General Books - Page 11

Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different

Gordon S. Wood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Philosophies of the Founding Fathers 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a fairly short, but informative book on the ideas and values held by the different founding fathers. This book is highly recommended for readers interested in both intellectual history and the American Revolution.

The chapter on George Washington emphasizes how Washington went to great lengths to ensure that the American presidency would not have the powers of a monarch. This extreme caution played a key role in Washington's stepping down after two term limits, his warning against a standing army and his personal distress over whether he allowed himself to receive too much adulation or too many gifts as President. In this respect, George Washington is a remarkable man. The history of the United States would surely be substantially different, in terms of precedents set by Washington, had he not been so reluctant to wield executive power.

The chapter on Thomas Jefferson is also very good. Thomas Jefferson is obviously an incredibly accomplished intellectual and statesman. In addition to penning the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson also fought to abolish the laws of primogeniture (which automatically passed all estate property to the eldest son of every family) as well as helped establish the separation of church and state with the famous Virginia Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom. However, Wood's work suggests that Jefferson sometimes got too lost in ideals while failing to note how those ideas played out in practice. This shortcoming cannot be better illustrated than Jefferson's infamous "Adam and Eve" letter where he wrote the following to comment on the violence of the French Revolution:

"My own affections have been deeply wounded by some of the martyrs to this cause, but rather than it should have failed, I would have seen half the earth desolated. Were there but an Adam and an Eve left in every country, and left free, it would be better than as it now is."

The chapter on Alexander Hamilton will be unsettling to those who value free market capitalism. This chapter details how Hamilton was instrumental in establishing a national bank despite the opposition from John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In addition, Wood also details how Hamilton repudiated the benefits of unregulated markets and how he pushed to ban private banking. This chapter also details how Hamilton advocated an "American empire" over a "Democracy" and wanted a standing army contrary to the admonition against one in Washington's farewell address.

Although I will not detail them here, many of the other chapters in this book are also very good. The chapter on James Madison explores the alleged change in James Madison's values when he went from a co-author of the Federalist Papers to a staunch Democratic-Republican and concludes that there were no substantial changes in Madison's political philosophy. The chapter on Benjamin Franklin explores Wood's thesis that Benjamin Franklin was a longtime British loyalist who, up until his seventies, clung to the overly optimistic belief that the British crown was still generally good for the American colonies. The chapter on John Adams does delve into some of his impressive intellectual achievements, including his 'Defense of the Constitution of the United States'. However, my perception is this chapter understates the importance of John Adams in many of the ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence, say compared to C. Bradley Thompson's 'John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty'. Overall, this is a great read for anyone seeking to understand the important moral and political ideas that the different Founders held.

Editorial Review:

In this brilliantly illuminating group portrait of the men who came to be known as the Founding Fathers, the incomparable Gordon Wood has written a book that seriously asks, "What made these men great?"—and shows us, among many other things, just how much character did in fact matter. The life of each—Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Paine—is presented individually as well as collectively, but the thread that binds these portraits together is the idea of character as a lived reality. They were members of the first generation in history that was self-consciously self-made—men who understood that the arc of lives, as of nations, is one of moral progress.

Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against the New Barbarism

Bernard-Henri Levy

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this unprecedented critique, Bernard-Henri Lévy, one of the world’s leading intellectuals revisits his political roots, scrutinizes the totalitarianisms of the past as well as those on the horizon, and argues powerfully for a new political and moral vision for our times. Are human rights Western or universal? Does anti-Semitism have a future, and, if so, what will it look like? And how is it that progressives themselves–those who in the past defended individual rights and fought fascism–have now become the breeding ground for new kinds of dangerous attitudes: an unthinking loathing of Israel; an obsessive anti-Americanism; an idea of “tolerance” that, in its justification of Islamic fanaticism, for example, could become the “cemetery of democracies”; and an indifference, masked by relativism, to the greatest human tragedies facing the world today? Illuminating these and other questions, Lévy also brings to life his own autobiography, highlighting the thinkers he has known and scrutinized and the ideological battles he has fought over thirty years–revealing their bearing on the present.

Above all, Lévy offers a powerful new vision for progressives everywhere, one based neither on the failed idealisms of the past neither nor on their current misguided, bigoted, and dangerously sentimental attachments but on an absolute commitment to combat evil in all its guises. The “new barbarism” Levy compellingly diagnoses is real and must be confronted. At a time of ideological and political transition in America, Left in Dark Times is a polemical, incendiary articulation of the threats we all face–in many cases without our even being aware of it–and a riveting, cogent stand against those threats. Surprising and sure to be controversial, wise and free of cynicism, it is one of the most important books yet written by one of the crucial voices of our time.

