General Books - Page 17

Gorgias (Oxford World's Classics)

Plato

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A great introduction to Plato's philosophy 5 out of 5 stars.
29 of 29 people found this review helpful.

This is one of my favorite Socratic dialogues. The evidence suggests that Plato wrote it soon after the execution of Socrates, and while I would not say there is a bitter edge to this Gorgias dialogue, I can definitely say that the exchanges do get a little lively at times. At one point, I could almost hear the voices of Socrates and Polus being raised as they argued. Another positive aspect of this dialogue is the fact that it is comparatively easy to understand. Socrates does not start spouting ideas about true Forms or using geometry to prove his points; the more esoteric, more advanced Platonic ideas are to be found in Plato's later writings. In many ways, this dialogue also serves as an introduction to Plato's masterpiece The Republic. Socrates' ideas on some things seem nascent at this point, and he actually contradicts some points he would later make, but the heart of Socratic thought lies within easy grasp in the pages of this dialogue.

The dialogue begins as a discussion about the true nature of oratory. The famed orator Gorgias is in town, and Socrates is most anxious to have a discussion with him. At first, Gorgias' younger friend Polus desires to speak for Gorgias, but he proves little match for Socrates. When Gorgias enters the discussion, Socrates treats him very well, as a respectable man with whom he disagrees, and Gorgias for his part is never flustered by Socrates' description of his art as a knack and as a form of pandering. Later, Callicles bravely jumps into the mix, and things really get interesting. Socrates seemingly admires Callicles' courage to state what he means without shame, yet he winds up getting Callicles to agree with his points in the end. What is it all about? The main points that Socrates makes are that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong, and that it is better for a man to be punished for his wrongs than to escape punishment. Implicit in his argument is the belief that all wrongdoing is the result of ignorance; following up on this idea, he declares that dictators and politicians who hold vast powers are the most miserable men of all. He goes so far as to describe Athenian heroes such as Pericles as bad men because the state was less healthy when they left office than when they took office, the proof being that such men eventually lost power and were even ostracized.

For Socrates, happiness comes from being virtuous and self-disciplined. The orator can make a great speech and convince his peers that he is right, but he does this by inculcating belief rather than knowledge in the minds of his audience; he requires no knowledge to win such a debate, and as a result he tells the people what he knows they want to hear rather than what is truly best for them. Right and wrong are immaterial to the orator, Socrates charges. Callicles urges Socrates to give up his immature fixation on philosophy and become a public speaker; were he to be brought to court and charged with a wrong, Callicles tells him that he would be unable to defend himself. Much of the concluding pages consist of a wonderful defense by Socrates of his way of life. He agrees that a court could rather easily try and execute him, but if that were to happen, only his accusers would suffer for it. His thoughts are for the next world, and he has no fear of death because he believes a man with a clean, healthy soul such as his will be given immediate access to the isles of the blessed. The execution of Socrates was clearly on Plato's mind as he wrote this particular discourse.

I would recommend this dialogue to individuals seeking an introduction to Plato's philosophy. The entire discussion is clear throughout and easily comprehensible, and it proves interesting to see how some of Plato's thoughts changed between the years separating this dialogue and The Republic.

Editorial Review:

One of Plato's most widely read dialogues, Gorgias treats the temptations of worldly success and the rewards of the genuinely moral life. Appealing to philosophers as a classic text of moral philosophy--and to everyone for its vividness, clarity, and occassional bitter humor--this new translation is accompanied by explanatory notes and an illuminating and accessible introduction.

Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (Longman Classics Edition) (2nd Edition) (Longman Classics in Political Science)

John W. Kingdon

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great, just a little expensive 4 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

John Kingdon attempts to answer very difficult questions in his work "Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies." What makes an idea's time come? What makes people in and around government attend to some subjects and not to others? In short, Kingdon explores how ideas become policy in his 1994 award-winning book.

The book makes many interesting conclusions, as Kingdon uses scientific research methods to discuss how ideas become policy. It is amazing that Kingdon is able to quantify how influential certain groups are to policy formulation and implementation. In doing this, he looks at the influence of groups in and outside of government. Kingdon then goes onto his major two concepts of the policy primeval soup and the political stream. Both of these are wonderful illustrations of how policymaking happens.

