Sculpture, Form and Philosophy: The Notebooks of Alexander G. Weygers

Book Description

Sculpture, Form, and Philosophy The Notebooks of Alexander G. Weygers by Alexander G. Weygers

It's not often that a master artist puts pen to paper to describe in detail his theory of and approach to art. SCULPTURE, FORM, AND PHILOSOPHY is a rare treat, a glimpse into the mind and technique of a true artistic genius. Alexander Weygers began his career as an engineer and, through schooling and private apprenticeship, slowly developed into a multi-disciplined artist, with a focus on sculpting. His later years were spent compiling the illustrations, photographs, and text that would describe his life's work. As a teacher himself, he meant the book to be a hands-on instructional aid that would also encourage students to delve into the philosophy behind their art. In this, Weygers has succeeded, for SCULPTURE, FORM, AND PHILOSOPHY delivers a personal, practical, and philosophical discussion of the fine art of sculpting.

Customer Reviews:

very interesting.......2007-08-17

Its rare to see a sculptor's notebooks, & this is a great read. He doesn't waffle endlessly, and what he does say succinctly will teach you plenty and he draws very clear diagrams. the book is also printed very nicely, large size, black n white. he talks about form, studios, techniques, tool choices, all sorts of things. explains several of his own works & the techniques he used. the section on anatomy is only a few pages at the end but packed with invaluable info. i'm very glad i have this book. the only downside is that there are not many photos of the finished works he did (though he's drawn beaut pictures). still, i guess it'd be easy to find photos on the net & i'd rather have his explanations & drawings in his own notebook. recommended for sculptors who want to learn trad techniques and/or do figurative stuff.

Sculpture, Form, and Philosophy: The Notebooks of Alexander G. Weygers

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Sculpture, Form, and Philosophy: The Notebooks of Alexander G. Weygers

Manufacturer: 2002
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ICRK12

Book Description

Thomas Dixon has a notorious reputation as the writer of the source material for D.W. Griffith's groundbreaking and controversial 1915 feature film The Birth of a Nation. Perhaps unfairly, Dixon has been branded an arch-conservative and a racist obsessed with what he viewed as "the Negro problem." As American Racist makes clear, however, Dixon was a complex, multitalented individual who, as well as writing some of the most popular novels of the early twentieth century, was involved in the production of some eighteen films.

Dixon used the motion picture as a propaganda tool for his often outrageous opinions on race, communism, socialism, and feminism. His most spectacular production, The Fall of a Nation (1916), argues for American preparedness in the face of war and boasts a musical score by Victor Herbert, making it the first American feature film to have an original score by a major composer. Like the majority of Dixon's films, The Fall of a Nation has been lost, but had it survived, it might well have taken its place alongside The Birth of a Nation as a masterwork of silent film. Anthony Slide examines each of Dixon's films and discusses the novels from which they were adapted. Slide chronicles Dixon's transformation from a major supporter of the original Ku Klux Klan in his early novels to an ardent critic of the modern Klan in his last film, Nation Aflame. American Racist is the first book to discuss Dixon's work outside of literature and provide a wide overview of the life and career of this highly controversial twentieth-century southern populist.

Customer Reviews:

A Scholarly Analysis of a very Complex Figure.......2006-09-12

I initially wrote this review for a film journal which shall remain nameless. It insisted that I slant my review by casting insinuations of racism on an author who is a very distinguished film scholar and a fine human being who has a track record of publications for the past thirty years and more. While CINEASTE saw no problem in publishing an objective review, this nameless journal did. I will not engage in such scurrillous activities merely to gain another publication credit and present my review for readers as follows.

During the early 1980s I acquired a copy of THE CLANSMAN (1905) by Thomas Dixon. Familiar with D.W. Griffith's feature film version THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915), I scanned the opening pages with some interest but the purple nature of its prose and a virulent racism far exceeding anything found in the notorious film version prevented any further excavation on my part. The book is now missing since my move across the Atlantic and until I read this recent biography I believed both Dixon and his works worthy of consignment to oblivion. However, this is a misguided judgement. If Anthony Slide neither wishes to praise Dixon nor to bury him, he has instead provided a highly insightful study into an author whose ideology requires appropriate undersdtanding rather than immediate rejection.

