Amazon.com Reviews
Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" by the New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompson's documented drug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushing and D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto. Under the pseudonym of Raoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in a souped-up convertible dubbed the "Great Red Shark." In its trunk, they stow "two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls," which they manage to consume during their short tour.
On assignment from a sports magazine to cover "the fabulous Mint 400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevada desert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatory hopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tell them it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or the left). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the only sins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists, terrifying the help." For Thompson to remember and pen his experiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle; an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. A first-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of pure comedic genius. --Rebekah Warren
Book Description
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.
Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motion picture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Opens everywhere on May 22, 1998.
Customer Reviews:
I know, I know..........2007-09-30
I know, it's THE Hunter S. Thompson book. It would be like having the gall to write a review for the Grapes of Wrath or Slaughterhouse Five and think you'd be doing anything other than blabbing just to see your own words on a computer screen.
That said, read this book this instant. Whatever good anyone's ever said about this book, it's twenty times better. I read it in two sittings and only stopped myself from reading it again because it was a library book and had to be returned.
The late HST's gift for gonzo, that strange mix of fiction and nonfiction, is ultimately realized in this book. Reality is seamlessly mixed with a bizarre fantasy world of sentient reptiles and split personality through the medium of hard drugs that serve to clarify (and sometimes amplify) a violent and twisted town in a strange time.
This book will have you laughing hysterically at parts, so don't read it around other people unless you're okay with passing it to them. This book will have you cringing at the brutality of human nature at points, so have your wits about you.
I really can't say anything else, other than that this book must be purchased and read this very instant if you haven't already done so.
A must read for anyone.......2007-09-21
Thompson's book helps create a vivid picture of the drug fueled 60's and early 70's a way no one else has before.
Good stuff, but less important than his other work.......2007-09-14
¨Fear and Loathing¨ is a great ride for sure. A drug-addled, hilarious, disturbing romp through Las Vegas in search of the American Dream. Thompson is definitely a skilled writer and an outlaw and this stuff comes through in this book. I don't want to shrug this work off by any means, but I definately prefer his other work, such as ¨The Great Shark Hunt,¨ because it truly brings out Thompson's outlook on the world, his hatred of wealth, power and greed, etc. This book is fun, but Thompson is definitely capable of more depth and thought. While this work might be what gave him his big break, he definitely went on to better things.
Buy the ticket...take the ride.......2007-08-23
A bizzare journey to the heart of the American Dream, funny, witty and full of memorable episodes. The illustrations by Ralph Steadman are also superb. Raul Duke says it clearly : "buy the ticket...take the ride"
A wild and extraordinary ride down a lost highway ..........2007-08-20
The lost highway of the American Dream.
I wasn't old enough to remember much from the late 60's early 70's let alone the political aspects of Nixon's presidency or the drug culture of the time, so this review won't have any profound social or political commentary, except that comparisons can well be made to the drug culture of today, and it is glaringly apparent that not much has changed.
Considering the climate of the time: Nixon's presidency, the war in Vietnam, and the country's young men succumbing to the draft, it was no wonder that an entire generation wanted something more, for this was not the American Dream they had been sold. And for some, the only way to drown out the hypocrisy gnawing at your brain is to give your brain an escape. Expand your mind, as that might be the only part of you that is truly free. Whatever it takes to get you directly out of your head -- the higher the better. This story chronicles a journey utterly devoid of restraint and reason as these two men, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, and their trunk full of felonies set themselves loose upon Las Vegas -- the last vestige of the American Dream. However, their idea of the American Dream is not how most of us would understand it, but somehow, through the fog of hallucinatory metaphor, we can actually see and feel what the main characters are searching for so desperately.
All that aside, even if the 60's culture is beyond your age group, Thompson's writing is worth the read -- Brilliant, sarcastic, and frighteningly funny: Bars seething with has-been lounge lizards, tearing the patrons to shreds, blood soaked tacky hotel rooms, police car chases, kidnapping, gambling, excess, and debauchery ... not to mention the Narcotics Convention. The dialog is brilliant. Harrowing experiences abound; it is amazing that the two main characters make it out of Vegas alive.
Definitely a wild ride for all.
Average customer rating:
- An... interesting thriller
- "Nobody knows that I'm wrong," said Crichton....
- Great book
- Sacrifices for a misleading Message
- State of Fear
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State of Fear
Michael Crichton
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ASIN: 0061015733
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Amazon.com
Amazon.com Exclusive Content
A Michael Crichton Timeline
Amazon.com reveals a few facts about the "father of the techno-thriller."
1942: John Michael Crichton is born in Chicago, Illinois on Oct. 23.
1960: Crichton graduates from Roslyn High School on Long Island, New York, with high marks and a reputation as a star basketball player. He decides to attend Harvard University to study English. During his studies, he rankles under his writing professors' criticism. As an act of rebellion, Crichton submits an essay by George Orwell as his own. The professor doesn't catch the plagiarism and gives Orwell a B-. This experience convinces Crichton to change his field of study to anthropology.
1964: Crichton graduates summa cum laude from Harvard University in anthropology. After studying further as a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University and receiving the Henry Russell Shaw Travelling Fellowship, which allowed him to travel in Europe and North Africa, Crichton begins coursework at the Harvard School of Medicine. To help fund his medical endeavors, he writes spy thrillers under several pen names. One of these works, A Case of Need, wins the 1968 Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award.
1969: Crichton graduates from Harvard Medical school and is accepted as a post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Science in La Jolla, Calif. However, his career in medicine is waylaid by the publication of the first novel under his own name, The Andromeda Strain. The novel, about an apocalyptic plague, climbs high on bestseller lists and is later made into a popular film. Crichton said of his decision to pursue writing full time: "To quit medicine to become a writer struck most people like quitting the Supreme Court to become a bail bondsman."
1972: Crichton's second novel under his own name The Terminal Man, is published. Also, two of Crichton's previous works under his pen names, Dealing and A Case of Need are made into movies. After watching the filming, Crichton decides to try his hand at directing. He will eventually direct seven films including the 1973 science-fiction hit Westworld, which was the first film ever to use computer-generated effects.
1980: Crichton draws on his anthropology background and fascination with new technology to create Congo, a best-selling novel about a search for industrial diamonds and a new race of gorillas. The novel, patterned after the adventure writings of H. Ryder Haggard, updates the genre with the inclusion of high-tech gadgets that, although may seem quaint 20 years later, serve to set Crichton's work apart and he begins to cement his reputation as "the father of the techno-thriller."
1990: After the 1980s, which saw the publication of the underwater adventure Sphere (1987) and an invitation to become a visiting writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1988), Crichton begins the new decade with a bang via the publication of his most popular novel, Jurassic Park. The book is a powerful example of Crichton's use of science and technology as the bedrock for his work. Heady discussion of genetic engineering, chaos theory, and paleontology run throughout the tightly-wound thriller that strands a crew of scientists on an island populated by cloned dinosaurs run amok. The novel inspires the 1993 Steven Spielberg film, and together book and film will re-ignite the world's fascination with dinosaurs.
1995: Crichton resurrects an idea from his medical school days to create the Emmy-Award Winning television series ER. In this year, ER won eight Emmys and Crichton received an award from the Producers Guild of America in the category of outstanding multi-episodic series. Set in an insanely busy an often dangerous Chicago emergency room, the fast-paced drama is defined by Crichton's now trademark use of technical expertise and insider jargon. The year also saw the publication of The Lost World returning readers to the dinosaur-infested island.