Praise for Bernard-Henri Lévy’s American Vertigo

“An entertaining trip, as much in the tradition of Jack Kerouac as Tocqueville.”
–The New York Times

“Perceptive, pugnacious, passionate [and] exquisitely written.”
–The New York Observer

“It’s difficult to remember when a writer of any nationality so clearly and thoughtfully delineated both the good and bad in America. [Grade:] A.”
–Entertainment Weekly (Editor’s Choice)

“Lévy is a true friend of the American experiment and a comrade in the American struggle against the barbarisms.”
–The New Republic

“Lévy writes brilliantly. American Vertigo is filled with insights and goodwill.”
–The Wall Street Journal

“Provocative . . . [Lévy is] a writer of enormous power and vitality.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

“Vigorous . . . impressive.”
–The Boston Globe

Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism

Sean Hannity

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Total reviews: 650 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As Americans, we face two fundamental questions:

First, are we truly prepared to fight this new war to wipe out terrorism and terrorist regimes, and win it decisively -- no matter what sacrifices it requires or how long it takes?

Second, are we once again prepared to teach our children the fundamental principles and values that make this country great -- the values that make this country worth fighting for, living for, and dying for?

Sean Hannity is the hottest new phenomenon in TV and talk radio today. His gutsy, take-no-prisoners interviews and commentary on the Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes have made him one of cable television's most popular personalities. And his ascendance to the top of the talk radio world with ABC Radio's The Sean Hannity Show has won him a huge and devoted following that includes not only conservatives but anyone else who values straight talk over pandering and excuses.

Now, in Let Freedom Ring, Sean Hannity offers a survey of the world -- political, social, and cultural -- as he sees it. Devoting special attention to 9/11, the war on terror, and the continuing threat we face at home and abroad, he makes clear that the greatest challenge we have to overcome may not be an attack from overseas, but the slow compromising of our national character. And he asks why, particularly in this time of war, should we entrust our future to the voices of the Left -- the very people who have spent decades ravaging so many of our core values and traditions?

Our nation, as Hannity reminds us, was founded on the idea of freedom. And in order to protect our freedoms, he argues, we must stand vigilant against liberal attempts to compromise our strengths. From our military and intelligence forces, to our borders and airports, to our unified commitment to root out terrorists at home and abroad, he reveals how our strongest lines of defense have come under attack -- by left-wing voices within our government, media, schools, and elsewhere. And he shows how even domestic issues like taxation, education, patriotism, and the family have been exploited by liberals with their own agendas -- with potentially disastrous results.

Filled with the commonsense commentary and passionate argument that have made Sean Hannity the most compelling conservative voice since Rush Limbaugh, Let Freedom Ring is an urgent call to arms. For, as Hannity warns, "We are engaged in a war of ideas. And civilization is at stake."

The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism, Freedom, and the Future of the Right

Andrew Sullivan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Disappointed 2 out of 5 stars.
6 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Without question, Andrew Sullivan is one of my favorite writers. Even when I do not agree with his analysis of a situation, be it political or philosophical, I find him to be interesting, thoughtful, and passionate. And when it comes to the Bush Administration and the handling of Iraq and other facets of the conflict with Islamic terrorists, I have to say that a good deal of his attitude (though not, I think, development of ideas) has mirrored my own over the course of the past several years. So I was very much looking forward to reading his most recent book, The Conservative Soul. I am also disheartened to say that I was tremendously disappointed. Although there are some interesting nuggets of good ideas buried in the book, I find that on the whole it was sloppy, muddled, disorganized and -- I'm sorry to say -- not very well written. Although I would highly recommend that everyone read Sullivan's blog and essays, I would not recommend this book.

Editorial Review:

Today's conservatives support the idea of limited government, but they have increased government's size and power to new heights. They believe in balanced budgets, but they have boosted government spending, debt, and pork to record levels. They believe in national security but launched a reckless, ideological occupation in Iraq that has made us tangibly less safe. They have substituted religion for politics and damaged both.

In The Conservative Soul, one of the nation's leading political commentators makes an impassioned call to rescue conservatism from the excesses of the Republican far right, which has tried to make the GOP the first fundamentally religious party in American history. In this bold and powerful book, Andrew Sullivan makes a provocative, prescient, and heartfelt case for a revived conservatism at peace with the modern world, and dedicated to restraining government and empowering individuals to live rich and fulfilling lives.

