Book Description
A masterful biography of the legendary chief justice of the United States and chairman of the Warren Commission by an award-winning journalist, using previously unavailable government documents and scores of new interviews that cast new light on this crucial figure in U.S. history.
Earl Warren played a key role in nearly every defining political moment in American history in the latter half of the twentieth century. He began as an aggressive county prosecutor offended by graft and vice, then rose through California politics. As attorney general and governor, he led the country's fastest-growing state during a time of enormous change, his support for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II one of the few blemishes on an otherwise progressive record. From his historic governorship to his pivotal years as chief justice to his role as chairman of the commission that investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Warren traversed the Depression and the Cold War, the struggles to defend America against foreign enemies, and the emergence of a muscular commitment to individual liberty.
As chief justice from 1953 to 1969, Warren refashioned the place of the Supreme Court in American life, overseeing cases that desegregated schools (Brown v. Board of Education), established a constitutional right of privacy (Griswold v. Connecticut), outlawed prayer in public schools (Engel v. Vitale), created a right to counsel in state trials (Gideon v. Wainwright), codified voting rights (Baker v. Carr), and revolutionized police procedure (Miranda v. Arizona). Through those cases, Warren became a target for conservative ideologues, but he also carved a place for himself as one of the Court's most respected justices and reconstructed American society into the institutions and values it upholds today.
James S. Newton brings readers the first truly complete consideration of Earl Warren, taking advantage of unprecedented access to governmental, academic, and private documents pertaining to Warren's life, as well as the extensive cooperation of Warren's living children and associates. Newton illuminates both the public and the private Warren, the father of six whose own father was murdered, the stoic leader of the Masons who was touched by the difficulties of children, the sturdy yet prickly man. The result is a monumental biography of a complicated and principled figure that will become a seminal work of twentieth-century American history.
Customer Reviews:
A masterpiece.......2007-04-11
Jim Newton's biography of Earl Warren, "Justice for All", is a comprehensive and richly written book about one of the great Chief Justices in our nation's history. Warren, a moderately conservative man in temperament, style and often idea, led the Court through one of the most tumultuous times in recent memory. Revered and reviled as he might have been, his legacy is certainly one of notable accomplishments and Newton captures it well.
The author presents Earl Warren in a generally favorable light, reminding us of some of his catastrophic decisions, too....especially his support for the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. For a moderate, almost non-partisan Republican, Warren had terrific success as governor of California propelling him into the national limelight with only one real political miscalculation of consequence...his agreeing to be Thomas Dewey's Vice Presidential running mate in 1948. Here begins the real fascinating part of Newton's book...politics. Whether it was Earl Warren's tenure as governor, or later dealing with the many presidents he knew or the intricacies of the personalities on the Court, Newton is terrific at describing political process. As Warren was a Republican it was interesting to read that the three Republicans he knew who were or would become president...Eisenhower, Nixon and Ford....were ones with whom Warren had the most troubles. (The descriptions of Richard Nixon add some good humor to the book!) The Chief Justice thought the most highly of President Kennedy, we learn, and he at least got along reasonably well with Lyndon Johnson.
There are many court cases, of course, cited in this book. They are fascinating to read about, especially how often slim majorities hung in the balance, finally decided by Earl Warren's persuasive powers. Newton speaks a great deal about Warren's family and this is much to his credit...so often in these biographies families are put on the back shelf. Here, they are front and center. If I had one small negative thing to say it would be that as the book progresses the author's fondness for his subject becomes much more apparent. "Justice for All" never approaches a hagiography, but occasionally it appears headed in that direction. Other than that, Jim Newton has written a superlative book and I highly recommend it for two reasons....to remind those of us who remember Earl Warren of his towering presence as Chief Justice and for those too young to remember him but who want to learn more.
A Great Biography, History and Cultural Review.......2007-03-29
This is a great story about a pivotal figure in 20th century American history. Before reading this, I knew Warren primarily as the Chief Justice and chair of the Warren Commission. However, I didn't realize that Warren was a fellow Cal grad, California 3-term governor, and DA for the county I've lived in for 10 years.
As such, this book is a fascinating history of California in addition to it's other topics.
Another note; one reviewer claims that this book glosses over Warren's role in the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. My impression, was that Warren's role was described in fascinating detail, including his behind-the-scenes politicking which contributed to the Japanese being interned. Also, the author revisits this decision during the remainder of the book, commenting about how this controversial move colored Warren's outlook for the rest of this life.
