The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World

Book Description

The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister is a sweeping, dramatic account of how three great figures changed the course of history, as told by John O'Sullivan, former editor of National Review and the Times of London, who knew all three and has conducted exclusive interviews that shed extraordinary new light on these giants of the twentieth century.

Customer Reviews:

And they all lived happily ever after..........2007-07-19

I try. I really try to get through this sort of stuff. But I'm familiar with a tourist's view of Washington, DC and realize that most people want the "founding fathers," for example, to be Disney characters.

O'Sullivan knows that his audience wants that too.

Does anyone remember the "social contract?" You know, when a few people felt we have responsibilities to each other? Reagan was, in real life, the lieutenant of a few ideologues who wanted to get us away from that infectious attitude.

As to Maggie Thatcher, excuse me, LADY Thatcher, she was ultimately responsible for "The Full Monty." You know, let's break up the unions and put well-paid working people out of work. Then there's J2P2. Actually, the pope said some worthwhile things, challenging what we're doing to Iraq, for example. But I think it was Penny Lernoux who suggested before she died that he was more appropriate to a Soviet satellite state than he was in a Church in which adults make up their own minds.

In short, this really is a kid's book. And if you have a mind capable of recognizing that the world is more complex than the Bros. Grimm, don't waste your money on it.

Two Great Men, One Great Woman.......2007-07-15

There is a theory in history called the Great Man Theory, which seeks to explain the events of history principally by looking at the impact of pivotal men and women who played a role in world events. On it's most simplistic level, the theory does make some sense. It's hard to imagine the American Revolution happening the way it did without the role played by men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or even King George III. It's equally hard to imagine World War II and all that has happened since without taking into account the individual decisions and personalities of Roosevelt, Churchill, Hitler, and Stalin.

The academic left, though, has generally rejected the Great Man Theory and looks to economic, technological, and other factors to explain history. To them, the role of the individual in history is insignificant compared to the role that these "forces" play. What they forget, of course, is that economics, technology, and culture are all created by individuals. So arguing that "forces" rule history and that individual's are irrelevant is inherently irrational.

In reading The President, The Pope, And The Prime Minister, it's easy to see where John O'Sullivan comes down in this debate. He clearly believes that individuals play a vital role in history, and considering the three individuals he profiles -- Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Margaret Thatcher -- it's hard to argue with him.

The hyopthesis of O'Sullivan's book is fairly straightforward. Three individuals who, in the years just before they came to power, were believed to be outside of the mainstream of 1970s era thinking worked together, sometimes at cross purposes and often not consciously, to change the world by putting in place forces that led to the downfall of the Soviet Empire and the remaking of the world.

As O'Sullivan makes clear, the spark was lit in October 1978 when the Catholic Church did the unthinkable by electing a non-Italian Pope for the first time in over 450 years. And not only a non-Italian, put a man who came from behind the Iron Curtain and who had spent much of his career as a priest and bishop resisting tyranny, first from the Nazis and then from the Communists. His election set off a firestorm in Poland that led directly to the formation of Solidarity and its preservation through nearly a decade of martial law.

O'Sullivan also pays considerable attention to former President Reagan, his dealings with the Soviet Union, and, most interestingly, his view of the role of nuclear weapons in the Cold War. Though it was not generally known at the time, and goes against what was being said about Reagan by his critics and even some of his supporters, it has become fairly clear in the years since he left office from the release of private writings that Reagan despised nuclear weapons and pursued a policy that had as its conscious goal their eventual elimination. While some might consider this attitude naive (after all, you can't put the nuclear genie back in the bottle), it sheds a new light on his approach to negotiations with the Soviets and the SDI program. Reagan knew that the Soviets could not compete with America technologically, and that they would never give up their nuclear arsenal willingly. So, he essentially played a waiting game until the "correlation of forces", to borrow a Marxist phrase, were such that that Soviets had no choice but to make a deal in a last ditch effort to save first their empire, and then their very existence.

Reagan told John Paul about his views on nuclear weapons, the Soviets, and the future of Europe early on. And the Holy Father clearly supported these views, as evidenced by the fact that while Catholic Bishops in the United States often spoke out against U.S. foreign policy in the 1980s (sometimes to the consternation of the Vatican), the Holy See rarely did.

O'Sullivan's perspective on Thatcher, and her relationships with Reagan, the Pope, and the Soviets are interesting especially given his connections to the British Conservative Party. What is clear, though, is that even Thatcher herself, clearly one of Reagan's closest friends in world politics, had no idea just how idealistic he was.

This book isn't ground breaking academic research, but it offers an interesting perspective on the life, times, and historical impact on three people who clearly changed the world for the better.

Ron, Maggie and the Pope.......2007-06-03

I read one review that said that they weren't on the same planet as these three leaders were doing their work. I was also on a different planet. I got so disilusioned with the Carter years that I completely turned politics off, and only took care of me and my family. As the years accumilated and GHW Bush became president, I had to return to reality. I have learned a lot about Reagan and JPII over the last few years especially after Mr. Reagan's death. Maggie is still an enigma to me. I want to really like her, but I understand that she was a real bugger to work for while Reagan was wonderful and of course JPII was a saint. Not to be outdone, Mikail was a horrible leader and was the primary reason, along with the decline of the Russian economy, crop disasters and an inempt military, Russia would have self destructed, I think, without much trouble. But the pressure that these THREE placed on the communist system from within is what crumpled the horrible experiment.

Along with Peggy Noonan's two books, one on Reagan and the other on John Paul II, this one is one of the best of the events of Reagans presidency and John Paul's term.

I recommend this book for anyone who want's to get to know how the wall fell and how God can help.

History as it should be written: fact-filled, detached and light on the bias.......2007-05-29

Very readable, smooth flowing inter-weaving of the stories of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II and how, working together, they changed the world. This is history as it should be written. Fact-filled. Detached. Light on the bias. Fascinating. The book is quick to read and hard to put down.

This is the story of three disparate personalities and their unlikely (and synchronous) rises to power. The elderly B-movie actor. The school-marmish scold. The non-Italian Catholic living under the thumb of officially atheistic communism. Together, they defeat the scourge of communism while simultaneously rescuing their respective polities from the slow death spiral of the 60s and 70s, whether than be Reagan resurrecting American swagger and putting the U.S. economy on sound footing, or Thatcher curing Britain of Euro-sclerosis, or the Holy Father rescuing the Catholic church for the suffocating forces of modernism and "reform."

This is an essential history of late 20th Century America and Great Britain. It is an essential history of the recent Catholic church. It is also very much a history of Poland, for it is that land that it is at the center of this narrative. Ronald Reagan always believed that the key to ending the Cold War lay with Poland. And it is events in Poland, from the papal visits, to the strike at the Gdansk shipyard, from the martial law of Jaruszelski, to the rise of Lech Walesa and Solidarity, that shape this story. Reagan's insight into the centrality of Poland proved astonishingly right.

This book is not just for us Republicans. For example, one Carter Era figure prominently and positively figures in events here: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter's national security advisor. Brzezinski has not gotten enough credit for seizing control of events in Poland from the late Carter administration through the Reagan administration. This book gives him delayed credit.

Two (minor) criticisms of this book. First, the Holy Father drops out of the narrative, for the most part, in the last third of the book. More Pope, please! Second, the equation of the bombing of Mrs. Thatcher's hotel in 1984, does not really parallel the 1981 assassination attempts on President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. It's a reach that doesn't work. But these are very minor blemishes on a masterful book.

Historical Background.......2007-05-12

The book provides well-researched and well-presented background to momentous historical events. I never particularly liked or respected Reagan; my opinion of him has changed since I read this book.

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory

Average customer rating:

The Hobo Philosopher
Fantastic read
Never Question Your Sanity ,,, It's not You
.......not a secret anymore......
A BRILLIANT BIOGRAPHY - WELL DONE!

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory
William Manchester
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940
American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880 - 1964
The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill
Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940

ASIN: 0316545031

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-21

This is William Manchester at his best. This is fascinating reading and fascinating writing. Of course Winston Churchill was quite a character but to be honest I didn't know that fact until I read this book and its companion volume.
After reading this book I put it to my mind that I would read everything that Manchester wrote. I've got a couple more to go. You can't miss with this purchase. A great story, great writing, and good history. What more could you ask for?

