Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Painting: Hybridity, Hegemony, Historicism (Liverpool University Press

Book Description

This collection of essays, with contributions from several contemporary artists, examines and assesses the current status of painting within global contemporary art. The meaning and value of "painting" as both a category and a set of practices is analyzed by internationally renowned art critics, historians, and theorists including Griselda Pollock and Alison Rowley, Katya Garcia Anton, David Green and Jonathan Harris. Concerned with the internationalization of contemporary art as a feature of globalization, Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Painting sheds new light on fine art understood as a facet of a global culture and society dominated by northern and European-US power and history. What kinds of resistance to this hegemony might be possible for artists located in the "third world" yet inescapably implicated in the big business of the "art world"?

"... the book opens up space for ongoing consideration of contemporary painting... a good addition to a library or personal collection."—The Art Book

Customer Reviews:

Excellent purchase.......2007-06-09

Excellent purchase, description of the book was accurate, shipping was on time. thank you

Book Description

Food and drink have provided fascinating insights into cultural patterns in consumer societies. There is an intimate relationship between food and identity but processes of identity formation through food are far from clear. This book adds a new perspective to the existing body of scholarship by addressing pivotal questions: is food central or marginal to identity construction? Does food equally matter for all group(ing)s? Why would, in people's experience, food become especially important at one moment, or, on the contrary, lose its significance?

The origin of food habits is also interrogated. Contributors investigate how, when, why and by whom cooking, eating and drinking were used as a means of distinction. Leading historians and sociologists look at concepts of authenticity, adjustment, invention and import, as well as food signs and codes, and why they have been accepted or rejected. They examine a wide range of periods and topics: the elderly, alcohol and identity in Early Modern Europe; food riots and national identity; noble families, eating and drinking in eighteenth-century Spain; consumption and the working class in the nineteenth century; commensality; the meaning of Champagne in Belle-Epoque France; the narrative of food in Norway; wine and bread in French Algeria; food and identity in post-war Germany.

This intriguing book brings together new, comparative insights and research that allow a better understanding of processes of integration and segregation, the role of food in the construction of identity, and the relationship between old and new food habits.

Average customer rating:

Great book but not the one I needed.

Tales of Love and High Adventure

A graphic novel anthology of classic short stories

illustrated O. Henry stories

Graphic Classics, Vol. 11: O. Henry (Graphic Classics (Graphic Novels))
O. Henry , Mort Castle , Rod Lott , Rick Geary , Esao Andrews , Shary Flenniken , and Others
Manufacturer: Eureka Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Henry, O. | ( H ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
19th Century | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Horror Classics: Graphic Classics, Volume Ten (Graphic Classics (Eureka))

ASIN: 0974664820

Book Description

Graphic Classics: O. Henry is a great collection of stories from the master of the surprise ending. This eleventh volume in the Graphic Classics series features "The Ransom of Red Chief," the precursor to "Home Alone." Plus "The Cabollero's Way," the original tale of The Cisco Kid, and O. Henry's Christmas classic "The Gift of the Magi," along with seven more stories, including a new O. Henry "sequel" by Mort Castle.

Customer Reviews:

Great book but not the one I needed........2007-03-25

This was a great book to read a literary analysis of O Henry's works, unfortunately, the story I needed it for was not in the book. I had to return it.

Tales of Love and High Adventure.......2005-06-12

Graphic Classics continues is incredible series of illustrated classics with "O Henry," an American short story author and the master of the twist ending. Almost everyone who has gone through the US school system has encountered O Henry at some point or other, most likely in "Gift of the Magi," but the remainder of his catalog is not as generally well-known.

This volume, # 11 in the Graphic Classics series, has some of the most variety of the series. From cowboy adventure yarns to morality tales to straight, melancholy tragedies, O Henry seems to have written a little bit of everything. The majority of the Graphic Classics series have focused on horror, which seems really suited to the format, but it is great to see that adventure has a place as well.

This volume contains:

"An Unfinished Story" - A quick snippet about exactly who qualifies for heaven.

"The Ransom of Red Chief" - A cartoonish take on a Dennis the Menace-style tale of kidnapping a spoiled bully.

"The Caballero's Way" - A brilliant tale of the Cisco Kid, famed bandit and caballero. The illustrations are superb, completely complementing the romantic nature of the yarn. Ah, for the love of Tonia Perez, what would we all not dare? I could happily buy a whole book in this style.

"The Gift of the Magi" - THE classic O Henry tale, illustrated by Graphic Classics's regular Lisa K. Weber. Her pretty art adds the necessary touch on this familiar and beautiful story.

"After 20 Years" - A clever story of friendship, with the art giving the right rough and ready feel. Touching and sad.

"A Strange Story" - A VERY strange story, with cartoonish illustrations. A funny break from the heavy tales preceding.

"The Marionettes" - Rick Geary's Victorian style is great for this story of free will, heroes and villains, and why people do what they do.

"The Furnished Room" - A straight-forward tragedy, full of loneliness and death.