Slide's book places Dixon's work in a relevant socio-historical context necessary to understand a writer who, though promoting repugnant ideals, often reflected certain dominant ideas of his era. Dixon was also a lawyer, minister, playwright, and contemporary auteur responsible for the production of some eighteen feature films between 1914 and 1937, the most famous being THE BIRTH OF A NATION. Yet his racism was contradictory. Although sharing views similar to those of Leni Riefenstahl concerning African-Americans, he never deigrated Jews and he respected Native Americans. He never supported the Southern cause in the Civil War but espoused reconciliation and union instead. However, like Griffith, Dixon was influenced by the dark myth of Reconstruction and feared the supposed Negro threat to American life. But, as Slide shows, these views differed little from those held by Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson. They would certainly not receive unqualified approval from today's Aryan Nation since Dixon's ideology contained several contradictions that Slide analyzes throughout his study.

Although Griffith's film revived the fortunes of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, Dixon never supported its rebirth and even condemned it as his 1907 novel THE TRAITOR and his last screen credit NATION AFLAME (1937) show. Like Griffith, he idealized a remove historical image of an organization that was actually disbanded by its creator Nathan Bedford Forrest two years after its foundation in 1867 as John Wyeth mentions in his still classic study THAT DEVIL FORREST (1899). Slide's chapters emphasize that "Dixon is a complex character, and while his on-screen commentary on race, on miscegenation, on women's uffrage, on socialism, and on communism may appear outmoded, one should never doubt Dixon's integrity or his supreme faith in his Southern philosophy." (7) He saw the South as being representative of any American state espousing common conservative values against elements felt to be alien such as the Negro, feminism, and socialism. In other words, Dixon had much in common with the contemporary ideas examined by Richard Slotkin in THE FATAL ENVIRONMENT: THE MYTH OF CUSTER IN THE AGE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION, 1800-1890 (1988)

Like Griffith, Dixon saw motion pictures not just as entertainment but more as a means for promoting serious ideas. Thus Slide concentrates on Dixon in terms of his role as a member of the contemporary film community rather than as a literary figure. The first four chapters place Dixon within the necessary historical context to understand his beliefs as well as his reproductions of Southern history on print, stage, and film. After THE BIRTH OF A NATION, Dixon concentrated more on cinema. But, despite his racial views, he was often ahead of his time on other issues such as supporting animal rights (like Jack London in his posthumous 1917 novel MICHAEL, BROTHER OF JERRY, opposing capital punishment, and protesting against scientific involvement in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction as his unproduced one-act play THE HOPE OF THE WORLD (1924) reveals. Yet despite espousing segregation and opposing miscegenation, Dixon never held any personal animosity against blacks like later twentieth century racists; instead Dixon believed in separate development allowing the race to follow its own particular cultural and historical destiny as he saw it, one that could never match the achievements of white civilization. However, in the opening chapters, Slide suggests that Dixon may have struggled against repressed sexual feelings involving black males and white females manifesting themselves in badly written purple prose passages in novels such as THE LEOPARD'S SPOTS (1902) and THE CLANSMAN (1905). Slide cites a telephone conversation he had with James Zebulon Wright during 2003 concerning Dixon's first sexual experience with his black friend Dick (33). In 1996, Wright wrote an unpublished doctoral dissertation on Dixon and had access to many of the author's private papers which his widow later destroyed. In his 1984 study, THE CRUCIBLE OF RACE, Joel Williamson states that Dixon wrote THE LEOPARD'S SPOTS believing that his mother has been sexually molested when a child by a black man. Slide also reveals that Dixon entered into negotations for a Kinemacolor version of THE CLANSMAN in 1911 but it is unlikely that any footage was shot. But THE BIRTH OF A NATION boosted the status of both Dixon and Griffith leading to the former directing THE FALL OF A NATION the following year. The film encouraged a developing pro-war mood in America. and doing quite well at the box-office. Since the film (like other Dixon collaborations)has not survived, it is difficult to judge the quality of this work. These missing films result in Slide undertaking a necessary, but problematic, reconstruction by secondary sources which often hinder the necessity of having complete access to all the relevant evidence needed to evaluate fully the historical implications of the material.