2000: In recognition for Crichton's contribution in popularizing paleontology, a dinosaur discovered in southern China is named after him. "Crichton's ankylosaur" is a small, armored plant-eating dinosaur that dates to the early Jurassic Period, about 180 million years ago. "For a person like me, this is much better than an Academy Award," Crichton said of the honor.
2004: Crichton's newest thriller State of Fear is published.
Amazon.com's Significant Seven
Michael Crichton kindly agreed to take the life quiz we like to give to all our authors: the Amazon.com Significant Seven.
Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: Prisoners of Childhood by Alice Miller
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Witter Bynner version)
Symphony #2 in D Major by Johannes Brahms (Georg Solti)
Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa
Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: Surely you're joking.
Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: Small room. Shades down. No daylight. No disturbances. Macintosh with a big screen. Plenty of coffee. Quiet.
Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: I don't want an epitaph. If forced, I would say "Why Are You Here? Go Live Your Life."
Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: Benjamin Franklin
Q: If you could have one superpower what would it be?
A: Invisibility
Book Description
In Tokyo, in Los Angeles, in Antarctica, in the Solomon Islands . . . an intelligence agent races to put all the pieces together to prevent a global catastrophe.
Download Description
"E-Book Extras: ONE: Why Speculate?: A speech to the International Leadership Forum; TWO: The Greatest Challenge Facing Mankind: Remarks to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco; THREE: Aliens Cause Global Warming: The 2003 Michelin Lecture at the California Institute of Technology
The undisputed master of the techno-thriller has written his most riveting -- and entertaining -- book yet.
Once again Michael Crichton gives us his trademark combination of page-turning suspense, cutting-edge technology, and extraordinary research. State of Fear is a superb blend of edge-of-your-seat suspense and thought provoking commentary on how information is manipulated in the modern world. From the streets of Paris, to the glaciers of Antarctica to the exotic and dangerous Solomon Islands, State of Fear takes the reader on a rollercoaster thrill ride, all the while keeping the brain in high gear.
Customer Reviews:
An... interesting thriller.......2007-10-10
I'm somewhat accustomed to the classic Michael Crichton- the one that takes a somewhat farfetched thing and makes it somehow both plausible and exciting. You know, say... killer apes guarding diamonds in the Congo, or an American spacecraft from the future that flies through a blackhole and crashes in the Pacific. State of Fear, however, is something entirely different. This is something that, for all intents and purposes, could happen tomorrow.
The basic premise of the novel is that the modern environmentalist movement is based on faith rather than a science. In a sense, it is a religion with many adherents that will go to any length to push their (largely unfounded) opinions. This is true, and after reading this story, it IS rather frightening. Global warming is the point in question in State of Fear, but if you think about it, it could have been any number of things. Generally, the story follows the usual driving Crichton-style plot, and it definitely keeps your attention. The big difference in this one is that it's chock full of cited documentation and graphs, most of which go to illustrate that there is no hard scientific basis proving that humans are causing global warming.
It's hard to touch a topic like global warming and not come away scalded, but I believe Crichton has done a good job. Some people believe he's trying to make a point about global warming. Having read through his (or rather, his characters') arguments very carefully, I'm convinced he isn't- rather, he's driving home the point that you cannot just believe what politicians, environmentalists, and the average Joe say. These people are not scientists, and 99% of them have absolutely NO idea what they're talking about. If you don't believe this, go watch Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' which, coincidentally, is also on global warming. So many people think that movie is accurate (he even won an Oscar for it!) but if you do even a tiny bit of research and watch it with anything approaching a critical eye you'll see that the 'facts' presented in it are unsubstantiated, and it has no basis in real science.
What's really scary about State of Fear, to me at least, is how Crichton portrays the scientific community as being bullied into taking a particular (political) stance on issues. I don't know the extent to which this is true, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. After all, researchers do need funding, and if they come up with results that their benefactors don't like... This would indicate that science is being tainted by, essentially, a religion. That would a disaster far worse than anything global warming might produce.
"Nobody knows that I'm wrong," said Crichton...........2007-10-02
...on the Charlie Rose show earlier this year (the video is on Crichton's official site). Nobody knows that the earth won't warm only 8/10ths of one degree Celsius, as Crichton predicts - no, he doesn't predict, he guesses. "We can't `assess' the future, nor can we `predict' it....We can only guess. An informed guess is just a guess." (from the Bibliography section of the novel).
It seems that many people don't get it - Crichton does not deny global warming. He believes the earth is getting warmer and that some of the warming (particularly the carbon dioxide increase) is due to human activity. I think a lot of people are upset just because he doesn't believe it's "catastrophic", he doesn't believe that entire populations switching to hybrid cars would save the world (and the world does not need to be saved!). He's not buying in to the popular consensus, and he proves that he doesn't need to. He's researched the matter like the brilliant scientist he is. Catastrophes are great for science fiction books and movies, such as Jurassic Park. State of Fear is also science fiction (the storyline), but its scientific facts are real and it's obvious that Crichton did a great deal of research. What other novelists use footnotes and have an immense bibliography section at the end of the book? His critics argue that he "picks and chooses" his data to support his "agenda." But who doesn't? Researchers do it, Al Gore does it, politicians do it, the media does it. And really, even when students write research papers in school, they have to pick and choose their data.
Crichton is very logical, so I still don't understand what's so controversial or "right-wing" about his major points:
-No one knows how much of the warming is natural
-No one knows how much of the warming is due to human activity
-No one can predict the future climate more than 10 days in advance
Crichton reminds us that current weather predictions are rarely made more than 10 days in advance, and even then they can be wrong. Computer models can't predict El Ninos correctly either - "and if you can't predict El Ninos, the predictive value of your model in other areas is suspect." Just like in court, if it is revealed that the defendant lied about something, how can the jury believe anything else he/she says?
The character of Ted Bradley embodies the current celeb/media obsession with halting global warming (an arrogant notion, according to Crichton, that mere humans can affect the complex atmosphere of an entire planet - more precisely, "a coupled non-linear chaotic system" which is impossible to predict). Bradley, along with other limousine liberals in the book, brag to each other about buying hybrid cars for their staff, but they are traveling in a private jet during this discussion ("Just by making this trip, they're generating more pollution per capita than most people on the planet will generate in a year."), and SUV limos are ready to meet them at the airport. I know some celebrities do practice what they preach, but the majority does not. It reminds me of that activist who set fire to a Hummer dealership's fleet a few years ago. Afterwards, she hopped on her private jet to travel somewhere. How inconsistent.
I've been a Crichton fan for about 13 years now, and I only read the book because he wrote it - global warming never interested me too much - however, I dislike SUVs and think they're wasteful and unnecessary for the most part, and I try to conserve energy, water, and gasoline. I wouldn't mind paying a carbon tax. And Crichton certainly isn't against conservation and carbon taxes either - he wants to improve our environment - he just doesn't define global warming as an emergency and doesn't think we should be spending so much money on this unpredictable theory as opposed to AIDS and other true emergencies. But anyway, I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would, particularly the parts in Antarctica (which is getting colder, by the way). And I respect Crichton even more as a writer because he dared to write this. After reading this book, I am thoroughly convinced that I don't need to worry about the ice sheets melting. The sky is not falling. But if it does, I doubt that humans could do anything about it.
