Book Description
London, 1931. The night before an exhibition of his artwork opens at a famed Mayfair gallery, the controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope falls to his death. The police rule it an accident, but Nicks twin sister, Georgina, a wartime journalist and a infamous figure in her own right, isnt convinced. In Messenger of Truth, Maisie once again uncovers the perilous legacy of the Great War in a society struggling to recollect itself. But to solve the mystery of Nicks death, Maisie will have to keep her head as the forces behind the artists fall come out of the shadows to silence her. Following on the bestselling Pardonable Lies, Jacqueline Winspear delivers another vivid, thrilling, and utterly unique episode in the life of Maisie Dobbs.
Customer Reviews:
A Little Off-Balance.......2007-07-26
"God, he's just a little off balance," thought Maisie Dobbs about Officer Tucker while he was questioning her. For Maisie is investigating the death of an artist who supposedly accidentally fell from a scaffold while he was preparing to mount his mysterious triptych (3-piece art work) in a museum in England. Off balance is right, and Georgina Bassington-Hope, a famous journalist in her own right, is convinced that her artist brother, Nicholas, was pushed off the scaffold to his death. Hired by Georgina, Maisie sets of to slowly, methodically investigate the Bassington-Hope family, friends and acquaintances. Her method is fascinating reading as she quietly intuits each vital step in this formidable process, punctuated by significant opposition from the police and some smugglers.
The reader through Ms. Winspear's carefully detailed presentation meets these characters and gets to share in the intimate knowledge about their finer and gauche personality aspects. A psychologist as well as Investigator, she's got the talent with which one is born and that which can't be taught! Astute and compassionately honest she is!
Depression England and the awful World War that preceded it are frankly and carefully presented, leaving no doubt how these events created suffering and incomparable struggle for all who are surviving both. Indeed these characters somehow manage to thrive out of some deeper fine qualities that slowly emerge as Daisie continues her exploration into the seamier side of men and women of both the upper and lower class British citizens.
This is a fine, fine novel that will thrill the true mystery lover who really doesn't want to figure out the puzzle on page 1 or 100 but wants to relish the truly intriguing art divided into successive canvases of a classic, wonderful mystery!
Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on July 25, 2007
Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel.......2007-07-24
The book is well written, a good story line and makes for enjoyable light reading.
A Maisie Dobbs Novel .......2007-07-18
Some books you read as a main course dinner others you save for the dessert. This book could fall into either category. A top read when you
choose to read. The person of Maisie Dobbs has been building for the past three books, and has proven to be a top notch detective and a business person. Be prepaired to find that you will have a hard time putting this book down.
Maisie Dobbs #4.......2007-07-14
I love this series! A thinking woman! Looking forward to the continuation of the series.
A dry watershed.......2007-06-24
This is Jacqueline Winspear's fourth novel about Maisie Dobbs, "psychologist and investigator." Fans of the series may be slightly disappointed, but should still enjoy it. First-time readers will wonder what all the fuss is about. For, as I suspected already in the third novel, PARDONABLE LIES, the narrative span is becoming difficult to sustain over four books.
But Winspear's sense of period seldom lets her down, and there are still many interesting things here: her view of the vibrant art scene between the wars or the heady night world of jazz clubs and cocktails, contrasted with the effect of the Depression on the out-of-work poor and the lamentable state of public health. And those parts of the story which have to do with the rags-to-riches rise of the heroine (housemaid, war nurse, Canbridge graduate, private investigator) are mercifully shorter -- though Maisie's emotional problems would mean very little to those who had not read the earlier books. But Winspear seems caught on a difficult watershed: on the one hand, continuing to write about the legacy of the First War, which no longer has the resonance that it had in her first books; on the other, exploring the life of a nation moving inexorably towards the Second. There are aspects of both here, but they do not blend easily. If she is to continue, the author needs to move forward rather than back -- and also develop the inner life of her heroine so as to make her interesting for who she is now, rather than as the product of previous books in the series.
Readers who want to read more about the role of artists in the first War -- an important element in this book -- might be interested in REGENERATION by Pat Barker. Although Barker's novel deals with poets (Sassoon and Owen among them) rather than painters, it tackles head-on the conflict between war's brutality and artistic sensitivity, which has been a persistent theme in Winspear's books, and a moving one.
Book Description
The Tiger's Way: A U.S. Private's Best Chance for Survival is not just fun reading for novice riflemen; it is mission-essential information for all ranks and job descriptions. The U.S. military lost on the ground to Eastern guerrillas 30 years ago, and its tactics haven't significantly changed. The Tiger's Way shows how to reverse this trend at a most opportune time. Without better tactical technique at the individual and small-unit level, U.S. forces cannot project minimal force. Without minimal force, they cannot win the hearts and minds of the people. Without winning the hearts and minds of the people, they cannot win a guerrilla war. The Tiger's Way reveals—for the first time—the state of the art in technique for every category of short-range combat. It does so through 100 illustrations, 1600 endnotes, and 31 battledrills.
But the book will also help U.S. forces to suffer fewer casualties in a total war. As Western weapons systems have become more lethal, Eastern armies have turned to tiny, surprise-oriented maneuver elements. Most now give their lowest ranks both conventional and unconventional abilities. Until the U.S. military follows suit, its nonrates will have less field skill, initiative, and tactical-decision-making experience than their Eastern counterparts. That means they will be at a decided disadvantage in any one-on-one encounter and die unnecessarily every time their firepower fails. It also means that their commanders will have trouble winning a "4th generation" war. The Tiger's Way will have a profound effect on how foreign war and homeland security are conducted in the future.
Customer Reviews:
A fantastic implementation of Tokakure Ryu for the modern day.......2007-08-12
I have not finished this book, you should know. However, you should also know that this book made enough of an impression of me that I am writing a review before I have finished in violation of my own rules. I am an author myself and I value these reviews greatly - I wouldn't write if I didn't mean what I say.
This is a great book. In short, it takes the premises - as best we know - of Togakure ryu Ninjutsu and applies them to contemporary military arts. Squad mechanics - the focus of every lieutenant who has ever served - are the focus of Poole's tactical revision of the current philosophy of combat in the US military.