Superlative work.......2007-03-16
Since there is so much I want to read I usually don't read more than one biography of anybody and I had already read two of Earl Warren:
1827 Super Chief: Earl Warren and his Supreme Court A Judicial Biography, by Bernard Schwartz (read 19 Feb 1984)
3114 Chief Justice: A Biography of Earl Warren, by Ed Cray (read 26 Sep 1998)
So I was surprised that I decided to read this book. But not reading it would have been a big mistake This is an extraordinarily well-done work, telling the story of a man whose contributions to our country as we now know it are huge. The author has a sure grasp for the momentous events in which Warren was involved, and I have not read a more interest-holding biography in years. So even if you think you know all there is to know about the man who turned out to be the greatest Chief Justice in our nation's history, you should read this excellent account of a vitally important man.
Well-written overall, but one big omission - Japanese detentions.......2007-03-05
Newton does well in looking at some of Warren's more controversial prosecutions as Alameda County (Oakland) district attorney, and as California attorney general.
But, he basically skips over Oovernor Earl Warren's part in the Japanese deportations in World War II.
The rest of the book is great, from the different difficult cases, to the background interviews with family and friends, through the Warren Commission and more. (I never realized how Jerry Ford was pipelining stuff to J. Edgar Hoover when he wasn't being an obstructionist.)
But, because Newton doesn't tackle this issue, or Warren's later thoughts on it, at all, to be honest, a potentially great book slips to four stars.
Still drafting in his wake.......2007-02-19
Earl Warren's is a biography that pays revisiting, especially now that the political center he represented is so thin and the political virtues he practiced so derided. He was an uncomplicated, direct, and plain-spoken man who nevertheless, as Chief Justice, produced astonishing results. Brown vs. the Board of Education provided the essential legal fulcrum of the Civil Rights movement that transformed America in the last half of the 20th century. Perhaps this simplicity and clear vision was the key to his effectiveness.
How to explain the contradictions in Warren's life? Eisenhower was famously unhappy with his appointee. Warren, as Chief Justice, took positions that contradicted what Warren himself, as a District Attorney and Governor, had in fact practiced. No wonder Ike was pole-axed by the Chief Justice he got. The answer seems to be that Warren focused on using the tools each office provided to advance a consistent philosophy, equal justice for all.
Also interesting is the counterpoint and interplay of the careers of Warren and Richard Nixon. Nixon plainly drafted in Warren's wake and converted to the uses of his ambition political capital Warren had accumulated, especially when he crawled over Warren's presidential ambitions to secure the nomination as Vice-President. Yet two politicians were never more dissimilar than Warren and Nixon, the one open, natural, sociable, and comfortable in his skin, the other so contrived and fabricated as to stand for the least likely politician in recent history. But Nixon feigned the virtues Warren possessed in abundance: another way he drafted in Warren's wake. When Nixon hid lies and inconsistencies behind prefaces that he was about to make things "perfectly clear," he aped only Warren's political prose, not Warren's philosophy.
Jim Newton is a writer Warren would have enjoyed talking to and might have hired as a speechwriter. His prose is direct and his explanations of otherwise thorny and obscure legal issues easily penetrable. Warren deserves a better and grander reputation than he has merited at the hands of the neo-conservatives who have taken over the Court and Court punditry. Newton is an able advocate for a reappraisal. Warren did much more good for the county than serve as the exemplar of evil judicial activism. Absent Warren would Clarence Thomas today be on the Supreme Court? Perhaps the only irony of Warren's career is that so few followed in his footsteps, but so many neo-Nixons are still drafting in his wake.
Book Description
This life story of Milarepa--the important Tibetan religious leader who lived over 800 years ago--is part of a remarkable four-volume series on Tibetan Buddhism produced by the late W.Y. Evans-Wentz, all four of which are being published by Oxford in new editions. While there are many parochial differences among the several sects of Tibetan Buddhism, each holds the Great Yogi Milarepa in the highest reverence and esteem. For exemplified in Milarepa's life, as we discover in these pages, are all of the teachings of the great yogis of India--including those of Gautama the Buddha, the greatest yogi known to history. Amid his detailed introductory and explanatory notes for this text, Evans-Wentz also reveals compelling similarities between the life and thought of Milarepa and those of Jesus, Gandhi, and "saints...in ancient China, or India, or Babylonia, or Egypt, or Rome, or in our own epoch." In composing this translation from the original Tibetan, the late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup, who was Evans-Wentz's guru for many years, aimed to show Western readers "one of our great teachers as he actually lived...much of which is couched in the words of his own mouth, and the remainder in the words of his disciple Rechung, who knew him in the flesh." For this third edition, Donald S. Lopez, author of Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West, has written a critical foreword that updates and contextualizes this crucial part of Evans-Wentz's scholarship within the yoga tradition.
