Your Mental Health: A Layman's Guide to the Psychiatrist's Bible

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User friendly , should be compulsory reading in college

Perhaps the most thoughtful self-help book ever written.

Your Mental Health: A Layman's Guide to the Psychiatrist's Bible
Allen Frances , and Michael B. First
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books
jp-unknown1 | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0756751098

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The American Psychological Association's DSM-IV, or fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, became a surprise bestseller, with more than a million copies in print. For those who'd rather avoid the $60 price tag--and possible wrist trauma--associated with that book, Your Mental Health is a better bet. Written by Dr. Allen Frances, whom author Daniel Goleman calls "the most powerful psychiatrist in America," and Dr. Michael First, who edited the DSM-IV, Your Mental Health is a user-friendly, resource-packed reference that covers dozens of mental disorders. Cognitive difficulties; developmental delays; hyperactivity and other childhood problems; posttraumatic disorders; eating, sleep, and sex-related difficulties; depressions; anxiety; and substance abuse problems are all covered. Anyone with a personal or family history of mental-health disorders will find clear-cut guidance, including information on how a psychiatric disorder is diagnosed and the various treatment options available. Dozens of support-group contacts, Web sites, and suggestions for further reading are also included. --Erica Jorgensen

Product Description

A summary for the lay reader of the Amer. Psychiatric Assoc. Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., 1994 (DSM-IV), which is the standard reference for clinicians in the mental health field -- & a bestseller. Covers the full gamut of psychiatric disorders, in a tone that is reassuring. Each chapter focuses on a particular type of problem & provides a clear set of questions to help you determine whether your symptoms are severe enough to be considered a clinical disorder. Complete with detailed explanations about the treatments currently available, each chapter concludes with a list of suggested readings & information about national organizations, support groups, & other sources of help.

Customer Reviews:

User friendly , should be compulsory reading in college.......1999-08-12

This manual dispels the stigma about mental health and explains the different problems and disorders in a friendly and cheerful way. It is interesting to see that substance abuse (alcohol and drugs) can lead to a variety of psychiatric disorders that can equally be cured once abstinence occurs. I think this is a very relevant read for any college student who is subjected to rites of passage and other unhealthy pressure from peers to drink and take drugs excessively. The other topics discussed are exceptionally well handled and provide clear instructions and advice for those seeking to help themselves and others.

Perhaps the most thoughtful self-help book ever written........1998-12-29

This is a valuable guide to psychiatric diagnosis and treatment that is immensely helpful for patients and their families. It also provides a fascinating view of human nature for the general reader. The authors illustrate how each of the mental disorders is an exaggeration of normal tendencies that have gotten out of hand. This helps a person suffering from a mental illness to feel less strange, alone, and helpless. An uplifting book that changed the way I see the world and the people in it, including myself.

Customer Reviews:

A look at 'Uncle Billy's boys.......2004-01-27

This book contains an examination of the army that General William Tecumseh Sherman led through Georgia and the Carolinas, in late 1864 and early 1865. Instead of being just another narrative of the March to the Sea and Carolina campaigns, however, Glatthaar's book is a look at the individuals that composed the army. In it, he examines the social and ideological backgrounds of the men in Sherman's army, and evaluates how they felt about various factors of the war--slavery, the union, and, most significantly, the campaign in which they were participating. The result is a fascinating look at Sherman's campaigns through the eyes of the everyday soldier. Glatthaar makes the army come alive, and shows the men not as heartless animals who delighted in wanton destruction, not as mechanized marching machines who could perform the most difficult marches without even flinching, but instead as real human beings, complete with sore feet, empty stomachs, and minds engaged in contemplation over the ethical ramifications of what they were doing to the people of the South.