Dixon's views on female emancipation were also antiquated as Slide shows in his comparison of the two film versions of THE FOOLISH VIRGIN (1916, 1924). Socialism was also a threat to the fabric of American society as Dixon's second novel THE ONE WOMAN (1903) and its 1918 film version reveals. But although Dixon shared contemporary anti-Red sentiments displayed in his novels COMRADES (1909) and THE ROOT OF EVIL (1911), contradictory elements also appear in the text especially in the latter work. Slide believes that this book "is better identified as an attack on capitalism, and there are many passages that might well be regarded as appopriate to the early years of the twenty-first century rather than the early years of the twentieth." (127) Dixon also attacks slavery in this novel which Slide argues "almost compensates for the worst excesses of racism to be found elsewhere in Dixon's writings." (130)

Slide also shows that the 1920s represented Dixon's most productive period as a journeyman scenarist before the Wall Street Crash. Dixon later failed to change with the times despite his early support for the New Deal and he tended to repeat formulas. However, Dixon contributed storylines to four contemporary Westerns and several melodramas. He also returned to directing and scripting THE MARK OF THE BEAST (1924), one of the first American films to deal with psychoanalysis long before LADY IN THE DARK (1944) and SPELLBOUND (1945. The con cluding chapters deal with the last adaptation of Dixon's anti-Klan novel NATION AFLAME (1937), the final obscure years before his death in 1946, and Raymond Rohauer's attempts to gain exclusive copyright of THE BIRTH OF A NATION.

AMERICAN RACIST is a pioneering work. In many ways, it illustrates important issues of character complexity and tensions affecting certain historical eras that also appear in Maureen 0'Hara's TIS HERSELF (2004)and Julie Gottlieb's 2000 study FEMININE FASCISTS. 0'Hara discusses dark Ford's contradictory and his hidden bi-sexuality while Gottlieb traces the role of former suffragettes in Oswald Mosely's British Union of Fascists in the 1930s. People and historical events are often not as monologic as politically correct academics, attempting to control information and silence alternative voices in ways resembling totalitarian governments, wish. Anthony Slide's book is a welcome addition to the many informed and scholarly studies written outside the mainstream that this particular press has encouraged. It stands shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Stephen Youngkin's exellent biography of Peter Lorre, THE LOST ONE (2005). The long awaited Orson Welles biography by Joseph McBride will soon add to the prestigious list of publications that this company has issued over the past ten years.

American Racist: the Life and Films of Thomas Dixon.(Book Review): An article from: Cineaste

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American Racist: the Life and Films of Thomas Dixon.(Book Review): An article from: Cineaste
Patrick McGilligan
Manufacturer: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000976V8Y
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Cineaste, published by Cineaste Publishers, Inc. on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 865 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: American Racist: the Life and Films of Thomas Dixon.(Book Review)
Author: Patrick McGilligan
Publication: Cineaste (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Page: 71(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

"Digital Gothic focuses fascinatingly on the pre-soporific roots of the group and their place in a cool electronic lineage which traces right up to Detroit techno."-Mojo "A stimulating companion to the group's music."-The WirePaul Stump picks his way through a minefield of releases, assessing Tangerine Dream's long career with a highly critical eye, and for the very first time places their mammoth output within an ordered perspective.

Customer Reviews:

Not A Book For Tangerine Dream Fans.......2006-05-08

The author does an admirable job via trying to encapsulate Tangerine Dream's enormous musical discography. However, he only has a few accolades for Edgar Froese, the inimitable and indomitable leader of the Band. The author knows nothing about the Froese family. For example, Edgar, Monika and Jerome Froese are all vegetarians, wildlife and nature lovers and interested in saving the planet. I am especially disappointed that the author does not consistently commend Edgar Froese's incredible talents and ability to create great music after losing so many incredibly gifted bandmates. Sure, Tangerine Dream has had a few below average albums but none of them are as bad as this author states they are. It is high-time for a captivating and comprehensive book about Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream. They are the music industry's seminal and pioneering electronic icons !