Customer Reviews:
The 2nd book in the Tibetan Series by Evans-Wentz.......2003-11-26
This is the second book in the Tibetan series from W.Y.Evans-Wentz. If you really want to begin at the start then you should first of all read - The Tibetan Book of the Dead by the same author. Milarepa is essentially the 800 year old story of Tibets greatist yogi told through the eyes of his students Jetsun and Rechung. The story is about a poor wicked boy who eventually turns into a wise old yogi to be held in the highest esteem. It is a wonderful story that can be read as a standalone book or as part of the series.
The most important aspect of this book is that it Milarepa, as a student of Buddhism, needs to practice and cover much of the topics that are explained in The Tibetan Book of the Dead. This is really what is at the heart of the book. So those of you who may want to learn more about The Tibetan Book of the Dead (and you should because it is one of the most important works ever obtained by occident man), can see it put into practice in the story of Milarepa.
There are many footnotes and references for you to read through. Again the story is a wonderful, uplifting one with lots of joy and sorrow to experience. You will certainly gain much metaphysical insight and the morals in this story when put into practice will certainly make you a better person. It is a wonderful journey and I have read the story many times and will read it many more. It really is that spiritually enlightening and certainly a very important text to be translated in English for the occident. This book is a treasure-house of spiritual information.
The other two works in the series are - Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines and The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation in that order.
Milarepa -- An example for all aspiring Yogis.......1999-12-15
I have read few books, believing it to be more important to incorporate the ideas into daily living than be widely read. This book is one of those few. I always found it to be inspirational. Though Milarepa exhibits superhuman strength in his Sadhana, spiritual practice, it is nevertheless a lofty ideal to sustain spiritual aspirants. It is a truism, often neglected at great peril, that one is happiest when trying to live according to one's ideals. Ignoring the negative opinions and hidebound thoughts of the worldly environment one must forge ahead to manifest the ideals presented by the Great Yogis! It may be a terrific struggle, full of many setbacks, but Victory awaits those who never give up. For me Milarepa has been a beacon of a true example. may all who seek liberation from the dualities of this world find brotherhood with the Great Yogi Milarepa!
An excellent look at the life of Milarepa.......1999-11-20
This book is translated from the original Tibetan biography of Milarepa. It is easy to read, and contains some wonderful explanatory notes. These go a long way in clearing up some of the more difficult statements found in the book, especially for those unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism. All round a wonderful book, one which you can read time and time again and every time get more out of it. And don't forget, the story itself is also pretty good!
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyable and well read audio work........2005-12-31
Kessler details the life of Joseph P. Kennedy, the father of Robert, Teddy and Jack Kennedy and the founder of one of the largest political dynasties in America. JPK is not given a very favorable look in this book. He is listed as an adulterer, a swindler, a crook, power hungry and unscrupulous. And that was just on the first side of the first tape. Because I don't know how much of this book is truly factual, I can't give it a proper review. Frankly, I bought it out of a discount bin for a long trip I was taking. However, it's a fascinating look at one of the people that isn't closely examined in history. It is an abridgement of the source work; it runs three hours and is read perfectly by Frank Langella.
A Stunning and Tragic Family.......2004-11-04
Kessler does an excellent job writing, truly, about the sins of the father, Joseph P. Kennedy. I had heard many stories about the man, but I didn't realize to what extent these stories were myths or real. Kessler certainly dispels that these stories are myths. He tells us what a manipulative, conniving, scheming, deceitful man that Kennedy really was.
We are treated to the stories of Kennedy's manipulation of the stock market for his own personal gain; his illegal importation of scotch to pad his growing millions; his manipulation and theft of Gloria Swanson's monies. It doesn't stop there. Kessler tells about how Joe wanted to avert war since he was afraid he would lose millions of dollars.
Kessler tells us how much Joe manipulated and controlled his children so that they would conform to his standards; and how their political life was formed in order for Joe to pursue his own dreams via his children's lives.
After reading of Joe's death, one has to wonder whether Joe's cruel and deceitful life was worth it in the end - two assassinated children; Rosemary's lobotomy; a family myth built on lies. A simply incredible book - first rate from start to finish.
good investigative work !!.......2004-06-30
A very fine book exposing the Kennedys. I am somewhat surprised that such immoral things could happen in free and democratic U.S. In any event, justice has been done. No Kennedy is likely to be President in the near future. Jo's manipulative and power-hungry character did not serve him well. The early and untimely deaths of his three sons gave him more sorrow and grief than anything else.