This book, and others like it (such as James McPherson's For Cause and Comrades), is a refreshing change from the norm in Civil War history. The value of this book lies in its helping the reader understand that the war was fought by individuals, not masses of blue and gray, and that these individuals felt and thought a great deal about the cause they were engaged in. I have read much on the subject of Sherman's march, but never before this book did I truly feel like I understood the mentality of the 60,000 man army he led. This book will not give you a detailed and thorough account of Sherman's campaigns, but it will give anyone who already is somewhat familiar with the marches an incredible amount of insight that, I believe, cannot be gained elsewhere.

A view of the war from ground level.......2000-08-10

I have to confess a bias; Professor Glatthaar taught me US history in my first semester of college and was a very engaging, entertaining and clear teacher.

This book is history of the very best kind. It is extensively documented from primary sources, it is well written and draws the reader in and the text of the book is free from cumbersome and often distracting academic citation apparatus. It also has selected a topic of almost epic proportions.

The March to the Sea, coming on the heels of the devastating fall of Atlanta was the straw that broke the South's back. After years of war and the related hardships, the devastation that this march produced in the South dealt a death blow to the South's war effort.

In one of the great strategic decisions of the war, Sherman breaks his lines of communication and supply and, like a modern day nuclear sub, disappears only to resurface at Savannah. The freedom of movement that this decision allowed made this march even more effective.

Further, the productivity of the South, even after years of warfare is evidenced. The author presents data showing an increase in the weight of soldiers due to the richness of the diet they were able to secure from those unfortunate enough to be in the path of Sherman's army.

To quibble with a prior reviewer, this is not a novel. This is academic history of the best sort but written in a easy and accesible manner. A great book.

Learn more about Sherman's Soldiers- in their own words.......2000-02-27

Joseph Glatthaar wrote this book in order to examine Sherman's march across the South "from the level of the common soldier, both enlisted and officer". In the introduction he states that by writing the book from this perspective, he hoped "to restore the reality of the campaigns, to understand the underlying motivation of Sherman's men for adopting a policy of devestation and to shed light on the total-war concept in military history".

Mr. Glatthaar's efforts have resulted in this very informative and engaging book. I did not know a lot about Sherman's Army before reading this book, and feel that I now have a much better understanding of the men who filled the ranks and led the regiments in their famous march to the sea. In his text, Mr. Glatthaar presents many quotes directly from letters and diaries written by Sherman's men, which really enhances the story and his conclusions.

I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn about Sherman's Army- why it was successful, why it adopted a policy of total war, destroying much of the South, and why it remains controversial to this day.

A great justice in the portrayal of MG Sherman's force........1997-03-28

Individuals who belong to a Civil War reenacting association, history buffs, and serious scholars of the Civil War will all find quiet enjoyment in Joseph Glatthaar's historical novel on Major General Sherman's march to Savannah and through the Carolinas. Glatthaar's perspective of bringing the war down to the level of the individual soldier is not always found in historical novels. He writes about the soldier's innermost feelings, not about the glorious generals, the great armies, or the magnificent campaigns. I believe that individual battles do not win wars, but that it is the men composing the fighting force that can turn a potential devastating defeat into a glorious victory. Mr. Glatthaar has done a great justice in his portrayal of the men who conducted the march to the sea and beyond. I would highly recommend the book to anyone who wishes better to understand the soldiers that fought for Sherman

The March to the Sea and Beyond - Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns

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The March to the Sea and Beyond - Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns

Manufacturer: Ny University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HEOCN0

The March to the Sea and Beyond : Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns (The American Social Experience Ser.)

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The March to the Sea and Beyond : Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns (The American Social Experience Ser.)
Joseph T. Glatthaar
Manufacturer: New York University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PRY0BS

THE MARCH TO THE SEA AND BEYOND, SHERMANS TROOPS IN SAVANNAH AND CAROLINAS CAMPAIGNS

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THE MARCH TO THE SEA AND BEYOND, SHERMANS TROOPS IN SAVANNAH AND CAROLINAS CAMPAIGNS
Joseph T. Glatthaar
Manufacturer: New York University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J4XS9W

