Bitter Harvest : A Chef's Perspective on the Hidden Danger in the Foods We Eat and What You Can Do About It

Book Description

"The history of food is not as straightforward as it may seem. Food isn't just food. It is ritual, tradition and memory." So begins Ann Cooper's groundbreaking new book on the history of sustenance. Cooper, a renowned chef and graduate of New York's famed Culinary Institute of America, expertly guides us from the roots of agriculture in North America through the profound changes initiated by the Industrial Revolution, all the way up to the present day, offering analyses of recent controversies such as Europe's campaign against Frankenstein food and the genetic engineering of plants and animals in the United States. Throughout, Cooper takes both a macro and micro approach, examining the effect politics, technology, war, international trade and agribusiness have had on the world's food supply, as well as the changing social patterns which have made a family meal at the table almost a relic of the past.
Did you know?
· 80% of chicken has salmonella.
· By the year 2010, 95 percent of items bought at the grocery store may be consumed within 20 minutes of getting them home.
· Cancer researchers believe that over one third of all future cancers will be diet-related -- roughly the same proportion now attributable to smoking.
Passionate, political, informed and engaging, Bitter Harvest is filled with fascinating facts and anecdotes. Cooper offers a comprehensive analysis of the issue of sustainability, arguing persuasively why we must begin to change everything from the way food is shipped to the basic components of our diets.
Touching on virtually every aspect of the food culture, Bitter Harvest is a vibrant example of the emergence of the chef as a political voice to be reckoned with. A food manifesto for the new millennium, it is a must-read for anyone concerned with health, nutrition and the future of our planet. You will never look at your dinner plate in quite the same way again.

Customer Reviews:

Try to remember.......2004-04-18

Sad thing is, this keeps popping up as an issue, what is happening to our precious supply of fabulous fresh foods, that truly sustain and delight. Even if poor, you can enjoy a fabulous dish of fresh steamed green beans just off the vine.
My grandparents were "poor", no money but they were farmers and enjoyed lots of good things that sustained life, joy, peace and hope. It is truly disgusting to think 80 percent of fresh chicken has samonella and who knows what else and so many do not know how to protect themselves from getting sick on it. Everything in the supermarket case looks pure and perfect, cool and fresh. Oldways preservation in Cambridge has kept up the searching spotlight and many chefs are well informed but work so hard, they have little time to educate the public. Thank you Ann Cooper for your experience and insights!

Sally LaRhette

An Excellent, Important Book.......2003-02-19

Bitter Harvest is a wonderful book. It highlights the importance of natural foods vs. the artificial foods we eat. However, this is a distinction NOT between junk food and vegetables, but agribusiness vegetables and local organic vegetables.
It turns out that, in search of the maximum profit, the massive agribusinesses engage in pratices that make vegetables much less healthy, and, in some cases, toxic.
Since allowing land to fallow and regain its nutrients reduces profits that could be generated from using that land, agribusinesses use the same land over and over again, and pump it full of chemicals to try to restore the nutritional content of the soil. This is not some wild claim, it is simply how agribusiness works according to their own information.
As a result, many vegetables are becoming less healthy and less nutritional. For instance, a USDA report comparing American broccoli between 1975 and 1997 shows that it has decreased in many important nutrients: broccoli in 1997 had 53% less calcium, 20% less iron, 38% less Vit A, 17% less Vit C, 35% less thiamin, 48% less riboflavin, and 29% less Niacin than 1975 broccoli. Additionally, food that is transported loses nutrients over time. Our vegetables travel an average of 1500 miles.
Unfortunately, thanks to NAFTA and GATT, our vegetables can be toxic. Mexico currently does not ban at least 6 pesticides that are banned due to health effects in the USA. Why does this matter to us? We get most of our off-season vegetables from Mexico: 97% of tomatoes, 93% of our cucumbers, 95% of our squash, 99% eggplant, and 85% of our strawberries. We are eating the poisons Mexico allows in its food.
The news is not all bad, and this book is largely a celebration of life, food, and nature. Above all, it stresses the need to find food sources that don't use the damaging practices of agribusinesses and are not far away-local organic farms. According to Consumer Reports Jan 1998 issue, "organic foods consistently had the least toxic pesticide residues." Similarly, it is more nutritional. Organic Corn has 20 times the calcium and magnesium of store corn. There are many more nutrients and vegetables listed.
And so, to question an earlier reviewer, who found it "really hard to figure out why any of it matters"--are you concerned about eating poisons and pesticides? Are you concerned about declining nutrient levels in our vegetables? If you are, then this book matters. In fact, it is difficult to imagine anything mattering more than what we eat and the damage it may cause.

Important reading.......2001-09-24

This book is a must read for anyone who cares about the food they put into their bodies. It is definitively NOT a cookbook, nor does it make an attempt as such--the other reader from New York clearly did not read this book!

