Politics Books - Page 16

CHRISTMAS BOX (Christmas Box Trilogy)

Richard Paul Evans

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 119 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Heavy on sappiness, light on plot 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is narrated beautifully with a lot of rich description. It contains a strong theme of appreciating your children, and has wonderful reminders of the true meaning of Christmas. Both are certainly worthwhile.

But the story that presents these ideas is significantly lacking. One example, without giving anything away, is when the narrator asks a neighbor a question. The neighbor knows the answer but instead says something to the effect of "I'll tell you next week." This is clearly a poor attempt at delaying a big revelation, which by the way is completely obvious by this point in the story anyway.

I do recommend this book if you want to read a stunning mental picture that will make you cry. If you want a clever plot though, this is probably not for you.

Editorial Review:

Richard, a preoccupied father, discovers a box of love letters from an old woman to her dead daughter, and, with the help of an angel, begins to discover the true meaning of Christmas. (General Fiction).

Blacks Law Dictionary

List Price: $27.65 By: West Group Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $1.06

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Total reviews: 111 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Edited by Bryan A. Garner, the world’s leading legal lexicographer, Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th Edition is now better than ever! The new 8th Edition has more than 43,000 definitions, plus almost 3,000 quotations. Alternative spellings or equivalent terms and expressions are provided for more than 5,300 terms and senses, serving a thesaurus-like function. The extensive appendix on legal abbreviations is a major addition. It’s the first time such a comprehensive guide has been included in a modern law dictionary, and is an invaluable aid to the legal researcher.
-17,000 more definitions than the 7th Edition
-Newly enhanced with West Key Numbers for research reference
-Includes changes made since the creation of the department of Homeland Security
-Almost 3,000 quotations from authorities drawn from sources over at least five centuries
-More than 1,000 law-related abbreviations and acronyms are defined
-Extensive appendix on legal abbreviations
-Faculty recommended

Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia

Ahmed Rashid

Amazon Price: $18.45 List Price: $27.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Viking Adult Amazon Marketplace: 62 new & used starting at $11.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author provides a shocking analysis of the crisis in Pakistan and the renewed radicalism threatening Afghanistan and the West.

Ahmed Rashid is “Pakistan’s best and bravest reporter” (Christopher Hitchens). His unique knowledge of this vast and complex region allows him a panoramic vision and nuance that no Western writer can emulate.

His book Taliban first introduced American readers to the brutal regime that hijacked Afghanistan and harbored the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Now, Rashid examines the region and the corridors of power in Washington and Europe to see how the promised nation building in these countries has pro-gressed. His conclusions are devastating: An unstable and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a renewed al’ Qaeda profiting from a booming opium trade, and a Taliban resurgence and reconquest. While Iraq continues to attract most of American media and military might, Rashid argues that Pakistan and Afghanistan are where the conflict will finally be played out and that these failing states pose a graver threat to global security than the Middle East.

Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and the crisis in Pakistan are only the beginning. Rashid assesses what her death means for the region and the future. Rashid has unparalleled access to the figures in this global drama, and provides up-to-the-minute analysis better than anyone else. Descent Into Chaos will do for Central Asia what Thomas Rick’s Fiasco did for Iraq — offer a blistering critique of the Bush administration and an impassioned call to correct our failed strategy in the region.

The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World

John Perkins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 60 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Personal testimony gives flavor & readability but makes for unverifiability 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The US State Dept website's description of Perkins' previous book (Confessions of an Economic Hit Man) works here, as well: "an exciting, first-person, cloak-and-dagger tale that plays to popular images about alleged U.S. economic exploitation of Third World countries."

In an easy to read style, Perkins weaves his personal stories around generally established events from around the world that one can usually trace to sources other than Perkins. Although it certainly doesn't hurt to have such incidents brought to mind again, his inclusion of them end up leading the reader in a way that make his behind-the-scenes stories feel more plausible, seeming to simply fill in ground level details of US/corporate exploitation. Together it goes down more smoothly as narrative, a great format for popular consumption.

