Editorial Review

If it would shock you to learn that Benjamin Franklin didn't discover electricity, you'll appreciate this take on hundreds of historical legends and debacles. Historians and humorists alike may be surprised to learn that:

Samuel Prescott made the famous horseback ride into Concord, not Paul Revere. As a member of Parliament, Isaac Newton spoke only once. He asked for an open window. On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the U.S., thus starting the Spanish-American War. The U.S. declared war the very next day, but not wanting to be outdone, had the date on the declaration changed from April 25 to April 21.With these and many other stories, leading humorist Leland Gregory once again highlights both the strange and the funny side of humankind. ... Read more

Reviews

Light reading on a weighty topic!
I really enjoy trivia and I really enjoy history so it was nice to see them combined in a really funny collection. This is a collection of entertaining short, historical tales flavored with pieces of trivia and stupid acts through the ages. Leland Gregory has also peppered these narratives with "punny" jokes that are sure to make you crack a smile.

Fun Read
This is a fun book. The entries are one page little-known facts and anecdotes from history. I found the entries to be from slightly interesting to Wow! Plus, there are several laughs thrown in along the way. The one page entries made this perfect bedtime reading for me.

totally worth it impulse buy
I purchased this at my local Borders Books. Unintentionally. They had it up at the register, and being a history fanatic, and a fan of all things trivialesque & stupid, I impulsively purchased the book. I'm so glad I did. As another reviewer said, the book is full of everything from, "Oh, really?" to "OH WOW!" and very 'punny' jokes.

Totally worth the money. I'm glad it was on display, or otherwise I may have never known of it's existence. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Beautiful Book!, November 7, 2010
Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen have given us another gem of American History in writing Valley Forge, a sequel to their last book, To Try Men's Souls. In writing the review below, I recommend all to read this book on the basis of its historical richness, told through narrative story, as well as its thematic commentary upon what makes America great.

First off, the historical accuracy of this book is phenomenal, and quite frankly, I probably learned more in reading this book than most history books that tend to be three times in size. Historical characters like Moses Wheeler, Horatio Gates, and the great Marquis Lafayette, all occupy very important roles within American history, but few texts go to the lengths that Valley Forge does in noting their stories (for example, Wikipedia, at this moment, doesn't even seem to have a page dedicated to Moses Wheeler, a blackmark for any website that claims superior, historical records).

And while Gingrich and Forstchen have gone to meticulous lengths to stitch the story behind Valley Forge, the most important reason for reading this book is that it is deeply compelling. In particular, with regard to the theme, we become most engaged over the contrasting stories between Marquis Lafayette and Allen Van Dorn.

While a Frenchman by birth, Lafayette is a real, historical character, a young man who studied under George Washington, eventually earning Washington's trust and leading important groups of American soldiers. As described by Gingrich and Forstchen, Lafayette is haughty, anxious and overeager, yet his hunger to birth a country based on enforced freedoms gives him the courage that ultimately wins Washington's trust. As the book unravels, it becomes clear to us that Lafayette feels more at home as an American than a Frenchman, with our own American troops asking him to stay beyond the end of the battle, in implementing the freedoms they hope to birth (and of special note, Lafayette did just that, ultimately earning American citizenship).

Lafayette's wonderful story is contrasted with a fictional character, Allen Van Dorn, who, while raised in America, decides to stay loyal to the English Crown. In wearing the British uniform and providing the British Armies with valuable insights, strategy, and prowess, it becomes clear to Van Dorn that, despite his skills, which are superior to most British soldiers, he will never be accepted as an equal.

Perhaps the most beautiful line from the book is in the later chapters, where Van Dorn, in realizing the passion that the American soldiers have for freedom, looks at his own British brothers, particularly, his good friend, Andre, and senses hollowness, as narrated from the book:

"[Van Dorn] looked at the men around him and wondered what exactly it was that they were fighting for. Andre spoke of adventure, a new campaign, and always the obsession all of them had for promotions, glory, and titles."

It is a sad note, at the book's end, to see Van Dorn regret that he suited with an Army full of shallow intention, but more importantly, that Van Dorn missed out on the most pivotal consequence that the world's history would ever note - the creation of the United States of America.

...and Van Dorn knows, his decision is a mistake that will haunt him into the hereafter.

I recommend this great book to all!

Unlike any other book on the subject......ever!, November 8, 2010
What an emotionally charged novel! But it's really more than a novel. The authors have unbelievably described what drove the revolutionary fighters and have revealed the finest, minute details of their thought processes. The painstaking detail in this book cannot be described. The detail is so exact that you swear the authors witnessed everything they wrote.

Our studies in school taught us that what has become the United States of America rode on the backs of these brave revolutionary men who were starving, barely clothed and stretched beyond the capacity of the human body and mind and the women who supported them. However, this book takes us inside the war with such detail, to where we seemingly live and breathe with those who fought it, to where we understand in such intimate detail and depth their thoughts and fears, and to where we are so engrossed in a book as to live through it with them!

You will be amazed at how well you come to know the characters and their steadfast convictions to persevere under the worst of circumstances. You come to love characters like `Old Moses.' You're deeply touched when `Deborah Hewes,' a somewhat war-hardened middle aged woman turns her bold facade to tenderness when she looks after an 18 year soldier who she says should be home in bed and not in the dangers of war.

This book has moved me and taught me more than any history book I've ever read on the subject. It finally satisfies the question, "I wonder what it was like back then?" You will never know what really went into the making of this country until you read `Valley Forge'.......and then you will never forget it.

Relive the story of Valley Forge when the suffering was real and the outcome was in doubt., November 9, 2010
We all know the images of Washington praying in the snow at Valley Forge. Some of us have some vague ideas about the events in the winter of 1777 and early 1778 being critical to the Revolution, but couldn't tell the story of what happened there. Even the few who can recount the facts of the story tell it as an accomplished thing. And somehow knowing the end takes away from the seriousness of the events as they were for the people who lived through them. They did not know the outcome of their first few days at Valley Forge let alone what might come next spring or how long the War would take or who would win that struggle. We take for granted that Washington was the hero of the Revolution and the most important and respected of our Founders. Not so in December of 1777. And this is why this novelization of those events is so terrific. We get to experience the uncertainty. As we read the story we feel the cold, the starvation, the uniforms reduced to filthy rags, and the sense of wanting to die or to try and go home rather than continue the struggle in these incredibly harsh conditions.

Gingrich and Forstchen have added an even more compelling installment to their story of Washington and the Revolution. I really loved "To Try Men's Souls" To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom (George Washington 1) and encourage you to read it, but I think this is even better. They achieved a real sense of bleakness when the Continental Army arrived at Valley Forge with no food, no uniforms, not shelter, and no tools to use to build the small cabins they so desperately needed. The joy at completing the first of them is terrific and is still remembered in history.

While the location of Valley Forge was important to preventing the British pressing further into Philadelphia while also giving Washington space to prevent a surprise attack while also sitting on higher ground and a river to protect the army's side, the truth is the army was in no shape to fight. The reality was that the army might simply disappear from death or desertion. Yet Washington held the men together. They did get food, but not always in ways that inspire pride. Tthey did get tools and the huts were built. We get to experience all this as if we are with the soldiers watching our friends die of the flux (dysentery) losing their feet to frostbite and trying to put some kind of force together to at least impress the British.

I also enjoyed the way the authors presented the British Army as a serious force. They are clearly far superior to the Continentals. They begin the story ensconced safely in Philadelphia and their efforts in the countryside were to confiscate foodstuffs and supplies needed by the Continentals more to deny their enemy sustenance than for their own needs. We also get to experience what these confiscations meant to the farmers so raided. They could not simply go buy replacements. They faced a very real threat of starvation and very difficult months ahead. The authors also depict the reality of divided loyalties, of not knowing where family members were, who they were even fighting for, or if they were alive.

Washington also faced the politicking of Gates to take command of the Army and the loss of confidence by many in Congress. Gates is not remembered as well as he had hoped because of his maneuvering against Washington. We get to experience the pressure this put on Washington while he was dealing with so many other issues.

The arrival of Baron von Steuben in February of 1778 was critical to the morale and training of the Continental Army under Washington. He helped get the men in regular order and organized to fight as a modern army. What he taught them there helped them immensely during the remaining years of the war. He deserves every bit or praise we can give him and then some.

Look, this is a terrific story and is told in wonderful way. Do yourself a favor and read the novel and study the history. This novel will bring the history to vibrant life in ways I had not experienced before and I hope you get the same pleasure from it I did.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

George Washington saved the United States, November 9, 2010
I know this is a novel. Even so, the authors take pains to show how George Washington really was the Father of Our Country. At Valley Forge, Washington truly saved the day. The Revolution was teetering on the precipice. It was a short drop over the edge to failure. Washington made sure that it never happened. He did it despite incredible resistance and deprivation.

And he had some help. Some smart immigrants showed up. A guy named Lafayette made sure that France saved our fledgling democracy. And a Prussian, Baron von Steuben remade our army. Then we could win. We would not be here now in this country with these freedoms if guys like Washington, Lafayette, and von Steuben had not had the gumption to make it so. Amen.

Flawed, but worth reading anyway, December 3, 2010
I enjoyed reading the prequel, To Try Men's Souls, very much, so I've been looking forward to reading this new novel. As I expected, it follows two brothers - one in each opposing army - who were also in the first book.
Almost from the start, though, I was disappointed by historical inaccuracies, such as a couple about Arnold and Burgoyne on page 23. Apparently, the authors did not ask an expert on the Revolution to read their manuscript.
But I kept reading anyway, and am glad I did. It's a story worth telling.
The book could have been shorter if the authors stuck to the "show it, don't tell it" rule of writing historical fiction. They tend to get a bit wordy in their descriptive passages, and drive home points they made in earlier passages, in an effort to educate their readers. It reminds me of how President Carter fell into the same habit in his novel, Hornet's Nest.
Gingrich and Forstchen do very well, though, when they use dialogue to allow their characters to SHOW, rather than tell, how the war impacted soldiers and civilians during that winter of 1777-1778.
- Gregory Edgar, author of Gone to Meet the British

Amazing Story About Courage and Perseverance, November 10, 2010
This is a truly remarkable story about the obstacles that George Washington and his men faced at Valley Forge. I encourage everyone to read it to gain a perspective at just how America became the country it is today. A big part of that is because of that courage of the men that winter at Valley Forge. It is an incredible story how they not only endured the harsh winter but became a highly skilled, trained Army in the process.

Newt does it again, November 10, 2010
I've read Newt's previous books and every time you think you've read the best one, an even better one comes out. I absolutely love the stories about George Washington. It's amazing how we can learn so much from his life, and apply that to the current problems of our country. We need to keep Washington's spirit alive, and Newt and Bill just do an awesome job.

A Clear Winner, and Valuable Learning, November 11, 2010
A second book in what promises to be a fine series about the American War of Independence, and perhaps a message to Americans about the sacrifice necessary to protect our freedoms. The book is not preachy nor political, but factual in discussing what it took to make a nation, and if readers recognize underlying political issues (such as a completely dysfunctional Congress), then what they see is that not much has changed over the last 200 plus years and that solutions lie in leadership rather than intrigue.
What is remarkable, and especially attractive about this book is that our most famous enigma, George Washington, is actually developed as a character rather than a caricature. Readers get to start seeing how honor, stoicism, and character matter. Washington is shown as seeking right over expediency, accepting the difficulties of his situation with strength and dignity, and using the circumstances and challenges to, in the context of team, build the vehicle for not only victory, but for a sustainable Republic. Washington was the antithesis of what we sometimes see in narcissistic politicians who live in the world of a vertical pronoun, and he clearly understood history and how power concentrated in an individual would lead to tyranny, while accepting that individual acts and contributions were the foundation for national greatness.
On top of the story of Washington and the trials at Valley Forge readers get an accurate historical portrayal of various other players on both the British and American sides of the conflict, and their roles are presented with just the right amount of information to make side visits to other research sources to learn more about them about the only distraction strong enough to put the book down for brief stops.
This book is enjoyable, educational, and even given the difficulties of the historical circumstances, uplifting.

A Very Serious History Lesson, November 10, 2010
Once again these historians have blended their skills into a superb novel. They capture in words what must have been a calamity of colossal proportions. The setting is Valley Forge and described as a place, somewhat secure from the British Army, but offering few comforts for the thousands of men under George Washington's command. The men were starving, had no shoes in the bitter cold and snow, many dying from dysentery (called flux in those days), small pox and other disease. It was a terrible situation. Washington and his officers slowly brought change, found tools to build huts and food for the masses (and not without quasi nefarious methods). "War is hell" was never more apt. With the help of many, including Baron Von Stuben, a Prussian soldier who was out of a job in Europe, decided to fight for the Continental Army. There is intrigue in every chapter. Washington's leadership defined the early United States. In 1777 the Continental Congress was as confused as U.S. Congress is today. It is a book for all, kids and adults alike.

Douglas W. Matheson Ph.D ... Read more

Editorial Review

In this thorough and evocative analysis, Martina Sprague tackles the myth of the Vikings, their unconventional battle tactics, cunning strategies, and bold use of any means at their disposal. From the innovative shipbuilding methods that produced flexible hulls and the ability to glide silently into shallow water, to Asatro, the polytheistic religion that honored the god of war, Sprague casts a fresh light and a scholarly eye on these fiercely independent people.

From the late 700s to the early 1000s, waves of strange and ferocious warriors from the barren lands of the North routinely swept into Britain and the Western Roman Empire. Plundering and pillaging, they left ruins in their wake; their trembling victims never knew when or where they would strike next.

Hailing from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, yet beholden to no single king, government, or god, the Vikings fought for personal glory, material wealth, and a longing for adventure. They roamed as far as the Arab world, always following the code, "live hard, die with honor." ... Read more

Reviews

Title DOES NOT match contents!, October 3, 2008
I thought I would get a book with a lot more. Instead, I get a book that basically says Vikings used longships and that made them awesome.

I expected military history on the order of Dunnigan or Massie, but instead I got in-depth analysis such as Vikings drank beer before battle to get over their fear.

I only gave it two stars because it has some nice pictures of ships and weapons, although you could easily get the same ones elsewhere.

Stay away from this book. Its lightweight and has nothing new or interesting to say.

Written from a Tactician's Point of View, March 25, 2010
An excellent survey of Norse tactics, written from the point of view of someone who understands martial tactics. As a historian, special operations tactical analyst, and former Navy SEAL, I found the book to be a useful secondary source in writing a history of pirate hunting. Highly recommended.

Dissappointing to say the least., December 1, 2008
This book is extremely bad. Not only does the author not mention essential elements of Viking stratgey, such as the Hersyrs, the shield wall or the Swynfilking formation, but she says that the Vikings fought from ships in naval battles, for which there is absolutely no evidence. Worst of all, she assumes that the Jomsvikings existed, when much archaeological evidence, and most Viking historians, agree that they were mythical. Neither does she consider in any detail the Housecarls or the Byzantine Varangian Guard, both of which were important components of the Viking war machine. She also says very little about the circular fortifications of the Vikings discovered in several cities in Scandinavia, or the Vikings mastery of seigecraft. And, although she does quote primary sources, she does so without discussing the implications of them, and her selection of quotable material relates little to her topic. Altogether a purile and amateurish job of research from an author who, because she holds an MA, should know better.

Useless retread, July 26, 2009
As one of the other reviewers has said, the title of this book is a misnomer. It is really nothing more than a hodge-podge of Viking era political and cultural history, structured mostly in anecdotal form. There is nothing in this book that hasn't appeared in other, better, histories. That is also true of the pictures, clear though they are. I give the book two stars only because it is reasonably well-written. However, if you are interested in the Viking era and own more than three or four of the standard historical surveys of the era, you may well be able to write a better book than this one is. I am sorry I bought it.

Ok but misleading title, December 2, 2010
Note: I am reviewing based on a skim rather then a close read. While that might not seem fair to readers, I think it is acceptable as long as I frankly admit it.

