History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present

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The irony
A question?
A landmark...
This book demands & rewards patience & receptivity to others
music from under the floorboards

A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0674177649

Book Description

Are the "culture wars" over? When did they begin? What is their relationship to gender struggle and the dynamics of class? In her first full treatment of postcolonial studies, a field that she helped define, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, one of the world's foremost literary theorists, poses these questions from within the postcolonial enclave.

"We cannot merely continue to act out the part of Caliban," Spivak writes; and her book is an attempt to understand and describe a more responsible role for the postcolonial critic. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason tracks the figure of the "native informant" through various cultural practices--philosophy, history, literature--to suggest that it emerges as the metropolitan hybrid. The book addresses feminists, philosophers, critics, and interventionist intellectuals, as they unite and divide. It ranges from Kant's analytic of the sublime to child labor in Bangladesh. Throughout, the notion of a Third World interloper as the pure victim of a colonialist oppressor emerges as sharply suspect: the mud we sling at certain seemingly overbearing ancestors such as Marx and Kant may be the very ground we stand on.

A major critical work, Spivak's book redefines and repositions the postcolonial critic, leading her through transnational cultural studies into considerations of globality.

Customer Reviews:

The irony.......2007-06-26

I must admit, I did not read the entire book. But it is not because I didn't try.

Spivak is a close associate of Judith Butler, and this text demonstrates the connect -- no person lacking a very specific culural and feminist education can read it.

This is the irony of such texts. Spivak cleary seeks to empower women and individuals of color oppressed by Western hegemony -- ttself a jargon phrase-- yet no one she seeks to liberate could remotely understand her text. Nor could many scholars like myself, who seek to learn from her infinite wisdom.

At some point, I would hope that scholars like Spivak would take a page from the Lawrence Grossbergs of the world and begin to write in more accessible language

To do so is not anti-intelectual -- it is indeed an attempt to ADVANCE scholarship.

A question?.......2006-08-26

how now? a book written about the marginal, the "strung-out", decentered, in a stile one needs a very very expensive education to comprehend? on what side of the pasture are you on?

isnt the appropriation of time one of the nastiest things the elect have done to us? how much time does one have, can have, if one isn't "allowed" to sit in her classes, to have her hand on one's papers, when one has to work, to commute to work, to spend eight hours or more there six days a week?

how does a radical expect the inert to energize when the centrifuge of "modern academia" has separated all the key components of "interaction"?

i want answers.

A landmark..........2006-04-10

As you can already tell by the comments, there is a "clash of cultures" in the academy. It's between:

* People who think philosophy's job is to expand ideas and challenge, versus those who think it should make the present seem more comfortable and make you nod your head in recognition.

* Those who think that gender is relatively unimportant and that work stands for itself; versus those who believe that "to introduce the question of woman changes everything".

* Those who believe that the canon of Western philosophy is adequate to describe the world, and those who believe it has never described the world because it never took the time to understand those that never lived in "the west"

* Those who believe the work of the intellectual should be to outline a philosophy of life to be taken up by others, versus those who believe that it is sometimes "more productive to sabotage what is inexorably to hand than to outline a novel concept that will never seriously be tested".

You get the idea. If you are in the first category of these tensions then there's no point you reading this book. It will confirm all your prejudices.

If the second half of the statements above sounds more like you, then you probably already know this book. But in case you "haven't quite got to it yet", as I hadn't for a while, I can say that this is a book that will reward many detailed readings. It's breadth and depth is breathtaking in an era where the very real problems of generalisation raised by gender/race/colonial analysis have caused many to back away from theorising world systems. As Spivak carefully shows, these systems ("the financialsiation of the globe" - who among the critics could elaborate with such detail on the distinctive impact of informational capital on the rural?) are very much in operation and urgently need to be thought - but never at the expense of forgetting those whose labour is appropriated by those systems. For all the dense theoretical language in the text, Spivak is obviously in a discussion with, for example, the indigenous activist, unlike many of her critics, who complain about her language yet never demonstrate their engagement with e.g. the rural poor.

Let's talk about the language. Yes, it's intimidating. It's philosophy! She's a professional philosopher, that's her job! If you're going to understand the insights of a physicist you'd have to prepare yourself by doing a lot of reading (and experimenting). If you were going to understand a physicist who was pushing the boundaries of the discipline you are probably going to have to be a physicist yourself or be very, very, very interested in the field. As it should be - if I understood what physicists were really doing I'd be worried, given that they study for so long and get all that research money for labs when maybe I could do this in my garage. Despite 15 years of reading social theory (not all the time - I'm not an academic at the moment) I struggled heavily through the first chapter of this book on Kant and Hegel (I know some Hegel, only a little Kant). I'd read two pages and think "I'm not sure I get that, but I'll read it again tomorrow and move on to the next bit anyway." If you're a feminist philosopher I'm sure you'd be going much easier. But the point is, I didn't take it as a reason not to read it - it was a challenge for me to expand my understanding about stuff I thought I knew (e.g., Marx), that she has obviously thought a lot more about than me.

When it got to some things I do know something about (e.g. colonial rhetoric, technology and development), her insights were both revelatory and in accord with my experience at the same time. Anyone with a philosophical bent who has experience in the development field will be troubled by the very convincing case Spivak makes in chapter 4 for development as an instantiation of imperialism. As someone who reads the relevant journals from time to time I have yet to hear anyone with expertise in philosophy and cultural studies outline why Spivak doesn't know what she is talking about, as the Terry Eagleton fan suggets. She does all too well, in a way that intimidates those who made a living pretending they had the answers.

Spivak obviously knows that she's good and the suffer-no-fools tone - some have described it as elitist - might be irritiating for some. I prefer to see it as a persistent frustration with the limitations of language, and an attempt to convey that to the reader. This is not "bad writing". It is very carefully crafted (there are some fantastic, pithy sentences at times) to destabilise the assumptions she knows readers are going to make about the work. If you want to read someone who'll make it all easy, try Andrew Ross (one of my favourite authors, but completely different methodology as befits an American Studies prof).

If you've never read Spivak and aren't completely at home in philosophy and theory, this might not be the place to start. Maybe begin with Landry & Maclean's Spivak Reader and any of her interviews (there's a great one from the journal Signs which is available online). Outside in the Teaching Machinemight be easier after that. But if you are looking for big, challenging ideas that will shift your world-view, this will do it.

As you can tell, I love this book. I think it's a landmark work from someone who is trying to think the world with knowledge and experience of places that previously well-known "world thinkers" never had. It attempts to bring an incredible range of examples and texts into productive conversation. It kind of depresses me because I know I could never write it, yet even by reading it I am no longer as comfortable in subconscious generalisations that Euro-US culture relies on, and that this distances me from some ideas and people. But it has also sharpened my sense of what is important, of where I can make a difference, of what writing can do inside and outside of the academy. It's a great gift if you're prepared to receive it.