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THE MARCH TO THE SEA AND BEYOND: SHERMAN'S TROOPS IN THE SAVANNAH AND CAROLINAS CAMPAIGNS
Glatthaar Joseph T
Manufacturer: New York University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J503JY

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The March to the Sea and Beyond : Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns
Joseph T. Glatthaar
Manufacturer: New York Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQ8DVO

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The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns
Joseph Glatthaar
Manufacturer: New York U.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKB8WA

Book Description

Violent class struggles and ethnic conflict mark much of the history of Latin America, continuing in some regions even today. Perhaps the worst and most prolonged of these conflicts was the guerra de las castas or “Caste War,” an Indian rebellion that tore apart the Yucatan Peninsula for much of the nineteenth century (1847–1903). The struggle was not only ethnic, pitting indigenous peoples against a Hispanic or Hispanicized ruling class, but also economic, involving attacks by rural campesinos on plantation owners, merchants, overseers, and townspeople. The rebels met with sporadic and limited success but still managed at times to remove whole portions of the Yucatan Peninsula from state control.

Don E. Dumond’s work is the anticipated complete history of the Caste War. Drawing on primary sources, he presents the first comprehensive description of this turbulent century of conflict in Yucatan and sets forth a carefully argued analysis of the reasons and broader social, political, and economic processes underlying the struggle.

Customer Reviews:

A well researched and comprehensive Caste War history!.......2005-01-18

This carefully researched history of Yucatan's 19th Century Caste War is a long overdue addition to our understanding of one of the most fascinating chapters in the turbulent history of Mexico. Don Dumond draws from a wealth of primary source documents in this comprehensive overview of the 54 year life-and-death struggle that began in 1847 as a regional rebellion of Maya campesinos living on Yucatan's eastern wilderness frontier. Events rapidly spun out of control, when early Maya success on the battlefield unleased the pent-up energy of long-simmering grievances and hatred directed towards the Spanish-speaking elite, a group the Maya still thought of as foreigners three centuries after the Spanish conquest of Yucatan. As the rebellion caught fire, more Maya communities rose up, sensing the power of the moment, transforming the uprising into a peninsula-wide race war that came close to driving the Ladino population from the land.

Dumond presents a detached and balanced description of the major players and events of the rebellion, leaving the more colorful details of the battles and the stories of heroism and personal survival to Nelson Reed, whose excellent and very readable "Caste War of Yucatan" provides the stuff of a good war story. The appeal of The Cross and the Machete, is more to the student of Mexican history or the serious history buff. Here, Dumond removes the "climax" of the 1848 Maya offensive from its unlikely pedestal, where the Maya farmer-soldiers are closing in on the final Ladino enclave around the capital, Merida, only to abandon the field of battle at the first sign of the winged insects, whose presence in the skies call them to their sacred obligation to plant corn. Rather than "divine providence" saving the Yucatecan Ladinos, touted by many writers, Dumond argues that the Maya offensive petered out at the outskirts of Merida because the campesino army had not only overextended itself, but it had failed to inspire the long-dominated Maya of the Ladino northwest to join the revolt. In this story, the less exciting historical interpretation triumpths over the myth.

The Maya offensive and Ladino recovery of 1847 through 1850 are only the beginning to what turns into a protracted struggle for survival for the rebels and their descendants, who retreat into the wilderness of the eastern and southern forests, coalescing into a number of independent Maya communities in a permanent state of war against Ladino Yucatan, and much of the time, against each other. The most important of these rebel groups, who became known as the Cruzob, found strength and inspiration from a set of "speaking crosses," which appeared in1851 in a dell containing a small spring, deep in the eastern forest. Manipulated by a small group of rebel leaders, the crosses provided guidance and hope for the rebels in their darkest days, attracting large numbers of rebel families, who created a new Maya society there, and whose aggressive military carried out spectacular raids into Yucatan, and fought to a standstill the Yucatecan and Mexican armies sent against it. A well-equipped Mexican army finally put the rebellion to an end in 1901, by which time, disease, discord and desertions had decimated the ranks of the rebels.