Ugh! Too bad..........2002-07-14

I was very excited to get this book in hopes it contained new insights (so little has been written in depth) into one of the great electronic bands of our times but unfortunantly he really doesn't have any. Problem for me was Paul uses WAY to many quotes from Julian Cope's hyperactive book on Kraut rock- I already have that book and think it's pretty ridiculous itsself. When Paul steps out and writes his own opinion the book starts to have meat. But it lacks real depth and insight. Too much is skimmed over and he has an annoying style of writing two versions of every chapter, one skimmed one so-so. The British writer Miles wrote an excellent book on Pink Floyd and he also wrote the program notes for the Stratosfear tour book. It's REALLY too bad he never wrote a book about T.D. But bottom line this is it for now. The book does make you want to check out some of their more lame recordings- but tread carefully overall.

Written like a music critic.......2002-02-22

Mr. Stump has written Digital Gothic like a long and tiring review of the bands work. And in 'formula' critic fashion he has something bad to say then retracts it a few paragraphs later. Though some of the insites into T.G. are interesting, they seem second, third, forth hand at best. First hand personal interviews with the band would have been nice. I suppose the biggest disappointment of all is that such a ground breaking band with such a rich history has so little written about them. This can be due to T.G.'s trade-mark 'cool' mannerisms that they adopted (and warmed a bit with age) as they became older but none the less, Mr. Stump definately did not dig very deep. Repeating himself often by simply rewording his intent and direction as if to fill the pages so the thin book wasn't 10 pages, the author simply likes to read his own writing.
Tangerine Dream has to be my favorite band in modern history but I found the book boorish.
It only deserves a rating above two due to the fact that it helps feed the fans of T.D. who have to pick at bits and scraps to indulge their interest in the facinating artists that truely desearve the title.

Franke & Froese.......2000-09-26

I still find it difficult to understand how these two blokes supposedly weren't close buddies? I was pretty astonished when I first read about this in Paul's great little book.So does that mean those times when I queued up in the cold to see my heroes after a gig and watched them sign their autographs in amazement,that all was not rosey in TD's garden? And how did Franke & Froese exchange their musical ideas so well if this was so.Great book!

It'll do for now.......2000-02-17

I bought this book because there are no others on the subject! It is dauntingly slim for a band 33 years old and deals fleetingly with certain areas of the band's history. That said it did answer many questions and was well enough written. It also whetted my appetite for more music. I would have liked to see a larger volume that could have taken time to go further in depth on this band's history, but for the price I am not complaining.

Average customer rating:

very impressive

World of Darkness going Anime?

a must

Well written and very informative

An excellent book for superior characters and NPCs.

World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X (World of Darkness (White Wolf Paperback))
James Moore
Manufacturer: White Wolf Games Studio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Moore, James A. | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Customer Reviews:

very impressive.......2001-11-08

I've had this book for a while now and from reading through both books, it far exceeds Hunter: The Reckoning. Just based on that, and the fact that I know Demon Hunter X is a very excllent sourcebook, I'd highly recommend it over Hunter: The Reckoning...this is just what my opinion and current course of action though. Do with it what you will...

World of Darkness going Anime?.......1999-04-22

Let me Just say WOW!!! First of all Demon Hunters are incredibly powerful. it has great describtions of the Shih and the Strike Force Zero(aka SF0). Both have intresting pasts and present about how they deal with the Shen>. And as an added bonus it has Great art work (even though a little graphic) but still "DA BOMB". Now if only they rest of the World of Darkness was Anime.....

a must.......1999-04-08

this is another must buy supplement for anyone wishing to play in the east. whether you play one of the shen or wish to play one of the hunters, demon hunter x adds a whole new dimension to gaming. when will white wolf get the hint and make KoE a division of its own.

Well written and very informative.......1999-04-01

Demon Hunter X details a lot of information for running a Kindred of the East campaign for Vampire. The Shih are well detailed as is Strike Force Zero, and one is hard pressed to choose which to play. Not everyone takes the Shen lying down, and both the Shih and SF0 are at odds on how to truly deal with these demons. A great opening story and lot of info on how the Shih and SF0 hunt down and destroy the Shen, this book is highly recommended to anyone even remotely interested in the hunters in the Middle Kingdom.