Sometimes Scary But Necessary Information.......2001-01-25

Thank you Ann Cooper and Lisa Holmes! If you really believe "you are what you eat", this book may scare you into ACTION! This book was suggested to me by a parent of one of my son's friends, and I am so glad it was. Though sometimes "text bookish", this compilation of information really makes you stop and think about what you eat and what we feed our families. I found the historical information to be very insightful and the suggestions for how to offer healthier choices were terrific. The resources listed in the back of the book were nuts and bolts suggestions that answered the question, "now what do I do?" With recent "Mad Cow Disease" scares, and ever increasing rates of cancer, heart disease, etc. this is a fabulous resource for helping people to think about small ways to make changes in what we put in our bodies every day. READ IT!!

Muddled and redundant.......2000-08-25

This isn't a book that can be read from beginning to end, first of all. Mostly because it is poorly organized and never really defines itself: is it a cookbook? Is it a tell-all about the way food is prepared in America? Is it a treatise on pollution's effects on what we eat? It is all of these, and it really hard to figure out why any of it matters.

Customer Reviews:

As long as you know what to do with it........2006-03-16

This book is not a correct account of what happened in Rhodesia, but a correct account of what some people in power thought was happening. In some areas Mr. Smith was incredibly wrong, but in others he was very right. The western countries rubber stamp system of de-colonization allowed some very bad rulers to come to power, much worse than Botha or Smith could ever be. In principle I understand what Smith was doing, but he should have agreed to the UK's demands earlier. The only result of this positively is that South Africa learned alot from his mistakes.

As long as you don't believe every single word, this is a great insightful book. I agree with Smith on his take that Rhodesia made a terrible mistake by not joining the Union of South Africa, thereby allowing the 1948 election to happen there.

Regardless what has happened to Zimbabwe/Rhodesia is sad, and the west and later Africa should of never let it happen.

I highly suggest reading "Tomorrow is another country," by Martin Meredith for what I think is the best account of Rhodesia's story.

A must read, fascinating account.......2004-03-06

Few books detail the truth about Mugabe's Zimbabwe and the virtual ethnic cleansing of minority communities. Smith, the last minority president of Zimbabwe(then rhodesia) tells the story behind the UDA and his fight for moderation. This excellent book is an insider look at Smith's own understanding of his country and the fate of his nation. Zimbabwe, once a net exporter of grain, is now on the brink of starvation. Smith's book is readable and sheds light on what has been proven by history, the terrible suffering of Zimbabwe's people under the near-fascist dictatorship of Mugabe.

Seth J. Frantzman

Don't buy into this revisionist tripe........2003-04-26

You've got to hand it to Ian Smith, he doesn't give up. Unfortunately, with Robert Mugabe massacring people left, right and centre people sometimes start to give Smith's arguments and rewriting of history credit they do not deserve.

In the world of Ian Smith as he would have you look at it, hearty Rhodesian farmers held the land in trust for grateful, happy blacks, while putting in place a slow and gentle programme of steady reform which would gradually empower a black population who were clearly not in any position to responsibly govern a great country. Meanwhile, he was brutally sold down the river by the mother country (Britain) who got foolhardy liberal ideas about self-determination and black empoerment.

The reality is somewhat different. Smith's regime has the dubious honour of outdoing Apartheid South Africa in the unpleasantness stakes. Smith's [associates] lived the high life while disenfranchised blacks were used for ... labour and segregated from white society. The failure of post-colonial governments such as Robert Mugabe's has aroused a new debate about the merits of a "benevolent colonialism." Whatever the merits of this argument, it's pretty academic because Smith's government was in no way "benevolent" and could never be held up as one of the better examples of colonial management. In fact, it could be a case study in ... abuse of power. What reforms the Smith regime implemented were hollow and deliberately rigged to make no real difference. Herculean efforts were made to stall the emergence of a well educated, politically aware black middle class which might ultimately challenge white rule. And if any of the "kaffirs" got too uppity they could always be dragged off to a cell to have electrodes attached to their privates until they changed their minds. Of course, this all came back to bite the Smith government in the backside because when it came to a shooting war, even moderate blacks had no real stake in preserving the status quo and little incentive to fall in behind the government.

During the run-up to the negotiations which resulted in the handover to black rule, Smith (who was acknowledged by everyone who dealt with him as a foul mouthed thug) toured London lecturing parties of the hard right faithful on the importance of teching the blacks to "know their place". Willie Whitelaw, not an ungenerous judge of character, described him as possibly the most unpleasant man he'd ever met. Don't be lured by the revisionist nonsense about a paternalistic, essentially benevolent regime. It was nothing of the sort.

