When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa

Book Description

After his father's heart attack in 1984, Peter Godwin began a series of pilgrimages back to Zimbabwe, the land of his birth, from Manhattan, where he now lives. On these frequent visits to check on his elderly parents, he bore witness to Zimbabwe's dramatic spiral downwards into thejaws of violent chaos, presided over by an increasingly enraged dictator. And yet long after their comfortable lifestyle had been shattered and millions were fleeing, his parents refuse to leave, steadfast in their allegiance to the failed state that has been their adopted home for 50 years.Then Godwin discovered a shocking family secret that helped explain their loyalty. Africa was his father's sanctuary from another identity, another world.WHEN A CROCODILE EATS THE SUN is a stirring memoir of the disintegration of a family set against the collapse of a country. But it is also a vivid portrait of the profound strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love.

Customer Reviews:

This is how to learn about Africa's tragedy.......2007-10-16

The author was born in Rhodesia ( Zimbabwe). His parents had emigrated there from Europe after WW II and created a wonderful life, as did many other Caucasians. At one stage Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa and an example country. Then came Robert Mugabe and his thugs. This is a reflection on 20 yrs of Mugabe after four years of civil war. It is a tale of wonderful country and chilling facts. I could not put the book down.

Fantastic read.......2007-10-11

Being a "White African" who has since moved to the States I completely appreciate Peter Godwin's perspective on current day Africa. This book is written with tremendous feeling however the author maintains a sense of objectivity that also makes for an extremely informative read. The story of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe is heartbreaking and Godwin parallels the sharp degradation of the countries economy and infrastructure with his fathers' health and his parents struggle to adapt to their rapidly changing environment. The book flows beautifully, the descriptions of the people and country of Zimbabwe are on point and vivid. The book touches on a wide range of issues such as cultural identity, racial integration and economic policy as well as the larger issues of power, money and democracy. I highly recommend the book to anyone however people who have experienced Africa will truly appreciate the writing and the emotion that it evokes.

Wonderful!.......2007-09-11

This was a wonderful memoir. Oh Africa! The complexities, the beauty, the paradox's. The writing made one feel as if we were hearing the night sounds, feeling the heat, smelling the aromas of this complex country. A hard-to-put-down memoir which made me hungry for more. Unforgetable.

When a crocodile eats the sun: a memoir of Africa.......2007-09-10

It is not news that the world has forgotten Africa. However, reading this wonderful book clarified the issues and struggles on a very personal level. How a country that fed half of Africa is now facing a humantarian crisis is a tragedy. What people forget is the fact that "white" farmers continued to feed and employ Africans for over 20 years after independence. However, in the past 7 years of a stupid brutal and unnecessary policy, a country has been allowed to die. It is only now that there is a crisis the world takes notice. Well written and poetic.

Read it!!.......2007-09-03

This book is probably the most objective, non-political account of the effect events in Zimbabwe have on ordinary people, with nary a nod to self-pity even though there is ample reason for it, that is available in the shops today. In South Africa we read about these events in newpapers, heard live reports on radio (very little on TV) but most profoundly, heard the stories from the mouths of the victims - both white and black - who have fled south. But those people were homeless, abused, stripped of possessions, often leaving murdered family behind, and their words were understandably filled with anger, fear, despair, hopelessness, and yes, hate.

The author's background as a journalist enables him to report the atrocities calmly without the emotional distress he most certainly felt, and therefore, this book is so untouchably credible. The fact that he has chosen to interwove the story with the discovery of his surprising heritage, the honest and painful rendering of watching his parents grow old, and the unsuccessful struggle to break through to his father's emotions, strengthens the book in so many ways. This is a real story, about real people, with real suffering and the irony is, these things are still happening, only more terribly.

Drive down the main street of Harare (Salisbury) and you will see affluence - new 4x4's (SUV's), Mercedes's, young men in business suits and silk shirts hurrying from one glasscovered skyrise to the next, leather briefcase swinging in his hand. Drive up into the hills and you will see the mansions, even by American standards, with the impeccable lawns, the palms, the blood red Erythrina trees. Hard to believe that the events of this book did not bring about prosperity. Do yourself a favour. Drive into the country. Take the dirt roads and look. Of course you won't be able to get fuel, so perhaps come to Johannesburg, and talk to the Zimbabweans streaming through the river east and west of Mussina. Then ask yourself some questions about basic human rights, international diplomacy, and parallels to South Africa........

If you don't read any other book about Africa, read this one.

Turn Away Thy Son: Little Rock, the Crisis That Shocked the Nation

Average customer rating:

After nearly five decades, enlightenment at last
Anatomy of a Train Wreck
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The American Dream or the American Nightmare...
Information Overload

Turn Away Thy Son: Little Rock, the Crisis That Shocked the Nation
Elizabeth Jacoway
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0743297199

Book Description

In September 1957, the nation was transfixed by nine black students attempting to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in the wake of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. Governor Orval Faubus had defied the city's integration plan by calling out the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the students from entering the school. Newspapers across the nation ran front-page photographs of whites, both students and parents, screaming epithets at the quiet, well-dressed black children. President Eisenhower reluctantly deployed troops from the 101st Air-borne, both outside and inside the school.

Integration proceeded, but the turmoil of Little Rock had only just begun. Public schools were soon shut down for a full year. Black students endured outrageous provocation by white classmates. Governor Faubus's popularity skyrocketed, while the landmark case Cooper v. Aaron worked its way to the Supreme Court and eventually paved the way for the integration of the south.

Betsy Jacoway was a Little Rock student just two years younger than the youngest of the Little Rock Nine. Her "Uncle Virgil" was Superintendent of Schools Virgil Blossom. Congressman Brooks Hays was an old family friend, and her "Uncle Dick" was Richard Butler, the lawyer who argued Cooper v. Aaron before the Supreme Court. Yet, at the time, she was cocooned away from the controversy in a protective shell that was typical for white southern "good girls." Only in graduate school did she begin to question the foundations of her native world, and her own distance from the controversy.