Fantastic read.......2007-06-18

I am a little half way through the book, but it already is one of the best books I have ever read. The book deserves all the accolade. Manchester's approach to biography is a little different from many others in that he did not shy away from coloring the narrative with events that were yet to occur. He always hinted the historical significance of events in light of what happened later. I find this extremely helpful. For example: Churchill's fascination with early airplanes, his conception of tanks when dealing with a domestic riot are just two examples. These illuminated Churchill was indeed ahead of his peers in recognizing important trends.

The buildup to WWI is masterful. The book weaves Churchill's struggle with the Irish Home rule question together with the naval arms race with Germany in 1913. Since we know WWI started in 1914, the realization that Churchill and the British government were struggling with a domestic problem (which surely was exploited by the German Kaiser) enhances our understanding of the immediate pre-war times.

I knew the old US of A was not a world player before WWI. This book adds to that impression. Until the outbreak of the war, the US is just not on Churhill's radar: it does not show up much in his writing, travel, and speech. Yes, he did a book tour in the US, but that was before he started his political career.

Can't wait to read the second half of the book.

Never Question Your Sanity ,,, It's not You.......2006-12-22

This book should be read (before, after or with) The End of the World as We Know It. The scenarios are almost interchangable.

.......not a secret anymore.............2006-12-11

Actually it is very sad to mention this blunder against humanity:

When the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October and November 1914, Britain's communications with India and the East via the Suez canal was immediately placed in jeopardy.
There was a secret agreement with Germany signed in August 1914 by the Young Turks that was troubling the Russians and taken as warning of the forthcoming trouble to The Tsar. The Russians regarded their Caucasian terrirories were also placed in jeopardy.
Consequently, the British and French, in order to protect their future `colonies' and bisect the `sick man of Europe', had to act forcefully. They opened another front in the South with the Gallipoli (1915) and Mesopotamian campaigns.

Anxious to score his first military encounter with `the enemy', Winston Churchill, in his capacity as Lord of Navy, prematurely urged a combined French and British naval incursion into Gallipoli. But the Turks were successful in repelling the British, French, and Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. and pushed their eventual withdrawal and evacuation.

((By contrast, in Mesopotamia - Iraq- after the disastrous Siege of Kut (1915-16), British Empire forces - mainly of Indian troops - reorganized and captured Baghdad (March 1917). Further to the west in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, initial British failures were overcome when Jerusalem was captured in December 1917, and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, broke the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Megiddo in September 1918))

Russia, the protector of the Greek Orthothox Armenian population, sent her best troops in the Caucasus. The Turkish, Vice-Generalissimo Enver Pasha, supreme commander of the ex Ottoman Empire armed forces, was a very ambitious man. His aim and everpresent dream was to conquer central Asia. Enver Pasha, like Winston Churchill, was not a practical soldier. He launched an offensive with 100,000 soldiers against the Russians in the Caucasus in December of 1914.
His main enemy was the severe Weather conditions.
Insisting on a frontal attack against Russian positions in the mountains , Enver lost over 80% of his troops at the Battle of Sarikamis, in the heart of the tough winter season.

In 1917, Russian Grand Duke Nicholas assumed senior control over the Caucasus front. Nicholas tried to have a railway built from Russia (Georgia) to the conquered territories with a view to bringing up more supplies for a new offensive. But, in March of 1917 (February in the pre-revolutionary Russian calendar), the Czar was overthrown in the February Revolution and the Russian army began to slowly fall apart.
Hence, the protector of the Armenians was gone.

Winston Churchill blunder in Gallipoli, opened patched over wounds and re-ignited animosities between the Turks and their Armenian neighbors. In 1915, the Armenians were the victims of his cowardice. The Turks committed a HOLOCAUST against the Armenians that immediately started after WC debacle in Gallipolis.
The mass murder of the Armenians was indeed the first Holocaust of the twentieth century.

A BRILLIANT BIOGRAPHY - WELL DONE!.......2006-07-27

This is a brilliantly written biography of one of the most fascinating characters in history. Like most of Mnchester's work (I must admit to being a big fan), this is a very readable biography, well researched and holds the reader's interest from page to page. We see so much of Churchhill in his role as a WWII leader that we tend to forget there was a young man, living, learning and growing before the back and white films we see today. It is good to be reminded of this from time to time. It is also, for those interested, to learn how a world leader of Churchill's calibre came into being, how he developed and why he was the way he was. This work gives us great insight to those questions. Cannot recommend this work highly enough.

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940

Average customer rating:

Brilliantly Written European History - 1932 to 1940
Grab a bottle of Scotch and have at this book!
Churchill was begging....
absolutely a delight to read
solitary courage

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940
William Manchester
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316545120

Customer Reviews:

Brilliantly Written European History - 1932 to 1940.......2007-09-16

The Last Lion, Alone covers the history of Europe from the time Hitler first came to power in Germany to the time that Hitler invaded the Low Countries and World War II began. During this period Churchill, who continually fought against the appeasement policies of Chamberlain, rose from Back Bench irrelevance to become Brittan's Prime Minister.

The history of this period is a gripping saga of one man's malicious attempt to dominate Europe and another man's noble efforts to stop him - a classical case of good vs evil - told as an almost unbelievable story in the words of a master story teller.

Grab a bottle of Scotch and have at this book!.......2007-07-03

William Manchester informs and entertains in this excellent historical account of the critical years leading up to WWII, juxtaposing the appeasement practices of predecessors Baldwin and Chamberlain with the unwavering belief in the principles of freedom held by Churchill. The book (along with Manchester's first volume) gives terrific insight into the transition from the glory days of the British Empire to the Post WWI apathy that beset the British public. As well, the work provides delightful commentary on the characters surrounding Churhill's life including his colorful mother Jennie, his wife Clementine and his nemesis Adolf Hitler.

Churchill was begging...........2006-10-06

After the fall of France in June 1940, Winston Churchill was begging USA President Roosevelt for military aid (in fact, all sorts of support was then needed) as no one knew what would the 'fate' of the French fleet was going to be.
Churchill kept reminding the American president that Britain would not surrender even if left alone.
Churchill was defiant despite the fact that the two 'key' American ambassadors, in France and Great Britain, were pro Hitler (or at least they were not anti-Nazi).
Joseph Kennedy (USA Ambassador to GB) openly cautioned his fellow Americans against entering the war because the 'allies' would soon be beaten.
However, I would have liked to see more comments about the position and reaction of the king - king George VI.
Was he indifferent?
We should remember that Hitler had been addressing the King as the man whom the British Government circles have loathed, and as the only 'hope' for a reconciliation between the Third Reich and GB.
In this context it is true that Churchill was indeed ALONE

absolutely a delight to read.......2006-01-26

I was adrift when I finished this volume.
grasping at pathetic things to read for a while - nothing satisfied - Manchester can set the stage, his historical background is so rich that you'll find yourself spouting about it to your friends.

You'll learn more from this book than a two semester course in 20th century history.

Churchill himself is the lead player in a panapoly of exciting elements. But manchester never lets the reader forget the place in history - the man was a masterful writer.

solitary courage.......2005-12-29

No better profile of Churchill 1932-40 exists. Whetted with acrimony and disdain, Churchill is ultimately proved right (and his real task commences).

This is a work of the first order. `The Last Lion' (1874-1932) is also worthy.

Gilbert (worth reading) pales in comparison.

The Great Man: Sir Robert Walpole: Scoundrel, Genius and Britain's First Prime Minister

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The Great Man: Sir Robert Walpole: Scoundrel, Genius and Britain's First Prime Minister
Edward Pearce
Manufacturer: Random House UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

All politics, of a kind we can recognize, began with Robert Walpole. Edward Pearce brings him vividly to life in this biography of Britain’s first and longest serving Prime Minister.

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Churchill to the MAX!
A great work on a great life
Knights of the Realm
Very good one volume biography
Why Didn't I Read This Years Ago?