I got this book because free is a very good price and so I was reasonably pleased. However the title is inaccurate and being so is annoying. Vikings didn't have unconventional battle strategies; they barely had anything that could be recognized as strategy or tactics at all. Vikings had no military system above the level of the primitive war band and armies and fleets were simply large war bands. Nor did they have any systematic science of warfare and or even a particularly sophisticated native style of warfare; battles were bar fights with weapons. The closest thing to "strategies" was the off-the-cuff improvisations of a given warlord which makes an entertaining read but is not really the same thing. This description sounds like the peculiarly militaristic form of intellectual snobbery, except the point is not to disdain, but to warn would be readers not to be deceived as to what they are getting. The book makes up for this with nice if overly glorified descriptions of Scandinavian culture at the time. In fact the book may be best compared with sagas then with military study. To say the former is inferior to the later is as absurd as saying poetry is inferior to science. The point is rather that poetry is not science.

If you want a reasonably good pop-history that is also entertaining(and indeed that is all the Vikings themselves would have asked of a historian)this book is satisfactory. It gives good narrative and quotes from sagas. It is not however a "military history" or a "military study" and indeed could not be.

Swift, prompt service, June 8, 2010
The prompt service I received from this vendor was remarkable. Within a week of placing my order, it arrived at my house. I'm very impressed.
... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

A Valuable History, September 28, 2009
When HBO wanted to develop a crime series with the unenviable task of following "The Sopranos," they turned to Martin Scorsese to produce it. The great director chose to base the show on a history book by Nelson Johnson, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, first published in 2002 and now re-released in paperback. The cable drama, starring Steve Buscemi, is shooting this fall in New York and will air next year, with Scorsese directing the pilot.

When people hear the name "Atlantic City," they most likely think of gambling and casinos. But probably not many know that it was the birthplace of the American Mafia. On the Boardwalk today is a picture of a smiling Big Al Capone in a snazzy one-piece bathing suit on one of its historical markers. Few cities can boast of that. In just 30 years of the 19th century, Atlantic City went from being a 10-mile strip of sand dunes to a city based entirely upon two things: tourism and vice.

Nelson Johnson, a New Jersey politician and judge, decided to write the hidden history of Atlantic City; the result is this fascinating and meticulously researched book. Decades-long visitors to the resort like myself, as well as first-time travelers, will find it a good read. He based BOARDWALK EMPIRE on an amazing fact. For the first 70 years of the 20th century, Atlantic City was controlled by just three political bosses who were also, for lack of a better term, gangsters: Louis "the Commodore" Kuehnle, Enoch "Nucky" Johnson (no relation to the author) and Frank "Hap" Farley.

We have often heard of how gangsters historically corrupt elected officials and the police with bribes and payoffs. Atlantic City was different, though, because the gangsters and the Republican Party was one and the same organization. Atlantic City was a one-party city for decades. And here's the really odd thing: the vast majority of the public did not seem to mind because the Republican ward system was effective not only in turning out votes, but also in meeting the needs of the people. Nucky fed the poor. Eventually, the corrupt Republican leaders of the city would dominate and control the entire state of New Jersey.

Johnson takes us back to the earliest days of the resort, when it was filled with more flies and mosquitoes than people. A local doctor named Jonathan Pitney wanted to make some money, so he thought of creating a "health" resort on Abescon Island in the middle of the 19th century. Resorts of any kind were unheard of then, but Cape May, New Jersey, became the nation's first, catering to rich people. By 1870, a rail line linked Philadelphia, the nearest metropolitan area, to the island; Pitney's dream came true, just not the way he expected it.

Atlantic City became the first resort that viewed working class people, mostly from Philly in need of a little diversion after a six-day work week in the factories, as vacationers. The booming resort sought to give the workers what they wanted, which could be summed up in three words: booze, gambling and sex. Atlantic City was born.

The only business on the tiny island was tourism, and the cardinal rule was that the tourists had to go home happy so they would return with their cash the following season. Johnson quotes a local man who said it best: "If the people who came to town had wanted Bible readings, we'd have given 'em that. But nobody ever asked for Bible readings. They wanted booze, broads and gambling, so that's what we gave 'em."

By the 1890s, a Philadelphia newspaper identified 100 brothels on the island, but the cops looked the other way. As long as the payoffs were made to the local Republican machine, racketeers could operate in the open, which is amazing considering that this was Victorian America. Hookers and illegal casinos, and selling booze on Sundays (also unlawful at the time), were vital parts of the town's economy. When a reformist governor threatened to send the state militia in to clean up Atlantic City, boss "Commodore" Kuehnle reassured the local merchants. Johnson writes, "...If the governor did send down the militia, then Kuehnle would have the local whores greet them at the station."

Finally, a way to end war! Of course the militia never arrived, but then America went totally insane after World War I and passed the 19th Amendment prohibiting alcohol. This ushered in the glory years of Atlantic City, which already had seen the rise of huge Beaux Art and architecturally beautiful hotels that lined the Boardwalk like giant sand castles. "Prohibition didn't happen in Atlantic City," according to one expert. There was no need for speakeasies, booze was sold openly, and the famous beach became a major trafficking route for East Coast contraband.

At this time, Atlantic City was ruled by its most flamboyant "decadent monarch" in the person of Enoch "Nucky" Johnson. The author writes, "In his prime, he strode the Boardwalk in evening clothes complete with spats, patent leather shoes, a walking stick, and a red carnation in his lapel. Nucky rode around town in a chauffer-driven, powder blue Rolls Royce limousine...had a retinue of servants to satisfy his every want, and an untaxed income of more than $500,000 a year." He was also a virtual underboss of the Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel New York crime family, the founding fathers of the Mafia. When, in May 1929, organized crime groups from around the country decided to meet to create a nationwide "syndicate" and divide up the turf, there was no question where they were going to hold their meeting. Atlantic City was a wide-open town for gangsters, and Nucky was the perfect host, both gracious and generous.

The repeal of Prohibition and the changing American leisure and travel patterns after World War II sent Atlantic City into a long period of decline. And in reading these pages, Johnson's narrative achieves a bit of a wistful feel. I was reminded of the great Louis Malle 1980 film, Atlantic City, which captured perfectly that time. Burt Lancaster's character says at one point, "You should have seen the Atlantic Ocean back then." But still, the graft, corruption and one-party rule continued unabated until 1971, by which time the once famous resort had nearly become a crumbling ruin.

Johnson takes his history straight through the battle to pass legalized gambling in Atlantic City during the late 1970s and the early decades of the casinos. He is firm in his belief that not only did gambling save the resort from certain death, but it has the potential to make Atlantic City great again. Some might argue this, pointing out that the resort might have been built on a vice, but it is still depending upon a vice to survive. Legalized gambling has hardly been the panacea that proponents promised. Some of the meanest streets of America in terms of poverty can be found just blocks from the casinos. And at night, hookers, another part of the resort's heritage, ply their trades on those sometimes dangerous streets, often within sight of the glittering neon casinos.

Modern-day Atlantic City is filled with ironies like that and ghosts galore. Existing like an afterthought within the shadow of a huge casino tower is the Ritz Hotel, now a condo, which was once the most exclusive spot on the Boardwalk. Nucky, who at one time ruled Atlantic City from the entire ninth floor of the Ritz, would be happy to see the huge casino next door, but extremely disappointed that he was not getting his share of the take.

Nelson Johnson has written a valuable history in BOARDWALK EMPIRE. Reading this book will be good background until we find out what Steve Buscemi does with the role of Nucky Johnson.

--- Reviewed by Tom Callahan

Killer Read!, September 30, 2002
Extremely solid research---the author says it took twenty years, and that is apparent. Johnson tells it all---from salacious anecdote (what the Reading Public demands!) to scholarly relating of broader historical movements to Atlantic City's unique and amazing (some might say "weird") story. So well written, it reads like a novel. From "The Commodore" to "The Donald", Johnson particularly excells at character description. Absolutely brilliant---Highest Recommendation.

NO GAMBLE, January 15, 2003
I have been interested in this most amazing city for about 30 years now. I thought that I had nothing else to learn about the city until I read Boardwalk Empire. Thank you Mr. Johnson for bringing a lot of new information to light in a most enjoyable fashion. Once started, it was hard to put this excellent book to rest. I highly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in urban America. This book is a sure thing.

A Shore Bet, May 28, 2003
I am pleased to be the first reader from Atlantic City to review this book. It goes without saying that it was of special interest to me. Throughout my life I have met several of the key figures in this book, so it was fascinating to learn more about their lives.

I enjoyed reading this book very much and would recommend it to anyone interested in Atlantic City. It was well written and researched. Nelson Johnson repeats facts when they become relative to another incident. This makes it much easier to keep track of the players and how one event or person influences another years later.

Johnson helps local residents understand why a unique racial tension still exists in this small northern city. This may not be apparent to readers unfamiliar with the area.

If I were to change anything about this book, it would be the last few pages. It ends with Nelson Johnson giving his opinion on the future of Atlantic City and how it can avoid its mistakes of the past. It is my feeling that this possibly belonged in a separate conclusion but not as the ending to the last chapter.

History buffs and political junkies will love this book.

Boardwalk Empire: A Classic, May 15, 2010
This is an absolutely wonderful book. It starts from the very beginnings of Atlantic City from when it was just an empty sand pit of an island to almost the present day. The style of writing is very colorful and the characters are facinating. I am really looking foward to the author''s future books and the HBO series based on his book. I would definitely recommend that people read this book, especially if you live in the area, as I have and if yu really want to understand why Atlantic City was and has developed the way it has. The book is very well researched and contains many sources of information for anyone who wants to do further investigations. I really hope that the people who currently run Atlantic City and the people in the casino industry read this book.

Excellent Read!, October 21, 2010
I actually bought the book after watching the first episode of "Boardwalk Empire." The previews for the series intrigued me and after watching the premiere, I wanted to know more. I love how this book was well researched and written. I live about 15 miles from Atlantic City, so this historical account is really fascinating to me. I recommend this book to anyone interested in history, crime, or the television series!

Great Read and A Breath of Fresh Air, August 22, 2007
We've all read books outlining the history and politics of such places as Las Vegas, New York and Hollywood. This book takes on a topic that is very rarely given any attention, the birth and life (and seedy underbelly) of Atlantic City.

I first visited AC when I was a boy in the late 1960's. My mother (now 85) always regaled me with stories of how glamorous AC was when she was growing up. I could never reconcile that image of the city with the one I saw, that of stark urban decay on the one side and the gleaming casinos on the other. The book lays it all out, from the earliest days to the politics that brought gambling to the east coast.

I read the book on a one week vacation in Brigantine Beach, the beach town right next to AC. I found the book in a beach house that my father-in-law had rented and read it in about 3 days. I found it fascinating. It is strange to say of this type of book that I couldn't put it down but it was virtually the case.

The book has it all, history corruption, politics, do-gooders, sex/affairs, the mob, entertainment, bootlegging etc., etc.

I was not aware that the book was being considered as the basis for an HBO series but I will be sure to watch it if it materializes. Read the book, you'll like it.

Boardwalk Empire, December 26, 2002
Nelson Johnson's account of Atlantic City reflects his long and intense twenty-years of research. His "heroes and villains," quite often the same person informs readers that in Atlantic City all that glitters was not gold, but gold-plated. The racketeers and politicians all tended to land on their feet even when faced with the "law" as it was at that time. The book is fact-filled, concise, and tells the true story of how A.C. became casino city. Mister Johnson accompishes this without boring the reader. It is well-paced and worth reaing.

The facts behind the "as based on" HBO series, September 28, 2010
The writer of the HBO series, Terence Winter (who also wrote the foreword for this edition of the book), was recently interviewed on public radio and explained how and why the HBO show deviates from many of the facts in the book "Boardwalk Empire." Last names were sometimes changed and certain information had to be imagined or created in order to allow the plot to veer away from the events in the book.

None of this takes away from the entertainment value of the series but potential buyers of this book will get an added perspective and accurate historical detail."Boardwalk Empire" is an excellent way to round out the very entertaining cable television series.

The book primarily covers the years from 1920-1970. Not surprisingly, Terence Winter (again, writer of the HBO series) also wrote many episodes of The Sopranos and director Martin Scorcese steps to the helm and directs the first and possibly many more episodes of the cable show ( but guest directors aren't uncommon for cable series). In the show, Steve Buscemi plays Nucky but Winter has admitted that James Gandolfini would have fit the actual body type and appearance of Nucky.

But back to the book "Boardwalk Empire."From prohibition to prostitution, the book doesn't pull any punches and is a detailed and accurate recreation of the history of Atlantic City. Nucky Johnson is shown as a strictly matter of fact business man. He provides what people want, primarily alcohol, gambling and sex. But if the public had wanted other things Nucky would simply have gone with public sentiment. His choices were based on what brought him the most profit -and it was as simple as that, although being in power was not so simple.

Having seen the first episodes of the series, I am able to compare both the book and television show. I'd urge you to buy the book. It made me yearn to visit Atlantic City in its heyday. Women dressed in their finest outfits before strolling on the actual boardwalk. I'd love to have revisited that time - if only to understand the thrills that drew people to Atlantic City.

Since I've now seen the series, it is impossible to write about "Boardwalk Empire" without comparing it to the film version. I have to admit that the HBO show recreates Atlantic City's mixture of people and often weird attractions, from side shows to palm readers - and it does make a difference seeing and hearing the combination of sights, sounds and dialogue.

"Boardwalk Empire" reveals how the area was a place where families came, with children enjoying themselves by day and adults venturing off to enjoy other pursuits at night. You won't get a truly balanced historical take on Atlantic City without reading the book and the series should motivate viewers to want to learn more about the history of Atlantic series. Reading "Boardwalk Empire" is well worth the time.

Boardwalk Empire, August 28, 2010
This was what not what I expected...it was so much better...it has everything.Great history...I learned a great deal about the history of Atlantic City and how the Empire was built....When I was told it was going to be turned into a HBO Series...I ordered HBO just for this show...I picked up the book and was hooked did not put it down until I had read the 1st 4 chapters and it was 3am & I needed to go to sleep..the 1st page hooked me when a wife of a man who had gambled all of the family paycheck the night before in a gambling house and went to see Mr. Johnson who said he would take care of the problem...it just got better as I read...If you loved the Sopranos you will love this even more...I also read some of the other "Sister" books about N.J. he has written...I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read some history and facts in a enjoyable way...I enjoyed this book so much & now look forward to the HBO series. ... Read more

Editorial Review

With her trademark style, wit, sensitivity, and spontaneity, Maira Kalman guides a whirlwind tour of American democracy.

And the Pursuit of Happiness is beloved artist and author Maira Kalman's yearlong investigation of democracy and how it works. Energized and inspired by the 2008 elections, on inauguration day Kalman traveled to Washington, D.C., launching a national tour that would take her from a town hall meeting in Newfane, Vermont, to the inner chambers of the Supreme Court.

As we follow Kalman's wholly idiosyncratic journey, we fall in love with Lincoln alongside her as she imagines making a home for herself in the center of his magisterial memorial; ponder Alexis de Tocqueville's America; witness the inner workings of a Bronx middle-school student council; take a high-speed lesson in great American women in the National Portrait Gallery; and consider the cost of war to the brave American service families of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The observations she makes as she travels charm and inform, and-as we have come to expect with Kalman-the route is always one of fascinating indirection.

Kalman finds evidence of democracy at work all around us. And the cast of characters we meet along the way is rousing good company, featuring visits from Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and many others. And the Pursuit of Happiness is a remarkable tribute to our history and a powerful reminder of the potential our future holds, from a true national treasure. ... Read more

Reviews

The Pursuit of Our Humanity, October 17, 2010
I am just now ordering this, but I already know it's great because it's from the pieces Maira did for the New York Times. They are wonderful, almost stream-of-consciousness illustrations with words that always touched my intellect and my humanity. The themes are mostly from U.S. history, and they always sneak up on your mind and emotions in unexpected ways. I frequently posted a comment at the Times after reading one of these, thanking her in one way or another for what she did. You cannot go wrong ordering this book. In these cynical times, it's good to have intelligent observations that move us in a positive and non-manipulative way. Thank goodness for talented folks like Maira Kalman.

