Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire

Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire
Average customer rating:

Well worth a read

Quite Possibly Among The Most Important Books of This Decade

Challenging arguments and logical lapses from a leading Conservative intellectual

There's no jury when you are a Conservative

A Colossus with feet of Clay?

Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire
Niall Ferguson
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
21st Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Relations | International | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0143034790

Book Description

Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson ranges across the entire history of America's foreign entanglements and delves into all the dimensions of American power—military, economic, cultural, and political. The result is a book whose conclusions are as convincing, and troubling, as they are original. Ferguson demonstrates that America has always been an empire in denial and shows the fateful consequences of its special brand of imperialism. He examines the challenges to the United States from its principal rivals, the European Union and China, and offers a compelling analysis of the connection between the country's domestic economic health and its foreign affairs—the bottom line of imperialism, American style. Colossus is a peerless reckoning with American power that should be read by any thinking citizen of this unspoken empire.

Customer Reviews:

Well worth a read.......2007-06-07

I learned more about my own country (USA) in this book than I did at University. Dr. Ferguson is a great writer. The book is well-researched, with lots of new facts that I'd never known.

Quite Possibly Among The Most Important Books of This Decade.......2007-03-02

Originally published in Great Britain as "Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire", Niall Ferguson's book was published in 2004 in an American hardcover edition as "Colossus: The Price of America's Empire". A year later, the American paperback edition resurrected its original British title. And yet, regardless of its title, this spellbinding, provocative work of economic and political history may be as influential a book to Ameircan political elites as Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History" was a decade earlier. I am impressed by the significance of Ferguson's message, and the ample facts he has used to make that message persuasive; namely that the United States of America is indeed an empire. But he uses the term in a positive sense, drawing parallels between the United States and the British Empire as leading examples of liberal empires. In Great Britain's case, he argues here - and I believe, elsewhere, in his earlier book, "Empire" - that the British Empire was the major power responsible for ensuring justice and economic - if not political - freedom across the globe for much of the 19th and early 20th Centuries by virtue of its willingness to use both its economic and military power to accomplish these ends. In stark contrast, Ferguson portrays America's imperial history as that of a reluctant imperial power, whose only successful exercise in imperialism came immediately after World War II, when it rebuilt successfully both West Germany and Japan as vibrant economic and political democracies (He traces the origins of America's rise as an imperial power back to the American Revolution.). He wonders whether we have the determination to see to the end of a successful occupation of Iraq, noting that with respect to both Japan and West Germany, the United States came close to failure. Without question, this is among the most important books published in this decade, and one deserving of a wide audience.

Challenging arguments and logical lapses from a leading Conservative intellectual.......2007-01-16

One of my teachers at Oxford has called Niall Ferguson a "challenging historian," because he makes compelling arguments based on well-researched facts that go against the grain of conventional thinking. He is "conservative" by most standards, but not in the true sense. The idea that I think it is important to point out is that Ferguson has the same "goals" for the future of the world as the majority of mainstream intellectuals; that is, democracy, peace, human rights, prosperity, etc. Where he differs, and where he suddenly seems to be far less conservative, is in his calls for America, the veritable sleeping giant, to take up her role as global hegemony by acting as a "good empire" in the way the British supposedly did in yesteryear. America's substantial wealth and military power would fill the power vacuums with a benign influence, spread democracy, promote economic growth, and prevent warfare by the very nature of its all-encompassing power. The problem, of course, is that American public opinion would never allow this, no more than British public opinion actually supported the "official" British Empire. America is an empire, no doubt, but like Britain it is a subtle kind of empire, one in which the people do not actually consider themselves parts of, or agents of, an empire (read Bernard Porter's "The Absent-minded Imperialists" for the British case). Moreover it would be a dramatic change in policy - to say the least - for America to actually assume the burden he has called for her to assume. Not only would this stretch the already over-stretched Budget, it would require commitments overseas that few Americans consider vital to national security.

Ferguson's ideas also encounter some empirical difficulties. His idea about the benefit of "good" imperialism is based on the observation that the former colonies of the British Empire make up the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world. It is therefore easy to connect this prosperity with British rule, but the case is not so simple. The main problem with this is that the wealthy nations he speaks of are the settler colonies, which had the privilege of British investment and the same preferential economic treatment as the British Isles themselves. India, for example, as well as others, had to deal with economic institutions and policies that favoured the British yet discriminated against Indians. What we actually see in India in many ways is the process of "un-development" under British rule. Certainly the technology and growth of trade was beneficial, but as other examples show, notably Japan, it was not necessary for any imperial overbears to rule in order for these technologies, and these processes of improvement to occur.\

Ferguson is also guilty of somewhat of an anachronism when he suggests that Anglo-American imperialism will take democracy to the world. Ferguson is a clever man, and an excellent economic historian, but somehow he glosses over the fact that the British never intended to take democracy to their colonies; that would simply be disastrous for British rule. In India, especially, the British ruled an empire of "unintended consequences." He also glosses over the fact that both Britain and America have built their power systems on "friendly" dictators around the world since the Cold War, and that more brutal dictatorships, especially in Africa, came forth from British rule than democracies. This brings me to the idea of "imposing" democracy from above on other nations. It could be argued that this has worked in Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, and a number of other nations, but insofar as India is concerned, the roots went deep as a result of widespread disaffection with British rule. Ferguson's view of the west's ability to impose democracy is quite idealistic. And finally, it must be asked, "at what cost would a world such as this be built?"

There's no jury when you are a Conservative.......2006-10-30

Ferguson is an "intellectual" darling of the New Right, but his powers of foresight are shaped by old prejudices. When will the Cons learn that the world does not simply repeat itself? A Gibbon he ain't, but then again neither is the trans-atlantic Republic a modern-day caricature of the Roman Empire...