I am not a military man, but I am surrounded by them. I am a ninja, studying Bansenshukai Ninjutsu. We also have some Togakure ryu curriculum, and Poole hits hard on the right stuff. Early in the book he points out that the close combat ryuha are not his focus. Instead, he is looking at the understudied arts of Zanson, Intonjutsu, Shinobi Iri and Hensojutsu. This is a book about how to not fight if you don't have to.
Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu practitioners will argue that this `is not ninjutsu' because it isn't what Hatsumi teaches (in public anyway) but they would be wrong. The taijutsu that BBT teaches is just a small part of what the ninja represents, and this book covers practically everything else. Admittedly, the second chapter references books by Haha Lung and Ashida Kim, who are widely discredited. However, even quacks can have good ideas and Poole expertly extracts the choice tidbits. You will not be displeased.
good over view.......2007-05-13
This book is not a guide for people trying to get a grip on what is happening to our forces in Iraq. It is a good basic soldiers book that is made from many different types of 'field manuals', compiled and catagorized. Nothing new, but a good source for a yound Infantry NCO or Commissioned Officer who wants to keep his 'mind in the game'. Much of the information covers Infantry subjects, some of which is of no use in Iraq. However, we are a world-wide force and need to keep looking over our shoulder at the next conflict. The author speaks with some authority and it shows. As a graduate of the Infantry School at Ft. Benning (I wont say when) this book is a good refresher and contains some new information. If you go on patrol, regardless of you MOS or job title, this is a book you cna use.
Best book of it's kind........2006-11-29
John Poole has written a fantastic treatise on what will be needed to fight and win wars in the years to come. Though it makes for dry reading at times, this book is absolutely fascinating.It not only discusses enemy tactics, it recommends methods on how to develop ninjustsu-like tactics on your own. Spectacular book. A must-read for anyone in, or planning to join, the military. Top-shelf material!
An excellent book for warfighters.......2006-11-28
Readers of this book will look at the Army and Marines different. While the IG and other groups says they care about soldiers the readers of this book will actually care more about the thing that matters: YOUR SOLDIERS LIVES.
Here are two things a possible buyer of this book should consider. In WWII it was thought that the Japanese soldier was born in the jungle. Nothing could be further from the truth. Japan has as much Jungle as Oklahoma. What made the difference between the Japanese and American soldier was training. Their soldiers were taught stealth, hand-to-hand fighting, and all their other combat skills. Little noted in WWII was Japan won land battles against much larger American and British Armies in 1942. Only massive allied firepower turned the tide. Second, in Korea the UN forces often used the machinegun to excess. After a night of fighting the only result would be a few dead communist soldiers. Turkish soldiers, using eastern combat methods, had dozens of dead communists in front of their positions. All were dead by knife wounds.
If this book was followed the results would be nothing but positive things for the USA. First, we would have a better trained Army and Marines that would be able to handle the stress of combat better. We would have less dead men. Second, the Army and Marines could be smaller. We would have more warfighters but less of a logistics tail. Third, we would have less technological dependence. That means a savings of money.
I admire this book. John Poole goes through the combat tables and says what this reader long suspected; we often lose more men in combat with eastern armies. The only real reason we beat German forces in WWII is they wanted to be beat by us, the Soviets were their nightmare. Iraq could have had an eastern army but it was so over controlled and regulated by 2003 that nearly any good army could have taken them.
John Poole says that our infared night vision gear is of limited use. Tanks are not a great asset to any army. Good landmines and RPGs can take out any tank. The weird thing is the US Marines nearly issued the vast store of captured RPGs from Grenada to the Marines. The DoD killed this idea. The reason is American makes superior equipment and all that rubbish...
I really liked this book. This book should be required reading for any member on the House or Senate Armed Service committees. The trouble is our modern politicians are too busy trying to make the mothers of soldiers happy with training and not concentrating on the training of the soldiers to keep them from getting killed and accomplishing the mission.
This is the second book I've read from Poole in a week. It has been sent to my old ROTC school. Perhaps a future lieutenant can take wisdom from the pages of this book.
This book should be the vangard of the change needed in our Army and Marines. We need better training. We need soldiers who can take charge of the tactical situation. We need to get rid of the top-down structure that plagues the Army and Marines in tactical situations.
I wish some good soldiers, marines, and politicians could read this book and put it into use.
Until this book is followed our Army and Marines are little better than Activated Militia.
The Tactical Sphere.......2006-11-17
In our time, we are privy to scores of books, interviews, and op eds dedicated to the strategic sphere of military conduct. Most analysts, those types that enjoy their time on CNN, seek to explain American failures in Iraq and Afghanistan in purely general terms: lack of troops, lack of allies, lack of materials, lack of goals. And while these issues certainly deserve their proper analysis, their role in military failures are grossly exaggerated.
The truth, as the fella said, is in the details. John Poole's The Tiger's Way is concerned with just such details. Poole knows well the tactical sphere: that area where the average U.S. Army infantry private spends his time. He knows and understands the techniques used by "eastern" opponents against Western forces, and he is better at illuminating our vulnerabilities to those techniques than any author in the last 50 years. If this were simply a book on those techniques and exploits, it would be quite a triumph. But there's more.
This book focuses on why our techniques are failing, as well as how they might be tailored to fit in our current environment. Folks like Rumsfeld can talk "light, mobile, and fast forces" all they want, but without applying the dispersion techniques outlined by Poole, maneuver warfare will remain stagnant.
If you are a citizen seeking to better understand what our forces are doing on the ground, and how they might do it better, you should buy this book. If you're a soldier on the ground, you should buy two: one for yourself and one for your unit.
Book Description
As a war correspondent, Wilbur Fisk was an amateur, yet his letters to the Montpelier Green Mountain Freeman comprise one of the finest collections of Civil War letters in existence. "Literary gems," historian Herman Hattaway calls them. "In fact, they are so good that it would be believable that some expert novelist had created them."
But Fisk was no novelist. He was a rural school teacher from Vermont, primarily self-educated, who enlisted in the Union Army simply because he believed he would regret it later if he didn't.
Unlike professional war correspondents, Private Fisk had no access to rank or headquarters. Instead, he wrote of life as a private--as one of the foot soldiers who slept in the mud and obeyed orders no matter how incomprehensible.