A breath of fresh air!, October 29, 2010
At a time when everyone around me seems to hate how the United States has become the Not "it" country. I found the book that restores my love for it.
Being a student that wants to change this country for the better, this book shows me what it was before this mess came around. This book has humor,art history all mixed with a feeling of warmness. Great thanks to the Colbert Report for introducing me to this amazing artist and writer.

Unique View Of History, November 28, 2010
And The Pursuit Of Happiness is artist Maira Kalman's celebration of democracy and the founding fathers. Part art book, part graphic novel, the reader will be drawn through her exploration of what democracy means in the United States, and learn about the lives of many of the prominent men who created our amazing system of government.

Many readers will recognize Kalman's unique artistic renderings. She is a frequent provider of New Yorker magazine covers. She illustrates children's books, and her work has been featured in museums and by designers in their lines. She uses vibrant colors and Grandma Moses-like depictions of scenes for striking illustrations that are memorable. Inspired by the inauguration of Barack Obama, this book is her tribute to the democracy and the people that made his election possible.

There are chapters devoted to various Founding Fathers. The book is organized by months. January is devoted to the Obama inauguration. February is devoted to Abraham Lincoln while March celebrates the philosophical underpinnings of democracy and its forms such as town halls. April is about the laws of the land. May discusses our military and the price we owe these brave defenders of freedom. June discusses Thomas Jefferson and his many interests, while July is devoted to Benjamin Franklin and other scientists and inventors. August is about the explorers who discovered America and the issues surrounding immigration today. September talks about cities; specifically New York City. October covers Congress, while November is devoted to our national foods. December is reserved for George Washington.

This book is recommended for all readers. Everyone will learn new facts and the knowledge is imparted in a breezy fashion that make the learning fun. The illustrations are vivid, brilliant, amazing. Maira Kalman has created a visual feast and we are the richer for it.

fabulous, November 25, 2010
I am an avid Maira Kalman fan -- her words, her art, her children's books. While waiting for the release of this volume, I took an unexpected trip to San Francisco and stumbled upon an exhibit of Kalman's work at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Nothing could compare to seeing the original works, and having this book as a keepsake upon my return home. Her wit and wisdom is a sheer joy; her art inspirational!

Perfect, October 16, 2010
Another tour de force from our very own National Treasure! This is a wonderful, beautiful, joyous book.

Loved it, November 14, 2010
Was so excited when this little piece of eye candy showed up. Loved it, as I've loved all her work. A little history, a little sightseeing, lots of paintings. Loved it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Like playing Sid Meier's Civilization, October 29, 2010
As can be seem by both the summary and and various book reviews, this is big history, encompassing the dawn of the first homonids (or ape-men as the author put it) to present day, with a chapter conjecturing about the future.

I was going to try and compare it to some of books in the same genre that I have read, but this book takes, disproves and/ or builds on their arguments - books such as Kennedy's Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, Pommeranz's the Great Divergence, Landes' The Wealth and Poverty of Nations - and they are all cited in his book and Morris takes pains to show how they only focus on one small piece of the picture. Indeed the feeling of reading this must have been similar for those who read Marx's Das Kapital for the first time (although the language is much more accessible and the conclusion is open ended) in that it attempts to set out underlying laws of history.

In the words of the author - "History is not one damn thing after another, it is a single grand and relentless process of adaptations to the world that always generate new problems (in the form of disease, famine, climate change, migration and state failure) that call for further adaptations. And each breakthrough came not as a result of tinkering but as a result of desperate times, calling for desperate measures." There may be set backs and hard ceilings, with free will and culture being the wildcards that may hinder social development but eventually the conditions give rise to ideas that allow progress to be made.

Indeed the motor of progress is not some economic logic, but what he calls the Morris Theorem - (expanding an idea from the great SF writer Robert Heinlein) to explain the course of history - Change is caused by lazy, greedy frightened people (who rarely know what they are doing) looking for easier more profitable and safer ways to do things. And it is geography that is the key determining factor where something develops first - Maps, not Chaps.

Now all this sounds academic and boring and in the case of the Morris theorem a little oversimplistic, but the presentation definitely is not. As professor Jared Diamond states, it is like an exciting novel (told by a cool eccentric uncle) and he uses a wide range of popular media to support his case, at one point talking about the movies Back to the Future, 300, the Scorpion King or making references to novels such as the Bonesetters Daughter and Clan of the Cave bear to bring conditions to life. Indeed the emotional similarities (and sheer sense of fun!) to playing early versions of the Sid Meier's Civilization Computer Game are uncanny.

There is a wide range of material here to satisfy a range of interests - his summaries of the fossil record, and early middle eastern and Chinese history are succinct and clear. Especially on the Chinese side, I had to read 2 books - the Golden Age of Chinese Archaelogy and the Cambridge History of Ancient China to gain the same understanding of what he summarizes in about 7-8 pages. He discourses on the role of the Axial religions, on whether democracy was important to the rule of the west, the role of free will in history, and on provocative ideas like the Qin and Roman empires expemplifing what he calls the paradox of violence: when the rivers of blood dried, their imperialism left most people, in the west and the east better off. I could go on and on and, of course, there may be many experts who take issue with his interpretations (and his predictions) but it will definitely stimulate thinking.

If I had to make a criticism of the book - it is that, like Marx, it is fundamentally materialistic in its approach, ideas are like memes that facilitate social development and culture is something that can help or hinder development but has no value in itself. The great religious ideas are glossed over as a product of or reaction to their times. It has precious little to say about the spiritual life and spiritual discoveries such as ethics, meditation or psychology. It may be these discoveries and qualities that will be required to get us through the challenges - of climate change, overpopulation, resourse shortages and potential nuclear war.

It is worthwhile comparing the book to two writings that he cites as inspiration (1) Herbert Spencer - Progress its Law and Cause and (2) Isaac Azimov's Foundation series. In each case they try to identify the forces that drive humanity but Spencer just doesn't have the data in the 19th century and the historian Hari Seldon is joke amongst professional historians as the novels seem so implausibly optimistic about what history can do. I don't know if Ian Morris has succeeded in identifying the laws of history but this book could only have been written now, at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, drawing together the strains from archaeology, genetics, linguistics as well as sociology and economics to create something altogether new and wonderful and accessible to that elusive thing - the educated lay reader.

Sure to be an important book. A 'must read' foundation for critical thinking in the 21st century., October 16, 2010
"Why the West Rules" is sure to be an important book.

Why did Victorian gunboats shoot their way up the Yangtze instead of Ming ships shooting their way up the Thames 300 years before? Why do more people speak English rather than Mandarin? There are times when opposite outcomes might have logically emerged but did not. This is a book that delves into that story.

Ian Morris begins the narrative 50,000 or so years ago. Men began to understand the benefit of reaching beyond the immediate family unit and established tribes and groups where specialization could be allowed to develop. Having everyone hunting and gathering the day's meal was inefficient as technologies emerged. Technologies resulted in specialization. Specializations lead to groups relying on one another, etc. The story moves to the end of the last ice age where the evidence indicates that man had grown far more complex in his society, perhaps because of the Ice Age struggles. What we might recognize as civilizations formed and spread out from two regions. The evidences suggest for now that it began first in the west, in the region of Europe beyond the Ural Mountains and around Mesopatamia and the Mediterranean. And then, perhaps 2,000 years later it evolved in the east in the Yangtze and Yellow River region. By about 1000 BC both areas of influence and hybrid borderlands appear to be have accomplished a comparable level of civilization development.

The books premise is that that civilizations hit a "hard ceiling" and fall apart under the weight of the institutions that success creates but then become unable to adapt the past success formula forward due to opposing and uncontrollable social forces that were unleashed because of their own success. These cycles of rise and fall appear in successive waves of civilizations in both the East and the West (rise & fall of the Roman Empire, the Sui Dynasty unification of `China', Chinese naval power in the 15th century, western industrial revolution in the 18th century, etc). The story winds its way to the current time and our place in the cycles. We saw Western dominance of the 20th century but an unknown and debatable outcome coming from out of the period ... i.e. will the 21st century institutions of East (China centric) cycle ahead of the West? Will the West adapt quickly to continue `success'. Will some new hybrid emerge?

To answer these questions, the past is a good place to look. "Why the West Rules" provides considerable insight into the patterns of civilization that are mandatory consideration for any serious debate of the future. This is a foundational `must read book' for knowledgeable participants in the debate.

A true masterpiece, October 25, 2010
History is a fascinating subject, if it is told in the right way. To me, the right way means--instead of rotely reciting the facts or twisting them to fit into a narrow thesis--tapping into the big trend, showing the big picture, making connections between seemingly unrelated events and giving objective insights into the multifaceted dynamics of large groups of people interacting with one another. While there have been some great titles available to 21st century readers, none comes close to being as grand, broad, deep and innovative as this book.

The question of why the West rules the world for the past two centuries has always been an intriguing one, at least to people of Chinese descent. In recent years, it has taken on significantly greater urgency and relevance to mainstream Americans. But the various answers to date have been narrow, incomplete analysis like those given by the blind men who tried to describe an elephant. To reach a comprehensive understanding, Ian Morris has had to combine multiple disciplines, including physics, botany, economics, anthropology, paleontology, archaeology and history, and invent his own index of "Cultural Development". Just this metric is a great contribution to mankind's knowledge base, as it finally gives a concrete, quantitative measure to the general concepts of advanced versus backward and rise versus decline.

To convince the readers of his conclusion, the author retells the entire history of mankind, from ape-men to the year 2010. I am totally amazed by his ability to do so in 645 fun-filled pages and still to cover practically every relevant detail. Even more impressively, he often sheds new light on these familiar facts for me so that I finally can see the history in the right context. For example, who are the Hittites? What is their relevance? Well, not until I read this book did I understand that they represent the infusion into the core of western civilization (Mesopotamia/Egypt) a new weapon (chariot) driven by a new large domesticated mammal (horse) that is the only major natural resource missing in the blessed region militarily, agriculturally and economically since the dawn of history.

What is the author's conclusion after going through the entire human history with his new fine-tooth comb, the index of cultural development? He finds that, although individuals vary from one another greatly, large groups of people are often very much alike. He shows convincingly that this is definitely the case between the west (Europeans and Americans) and the east (Chinese, Japanese and Koreans). Differences exist in styles but not in substance. Whatever causes one to lead the other in cultural development is always exogenous, mainly climatic and geographical factors. He also illustrates clearly that each level of development brings about new challenges, which can be overcome only with the right organization using the right technology under the right circumstances. Those who fail at these challenges either stagnate or sink into dark ages, allowing the "advantage of backwardness" to be realized.

Extrapolating from recent trends, the author thinks that the east will most likely catch up with the west by the end of this century. This, in itself, is not too surprising, but the stories that leads to this conclusion are full of parallels and lessons for modern societies facing problems originating from their own development process. Anyone who cares about the fate of his nation and/or this earth will surely benefit from this book.

From ape-men to, perhaps, the Singularity, November 19, 2010
Ian Morris' Why the West Rules is certainly audacious. As the subtitle suggests, Morris ventures to explain all of human history and, apparently still unsatisfied, to see into the future as well. He appears to have read widely and deeply to match his scholarship to his ambition. His exposition is clear and often seasoned with a light touch.

This is not the sort of book many will be inclined to read fully in just a few long stretches, but on balance it is likely to engage and challenge persons with a serious interest in mega-history. While some specialists in particular domains (say the British industrial revolution, for example) may disagree with some of Mr. Morris' interpretations or find them insufficiently nuanced, that is to be expected for works of broad historical synthesis such as this one.

Morris starts with pre-human "ape-men" (he can turn a phrase) and traces comparative East-West "social development" to the present and beyond. He has devised his own method for measuring it, a quantitative index that takes into account (1) energy capture (calories used); (2) organization, as measured by urbanization; (3) information processing, represented by literacy rates; and (4) the capacity to make war. He graphically plots his estimates of the index scores of the East versus those of the West since 14,000 BCE. The main body of the text describes the historical forces and events underlying the graphical patterns.

There are many objections that might be raised against the quantitative index and Morris is aware of them. He has stated that he nevertheless chose to construct it to help make more explicit what he means when he describes social development in any given period or region. In my opinion, he could have well done without it: it leaves an overall impression of being artificially contrived and unnecessary, a sort of Rube Goldberg approach to assessment of historical development.

Moreover, the question of who was "ahead" in any given epoch, East or West, turns out to be rather secondary to the salient lessons Morris draws from the sweep of history. There is no "long-term lock-in," he concludes, no factor established long-ago that has subsequently determined comparative advantage in perpetuity. The "five horsemen of the apocalypse" -- climate change, disease, famine, migration, and state failure -- have at times radically disrupted development and could do so again. So too, ascendant regions face the "paradox of social development" -- adaptations create new problems that call for further adaptations, possibly undermining the very forces that contributed to past success. Prior backwardness can even become advantageous (for a contemporary example think of low wages as an attraction to capital investment in China, an "advantage" that is eroding as Chinese development progresses).

His rejection of long-term lock-in theories is creditable and well-supported, but Morris also contends that short-term accidents and human leadership do not matter much either in the longer term. We could substitute "bungling idiots" for great men or vice-versa, he says, and at most things may have moved at a different pace to the same destination. Nor, in his opinion, do ideas or culture ultimately help shape development; rather, it is the other way around. These views are contestable, at the very least, and are bound to elicit objections from many other historians.

For Morris the operative factors are biology and sociology, which explain global similarities, and geography, which explains regional differences. Geography has determined the probabilities of where development would rise fastest, but social development changes what geography means, he proposes. For instance, when social development reached the stage where trans-oceanic commercial voyages were feasible, Western societies positioned on the Atlantic gained geographic advantages that in turn spurred further development.

How is it, then, that the long history of comparative development might inform our current prognoses? Morris projects that his index will soar, but faster in the East than the West, with a crossover to Eastern leadership by 2103 at the latest (he is that precise). Yet, according to Morris, the East-West framework may or may not turn out to matter much. Perhaps there will be an all-out East-West war, where even winning would be catastrophic, or maybe arguments about "who rules" will become pass� as we will see a need to cooperate further to address global problems.

Morris shifts gears and reframes the question. As he sees it, the world's future pretty much comes down to two possibilities: "Nightfall" or the "Singularity." If we can hold off the worst-case climate change outcomes and nuclear disaster (Nightfall) long enough, he suggests, we might morph into a post-human species (Ray Kurzweil's Singularity, where the full contents of our brains can be uploaded into computers), which he seems to regard as salvation.

I have to say I found this eventual conclusion to be a bit surprising, even peculiar, a big leap from where readers were left before reaching the final chapter. The chasm underscores a fundamental antinomy in Morris' message: we should study history to prepare for the future, but development will now accelerate so fast that history will leave us unprepared.

A first class read but cops out on key question, November 25, 2010
Ian Morris' "Why The West Rules--For Now" is a thrilling read. Morris is an accomplished stylist and his romp through the last fifteen-thousand years of human activity is fun, informative and--with one or two qualifications, explored below--convincing. I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a tour d'horizon of world history and pre-history.

Morris, however, is after bigger game, seeking to bring up to date a debate on the roots of Western leadership. One theory is "long term lock-in", which would have it that the West was always destined to enjoy primacy and possibly always will. Different examples of this would be Jared Diamond (Guns Germs and Steel, 1997), who made much of geography, in particular the distribution of domesticable plants and animals; or David Landes (The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, 1998), who dwelt on ideas, in particular those arising out of the northwest European enlightenment which encouraged enterprise by rewarding it with lawful property. Alternatively there is the "short-term accident" view, which would have it that Western primacy is something of an aberration, shortly to be corrected, following Joseph Needham's classic study of Chinese technology, or such more recent works as Martin Jacques' 2009 "When China Rules the World".