Great book.......2007-09-24
This book is great. It provides scientific data for global warming and thriller stories at the same time. While it would be too much go-ahead if you start to deny global warming just after reading this book, the best part of the book is the tension between truth, science, funding-dependent scientific presentation, NGOs, and big powers, media , i.e., the inter-play between all different interest-pursuing groups. Great work.
Sacrifices for a misleading Message.......2007-09-24
This is a remarkably poorly written best seller. In his zeal for selling the reader on his message (that there is no good evidence for global warming), Crichton sacrifices his story telling skills. The main characters in this book are cartoons with only one purpose - to either express Crichton's views on global warming with complete confidence - or to listen to those views with growing awareness. And, they are such trashy cartoon characters! Is there suspense? Only if you think that the main cartoon characters are in danger of being killed by mere lightning bolts or bullets. Beyond the remarkably badly told story, the science itself is unfortunately misleading. But that would take more than a few lines to address in any detail.
State of Fear.......2007-09-19
This was a very readable book. I loved the way that he built suspense. A lot of it however was pure ludicrosity. To imagine that any belevable humans, especially a run of the mill L.A. lawyer could have this many serial adventures and near death experiences all over the world, one after another, just stretches credibilty to the breaking point. Also this book is a diatribe against a host of forces that the author believes has caused our society to continually be fooled and manipulated onto believing in one crisis after another leaving us, as a culture, to be in a constant state of fear. He makes a very powerful arguement that the current flavor of the month in this regard is Global Warming /Climate Change. In this regard it does make you think. I can't help however, the feeling that he is making his point by manipulating his own set of facts while disregarding others , the very thing that he is accusing others of doing. I find the danger here is that people will take these"facts" and conclude that everything is okay. There are plenty of other reasons for people to curb their consumeristic ways. Let's all stop being less selfish. Let's think about what's good for our country. That's true patriotism.
Book Description
When it comes to money, are you controlled by fear? Do you live in financial chaos?Do you underestimate your worth? Are you ready to go to the next level, but can't seem to get there? If the answer is yes to these questions, you may be an underearner.
Underearners are self-saboteurs who never live up to their earnings potential, says
Barbara Stanny, a financial educator, motivational speaker, former journalist, and career counselor. Underearners tend to live paycheck to paycheck. They rarely balance their checkbooks and are often in debt. Ironically, many work incredibly hard. Yet they are ashamed to admit that money matters to them. They all have a high tolerance for low pay.
The good news is that underearning is often self-imposed. By focusing on overcoming underearning, you will not only earn what you deserve, but you can live up to your full potential. With techniques and exercises that have helped thousands of people who have participated in her Overcoming Underearning⢠workshops, Stanny teaches you five essential steps to financial independence. Once you understand these steps, you will be confident asking for a raise, increasing your prices, or getting a better job. "Now I'm making more than my friends, all because I had the guts to dream and ask for more," says one Stanny fan.
First, Tell the Truth: be honest about your financial situation and figure out your attitudes toward money. Second,
Make a Decision: decide that you want to make more money. Third,
Stretch: take action, face your fears, and be willing to be uncomfortable. Fourth,
Create Community by finding supporters and asking for help. Fifth,
Respect and Appreciate Money: learn to save and invest.
Overcoming Underearning is filled with inspiring, real-life stories of underearners who turned their lives around. Stanny brings a message of empowerment and hope to all those who chronically undervalue themselves. "I'm making more, working less, feeling healthier, have more energy, and I'm so much happier," concludes another Stanny believer.
Customer Reviews:
A must read........2007-06-27
The key to a successful business or career starts with one's personal relationship with success and money. As a business and career coach I often recommend Overcoming Underearning as a must read for my clients. Having a prosperous money mindset helps professionals and business owners demand value for the value they provide, getting the money they deserve.
Debora McLaughlin
Business and Executive Coach
www.opendoorcoaching.com
Those who earn less than their potential..........2006-10-16
Barbara Stanny's OVERCOMING UNDEREARNING: A FIVE-STEP PLAN TO A RICHER LIFE defines 'underearners' as those who earn less than their potential - then offers a blend of workbook and study guide to overcome this. Case histories form men and women who increased income and made more free time in the process supplement inspirational stories that emphasize the inner psychology of achievement resistance and how to overcome it.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Surprisingly Valuable Content.......2006-06-30
If you are frustrated by a sense that you're selling yourself short in business situations due to a lack of the right tools or right self-concept, this book deftly addresses these challenges and gives excellent exercises to help you improve these areas.
I picked this up at the library, but expect I will purchase it for permanent use. I wasn't particularly drawn during my scan of the book (table of contents, recommendations etc.), but somehow would get a pang when I replaced it on the library shelf. So, checked it out and stayed up till 3 a.m. reading it! Still have about 1/4 of the book to go, but I really got a lot out of it.
I consider myself pretty tough in my evaluations of self-help type literature, I have read my share of it. I want it to say something new, offer substance and make sense. There's a lot of rigorous and innovative thought behind what Ms. Stanny says, and it is presented in a way that reached me.
Her resource/additional reading section at the end is concise and seems carefully considered, and she explains why she has chosen each resource well. I especially found helpful her list comparing the differences between "dawdlers" and "doers".
The Most Powerful Book On Money Out There!.......2006-06-28
A friend recommended Barbara Stanny's books to me...and they have changed how I look at money and my comfort level with it. The book is SO completely readable (as all of hers are) that you feel like you are curled up with a girlfriend chatting about one of the most important topics we MUST talk about - money. The exercises in the book are invaluable and create real breakthroughs that help women get smart about their money and earn what they are worth once and for all. If you get the chance to see Barbara in person, do it - barbarastanny.com is a great resource, too. Do yourself a HUGE favor that will have a lasting impact on your financial future - get this book...and then get copies for all your girlfriends!
Absolute reality.......2006-05-31
So I just had to respond! as I am the Tami in the last chapter of the book "Tami's story" And I have to say everything Barbara wrote about what happens when you do this work, is absolutly true. Almost every person I knwo, and everyone I knwo has a copy of this book! has lost weight,a dn they were surprised. And I ahve lots of clients (I am a personal coach now) whop work corporate and they have used th eprinciples to make huge changes intheir lives. One left her job after requestinga raise and beign declined, only to land another days later at the pay she wanted and a great benefits package to boot. You ahve notheing to loose and everything to gain frome the information in this book. And I say that even if I wasn't in the book! It is a long road but worth every frustrating moment! I finally have the Freedom to Flourish! If you need more proof you can email me at nwgc@telebyte.net! and I will tell you everything I know!
Book Description
In "Beyond Fear," Bruce Schneier invites us to take a critical look at not just the threats to our security, but the ways in which we're encouraged to think about security by law enforcement agencies, businesses of all shapes and sizes, and our national governments and militaries. Schneier believes we all can and should be better security consumers, and that the trade-offs we make in the name of security - in terms of cash outlays, taxes, inconvenience, and diminished freedoms - should be part of an ongoing negotiation in our personal, professional, and civic lives, and the subject of an open and informed national discussion.