Between December 11, 1861, and July 26, 1865, Fisk wrote nearly 100 letters from the battlefield. At the beginning of the war he was exuberant and eager for contact with the enemy. Two years later, Fisk was disillusioned and war weary. "The rebel dead and ours lay thickly together, their thirst for blood forever quenched. Their bodies were swollen, black, and hideously unnatural. They eyes glared from their sockets, their tongues protruded from their mouths, and in almost every case, clots of blood and mangled flesh showed how they had died, and rendered a sight ghastly beyond description. I thought I had become hardened to almost anything, but I cannot say I ever wish to see another sight like that I saw on the battle-field of Gettysburg."
Fisk wrote as eloquently on the moral and political issues behind the war as he did on the everyday hardships of life in the Army of the Potomac. He saw the war as a question of right and wrong and he continued to believe that it had to be fought, even after he was well acquainted with its horror and pointlessness.
This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.
Average customer rating:
- Hack job but a fun read
- Big Change--Not a Good Ending.
- Same Formula Different Book
- Hard Work
- Totally unreal and boring
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Tripwire
Lee Child
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
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Similar Items:
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Running Blind (Jack Reacher)
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Die Trying (Jack Reacher Novels)
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Echo Burning
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Without Fail (Jack Reacher)
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Killing Floor
ASIN: 0399144676 |
Amazon.com
Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher is lying low in Key West, digging up swimming pools by hand. He is not at all pleased when a private detective starts asking questions about him. But when the detective, Costello, turns up dead with his fingertips sliced off, Reacher realizes it is time to move on.
As in Lee Child's two previous thrillers, Die Trying and Killing Floor, Reacher is soon up to his neck in lethal trouble, this time involving a vicious Wall Street manipulator, a mysterious woman (of course), and the livelihood of a whole community. Even the fate of soldiers missing in action in Vietnam is stirred into the brew.
But this is not a book by one of the new breed of U.S. thriller writers. Child prides himself on his ability, as an Englishman, to write American thrillers that are utterly convincing in milieu and toughness of action, without a trace of English sensibility. Tripwire is no exception. Every bit as lean and compulsive as its predecessors, it also builds on the freshest aspect of those books: Reacher may be a tough, epic hero, but he always remains human and vulnerable. --Barry Forshaw
Book Description
The New York Times bestselling author of Killing Floor and Die Trying returns with a new Jack Reacher thriller-in which a labrynthine trail of murder leads Jack straight into a trap...set by the most vicious opponent he's ever faced.
Customer Reviews:
Hack job but a fun read.......2007-09-10
You don't read a Child novel to experience great pros or a classic novel of immense proportions. You read Child to escape into a simple world with easy to understand characters and easy to follow plot lines with enough twists and enough heroics to make you turn the page. Such is the case with Jack Reacher who finds himself embroiled in another messy situation with Captain Hook for a villain and the standard love interest that is also smart and sassy. I had immense fun reading the novel and burying my worries inside of this work of fiction. Yes there are sentence fragments all over the place and yes some of the dialog needed a rewrite but after all Child is there to entertain.
My one pet peeve would be to abandon two major characters -- the stone family. That's part of the problem of throwing this together in a hurry. It's sloppy on Child's part even though we can predict what would happen to them. This is airport reading material and nothing more but it's still a great ride.
Big Change--Not a Good Ending........2007-08-19
I am reading the Jack Reacher series in order. This is the third I have read and this is weakest. Lee Child writes a great story and this moves well but it lacks in suspense and there is no real ending. I wonder if in writing this Child was wondering whether to end the series. As one reviewer says there is no explanation of any of the parts of the story. For example it is hard to understand why Hobes stayed around. We do not know what happens to the Stones.
Same Formula Different Book.......2007-08-09
If you have read any of the other Reacher novels you know exactly what to expect. Reacher is the ultimate embodiment of the lone-hero archetype. He is nearly super human in strength. He gets pulled in to a situation completely by fate, and in the end must destroy a character that is evil beyond human comprehension. There is also the obligatory female character that he feels a strong affinity towards. This of course leads to super human stamina in the bedroom. Nothing graphic of course, everything is tastefully implied.
Yet with all of that said, this is one of the better Reacher novels. The plot is paced nicely. Reacher's skills of deduction seem human instead of super-human. There is a believable tension between Reacher and the female character. It isn't the sudden lust seen in most of the novels. It carries a good plot and pace for an action/thriller plus shows Reacher at his most human emotionally.
Hard Work.......2007-07-18
This is the first of Child's books I have read and I can't say it has inspired me to read any more. There is a good story hiding somewhere in between the dense description, but by about half way through it becomes so tiresome getting there that I lost all sympathy with the characters. Child is able to spend pages describing the simple act of getting ready for bed, and many sections, even chapters, fail to advance the plot in any way.
The plot itself is pretty transparent, there are no twists waiting for us along the way - we are given everything on a plate pretty early on then tortured to sit through over 500 pages for it to play out. If two hundred pages had been shaved off, Child would have had a great book on his hands - my blame lies with the editor on this one.
At times the characters are interesting, but most of the time they act in unnatural ways to contrive future action, or to spell out exposition for the reader. Child is clearly a writer who is into detail, but he has gone way too far here and left nothing for the most important part of any book - imagination.
Totally unreal and boring.......2007-07-15
The plot and the characters are totally unreal. The characters also lack depth, are uninteresting and very often behave in a non rational, unreal way. Nobody, under extreme threat and blackmail, talk to a friend or call the police!
You soon get bored, do not believe the plot, and get bothered by the author attitude to try to keep you wired.... with pages and pages of silly, detailed and useless descriptions of offices, clothes, traffic lines, airplane seats, and so on.
The main bad character, Mr Hobie, would be perfect for a Spider Man or The Fantastic Four cartoon.
For me, it is for sure the first and last thriller of Mr Child.
I also resent his adolescent like admiration for armies and weapons.
Book Description
The most comprehensive one-volume selection of Jefferson ever published. Contains the "Autobiography," "Notes on the State of Virginia," public and private papers, including the original and revised drafts of the Declaration of Independence, addresses, and 287 letters.