This book demands & rewards patience & receptivity to others.......2005-06-08

The indignant and arrogant demands for ease of understanding expressed by so many reviewers here exemplify the passive, anti-intellectual customer service-based epistemology that Spivak educates us against and that drives todays globalizing and enslaving culture. Her book is profound and urgent.

music from under the floorboards.......2002-01-27

Spivak works in the interstices to tease out what has been left out in ideas, in cultures, in histories, in language.
Many people apparently are maddened by her methods because there is no easy "method" to be extracted from her work. Her style is an antithesis to traditional "methods". The only real tool a theorist or critic has is intelligence and that quality is not easily described and perhaps not directly transmittable, especially when the kind of intelligence in question has no precedent and must thus inscribe itself into the language for the first time.

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Everyone shoud read this book.
This Book Is Tripe
Not a cliched religious experience.......
This is a BLISTERING critique of the Levite Priesthood
****

When God Was a Woman
Merlin Stone
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 015696158X

Book Description

Here, archaeologically documented,is the story of the religion of the Goddess. Under her, women’s roles were far more prominent than in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures. Stone describes this ancient system and, with its disintegration, the decline in women’s status. Index; maps and illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Everyone shoud read this book. .......2007-08-26

I just finished "When God was a Woman" today. I generally have a hard time with non-fiction and it can take me months to get through one book. I read this book from cover to cover in less than a week. It does bog down in a few places, but the theories being discussed are pretty mind boggling. I support the author's decision to pack in as much evidence as she does.

This book makes the following claims (supported by archaeological evidence):
*the bible was not created in a vacuum: it was written by men as a response to the world they found themselves living in at the time.
*the subjugation of women in the bible had a definite purpose: to lessen the political and economic power women had 3000ish years ago.
*the story of Adam and Eve was specifically contrived to attack the existing Goddess religion. The serpent, the tree of knowledge, the fig leaf clothing, and the successful tempting of Eve were all aimed at commonly recognized aspects of that earlier religion.

Writing today and referring to the Web, or the GOP or Oprah may not be understood even 500 years from now, let alone 3000. The biggest plus of "When God was a Woman" (in my opinion) is that the author places the bible in context of the historical period in which it was written.

Understand, I am not particularly religious. But I know I live in a society that is based on Judeo-Christian morality. I live in one nation under God. I would swear on a bible in a court of law. I have a religious president. And women are not yet considered equal to men.

No, I don't want to go back to a Goddess religion. Humans had at least 7000 years of it, with at least some documented subjugation of men (killing of the king/queen's consort when he loses his potency, or his reverence to Her.) And now we have had at least 3000 years of God the Father religion that claims women must be controlled by men. Isn't it time we advanced?

This Book Is Tripe.......2007-06-22

Stones reliance upon disproved theories and twisted evidence as well as less than stellar, biased, references is a great disappointment as I am truly interested in discovering what few matriarchal societies exist and or existed throughout human history.

Stone does a disservice to her cause by manipulating truth to fit her agenda.

The loser is the uninformed reader who may actually believe there is truth top be found here.

Not a cliched religious experience..............2007-05-08

Although she does seem to have a tendency to go off on a tangent, for me, this book confirms what I've known and felt for years - underrepresented in most organized religions and totally out-of-place in Christianity, period. After reading this book, I think I'm ready to 'come out' and tell family and friends what I've known for several years - I'm Pagan as the day is long and secure in my beliefs and religion!

This is a BLISTERING critique of the Levite Priesthood.......2007-02-28

A better title of this book would read: "Before the Bible, God was a Woman." While I have a slight problem with this authors title of her work matching up her actual subject matter, never have I read anything so well describing the problems I have always had with the Judeo-Christian Bible.

While there were undisputed Indo-European invasions into southern lands for thousands of years, their influence on the conquered peoples' religions is not as easy to determine. Indeed, how can we really know how thought changed between 6000-4000 years ago in the ancient Middle and Near East? Marilyn Stone certainly has her very plausible theories about the consequences of these invasions. While this part of the book is enlightening it isn't as blistering a critique as later in the book. At least the Goddess, and women in general, retained some status and legal rights in cultures around Israeli occupied Canaan.

Once Ms Stone sets her sights on the biblical account of creation and of the subjugation of Canaan, she doesn't hold back. The amount of barbarous acts that the Bible documents against the native Canaanites is amazing. Read Joshua and Kings I and II if you don't believe Ms Stone. Why did this genocide take place? For the simple reason that the native people didn't believe in the "real" God. I felt no man-bashing, as some other reviewers read in her book. I only took away religious extremism at its worst, and women and the Goddess were the victims of this "young upstart" religion of only about 3000 years old called Judaism. This isn't Ms Stone making these numbers up, many biblical scholars believe the Pentateuch was only written between 1200 to 1000 BC.

The absolutely most interesting part of Ms Stones work was the deconstruction of the Genesis creation story. She cites not only how each and every event was carefully constructed to denounce the Goddess religion, and make its practitioners sin against God by every major rite of the old religion, but to also condemn women for all of history afterward to be men's "helpers."

If you ever wondered what bothered you about Patriarchial religion, this book captures the epitome of monotheisms' dark side.

****.......2006-04-05

There are a few errors historically speaking but the overall book is informative and insightful. P.S. Also, it's not for one moment just another 'feminist rant'. It's a scholarly piece of work.

Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress, Book 1)

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Super Reader
Fussy Woman Gets Her Man - er - Alien
is brutality equality?....
Enjoyable
enjoy a good book

Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress, Book 1)
Gena Showalter
Manufacturer: Downtown Press
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ASIN: 074349749X

Book Description

RIDDING THE WORLD OF EVIL, ONE ALIEN AT A TIME: THAT'S MIA SNOW'S MISSION.

Snow is in the forecast.

In a time and place not too far away, Mia Snow is an alien huntress for the New Chicago Police Department. Heading up her expert team of Alien Investigation and Removal agents, Mia's unmatched at battling the elusive enemy among us, and she's the perfect girl for the job. She's seen her brother die at the hands of aliens. She's earned each of her scars. And she'll die before she cries. Now, a series of killings have Mia and her partner Dallas tracking alien suspects -- but a sudden blast of violence leaves Dallas fighting for his life.

They are ice and fire.

The chance to save Dallas appears in the form of a tall, erotic stranger. An alien. A murder suspect. Kyrin en Arr, of the deadly Arcadian species, holds the power to heal the injured agent but not without a price. For Mia Snow, that price is surrendering to Kyrin's forbidden seduction...and embracing their electric attraction. She's walking a knife's edge, risking her badge and even her life. The closer she gets to Kyrin, the more Mia learns about her own heart, her human needs -- and the shocking secret that will shatter everything she's ever believed.