Turn Away Thy Son is the product of thirty years of digging behind the conventional account of the crisis, interviewing whites and blacks, officials and students, activists and ordinary citizens. A tour de force of history and memory, it is also a brilliant, multifaceted mirror to hold up to America today. She knows what happened to the brave black students once they got inside the doors of the school. She knows how the whites' fear of "race mixing" drove many locals to extremes of anger, paranoia, and even violence. She knows that Orval Faubus was only a reluctant segregationist, and that her own cousin's timid tokenism precipitated the crisis.

Above all, Turn Away Thy Son shows in vivid detail why school desegregation was the hottest of hot-button issues in the Jim Crow south. In the deepest recesses of the southern psyche, Jacoway encounters the fear of giving black men sexual access to white women. The truth about Little Rock differs in many ways from the caricature that emerged in the press and in many histories -- but those differences pale in comparison to the fundamental driving force behind the story. Turn Away Thy Son is a riveting, heartbreaking, eye-opening book.

Customer Reviews:

After nearly five decades, enlightenment at last.......2007-07-31

I attended Little Rock Central High School as a sophomore in the 1957-58 school year, and during the intervening five decades I have often attempted to make sense of the bewildering events that occurred at my school then and that gained such massive international attention. After all of these years, a talented and meticulous historian has finally created the definitive history of this crucial episode in recent American life. Drawing upon her exhaustive research of the primary documents and by conducting a huge number of interviews with most of the principal participants in the Central High crisis, Elizabeth Jacoway has written the book that should achieve recognition as the single work requiring citation whenever a future historian undertakes a serious examination of the integration of Central High. In this volume readers will encounter the naivete, bumbling ineptitude, treachery, malevolence, sporadic acts of grace and heroism, or misguided policies and decisions of so many of the major community, state, and national leaders and officials of the 1950's. Congratulations to Professor Jacoway for possessing the dedication, courage, and persistence necessary to produce this seminal work of history.

Charles Chappell
Professor of English
Hendrix College
Conway, Arkansas

Anatomy of a Train Wreck.......2007-07-19

This wonderful piece of scholarship is not in keeping with our time. Today, we are asked to look to crack-pot talking heads on television who are experts-on-nothing with opinions on everything, and who think every issue can be reduced to an eight-second sound bite, plus three more seconds for the personal insult. This incredible work is nothing like that. Dr. Jacoway approaches the subject matter like the trained historian that she is: fairly, dispassionately, and factually. Her uncle is a key player, and even he gets no pass. This is the story of a train wreck - the Little Rock desegregation crisis. The characters are huge. There is Harry Ashmore, editor of the editorial page of the Arkansas Gazette, who was always the darling of Little Rock's goat cheese liberals, but who in fact was self-important, self-congratulatory, and self-absorbed. When he wasn't editorializing, he was giving speeches to Democratic Party groups, conduct which would be considered appalling by what little passes as journalistic standards today. There is Virgil Blossom, school superintendent (and the author's uncle) who comes across as a nervous and manic Mr. Whipple of please-don't-squeeze-the-Charmin fame. There is Congressman Brooks Hays, trying very hard to be the peace maker between Faubus and Eisenhower, but who in fact was unsuccessful in doing so, and accordingly, had to resort to making it up as he went along. There is the Establishment, school board members and attorneys, all claiming to be doing the right thing, but some of whom had noses so high in the air they would drown in a drizzle. There is Jim Johnson, a lieutenant of Gerald L.K. Smith, and an unreconstructed racist who, along with his wife, had more in common with Juan and Eva Peron than main-stream white middle class Americana. There is U.S. District Judge John Miller whose ex parte communications with the school district attorneys would get him in serious ethical trouble by today's standards. And then, there is Orval Eugene Faubus. I have often characterized Faubus as the Darth Vadar of Southern politics. This book brings that image home in a more authentic way than I had ever imagined. It reinforces the point made by Roy Reed in his magnificent biography, that Faubus's journey to the dark side was uncomplicated and breathtakingly political. Without pointing fingers, the author reports that Faubus accused Blossom and others of "double-crossing" him in publicly down-playing the facts and circumstances of the "crisis" and the extent of potential violence, thereby failing to give Faubus cover. Whether as a consequence of their public views or whether it was strictly retaliatory to gain political advantage (my personal view), or whether for some other reason, the author does not say. To do so would be an attempt to read the mind of a mastermind of politics. But,the author reports that the next thing that happened, quite literally, was Faubus's calling out the National Guard. The rest, as they say, is history. But not quite. Eisenhower sent in the 101 Airborne Division, the Little Rock Nine were escorted into the front door of Central High, and the rest is history. Well, not quite. A year later, the schools didn't open at all. Faubus was elected to a third term in a campaign uncharacteristically filled with race hatred. I say uncharacteristic because in '54 and '56, he had run as the liberal populist reformer, accused by his opponent of being a communist, with Ashmore as his chief water carrier and speech writer. Ashmore took a leave of absence from the Gazette to serve as Adlai Stevenson's spinmeister in '56. Faubus headed the Arkansas delegation to the convention, and would not deliver Arkansas's support to Stevenson on the first ballot. Ashmore remained bitter toward Faubus for years after that, and the author invites speculation, but does not opine herself, that the resentment may have been the reason for the "Ashmore-Gazette" version of events at Central High.
This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the history of the American civil rights movement. As a liberal Democrat, I had difficulty with some of the material - not because I didn't think the material was true, but because I knew in my heart and mind that it was true. But there is nothing here for the conservative, either. Those who want to go back to a time when "everybody was good" and American values were "held high" should read this book. Segregation, racial discrimination, bigotry, and hatred are not American values. There are no conservative heroes, and very few liberal heroes (Daisy Bates, Elizabeth Eckford, Wiley Branton). In the aftermath of this train wreck, bodies are strewn up and down the track. It's very bloody. History is that way sometimes.