"The Machete and the Cross" gives a great deal of attention to the Cruzob, and other rebel groups known as "Pacificos" who had signed vague peace treaties with Mexico, but lived in mostly independent and self-contained communities far from the reach of the Ladinos. Within the ranks of the Cruzob, Dumond brings to light previously unreported factions that operated somewhat outside of the tight control of the centralized leadership. We learn, for the first time, that the Cruzob town of Tulum, on the far north coast, actually became the most important center of the cross cult after the palace revolt that cut down the ruthless Cruzob leader, Venancio Puc and his Interpreter of the Cross in the capital of Noh Cah Santa Cruz in 1864.

Finally, the role of the munitions suppliers in British Honduras, and the delicate political position the colony found itself in as a result of its policies are explored at length in this well-crafted history.

Book Description

This proceedings volume contains articles from the conference held at Rutgers University in honor of Haim Brezis and Felix Browder, two mathematicians who have had a profound impact on partial differential equations, functional analysis, and geometry. Mathematicians attending the conference had interests in noncompact variational problems, pseudo-holomorphic curves, singular and smooth solutions to problems admitting a conformal (or some group) invariance, Sobolev spaces on manifolds, and configuration spaces. One day of the proceedings was devoted to Einstein equations and related topics. Contributors to the volume include, among others, Sun-Yung A. Chang, Luis A. Caffarelli, Carlos E. Kenig, and Gang Tian. The material is suitable for graduate students and researchers interested in problems in analysis and differential equations on noncompact manifolds.

Book Description

Once in a great while, a special person emerges in the history of science and medicine whose unique set of characteristics sheds light on an entire disorder and sometimes even on the mysteries of the human brain.Tito is such a person.Although he is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, his ability to communicate through his extraordinary writing is astonishing.At the age of three, Tito was diagnosed with severe autism, but his mother, with boundless hope and determination, read to him and taught him to write in English.She also challenged him to write his own stories.The result of their efforts is this remarkable book-written when he was 8 to 11 years old-comprising profound and startling philosophical prose and poetry.His beautifully crafted language reveals how it feels to be locked inside an autistic body and mind.THE MIND TREE is the work of an artist.With each page, Tito bursts through his silence into a world of art, beauty and hope.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant!.......2007-08-03

I give this book 5 stars!

From the moment that my son was diagnosed as Autistic, I searched for books that are written by Autistic individuals because I wanted better insight and there's no better insight than from the one who walks the path themselves. Tito not only gave great insight, he amazed me with the most beautiful poetry that I have ever had the priviledge of reading.

Truly an amazing book!.......2007-03-03

I have read this book 4 times, bought 7 copies to send to all my family. I have a non-verbal child with autism and this book has given me insights into what his life is like. It is so inspiring you can not put it down! Tito is such an articulate writer that I sometimes need to re-read his book to catch all the different meanings his words have said. Actually some of his poetry reminds me of great prophets in the Bible, that need to be studied, considered at every angle, and deeply absorbed. Thank you Tito for all your inspiration! Keep it up!

Inside the mind of autism.......2006-05-14

My son has autism and uses a high-tech communication device. This book challenged me to look at the world from my son's perspective and helped me better understand this disorder. It also proves that individuals without verbal communication can still have a lot "to say".

Interesting insight into Autism.......2005-05-12

I've only read one other book about Autism. That was "Speed of Dark", which was fiction from the point of view of an autistic. It provided fascinating insight into the viewpoint of an autistic, but again it was fiction. It is worth noting that the author was the mother of an Autistic.

I digress. Onto the book "The Mind Tree". I feel I should tell people what this book is actually going to be like. I would have liked to give the book 3.5 stars, but alas there is no option for it. So, I gave it the benefit of the doubt with 4 stars. This is because I know how remarkable it is for someone with such severe Autism as Tito to have written the way he wrote so articulately. That having said, the reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because Tito's prose can be hard to read. Not that it isn't readable--he's actually quite articulate at times--I just found myself doing a LOT of double-takes on certain sentences that I had trouble reading.