The Great Betrayal.......2003-01-11

Truely the greatest betrayal of a nation by the Western Democratic countries under the influence of the Organisation of African Unity. This book besides being a great read, depicts the struggle of a nation coming to grips with a change in British foreign policy. This change strikes the beginning of the end of a democratic and economically prosperous country. The sad reality of this book is that all of the Rhodesian peoples worst fears have today come true. Ian Smith lays the facts straight. A true leader, and a hard to find honest politician struggling against innumerable odds to keep Rhodesia alive. Unfortunately in the end it was not to be and the now Zimbabwe is a single party dictatorship with horrendous human rights violations, collapsed economy, and a starving people.

If you have any interest in the politics of Southern Africa during the end of British colonialism, this book is for you.

Ian Smith is spot on.......2002-11-22

Ian Smith was a man ahead of his times. His view of the inept leadership that Africans have offered their continent is correct.

It's too bad that inevitably down the road the so called "rich countries" will have to bail that country, with or without Magabe.

Book Description

In the course of thirteen days in January 1999, four commercial clam boats sank in horrifying succession while working the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, taking the lives of ten men. Husbands, fathers, loners, and drug users, each man was lured to the nation’s most dangerous trade by the lucrative wages offered to those who dared to reap the harvest of the ocean. In this compelling maritime tale of risk and danger, acclaimed journalist Douglas Campbell compassionately portrays the destinies of the men who lost their lives to the Atlantic and the lure of profits from clamming. From the tough and sometimes troubled young men on deck to their families on shore, and the courageous people who tried to rescue them, this narrative memorializes a way of life, and exposes the hazards of this dangerous trade.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating.......2007-03-11

Not the best I've read, but none the less, fascinating. For whatever reason I'm fascinated by the commercial fishing industry of all kinds. For the love of the ocean, which I must say I understand, I cannot understand anything being worth the risks and danger involved for the money. While every call for a policeman or fireman could be their last, nothing compares to going up against mother nature on a regular basis. I continue to be amazed by the complacency that these men possess. While they are aware of the dangers, safety measures don't seem to be part of their vocabulary.

A Very Good Read.......2006-03-10

I enjoyed all the tales in this book and found the writing style flowed nicely despite what several other reviewers have reported.

Clam fishing in a bitter environment.......2003-04-18

In a two-week period in 1999, four commercial clamming boats sank off the Atlantic Coast costing ten lives. The author, a journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, recounts the known facts of the sinkings, the lives of those who drowned and those who survived, and the interrelated circumstances. Many of the elements of the tragedies are familiar: heavy weather, Coast Guard helicopters, survival suits, men vanishing into the night. Campbell intelligently weaves in the real economic and commercial pressures on fishermen with details of the lives of hard-working men. These clammers have no illusions about their dangerous trade. They know they risk death, but most could not earn nearly the same wages elsewhere. The efforts of regulatory agencies to protect workers, preserve breeding stocks, and stabilize the markets come under scrutiny as well. An excellent choice for those interested in commercial fishing or sea stories.

PRETTY GOOD BOOK.......2002-12-26

I AGREE WITH ONE OF THE OTHER REVIEWERS THAT THIS WAS A PRETTY GOOD BOOK BUT NOT AS GOOD AS SOME FROM SPIKE WALKER AND THE PERFECT STORM BUT NONE THE LESS A GOOD READ ESPECIALLY TO LEARN ABOUT THE CLAMMING INDUSTR I DO BIELEVE THAT THE THE SHIP WRECK STORIS ARE JUST AS GUT WRENCHING

PRETTY GOOD BOOK.......2002-12-26

Average customer rating:

I could see Kathy Bates as Dr. Debora Green!
Interesting read, but not one of Ann Rule's best...
The Blame Game!
Debora Green is a guilty nut-case
Bitter Harvest

Bitter Harvest
Ann Rule
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0671868691

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Fans of Ann Rule will find much to relish in Bitter Harvest, the tale of a brilliant Kansas physician who holds herself together well enough to put on a decent show for the outside world, but in the heart of her horror-struck family is a violent and baffling monster. She drinks, abuses drugs, spews invective, and even lights fires. At one point she learns from an Agatha Christie novel about a potent toxin contained in castor beans, and she starts poisoning her long-suffering husband. Yet until the final fire that consumes two of her children, they continue to love her and defend her to attackers. Rule tells the story with flair, conveying all of the heady feelings involved, but still the book has a flaw: Rule fails to understand the main character. When a psychiatrist testifies that the doctor is at a younger age than a toddler in her ability to process or sustain emotions, Rule writes, "That was a shocker. Could a woman with an IQ of 165 and a biting, facetious wit, a woman who had zipped through college and medical school, be a child emotionally?"Yes, she could. Bitter Harvest would've been a stronger book if Rule had shown us how.

