Gently Lead: Or How to Teach Your Children About God While Finding Out for Yourself

Book Description

This book is warm and nonjudgmental, and respectful of the mystery of God while making that mystery visible as God's works reveal themselves in everyday life.

Customer Reviews:

inspiring and easy to read.......2003-02-27

I loved it! A wonderful way to teach children about spirituality. I learned a few things myself.

The very BEST!.......2000-04-01

As someone who works in religious education with children and parents (sometimes dealing with people of differing faiths, sometimes people new to our faith), this book has been an invaluable tool. My pages are dog-eared and now full of post-it notes. Gently Lead is a perfect book to help parents and teachers view everyday experiences as faith-filled moments. The entries are short and compelling. My favorite, "Fetching and Chopping" and its sequel "And Raking" has helped many parents and children in my experience to learn to transform ordinary work into Godly tasks. This book is perfect for use in preparing workshops, retreats, enrichment sessions for teachers and experiences for children. It is one of the top five books I use in my work as a religious education director. I have bought several copies to lend to my teachers and parents.

GENTLY LEAD: HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT GOD WHILE FINDING OUT FOR YOURSELF

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GENTLY LEAD: HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT GOD WHILE FINDING OUT FOR YOURSELF
Polly Berrien Berends
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OA4JLW

Gently Lead: Or How to Teach Your Children About God While Finding Out for Yourself

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Gently Lead: Or How to Teach Your Children About God While Finding Out for Yourself
Polly Berrien Berends
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEPWIM

Book Description

This is the story of two youthful combatants caught up in one of the most famous and important campaigns in all history. After two years of war and thirty- five days of intense marching along a hundred miles of hot summer roads, Thomas Ware, a Confederate soldier from rural Georgia, and Franklin Horner, a Union soldier from the coal country of Pennsylvania, end up fighting on virtually the same battlefield at Gettysburg. En route to that fateful day, both make daily entries in small, leather-bound diaries they carry. They write about what's important to them receiving mail, writing letters, having something to eat, surviving combat. Historian Mark Nesbitt places the entries into the larger context of the war and amplifies the diarist's commentary.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent for new and established civil war "junkies".......2007-04-02

This was the second book I read on the subject of the civil war. The personal perspective added to my endless interest.

There is little to add to what has been said other than this is a DO NOT MISS READ! Absolutely READ THIS BOOK!

I could not put this book down when I read it...

An up-close and personal a view of America's deadliest war.......2002-06-07

35 Days To Gettysburg: The Campaign Diaries Of Two American Enemies by Civil War enthusiast Mark Nesbitt features the daily journal entries of two ordinary soldiers caught up in the American Civil War: Thomas Lewis Ware, a Confederate from rural Georgia; and Franklin Horner, a Union soldier from Pennsylvania coal land. Their various perspectives and recorded experiences (sometimes conflicting, sometimes all too parallel), lead up to one of the bloodiest battles in the entire four year conflict, are vividly recounted with meticulous notes and a comprehensive index in this truly fascinating compilation. 35 Days To Gettysburg is a superbly presented primary source offering an up-close and personal a view of America's deadliest war, and a truly welcome and much appreciated contribution to the growing library of American Civil War studies.

Interesting insight by Nesbitt.......2002-05-23

Being a fan of Mark Nesbitt's Ghost of Gettysburg book series I was sold on the idea of reading his new book that told of two soldiers of opposing armies brought together at Gettysburg. Nesbitt's approach to telling the diaries of two soldiers written on similar dates was a great idea though I found that the Union story of Private Horner lacked the details compared to his opposition Confederate Private Ware. Ware's details seem to blur Horner's quick and rather limited writing. Both soldiers certainly write about the marching and battle while Nesbitt tries to balance army movements with historical backing and concepts. I found the maps helpful but often hard to follow because they were photos of very detailed maps that made things hard to read in black and white. Had they been less of detail or re-drawn for the book as other history books it would have been much easier to comprehend. As much as I am a fan of Nesbitt's work I found myself reading this book and wanting more detail as the book is a very quick read. I would have liked to give this book 3.5 Stars though Amazon's rating system doesn't allow for halves.

35 Days to Gettysburg.......2002-03-08

I really liked this book. This book is great for people who like history. This book is about two men and their diaries. The book is also about the battle of Gettysburg.

Interesting Idea, A Little Lite On Follow-Through.......2002-02-27

Mark Nesbit had a very interesting idea for a Civil War book. He found two soldiers, Franklin Horner (USA) and Thomas Ware (CSA), who faced each other across a few dangerous yards at Gettysburg. He retraced their routes of march to the battle through their diary entries (over 35 days - hence the title).