Selected Writings

Karl Marx

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I'm taking anthropology in College, and Marx has been a big influence in the studies. One of the required textbooks was this one. It was great. It goes deep into socilogical culture analysis, communism, and religion.

i would recommend this book to anyone!

let take a walk through social revolution 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Karl Marx is absolutely brilliant concerning his approach to peasant revolution. Such examples of his brilliance is China, Russia, Southeast Asia, and Cuba. Marx understood the importance of the proletarian's existence in the social order and food chain. In these selected writings, Marx discusses the manipulation of the proletarian by the bourgeois social class, the importance of a collectivist society, the failures of capitalism, the advantages of socialism, etc... Ultimately, Marx states that, with the exception of China, capitalism will evolve into perfect communism. He also states on page 175 10 characteristic of a capitalistic society evolving into communism: 1)abolition of land property and rent, 2)a progressive income tax, 3)abolition of all inheritance, 4)confiscation of property, 5)centralization of credit into the state, 6)centralization of communication, 7)state-owned businesses, 8)equal liability to all labor, 9)abolition of difference between town and country, and 10)free education in public schools. This book is an excellent edition to any student of political philosophy.

Moral Politics : How Liberals and Conservatives Think

George Lakoff

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 71 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An interesting (though perhaps flawed) theory of politics 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I'm giving this book 5 stars because I found it fascinating, and would recommend it. But I must confess that I have mixed feelings about it. This book attempts to explain why some Americans are "progressive" and others are "conservative" based on their conception of morality, which stems from their views about the family. This theory of political affiliation is built on Lakoff's theories of cognitive linguistics and metaphorical thought (which are best explained in the excellent book he coauthored with Mark Johnson: "Philosophy in the Flesh" -- which is a must-read for anyone who is interested in language and how the mind works). I find Lakoff's theories of cognitive linguistics to be very insightful. I also find his theory of political affiliation to be plausible. However, I do see some problems with it.

First, Lakoff focuses exclusively on American politics. It isn't clear how well this theory would apply to politics outside of the United States. Unless we want to assume that American politics are radically different from politics in other countries, a theory that explains political affiliation in the U.S. would also have to be able to explain political affiliation in other nations.

Second, Lakoff's theory divides people's moral and political views into just two broad camps: "conservative" and "progressive". He argues that an individual can have a mixture of conservative and progressive views (e.g. one can take a progressive view on some things and a conservative view on others); but he insists that there are no other political and moral viewpoints that one can hold, and that there is no such thing as a true political "moderate". For me, this is the one aspect of Lakoff's theory that is hardest to swallow. Nonetheless, I think he's got some good insights here; and his theory is potentially useful.

Editorial Review:

George Lakoff’s book is a crucial key to understanding political opponents and achieving political victory. In this first full-scale application of cognitive science to politics, Lakoff analyzes the unconscious worldview of liberals and conservatives, explaning why they are at odds over so many seemingly unrelated issues--like taxes, abortion, regulation, and social programs. The differences, Lakoff argues, are not mere matters of partisanship, but arise from radically different conceptions of morality and ideal family life--meaning that family and morality are at the heart of American politics in ways that are far from obvious.

American Armageddon: How the Delusions of the Neoconservatives and the Christian Right Triggered the Descent of America--and Still Imperil Our Future

Craig Unger

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Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The presidency of George W. Bush has led to the worst foreign policy decision in the history of the United States -- the bloody, unwinnable war in Iraq. How did this happen? Bush's fateful decision was rooted in events that began decades ago, and until now this story has never been fully told.

From Craig Unger, the author of the bestseller House of Bush, House of Saud, comes a comprehensive, deeply sourced, and chilling account of the secret relationship between neoconservative policy makers and the Christian Right, and how they assaulted the most vital safeguards of America's constitutional democracy while pushing the country into the catastrophic quagmire in the Middle East that is getting worse day by day.

Among the powerful revelations in this book:

• Why George W. Bush ignored the sage advice of his father, George H.W. Bush, and took America into war.
• How Bush was convinced he was doing God's will.
• How Vice President Dick Cheney manipulated George W. Bush, disabled his enemies within the administration, and relentlessly pressed for an attack on Iraq.
• Which veteran government official, with the assent of the president's father, protested passionately that the Bush administration was making a catastrophic mistake -- and was ignored.
• How information from forged documents that had already been discredited fourteen times by various intelligence agencies found its way into President Bush's State of the Union address in which he made the case for war with Iraq.
• How Cheney and the neocons assembled a shadow national security apparatus and created a disinformation pipeline to mislead America and start the war.