In the end, this is a great book for public policy students. My only complaint is that Kingdon is oftentimes too wordy. It seems that he could have written a much more effective piece by summing it up in a 40-page journal article. In any event, the book is worth the read, even if some chapters are only skimmed.

Editorial Review:

Re-issued as part of the "Longman Classics in Political Science" series, Kingdon's renowned work features a new Foreword exploring the book's historical and enduring contributions. Kingdon's landmark work on agenda setting and policy formation is now offered in a Longman Classics Edition. This enduring work of original research, drawn from interviews with people in the U.S. federal government over the course of four years, examines the questions of how issues get to be issues for legislators. The book grapples with the questions: How do subjects come to officials' attention? How are the alternatives from which they choose generated? How is the governmental agenda set? Why does an idea's time come when it does? Hailed as one of the finest books about public policy- making, and winner of the 1994 Aaron Wildavsky Award, this book's rich detail and engaging prose make it a text that both students and instructors will savor.

Utopia: Thomas More

Thomas More

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Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Utopia: Not As Free As You Might Think 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

When Thomas More wrote UTOPIA in 1516, he attempted to postulate how human beings could create a society that would be as nearly perfect as possible. At least that is what is commonly believed that he tried to do. For those who have read his book, they immediately see some troubling issues. The first sticky point is to define what he meant by the term "utopia." Did he mean a totally democratic state; such as the ancient Greeks had, in which each citizen had direct voting in all issues? Or perhaps More was simply updating Plato, who saw his Republic as a society governed by a carefully selected breed of rulers who would rule an equally carefully selected brood of subjects? Or again, was More attempting to strike an impossible balance between the burgeoning rise of Renaissance humanism with a stifling set of conflicting Christian religions? It is too easy for moderns to suggest that he was merely holding up Utopia as a fun-house type mirror by which he wished his contemporaries could see themselves reflected as zigzag images and perhaps be ashamed enough--or exhorted enough--to alter their behavior for the better. We today are tempted to judge his meaning by 20th century standards, which do not always draw a clear distinction among the virtues that More's Renaissance contemporaries took for granted but today we dismiss as outdated, or worse, irrelevant.

The book itself has two parts. The first includes More, who places himself in the book as a traveler to Antwerp who meets Peter Giles, who in turn introduces him to Raphael Hythloday, a name that Moore punningly notes that in Greek means "nonsense speaker." Hythloday mentions that he journeyed with Amerigo Vespucci to America and along the way encountered the mythical land of Utopia. This first part is slow reading in that More does little more than discuss some general reforms of potential benefit to England, most of which involved agrarian, economic, judicial, military, and criminal justice matters, all of which obliquely suggest that what worked in Utopia might work in England as well. It is the second part that has generated considerable controversy as to what More really meant his readers to grasp.

For those who come to the second part of UTOPIA and expect a 16th century version of Eden, the results are profoundly shocking. When More details the basic government setup as one in which its citizens are living in a ruthless police state with the death penalty meted out for a variety of reasons, readers suddenly grasp that Utopia may not be all that different from Plato, who similarly envisioned his society as one free from the degenerating influences of poetry and the basic tenets of free speech. When this sobering concept sinks in, then the term "utopia" begins to lose its cache as a synonym for a land of unrivalled happiness. But if these readers look at Utopia through the eyes of More and not their own, then a different Utopia arises. As an educated classicist fully versed in traditional Christian orthodoxy, More was trained to evaluate any social structure according to the non-Christian but humanistic Cardinal Virtues of wisdom, fortitude, temperance, and justice, and then compare these to the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity. More made it clear that both sets of virtues were needed to make Utopia an enduring entity. More was not optimistic enough to truly believe the social inequities in England (or Utopia for that matter) could be so easily eliminated merely by rearranging the pieces of the social pie. What humans of any society needed to ensure genuine freedom from tyranny was mastery of the far more unmanageable Seven Deadly Sins. Of these More suggests that by downplaying the importance of gold, by limiting the nature and amount of material wealth, and by forcing all citizens from the highest to lowest to share in all types of drudgery, that the worst of the sins, Pride, will be vanquished, thus leaving Utopia as ready to endure in the face of what to other and less advanced societies would be tantalizing but deadly temptations.

