound footing, or Thatcher curing Britain of Euro-sclerosis, or the Holy Father rescuing the Catholic church for the suffocating forces of modernism and "reform."

This is an essential history of late 20th Century America and Great Britain. It is an essential history of the recent Catholic church. It is also very much a history of Poland, for it is that land that it is at the center of this narrative. Ronald Reagan always believed that the key to ending the Cold War lay with Poland. And it is events in Poland, from the papal visits, to the strike at the Gdansk shipyard, from the martial law of Jaruszelski, to the rise of Lech Walesa and Solidarity, that shape this story. Reagan's insight into the centrality of Poland proved astonishingly right.

This book is not just for us Republicans. For example, one Carter Era figure prominently and positively figures in events here: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter's national security advisor. Brzezinski has not gotten enough credit for seizing control of events in Poland from the late Carter administration through the Reagan administration. This book gives him delayed credit.

Two (minor) criticisms of this book. First, the Holy Father drops out of the narrative, for the most part, in the last third of the book. More Pope, please! Second, the equation of the bombing of Mrs. Thatcher's hotel in 1984, does not really parallel the 1981 assassination attempts on President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. It's a reach that doesn't work. But these are very minor blemishes on a masterful book.

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

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Pure hate... Author wants to blame everything to muslims
A Classic?
Helps you to understand current global affairs
Clash of Cultures and Politico-Religious Hegemony
Already happening?

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
Samuel P. Huntington
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684844419

Amazon.com

The thesis of this provocative and potentially important book is the increasing threat of violence arising from renewed conflicts between countries and cultures that base their traditions on religious faith and dogma. This argument moves past the notion of ethnicity to examine the growing influence of a handful of major cultures--Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin American, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu, and African--in current struggles across the globe. Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist at Harvard University and foreign policy aide to President Clinton, argues that policymakers should be mindful of this development when they interfere in other nations' affairs.

Book Description

Based on the author's seminal article in Foreign Affairs, Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is a provocative and prescient analysis of the state of world politics after the fall of communism. In this incisive work, the renowned political scientist explains how "civilizations" have replaced nations and ideologies as the driving force in global politics today and offers a brilliant analysis of the current climate and future possibilities of our world's volatile political culture.

Customer Reviews:

Pure hate... Author wants to blame everything to muslims.......2007-07-11

It scares me to find out that educated (so called intellectuals) are writing this type of hate infested books that are aimed at nothing but inflaming more hate and voilence in the world. Author has a stubborn belief that all muslim cultures have speriority complex and they are there to destroy the western influence. He needs to wake up and understand that every culture even western or african or latin is sustaining because there are good things there to fullfill the needs of the people along with bad things that represent historical events/influence, economic or social problems etc. Author completely ignores the fact that one (Malaysia) out of all muslim countries are run by our appointed dictators with the exception of Iran and Syria who are kept in isolation so they have no reason to praise us have any dialog going. I would suggest that the author should cosider psychotherepy and need to start reading outside of his shell.

A Classic?.......2007-05-18

As a retired agronomist with a strong science background I tend to check out references that are commonly used. This book is very often quoted, not always favorably. If you have recently, like I, become interested in world politics and especially Islam this is definitely one of the texts you should read. From my weak politics and history background I found Dr. Huntington making a lot of interesting observations. I found the book very intriguing and educational. I really enjoyed his take on the Bosnian War.

Helps you to understand current global affairs.......2007-05-16

This book helps you to understand current global affairs. Although one might not agree with some of the author's theories.

Although this book is from the Western perspective, the author does not glorify the western civilization and has shown respect for other civilizations.

Clash of Cultures and Politico-Religious Hegemony.......2007-05-11

Huntington provoked worldwide outrage by this book, both from conservative westerners who thought he was too "nice" about Muslim extremists, and from non-conservatives who believed him to be arrogant and ethnocentric. My opinion is that both are correct: there is a clash between those using religious identities to promote political agendas, and those attempting to keep religion at the personal level and politics at the macro level of society. This book infuriated many non-readers because of its apparent linking of Islam with political terrorism. Careful readers understood that this was merely reporting of what "experts" said, and not a personal attack by Huntington on faithful adherents to Islam. Below are a few of my favorite quotes:
--"This awakening is comprehensive--it is not just about individual piety; it is not just intellectual or cultural, nor is it just political. It is all of these, a comprehensive reconstruction of society from top to bottom."
--One study of militant leaders of Egyptian Islamist groups found they had five major characteristics, which appear to be typical of Islamists in other countries. They were young, overwhelmingly in their twenties and thirties. Eighty percent were university students or university graduates. Over half came from elite colleges or from the intellectually most demanding fields of technical specialization such as medicine or engineering. Over 70 percent were from lower middle-class, "modest, but not poor backgrounds," and were the first generation in their family to get higher education. They spent their childhoods in small towns or rural areas but had become residents of large cities. While students and intellectuals formed the militant cadres and shock troops of Islamist movements, urban middle-class people made up the bulk of the active membership. In some degree these came from what are often termed "traditional" middle class groups: merchants, traders, small business proprietors, bazaaris.
--Islamist activists "probably include a disproportionately large number of the best-educated and most intelligent young people in their respective populations," including doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, teachers, civil servants.
There is a clash today, and Huntington calls it rightly. There is violent conflict between those seeking political power through the power base of religious identities are opposed by those unwilling to give up values and ideals in their secular political system.

Already happening?.......2007-05-06

What exactly makes a 'civilization'? Why do tribal conflicts in Africa not spread too far outward? Why did the conflict in Yugoslavia prompt Orthodox Russia to support the Serbs, and Muslim Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Islamic states to support the Bosnians? Why couldn't the civil war in Lebanon be solved by dialogue? Why are Islam's borders so bloody? Even though Saddam Hussein was a vicious tyrant and killed many of his own fellow Muslims, why did so many in the Islamic world proclaim him a hero when the United States invaded Iraq? Will demographic decline in the West change the balance of economic and military power in the world? Is the West in severe decline and can it turn itself around?

If there is any book that can fit into the context of today's global political sphere and shed light on the questions above, it is this book. The book defines what a civilization consists of, and why some are incompatible with each other. World demographics are depicted and used to make predictions about the future balance of world powers. The buildup of non-Western armed forces is highlighted and used to show how the West could lose its military dominance, and what will the future hold with such a change in power. Will it be multiculturalism and tolerance, or will it end up being a giant Lebanon or Yugoslavia, and how could we prevent such a disaster if it were to occur?