Yet, as other reviewers have already pointed out, the lack of verifiability really limits the book. The "secrets" Perkins is trying to reveal are, of course, based on personal or anonymous testimony. On the one hand, the circumstances he describes warrant such anonymity, and we should not dismiss singular personal testimony out of hand (especially when regarding such alleged clandestine incidents, where scattered personal testimony may be all there is). On the other hand, since readers' cannot cross-examine his evidence, many of his claims simply must remain unproven, which is unfortunate. Perkins' work would be a stronger contribution to informing the public if it could do so objectively.

At best, perhaps his stories (along with the more established incidents he mentions) should be kept in mind as what powerful corporations and countries are capable of, causing us to be all the more on our guard against corruption.

Editorial Review:

In his stunning memoir, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins detailed his former role as an "economic hit man" in the international corporate skulduggery of a de facto American Empire. Now Perkins zeroes in on hot spots around the world, drawing on interviews to examine the current geopolitical crisis, and providing a compassionate plan to reimagine our world.

Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming

Paul Hawken

Amazon Price: $35.51 List Price: $44.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Blackstone Audio Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $28.30

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 49 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Inspiring rhetoric, disappointing analysis 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Some of my friends found this book really inspiring. I tend to look for things like detailed and balanced analysis of issues, in-depth descriptions of the work of political groups, and sophisticated understanding of the way in which voluntary organizations interact with elite politics and economic factors. This book is weak on all of those - but it DOES have a lot of inspirational rhetoric.

Editorial Review:

Blessed Unrest tells the story of a worldwide movement that is largely unseen by politicians or the media. Hawken, an environmentalist and author, has spent more than a decade researching organizations dedicated to restoring the environment and fostering social justice. From billion-dollar nonprofits to single-person causes, these organizations collectively comprise the largest movement on earth. This is a movement that has no name, leader, or location but is in every city, town, and culture. It is organizing from the bottom up and is emerging as an extraordinary and creative expression of people's needs worldwide.

Die Trying (Jack Reacher, No. 2)

Lee Child

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 118 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

OK, but .......... 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

An OK book, but not at the level of John Sanford. I got very tired of the author using the word "right" at the end of everyone's dialogue. It gets old after a while, right?

Editorial Review:

In a Chicago suburb, a dentist is met in his office parking lot by three men and ordered into the trunk of his Lexus. On a downtown sidewalk, Jack Reacher and an unknown woman are abducted in broad daylight by two men - practiced and confident - who stop them at gunpoint and hustle them into the same sedan. Then Reacher and the woman are switched into a second vehicle and hauled away, leaving the dentist bound and gagged inside his car with the woman's abandoned possessions, two gallons of gasoline. . . and a burning match.

The FBI is desperate to rescue the woman, a Special Agent from the Chicago office, because the FBI always - always - takes care of its own, and because this woman is not just another agent. Reacher and the woman join forces, against seemingly hopeless odds, to outwit their captors and escape. But the FBI thinks Jack is one of the kidnappers - and when they close in, the Bureau snipers will be shooting to kill.

Don't Start the Revolution Without Me!

Jesse Ventura

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Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jesse Ventura—former governor, wrestler, and Navy SEAL—on what's wrong with the Democrats, the Republicans, and politics in America.

Jesse Ventura has had many lives—as a Navy SEAL, as a star of pro wrestling, as an actor, and as the governor of Minnesota. His previous books, I Ain't Got Time to Bleed and Do I Stand Alone?, were both national bestsellers. Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! is the story of his controversial gubernatorial years and his life since deciding not to seek a second term as governor in 2002. Written with award-winning author Dick Russell at a secluded location on Mexico's Baja Peninsula, Ventura's new book reveals for the first time why he left politics—and why he is now considering reentering the arena with a possible independent run for the presidency in 2008.