The "story" (for lack of a better term) is basically a description of the events of Tito's life as he remembers them. He remembers a great deal, which is impressive. He also does a pretty good job of explaining why he couldn't do things like converse or focus, as well as explained some of his behavioral oddities. For instance, he describes his nervous rocking and/or movement of his arms as "flapping" and explains that he did this because if he wasn't moving, he lost "track" of his body and couldn't "feel" his hands, arms, etc.

This could actually be a good book to read if you have a severely autistic child, or otherwise have a severely autistic person in your life. I think it would help to better understand the world through their eyes and why they behave the way they do. I found the book, overall, a bit dull and I found myself spacing out at times. It really is more or less just an account of how he went from doctor to doctor, from city to city, with his mother in an effort to find him some help. I've always felt that autists really were "normal" people deep down, but that something prevented them from communicating, behaving correctly or properly dealing with social situations, and Tito's words are a fascinating look into exactly how that feels.

Extremly touching.......2004-07-06

I loved Tito every moment I read the book and have immense respect for the dedication, persistence and effort of his mother Soma. She seems to be a very strong woman to handle it all alone. But I have to mention this that I hated the part where Tito writes he was hit hard until he paid attention. I have seen and heard of many successful people who cannot ever forget their childhood abuse by their parents even though they were for good reasons.This is a very wrong concept used earlier and is not encouraged any more by many many people these days. Even though hitting might prove right for some reason it does a permanent damage to one's inner self.

Book Description

RAISE YOUR ANCHOR FOR a cruise along the Champlain Canal that traces the many British and American attempts to gain control of the upper Hudson River and Lake Champlain during the Revolutionary War. The canal goes from Waterford to Whitehall, NY, connecting the Hudson River with Lake Champlain. Along and near its route are a wealth of Revolutionary War sites that cover the entire period of the war from 1775 to 1783, including Fort Ticonderoga and the Saratoga Battlefield. The book maps out a one-week, Revolutionary War cruise that visits the sites by boat.

Book Description

A former U.S. ambassador provides the most authoritative account of the twists and turns of Sudan's interactions with America, its devastating civil war, and its close connections to global terrorism.

Sudan, governed by an Islamist dictatorship, became a pariah nation among the global community not because of its religious orientation but because of its record of human-rights abuses and its fostering of notorious international terrorists. As the last American ambassador to complete an assignment in Sudan, Don Petterson provides unduplicated insights into how Sudan became what it is. Petterson recounts the consequences of the execution of four Sudanese employees of the U.S. government by Sudanese security forces in the southern city of Juba. He relates the experiences of Americans in Khartoum after Washington put Sudan on the black list of state sponsors of terrorism. He offers his personal observations on war-devastated southern Sudan. In this newly revised edition of Inside Sudan, Petterson recounts the events in Sudan from 1998 to the present, considers Sudan's connections to international terrorists, including Carlos the Jackal and Osama bin Laden, and assesses the changes in the relationship between Sudan and the United States after 9/11.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Book About the Sudan Conflict from a Diplomat's Point of View.......2006-07-22

Donald Petterson was a diplomat for the United States during most of the 1990's. He discusses from a diplomat's point of view the impasse that occured between the United States and the Khartoum governments. Petterson saw things get worse but could not stop the drift in differences. He explains that Sudanese people are quite friendly, but political, religious and regional problems run deep and occured during British rule also. A good book to get a perspective on Sudan.