C.G. Panagidis
Athensm Greece

A Colossus with feet of Clay? .......2006-08-24

Niall Ferguson is one of the most exciting and interesting 'thinkers' in the world today. He is a historian with great knowledge but the most interesting part of his work is a whole set of ideas which challenge the conventional historical wisdom of our day.
One of Ferguson's innovations is to bring back and make centrally important to the reading of history, the concept of Empire. As he sees it this category has been central to Mankind far longer than that of 'nation- state'
In a previous work he looked at the British Empire and again surprised most in our politically correct world by seeing the positive functions the British Empire played. The rule of law, bureaucratic reliability, the flow of capitol for investment and development were part, as he saw it, of the British gift to its colonies.
In this present work he looks at the great power of the world today, the Colossus which is the United States. In military terms it overshadows all other great powers taken together. Economically it is still the great engine of the world though it is to a degree being challenged by the rise of Europe and China. Culturally too, thanks to the hegemony of English it is the prevailing world - power.
Ferguson finds fault with the United States in a way most unusual. He does not curse it as an 'imperial exploiter' but rather sees it as a reluctant giant not willing to fulfill its true global responsibilities. He faults the U.S. for having too few people willing to serve abroad, and help the world. He faults the U.S. for the weakness it shows through having too much debt. He faults the U.S. for not knowing its own imperial role properly and not transforming the world for the good to the fullest degree possible.
All of this is tremendously interesting, but sounds a bit odd given the current U.S. involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the defiance it is facing from a would- be- nuclear Iran. It is possible to argue that America's feet of clay are more and more apparent, even in the military realm where it is most supreme. The whole non- proliferation issue may be broken open by North Korea and Iran, leading to a world with tens of nuclear states.
Ferguson wants the American citizenry to be more informed about the world, more involved in it, more responsible for it.
It seems to me that he is not wrong in his demands, but perhaps a bit unrealistic in expecting them to be realized.
But what Ferguson does is he provides the reader a way of truly thinking anew about the world- and of deeply considering new perspectives.

Doctor Dealer: The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire

Average customer rating:

a pretty goos read, VERY deep background, great Bowden
couldn't put it down
Good read
EXCELLENT
very good read

Doctor Dealer: The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire
Mark Bowden
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0802137571

Book Description

Doctor Dealer is the story of Larry Lavin, a bright, charismatic young man who rose from his working-class upbringing to win a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, earn Ivy League college and dental degrees, and buy his family a house in one of Philadelphia's most exclusive suburbs. But behind the facade of his success was a dark secret -- at every step of the way he was building the foundation for a cocaine empire that would grow to generate over $60 million in annual sales. Award-winning journalist Mark Bowden tells the saga of Lavin's rise and fall with the gripping, novelistic narrative style that won him international acclaim as the author of the New York Times best-seller Black Hawk Down. "Immensely readable . . . eye-popping . . . a smoothly crafted, exciting, can't-put-it-down book." -- Louisville New Voice

Customer Reviews:

a pretty goos read, VERY deep background, great Bowden.......2007-03-10

a good book to read, could have used that 30 page block of pictures you would find in most of these books, Bowdens writing is very visual, talking alot about people's looks, and mannerisms, so some pictures would have really tied it together I though... he did it in killing pablo, and it really sank home some of his points.

couldn't put it down.......2007-02-13

I think this book was better than Killing Pablo!! It is a great read. Don't miss it.

Good read.......2007-01-30

Not Bowden's best (I give that honor to Killing Pablo), but still a page-turner. I wanted to meet Larry Lavin after reading this. Has a bad guy ever been portrayed so well? He had charisma, intelligence, charm, and even worked in a job where he helped people. It doesn't even seem like Lavin was the type to intentionally hurt people through his "other" business. Bowden almost has you cheering on Larry as you progress through the pages. Perhaps it has something to do with how complex Larry is, and Bowden captures it magnificently.

They say "truth is stranger than fiction" and this book proves it. I can't believe they haven't made this into a movie yet.

If you're a fan of Bowden, this is a must-read.

EXCELLENT.......2007-01-03

FROM START TO FINISH YOU KNEW PRETTY MUCH WHAT THE OUTCOME WOULD BE BUT THIS DID NOT STOP ME FROM PUTTING THE BOOK DOWN. WAS AMAZED WITH ALL THE ACTUAL ACCOUNTS DETAILED WITHIN THE BOOK AND THE WORK THAT WENT INTO GATHERING ALL THE REQUIRED INFORMATION TO MAKE THIS BOOK A TRUELY GREAT READ..

very good read.......2006-11-07

an interesting look at the life of a drug dealer who really seems to have thought he did nthing wrong. the "everyone does it" mentality seems to have kept him going all the way to jail. good supporting cast of characters keep it interesting.

When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise And Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty

Average customer rating:

Great Introduction
Needed a few more details to make it perfect
An Era I Knew Little About
Fabulous history
Rivetting narrative

When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise And Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty
Hugh Kennedy
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0306814803

Book Description

"A beautifully written and definitive history of Baghdad...opening the doors to the old city and letting its secrets spill out." (Library Journal)

The "golden age of Islam" in the eighth and ninth centuries was as significant to world history as the Roman Empire was in the first and second centuries. The rule of Baghdad's Abbasid Dynasty stretched from Tunisia to India, and its legacy influenced politics and society for years to come. In this deftly woven narrative, Hugh Kennedy introduces us to the rich history and flourishing culture of the period, and the men and women of the palaces at Baghdad and Samarra-the caliphs, viziers, eunuchs, and women of the harem that produced the glorious days of the Arabian Nights.

"Superb...this is compelling reading for anyone concerned with the perils of power, the medieval Islamic legacy and the images that Baghdad continues to conjure in the modern imagination." (Publishers Weekly starred review)

Customer Reviews:

Great Introduction.......2007-09-05

This is one of the best history books that I have read. The best thing about it is that it reads like a novel. When you start reading it you cant stop because you really want to know what happens next, and most of the time I already knew what was going to happen!

Needed a few more details to make it perfect.......2006-08-08

Hugh Kennedy has done a wonderful job here of writing about one of the greatest dynasties in history. The history is comprehensive providing details about the caliphs, the battles for successions, their harems, the names of important men in each reign, and court intrigues etc., The book is very easy to read and at no point does the reader lose interest. In spite of breaking up the narration, of successive reigns and interspersing it with descriptions of court culture and palaces built by the rulers, the author has maintained a wonderful flow in the book.
My only disappointment was that the author did not provide more indepth information on 1. the famous libraries of Baghdad and 2. the economic and financial system prevalent at the time. I looked in vain for details of trading markets and goods brought in to Baghdad at the time and for any mention of the modus operandi of monetary transactions.
However, the book is still one of the most comprehensive English Language histories of the dynasty that I have come accross.

An Era I Knew Little About.......2006-06-07

So much of the study of history is concerned with dates. I can remember in college with cram sheets of when things happened. Mr. Kennedy doesn't write much of dates. He writes of people, people living more than a thousand years ago when our own western history was in a period we call the dark ages when learning was forgotten and the Roman Catholic church ruled all.