Both enlisted men got to the battlefield the old fashioned way: walking. Unfortunately, their writing is not similarly matched. Whereas the Ware diary entries are often vivid and descriptive, the author's Union traveler records at best three or four lines of not very illuminating fragments on the same days. The result is leads to a somewhat unbalanced first person description of the route to Gettysburg. I can imagine finding two surviving diaries from adversaries who faced each other in opposing regiments was difficult, and the author is to be recognized for a very good idea. One wishes his task could have been better fulfilled with two prodigious diarists.

Each of the 35 chapters starts off with the opposing diary entries. The author then explains the section of march (if they were marching that day) each soldier traveled. The author also spends significant time describing camp life, service in general and the trials of marching experienced by civil war soldiers in general. I was somewhat surprised that the author spent the bulk of the book on general descriptions and backgrounds instead of the march to Gettysburg (as one could have supposed from the title). However, it must be acknowledged that this background is a good introduction to soldierly travails in that war.

The section on their units meeting at the foot of Little Round Top is the best part of the book. Nesbitt fleshes out these chapters with unit commanders' action reports -- the result is a more vivid and full description of the last of the 35 days.

All in all an interesting book, but I wished it could have been more fully focused on the actual march and had a better Union diarist as a story teller.

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35 days to Gettysburg : the campaign diaries of two American enemies / Mark Nesbitt
Mark Nesbitt
Manufacturer: Harrisburg, PA : Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VZR6K6

Book Description

Louisiana is known for its rich, complex cultural heritage, but even in Louisiana, the question "What is a Creole?" is often answered in a number of ways. In "Creoles of Louisiana," George Washington Cable knowledgeably addresses this question with precision and aplomb.

Originally published in 1884, "Creoles of Louisiana" builds on earlier explorations of the lives of the white descendants of early French and Spanish immigrants during the transitory post-Civil War period. Cable wrote faithful portrayals of the Creoles, with a pioneering ear for the dialect that earned him an acclaimed place as a leader of the local colorist movement.

From the early settlement of Louisiana, to the trials of the War Between the States, to the yellow fever epidemic, and on to "Brighter Skies," the chapters chronicle the Creoles' experience in the Pelican state. New Orleans emerges as a town carved out of the wilderness of the bayou, and together, city and citizens flourished.

Customer Reviews:

CREOLES.......2007-01-28

This is a fantastic book on Creoles, it is well researched and very enlightening. The word Creole means the original European natives of New Orleans, NOT light skinned African Americans, now I'm sure many light skinned blacks from New Orleans has Creole ancestry. The word has been eroneously used, when I tell people that my grandmother was of Creole and Austrian ancestry, they are like, wow, I did not know you were black..im like, uh, im not black, it's so annoying, and the media perpetuates the idea, that the word means any light skinned black person from Louisiana. Everyone in Louisiana should have to read this book in history class, then they could get educated on the word, and spread the information the the obtuse media. Highly recommended.

In camp and battle with the Washington artillery of New Orleans: A narrative of events during the late civil war from Bull run to Appomattox and Spanish fort

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In camp and battle with the Washington artillery of New Orleans: A narrative of events during the late civil war from Bull run to Appomattox and Spanish fort
William Miller Owen
Manufacturer: Ticknor & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Pierre George Rousseau, commanding general of the galleys of the Mississippi,: With sketches of Spanish governors of Louisiana (1777-1803) and glimpses of social life in New Orleans,

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Pierre George Rousseau, commanding general of the galleys of the Mississippi,: With sketches of Spanish governors of Louisiana (1777-1803) and glimpses of social life in New Orleans,
Raymond J Martinez
Manufacturer: Hope Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Proceedings of the Stated Convention of the 33d National Encampment United Spanish War Veterans. New Orleans, Louisiana, September 6-10, 1931

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Proceedings of the Stated Convention of the 33d National Encampment United Spanish War Veterans. New Orleans, Louisiana, September 6-10, 1931
United Spanish War Veterans
Manufacturer: Washington: GPO
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IV2B2Q

The story of Spanish moss: What it is and how it grew

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The story of Spanish moss: What it is and how it grew
Raymond J Martinez
Manufacturer: Hope Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007EBXT6

The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square

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The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square
Ned Sublette
Manufacturer: Lawrence Hill Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Early Civilization | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Civilization & Culture | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1556527306

Book Description

Offering a new perspective on the unique cultural influences of New Orleans, this entertaining history captures the soul of the city and reveals its impact on the rest of the nation. Focused on New Orleans’ first century of existence, a comprehensive, chronological narrative of the political, cultural, and musical development of Louisiana’s early years is presented. This innovative history tracks the important roots of American music back to the swamp town, making clear the effects of centuries-long struggles among France, Spain, and England on the city’s unique culture. The origins of jazz and the city’s eclectic musical influences, including the role of the slave trade, are also revealed. Featuring little known facts about the cultural development of New Orleans—such as the real significance of gumbo, the origins of the tango, and the first appearance of the words vaudeville and voodoo—this rich historical narrative explains how New Orleans’ colonial influences shape the city still today.