With a well-deserved reputation for original and sometimes iconoclastic thought, Schneier has a lot to say that is provocative, counter-intuitive, and just plain good sense. He explains in detail, for example, why we need to design security systems that don't just work well, but fail well, and why secrecy on the part of government often undermines security. A skeptic of much that's promised by highly touted technologies like biometrics, Schneier is also a refreshingly positive, problem-solving force in the often self-dramatizing and fear-mongering world of security pundits.
Schneier helps the reader to understand the issues at stake, and how to best come to one's own conclusions, including the vast infrastructure we already have in place, and the vaster systems--some useful, others useless or worse--that we're being asked to submit to and pay for.
Customer Reviews:
Reading it improves the reader security intelligence.......2007-07-05
The content of this book slightly overlap the content of the author previous book Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World but presents the material with a different angle. An angle with the perspective of a security expert that witness security measures taken by governments in reaction of the 9/11 terrorism attack and wants people to understand the absurdity of some of these measures.
It is not technical at all and does not necessitate any particular background to understand and enjoy. The author explains clearly how to make a risk assessment of something that you want to make more secure and then evaluate the cost of the security measures. Only when you have that data, you can evaluate if the added security is worth it.
These explanations are backed up with concrete examples such as evaluating the risk to make purchase with a credit card over the internet. Other examples include the absurdity of securing a lunch in a company refrigerator because the potential loss if having a lunch stolen does not justify securing it. The author also explains that even with technologies that looks very accurate such as facial recognition with an error rate of, let's say, 0.0001 % are totally ineffective when they have to control a huge number of persons like a stadium crowd because even with this accuracy, they would create an unmanageable amount of false positive alerts.
The author also elaborate about why you should question the motivation of a security provider when it is a third party and link this with how people fears can be exploited to introduce invasive, excessively expensive and inefficient security measures. I think that the goal of the author was to make people more critics about security questions and my opinion is that his goal has been successfully achieved.
Sensible security for an unsensible world.......2007-06-05
Most people think that they think rationally about security decisions.
Most don't even know when they're making security decisions.
Fewer know what those decisions really entail.
Only Bruce Schneier knows how to make those decisions sensibly, and he's passing that information along to the world.
Funny.......2007-01-10
I never thought I'd find a security book that made me laugh. Both amusing and informative, I had a hard time putting this one down.
Very Good, and Not as Muddled as One has Claimed.......2005-10-19
This book is very informative, interesting, and entertaining. I've recommended it to people both within and outside the CS and IT communities w/o reservation.
Rather than reiterating things said in the many positive reviews, I'd like to take issue with one reviewer who says Schneier misuses the term "threat." In particular, this reviewer says "A threat is a party with the capabilities and intentions to exploit a vulnerability in an asset." This definition is both counter to standard English usage and counter to standard usage within the computer security field. Every book on my shelf has roughly the same definition of threat: "Threat: a potential for violation of security, which exists when there is a circumstance, capability, action, or event that could breach security and cause harm. That is, a threat is a possible danger that might exploit a vulnerability" -- Stallings, Network Security Essentials, p. 5. So a threat is condition or event, not a party. The reviewer seems to confuse threat with potential adversary.
Schneier's terminology is the standard terminology, and he uses it correctly.
Security or Liberty? Both!.......2005-06-30
I first read about Bruce Schneier in an eye-opening article by Charles Mann in the September, 2002 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. It seems that you don't have to make the false choice everyone is agonizing over between security and liberty. You can have both.
Schneier's book expands on the ideas in the article. Although Schneier is a technology fan and it is his livelihood, he realizes that sometimes a live security guard can provide better security than cutting-edge (but still fallible) face-recognition scanners, for instance. He explains why national ID cards are not a good idea, and how iris-scanners can be fooled.
These are ideas for security on a large scale, for airports, nuclear and other power plants, and government websites. For security on an individual or small business scale, try Art of the Steal by Frank Abagnale. But even if you don't run a government, Beyond Fear is a fascinating read about how your government is making choices (and how they SHOULD be making choices about your security and about your rights.
Amazon.com
Americans are afraid of many things that shouldn't frighten them, writes Barry Glassner in this book devoted to exploding conventional wisdom. Thanks to opportunistic politicians, single-minded advocacy groups, and unscrupulous TV "newsmagazines," people must unlearn their many misperceptions about the world around them. The youth homicide rate, for instance, has dropped by as much as 30 percent in recent years, says Glassner--and up to three times as many people are struck dead by lightening than die by violence in schools. "False and overdrawn fears only cause hardship," he writes. In fact, one study shows that daughters of women with breast cancer are actually less likely to conduct self-examinations--probably because the campaign to increase awareness of the ailment also inadvertently heightens fears.
Although some sections are stronger than others, The Culture of Fear's examination of many nonproblems--such as "road rage," "Internet addiction," and airline safety--is very good. Glassner also has a sharp eye for what causes unnecessary goose bumps: "The use of poignant anecdotes in place of scientific evidence, the christening of isolated incidents as trends, depictions of entire categories of people as innately dangerous," and unknown scholars who masquerade as "experts." Although Glassner rejects the notion that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he certainly shows we have much less to fear than we think. And isn't that sort of scary? --John J. Miller
Book Description
In late 2002, Barry Glassner appeared in Michael Moore's Academy Award-winning movie, Bowling for Columbine, to discuss The Culture of Fear. The reaction to Glassner's appearance, and the message of his book, were overwhelming.
As Glassner describes, the American public remains fascinated by the specter of fear in their lives. Be it the proverbial dark-faced bogeyman, or a more recent epidemic of child snatchings, Americans allow their lives to be affected by a perceived and recurrent onslaught of tragedy, death, and fear.
A national bestseller, The Culture of Fear explains why Americans are afraid, exposing the people and organizations that manipulate our perceptions and profit off our anxieties: politicians who attempt to win elections by heightening concerns about drug use and crime; advocacy groups that raise money by exaggerating the prevalence of particular diseases; and finally and perhaps most perniciously, the media that peddle new scares each week in desperate attempts to garner ratings.
Written in a vivid, entertaining style, The Culture of Fear does more than debunk prevalent myths of impending doom, it also asks us to reconsider our participation in the national charade of fear and suspicion which, according to Glassner, is eroding the trust necessary to truly ensure safety in the public square.
Customer Reviews:
Lacks Credibility and Debth.......2007-08-20
I initially had high hopes for this book but instead was completely disgusted. The author meticulously points out every flaw with the right wing or media studies. However, he disproves them using other studies that fit his theories but never offers any reason why his example studies are valid. Why, if the other studies were incorrect and poorly executed, should we believe that the studies he cites are any different? What makes them credible? It seems as if they are offered as correct and credible simply because they fit his liberal agenda. As someone who equally criticizes both liberals and conservatives, I need more explanation in order to believe his words. By not taking the extra time to explain, he loses all sense of credibility.
Furthermore, Mr. Glassner dissects every issue in his book, offering underlying explanations and motives to the fears. However, a gross lack of depth is shown when he says something such as "[i]t's the guns, stupid." What a shallow argument. He never offers any reasonable statement as to *why* it's the guns. He doesn't explore the reasons behind why people shoot others. He doesn't examine the motives, the societal influences or any other of the number of causes of gun violence. Instead, he blames it all on the guns, as if they simply shoot on their own. His focus on this issue has absolutely no depth of research or explanation and shows his greatest weakness: putting an agenda ahead of real study and examination. Instead of looking at the *reasons* why people commit violence and murder, such as mental instability, extreme religious beliefs, gangs, or whatever else, the author chalks it all up to the shallow argument that a tool, just a single tool, is responsible for all the ills of society. Obviously, as tragedies such as the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 have shown, guns are not the sole reason for evil, though by reading Glassner's work, you would never know that.