This was the time when the Shia and the Sunni were falling apart and beginning the conflict that rages to this day (In the morning paper a group of terrorists in Iraq stopped a bus or two, let the Sunni people go and murdered the Shia.)

This was the time that Osama bin Laden seeks to re-establish. An old glory such as Mussolini felt about Roman times.

For a couple of centuries a family ruled most of the Islamic world from Baghdad. For those of us more familiar with the antics of the kings of England there is a striking resemblance, palace intrigue, key supporters changing sides, murder, imprisonment, struggles over succession.

This book brings to life an aspect of history that few of us have heard before but which is increasing in importance in our time.

Fabulous history.......2006-02-15

I studied the medieval Islamic world a little in college, and fell in love. It's a fascinating age in which Central Asian Buddhists, North African nomads, Ethiopian slaves, Greek cave-dwellers, Persian aristocrats, Arab bureaucrats and a host of different cultures came together, mixed, wrote wonderful literature, and lived the kind of drama that makes history fun. But it's hard to find anything written about the time that isn't arcane professor babble or Islam 101. (You know, "There are five pillars of Islam..." Snore.)

Here Hugh Kennedy has written the book I always wanted. He wisely concentrates on medieval Islam's golden age, the early Abbasid dynasty, when Baghdad ruled a large portion of the world-and, even more astutely, on the dramatic stories and personalities of the court. Let's face it, you read about the Abbasids because you want to know how the slave girl Khayzuran not only managed to marry the caliph but to quell a military revolt, why her son Harun al-Rashid was immortalized in The Arabian Nights, and why the all-powerful Barmakid family suddenly fell from grace to prison and execution. Kennedy brings the caliphs and their families to life. He's up front about the fact that the book is about aristocrats, but the common people of Baghdad, the "pickpockets and sellers of cheap sweets" who fought back when their city was besieged, and the middle class who developed Islamic tradition dance around the edge of the narrative.

Kennedy doesn't believe everything he reads, and doesn't think you will either. He repeats stories-like the "harem intrigue" tales, in which devious women are blamed for various deaths-that are almost certainly not true, but tell us something about the people who believed them, and are still enormously entertaining. He also is frank about the same-sex relationships, male and female, that were a part of the era's culture, without the awkwardness of many modern historians. And he's smart enough to explain the geography-why southern Iraq could support such a fabulously wealthy monarchy, and why the Afghanistan/NE Iran region was so critical to the faraway Middle East-in a way an American can understand. Very rare for books on Islamic history, the book boasts an excellent map, naming both cities and regions-invaluable for a hapless Westerner who doesn't know where the major cities of Iran are today, never mind where long-gone kingdoms like Yamama and Ushrusana used to be. There's also a surprisingly good index (another rarity).

The book isn't flawless. Kennedy twice awkwardly interrupts his straightforward account of political events with fascinating chapters on aspects of court culture-palaces, poetry, science, and (my favorite) women's lives. Unfortunately, this structure means the reader learns about the palace Mutawakkil built before she knows enough about him to care, and doesn't hear anything about Ma'mun patronage of scientific research until long after he's dead in the main narrative. The last chapter goes into far too much detail about the depressing downfall of the dynasty, short-changing a more interesting discussion about its legacy. But all in all Kennedy does a great job, and I for one plan down to hunt down his earlier books.

If you know nothing about Islamic history and want an accessible introduction to an fascinating period, or like me know a little and want to learn more, I highly recommend this book.

Rivetting narrative.......2006-01-14

This purely popular tale of the Baghdad Abbasid Caliphate is a wonderful book, full of splendor and tales of the times of the Caliphs, the Harem, early Islam, the founding of modern Baghdad, luxury, corruption, bad governance, murder, passion, rape, affluence gone wild, gluttony, exorbitance, decadence and political failure.

The Abbasids were the first dynasty following the first four `righteous' caliphs(Bakr, Omar, Uthman, Ali) who followed the death of Mohammed. The movement of the capital of Islam to Baghdad symbolized the secular transference of temporal power from its religious foundations into a colonial capital of imperial Islam, after-all the region around Baghdad, modern day Iraq, then Mesopotamia, was a country full of Jews, Zoroastrians, Pagans, Assyrian Christians, Nestorians, Jacobites, Gnosts and others. Muslims were a minority in this land. Baghdad was a new city created to rule a colonial empire that was recently created. The empire that the Abbasids ruled was wealthy beyond belief, corrupt, licentious, full of slander, moral turpitude and court scandals. This excellent tale of this period doesn't really shed light on the modern `conflict' as claimed but it is an excellent fascinating tale, unfortunately it doesn't follow the narrative of Baghdad through to its destruction by the Mongols, but only to the replacement of the Abbasids by the Fatamids who rode to power on the backs of Turkic immigrant warriors from the east, see the book `black banners from the east' for a narrative of the rise of the Fatamids. If this sheds light on anything to do with Islam and modern times it shows that fundamentalist Islam's accusations of Western power, wealth and immorality, are mirrored in the actions of early Islam, which resembled the modern day west far more than modern day Islam, an irony. Islam in the 8th century was far from the fundamentalist form we see today, however there is nothing admirable in its use of Harems and slavery.

Seth J. Frantzman

Average customer rating:

Wonderful survey, for academic or layperson
Unsurpassed Survey Treatment
Believe it or not, its too short.
Great Overview of the British Empire
Very complete and compelling

Rise & Fall Of The British Empire
JAMES
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India
Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power
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ASIN: 0312140398

Book Description

Great Britain's geopolitical role has undergone many changes over the last four centuries. Once a maritime superpower and ruler of half the world, Britain now occupies an isolated position as an economically fragile island often at odds with her European neighbors.
Lawrence James has written a comprehensive, perceptive, and insighful history of the British Empire. Spanning the years from 1600 to the present day, this critically acclaimed book combines detailed scholarship with readable popular history.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful survey, for academic or layperson.......2007-01-08

This book was one of the first I read on the British Empire, a cure for the veritable itch of interest. The sheer volume of this book may be overwhelming for the casual reader of history, but it is full of insight and subtleties that enrich it for both experts and novices alike. It has academic value as well, not least in its well-compiled bibliography of secondary sources, and overall balanced account. This book is also a narrative, not an academic treatise, and it therefore accommodates the reader that is seeking a synthesis of the facts. As an introduction to the British Empire - from rise to fall - I have found it most useful. If you are only going to buy one book to buy on the British Empire, perhaps this should be it.