In a fast-paced and often humorous narrative, Ventura pulls no punches in discussing our corrupt two-party system, the disastrous war in Iraq, and what he suspects really happened on September 11. He provides personal insights into the Clinton and Bush presidencies, and elaborates on the ways in which third parties are rendered impotent by the country's two dominant parties. He reveals the illegal role of the CIA in states like Minnesota, sensitive and up-to-date information on the Blackwater security firm, the story of the American spies who shadowed him on a trade mission to Cuba, and what Fidel Castro told him about who really assassinated President John F. Kennedy. This unique political memoir is a must-read for anyone concerned about the direction that America will take in 2008. 16 b/w photographs.

Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America

Brigitte Gabriel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 348 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Her writing is eloquent and her passion tremendous."

--Publishers Weekly

“Brigitte Gabriel's words should be read, and studied carefully, by all the law enforcement and government officials of the West -- as well as by everyone who values freedom.”

-- Robert Spencer, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)

Brigitte Gabriel lost her childhood to militant Islam, when militant Muslims from throughout the Middle East poured into Lebanon and declared jihad against the Lebanese Christians. Because They Hate warns that the US is threatened by fundamentalist Islamic theology in the same way Lebanon was— radical Islam will stop at nothing short of domination of all non-Muslim countries.

Fiercely articulate and passionately committed, Because They Hate tells Gabriel's personal story as well as outlines the history, social movements, and religious divisions that have led to this critical historical conflict.

BRIGITTE GABRIEL is a US-based journalist and news producer who started her career as an anchor for World News, an evening Arabic news program. As a terrorism expert and the founder of the nonprofit organization ACT! for America, Brigitte Gabriel travels widely and speaks regularly on topics related to the Middle East. She has addressed audiences at the FBI, the United States Special Operations Command, the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Joint Forces Staff College, among others.

Pedagogy of the oppressed

Paulo Freire

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Change your mind 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is a profound little book that makes a cogent argument for effective change in individual and social thought processes. It will change the way you think about oppression and what it actually is for those who are oppressed. This is a book for everyone but especially for those who want to make a change for the better in themselves and the society at large. A thought provoking and challenging book!

Editorial Review:

This text argues that the ignorance and lethargy of the poor are the direct result of the whole economic, social and political domination. By being kept in a situation in which it is practically impossible to achieve a critical awareness and response the disadvantaged are kept "submerged". The book suggests that in some countries the oppressors use the system to maintain this "culture of silence". Through the right kind of education, the book suggests, avoiding authoritarian teacher-pupil models and based on the actual experiences of students and on continual shared investigation, every human being, no matter how impoverished or illiterate, can develop a new awareness of self, and the right to be heard.

Outrage: How Illegal Immigration, the United Nations, Congressional Ripoffs, Student Loan Overcharges, Tobacco Companies, Trade Protection, and Drug Companies Are Ripping Us Off . . . and

Dick Morris, Eileen Mcgann

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Total reviews: 79 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann are outrage—and you should be, too!

• Half of all illegal immigrants came into this country legally—and we have no way of knowing they're still here!
• Congressmen are putting their wives on their campaign payrolls!
• The UN is a cover for massive corruption!
• Drug companies pay off doctors to write scrips—whether we need them or not!
• Teachers unions block the firing of bad teachers—and battle against higher education standards!
• Katrina victims are being stiffed by their insurance companies!
• Special interests cost our consumers $45 billion through trade quotas that save only a handful of jobs!

Unaware of these abuses? It's not surprising since the mainstream media don't talk about them. Too many powerful people are working very hard to cover them up. But in Outrage, New York Times bestselling authors Dick Morris and Eileen McGann give you the cold, hard facts you won't read about anywhere else—and offer tough, common-sense proposals on how to fight the special interests of the left and right . . . so we can start making these outrageous inequities things of the past!