Book Description

GIFTED WITH A BRILLIANT MIND, BLESSED WITH A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY -- AND CURSED WITH A DESTRUCTIVE MADNESS

In this harrowing New York Times bestseller, Ann Rule is at her masterful best as she winnows horrific truths from the ashes of what seemed like paradise in Prairie Village, Kansas. Rule probes the case of Debora Green, a doctor and a loving mother who seemed to epitomize the dreams of the American heartland. A small-town girl with a genius IQ, she achieved an enviable life: her own medical practice, a handsome physician husband, three perfect children, and an opulent home in an exclusive Kansas City suburb. But when a raging fire destroyed that home and took two lives, the trail of clues led investigators to a stunning conclusion. Piece by piece, Ann Rule digs beneath this placid Midwestern facade to unveil a disturbing portrait of strangely troubled marriages, infidelity, desperation, suicide, and escalating acts of revenge that forever changed dozens of lives.

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Ann Rule's twelfth astounding New York Times bestseller is a "tension-filled, page-turning" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) account of a shattering modern tragedy. With her exacting insight into the psychopathic mind, Rule flawlessly reveals the tangled downfall of a successful woman driven to lethal acts of vengeance. Bitter Harvest probes the case of Debora Green, a doctor and a loving mother who seemed to epitomize the dreams of the American heartland. A small-town girl with a genius IQ, she achieved an enviable life: her own medical practice, a handsome physician husband, three perfect children, and an opulent home in an exclusive Kansas City suburb. But when a raging fire destroyed that home and took two lives, the trail of clues led investigators to a stunning conclusion. Piece by piece, Ann Rule digs beneath this placid Midwestern facade to unveil a disturbing portrait of strangely troubled marriages, infidelity, desperation, suicide, and escalating acts of revenge that forever changed dozens of lives.

Customer Reviews:

I could see Kathy Bates as Dr. Debora Green!.......2007-06-23

What a horrible story about a horrible mother who would sacrifice her own children for own being. Dr. Debora Green had what most of us would consider to be a great life. She was a well-respected doctor with a beautiful home in Kansas City, married with three children. One night, she decides to burn her house down with her children losing one for her own purposes. Debora was a bright yet plumpy woman who was definitely troubled and should have seeken psychiatric assistance rather than murdering her own children in a horrific matter. Unlike Diane Downs in Small Sacrifices, Dr. Green had quite a future in the medical field but like Diane Downs, she would rather lose her children for her own selfish motives.

Interesting read, but not one of Ann Rule's best..........2007-05-20

I think this is a very good, if incredibly tragic, story. Obviously Dr. Debora Green is guilty of the crimes of arson, capital murder, and attempted murder (of her husband Dr. Michael Farrar), but Dr. Farrar is himself hardly the sainted victim that the author paints him to be.

As for Debora "letting herself go" and the condition of the home, this coupled with her drinking ought to have been enough for ANY trained physician to have her evaluated for depression. So why didn't her husband do this? Why did he leave his children in that home and situation?

Although I do not for a minute believe that anyone but Debora Green is responsible for pouring the accelerant and lighting the fire that consumed her home and took the lives of Tim and Kelly (and shame on her for letting her lawyers accuse Tim of doing it!), and I do also believe that she poisoned Mike with the castor beans (ricin poisoning), I think a lot of this could have been avoided if someone (and I mean Dr. Michael Farrar) had taken a little responsibility and put a little effort into getting Debora some help. At the very least, he should have fought to remove his children from Debora's control.

All around, a sad and tragic story...Debora Green, so full of promise and intelligence, is now doing a hard forty and will likely die in prison. Tim and Kelly Farrar had their lives cut short in a dreadful act of rage. "Lissa" has lost both of her siblings, her beloved pets, her innocence, and, in many ways, her mother. But hey...Michael Farrar is happily remarried, and all is well that ends well, right? (Yes, that is sarcasm.)

The Blame Game!.......2006-10-27

If you'll notice in many true crime tales by Ann Rule, the perpetrator, whether male or female always ends up blaming everyone else but themselves. Have you ever known anyone like this? They twist everything into lies that make them look like the "poor" victims. Ann Rule is excellent in exposing the reality of these monsters and showing you the damage they do not only to their victims, but people around them. Dr. Debora Green is one of the worst women Ann has ever written about. She was more than willing to kill all her children for her purposes. And to this day she's still lying about it.

As always Ann Rule takes you through the entire story from the beginning to end. Thank God Debora's husband has recovered and is still practicing. Excellent book!

Debora Green is a guilty nut-case.......2006-08-28

"Bitter Harvest" is a well-written and absorbing book about a very dysfunctional and cruel woman.Debora Green is a doctor,wife,and mother who is a miserable failure at all three roles.She can't stay employed anywhere for long,terrorizes her husband and manipulates her kids until they are as messed-up as she is.When her husband (finally)decides to leave her she attempts to poison him to death and then burns down her home with her children trapped inside.She kills two of her three kids and then in a final act of cruelty and selfishness she tries to blame her deceased 14-year old son for her actions.This book is interesting if somewhat depressing.It's worth a read if you are a true crime fan.A note to people who read all the other reviews on this book:I suspect a lot of the negative reviews on this book that are supposed to be from a "friend of Debora's"are actually being written by Debora her-self.This is a tactic she employed often-writing notes that praised her to the skies and criticized her husband that were always signed"a friend of Debora".Prisoners in medium security prisons almost always enjoy internet access through the prison library and some even have computers in their cells.Plus, it would be her personality type to want to know what people were saying about her and try to control what people think.That's my two cents anyway.