Life in New Orleans in the Spanish period

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Life in New Orleans in the Spanish period
Minter Wood
Manufacturer: Louisiana Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Louisiana marriages, volume I;: A collection of marriage records from the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans during the Spanish regime and the early American period, 1784-1806

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Louisiana marriages, volume I;: A collection of marriage records from the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans during the Spanish regime and the early American period, 1784-1806
Alice D Forsyth
Manufacturer: Polyanthos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000725O2A

The Washington artillery of New Orleans;: A narrative of events during the late Civil War from Bull Run to Spanish fort

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The Washington artillery of New Orleans;: A narrative of events during the late Civil War from Bull Run to Spanish fort
William Miller Owen
Manufacturer: James Osgood
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

The first major work in the nascent discipline of ``cognitive science.'' It provides a unified presentation of pattern recognition that introduces new mechanical methods as well as a wider humanistic perspective on the science. Showing that practically all the known pattern recognition algorithms can be derived from the principle of minimum entropy, it provides the first complete theory of pattern recognition.

Human gait pattern recognition for evaluation, diagnosis and control (Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Thesis. 1978. Ph. D)

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Human gait pattern recognition for evaluation, diagnosis and control (Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Thesis. 1978. Ph. D)
Max Donath
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007APWXS

Amazon.com

Before writing the first volume of his substantial biography of Adolf Hitler, Ian Kershaw focused on the popular appeal of the Nazi dictator in The "Hitler Myth". Arguing that "the sources of Hitler's appeal must be sought ... in those who adored him, rather than in the leader himself," Kershaw shows how Hitler's public image welded together antagonistic forces within the Nazi state, mobilized the nation for war, and contributed to the ethos that animated systematic and genocidal violence.

Responding to historians who maintain that Hitler's personality or ideological fixations accounted for his broad acceptance, Kershaw argues that, in the early 1930s, a sizable plurality of Germans hungered for an omnipotent Führer to stand above the political disharmonies of the Weimar state. Later, foreign policy and military victories attracted many more to the Hitler legend. However, victories were the price for popularity; and Hitler became more and more bloodthirsty as both his image and regime foundered under the blows of the Allied powers. The Hitler myth, then--a cultural phenomenon the Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels claimed as his greatest propaganda triumph--became a fundamental cause for the collapse of the Nazi State.

Kershaw's authoritative history of political culture in Hitler's Germany forcefully demonstrates that the Führer's popularity rested less on "bizarre and arcane precepts of Nazi ideology than on social and political values ... recognizable in many societies other than the Third Reich." In our present political environment, which repeatedly features outcries for "leadership" from pundits and public servants alike, the disturbing lessons of The "Hitler Myth" are an urgent warning. --James Highfill

Book Description

Few twentieth-century political leaders enjoyed greated popularity among their own people than Hitler in the 1930s and 1940s. This remarkable study of the myth that sustained one of the most notorious dictators, and delves into Hitler's extraordinarily powerful hold over the German people. In this 'major contribution to the study of the Third Reich' (Times Literary Supplement), Ian Kershaw argues that it lay not so much in Hitler's personality or his bizarre Nazi ideology, as in the social and political values of the people themselves. In charting the creation, rise, and fall of the `Hitler Myth', he demonstrates the importance of the manufactured 'Fuhrer cult' to the attainment of Nazi political ends, and how the Nazis used the new techniques of propaganda to exploit and build on the beliefs, phobias, and prejudices of the day.

Customer Reviews:

Rebuts the Allied-Bombing-Ineffective Myth.......2007-07-19

Ever so often, a new book comes out that purports to show that the Allied bombing of Germany did not contribute to the Allied victory. If anything, we are told, the destruction of cities only stiffened German resistance and made the Germans cling more to Hitler than ever before.

Kershaw examines these contentions and finds them wanting. He says: "The overall conclusion was that bombing did not stiffen morale, but seriously depressed it: fatalism, apathy, defeatism, and other psychological effects were all more strongly encountered among bombed than unbombed sections of the population. And much of the hate and anger aroused by the bombing was channeled against the Nazi regime which was blamed for its failure to ward off the attacks." (p. 207).