"Roads of Destiny" - The struggling peasant/poet David takes three paths through life, but all lead to the same destiny. Three different illustrators lends power to the adaptation.

"The Friendly Call" - An odd tale of loyalty and friendship.

"A Madison Square Arabian Night" - A dilettante's dismay, a photograph of a woman...

"The Eye of the Beholder" - An artist who paints souls rather than appearance, finds that not everyone appreciates having their true nature revealed.

A graphic novel anthology of classic short stories .......2005-05-13

Graphic Classics: O. Henry is a graphic novel anthology of classic short stories by O. Henry, each of which is presented in comic book form. Each individual story is fully and distinctively illustrated in comic-style in black-and-white by a different artist, and faithfully renders the gist of O. Henry's complex characterizations. The O. Henry stories featured include The Ransom of Red Chief, The Gift of the Magi, The Caballero's Way, Roads of Destiny, The Marionettes, The Friendly Call, and The Furnished Room. Brief biographies of the many different artists round out this introduction to works of great literature, highly recommended for all ages.

illustrated O. Henry stories.......2005-03-29

There's 13 illustrated O. Henry stories altogether, by additional illustrators than the few noted on the cover. The accomplished illustrators bring out in their own distinctive visual styles the diverse dramatic moments and general tones of the stories. The illustrations also accentuate the abbreviated, selected text of each tale. With stories ranging from only a few pages to about 20 at most, the variety of illustration styles can be reviewed and appreciated quickly in this work which fits right in to the current popularity for graphic novels and similar works.

Average customer rating:

Graphic Classics, Vol. 11: O. Henry

Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1417674601

Customer Reviews:

Great calendar.......2006-02-28

This is hilarious. At least every week there is something that rings true with our family or friends.

Book Description

From the people at American Movie Classics, the premier classic movie television network, comes a companion that provides a new way of discovering the movies with a collection of over 4,500 films made between 1929 and 1979 and a treasury of other features. In addition to the individual film entries containing credits, ratings, running times, and synopses, the book includes film preservation updates; filmographies of stars and directors; lists of Oscar winners; film picks from stars, directors, and writers; information about related museums, magazines, and websites; and all of it illustrated with over 100 photos.

Customer Reviews:

Great Resource.......2007-07-03

My husband bought this book for me years ago for Christmas, I think. However, that was back in the good old days when AMC really stood for American Movie Classics (I miss it sooooo much - but that's another story.). I use this book as my own library checklist for movies I have added to my own video/DVD library. I just check 'em off as I acquire my classics! I love this book - it also makes a great read.

classic indeed.......1999-07-28

This is quite possibly the best smelling book about movies with which I have ever had the pleasure of spending an afternoon. Tons of great info, too.

An indispensable guide!.......1999-07-13

I'm in love with this book! It has incredibly concise and to-the-point reviews of all kinds of classic films. Sometimes I just like to rifle through it and pick a page to read. I'm sure I'll be using this book 20 years from now. It's a real find!

Average customer rating:

attacking with e4

World Champion at the Third Attempt (Gambit Chess)
Grigory Sanakoev
Manufacturer: Gambit Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Chess | Board Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1901983110

Book Description

It is rare that a Correspondence World Champion annotates a collection of the finest games from his career with detailed notes that penetrate deeply into the analytical and decision-making process. Yet this is precisely what Grigory Sanakoev (12th World Correspondence Champion, 1985-92) has done, and the result is a book packed with entertainment and instructive value, ideal for study by ambitious players.

Customer Reviews:

attacking with e4.......2002-07-20

Gambit books have two titles written by correspondence players. the first claims to have analysed many queen's pawn games to a forced win for white, the other is a superbly annotated collection of dynamic games. While the first (berliner's 'the system') is a dud, the second (this book) is one of the best books gambit have published, it just avoids the eye at tournament book stalls because it is a)correspondence chess b)non-descript in appearance.

The chess is breathtaking, and like dvoretsky says (and dvoretsky you can trust on these matters) there are many useful ideas in these games, i myself returned to playing e4 after reading this book. Not only is the chess wonderful the annotations are excellent too, and the prose and stories extremely readable. one of the best game collection i own along with taimanov's best games, smyslov's 125, tal's life and games and keres road to the top (and i own about 20 collections in all).

Don't make the mistake of buying the dud, buy the masterpiece instead

Book Description

Recent studies show that life skills coaching, executive coaching and business coaching are all effective ways of achieving sustainable growth, change and development in an individual, group or organisation.

The Coaching at Work Toolkit is the first comprehensive, practical resource for coaches in the use of the theories, tools, techniques and practices that affect learning and change. This book offers coaching tools and psychology-based techniques and is a much-needed guide to understanding the practice of coaching and applying the theories and language associated with it.

The employment of life skills coaching, executive coaching and business coaching is being heralded as the way to create organisations of the future. Anyone interested in achieving their best and staying ahead of the competition should read this book. Through the use of case studies, practical instructions and application guidelines, the authors have provided models, principles and techniques that enable professional coaches to achieve breakthrough results.