Morris is an archaeologist, so much of what is exciting in the book has to do with recent findings from his discipline. These enable us to learn much, even when records are absent: examples include the incidence of shipwrecks and lead pollution as surrogates for economic activity. Archaeology helps Morris fill in the gaps between the accounts of Diamond, who looks particularly at the period shortly after the ice retreated, and Landes, who instead focussed on just the last few hundred years.

Morris presents his conclusions via some home-grown sums and a trio of beguiling aphorisms. The sums are his own index numbers of human development, which he uses to illustrate the grand sweep of history and prehistory, showing that the West has been consistently ahead except for an interval from c600CE to c1800CE. He attributes this largely to geography, following Diamond. His aphorisms, "change is caused by lazy, greedy frightened people looking for easier, more profitable and safer ways to do things"; "people (in large groups) are all much the same"; and "each age gets the thought it needs" combine to reinforce his determinism, in which ideas and free will count for little.

As for the future primacy of East versus West, Morris cops out. He makes no bones that he expects the East, that is China, to overtake the West, that is the US. But, he says, by then it won't matter. Failing catastrophe (nuclear war, climate change), we will all be so much better off that the problem will dissolve in a more or less unimaginable technological utopia.

By Morris' own account, this won't haul the freight. Even after China overtakes the US on his index numbers, Americans will still be far better off. Morris is not the first to envisage a utopian future but none has so far turned up. As to his determinism, he follows Landes to note that the Chinese state was strong enough to enforce a policy of isolation for the four hundred years after it abandoned intercontinental exploration in the fifteenth century, while the absence of a single European power led to competition and defensible economic and political rights, extending innovation and enterprise. Is it too much to draw conclusions about the rights and wrongs of large versus small states, institutions prizing stability versus competition, or economic and political concessions versus rights? China is still on the wrong side of history by all these measures.

To conclude with an analogy on primacy. Twenty years ago, we were bracing ourselves for Japanese primacy, with innumerable books, articles and even films on the subject. In the event, that gig got cancelled. If I had to, I would bet that so will this one: the prospect of Chinese primacy will founder on an over-strong state which will decline to permit competition or defensible property rights. Morris should know that.

Best read in a decade, November 2, 2010
This book is so near perfection as would be possible. The only criticism I can think of is the one Boon L. Kwan already mentioned: the maybe overly materialistic view. In the entire book, I noted only one (1) factual error (Rollo was not made king (but duke) of Normandy.)

This book is for readers who like things such as "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, "Clash of Civilizations" by Samuel P. Huntington, "Ascent of Money" (TV series by Niall Ferguson), "The Ascent of Man" (TV series by Jacob Bronowski), "Civilisation" (TV series by Kenneth Clark), and "In search of the Trojan war (TV series by Michael Wood).

Fascinating as a history book, failure in terms of its target, December 27, 2010
It is hard to decide how many stars to assign to this book. Ian Morris' book would deserve 5 stars if it were merely a world history book. It succeeds in creating a unified, comprehensible narrative of world history from the stone age to the present day in a way that no other book I am aware of has done. For this reason, it would deserve to be classified as a classic.

However, on the other hand, the aim of Ian Morris has not been to write a comprehensive history of the the major world civilizations from the stone age to the present. It has been to explain the Western predominance of the last centuries and to predict what the future will look like. His discussion of the future is quite admirable and thoughtful indeed. However, I have found his answer to the central question the book poses to fall below ordinary academic standards on two fronts: it trivializes the question, and lacks novelty.

1. It trivializes the question. The central question of the book is answered by an argument of geographic reductionism and determinism. In short, the Western "rule" of the last few centuries is attributed to the shorter breadth of the Atlantic Ocean as opposed to the Pacific. This shorter breadth made the Americas more easily accessible to Europeans than to Asians, hence the former created an Atlantic economy, therefore faced different challenges than the latter, responded to them by the scientific and industrial revolutions, and hence rule. I find this argument to be rather simplistic, and I do not think that there was a need to write such a long book if its sole purpose was to put this argument down (after all, it has been said before - see below). The problem with this argument is that it stops exactly where the truly important questions should be asked. A case in point is Columbus: the author makes fun of him, calling him the best candidate for a "bungling idiot", because he thought he had arrived to the (by then obsolete) "land of the Great Khan", while he had only reached Cuba. However, the author fails to notice that Columbus did not reach the Americas merely due to the short breadth of the Atlantic Ocean: he ventured in the open sea aiming to sail as long as it took him to reach the other end of Eurasia, knowing that he should end up there eventually. Even if he had to cross the Pacific instead of the Atlantic, there is a high chance he would make it. It is surprising that, while the author tackles so many "what if" scenaria to prove his thesis, he fails to consider this fundamental "what if" question for his main argument: Would Columbus fail to reach the Americas if he had had to cross the Pacific instead? Given that Magellan did cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific a few years later, the answer appears to be in the negative. This observation by itself appears sufficient to refute the author's trivial main argument. The same reasoning applies to several other arguments in the book. For example, the author tries to argue that Newton thought what he thought because of the Atlantic economy, and he has no room for any cultural factor in it; he maintains that "each age gets the thought it needs". In essence, he maintains that thought is geographically determined. I find this fancy argument hard to accept, as I have not seen any convincing evidence for it. Last, but not least, some of the claims in the book are factually wrong: he attributes the invention of the wheelbarrow to China and claims that it was brought to Europe in the Middle Ages; however, there is evidence of wheelbarrows in construction sites in Ancient Athens.

2. It lacks novelty. The central argument of geographic reductionism and determinism that Ian Morris espouses is not new. It has been made by Jared Diamond in "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and by J. M. Blaut in "Eight Eurocentric Historians" before. Surprisingly, the author fails to give proper credit to these authors for making similar arguments, although he does at least cite Diamond. Moreover, the so-called "advantage of backwardness" of Western Europe, which forms a secondary argument in the author's thesis, has also been made by Patricia Crone in "Pre-industrial Societies". At least Morris does a good job of bringing these arguments together in a coherent way, but does not go beyond them to deeper issues that need to be addressed (as discussed above).

An Intriguing Look At The Past, With Implications For The Future., November 8, 2010
Ian Morris combines the best aspects of Jared Diamond, Paul Kennedy, David Landes, and Thomas Friedman while contributing his own fascinating insights as an archaeologist in this insightful and fascinating book. Why The West Rules-For Now is solid world history, beginning with the first hominid developments and stretching to the early twenty first century CE. The primary question Morris asks throughout deals with which area, West or East, had the advantage and was more highly developed during each historical period.

But Why The West Rules is more than just history. Morris roams freely throughout the time periods, using economic data and statistical analysis to extrapolate alternative scenarios leading to very different outcomes. These counterfactuals are always fascinating, none more so than the one with which Morris begins his book, describing an abject Queen Victoria humbly performing the kowtow before a triumphant Chinese overlord.

Even more fascinating and important are the final chapters, in which Morris speculates on future developments and posits several possible scenarios for the next hundred years. These are also solidly grounded and are convincingly argued. They make Why The West Rules-For Now a book one hopes national and cultural leaders will read and discuss for many years to come.

Well written history, December 11, 2010
One of the best non-fiction books I have read in years. It is more history than archeology and contains so many interesting facts that his conclusions were secondary for me. I recommend it for an enjoyable trip through world history. Morris explains the importance of historical events like the influence of nomadic tribes of the steppes on the social development of both the east and west. His writing style is engaging and not overly technical and should have broad appeal among recreational readers.

Does World Leadership Rest in Maps and/or Chaps?, November 15, 2010
Ian Morris demonstrates with much conviction that neither the surmised superiority of Western thought ("long-term lock-in" theories) nor the temporary, largely accidental leadership of the West after 1800 CE ("short-term accident" theories) offers a satisfactory explanation of why the West currently rules (pp. 13-14; 17-18; 73; 166-167; 226; 260; 474; 521; 564; 572; 575; 619-620). As Mr. Morris points out correctly, the partisans of these theories largely ignore thousands of years during which the West did not move along a straight line to its eventual dominance of the world (pp. 169-170). Famine, disease, migration, state collapse, and climate change played at times a key role in shaping social development, which measures a community's ability to get things done (pp. 144; 560; 598).

Mr. Morris explores two key themes in the book under review:
1) Although biology and sociology explain the global similarities, geography explains the regional differences;
2) While geography decides where development rises or falls fastest, social development also determines what geography means (pp. 30; 592).

To make his case, Mr. Morris invites his readers to embark on an epic journey to explore what happened between 14000 BCE and today mainly in Eurasia (pp. 130; 166; 558; 640-641). The globe's most developed societies have always been ones that found their genesis in either the original Western or the original Eastern core (p. 32).

Mr. Morris finds out that the West has ruled the world for the last sixteen millennia with the exception of a major parenthesis between about 550 and 1775 CE when the Eastern regions of Eurasia took over from their Western counterparts (pp. 25; 129-133; 223; 332; 337; 395-396; 422; 429; 476; 564). The examination of this time range allows Mr. Morris to clearly demonstrate that "short-term accident" theories of why the West rules for now do not make sense at all. Geography has been the key to driving social development in the favor of the West for most of the last sixteen millennia. However, geography does not exist in a vacuum. Social development also defines what geography represents (pp. 30-31; 41; 82; 117-118; 144; 271; 427; 557; 561; 565; 572; 592; 619-620; 643). Mr. Morris observes that the higher social development rises, the faster it can continue rising. Each innovation builds on earlier ones and contributes to later ones (pp. 194-195). To come to these conclusions, Mr. Morris develops an original human development index to measure the evolution of social development during this period. Urbanism, energy capture, information processing, and capacity to make war are the key metrics that Mr. Morris uses to measure the ups and downs of social development over time (pp. 143-171; 623-640). The most that any great men and "bungling idiots" could do until 1945 CE was to speed up or slow down processes that were already under way (pp. 316; 416-417; 429; 449; 479; 565-568; 616).

Mr. Morris convincingly shows that the great transformations of social development, i.e., the origins of agriculture, the rise of cities and states, the creation of different kinds of empires, and the industrial revolution were each the result of desperate times calling for desperate measures (pp. 559-560). Human core societies have repeatedly seen their further social development blocked, what Mr. Morris calls their hard ceilings (pp. 34; 560; 563-565; 598; 607). Rising social development results into bigger populations, more elaborate lifestyles, and greater wealth and military power (pp. 225; 561). These changes unleash forces, i.e., famine, disease, migration, and state collapse, which undermine social development, especially if they occur at the time of climate change (p. 560). At the same time, bigger, more complex societies tend to have more sophisticated ways to respond to the bigger, more threatening disruptions that they generate (pp. 225; 404; 418-420; 533; 598). Mr. Morris calls this seemingly contradictory phenomenon the paradox of development (pp. 28; 34; 225; 329-330; 504; 530; 560-562; 601). This paradox is the main reason why "long-term lock-in" theories are unsatisfactory in explaining why the West rules for now (p. 195).

Mr. Morris forecasts that the East will catch up again with the West by exploiting the advantages of backwardness. The East is expected to bypass the West by the beginning of the twenty-second century if their respective human development indexes continue to increase at their current speed (pp. 582-583; 619). Furthermore, Mr. Morris predicts that in the twenty-first century, social development will go up so high that geography will become meaningless (p. 619).

However, Mr. Morris has reservations about his own predictions. The paradox of development mentioned above could wreak these predictions due to the currently perceived limits in the expected growth rates of urbanism, energy capture, information processing, and capacity to make war (pp. 590-598; 608-613). In addition, Mr. Morris reminds his audience that geography will remain unfair in the twenty-first century, which will eventually allow the West to keep its lead over the rest of the world (pp. 601-602). Finally, Mr. Morris reminds his audience that with the continuous rise in (nuclear) military capacity, great men and "bungling idiots" with access to these weapons have had the ability to change history since 1945 CE.

In summary, Mr. Morris hopes that humanity will learn not only from archeology and the media, but also from history to save itself from its unmatched capacity for auto-destruction (pp. 621-622).

... Read more

Editorial Review

One of our most innovative, popular thinkers takes on-in exhilarating style-one of our key questions: Where do good ideas come from?

With Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson pairs the insight of his bestselling Everything Bad Is Good for You and the dazzling erudition of The Ghost Map and The Invention of Air to address an urgent and universal question: What sparks the flash of brilliance? How does groundbreaking innovation happen? Answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, Johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward.

Beginning with Charles Darwin's first encounter with the teeming ecosystem of the coral reef and drawing connections to the intellectual hyperproductivity of modern megacities and to the instant success of YouTube, Johnson shows us that the question we need to ask is, What kind of environment fosters the development of good ideas? His answers are never less than revelatory, convincing, and inspiring as Johnson identifies the seven key principles to the genesis of such ideas, and traces them across time and disciplines.

Most exhilarating is Johnson's conclusion that with today's tools and environment, radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible to those who know how to cultivate it. Where Good Ideas Come From is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how to come up with tomorrow's great ideas. ... Read more

Reviews

A staggering insight into cultivating creativity
In my years as a Wall Street strategy advisor and as a life-long student of that which propels us towards our greatest potential, I am fascinated by an interesting structural tension when it comes to personal and professional excellence.

We have at our finger tips, some of the greatest knowledge, tools and processes that can help propel people and organizations towards excellence and yet despite this vast wealth of information, many people (and the organizations they are associated with) struggle.

After exploring many theories over the years, I think I just realized why this is the case and I am staggered by the implications.

I have just finished reading "Where Good Ideas Come From" by Steven Johnson (author of "Everything Good is Bad For You" and "The Invention of Air") and found the ideas contained within to be of staggering profundity.

A Different View on Creativity

With no offence intended towards well-intentioned individuals within organizations who come up with interesting ways to help us be more creative, I have often struggled with the value of some of the ideas they have come up with. Some examples come to mind, including the time I flew across the country for a mandatory, all-hands meeting where we played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey or another time when I travelled across the country for a mandatory meeting where the primary thing that was accomplished was a competition to see who could build a toy helicopter out of Lego Blocks the fastest.

When I asked people why we were doing these things, I was informed that it was to help us learn to be more creative. I learned something alright but it was not what they hoped I had learned. By the way, I won the helicopter competition, so there are no sour grapes here. :-)

As I read Steven Johnson's book, I realized why we struggle with how to be more creative.

It's because we spend too much time trying to experience an extrinsic-centric learning event when we should be refining the foundational components of what makes a human being a source of unlimited creativity.

As I read his book, I realized why we are often more hit-than-miss when it comes to increasing our potential for creativity. His book also helped me understand why our creativity sometimes grows in leaps and bounds while at other times, we seem unable to recreate this experience, making our growth in creativity seem frustratingly random or lucky.

Seven Key Principles

Mr. Johnson's engaging writing style guides us through seven key areas that must be understood in order to maximize our creativity, the key areas being:

1. The adjacent possible - the principle that at any given moment, extraordinary change is possible but that only certain changes can occur (this describes those who create ideas that are ahead of their time and whose ideas reach their ultimate potential years later).

2. Liquid networks - the nature of the connections that enable ideas to be born, to be nurtured and to blossom and how these networks are formed and grown.

3. The slow hunch - the acceptance that creativity doesn't guarantee an instant flash of insight but rather, germinates over time before manifesting.

4.Serendipity - the notion that while happy accidents help allow creativity to flourish, it is the nature of how our ideas are freely shared, how they connect with other ideas and how we perceive the connection at a specific moment that creates profound results.

5. Error - the realization that some of our greatest ideas didn't come as a result of a flash of insight that followed a number of brilliant successes but rather, that some of those successes come as a result of one or more spectacular failures that produced a brilliant result.

6. Exaptation - the principle of seizing existing components or ideas and repurposing them for a completely different use (for example, using a GPS unit to find your way to a reunion with a long-lost friend when GPS technology was originally created to help us accurately bomb another country into oblivion).

7. Platforms - adapting many layers of existing knowledge, components, delivery mechanisms and such that in themselves may not be unique but which can be recombined or leveraged into something new that is unique or novel.