Estimates are cited which indicate that a third of the German population suffered directly from Allied bombing, a quarter of all German homes were at least damaged, and that nearly five million Germans had to be evacuated (p. 202). This is in addition to the over-300,000 deaths.

Both the German and the early-postwar Allied sources agree on the demoralizing effect of Allied bombing. For instance, consider the situation soon after the bombing of Schweinfurt: "Already after the first raid in August 1943, SD agencies in Lower Franconia reported widespread shock and depression among the population, even among the previously `reliable' sections who had been convinced of German victory." (p. 203).

Kershaw could have made his case stronger by focusing more on the level of German war production that existed in the face of Allied bombing as compared with the level of German war production that would have existed had the Allied bombings not taken place. One must also remember, from a strictly military point of view, that the lost productivity from the disruptions and dislocations, of urban-industrial infrastructure, caused by area bombing, was usually much greater than the lost productivity caused by the immediate deaths, injuries, and destruction.

A Fundamentally Flawed but still Interesting Work.......2007-05-19

Historian Ian Kershaw, later to scribe a monumental two-volume biography of Hitler, here tries, in one of his early works on Nazism, to assess the creation, acceptance, and downfall of the "Hitler Myth" among the German people. In essence, the Myth of Hitler is that of a charismatic leader and hero of the people upon whom the people bestow traits, characteristics, and motives that simply do not gibe with the facts.

The Hitler Myth reached its zenith in 1941 at the same time that the Third Reich was becoming the largest empire the world has ever known. Small wonder then that the German people supported Hitler in his ever expanding grabs for land and power. In this respect Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbel's claim that he created the "Hitler Myth" may be a case of the tail wagging the dog.

In any event, author Kershaw makes a marvelous attempt to understand how and why the Hitler Myth started, how it grew and was sustained, and what led to its destruction. In so doing he focuses not on Hitler the person as a myth but on the people who were the real source of the Hitler Myth, the people of Germany who bought into the myth.

The basic resources for his analysis are based on two different, and competing, records. One major resource is internal reports of the government and Nazi Party agencies on the state of the attitudes, feelings, and morale of the German people. The other major resource is reports made by agents within Germany of the Social Democratic Party, initially as a party in opposition and then as a party in exile.

One of the early goals of the Nazi Party after it wrested power from Hindenburg was to coalesce the Nazi Party vision of Hitler as the embodiment of the Nazi movement to Hitler becoming the embodiment of the State and Germany itself. (One reason Hitler eliminated Ernest Roehm in the Night of the Long Knives was that Roehm, with his 2-3 million man private army of Brownshirts (the SA) behind him, was a direct rival to Hitler for the affections of both the Party and the country. E.g., at the 1933 Nuremberg party rally the focus was almost equally on Roehm and Hitler; at the 1934 party rally, held shortly after eliminating Roehm, the focus was solely on Hitler.)

Author Kershaw's work makes an excellent effort at trying to understand the phenomenon whereby Hitler and the State became one and the same in the minds of, apparently, most Germans by 1939-40.

The work, however, is not, and cannot, be definitive because the sources he uses to make his conclusions are first, biased by nature, and two, secondary, not primary. (Assessments of the Nazi Party reports also seem to be heavily based on only one part of the country, Bavaria.) That being said, the results are nonetheless fascinating and well worth reading to anyone interested in trying to gain a better understanding of Hitler, Nazism, or World War II.

Solid work.......2006-09-21

Kershaw is probably more famous now for his two part bio of Hitler, but he wrote this book around 1980 and it is still one of the best works on how propaganda painted a picture of the Fuhrer. What one finds out through reading this book is a glmpse into everyday life for Germans, how propaganda kept Hitler's popularity up despite the popularity of the Nazi Party declining, and how propaganda gave the general public a distorted view of Hitler. We also see how the public could have supported someone like Hitler and his party. Often times with the Nazi era, it is hard to understand how ordinary citizens supported the party considering what we know now, but of course people at the time did not expect a world war or the holocaust to happen. Kershaw does an excellent job of hitting this theme as he puts the reader in the time period so we see why Hitler and the Nazis rose to power. We also see that the Nazi's often times downplayed their anti-Semitism before taking power and their hatred of the Jews was not amongst the reasons most ordinary people voted Nazi or supported Hitler. All in all, this book is a must read for anyone interested in the Nazis or the use of propaganda. The book is scholarly, but for the most part is easy to read and flows pretty well.