Unsurpassed Survey Treatment.......2006-08-04

If a reader is seeking a reasonably concise (even at 600+ pages) treatment of the complete arc of the British Empire, this is the best I have come across. Other readers, more familiar with pivital episodes of that drama, should recognize that the work is, after all, a survey and does not purport to describe even the most significant of the empire's turning points (with the exception of India) in great detail. These many pages are a thoroughly enjoyable read for the simple reasons that Author James possesses an obvious command of his subject matter and writes in enviably understandable declarative sentences which should serve as models for other historians. It is interesting to compare and contrast this work with Niall Ferguson's "Empire", an equally readable and somewhat more provocative account of British world hegemony. Both are worth the read, and both provide object lessons regarding the Middle East which are not a little dispiriting at this moment when Israel is ramping up its invasion of Lebanon and Iraq appears inexorably headed toward civil war. Too bad only we history buffs seem to ponder works like these; apparently our political and military leaders don't have time for them, busy as they are fighting the "War on Terror". One can only hope that the lessons they learn in doing so won't be as painful and ultimately destructive of national pride, human and economic resources, and the capacity for doing good in the world as the British experience.

Believe it or not, its too short........2006-07-07

It is hard to imagine a seven hundred-plus page book being too short, but here it is. This is one of those rare lengthy tomes that keeps your attention and, which is even rarer, whets your appetite for more. Reading Mr. James' book opens up a wide vista of other books to read: more detailed history of India, the South Pacific, the Spanish Main, etc.

Mr. James has a well developed talent for a style that is informative and entertaining. The chapters are numerous and fairly short and each one covers a different topic. There is quite a lot of referencing back and forth, but again Mr. James does a good job of keeping the threads of his Cat's Craddle from unravelling.

It is very clear the Mr. James has a great deal of knowledge about this subject but he does not become pedantic nor try to impress us with this knowledge. He did make me run for the dictionary once or twice, but that is always a pleasure because it means I've learnt a new word!

Though it seems funny to say, this book is too brief. It is a great introduction to the topic and the book will leave you wanting for more and, more importantly, it points you in the right direction. If you have any Anglophile in you, read this book.

Great Overview of the British Empire.......2006-04-13

James's account of the British Empire is a great piece of scholarly work for anyone interested in British imperialism/colonialism. This is especially useful for those not wanting to spend time and money on the five volumes Oxford History of the British Empire. Of course the Oxford one is small compared to some of the others out there.

I particularly enjoyed James's use of artistic achievements to setup the historical context of the particular period he is discussing. His treatment of the less savory aspects of British imperialism is fair and balanced. Though he could probably have been a harsher critic on the British opium policy in India, China and Southeast Asia.

Overall, James gives the reader an excellent survey/overview of the British Empire. He even covers the Falkland War with some detail! For those amateur historians or generally interested in the British Empire this is a great one to pick up.

Very complete and compelling.......2005-07-19

I knew very little about the history of the English Empire (I'm Italian), and this book told me everything I wanted to know.

Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1: Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire

Average customer rating:

Just not what I was expecting
Brilliant!
Underwhelming

Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1: Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire
Ed Brubaker
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0785125159

Book Description

A brand-new era for Uncanny X-Men begins here! Fresh off X-Men: Deadly Genesis, Ed Brubaker takes the helm of Marvel's mighty mutants. Billy Tan and Clayton Henry joins Ed for a story that won't just affect Earth, but will rock the foundations of the entire galaxy! Vulcan is out for revenge and has his sights set on the Shi'ar Empire! Get ready for the ride of your life! A perfect starting point for any new reader! Collects Uncanny X-Men #475-486.

Customer Reviews:

Just not what I was expecting.......2007-09-10

I was super excited to hear that Brubaker would be writing Uncanny X-Men. He's easily one of my favorite writers and I am a fan of everything that he writes. However, it just didn't live up to what he's capable of.
For one, the plotting and pacing were far too slack for a story this size. An epic arc needs to be EPIC, and it just didn't have the scope. There were a good portion of the arc that just didn't move, or moved at the last page, and even then the payoff wasn't very good. This whole arc could have been resolved in half as many issues.
The other thing was how shallow Vulcan is as a character. Deadly Genesis was rather bland at his characterization, but he's given no motivation for his actions or his personality. It's just a stew of cliches mashed together for the purpose of the story.
But, before I say that I hated this entire arc, I will say that the characterizations of the rest of the cast are well thought out, and that Billy Tan turns in very good work, bolstered by the amazing coloring work of Frank D'Armata.
It's a very mixed bag, and, to be honest, if you like Brubaker, pick it up if you want, but overall, it's a serviceable X-Men story that delivers on its premise and succeeds in setting up an interesting new status quo.

Brilliant!.......2007-08-12

i wont give to much of the plot away, but this is one of the greatest Xmen storys i've ever read. the way Brubaker bought together such a different x team (warpath, rachael summers, polaris, havok, darwin and the professor) created a strong platform, from which brilliant characterisation could grow. Warpath and Darwin are just amazing. throughout the collection, we see darwin really come into his own right as potentially the one of the greatest x men. i cant rate this book highly enough. It's so huge and cinematic in it's scope i found myself totally absorbed.
Art? un-believable. Billy tan was given his chance to really shine in a mainstream series, and he absolutely kills it! i've never seen such impressive action, subtle expression through dialogue scenes and attenion to detail.

buy this book. and smile cause you know it wont let you down, no matter how many times you re-read it!

Underwhelming.......2007-08-04

Ed Brubaker's (Captain America, Daredevil, Sleeper) run on Uncanny X-Men begins here in this deluxe sized hardcover space opera. Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire picks up where the pieces of Brubaker's X-Men: Deadly Genesis mini-series left off, as forgotten Summers brother Vulcan is back and out for revenge, and has hopes of using the Shi'ar to his advantage to do so. Before you can say intergalactic, the X-Men are out in space and up to their necks in trouble as well; all of which culminates in one quite underwhelming finale. That's what the most disappointing thing about Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire is; it appears that Brubaker is setting things up for a massive payoff that never quite comes to fruition. The end comes, and when it does, there's nothing really set in stone and are left feeling as if there's more to the story, which of course, there always is. The artwork from Billy Tan and Clayton Henry is pretty good though, and there's enough action and mayhem to satisfy many a X-Men fan, so the book isn't a total loss. All in all, Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire is worth a look for longtime X-Men readers, but the end result is pretty underwhelming.

