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62 Years Of Wisdom
Mr. Philip Hamburger (per the book jacket) has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1939 or 62 years. Writing for The New Yorker is an accomplishment in itself, I have read of no one who has written for the New Yorker for the duration that Mr. Hamburger has. After all these decades one would expect that he would be a man of strong opinions which would entrench him at some point on the Political Yardstick. Any concern about partisanship is dismissed when he scorns the concepts of left and right, and suggests, "common sense, decency, and the better angels of our nature", should be what governs the thoughts of people. A Privilege and Pleasure to Accompany Him
The subtitle suggests that Hamburger offers a "political excursion" and indeed he does, enabling his reader to tag along with him as he attends national political conventions and Presidential inaugurations, beginning in 1948. Along the way, he shares his reactions to (and in some instances, his direct encounters with) various major political figures such as Fiorello LaGuardia, William O'Dwyer, Harry Truman, Thomas Dewey, Dwight Eisenhower, Joseph McCarthy, Robert Wagner, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. My personal favorites are those passages in which he shares his thoughts and feelings about Learned Hand, Dean Acheson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (in "retrospective"). Most of these essays originally appeared in The New Yorker. Perhaps you read those when they were first published. They are even more enjoyable to read now, especially within the sequence of presentation in this book. What adds substantially to the reader's pleasure is the high quality of Hamburger's writing style which is, in my opinion, places him in the company of George Orwell and E.B. White. Hamburger has a delicious sense of humor and a keen eye for significant detail. Within his commentaries on various world leaders, he is never reluctant to share his own strong opinions about a given subject such as "McCarthyism." Politics, public life, and more
This is a terrific collection of short and medium-length pieces that are wise, witty, and thoroughly absorbing. It deserves all of the praise it has earned. Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. General    3. Government - Legislative Branch    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: American    7. Inauguration    8. Politicians    9. Presidents    10. United States    11. United States - 20th Century   

Editorial Review

"I am a storyteller by training and inclination," writes the late Stephen Ambrose in Read more

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After reading this book, you'll wish Ambrose had been your history teacher!
Heard the taped version of TO AMERICA: PERSONAL
A Fond Farewell to a Beloved Nation
In this last work of one of the nation's foremost historians, Stephen Ambrose has woven a complex tapestry that includes the distinct threads of practical career guidance to budding historians, an engaging memoir of a distinguished career in American letters and compelling stories from the pageant of events that constitute our shared national experience.
Great review of the last century
What went wrong with this country during the last century?Stephen Ambrose looks at what our country went through during the last 100 years from a very secular point of view.He does an excellent job highlighting all the issues from a personal perspective."The United States and the Middle East: 1914-9/11" from The Teaching Company gives a more in depth look into the global issues involved.Both miss the spiritual issues brought up by fundamentalist Christians. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ambrose, Stephen E    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Historians    6. Historical - General    7. Historiography    8. History    9. History - General History    10. United States    11. United States - General   

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Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History - U.S.    4. History: American    5. Political History    6. United States - 20th Century/20s    7. History of specific subjects    8. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    9. USA   

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Subjects:  1. General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. History / General   

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Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. History    5. History: World   

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Nice read...
Good comprehensive play by play of the post election fiasco.
Excellent Primer
If I could have given DEADLOCK another half-star, I would have. It's a fine, straight-ahead account of the disputed Florida election, and I've got only a couple of negative things to say. For one thing, there are a great number of characters who pop in and out of the book, and I wish the editor would have inserted a Cast of Characters page. And for another thing -- and this is not anybody's fault -- we know, almost four years later, more than the authors did when they wrote this book, almost immediately after the election. As I finished, I wanted to know the results of all those after-the-fact recounts that were conducted by various news organizations. But I'll have to find another source for those (though it's pretty silly to even care, at this point). Overall, a quick and informative read.