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY.......2007-03-30

I am impressed with the depth of research, and I think Ms. Jacoway writes rather well. Given the extensive research, this book COULD HAVE have stood as the definitive study of the Little Rock Central High School episode. (Several other books on the crisis were written by the key figures themselves, and thus are not detached overviews of the episode. Also, Roy Reed's superb book on Faubus, since it is a biography, does not deal with Central High in as much detail as this book does.) I say "could have" because Ms. Jacoway allows her personal feelings about her uncle, Virgil Blossom, and about Governor Faubus to lead her to paint a distorted picture. Superintendent Blossom certainly had his faults, which the book identifies and then greatly overemphasizes. As for Faubus, it is absurd to argue, as the author does, that betrayal by Blossom and others left him with no choice but to defy the federal courts. This is revisionist history and a fatal flaw in the book. There are other omissions and misunderstandings, but those could be forgiven were it not for the fatal flaw. An example: The author misunderstands the role of Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker. Since he was the ranking Army officer in Arkansas (he was in charge of Army Reserve units in the state), protocol dictated that he be the nominal commander of the 101st Airborne units sent to Little Rock. But he was purely a front man, not a decision-maker as the book suggests. Although the end of the book follows other key figures through the years after the Central High crisis, it amazingly fails to note the irony that ex-Gen. Walker helped lead the charge against federal marshals during the desegregation of Ole Miss in 1962.

The American Dream or the American Nightmare..........2007-03-11

Even in politically-charged 2007, what Elizabeth Jacoway has written is an honest, behind-the-scenes look at one of the darkest periods of American history. This is a must read book, especially for African Americans, because it shows us why we should be steadfastly embracing educational and economic opportunities before us and not browbeating each other. Racism, segregation, etc., has left segments of our society forever scarred. "Turn Away Thy Son" is the American history that you won't get from a public school history book.

Information Overload.......2007-02-23

I was born shortly after the attempt to intergrate Central High School by using the Little Rock nine. The nine black students faced a firestorm that was years in the making. Elizabeth Jacoway has impressive family connections to many of the movers and shakers in the integration struggle. Many of us recognize the iconic photo of a dignified young black woman walking seemilnly alone, surrounded by white faces, the face of a young white woman behind her contorted with scorn. Jacoway peels away layer after layer of the actions and attitudes on all sides of the integration battle and lays it out for the reader to absorb, and encourages them to draw their own conclusion. There is also the little remembered episode of the closing of all the city's schools the following year when authorities said they couldn't (or wouldn't) keep the peace. The school administration has very few shining moments in this book.The heros were the black students, some teachers, Daisy Bates, parents and countless citizens who stepped out from the crowd to lend support, comfort and safety. In many cases,local women were not only trying to keep their children in school,keep their children safe, they are also the forces that nudged the general populace into doing the right thing. There are also examples of others who sought the spotlight to continue to threaten and bully their peers into keeping the status quo. I often wondered while reading this, what became of Sammie Dean Parker, is she still a bully? I went to school a decade later in a school system in the south that was still struggling with integration. I was more than familiar with the dynamics. I found Jacoway was more than familiar with the dynamics and uses all the information available, as well as the information gleened from family and political connections. That is where the book struggles. There is too much detail. Some parts of the saga simply fall away in the effort to stick to a liniar storyline. I closed the book feeling as if I had focused so much on the details that I had somehow lost sight of the overall picture.

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politically correct
It was amazing!!
It was a great historical fiction book of the RevolutionWar.
Yet another fine work of historical fiction from Myers.

The Keeping Room (Novel)
Anna Myers
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0141304685

Book Description

A Revolutionary War novel with a difference

When Colonel Joseph Kershaw leaves Camden, South Carolina, to lead the American rebels in their struggle against the British, he leaves his son Joey behind as the man of the house. But what can a 13-year-old do when General Cornwallis comes into town and makes the Kershaws' home his headquarters, and begins hanging American prisoners in the family garden? Joey is determined to get revenge--even if he has to risk everything.

"Finely crafted, the book offers a potent message, unfettered by moralizing, about war." --Kirkus Reviews

Customer Reviews:

politically correct.......2007-04-25

This book was very ...modern. The characters were stilted stereotypes, the reasons for the comflict from either side were mentioned only breifly in passing. The ending was predictable and the book had the feeling that the author crammed in every politically correct topic that she could think of. Even throwing in remarks on topics that have absolutly nothing to do with what is going on in either dialogue or action. All in all it seems to have been written to showcase modern political correctness rather than history.

It was amazing!!.......2002-06-08

At first, when my 6th grade Social Studies teacher told us we were going to read The Keeping Room I was thinking "Oh great, a book that we're going to have to do work on." I wasn't too excited. About the time we had gotten to the end of the first chapter I had already picked out my favorite character and wanted to keep going. Of course my favorite character was none other than Euven, Joey's Quaker teacher. Joey's dad, Colonel Kershaw, went off to protect Camden, South Carolina. But General Cornwallis showed up with his men. Camden decided to surrender. Euven tells Joey that there are both good and evil men on both sides of the war, but Joey doesn't want to believe it. But sure enough he meets a man on the British's side who is a good man. Captain Harkins, one of the few nice men on the British side, protects Joey from harm caused by the other soldiers. But, try as Captain Harkins might, Joey refuses to become friends with him. I learned that anyone living in the times of the Revolutionary War would have had problems with the British. I also learned that no matter what happens never give up. Joey kept going and he never gave up because he wanted to prove to his father he could do it. But Joey finds out no matter how old, wise, or nice someone is, it doesn't mean they're always right.

It was a great historical fiction book of the RevolutionWar........1998-11-22

great boo

Yet another fine work of historical fiction from Myers........1997-10-01

In her latest offering of historical fiction for young people, Myers (Fire in the Hills, Red Dirt Jessie, Spotting the Leopard) once again paints a thought-provoking picture of a long-ago time and place while showing that many things, including relationships with family and friends, and above all, feelings, have not changed very much at all. In The Keeping Room, Myers presents an unforgettable coming of age story set during the American Revolution. Young Joey Kerhsaw longs for his beloved father, who is fighting against the English during the American Revolution. When Colonel Kershaw is captured, and the British under General Cornwallis take over the Kerhsaw home to use as their headquaters, Joey is devestated and is determined to strike back by killing a redcoat; his vengence and hatred toward the British cause one of the few good men serving under Cornwallis to be killed; Joey learns that there are good and bad men on both sides but it is too late: the damage is done. As the book closes in two thought-provoking letters between father and son, the reader realizes that Joey's opinions of slavery and war are forever changed. Joey and his family will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

Average customer rating:

An amazing memoir
Murderous utopia
A Book Of Rare Quality
very very very moving!!!!
Extraordinary

Stay Alive My Son
Yathay
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0029358612

Customer Reviews:

An amazing memoir.......2007-04-12

Pin Yathay's amazing account of his ordeal under the Khmer Rouge is truly unforgettable and deeply moving. He was a successful engineer who had gone to college in Montreal and had a big happy family in April of 1975 when everything about his world changed forever. At first he and other members of the family didn't believe that anything was going to happen with the new rulers in power (after all, he had supported the Khmer Rouge against the opposition leader Lon Nol and believed they would give Cambodians a better life). Even when they were forced to evacuate Phnom Penh soon after the takeover of power, he didn't believe that anything horrible would happen to them. Most of the people forced onto the road believed that this would merely be a temporary evacuation and that before long, once the political situation became stable, they would be allowed to return home and be put to good use working for the new regime.