For the past ten years the authors, first as practitioners and then as educators, have worked closely with colleagues across the globe to develop coaching techniques that produce positive, measurable, lasting change.

This book builds upon the success of the authors' first general coaching reference The Complete Guide to Coaching at Work. This title focused on the nature of coaching, coaching models and frameworks, and the competencies for successful coaches.

Suzanne Skiffington and Perry Zeus have trained hundreds of coaches around the world. Through their internationally renowned coach training school, 1 to 1 Coaching School they have worked with established and new coaches, professionals and managers/leaders of organisations, consultants, groups and the academic community.

Customer Reviews:

Great toolkit ! .......2007-01-10

This a good resource for workplace coaches. It contains a lot of background and theory, and also has a whole range of exercises and tools that can assist the coaching process - a good buy !

A great resource for new and established coaches.......2006-04-10

This book is a remarkably comprehensive resource for coaches. This great book examines the nature of change as well as the role of the coach as a change agent. It clearly articulates the stages of the coaching process. There is a wealth of assessments, profiles and numerous practical coaching tools. The authors (internationally renowned coach trainers) also discuss the role of the coach's personality, coaching techniques and how to use them range from self-awareness exercises, problem-solving techniques and journalling. It is research-based, thorough and very readable. Highly recommended!.

good basic overview of simple coaching approaches.......2006-03-18

This a useful book which - although not a complete "toolkit" by any means - does provide a useful overview, and the beginning coach will find this helpful.

I found the authors' continuing hard-sell of their own training programs more than a little wearisome. After all, I paid for a book - not a sales pitch. Far too much ego in places, but still worth buying.

Ground-breaking reference book!.......2003-11-04

The 'Toolkit' is a highly professional, yet easy-to-understand reference book and includes a complete and very helpful glossary. The authors are the most respected coaching educators in the business world today. The professional coaching industry has evolved dramatically over the last two years and bears little resemblance to its fuzzy predecessor of the nineties. A lot of serious research and work has gone into this groundbreaking text book, and serious personal and organizational change can come from the use of the book.

The book brings together a complete listing of the major skills and techniques for organizational and personal coaches, and offers guidelines and instructions on how to employ them. The Toolkit provides processes, protocols, assessment instruments, forms, charts and checklists and examines the management practices of coaching. The text also details the changing nature and evolution of coaching, such as the increasing importance of specialization. To date, most available coaching books detail the standard practices of goal setting, action planning and some coaching interventions but they do not offer too many actual techniques that facilitate the desired change. Achieving measurable, sustainable outcomes isn't a matter of simplistic goal setting, personality profiling and cheerleading but requires the skilful use of validated, proven behavioral change methods and learning tools grounded in the behavioral sciences. In this book, these invaluable techniques are blue-printed and discussed, and then presented alongside case studies and exercises.

Groundbreaking Reference Book.......2003-11-04

The success of any coaching program is dictated by the program's resources depth, scientific validity and measurability. This invaluable, well written and very accessible reference provides exact processes and details for achieving successful coaching outcomes and will find a place on the bookshelves of many coaches, consultants, trainers, HR professionals, learning institutions and corporations.

Average customer rating:
Coaching at Work Toolkit
Suzanne Skiffington
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Book Company Australia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OGFE60

Book Description

With the phenomenal success of Elizabeth Kostovas critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller, The Historian, there is a renewed interest in the true story of Dracula. Originally published in 1990, Dracula, Prince of Many Faces still stands as the definitive biography of Vlad Dracula of Romania. Dracula, Prince of Many Faces reveals the extraordinary life and times of the infamous Vlad Dracula of Romania (1431-1476), nicknamed the Impaler. Dreaded by his enemies, emulated by later rulers like Ivan the Terrible, honored by his countrymen even today, Vlad Dracula was surely one of the most intriguing figures to have stalked the corridors of European and Asian capitals in the fifteenth century. In this definitive biography covering Vlad Draculas life and subsequent legend, readers will discover that life can truly be more terrifying than fiction.

Customer Reviews:

National Hero??? Right!.......2007-05-23

For those who lack historical knowledge of Central European history in the 14th and 15th Century, this book is an interesting book to read, as long as they do not fall into the trap the authors conceived in their false national grandeur. Due to that, I can only give this book, ONE star.

This book has several flaws big enough to drive a Dacia through it and would take a lot of pages, if not another book to correct all of them. A Dacia, for those who do not know, is a Romanian built automobile, based upon an out-dated Renault design that was manufactured in the 1970's.