A bit too uncharitable; okay read.......2004-04-01
I have read a few books by Ronald Kessler. It is a recurring theme that I find myself irritated by how uncharitable Kessler is...unless Kessler honestly believes that The FBI ("the Bureau") did nothing right and that Joseph Kennedy was an absolute villain. Kessler has a tough time saying anthing good about Joseph Kennedy, The FBI or most of his other topics. I think Kessler's novels need balance and fairness. Maybe only the negative and scandalous is stimulating or salable but the novels leave me feeling annoyed.
Essential to know the Kennedys.......2004-02-25
It is a good and fair book, well written and researched. To read this book is so essential to know and understand - really - an important american family like the Kennedys, apart from the mith that this cool man, Joseph Kennedy, helped much more than anybody else in the family to create and foster. There are some dark sides, but the truth is one thing and the legend is another and of course if you prefer the latter leave this book on the shelf and go on dreaming.
Book Description
For almost a decade, Col.Ryszard Kuklinski betrayed the Communist leadership of Poland, cooperating with the CIA in one of the most extraordinary human intelligence operations of the Cold War. Now that Poland is free, a riddle remains: Was Kuklinski a patriot or a traitor?
In August 1972, Ryszard Kuklinski, a highly respected colonel in the Polish Army, embarked on what would become one of the most extraordinary human intelligence operations of the Cold War. Despite the extreme risk to himself and his family, he contacted the American Embassy in Bonn, and arranged a secret meeting. From the very start, he made clear that he deplored the Soviet domination of Poland, and believed his country was on the wrong side of the Cold War.
Over the next nine years, Kuklinski rose quickly in the Polish defense ministry, acting as a liaison to Moscow, and helping to prepare for a "hot war " with the West. But he also lived a life of subterfuge--of dead drops, messages written in invisible ink, miniature cameras, and secret transmitters. In 1981, he gave the CIA the secret plans to crush Solidarity. Then, about to be discovered, he made a dangerous escape with his family to the West. He still lives in hiding in America.
Kuklinski's story is a harrowing personal drama about one man 's decision to betray the Communist leadership in order to save the country he loves, and the intense debate it spurred over whether he was a traitor or a patriot. Through extensive interviews and access to the CIA's secret archive on the case, Benjamin Weiser offers an unprecedented and richly detailed look at this secret history of the Cold War.
Customer Reviews:
A fine historical work.......2005-08-12
Weiser's detailed and measured tale of Kuklinski's historical contribution to Cold War espionage is to be read and enjoyed. His story is taut and thrilling and reminds one of a good John Le Carre novel. Beyond the issue of whether Kuklinski is a hero or traitor to the Polish nation [which is fairly raised and detailed by the author], Weiser never loses control of the subject matter, and, of the abundant documentation he uncovered in his unique access to CIA records. He instills Kuklinski with humanity and sense of Polish nationalism. A fine work to be read and enjoyed.
A Founding Father of the Post-Soviet, Polish State!.......2005-03-22
"Sometimes it's not enough to do what is right, sometimes one must do what is necessary." Ryszard Kuklinski knew what was right, did what was necessary...and paid a terrible price.
Benjamin Weiser's riveting work A SECRET LIFE, on Polish hero Ryszard Kuklinski, is an enlightening look back into the dark intrigue, personal danger, and moral dilemmas surrounding one military officer's private battles to liberate his country from totalitarianism. Most importantly, this work shatters the left-wing's liberal illusion of "peaceful coexistence" with a communist system whose very raison d' etre is the destruction of freedom, democracy and enslavement of the West.
Kuklinski saw internal conflict to evict the alien system imposed upon his country by the USSR--as opposed to connivance or the wishful thinking of ideological transformation through "gradualism," favored by some of his Polish General Staff contemporaries, who, for lack of courage or personal gain, fully cooperated with their harsh Soviet task masters--as the only realistic option for peace in the face of Poland's likely nuclear annihilation, had war ensued with the United States. He dared to act accordingly, becoming an agent of change feeding top-secret Warsaw Pact military information to the CIA; thereby, tipping the balance of power in favor of liberty, while loosening the demoralizing death-grip of communist rule over Eastern Europe, as a de facto one-man Polish Underground.