Regardless of your political position on the book, I must say it is by far the most comprehensive one I have come across on this subject. Accurately and extensively researched and documented, this outstanding book may be the most important one explaining the conflicts of the 21st century.

The Communist Manifesto (Signet Classics)

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The Hobo Philosopher
Must have for any wannabe idealist
Political Classic...read for historical insight
A Must Read
A Misleading Edition

The Communist Manifesto (Signet Classics)
Karl Marx , Friedrich Engels , and Martin Malia
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451527100

Amazon.com

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

Book Description

Critically and textually up-to-date, this new edition of the classic translation (Samuel Moore, 1888) features an introduction and notes by the eminent Marx scholar David McLellan, prefaces written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels subsequent to the original 1848 publication, and corrections
of errors made in earlier versions. Regarded as one of the most influential political tracts ever written, The Communist Manifesto serves as the foundation document of the Marxist movement. This summary of the Marxist vision is an incisive account of the world-view Marx and Engels had evolved during
their hectic intellectual and political collaboration of the previous few years.

Download Description

Still relevant today both as a historical document and as a stirring call for social democracy, this New Albion edition includes Engel's extensive footnotes from the various editions, plus the changing Prefaces written first by Marx and Engels, and later by Engels alone, plus notes on the Manifesto and the various translations of it.

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-14

Well, if you are a student of Philosophy or economics you must make this a part of your reading whether you want to or not. It is not long. It is not difficult. It is quite explicit. And after you read it you should have a better understanding of where you personally stand politically. I am not going to comment on what it says or advocates. Read it and find out for yourself. You won't need an interpreter.

Must have for any wannabe idealist.......2007-09-10

Well, obviously I havent read this fascinating piece of litrerature, but thats because a read book just looks so scruffy on my beautiful capitalist shelves.
This book makes me look a lot more sympathetic to all those wannabe commies, so why not dish out on a copy too?
Nah just joking, just read it and decide for yourself.

Political Classic...read for historical insight.......2007-06-27

My son required a copy of "The Communist Manifesto" for a philosophy class. After he was done with it, I decided to read it since this was one of the founding documents for Communism.

I found it difficult to decide how to rate this book. The presentation of Manifesto by Penguin in this book is excellent. The central ideas of the Manifesto itself are disturbing.

Should you read the Communist Manifesto? Yes. Is this a good presentation? Yes. Was Communism envisioned by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels a good idea? No. So I have compromised between the excellent presentation and the ideas espoused by the Manifesto in selecting an average rating.

Some reviewers feel that the Manifesto's critique of capitalism is right on; I have grave doubts. Marx and Engels were critiquing capitalism from an ivory tower. Their remedies for capitalism show that they had no real experience or contact with the workers in the trenches.

Some reviewers have mentioned the changing of labor laws due to the Manifesto, such as child labor laws (a generally agreed good thing). I believe those laws would have changed if the Manifesto had never been written. I believe those reviewers are seeing cause and effect relationships where there is none. I believe labor leaders in non-Communist states, pushing for change in labor laws, did not need belief in Communism behind them to push for change. Even without Communism, they would have done what they did anyways because the labor leaders came up from the laboring trenches. They knew first hand the abuses going on. The writers of the Manifesto did not; their ideas were theoretical. I know my ideas, in this area, are conjectures of what would have happened without the Manifesto, without Communism; there is no way they can be proven, history cannot be rewritten.

The remedy proposed by Marx and Engels is frightening. It foreshadows exactly how Communism gave birth to totalitarian states, to Communist dictatorships. Their remedy for capitalism requires a select group of leaders (Communist elitists) to force Communism onto the populace for the good of the people. We should all be suspicious of anyone who professes an idea that is for the good of the people because it invariably is not good for the people. To paraphase Lord Acton, "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely," and the states envisioned by the writers of the Manifesto set up perfect conditions of absolute power (for the good of the people) which in practice led to absolutely corrupt power. History has shown there has been extreme abuse by Communist leaders, who became power meglomanics, of the masses of workers in their states.

Indeed, history has repeatedly shown that the concentration of power in the hands of a select few led to abuse of power. The smaller the select, the greater the abuse. This has been true regardless of the political theories espoused by the leaders. Let this be a cautionary tale to all of us.

A Must Read.......2007-06-23

It amazes me that the effects of cold war propaganda drivel still permeates the minds of most Americans. This is easily one of the most influential works since it's publication in the 19th century. To say something along the lines that the pages should be torn out and used as paper airplanes is like saying the literary masterpieces Dickens should be used as toilet paper. Disagree with it all you want but at least acknowledge it's influence and respect it, as several reviewers have. Don't simply pigeonhole a great work due to the ignorance or American cold war dogma. If you are going to rant about this work at least get your facts straight. Hitler is not a communist..never was. As a matter of fact he hated communism just as much as most Americans do. Second, recognize communism is an ideal, just a capitalism is may I add, and there never has been a purely communistic state. If you are going to give this work a bad rating at least pretend you have read it. Most of the bad reviews are complete drivel and it is obvious the work has not been read. Give a reason why you do not like the book. Simply saying it sucks is not very insightful. Finally, do not give this a bad review simply because you cannot understand what is being said. If the merit of literary works were based upon how something is being said rather than what is being said Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Milton would not be considered literary geniuses.

A Misleading Edition.......2007-06-14

The following is the composure of the book:
pg. 1-170 Introduction by Translator
pg. 170-240 Various Prefaces of Other Editions by the Authors
pg. 240-280 The Manifesto

For those not familiar with Marx, who want to read the introduction and gain new insights--this is a brilliant setup.

For those who would rather just pay $2 for the Manifesto itself--this is disappointing.

Recommended for the student of philosophy, not the professor.