A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ON SUDAN..........2005-05-20

Donald Petterson, former U.S.Ambassador to Sudan, has written an unflinching account of modern Sudan. It is the thoroughly human story of a man and his family living and working in Khartoum in the 1990's, the hey-day of Islamic terrorism and fundamentalist belief. Petterson, a veteran Foreign Service Officer in Africa describes the day-to-day events in the abysmally hot and dusty,strife-ridden capital of Khartoum. An exciting place for any FSO, Khartoum was above all else a very dangerous city, as Petterson points out. Filled with Islamic radicals, the hatred for all things Western was very evident to this American. While the Author never treads strongly into the deep historical factors surrounding Sudan's cultural probems today, INSIDE SUDAN: POLITICAL ISLAM, CONFLICT, AND CATASTROPHE neveretheless is an excellent read for everyone wishing an up-front account of what it feels like to be in a land where one is always on the cusp of revolution. The book grips the reader personally and emotionally and makes the problems of Sudan all the more real. Readers may also wish to turn to my new book, JIHAD: THE MAHDI REBELLION IN THE SUDAN. I have encapsulated one brief period of Sudanese history - the Mahdi Rebellion of 1881-1885. I hope to show the effects of Western Imperialism upon both Sudanese nationalism and culture.

An average book with a misleading title.......2004-05-21

The title of this book, Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict and Catastrophe, implies that the work will addressteh history of the conflict in the sudan as well as some discussion of the workings of Islam within the country's politics. However, this is not the case. The author, a former ambassodor to the Sudan, seems content to merely catalogue the meetings he had with Sudanese officials. Thus the book only addresses the time form 1992-95. Furthermore, the writing reads like a travel log and is rather uninteresting. The book claism to be an acoount of US-Sudanese relations, but even in this area it falls short. There is very little critical analysis and the work is littered with unimportant personal imformation. The book does give a look at life in a Us Embassy but this hardly makes up for its other shortcomings.

One good aspect of the work is Petterson's criticism of the media. For far too long has this atrocity been largely ignored by such agencies as CNN. Likewise, he also gives the reader some insight into the workings of Sudanese NGO's whose primary objective is not to relieve suffereing but rather to spread Islamic fundamentalism. Overall there are better books on the Sudan.

Mediocre.......2004-04-22

Precisely what we do not have is a real understanding of Sudan. We get a brief history; we get a sense that Petterson's diplomatic endeavours were futile; and we get information about the civil war which is available elsewhere. The fact is, Petterson did not have enough to write a book and should have spared us. If all the good elements were compressed, they would make a chapter in a real book. And the information on terrorism does not add anything new, if you are familiar with al-Qaeda. That was a ploy to encourage people post 11/September to buy it. I read it through, and was not rewarded by understanding Sudan. I will search elsewhere.

A Disappointing Book.......2002-12-29

"Inside Sudan" should be a great book. Donald Petterson served as U.S. Ambassador to Sudan from 1992 to 1995, and met with all the major political figures of the country (Gurang, Turabi, Bashir, Taha, Machar, etc.). In addition, he has extensive experience in Africa and traveled widely in the Sudan during his three-year tenure. Petterson also writes clearly. For all these reasons, this should be a great book.

But it's plainly not. Instead, "Inside Sudan" is a very dull and narrowly-focused volume. Unless you have a particular interest in the muted frustrations of Donald Petterson, when he served as U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, or you just like any book about the foreign service, you will probably find little to interest you here.

Examples of this are the lifeless descriptions Petterson gives of his meetings with important Sudanese officials. There's a formula to nearly all of them: Petterson usually starts out by saying the U.S./Sudan relationship will not improve until some important issues (slavery, torture, human rights violations, terrorism, etc.) are addressed by Sudan; the Sudanese official -- whoever Petterson happens to be meeting with at the time -- usually gets upset when he hears this and responds with either 1) there are no problems in Sudan, or 2) the U.S. has the same problems; the next day, the Sudanese press vilifies Petterson; finally, tempers cool and another meeting takes place where the same dynamic essentially repeats itself.

While this may be a fair description by Petterson of what actually happened during his meetings with Sudanese officials, it's not a basis for a book. There's no human element or color in his descriptions. It's difficult for the reader to tell one official apart from another or one meeting apart from another. They all just blend in together. Petterson spent a good deal of time with Turabi and Bashir, and he writes about several meetings he had with these two major figures. Yet after reading his book, these two very important men are still like stick figures in my mind, with little character or personality.