It wasn't long before the true intentions of the Khmer Rouge became known. In their ruthless fanatical quest to purgue the nation of anything smacking of the old regime, they took away anything deemed to be "imperialist," even something like the registration for a car, a pair of glasses, or certain types of clothing. Their hatred of all things "imperialist" was so irrational and fanatical that they would even throw away or destroy things like cars or foreign money, things that could have been very useful to them in their position of power or quest to supposedly reform the country. Although Thay hid his true background from them, fearing execution or imprisonment if they knew how high-ranking he'd really been, he and his family were still deemed "New People" (as opposed to the "Ancients," or peasants, who were left alone because they hadn't lived or worked like "imperialists"), and therefore sent from work camp to work camp in the forests and jungles, made to work the land and do other backbreaking hard labor. Hunger, disease, and fatigue soon began to take their toll on the people in these work camps, and before long only he, his wife Any, and one of his sons were left. He and his wife made the incredibly difficult decision to leave their surviving child Nawath behind in a hospital, in the care of an older woman who promised to look after him, so that they might escape and live, and then one day be able to return to Cambodia to look for him.

The account of Thay's arduous trek through the jungle and into Thailand is incredibly powerful and compelling, a true testament to the will to survive. After he was left alone, he knew he had an obligation to all of his lost loved ones to live, to testify to the world about what was happening in Cambodia, so that their deaths would not have been in vain. It gave him the courage and strength to live even after he ran out of lighter fluid and food supplies and had to resort to eating the raw meat of animals such as tortoises and bats, and to escape again after being recaptured by some Khmer Rouge near the border. And all along the way, the dying words of his father, ordering him to stay alive, urged him on even when succumbing to the elements or his hunger and fatigue might have been a welcome relief. This book is both excellent history and a moving story of survival against the odds, and, when it comes to books about this era in Cambodian history and this particular genocide of the 20th century, is as good a place to start as any.

Murderous utopia.......2003-09-11

Pin Yathay's biography is a unique dramatic and shocking report on the Red Khmer regime in the 1970s in Cambodia.
It contains an excellent first-hand account of the disorderly evacuation of Phnom Penh after the Red Khmer victory in the civil war. After the evacuation, the whole country was turned into an experiment of totalitarian economy (no money, no private property, spying on everybody). The main ideological aim was equality at any cost, not freedom, except naturally for the members of Angkar (the Organization) themselves.
The whole system resulted in murderous labour camps with hundreds of thousands of deaths from hunger, exhaustion, torture and summary executions of 'enemies' of the system. A terrible shame for humanity and for the ideologically pure left.

The escape to Thailand reads like a nail-biting but bitter thriller. It was a real and, for some family members, deadly escape, not fiction.

Apart from its uncontested historical value, this book should be read as a warning against the madness of pure ideologists, who, once in power, accept without the slightest remorse millions of human casualties in order to implement their maniacal policies.

For a more political (national and international), economical and social analysis of the Cambodian history and the Red Khmer regime, I recommend the works of David P. Chandler and Ben Kiernan, as well as William Shawcross's 'Sideshow'.

A Book Of Rare Quality.......2002-11-12

This tragic biography traces the story of an educated man and his family in Phnom Penh. Subjected to the indescribable barbaric cruelty that the Khmer Rouge inflicted on its own countrymen, the writer provides the reader with their sense of hopelessness that gripped their nation less than 30 years ago. His hardship and ultimate triumph is the very definition of human survival and the will to survive. Anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of the plight of the Cambodian people under the Khmer Roughe MUST read this book. I can guarantee that when you finish reading this book you will undoubtedly take a moment to think about humanity itself.

very very very moving!!!!.......2002-07-14

this book should really help all of us appreciate our lives. It is amazing what he and his family went through! I could not put this book down! BY the way, does anyone have any recent info on the author? It would be interesting to see what he is up to now, and how his life is going, and if he ever contacted his son Naweth, or obtained any information.

Extraordinary.......2001-07-23

I am rarely moved to tears when reading a book, yet Pin Kathy's recounting of his horrendous experiences and ultimate survival is an exception. The agony of his having to abandon his son and losing his wife in the forest while trying to escape from Cambodia are the worst of numerous agonizing events. The book is a very personal account of one man and the destruction of his family however, Pin Yathay's narration also achieves his primary goal of allowing the reader to understand what life or more often death was like for all under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge rule. This reign of terror is an extreme example of what happens when a nation's political structure so weakens that unbridled ignorance destroys all enlightenment. It is also a warning that progress can never be taken for granted. Few who read this book will ever forget it.

All the Bright Sons of Morning (Heartland Chronicles)

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puts midwest history in perspective

All the Bright Sons of Morning (Heartland Chronicles)
Nancy Niblack Baxter
Manufacturer: Emmis Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1878208144

Customer Reviews:

puts midwest history in perspective.......2000-01-30

As a midwesterner, it is fascinating to read about how things might have been for those who lived here and roamed these hills long before. The author sure knows how to bring the reader into a different time smoothly; I've read the four other titles in her midwest chronology, and they are all books you'd like to curl up and read nonstop, but are so interwoven and interesting that you will savor them over many reading sessions. Also see The Red Heart, by James Thom.

First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty

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Detailed Bio - Unconvincing Thesis
UNBIASED?? THE AUTHOR SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF!!
The history of the Bush/Walker clan and the rise of George W
Entertaining but BIASED!
COME OUT OF THE CLOSET, Mr. Minutglio!