An excellent book for superior characters and NPCs........1999-03-27

I thouroughly enjoyed the book and found it well written. The Shih are the absolute characters I have seen in the World of Darkness.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book for Group Discussion.......2007-07-25

I am a partner in an accounting firm. We bought a copy of this book for every member of the firm and use it as a discussion aid. One morning each week our staff meets to discuss one chapter. The author has some unique insights and some just common sense concepts. Our staff appears to embrace the book as well. I recommend this for every serious business professional.

Image counts $$$$$$$$.......2007-04-11

This is the best from CMBuk,the leading Image Consultancy in the world, now in USA. concise and well illustrated. Easy 1-2-3 color yourself beautiful, color yourself confident.

Very good resource to own.......2007-03-12

This book has terrific information and also supplies practical ways to encorporate the information into your life. Any professional will benefit from learning & practicing the things taught in this book.

Common sense information.......2006-12-30

Much of this book covered general good sense and manners, which I suppose can be a problem for some. Television, I think, takes care of manners these days.

That said, there were times when I thought to myself, "Oh, I wish I'd known that before I started my job." For that reason, these gems are worth looking into, though I am sure there are more useful books on the market.

Good tips & great read.......2006-04-01

This book provides real gems for conducting one's self in a professional manner. It also manages to do it in a way that it is actually enjoyable to read.

It pays special attention to gender roles and a woman's place in business. It was written by two female authors, so I guess that makes sense.

Amazon.com

In Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone tells the story of working so deep undercover in the Mafia that the truth of his identity became blurry even for him. For six years, Pistone posed as jewel thief Donnie Brasco in order to pull off one of the most audacious sting operations ever. Because any small detail could blow his cover, Pistone adjusted his personality and habits to earn the trust of Mafia soldiers, connected guys, captains, and godfathers. He was so successful that many FBI surveillance teams assumed that he was yet another Mafia guy. This memoir paints a vivid portrait of the underworld of wise guys by revealing their code of honor, their treacherous dealings, their relationships with their wives and mistresses, and their lavish money habits. The suspense in Pistone's story builds as he unfurls his experience of life on the edge of good and evil and on the verge of death.

Customer Reviews:

graet book.......2007-08-23

like it much better that movie- so much more insight- get it if you are interested in this topic!

Joe Pistone was one street-smart dude!.......2007-08-21

Gripping story of Joe Pistone posing undercover as Donnie Brasco for 6 years (!) to infiltrate the mob. As I read the story, I couldn't help but keep thinking how brave and street-smart this guy is. One slip and he's a dead man! Pistone thoroughly covered all his bases to maintain his fake identity. In the end, after the FBI agents announced to his mob ties that Donnie was actually an undercover agent all this time, they doubted it could be possible, and told the agents their was no way Donnnie was working undercover. That's how good this guy was!

great read.......2007-01-07

I'd put money that you've already seen the movie. What you wanna know is if the book is any good/better/different, right? I'd say different. For example in the book "Donnie" is much older, perhaps over forty - his kids are in high school, whereas as I recall Jonny Depp's Donnie was late twenties/early thirties perhaps, with pre-school-ish kids....Maybe that's not a big deal. A bigger difference is much of the tension in the book comes from one of Donnie's early connections and sparring partners, Tony, who feuds with Lefty over "control" of Donnie - this is a very important strand in Donnie's rise in the Mafia, and as I recall wasn't in the movie at all. Bottom line is there is far more in the book than the bare bones story told in the film, and it's a well told tale. Forgettaboutit, just buy it....

A Hero's Book.......2006-03-28

Agent Pistone is a hero. His willingness to go deep undercover for years to clean house on organized crime is amazing. I wouldn't have done it and salute his willingness to put this mission ahead of his own life.

Joe Pistone got and grew a unique assignment for the FBI. Starting with car theft rings, he was able to penetrate and become a made member of an organized crime family. As his association and the opportunity for deeper penetration grew, he had to live more and more of his life with the mob. This entailed no dinners at home, missed children's birthdays, weeks without seeing his family and the stress of always being in character for long, long periods of time.