"Inside Sudan" is also weak on the history of the country and on the background of its current civil war. Most of the book focuses on just the three years Petterson was there. I realize the Ambassador is not a historian, but surely as a man who has spent a good deal of time in the Sudan, and read much to prepare for his job, he has strong opinions on the way history has shaped current events in that country. Doesn't he owe it to his readers to write about them? (The Ambassador does give a short introduction on the Sudan, but it's woefully inadequate.)

When I began "Inside Sudan", I thought Petterson's three decades of experience in sub-Saharan Africa would give him a fresh perspective on Sudan's relationships with its southern neighbors. Even though Petterson's previous experience was not in the countries that bordered Sudan, I reasoned that his time spent in Africa should still give him good knowledge about the ties between Sudan and places like Uganda, Central African Republic, Zaire, etc. But if it did, it's not evident here, as he only briefly discusses them.

A good book should be more than a series of failed meetings and tours around the country. It ought to tell you something interesting or important. This book fails that basic test.

Book Description

Excessive burning of oil, gas, and coal is raising our planet's thermostat to unacceptable levels-a problem which as already resulted in increased natural catastrophes: storms, floods, droughts, and fire. Yet big oil companies have repeatedly hijacked efforts to slow global carbon emissions.

The Carbon War is a major call-to-arms for the safety of our planet. Throughout the last decade, Jeremy Leggett, a distinguished scientist at Oxford University and former director for Green peace, has worked doggedly to alert human kind to the threat of ecological catastrophe, He contents that the main enemies-Arab countries, the United States government, oil companies, and automobile manufacturers-have used junk science, an army of lobbyists, and outright lies to ensure that their profits stayed safer than the planet's future.

With the grace of a novelist and the precision of a scientist, Leggett recount his maddening interactions with scientific councils, international governmental meetings, and business leaders. Still, despite the government's backpedaling on eco-promises, the media's laziness, and fossil fuel company rhetoric, the transition to solar energy is coming, he argues. Called the "best book yet about the politics of global worming" by John Gribbin the London Sunday Times, The Carbon War is a riveting read and a critical contribution to the fight for sustainable energy.

Customer Reviews:

The Carbon Policy Wars.......2007-01-16

For a geologist Jeremy Leggett is a suprisingly good writer. As described in the previous reviews he details some of the history leading up to the Kyoto accords and provides insight from the participants perception. The meetings, the debates, the radio and TV interviews are all here. You will also read about all the tension and conflict that this global problem with its immense economic immplications brings to a head.

This book is mainly about the politics of the world climate change policies and does not have very much content regarding the science of climate change. I would have liked to see more of the science and perhaps a bit less of the details of meetings after more meetings. If you want to learn more about the science I would recommend Spencer Weart's The Discovery of Global Warming and John Houghton's Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. If you want to read about the war between Exxon,big Coal,corporate media, and environmentalists, scientists, and the countries that are first in line to suffer from the consequences of global warming this is your book.

Required reading for the informed citizen.......2005-08-17

Many authors, in meticulous science journalism style, write good environmental science and policy books that are worth reading.

Jeremy Leggett's "Carbon War" is an outstanding contribution from the front lines. A journal from a key player in the carbon war, with insights on other key players on all sides.

Leggett puts you at the international summits, to witness the best and worst elements at work. There are many books that will inform you on global climate change issues (and some that will intentionally disinform you). But few, if any, let you peer into the international efforts (and counterefforts) to deal with climate change like the "Carbon War."