When considering the totality of personal sacrifice and enormity of danger faced by Kuklinski, in his nearly solitary and single-handed struggle against radical, state-sponsored evil--who carried a suicide pill to end his life if caught and was sentenced to death, in absentia, by the Polish Military Court--moral giants like Kurt Gerstein and Aleksander Solzhenitsyn come to mind. It saddens me that former communist collaborators or sympathizers, like Aleksander Kwasniewski, were celebrated or elevated to significant post-Soviet leadership positions and societal prominence, while the country remains bitterly divided over Kuklinski, who has yet to be nationally vindicated, though history has already done so.
Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzesinski said it best when he honored him with the words traditionally reserved for decorating Polish soldiers: "Pan sie dobrze Polsce zasluzyl: You have served Poland well." Rest in peace Colonel Kuklinski.
Ryszard Kuklinski my Hero.......2005-02-19
Must be read to be believed i havent given this book 5 stars for nothing it is one of my most cherised books i how indebted i am to the man who saved our dear country poland may his soul rest in peace it brings tears to eyes just thinking after all he sacrificed and fought for to have what he loved most then taken away in his later years
i have borrowed this book to a few friends of different nationalities and they all have found it equally inspiring its simply A MUST READ especially if your polish
most people dont even know what goes on around them
many blessings to all who read this
Truth is more interesting than fiction.......2004-08-01
This is an important book which reminds us of two facts
which must not be forgotten.
1. What the world thinks of the USA is vital for our security.
Our military power is essential, but it will not keep us
safe unless the rest of the world believes that we are
working for the freedom and prosperity of all, and not
just ourselves.
2. The CIA has an insoluble public relations problem. Its
failures become public knowledge immediately, but its
successes must be kept secret for twenty years or more.
A more balanced view from Warsaw.......2004-06-20
Well, if anybody is really interested in facts regarding Poles' attitudes to colonel Kuklinski, here they are, according to Pentor's survey in 2002: 36% consider him a traitor, 35% consider him a hero, 30% are undecided on the issue. Lech Walesa was against colonel Kuklinski's rehabilitation, the former president considered him a "bad example" for the army. Ex-communists Miller and Kwasniewski when they won the election soon afterwards decided to rehabilitate the colonel, which Walesa called "a political trick". Well, as you can see things are no longer black and white in Poland... and thanks God.
Book Description
Foreword by John J. Collins
Before we can understand the message of Jesus, we must have some knowledge of the messianic concepts of his time. "He That Cometh" by Sigmund Mowinckel offers the most comprehensive study available of messianic thought in the Bible.
Featuring here a new retrospective foreword by John J. Collins, "He That Cometh" first explores the antecedents of the term "Messiah" in the Old Testament, focusing on the idea of a coming future king in early Jewish eschatology. It then examines the messianic concept as used in later Judaism and in the early church. The book concludes with an impressive discussion of the phrase "Son of Man," the term Jesus himself used to interpret his own messianic mission.
Every student of biblical history and theology can profit immensely from a careful study of this monumental work. Mowinckel's exhaustive documentation and his comprehensive analyses of both scriptural sources and modern scholarship have earned for this volume a high standing among studies of Jewish and Christian thought.
Average customer rating:
- Playing for keeps; nice but less immediate and moving
- Great Book!
- Halberstam Hoopla
- More Great Jordan Info
- Michael Jordan and his competitive nature.
|
Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made
David Halberstam
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 African-American & Black
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Basketball
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Sports Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Jordan Rules
-
Breaks of the Game
-
The Powers That Be
-
October 1964
-
Summer of '49 (P.S.)
ASIN: 0767904443
Release Date: 2000-02-01 |
Amazon.com
One of the finest nonfiction writers in any lineup, Halberstam likes to alternate what he's deemed his serious work--books like The Best and the Brightest, The Fifties, and The Children--with his sporting interludes, though in his hands, sports are much, much more than fun and games. Books like The Breaks of the Game and October 1964 use sports as a prism. Culture, race, society, and history are all filtered through it, and Halberstam refocuses--and interprets--what comes out the other side.
That he would now turn his considerable abilities to exploring Michael Jordan is not surprising. Halberstam loves hoops, and Jordan not only defines the game, he defines an era. His fame crosses international borders as easily as he dribbles past half-court lines. In focusing on Jordan--as athlete and force of nature--and his osmosis from a young hoop dreamer to product pitchman to the world, Halberstam is really examining intangibles like myth and legend, celebrity and fame, wealth and image, excellence and genius, race and style, the qualities of heroism and the pursuit of perfection. "That there had been even one Michael Jordan seemed in retrospect something of a genetic fluke," he writes, "and the idea that anyone would arrive in so short a span of time and do what he did both on and off the court seemed highly unlikely." But the phenomenon that is Jordan did just that.