First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty
Bill Minutaglio
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0812931394
Release Date: 1999-10-06

Amazon.com

The first of several Y2K biographies on Texas governor George W. Bush offers an in-depth look at both the Republican presidential candidate and his political family: Bill Minutaglio interviewed more than 300 people for First Son, including Bush and many members of his inner circle. The book focuses on the life of "Dubya" (the nickname used by the press and others to distinguish him from his father) and includes a combination of original material and information that has been reported elsewhere. It is neither pro- nor anti-Bush, simply reportorial and largely nonjudgmental. Readers won't find an answer to one of the season's most burning questions: Has Bush ever used illegal drugs? In a preface, Minutaglio piously says he won't stoop to such low levels. Yet one gets the sense that he won't go there because he doesn't have any hard evidence, as stories of Bush's heavy drinking are related without apparent reservation. Minutaglio, a writer for The Dallas Morning News, spends most of his time describing Bush's amazing and unexpected rise to fame. Dubya's own family, for instance, thought that younger brother Jeb would be the first to win an important public office. Yet Dubya exploited his family ties and personal charisma to have a successful business career in the 1980s and then beat a popular incumbent in 1994 to become Texas governor. (Jeb became governor of Florida in 1998, while his brother won a second term in Austin.) Minutaglio's narrative goes light on Bush's gubernatorial record and ends before his formal entry into the presidential race in 1999. Readers hungry for an overview of the man who would be president, however, could do much worse than start by looking here. --John J. Miller

Book Description

In one of the most unprecedented developments in the history of national politics, George W. Bush abruptly emerged to lead all presidential aspirants in the national polls for the 2000 election. Yet voters know very little about the man, beyond his famous name and his place in one of the nation's most powerful political dynasties.

First Son is a true, riveting family saga about extraordinary power and politics in America and in the unharnessed state--a state of mind--called Texas. The story begins with the turn-of-the-century emergence of the influential Bush-Walker clan and of Prescott Bush, the Connecticut patrician who ingrained in his family an ethos that continues to exert influence on his son, former President George Bush, and his grandsons, George W. and Jeb. How these scions of the Bush dynasty struggle to live up to their enduring legacy is the central theme of this colorful and perceptive portrait the first authentative book on the governor of Texas.

In the past year, award-winning Texas writer Bill Minutaglio has met with George W. Bush and interviewed dozens of people close to him, from his brother Governor Jeb Bush of Florida to uncles and cousins, from current and former political advisers to high-ranking insiders from his father's years in the White House. Fraternity buddies, political operatives, George W.'s employers, and even ardent critics of the Bush family bring this story to life--from the society circles in his native Connecticut to the family compound in Maine to the backwaters of his adopted Texas. The result is a book that is nuanced, insightful, and surprising in the contradictions and complexities it reveals about this man.

First Son vividly reconstructs George W. Bush's boarding-school days at one of the country's most exclusive institutions; his tenure in one of Yale's secret societies and as president of his unfettered fraternity; his attempts to follow his family's million-dollar path into the wide-open Texas oil patch; his role in major league baseball as the public face and head cheerleader for the Texas Rangers; and, finally, his rise to governor of Texas and national political force, executed with more hard-edged calculation than many people realize.

Written with precision, verve, and fair-minded balanace, First Son will be the political story of 2000--the eye-opening tale of a natural-born politician.

Download Description

The Bush family represents one of America's most formidable political dynasties -- beginning with the election of Prescott Bush to the U.S. Senate in 1948 and continuing through 1998, when George W. Bush won a landslide reelection as Governor of Texas and his younger brother Jeb Bush was elected Governor of Florida. Of course, the generational link between these men is former President George Bush, whose accomplishments have been a daunting factor in the lives of his sons. Veteran Texas reporter and long-time Bush observer Bill Minutaglio has written the most authoritative and insightful work to date on the First Son. Minutaglio interviewed Bush's friends and family, his old drinking buddies and Yale classmates, associates from his days as an oilman and owner of the Texas Rangers, and the politicians who have seen Bush up close in action. Minutaglio even gained access to George W. Bush himself.

Customer Reviews:

Detailed Bio - Unconvincing Thesis.......2006-12-29

Minutaglio provides a detailed life of George W. Bush, from his birth in New Haven Connecticut to his first election as governor of Texas in 1994. (After that he only describes a few events from his eight years as governor and provides a brief afterword about the 2000 presidential campaign that, strangely, concludes without revealing the results of the Supreme Court decision that finalized the election.)

Yet he fails to demonstrate that W. is only, or even largely, the product of the Bush dynasty. He fails to explain why Bush follows more in the new conservative steps of Reagan than in the moderate, non-ideological path of his father Bush 41. He doesn't mention neoconservatism at all, although Condi Rice is mentioned in the last pages. Yes, he does describe important elements of continuity in the dynasty (education at Andover, Yale, and Harvard; work in the West Texas oil fields; and common political experiences), but he fails to examine the very important differences between the two men, differences that may prove to be even more important.

The book also overlooks the role of Bush's faith in God. He describes his 1986 decision to quit drinking as an effort to avoid embarrassing his father and calls his conversion experience an attempt to reach out to the Christian right. For someone like Bush who has been the most open president about his faith since William McKinley, this is a major oversight. Minutaglio should have explained how and why his faith was important to him and his political career.

As a biography the book is fair and even-handed, describing Bush's wayward years, his maturing, and his achievements in business and politics. It provides good insight into how Bush developed as a man and politician. But it stops as Bush begins to emerge on the national stage as Texas governor.

Minutaglio's writing is also repetitive, narrating the same incidents and characterizations at different places in the book. At times it seems disjointed, and he does a poor job of explaining where certain action occurs. But there are also some really funny stories, mostly at Bush's expense, in the book (e.g. the recycled Christmas cards and the cattle guard's uniform).

Overall, a decent and impartial biography of W.'s pre-gubernatorial life, although the indifferent writing makes it a bit plodding to read at times.

UNBIASED?? THE AUTHOR SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF!!.......2006-12-28

THIS IS AN UNADULTERATED PUFF PIECE THAT EITHER HIDES, OBSCURES, IGNORES OR COMPLETELY FABRICATES A NEW HISTORY & PERSONA FOR GEORGE W. BUSH!