Average customer rating:

Strong Evidence, but Thickly Written
This Book is Exceptionally Written, Wonderful
This book is a fraud
The Truth Ignored
Master of Deceit

Perjury: Hiss Chambers
Allen Weinstein
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0394495462
Release Date: 1978-03-12

Amazon.com

In this updated version of the landmark book on one of the truest contenders for the title of "trial of the century," historian Allen Weinstein shows beyond all reasonable doubt that Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy. The book is meticulously detailed and sharply persuasive. Its cast of intriguing characters include Hiss, who maintained his innocence until his death in 1996, and his accuser Whittaker Chambers, a pair who became respective icons for left- and right-wing politics in America during the Cold War years. J. Edgar Hoover and a young Richard Nixon also play key roles. The best quality of Perjury, however, is the uncommon clarity of Weinstein's prose. The very first paragraph neatly sums up the controversial case:

Once upon a time, when the Cold War was young, a senior editor of Time accused the president of the Carnegie Foundation of having been a Soviet agent. The Time editor made his charge stick, aided by an obscure young Congressman from the House Committee on Un-American Activities, a tough federal prosecutor, and the director the FBI. As a result, the Endowment president spent forty-four months in jail and became a cause celebre; the magazine editor resigned and died a decade later, still obsessed with the case; the prosecutor became a federal judge; the director of the FBI lived to guard the republic against real or imagined enemies for another twenty-five years; and the young Congressman left obscurity behind to become the thirty-seventh President of the United States.

--John J. Miller

Customer Reviews:

Strong Evidence, but Thickly Written .......2006-01-22

This is a reasonably convincing look at the Alger Hiss case. Author Allen Weinstein initially set out to prove Hiss' innocence, but over time his research led him to the opposite conclusion. Weinstein uses much actual testimony, which points towards Hiss' guilt for perjury - and thus of having spied for the Soviets in the 1930's. Readers see that accuser Whitaker Chambers was hardly a sympathetic witness. He was disheveled, dishonest, homosexual, and a confessed traitor. But Chambers' remembrance about Hiss' bird watching and prothonotary warblers was powerful evidence, and it's hard to believe that Hiss would have given away his used automobile to a total stranger. This book doesn't prove Hiss guilty, but it points in that direction.

Sadly, the Hiss case was and remains too much about politics rather than truth. Republicans still use Hiss to attack New Deal liberalism, Yalta, and the patriotism of Democrats. President Reagan even awarded the Medal of Freedom posthumously to Chambers - a confessed traitor! Democrats, for their part, often reflexively defend Hiss without considering the evidence. Sound like O.J. Simpson or Oliver North? Regardless of your politics, this is a fascinating case, although the author's thick writing makes for a slightly laborious read.

This Book is Exceptionally Written, Wonderful.......2006-01-08

This book is so credible, so exhaustively researched, it deserves substantial praise. You would have to be incredibly mean-spirited to smear this book.
The lies presented as facts in the negative reviewers' comments show that the twisted forces Chambers warned about are still very much at work, especially among "elite intellectuals" (just as it was then).
Ignore the deliberate lies that have done so much damage already. The author Weinstein himself was a hard-core leftist sympathizer, but the facts were overwhelming. Kudos to Weinstein for his own redemption.

This book is a fraud.......2005-06-15

It is a great tragedy that ideologically motivated "historians" have managed to "end" the debate on the Hiss case. This tome, which was greated with much media fanfare upon its release, is largely responsible for the current situation. Allen Weinstein's book is only as important as it is because of his credentials and status as an academic. When one ignores the hype and takes an honest look at Weinstein's sources and methods, his whole edifice collapses. "Perjury" is on par with Gerald Posner's disinformation masterpiece on the JFK assassination, "Case Closed," for dishonesty and duplicitousness. A few examples:

-Six of Weinstein's interviewees have stated that Weinstein misquoted them (one can only assume deliberately), turning statements not supportive of Whittaker Chambers into ones that are. One of these interviewees, Sam Kreiger, sued Weinstein. Weinstein and his publisher settled out of court for $17,500 and issued a public apology. An erratum slip was placed in subsequent printings of the book. In the current edition of his book, Weinstein quickly glosses over this incident in a very misleading fashion and leaves the rest of this disputed material unchanged from the original edition.

-Weinstein has backed down on his offer to make his research files available to all interested parties.

-Weinstein misrepresents a defense team memo, making it appear as if Hiss knew the location of the infamous Woodstock typewriter and was trying to cover up. In fact, Hiss offers several posible destinations for a typewriter (the Hiss family had had three up to that point).

-Speaking of the Woodstock, the evidence still demonstrates that it was forged. The serial number #230,099 is inconsistent with the timeframe in which the typewriter was supposed to be manufactured. Ditto with the soldering, which is not consistent with a Woodstock. Discrepencies between the type of #230,099 and the "Baltimore Documents" become plainly apparent when letters are magnified. Typewriter forgery is certainly not impossible, Martin Tytell built a replica of #230,099 and J. Edgar Hoover himself confirms in a memo obtained by Gil Green through FOIA that the FBI has both the ability and the means to forge a typewriter.

-The "Pumpkin Papers" consisted of blank pages and unclassified naval documents regarding the proper color to paint fire extinguishers. Obviously of great importance to the Soviets.

-The Venona cable, No. 1822, touted by Weinstein and others, regarding an agent named Ales appears to not have anything to do with Alger Hiss. Particularly relevant is the fact that Ales dealt in military documents while Alger Hiss was accused by Chambers of turning over State Department documents. A recently surfaced soviet document places Ales in Mexico at a time when Hiss was in Washington. This should persuade most intellectually honest people that Hiss and Ales are not one and the same.

I could go on and on, but I think this should be sufficient. To those still "In Denial," to use Hayne's and Klehr's phrase, I have only one thing to say: The truth actually feels pretty good, give it a chance.

The Truth Ignored.......2004-12-02

This is the most thorough and comprehensive piece of investigative journalism ever published. Weinstein treats the case like an onion, he peels off one layer, then another, then another.... His treatment of when the Hiss typewriter was manufactured would fill a small book in itself. The same is also true of the transfer of Hiss's car to the communist party, the Soviet gift of a carpet to Hiss, the dating of Chambers' microfilm, and so on.

So why didn't Weinstein go on to become another Bob Woodward? Probably because his conclusion that Hiss was, in fact, a communist spy was unacceptable to so many people at that time. This was a great injustice to a man who told the truth and was himself suprised that the facts so heavily vindicated Chambers.