Bitter Harvest.......2006-08-26

I am, for the first time, reading a book by Ann Rule - Bitter Harvest. Any mother who could behave in such a detached manner while her children are inside a buring house cannot be in her right mind. My first opinion as I started reading this book was that maybe she has a bipolar disorder. As for Mike Farrar, he was totally self-absorbed. If you thought that your wife was insane enough to try to poison you, would you leave your children with her? Why did the kids hate their dad so much? The kids were old enough to figure things out no matter what Deb said to them about their father. If Mike was an "attentive" dad they would not hate him as they did. Ann Rule did not elaborate enough on Mike's relationship with his children. Why was Tim so angry with him? They didn't have a good relationship before Mike left. I would be interested to hear Debora Green's version of her life with Mike Farrar. I don't think Debora Green was diagnosed correctly - she clearly has serious mental problems.
This is such a tragic story but I think that Mike Farar has to accept some responsibility for what happened.

A Bitter Harvest: Us Foreign Policy and Afghanistan (Us Foreign Policy and Conflict in the Islamic World)

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A Bitter Harvest: Us Foreign Policy and Afghanistan (Us Foreign Policy and Conflict in the Islamic World)
Tom Lansford
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0754636151

Bitter Harvest. A Woman's Fury, A Mother's Sacrifice

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Bitter Harvest. A Woman's Fury, A Mother's Sacrifice
Ann Rule
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFJ2UM

Bitter Harvest: The Birth of Paramilitary Terrorism in the Heartland

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Great background
An interesting, if somewhat unbalanced perspective
Inadequate at best
Bitter Harvest Review

Bitter Harvest: The Birth of Paramilitary Terrorism in the Heartland
James Corcoran
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

Great background.......2006-07-19

Make no mistake, Kahl is no hero. By his actions he disgraced his military record and the country he stood for. Corcoran certainly provides a thorough backgrand into what was happening to the rural communities in the eighties and how such times made farmers like Kahl ripe for recruitment by right-wing paramilitary zenophobes. Kahl and the Posse stem from the same roots that created homegrown terrorists like Tim McVeigh. For Kahl, a man who had served his country in WWII, the treatment of rural America in general and farmers in particular, must have been a bitter betrayal. While some have critized the local sheriff and federal agents for the way they handled the arrest, it is important to note that Kahl had a choice, to go peacefully or to take up arms. He chose violence, and in the end, there were no winners, only victims.

An interesting, if somewhat unbalanced perspective.......2004-08-28

The shoot-out at Medina which inspired this book is a fascinating study in both the rural tax protest mentality and the little Caesar enforcement federal mentality.

The author takes the perspective of Freud, who does a reasonable job of analyzing the former, while glossing over the later. Both deceased marshalls, an Arkansas sheriff and Gordon Kahl would be alive today (or pehaps dead of natural causes) had Kenneth Muir simply followed the advice of his predecessor that Kahl was a pipsqueak best ignored.

Yes, the marshalls were just doing their jobs, but no, the arrest of Kahl was not a high priority. We could fill our jails and our cemetaries in short order with every two-bit bigot and loudmouth, but Kahl grew into a legend only after the arrest attempt went awry.

A far more balance perspective of the incident can be read in the book "Its All About Power", from two local law enforcement officers who tried to do their job of preventing trouble rather than making a statement.

Sadly, a deputy marshall with a young family from Bismarck who was just doing his job ended up paying with his life by following the orders of a Little Caesar superior who refused to take the good advice of his predecessor Bud Warren, who has been unfairly maligned in the drama.

Inadequate at best.......2004-01-13

Bitter Harvest attempts to tell the story af Gordon Kahl, a man who combined the patriotism of the founding fathers with bigotry and paranoia. Kahl's life culminated February 13, 1983, when he engaged in a shootout with federal law enforcement near Medina, North Dakota. The LEO's were trying to serve a warrant for Kahl's arrest relating to a parole violation in Texas. Kahl, who earned less than $10,000 a year and had failed to file for at least seven years, had originally been charged with tax evasion after he appeared on television urging others to do the same. It is not certain who fired the first shot, but within seconds Kahl had killed two officers and wounded two more. Robert Cheshire, a deputy marshal, was killed when Kahl blew the already wounded man's head open from point blank range. The only indisputable fact of the shootout was the incompetency of the government. Kahl had sworn repeatedly that he would not be taken without a fight, was well armed, and surrounded by friends and family. Yet the officers apparently had no plans for a shootout, and the marshal in charge didn't even bother wearing his bulletproof vest. He was killed by a single shot to the heart.