Download Description

"RIDDING THE WORLD OF EVIL, ONE ALIEN AT A TIME: THAT'S MIA SNOW'S MISSION. Snow is in the forecast. In a time and place not too far away, Mia Snow is an alien huntress for the New Chicago Police Department. Heading up her expert team of Alien Investigation and Removal agents, Mia's unmatched at battling the elusive enemy among us, and she's the perfect girl for the job. She's seen her brother die at the hands of aliens. She's earned each of her scars. And she'll die before she cries. Now, a series of killings have Mia and her partner Dallas tracking alien suspects -- but a sudden blast of violence leaves Dallas fighting for his life. They are ice and fire. The chance to save Dallas appears in the form of a tall, erotic stranger. An alien. A murder suspect. Kyrin en Arr, of the deadly Arcadian species, holds the power to heal the injured agent but not without a price. For Mia Snow, that price is surrendering to Kyrin's forbidden seduction...and embracing their electric attraction. She's walking a knife's edge, risking her badge and even her life. The closer she gets to Kyrin, the more Mia learns about her own heart, her human needs -- and the shocking secret that will shatter everything she's ever believed. "

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-08-31

Mia Snow is a top cop with the Alien Investigation and Removal unit. She runs around dealing with illegal immigrants from a long way away, and extreme violence is good when it is necessary.

A partner is critically injured and she ends up in a relationship of sorts with an alien that reveals something about who she actually is, and why she can do what she can do better than other humans.

Fussy Woman Gets Her Man - er - Alien.......2007-07-02

Strong female characters attract my attention, so I was drawn to Awaken Me Darkly by the foreboding Mia Snow. But what made me lay my money on the counter to buy the book was the description of Dallas Gutierrez set as a teaser in the front of my edition. Good Lord. Give me a partner like that any day of the week. Mia who? Oh, is that little girl going to factor into this story? That's nice...get back to Dallas...

So you can imagine how upset I was when Dallas got injured (great foreshadowing and leading into that on Gena Showalter's part, by the way), but the novel didn't just leave me disappointed there. Mia continued working with her other partners (even though some of that felt contrived, but, hey, when you've only got 306 pages, what's a writer to do?) and fighting for Dallas's life and working to rid society of evil bad guys. Now, I expected Mia to save Dallas, sacrificing herself in some way in the process, and end up sweating up the sheets with him. So imagine my surprise when Dallas remained impotently in a hospital bed while the alien huntress alternately beat up and slept with his enemy. Somehow, the talented Ms. Gena Showalter brought it all together with a satisfying ending. Wonderfully.

That's a gifted storyteller.

is brutality equality?...........2007-06-13

LJ Lewis' review below pretty much sums up how I feel about this book as well.

I found this book a rehash of the whole "tough cookie" heroine and not in a good way. The behavior of the heroine, Mia, is brutal and off putting.

The storyline is that the Alien Hunters have complete authority over all Alien species, judge, jury and executioner. In just the first 100 pages alone you see the heroine committing various forms of police harassment and brutality, all the while thinking to herself how much she dislikes most Aliens. And she's supposed to fall in love with an Alien? Is this supposed to be enjoyable?

If this was a male lead I would consider him a villain-and I consider Mia Snow one equally. At one point she tells a suspect "you know I have no conscience" and I agree.

When did equality mean to be equally brutal?

0 stars.

Enjoyable.......2007-06-12

This book features a kick-butt heroine, which is something that I love in books. She doesn't take crap from anyone (or anything). The romance is nice but doesn't overwhelm the plot. Looking forward to the next title in this series.

enjoy a good book.......2007-02-04

Whats not to like? You have adventure in a future Earth with lots of aliens, a beautiful woman with deadly fighting skills (she enjoys fighting), an awsome alien who loves her, along with bad guy & good guys and a big secret she uncovers that changes her life. People who like this type of stuff will also enjoy reading this book.

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Women, Gender and Enlightenment
Barbara Taylor , and Sarah Knott
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1403904936
Release Date: 2005-08-11

Book Description

Historians long excluded women from the Enlightenment orbit. But modern research shows that "woman" and gender were key categories of Enlightenment thought, and that women themselves--as scientists and salonnieres, bluestockings and governesses, feminists and novelists--contributed much to enlightened intellectual culture. This volume of interdisciplinary essays by forty leading scholars provides a detailed picture of the controversial, innovative role played by women and gender issues in the age of light.

The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women and Utilitarianism (Modern Library Classics)

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good way to get all three works
The great defender of individual liberty
A bit dry, but worth the effort!
A must read for anyone interested in political ideology...
Liberty: The Basics

The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women and Utilitarianism (Modern Library Classics)
John Stuart Mill
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375759182
Release Date: 2002-05-14

Book Description

The writings of John Stuart Mill have become the cornerstone of political liberalism. Collected for the first time in this volume are Mill’s three seminal and most widely read works: On Liberty, The Subjection of Women, and Utilitarianism. A brilliant defense of individual rights versus the power of the state, On Liberty is essential reading for anyone interested in political thought and theory. As Bertrand Russell reflected, “On Liberty remains a classic . . . the present world would be better than it is, if [Mill’s] principles were more respected.”

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition includes newly commissioned endnotes and commentary by Dale E. Miller, and an index.

Customer Reviews:

good way to get all three works.......2007-03-05

this isn't the highest quality paper, but it's an economical way to get three works. there is not much in the way of editorial content, but depending on your interests that may be fine.

The great defender of individual liberty.......2006-12-24

I read this book for a graduate class in Philosophy. Dr. Dale Miller who was the editor for this book was my professor. He is excellent and an expert on J. S. Mill. Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England. Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term. Maiden speech was a disaster his second was great success. He was first MP to propose that women should be given the vote on equal footing with the men who could vote. He got 1/3 support, England gives franchise to women after U.S. He was a great Feminist, his essay "Subjection of Women" is written with great passion and prose. It was a brave position for him to take he was ridiculed for it. He favored democracy, and letting more men from lower classes the right to vote, but believed that people that are more educated should have more votes then less educated because they would make better decisions about what government should do. He would have wanted to extend education to the masses, so that all may have gotten 2-3 votes and so on. He didn't think it should be extended to where a small elite could carry the day on votes. The idea was that if the working class, and middle class, where divided on an issue, the people with more intelligence would have the power to tip the balance. Mill thought that people with more education would probably not only be better able to make political decisions, especially in terms of intellectually being able to see what would be best for the government to do, but that they would also be more concerned about the common good publicly then people in general. He was intensely educated by his father James. John could read Greek, and Latin at 6 yrs.; his Dad tutored him at home. Dad thought environment was everything. He was treated like an adult, never played games with kids; he had a very cerebral upbringing. He had a period of depression in his twenties, it changed his philosophy, and he recognized the importance of developing feelings along with the intellect, this is something that he stressed in his work. He read poetry to get out of depression; he became devoted to poetry and became a romantic. He fell in love with a married woman Harriet Taylor, was a platonic relationship, after her husband's death they married 3 years later and probably never consummated the marriage maybe due to Harriet having syphilis. His dedication to "On Liberty" is to her, very devoted to each other. Both buried together in Avignon France where they used to vacation.