With the publication of Sam Tanenhaus's "Whittaker Chambers: a biography," the truth of Weinstein's conclusion has now been, finally, accepted by most people-even on the left. But why Tanenhaus's book, which contains hardly anything new, should have changed anybody's view seems odd. I suspect that with the passage of time, Tanenhaus's softer tone, and Hiss's death, many Hiss supporters felt the time had come to concede an unpleasant truth.

Master of Deceit.......2003-01-18

At first W. Chambers claimed that Alger Hiss and others were secret Communists whose purpose was to influence policy (from 1939 to November 1948). After being sued for slander Chambers produced 69 documents to support his claim of spying. Chambers earlier stated he was a Communist until "1935", or "early 1937", or "the end of 1937", or "the spring of 1937". The documents were dated between January 5 and April 1 of 1938. Chambers then changed his story to leaving on April 15, 1938. You can judge his veracity by this. Note his memory of wallpaper patterns!

The original State Department files were rated "classified" to "secret". Most consisted of trade agreements, which were of commercial, not political, importance. When Chambers learned that Alger Hiss could not type, he then claimed Priscilla did it! (Did writer and translator Chambers ASSUME that other men had this skill?) The most telling fact about these documents is that most had never been routed through sections where either Alger or Donald Hiss had worked! This discrepancy has never been explained. When the contents of the three rolls of microfilm were released in 1975, they were found to be Navy Dept instructions on how to use life rafts, fire extinguishers, and chest parachutes. Where did they come from?

Customer Reviews:

A classic compendium of Marxist thought.......2007-06-03

Whether or not one is a Marxist, knowledge of Marx' work is important in understanding the variety of political philosophizing over the millennia. Marx' political thought is sometimes difficult (think the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844") and sometimes transparent (e.g., "The Manifesto of the Communist Party," more popularly referred to as the "Communist Manifesto").

This edited work is one of the best introductions to the works of Marx (and Engels). The volume begins with the early Marx, which includes the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844," excerpts from "The Holy Family" (in which he attacks some of the other socialists of the era), "Theses on Feuerbach," and the first of the truly classic works that Marx and Engels co-authored, "The German Ideology." It is interesting to note that "The German Ideology" covers much the same territory as "The Holy Family," with the major exception that Marx now addresses the intriguing and offbeat work by Max Stirner, "The Ego and His Own." In the process of addressing Stirner, Marx and Engels take the philosophical edifice to a more powerful level, creating a new perspective with a move away from idealism and toward materialism.

Other major works included are excerpts from "Das Kapital" (fairly turgid reading, I fear), the "Manifesto of the Community Party" (which ends with the famous phrase [page 500]) "The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains."), the "Critique of the Gotha Program," and "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" (with its great introductory phrase [page 594] "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He has forgotten to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.").

The final section of the work features the work of Engels, including "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific," "Anti-Duhring," "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State."

If one be interested in learning more about Marx (and Engels), this is an accessible edited work that provides some of the key works.

Essential Marx, all in one volume.......2007-05-19

If you're looking for a single volume collection of Marx (and a little Engels), this is the one you want. The other reviewers list some of the selections, but the bottom line is: if you've heard of it, it's here. This is the book I keep on my shelf for those (decreasingly common) moments when I want to look up something in Marx.

The only problem lies in the production values - - the pages are thin and light weight, and the font a bit small, in order to cram it all in. If you highlight with a yellow pen, you'll be frustrated because it will bleed through worse than usual. Use a ballpoint pen or a pencil. My eyesight is still good, but if it weren't, I suspect the font size would be another frustration.

Still, if you're browsing this page, you're in the market for Marx. This is the book you want.

Essay: Alienation from Humanity, on Marx and Mill.......2005-06-07

The modern age is a dangerous age, an age in which we might be alienated from that individual independence in work and in mind which defines our humanity. Confronted by this crisis, Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill offer the world diverging solutions: annihilate the existing world and march toward communism, or guard against the dangers of the existing world as we further embrace liberal democracy. Despite these divergent paths which arise from differing views on the driving force of history, both systems aim to rescue the supreme interest of our individual humanity-for Marx, this interest lies in reaching absolute prosperity for the material man, and for Mill, it lies in the search for absolute truth for the idealistic man.

With its emphasis on individuality and diversity, Mill's theory is in a sense more encompassing than Marx's. Mill's theory, however, is fundamentally flawed in comparison to Marx's because of its ignorance of property as a danger against human liberty.

Marx sees in the industrial age the death of the property-less class. This death is brought by the industrial age's five qualities: division of labor, accumulation of capital, competition, financial crisis, and monopoly. In this age, machineries and the division of labor reduce the skillful artisans to the proletariats who merely work on one monotonous element of production. The capitalists who own the machines enlarge their capital by exploiting the proletariat's labor, leaving them only with enough to eat. Competition forces capitalists to lower prices, but this is good only until each factory produces more than demanded and a financial crisis emerges. The small capitalists are reduced to the property-less as millions of workers are swept into deeper hell. Only the biggest capitalist survives, and he becomes the monopolist who can lower wages and raise prices at whim, destroying the lives of all. (Part 1, Bourgeois and Proletarians, Manifesto of the Communist Party)

The above scenario is unavoidable because the accumulation of more capital is the only end of capital. If the capitalist stops investing capital for gains he ceases to be a capitalist, and becomes a mere consumer of goods, enjoying the fruits of old exploitations. Tragically, capital can only increase when it exploits the difference of what labor costs and labor produces, as Marx writes,

"The modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few." (Marx p484)

The rich man sitting in his patio who has inherited a million pound and who lets others manage his money has not done anything to deserve profits, indeed, since he himself did not work, his profits must come from the works of others who he exploits. In the capitalistic system, there exists no pity, only keen self-interest, "all are instruments of labour, more or less expensive to use..." (Marx p479)

The workers might die, but before their body ceases to be exploited, their mind is already died-capitalism has alienated them from their humanity which is defined by their creative productivity. This alienation from our humanity was Marx's greatest worry. Animals make nests and produce goods just as we do, however, as Marx writes,

"...a bee would put many a human architect to shame by the construction of its honeycomb cells. But what distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is that the architect builds the cell in his mind before he constructs it in wax... Man not only effects a change of form in the materials of nature; he also realizes his own purpose in those materials." (Chapter 7, Das Kapital)

In order to freely produce as the creativity of his mind directs him and as his productive ability allows, the material man must be endowed with control over the means of production. In the world of private property, however, the workers have turned from the master of production to the slave of the machine-they are reduced to programmed animals that produce merely for the end of survival.