What emerges then in Utopia is a mythical land based on equally mythical virtues that can house a citizenry such as never existed in human history nor is likely to. But More felt that even if his contemporaries managed to alter for the better their profligate ways, then a small sliver of Utopia might result. For More and perhaps for us today, that might be good enough.

Editorial Review:

First published in 1516, Saint Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism. Through the voice of the mysterious traveler Raphael Hythloday, More describes a pagan, communist city-state governed by reason. Addressing such issues as religious pluralism, women's rights, state-sponsored education, colonialism, and justified warfare, Utopia seems remarkably contemporary nearly five centuries after it was written, and it remains a foundational text in philosophy and political theory.

Preeminent More scholar Clarence H. Miller does justice to the full range of More's rhetoric in this new translation. Professor Miller includes a helpful introduction that outlines some of the important problems and issues that Utopia raises, and also provides informative commentary to assist the reader throughout this challenging and rewarding exploration of the meaning of political community.

The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion

Matt Taibbi

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Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN—FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND


Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush’s America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off—or radicalized—by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders (“they hate us for our freedom”) that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement.
Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque black comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places.
Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.

Guerilla Warfare

Che Guevara

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 57 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Don't buy this. 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.

You're better off going to the library and checking this one out there. I didn't care for this book at all. Only good as if you want to build your personal reference books library.

Insightful...yet seriouly outdated. 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Ernesto "Che" Guevera was the leader of a tin pot commie insurgency.
In this book it outlines how to gain followers for your cause,care and feeding of your guerillas, how to spread propoganda and how to use hit and run attacks againsted a large incompetent 3rd world military force.

This book could be useful for possibly an anarchy situation (causing one rather than surviving one) create your own communist mercenary group, or further reading for those in the middle class who read "Motorcycle Diaries" and value all of Che's "wisdom" ... zen master he is not.

I hope every terrorist reads this book and goes by it to the letter...The information is so hopelessly obsolete!

All good for the perspective terrorist or social misfit. For me as a former Soldier the only value this book had is showing the basic mindset of a common terrorist.

Knowing how our enemies think, makes it easier to defeat them. And rest assured we are killing scores of insurgents like Che on an hourly basis...and the terrorists are losing, believe me.

This book is the true companion of his other Magnum Opus "The Motorcycle Diaries"

In conclusion: You can get some useful yet obsolete info on how terrorists work but this is no Art of War.

More like the "The complete idiot's guide" version. Ernesto Che Guevara is a ovverated retard. Read for a good laugh.

Editorial Review:

This indispensable book includes three of Che Guevara’s most influential essays describing his tactical philosophy of fighting a guerrilla war in Latin America. Guerrilla Warfare, written in 1960, outlines Guevara’s doctrine for guerrilla fighters, especially against Caribbean-style dictatorships. In Guerrilla Warfare: A Method (1963) and Message to the Tricontinental (1967), Guevara modified some of his earlier tenets. These latter two works move away from his earlier dogmatism, suggesting that Marxist revolution was possible even in purportedly democratic regimes. All three essays reflect his deeply held belief that a small, rural-based guerrilla army could trigger a revolution.

Men in Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America

Mark R. Levin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 229 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Educational and Fascinating 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I recommend this book to everyone. The information contained in this book is not only educational, but it is pertinent to the cultural battle that is underway today by liberals using activist judges to circumvent our constitution. An easy read, and a must read, and you will understand how the courts are having an effect upon you and your children, whether you realize it or not, by bypassing the legislative process to make the government do things we would never vote for in a million years.

More Greatness from the Great One 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What's the most pressing problem facing our nation? Well, there are a ton to choose from. You could say external forces looking to exterminate us. That would certainly be valid, but I'm always been more of an implosion versus explosion guy in terms threats. Frankly, I think our own seditionists are the biggest threat to our liberty. They'll bring down this country far earlier than any terrorists ever will. Over the last forty years the radicals have marched through our organizations, universities, and government and allowed what was once the counter-culture to become the culture. Nowhere is this more true than in our judiciary wherein the laws crafted by our representatives in the legislature have been struck down by judges who think it is their role to teach us what we should really want.