Mill as a moral theorist subscribed to a theory we call Utilitarianism. It means---In some way morality is about the maximization of happiness. Whether actions are right or wrong depends on how happiness can be most effectively maximized. I say in some way, because there are allot of different kinds of Utilitarians. Allot of different ways of saying exactly how it is the maximization of happiness comes into morality. Therefore, happiness is clearly an important idea for Utilitarians. Mill has a hedonistic view of happiness, he thinks that happiness can be defined in terms of "pleasure in the absence of pain." What is distinctive about Mill in this area is that he believes that some kinds of pleasure are better than others are, and add more to a person's happiness than other kinds of pleasures. He believes in what he calls, "higher quality pleasures." These are pleasures, he says, that we get from the exercise of faculties that only human beings happen to have. So the intellect, imagination, the moral feelings, these are the sources of higher quality pleasures people use. His view seems to be that a certain quantity of intellectual pleasure just adds more to your happiness, and a given quantity of some lower pleasure like a kind we would share with the animals such as sensation, taste, sexual pleasure, etc. His "higher quality pleasures" in a way echo Aristotle's ethics. The idea of those things that make us distinctly human that are the real key to our happiness, that is in Mill also. It is not as limited to reason and intellect as Aristotle thinks. Mill recognizes the importance of the appreciation of beauty, aesthetic pleasure, and moral pleasure. He frankly owes a debt to Aristotle that he never properly acknowledges, never gives him proper credit.

"On Liberty" is Mill's is his most widely read and enduring work. It is an indispensable essay on political thought, which strenuously argues for individual liberty. He is defending what he calls the "liberty principle." It is a principle that guarantees individuals quite a bit of personal freedom. "That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant." These quoted sentences in John Stuart Mill's book, "On Liberty," embody the crux of his argument; that the power of the state must intrude as little as possible on the liberty of its citizenry. In essence, Mill was against using the power of the state through its lawmaking apparatus to compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that society deems moral or appropriate. Mill thought that people had not only a right, but also a duty to develop their intellectual faculties, which is indispensable to maximize their happiness. He believed that society improved for all its citizens when they where left unfettered to the maximum extent possible, allowing them to use their imagination and intellect to improve themselves. Mill postulates a theory that societies usually institute laws based primarily on "personal preference" of its citizenry instead of established principles. This lack of clarity of opinion often leads to the government frequently interfering in the lives of its citizens unnecessarily. For Mill, there are very few times when the state can infringe on the personal liberty of others. Firstly, the state has the right to promulgate laws that prevent a person's actions from harming others. Secondly, the state must protect those citizens who are not mature enough to protect themselves, such as children. Thirdly, he exempts, "... backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage." In Mill's view, immature societies need a benevolent leader to rule them until they have developed to a point where they, "... have attained the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by conviction or persuasion ..." Mill said this third exemption did not apply to any of the countries in Europe. Mill believed that forced morality by the state on its citizen's liberties was destructive to their inward development, and could even lead to a violent reaction by them against the government.

There are different parts of his defense of this, different arguments that he gives. He has a long chapter on freedom of speech and press. He has some very specific reasons why he thinks those freedoms are important. Always in the background for Mill is the idea of development, and making it possible for more people to enjoy these higher quality pleasures. How do we help people develop their distinctly human faculties, in ways that will help them enjoy their higher quality pleasures? Because for him that is the way, we maximize the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed in the world, and that is the object of morality as far as he is concerned. Utilitarianists believe that maximizing happiness is ultimately, what morality is all about. That does not mean maximizing your own happiness that means maximizing the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed, not only by yourself but also by everybody else as well.

Roger Kimball, in his book "Experiments Against Reality" wrote, "On Liberty" was published in 1859, coincidentally the same year as "On the Origin of Species." Darwin's book has been credited--and blamed--for all manner of moral and religious mischief. But in the long run "On Liberty" may have effected an even greater revolution in sentiment.

A bit dry, but worth the effort!.......2005-01-19

I am interested in Mill's contributions to utilitarian philosophy. Utilitarianism holds that morals should be based upon those acts which promote the greatest good to the greatest number of people. Human actions which foster happiness are held to be right, while those which yield the converse are wrong. Mill defines happiness as intended pleasure with the absence of pain. Also, he maintains that intended pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as personal ends. Pleasure which employs one's higher faculties tends to give more satisfaction than baser pleasures, or mere sensations. Few humans would exchange their limited, fleeting pleasures for the fullest ration of the pleasures of the "lower" animals. Since a noble character is made happier by its nobleness, utilitarianism can only attain its end towards the multiplication of happiness through a general elevation of the nobleness of the character of the larger population.

Mill states that pleasures and pains have different values to the actor. Only the judgment honed by experience can assist us in assessing appropriate trade-offs in acquiring a particular pleasure at the cost of gaining a specific pain as well. This type of cost/benefit analysis advocated by utilitarians gives rise to the criticism that utilitarianism results in coldness and lack of sympathy towards others. However, Mill claims that the proof of the worth of utilitarianism, or any other moral system, lies in its ability to produce good results.

Although it is sometimes difficult to wade through the dryness of Mill's rhetoric, it is truly worth it for the philosophical insights contained. This book is a good survey of Mill's thoughts on utilitarian ethics and many other subjects of value.

A must read for anyone interested in political ideology..........2004-07-20

One of the main writers on liberty, J.S. Mill is often overlooked in introductory courses in Political Theory courses. I bought this books as a supplement in my class and it was a wonderful read that gave me an advantage. This book contains some of Mill's best work and the notes added by Schneewind give them an extra dimention and a few explanations that I am glad I had.

Liberty: The Basics.......2003-03-19

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

This text is an excellent starting point for reading JS Mill, and is very well suited to the armchair philosopher who wishes to get into the material with ease and without encumbrance. However, there may be too little in the annotations in terms of external references, or cross references to Mill's other writings, or background information to satisfy the more academically inclined.