Empire of Blood (Dragonlance: The Minotaur Wars, Book 3)

Average customer rating:

Faros Shrugs and Kills Things
Outstanding Read
Loved it
Conclusion that would make a Minotaur proud
Great conclusion to this tale

Empire of Blood (Dragonlance: The Minotaur Wars, Book 3)
Richard A. Knaak
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0786939788
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Book Description

The War of Souls has ended, but Krynn is still rife with conflict. The elven
land of Silvanesti is no more, replaced by the minotaur colony of Ambeon.

A new emperor sits on the throne in Nethosak, his dark Protectors backed by the magic of the Forerunners. Resistance to the empire is all but crushed.

The rebellion's last hope, Faros, struggles with personal demons. But, unexpectedly bolstered by the very gods he has renounced, the legitimate heir rises up against obstacles all too real as well as others fantastical. A plague of abominations descends upon Faros’s forces as they storm the capital...forcing a memorable showdown with the evil usurpers.

The trilogy that began with dire events of NIGHT OF BLOOD and continued with the epic struggles in TIDES OF BLOOD now arrives at this thrilling conclusion.

Customer Reviews:

Faros Shrugs and Kills Things.......2006-06-08

I said the second novel of this series was like a Big Mac. Well, sometimes when you eat too many Big Macs, bad things happen. I read the whole trilogy straight through, and by the time I got to this one, I was just bored out of my mind, I didn't care about the fighting save for the obvious Faros versus Emperor of the Evil Plague show off at the end, and seeing the High Priestess getting hers. Too many sword slashes and headbutts...too many Big Macs.

It is also, strangely, the worse plot line of the trilogy. The first is about treachery and bloodshed, the second about revenge and slavery, and this one...is about...well...wrapping up the trilogy really. Faros gets a fleet and heads to kill the Emperor, that's the plot. And while the first two weren't paragons of originality, they were just interesting enough to draw me in.

This novel was not interesting. By the hundredth page I just wanted it to end and get it over with. Maybe that's my fault for reading the three of them in about a week, but on the other side, Knaak has had trouble with wrapping things up before. Sometimes he goes fifty pages too many, or three or four fight scenes too many, and instead of a pleasant Big Mac sedation, you're left with a night listening to your stomach complain.

Part of this problem is drawn straight from the characters. The most interesting character dies rather early and we are left with Faros, whose meaning in life is simply to shrug and kill stuff, and Maritia, who I just can't care for. It's a modern fantasy cliché to throw in a female romantic subplot, and Knaak commits it. Her story is just wandering, pointless. She's there so Faros can look at her and say, "hey baby" and that's not enough. I'd rather they just cut the romance out completely if they are just going to tack it on.

All in all, I'm just disappointed with this one.

Final Thought: The worst of the three novels, but again, some of the better work in the post War of Souls stuff. Sad times.

Outstanding Read.......2006-06-07

I have now read this series of books by Mr Knaak. I wont go into allot of detail about these 3 books. I will say tho if you want a good fanstasy read then by all means these 3 would be as good as any R.A Savatore,s Dark Elf series. I must say too that I have really enjoyed reading this Triology.

Loved it.......2006-03-04

These books keep getting better an better the more I read them. The Minotaur wars was an exciting and fantastic book of battles and lore. Couldn't put it down!!

**A book I would also recommend is The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. This, the first installment of The Morcyth Saga is a great beginning for a new author. Battles, magic, gods, secret passages and intrigue, all the elements of a classic epic fantasy! Any fantasy reader will enjoy it

Conclusion that would make a Minotaur proud.......2005-08-24

Knaak begins the end of this impressive trilogy around the time the Gods of Krynn come back to the world (coinciding with the end of the third book, Dragons of a Vanished Moon, in the Dragonlance War of Souls trilogy). Empire of Blood is epic in scope. Sargonnas, original patron god of the minotaur race, and Morgion, currently holding sway over the minotaurs in his aspect as the Lord of the Bronze Tower, both play an active role in the story. Their respective mortal champions, Faros and Ardnor, command mighty armies and wield great divine power. At stake is the fate of the whole minotaur race and the overall balance of power for most of Krynn. It is a very entertaining read and fans of the first two books will not be left disappointed with either the plot or the quality of writing. I have a few gripes pertaining to Knaak devoting little time to flesh out certain parts of the story. Without giving away any major spoilers, Knaak seems to abandon Bastion, warrior brother of Ardnor, towards the end of the novel without ever telling the reader of Bastion's fate. The same can be said of another major character in Lord Golgren, leader of the ogres. There are a couple other settings and events that could've been clarified with more detail. In addition, Knaak's attempt at salvaging any romance in the series is downright pathetic. These are somewhat minor concerns, but added up, I did not feel this was one of Knaak's best novels. It is certainly enjoyable and up to the standards of most Dragonlance fans. Knaak did a solid job of setting the table for new future adventures in the ever advancing Dragonlance timeline.

Great conclusion to this tale.......2005-08-20

With Empire of Blood, Richard Knaak concludes the Dragonlance: The Minotaur Wars trilogy and he does a fantastic job with putting everything together.

As with the other two novels in this trilogy they are a little darker than most Dragonlance novels, but in my opinion that is a good thing.

This book is much more action packed than the previous two in the trilogy which can be expected since it is the culmination of the trilogy. This story is well written and well plotted out to get the maximum effect of the tale.

As with the other books of this series you don't need to have a vast knowledge of the Dragonlance world to understand this trilogy. No matter what though, I recommend these book to any fantasy fan.

The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome: The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire in the Words of Those Who Were There (Mammoth Books)

Average customer rating:

Good companion to Gibbons
A unique and thorough collection of rare documents!
A Fun Resource, Marred By Some Creaky Translations

The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome: The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire in the Words of Those Who Were There (Mammoth Books)

Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Rome | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 078671168X

Book Description

The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome is the history of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire in the words of those who saw it firsthand. Never before in such detail has there been a history of this great and influential civilization that continues to mark the landscape (the Colosseum, the Roman roads, the aqueduct at Nimes), our language, our calendar (“July” for Julius Caesar), our laws, our traditions (carrying a bride across the threshold), and our very thoughts. With all the gossip of I, Claudius and the excitement of Gladiator (but none of the historical inaccuracy), The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome is a unique tour into the most important civilization in the West.