A seasoned, award-winning investigative reporter connected to many back-channel political and intelligence sources, Craig Unger knows how to get the big story -- and this one is his most explosive yet. Through scores of interviews with figures in the Christian Right, the neoconservative movement, the Bush administration, and sources close to the Bush family, as well as intelligence agents in the CIA, the Pentagon, and Israel, Unger shows how the Bush administration's certainty that it could bend history to its will has carried America into the disastrous war in Iraq, dooming Bush's presidency to failure and costing America thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. Far from ensuring our security, the Iraq War will be seen as a great strategic pivot point in history that could ignite wider war in the Middle East, particularly in Iran.

Provocative, timely, and disturbing, The Fall of the House of Bush stands as the most comprehensive and dramatic account of how and why George W. Bush took America to war in Iraq.

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right

Al Franken

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3037 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Oh my............ 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I wanted to give my husband (a fiscal conservative) a gift so that he would see both sides of the arguement...BAD IDEA! I read it and it was horrible. I gave it to him anyway and he opened it and TRASHED it. Oh my.....

Editorial Review:

Al Franken, one of our "savviest satirists" (People), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of "slander," "bias," and even "treason." He has examined the Bush administration’s policies of squandering our surplus, ravaging the environment, and alienating the rest of the world. He’s even watched Fox News. A lot.

And, in this fair and balanced report, Al bravely and candidly exposes them all for what they are: liars. Lying, lying liars. Al destroys the liberal media bias myth by doing what his targets seem incapable of: getting his facts straight. Using the Right’s own words against them, he takes on the pundits, the politicians, and the issues, in the most talked about book of the year.

Timely, provocative, unfailingly honest, and always funny, Lies sticks it to the most right-wing administration in memory, and to the right-wing media hacks who do its bidding.

A Fierce Discontent : The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920

Michael McGerr

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Progressive Era, a few brief decades around the turn of the last century, still burns in American memory for its outsized personalities: Theodore Roosevelt, whose energy glinted through his pince-nez; Carry Nation, who smashed saloons with her axe and helped stop an entire nation from drinking; women suffragists, who marched in the streets until they finally achieved the vote; Andrew Carnegie and the super-rich, who spent unheard-of sums of money and became the wealthiest class of Americans since the Revolution. Yet the full story of those decades is far more than the sum of its characters. In Michael McGerr's A Fierce Discontent America's great political upheaval is brilliantly explored as the root cause of our modern political malaise.

The Progressive Era witnessed the nation's most convulsive upheaval, a time of radicalism far beyond the Revolution or anything since. In response to the birth of modern America, with its first large-scale businesses, newly dominant cities, and an explosion of wealth, one small group of middle-class Americans seized control of the nation and attempted to remake society from bottom to top. Everything was open to question -- family life, sex roles, race relations, morals, leisure pursuits, and politics. For a time, it seemed as if the middle-class utopians would cause a revolution.

They accomplished an astonishing range of triumphs. From the 1890s to the 1910s, as American soldiers fought a war to make the world safe for democracy, reformers managed to outlaw alcohol, close down vice districts, win the right to vote for women, launch the income tax, take over the railroads, and raise feverish hopes of making new men and women for a new century.

Yet the progressive movement collapsed even more spectacularly as the war came to an end amid race riots, strikes, high inflation, and a frenzied Red scare. It is an astonishing and moving story.

McGerr argues convincingly that the expectations raised by the progressives' utopian hopes have nagged at us ever since. Our current, less-than-epic politics must inevitably disappoint a nation that once thought in epic terms. The New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the Great Society, and now the war on terrorism have each entailed ambitious plans for America; and each has had dramatic impacts on policy and society. But the failure of the progressive movement set boundaries around the aspirations of all of these efforts. None of them was as ambitious, as openly determined to transform people and create utopia, as the progressive movement. We have been forced to think modestly ever since that age of bold reform. For all of us, right, center, and left, the age of "fierce discontent" is long over.

Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great roadmap for our new president 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

What i loved the most about this book is that it is so easy to understand. That being said, it is also thoughtful, well written, and insightful. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the tools needed to turn around our great nation.

Now this is change we can believe in! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

It is a very exciting time for the U.S. as we shed the old policies that are clearly not working and move forward to a new America. Change for America provides clear and easy-to-digest insight as to how to accomplish this enormous task. I highly recommend this read if you care about this country and about making it the place we are all proud to live in again.

Change? Change to what? 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 11 people found this review helpful.

The authors fail to mention the kind of change they want. What change? Socialist European style of CHANGE has failed and there is nothing wrong with how America is, AFAIK. Yes, there are some shortcomings but I am ready to blame them on die-hard liberals in the US congress and other clueless leftists like the authors of this book. I wish America would become more and more conservative and right wing. That's the change I'd support... More conservatism is needed. Liberals should just go away or be sent to Cuba, their paradise. Thats the kind of change the world needs. Liberalism has failed miserably.