The author, James Corcoran, is hardly unbiased in his treatment of the story. Corcoran attributes rural sympathy toward Kahl to prejudice born out of poverty, and doesn't seem to consider the possibility that some of what Kahl said might be true. Especially unforgivable is Corcoran's treatment of Kahl's death. He provides a "factual," official narrative in which Kahl and a sheriff shoot and kill each other. Corcoran later mentions, in a single paragraph, that the state Medical Examiner concluded that both men were shot from behind, and that a spent casing from Kahl's rifle was never found. Corcoran makes no attempt to fit this into
his narrative, or provide an alternative sequence of events.

In closing, Bitter Harvest is a disappointing effort to tell a fascinating story. The ideas and actions of Gordon Kahl are a noteworthy part of America's past, and may very well reappear in it's future.

Bitter Harvest Review.......2002-05-28

Bitter Harvest is about a man who gets accused of something he did out of self-defense. He goes though racism and torture. This man murdered three men out of self-defense. This book was all about how people are so prejudice that they cannot even look passed their feelings about others. Bitter Harvest was based on a true story.
I enjoyed this book because it was a true story about the passed. About racism and how people hated each other. This is something that I really find interesting to read about. How people lived in America in the 60's or 70's. Bitter Harvest had tons of exciting adventures put in to the story. This is what people thought when they were apart of this story.
He reason I chose this story is because it is about crime. It is also about trust and truth. Also I loved the cover. I thought it would be interesting. It was believed that it would be about World War 2. Even though it wasn't it was still okay. Anyways all of these events are true with plenty of depth.

Bitter Harvest: The Social Transformation of Morelos, Mexico, and the Origins of the Zapatista Revolution, 1840-1910

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social developments in state of Morelos in relation to the Mexican Revolution

Bitter Harvest: The Social Transformation of Morelos, Mexico, and the Origins of the Zapatista Revolution, 1840-1910
Paul Hart
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0826336647

Book Description

Between 1910 and 1919, Morelos, Mexico, was home to a bloody agrarian revolution that saw government troops burn villages, cities stand abandoned, and two of every five people either flee the fighting or die in it. The conflict came in response to an intense economic transformation that changed the region's peasant economy into the hub of the Mexican sugar industry during the nineteenth century.

By focusing on the creation of the rural working class in Morelos, Bitter Harvest argues that developments there reflected a broader pattern shared with other parts of Mexico that erupted in revolution. The volatile nature of the sugar industry in Morelos, and the silver and cattle industries of the North, exacerbated the social problems created by an exclusionary political regime. Soon, displaced peasants, small farmers, disgruntled ranch hands, and unemployed miners joined Francisco Villa in northern Mexico, while peasants, farmers, and sugar workers rallied around the leadership of Emiliano Zapata in Morelos. When President Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary leaders that came after him resisted the call for deep social change, turmoil engulfed much of the nation for the next decade. In the end, the Zapatistas were defeated militarily, yet they still forced major concessions out of the national government, which helped shape Mexican society for the rest of the twentieth century.

The agrarian revolution beginning in 1910 in rural Morelos helped shape Mexican society for the rest of the twentieth century.

Customer Reviews:

social developments in state of Morelos in relation to the Mexican Revolution.......2006-04-02

The revolution against the Mexican Federal government in the state of Morelos south of Mexico City beginning in 1910 and lasting most of the decade left forty percent of the inhabitants dead or refugees. The revolutionary Zapatistas--followers of Emiliano Zapata--were mainly a farmer and peasant group aiming to keep hold of their land and gain political rights against the large landholders, primarily sugar growers, who had the support of the government. The growth of the sugar farms under the ownership of Mexico's traditional large landholders of the upper class was a main economic area of industrialization in Mexico. As seen by Hart, the historical course leading up to the bloody, devastating, doomed revolution in Morelos begins in about 1840, The U. S. invasion of Mexico in the Mexican-American War of this decade and later French intervention helped to shaped Mexican internal events giving rise later to the Zapatista Revolution as well as the rebellion of Pancho Villa in the north. Although the Zapatista Revolution failed militarily, Hart shows how some of its social and political aims nonetheless came to be reflected in the government and society. Chief among these were redistribution of land and wealth, the political inclusion of the oppressed peasantry, and cooperative, somewhat socialistic or communitarian communities. Rather than a reactionary group trying to hold back industrialization and related modernization, Hart sees the Zapatistas as "peasants and workers...trying to realize their own vision of the future" with fairly sophisticated, timely ideas and ideals. By broadening the historical time frame and the subject matter for comprehension of the early 20th century revolution in Morelos, Hart puts much of Mexican history and society since the mid 1800s in a new light.

Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power and the Growth of the Presidential Branch

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excellent book
Terrific discussion of "institutional presidency"

Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power and the Growth of the Presidential Branch
Matthew J. Dickinson
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Managing the President's Program: Presidential Leadership and Legislative Policy Formulation (Princeton Studies in American Politics)

ASIN: 0521653959

Book Description

This book argues that modern presidents could learn much from Franklin Roosevelt's method of organizing his presidency. Roosevelt consciously avoided a large, functionally specialized White House bureaucracy. Instead, he developed staff agencies composed mostly of civil servants and personally managed them using competitive administrative practices. Matthew Dickinson is the first scholar to reconstruct the methods FDR used and his research suggests modern presidents could benefit greatly by studying them.

Customer Reviews:

excellent book.......1999-01-10

If you care about how the presidency works or should work, you will purchase this book. Dickinson not only presents a readable, intersting history of FDR, he wonderfully contrasts Roosevelt's techniques and how and why his successors ignored and refused to employ them. It's not a "catch-all" nor a "cookbook" for presidents (although it has both of those elements), but a study into what doesn't work at the executive organizational level. For something that will change the way you look at everything from Healthcare reform to Iran-Contra, this book is definitely a winner.

Terrific discussion of "institutional presidency".......1997-11-20

"Bitter Harvest" discusses the original growth of the White House under FDR and contrasts his staff management techniques with those presidents who followed (and who, according to the author, did a far inferior job of making the staff work for the president rather than vice versa). There is a lot of detail on the 1930s and 1940s here, but it's worth digging through. The book makes a strong argument, and backs it up nicely; highly recommended for those interested in presidential power and the influence that presidential staffs have had on American public policy.

Bitter Harvest: A Modern History of Palestine

Average customer rating:

Michael Joseph Francisconi
Says more about the author than it does about the topic
Let the Palestinians be heard!
More of a screed than a history

Bitter Harvest: A Modern History of Palestine
Sami Hadawi
Manufacturer: Interlink Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Israel | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0940793768

Book Description

Hadawi analyzes the people of ancient Palestine, through the years of British colonization; he examines the Jewish community and Zionism, the legacy of Jewish terror against both British and Palestinian targets. Later sections look at the role of the state of Israel, its treatment of Palestinians, and the emergence of the Palestine Liberation Organization. In the final chapter Hadawi covers the 1979 Camp David Accords, Israel's invasion of Leabon in 1982, and the intifada of mid-1989.

Customer Reviews:

Michael Joseph Francisconi.......2005-12-01

It is always best to get two sides before coming to a decision. Palestinian and Israeli conflict stands at the center of all other issues in the Middle East. There are still few Americans that treat the Palestinians as if they part of the human race. Palestinian people are exposed to degrading cruelty. We read of political assassinations. Their homes are destroyed. They live in Apartheid. American Government acts as if this is natural, or even acceptable. The Palestinian movement does not have enough individuals in the USA to help bring about a change in US policy in the region.
The truth is Israel will only be secure when there is security and justice for the Palestinian people. The Peace movement in Israel understands this and the means through which a just and equitable peace can be secured for Palestinians is central to their program. Israelis fate is closely tied to the fate of the Palestinians. There are two nations and one country. Like any other settler state the settlers and the ingenious people must be reconciled within that one country. To restate this point Palestinians have an equivalent "not a superior" claim to the land, all the land, than the Israelis. Many American intellectuals are supporters of regional Manifest Destiny, settlers against the indigenous people of this region. These speakers of half-truth can never understand any "settler state" that cannot act in good faith with out first examining her soul.
Until now this has been a one sided struggle because Israel is a major recipient of US military aid, and little more than a client state for the Washington Empire. Because of the interference of Washington justice for both Palestinians and Israelis is denied. We are in the mist of an apocalyptic war.

Says more about the author than it does about the topic.......2004-10-02

You can read all about it! When Arabs committed acts of war against Israel, causing this small nation to decide to defend itself, it was really a premeditated expansionist plot by Israel! And when Israel asked Arabs for peace, it was proof that this small nation that needed peace to exist in the Middle East in fact preferred war and death!

When Israel, in wartime, made a mistake and killed some allies, that was a deep and sinister plot too! And when it liberated Eastern Jerusalem, which had been the de facto Jewish capital for millenia, this was actually an international crime.

Oh, there's more. When Canada commits the sin of trading with Israel, Hadawi threatens it, saying that Canada needs the Arab world far more than the Arab world needs Canada. This book boasts about the Arab boycotts of Israel, the Arab success in passing the infamous "Zionism-racism" slander in the United Nations, and the Arab attacks on Israel in 1948.

You might think that the author would see a reason why the Jews didn't like the White Paper of 1939, which condemned hundreds of thousands of them to death by keeping them from fleeing Nazi lands and moving to their internationally recognized refuge in what is now Israel. But he scoffs at all this, saying that the Jewish misfortunes in Europe actually helped the Zionists by allowing the few survivors to move to Israel! I wonder what he would have thought of a world in which a few million more survivors had existed?