Fascinating how historical facts intermixed with obvious bias, envious bitterness and with written with, in my opinion, a chip on their shoulder, includes inadequacies lacking a national historical identity towards the true owners and rulers of the Erdély, the region known in Latin as Transylvania, "beyond the forest," can portray a Wallachian despot, a Prince wannabe named Vlad III, better know as Dracula, as a national hero! No wonder the same people who call Dracula their national hero in the 20th century, who've uprooted 1000 year old villages, bulldozed down every house and all monuments, justifying their actions in the name of ethnic cleansing; then, resettled tens of thousands of persons from Hungarian speaking areas in Transylvania into harsh regions of modern Romania, Yes, that would make Dracula proud!

While there is a lot of history portrayed in this book, it is done with much envy and distortion towards Hungarians in general. Right from the beginning of the book "...Transylvanian place names that have Romanian, German, and Hungarian equivalents, we shall use the modern Romanian names..." This only makes sense one would assume, however even such simple statements reflect the falseness that is displayed throughout the book. It is implying that the Hungarian names held the least or were of no significance in the history of Transylvania, where as, the truth is factually the opposite. In Dracula's era, there was no such country as Romania, nor was Romanian an official language in Transylvania. The official language was Hungarian, Latin used for general administration, German in the Saxon cities, while Romanian was spoken by the minority in the western counties or duchies, increasing towards majority near the bordering counties or duchies that were near the regions of Wallachia and Moldavia. Romanian names in Transylvania only became dominant after 1918. Since the events portrayed in this book took place mostly in the 1400's to be historically accurate, and unbiased, one should use the proper names perhaps with the modern names in brackets for reference to their location in modern Romania. The method used in the book is just an extension of the eradication and continued denial of the significant Hungarian culture, history or presence in the region.

Transylvanian history goes back to time of the Roman Empire, as it was an outpost region bordered within the western slopes of the Carpathian mountain range known as Dacia. In brief, as the Roman Empire broke up and separated into separate two Empires: Western and Eastern, ethic tribes from the East started to migrate into areas formerly occupied by the Romans. These invaders such as the Huns, Avars, Lombards, Gepids, Slavs, and later the Magyar tribes, they moved into the Carpathian basin and the surrounding areas just west of the Byzantine Empire. Some have left and moved on. These eastern invaders conquered, subjugated the native population, some who intermarried with descendants of the original Roman Legionaries who decided to stay behind once the empire fell apart, thus forming the native population for the next generations. The Carpathian basin including the regions of Pannonia and Dacia of the former Roman Empire were settled by the Ten Magyar, (Hungarian) tribes. Thus, the Magyar (Hungarian) State was established in 896 AD. Note at this time, and for almost 1000 years after the establishment of Hungary, there was no Romania. The modern state of Romania was formed by the merging of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 and in 1918 Hungarian Transylvania was annexed by the victors of WWI, as punishment for the Hungarian participation in WWI. When the pagan Hungarian King Vajk, converted to Christianity and adopted the Christian name István, (Stephen, who later was named a Saint), and by force converted the rest of the Magyar pagans, he was rewarded by the Pope in Rome and by Byzantine Emperor with crowns to symbolize his sovereignty over the lands under his command including Transylvania. The two crows were assembled into one as the Holly Crown of Hungary. As the Hungarian kingdom congealed, and needed additional populous at the eastern borders (Transylvania) to shore up the defences against any further invasions from the East, such as the Hordes of Genghis Khan, and the Ottoman Turks, Székely (Szeklers descendants of the Huns, who left after the death of Attila) from the East and Saxon (German) settlers from western Europe were encouraged to move in, along with the Teutonic Knights (who were expelled later on), and were granted lands and independent city statues, but were subject to the Crown of Hungary.

Wallachia east and Moldavia to the north of Transylvania were autonomous regions ruled by Princes, or pretenders to the throne. These regions were populated in majority by Romanian speaking inhabitants.

Thus, what these so called historians scholars have cooked up about a petty Wallachian despot named Dracula, as the founding father of Romania, is a laughable! "Dracula became a national hero par excellence, one who defended the nation's independence against overwhelming odds - kind of George Washington of the Romanian people..." I do not believe George Washington had people impaled while he ate his dinner, nor had tens of thousands (if not over a hundred thousand) killed by boiling, skinning people alive, sawing off their limbs, who'd disagreed or challenged his political ambitions. Nor was Dracula like Robin Hood, giving to the poor from the rich!