The proletariat can only reassert his humanity by violent overthrowing the capitalists and through the "abolition of private property" (Marx p484). Once in communism, the workers will own the means of production and enjoy the full produces of their labor. He will be motivated to constantly transform the world into a more prosperous kingdom. As Marx writes, "In communist society, accumulated labour is but a means to widen, to enrich, to promote the existence of the labourer." (Marx p485) The abundance of material goods will allow man to work not for survival, but for his own enjoyment. In this society, there will be no family and nor religion, everything is made for the love of all and enjoyed by all. Any vestiges of private interest would result in the return to capitalism with all its evils.

To Mill, the modern life is also threatening because the voice of the majority might alienate men from their individuality. The differentiation of society is essential for the vitality of the society, and this vitality empowers men on their search for truth.

Political debates, according to Mill, have been about striking the balance between the ruler and ruled. It is necessary for the ruled to have a ruler in order to preserve peace and law, yet the elected or unelected ruler's power must be restrained so that he does not abuse it against the ruled. In contrast to Marx's class struggle, this "struggle between liberty and authority" (p59) from Mill is more amiable. In the current era of democratic nations, however, since the ruled are also the rulers, the opposition no longer exists. People feel that all actions taken by the people's government will be good for the people, and hence they lose the old vigilance against the invasion of public power into their private spheres. The voice of the majority becomes the equivalent of the truth and justice.

Mill is worried that this majority voice will obstruct man's search for truth, the attaining of which is the goal of life. Truth is not reached once and then preserved for eternity, it is an organic being with a thousand facets whose survival requires continued inputs of each person's active mind. This truth is the individual treasure of each being, fitting perfectly to his taste and preferences; yet it is also a truth for the whole community, since it is only through the struggles of different truths that humanity as a whole reaches a higher truth-a higher level for the activation of the mind. As Mill writes, "There is always need of persons not only to discover new truths and point out when what were once truths are true no longer" (p71) If the majority religion is the only religion and taste the only taste, then people will no longer think but simply follow; society will be bogged into the swamp of mediocrity with a mind that is dead. Marx also feared the death of the mind, the mind of the creative worker. Despite the differences, both philosophers are concerned about the destruction of man's defining qualities.

To counter this, Mill proclaims that the only defense for "interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self-protection." (p68). The government must be restrained in the sphere of public affairs, and individuals shall live as free as they want to following their individual passions.

Marx and Mill both want to regain humanity. In one case, the enemy is the benumbing effects of majority rule, and man's mind for truth is debased forever into mediocrity, in the other case, the enemy comes from the benumbing effects of subjugation to the machine, and the man is turned from the master of production into the slaves of capital.

The core difference between the two theories in practical operation arises from their different views on individuality (both systems serve individuals as their ends, however, individuality, allowing people to be different, are treated differently). For Mill, we must preserve individuality to bring truth (Chapter 3, On Liberty), but for Marx, the destruction of private property is the only task. The communistic society will be a union in which man can "...hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner..." (The German Ideology). This free life of a communist in communism is all good until one day the comrade does not want to be a communist anymore-but he must be one, there is no choice. In Communism, one does not have the individual liberty to have families, nor try to build a little store of private wealth.

On the other side, if someone in Mill's world decides to be a communist, he has the full right to do so. He can even segregate himself away with his friends and enjoy the life of a commune. In another word, Marxism can not destroy Mill's democracy-it will just be one of the many ways of thinking allowed by the system-but Mill's cry for diversity will destroy Marx's world within a second.

Confronted with the above, Marx would reply like he did in the Jewish Question, that the so-called liberty and freedom of the capitalistic world are nothing other than man's desire to keep himself a self-sufficient nomad. As he writes, all the rights of man are simply "the right to enjoy one's fortune and to dispose of it as one will; without regard for other men and independently of society." (Marx, p42) Marx will say that only seeing the superficial political liberation is not to see the deeper human liberation which could only be achieved with the abolition of private property. Marx might not be completely right, but he does stand at a higher ground than Mill in this analysis of property.

Mill in On Liberty is focused solely on avoiding the abuse of power through government, but he ignores the abuses that property owners are capable of against the property-less. In an agricultural society where everyone is equal and land unlimited, the government might be the only thing capable of suppressing individual liberty, but when one sees child-labor and 12 hour work day in modern industrial society, there is no doubt that capital could be a pitiless monster. Even when one ignores the industrial age, and tries to give Mill credit for drawing the best possible life for the pre-industrial man, one still can not avoid noticing the subjugation of the slaves, the suffering of the serfs, and all the other dark stories of the property-less in all the ages previous to the industrial one which Marx gives a full account of.

Marx and Mill were faced with the same modern phenomenal, the danger of been alienated from the defining quality of humanity in the face of a new economic and a new political system. Marx might not have made the best analysis, but he did have a deep understanding of history and the problems in history. He stood at the level of the common people and tried to solve their problems caused by their material desperation. Mill did not stoop to the common people, he looked up into the sky of truth and tried to preserve the march toward truth first embarked on by Plato.

Essential Works Of Marxs & Engels For the Beginner!.......2004-02-25

Given the impact of Marxism on the unfolding history of the later nineteenth and twentieth century, the beginning student of the combined writings of both Marx and Engels will find this collection of the essential works of these two pioneering socialists absolutely essential reading. Its list of included works covers the waterfront of all that is required to gain a fruitful first look at the wealth of their philosophical musings, and the nature of their revolutionary canon, as well. Reading this material is essential if one is to understand the depth of Marx's understanding and the detail of his genius, however discredited he may be in current estimations. Indeed, with the rise of international corporatism is so close to his prognostications regarding the final phases of capitalism that it is hard to deny his continuing relevance.