Churchill: A Life
Martin Gilbert
Manufacturer: Owl Books
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Binding: Paperback

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The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill
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ASIN: 0805023968

Amazon.com

It is impossible to understand the Second World War without understanding Winston Churchill, the bold British Prime Minister who showed himself to be one of the greatest statesmen any nation has ever known. This lengthy biography is a single-volume abridgment of a massive, eight-volume work that took a quarter-century to write. It covers Churchill's entire life, highlighting not only his exploits during the Second World War, but also his early belief in technology and how it would revolutionize warfare in the 20th century. Churchill learned how to fly a plane before the First World War, and was also involved in the development of both the tank and anti-aircraft defense. But he truly showed his unmatched mettle during his country's darkest moments: "His finest hour was the leadership of Britain when it was most isolated, most threatened, and most weak; when his own courage, determination, and belief in democracy became at one with the nation," writes Gilbert. There are several wonderful books available on Churchill, but this is probably the best place to start.

Book Description

Distilled from years of meticulous research and documentation, filled with material unavailable when the earliest books of the official biography's eight volumes went to press, Churchill is a brilliant marriage of the hard facts of the public life and the intimate details of the private man. The result is a vital portrait of one of the most remarkable men of any age as well as a revealing depiction of a man of extraordinary courage and imagination.

Customer Reviews:

Churchill to the MAX!.......2007-08-10

If you like Churchill and would like to know a on of info about him, more then just clever and witty quotes, then this is the book for you! Great book!!

A great work on a great life.......2007-07-28

An excellent biography of a most fantastic life. The book gives a very good outline of all major events in Churchill's life as an officer, a journalist, an author and above all: maybe the most important politician in Western Europe ever.

Churchill's early years, at school and in wars in India, Cuba, Sudan and South Africa are well covered. His career as a Member of Parliament, as well as Cabinet positions up to WWI are also very interesting. Churchill had very modern reflections on the principles of welfare states in 1905, which caused him to leave the Conservatives for the Liberals.

Churchill's finest hour is of course his early (from 1932) and consistent warning about German rearmament before WWII, and his leadership as British Prime Minister from 1940. The book's finest hour, in my opinion, is the last chapters. After the war, Churchill is 70 years old. His health is quite bad. He refuses to give in, and clings to power. From time to time, he decides to quit, but every time changes his mind. Just like the rest of us.

The book has some serious flaws. Churchill made many mistakes during the interwar years, but Gilbert runs to his defence at every one. One example: Churchill took a major stance against Indian independence. According to Gilbert, this was because Churchill was concerned about the minorities of the sub-continent.

Read and enjoy the book, as long as you are aware that Gilbert has done what many other biographers have done before him: fallen in love with his object.

Knights of the Realm.......2007-07-09

If you are only going to read one book on Sir Winston Churchill this is the one to read. Sir Martin Gilbert is Sir Winston's official biographer and that project took roughly 30 years to complete and produced an eight volume account. Gilbert even wrote a memoir of his experiences writing the biography _In Search of Churchill_, and received a knighthood of his own for his work on this project.

This book is the condensed version of the eight volumes that Gilbert took so long to write. Gilbert's account is authoritative, but the majority of it focuses, understandably, on the 1939-1945 period. Gilbert prefers to write with an unrelenting chronological narrative, an approach that works perfectly in biography. Sir Martin is a talented writer and even through this book is over 950 pages long it reads quite well. Gilbert has also quoted a lot from Churchill's own writings and speeches and it is clear the man had mastered the English language.

Many Americans are not that familiar with geography of Churchill's life and Gilbert has included 28 maps that allow the reader to track the great man's life graphically. These maps are particularly interesting because they range from the obvious like political maps of Europe in both World Wars, but also places where Churchill lived in England and a very detailed rendering of Whitehall--the region of London where all the government offices are located.

No book is perfect. In condensing eight volumes into one, Gilbert has skipped a little on developing a full human portrait of his subject. One also gets the impression that at times it was possible to just show up at 10 Downing Street and have a meeting with whoever happened to be the Prime Minister at the time. Gilbert also clearly likes his subject and takes his side in the many disputes he faced. This focus is understandable, but the author never really examines the legitimate points that Churchill critics had to make. Before the war, as far as the public was concerned, Churchill had been wrong on the abdication crisis, wrong on India, and, yes, wrong on the Nazis. It was only after the Britain came to blows with Germany that people came to reassess his position on Germany. Even during the war his formulation of strategy was suspect on more than one occasion. Gilbert does not avoid these issues, but his coverage of the other point of view could be better.

All in all, though, these complaints should not blind readers to the fact that this is an exceptionally good book by the foremost authority in the field. Buy it, you will like it.

Very good one volume biography.......2007-06-02

Overall I really enjoyed Martin Gilbert's Churchill biography, and would recommend it to others. I found it an enjoyable read, and overall I thought it did a good job covering a remarkable man.

I did think there was some room for improvement though:

- The book didn't spend as much time on the WW2 years as I would have liked. I felt Gilbert's chapters here were a little rushed and sparse, and that they mostly recited the basic facts without a lot of new insight. I would have preferred more coverage of the weeks immediately after Churchill took office (when some in the cabinet debated whether to open negotations with the Germans, and which might have come to pass had it been someone other than Churchill in office). I would have also liked to have seen more coverage of Churchill's (at times very complex) relationship with Roosevelt, as well as more about his relationship with Alan Brooke and the rest of his cabinet.

- Churchill's relationship with his family was also not covered in much depth. Clementine seemed to be continually away in Gilbert's text, and her relationship with Winston felt strained. I would have liked to have understood Gilbert's take on this more - since it is a little different from what I have read in other books.

I think I still prefer the William Manchester volumes on Churchill over this book when covering Churchill's early years - they felt a little more textured and deeper. Unfortunately Manchester was unable to complete his third volume before he died, so the WW2 years are not covered there at all.

I would still also recommend this book as well.

Why Didn't I Read This Years Ago?.......2007-02-17

The first third of this book is dry as can be and I'm beginning to think, "From this a portrait of the man will never emerge." But those who persevere eventually collect their reward. The dryness begins to evaporate with the advent of the First World War. Churchill was tested to the breaking point with the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. He lost his job with the admiralty. At age 40 Churchill thought we was washed up. By happy accident he discovers painting, a pastime that will see him through even darker days to come (see also "Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings" by David Coombs).

The edge-of-your-seat chapters begin with the emergence of Hitler. Churchill issues Casandra-like warnings, spelling out with remarkable clairvoyance what will happen if the growing menace goes unchallenged. The world reacts with a yawn. And Hitler catches an unprepared world by surprise. Suddenly Churchill is the man of the hour. The wartime chapters drive home just how scarily-close the Nazis came to victory.

Gilbert's biography becomes anti-climatic as it becomes clear that the Good Guys will prevail. But there's still fire left in the old Prime Minister. Churchill recognizes the Hitlerian threat posed by Stalin in Post-WWII Europe. Churchill's final major life contribution comes with his Fulton, Missouri, "Iron Curtain" speech.

What's the most important aspect of this read? Churchill embodies the power of the spoken word. In 1940 words were about all besieged Brits had cling to. Our world would be a very different place (read "barbaric") had the rallying call been voiced by a lesser man. Well, it's been a long review. It was a long book.

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The Age of Pitt
A Man Whose Life Was Politics
"Billy Pitt" a political genius
Well written, researched account of an important man
An especially fine biography of a man of unique service

William Pitt the Younger
William Hague
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

William Pitt the Younger is an illuminating biography of one of the great iconic figures in British history: the man who in 1784 at the age of twenty-four became (and so remains) the youngest Prime Minister in the history of England. In this lively and authoritative study, William Hague–himself the youngest political party leader in recent history–explains the dramatic events and exceptional abilities that allowed extreme youth to be combined with great power.
The brilliant son of a father who was also Prime Minister, Pitt was derided as a “schoolboy” when he took office. Yet within months he had outwitted his opponents, and he went on to dominate the political scene for twenty-two years (nineteen of them as Prime Minister). No British politician since has exercised such supremacy for so long.

Pitt’s personality has always been hard to unravel. Though he was generally thought to be cold and aloof, his friends described him as the wittiest man they ever knew. By seeing him through the eyes of a politician, William Hague–a prominent member of Britain’s Conservative Party–succeeds in explaining Pitt’s actions and motives through a series of great national crises, including the madness of King George III, the impact of the French Revolution, and the trauma of the Napoleonic wars. He describes how a man dedicated to peace became Britain’s longest-serving war leader, how Pitt the liberal reformer became Pitt the author of repression, and how–though undisputed master of the nation’s finances–he died with vast personal debts.