In the words of former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall: You do what you think is right and let the law catch up. Only, it's not the judiciary's role to make laws and that's why Mark Levin penned his masterpiece Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. The book came out in 2005 so, as always, I got to its pages a little late. Unfortunately, nothing is going to change in the immediate future so it remains pertinent. Some of you may know Mark Levin's name, but, honestly, before this year I never listened to his talk radio show. After a month I discovered he's the best host out of them all. He also excels at writing. Essentially, Men in Black mirrors his approach to verbal conservatism: it's insightful, concise, and ruthlessly on topic. There's not a wasted word here. What I found most attractive about its narrative is that he makes extensive use of primary source documents. He lets the justices, in their opinions, tell their own tale. The book is a compilation of history and cogent analysis. He discusses specifically several of the 100 justices who have been members of the Supreme Court, and their flaws were readily apparent. They were men, not gods.

Levin offers readers an outstanding discussion of the most important court cases in our nation's history. Many of them I had read about before but have long since forgotten. His discussion of religion in Chapter 3 and the establishment clause was thoroughly enlightening. Specifically, we see how cases like Everson v. Board of Education created the fallacious doctrine of there being a "wall of separation" between church and state. Justice Rehnquist's opinion in Wallace v. Jeffree illustrates the method by which this notion was created. "Justices in the Bedroom" in Chapter Five was a standout as well, but most topical was Chapter Ten, "Silencing Political Debate." To what extent does McCain-Feingold erode our liberties? Right now it's hard to say. I agree with the author that advertising is speech, and the recent letter Obama sent to the Justice Department concerning the William Ayers ad put out by a 527 organization is an example of how the left will take advantage of any loophole as a means to silence their critics. Overall, we are not as free as we used to be and Mark Levin's Men in Black illustrates why this is the case.

Editorial Review:

Mark Levin throws the book at our own judicial system--in particular, American judges who ignore the Constitution and dismantle the rights of American citizens in everyday court proceedings. He shares jaw-dropping examples of judicial power grabs and liberal power plays by judges.

Black Skin, White Masks (Get Political)

Frantz Fanon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

From a teacher's perspective 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 26 people found this review helpful.