A solid, interesting survey.......2005-09-19

"The Hitler Myth" is essentially a charting of the effectiveness of--though not an in-depth investigation of--the propaganda machine relative specifically to how the German populace viewed Adolf Hitler from the late 1920's through the duration of the war. Kershaw measures the propaganda machine's effectiveness through 1) opinion poll results, 2) voting figures, and 3) anecdotal documentation, especially reports from Nazi Party functionaries regarding what might today be called "the word on the street."

What ends up being Kershaw's most strongly stressed observation in the text is the persistence in Nazi Germany of public "excusablility" of Hitler (my clumsy term, not Kershaw's) or a sort of "blame transfer" (again, my inadequate term) that existed relative to any negative news or regime mistakes.

In other words, when things went wrong, the public--in a seemingly maniacal way--held onto a "BUT IT'S NOT THE FURHER'S FAULT" mentality. Concomitant to this reality is the extent to which the Nazi Party was actually actively disliked by huge swaths of the population of Germany from quite early on (pre-war), and even more so by the beginning of hostilities with the Allies. Nonetheless, none of that displeasure seemed to get applied to Hitler himself until much, much later. Kershaw's fairly convincing stream of written evidence shows that the public persistently disassociated Hitler from the over-zealous policies, corruption, or flat-out bad ideas and brutish stupidity of the Nazi regime by assuming that Hitler was being misinformed by sycophants, or was being foiled by the pernicious British, or was simply too absorbed with genius foreign policy and thus distracted from domestic concerns, etc. In fact, the evidence suggests that during many points of the Third Reich's embarrassing reign, at least up until the defeat at Stalingrad, when the popularity of the Nazi Party worsened, Hitler's personal popularity actually increased.

The "why" behind all this is tricky, and Kershaw is honest enough to say so, admitting that he doesn't have a complete answer. But, his exhaustive research over the years has helped. Clearly, he thinks that the Nazi propaganda machine and its persistent application is the principle reason for the amazing success of the "Hitler myth." Or, to put it in modern pundit parlance: "It's the media, stupid." Control of communications by savvy, Machiavellian manipulators like Joseph Gobbles allowed for Hitler to always be positioned (literally, too!) in the best possible light, no matter what the national or international circumstances.

A secondary but important factor in the vitality of the Hitler myth was simply a desperate German thirst for leadership (decisive leadership or at least decisive-sounding) in the wake of 20 years of highly dysfunctional adolescent democracy burdened by rank corruption and destabilized by what was at the time the compelling Communist alternative, Communism having not then been discredited anywhere in the world nearly to the extent it has been now.

While Kershaw does not apply the lessons of the Hitler myth directly to any aspect of today's political environment, some parallels are there, and he discretely suggests as much in a few places in the text. Kershaw wisely leaves it up to you, the reader, to plumb them. I suspect that Kershaw, being a British citizen and longtime observer of the media of the past, cannot help but find some slight comparisons--arguably worrying--between the inability of the German media to respond critically to Hitler and the inability of the modern media to do the same relative to national leaders or powerful and essentially conservative or nationalistic movements, particularly in the United States and in those large regions of the Middle East served by Al-Jezeera's news service. Of course media observers, including some of Kershaw's professional colleagues, outside of the U.S. and some within (where it is considered fairly "politically incorrect") have drawn parallels to the staging of Hitler-focused Nazi propaganda events and rallies and those staged by the current American presidential administration. Parallels have also been drawn--much more often in Kershaw's native Britain than in the U.S.--between the Third Reich's control of the media the corporate control of the media today. (Incidentally, Kershaw does somewhat discuss public partisan events, especially Nazi rallies in small communities and parades in Berlin and elsewhere, and it is interesting to read the obsessively detailed accounts of official Nazi reports citing how many people were in the crowds during parades, what percentage of them seemed to be executing the Nazi salute, and so forth.) Granted, the media's inability to serve genuine public discourse today and be properly critical (I use "critical" in the same sense of the word as it is used in the term "critical thinking;" that is, "critical" meaning the qualities of being careful, objective, and intellectually rigorous, not necessarily "negative") is less severe today that than in Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. But, that begs the question: just how un-critical is uncritical *enough* to cause great harm to a society, nation, or culture, particularly a Western one?