With its rich cast of characters, including Charles James Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Edmund Burke, and George III himself, and set against a backdrop of industrial revolution and global conflict, this is a richly detailed and rounded portrait of an extraordinary political life.

Customer Reviews:

The Age of Pitt.......2007-07-21

I'm trying to think what I knew about the politics of late 18th century Britain before I read William Hague's well written biography of William Pitt the Younger, imaginatively named just that. Not much. I knew about Edmund Burke and his opposition to the French Revolution. I knew a few military leaders from reading about the American Revolution. I've seen the brilliant film about King George the Third's madness, and I vaguely knew that there were two William Pitts, father and son, who dominated British Political life during that era, and that Pitt the younger was amazingly young when he got elected Prime Minister.

Now I know quite a bit more. For one thing, Pitt was not technically "Prime Minister". Rather, he had been "First Lord of the Treasury" which was the most senior position in His Majesty's government. He had served for some twenty years, and has been a member of the House of Commons for most of his life. He has, indeed, been chosen to lead the British government at age 24.

How did a man so young become first Minister to the British crown? The answer is, one is picked by the King. George the Third's alliance with William Pitt was one of convenience - he has loathed the other potential political leaders (Primarily Pitt's arch nemesis Charles James Fox). Pitt was the only member of the House of Commons who had credibility enough to form a government, and whom the King felt he could support.

This is not to say that Pitt's talents had nothing to do with it - far from it. Pitt, a great orator, became a leading presence in the House of Commons. With brilliant tactics (and shameless use of patronage), he formed his own party, and later split the opposition Whig party (with the help of the French Revolution) to rule the house with a huge majority. He had also been one of the first British politicians to care about the views of the majority of Britons not represented in Parliament.

It has been Pitt's very success that made him vulnerable; by 1801, the opposition more or less ceased to exist, and the King felt much less reliant on Mr. Pitt. When the First Lord of the Chancellery clashed with the Monarch on the issue of Catholic Emancipation (giving Catholics the right to vote and be elected), the King felt confident enough to flatly refuse Pitt. Pitt resigned rather then serve without full powers.

In 1804, as the Napoleonic Wars got worse, Pitt returned to office. This time his coalition was shakier, and he probably wouldn't have lasted long as Prime Minister had he not died in January 1806, at the age of 46.

William Hague, a one time would be Tory PM, who had been compared to Pitt the younger by none other then Margaret Thatcher, offer a very readable and compelling biography. His book is not particularly analytical, but it is very well written and researched. I wish Hague would have put Pitt more in context, both of British and International Politics (we get no mention of America after the Revolution, no word of the remaining colonies, and very little about the internal politics of any other country save France), and the industrial revolution. Nonetheless, as someone who doesn't read many biographies, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Whatever the merits of Hague as a politician, he has a future as a historian.

(By the way, my copy of the book contains a recommendation by British Tory PM John Major "If you only buy one political biography this year, make it this one". Talk about damning with faint praise. I guess it could have been worse "If you only buy one biography of an 18th century British politician named Pitt in December...")

Speaking of Merits, how should we assess the statesmanship of William Pitt the younger? Ultimately, I think Pitt was a very competent, but not great, Prime Minister. In his first decade as prime minister, Britain enjoyed Peace, and Pitt managed to survive as Prime Minister, expand his coalition somewhat, rationalize the tax system, and begin to balance the government's deficit. The reduction of the deficit, with view for its ultimate extinction, was Pitt's greatest achievement, albeit one that was aided greatly by the fast growing economy in the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and that all but disappeared when the wars of the French Revolution started.

Other then economically, Pitt managed to achieve few if any of the reforms he had supported. He failed to reform the electorate, abolish the slave trade, or (later) achieve Catholic emancipation.

As War leader, Pitt commanded over a mostly unsuccessful war effort, which saw the rise of three coalitions against the armies of the French Revolution, and later Napoleon. French forces defeated all in term, and Pitt died just days after receiving word of Napoleon's greatest Victory in the Battle of Austerlitz.

This is not to say that Pitt has been a failure. He had been a strong supporter of the navy, and British control of the Seas became an unalterable fact under his watch, and due to his effort and leadership. Pitt had secured the Unification of the British and Irish Parliament. Both achievements would last for over a century. Politically, Pitt planted the roots of the Tory party, and managed to survive various crises, including the insanity of his patron, George III. If nothing else, Pitt has led his nation through some of the most difficult transformations of its age, internal and external. And while there had still been a long road ahead, by the time Pitt passed away, Britain has surely reached, in Churchill's terms, "The End of the Beginning".

A Man Whose Life Was Politics.......2006-11-03

The younger William Pitt lived a life that is not widely known or appreciated in the USA and this well-written and entertaining biography should help to remedy that. It is so unusual for a super-genius to have the opportunity, interest and special aptitude for politics Pitt had that the example deserves much study. We are fortunate that William Hague, the author, did not become Prime Minister himself in 2001 so that he was free to stay in Yorkshire and complete this work.

"Billy Pitt" a political genius.......2005-10-01

William Pitt the Younger (or as he was described by some of his contemporaries Billy Pitt) is a book written by a politician about a politician (you may remember that William Hague was an ex-leader of the Tory party). He was indeed an extraordinary politician although a very limited man.

The story is on a grand scale, prime ministers, kings, wars, revolution, disasters, and the central figure, a larger-than-life classic hero.

He came from famous stock, his father, known as the Great Commoner, was an heroic figure who in his own time was the equivalent of the Prime Minister, then known as the First Lord of the Treasury although this particular position was held by the Duke of Newcastle who sat in the House Of Lords. William Pitt the Elder was the leader in the House of Commons. He took office at the age of 48 in 1756, some three years before William Pitt the Younger was born. He served as Secretary of State for the Southern Department, at that time there were two Secretaries of State, the Secretary of State for the Southern Department dealt with matters relating to southern European countries, including France and Spain, the Secretary of State for the Northern Department dealt with Northern European countries such as Russia.

His father came to be regarded as the saviour of the nation and was instrumental in defeating the traditional enemy of the English, the French. He was regarded as the saviour of the nation and was a great orator.

William Pitt the Younger was raised in an intensely political family and learned a great deal from his father's capacity to achieve high office without money or patronage from the King. His father was the more extraordinary because he was, by the standards of the times, incorruptible. Unfortunately this was associated with accumulation of enormous debts, a habit followed by his son. He suffered from a wide range of ailments including gout, bowel problems and similar disorders. He married at the age of 46 and proceeded to have five children of whom only his two eldest survived into their 30s. After leaving office he was eventually persuaded back into office by George III and to reduce the burden on him emotionally and physically he accepted a title and became Earl of Chatham. This eventually proved to be his downfall and damaged his reputation. William Pitt the Younger lived through all these events before he was 10 years old! Even by that age he must have been aware that he belonged to a father and a family that stood apart from and were treated differently from everyone else.

He was educated at home and although uninhibited by peer pressure was required from the outset to meet adult standards. His tutor stated "William never seemed to learn but merely to recollect". His father took an active, usually daily, role in his education. As William Hague says "at no other time in British history has the head of one administration acted as a tutor of another".

His father taught him to speak in a clear and melodious voice by making him recite each day passages from the best English poets, particularly Shakespeare and Milton. As William Pitt the Younger later said " Lord Chatham had bid him take up any book in some foreign language with which he was well acquainted, in Latin, Greek, or French, for example. Lord Chatham then enjoined him to read out of this work into English, stopping when he was not sure of the word to be used in English, until the right word came to mind, and then proceed. At first, he had often to stop for a while before he could recollect the proper word, but he found the difficulties gradually disappear, until what was a toll him at first became at last an easy and familiar task. " It is perhaps, not surprising that he developed early on a highly unusual ability to speak clearly, structure an argument, and think on his feet. He was aided in this by a formidable memory.

He went to Cambridge University at the age of 14. He was a sickly adolescent and spent the summers in Cambridge and the winters with his family. He was intensely attached to his mother and his father and he idolised. There was intense political discussion between himself and his father. He made friends easily, despite his youth, and became part of a large social circle. He made many lifelong friendships. To insiders he was regarded as great fun but to the external world he showed a stern and aloof demeanour, even from an early age.