Understanding, even admiring, what he did, how he did it, and what it means in a basketball context and a larger one is Halberstam's goal, and, despite Jordan's lack of cooperation--or maybe because of it--Halberstam's muscular prose and thinking scores powerfully. Yet, there is a wistfulness, in the end, to Playing for Keeps; the game doesn't seem as much fun and collegial as it used to for Halberstam, and Jordan, great as he may be, emerges with less of the historic grace exhibited by Jackie Robinson, Ali, and Arthur Ashe than with a quality that Halberstam deems the athlete-explorer "in terms of going beyond previously accepted limits of what was humanly possible, and somehow by dint of physical excellence and unmatched willpower, pushing those limits forward that much more." Dazzling, certainly, but not necessarily heroic. Playing for Keeps is also available on audiocassette. --Jeff Silverman
Book Description
From
The Breaks of the Game to
Summer of '49, David Halberstam has brought the perspective of a great historian, the inside knowledge of a dogged sportswriter, and the love of a fan to bear on some of the most mythic players and teams in the annals of American sport. With Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls he has given himself his greatest challenge and produced his greatest triumph. In
Playing for Keeps, David Halberstam takes the first full measure of Michael Jordan's epic career, one of the great American stories of our time. A narrative of astonishing power and human drama, brimming with revealing anecdotes and penetrating insights, the book chronicles the forces in Jordan's life that have shaped him into history's greatest basketball player and the larger forces that have converged to make him the most famous living human being in the world.
Customer Reviews:
Playing for keeps; nice but less immediate and moving.......2007-08-20
Nike turned Michael Jordan into a dream. Nike funneled in 1984 all of Nike's advertising resources in one player instead of in several teams. Nike made Michal Jordan a cultural icon and featured him as a star amidst other entertainment stars. And in the beginning Jordan didn't even like Nike sneakers. He preferred Adidas. Ultimately Nike paid Jordan in roughly 1 million dollars a year for five years. In 1984 no one realized that Nike was getting one of the great bargains of the time. Nike was a shoe company in great trouble. Michael Jordan saved Nike by his appeal to the youth. In the mean time basketball benefited from satellite reception that was just opening the world of cable television. Satellite reception facilitated cheap broadcasting. Bill Rasmussen obtained channel space on a communications satellite. His ESPN opened new broadcasting opportunities for basketball. In Playing for Keeps David Halberstam tells the tale of Michael Jordan in the broader cultural context. In this book Halberstam displays his usual journalistic skills. But somehow I missed the emotional involvement of his other books. The Summer of 49 and The Breaks of the Game learned me more about the relevance of sports.
Luuk Oost
Great Book!.......2007-06-27
As someone very familiar with Michael Jordan's career I was startled by all the new bits of information crammed in this book. Its clear Halbertstam did his homework. He employed an exhaustive interview process that yields so many new anecdotes and perspectives of Michael Jordans career. I particulary enjoyed all the stories of Jordan showing flashes of greatness early on while being recruited by North Carolina. The book makes it clear that even at those early stages while no one could predict what was to come, those around Michael had never seen anything like him.
Halbertstam also reveals the background story for many of those surrounding Jordan during his run with the Bulls. Namely Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Jerry Krause, Jerry Reinsdorf, and others. He delves into their lives, paints a picture of their character, and allows you to understand what motivated all these contrasting personalities along the way.
It must be noted that the writing of David Halbertstam is just incredible. If you're a fan of Michael Jordan or just basketball this book is a must read. The subject could not be approached by a more accomplished author.
Halberstam Hoopla.......2007-01-31
I'm not a big Halberstam fan, and this book didn't change that opinion.
The subtitular "world that he [Jordan] made" is never really explored in any depth, and this is a surface-skimming bio of Jordan with the addition of some mini-bios on major figures in his life (David Falk, Dean Smith, Phil Jackson, etc.).
The research is limited and insight is scant as Halberstam leans heavily on material already published, pulling entire sections of the book (e.g., his thumbnail bio of Jackson) from the subject's own earlier book. He returns to quote the same two or three sports writers time and again (Sam Smith - Chicago Trib and Jordan biographer - OK, but Bob Ryan - Boston Globe - a dozen quotes???).