Through this book, the reader gets a day-to-day view of the mob. Often bored as only guys with too much time on their hands and nothing to talk about except cars and girls can be, his existence is enlivened by the sudden forays to steal and kill (he was able to avoid involvement in any murders, helped save many and avoided direct involvement in theft). Playing on the greed of Mafioso and the seeming ability of Donnie to connect them with money making scams in Florida, the mob lets Donnie in and eventually become an insider. Along the way, the reader gets to see mob guys at work, at play (particularly eating and spending money until they were broke), scheming against other made family members, and living the life with all the swagger and pride having "made" the mob gives these hoods.

Pistone was incredibly successful. His wires and testimony lead to the arrest, conviction and deaths (through mob killing of some of those who had vouched him up the organization) of many mobsters. This is a fascinating story.

Great read.......2006-02-26

This was an amazing book. It provided a great look into the life of one of the greatest FBI agents to ever live. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the field of federal law enforcement or if they just want to enjoy a suspense-filled book.

Donnie Brasco My Undercover Life in the Mafia

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Donnie Brasco- or My Mafia Life in the Bush of Ghosts
An amazing man with an amazing family

Donnie Brasco My Undercover Life in the Mafia
Joesph D. (W/Woodley, Richard) Pistone
Manufacturer: New American Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0283996595

Customer Reviews:

Donnie Brasco- or My Mafia Life in the Bush of Ghosts.......2000-03-21

Donnie Brasco is a fine book because Joe Pistone conveys what it's like to be the pioneer of something extremely dangerous and unknown in isolation. What is amazing is comparing the modern day FBI survellence techniques, with their tremendous technical and personnel support, and the stripped down solo flight of Joe Pistone. It would be like being an astronaut on the moon during the 1960's with a lunar module that was powered with a computer like your PC and the Space shuttle today. The book is accurate about how Joe Pistone never lost his personality and character even though he had to act like a mobster. In truth, Joe Pistone loved his family and was especially kind to endangered teenagers.

An amazing man with an amazing family.......1998-04-16

Joe Pistone was the first FBI Agent to ever infiltrate the Mafia. Reading this book can put the fear of god in you knowing how much he scarified. The reward he claims for all of his efforts can not be assessed at any street value. Likewise, the amount of time lost away from his family can never be assessed. As a childhood friend of his daughters, I can remember the grueling process of reacquainting himself back within his family. However, his book covers the life within the FBI before he and his family went into the witness relocation program and just touches upon the family issues of just not being there. The arduous and suspenseful stories he recounts of "getting in" with the bad guys proved that I could not put this book down.

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Donnie Brasco : My Undercover Life in the Mafia
Richard; Pistone, Joseph D. Woodley
Manufacturer: N A L
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Donnie Brasco-My Undercover Life in the Mafia

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Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia A True Story by FBI Agent

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Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.
JOSEPH D.- PISTONE
Manufacturer: See notes
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Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia. (FBI infiltration of

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JOSPEH D. ET AL- PISTONE
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Customer Reviews:

Civil Wars in Africa Revisted.......2000-04-12

This a well written factual study of African civil wars. It clearly addresses the crisis without taking sides or introducing any ideological or other agendas. The chapters on Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Mozamique and Rwanda are outstanding. Moreover, the conclouding chapter brings in an outstanding and fresh perspective. In short this is an excellent book.

Book Description

Why haven't the poorest Africans been able to prosper in the twenty-first century? Celebrated economist George Ayittey thinks the answer is obvious: economic freedom was denied to them, first by foreign colonial powers and now by indigenous leaders with similarly oppressive practices. As war and conflict replaced peace, Africa's infrastructure crumbled. Instead of bemoaning the myriad difficulties facing the continent today, Ayittey boldly proposes a program of development--a way forward--for Africa. Africa Unchained investigates how Africa can modernize, build, and improve its indigenous institutions, and argues forcefully that Africa should build and expand upon traditions of free markets and free trade rather than continuing to use exploitative economic structures. The economic model here is uniquely African and takes little heed from the developed world; this is sure to be a highly controversial plan for moving Africa forward.