His father was deeply opposed to the policy of the government which led to the American Revolution. There was great opposition to Roman Catholics leading to the Gordon riots in 1780. It was a dramatic and exciting time. Unfortunately, his father died in 1778 deeply in debt and the family finances were only saved by a grant from Parliament of 20,000 pounds. Pitt trained as a lawyer and indeed practised as such briefly. This was a time of rotten boroughs, large cities with no representation and some electorates with only two voters. Corruption was rampant. The largest seats cost each candidate the equivalent of 5,000,000 pounds in today's terms on electoral expenses.

Over half the boroughs could be purchased in one way or another. However, hehad no money and depended on a patron. One was eventually found who fortunately was not very demanding and he entered Parliament in January 1781 at the age of 22. At that time one in six members were under the age of 30. He quickly established himself as a great orator. He entered a house containing some extraordinary characters including Fox, Sheridan, and William Wilberforce.

The Whigs, including Fox, threw out Lord North because of his disastrous loss of the American colonies and took office. Unfortunately they were violently opposed by George III. The King acted in an unconstitutional way so as to indicate that he had no confidence in his government. This was, even by the standards of the day, outrageous but led to Pitt being offered the position of "Prime Minister" and taking office in December 1783 at the age of 24.

He remained in office, apart from a break between December 1801 and April 1804 (having resigned office for complex reasons including the intransigent attitude of George III to the question of Catholic Emancipation) until his death at the age of 49 in January 1806.

It is astonishing to recognise that throughout much of that time he was Prime Minister with virtually no staff, he was also the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Leader of the House. The House of Commons was his arena of greatness. From a position of running a minority government he quickly gained the ascendancy to such a point that Fox did not attend parliament for some years.

During this time he dealt with the madness of King George. He attempted and then abandoned attempts to bring about parliamentary reform. He revolutionised the running of the government including bringing in the first income-tax. He dealt with the French Revolution and all its consequences and was the first to attempt to put the finances of Great Britain in order using a sinking fund to pay off debt. It is salutary to realise that five future prime ministers served in his Cabinet.

Throughout much of this time he retained his aloof demeanour, he had little contact and no obvious interest in women apart from on one occasion and, if anything, appeared to be an asexual ascetic, except that he enjoyed his booze. He routinely drank three bottles of port per night. William Hague makes the point that bottles of port in those days were about half the size of the standard bottle today. Nevertheless that is a considerable intake and is thought to have contributed to his early death.

He had been made Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports which provided an income of 3000 pounds but his own finances were a terrible mess, in part because of his lack of interest, his lack of time, and because of his refusal to accept any sinecures.

He was the dominating the political figure of his times but was not a popular figure in the House of Commons, he did not socialise with other members most of whom he treated with disdain. There is a telling story of him, in his 40s, playing with two old friends and his niece, who was living with him. They were attempting to blacken his face with burnt cork in a vigorous indoor wrestling match. Two grandees arrived to see Mr Pitt. One of the participants in the struggle saw him straighten himself, put on his public mask as the two grandees approached him bowing, hesitant, and concerned about his response. He treated them with some contempt, scarcely looking at them, dismissed them after answering a query and then quickly returned to the frolic.

Although Sir Robert Walpole is recognised as the first Prime Minister and indeed was longer in office than Pitt nevertheless Pitt first articulated the concept of a prime minister. He also brought great efficiencies to the running of the country and for a number of years before the onslaught of the French revolutionary wars the country was running at a significant surplus. Whilst incorruptible himself he used patronage with great political sensitivity to achieve his aims.

It is extraordinary that he accomplished so much and was dead by the age of 49.

William Hague's biography is the best sort of biography, it is fascinating to read with telling stories about Pitt and his contemporaries and allows us to see Pitt in the context of his times. Hague repeatedly dwells on the sheer volume of work that Pitt was able to get through, his mastery of detail, especially financial detail. He was known for his extraordinary grasp of the classics and his capacity to produce the apt quote at the right time. He was known for giving speeches off-the-cuff lasting up to three hours which were models of clarity, reasoned argument leading to inexorable conclusions without any apparent preparation.

Hague is also fascinated by his ability to manipulate the King, the Prince of Wales, and other influential figures. He made great enemies but had enduring and loyal friends. With the passage of time, Hague makes it clear that anyone in office for any length of time is gradually brought down by the burden of accumulated mistakes, problems, enemies, and the eventual boredom of the populace.

By the way Hague quotes from a letter written by Pitt in which he uses the word " se'nnight". I leave it to you to work out what it means.

This one volume biography provides a fascinating introduction both to politics but also to the history behind such events as the Battle of Trafalgar and the English view of the various phases of the French Revolution. It made me want to read more about Fox, Grenville, George III and other larger-than-life figures. I commend it to you.

Michael Epstein

Well written, researched account of an important man.......2005-08-14

Pitt the younger led his nation through the Napoleonic wars, the first stages of the industrial revolution, and a transformation of Britian, yet all the book seems to talk about is his health, his speaches and where he traveled.

I am sorry, but I selected this book while in Heathrow Airport waiting for a flight back to the US. I knew about Pitt the younger and the times in which he lived. I had hoped for a book that talked about a man in the center of his times. Instead I got an introspective work focused on the triangle between Pitt, Fox and George III. Based on Hague's work they were the only three people who mattered in the world.

I guess I am not the anglophile I thought I was as I found this work admirably written, well researched and understandably proud of Britian's first modern Prime Minister and global leader.

Unforuntaley it was not very interesting -- I am not sure if that is due to Hague's account (I kind of doubt) or Pitt's interior and financially centered life.

It probably has more to do with me being an american and wanting to know more about the man -- the person. The US is after all pretty much a show and tell kind of culture without the reserve for status and class as the UK.

Either way, if you are a strong Anglophile who knows much about the times -- then this is a well crafted detailed account. If you are a part time reader of biographies and history, then you may want to give this one a pass.

No offense intended to our friends in Britian -- Pitt is surely one of the few men who have make the UK great.

An especially fine biography of a man of unique service.......2005-03-13

As a rule, I believe that Americans would be better off if they read and understood more about history. It is important to read widely enough, both in breadth of scope and time, to provide a rich and useful understanding of how things have become what they are. While we cannot read everything, let alone retain it all in our memory, there are certain times, events, and even single lives that can provide valuable structure to our understanding of the world.

In my view, knowing more about the history of Great Britain can help Americans understand more about our origins as a nation, provide a richer context for our founding, get a better fix on our own place in the world through time, and how we grew into a dominant power in the world. This particularly fine biography of William Pitt the Younger concerns itself with the time immediately after Britain's American Colonies became the United States up to Pitt's death in 1806 in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars.

This is an especially rich time in history because everything was in flux and so much was at risk. The French Revolution of 1789 soon became The Terror. Great Britain struggled to recover from the blow of losing her American Colonies and putting herself forward as a still relevant global power. The United States actually benefited in many ways from the Europeans being so absorbed in fighting each other in these decades. However, that is a story for another time.

William Pitt the Younger was the extraordinary second son of the also extraordinary William Pitt. The father dominated the House of Commons for many years including the time during the American Revolution. He was universally loved as The Great Commoner and retired as a Lord. William the Younger was endowed with certain intellectual gifts in fabulous abundance. He had a tremendous capacity for oratory. He trained himself by reading the Classics in Latin and Greek. He learned mathematics particularly as it related to finance. And of course he learned by observing his father's work in Parliament and in discussions with him. He focused his whole life and all his energies to service in the House of Commons with a view only on the position of greatest power.

Britain was adrift when Pitt came to Parliament. Great things were expected of him and his early speeches confirmed his gifts. He sought front line leadership from the beginning and due to his gifts and unique circumstances he became First Lord of the Treasury (what later became Prime Minister) at twenty-four years old. He soon earned the favor of a strong majority and through his scrupulous dealings became known as Honest Billy. He was one of the first to use the rapidly growing newspaper industry as a tool to govern through the development of his image.

He put Britain's finances back in order, protected the monarchy during George the III's bouts of madness, and deftly handled all the governmental issues of the empire including issues involving India and the great trading companies. He completely dominated the Whigs and led the way to the founding of the modern Conservative (Tory) party. He finally resigned after 17 years in power. He did so for many reasons, but the issue that seemed to provoke it was Catholic Emancipation, which the King refused to even consider because he considered it a violation of his duty as King and Head of the Established Church.