"Playing for Keeps" is a fast-reading Jordan sketch, a 400 page magazine article, during which Halberstam defers to Jordan too frequently: no real examination of the gambling, glossed over recount of James Jordan's murder, no meaningful exploration of Jordan the global commercial icon.
For my taste, this book is another disppointment from Halberstam.
More Great Jordan Info.......2007-01-11
Halberstam does it again. With a keen eye and a knack for pulling the reader in, David Halberstam is one of our great modern writers. Just when you thought you knew Jordan, "Playing for Keeps" shades new light (not all of it flattering) on our greatest modern basketball player.
Well worth it.
Michael Jordan and his competitive nature........2007-01-04
I never thought I would be interested in a sports story. Since I live in Chicago, the Bulls championship season was huge news here. In addition, Michael Jordan was such a roll model that few people did not admire his athletic ability or his decency. This books details Michael's rise to greatness from a skinny kid in North Carolina to his superstardom in Chicago. Along the way, people get to see why basketball became such a huge sensation not only here in the United States but worldwide. Other stars are also discussed, but Jordan led the rise of basketball and the Chicago Bulls to their heights. Along with these aspects, Jerry Krause and the murder of Jordan's father are also discussed.
This is a nice read for those interested in sports and for those interested in Jordan's greatness as a player. The author keeps the focus on Jordan and how it relates to basketball. A nice read.
Book Description
Innovation can offer flexibility that enables institutions to adapt more readily in a constantly changing environment. It is a means by which colleges and universities can address concerns typically associated with mature enterprises, create tools to ease increasing cost pressures, and gain efficiency through better operations and better matching of resources and requirements. How best to foster innovations through supportive management is a central topic of this volume.
This is the 137th volume of the quarterly report series New Directions for Higher Education.
Book Description
In mid-nineteenth-century New York, vagrant youth, both orphans and runaways, filled the streets. For years the city had been sweeping these children into prisons or almshouses, but in 1853 the young minister Charles Loring Brace proposed a radical solution to the problem by creating the Children's Aid Society, an organization that fought to provide homeless children with shelter, education, and, for many, a new family in the country. Combining a biography of Brace with firsthand accounts of orphans, Stephen O'Connor here tells of the orphan trains that, between 1854 and 1929, spirited away some 250,000 destitute children to rural homes in every one of the forty-eight contiguous states.
A powerful blend of history, biography, and adventure, Orphans Trains remains the definitive work on this little-known episode in American history.
Customer Reviews:
Orphan trains.......2007-06-27
Charles Loring Brace's story, his life, his work, his failures and accomplishments on caring for orphaned and abandoned children.
Extremely interesting and well-written story that brings both information, insights and ways to understand the paths of welfare in USA.
The origins of the American child welfare system .......2004-10-10
There've been plenty of books published selecting Orphan Train children as the protagonists, but relatively few stand-alone volumes consider the origins and social implications of the American child welfare system which emerged in mid-19th century New York to handle to dearth of orphans and runaways on the New York City streets. One man's vision of rescue became the famous Orphan Trains program, and Stephen O'Connor's history and biography focus on one Christian minister Charles Loring Brace, the man who created the Children's Aid Society to handle these children more humanely.
Author Has Wrong View of Foster Care.......2002-07-12
In this book, Mr. O'Connor describes how Charles Loring Brace started the orphan trains, which was the beginning of modern foster care. But Mr. O'Connor has also done nothing more than attempt to turn people OFF to the foster care system! Every other page is filled with the "failures", and the kids that did not enjoy their new homes. Rarely does he describe the successes, the times that foster care has truly helped.
Stephan O'Connor devoted ONE chaper to TWO boys who rode the same orphan train, who later went on to become mayors of Alsaka and N. Dakota. He talked mainly about the mayor of alaska, and harly any about the other one. Even then, he described the "tough life" that Brady faced, making it sound like he hated his homes. Yet this author wrote a FULL chapter on a SINGLE boy who grew up to become a murderer.
Also, in the end, when showing where foster care has progressed to, Mr. O'Connor chose almost all horrer stories and no successes!! As a "product" of the foster care system (3 1/2 years under the rule of the Division of Youth and Family Services) I can say that yes, it isnt perfect, but it DID save me from a lot of mistakes and trouble, and has even STRENGTHENED my relationship with my birth family! Anyone reading this book without background information will be completely turned off to the idea of foster care.
An interesting and important book........2001-10-28
Some people say you can judge a society by how it treats its weakest members, and if that is true the United States has repeatedly failed the test. When it comes to dealing with the most vulnerable people among us Ñ children whose families can not or will not take care of them Ñ over and over we turn our backs on horrible examples of abuse and neglect.