Customer Reviews:

Africa Unchained.......2007-05-09

This book, in a word is: Remarkable! God created "All Men Equal", and suffice to say, African's wherever they are in the Diasporia, are, apart of the Human Family. We all know the history of Colonialism/Slavery; however, Africa, through the Post colonial period has had about a little over 40 years to work toward: Social Stability, Nationhood, Systems of Government-that works, and developing strategies of amalgamation/unity and [Order] Social Order, that would ensure, development in all phases of social acceptance, and a recognition that Africa is ready to join the Nations of the Industrial Revolution. Sadly, Africa, has not reached the rate of development that is required and that other continents under Quasi-Colonialism have achieved. This has always troubled me. This book tells in stark terms, why the Sub-African Continent continues to lag behind the Universal Determinants. This book puts the blame on African Leadership and in details supports it's thesis with inexplicable evidence. Sure, it speaks of the lingering vestiges of Colonialism, but, the emphasis is on the modern leaders who have "shortchanged" Africa's [Greatest Resource]...the People. This book, was the "cornerstone" for my research and understanding of the chronic problems of Africa's Underdevelopment. The Premise in my view is this: If Africa remains in it's current state, the Peoples of African Descent around the Globe with find Freedom and their proper place in the World of Division of Races and Ethnicity, wanting. I recommend this book to all scholars and those who seriously long for the remedy of how to resolve and solve and find the Social Solutions to Africa's problems. Africa remains: The sleeping giant!

Out of an abundant Heart..........2005-11-12

He put's his faith on africa's young up and coming "cheetahs", and so do I. I feel empowered by George's bare knuckle rumble in the jungle with the political elite and can't wait to join this fight.
They'll fight dirty, and we'll fight smarter and faster and with a good old man like George to show us the tricks, we shall overcome.

Insightful Analysis of Africa Today.......2005-10-30

This is the most brilliant text on Africa I have read, and I don't say that lightly. With almost 500 pages of small text, it's not exactly a breeze to get through, but it is worth every second spent. The author unapologetically describes the mess that the "Hippo" generation following decolonization made, and how it ruined the continent. His prescriptions, which amount to `Africans must solve their own problems in their own way, growing out of African traditions', is right on. I hope that anyone interested in Africa reads this book.

good book.......2005-09-30

this is a great book. IF we have more people like George that tell the truth about Africa like he does in his book, maybe, just maybe we will be able to transform Africa.

Tough Love for Tough Challenges.......2005-03-30

For too long written off as irrelevant to international affairs except as the stage for proxy conflicts during the Cold War or the recipient for the world's charity, Africa is nonetheless poised to play an increasingly important role in the global community of the 21st century. Within the decade, West Africa alone will provide more than one-fourth of North America's petroleum imports, surpassing the entire Middle East. The continent also boasts the world's fastest population growth: by 2020, there will be an estimated 1.2 billion Africans-more than the combined populations of Europe and North America. Yet despite the dynamic potential implicit in these natural and human resources data, Africa remains the world's economic basket case: per capita GDP is barely $575 while thirty-two of the thirty-six countries classified by the United Nations Development Program are to be found in Africa.

Why this apparent contradiction? Defying the conventional wisdom that has long infantilized Africans by blaming colonial exploitation, superpower rivalries, intergovernmental aid agencies, impersonal market forces-anyone and everyone external to the continent-Dr. George B.N. Ayittey, himself a son of Africa, points his finger at the causes closer to home: the "vampire states" and "coconut republics" whose undemocratic and illegitimate rulers have done more harm to their own people than any external agents. In short, Africa Unchained is an unusually frank truth speaking to power-or rather, a dose of tough love for the tough challenges faced by the nations and peoples of the continent.

Unlike many works on Africa, however, Dr. Ayittey's does not end on a pessimistic note. Rather, he points the way forward by looking back at the continent's own rich history of freedom: free enterprise, free markets, and free trade, by free people organized in free societies. The road ahead, he correctly points out, lies through the past-recovering the authentic, acknowledging the baleful. A provocative thesis, to be sure; but it is one which deserves to be considered by scholars and policymakers.

-Dr. J. Peter Pham, author of Liberia: Portrait of a Failed State

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