Also, Pitt's health was beginning to fail. He had dedicated his whole life to the service of his country and the maintenance of his power and dominance in the House of Commons and the strain was beginning to tell. Pitt never married nor did he develop a new circle of friends or wider interests during his time in power, which was essentially his whole life from his early twenties until his death at forty-six. Hague has some keen observations on the way serving in high political office has the effect of freezing a person at that stage of life until they leave power. Pitt is one of the most extreme examples of this effect.

At the zenith of Pitt's power the French Revolution occurred and was soon followed by the calamity of the Napoleonic Wars. While he led Britain through the wars ably, his gifts for war were not as sure as his gifts for finance. Another issue that he confronted during his time in office was the issue of abolishing the slave trade. Neither the ending the wars nor, nor Catholic Emancipation, nor abolishing the slave trade was accomplished during his lifetime.

Pitt chose Addington as his successor. The response of others can be understood through a little couplet. "Pitt is to Addington as London is to Paddington". He returned to power within a few years, but died in office in less than two years.

As a biographer, William Hague is in many ways a perfect choice for William Pitt the Younger. Hague has an eloquence that is inviting and informs without bogging down. He also brings a special insight into some of the more obscure decisions Pitt made because Hague also served in the House of Commons and came to office in his twenties. Mr. Hague also became leader of the Conservative party (the descendent of the party that rose from Pitt's legacy) at thirty-six and despite losing to Tony Blair, he fully understands the massive demands of front line political leadership. Mr. Hague continues to serve as a Member of Parliament for Richmond, Yorkshire as well as being active in many other duties and activities.

I saw an interview with the author about this book. He said that he would also like to write biographies of Pitt the Elder and Pitt the Younger's friend, Wilberforce, who had so much to do with abolishing the slave trade. I want to encourage him to write both. His excellent writing conveys his passion for this period of history, and his analyses provide helpful and entertaining insights to the way politics worked then and how it works today.

Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare (John MacRae Books)

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Yawn
Better History Than Biography
A sober look at one of the 20th century's deadliest regimes
Excellent
Mass Murder in a Slave State

Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare (John MacRae Books)
Philip Short
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805066624
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Book Description

A gripping and definitive portrait of the man who headed one of the most enigmatic and terrifying regimes of modern times

In the three and a half years of Pol Pot's rule, more than a million Cambodians, a fifth of the country's population, were executed or died from hunger. An idealistic and reclusive figure, Pol Pot sought to instill in his people values of moral purity and self-abnegation through a revolution of radical egalitarianism. In the process his country descended into madness, becoming a concentration camp of the mind, a slave state in which obedience was enforced on the killing fields.

How did a utopian dream of shared prosperity mutate into one of the worst nightmares humanity has ever known? To understand this almost inconceivable mystery, Philip Short explores Pol Pot's life from his early years to his death. Short spent four years traveling throughout Cambodia interviewing the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge movement, many of whom have never spoken before, including Pol Pot's brother-in-law and the former Khmer Rouge head of state. He also sifted through the previously closed archives of China, Russia, Vietnam, and Cambodia itself to trace the fate of one man and the nation that he led into ruin.

This powerful biography reveals that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were not a one-off aberration but instead grew out of a darkness of the soul common to all peoples. Cambodian history and culture combined with intervention from the United States and other nations to set the stage for a disaster whose horrors echo loudly in the troubling events of our world today.

Customer Reviews:

Yawn.......2007-02-03

I am sorry but this book was boring. I think it took a special kind of writer to make something as seemingly interesting/horrific as the Khmer Rouge so dull. This book is overloaded with details upon details that do not really give any real insights into what happened in Cambodia or upon Pol Pot.

This is not the first book someone should read to get a strong understanding of Pol Pot or the Khmer Rouge. Instead it should be read by people that are serious students of this subject otherwise you will just get bogged down with names and the little bureaucratic nuances of the Khmer Rouge step by painful step.

This book has taken me a long time to read through and I generally read pretty quickly. I would find myself cleaning my house or doing laundry to avoid finishing. I am one of those people that feels they need to finish a book once they started it and this one made me seriously reconsider.

Better History Than Biography.......2006-09-21

I read this book knowing virtually nothing of Pol Pot or the history of the Cambodian revolutionary movement. Having read the book I feel it works far better as a history of modern Cambodia and the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge than it does as a biography of Pol Pot, hence my rating. My expectations of Short's work are high having greatly enjoyed his biography of Mao which is overflowing with the kind of personal detail and insight that is absent from this work. I would speculate that this may have something to do with the availability of source material and perhaps with the cultural issues around the definition of truth in Cambodian culture which Short alludes to in the book.

Despite this I came away far more knowledgeable than I arrived and Short is an excellent writer with a knack for making his material easily digestible.

Good history, but only an average biography.

A sober look at one of the 20th century's deadliest regimes.......2006-05-16

Those looking for a biography of Saloth Sar (aka Pol Pot) may be surprised to find that this is not so much a chronicle of Pol's life, but rather a thorough account of Cambodian political history from the post-World War II era on. Nonetheless this is an invaluable book about the tradegy that the Khmer Rouge unleashed upon Cambodia.

The first part of the book, in which Short sets up his narrative by describing in detail the founding of the Cercle Marxiste and Pol's studies in Paris, was a bit slow-paced. At the same time, it was probably necessary in order to shed light on the roots of some of Pol's radical views.

The narrative really picks up once the Khmer Rouge launch their coup and begin to implement their radical utopian dreams. I agree with the reviewer below that the evacuation of Phnom Penh was one of the most vivid and horrific events depicted in the book. The piercing analysis of Tuol Sleng, the Khmer Rouge's detention and torture center, was extremely powerful.

Short also does a superb job depicting Cambodia's relationship with its Asian neighbors, especially Vietnam, China and North Korea, and, to a lesser extent, Thailand and Laos. The reader will gain tremendous insight into how realpolitik and political relationships manifested themselves in the communist dictatorships of South-East Asia. At the same time, Short emphasizes that what unfolded in Democratic Kampuchea was of a uniquely Cambodian flavor, and it is important to distinguish between the genocides perpetrated by the Stalin and Maoist regimes.

That having been said, I think Short has some serious flaws as a writer; not stylistically, but in terms of moral clarity. He seems obssessed with discrediting the United States as an evil superpower that contributed to the genocide, and he has nothing but contempt for the American presidents from Nixon through Carter. At times his prose can seem downright acidic. Such judgments and interpretations are better left to the reader.

Nevertheless this is a superb account of the Khmer Rouge and the immense suffering inflicted upon the people of Cambodia, and should be read by anyone with an interest in understanding how and why this particular genocide developed.

Excellent.......2006-03-14

Pol Pot was the ruler of the Khmer Rouge and the Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979. He was the de facto leader since mid-1970s. During his time in power Pol Pot together with his cronoies created an aggressive regime of agricultural reform. A society rife with paranoia. A society designed to create a utopian Communist society which was known for repressing intellectuals.

Pol Pot espoused a radically revised variant of Maoism, adapted to Khmer nationalism. Envisaging a perfectly egalitarian agrarianism, the Khmer Rouge favored a completely agrarian society to the point that all modern technological contrivances were banned. Money was made illegal. Pol Pot was rabidly anti-Soviet and Red China considered him a balancing force against their archenemies, the Vietnamese Moscow-oriented regime. And during the detante, the Western powers took more or less the same line, offering diplomatic support to the Khmer Rouge after they were ousted from power by the Vietnamese in 1979. The killing fields were less important than the domino theory.

This was the first book I read about the major actors of the Vietnam conflict and my perspective on the conflict has changed. Clearly, the Viet Cong played a more aggressive and nefarious role in the emergence of the Khmer Rouges than they are willing to admit.

Pol Pot is an interesting person, to say the least. He clearly was an intellectual, a demagogue and an ideologue. He had excellent administration skills and must have been a person skilled in tactful negotiations with his friends who soon became his enemies. The really interesting person emerging from reading this book is not Pol Pot but king Sihanouk, a buddy of Mao and Kim Il Song. What king would be a buddy of two of worlds worst communist mass-murders? Sihanouk's continued efforts to lead his land go hand in hand with Pol Pot's efforts to create a perfect society. I am not saying that Sihanouk was guilty or contributed to the killing fields, but he definitely was a catalyst.