After reading Orphan Trains, which deals with the origins of the foster care system in the mid-nineteenth century, the first attempts to deal with the problems of children without families, rather than dealing with the problems (primarily crime) that such children created for society, IÕm struck by the fact that this failure is far from a new thing.
Charles Loring Brace, the founder of the ChildrenÕs Aid Society, which found homes for orphans, runaways, and children who had essentially been abandoned by their families, was both an intelligent and a well-intentioned man. Fighting the prejudice of his time, he argued that homeless children were not criminals and threats to society, but potentially upstanding citizens. All they needed was the love and attention of a family. A noble sentiment, but unfortunately Brace mixed it with another noble, but tragically wrong, sentiment. He believed that all middle class families, especially farm families, were good. So he put New York children on trains headed west to be taken in by just about any family that would have them. Many children were adopted by wonderful, caring families, but others ended up as virtual slave labor. Girls were often subject to sexual abuse.
In hindsight, it is easy for us to see the flaws in BraceÕs thinking. But in a fascinating final chapter, Stephen OÕConnor points out that we are making many of the same mistakes today because, like Brace, we donÕt see children who need families as unique individuals. We argue abstractly about whether it is better for a child to stay in a flawed family or be removed to a foster family, when the truth is that there are thousands of factors to take into consideration in each case (of course taking those factors into consideration would require well-trained social workers with small caseloads Ñ which we are unwilling to pay for). We argue about whether a child ought to be placed in a family of his race or ethnic group, or whether any good family is better than none, when the truth is that it depends on the child. Some children feel out of place if they are not in families that look like them; for other children race or ethnicity makes little difference. But to get children to the right place, we need to invest time, and time is expensive.
Whether in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first, good intentions and theories about what is best for children donÕt take the place of seeing children as individuals. As a society, we need to decide if we care enough about children to pay for the time and attention they need.
Orphan Trains has a complex and fascinating story to tell and makes a great contribution to an important national issue.
A wonderful, informative read.......2001-03-09
This is a must-read for anyone interested in the the welfare of poor children today. Orphan Trains traces the history of foster care in this country, and in doing so shows how the U.S. has never put its money where its mouth is when it comes to poor children. The book is a good read, too, because it's full of moving, fascinating stories of the children and their adventures - like a series of Huckleberry Finn stories, only real. O'Connor's prose is clear and yet imagistic, evoking New York at the turn of the century with all its sounds and smells. On every level, this books works splendidly.
Average customer rating:
|
CCEL Classics CD: works by Saint Augustine, John Calvin, John Donne, Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence, Martin Luther, Saint Teresa of Avila, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas a Kempis, John Wesley, and more!
Dr. W. Harry Plantinga
Manufacturer: Christian Classics Ethereal Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
General
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Luther, Martin
| ( L )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Augustine, Saint
| ( A )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1931848076
Release Date: 2006-12-15 |
Product Description
The most important spiritual writings of Christian history are available on this Classics CD by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at Calvin College. It contains 118 Christian classics, including three versions of the Bible, several commentaries, Bible dictionaries, readings, spiritual guides, sermons, poems and journals -- all in a convenient, searchable form. Books are available in HTML and PDF formats. The easy-to-use CCEL Desktop software powering the CD enables users to browse and print books and install additional books from the Web. The top-of-class search engine can search for words or phrases in books, in authors works or in the whole library. In addition, it can search for dictionary definitions of words and commentary or references to scripture passages. The interface is a Web browser. The CD is compatible with Windows 2000+, Macintosh 10.3+, and most Linux versions.
Books:
- Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography
- Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading
- Letters from Mexico
- Letters to My Son: A Father's Wisdom on Manhood, Life, and Love
- Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
- Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son: A Memoir
- Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty
- Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them : When Loving Hurts and You Don't Know Why
- My Last Chance to Be a Boy: Theodore Roosevelt's South American Expedition of 1913-1914
- Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor's Kit: How to Make Money Buying Distressed Real Estate -- Befo
- How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With
- Canadian mortgage payments
- Cracking More Cases: The Forensic Science of Solving Crimes : the Michael Skakel-Martha Moxley Case,
- History: Fiction or Science
- Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Other Short Fiction
- India Series: Wildlife Reserves of India
- Writing Effective Resumes: A Complete Guide
- CCSP Self-Study: Cisco Secure Virtual Private Networks
- Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love
Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powers
The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America
Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War