Throughout the book, and at every opportunity, the Hungarians are perceived as corrupt, unreliable, who had betrayed Vlad III, spreading false propaganda unjustly, undeservingly about this Christian Knight, who wore the Order of the Dragon. From John Hunyadi, (being described as: from a humble Wallachian stock, a turncoat Hungarian wannabe), he actually was a true Christian Crusader at the time and whose victory over the Turks in 1456 at Belgrade is still celebrated to date: every day at noon, church bells are rung. Hunyadi was the Regent of Hungary and the Governor of Transylvania to King Matthias Corvinus, was described as "...King Matthias evidently liked to think of himself as a true patron of learning and the arts." Matthias didn't have to think of it, he was! Matthias established the flowering culture of the Hungarian Renaissance, by modernizing and building. His treasures were ransacked by the Turks later on, but some of the surviving books that were published upon his orders and were housed in the King's Library the Corvinus Codex's are worth millions and are now treasured by Museums world wide. In fact, the only painting of Dracula that existed was done by the King's artist while Dracula was in his imprisonment, when the King had no choice but to put Dracula in "prison" for his alleged autocracies after Vlad III, was overthrown the second time by his rivals. However, the prison was far from a real prison, it was more like a house arrest and at the King's palace. I do not of many prisoners in history who were allowed to marry the cousin of the King, while being incarcerated by the same King. The fact is that Vlad III, aka Dracula, married Ilona Szilágyi, a cousin of the King, while he was in, so called "imprisoned". Later on with the King's army, Dracula was put back in power for the third time to help with the continued fight and gain a psychological advantage against the invading Ottomans. Dracula's fierce reputation against the Turks gained by his prior autocracies against them and excellent knowledge of their tactics was something that the King did not ignore.

These two bright scholarly historians overwhelmed with debasing anything that had to do with Hungarians, could not even get the small facts straight about the Hunyadi coat of arms and the family symbol of King Matthias. For example, the black bird is a raven holding a gold ring in his beak and not a "crow." There is a significant difference between the two. Both John Hunyadi and King Matthias, among many other Hungarians in power in Transylvania, were actual benefactors of Vlad III.

The real Dracula, Vlad III, was not a forthright Christian or a nationalist hero. At the very best, he was a warlord with many ambitions. He was power hungry, cruel, sadistic, evil, revengeful, and treacherous yet, a very savvy individual who made the right connections with powerful benefactors, looking out for his own true interests in being or trying to be the ruler of Wallachia. Ambitions supported by using all his talents and available methods: torture, intimidations, bribery, and psychological warfare against not just his enemies but his own subjects. While Dracula did fight the Ottoman Turks, it was based upon his childhood hate towards the Turks (for that Dracula cannot be blamed) and own self interests in manifestation of power to rule independently over Wallachia against Ottoman expansionism, than being a Christian Crusader. Dracula was in many ways just like many of his contemporarily power hungry despots and tyrants in the 14th to the 15th centuries who made deals and alliances with more powerful benefactors. What made him different was that he was a lot more cruel and bloody in his methods. By constructing monasteries he thought he could seek salvation from eternal damnation and from hell.

Ironically in 1476, when Dracula was assassinated, his head was cut off and taken to Constantinople to the Sultan to be displayed on a pole, just like he had done to so many of his enemies. If not for Bram Stoker, Dracula would have been forgotten in history, like so many petty tyrants of the era.

Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times.......2007-02-27

The most objective write up on Dracula! It is about history and not fiction. It is about Romanians and their culture as part of the Europe's XV century. It is about a leader that was loved, feared and hated both at home and outside the Romanian territory. With simple examples, Mr. Florescu brings forward Dracula's leadership skills and characteristics that have no time bound and can also be found and applied today by successful leaders.

Count Alacard.......2006-11-20

Love the book. Vlad was a great history character. A great addition to my library. Great service and it arrived in perfect shape.

Eye Opening.......2006-11-04

This book is one of the very few written in the English language to portray the historical figure of Dracula whose nickname was used by Bram Stocker. It is a work that was indeed needed in order to correct many wrong impressions about the historical figure of Dracula.

Vlad "The Impaler" lived in a harsh world, an unforgiving one, full of strifes, intrigues from within his country and from outside. Written with a wide readership in mind this book succeedes to convey the sense of the age and the personality of the elusive prince.

dracula ,barbaric murderer.......2006-10-03

Prince Dracula was a very unkind prince. He would impale anyone whom he thought was insulting him or going against him. Everyone hated him and feared him. it is a really good book to read. It describes the barbaric tortures and execution methods enjoyed by prince dracula.

A.H, Australia

Book Description

The destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon -- all within one hour on September 11, 2001 -- demonstrated America's shocking vulnerability to terrorism.

Yet terror had already emerged on America's shores eight years earlier, when the mysterious terrorist mastermind, Ramzi Yousef (arrested after a botched attempt to down a dozen U.S. airlines) bombed the World Trade Center in an attempt to fell the buildings.His attacks were viewed as the harbinger of a new terrorism, carried out by an elusive enemy driven by religious fanaticism to unprecedented hatred of the United States.

But is that perception accurate? A real-life detective story, The War Against America engages the reader in a gripping examination of the evidence regarding Yousef and his terrorism. It reveals the split between New York and Washington that emerged during the investigation and tells a terrifying tale of America left exposed and vulnerable following the mishandling of what was once the most ambitious terrorist attack ever attempted on U.S. soil.

Customer Reviews:

Dangerous nuttiness.......2007-04-08

Laurie Mylroie is a well-known neo-con shill whose nutty conspiracy theories have been debunked ad infinitum by the FBI and CIA - but of course, that only adds fuel to the fire of the people who are inclined to believe her claptrap. Along with the New York Times' Judith Miller, Mylroie was an important conduit for the sort of whacky misinformation that helped to sell the public on the need for an invasion of Iraq - and to our shame and grief we now see where it has gotten us.