To top it off, you would think that the author realizes that no matter how good or bad Israelis are, they probably appreciate the fact that Israel protects their lives, liberty, and property! But no, he ascribes the interest of Jews in staying alive and keeping their possessions to fanatical and wacky fundamentalist religious views.

Actually, yes, you probably should read this book. It will make a lifelong Zionist of you. It did that for me.

Let the Palestinians be heard!.......2002-07-19

Sami Hadawi's book is written from a Palestinian refugee's perspective and is a much-needed view for those of us who live in the US and have to hear the Israeli view of the conflict over and over again. Hadawi examines his own ties to the country now called Israel and relates the tragic tale of a people displaced by a stronger military force initially backed by powerful European states, the UN, and then later the world's only superpower, the United States. He covers everything from the history of the region and Palestinian life before the coming of the Zionist colonists/conquerors to the present conflict and what the Palestinians have gone through. Hadawi refrains from too much criticism of Israel though and instead focuses upon the results of the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel as well as the imperialist occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by Israeli forces and fanatical Israeli settlers/squatters. Some of what he writes about is personal and about families displaced and homes destroyed and the indifference of the world towards the plight of the Palestinians. Personally, I have mostly read Jewish-American and Israeli historians from both sides of the conflict and Hadawi's voice is something that is needed to counter-balance what is known about this sad situation that continues to be a major focus of American foreign policy concerns. Hadawi's words are filled with sadness that we can almost visualize such as his memories of his home in what is today Israel. What we learn from this book is that there are two people with ties and attachments to the land called Israel and the Occupied Territories. Only one people have all the rights and all the guns. If you are open-minded and want to see this conflict from a new POV that isn't given extensive coverage by the American media then you should make an effort to read this book.

More of a screed than a history.......2002-06-11

The subtitle of _Bitter Harvest_ is "A Modern History of Palestine", but it really should be "A Long Anti-Zionist Screed". The book really focuses very little on the people or leaders of Palestine. Instead it closely documents the misdeeds of the Israelis. While no sane person would argue that the Palestinians don't have plenty of grievances with Israel, Hadawi lets his pro-Palestinian mindset hijack the work, turning a history into an indictment.

I don't think it is particularly factual about those Israeli misdeeds, either.

On page 9, Hawadi states, "The first signs of unrest between Arab and Jew occurred in 1920 when Zionist designs on the Holy Land became apparent." What he really means is that the Arabs were still at rest. This ignores, for example, that Beha-a-Din, the Turkish governor of Jaffa, ordered the expulsion of all Russian Jews living in his city in 1914. Seven hundred were forced out in just the first day. In 1915, working as the "secretary for Jewish affairs" for Djemal Pasha, the same Beha-a-Din closed the Anglo-Palestine Bank, as well as the Zionist newspapers and schools. No unrest indeed.

On page 280, talking about the cease-fire between Israel and the PLO in 1981 just before the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, he states that "...all PLO guerilla attacks against Israel had completely ceased..." and that "The PLO had scrupulously respected the cease-fire...". Yet the immediate catalyst for the invasion of Lebanon was the murder in London of the Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov by a member of the Palestine National Liberation Movement. Of course, the PNLM is not the PLO, so his facts are correct in a certain way, but the meaning he conveys, of unprovoked Israeli aggression, is obviously false.

In fact, as far as I can tell, he omits every single fact that would possibly show the Palestinians in a less than perfect light. There is only oblique reference to the 1973 war. The hijacking that led to the raid at Entebbe is never mentioned. He describes the attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics as "the Munich incident of September 5, 1972, in which eleven Israeli and four Palestinian commandoes lost their lives" - making it sound as if they were all in a bus accident or something. There is no mention at all in his book of the 400,000 or so Jewish refugees that were tossed out of the Muslim countries after the 1967 war.

Even worse, Hadawi tells us almost nothing about the Palestinian people, their character, their leaders (Arafat is only mentioned on three pages of the book and two of these are single sentences) or their aspirations (with of course the exception of their aspiration to throw the Jews out and take back Palestine). He spends a grand total of a page and a half discussing the nature of Palestine, its area, the qualities of its land, the distribution of the population, their pursuits, they way they lived before the Jews arrived and so on. Even in this limited description, he manages to add in a couple of digs at the Zionists.

Hadawi also uses some sources that I consider questionable or at least obscure. He quotes private conversations, obscure university professors, and even an anonymous letter to an American newspaper. In one place (page 85) he puts a quote in the text that in the footnotes he proves is impossible to verify and on shaky ground to start with.

If you want to read a book that fills you in on every grievance that the Palestinians have ever had with Israel, then this is the book for you. If you're looking for a simple history as told from the Palestinian point of view, you'll find this book lacking.

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