Customer Reviews:

Good companion to Gibbons.......2007-03-27

I really enjoyed this book because it wasn't just a bunch of impersonal historical facts piled into one book. These are writings and historical accounts from those who were present at the time the history was being made. This book gives a unique perspective about the Roman Empire that most history books don't.

A unique and thorough collection of rare documents!.......2006-05-22

"The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome: The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire in the Words of Those Who Were There" (whew!) is a 500+ page "phone book" of authentic Roman documents. The book is truly as "mammoth" as you would expect from a work with twenty-six words in the title alone, and pragmatically speaking, it's a remarkable value. For under eleven bucks, you can get this comprehensive set of writings, whereas buying just a handful of them in other sources (if such books are available for the work you want to read) would cost that much or more! A remarkable value!

I was most interested in the works of Josephus, but I quickly became enthralled by the way other works eerily paralleled our own society. Several of these writings can only be described as "how-to" books, for example. And, there's a document claiming to be written by Marc Antony himself entitled "On Going to Bed with Cleopatra", which makes one wonder if the Romans' attention was as misfocused as our own on cults of celebrity instead of important things. Over the years, you can follow along as Rome learns about the death of Christ from St. John, experiences Caligula and Nero, and dozens of other historical events. The Roman opinions clearly didn't always pan out, as our historical 20-20 vision will quickly tell you, but it's interesting to see how they viewed things at the time.

A Fun Resource, Marred By Some Creaky Translations.......2003-09-18

This Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome, edited by Jon Lewis, is really about the same size as a Viking Portable, so the title overstates the reality. At the same time, the book does collect a wide variety of Roman writings from all phases of its development and collapse. I've never before run across the Twelve Tables(450) BCE, anonymous rituals, Josephus, St. Augustine, Hannibal, Pliny, Suetonius, Marcus Aurelius, Horace, Caesar, Cicero, Juvenal, Constantine and too many others, known and anonymous, to name, all in one volume. It's main problem is that some of these translations are so hoary it's hard to imagine anyone ever expressed themselves in such convoluted and ornate language. Hannibal's speech to his troops is a prime example: it is unlikely his troops would have understood what he said, much less been motivated to valor, if he actually talked like he does in the translation here. Most of the pieces are good enough, though. It's fun to browse through, to get a peek at what Romans thought of themselves, and ordinary things they did, as well as great ones. The chronology at the front is very handy, too.

War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires

Average customer rating:

Rise and fall of nations
Compellingly Clear Foundation for Avoiding Global Collapse
Best Meta-History Book Ever Written
Thought Provoking - With the depth of Guns, Germs and Steel
A compelling framework for pre-capitalist historical dynamics

War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires
Peter Turchin
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

ASIN: 0452288193

Book Description

Like Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Peter Turchin in War and Peace and War uses his expertise in evolutionary biology to make a highly original argument about the rise and fall of empires.

Turchin argues that the key to the formation of an empire is a society's capacity for collective action. He demonstrates that high levels of cooperation are found where people have to band together to fight off a common enemy, and that this kind of cooperation led to the formation of the Roman and Russian empires, and the United States. But as empires grow, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, conflict replaces cooperation, and dissolution inevitably follows. Eloquently argued and rich with historical examples, War and Peace and War offers a bold new theory about the course of world history.

Customer Reviews:

Rise and fall of nations.......2007-09-28

This is a great book that explains the rise and fall of empires. It gives a good explanation of why empires develop the ability to expand and rule and why they lose it. If you love history and try to make sense out of it you will love this book. Great book that in light those who read it.

Compellingly Clear Foundation for Avoiding Global Collapse.......2007-09-03

I bought this book at the same time that I bought The Collapse of Complex Societies (New Studies in Archaeology), and it is one of several that will be the foundation for my own forthcoming work, "WAR(-) & PEACE(+): Open=Wealth=Peace.

Other books vital to my perspecitve that complement this one:
The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State
The Vulnerability of Empire (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (American Empire Project)

It is on the basis of having read and reviewewd those books first, that I find a deep appreciation for what this author has done. I've struggled with the book for a couple of months, because this is not light reading. This is deep history, a form of historical dynamics of "science" that is called Cleodynamics. This is such a tough nut to crack that I am going to write my review in reverse order.

1) The author ends with E pluribus unum. Cooperation is essential to the long-term prosperity of man. To this I would add my own motto, E Veritate Potens--We the People are made powerful through truth.

2) The author ends on a hopeful note, suggesting that it is possible to design institutiions (I would say, networks) that can foster cooperation and distribute wealth (I would say, create new wealth). There is a remarkable coincidence between this author's sociological views, and two books in particular, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks) and The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom.

3) The author attributes the current clashes of civilization with the4 energizing of the Islamic endges where they confront the West (Israel is included in that bloc), Orthodox, Hindu, and Sinic civilizations. I know from other readings that these edges also suffer from water scarcity, and the greatest crime that Israel is committing against the Arab nations is the covert theft of their water through very long underground pipes that violate political borders.

4) Growing inequality, growing debt, brings down empires. The author paraphrases Toynbee in saying "Great empories dies not by murder but by suicide." Quite right. We've killed 3,000 of our own and created 75,000 amputtees while murdering hundreds of thousands because our The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead was all too willing to "go along" with massive blatant lies, and all too complacent to exercise our civic responsibilities to participate in the dialog.

The failure of our generals and admirals to confront illegal orders from Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz--the failure particularly to challenge their many lies to Congress and the public--got us into perfect position for total collapse. The 27 secessionist movement are most likely to gain their objectives cause the "empire" is deeply enmeshed in a far-away war it cannot win, a war that continues to hollow out our Armed Forces at the same time that it accelerates our loss of legitimacy in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The decline of collective capabilities for action, "asabaya" that this author discusses match up very well with the observations of the author of the book first cited above, to wit, when the empire can no longer make coherent affordable sustainable decisions, the empire implodes, defaulting one or two levels down.

Throughout the book there is a tension between "the landscape of fear" and the possibilities of hope. One thing history cannot tell us, although the author explores this as best he can, is how the wealth of networks could unleash the entrepreneurial energy of the five billion poor, to the point that we achieve the title of Medard Gabel's superb forthcoming book, "Seven Billion Billionaires." Self-governance, tr5ansparent budgets that destroy corruption, self-correcting localized resilience and networks that eliminate waste and over-production, these all appear to be on the horizon.