PLAIN & SIMPLE...THIS BOOK IS A JOKE...AND A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME & MONEY (WHICH I'D LOVE TO GET BACK PLEASE!)!!

The history of the Bush/Walker clan and the rise of George W.......2004-09-11

This is a nice book detailing the history of the Bush/Walker clan and the early life of George W. Bush. There is a lot of trash out there about this man and his politics, so it is hard to get a good biography of him. Make no mistakes, Minutaglio reveals a lot of the unsavory side of George W., but it is unbiased and he deals in facts. He also covers the strengths of this man, so the reader can get the good and the bad about him. The author only reveals the facts of his National Guard stint and the glosses over the drug allegations, so the reader cannot judge the current controversy over these allegations. I enjoy a book dealing in facts and not conservative/liberal conjecture. Minutaglio does a good job in this.
I especially like how Minutaglio reveals the personal relationship of George W. with his father. This is probably the most difficult aspect of this book, but the author summarizes their relationship well. Few other authors have attempted this with George W.
For those wanting a good biography of our 43rd President, this is nice book and read. For those wanting to read trash, go elsewhere--there is plenty to pick from.

Entertaining but BIASED!.......2003-07-31

I bought this book on a lark thinking it might actually be what the cover notes said is was "unbiased", but as soon as I saw Dan Rather's opinion on the book (printed on the back of the paperback I purchased), I should've known this book was not necessarily "the truth" on George W. Bush. Don't believe everything you read or hear from anyone in print or media. I encourage you to be selective and present things in context. . .

Speaking of things in context, I really can't trust this book as gospel because Minutaglio quotes sources in such a sporadic way, footnoting the quotes only to look more credible. The quotes are sometimes ridiculous and misplaced, it seems, but albeit, very entertaining.

That's just it, this book is entertaining and nothing more except to provide a biased peek at what Minutaglio believes is the driving force and reasons for our President's personality, politics, career choices, and other personal decisions.

Juicy. As in gossipy.

COME OUT OF THE CLOSET, Mr. Minutglio!.......2003-02-23

Maybe I'm slow...or too trusting. Previous reviewers kept insisting again and again that this book was "unbiased". WRONG. From the first page, the author had an attitude about Bush - and the GOP. It gradually became clear that the author is a passionate Democrat, as he approvingly whitewashed all personal Clinton and Democrat party issues and glorified people like Al Gore. The bias abounds throughout the book... RNC party strategists are called "political terrorists", while their DNC equals are portrayed as sincere victims at each turn of the two year campaign. And you Mom's and Dad's out there, tell me: what parent (such as George, Sr) would hug the son he loves (George W.) on the happiest day of his life, but instead of thinking of the incredibly close relationship of family love, pride, and respect that the father and son have always shared, the father is now thinking only of the three times in a lifetime that father/son had been briefly angry with each other. And why remind the reader again and again, as much as four times over hundreds of pages, of each small tidbit of negative information? Was he afraid we would forget? Why did it take me hundreds of pages of wasted time to finally realize that no matter what the Bushes say or do, this author is biased to hate Bush and the Bush family, and to love Gore - and the Democrats - and the RNC. Period. Every possible issue and personal examination is slanted toward contempt for the one, and pride in the other. BOTTOM LINE: This book was promoted DECEPTIVELY. If Mr. Minitaglio wanted to write a hate-piece, fine - but why not be up front about it? My recommendation for busy people who love to read is simply that you beware. Know before you go. I'm rating the book a 3, because my friends who are Democrats may enjoy this book. (but why waste time, since he is already president and there's nothing you can do about it?) BUT... my Republican friends, STAY AWAY from this book, because it is unfair, duplicitous, full of seething, underhanded bias that Bernard Goldberg courageously exposed in his excellent book "BIAS". The bias peeks out from - and underneath - every sentence. Hope this helps reverent readers like me who just want to read, and who just want the TRUTH.

Average customer rating:

Lively and worthwhile tale of gay love
I simply cannot believe
Ahead of its time; worth it to pick this up a decade later
Most accurate depiction of South Beach
Not so hot

My Worst Date
David Leddick
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312146892

Amazon.com

"Young man finding his way in a new sexual world" is a common theme in gay male fiction. But what about "young man finds himself working as a stripper, playing a featured part on a nighttime soap opera, and then dating his mother's boyfriend." Hugo, the hero of My Worst Date has a lot to learn about life, and, boy, is he learning fast. David Leddick's prose is charming and insightful, his characters are world-weary but still eager, and his sense of humor and empathy is on target. Set in the semimythical gay world of South Beach, Florida, My Worst Date is a romp with feeling that has some smart things to say.

Book Description

In Miami, where the sun always shines and the people are always fabulous, sixteen-year-old Hugo is ready for something more than school and hanging out. When he meets Glenn Elliot Paul, he thinks that, maybe, he had found something to look forward to. Hugo gets more than he bargained for, however, when he realizes that the man of his dreams is also dating his mother.My Worst Date is a humorous and insightful novel--an innovative take on the traditional coming-of-age novel.

Customer Reviews:

Lively and worthwhile tale of gay love.......2007-07-29

Sixteen year old Hugo is a bright and well balanced kid, he is gay and comfortable with himself, he lives with his mother Iris, a one time model, and clearly loves her very much. But things become complicate when the handsome, mysterious and apparently wealthy Mr Glenn Elliott Paul arrives on the scene and starts dating both Iris and Hugo. Iris is oblivious to the subterfuge, but not Hugo, who is able to confide in his long time school friend Macha. Hugo also has a very supportive teacher and some good friends at the strip club where he works, unbeknown to Iris, a few evenings as a dancer to raise money to help see him through college.
In addition to coping with sharing his lover with his mother and not knowing is own father, he has to deal with the normal problems a sixteen year old faces such as what to do with is life; actor, model, writer, designer, each a realistic option.
The various participants relate this story, predominately Hugo and frequently Iris, with most of the other participants getting an occasional word in apart from Glenn Elliott. It is a lively, frank and insightful tale told with humour; and with plenty of bedroom, or any other place that is convenient, activity. The characters are mostly attractive physically and in personality, and Hugo himself is adorable. Despite all the problems he has the maturity to see a way through and one is left with a positive feeling for his future.