And as all perfect societies, they are bound to implode. The violent and inherently evil rule of the Khmer Rouge is a low point of world history. It is is shocking that Pol Pot eliminated a larger proportion of the population as known beasts as Stalin, Hitler, or Mao.

The book has an engaging style; it read as a good spy novel and not as a biography!

Read it and learn.

Mass Murder in a Slave State .......2005-12-29

It may be impossible to explain why Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge government caused the deaths of more than one million -- possibly two million --Cambodians during their 4 year rule (1975-1979) The author, Philip Short, made an effort to do so in this book. I didn't find his theory -- that the mass-murder was consistent with Khmer culture and history -- very persuasive, but I don't have a better one to offer in its place. Perhaps, insane outbreaks are hot-wired in the human psyche to occur now and then -- in the same way that lemmings commit mass suicide by running over cliffs. The Khmer Rouge was a movement that ran amok.

"Pol Pot" is a thorough, readable, and well-researched account of Cambodian politics from about 1950 until the death of Pol Pot in 1998. The writer avoids polemics and gave me a sense of confidence that he is presenting the ghastly story of Pol Pot and Cambodia as objectively as possible. Short's account may be too dispassionate for many people as he focuses on Khmer Rouge philosophies and programs, rather than recounting endless atrocity stories. Those stories are readily available elsewhere. In this book, I appreciated the author's search for the root causes of the Khmer Rouge's inhumanity.

The most interesting part of the book to me was the fall of Phnom Penh in April 1975 and the subsequent forced evacuation of that city and other Cambodian cities by the Khmer Rouge. Short has a detailed account of that event, the philosphy behind it and the human consequences.

Pol Pot himself seems an unremarkable person. It is fitting that after he died his body was burned on a funeral pyre comprised of old tires and broken furniture. Evil is banal.

Smallchief

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Disraeli

Disraeli: A Biography
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Disraeli.......2005-12-31

Dr. Stanley Weintraub's biography of Ben Disraeli is excellent. The scholarship is at the top. The only other biography that I would consider but I have some reservations is the one by Lord Blake the problem with his as compared to Dr. Weintraub's is it is too thick. This one spends plenty of time on his political and publishing career. I thoughly enjoy the biography, and for all those who harken back to a time when are politicans had some flare and style will enjoy this book.

Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assasination of Rafik Hariri and its Impact on the Middle East

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Release Date: 2006-10-31

Book Description

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, known as "Mr. Lebanon," was killed by a massive explosion as he drove along the Beirut seafront on Valentine's Day in 2005. A business entrepreneur, who rose from nothing to become one of the most powerful men in Lebanese politics, Hariri's assassination has incited outrage and suspicion. Nicholas Blanford investigates Hariri's past, inextricably linked with that of Lebanon, and uncovers a murky world of shifting alliances between businesses, the military, politicians and diplomats. Based on exclusive interviews with key players, he traces the last weeks of Hariri's life, and reveals who stood to gain from his death. He assesses its impact on Lebanese politics including the withdrawal of Syrian troops, Hezbollah and the peace process. Full of intrigue, shady characters, and suspense, Killing Mr Lebanon brings to light what the Lebanese people have clamored for since Valentine's Day 2005: 'al haqiqa' - the truth.

Customer Reviews:

Re-telling a story we all know!.......2007-06-30

This might be a very good book for a reader living on the banks of the Mississipi or on the left bank of the Seine, and who does not know anything about the Middle East in general, and Lebanon in particular. But it does not contain one piece of information that I did not already know, so I am glad I didn't have to pay for it(it's very expensive in Qatar: it is sold for US$ 55 at Jarir bookstore!).
On the other hand, Mr Blanford is presented as having lived for 10 years in Lebanon. Fair enough, but it surprises me that after those ten years, he is still confused(like many Western journalists)with the transliteration of Arabic names. Thus, former minister Bassem Assabaa's first name becomes Bassam, and that of former minister Aassem Qansso becomes Qassem!I have never lived in New York or London(except occasional trips), but I do not confuse John with Jonathan, for example, nor Jill with Till...The author could at least have had the book proof-read by one of the staff of the Lebanese Daily Star, for which he supposedly works!
One of Amazon top reviewers, my friend Jill Malter, usually ends her reviews with "I recommend this book" or "I do not recommend this book".Well, I do not recommend this book for anyone whose mother-tongue is Arabic!

Excellent summary of recent Lebanese history.......2007-02-26

Blanford writes superbly, and this tour de force captures the dynamics of complex Lebanon as well as any. Of particular interest is the rarely detailed description of Syrian hegemony of the country, their parasitic-like extraction of wealth along with national confidence, and the complicity of neighbors of this crime (particularly Saudi Arabia and Egypt). His descriptions of Hariri as a complex tycoon/altruist are masterful.

The only weakness is the epilogue. Clearly written in the heat of a war as the book was going to press, it evokes horrible images of that war without providing the clear-headed analysis typical of the rest of the book: as such it appeals to some (see other reviews) but detracts in the long run. Blanford should either remove or expand this from future editions: it has no business being in an otherwise excellent work.

Superb.......2007-02-01

This book is extremely well written and hard to put down once started. It is very informative both on the brutal murder of Rafik Hariri and the current political situation in Lebanon, including its relationship with Syria. Blanford covers a lot of detail overlooked by most standard media outlets which really helps the reader fill in the gaps surrounding this tragedy and what led up to it. A must read for anyone interested in the region.

The Epilogue, in which Blanford discusses Israel's attack on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 was particularly interesting for me as I happened to be there through the duration of the siege. It is nice to come across quality reporting without the dilution and distortion of current events by US media.

A must read.......2007-01-08

A well documented book that is easy to read and hard to put down. It accurately describes the events that led to Hariri's assassination both on the local and the international scene in a lively manner with a detailed witnesses account of the days and hours leading to 14 February 2005. It provides valuable insight in the events unfolding in Lebanon today more particularly the recent Israeli Hezbollah war and the governmental crisis.

This book is a must read for anyone wishing to understand the intricacies of Lebanese politics and the Syrian and regional dimension of the events unfolding right now in front of our eyes. In my opinion it plugs a major hole in international reporting on Lebanese stories as it provides an adequate and thorough background that is often lacking in short articles.

An account by an energetic reporter.......2006-12-21

I knew Nick in Beirut as an energetic reporter always looking for big stories. His reports covered a wide array of issues including the Hizbullah-Israel war prior to 2000, interviews with Palestinian leadership in Lebanon, coverage of the post-Iraq war in 2003 and a lot of other issues.
Nick has a keen eye to detail and a broad knowledge of the region. His book shows his talent as someone who digs for stories and gets inside info. I have been waiting for this book for a while, and once I got a grip of it, it did not disappoint me at all.
I especially liked the theme of this book, Mr. Lebanon, which has been indeed a title the assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister strived to win. Blanford's book is well-researched with a number of interesting interviews, accurate background information and great style. Buy the book and read it, you'll see that it is money well spent.

Average customer rating:

The Most Hated Politician In Israel
A remarkable man-a remarkable book
Bar-Zohar Scores with Peres
The story of a pioneer and visionary Israeli politiican and senior world statesman

Shimon Peres: The Biography
Michael Bar-Zohar
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Israel | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

Ariel Sharon: A Life
Ariel Sharon: An Intimate Portrait
New Essays on Zionism
The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977
1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East

ASIN: 1400062926
Release Date: 2007-02-27

Book Description

Twice Israel’s prime minister, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, bold leader in a war-torn region, Shimon Peres is one of the great statesmen of the modern world. Peres is also a fascinating, complex man–a brilliant intellectual who is entirely at home in the corridors of power; an individual revered by the world and yet highly controversial in his own country; at once a hero and a figure of tragedy. Now, in this definitive biography, Michael Bar-Zohar takes the full measure of a towering, enigmatic leader.

Drawing on his decades-long association with Peres, as well as the full cooperation of the leader’s family, friends, supporters, and political rivals, Bar-Zohar has crafted a vibrant, daring, richly textured portrait of a man whose life and career span the entire history of Israel. Born in Poland in 1923, Peres emigrated to the Holy Land at the age of twelve, already a fiercely idealistic Zionist. Peres joined a kibbutz and, while still in his teens, became the leader of a major youth movement. When the struggle for Israeli independence broke out, future prime minister David Ben-Gurion tapped him to join his inner circle.