If there is a glaring omission in Kershaw's book, it is that of technological and sociological context relative to media. His entire text is about propaganda, media, and public perception, and yet there is no examination of just how many of the German people read newspaper, how many newspapers there were, how many of the people listened to radio, how many hours, and what radio shows existed, and what the options were. In fact, at times it seems Kershaw was too close to his own material, and failed to realize that the basics of the media landscape of Germany from the 1920's through the 1940's isn't something even erudite readers are likely to understand today. Granted, he touched on points of this landscape: there are brief mentions of posters and their use, or the number of Hitler's speeches and their frequency; there are citations throughout from specific newspapers, including underground anti-Nazi publications (some of which, in retrospect, seem to have been stirringly prescient and clear-sighted, so much so as to make me shake my head at times while reading their predictions and worries about what Hitler would bring to the German people and Europe). But, it was not nearly a coherent enough picture. Even just one or two pages of text giving an overarching view of the German media landscape during the 1920's and 1930's would have been extremely helpful.

interesting preview.......2005-08-02

AN INTERESTING PREVIEW OF HIS LATER CLASSICS ON THE LIFE OF HITLER HUBRIS AND NEMESIS

The 'Hitler Myth': Image and Reality in the Third Reich

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The 'Hitler Myth': Image and Reality in the Third Reich
Ian / Wilke, Gerhard / Peukert, Detlev Kershaw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKBOEM

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The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the Third Reich
Ian Kershaw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKCFU4

Book Description

This book deals with the decline of respect for free speech, academic freedom, and civil liberty that has swept higher education in America over the last decade and a half and with what needs to be done to reverse this trend. Drawing on personal experience as well as research, Downs analyzes the origins and development of the problem, and shows how political organization of students and faculty can lead to constructive change. He presents four case studies that illustrate this thesis.

Customer Reviews:

a balanced, reasoned account by a liberal.......2006-05-14

The main purpose and content of this book is to present four case studies. In the first two, those of U. Penn and U. Wisconsin, thanks to efforts made by faculty and students in the last few years, gains were made in restoring some degree of free speech and other Bill-of-Rights protections to faculty and students. In the other two, Columbia and Berkeley, no such efforts have been made and the status quo continues. The author states that most or all other campuses resemble the latter two.

Also, in introductory chapters, the author gives a precis of what has happened to colleges and universities since 1987:

(1) the redefinition of the mission of the university from the search for truth and knowledge to the transforming of individuals into sensitive members of the community from whom all racism, sexism and homophobia has been washed away.

(2) the redefinition of speech as action. One doesn't state an opinion, one offends another person or harasses another person. So, codes against harassment and creating a hostile environment include saying anything of which the censors disapprove.

(3) "critical race theory", the view that racism is endemic to liberal society and that such notions as individual, reason, merit, etc. are racist notions and should be suppressed.

The author, like many others, states that the motive for the de facto repeal of the Bill of Rights at universities was that the welfare of some groups was more important. He goes on to point out that the consequences have been anything but beneficial, even to those groups. Feelings of antagonism have increased. An increasing infantilization or dependency of the favored groups has occurred. etc.

The author cites a number of other interesting recent books, including McWhorter, Losing the Race; Wood, Diversity; Kuran, Private Truths, Public Lies; Farber and Sherry, Beyond All Reason; and Kors and Silvergate, The Shadow University. Kors and Silvergate have continued to be active in the area and have established an organization called Foundation for Individual Freedom in Education (FIRE) with a website, www.thefire.org, where complaints can be registered. The site makes interesting if harrowing reading. There is also a database in which you can look up any college and get FIRE's rating of the degree of freedom on that campus.

One strength of the book is its narrow focus. That means, however, that other books need also to be consulted. The book is especially weak on the causes or development of the present situtation. The author states that he became a faculty member in the mid-1980s as a result of having written an anti-Nazi book (PhDs looking for faculty positions, take note!). By that time, the situation had already developed. For an eyewitness account in narrative form of the groups and motives that led to the present situation, see The Rape of Alma Mater. For a detailed study of the situation at the present time, one which includes other parts of society that are affected by what is happening in academia, read While America Sleeps: How ... and Indoctrination Are Destroying America From Within -- While America Sleeps: How Islam, Immigration and Indoctrination Are Destroying America From Within.

The present book is unique in sounding a hopeful note and in providing others with the two cases of (limited) success. It is to be hoped that other academics and students will read this book and learn how to take back their own universities.

What happened to free speech on American campuses?.......2005-08-23

One would think that American universities would be centers of free speech, where all sorts of views could be stated freely. Well, that hasn't been entirely the case recently. And this book examines some of the problems that have arisen.