Customer Reviews:
A brillant mind but still bound by his times........2007-09-09
Mr. Jefferson was a brilliant man. I enjoy reading his works and appreciate this opportunity to gain insight into his logic and thought process as it evolved throughout his lifetime. His intellectualism and that eternal curiosity about his world place him head and shoulders above those men of his time. He bought Louisiana upon the suggestion of Thomas Paine and our nation spread westward as a result. He no doubt made major contributions towards the creation and founding of this nation. Thousands of accolades for his brilliance and achievements are in order. I'm not putting him on a pedestal, there was a dark side. He did own slaves. He was however in many ways morally and intellectually bound by the time he lived in. His thoughts regarding the mentality of slaves scream racism. His solution was to abolish slavery and export them back to Africa. He believed most would never fit in to American culture based on their resentments against enslavement and the racism they endured from white society at the time. His letters to American Indians in which he addressed them as "My Children" and assured them of his eternal blessings belied the fact that their lands were being taken away from them and they were being forced to be assimilated or slaughtered. He did not foresee the industrialization of America and wanted to leave manufacturing to the Europeans to preserve the American way of life. In short, Mr. Jefferson was all too human, who no doubt would be appalled at the antics of modern day Republicans and Democrats.
QUOTATIONS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON.......2007-01-18
At approximately $10.00 I expected a little more material than this 32 page, index card size book, provided.
The other customer reviews seem to be about another book.......2006-12-18
I have this book (I checked the IBSN#). It's 32 pages of quotes, and that's it. No papers, no index, etc. I think the other customer reviews are innacurate in that they are probably about an entirely different book.
So about *THIS* book, I love it. It's got the well-known quotes like "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." and lesser-known quotes like "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on."
It's not a scholarly work. It doesn't have citations to explain where the quotes came from, but it was exactly what I was looking for.
If you are a fan of Liberty, this book is a must buy.
The writings of a one of the Great Americans - a must have!.......2005-05-09
What a difference of few decades make. When I was a youngster the founders were all revered and taught in school. Nowadays, they are almost ignored and condemned for not conforming to our modern view of morality. Of course, the present view is both arrogant and ignorant because we assume that future generations will believe as we do and lacks the humility to realize that the human condition is fraught with weakness and sin as well as triumph and wisdom.
Thomas Jefferson was one of the most remarkable men this country or any country has ever produced. All you need do is sample these writings and you will begin to understand the powers of his mind, the charisma he manifested, the range of his interests, and the paradoxical foibles as well. The writings included here are his autobiography, his Notes on Virginia, all kinds of essays, letters, speeches, and selected other papers.
He writes of philosophy, English prosody, natural history, political observations, the history of the Founding, theological beliefs, and many other topics. Both of his inaugural addresses are included as well has his notices to Congress (what we now call State of the Union Addresses used to be handled in a letter). There are also letters to Indian tribes that are quite interesting.
The idea that the Indian tribes would want to remain as they were seemed a mistaken to notion to Jefferson and his contemporaries. They needed to understand that realities of their world had changed forever and they had great opportunities for improving their lives (as he saw it). Their rejection of overtures to assimilate seemed evidence of an imprisoned mind rather than what we would call a "lifestyle choice".
This is another of the great volumes from the Library of America. It includes a chronology of Jefferson's life, great notes on the texts included, and an index.
Something you really should have on your shelf of American History and our Founding.
Excellent Comprehensive Collection.......2003-04-26
This edition of Jefferson's writings is an excellent comrehensive collection. Edited by Jefferson biographer Merrill Peterson this volume is a treasure.
It includes Jefferson's Anas, Autobiography, The Notes on Virginia( complete), Summary View of the Rights of British America, his version of the Declaration of Independence, numerous public papers, and addresses. This volume is a must have for the Jefferson reader. It also very necassary for the current state of the American Republic which would be wise to hear the words of this great man. A great buy!
Book Description
Adored bestselling author Diana Gabaldon brings us the first book in a new trilogy featuring many of the characters from her wildly popular Outlander series.
In her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels, Diana Gabaldon introduced millions of readers to a dazzling world of history and adventure—a world of vibrant settings and utterly unforgettable characters. Now one of these characters, Major Lord John Grey, opens the door to his own part of this world—eighteenth-century London, a seething anthill of nobility and rabble peopled by soldiers and spies, whores and dukes. Great Britain is battling France for supremacy on three continents—and life is good for a soldier.
The year is 1757. On a clear morning in mid-June, Lord John Grey emerges from London’s Beefsteak Club, his mind in turmoil. A nobleman and a high-ranking officer in His Majesty’s Army, Grey has just witnessed something shocking. But his efforts to avoid a scandal that might destroy his family are interrupted by something still more urgent: the Crown appoints him to investigate the brutal murder of a comrade in arms, who may have been a traitor.
Obliged to pursue two inquiries at once, Major Grey finds himself ensnared in a web of treachery and betrayal that touches every stratum of English society—and threatens all he holds dear. From the bawdy houses of London’s night-world to the stately drawing rooms of the nobility, and from the blood of a murdered corpse to the thundering seas ruled by the majestic fleet of the East India Company, Lord John pursues the elusive trails of a vanishing footman and a woman in green velvet, who may hold the key to everything—or nothing.
The early days of the Seven Years War come brilliantly to life in this historical mystery by an author whose unique and compelling storytelling has engrossed millions of readers worldwide.
Download Description
Adored bestselling author Diana Gabaldon brings us the first book in a new trilogy featuring many of the characters from her wildly popular Outlander series. And in a special bonus for eBook readers, this volume of Lord John and the Private Matter contains a second Lord John adventure -- a novella entitled Lord John and the Hellfire Club -- purely for your e-reading enjoyment!
In her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels, Diana Gabaldon introduced millions of readers to a dazzling world of history and adventure -- a world of vibrant settings and utterly unforgettable characters. Now one of these characters, Major Lord John Grey, opens the door to his own part of this world -- eighteenth-century London, a seething anthill of nobility and rabble peopled by soldiers and spies, whores and dukes. Great Britain is battling France for supremacy on three continents -- and life is good for a soldier.
The year is 1757. On a clear morning in mid-June, Lord John Grey emerges from London's Beefsteak Club, his mind in turmoil. A nobleman and a high-ranking officer in His Majesty's Army, Grey has just witnessed something shocking. But his efforts to avoid a scandal that might destroy his family are interrupted by something still more urgent: the Crown appoints him to investigate the brutal murder of a comrade in arms, who may have been a traitor.