Insight That Resonates

Mr. Johnson guides the reader through each of these seven areas with examples that are relevant, doing so in a way that hits the reader squarely between the eyes. I found myself on many an occasion exclaiming inwardly "This idea or example is brilliant in its obviousness and simplicity".

"Where Good Ideas Come From" is a book that one must read with a pen or highlighter in hand as nuggets pop out and provide insight into past or current challenges around creativity and problem solving.

When someone decides to explore ways of helping you or your organization be more creative and they are getting ready to explore a rah-rah session, an offsite brain-storming session or they are looking to play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, ask them if they have explored the foundational reasons behind what makes us creative.

And then buy a copy of this book for them.

I believe this book should be mandatory reading for every student, teacher and leader.

We are all students of Life.

We all at some point, teach others.

And if we accept that a leader is someone who influences others and we acknowledge that everyone influences someone at some point, then we are all leaders also.

Educational institutions, governments and corporations should make this book mandatory reading for everyone within their walls.

"Where Good Ideas Come From" is a fun read as well as a profound one.

May your creativity blossom as a result of exploring it.

Create a great day.

Harry

Brilliant (again)!
For those who enjoyed The Ghost Map and The Invention of Air, Johnson's latest book is another amazing treat in which science meets history, sociology and culture.

In Where Good Ideas Come From, Johnson examines the way in which people, environments and ideas meet. With references that range from biology, mathematics, neuroscience, technology, engineering, he argues convincingly that "analyzing innovation on the scale of individuals and organizations --- --- distorts our view" and that looking at patterns of creativity within cross-disciplinary contexts is far more fruitful. And Johnson is truly a polymath.

Great ideas surveyed range from Tarnier's incubator, Baggage's Difference Engine, YouTube, double-entry accounting, the Phoenix memo, the DEVONthink database program, Gutenberg's printing press etc... But this is not about cataloguing ideas, but understanding their genesis and their development, in the context of their respective socio-cultural environment.

The author does live what he preaches. In wonderful Johnson-style prose, he examines the "connective talents" of Carbon and extrapolates on the chaotic nature of innovative system. The books itself is highly original, and, given the complexity of its ideas, extremely accessible. You will not be disappointed.

Insight into creativity
Creating a theory of innovation is not an exact science as the process is messy, erratic, and often catalogued with a high selective bias towards the final "eureka" moment. In his book, Steven Johnson attempts to unpack some of this process and proposes a framework of seven key themes:

1. Adjacent possible: different innovations vary in their ability to unlock adjacent capabilities. In other words, timing matters.
2. Liquid environments: from a coffee house to your lab, the environments ability to circulate ideas plays an incredibly important role.
3. Serendipity: more often than not, it is a rare connection of two existing ideas that sets off a lightbulb, not discovery of a new one (see 2).
4. Slow hunch: instant flash of insight usually comes from years of exploration, where at some point, those ideas collide (see 3).
5. Error: many discoveries come about as an unrelated, and unexpected consequence (ex: penicillin) - be flexible with your ideas.
6. Exaptation: existing components and discoveries can often be adapted to different use cases (ex: consumer GPS applications.. see 1).
7. Platforms: where possible, build platforms and ecosystems that foster environments where 1-6 can be recombined at will.

While the specific examples chosen by author can be argued with, and an occasional metaphor is stretched too far, the book itself is well written and very engaging! Great read.

The BEST BOOK I READ IN 2010 - Period!!!
This is THE BEST BOOK I read in 2010. PERIOD. I am pleased to recognize Steven Johnson's work, Where Good Ideas Come From - The Natural History of Innovation, (Riverhead Books - Published by The Penguin Group New York, NY Copyright � 2010 by Steven Johnson).

In an era when the U.S. requires some creative thinkers to point the way ahead, I urge you and yours to devour this work. This work is timely, a shape-shifter and contains, in my opinion, the type of thinking required for re-evaluating the current foundation, energy and trajectory applicable to individuals, organizations (BOTH public and private sector), entrepreneurs, diplomats, inventors, faith-based communities etc.

What's the thesis of this work? Listen to Steven Johnson:

"If there is a single maxim that runs through this book's arguments, it is that we are often better served by connecting ideas than we are by protecting them. Like the free market itself, the case for restricting the flow of innovation has long been buttressed by appeals to the "natural " order of things. But the truth is, when one looks at innovation in nature and in culture, environments that build walls around good ideas tend to be less innovative in the long run than more open-ended environments. Good ideas may not want to be free, but they do want to connect, fuse, recombine. They want to reinvent themselves by crossing conceptual borders. They want to complete each other as much as they want to compete." P.22 (emphasis is mine).

The U.S. has always been heralded as the global center for innovation, technological breakthroughs and the quality of a university system that attracts the finest minds from around the world. At present, the U.S. seems to be struggling with a paucity of good ideas and its infrastructure - that has historically produced global admiration (educational achievement, patents, new industries, technologies, strategic partnerships and economic prowess) - has been characterized by a myriad of measures as "in decline."

This book stirred my patriotic fervor, as well as my competitive and creative juices. It didn't just stir me up - it somehow rearranged some things for me - at a soul level. It is a uniquely hopeful book - a message of tangible, practical hope for global citizens faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges of survival and daily life.

As Johnson writes, Reading remains an unsurpassed vehicle for the transmission of interesting new ideas and perspectives. P.112

Thus, I am NOT going to litter this review with too many excerpts from Johnson's work that would encourage you to make a judgment that simply reading a review of it was somehow sufficient. Here's what happened to me after I read Where Good Ideas Come From - The Natural History of Innovation -- I immediately went out and devoured two of Johnson's previous, acclaimed works The Invention of Air and The Ghost Map.

From time to time, cultures produce thinkers whose ideas are simply essential, timely and (hopefully) infectious. These people and their ideas seem to rise up at times during certain historical epochs when they are desperately needed -- and may be deemed counter intuitive to the mainstream thinking that seems to be widely accepted.

As Johnson says in The Ghost Map: "The river of intellectual progress is not defined purely by the steady flow of good ideas begetting better ones; it follows the topography that has been carved out for it by external factors. Sometimes that topography throws up so many barricades that the river backs up for a while." P. 135

Where Good Ideas Come From - The Natural History of Innovation is a force that pierces the barricades that are currently preventing the natural flow of human ingenuity from proceeding as constructively and as freely as it might. This book is inhabited by the essential inertia that is fundamental to our present and our future - individually and collectively.

I can unequivocally declare this work to be The Best Book I read in 2010.

Enticing and Innovating Itself
A most interesting book and one that is stimulating to read, IMO. I don't think one needs a high-tech background and graduate degrees to enjoy this book. Reading about the innovations is like reading a minibiography of the various inventions and inventors. Highly recommended.

Best Steven Johnson book yet
I have read all of Steven Johnson's books, some more than once. He is one of only 3-4 authoers whose books I watch for and anticipate before their publication, so I was eager to pick up his latest, and not only did it not disappoint, it may be his most thought-provoking yet.

Those of you who have read any of his other books, "The Invention of Air", "Mind Wide Open" or "The Ghost Map" will instantly recignize his lucid, well-researched yet casual tone, and in many ways he is building upon ideas brought forth in those earlier works, consolidating them and putting them together to form new ideas, an endeavor which ironically is one of the very concepts he discusses here.

A better, though less eye-catching title would have been "How Good Ideas Come About". The book is not so much about where, as about what are the conditions most ideal for them. He makes some very interesting and convincing analogies between the natural world and human culture, and bouncing back and forth effortlessly between the two realms is very fresh and compelling.

But even more than his earlier books, the ride along the way is extremely enjoyable. Fans of Ghost Map and Invention of Air will revel in the sheer quantity of "Wow, I never knew that" moments. But this book differs in approach: rather than delve deeply into one or two individual fascinating historical figures and extrapolating conclusions about human culture at large from it, this book starts from the cultural concept (the generation of innovative ideas) and surveys many historical examples to make his points. Each of these examples is fascinating enough to warrant a book all on their own!

I have come away from this book totally affirmed for my penchant for working on 6 projects at once, and for "spacing out". And I've been energized and inspired. Thanks Mr. Johnson!

... Read more

Editorial Review

History isn't always made by great armies colliding or by great civilizations rising or falling. Sometimes it's made when a chauffeur takes a wrong turn, a scientist forgets to clean up his lab, or a drunken soldier gets a bit rowdy. That's the kind of history you'll find in The Greatest Stories Never Told.

This is history candy -- the good stuff. Here are 100 tales to astonish, bewilder, and stupefy: more than two thousand years of history filled with courage, cowardice, hope, triumph, sex, intrigue, folly, humor, and ambition. It's a historical delight and a visual feast with hundreds of photographs, drawings, and maps that bring each story to life. A new discovery waits on every page: stories that changed the course of history and stories that affected what you had for breakfast this morning.

Consider:

• The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer
• Some Roman officials were so corrupt that they actually stole time itself
• Three cigars changed the course of the Civil War
• The Scottish kilt was invented by an Englishman

Based on the popular Timelab 2000� history minutes hosted by Sam Waterston on The History Channel�, this collection of fascinating historical tidbits will have you shaking your head in wonder and disbelief. But they're all true. And you'll soon find yourself telling them to your friends.

Reviews

The overlooked past brought into the spotlight, September 8, 2003
Beyer is an author who is dedicated to making history interesting and fun, which he does so well in this collection of one page stories. I found the book especially interesting because of the background work the author had put into his research (the imprint of the History Channel did not hurt either) which raised these tidbits above the normal trivia, or potential urban legends. Beyer highlights some things that should not be lost in the mists of history, and points out historical facts that may be glossed over in many other history books. There is nothing earth shattering here, but more than a few will make you scratch your head, or share with others in conversation. A great book for dipping your toe in history - each story is about a page of text and is well illustrated. There is just enough to get you the interesting point without boring you. It's a truly fun and fascinating book.

Something for everyone in this friendly and fun book, April 5, 2003
This is not a coffee-table book, it's a briefcase book, a bathroom book, a bedside book, a stuck-in-traffic book. It's a book for dads and kids, a book for teachers and students, a book for priests and ministers (great sermon material!), and a great gift for practically everyone. My personal favorite involves what Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp were doing during the 1920s--I won't give away the story but Wyatt was in Hollywood and Bat was in Manhattan! It's clear that the author is not a student of history, he's a lover of history, and the enthusiasm and excitement with which he approaches his subject comes through on every page.

Charming and Quirky, March 31, 2003
I always hated history in school -- and I hardly ever watch the History Channel -- so I approached this book with great trepidation. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself paging eagerly through the well-written, highly entertaining historical vignettes (each one takes up a mere two pages, perfect for subway reading). Some of them made me laugh out loud; once I had to fight the urge to turn to the stranger next to me and ask if he knew what had killed Atilla the Hun. (I'm not telling.) Although not written for kids particularly, this is also a great book to share with older children . . . especially those who complain that history is dull.

At least one story told wrong, February 26, 2005
I'm an avid reader of history, as well as processing a degree in the subject. So imagine my surprise when, after receiving this book from a friend of mine for Christmas, I read the erroneous account of the Children's Crusade of 1212. I had done research on this topic, so I was horrified to read the completely inaccurate account of what occurred. Had the author not read any historical analysis on the subject from the last 50 years? If he had, he would have realized that there were actually two crusades - one consisting of mainly French people led by Stephen of Cloyes who, when told to turn back by King Philip II, did so. That ended that crusade. The other one, led by a shepherd from Germany named Nicholas, led a group across the Alps into Italy. Some left for home while others continued on to Rome. It's interesting to note that in Rome, many received dispensations from their crusading vows because these "children" were either too old or because they were pregnant. Perhaps until relatively recently, people believed in the Children's Crusade because it represented a morality play or because some historians gave too much credit to chronicles (like Chronica Albrici monachi Trium Fontium) which were written long after the crusade supposedly occurred, rather than relying on more contemporary sources. Nor did they realize that the latin word "pueri" used in the chronicles can have several meanings (such as unmarried men rather than children).

In the final analysis, you just can't rely on books like these to really teach you history. The best you can do is read what they tell you and then try to verify it. If only the author had bothered to check the History Channel's own account of the Children's Crusade on their website, or perhaps read the excellent paper done by Peter Raedts in the Journal of Medieval History, or even just checked out the brief but accurate entry online in wikipedia. The book gave two pages to this event, and sadly got it completely wrong.

For this gross oversight, I am compelled to give it one star. Readers of history, never just believe what you read - verify.

A Fun, Easy & Educational Read for All Ages, July 21, 2006
What a great little book! Based on a series of History Minutes developed to air on The History Channel, every two-page spread of this little gem provides a short, easy-to-read and very interesting story-behind-the-story that most of us don't know.

The most interesting of these 100 brief stories are those in which one decision by one person ended up changing history and life as we know it, even today. Some of those include:
* Lost in Translation - where a poor word choice caused the first use of the atom bomb.
* BA-BUMP Goes the Stethoscope - about the doctor who invented it out of modesty.
* Cooking With Radar - about the invention of the microwave oven.

But the mix of story themes also keeps this book interesting, including insights into people we know by name without knowing much about them, like Proctor and Gamble, John Harvey Kellogg, Lionel of Lionel Trains fame, James Bond, and many more.

I also enjoyed it because it's easy to read 2 or 3 stories during lunch or just before dozing off at night. And, at the risk of sounding like a commercial, it's a great gift for kids who love to read because they'll have the inside scoop on many, many popular cutlure stories that their friends (and often teachers) won't know.

Enjoy.

"History would be a wonderful thing,if only it were true", November 17, 2004

This is a fun little book for anyone from 8 to 80,who likes to read history.It is more like the kind of stuff you see in Ripley's Believe it or Not,Strange but True,Interesting Facts,etc.There are 100 stories covered in 200 pages and half of that is pictures.One can skip through this book in an hour or two without difficulty.I guess most people would find it just a light read;but there is a real good reference section for anyone who wants to see the source or basis of any of these stories.
Stories are from all over the map and cover from B.C.to the present time .Some of the things you'll find:

Saint Patrick was an Englishman by birth.

The music for "The Star-Spangled Banner" was from a popular
English drinking song.

Where did the term "boycott"come from?

Did you know a US Warship fired a torpeo at another Warship carrying President Roosevelt, missing it by about 100 yards.

How a dead man duped Hitler.

And that's just for starters!

Oh Yeah, My title was a statement made by Tolstoy;who knew a thing or two about history.Then again,who knows,maybe he didn't say that at all.

Tasty tidbits, March 31, 2003
History (with a capital H) is usually presented with the heavy thud of finality. But Mr. Beyer celebrates those moments when history turned on a whim, in this delightful bite-sized book. And so we discover that the Civil War changed its course thanks to three cigars, that the stethoscope was invented by a bashful physician, and that a sex goddess provided the know-how for cell phones.

Those who love history will find new bits to wonder over. And those of us who nodded off in class get to discover that history is, in fact, packed with the wonderful quirks of human nature. Mr. Beyer has collected a broad assortment of stories and tells them with wit and aplomb.

This book makes a great conversation starter. And probably a good gift for dads and graduates.

Fascinating facts, November 25, 2003
A very entertaining collection of stories of unusual events and people from history. Arranged chronologicaly, starting with the Romans who stole time, and proceeding through such enthralling tales as the man who didn't discover America because he wanted to get home,and king Edward II' valiant but futile attempt to ban soccer (now I know why he was murdered, it was enraged footer fans). Some cherished myths are briskly disposed of, like the notion that medieval people thought the world was flat, and we learn that the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock because they'd run out of beer. A few of the stories in this book were known to me already, most weren't. At $12.57, that's only about 12 cents per fascinating fact, cheap at the price I would say. Who would you say was the most unlikely person to have saved the life of Abraham Lincoln's son? If you don't know already you need to buy this book.

A fascinating, eye-opening, un-put-down-able treat, April 27, 2003
If you are a freak for interesting tidbits about our kaleidoscopic world, this is a book I'd wager you'll read from cover to cover.