I would have thought that the fundamental issues would be simple. Most speech is inoffensive. Some speech is actually illegal (sedition, incitement, or whatever). The line between illegal speech and legal speech may be a subject of debate, but that line exists somewhere. And some speech is in between: it is offensive but not illegal. And those who are offended have plenty of options: they can shun such people, or tell others about their bad manners, and so forth.

As this book points out, once one has rules against offensive speech, not just against intimidation (or worse), that leads to thought control. And there are some examples of what has been happening along these lines.

One spectacular example is the 1993 "water buffalo" case at the University of Pennsylvania. A Penn freshman got in trouble for using the term "water buffalo" in response to students who were making too much noise at midnight outside his dormitory. Although a simple apology from him would have been the most reasonable resolution, Penn made this into a major case. So did much of the nation! The result was not only a victory for the accused student, but the removal of the "speech codes" at Penn. It seems that the speech codes were doomed by the idiotic claims of Penn officials, including the Penn President, that they were merely following due process in the water buffalo case.

Downs describes how speech codes were removed at the University of Wisconsin as well. And there is some fascinating material about the University of California, Berkeley. The campus newspaper ran an ad that offended some people, and then compounded the problem by apologizing for it (offending even more folks). And then, there was a speech by well-known conservative David Horowitz. An assistant chancellor warned Horowitz that he might be shouted down "because the right of free expression also" belonged to those that disagreed with him! I find it incredible that such censorship could be called "free expression." Others were similarly censored just for having "politically incorrect" views. A striking example was former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was prevented from speaking to 2000 waiting ticket holders by a couple of hundred foes of free speech. One of these people, when challenged about what she had done replied that she didn't "believe in free speech for war criminals." By the way, given Netanyahu's record, I find such a charge against him ludicrous. And I wonder if genuine criminals, such as Yasir Arafat, would have been shouted down at Berkeley.

One more topic in the book is the sexual misconduct policy at Columbia University. That's another university that has a problem with taking political correctness too seriously. But in this case, the issue was simply that people accused of sexual misconduct were denied due process, including the right to hear the testimony against them or to cross-examine. That policy eventually had to be scrapped. Still, the incident serves to show the moral blindness of some of those who create policies on campus.

I found this book very interesting and I strongly recommend it.

Restoring Free Speech & Liberty on Campu

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Restoring Free Speech & Liberty on Campu
Donald Downs
Manufacturer: CAMBRIDGE UNIV*@ PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N6591Q

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introductory level discussion of environmental issues

Engaging discussion of planetary management issues

Human Nature: A Blueprint for Managing the Earth-by People, for People
James Trefil
Manufacturer: Times Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

As a prizewinning theoretical physicist and an outspoken advocate for scientific literacy, James Trefil has long been the public's guide to a better understanding of the world. In this provocative book, Trefil looks squarely at our environmental future and finds-contrary to popular wisdom-reason to celebrate.For too long, Trefil argues, humans have treated nature as something separate from themselves-pristine wilderness to be saved or material resources to be exploited. What we need instead is a scientific approach to the environment that embraces the human transformation of nature for our benefit. In Human Nature, Trefil exposes the benefits of genetically modified species, uncovers vital facts about droughts and global warming, and points to examples of environmental management where catering to humans reaps greater rewards than sheltering other species. By taking advantage of explosive advances in the sciences, we can fruitfully manage the planet, if we rise to the challenge. Like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and Paul Ehrlich's Population Bomb, Human Nature promises to fundamentally alter the way we perceive our relationship to the Earth-but with optimism rather than alarm.

Customer Reviews:

introductory level discussion of environmental issues.......2004-09-28

I'm not quite sure who this book is written for. I guess it is targeted at the intelligent and somewhat skeptical reader who does not have any technical background in environmental science. The book presents a lot of useful background information, and provides a science framework for discussing several subjects that are often presented in more emotional/political terms.

The book works best as a tool to introduce the idea that some of these questions (global climate change, endangered species, genetic engineering) can be reasonably discussed. It is not necessary to make faith-based decisions about them based on who you want to believe - there is data available and you do not have to be a specialist to get a basic understanding of the issues.

However, Trefil draws several conclusions in this book which are simply unsupported by any data he presents. In his quest to simplify and condense the subjects, he has to throw out almost all of the shaded nuances. But the devil is in the details. Many of the details he skips over are big enough to completely change the answers involved.

This book should only be a beginning, not an end. Ideally it would serve to make people think "that's an interesting subject - I want to learn more about it". Pope said "a little learning is a dangerous thing", and that definitely applies to this book.