Book Description

Collected here in a single volume for the first time, On Liberty, Utilitarianism, Considerations on Representative Government, and The Subjection of Women show John Stuart Mill applying his liberal utilitarian philosophy to a range of issues that remain vital today--the nature of ethics, the
scope and limits of individual liberty, the merits of and costs of democratic government, and the place of women in society. In his Introduction John Gray describes these essays as applications of Mill's doctrine of the Art of Life, as set out in A System of Logic. Using the resources of recent
scholarship, he shows Mill's work to be far richer and subtler than traditional interpretations allow.

Customer Reviews:

The great defender of individual liberty.......2006-12-24

John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England. Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term. Maiden speech was a disaster his second was great success. He was first MP to propose that women should be given the vote on equal footing with the men who could vote. He got 1/3 support, England gives franchise to women after U.S. He was a great Feminist, his essay "Subjection of Women" is written with great passion and prose. It was a brave position for him to take he was ridiculed for it. He favored democracy, and letting more men from lower classes the right to vote, but believed that people that are more educated should have more votes then less educated because they would make better decisions about what government should do. He would have wanted to extend education to the masses, so that all may have gotten 2-3 votes and so on. He didn't think it should be extended to where a small elite could carry the day on votes. The idea was that if the working class, and middle class, where divided on an issue, the people with more intelligence would have the power to tip the balance. Mill thought that people with more education would probably not only be better able to make political decisions, especially in terms of intellectually being able to see what would be best for the government to do, but that they would also be more concerned about the common good publicly then people in general. He was intensely educated by his father James. John could read Greek, and Latin at 6 yrs.; his Dad tutored him at home. Dad thought environment was everything. He was treated like an adult, never played games with kids; he had a very cerebral upbringing. He had a period of depression in his twenties, it changed his philosophy, and he recognized the importance of developing feelings along with the intellect, this is something that he stressed in his work. He read poetry to get out of depression; he became devoted to poetry and became a romantic. He fell in love with a married woman Harriet Taylor, was a platonic relationship, after her husband's death they married 3 years later and probably never consummated the marriage maybe due to his having syphilis. His dedication to "On Liberty" is to her, very devoted to each other. Both buried together in Avignon France where they used to vacation.

Mill as a moral theorist subscribed to a theory we call Utilitarianism. It means---In some way morality is about the maximization of happiness. Whether actions are right or wrong depends on how happiness can be most effectively maximized. I say in some way, because there are allot of different kinds of Utilitarians. Allot of different ways of saying exactly how it is the maximization of happiness comes into morality. Therefore, happiness is clearly an important idea for Utilitarians. Mill has a hedonistic view of happiness, he thinks that happiness can be defined in terms of "pleasure in the absence of pain." What is distinctive about Mill in this area is that he believes that some kinds of pleasure are better than others are, and add more to a person's happiness than other kinds of pleasures. He believes in what he calls, "higher quality pleasures." These are pleasures, he says, that we get from the exercise of faculties that only human beings happen to have. So the intellect, imagination, the moral feelings, these are the sources of higher quality pleasures people use. His view seems to be that a certain quantity of intellectual pleasure just adds more to your happiness, and a given quantity of some lower pleasure like a kind we would share with the animals such as sensation, taste, sexual pleasure, etc. His "higher quality pleasures" in a way echo Aristotle's ethics. The idea of those things that make us distinctly human that are the real key to our happiness, that is in Mill also. It is not as limited to reason and intellect as Aristotle thinks. Mill recognizes the importance of the appreciation of beauty, aesthetic pleasure, and moral pleasure. He frankly owes a debt to Aristotle that he never properly acknowledges, never gives him proper credit.

"On Liberty" is Mill's is his most widely read and enduring work. It is an indispensable essay on political thought, which strenuously argues for individual liberty. He is defending what he calls the "liberty principle." It is a principle that guarantees individuals quite a bit of personal freedom. "That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant." These quoted sentences in John Stuart Mill's book, "On Liberty," embody the crux of his argument; that the power of the state must intrude as little as possible on the liberty of its citizenry. In essence, Mill was against using the power of the state through its lawmaking apparatus to compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that society deems moral or appropriate. Mill thought that people had not only a right, but also a duty to develop their intellectual faculties, which is indispensable to maximize their happiness. He believed that society improved for all its citizens when they where left unfettered to the maximum extent possible, allowing them to use their imagination and intellect to improve themselves. Mill postulates a theory that societies usually institute laws based primarily on "personal preference" of its citizenry instead of established principles. This lack of clarity of opinion often leads to the government frequently interfering in the lives of its citizens unnecessarily. For Mill, there are very few times when the state can infringe on the personal liberty of others. Firstly, the state has the right to promulgate laws that prevent a person's actions from harming others. Secondly, the state must protect those citizens who are not mature enough to protect themselves, such as children. Thirdly, he exempts, "... backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage." In Mill's view, immature societies need a benevolent leader to rule them until they have developed to a point where they, "... have attained the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by conviction or persuasion ..." Mill said this third exemption did not apply to any of the countries in Europe. Mill believed that forced morality by the state on its citizen's liberties was destructive to their inward development, and could even lead to a violent reaction by them against the government.

There are different parts of his defense of this, different arguments that he gives. He has a long chapter on freedom of speech and press. He has some very specific reasons why he thinks those freedoms are important. Always in the background for Mill is the idea of development, and making it possible for more people to enjoy these higher quality pleasures. How do we help people develop their distinctly human faculties, in ways that will help them enjoy their higher quality pleasures? Because for him that is the way, we maximize the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed in the world, and that is the object of morality as far as he is concerned. Utilitarianists believe that maximizing happiness is ultimately, what morality is all about. That does not mean maximizing your own happiness that means maximizing the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed, not only by yourself but also by everybody else as well.

Roger Kimball, in his book "Experiments Against Reality" wrote, "On Liberty" was published in 1859, coincidentally the same year as "On the Origin of Species." Darwin's book has been credited--and blamed--for all manner of moral and religious mischief. But in the long run "On Liberty" may have effected an even greater revolution in sentiment.

I read this book for a graduate class in Philosophy. Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

Liberty for all.......2005-09-12

It is surprising to me how many people assume that 'On Liberty' was written before or during the American Revolution - Mill was certainly influenced by the spirit of American liberty, which was variously romanticised and adapted in Britain and Europe during the nineteenth century. Published in 1859, 'On Liberty' is one of the primary political texts of the nineteenth century; perhaps only the writings of Marx had a similar impact, and of the two, in today's world, Mill's philosophy seems (please note that I only said 'seems') the one that is triumphant.

One of the interesting ideas behind 'On Liberty' is that this may in fact be more the inspiration of Harriet Taylor (later Mrs. J.S. Mill) than of Mill himself; Taylor wrote an essay on Toleration, most likely in 1832, but it remained unpublished until after her death. F.A. Hayek (free-market economist and philosopher) noticed this connection. Whether this was the direct inspiration or not, the principles are similar, and the Mills were rather united in their views about liberty.