From the discovery of tobacco as a medicinal herb, to America's first president (no it may not have been Washington), to the invention of a stethoscope by a modest French doctor who didn't want to put his ear to the bosom of female patients, to the truth about the background of baseball (spoiler: its cricket for dummies, afterall :)), to the death of Attila the Hun which happened in quite a [boring] manner on his wedding night from a nosebleed while he was drunk, to a story of 3 cigars that may have helped the union side in the civil war....etc etc...this compilation is an absolute ripper.

It's chronicled sequentially from 46 BC to 1990 AD, very well researched (Beyer has worked with the Discovery and the History channels if I am not mistaken) and spiffy enough to open up on any page and get engrossed. Not the stuff of heavyweight history, this, but if this were taught in schools History just may have been the most popular period.

A highly recommended gem for your stash.

A tasty and authentic treat!, April 11, 2005
Assisted by historians at Harvard and Boston University and librarians at the National Archives and Library of Congress, this book is well-researched and visually rich. But it's also colorful and snappy, a testament to how lively history can be in the hands of someone who truly loves it. Beyer gives us 100 bite-size histories, tasty morsels that are curiously strong. My 11 year old son devoured several stories in one sitting; I consumed the book in one weekend. From events that changed nations...to inventions that changed the world, this collection is a joy, a real page-turner. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Sometime about 30,000 years ago, somebody stuck a sharp rock into a split stick—and presto! The axe was born. Our inquisitive species just loves tinkering, testing, and pushing the limits, and this delightfully different book is a freewheeling reference to hundreds of customs, notions, and inventions that reflect human ingenuity throughout history.

From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, An Uncommon History of Common Things features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields—when they weren’t busy flying kites to frighten their foes?

Every page of this quirky compendium catalogs something fascinating, surprising, or serendipitous. A lively, incomparably browsable read for history buffs, pop culture lovers, and anyone who relishes the odd and extraordinary details hidden in the everyday, it will inform, amuse, astonish—and alter the way you think about the clever creatures we call humans. ... Read more

Reviews

Uncommon History of Common Things, February 1, 2010
Great book! Alot of fun to read! Bought for husband as Christmas present. Lots of interesting and facts and antedotes in this book, worth the money. Will read myself when he gets done!

good for both 11 year olds and 63 year olds, February 10, 2010
I gave this as a gift to my goddaughter and my husband. Both are thoroughly enjoying the trivia and tales. It makes for a lot of "Did you know?" conversations that are both fun and engaging.

Interesting!, February 11, 2010
If you are a fan of trivia, you'll enjoy knowing the background behind these everyday things. Makes great dinner party conversation!

Great review of unusual things, January 24, 2010
Full of fun facts about common things you never knew and can use to impress your friends! Easy reading in sections that make reading in short periods very easy. Quality product, prompt shippiing.

History Lover, January 7, 2010
This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. One would never expect the origins of some of the things we use every day.

how things work, February 3, 2010
this book has a lot of information, easy to understand on common things of daily living, when they were invented, by whom, etc.

book, June 4, 2010
This book is a gift for my dad--it sounds interesting, I hope he likes it!

Uncommom History book, November 24, 2009
This is for a gift and I think it will be enjoyed very much. Thank you. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Winner of the American Book Award and the Oliver C. Cox
Anti-Racism Award of The American Sociological Association

Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.

In this revised edition, packed with updated material, Loewen explores how historical myths continue to be perpetuated in today's climate and adds an eye-opening chapter on the lies surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War. From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring the vitality and relevance it truly possesses.

Thought provoking, nonpartisan, and often shocking, Loewen unveils the real America in this iconoclastic classic beloved by high school teachers, history buffs, and enlightened citizens across the country. ... Read more

Reviews

Why kids hate history (but shouldn't have to), May 5, 2009
This is a real eye-opener to anyone who thinks they learned about U.S. history in high school. Loewen spent eleven years reviewing the 12 most commonly-used U.S. history textbooks and found all to be seriously wanting. Textbook publishers want to avoid controversy (so, apparently, do many school systems), so they feed students a white-washed, non-controversial, over-simplified version of this country's history and its most important historical figures.

To make his point, Loewen emphasizes the "dark side" of U.S. history, because that's the part that's missing from our education system. So, for example, we never learned that Woodrow Wilson ran one of the most racist administrations in history and helped to set back progress in race relations that had begun after the Civil War. Helen Keller's socialist leanings and political views are omitted and we only learn that she overcame blindness and deafness. John Brown is portrayed as a wild-eyed nut who ran amok until he was caught and hung, rather than an eloquent and dedicated abolitionist who uttered many of the same words and thoughts that Lincoln later expressed.

Loewen's book vividly illustrates the maxim that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Ignorance of our real history also renders us incapable of fully understanding the present and coming to grips with the issues of our time. For example, from the Civil War until around 1890, real racial progress was underway in the United States and civil rights laws were Federally enforced in the South. The military was integrated and former slaves had the right to vote, serve on juries and as witnesses in trials, own property and operate businesses. They also received mandatory public education, which was automatically extended to white children for the first time in the south. But, between 1890 and 1920, the Feds gradually disengaged and allowed southern racist governments to strip these rights from blacks and relegate them to virtual non-citizenship. Only within the last half-century has that policy been gradually reversed, again through Federal intervention. This history casts current racial attitudes and issues in a different light than most of our high school graduates are likely to see unless they are taught the complete history of their country, warts and all.

Despite some of the reviews posted here, it is clear to me that Loewen is NOT out to bash the United States or offer up an equally one-dimensional, negative version of its history. He gives a balanced account of many of the figures whose weaknesses he exposes. Thus, we learn that, although Columbus was an unimaginative fortune hunter, a racist tyrant and slave trader, he (and Spain) were not much different than most people at the time. He points out that all societies, including Native Americans and Africans, kept slaves, for example (the very antithesis of "revisionist" or "post modern" approaches) and that it is unfair to single out Columbus as singularly evil.

The problem is that our kids never learn both sides of these stories, so history becomes a bland repetition of non-confrontational "events" that appear to have had no or vague causes. Historical events are not related to issues that people disputed or serious conflicts that placed them at irreversable odds with one another, the very stuff that drives history. No wonder kids are bored and disinterested. They are left with the distorted impression that, down deep, the United States always means well (rather than acting in its own best interests, like any other country) and, in the end, is always "right." With that view of our history, these students become putty in the hands of politicians who appeal to that dumbed-down, distorted view.

Loewen has presented fair accounts of key events in our history and indicated why our high school graduates know and care so little about it. He also suggests ways to correct this serioius shortcoming and every American ought to applaud that.

AW

Excellent content, excruciating delivery, April 6, 2010
My initial impression of this was very positive. I was appalled at how much I did not know of my own history. Worse, I am dismayed at how much my ignorance affects my understanding of current affairs. The Haitian response to recent hurricane relief efforts makes much more sense now that I know how recently we invaded that country. I was grateful and enthusiastic at getting a new perspective on history.

The fascinating historical content, however, was undercut by the repetitive and pedantic delivery. High school history textbooks are inadequate - okay, I got that after the first fifteen times. I don't need to be beaten over the head with endless quotes proving and reproving the point.

This was not so much a corrective history as a diatribe against history textbook authors. Rants have a place but that's not what I hoped to get from the text.

I also found the author to be a bit hypocritical in his criticisms. He repeatedly accuses textbook authors of having a single reason (heroficiation) for their biased and inadequate coverage. He never strays from his own narrative that the textbook authors are bigots. He never acknowledges that, like history, the real story is probably more complex - that a textbook may be inadequate without the textbook author being evil.

For example, he repeatedly berates the textbooks for oversimplifying and removing controversy. He argues persuasively that textbooks need more and deeper content. That's a wonderful ideal - if you are unconstrained by space, teaching capacity or time. Real textbooks have practical limits on the feasible size and scope and are written for a specific audience. These are high-school texts, after all, not graduate-level material. The material is meant to be digested in one class of one year by students with a reading level that's... Well, that's a different rant. My point is that history textbooks must take the available time, reading level and cognitive skills of the students as a given. Some simplification is essential. High school physics textbooks include lots of simplifying assumptions and reduced detail which college texts then revisit, correct and expand upon. That doesn't make the high school versions evil or inadequate - merely appropriate to their respective audiences. The author of this seemingly endless rant never suggests how a teacher can realistically get through his proposed version of the material in the classtime available.

Could the high school textbook authors do a better job? Absolutely. Is this the recipe to doing it better? Hardly. This book defines the problem but offers little in the way of practical solution to the better teaching of history. Personally, I would have been much happier with a Cliff Notes version of this book that presented the historical content and context without all the editorializing about textbook failings.

Fantastic, August 15, 2008
I purchased this book years ago and I still have it. I purchased it after high school (catchy title - what can I say) and have been a history fan ever since. This book should be required reading. Who decided that dry facts and dates are what should comprise a history class? History becomes fun and fascinating when you move past the whitewashed versions of people and truly examine their motivation, inner demons and flaws. I have gone on to read a multitude of history books and continue to search for the soul in people who have accomplished things that aren't regulated to footnotes.

Fascinating History Demonstrating Limited Weak Public School Texts: Needs Some Postives, Not All Historical Warts, May 24, 2008
A very interesting book as the author's main premise is that many standard school history books provide superficial history and quite often only put a positive spin on all subjects whether actions by the government (Vietnam) or individuals such as Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson. For example, he debunks the importance of Columbus and explains why modern Native Americans despise Columbus as one who was very harsh to Indians he encountered and he documents that fairly well and he contrasts his facts with what is typically printed virtually as pabulum in several history books he quotes. Other contrasts include the image of John Brown as a violent religious fanatic in contrast to being a fervent abolitionist, Lincoln as doing what was politically expedient regarding race relations and slavery, Woodrow Wilson's support of the Klan and segregation of government employees, the post Civil War treatment of blacks in America that was frequently and geographically severe and the U.S. government's questionable involvement in Vietnam. A number of the points the author makes are fascinating and in particular the post Civil War race relations needs to be told as the "Jim Crow" laws were very harsh and discriminatory. The criticisms of the book lie in that it tends to be too negative and part of the culture of total destroying all heroes. The book would be much better served to discuss the relative positive points of those in our history with more balance. For example, Columbus was harsh to many Indians he encountered but most if not all the Conquistadors were extraordinary cruel to the Indians particularly Desoto. Columbus is not exempt from those cruelties but there is evidence that he may not have been directly involved in them certainly to the extent of others of his vain. The author does show some individuals very positively such as Helen Keller who's early modern controversial politics were deemed unworthy to mention. Lastly, I was more interested in the historical nuggets that the author writes about and became a little tired of the time out documentation of all the school books' with weak descriptions, I got the point early and would have preferred limited references to these public books as time went on as the history was much more interesting. This is a very good book but emphasizes too many of mankind's warts without balance, thus not for the faint of heart. A greater mix of human positives would have enhanced the book.

Needed by parents everywhere, October 11, 2009
This was an excellent book and I recommend it to anybody and everybody. I was a history minor in college, a business major, having decided not to teach history somewhere around my second year, I relegated my knowledge of history to something useful on trivia night. That is until the kids came around. I first realized there might be a problem with my son's education when he told me that Adolf Hitler had been a Genius, and that he had simply suffered from bad luck, later I heard that the Civil War wasn't about slavery, and even that Puritan settlers taught the Indians to farm and saved them from starvation...I had trouble believing that a teacher ever told my son such lies, and that he must be mistaken somehow; either way I began taking the education of my children much more seriously than our public schools do. In his book James Loewen takes on some of these myths, explains why they have persisted, and gives reasonable solutions for teachers and parents. He manages to present some new information (at least for me), and writes an extremely important critique of the textbook writing process and the approval process still used today. This book should be read by every parent and given as a gift to every teacher of History and Social Studies you can find. Teaching happy history doesn't make it so-lets teach our kids the truth so that they can engage the world with a clean slate.

An important book to read, but..., June 22, 2010
This is one of the books that changed the way I look at history and modern current events. So much of what I thought I knew about American History was overturned or cast in a new light, and some aspects of modern life make a lot more sense now. At times it can feel like you're getting beaten over the head with negativity, but if you can get past that you'll gain some valuable knowledge and insight. It's well worth the read.

Loewen makes a very good point that we shouldn't unthinkingly accept what textbooks teach us, but we shouldn't unthinkingly accept what Loewen teaches us either. He's not immune from his own historical misrepresentations and simplifications in service of making his point. I'm a liberal and his digs at Bush Sr. were tiresome even to me. The whole truth isn't here--the whole truth is best learned from multiple books, sources, and viewpoints. But, please don't let the above criticism stop you from reading. This book gives a great starting-off place for finding out more of the whole truth about American History.

The author's premise is good, August 7, 2009
The author does his best to encourage those who may have been discouraged by their high school history books to re-investigate this great subject. He has valid points, including the tendency to ethno-centrism, as well as a lack of honest discussion about the failures of the United States, in history textbooks. He also criticizes the tendency to use 'historical fiction' in textbooks as a teaching tool. While I believe that historical fiction is very valuable, I don't believe that that kind of subjectivism ought to be presented in textbooks.

My criticisms are that the author has a tendency to sway back to his sociological roots. At times he criticize the textbooks for not including enough sociology, which, as history textbooks, is not their purpose, in my opinion. He also writes from a left-wing viewpoint, which is acceptable as long as the reader recognizes the author's bias.

I recommend that you read this book to increase your knowledge about our great country, both its successes and failures. Just be aware of the author's subject and political viewpoints, and take everything with a grain of salt.

Making History Interesting, July 10, 2008
I want to focus on one particular aspect of this wonderful book; the description of the typical high school history textbooks. Looking back at the texts I realize that for an adult to even want to continue reading non-fiction after having to go through the bland, washed out, noncommital non narrative that is American high school history is a wonder in itself. He did a pretty good job of describing just how high school text books portray events and it's no wonder I never connected with the text; there was nothing to connect with.

American Textbooks Are Bad, December 15, 2010
Having used both American and British textbooks to teach history, I think that American textbooks are definitely wanting. I didn't even use a textbook that much when I taught in the states. I think that the book title was misleading. It's not so much "lies my teacher told me" but "omissions my teacher left out." If we take the already large American textbooks, and add all of the stuff that Loewen thinks we need to add, the book would weigh 30 pounds and take 5 years to get through. He even spends a good part at the beginning of the book complaining about how big textbooks are. I thought his book was very dry and boring even though I did learn a lot. I also think he goes too far in his point about trying to please everyone. The British textbooks I use now, hit on important topics no matter who they talk about or leave out in history. The textbooks in America try to please everyone so you have chapters on African civilizations that have little to do with our history because they are trying to please the African-Americans. Loewen's book mentions others that might have made it to America before Columbus (Phoenicians, British, Chinese, etc.) and says that we should teach about them so that those groups can feel good about themselves. The Phoenicians or Chinese possibly making it to America means nothing in our history. So why include it? The part on John Brown was also a little distorted. He glosses over John Brown's involvement in the killing of random people and the fact that he raided a federal armory. Can you imagine if someone today attacked a federal armory and said it was for a good reason? They would not be considered a hero, so why should John Brown? He does hit on Woodrow Wilson's racism, but that has to be left out of history books because Wilson was a big government, progressive and the Department of Ed wont allow bad things about him. I don't think that Loewen has any political motives in the topics he chooses to talk about but I also don't think he has a good solution to the problem that he presents at the beginning of his book. I think that American history should present the important points, even if they involve dead, white guys and leave out a minority group or two. If everyone stopped acting offended we could have good textbooks that focus on things of importance (and teach kids to think and form arguments), not these large monstrosities that talk about irrelevant people and events.