As director general of the Defense Ministry under Ben-Gurion, Peres spearheaded a far-reaching campaign to turn Israel into a major military power. He jump-started Israel’s aircraft industry, forged a secret alliance with France, and successfully pursued his dream of making Israel a nuclear power. And yet Peres’s real triumph came not as a man of war but as a peacemaker.

Elected prime minister in 1984, Peres brought new hope by pulling Israeli troops out of the quagmire in Lebanon, defusing tensions with Jordan, and, at the risk of his own political future, making serious overtures to the Palestinians. Peres and his longtime rival Yitzhak Rabin together secured the top-secret Oslo Accords of 1993, which won them and Yasser Arafat the Nobel Peace Prize–only to see the hope of peace shattered in a resurgence of regional violence.

In a half-century of leadership, Peres has worked beside–or fought against–such giants as Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon, and, tragically, Rabin, who was slain at the rally that marked his reconciliation with Peres. Still powerful in his eighties, Peres stands as a true hero, a visionary who embodies the history of his nation. In this stunning, courageously frank, and scrupulously factual biography, Michael Bar-Zohar gives an eminent man his due.

Customer Reviews:

The Most Hated Politician In Israel.......2007-04-18

People outside Israel are constantly amazed at how a man
with such a reputation as Shimon Peres has been defeated in
every secret-ballot election he has run in. The answer is
simple: whereas outside Israel, Peres has benefitted from the
well-oiled public relations campaign he has cultivated for
years by playing up to various writers, artists and, most
importantly, international financial barons, Israelis had to endure the
most horrific period of mass bloodshed, leading to THOUSANDS
of dead and wounded which Peres' inflicted on the country by
way of his disastrous Olso Agreements
with Arafat.
It was the murdered Yitzhak Rabin who described his perenniel
rival and sometimes partner, Shimon Peres, the best:
"the inveterate underminer" (quoted from Rabin's autobiography).
Peres is the quintessential politician who has no charisma
or ideas of his own (although he has tried to build and
image of himself as an "intellectual", statements he makes when
he has not been prepped by handlers show him to be woefully
ignorant), but who works hard, harder than any
of his rivals, and through endless intrigues,
makes sure to place people loyal to him in positions of
power and influence, so that when the time comes and he decides
to make his move for power, those who oppose him are strongarmed
(or worse) out of his way.
Peres played a major role in building Israel's defense establishment
and defense industries, and in addition served an outstanding
term as Prime Minister in the years 1984-1986, but this wasn't enough for his immense ego.
He wanted international recognition as a "statesman", and in
a world largely hostile to the idea of a "Jewish State", he
came to realize that true international approbriation comes NOT to Israelis
like Ben-Gurion, Eshkol or Golda Meir, who built up Israel, but rather
to those who begin to dismantle it. It truly galled him that his
Likud opposite number Menachem Begin won the so-called Nobel "Peace" Prize
for destroying Jewish communities in the Sinai and giving up Israel's only supply of oil to Sadat who had no intention of honoring his "Peace" agreement with Israel, so he decided to outdo Begin by bringing mass-murderer Yasser Arafat and his terrorist gangs to Israel, giving them money, weapons, and territory from which to attack Israel. Peres denounced
those who did not fall into his trap as "murderers of peace", "fascists", and the such. Peres managed to convince, bribe or threaten enough Knesset members to support this madness and got the Israeli government to carry out this suicidal policy. Sure enough, Arafat launched his long-awaited terrorist war in September 2000 and it has claimed, as I pointed out above, THOUSANDS of Israeli dead and wounded. Yet, in spite of this, there is not a single word of regret of remorse from Peres and he still sits near the pinnnacle of power.
Peres has lost, to the best of my knowledge, every single secret-ballot election (either to the Prime Ministership, Presidency or the leadership of the Labor Party) he ever ran in where he was opposed by a serious candidate. However, in open votes, he fairs better because those who openly oppose him, often fall victim to police investigations, criminal proceedings (whether they are actually guilty of
anything is irrelevant), slander in the media or worse.
If you really are interested in finding out about Peres' influence on Israeli politics,
I strongly urge you to read Rabin's autobiography. That will give a much
clearer view of this man.

Author Michael Bar-Zohar does include criticism of Peres in the book,
but Bar-Zohar is a member of the veteran "MAPAI" (i.e. secular, formerly
Marxist/Socialist Ashkenazi) establishment and so he really is not
going to be objective, since his group wholeheartedly embraced
Peres' policy of importing terrorists to Israel and "de-Zionizing"
of the Jewish state. Thus, one should not expect all the truth, as I
have outlined it above, to come out of this book.

A remarkable man-a remarkable book.......2007-03-16

This book is a page turner which is no small feat for a biography. I learned so much about the man, Peres, and about his country. Between this book and Bar-Zohar's book on Ben Gurion, one gets a comprehensive and extremely readable history of the founding and history of Israel.
To say that Peres is a complex but fascinating man is an understatement. One minute you are cheering for him and the next scratching your head about his crazy ideas like the founding of a Jewish colony in French Guyana.
Early in his life Peres thought he would be content to be a farmer on a kibbutz. Fortunately for Israel, Ben Gurion recognized Peres unique visionary abilities and challenged him in multiple ways-to find weapons for Israel, first in France, then Germany; to build cities where none had been before, to build a nuclear reactor, and to build Israel's defense system from the ground up. Bar Zohar repeatedly refers to Peres as Mr. Security and documents how almost all of Peres choices and decisions have been motivated from that perspective. In contrast to his genious, Peres tendency to sabatoge himself politically makes one wonder what he could have done if he had been a master politician in addition to being a great stateman. In the end, one has to admire what this one man has done and will continue to do to for his homeland, Israel. The value of his contributions can not be overestimated.
This is a great book, one of the best that I have ever read. Bat Zohar is a meticulous historian and a great story teller. This book, Shimon Peres, is required reading for anyone interested in Israel, her leaders, and the history of the most important democracy in the Middle East.

Bar-Zohar Scores with Peres.......2007-03-12

This revealing, no holds barred biographic work is a tell all of one of the great statesmen of our time. Bar-Zohar presents it all and gets inside this very private persons life history. Reads like a novel but with documented facts and references.
Should be in every reader's library!

The story of a pioneer and visionary Israeli politiican and senior world statesman.......2007-03-09

Shimon Peres is today the world's senior statesman. He has been in the center of Israel politics for close to sixty years. As a young assistant of Ben- Gurion he made critical contributions to Israel's early struggles for independence and survival. It was Peres more than anyone else who formed the Franco-Israeli alliance key to the 56' Sinai Campaign. It was Peres who initiated the program of cooperation with France which led to the Dimona nuclear reactor project.
Peres in his early years was Mr. Security, and contributed greatly to the building of Israel's Army and power of deterrence.
Peres has always been a person of vision and ideas. In fact the writer Amos Oz is quoted by Bar- Zohar as saying that Peres had more 'vision' than any other Israeli leader including Ben- Gurion.
This capacity for dreaming great dreams has however often gotten Peres in trouble with the Israeli public. The most conspicuous example of this is the Oslo Peace process which he is considered to be a principal architect of. There was great hope in 1993 when Peres and Rabin signed a peace treaty on the White House lawn with Arafat. But since then the whole process has unraveled , and is considered now to have been a major mistake in Israeli policy.
Bar-Zohar tells of the paradoxical qualities of Peres who has time and again lost critical elections which appeared at first to be in the bag. This is the Peres who twice was an excellent Prime Minister of Israel and also served throughout his long career as Defense Minister, Transport Minister, Information Minister, and more.
This biography opens with a dramatic scene at Ichilov hospital after the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. Peres the long-time rival and at this point ally of Rabin is called upon again in the critical moment to serve Israel. He does it with responsibility, and decisiveness of a kind which often makes him enemies.
This detailed story of one person really tells the history of modern Israel . Peres after all has been involved in so many crucial decisions whether for right, in his urging the Entebbe rescue operation, or for wrong in his opposing Begin's bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq.
In his ninth decade and still going strong as Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Peres is candidate for the largely ceremonial role of the Israeli Presidency.
This is the story of a devoted, courageous responsible visionary Israeli and human being, who has made many mistakes in his life. These mistakes as Bar- Zohar amply makes clear have been more than cancelled out by his remarkable contribution to the building of modern Israel.
This is a highly recommended wonderfully readable biography.

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