I expected much more from a respected sociologist. This book was possibly the worst I've read in years. It seems as if Mr. Glasner never learned the art of persuasive argument writing. You can only persuade one if your own information is credible and valid. His isn't.
Don't bother reading this book. I deeply regret buying it.
Listless re-telling of what we already know... it's like a lecture in modern society with an edge towards fear.......2007-07-18
Being called "The Culture of Fear", it's only inevitable that subjects discussed could be disturbing, controversial, shocking, and sometimes depressing or terrifying.
Unfortunately, Barry Glassner, brilliant as he may be, just doesn't seem into the subject he has obviously put a lot of research into. It proudly delves into the depths of why Americans are afraid of the wrong things, and then goes about like a college professor lecturing to an apathetic class in the last years of his career with a big pension on the horizon.
He explains subjects methodically, then casually slips to the alter side of it, in such a way it sounds as if he were saying in a falsely lively tone, "Murders have gone down n%, HOWEVER murder coverage has gone up nnn%! Isn't that something?" or "Racism is a problem, as this 'n' report states, although the reverse is also true that n% of hate crimes has been about race as opposed to..."
It becomes lifeless, and loses its feel of a nonfiction work of research and more like hundreds of pages of statistics and numbers taped together and strung together with words so as to make it coherent. In all, it becomes a dull expose' which really, all in all, doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know.
Falls victim himself.......2007-06-29
Glasser starts off with an interesting enough premise in the vein of Freakonomics. He makes the valid enough (in my opinion) point that there are those who would like us to fear (pick your issue) for various reasons. These can be to distract people from other issues, to curry power and favor, etc.
Unfortunately he then goes on to engage in the very tactics he decries in others.
For example: he starts by (accurately) stating how overblown the issue of child on child vioence has become, and quotes a criminologist (Vincent Schiraldi)'s statement that a child killing another at school is an "anomolous" event.
A few pages later he uses the same event to rail against gun ownership in the U.S.
I find it difficult to see how the same event can be used in one case to show how something is not worth worrying about and then in the same breath that it is an example of rampant gun problems and we should take immediate action.
He continues like this (engages in disparaging people for creating the "PC" label to diminish views they don't like -- but then disparages "conservative" views (which he thinks he has a handle on).
He is clearly a victim of his own preconceived ideas about what is a problem and what is not.
Too bad -- it could have been a good book.
a primer of poor social science.......2007-05-15
All right, kids, it's time to learn specious reasoning and poor quantitative methods! You can find them both in Barry Glassner's SCARY expose:
Technique #1: Prove by speculation. As Glassner "shows" us how the Missing Children campaigns prey on our fears, he speculates on our feelings about the ads: "The photo of the missing child immediately elicits feelings of guilt, fear, and fascination." Really?
Technique #2: Prove by sketchy example. As we learn how fears about teenage pregnancies are overblown, Glassner gives the single example of two Kentucky teen mothers who had great GPAs but were denied membership in the National Honor Society. One counter-example, alas, does not a trend destroy. [My bad, Glassner also gives an example from the Ricki Lake Show. VERY convincing.]
Technique #3: Repeatedly use phrases like "studies show" and "researchers document" because if studies show it, it MUST be true! This is where Glassner departs sharply from such skilled writers as Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink) or Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Freakonomics). Whether or not you agree with their theses, they provide detailed descriptions of research in layperson's terms so that you can evaluate it yourself. Glassner expects you to merely believe it's true since some study showed it.
Technique #4: Accuse other studies of abusing statistics, then wait a few pages so readers forget and do the same thing yourself. On p70, Glassner writes, "If instead of percentages reporters concentrated either on the actual numbers of such crimes...they wouldn't have much of a story." Good point! Agreed! And on p73, we read, "studies find that young people incarcerated with adults are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted...than youth in juvenile facilities." Yes, but what are the numbers? We don't know!
When Glassner ISN'T trying to prove things with his super-special techniques, he actually makes a few good points. The media DO seem to blow many of these issues out of proportion (although early on he claims it isn't all the media's fault, the book makes it seem like MOSTLY the media's fault), and that has sometimes led to wildly inefficient policies or the rejection of scientific findings (without any convincing alternative findings). Glassner offers some interesting cultural hypotheses (for example, we focus on crack rather than powder cocaine because it lets us blame poor people for being poor). The book has some great anecdotes. Just don't expect to be convinced of anything you don't already believe.
Fantastic.......2007-04-17
This book is a must-read for anyone who reads the newspaper, watches the news, or listens to the radio. It's also helpful if you are prone to modern-day anxiety attacks. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Amazon.com
You can think of Freedom from Fear as the academic's version of The Greatest Generation: like Tom Brokaw, Stanford history professor David M. Kennedy focuses on the years of the Great Depression and the Second World War and how the American people coped with those events. But there the similarities end--and, in terms of the differences, one might begin by noting that the historian's account is over twice the size of the journalist's.
Whereas Brokaw made use of extensive interviews, Kennedy relies on published accounts and primary sources, all meticulously footnoted. This academic rigor, however, does not render the book dull--far from it. Certainly the subject matter is interesting enough in its own right, but Kennedy offers attention-grabbing turns of phrase on nearly every page. He also unleashes some convention-shattering theses, such as his revelation that "the most responsible students of the events of 1929 have been unable to demonstrate an appreciable cause-and-effect linkage between the Crash and the Depression" and his subsequent argument that, although it made order out of chaos, the New Deal did not reverse the Depression--that, he says, was the war's doing. All in all, Freedom from Fear compares favorably to its companions in the multivolume Oxford History of the United States in both its comprehensive heft and its vivid readability. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
Between 1929 and 1945, two great travails were visited upon the American people: the Great Depression and World War II. Freedom From Fear tells the story of how Americans endured, and eventually prevailed, in the face of those unprecedented calamities. The Depression was both a disaster and an opportunity. As David Kennedy vividly demonstrates, the economic crisis of the 1930s was far more than a simple reaction to the alleged excesses of the 1920s. For more than a century before 1929, America's unbridled industrial revolution had gyrated through repeated boom and bust cycles, wastefully consuming capital and inflicting untold misery on city and countryside alike. Nor was the fabled prosperity of the 1920s as uniformly shared as legend portrays. Countless Americans, especially if they were farmers, African Americans, or recent immigrants, eked out thread bare lives on the margins of national life. For them, the Depression was but another of the ordeals of fear and insecurity with which they were sadly familiar. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal wrung from the trauma of the 1930s a lasting legacy of economic and social reform, including the Social Security Act, new banking and financial laws, regulatory legislation, and new opportunities for organized labor. Taken together, those reforms gave a measure of security to millions of Americans who had never had much of it, and with it a fresh sense of having a stake in their country. Freedom From Fear tells the story of the New Deal's achievements, without slighting its shortcomings, contradictions, and failures. It is a story rich in drama and peopled with unforgettable personalities, including the incandescent but enigmatic figure of Roosevelt himself. Even as the New Deal was coping with the Depression, a still more fearsome menace was developing abroad--Hitler's thirst for war in Europe, coupled with the imperial ambitions of Japan in Asia. The same generation of Americans who battled the Depression eventually had to shoulder arms in another conflict that wreaked world wide destruction, ushered in the nuclear age, and forever changed their own way of life and their country's relationship to the rest of the world. Freedom From Fear explains how the nation agonized over its role in World War II, how it fought the war, why the United States won, and why the consequences of victory were sometimes sweet, sometimes ironic. In a compelling narrative, Kennedy analyzes the determinants of American strategy, the painful choices faced by commanders and statesmen, and the agonies inflicted on the millions of ordinary Americans who were compelled to swallow their fears and face battle as best they could. Freedom From Fear is a comprehensive and colorful account of the most convulsive period in American history, excepting only the Civil War--a period that formed the crucible in which modern America was formed. The Oxford History of the United States The Atlantic Monthly has praised The Oxford History of the United States as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book. Who touches these books touches a profession." Conceived under the general editorship of one of the leading American historians of our time, C. Vann Woodward, The Oxford History of the United States blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative. Previous volumes are Robert Middlekauff's The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution; James M. McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (which won a Pulitzer Prize and was a New York Times Best Seller); and James T. Patterson's Grand Expectations: The United States 1945-1974 (which won a Bancroft Prize).