Included here is everything from the Communist Manifesto all the way to Volume One of Das Capital. One can gain a better appreciation for his ideas regarding the way in which the antagonism between the oppressed and the oppressors provides the motive force for history, and how all history is the history of such class struggles between the owners of the means of production, on the one hand, and the workers, who have nothing to barter with but their considerable capacity to accomplish labor. If one want to gain a better appreciation for the nuances regarding how alienation is created buy the organization of work, or the origin of property, or even the ways in which all of the aspects of a particualr society's culture are manifestations of the values of the ruling class, then a careful reading of the material found here will serve you well. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

The best collection we have.......2003-06-07

"The Marx-Engels Reader" is the best single collection of Marx's thought. What makes it doubly important, is that it is one of the few texts which contain an index. This sounds unremarkable, but believe me, it makes the text extremely more useful. This book transcends the state of being a mere anthology, and is an indespensible reference work.

Book Description

This second edition of McLellan's comprehensive selection of Marx's writings includes carefully selected extracts from the whole range of Marx's political, philosophical and economic thought. Each section of the book deals with a different period of Marx's life with the sections arranged in chronological order, thus allowing the reader to trace the development of Marx's thought, from his early years as a student and political journalist in Germany right through to his final letters of the early 1880s. The inclusion of extracts from some of Marx's less well-known works alongside selections from classic texts such as The Communist Manifesto and Capital provides the reader with an unparalleled overview of Marx's thinking, whilst Professor McLellan's fully updated and revised introduction and bibliographical notes accompanying each extract put Marx's writings into biographical and historical context. This edition also includes a general bibliography and a full index of names and ideas as well as a new general introduction for each section of the book by Professor McLellan. As with the first edition, this comprehensive and clearly structured selection of Marx's writings will be essential reading for all those interested in the political thought of this perennially important figure in Western political philosophy.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent collection.......2006-02-02

This is a brilliant collection of some of the very best writings of Karl Marx. A must read for anyone with interest in Marx's early writings (non-Marxist period), letters, essays, his Doctoral thesis, and then later on his political writings forming the `theory of historical materialism', commonly referred to as Marxism. Personally, his `Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts 1844' is really a very nice reading because it renders a very attractive insight into Marx's early intellectual and psychological fight against Hegel's Phenomenology to form the basis of his theory later on. Also included is: Critique of Hegel's works and A Poverty of Philosophy (critique of Proudhon) which are excellent readings. Recommended to everyone; quintessentially to anyone trying to get an insight into one of the greatest intellectual minds of all time.

Subhasish Ghosh

St. Cross College
University of Oxford

Wonderful Anthology Of Marx's Theories and Ideas.......2004-02-27

When one considers the incredible influence that Marxism has had in the unfolding history of the later nineteenth and twentieth century, the beginning student of the combined writings of both Marx and Engels will find this collection of the essential works of these two pioneering socialists absolutely essential reading. Its list of included works covers the waterfront of all that is required to gain a fruitful first look at the wealth of their philosophical musings, and the nature of their revolutionary canon, as well. Reading this material is essential if one is to understand the depth of Marx's understanding and the detail of his genius, however discredited he may be in current estimations. Indeed, with the rise of international corporatism is so close to his prognostications regarding the final phases of capitalism that it is hard to deny his continuing relevance.

A Great Anthology.......2000-09-16

This is the best Marx anthology available. Aside from selections taken from all of Marx's major works, it contains lesser-known selections on a variety of topics. The whole presents a steady stream of selections through Marx's life. Consequently, it gives the length and breadth of Marx's writing without burying you in a life-time of reading. Short explanatory introductions help place the selections in Marx's development and in broader history.

A good follow up is Main Currents of Marxism by Leszek Kolakowski (3 volumes). Unfortunately those books are out of print in America, but they can still be found in good libraries and in the used-book market.

Excellent Selection of Marx's Writings........1999-07-05

This is an excellent selection of the writings of Karl Marx. This includes many writings which do not make it into the usual Marx/Engels Readers; Writings including Marx's Letters, his criticism of Bakunin, more writings on economics than in the usual Reader, and so on. One flaw of it, though, is that it does not contain the later writings of Engels writen after Marx's death. I suppose this is to be expected; It is after all *Marx's* writings, not Engels. However, the loss does not affect it much, and the book is still one of the most valuable tomes of Marxism I've bought. I'd recommend anyone interested in the thought of Karl Marx to get this book; If one is interested in both the writings of Marx and Engels, I'd recommend they get this book and the Marx/Engels Reader to supplement it. I have both, and both are fascinating.

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Some good information
Awesome Book
Seriously...
Lighten up, folks!
Outdated propoganda

The Anarchist Cookbook
William Powell
Manufacturer: Ozark Press, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0974458902

Customer Reviews:

Some good information.......2007-09-24

A good book for refrence material for the HAZMAT courses I teach. If you are buying this with the intent to use the information be really careful because some of the information is flat out wrong and will get you hurt and it will also get you put on a few watch lists.

Awesome Book.......2006-07-28

The material covered is fascinating if you enjoy the idea of making "cool" things from household products. The material is dated but an awesome book nonetheless.

Seriously..........2006-07-25

This book is accurate as a blind folded archer spun 3 times in a game of pinata. There is no real useful info in this book, you'd get more tactics out of a Steven Seagal film. This book should be taken out of print before some dummy hurts themselves. If you're interested in learning the tricks of the trade buy a surplus field manual (FM), Watch Discovery Channel, or Join the Military or some Government agency. Billy Powell was a very misinformed hippie. The part that gave it all away was the part about the M-1 Garand. "Used in both World Wars and Korea" WW2 and Korea yes, WW1 no. I think its luck of some higher power that this dummy didn't hurt himself in the process.

Lighten up, folks!.......2006-07-21

The author has provided the context in which he wrote this book. As an adolescent boy in the 1970s, I found it an interesting read. Since I had the good sense to not attempt any of the hare-brained schemes in the book, I am still healthy and have all of my limbs. If people are interested in improvised munitions and the like, there are at least six (6) US Army FMs and TMs on the subject that I am aware of. Bear in mind that the making of explosive devices is a serious felony, and should not be attempted without the proper Federal and State licenses and permits. BATFE does not take kindly to the making of unregistered and untaxed explosives.

Outdated propoganda.......2006-07-14

The guy who wrote this claims a lot of things. No proof to back it up though.

He wrote it because he thought that the Vietnam conflict was going to escalate to WWIII but it didn't.