2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
DEADLOCK BY THE WASHINGTON POST IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THE BUSH/GORE 2000 ELECTION RECOUNT VOTE. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 2000    2. 20th century    3. Contested elections    4. Election    5. History    6. Political Process - Elections    7. Political Science    8. Political campaigns    9. Politics - Current Events    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Presidents    13. United States    14. Bush, George W    15. Gore, Albert   

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Subjects:  1. (Ida Minerva),    2. 1857-1944    3. Biography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. History    6. Journalism    7. Journalists    8. Tarbell, Ida M    9. Tarbell, Ida M.    10. United States   

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Subjects:  1. Fiction - Romance    2. History    3. History: World    4. Reference    5. Romance - General    6. Modern fiction   

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Subjects:  1. History    2. Life Sciences - Evolution    3. Science    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Evolution    6. History of science   

Editorial Review

Helen Thomas, until her resignation in May 2000, had served as White House bureau chief for United Press International since the Kennedy administration. Read more

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Full of wit, but no surprises
I loved reading about Helen and her interactions with the White House. Especially entertaining were her descriptions of the Gridiron dinners where she was often portraying first ladies in skits. The Side of Important men Few Get to See
Helen Thomas shares the lighter side of nine presidents and their wives with the people whom do not know them so well. She re-tells jokes and conversations held between herself and nine presidents in her time of being "dean of the White House Press Corps". Was not very funny
This book was a compilation of anecdotes from 40 years of working in the White House. Although I found some stories to be humorous, I enjoyed very little of the book. Although the cute stories humanize our nations presidents, knocking down their "God like" image, I believe that there was no reason behind writing this book besides the fact that she could. Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Anecdotes    3. Biography    4. History    5. History - General History    6. Humor    7. Presidents    8. Quotations    9. United States    10. United States - 20th Century    11. United States - General    12. Thomas, Helen   

Editorial Review

Forty years ago, novelist Herman Wouk wrote a book about his devotion to the Torah and the Talmud called Read more

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a little chatty but deeply moving
Anyone interested in Judaism, what it means to be a Jew, Jewish history, Jewish meaning will love this book. It's usually very well written eloquent prose although sometimes it's a bit too diary-conversational.

Another fine Wouk book
In a career of fifty years or so, Herman Wouk has published less than a dozen novels.Fortunately, the time he puts into his work shows and nearly all of his works are five-star quality.This book, a non-fiction follow-up to This Is My God (which is the only book of his I haven't read), continues the high-quality trend. What is Yiddishkeit?
One of many topics reviewed in this excellent book, possibly, but hopefully not the last of Herman Wouk's great literary career. From the author of numerous fictional works, including the epics Winds of War and War and Remembrance, this is the second of his major nonfiction books, published some 40 years after his first, "This is My God."Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. General    4. Historical - U.S.    5. History    6. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    7. Influence    8. Judaism    9. Large Print    10. Literary    11. American English    12. Biography: general    13. Body, Mind & Spirit / General    14. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    15. Jewish studies    16. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -   

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The PamperedChef: The Story Behind the Creation of One of Today's Most Beloved Companies
I think this is a useful book for anyone wanting to start a business, even though it probably couldn't be done today the way Doris Christopher did.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Christopher, Doris    5. Corporate & Business History - General    6. General    7. History    8. History Of Specific Companies    9. Illinois    10. Kitchen utensils industry    11. Large type books    12. Pampered Chef, Ltd    13. Business & Economics / General   

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So many problems...

Interesting Verdict
Cornwell presents a good case, although not without flaws, for whom she believes the killer to be.This book took a lot of criticism when it was first released, but it is very well researched and documented.Definitely worth the read by any true crime fan.

Case Open
This book is a classic instance of someone wanting the evidence to fit a predetermined "proof". Still, the book is an interesting read. I would recommend that readers interested in Jack the Ripper read Philip Carraher's "The Adventure of the New York Ripper. In that book Jack has gone from London to New York City to kill again. While it's a work of fiction, the underlying "Ripper" facts are accurate and the analysis of the Ripper's London crimes quite good. Also the conclusion seems at least supportable under the facts and circumstances surrounding Jack the Ripper's crimes. It might be that Carraher comes closer to "solving" the Ripper crimes than does Cornwell. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1860-1942    2. 19th century    3. England    4. History    5. Homicide    6. Jack,    7. Large print books    8. London    9. London (England)    10. Serial murders    11. Sickert, Walter,    12. the Ripper   

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lots of numbers
Though the plot was somewhat thin and didn't hold together all that well, what this book lacks in literary merit it more than makes up for with numbers. its great
this is one of the best historical Statistical Abstracts of the U.S. that I have ever read.Its really takes adventure to the edge, escpecially when it gets to the health and nutrition section.I severely recomend taking anight out and reading this absolutely great literature.