Good concept but could have been more interesting, August 28, 2010
This is an interesting concept and an especially good book for someone who likes history. After doing extensive research and reviewing 12 history text books, Loewen sets the record straight about everything from Columbus discovering American to Helen Keller to the First Thanksgiving and who were the real settlers in America. I agree with Loewen's premise that children today view history as boring because the text books leave out the interesting backdrops to give readers mere "sound bites" and that not only is history destroyed but it is dumbed down and boring. Students do not understand causal relationships because of this so the solution should be to write history books that are engaging and exciting. The ONLY negative with this book, in my opinion, is that in doing his research and writing his book, Loewen has corrected the history but his book isn't much less boring. Maybe it's the nature of the beast ie: if you're researching history and trying to prove something is wrong or add more detail, you have to support your position with lots of details and belabor your points. This I think dragged the book down a little. However if you, like myself, like history but would like to know "why they got such and such wrong" or to learn more about Helen Keller than that she was blind and finished college, you'll enjoy this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

" It might be thought the height of poor taste to ascribe good fortune to a healthy man with a young family struck down at the age of sixty by an incurable degenerative disorder from which he must shortly die. But there is more than one sort of luck. To fall prey to a motor neuron disease is surely to have offended the Gods at some point, and there is nothing more to be said. But if you must suffer thus, better to have a well-stocked head." -Tony Judt

The Memory Chalet is a memoir unlike any you have ever read before. Each essay charts some experience or remembrance of the past through the sieve of Tony Judt's prodigious mind. His youthful love of a particular London bus route evolves into a reflection on public civility and interwar urban planning. Memories of the 1968 student riots of Paris meander through the divergent sex politics of Europe, before concluding that his generation "was a revolutionary generation, but missed the revolution." A series of road trips across America lead not just to an appreciation of American history, but to an eventual acquisition of citizenship. Foods and trains and long-lost smells all compete for Judt's attention; but for us, he has forged his reflections into an elegant arc of analysis. All as simply and beautifully arranged as a Swiss chalet-a reassuring refuge deep in the mountains of memory. ... Read more

Reviews

wonderful book
This is a wonderfully written, beautiful, poignant book, all the more poignant because of the author's recent death in August, 2010 from ALS. Judt's POSTWAR was one of the best books I've ever read about that period. His vast knowledge, his ability to write about complex issues and events in clear concise language, and his rare ability to make the material interesting and entertaining will be sorely missed. Above all, I will miss the common sense, the decency, and humanity that comes through in this, his last book. Rest in peace. Read this book, you'll be glad you did.

A wonderful discovery
This is the kind of book that I delight in discovering -- one that exceeds all my expectations, that makes in a pleasure to slow down and digest the author's skill with words and his deeply personal and ruthlessly honest ruminations on his own past and the events he lived through, as well as the world he inhabits. The fact that when Tony Judt composed this memoir-like collection of essays (or "feuilletons", as he describes them) he was dying of ALS simply adds an element of poignancy. But the deceptively simple essays are a way of exploring important issues: important to him and important to the rest of us as human beings trying to find ways to coexist with each other and confront our own mortality in less dramatic ways than Judt was forced to do by his disease.

Judt delicately backs into his subjects. Rather than writing about class relationships, he chooses to write about the institution of "bedders" (at Cambridge) or "scouts" (at Oxford), and his relationship with them and that of later generations of students with them; the ways in which those students prided themselves on being classless and yet by doing so, ended up violating something intangible that those college servants valued far more than social mobility -- being respected for who and what they were. He writes about his father and the latter's relationship with Citroen cars and it serves to explain his father's personality and his parents' dysfunctional relationship (I empathized, as the cracks in my own parents' marriage surfaced earliest and most often in long car trips) but also ends up as a commentary on the role of the car in our society. "The car, at the height of its hegemony, stood for individualism, liberty, privacy, separation and selfishness in their most socially dysfunctional forms... But it was quite fun at the time." He tackles austerity, gender relations, the delights of train travel -- all in the form of short ruminations that carry far more punch than their length might indicate. Indeed, one of the joys of this anthology is that it forced me to slow down my reading and really think hard about not only the words on the page, but about Judt's experiences, my own reactions to them and the deeper messages. In the same way that Judt's disease forced him to slow down and concentrate on the truly important things he wished to communicate, his readers get to slow down themselves and focus -- without having to confront the sheer hideousness of that disease. That is no small gift.

Several of these essays stood out to me as being important distillations of what might be thought of as modern-day humanist thought. Judt writes of taking pride in experiencing Paris in '68, amidst the wave of revolutionary zeal. But looking back, he realizes what he was overlooking: the events in Poland and Prague, where students his age were trying to fight against true repression. His comment is typically pungent: "In our own eyes at least, we were a revolutionary generation. Pity we missed the revolution." Indeed, throughout this collection, Judt pulls no punches. "You are what your grandparents suffered," he opines, in connection with what he views as "para-academic" study programs. Political correctness is not his forte; thoughtful humanity most certainly is, however. I particularly enjoyed the extremely thoughtful essay "Edge People", in which Judt discusses the issue of identity, and the need to find a way to combine it with a sense of our common humanity. "Fierce unconditional loyalties... have come to terrify me," he writes. "The thin veneer of civilization rests upon what may well be an illusory faith in our common humanity."

These essays are gems, and I can see myself coming back to them time and again to re-read them even more slowly. I'm grateful that this book was a gift in hardcover, and so can be placed on a shelf where, when spotted, it can be pulled down in order to do just that, something that can be too difficult with a Kindle book. Still, I expect to end up buying this for my Kindle as well, because this is the rare kind of book that is so thoughtful and thought-provoking that I want to have a copy with me to dip into whenever I need to remind myself that it's possible to be a "public intellectual" without becoming pompous and self-important. How many public intellectuals have enough sense of humor about themselves to public ponder the reason their mid-life crisis led them to study Czech rather than buy a red Porsche?

One of my favorite books of the year; this would earn six stars if that were possible, and is highly recommended, even to those who have found some of Judt's other works too politically opinionated (eg Ill Fares the Land. With Judt's death in August of this year, we lost that increasingly rara avis -- a clear thinker, with an ability to communicate his ideas in crisp prose, and a heart beneath the intellect.

Beautiful writing
Tony Judt had a gift for expansive, insightful and accessible writing -- the kind of outstanding writing that most academics hate (because they think that dry, obscure, opaque prose is "true"). Judt belongs in the same camp as John Kenneth Galbraith and Edward Said (and others I'm forgetting at the moment).

The essays in "Memory Chalet" are personal but still have a scope that gives historical insight.

A Circumspective and Clear-Eyed Group of Essays
I understand the impetus for these essays was Mr. Judt's advancing ALS, a condition that took his life earlier this year at a much-too-young age. He brought to the essays a clear-eyed circumspection that seems to me very English, notwithstanding that he was a European historian and spent much of his life in the United States.

Sets a Mood
I will be brief. Like a good movie, drink, meal or conversation, The Memory Chalet sets a mood that lingers. Few things linger these days. Mr. Judt's book is among them. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Search the annals of military history and you will discover no end of quirky characters and surprising true stories: The topless dancer who saved the Byzantine Empire. The World War I battle that was halted so a soccer game could be played. The scientist who invented a pigeon-guided missile in 1943. And don't forget the elderly pig whose death triggered an international crisis between the United States and Great Britain.

This is the kind of history you'll find in The Greatest War Stories Never Told. One hundred fascinating stories drawn from two thousand years of military history, accompanied by a wealth of photographs, maps, drawings, and documents that help bring each story to life. Little-known tales told with a one-two punch of history and humor that will make you shake your head in disbelief -- but they're all true!

Did You Know That:

• One military unit served on both sides during the Civil War
• The War of Jenkins's Ear was actually fought over a sea captain's ear
• Daniel Boone was once tried for treason
• A siege on Poland in 1519 gave birth to the marriage of bread and butter

Discover how war can be a catalyst for change; an engine for innovation; and an arena for valor, deceit, intrigue, ambition, revenge, audacity, folly, and even silliness. Want to know how the mafia helped the United States win World War II, when the word bazooka was coined, or how Silly Putty was invented? Read on!

Reviews

UNBELIEVABLY ENTERTAING AND FASCINATING, November 4, 2005
I first bought this book for my dad who is total military history buff. But I happened to start reading it myself and was completely taken in by these stories. I'm the last person you'd ever find reading a book about the history of war. But I couldn't put it down. Each story--just two pages--are utterly intriguing, juicy morsels of fascinating information. There's also a tremendous amount of humor in the book. I read it from cover to cover and then passed it on to my dad. My dad is the kind of guy who owns virtually every book ever published on the subject of military history. Because he knows so much, I thought maybe he wouldn't dig this kind of approach. Boy was I ever wrong. He couldn't stop reading his favorites out loud to me--which was essentially the entire book. Bottom line: this book is one of those few gems that is so well done and so interesting that it will appeal to high school kids, retirees, men, women, etc. I went out and bought Beyer's first book after finishing this one and it's just as wonderful. If you're looking for a gift that's educational but fabulously entertaining, you can't go wrong with these.

My brother will like it., December 18, 2005
I'm a fan of non-fiction, but not of military books in general. My brother "doesn't read books." But there were so many cool things Beyer's first book [The Greatest Stories Never Told] that I was sure he would love it. He did. If anything, this War Stories book is even more interesting. Even for me, there is a lot to hold my interest, and I am definitely not in the typical military history book group. The best part is that all the stories are really true, not just probably true, and the sources are in the back of the book so you can check it out.

A gift book for all, December 19, 2005
When I first saw The Greatest Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer, I bought numerous copies. They made great gifts for my college nephews, cousins, father, brother-in-law, etc etc. including one I keep in my guest bedroom for visiters. It was perfect.
Now when I first heard the title of his new book, I was a bit hesitant. I am so not into military history I thought, so I only got a few copies to give away. BUT...then I started reading.. One, the book is perfect for when you only have a few minutes at a time to read a couple of pages. AND THEN these are tidbit of tales that do astonish and stupefy. I certainly might not have heard of the female Lawrence of Arabia, or that Santa Anna of the Alamo story had something to do with the invention of chewing gum. And now I need to order more copies including another one for me, as my friend took mine away when she started reading it in the car.

You Can't Read Just One, March 7, 2006
This little book might be called a bathroom reader of military trivia. Just some of the little tidbits to be learned include: America's Worst General (Commander in Chief of the Army in 1796), the American traitor who led the American Army to victory at Saratoga, the origin of the song Taps, the word Bazooka, the Battle where 32 american soldiers and more than fifty wounded and there was no enemy, the invention of G.I. Joe.

I could go on, there are a hundred tales here, but you should be able to get the idea. One thing though, like with peanuts, after you read one, you're unlikely to be able to put the book down.

Unbelievable stories!, October 6, 2007
I am a social studies teacher and my jaw dropped reading these short tidbits on historical events -- this is such a great writer in easy-to-understand language. My students love it when I tell them stuff like this you'll never find in a textbook.

Great bathroom reading, May 21, 2007
This book is full of interesting little tidbits that are only a page spread long each, perfect for the coffee table or bathroom. It's great for whetting your appetite for a particular historical event, which, in my case, usually sends me to other books or online to find out more detail.

First read of a Rick Beyer work, August 28, 2007
I usually stick with known writers like David McCullough, Walter Isaacson, and Stephen B. Oates. This time I went for a new name and I'm glad I did. I had read about the little known reason why Mr. Lincoln had ordered a raid on Libby Prison in Richmond, but it had never been so interestingly explained as Mr. Beyer does in this book. It's by far one of the best books on military history that I've read. I'll describe it as having a good sense of drama with a scholar's meticulous attention. Unlike my newest one, "Kill Me If You Can", Beyer's book is one that anyone interested in military history will enjoy. No, this is not a veiled commercial. I'll assure you that unless you're an exception, you'd hate my book. Truthfully, I'm beginning to believe my motive for writing it was to see just how many people I could alienate. Bob Miller

A pleasant diversion, October 5, 2007
This book was nice distraction. To be honest, the first time I saw it and looked at the format I thought it wouldn't be that good but actually I was pleasntly surprised. Although I was familiar with many of the stories, Beyer managed to surprise me with a few new angles on some of these bits of trivia. Better yet, he came up with several new stories I had never heard.

Great book. I look forward to more of this type.

Many interesting factoids, February 13, 2008
This book is highly entertaining and is chock full of interesting facts. It is so interesting that it answers many questions that you never thought to ask like "how did the bazooka get its name?" Nothing deep, but a pleasurable read. I found my self wanting to share many of the stories with friends and family. A quick read and worth the time.

Interesting short stories, March 4, 2006
Book gives small snippets of interesting stories of war. Some are commonly known, and others are 'different'. Wish there was more info on some of the stories though... ... Read more

Editorial Review

Life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down — all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people’s lives as never before. The pessimists who dominate public discourse insist that we will soon reach a turning point and things will start to get worse. But they have been saying this for two hundred years.

Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization—which started more than 100,000 years ago—has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair.

This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the twenty-first century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

Reviews

A History of Progress, May 22, 2010

Will our future be 2,000 more years of immanent apocalypse?, May 8, 2010

The Future is Rationally Bright, July 14, 2010
Differentiation of individual activity, specialization and trade are the activities that have enabled humankind to overcome obstacles in the past and advance at a rapid pace. The future should be no different.

According to Matt Ridley, trade was and is the essential element in human progress. He suggests that the first farmers were already traders and used their static location and accumulated inventory to meet hunter-gatherer demand. He also credits the farmer as the creator of property rights. Hunter-gatherer societies are egalitarian sharing the hunt and enforcing non-compliance. A farmer who plants a field expects to harvest it and store or trade the surplus. This, Ridley posits was the origin of private wealth.

Ridley maintains that progress is dependent on idea sharing. As population density increases, the availability of new ideas and differentiation of occupation allows those with extra time to make use of these ideas.

Twentieth century collectivist bias leads one to ask "who was in charge" looking for a central initiator of policy. Ridley suggests that the world is a complex adaptive system, where trade and progress emerged from the interaction of individuals. It was an evolutionary rather than a planned process.

He recounts historical examples of institutional and industrial stagnation from the Bronze Age to British Rail and the U.S. Postal Service. What Ridley says they have in common is an attitude that rewards caution and discourages experiment. A planned economy requires perfect knowledge. The possibility of new knowledge makes a steady state or economic equilibrium model invalid.

He says the Dark Ages were a massive back to the land hippie movement minus the trust funds, similarly the Maoist Cultural Revolution.

Ridley thinks that governments tend to be good initially, but increasingly bad the longer they last. `Government brings inefficiency and stagnation to most things it runs.' Governments `employ ambitious elites who capture an increasingly greater share of the society's income by interfering in peoples lives and creating rules to enforce until they kill the goose that lays the golden eggs'

African poverty, hunger, climate change, resource depletion, and disease are all challenges that an intellectually evolving human race will conquer.
Individual creativity within a bottom-up political structure and a free-market economy will increase our individual wealth, health, and longevity according to Matt Ridley.

A Landmark and happily subversive book, May 26, 2010
I can't do better that repeat Steven Pinker's endorsement from the dust jacket:
" A delightful and fascinating book, filled with insight and wit, which will make you think twice and cheer up."

It's also filled with historical insights into human psychological and social evolution from prehistory through the present day.

This book is in fact the latest in a long line of lonely books explaining why spontaneous order (unconscious and unplanned) works so amazingly well, and bravely speaking out against the dominant pessimism that always reigns. Ridley cites these authors liberally: Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Hayek, Julian Simon, Bjorn Lomberg. Since all these men are heroes of mine, I needed little convincing. I am already a committed optimist.

But a part of me is deeply pessimistic. That's because as always, the dominant view of the elites and the media everywhere is global pessimism. Political "leaders" everywhere believe the opposite of what this book teaches. And they mostly push for well intended but misguided policies that will guarantee that bad outcomes occur. John Holdren, Obama's chief science advisor, will not read this book, but he believes passionately the exact opposite of everything it explains.