Obliged to pursue two inquiries at once, Major Grey finds himself ensnared in a web of treachery and betrayal that touches every stratum of English society -- and threatens all he holds dear. From the bawdy houses of London's night-world to the stately drawing rooms of the nobility, and from the blood of a murdered corpse to the thundering seas ruled by the majestic fleet of the East India Company, Lord John pursues the elusive trails of a vanishing footman and a woman in green velvet, who may hold the key to everything -- or nothing.
The early days of the Seven Years War come brilliantly to life in this historical mystery by an author whose unique and compelling storytelling has engrossed millions of readers worldwide.
And in Lord John and the Hellfire Club, this charismatic character is once again mixing it up with both the high-born and the low-brow... a wonderfully pungent adventure!
"Gabaldon's prose is crisply elegant ... a compelling narrative that also offers a wealth of juicy details about 18th-century London."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Gabaldon takes readers for a walk on the wild side... A compelling and unique period mystery for the author's legion of fans."
KIRKUS REVIEWS
Customer Reviews:
Gay-themed historical mystery.......2007-10-03
London in 1757 is a time and place during which Lord John Grey, a nobleman and army officer, could be executed for being gay. In this first book, he investigates the death of a traitor. No sex scenes. It's still a good book. Full-length review available at Obsidian Bookshelf website (see my Amazon profile for URL).
highly readable.......2007-09-24
I am reading the Lord John books while waiting for the next Outlander.The one after "abosaa".I love Gabaldons work and must say that I have been more than completely engrossed with the Outlander novels, having read all six twice!!so I thought I'd give these a whirl.The novel was readable I enjoyed it.It did'nt WOW me though. I think that they lack the rich detail that her work contains that sucks you in and puts you there. I'm waiting for the second book to come we'll see what that one brings aye?
Lord John and the Private Matter.......2007-09-09
I trust Diana Gabaldon's research in all her books, so with that premise I have quite enjoyed learning about the military way of life in the middle of the eighteenth century, particularly as it applies to the officers. Of interest, also, are the everyday items of interest that populate all her books. The storyline, however, does not hold much interest to me. I hesitate to use the word "pedantic", but that is the one coming to mind. Her "Outlander" series, rich in detail, historical background, and storyline are among the very best, and I look forward to each new book (wouldn't they make great movies?).
Diana's attempt to "fill in the spaces" with her "Lord John" series falls short of the "Outland" books. However, I will read just about anything she wishes to put into print.
Exceptional fiction, par for the course with Gabaldon.......2007-09-08
I bought this book some time ago, but after reading the initial reviews, put it aside thinking I would be disappointed. When the second book in the series came out, I was prodded into reading this one. I am sorry that I put it off for so long never realizing that this was the same Lord John from the Outlander series. Gabaldon is an exceptional writer. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you like the Outlander series for all of its aspects, not merely the romance of Claire and Jamie, then you will enjoy the adventure, intrigue, and the psychological introspection and logical deduction of Lord Grey. He is a fascinating character, who I liked in the Outlander series and who I like even more. Thank you Gabaldon for lending your talent and expertise to the reader so that we might enjoy Lord John, his friends and family. A must read for anyone who likes adventure, military maneuvering, historical fiction, and brief references to the Outlander series. I found myself racking my memory for all that had transpired between Lord Grey and Jamie and Claire from the other series. I do certainly recollect his involvement at Aberdeen prison and then later in the American colonies, but this was a great peek into Lord John's life.
Rollicking Mystery.......2007-07-26
I have to admit that I had never before read Gabaldon's work, and that this was a desperate choice. I needed something fast to read, and nothing better was about. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Lord John Grey is a most interesting character and that Gabaldon can write exceptionally well.
Lord Grey is the main focus and finds himself mired in a potentially scandalous family situation, (cousin betrothed to a man with a possibly poxed "private member"), and a mysterious murder case that is connected to a case of missing military documents. All this, connected with Grey's ow proclivities toward sordid adventures makes for a very interesting romp through 1757 England.
With the mixed reviews that this book received, I can only assume that the other John Grey books are amazingly wonderful, as I really enjoyed this book myself. The characters are wonderfully complex, (and flawed), and there is a rich texture that underlies the entire narrative with its attention to detail.
For a desperate read, this was one excellent book and one that may just induce me to read some more of Diana Gabaldon's novels. For a good crime novel set in an age of genteel corruption, this one is hard to beat in my book. Recommended, for sure.
Book Description
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian C. Vann Woodward and Chesnut's biographer Elisabeth Muhlenfeld present here the previously unpublished Civil War diaries of Mary Boykin Chesnut. The ideal diarist, Mary Chesnut was at the right place at the right time with the right connections. Daughter of one senator from South Carolina and wife of another, she had kin and friends all over the Confederacy and knew intimately its political and military leaders. At Montgomery when the new nation was founded, at Charleston when the war started, and at Richmond during many crises, she traveled extensively during the war. She watched a world "literally kicked to pieces" and left the most vivid account we have of the death throes of a society. The diaries, filled with personal revelations and indiscretions, are indispensable to an appreciation of our most famous Southern literary insight into the Civil War experience.
Customer Reviews:
5 stars as source for papers, 3 stars as a reading experi.......2003-07-05
I've recently developed an interest in Civil War history, an era that had not heretofore intrigued me. In doing some reading on the subject, I kept coming across references to "the diaries of Mary Chesnut," and decided to read them. Most historians look upon these diaries as a major source of information on what took place in the South during the Civil War, because the lady was present at some of the important events and was certainly herself effected by them. As the editors write, she was often reduced to moving "eventually from one place of refuge to another as a fugitive from military invaders (p. x)" and "Living out of her trunk in hotels or rented rooms (p. x)." The quotations or information gleaned from this resource do indeed illuminate the narration in the historical works in which one comes across them. They are not, however, easy to read.
I gather from the introduction to this book that the diaries had been edited for publication as a continuous narrative--minus the more embarrassing self-revelations--entitled by a hand other than the lady's a "Diary from Dixie." The author herself had died long before the book was ever printed, leaving the details of publication to a relative. The editors of the current text despair the latter work as "heavily cut and carelessly edited (p. ix)," because it prevents the reader from knowing well the lady as a character herself.