'On Liberty' is more of an extended essay than a book - it isn't very long. It relates as a political piece to his general Utilitarianism and political reform ideology. A laissez faire capitalist in political economy, his writing has been described as 'improved Adam Smith' and 'popularised Ricardo'. Perhaps it is in part the brevity of 'On Liberty' that gives it an enduring quality.

There are five primary sections to the text. The introduction sets the stage philosophically and historically. He equates the histories of classical civilisations (Greece and Rome) with his contemporary England, stating that the struggle between liberty and authority is ever present and a primary feature of society. He does not hold with unbridled or unfettered democracy, either (contrary to some popular readings of his text) - he warns that the tyranny of the majority can be just as dangerous and damaging toward a society as any individual or oligarchic despotism. Mill looks for a liberty that permits individualism; thus, while democracy is an important feature for Mill, there must be a system of checks and balances that ensures individual liberties over and against this kind of system. All of these elements receive further development in subsequent sections.

The second section of the text is 'Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion'. Freedom of speech and expression is an important aspect here. Mill presents a somewhat radical proposition that even should the government and the people be in complete agreement with regard to coercive action, it would still be an illegitimate power. This is an important consideration in today's world, as governments and people contemplate the curtailment of civil liberties in favour of increased security needs. The possibility of fallibility, according to Mill, makes the power illegitimate, and (again according to Mill) it doesn't matter if it affects many or only a few, people today or posterity. It is still wrong. Mill develops this argument largely by using the history of religious ideas and religious institutions, in addition to the political (since the two were so often inter-related).

The third section is perhaps the best known and most quoted, 'Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being'. It is perhaps a natural consequence of Enlightenment thinking that individuality over communal and corporate identity would dominate. Our world today goes back and forth between individual and communal identities (nationality, regionality, employment, church affiliation, school affiliation, sports teams, etc.). Mill's ideas of individual are very modern, quite at home with the ideas of modern political and civil individuality, with all of the responsibilities.

Mill states, 'No one pretends that actions should be as free as opinions.' He recognises the increased limitations on individual liberty given that we do live in communal settings, but this does not hinder the idea of individuality and individual liberty, particularly as it pertains to thoughts and speech. Mill explores various ideas of personal identity and action (medieval, Calvinist, etc.) to come up with an idea of individuality that is rather modern; of course, this is political personhood that pre-dates the advent of psychology/psychoanalytic theory that will give rise to a lot more confusion for the role of identity and personhood in society.

The fourth primary section looks theoretically at the individual in community, 'Of the Limits to the Authority of Society Over the Individual'; the final section looks at specific applications. Mill discounts the idea of social contract while maintain that there is a mutual responsibility between individuals and community. Mill looks at the Temperance movements and laws as an example of bad laws (not only from the aspect of curtailment of liberty, but also for impractical aspects of enforcement); in similar examples, Mill looks at the role of society in regulating the life of the individual, calling on good government to always err on the side of the individual.

Mill puts it very directly -- Individuals are accountable only to themselves, unless their actions concern the interests of society at large. Few in the Western world would argue with this today; however, we still live in a world where 'thought police' are feared, and 'political correctness' is debated as appropriate or not with regard to individual liberties.

Mill wrote extensively beyond this text, in areas of philosophy (logic, religion, ethics). The particular text here includes other essays of interest: 'Utilitarianism', 'Considerations on Representative Government', and 'The Subjection of Women', and also has a useful bibliography and index. The essay on Utilitarianism is one of the more contentious works of Mill; the later two contain ideas well ahead of their time, and many parts can be seen at work in modern democracies.

This should probably be required reading in civics classes, if not in the pre-university years for students, then certainly in the early university years.

Triumph of the individual.......2005-01-12

This Oxford collection of four definitive essays by John Stuart Mill, arguably the most famous Victorian writer who could be called a philosopher, gives an excellent profile of a rigorous social reformer and political thinker. The subjects of these essays--liberty, utilitarianism, government, and women's rights--are interrelated to the extent that they reveal a man with a sharp sense of history and its impact on the methods and mores of contemporary society. Mill, after all, was of Charles Dickens's generation and therefore witnessed an era in which the British crown was inclined to manifest its power through tyranny in its efforts to maintain a costly worldwide empire.

Mill's basic concern is liberty, both social and civil. He identifies a difference between freedom and liberty--freedom is the state of being free, while liberty is the freedom that a government or governing body grants its people. Briefly a member of Parliament (the workings of which are described in great detail in "Representative Government") and heavily informed and influenced by Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," Mill recognized that the most important (and perhaps the only proper) function of a government is to protect the liberties of its citizens. However, people generally get the form of government they deserve; if laws they allow to go unchecked become the tools of despotic powers, they have only their own ignorance or indolence to blame.

An enumeration of Mill's finer points may suffice as a summary of his ideas:

1. Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are essential rights of man. You don't have to accept as true what other people say, but let them say it because there's always the chance that they're right and you're wrong. Mill points out that even the Roman Catholic Church, most intolerant of religions (his words, not mine), allows a "devil's advocate" to offer repudiative evidence before it canonizes a new saint. He notes instances in which religious intolerance still rears its ugly head in the British Empire of his day.

2. Christianity does not have a monopoly on moral authority; literary history gives evidence of this.

3. Individuality should be fostered so that new ideas may flourish, but society, specifically the middle class, establishes the normative values that unfortunately tend to stifle individuality. You have an unlimited right to your opinion, but you are free to act only so far as you do not harm or molest others. Long before Orwell, Mill had the insight that institutional deprivation of liberty is effectively suppression of thought, for how can someone train himself to think independently when doing so could lead to persecution for heresy or treason?

4. State-sponsored education should restrict itself to teaching scientifically provable or reliably documented facts rather than push religious or political agenda. When or if polemical issues are raised, arguments for and against are to be presented as opinions so that students may draw their own conclusions.

5. The utilitarian principle states that actions that promote happiness (in its most obvious form, pleasure) are "right" and those that reduce happiness are "wrong"--in other words, utilitarianism is the opposite of puritanism. Consider how much better it is to be a dissatisfied human being than a satisfied pig, because the human has the potential for so much more happiness than the pig, whose breadth of experience is contained entirely between the trough and the slaughterhouse, could ever know.

6. Women deserve the same rights as men because the social and mental limitations attributed to women are for the most part a male-conceived artifice. Chivalry is a fallacy.

And so on. I'm not sure if it's correct to call Mill a libertarian in modern terms, but he was certainly concerned with the issues with which modern libertarians are concerned. Much of his discourse is relevant to today's world, even though he often draws upon the past for contrast in order to make his conclusions, the implication being that improvement comes with increased knowledge and experience. Anyone who is interested in nineteenth-century thought on democracy and individualism will find much to ponder in Mill's eloquence.