Customer Reviews:
Flawed History.......2007-10-06
David Kennedy's "Freedom from Fear" is a very uneven read. It is as if the section on the Depression was written by Kennedy and the section on WWII was assigned to a graduate assistant. The Depression segment is well enough done. It contains quite a bit of primary research, though Mr. Kennedy seems to have a political axe to grind.
Personally, I find it offensive when someone who claims to be a historian writes history and adds his own conclusions and value judgments. I'd rather add my own after hearing the history as plain as possible.
Though the first section of the book is good, it lacks good flow. The second section (WWII) is little more than an overview of other more complete histories. I really expected to hear more about "The American People in Depression and War". Instead we have a summary of various battles in the Pacific and in Europe. One chapter is spent on the home front which can be summarized with the benign comment that the American public had more luxuries than any time previously.
Mr. Kennedy did not fall into the trap of accusing Roosevelt of knowing of the proposed attack on Pearl Harbor, but he did get pulled into name calling when referring to Douglas MacArthur. His reference to "Dugout Doug" is unworthy of an accurate historian. Whatever MacArthur's personal failings and/or ego problems, he was fearless in battle. He was awarded 13 decorations for heroism, most of them in WWI. MacArthur's total campaign from Australia through the Phillipines was less costly in terms of casualties than the single European "Battle of the Bulge". Kennedy was more kind to another great ego, George Patton.
While an earlier book of Mr. Kennedy's was considered for the Pulitzer Prize, there is no danger of this book being seriously considered for the prize. I would suggest there are far better and more politically neutral histories available that cover this period, though possibly not in one volume.
you need much time but at the end you will know definitely more about it.......2007-09-13
It begins with a description of FDR, and his wife.
Many topics are unvaluable for a foreigner; you can't grasp what was the big depression unless you read this book.
I can regret there isn't much about Italy and Italians in Usa; well, some topics are more interesting, from a domestic point of view.
It makes you hungrier to know more about this period, like every good book of history should do; the bibliografy is very exaustive.
Informative AND Entertaining.......2007-08-05
I'm a scholar (in philosophy), but I just don't know enough about American History. This book filled in a nice chunk for me. It's well written and easy to understand. It's also quite entertaining. Kennedy makes judgments about the personality of the people involved, which brings them to life. He's a bit hard on certain figures (eg MacArthur), but somehow that comes off as refreshing. There isn't a lot of hero worship here. Expect an honest account of what happened and some speculation on why, both from Kennedy and from his sources.
The book is well researched, so if you want to follow up on this overview of two of the most critical decades in U.S. history, you will have the resources to do so.
I plan to look for more books by this author, as he brings history alive in a way few writers do.
Superb Depression and WWII History.......2007-07-18
Born in 1934 I have a permanent impression of the Depression and War years. Fear of not enough to sustain us during the Depression. Maturity or education not required. I do not agree with all of Mr. Kennedy's points but, in general, the book paints an accurate picture of the American People in vivid colors. A must read compare and contrast to America of the 21st Century.
Amazing book through and through.......2007-07-08
This book is HUGE but a great read. It won the Pulitizer Prize and it is obvious why. Not only is it thoroughly researched but it is an easy read. The author's writing flows and he really brings the period to life. I highly recommend this for historians, history buffs, and anyone else.
Amazon.com
Kingdom of Fear is billed as a memoir, but in essence, all of Hunter S. Thompson's books could fit into this category since his life and work have always been tightly bound together by a mythology largely of his own making. (After all, this is the man who, before earning a single dollar as a writer, began meticulously saving a copy of every letter he ever sent.) Still, this is certainly an unconventional memoir, but then what would you expect from the father of gonzo journalism? In these pages Thompson manages to dig deep and reveal a few "loathsome secrets" without offering the kind of personal details he has always avoided. His childhood, for instance, is basically summed up in a sentence: "I look back on my youth with great fondness, but I would not recommend it as a working model to others." He does, however, reflect upon his considerable legacy, including his well-known, and admittedly exaggerated, use of controlled substances ("The brutal reality of politics alone would probably be intolerable without drugs"), as well as offer assessments of his own work, such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ("It's as good as The Great Gatsby and better than The Sun Also Rises").
In this collection of twisted parables and outlaw adventures, Thompson writes about his early run-ins with agents of authority and the lessons learned; his stint in the Air Force and the beginning of his journalism career; his unsuccessful, though illuminating, bid for Sheriff of Aspen, Colorado in 1970 as the Freak Power candidate; the casualties and unintended consequences thus far in the War on Terror; and numerous examples of present-day injustice and hypocrisy--all with his characteristic mix of brutal frankness laced with humor. He also offers his own take on state of the Union: "The prevailing quality of life in America--by any accepted methods of measuring--was inarguably freer and more politically open under Nixon than it is today in this evil year of Our Lord 2002." Thompson continues to make even the most deadly serious subject matter endlessly entertaining. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Brilliant, provocative, outrageous, and brazen, Hunter S. Thompson's infamous rule breaking -- in his journalism, in his life, and under the law -- changed the shape of American letters, and the face of American icons. Kingdom of Fear traces the course of Thompson's life as a rebel -- from a smart-mouthed Kentucky kid flaunting all authority to a convention-defying journalist who came to personify a wild fusion of fact, fiction, and mind-altering substances.
Call it the evolution of an outlaw. Here are the formative experiences that comprise Thompson's legendary trajectory alongside the weird and the ugly. Whether detailing his exploits as a foreign correspondent in Rio, his job as night manager of the notorious O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, his epic run for sheriff of Aspen on the Freak Power ticket, or the sensational legal maneuvering that led to his full acquittal in the famous 99 Days trial, Thompson is at the peak of his narrative powers in Kingdom of Fear. And this boisterous, blistering ride illuminates as never before the professional and ideological risk taking of a literary genius and transgressive icon.