Having been in Viet-Nam from 1963-1967, and being an avid reader of books on the intelligence failures and leadership lies of that era, I find a remarkable coincidence between the asibaya of Islam and the asibaya of Viet-Nam, and the manner in which mendacious leaders and incompetent or timid intelligence professionals conspire to waste blood, treasure, and spirit in a self-deating manner (less the elites that enrich themselves through war profiteering).

I have a note, this may be the first 21st Century social science reference (published in 2006)

Early on in the work the author focuses on the religous controversies that plagued the Roman Empire, and we reeview the critical role of religion as a symbolic market, a divider for many, a uniter for some. It was a glue for Russia, it is neutral for Malaysia and Indonesia, and fraught with peril for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and even Turkey.

Early on the author focuses on how fragmentation blockes collective action and leads to defeat in detail. He emphasizes the importance of social cohesion while noting that climate and ecological boundaries matter. So doesthe truth. I was much impressed by The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink and The Republican War on Science as well as Tempting Faith and I am quite certain that history will find this current Administration to have been the most villanous, traitorous, spendthrift, and corrupt in our entire history of just over two centuriues. What stuns me is how our culture has become so insensitive, our civic nature so watered down, that the people are like pigs waiting for slaughter.

The book opens with a central observation, that political boundaries work only when they coincide with cultural rights. Absolutely vital point, one reason why I concur with Philip Alott's observations, and one reason I believe we need to overturn the Treaty of WEestphalia and start over with a combination of culturally valid boundaries and regional networks for managing water, eneergy, food, shelter, and security.

The author begin with a discussion of three central concepts:

1) Meta-ethnic frontier theory and asabaya cycles

2) Demographic-structural secular cycles; and

3) Fathers and sons cycles.

The author uses and discusses mathematical models in support of the work, but does not burden the reader with the formulas.

From this and the many other books I have been privileged to review these past six years of infamy, I share the author's hopeful conclusion. It is now possible to demonstrate to people that

1) There are not enough guns to kill us all

2) We can liberate the poor by connecting them to free knowledge one cell phone call at a time (with millions of volunteers using telelanguage.com to offer micro-tutorials on anything in any language);

3) We can demand trasparent budgets published a week prior to voting, and thus eliminate all the secret earmarks and corruption;

4) We can apply millions of eyeballs to all trade records and stop corporate looting of poor countries via corruption

5) We can throw out corporate personality, implement localized home rule, and demand localized resilience in water and energy and food.

On balance, as appalled as I am about the treachery and venality of the Cheney White House, I can but Praise God for sending this dark cloud to shock America back into reading non-fiction and thinking for itself.

I have three sons, and helping the poor is going to be my way of protecting the future of my children and their children. Earth is an aquariaqm. We have 5-10 years to balance it, or we are toast. Corruption, not global warming, is the gravest threat to humanity.

Best Meta-History Book Ever Written.......2007-05-14

Poor Arnold Toynbee identified a few patterns, but his woeful explanations totally ignored many things, technological change being foremost. But now we have "War and Peace and War"!

Peter Turchin's superb book explains what keeps empires, nations, and even tribes together and allows them to be more than just transitory collections of random people sharing a culture. Extremely well written, the book illustrates its thesis at every turn with compelling historical examples and occasionally amusing biographical details. But the stress is on asabiya (accent on the second syllable, I think), and its fundamental importance for a group's very survival (though his data really allows him to press the case only for "empires"). The concept is related to "social capital" and also to Fukuyama's "trust", but fully warrants the use of Ibn Khaldun's own special term.

Finally someone has drawn together the real threads of explanation of the typical cyclic behavior of pre-modern nations. Though he does in the last chapter apply his findings to the post-1800 world, he acknowledges that things have changed and the traditional patterns apply less now.

Altogether a totally engrossing and very important book, written in such a manner that makes it hard to put down.

Thought Provoking - With the depth of Guns, Germs and Steel.......2006-02-21

It is a socially accepted idea that a common enemy unites. It's common sense to us, but the facts of how pervasively a common enemy can cause a nation to unify has never been laid out clearer in any book I have read.

Turchin presents many cases of different people bonding together and energized by an unsettled frontier or a frontier under seige. Empires such as Rome, France and the Carolingians and the Holy Roman Empire are prime examples of nations who rose by being surrounded by enemies. These nations were forced into action for their own survival. Turchin does a fine job of backing up his theory with detailed accounts of the rise of these empires. Turchin uses the Arabic term "asibaya", a term that roughly means "unity and cooperation" to describe nations that had unified.

The second part of the book deals mostly with the fall of empires. Many of these empires fell - interestingly enough - because of the common bond breaking down internally. Turchin attributes much of this to class divisiveness, i.e., the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the eventual collapse of the upper class as a result, as they could no longer live off of the poor. This resulted in not only the poor revolting, but also the upper class battling with each other.

For the most part this is a well written book, however the author tends to jump around a bit from chapter to chapter, which at times makes the book hard to follow. This is a minor price to pay, however for a book this well researched and informative. I'll chalk up any disorganization in the book to his inexperience in writing history books of this scope.

Turchin treats the pre-capitalist dynamics in much the same way that Marx does. In fact, Turchin refers to Marx in numerous places. Say what you want about Marx, but he had a clear understanding of how people and classes of people interact.

One obvious mistake in his writings, though - He attributes Voltaire's famous quote about the Holy Roman Empire ("It wasn't holy, it wasn't roman and it wasn't an empire") to Marx, which is indeed incorrect.

A compelling framework for pre-capitalist historical dynamics.......2005-11-12

Alex Alaniz's otherwise excellent review fails to mention Turchin's core concept of 'asabiya' (Chapter 4). First developed by the fourteenth century thinker, Ibn Khaldun, asabiya broadly connotes social solidarity. Similar, more narrowly-based concepts include social capital (Robert Putnam) and the idea of military fighting spirit as a force multiplier.

Turchin puts asabiya at the heart of his historical dynamics, from asabiya's forging in initially fractious tribal groupings, chronically stressed at the edge of existing empires, through to the empire-building power of egalitarian high-asabiya groups, through to the decline of empire as class-stratification erodes social bonds in the empire's decadent period.

Turchin traces an 'asabiya gradient' in the United States, from high in the north to low in the south, which he associates with the corrosive legacy of slavery. Steven Pinker's 'Blank Slate' made similar remarks about the lower social solidarity in the US South, although Pinker saw this as resulting from the Southern 'honour culture' which, as he saw it, had resulted from the pastoral, rather than farming background of the earliest colonists. Pastoralists have to treat others as potential enemies since their mobile assets (e.g. cattle) are so easy to steal - a reason for low asabiya.