The Private Mary Chesnut is just what the Diary from Dixie is not, a real diary. As such, it contains entries that are for the most part endless mentions of people with whom the reader probably will not be knowledgeable unless he or she is very "into" the South and Civil War history. One is frequently reduced to checking the footnotes for information on the individuals named. Unfortunately the editors of the diary give only the barest of facts about them, usually social or military rank or relationship to Mrs. Chesnut or another individual mentioned in the diary. The writer's comments often leave one trying to read between her lines for some inkling of "what's really going on!" because there is the merest glimpse of some probably very interesting underlying story. The editors of the text, however, either will not or cannot give these details. Because of this dearth of underlying social information, the book comes across as either confusing or a little boring, a simple catalogue of parties and people met at parties, of polite social visits paid back and forth. This is definitely not an Edith Warton!
Spaced throughout the document are nuggets of truly golden information about the Civil War and antebellum period. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] Because the lady was well connected by virtue of her own social status and oft sought company, she is privileged to the opinions of and gossip about significant individuals. She knew people who had met or knew the Lincoln family and was herself intimately acquainted with the Jefferson Davis family. One of the more interesting quotes was gossip associated with Mary Todd Lincoln's notorious household economy in the White House (pp. 30 and 31-32). This gives a much truer picture of what the social elite thought of the Lincolns, particularly in the South, and makes clear, that Washington D. C. was--and probably still is--more part of the southern social milieu than that of northern or national.
Certainly the lady herself comes across quite real in these diaries. In short she is often vain, opinionated, over-indulged, and wasteful by modern standards--at least by middle class standards--but she is also a well educated, astute and outspoken judge of political events and of the social ills of the institution of slavery. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] Her discourse on its ills, particularly of misogynation, are eminently quotabl--and often are. My favorite is that beginning with "I wonder if it be a sin to think slavery a curse on any land (p. 42-43)," etc.
While the book is difficult to get through, for those with a desire to know more than just the bare facts about the Civil War period and its society, this book is probably a good source for that information. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] This would definitely be considered a primary rather than a secondary source for the topic.
America's Own Pepys.......2000-05-02
This is the one indispensible book for anyone interested in what went on in the South behind the battle lines. As Pepys gives us a living picture of the London and court of Charles II, so does M. Chesnut give us a bird's eye view of the Confederate government and the society she lived in.
A wise and witty woman, Mary Chesnut spent most of the war years close to ground zero in Richmond, VA. She knew Jefferson and Varina Davis intimately. She rubbed elbows with congressmen and cabinet members. Mrs. Chesnut was a sharp tongued woman who pulled no punches and she tells us much that, but for her, would remain unknown about the leaders of the "Lost Cause".
Anyone who enjoyed the Woodward/Muhlenfeld editon of Mary Chesnut's memoirs can't afford to miss this publication of the materials from which she created her masterpiece.
Book Description
Kenzie and Gennaro are private investigators in the blue-collar neighborhoods and ghettos of South Boston-they know it as only natives can. Working out of an old church belfry, Kenzie and Gennaro take on a seemingly simple assignment for a prominent politician: to uncover the whereabouts of Jenna Angeline, a black cleaning woman who has allegedly stolen
confidential state documents.
Finding Jenna, however, is easy compared to staying alive once they've got her. The investigation escalates, implicating members of Jenna's family and rival gang leaders while
uncovering extortion, assassination, and child prostitution extending from bombed-out ghetto streets to the highest levels of government.
A Drink Before the War, the first in Lehane's acclaimed series with Boston detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, is a remarkable debut that is at once a pulsating crime thriller and a mirror of our world, one in which the worst human horrors are found closest to home, and the most vicious obscenities are committed in the name of love.
Customer Reviews:
Conflict of cultures.......2007-07-03
Having read the short story "Running Out of Dog," I decided to try one of the novels. The character Bubba in this novel reminds me of the supporting character in the short story. In the present novel, Boston PI Patrick Kenzie and his partner Angie Gennaro take on a case to find a missing woman, being told by a powerful state senator that she has run off with some documents.
All is not as it seems. Patrick and Angie find themselves in the middle of a gang war (the War of the title). They also find themselves involved with some sleazy politicians. Along the way you learn a lot about spousal abuse, child abuse, pedophilia, race and class conflicts, territorial conflicts, etc. In some respects, the novel could be set in almost any part of the world.
Overall, the novel is good, but perhaps a little heavy in moralizing at some points. The novel contains violence, language, and sexual content. The novel does make the point that how you are punished, and whether you are punished, may depend on your social standing and connections.
Drunk at the bar while the war rages..........2007-05-26
...and you miss the best parts!
I pegged all my hopes and dreams on A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR. I had read an excerpt of Lehane's in a magazine for writers. Wondering if they hadn't just given me the choicest morsel from an otherwise sub-par book, I picked up DRINK to see if Lehane could pull off that kind of quality over the span of an entire novel.
When I finished, I had to admit it was the most impressive debut from a new author that I'd read in a long time.
The prose in DRINK, true to what I expected, was rapid-fire, clever, funny, and very descriptive. The characters were sympathetic and so unbelievably fleshed-out that I thought they'd jump off the page. The story itself was poignant and intriguing, and by the time I finished this DRINK, I wanted another. Overall, an excellent introduction to a man who could've been (and may still prove to be) one of the best crime writers around.
I call it an introduction because it is a bit malnourished. The war referenced in the title? Doesn't happen. At least, we never see it; of the total war, we see about 3%. For some reason, Lehane summarized it after the fact, skipping right to the conclusion of the mystery instead. And the mystery itself is a bit weak; early on, we know who has the missing documents, we just don't know what's on them. Then when we find out, while disturbing and tying the whole story together, it still comes off as a bit anti-climactic and unsatisfying.
The book gives you the best prose in the crime/mystery genre, gives you a fast pace, but then it hiccups when it skips the war and tumbles down the stairs with the ending. Read A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR to see how Lehane started out, and appreciate his awesome writing ability. But then jump to DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND or GONE, BABY, GONE to see him at his best.
Lehane Doesn't Disappoint.......2007-02-13
I am not an avid mystery reader, but I was so impressed with Mystic River that I wanted to try a Patrick Kenzie novel. I was not disappointed. I see why the fans are so faithful to this series.
The plot revolves around a deceptively simple request to retrieve sensitive documents that were stolen from a Senate office. As Lehane did in Mystic River, the main plot leads the story through the seedier side of Boston and becomes secondary to the incendiary situations presented peripherally. This time Lehane takes aim at corruption. Corruption of the soul and corruption of people. With a deft writing style, Lehane brings the reader into a war zone of gang violence and political irresponsibility, creating a backdrop of violence and deception. The tension is constant, and something is always simmering near the surface.