SPECULATIVE FICTION DISGUISED AS ESSAY.......2005-07-06

What trash! What a paranoid book! A true work of tendentious and speculative fiction disguised as an essay.

No wonder that Amazon stands ready to sell this book for $0.35! Even then, it's a quarter and a half wasted. No wonder also that warmongers Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle gave it a note of thanks. It reads like their own propaganda in their conspiracy to take over American foreign policy and steer it to Israel's favor.

But the Mylroie-Wolfowitz-Perle cabal DID succeed in having the U.S. attack Iraq. This only shows the tremendous importance of propaganda and the strength of the pro-Israel lobby. Nazi Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's minister of propaganda, would be proud of Laurie Mylroie, since he once said: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

Memo to Bush Haters and UN: God Bless George W. Bush.......2004-09-22

Saddam chose the Iraq war and while most of us were sleeping, he was vigorously waging it. Before 911 Mylroie warned us that terror groups worked through STATE financing, safe harbor in a STATE, border passage allowed by a STATE, training camps located in a STATE. Iraq was such a state. The links to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing point to Iraq.

Freedom comes with a price, most of which is being paid in blood by US servicemen fighting terrorists all over the globe. IT IS TREACHERY TO ARGUE EX POST FACTO THAT THE INVASION WAS A MISTAKE AS A CONSEQUENCE OF OUR MEN BEING KILLED AND MAIMED.

They volunteered and accepted because of their potential - and NOT losers looking for a way out of poverty. They know what they are up against. They are the best educated servicemen this country has ever produced; the best trained in the world. They are confident and will win. Saddam chose war, America responded because no one else can or wanted to.

It's idiocy to say "we're not any safer." Freedom is NOT safety. Freedom is choosing to do what one ought to do. There are many more FREE Iraqis thanks to Bush and everyone down the chain of command.

Mylroie's investigation is first rate, and all the Beltway desk jockies who constantly carp behind the President's back about why US should not have invaded Iraq do not know anything compared to Laurie Mylroie.

A very compelling argument.......2004-06-26

In his June 24, 2004 speech at Georgetown University, former Vice President Al Gore endorsed this opinion offered by the Financial Times: "There was nothing intrinsically absurd about the WMD fears, or ignoble about the opposition to Saddam's tyranny -- however late Washington developed this. The purported link between Baghdad and al Qaeda, by contrast, was never believed by anyone who knows Iraq and the region. It was and is nonsense."

Of course, this statement is nonsense. Laurie Mylroie has written 318-page book that makes a compelling case that Saddam played a role in the World Trade Center and offers numerous documents to bolster her case. The foreward to the paperback version was penned by R. James Woolsey 16 days after 9/11. Do these two individuals know anything about Iraq and the region? Mylroie was an adviser on Iraq to the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, while Woolsey service as the director of the CIA during Clinton's first term.

Myrolie's book reminds us of the case that the Clinton administration made concerning Iraq's WMD, its sponsorship of terrorism, and the threat that Saddam posed to the U.S. She also includes translations from numerous Arabic media to show how often Saddam had stated his intent to exact revenge on the United States.

Many of the connections outlined by Myrolie may not indicate an operational relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda. However, post-9/11, I believe we have to heed these words offered by Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat from Indiana: "Even if there's only a 10 percent chance that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden would cooperate, the question is whether that's an acceptable level of risk. My answer to that would be an unequivocal no. We need to be much more pro-active on eliminating threats before they're imminent.... Some of the intelligence is strong, and some of it is murky. But that's the nature of intelligence on a relationship like this-lots of it is going to be speculation and conjecture. Following 9/11, we await certainty at our peril."

The threat findings of the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici in 1995 included the threat that state sponsors of terrorism (a desgination the State Department applied to Iraq during the entire Clinton administration) could hand over WMD to terrorist organizations or support them in other ways with plausible deniability. In other words, Iraq and al Qaeda were not going to take out a full-page ad in the New York Times to announce their relationship. That relationship needs to be ferreted out. Myrolie's book offers an excellent beginning in the effort to establish the relationship.