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one foot in the class struggle, and one in the ivory tower
The Greatest Philosophical Work Inspired by the Russian Revolution
The Root of Critical Theory
replay for unchange kapitalism world

History and Class Consciousness
Georg Lukács
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0262620200

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one foot in the class struggle, and one in the ivory tower.......2006-08-08

Lukacs' emphasis here on the importance of the ideological terrain in the class struggle was pathbreaking, and this book contains the fruits of a fine mind absorbed with interest and passion in the socialist cause. However the work is marred by a highly abstract and abstruse style of presentation, a style that would reach baffling lows in the writings of his followers in the Frankfort school.

In these pages, Lukacs scores some palpable hits against the ideological dominance of the bourgoisie, as well as against the opportunism and capitulation of the social democratic forces ascendant in the working class movements of Western Europe after WWI. His early recognition that it is precisely where capitalism is most highly developed that it is most difficult for the working class to organize against it turned Marx's assumptions about the progression of socialism on their head. Lukacs' emphasis on the necessary organic link between theory and forms of movement organization are lucid and welcome. But his failure to follow up on his insights and theorize methods of organization that go beyond Leninist dogma, even where he recognizes the problems involved in democratic-centralist party building, is a gaping weakness.

For those coming to the book out of an interest in the history and practice of socialism, I would recommend sticking to the shorter essays: "The Marxism of Rosa Luxemburg" for its examination of the links between crisis, class consciousness, and conflict; "Class Consciousness", for a relatively succinct presentation of the class struggle in the realm of ideology; and "Legality and Illegality" and "On the Methodology of Organization" for more concrete discussion of communist party practice. Most of the rest of the book consists of belabored and highly abstract philosophical arguments that assume a high level of familiarity with Kant, Hegel, and Marx.

The Greatest Philosophical Work Inspired by the Russian Revolution.......2006-02-10

Georg Lukacs, already a major figure in the intellectual avant-garde of Central Europe before, underwent a substantial transformation in and through his experience of the October Revolution in Russia and its revolutionary ramifications elsewhere. This book documents the results of that transformation at the level of thought.
I depart from the reader from Phoenix's comments fundamentally - understanding this book, or that of the Frankfurt School writers who were acknowledgely inspired by it (but, by no means, reproduce its arguments), as well as "raw Hegel" has little or nothing to do with IQ, though, of course, education is a prerequisite to any meaningful engagement with it.
As is widely recognized and is obvious from its great length, the central essay of this book is where Lukacs most systematically explicates his re-appropriation of Marxian social theory. The extent to which this essay is itself internally consistent is a matter of dispute. But that aside, it is, without any doubt, a very powerful piece. However, the other essays are also valuable, though they typically require a fairly solid grounding in the history of the international left up through the early 1920s.
Unlike so many of the existing translations of Marx and the Frankfurt School, this book is fairly reliably translated. For those of us who prefer to read this material in English, this is a very valuable volume.

The Root of Critical Theory.......2000-04-12

The grand and celebrated critiques of capitalistic techno-rationality that emerged from the Frankfurt school are all rooted in the dialectical emphasis of Lukacs. Hegelian notions of reification and alienation that Lukacs resurrected even showed up in radically mutated forms in French poststructuralism. This, as well as Horkheimer's "Dialectic of Enlightenment" are must-reads for New-Left enthusiasts who have neither the time nor the IQ to comprehend raw Hegel. Dialectical thinking is at the root of the philosophies of Hegel, Sartre, Heidegger, Marx, Marcuse, Adorno, Lukacs, Horkheimer, and Neumann, and this book is an excellent introduction to the ontology of capitalism as examined through a whole new cognitive apparatus: dialectical thought.

replay for unchange kapitalism world.......2000-03-26

the Lukacs' theory about History and Class Consciousness answered the question, why the socialist world not yet realized today. Lukacs said that the importance of history not in proletarian class' consciousness. and so, the borgeouis can still made the false consciousness to hegemony proletarian class. i think, it made Lukacs as a outstanding philosopher of neo-marxist today!

The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents--The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek)

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What a wonderful book.
Definitive Indeed!

The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents--The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek)
F. A. Hayek
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226320553

Book Description

An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a century. Originally published in 1944—when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program—The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

First published by the University of Chicago Press on September 18, 1944, The Road to Serfdom garnered immediate, widespread attention. The first printing of 2,000 copies was exhausted instantly, and within six months more than 30,000 books were sold. In April 1945, Reader’s Digest published a condensed version of the book, and soon thereafter the Book-of-the-Month Club distributed this edition to more than 600,000 readers. A perennial best seller, the book has sold 400,000 copies in the United States alone and has been translated into more than twenty languages, along the way becoming one of the most important and influential books of the century.

With this new edition, The Road to Serfdom takes its place in the series The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. The volume includes a foreword by series editor and leading Hayek scholar Bruce Caldwell explaining the book's origins and publishing history and assessing common misinterpretations of Hayek's thought. Caldwell has also standardized and corrected Hayek's references and added helpful new explanatory notes. Supplemented with an appendix of related materials ranging from prepublication reports on the initial manuscript to forewords to earlier editions by John Chamberlain, Milton Friedman, and Hayek himself, this new edition of The Road to Serfdom will be the definitive version of Friedrich Hayek's enduring masterwork.

Customer Reviews:

What a wonderful book........2007-07-07

I always am skeptical about experts and their predictions so it was a delight to read Hayek's thoughts in 1944 about the problems with the prevailing economic theories. Life becomes the "answer key" about who was right and who was wrong. I started reading the book because of its historical importance but ended up enjoying Hayek's conversational and relaxed style. Thoughtful and balanced with the right mix of personal and societal examples. It seems that he would have been a wonderful teacher.

Definitive Indeed!.......2007-05-05

This new edition of the RTS is worth buying even if you already own an earlier edition. The editor has included important material on how this book was developed and interpreted.

As for the book itself, the Road to Serfdom explains focuses on the rise of totalitarianism in twentieth century Europe. Yet it also made a more general argument concerning the incompatibility of democracy and comprehensive central planning. Hayek argues that the pursuit of socialist ideals leads to totalitarianism. While socialist ideals seem noble to many, those who persist in realizing these ideals will find it necessary to adopt coercive methods that are incompatible with freedom. Thus socialists must choose between their egalitarian goals and the preservation of individual liberty.