Frantz Fanon was a contemporary writer of the 1950's. Born in Martinique, he studied psychiatry and medicine in France as a young man after volunteering his services in World War II. He had an educational background in post colonial studies including racism and colonization. At the age of 27 he published "Black Skin, White Masks" which played a vital role in civil rights and Black consciousness movements throughout its time. Fanon's analysis of the Black psyche, "Black Skin, White Masks", was amazingly interesting and educational. It gave me a fresh perspective to what it means to live as the minority, as a person of color in a White world. This is a wonderful review of how the French of different backgrounds interacted with each other. There are also a few downfalls in understanding "Black Skin, White Masks". This book is hard to follow because it jumps around quite a bit, making various points throughout the same train of thought. There are many topics covered, one of the most thoroughly explored being romantic love between interracial couples. It also explores the use of language and the importance of knowing one's familial, racial, and cultural history.
One of the topics Fanon concentrates on is the Black man and his goals in life. To understand what Black men go through, one has to first understand the history of the particular Black man he is talking about which is born in an island off of France then moves to France and faces the culture shock of entering a country where the language and customs are different. Here the Black man goes from being comfortable and part of a larger entity to being the minority. At this stage the Black man feels he is worthless because of the history of the relationship of Blacks and Whites, where the Black man has led a forced life of servitude and abuse which has caused him to believe that he is inferior to the White man. The White man's racism has created the White man's feeling of superiority which correlates with the Black man's feeling of inferiority. Because of this inferiority complex the Black man has an overpowering need to prove himself equal to the White man. Fanon goes on to argue that the Black man's goal is to prove to Whites, Blacks and himself that he is an intelligent, good, and worthy of pursuing happiness individual. One of the most detailed examples was how the Black man attempts to get closer to being White by having any relationship, be it friendship or romantic (preferably sexual), with a White person other than a master/slave association. As an example Fanon tells a story of a young mulatto woman who marries a White man and in a split second goes from being the slave to being the master. Yet there are other cases when the Black man succeeds and he is not only rejected by Whites, he is repudiated by Blacks.
Another theme was that of language and what happens to a Black person when he arrives to France. The Black man has to learn how to speak French as it is spoken in France in order to become "whiter", for example, an educated Black man is no longer seen as Black because Blacks are savages while the intellectual is civilized. Yet there have been many cases where despite the success of the Black man, Whites refuse to accept them as equals and show it by speaking to them in pidgin or as children. There is also the struggle of remaining part of the Black community after assimilating into the White world. After learning to speak French, he returns home as white in the eyes of other Black people. The Black man must be able to code change in order to survive in both worlds.
Antillean education is looked at carefully in this book. Fanon compares the children of France with those of Martinique. As French children learn about their culture and their ancestors, Martinique children learn of the ancestors of others. Fanon proposes that the Black Martinique children should learn about Black history as a separate section in order to build self esteem and confidence. Children need to learn that there have been others in similar situations that have pulled through and made it despite discrimination and hate. If the educational system increases the Martinique children's knowledge and understanding of their own heritage and history, they will be able to make connections with their own ancestors and their amazing accomplishments. This would thus curb ideas of inferiority.
There was a contrast between Blacks and Whites that kept the world as it was. In order for there to be white, there has to be black. In order for there to be a slave there has to be a master. In order for one group of peoples to be superior another group has to be inferior, and this is the case with Whites and Blacks. As a result, whatever one group is the other is the opposite. Here arise a series of stereotypes that support how people think of these two groups. Whites are intelligent, progressive, civil people while Blacks are primitive savages in need of taming. Since Blacks are savages they cannot control their emotional and sexual needs hence in contrast Whites are not sexual and have the ability to suppress their emotions. From this Fanon argues that a subtle jealousy was born; the White man envied the Black man's sexual freedom.
As I read this book I could not help but think of my students and how they embody many of the same believes as Black men in the 1950's. The children I teach Mathematics to are people of color, either Latino or Black. I spend much of my day listening to them speak among themselves about various topics and have picked up on certain ideas that reflect that of past colonized populations. Although there is this total rejection of anything and everything that is White, there is also an underlining want to be White (perhaps mainstream is a better word). For example, I have heard my students discuss accents and the implication that those who have one are in some way less intelligent than those who speak like Americans. Students have also expressed in happiness that they do not speak their parent's native tongue, typically Spanish, which is an indication that they are closer to being white than those who's first language is not English. Another disturbing behavior I have noticed is the animosity towards Whites. It seems my students have been programmed to be hostile towards White people, especially peers. They constantly refer to Whites in derogatory terms; for example, when one of my mentors (an older White woman) spend a period in my classroom the students were flustered and after she left referred to her as "the white b*$^%" as opposed to "the lady who was just here". At the same time they insult each other by using terms that are associated with being Black such as insulting the wideness of their nose and/or thickness of their lips. I find this to be an interesting contradiction and would like to explore it further in hopes of understanding the contemporary adolescent.
As a teacher I found this book to be very helpful in understanding why our children of color behave the way they do and why they consistently fail in a system designed for children who are not exposed to the gruesome situations the students in the South Bronx (where I teach) go through on a daily basis. These children could very well have an inferiority complex which they will have to overcome before being able to succeed in this White man's world.

Editorial Review:

Part of Pluto's 21st birthday series "Get Political", which brings essential political writing in a range of fields to a new audience. It features introductions by Homi Bhabha and Ziauddin Sardar. First published in English in 1968, Frantz Fanon's seminal text was immediately acclaimed as a classic of black liberationalist writing. Fanon's descriptions of the feelings of inadequacy and dependence experienced by people of colour in a white world - the crippled colonial mentalities of the oppressed - are as salient and as compelling as ever. Fanon identifies a devastating pathology at the heart of Western culture, a denial of difference, that persists to this day. His writings speak to all who continue the struggle for political and cultural liberation in our troubled times.

Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit

Lou Dobbs

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Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Dobbs book could've been more 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Lou sometimes says goofy things on his CNN show. But I acredit that to his being on live. I figured his book would be more calculated and thought-out. It was, but at the same time a lot of the book could've been culled straight from the show. Though I often agree with his criticisms, I still wish Dobbs would provide more s'far as alternatives go. Give us some more details!