Climate Change and Politics.......2005-02-04

Jeremy Leggett's "The Carbon War" is the story of how the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 came about, and how companies in the business of thermal fuel (coal, oil, gas) - Leggett calls them the "Carbon Club" - tried to derail the process of setting enforceable goals for lowering greenhouse gas emissions. It is also the story of how self-interest, not surprisingly, overrides the general interest; how the United States, home to some of the largest oil and gas multinationals and the world's premier carbon dioxide emitting nation, sided with the Carbon Club; how Australia, the world's largest coal exporter, joined forces with the United States.

The Kyoto Protocol will come into force on 16 February 2005. It has been ratified by more than 55 of its signatory countries. The United States, led by George W. Bush, however, walked out on the agreement in March 2001.

The fact of global warming is hardly disputable. The five hottest years recorded since 1880 were 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2001, with 1998 having been the hottest. Whether the warming effect is man-made is still subject to discussion. But a full three quarters of scientists working in the field of climate change make the burning of fossil fuels responsible for the recorded increase in temperature.

The emission of carbon dioxide could be easily reduced if power could be economically generated by photovoltaic solar energy (PV). However, Adam Smith's invisible hand won't do the job in this particular case. It is a Catch-22 situation because PV will only be economically viable if the PV cells are mass-produced, but they are not mass-produced because people can't afford today's expensive PV products. This is a situation where government would have a proper role to fulfill - to jump-start a process that would help the common good where the mechanics of the market do not work. But unfortunately most governments do not care to do that.

Already in 1997, Leggett notes, "every country had its companies lost in skepticism about climate change. But in the USA the scale of the collective denial was unique." (264) Eight years later it is not much different. This denial comes at a cost, though. Not only the cost of becoming more and more isolated from global trends and losing the moral authority the USA enjoyed after Roosevelt and Truman established the country as a world power, but also an economic cost. State of the art ecological cars that really sell are not made by GM or Ford these days, but by Japan's Toyota. World-class oil companies with a comprehensive environmental policy are not ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco of the US, but BP and Shell of Europe.

Jeremy Leggett, by the way, founded his own company to promote and sell PV technology after he realized, with a certain bitterness, that his lobbying efforts to get emission limits agreed were not getting anywhere.

Front row seat.......2004-12-11

The author participated as an NGO spokesperson at many international meetings about CO2's contribution to climate change. His chronological treatment imposes order on the confusing, repeated climate prep meetings and negotiations of the 1990s. It was very helpful to read an unapologetic, informed account of these negotiations, replete with the hope & despair many felt about the participation of U.S. negotiators 1992-2000.

I bought it for my husband for his birthday, then proceeded to read it night after night until it was done. Leggett's first person accounts engaged and entertained me, and I admired his ability to switch between his memories of his own involvement and his descriptions of the state of science and policy at a given time. The sketches of the opposition always were worth reading, and I kept wondering whether he'd ever get really mean.

As a coda to reading the book, one could visit the website of OPEC to read their short policy statement on global climate change; see their FAQs number 20, an interesting read.

One of the Most Important Books of our Era.......2003-02-15

I have just finished reading Leggett's book about the war for the protection of our atmosphere. It is a riveting account of the strident efforts experienced and well-intentioned scientists from all over the world have made to try to bring humanity to a reasonable acceptance of the extreme dangers that ignoring the risks of global warming will bring upon our planet. It is shocking that so far they have clearly lost the war; oil, coal, and automobile interests have successfully undermined international conventions and treaties which were designed to protect the Earth. If fossil fuel, energy and automobile interests continue to "win" (although as pointed out in the book, it really amounts to a huge loss), we will all be affected, rich or poor, South or North, nobody stands to gain. As Leggett's book makes obvious, humanity has never before had its hands on so much information about its own substantive elements, its past and its future; and yet,seemed to be willing to throw its own intelligence into the wind, scrapping its safety catches, all for the sake of some weird sense of 'material progress' spoon-fed to us by commercial-driven media. This books points directly to the moments in time when human progress could have advanced into a more sane, and probably more interesting variety of developmental possibilities. Read it and relish its not-at-all hidden wisdom--it will be one of the unforgetable learning moments of your reading life.

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