Exposing the incompetence of US intelligence agencies.......2004-05-18

Given the 9/11 commissions politicization, we will probably never get a true story of what really went wrong, but Mylroie was verbally abused by one of the commissioners when she testified about the ineptness of the FBI and CIA. Those agencies failed to even read incriminating evidence, sitting in boxes in the District Attorneys offices in NY, which remained untranslated and un-investigated for years after the first World Trade Center bombing. The FBI and CIA bureaucrats must hate the fact that reconstruction of the WTC is taking so long because the gaping hole in the ground there now is a monument to their ineptitude. Mylroie is able to show a very plausible case of how Saddam assisted in the first WTC bombing. But since this goes against the grain of the bureaucrats and politicians in Washington, they do everything they can to discredit her findings. But it is very difficult to argue with the facts that were available to the agencies which pointed to a direct link between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Who was "the Iraqi" who suddenly appeared and assisted the bombers? Why were there so many phone calls made by him to Iraq while the planning was going on for the bombing? Why were the chemicals used in the bomb a formulation which Iraq was noted for? These and dozens of other facts make a very convincing case that despite the politically correct propaganda spewed by unnamed, and most definitely incompetent, "sources" at the CIA, Saddam had no problem working with his fellow terrorists, no matter what their name, including Al Qaeda. With all the bureaucratic finger pointing and rear-end covering, they still have not been able to dispute the facts Mylroie exposes in this book. It would be interesting to see what kind of help she could be to the US if allowed to be a bureaucrat oversight manager in one of our intelligence agencies. But of course that is covered in her newer book "Bush vs the Beltway" which is another indictment of our inept and incompetent intelligence agencies.

Book Description

Since 9/11 politicians, preachers, conservatives and the media are all speaking about evil. In the past the dicourse about evil in our religious, philosophic and literary traditions has provoked thinking, questioning and inquiry. But today the appeal to evil is being used as a political tool to obscure compex issues, block serious thinking and stifle public discussion and debate. We are now confronting a clash of mentalities, not a clash of civilisations. One mentality is drawn to absolutes, moral certainties, and simplistic dichotomies of good and evil. The other seriously questions an appeal to absolutes in politics and criticizes the simplistic division of the world into the forces of evil and the forces of good. In The Abuse of Evil Bernstein challenges the claim that without an appeal to absolutes, we lack the grounds for acting decisively in fighting our enemies. The post 9/11 abuse of evil corrupts both democratic politics and religion. The stakes are high in this clash of mentalities in shaping how we think and act in the world today - and in the future.

Customer Reviews:

Bush is not a Pragmatist Philosopher? Really?.......2007-02-25

Writing with the conviction that philosophy must be engaged, relevant and aware of its surroundings, Bernstein wisely ignores such trivialities as media consolidation, the military-industrial complex, depoliticization of primary school curricula (only reading-writing-arithmetic is left) and the political process, with its negligible campaign contributions, smoothly running voting machines, necessary court interventions and informative soundbites. Instead, he asks the crucial question of whether the Bush administration is of like mind with the Metaphysical Club (Dewey, Holmes, Peirce, James) that met after the Civil War or with Hannah Arendt's writings from the 1970s.

Taking a pragmatic approach to what needs to be done, Bernstein exhorts the reader to put faith in debate, deliberation and public intellectuals. He does not use the word "hegemony" once.

The book is occasionally interesting. Especially if you want a refresher on pragmatism or Hannah Arendt or a superficial summary of secularization theory. Or if you need to be reminded that not all Christians are (....)-minded. But for me it was a disappointing read. The thesis (George W. Bush is not a pragmatist and stark dichotomies oversimplify important questions) is completely uninteresting.

I get the feeling Bernstein wrote this for the money, to capitalize on the political climate he's so disturbed by. In fact, he starts by admitting that he was going to publish a book about evil right before 9/11. "The Abuse of Evil" seems to be a lament for that abandoned project, created by combining what he was already intending to publish (about an interesting "mentality" called "pragmatic fallibilism") and a maddeningly shallow treatment of "politics and religion since 9/11". Some may enjoy the intelligent reflections of the first part and the righteous outrage of the second. The problem is that the two parts don't fit together very well. At least that's what spoiled it for me.

I would have been much more impressed if Bernstein had said word one about how to make our politics (if not our politicians) more pragmatic.

Richard Bernstein on Evil in the Post 9/11 World.......2006-03-25

This is a very necessary book. It upends the simplistic desire to polarize everything: us vs. them, good vs, evil, the "coalition of the willing" vs. the "axis of evil." And in doing so creates a much more complex awareness of evil in all its radical "otherness." I liked this short book so much that I went on to read Bernstein's Radical Evil: A Philosophical Interrogation (2002) where he deals with issues more in depth with critical chapters on Freud, Nietzsche, Arendt. Schelling, Levinas, Kant, etc. I particularly liked his lines: "Interrogating evil is an ongoing, open-ended process"; "Evil is an excess that resists total comprehension"; "Evil resists all attempts to justify it; it resists theodicy"; and "The power of evil and the human propensity to commit evil deeds must not be underestimated."

Manichaean Manipulators Unmasked .......2005-11-28

Taking as his subject the danger political and religious absolutism poses to democracy, Richard J. Bernstein, a professor at Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York, seeks to show in THE ABUSE OF EVIL: The Corruption of Politics and Relgion Since 911 (Polity, 2005) how the Bush administration has used what he calls the absolutist mentality to choke off public discussion and criticism of the Iraqi invasion (and for that matter, everything else, too). Those who wish to understand how members of this and previous administrations have deployed the absolutist mentality against American democracy, and who wish to understand how they might counter its perniciousness will find this book extremely useful.