Customer Reviews:
Not his best.......2007-03-18
Mr Thompsons autobiography is somewhat lacking compared to his other works. It seems, that he in his later years didn't have that much new to say, and this volume shows it very clearly. It deals with the legend of HST, not the man Hunter Stockton Thompson, and only plays the same tune that we've been hearing since F&L in Las Vegas, only in a strongly diluded form.
A great drawback is that he recycles a lot of stuff from his earlier work, which if you're a fan/reader of his you can't help but feel a bit cheated about. The book isn't that long as it is, but when half the material already has been printed before, and therefore probably, for fans at least, is on your shelf already, it gives the feeling of the good Mr Thompson not really making an effort writing this volume.
It's not all bad though. There are highlights in the book. His description of his childhood is enjoyable and very biographical. The last chapter is also very enjoyable, although not that good as biographical material, it does for a good reading.
It starts out legitimate enough, but quickly turns to his rambling and at times incoherent style of writing. Worth reading if you're a completist. I would recommend the compilations of his letters "The Proud Highway" and "F&L in America" as biography instead. They are much better.
Significantly Better Than "Hey Rube".......2007-03-16
This book (2003) and "Hey Rube" (2004) appear to be the last of HST's books. While "Hey Rube" contains lengthy discussions of gambling on professional football and basketball (including "March Madness"), this book is more far-ranging, containing everything from Thompson's reminiscences of his youth to his (highly negative) thoughts on George W. Bush. There's even a chapter from "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972," one of the finest political books ever written.
The quality of the writing on the recent pieces is not quite up to that of his best from the past, but is still infinitely better than the mindless slop produced by other contemporary "writers." The man was an artist.
As always, one of the disturbing things about Thompson is his ability to assess politics correctly in real time. Reading back, you think "Why didn't people take this man seriously at the time?"
"Indeed," as Doc would say.
The best collection.......2007-01-19
It's true, there are lots of parts of this book that can be found in other books, but this is still the best HST book I've read. It's sort of like a greatest hits. The new parts however, are the best part of this book.
Some of his best work ever!.......2007-01-13
By far simply one of his best collections. It seems the good doctor saw what was on the horizon and unforunately he was right. The world is a lesser place without him and we should all cherish every word. His insight was frightening an accurate. BUY THIS BOOK!
Just what you would expect from a drunkard.......2006-12-04
Paranoid drivel is the best I can come up with ZZZZZZZZZZ.
Book Description
The authors, who have a total of 50 years' experience in teaching law school, compiled this book of practical advice for their son, a law student. The book discusses in simple terms what law students need to know about law school and how to get the most out the law school experience. The text also discusses the problems law students encounter most frequently and solutions to those problems. Topics covered include briefing a case, precedent and how to use it, balancing competing interests and factors, legal writing, and psychological tips for the study of law.
Customer Reviews:
law school without fear.......2007-08-13
I read the book because it was due for orientation, but it had some very useful things in it. I would recommend it to anyone entering law school.
NOT worth the money.......2003-08-10
I was asked to read this relatively expensive book before my one-week intro to law class. I am not impressed. It seems very dry and very basic and mostly tells you what you will learn in the first year. Well, I plan to finish my first year so I suppose I will learn everything they want me to know. I have no fear of law school, so maybe I'm biased. There are also several pages dedicated to grammar. Useful enough, but hardly information that is going to allow me to attack law school without fear. Oh, and if you don't have a BASIC understanding of the purpose of the US Constitution (as included in this book, along with advice like being prepared for class), maybe you should reconsider attending law school. Please, please, please, go to a library and look at this book. If you feel you still need it at that point, buy a used copy. It won't be heavily used.
Further, their "examples" are just notable cases with different names that you will encounter in law school. That may be beneficial, but it seems pointless to hide a real case under pseudonyms. We actually have to learn these things at some point.
I don't regret reading it, and I suppose that it true with any book I read. Nobody knows everything and I sure don't claim to.
I'll get to my point and say that there are so many better books on the market. Look at the recommendation section above to find some. Of course, I may be wrong! : ) Happy reading.
A little dull.......2003-01-16
There is interesting and valuable information in this book, but the presentation -- the writing -- is about as dull as you can find. I would recommend it as supplemental material, but not your first read prior to law school. I can recommend "Acing You First Year Of Law School" by S.C. Noyes & H.S. Noyes. It touches on the same material, but the writing is leaner and far more approachable.
Informative overview of the legal system and the law.......2000-02-18
This book was recommended in a class I took which had both law students and non-law graduate students like public health students. I found it a very readable introduction to both the legal system and the basics of law. Topics include the concept of jurisdiction, different levels of appeal, rulings vs. dicta, different types of law (legislative, administrative, common law, etc.) While the book is targeted at people about to start law school, it may be surprisingly interesting for the general reader as well. Even sections on how to summarize cases and write essays on law, might carry over to other kinds of professional writing as well.
A thoughtful road map that hits and misses........1998-07-08
Law School Without Fear has its heart in the right place and fine sections regarding briefs, exam strategies, and psychological traps a typical first year law student will face. However, they bog down a great portion of the book with policy issues that give a forum for the authors personal beliefs. A clunky writing style doesn't win the book any stars, but the practical pointers make the book worth reading.
Amazon.com
Book Description
Written with the sweep of an epic novel and grounded in extensive research into contemporary documents, Savage Peace is a striking portrait of American democracy under stress. It is the surprising story of America in the year 1919.
In the aftermath of an unprecedented worldwide war and a flu pandemic, Americans began the year full of hope, expecting to reap the benefits of peace. But instead, the fear of terrorism filled their days. Bolshevism was the new menace, and the federal government, utilizing a vast network of domestic spies, began to watch anyone deemed suspicious. A young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover headed a brand-new intelligence division of the Bureau of Investigation (later to become the FBI). Bombs exploded on the doorstep of the attorney general's home in Washington, D.C., and 36 parcels containing bombs were discovered at post offices across the country. Poet and journalist Carl Sandburg, recently returned from abroad with a trunk full of Bolshevik literature, was detained in New York, his trunk seized. A 21-year-old Russian girl living in New York was sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting U.S. intervention in Arctic Russia, where thousands of American soldiers remained after the Armistice, ostensibly to guard supplies but in reality to join a British force meant to be a warning to the new Bolshevik government.
In 1919, wartime legislation intended to curb criticism of the government was extended and even strengthened. Labor strife was a daily occurrence. And decorated African-American soldiers, returning home to claim the democracy for which they had risked their lives, were badly disappointed. Lynchings continued, race riots would erupt in 26 cities before the year ended, and secret agents from the government's "Negro Subversion" unit routinely shadowed outspoken African-Americans.
Adding a vivid human drama to the greater historical narrative, Savage Peace brings 1919 alive through the people who played a major role in making the year so remarkable. Among them are William Monroe Trotter, who tried to put democracy for African-Americans on the agenda at the Paris peace talks; Supreme Court associate justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who struggled to find a balance between free speech and legitimate government restrictions for reasons of national security, producing a memorable decision for the future of free speech in America; and journalist Ray Stannard Baker, confidant of President Woodrow Wilson, who watched carefully as Wilson's idealism crumbled and wrote the best accounts we have of the president's frustration and disappointment.
Weaving together the stories of a panoramic cast of characters, from Albert Einstein to Helen Keller, Ann Hagedorn brilliantly illuminates America at a pivotal moment.