Some of the action and dialogue is clichéd, and some of the characters are of the classic stereotype mold. However, that can be all overlooked given this is an early work by Lehane. When his imagination matches his writing ability it is a joy to get lost in this nicely constructed story.
I am looking forward to meeting Patrick and Angela again in the second book of the series.
A very good First Novel.......2007-01-22
I'll admit, Mystery, and Detective books are not usually my favorite genre of story, so if it is yours take this with salt.
I really like the writing of Dennis LeHane, even though I typically would read sci-fi, given my choice. But here is the thing... LeHane uses very good mystery puzzles to be the background to the moral conundrums of the protagonist, who are a handful of (morally and emotionally) damaged people with various ideas of right and wrong.
And that is the basis of why I think that Mr. Lehane is sooooo good as a writer.
This book, "A Drink Before the War" is the beginning of the "Kenzie and Genarro" novels, and while I am glad that I read this book, I am also glad that I didn't read it before I had already read "Darkness Take My Hand", and "Sacred" which had me deeply committed to liking these characters. Because as good as this book is, LeHane truly improves at each outing, and while this book might not have hooked me, I was already hooked, so... The themes of Racism which pervade this story and might make one (Me) uncomfortable, and the slightly less polished style of writing did not turn me off to the book. I guess what I am saying is that this is a very good prequel, to the subsequent stories in this series, with essential background information to the character development.
So... Here is what I suggest, either read one of the other books first like I did accidentally, or read this (still very good) book, knowing that the story will only get better and better as the series develops.
Went Out and Bought 4 More.......2006-11-02
Really enjoyed this book. Even with books I like these days I feel a certain distance between the characters and the reader. In this one I really liked the gang and wanted to get to know them better. I especially like the protaganist, he is a lot of fun, warts and all. I am glad the female lead drops her rotten hubby as the series progresses. That sad relationship just didn't seem to fit with the general mood. I can't wait to read the others. I think the South Florida/Key West genre has ran out of ideas and interesting tales but I am finding a couple of series that have stepped in to fill the void. This is one of them. Give it a try. I don't grade on a curve, 4 stars is a very good book to me.
Customer Reviews:
Tommy Atkins Speaks.......2007-09-17
In his novel, "Her Privates We," Frederic Manning does something almost unique in Great War literature. He gives voice to the English common soldier. This was the man the British public personified as Tommy Atkins and whom Americans in a later conflict would call GI Joe. This was the man who did the work of war with bayonet, rifle and hand grenade.
Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Wilfred Owen and Vera Brittain--among others--have given us a look inside the English middle-class perspective of the Great War. Through their poetry and prose, we can gain some understanding of what they and their educated counterparts suffered and endured.
The clerk, the taxi driver and farm laborer who went to war had no such heavy-weight advocates. Until Manning's novel first appeared in a limited edition during 1929, English private soldiers spoke primarily through letters home, not through literature. We know them best through the mute, exhausted faces that stare out at us across time from black-and-white Great-War-era photographs.
Manning, an educated Australian, worked as a minor literary figure in pre-war England. He enlisted in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry during 1915 and served as a private soldier in France through much of the 1916 Somme Campaign. Not coincidently, most of the novel's action is set within British lines during the time of that huge offensive.
Because Manning was a man who combined a writer's skills with a soldier's experience, his work gives us a rare and vivid glimpse of what trench life and fighting felt like from the viewpoint of the English private and non-commissioned officer. The book reflects the emotional and physical costs of battle. It also gives us some knowledge of the ways men related to each other and to their superiors. Any American who soldiered during the 20th Century will almost certainly find echoes of his own service experience within Manning's story.
In its 1929 printing "Her Privates We" was called "The Middle Parts of Fortune." The first mass publication the next year was ruthlessly edited to reflect 1930s sensibilities. The current paper-bound version of "Her Privates We," offered through Amazon, is completely uncut.
The Book's title derives from some obscene banter in Shakespeare's Hamlet, during which two characters describe themselves as the private parts of Fortune. Private parts, private soldiers, you get the picture. After listening to them, Hamlet concludes that Fortune is a strumpet. This would seem an equally valid conclusion for those of any rank or station caught within the titanic social and military struggle that played out during the 1914-1918 war.
Worthwhile for Fans of the Forum.......2006-07-19
This semi-fictional story is set in a brief 6 month (or so)period in 1916 in which the British Army began to assume the major contribution to the Allied effort. By this time of WW1 the French had been somewhat degraded and pretty exhausted by the combined efforts of Verdun and the Somme. The story is set on the Somme front after the opening phases of the battle and includes the description of a long recovery period behind the lines to refit-a luxury denied many German units. The story reflects to some degree the British class system , and many of the soldiers themselves seem somewhat bewildered about the nature of war confronting them. The Germans themselves are shown as remote and treated somewhat indifferently. Despite the possibility of death each soldier seems distracted with obtaining alcohol, women and decent food in that order.
The 1 difficult aspect of the book is the phonetic nature of the spoken words. The characters are, after all, British, and Americans may have a tough time understanding what's being said. When compared with All Quiet on the Western Front, which focuses more on the futility and abstract nature of the war, Her Privates, We is more insular and personal.
Elegant, true, vivid, and memorable.......2004-10-17
Of course, I say this work is elegant, true, vivid and memorable as a work, not the events it depicts. In parts of the world that used to make up the Commonwealth and serviced by Penguin books, the title may be THE MIDDLE PARTS OF FORTUNE. Having had 25 years in the military I can only say I read this book from cover to cover, and relished every word in it. Artistically, as an artifact, it has a satisfying structure and conventional narrative. Like the characters in it, especially Private Bourne, it manages a superb tone, neither hiding the horror, the detail, but never sentimentalizing the common bravery of the ordinary man whilst despising the shirker. I could go on but I just draw to your attention on P58 the brilliant detail of having to carry an awkward box three miles by hand: - ....he was glad to dump the box he and Lance-Corporal Johnson had carried the three miles from Philosophe on the floor of the Quartermaster's office. It had those handles which hang down when not in use, but turn over and force one's knuckles against the ends of the box when it is lifted. By reversing the grip, one may save one's knuckles, but only at the expense of twisting one's elbow, and the muscles of the forearm. Having tried both ways, they passed their handkerchiefs through the handles, and knotted the corners, so that it was slung between them, but the handkerchief being of different sizes, the weight was not equally distributed. The quartermaster's store was a large shed of galvanized iron, which may have been a garage originally. He was not there, but the carpenter, who was making wooden crosses, of which a pile stood in one corner, thought he might be back at the transport lines; on the other hand he might be back at any moment, so they waited for as long as it took to smoke a cigarette, watching the carpenter, who, having finished putting a cross together, was painting it with a cheap-looking white paint. -That's the motto of the regiment,- said the carpenter, taking up one on which their badge and motto had been painted carefully. - It's in Latin, but it means WHERE GLORY LEADS.