The easiest source for obscure, yet practical, statistics
No, you'll never use *all* the tables.Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History: American    3. Reference    4. Statistics    5. Thesauri    6. United States    7. United States - General   

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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. History    3. History: American    4. Medical - Physicians    5. Medical care    6. Military    7. Military - World War II    8. Military Medicine    9. Philippines    10. Prisoners Of War    11. Prisoners and prisons, Japanes    12. Prisoners and prisons, Japanese    13. United States    14. United States - 20th Century    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. History / United States / 20th Century   

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Lam Gets Physical
Donald Lam, the diminutive detective who works for Bertha Cool of B. Cool Investigations, is hired by Henry Ashbury to check up on his daughter�s finances. She has been making some strange withdrawals of late and is concerned, particularly if word got out. The last thing Ashbury wants is a financial scandal. Ashbury also doesn�t want his daughter to know that Lam is a detective, so he uses the front that Lam is a jujitsu expert who will be working as his trainer, a cover that is doomed from the start. Classic Detective Fiction
Good stuff for a rainy sunday afternoon in the style of Chandler and Hammett.Good characters, well drawn, with nice brisk plot development.Avid dective ficiton readers won't be disappointed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History: American    2. History    3. USA   

Editorial Review

David Wise has written three spy novels and a number of nonfiction books about U.S. intelligence and espionage, and in Read more

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InterestingStory At Several Levels
Wise wrote an interesting account covering many years.The factual components of the story appear well researched.However, the author wanders off into speculation that the materials supplied by double agent Cassidy actually caused the USSR to develop more deadly nerve gas. Given the now disclosed facts that the USSR had a massive chemical and biological research and production effort, it is unlikely that any of the well scrubbed stuff given to the USSR had any real impact.
Informative, interesting and accurate
This book is very informative and it is accurate as far as I know.It is interesting because it tells a real story, an important story that had wider repercussions than most people probably realize.
Uncle Joe
An awesome book about my Uncle Joe.Most of the family didn't know for years what he endured.This book is a great tribute to our family history.Our family is very proud.I doubt this review will help you much in deciding whether or not to buy the book, but several of my friends have read it and had a hard time putting it down until finished. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biological weapons    2. Cassidy, Joseph Edward    3. Chemical weapons    4. Espionage    5. Espionage, Soviet    6. History    7. History - Military / War    8. International Relations - General    9. Military    10. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    11. Political Science    12. United States   

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Edward Dolnick's Read more

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Down the Great Unknown
This book was informative but not a real "page turner". The author went off on tangents often that took away from the story at hand. It was not a bad book, but it was not full of the adventure that you would have expected the trip to have been.

I would much rather read this than John Wesley Powell's actual book.
"Down the Great Unknown" is a terrific retelling of John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition down the Colorado River.The book's author brings to life all of the expedition's more minor (and usually overlooked) characters, and gives the reader a great sense of the danger of the river and the grandeur of the canyons.
Great Story - OK Book
I read this book prior to my trip to the Grand Canyon.I am glad that I read it, but found it a tough read.Very repetitive, fair writing at best.Part of the problem is the story itself, while compelling, is about a 100 day raft trip which after the first few easy days is basically day after day of misery.The days and weeks blend together.Perhaps the editors could have figured out a way to make this work better.On the plus side, its an important story to tell about a brave, interesting iconoclastic man who overcame a terrible war wound (the loss of his right arm) to lead one of the great expeditions in American history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)    3. Description and travel    4. Discovery and exploration    5. Expeditions & Discoveries    6. Explorers    7. Grand Canyon (Ariz.)    8. History    9. History - General History    10. History: American    11. Large type books    12. Powell, John Wesley,    13. United States    14. United States - Mountain - Arizona    15. United States - State & Local - General    16. Grand Canyon    17. Journeys    18. Powell, John Wesley   

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Subjects:  1. 1783-1865    2. Description and travel    3. History    4. History: American    5. Large type books    6. Literary    7. Social life and customs    8. United States    9. United States - 19th Century