I simply cannot believe.......2007-02-08

that I finished this book. It took me weeks because I had to take a couple days off every few dozen pages simply to remind myself that the real world still exists.
Why did I finish it then? Primarily because I could not believe that it would end on the planet Earth.

Ahead of its time; worth it to pick this up a decade later.......2005-09-04

This book came out in 1996, way ahead of its time. Mainstream literature readers weren't ready for an in-depth look at the gay scene in Miami Beach, where everyone is self-centered, body-obsessed, monogamy is unheard of, and bisexual men are creeps to the men and women around them. This was when having one token gay character on a TV show was titillating. Now we see these types of men all over the place in shows like Queer As Folk and mainstream America is begininning to get a glimpse of gay culture.

This book stands the test of time. It is still relevant a decade later and doesn't seem dated at all. The main plot centers on a 17-year old son and his mother dating the same man, the dashing Glenn Eliott Paul. Mom is unaware that her son Hugo is secretly getting it on with her boyfriend. Some reviewers claim this is unrealistic. Wake up! Men on the "down low" are a cultural phenomenon and this is happening in every town in America (okay, maybe not in the same family, but there are many men who sleep with men but live life as heterosexuals).

This is a dramatic tale, full of twists and turns and deceptions and family secrets. No, you don't have to "like" all the characters. But, boy, does this make for some thrilling reading! There is plenty of homosexual erotica in this book, which I found to be well-done.

Give this book a chance and view it with an open mind. It is a complete page turner, and you get to see the action from the points of view of two very well developed characters, Hugo and his former-model Mom Iris.

Most accurate depiction of South Beach.......2005-06-07

I came to Amazon to buy a copy of this book for a gift, and read some AWFUL reviews about it, and yet to MY view, there's no question that this is ABSOLUTELY the best book ever written about South Beach. OK, our main character Hugo is a bit "wise" for a 16-year-old, and his references, allusions, etc., are over the head of most kids his age today (or in '93 when this was written), but for quality of tone, an on-the-mark conceit about South Beach and characters that ring true for South Beach, no book written before or after this one comes close to capturing what the environment (and the people) are really like down here. And who says you have to "like the characters" to have a "good book"? Any of these reviewers ever read a guy named Shakespeare? I'll stick with Hugo.

Not so hot.......2001-11-24

If you're interested in this-- read the books from Christian McLaughlin, Robert Rodi and Doug Guinan before you read this. It's not very well written and the story isn't especially exciting... the others are much better examples of the "gay beach novel" genre...

Average customer rating:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
A different sort of story

The Killer's Tears
Anne-Laure Bondoux
Manufacturer: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385732937
Release Date: 2006-02-14

Book Description

On the afternoon when Angel Allegria arrives at the Poloverdos’ farmhouse, he kills the farmer and his wife. But he spares their child, Paolo–a young boy who will claim this as the day on which he was born. Together the killer and the boy begin a new life on this remote and rugged stretch of land in Chile.

Then Luis Secunda, a well-to-do and educated fellow from the city descends upon them. Paolo is caught in the paternal rivalry between the two men. But life resumes its course . . . until circumstances force the three to leave the farm. In doing so, Angel and Luis confront their pasts as well as their inevitable destinies–destinies that profoundly shape Paolo’s own future.

Customer Reviews:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-10-10

Can a killer love?

Is Angel's murder strike just what Paolo needs to gain his strength?

When Angel snatches the lives of Paolo's parents, Angel takes Paolo into his world. When an intelligent traveler discovers their house on the very edge of Chile, he teaches Angel how to love.

The first trip Paolo ever takes turns out to be a suicidal nightmare.

What kind of trip does this turn out to be?

THE KILLER'S TEARS tells a wonderful story of the love between a young child and a murderer. It has a wonderful word choice and is very well put together. A great read!!!

Reviewed by: Holly

A different sort of story.......2006-04-08

How often does this scenario occur - a man comes and murders your parents, spares you, and then decides to become your father? This story is odd. The murderer and child grow to love one another. The murderer is consumed with guilt and love at the same time. Eventually he must pay for the sins of his past. I feel better at least that the boy in the story seems to grow up into a well-adjusted man, and learns to love a good woman. In some strange way, the love of the killer made the boy's life better, and his life as a man reflects that.

Average customer rating:

Nuestras Vidas Son los Rios: Una Novela
Jaime Manrique
Manufacturer: Rayo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060820721
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Book Description

Ambientado en la majestuosa geografía de los Andes, este libro apasionante cuenta la vida de Manuela Sáenz, quien ganó su lugar en la historia como el gran amor del libertador de Suramérica, Simón Bolívar.

La vida de Manuela Sáenz en sí es fascinante. Abandonando su posición como una de las mujeres más ricas de Lima, Sáenz trabajó clandestinamente con conspiradores para derrocar los representantes corruptos del reino español. Este camino eventualmente la llevó a conocer a Bolívar en 1822, cuando ella tenía veinticinco años. La atracción fue inmediata y por ocho años fueron amantes, hasta la muerte de Bolívar. Durante esta época turbulenta, Manuela luchó en varias batallas, consiguiendo el rango de coronel, y fue eventualmente encarcelada, herida y por último desterrada de por vida de Colombia y Ecuador.

Nuestras Vidas Son los Ríos dramatiza la lucha de Suramérica por su independencia no solo desde el punto de vista de Sáenz, si no también desde la mirada de otras dos mujeres excepcionales: Natán y Jonotás, las esclavas de Sáenz. Con este paso audaz, Manrique muestra diferentes (y a veces encontradas) versiones de Bolívar, de Manuela y de las consecuencias importantes del movimiento de independencia—no solo para los descendientes españoles, si no también para los esclavos y para la enorme población indígena de los Andes.

Esta novela ejemplar de Manrique revela a Manuela Sáenz como una mujer única y brillante a quien lectores modernos encontrarán imposible de olvidar.

Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President

Average customer rating:

Surprisingly fair
Read it but don't buy it
Fantastic Read
The Bare-knuckled Truth about Privilege
A Must Read for Every American of Voting Age

Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President
J. H. Hatfield , Mark Crispin Miller , and J.H. Hatfield
Manufacturer: Soft Skull Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1887128751

Amazon.com

Let's cut to the chase: yes, J.H. Hatfield alleges that, in 1972, George W. Bush was arrested for possession of cocaine and, with the help of his father, got the charges erased in exchange for performing community service. Other than that, however, Fortunate Son is a standard quickie biography of the Texas governor and frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential race--and useful primarily because few people outside of Texas (for that matter, few people within Texas) know much about Bush's history and political record. It's all about connections, Hatfield says: if he'd had a different father, Bush "could be just another Texan who failed in the oil business and now operates a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico." The bombshell doesn't even come until a short afterword, tacked onto the already completed manuscript at the last minute, complete with a "Deep Throat" within Bush's inner circle. (Said informant throws in an almost too perfectly worded attack on the governor's hypocrisy in vigorously fighting the war on drugs: "I've known George for several years and he has never accepted youth and irresponsibility as legitimate excuses for illegal behavior--except when it comes to himself.")

Bush has denied the allegations, however, and it seems that Hatfield has a few dark secrets in his past. Shortly after the publication of Fortunate Son, The Dallas Morning News reported that Hatfield was a paroled felon who had attempted to hire a hit man to kill his boss. The online magazine Salon went on to add that he may have lied about his history as a freelance journalist and invented a fictitious award for a previous book. Throw in the skepticism of many journalists at the afterword's heavy reliance on anonymous sources, and Hatfield's credibility is in serious jeopardy. For his part, the author maintains that the paroled felon is a different James H. Hatfield, born the same month and year and living in the same part of the country, and if public records say otherwise, he argues: "Doesn't it sound a little bit weird to you that all of a sudden, the guy that's accusing potentially the next president of the United States of having his record expunged, all of a sudden miraculously has a record himself in the state of Texas?" It should perhaps be noted that among Hatfield's previous books is an unauthorized guide to The X-Files.

Book Description

Now president after the most dubious election in American history, George W. Bush is brought to task by controversial author J. H. Hatfield, who examines Bush's past and the questionable business and political practices of the Bush family. This updated edition documents the campaign to discredit and suppress the most talked-about biography of George W. Bush.

Customer Reviews:

Surprisingly fair.......2007-06-06

I was impressed with the fact that this book reported positives as well as negatives. Although the forward was over the top, the actual book is pretty balanced and believable. A documentary about the author (who later committed suicide)quoted him as saying that Karl Rove was his major source. The fact that they managed to get this book not just taken off the market, but burned (!) shows the power of the machine that originally got Bush elected. Long may they stew.

Read it but don't buy it.......2007-04-11

This book caused a big controversey when it was released. Neo-cons said it was a smear job, but strangely enough mainstream type liberals didn't over do it with their enthusiasm and Bush bashing when this came out. The original publisher ended up balking at releasing it. The author was smeared, attacked and after a while turned up dead under very shady circumstances. Knowing what I know about the Bush families history I expected a lot more because after reading this I was shocked at how LITTLE dirt there was on Bush in this. You really get nothing more than Bush was a mediocre student, he had a drinking problem for several years, he MIGHT have went awol from the National Guard and he MIGHT have done a lot coke. There was so much that was left out of this that I don't even know where to begin.

Overall this book is worth checking out from the library and reading but I wouldn't buy it. Webster Tarpleys book about Poppy Bush and American Dynasty by Kevin Phillips would be better choices if your researching the Bush crime family.

Fantastic Read .......2007-03-04

This Book is great, I am very much into politics and I find that this book kept me on the edge of my seat. The Amount of coruption that this family has is astonishing. To think that someone of George W. Bush's stature can be our leader leaves hope to just about anyone. In the book it explains that President Bush's Grandfather had connections to Nazi camps and I find that to be awful. The book is well written and contains some valuable information about President Bush. Read it for yourself You won't be disappointed.

The Bare-knuckled Truth about Privilege.......2006-12-10

To my great surprise, this was not at all the "Bush bashing book" I expected and had been forewarned it would be. Hatfield is (was) a very mature professional, who carefully backed up all of his facts, and appeared to have no personal animus towards GW (as say a Molly Ivins does). He lets the facts fall where they may, and when they fell, we see a rather unflattering picture of our 43rd President.

I for one do not care whether the President used cocaine or abused alcohol at some point in his life. Nor do I care that Mr. Hatfield was an ex-con and drug addict. I do care whether the law treats him and the President the same as anyone else who commits a crime, and whether or not he (or the President) is a solid respectable human being willing to carry his weight as a private citizen and as a patriot.

As best we can tell, the evidence is that the jury is still out on this question about our President. There is a consensus among writers that the young Bush was headed down a path to self-destruction, one that would have undoubtedly consumed a less "fortunate son" -- especially if he had been one of color.

Now, it seems that GW is trying to "live down" his past, as we all have to do to some extent. But he squandered so much of his own personal and intellectual development during his hell raising years, that he has no resources left to draw on as President and thus has had to fall back heavily on his staff to rescue him. So now, he is "winging it," and it is excruciatingly painful to watch; and our nation is paying a heavy price for his "youthful indiscretions."

Hatfield's rendition of Bush's lacksidasical approach to life as a young man, foretold what he would be like as a president. In my view, this is one of the most important benefits and the greatest value of the book. And if one thinks about it, its prescience is in fact the best evidence of its solidity and honesty.

The subtexts of this book are many. One is that taking the shortcut down the path of privilege is no panacea even if you are white and privileged in racist America. For sure, privilege has many advantages, but it has some very distinct disadvantages too. As is the case in nations with monarchies, if you walk down the path of royalty, then you carry the responsibilities and expectations that go with being a royal.

Unlike his father, GW's flaws are all on display for everyone to see. He has nowhere to hide and Hatfield called his life just as it is being played out. Sorry Hatfield had to be "committed to suicide" for being honest in democratic America.

Five stars.

A Must Read for Every American of Voting Age.......2006-07-18

This book is one of the most important books I have read in my life-time. It is well researched and should be a text book for highschool Political Science courses in every public school. The author presents a fair, well-written factual account of the buying of the U.S. Government by a very wealthy, very well connected, and very powerful family.

How can we force democracy down the throats of other nations under the sword when we are not a Democracy?

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