Bourne looked at it with a sardonic grin. - That is just one paragraph of 247 pages of fine prose, and itself could be a study as a sample of quite brilliant writing.
A classic of the 20th century.
Interesting from a different point.......2003-02-13
I feels like i am reading both "The Stranger" and "All Quiet on the Western Front." I was hoping to get something from it but i was disappointed from what i considered the best combination of both novels.
"War . . . is a peculiarly human activity.".......2003-02-12
For almost seventy years, this book was only readily found in an 'expurgated' version--that is, an abridged edition published first in 1929. Manning originally published his novel privately, but when it was introduced to the public (anonymously in the first editions), his editors felt that the language was too crude and for the genteel reading public and cut the book down to fit the day's standards. It is only now that we can appreciate the true power and honesty of a book that has been overlooked for too long.
Her Privates We is not a story of war so much as it is the story of men involved in that war--it is only in the final chapters that any real battle scenes take place. For the majority of the book, we are treated to an account of the life of Private Bourne (Manning himself in a literary disguise) during the five months of the Battle of the Somme (July-November, 1916), one of the most tragic and deadliest battles of World War One. To really explain the plot would be to give away the true experience of reading the book, but I guarantee, there is no account of World War One that can be compared to this work. It is unique and as relevant today as it was in 1929.
There is no attempt at hero-worship or empty patriotism in Manning's work. He telling the story of a group of men trapped in a world for which they were never prepared, and their humanity shines through it all. Their language is coarse, their opinions of the war, women, their fellow soldiers differ, but ultimately, they are all in the same Hell and are bonded together in a desperate hope of survival. Manning's is one of the few War works that does not follow the Victorian pattern for novels (hence why it is seldom mentioned in reviews of war literature). He is not trying to help his readers escape, but rather forcing them to face the reality they had created.
It is clear, even in his prose, that Manning was a skilled poet. Throughout the novel, there are flashes of beauty in the writing itself:
"She knew nothing of their subterranean, furtive, twilight life, the limbo through which, with their obliterated humanity, they moved as so many unhoused ghosts, or the aching hunger in those hands that reached, groping tentatively out of their emptiness, to seek some hope or stay."
As well as humor. After a paticularily confused conversation with a French woman with whom they have been billeted, Bourne's superior complains to him:
"I wish to God I knew a bit o' French" said the corporal earnestly.
"I wish to God you wouldn't mix the little you do know with Hindustanti," said Bourne.
The incredible humanity in this book has seldom been paralleled, even in modern literature. Manning's genuis has been overlooked for too long and it is time that his masterpiece was rediscovered to teach a new generation what war is really like.
Customer Reviews:
(RAW Rating: 4.5) - What is happening to black men?.......2007-08-04
Demico Boothe has explored the reasons so many black men are indeed in prison in, WHY ARE SO MANY BLACK MEN IN PRISON? He begins with his own story of a shaky upbringing and his subsequent dabbling in drug dealing. He was caught with a few grams of crack cocaine but because it was the dreaded crack, he was given 10 years in prison. When he left prison after serving his time, he was actually railroaded back into prison by a crooked justice system. He delves deeply into our justice system and the motives behind all the new prisons that are being built. He gives succinct and reasonable views of exactly what is happening now in the United States and how the past has played a role in the present. He uses persuasive statistics regarding the number of black men in prison as compared to the number of white men who are incarcerated.
Demico Boothe has done an excellent job of researching his subject and it is a plus, if unfortunate for him, that he has actually experienced first hand what he's talking about. I knew I was hearing the real story rather than just statistics from an intellectual who had no real idea of what the prison system is really like. I would have liked for Boothe to search a little deeper into the Haiti, Aristide and USA question, maybe even reading Randall Robinson's take on the situation, and then he might see it a bit differently. Otherwise, it is a good book and one every one in America should read. We indeed, have a crisis going on.
Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In.......2007-06-09
The book was very interesting. I learned soooo much about the government and the prison industry. I did some searching independantly to check on the things reported in the book and they are very true. Great Read!! Buy the book.
A Must Read.......2007-05-25
Mr. Demico's book is a must-read for anyone concerned about young African American men. Although I did not agree with every conclusion he reached, Demico's main premises are convincing. As a white woman who teaches mainly students of color, I am always impressed, and often in awe, of those young men who reach college with so much going against them. Demico's books lays bare not only the horrible inequalities of our society, but also the racist attitudes of our political system - - Democrats, Republicans, and most everyone in between.
Why are so many Black Men in Prison?.......2007-05-13
I is a well put together book. He really goes into a lot of detail of how our society is really set up.
Why are so many blacks in prison?.......2007-05-12
I found this book very interesting. As a white devil myself, I had no idea that I was responsible for forcing blacks into committing crimes and then subsequently clogging up the whole "Prison Industrial Complex"(tm). I will try to stop causing this, as I am sure it is creating a LOT of trouble for everyone! Sorry!
It is probably also my fault that young black men dressed in XXXXL clothes overtly threaten me and my family members routinely. Can anyone tell me what I should do to make this not happen?
I imagine it's also my fault that black on white violent crime is WAY higher than white on black violent crime, even though blacks constitute about 12.5% of the population, and whites are about 70%. But since it is impossible for a black to commit a hate crime according to our criminal justice system (since blacks are not under any circumstances racist), statistically, there are more white on black hate crimes. Boothe notes a statistic regarding hate crimes, but he skips the one about interracial violence in general.
In sum, Boothe notes that just about everything blacks do is actually MY fault, because my skin is white. Boothe, I've got a word for you.
Introspection.
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