Hayek describes how Europeans came to expect progress, and became impatient for faster progress. The liberal reforms of the 19th century delivered unprecedented economic progress. Much of this was directly due to scientific discovery. The role of free competition in promoting scientific discovery was less obvious. Europeans increasingly came to believe that scientific planning of society itself could accelerate greater progress.

Europeans also changed how they thought about equality and freedom. Insistence upon freedom from want displaced the yearning for freedom from coercion. Democracy came to be seen as a means of realizing an increasing number of social goals, rather than as a means of preserving freedom. To Hayek, these were dangerous errors. Democracy could only work effectively in areas where agreement upon ultimate ends could be attained with little difficulty. A democratic government could enforce general rules of conduct that applied to all equally (i.e. free speech and free association). Democracy can never produce agreement over policies that affect specific economic results. One always gains at the expense of others in such matters. Such Economic planning places impossible demands upon democracy. This is because pursuit of specific ends requires timely and decisive action. Democracies move too slowly to attain specific ends, so arbitrary powers of government will grow. A planned economy will ultimately require acceptance of dictatorship. This is a dire consequence, as it is the worst sort of tyrants who are most adept at wielding dictatorial powers.

Some might say that these arguments are unduly pessimistic. Hayek points to the examples of Hitler and Stalin to support his case. Of course, these are worst case scenarios. Have not England, Sweden, and the US adopted large welfare-regulatory states without such tyranny? This is a fair point, yet we should remember two things. First, Hayek claimed that centralized control of the economy would destroy freedom ultimately, but gradually. Second, Western nations have not yet gone as far in planning their economies as did Russia and Germany in the 1930's. The fact that we have yet realized the horrible results of Stalinism implies neither that were are safe from despotism in the future, nor that our present situation is entirely satisfactory. One can easily argue that we have already started on the wrong path. For instance, Hayek's chapter on `The End of Truth' applies to modern political correctness.

Hayek wrote this book not only to warn people about the limits of democracy and the incompatibility of planning and freedom. This was the start of his project concerning the abuse of reason. His warning is also about the tendency to overestimate the abilities of even the best and brightest individuals. Not even the best and brightest can comprehend modern societies. Socialists who favor comprehensive planning, and even modern liberals and conservatives who want to plan part of society, proceed on a false assumption concerning human reason. Ultimately, Hayek makes a strong case for limited constitutional government. To expect more of democracy than what Madison and Jefferson intended invites disaster.

The Road to Serfdom is a profound defense of commercial society and limited government. The RTS also is where Hayek started his 'abuse of reason' project. To fully appreciate Hayek's genius in the RTS, one should read his subsequent books in this project- The Constitution of Liberty and Law Liberty and Legislation V1-3.

The RTS has its critics, mainly on the left. Due to its insightful nature the Road to Serfdom has produced hysterical responses from the left. Leftists despise the RTS simply because it strikes at the core of both democratic-socialist or Marxist beliefs. Some serious scholars have attacked the RTS (i.e. Farrant and Levy) but their objections are misguided. The Road to Serfdom stands out as a true classic, as timeless as it is insightful. Read it completely and repeatedly.

The Last Diary of Tsaritsa Alexandra (Annals of Communism Series)

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what i think
Final Record Invaluable to Romanov Enthusiasts
Fascinating but only for the true fanatic
Chilling monotony

The Last Diary of Tsaritsa Alexandra (Annals of Communism Series)
Tsaritsa Alexandra
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300072120

Book Description

The last Tsaritsa of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna, was murdered with her family on the night of 16-17 July 1918 by agents acting on behalf of the revolutionary Bolshevik government. The recently declassified 1918 diary of Alexandra-published here for the first time in its entirety-provides something no other account could do: a glimpse of the Tsaritsa`s thoughts and activities from 1 January 1918 until the night of her death. The introduction by Robert Massie places Alexandra in the historical context of the Revolution, her marriage to Nicholas, and the tragic events that encompassed her, her family, and her nation.

Customer Reviews:

what i think.......2002-06-20

Alix's diary is a most important document,
it reveals her , but in a very different way to say
how her letters do.in her diary, it is of chief importance
to note the things she leaves out, and how laconic the
text itself is.this tells as much about her at the time
than had she written pages about her feelings and experiences.
This is an extremely important book, the last page is
agonising - the "ex-Tsarina" has written in a fine and clear
hand "July 17th" - but the page is blank. We have to read
what Alexandra didnt write - between the lines.her last
diary reveals her final states of mind, her humaness, her fear,
in those last terrible words, in the entry for July 16th.
Alix has written her own memorial here, and it is a just tribute.

Final Record Invaluable to Romanov Enthusiasts.......2000-01-26

It is ironic that, being the most private of persons, many of the last Tsarinia's most intimate thoughts are now available in several books, including this recently declassified diary of her final days. However, readers who search out this book are probably sympathetic, and will find her daily entries of interest and sometimes moving. Alexandra wasn't writing a best-selling novel -- simply a daily account of the tedium of their imprisonment, and how she, her family, and attendants passed the time -- but for those interested in Alix, her husband, and children, this book is a valuable link to their final days. The introduction, essay by Jonathan Brent, and other sections are all appropriate accompaniment. It will be interesting to see if excerpts from the children's diaries also are eventually published; several books compiled and edited by Russian archivists already have quoted from some of those diaries.

If you are interested in the last tsar and his family, I invite you to contact me at whitcombj@juno.com.

Fascinating but only for the true fanatic.......1999-07-04

As many reviewers have said, the very monotony of Aleksandra's last diary gives it an eerie significance. However, beyond that, there is little to recommend it. Entries, spaced one to a page, mostly consist of a single brief paragraph, and the content is boring-- notes on the weather, her health, the health of her children. "Sat for 10. m[inutes] on the balkony [sic]." It is a very short book, and a very quick read. Only for the true Romanov fanatic (of which I am one), I'm afraid. Aleksandra's letters and the letters & diaries of the others who shared her captivity are far more interesting.

Chilling monotony.......1998-01-07

Tsaritsa Alexandra had no idea, of course, that this was her last diary or that anyone besides herself would ever read it. Since we know the ultimate fate of this unhappy woman the banality and monotony of the last few months of her life have an unintentional sense of tragedy. How sad, for example, that she took the time to note the birthdays of various royal connections, people she would never see again and who in some cases (such as George V of England) had abandoned her and her family to their fate. A brief but compuls