An Exclusive Note to Readers from Ann Hagedorn
Savage Peace is the biography of the year 1919 in America told through interweaving narratives that connect the reader to the individuals, events and themes that make the year so hugely significant. My quest is always to make history as accessible as possible to the general public using storytelling techniques and so I structured Savage Peace like a work of fiction with main characters and story arcs. It is, however, based firmly on facts gleaned from primary sources housed in archives nationwide, including declassified military intelligence and justice department records. I spent more than five years researching and writing the book in an effort of course to get to the very core of the significance of the year 1919 and to deliver that truth to you, the reader, in an entertaining style.
But why 1919? First, I consider the year a missing page in our history. We typically associate 1919 with the Paris Peace Conference, Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations--all important aspects of the year, of course. But there is far more to the year than what happened in Paris. In fact, Savage Peace tells the story of what happened in America while Wilson was in Paris. Remember that 1919 was the aftermath of a world war, a flu pandemic, and the Russian Revolution. It was an uncertain, very intense year that shaped policies and attitudes for nearly a century in America. In many respects it was the year that made modern America. Consider that the foundation of our domestic intelligence system was firmly established in 1919; that our "cold" relationship with the Soviet Union emerged from events such as U.S. intervention in north Russia that year and the government's raid on the Soviet Bureau in Manhattan; and that our response to the 1919 race riots (in 26 cities) was to use segregation as the solution instead of identifying it as the problem. One of the things that drew me to the year was that it offers us all an opportunity to observe democracy under extreme duress. This was a time when Americans were caught between the promise of democracy--Wilson told us we were fighting the war to make the world safe for democracy--and the penalties for exercising democratic rights at home in the aftermath of the war. After the Armistice, certain wartime measures and laws were kept in place in the name of protecting the nation from the new threat of Bolshevism. This allowed the nation to stay immersed in the mentality of war, the culture of fear, and a state of perpetual crisis, which in turn justified an attack on Democratic rights and raised the issue of the delicate balance between national security and the safety of the constitution.
During World War I, a massive domestic intelligence system was put in place to protect Americans on their own soil, to outsmart German spies, and to identify German sympathizers. It was indeed the largest corps of homeland spies ever assembled in any nation during wartime and it included at least 300,000 volunteer spies in organizations such as the American Protective League, the National Security League, the Liberty League, the Home Defense League, the Sedition Slammers, and the Boy Spies of America. There were wartime laws too, such as the Espionage Act of 1917, which made it a crime to obstruct the war and to criticize the war, and among other things, gave the postmaster general the right to censor "seditious" magazines and newspapers. The Sedition Act in 1918 (an amended version of the Espionage Act) went further and said it was a crime to "willfully utter, print, write or publish" any expression of disloyalty toward or criticism of the U.S. government, its Constitution, its flag, or its military uniforms.
In 1919, these laws and the domestic intelligence network were still in tact. Now the task was to identify those who favored leniency for Germany in the ensuing peace negotiations and, as the Justice Dept. told the Washington Post on Armistice Day, to keep a "vigilant watch over anarchists, plotters and aliens." Soon dissent in America was bundled into one package labeled Bolshevism. Hiram Johnson, the Republican senator from California who was loudly speaking out against U.S. intervention in north Russia--a military adventure unauthorized and in fact unknown by most Congressmen and one that evolved into a civil war in which we were fighting with the White Army against the Reds--said in one of his speeches to the U.S. Senate, "It is a dangerous and delicate thing to speak of Russia and to even inquire concerning our activities there. During the war it became fashionable to call all who disagreed with any governmental policy pro-German. Now the fashion has changed: and any man who will not accept the wrongful edict of entrenched power is by that token a Bolsheviki."
In Savage Peace I show that one of the people who best understood just how hard it would be to free the nation and the Constitution from the emergency restrictions put in place during the war was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., then an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In March of 1919 he issued an opinion saying effectively that the right of free speech could be taken away if the speech or circular contained wording that presented a "clear and present danger" of causing unlawful acts. His critics argued that expression could not be censored on the basis of the possibility that it might incite such acts as the acts could be punished when and if they occurred.
That summer and autumn Holmes reconsidered the limitations and the protections of free speech in America. And in November, he modified his view in a dissenting opinion that expanded the definition of protected speech in America. In that opinion he wrote: "When men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas--that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market... We should be eternally vigilant against the attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purpose of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country."
Fortunately, Holmes' words outlived the hysteria of the year in which he wrote them. So did Democracy.
There is so very much more I could say about the importance of 1919, especially about what we can learn from that year. Savage Peace is as the Chicago Tribune wrote in its great review of the book "a potent reminder of the fragility of civil liberties and the power of conspiratorial fantasies propagated by true believers and opportunists alike during times of war and uncertainty."
Looking at the year 1919 indeed reminds us to listen to the voices in America's past who well understood that Democracy has the capability of correcting its errors only as long as its citizens can exercise their rights. I'd like to end this note to my readers with the words of one of the individuals portrayed in Savage Peace, New York attorney Harry Weinberger, who often represented people charged with violating the Espionage Act: "Democracy lives on the exercise and functioning of democracy. As a child learns and grows by doing, a people learn democracy by acting in democratic ways. I know from the history of other countries that even the best democratic constitutions did not prevent dictatorships unless the people were trained in democracy and held themselves eternally vigilant and ready to oppose all infringements on liberty."
Thanks for reading and enjoy the book!
--Ann Hagedorn
Customer Reviews:
Mostly Fear.......2007-08-16
A modern liberal's look back on a difficult year in U.S. history. While the subtitle of this volume promises hope as well as fear, it is the fear that is delivered.
The book is strongest in reminding all of the inhuman nature of lynching and the inexcusable race relations of the time.
It is less convincing in painting President Wilson as a hero, when he was actively unhelpful in easing America's many and deep racial wrongs. Furthermore, his peace plan was a failure due to his own political missteps in selling the idea and the more basic fact that many nations--especially the U.S.--were not really ready for an effective and armed collective security mechanism for the entire world.
The author also discounts the real threat of the followers of Lenin. In 1919 a number of longstanding world empires had recently crashed with the end of the Great War. The Reds had prevailed in Russia. Given the tens of millions who later died in the 1920s and 30s in the USSR, I do not think it totally stupid for U.S. authorities to pay some attention to this domestic situation.
Finally, how does the British expedition to Brazil to prove the German's (Einstein) grand theory fit in a book focused on 1919 in America?
Interesting, enlightening in spots, but uneven.......2007-08-01
Hagerdorn is at her best in this book in describing the 1919 Red Scare and connecting it with labor rights issues. (She has a nice thumbnail on the early rise to power of J. Edgar Hoover as part of this.)
She also does well, in the context of race relations, in noting Wilson's refusal to meet with prominent black leaders, and getting the State Department to deny them passports for the Paris Peace Conference.
But, she hamstrings herself with the "history of a year" concept by not delving deeper, much deeper, into Wilson's racism, starting with any 1912 campaign promises he made about equality.
Second, in the lead-up to the Senate vote on the Treaty of Versailles, she gives short shrift to the pig-headedness of both Wilson and Senate Majority Leader Lodge.
Third, rather than using the attempt of an interracial couple to marry in New Hampshire, and spending about 40 pages on it, why didn't she talk more about lynching in the North as well as the South, if she really wanted to look at civil rights in the North?
Fourth, she didn't do a good job linking 1919 to the Roari
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