It would be interesting to know whether Turchin's more technical books have developed mathematical models/simulations of inter-society dynamics in which asabiya is a key parameter.

Although Turchin's many examples and models have been drawn from pre-capitalist agrarian societies, the fundamental concepts seem eminently applicable to contemporary events (Turchin chances a few asides, but not a systematic framework). I would guess that what we're seeing here are the opening movements of an exciting, insightful and controversial research programme to come.

The Roman Army: Legions, Wars and Campaigns: A Military History of the World's First Superpower From the Rise of the Republic and the Might of the Empire to the Fall of the West

Average customer rating:

a big disappointment
A glossy study of the Roman legion
Great stuff

The Roman Army: Legions, Wars and Campaigns: A Military History of the World's First Superpower From the Rise of the Republic and the Might of the Empire to the Fall of the West
Nigel Rodgers
Manufacturer: Southwater
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Rome | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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The Making of the Roman Army: From Republic to Empire

ASIN: 1844762106

Book Description

This authoritative, fact filled history traces the growth of the Roman army fromits earlydays as an unpaid citizen's mililtia to its establishment as a world conquering professional force.

Customer Reviews:

a big disappointment.......2007-08-01

when i first ordered this book, i thought i would get a detailed description of the Roman army's legions, wars, and campaigns, as the title suggests. but don't let the title fool you. its actually a rough summery of the Roman empire. very little on the actual wars, legions and campaigns. so if you are just getting into the Roman empire, and don't know much about it, buy this book. otherwise, you're wasting your money, like i did.

A glossy study of the Roman legion.......2006-07-01

A rather glossy book that discusses the Roman legion from approx Hannibal to the fall of the Western Empire. To those that know something of Rome you will find little new or orginal in the book but it makes a good introduction on the subject as the writer clearly knows his topic.

Great stuff.......2006-01-31

For the aficiendado who is interested in Rome, the legions and campaigns, the conquests, this is the best and newest book on the military aspects of Rome. Rome ruled an empire for almost 700 years and its legions were what made it successful, the decline of the legions and their replacement by third rate mercenaries spelled the end. This book catalouges all the famous campaigns, in Gaul, in Britian, in Judea, in Germania and against the Greeks and Carthaginians. An interesting book.

Seth J. Frantzman

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Second Edition

Average customer rating:

The story of Communist imperialism
Quick and Informative History of the Soviet Empire 1945-1991

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Second Edition
Raymond Pearson
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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DSST Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union (DANTES series)

ASIN: 0333948076

Book Description

Raymond Pearson describes and explains the creation, maintenance, and eventual demise of the Soviet regime across post-1945 Eastern Europe, setting the so-called "Soviet Empire" within the broader context of global imperialism and decolonization. This revised and updated second edition features an expanded final chapter, more detailed analysis of key themes and events, and an extended bibliography. New documentation has also been incorporated to provide a fuller historical account of what may prove to be the 'Last Empire'.

Customer Reviews:

The story of Communist imperialism.......2007-08-14

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire traces the creation, expansion, maintenance and eventual demise of the Soviet Empire, one of history's greatest tyrranies, from 1945 to 1991.
He describes how the Soviet empire was indeed an imperialist venture (making it all the more absurd how Communists and their fellow travellers refer to the democratic West as 'imperialists').
The author describes the conflict between the forces of nationalism and freedom on the one hand against those of Communist imperialism on the other.
Indeed if you are truly against imperialism you will support nationalism and the nation-state.
The book refers to how East European independence was jointly obliterated by the Nazi and Soviet empires. About the Communist tactics of subjugating Eastern Europe to Communist tyrany after World War II, and the shameful British and American aquiescence in this (so soon after British appeasement of Hitler at Munich, 1938).
As the book traces the development of Stalinist and neo-Stalinist tyranny, we learn of internal Soviet political and economic developments, and the movements of nationalism and liberalism crushed by the Soviets over decades, before their eventual triumph over Communist despotism in 1989-1991.
Key points covered include the conflict between Yugoslav leader Tito and Stalin in the late 1940's and early 50's.
The brutal and bloody Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 to crush nascent pro-democracy movements there.
25 000 Hungarians died in the Soviet invasion and crackdown of 1956.
Then we read of the dishonourable appeasement of Soviet tyranny by the West at Helsinki, 1975, and the crushing of Solidarity and the pro-democracy movement in Poland in 1981.
The book then traces the reforms of Gorbachev to the collapse of the Berlin wall in 1989, and the fall of Communist dictatorships in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria that year.
Two years later the Soviet Union itself collapsed with the independence of the 15 republics that made up the Soviet Union.
The book highlights some interesting facts. For example that the two predecessors of the Soviet Empire were the pre-war Soviet Union and the Nazi Neordnung.
"Over 1939-45, the German Empire self-interestedly liquidated many of the indigenous political cadres of Eastern Europe, inadvertently clearing away the opposition for it's imperial sucessr. By the irony of history, the New Order unwittingly did much of the Soviet Empire's dirty work for it, creating a power vacuum, which the beleagured Soviet Union found impossible to resist over the later 1940s. In effect...the wartime Nazi 'New Order' facilitated a postwar Soviet 'Newer Order'. Given it's parentage it comes as no surprise that the Soviet Empire was seen by many hostile contemporaries as a 'Soviet Ordnung' or 'Stalinist Reich', inheriting the genetic characteristics of both forebears".
Pearson describes something of the nature of life in the Soviet Empire: like the fabled Narnia of CS Lewis, the Soviet Empire remained a joyless land where there was always winter, but never Christmas.
The West has fought two struggles for freedom against forces of world tyranny in the last century, first against Nazism, then against Communist and now is fighting a third strugle against hegemonic Islamic fundamnetalism, which is backed by the international left.

Quick and Informative History of the Soviet Empire 1945-1991.......2001-01-10

This book actually is about two empires -- the "Inner Empire" of the Soviet Union and the "Outer Empire" of the Soviet Bloc. The book is exceedingly well written and hard to put down. Though it ignores broad swaths of Soviet history (military confrontation with the west, relationship with China, etc), it admits that it doesn't tell all, and, more importantly, tells what it does very clearly.

The crisises of 1956, 1968, and 1980 are examined in detail, and throughout humor is used to get the point across (such at the Kiti-Kat fiasco, and contemporary Soviet and Eastern European jokes about the regime).

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