On "On Liberty...".......2004-05-15

Don't get me wrong. This book is quaint and it certainly has its merits. However, I was disappointed that the character on the cover isn't featured anywhere within. Who is the man with outsretched arms? Is he pleading for alms? Is he offering to pull someone out of a river? In fact, if you look closely he appears to be standing in a body of water which could support the latter theory. Who is he pulling from the river? Or is this a metaphor... do these essays figuratively pull one out of the river - the river of intellectual darkness? Perhaps not, which brings me back to my original point. Who is this man? Like all great philosophical questions... we may never know.

Liberal, Utilitarian and First Feminist. Essential reading........2004-03-31

JS Mill is rightfully so one of the most studied political theorists and philosophers. His radical ideas on women started a womens revolution during the Victorian era. His ideas about good government and freedom are applicable today, and obviously not being listened to in this neofascist age. His 'harm principle' for freedom remains one of the most enlightened theories out there, and it is with an open heart that I recommend his readings to anyone with an open mind, who is not afraid of change.

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Thoughtful and fast paced.
Everyone should read this one
An imaginitive social commentary and a captivating read
Good Introduction to Science Fiction
Could not put it down

Kindred (Black Women Writers Series)
Octavia E. Butler
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807083054

Book Description

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. With more than 100,000 copies in print, Kindred is a classic timetravel novel by an acclaimed African-American science fictionwriter.

Customer Reviews:

Thoughtful and fast paced........2007-09-08

I love time travel books! What I don't love is long-winded, implausible explanations of how time travel is possible. This book skips the crazy explanations and goes right to the good part--what happens. The hero is repeatedly sucked back to the time of slavery and must cope with living as a slave until she gets sucked back to the present. It makes you examine modern day prejudice with absolutely no preaching, yet reminds us all of how lucky we are to be living in modern times. I read this book cover to cover in one or two days.

Everyone should read this one.......2007-08-20

Like watching Hotel Rwanda, this book is hard to take--and for that reason, everyone should read it. Butler brings us right into the sheer terror of the experience.

An imaginitive social commentary and a captivating read.......2007-07-29

Octavia Butler cleverly answers the question "how can one become a slave" in her quasi sci-fi novel _Kindred_. Along the way, the complexities of gender, class, and racial relations are explored both in the ninteenth century as well as in the present.

The protagonist, Dana, is called back to the early 19th century to save a distant ancestor and slave owner. The conundrum she faces is, if he dies, she will not exist. As she is repeatedly pulled back in time, Dana begins to understand not only how a slave is made, but struggles with her own identity and concept of "home." The slave owner, as brutal as he is, is her kin.

Butler does not sugar coat the institution of slavery, but her characters (black and white) are neither all good or all bad, doing both good and evil as circumstances (and position) permit. Butler seems to suggest that both slaves and owners are products of their time, therefore demanding a more nuanced view of the antebellum south.

The story itself is fantastic. I am not a fan of science fiction, but the characters, story and the masterful way Butler unfolds events so utterly consumed me I read it in almost a single sitting. A recommended read.

Good Introduction to Science Fiction.......2007-07-11

I am usually not a fan of Sci-Fi novels. But, this book is an excellent choice for someone like me who is new to the genre. I consider it quasi science fiction and not hard core sci-fi. It is definitely a page turner that will keep you mesmerized for hours.

Sonya Armfield

Could not put it down.......2007-06-27

Dana, a 20th-century black woman, is suddenly and inexplicably sucked into the past, to a Maryland plantation in the early 1800s, in order to save the life of a young white child who would eventually live to be one of her forebears. Over and over, she returns to the future for barely enough time to reorient herself before she is transported into the past to rescue him yet again. Between each of her visits, several years have passed in the past, and the child grown older. Her visits become not only lengthier, but, especially for a black woman in the 19-century South, more and more dangerous.

As Kindred opens with a bang, the reader can't help but become immediately absorbed, getting a glimpse of how the book ends before even learning how it begins. Though the detailed depictions of this era of slavery are hard to swallow, they bring the period to life and add an in-your-face sense of realism. I couldn't put it down.

A Quest in the Middle East: Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq

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"Our Eastern Affairs are Complex Beyond All Words"
Understanding Irak

A Quest in the Middle East: Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq
Liora Lukitz
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1850434158
Release Date: 2006-02-16

Book Description

Revered or reviled, Gertrude Bell was a commanding figure: scholar, linguist, archaeologist, traveler and "Orientalist". Belonging to the tradition of the great British Middle East enthusiasts of the early twentieth century, she explored the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I and was (alongside T.E. Lawrence) hugely instrumental in the post-war reconfiguration of the Arab states in the Middle East. Using previously unseen sources, including Gertrude Bell's own diaries and letters, Liora Lukitz provides a deeper political and personal biography of this influential character and the tragedy, vulnerability and frustration that were key to her quest both for a British-dominated Middle East and relief from her troubled romantic life.

Customer Reviews:

"Our Eastern Affairs are Complex Beyond All Words".......2006-07-18

History is useful not only for revealing the past, but also in foreshadowing the future. In the case of Iraq, this is no small matter. This book by Liora Likutz, a scholar who is currently at the Truman Institute in Jerusalem, describes the making of modern Iraq through the life of one the two key protagonists who drew its boundaries on the map following World War I. Those two individuals were T.E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell. While the broad outline of Lawrence's life and exploits in the Middle East are well known to many, Gertrude Bell remains more of a mystery. This book attempts to pull back that veil. Anyone who seeks to understand the currents and tides swirling underneath modern Iraq needs to understand how this country came to be, and the complex life of Gertrude Bell is a good place to start.

Gertrude Bell was born on 14 July (ironically, the Baath Party National Holiday) in 1868 to a wealthy Victorian family. She attended Queen's College in London and later studied history at Oxford. Exceptionally bright, she not only excelled at academics but also proved herself to be a durable athlete who could compete with the boys. Following school, Gertrude met a young man named Henry Cadogan when she was 24 and desired to marry him. But her parents disapproved of this union because Cadogan was a "poor diplomat" not from a well-to-do family. Although the two shared common interests and might have made a happy couple, Gertrude - ever the dutiful daughter -shunned this relationship. She instead went to Bombay, India in 1902 and saw firsthand how Lord Curzon's rigid policies of not appointing Indians to his governing committees created opposition to British rule there. She carried this lesson with her. Britain's interest in India eventually brought Gertrude to Mespotamia, where she had an unconsummated affair with a British officer named Dick Doughty-Wylie. Gertrude did not understand Doughty-Wylie's devotion to his wife however, and perhaps persisted in this stillborn relationship because it did not impinge on her intellectual interests or her freedom. Doughty-Wylie, promoted to LtCol by 1916, was killed at Gallipoli in an attack on the Sidd-al-Barh castle for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Gertrude probably never completely recovered.