Bernstein begins his discussion with an explanation of a pair of related framing assumptions he calls the "grand Either/Or" and "the Cartesian Anxiety." This terminology may sound fairly esoteric, but the concepts are straightforward. They go a long way toward demystifying and elucidating how the Bush administration's strategy for stifling dissent works. The grand Either/Or grows out of "what [the philosopher Descartes] took to be the grand Either/Or that we confront: Either solid foundations and indubitable knowledge Or a swamp of unfounded and ungrounded opinion." (page 27). The Cartesian Anxiety is, according to Bernstein the "quest for some fixed ground, some stable rock upon which we can secure our lives against the vicissitudes that constantly threaten us." (page 27) He goes on to say "...that those today who claim religious or moral certainty for dividing the world into the forces of good and the forces of evil are shaped by this Cartesian Anxiety." (page 28).

Those who have read Shadia Drury's account of right wing political theorist Leo Strauss, LEO STRAUSS AND THE AMERICAN RIGHT will recognize this preference for the absolute in the anti-democratic analysis and program of the Straussians. Based on their exoteric/esoteric readings of Plato's Republic and other classical political texts, Straussians imagine themselves as an intellectual pastorate who must defend society against the depredations of Liberalism -- that socially disruptive idea which insists on equality of opportunity and justice. The grand Either/Or they posit based on their readings is between a beneficent plutocracy and anarchy. They see themselves as members of the plutocracy, of course. Not surprisingly, many members of and advisers to the Bush regime find congenial Strauss' anti-democratic theories.

Those who have read George Lakoff's MORAL POLITICS, will recognize the grand Either/Or as the "Strict Father" narrative which reinforces a right-wing program of top-down ideologically reinforced hierarchy -- a disciplinary program where punishment is more important than reward -- a program which believers are told flows out of the natural moral order established by God. The "Or" in the right's formulation in this case could be called the Weak Mother / Feminized Father, who, "liberal" to a fault, is characterized as ineffective, vacillating, a coddler of the undeserving, unable to make tough decisions and stick to them.

Bernstein believes that the best counter to absolutism is "pragmatic fallibilism," or as it is more commonly known, pragmatism, as espoused by Dewey, Peirce, James, Holmes and others. Quoting Louis Menand's THE METAPHYSICAL CLUB at some length, he agrees with Menand's premise that "these thinkers were reacting against the entrenched opposition [in the years before and during the Civil War], the absolute certainty by the opposing forces of the righteousness of their cause, the sheer intolerance toward those who held opposing convictions...." (page 22). Further, Bernstein says "Menand's thesis is that the pragmatic thinkers understook to develop a more flexible, open, experimental and fallible way of thinking that would avoid all forms of stark binary oppositions, and violent extremism." (Page 23)

Bernstein's readings of Hannah Arendt works in this context are particularly useful and illuminating. Arendt's view is that a democratic politics takes real personal and social commitment and is based on continuous engagement, discussion and disagreement, similar to the beliefs of the pragmatists, especially Dewey. Arendt's insights into the nature of totalitarian evil, which were based on her experience of resistance in Nazi Germany and her later reportage and thinking about the "banality of evil" as prompted by Eichmann's trial, is fruitfully contrasted against Carl Schmitt's anti-liberal theory of politics.

Schmitt, a German political theorist and enthusiastic supporter of Hitler believed, in Bernstein's words, that "Debate, deliberation, and persuasion obscure what is essential for politics -- firm sovereign decisions for dealing with political enemies" (page 91). Grounded on the familiar conservative judgment that man is evil, that enmity is the basic existential condition of mankind from which it follow that a strong sovereign must be in place to staunch chaos and enforce order, Schmitt, according to Bernstein, contends that "Sovereigns may pretend that they are making decisions in the name of some 'higher principle' or that they are following proper legal and political procedures, but this should not disguise the fact that such decisions are ungrounded; they are solely the sovereign's decision." (page 91).

Overall, Bernstein succinctly explains, examines, defends and endorses pragmatism, America's great contribution to world philosophy. Pragmatism, he shows, served the US well as the favored problem-solving approach to governance during the high tide of American liberalism in the first half of the 20th century. Bernstein shows why it is now the appropriate counter to the political and religious and political absolutism that the US has been subject to beginning with Cold War through to the latest "war" -- the so-called War on Terror. These absolutist wars and their Either/Or demagoguery have eroded the democratic spirit in America, he believes. Yet he also sees signs that Americans are beginning to reject the "my way or the highway," "love it or leave it" absolutist mentality, and instead are embracing resistance and dissent in the name of the revolutionary spirit of democracy.

Book Description

Natural History claimed, "A glorious collection of science and art, geography and history, romance and rigor. It is a reassessment of a group of twenty birds ... that had lost their species status in the bird of paradise family and were largely forgotten by science for more than sixty years".

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