Still, it's an enjoyable read. And despite what it lacks, it is moving in the right direction as I see it. It'd be good to break down excessive government and to secure our borders. But we also need to restructure the immigration process so that it's more easily within the reach of those would-be-immigrants who choose to enter the U.S. legally.

Personally, I like Dobbs last book better.

Editorial Review:

From The New York Times bestselling author of War on the Middle Class, a powerful look at the critical issues facing America on the eve of the 2008 Presidential election

With up to a million viewers each day, Lou Dobbs Tonight has become one of the most popular news programs in the nation. Now Dobbs, whose last book, War on the Middle Class, captured the plight of working Americans, asks the question: What has happened to the American dream? By examining the disastrous pubic policy choices that have eroded individual liberties, reduced workers rights and pay, and led our nation into division at home as well as into conflict around the world, Dobbs charts a determined course that will restore the fundamental equality of rights and opportunity for all Americans. I n a time of acute political turmoil, this is a book of vital importance from a revered independent.

Political Science Research Methods

Janet Buttolph Johnson, H. T. Reynolds

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Don t let an introduction to research methods be your students least favorite (and most intimidating) political science course. Relevant, timely, insightful, comprehensive, and always mindful of their student audience, the authors have revamped their popular text so that the sixth edition is friendlier and more intuitive than ever the perfect gateway to understanding not just the how but also the why behind research into politics.

Covering the discipline s major methods, the authors lead students step-by-step through the logic of research design. Building block chapters on hypothesis formation and testing, variables, and measurement are right up front; the introduction to research design, sampling, and literature reviews now come with more explanation as to why a researcher would pursue different kinds of methods; the stats chapters begin with a common-sense primer that walks students through foundational ideas and practices. Throughout the text, updated examples of contemporary research problems keep readers engaged.

Each chapter has bolded key terms that are also listed in a glossary at the end of each chapter and the end of the text. Helpful hints feature boxes give students nuts-and-bolts reminders they can refer to when they conduct their own research or assess the work of others.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

• New examples of political science research in Chapter 1, including a case on judicial decision making and current research into public opinion on the war in Iraq.
• Expanded discussion of theory in Chapter 2, showing how competing paradigms can be applied to the same topic of study.
• Substantially updated discussion of survey research including coverage of Internet polling and a fuller description of interviewing.
• Computational formulas and calculations are now featured in How It s Done boxes allowing students to separate lengthy calculations from substantive discussion of the meaning or interpretation of statistical results.
• Greater coverage of newer developments in applied statistics, including exploratory data analysis and descriptive and inferential statistics for counts and functions of counts. In general, less emphasis on computation, and more on interpretation.
• Reorganized statistics chapters for better comprehension with regression analysis and logistic regression in their own chapters.
• A new overview of statistical analysis, including discussion of data preparation, description, modeling, inference, interpretation, and the communication of results.

War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier

Smedley D. Butler

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Prescient 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I found that Butler's sentiment in this book is not exactly "anti-war" in the sense that he disagrees with war. He does not. Clearly there are circumstances in which he believes war is legitimate. The only sense in which he is "anti-war" is if you are talking about unnecessary wars that America fights only to further enrich the powerful and wealthy, or to use a contemporary euphemism, "protect the American way of life."

The reviewer who stated that this book is surprisingly anti-semitic needs to provide specific examples, as there are no identifiable anti-semitic statements made by the Butler. Only if you view as anti-semitic Butler's desire to do nothing about Hitler since he was not, at that time, a threat to the United States can you possibly come to the conclusion that this book contains those sentiments.

Editorial Review:

Originally printed in 1935, War Is a Racket is General Smedley Butler's frank speech describing his role as a soldier as nothing more than serving as a puppet for big-business interests. In addition to photos from the notorious 1932 anti-war book The Horror of It by Frederick A. Barber, this book includes two never-before-published anti-interventionist essays by General Butler. The introduction discusses why General Butler went against the corporate war machine and how he exposed a fascist coup d'etat plot against President Franklin Roosevelt. Widely appreciated and referenced by left- and right-wingers alike, this is an extraordinary argument against war - more relevant now than ever.