Engaging discussion of planetary management issues.......2004-07-28

The main title of this book, "Human Nature" is a bit misleading. What physics professor and scientific generalist James Trefil is really talking about is humans and nature, as he says in the Preface, and how to manage the planet (as in the subtitle). Trefil has a "benefits-to-humans" principle to guide us:

"The global ecosystem should be managed for the benefit, broadly conceived, of human beings." (p. 13 and p. 218)

Note well the qualification "broadly conceived." Trefil allows that benefits to humans might include "some sort of innate human attraction to complex natural ecosystems" and that we might "prefer scenery that contains both water and a variety of plants and animals." (pp. 214-215) However he goes on to say that his first reaction to "the heat, humidity, and discomfort" of a rainforest is to ask, "Why would anyone want to preserve THIS?"

Why indeed?

Well, because it's there. Because it's beautiful...etc. Trefil appreciates this answer but assigns a higher value to human utility than to human aesthetics. To be fair, however, his vision of a managed earth includes "both cities and wilderness areas." (p. 226)

Nonetheless this book will offend environmentalists because of its industry-friendly tone (e.g., Part II is entitled "The Myths of Pop Ecology") and because Trefil occupies a middle ground between the extremes of a paved earth and a wilderness earth, and also because he assigns such a high value to human life as opposed to the lives of other creatures.

Okay, to some specifics. His idea of the symbolic meaning of the Garden of Eden as a falling from grace is the standard model from Christianity; however a broader view sees it as the symbolic expression of the birth of human consciousness. We were "innocent" and then suddenly we saw that we were "naked." We became "conscious"--especially of our animal nature.

More important than this difference of interpretation is his idea that we have taken ourselves out...of the process of natural selection--and [have] became something unique in the history of our planet." (p. 39)

Clearly we are unique on this planet. However to imagine that we have somehow stepped out of the process of natural selection is presumptuous. Our culture--as amazing as it is--is nonetheless itself a product of natural selection. It cannot negate natural selection except in a purely local way. To appreciate this imagine that we have established colonies on the moon and Mars. Suppose then that the earth suffers some horrific "sterilizing" catastrophe, such as being hit by a gigantic meteor. The colonies on the moon and Mars will survive but earth-bound humans will probably go the way of the dinosaurs.

This is natural selection at work. Beings with the ability to occupy niches away from planet earth will be selected in such natural events (including the microbes in and on their bodies) as opposed to those beings who lack such an ability. To make this even clearer, imagine the inhabitants of a similar solar system light years away who cannot for whatever reason leave their home planet. If all life on that planet is destroyed those beings are extinct. Again, this is natural selection at work. We survived. They didn't. Extraterrestrial events are part of the environment that does the "selecting."

It is not surprising that Trefil wants to make a distinction between "natural" and human. But this distinction is artificial. The title of his third chapter, "Leaving Nature Behind" reflects this distinction. But it is a false distinction--useful yes, but ultimately untrue. We cannot leave nature behind. We are part of nature. Cultural evolution is a subset of biological evolution in a way similar to the way number theory is a subset of mathematics, or that English is a subset of human languages.

There are also some fuzzy conclusions. On page 62 in his zest to go after some "myths" from "pop ecology" he points to what he calls "The poisoned planet myth" and then backs off a little by saying "it's partly true and partly false." And then he decides that "it's a clear example of the sin-and-retribution theme associated with Noah's flood."

Well, it's not a "myth" if it's partly true; and his attempt at guilt by association is an example of the sort of logic condemned in undergraduate philosophy classes.

Another example is from page 143 where Trefil is discussing global warming. He writes, "If the warming is due to global trends beyond our control, then all we can do is think about adapting to higher temperatures." If something is "beyond our control" then we can, by definition, do nothing about it, and his statement is a gratuitous tautology. But what Trefil really means here is that if the warming is caused by nature, as opposed to being caused by humans (as he notes in the next sentence), we can only think cool thoughts. Actually even warming caused by events beyond human control can in fact be mitigated, as Trefil points out elsewhere in the book.

Regardless of its faults this is among the very best science books I have read over the last three or four years. It is just so interesting that the pages practically turn themselves. I think Trefil is able to engage the reader partly because his take on a number of controversial scientific questions is original and surprising, candid and calm, and because he argues his case so very well without giving in to politically-correct notions. In particular his discussion of "The Question of Extinction" (Chapter 8) is informed and convincingly presented. I also found his concluding chapters on "...Choices" and "The Managed Planet" fascinating.

Trefil's engaging style allows the reader to enter into a dialogue as he reads and to feel that both sides of an issue are being presented fairly. This is a rare and radiant talent for any writer, but especially for a writer of books on difficult and controversial subjects.

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