The British interest in Basra and concern over it falling into Turkish hands led the British to mount an expedition to Baghdad in 1916. In the climax to this disastrous campaign, 17,600 colonial troops ended up surrendering at Al Kut and were marched into enemy captivity. Later revelations of the Sykes-Picot Agreement (the secret agreement between the British and French to carve up the post-war Middle East) and the important question of what would happen to Mosul after the war convinced British administrators to stay involved in Iraq for years to come. And Gertrude intended to play a key role in what would happen in this Cradle of Civilization.

Gertrude quickly discovered that the population of Mesopotamia wanted to manage their own affairs, even if less competently than the British. This caused her to clash with other administrators. She also disagreed with them over the shape of the future Iraq: while some thought it would be impossible to unite the disparate populations of Basra, Baghdad, and Mosul, Bell envisioned an independent and unified Iraq that encompassed these key population centers. She thought Wilson's "rigidity" (like Curzon's earlier) had caused the July 1920 rebellion to spread from the south of the country to the west, ultimately costing hundreds of British lives and thousands of Arab lives.

Many tribes still resisted a Sunni-led government in Baghdad and instead preferred an Islamic government based out of Najaf and Karbala. Churchill, now Secretary of State for the colonies, sought to mobilize public opinion to convince the British it was worth their treasure to maintain presence in Iraq for a prolonged period. Britain would maintain control over the country primarily with its air force (similar to the no-fly zones between Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom) rather than committing large numbers of ground troops.

King Faysal I was finally coronated as King of Iraq on 23 August 1921. Gertrude developed a good relationship with him and was enamored of her role in "making Kings and inventing kingdoms." The Kurds still longed for self-rule however, and Faysal's weak governmental institutions depended upon British arms to give his rule sanction. By 1923, after much diplomatic wrangling, modern Iraq had taken shape. Mosul would stay within Iraq despite the Kurds' insistence on independence because: 1) it could not survive economically without the rest of Iraq, 2) it was not a Turkish province - nor it could it be allowed to become one, and 3) no oil concessions could be given to foreign oil companies. Oil was the driving strategic interest for Britain keeping its foot firmly planted in Iraq.

Gertrude saw the Sunni tribal leaders as the natural elites and thus the future rulers. As Iraq hardened into the form it would maintain for the remainder of the 20th Century and into the 21st, Gertrude's role in politics diminished and she became totally absorbed in her work at the Baghdad Museum. Alone and depressed yet unable to break away from the work she had anchored herself to for so much of her life, Gertrude took her own life with an overdose of sleeping pills in July 1926. She was buried on 12 July in Baghdad.

Likutz has produced a fine book that will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about Gertrude Bell and the making of modern Iraq. It is a brisk read, yet very impressively researched, relying primarily on Gertrude Bell's own letters. My only criticism of this book is that it does not contain any maps. These would have been very helpful in explaining the military campaign into Mesopotamia and surrender at Al Kut, the importance of Iraq vis-à-vis Britain's India policy, and the drawing of the post-war boundaries that Gertrude Bell played such a large role in. Still, the books' strengths outweigh this one weakness, and if you are interested in Iraq, you will not be disappointed.

Understanding Irak.......2006-02-10

Facinating and exciting point of view of Irak through Gertrude Bell's life.
Must be read if you want to understand what is happening now in this country.

Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women (Modern Library Humor and Wit)

Average customer rating:

It's not at all like "I Feel Bad About My Neck" (the new book)
I bought it because of the author
A New York Snob Speaks
Funny at times but some material very dated
Love this book

Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women (Modern Library Humor and Wit)
Nora Ephron
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679640355
Release Date: 2000-05-30

Book Description

The classic Crazy Salad, by screenwriting legend and novelist Nora Ephron, is an extremely funny, deceptively light look at a generation of women (and men) who helped shape the way we live now. In this distinctive, engaging, and simply hilarious view of a period of great upheaval in America, Ephron turns her keen eye and wonderful sense of humor to the media, politics, beauty products, and women's bodies. In the famous "A Few Words About Breasts," for example, she tells us: "If I had had them, I would have been a completely different person. I honestly believe that." Ephron brings her sharp pen to bear on the notable women of the time, and to a series of events ranging from Watergate to the Pillsbury Bake-Off. When it first appeared in 1975, Crazy Salad helped to illuminate a new American era--and helped us to laugh at our times and ourselves. This new edition will delight a fresh generation of readers.

Customer Reviews:

It's not at all like "I Feel Bad About My Neck" (the new book).......2007-07-07

I bought Crazy Salad (the original edition, from Amazon, used), after reading the new "I Feel Bad About My Neck". I really enjoyed the breezy chatty style of the new book, and the personal, witty essays about mundane things (purses, beauty regime, food). Crazy Salad isn't like that at all - it is more journalistic and newsy, and the dated essays are about 1970's politics (incl. gender politics) and political figures that have since been forgotten (I was only a baby then, so forgive me if I don't find these references meaningful). If you want a dip into what the women's movement was like in the early 70's, buy this book. If you just want a funny read, this book is not the one to buy. Also, it's not really about women, the title is misleading - it covers a whole bunch of news topics.

I bought it because of the author.......2007-01-10

Gave this book to my daughter-in-law on the recommendation of my dughter, who says this author is very special....for women. We need all the humor we can get.

A New York Snob Speaks.......2003-12-16

Nora Ephron is quite sure of herself and her friends, and laughs heartily at the yahoos in the Midwest who cook and love their husbands. While her writing is often amusing, her attitude of condescension and wearying self-glorification is grotesque. And to see her way back at the beginning of the Women's Movement equally sure of how circumstances would improve for women is especially painful. She poo-poohs those who wonder if women's life will actually improve, (and her own "Encounter Group" partners certainly cast doubt upon that) and lives in a world where people such as herself need not be troubled by real life.

As a historical document there is much to glean. For instance, the disgust with Watergate is palpable; yet our disgust with far greater crimes today is much less apparent. A clever lady, with a few interesting observations, but annoying and smug without being especially insightful.

Funny at times but some material very dated.......2001-02-23

I enjoyed part of this book. I laughed at a few of her stories but some of the chapters were so dated that I didn't know what she was talking about let alone whether it was funny. Maybe I was a bit too young to appreciate it all.

Love this book.......2000-11-27

I read this book years ago and bought it again for my daughter. The piece on breasts is just as hilarious and relevant today (sad to say) as it was when I first read it.

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