Matt Ridley understands all this, and his frustration with counterproductive policies (like Biofuels) is clearly stated. But the question is "Why are humans so intent on pessimism?" As someone fairly expert in evolutionary psychology, I was hoping Ridley would shed some light on this. A related question is "Why do humans prefer top down hierarchies to spontaneous order."

My own hypothesis goes something like this:
For hundreds of thousands of years, (and before trading occurred) our prehistoric ancestors evolved in small tribal bands, in desperate scarcity, and in constant total war with other tribes, deadly animals, and a harsh environment. In such a situation, a tribal band must operate with the discipline of a combat army. Survival was completely dependent on rigid conformity, obedience to authority, and the assumption that everything that moves is a potential threat motivated by conscious intent.

Only in the last few hundred years have some civilizations allowed the spontaneous order of billions of individual decisions to generate far greater benefit than top down systems do. But our primitive past is so deeply imbedded in our mental genes, that most people still believe in gods, "great" leaders and/or socialism.

My only other quibble with Ridley concerns his bias for markets but against financial markets which he sees as corrupt or exploitative. He is correct to see a difference, but he needs to read more Hayek to understand why. The answer is that financial markets are built on anti market foundations: fiat money printed by governments to serve political ends and price fixing of interest rates by central banks which loan money to banks at favored rates not given to others. This leads to markets distortions, mispriced risk, malinvestment, fraud and periodic bubbles.

Optimism is better than pessimism, July 22, 2010
Wonderful to be regaled with positive things that humans have achieved and are capable of.
We hear and see too much doom and gloom and sometimes I wonder if humans are programmed to be negative or are just fascinated with disaster and failure and predictions of the 'bad'.
Good news does not seem to sell so I hope this wonderful book succeeds.
Certainly has given me some insights which were in hindsight, intuitive, but of course without foresight, are generally not.
it's a bit like saying, "yes we can"!
Highly recommended.

Adam Smith Meets Charles Darwin, May 24, 2010

Optimistic view on the global economy, not so optimistic about our future, July 6, 2010

Fun, fascinating, controversial, July 18, 2010

Rational Optimist, July 16, 2010
The world's innovation rate makes us all Luddites! Mat Ridley gives perspectives on understanding the current ferociously changing times. He is the recipe for overcomming vogueish Malthusian 'end of the world' 'expert' views (ie. static vs dynamic). A terrific read - especially comments regarding evolutionary links to free trade, Botswanna and global warming. Great historical examples of both wealth creation/destruction. I submit to his "Name a Phoenician emperor" taunt!

Good writing; Devastating Case for Things Looking Up, June 9, 2010
An extended argument that human intelligence and the well-being it allows is created, collected, maintained, distributed and extended by trade. Trade is "ideas having sex." Ridley builds his case with point after point then examines all the usual counterexamples and objections, taking them out one by one. It's a wonderful book. Of course it helped that he was preaching to the choir with me. What's most delightful is Ridley's goodhearted skewering of pessimists -- the technological and environmentalist Jeremiahs in particular -- with the most obvious of weaknesses is their flimsy cases. He's almost embarrassed for them. Ridley is a bit repetitive at times, but maintains a wry humor and lighthearted tone throughout, which makes his writing all the more effective. He's a good writer and he's right about everything. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Audrey Hepburn is an icon like no other, yet the image many of us have of Audrey—dainty, immaculate—is anything but true to life. Here, for the first time, Sam Wasson presents the woman behind the little black dress that rocked the nation in 1961. The first complete account of the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. reveals little-known facts about the cinema classic: Truman Capote desperately wanted Marilyn Monroe for the leading role; director Blake Edwards filmed multiple endings; Hepburn herself felt very conflicted about balancing the roles of mother and movie star. With a colorful cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, Givenchy, "Moon River" composer Henry Mancini, and, of course, Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses us in the America of the late fifties before Woodstock and birth control, when a not-so-virginal girl by the name of Holly Golightly raised eyebrows across the country, changing fashion, film, and sex for good. Indeed, cultural touchstones like Sex and the City owe a debt of gratitude to Breakfast at Tiffany's.

In this meticulously researched gem of a book, Wasson delivers us from the penthouses of the Upper East Side to the pools of Beverly Hills, presenting Breakfast at Tiffany's as we have never seen it before—through the eyes of those who made it. Written with delicious prose and considerable wit, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. shines new light on a beloved film and its incomparable star.

Reviews

The Awesomeness of Audrey, June 22, 2010
Sam Wasson's just-released and delightful book on the making of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is so chock-full of great anecdotes that you're sorry when it's over. For awhile, you are there - a privileged insider-witness to a marvelous bygone moment in moviemaking history - and it's with a feeling of bittersweet regret that you step from its closing pages back into a realm of noisy 3D sequels and superfluous comic book franchises. Everything you'd want to know and more is delivered in the book, from the reader's coverage producer Marty Jurow was first handed, re: adapting Capote's book for the screen ("In any event this is more of a character sketch than a story. NOT RECOMMENDED") to the guest list for the post-premiere party (including such unlikely elbow-rubbers as Dennis Hopper, Buster Keaton, Charles Laughton, and Jane Mansfield).

A delicious through-line in the book is how close the movie came to not coming out so well as it did, with such jaw-droppers as everyone's resistance to having Henry Mancini write a song for the thing (eventual collaborator Johnny Mercer's original lyric, we learn, one of three eventually presented to Mancini, was called "Blue River"). An intimate exploration of the myriad personalities in conflict and collusion when a casual classic is being created, the book is cannily adept at detailing the logic of the so many minute decisions that lead to what we now accept as inevitable. Of course Audrey Hepburn played Holly Golightly, you think, until you hear how hard Capote lobbied for Marilyn Monroe.

Wasson is a formidable researcher. He doesn't so much know where the bodies are buried as he knows where the hearts and minds are hidden. The book is written like a good novel, taking you inside the consciousness of its characters with an impressive, insight-laden believability ("Fifth Avenue"'s only recent movie-book rival in this regard is Mark Harris' fascinating "Pictures at a Revolution"). And Wasson's notes on how he arrived at, and can justify, his leaps of imagination and empathy are almost as interesting as the text itself.

Of course the book has its thesis and theories as well, positing "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and Hepburn's stylish, fresh, era-defining performance as a watershed moment in cultural history. If you're a fan of Audrey Hepburn, the book is a must-have, because Wasson's astute take on what she was about, what she was up against, and how she delivered the goods strikes me as definitive. Her spritely, near-angelic spirit comes alive in the pages of this eminently devour-able book, which is kind of an awesome dividend.

Audrey Hepburn, not Tawdry Hepburn, June 28, 2010
When Paramount was gearing up to release "Breakfast at Tiffany's," a film that would go on to usher in an entirely new and more authentic depiction of women on screen (even if it had still had a long way to go), they had to be careful. Audrey Hepburn, the darling of such films as "Roman Holiday" (which won her an Oscar) and "Sabrina," was very conscious of her public image. Unlike other stars who carefully constructed their images, Audrey was essentially the kind woman she was perceived by the public to be. Hepburn, who could sometimes be found knitting on set, didn't want that reputation tarnished. So, unsurprisingly, Hepburn nearly turned the role of the free spirited good time girl Holly Golightly, the film she is most remembered for today.

And therein lies the crux of Sam Wasson's masterful book on the making Breakfast at "Tiffany's" and its cultural significance. At this time in film history it wasn't okay to play this type of character. On screen good girls were good and bad girls were bad. There was no gray area. But "Tiffany's" would change all that, and show the world that not only did this gray area indeed exist, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to be single and sexually liberated woman--even if you were just playing one.

Golightly, as it turns out, was an amalgam of so many of the society ladies that Truman Capote (the author of the original novella on which the film is based on) knew and socialized with, but it was Babe Paley and Capote's own mother, Nina, who most pervaded the character of Holly.

This slim volume (coming in at just over 200 pages) is also a history of Hollywood during the mid 1950s and through the filming of "Tiffany's." Not having read Capote's original novel, I was unaware that the Paul Varjak character in the film was actually Holly's gay friend in the novel. The social mores of the day dictated that the character be turned into a love interest.

I think Sam Wasson's book is clever and unique and witty in its telling of the story behind the story of how "Breakfast at Tiffany's" paved the way for a new brand of filmmaking and depiction of women on screen. Often irreverent, always engaging, Wasson's book does not disappoint.

More fun than wearing a tiara from Tiffany's..., June 22, 2010
After all the critical praise I've read, I have to admit, I had high expectations for Fifth Avenue, 5 AM, but this gem of a book actually managed to exceed them. (When does that ever happen?)
I think that's due, in part, to the way Wasson deftly weaves together the full story of the making of the movie, a social history of the era, Audrey, Capote, Edith Head, Paramount, et al. The end result is a sparkling tapestry of considerable heft -- substance and FUN. Peter Bogdanovich (famed director of Paper Moon & The Last Picture Show) asserted "it reads like a compulsively page-turning novel" and I couldn't agree more. I devoured it. But I also picked up quite a bit of new info along the way--about Audrey, about the film, the era, fashion, and the genesis of the now prevalent `single girl' phenomenon. Wasson's prose is delightful--rich and alive. This book belongs at your bedside table, in your beach bag and maybe even selected as next month's read for your book club.
Really, I thought it was fantastic.

I'll Take Manhattan, July 11, 2010
"Breakfast at Tiffanys" was one of many 60s-era movies that added to my own zeal to move to New York immediately after art school, and begin living the Big City Life. Inspired by the details of movies like "Tiffany", "Sweet Smell of Success", "The Apartment", etc I could not wait to be part of the population, hailing Checker cabs, sitting on my fire escape reading the voluminous Sunday Times, taking in Broadway shows, and going to coffee houses in The Village. All of this was possible in 1967, even on an Art Trainee's salary; and one could easily find "a roomate, a job, and an apartment" in a day. At least, that is what I remember.
I would like to propose that the real star of "Tiffanys" is.....alas, Manhattan. Thanks to Wasson's book, I note that actual film work in the City was limited -- and then the whole party shifted to the back lots of Hollywood (WHY had I not expected that, all along?).....but, the viewer is left feeling that Holly and her band of kooks has given them a sneak preview of the most marvelous place in the world. And we all wanted to come, asap. At least, I did, and have never regretted the decision, even 43 years later.
So, although I am a fan of Audrey's, and Blake's, and Truman's, I came away from this fun book, realizing that New York City was the social game-changer -- not "Breakfast at Tiffanys". Afterall, the City gave us "newcomers right off the bus" a place to shape-shift, reinvent, become our most creative selves, play-act and try on different roles (graphic artist? fashion illustrator?
window dresser?) -- while providing the perfect "movie set" backdrop of teeming Times Square, towering sky scrapers, ethnic neighborhoods, brownstones/townhouses/studios, and the most fascinating population EVER.
Wasson has given us a juicy summer read, and I would describe it as an expanded-version of one of those ultra-juicy articles-with-photos in Vanity Fair magazine. But, to double your pleasure, I highly recommend ordering a used copy of Gene Moore's "My Time at Tiffanys" to read, immediately after "Fifth Avenue, 5 am". Moore gives a marvelous, engaging behind-the-velvet-curtain tour of
Tiffanys and the backstory of their culture-defining Windows.....plus he throws in a lot of New York City legend and lore (happily covering the timeframe when I first arrived, complete with water shortages and labor strikes). Not a fictional character like Holly, Moore was a real creative innovator, leaving his mark, while living an alternative lifestyle; and his talents enriched New York City and added to its status as the most stylish metropolis ever.

Some interesting tidbits for fans of Hepburn and Breakfast at Tiffany's, July 9, 2010
I read rave reviews on this book in several magazines so I bought it. Though I think Breakfast at Tiffany's was a great movie, and adore Audrey Hepburn (who doesn't?), I wouldn't call myself a rabid fan of either. Hence my perspective is not one of a die-hard fan.

For the good points, the author seems to be in the know about the inner workings of Hollywood and the making of movies. There are some interesting stories and factoids in the book, and the story really did explain some of the basis for Audrey Hepburn's star appeal. The author also made a fairly compelling case for the role of Hepburn and the movie in changing the portrayal of women in movies--and this perhaps was the strongest part of the book.

However, many of the tantalizing tidbits advertised were sort of exaggerated by the book's description. For example, some of the press about the book included remarks like "can you imagine Breakfast at Tiffany's without 'Moon River'? This leads the reader to think that there will be an in-depth story about controversy related to the song, but there really wasn't. There were about two pages at most about a non-event related to the song.

Another annoyance with the book was the way it was structured. It is almost written as a series of very short articles with chapter headings that look like scene headings from scripts. Some might find this technique charming but it seemed to be a convenient way to avoid making transitions in the story and sort of disrupted the flow. I found it distracting.

I give this book a definite recommend for Hepburn and Tiffany's diehards, and a lukewarm recommend for the average reader.

J'ame Audrey Hepburn (and Holly Golightly too!), July 3, 2010
I have to confess I have always loved Audrey Hepburn, but have never been quite sure what my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie should be. They all showcase that certain gamine ethereal quality which defined her during the great heyday of her career in the 1950s-the early 1960s. Sam Wasson's book, Fifth Avenue 5 A.M makes the case that everyone's favorite movie should be "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

When Stanley Kubrick made his film version of "Lolita," the ad campaign focused on how impossible it was under the prevailing motion picture code (illustrating what a dead letter that institution was that audiences would conspire to undermine it). The original work that the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was based upon posed just as many problems. It was the story of a prostitute (Holly Golightly) and her gay friend who talked and acted like Truman Capote. Capote even insisted that he was the only person capable of playing the male lead in any film version of his work. Holly Golightly could only be played by one person, Audrey Hepburn's polar opposite, Marilyn Monroe. One wonders what sort of movie would have been made had that bit of casting been attempted,. Marilyn discretely turning tricks while Capote dished the dirt with the upstairs neighbor, a Japanese photographer.

Movie making is collaborative venture and this book demonstrates that premise perfectly. Capote created the character of Holly Golightly based in part on his own wild playgirl of a mother. While she was not above depositing Truman with relatives in Alabama (where he met Harper Lee, but this is another story entirely) while she ran around Manhattan in the thrities, she probably was not the high class call girl that Holly was in the book. In fact any number of women including Gloria Vanderbilt, Carol Marcus (later to marry Walter Matthau) and Babe Paley contributed features to the development of Holly Golightly. Sometimes writing involves collaboration from a variety of sources.

Once the film rights were sold, several other individuals step into the story, each with their own agendas, but all seeking some sort of redemption. First there was Audrey Hepburn herself who had originally refused the part by saying, "I just can't play a hooker." There was the writer, George Axelrod, the writer, who sought to break away from doing movies with well endowed heroines (Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe) who seduce ordinary joes, a genre termed boobs and boobs films. Then there was the director, Blake Edwards, who despite a successful career as the director behind the successful Peter Gunn TV series wanted to movie into a higher tier of professional respect. Sam Wasson demonstrates how all of these three individuals achieved greater professional success than they might of expected from the outset.

Really the only thing that was left from the original novel was its title and the name of the heroine. Functioning more as a character study, there was little in the way of plot and dramatic tension. George Axelrod, turned the traditional formula for a late fifties sex comedy (which never involved sex unless both partners were married) on its head by making both his hero (no heterosexual) and heroine fully sexual beings who were presumably being kept by others and who needed to break free of the need for financial security to find love and commitment with each other. As for Holly herself, what she did for the $50.00 for the powder room was kept somewhat hush hush, Hepburn had recently been nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of a nun in the Belgian Congo for crying out loud. Holly had been changed from a call girl to a happy go lucky kook in the best traditions of Hollywood.

In most creative endeavors there is usually one person who annoys all others with his oversized ego. Oddly enough with so many talented people involved, that person for this movie was George Peppard. Of all of the participants that were interviewed for the book, absolutely no one had anything good to say about him. An inflated sense of one's own self worth though commonplace in Hollywood and even Washington is not an odd thing, but completely unsuspected if one has the scintilla of talent at the command of George Peppard. The tales of his antics make me long to read an account of one of my favorite trash classics, "The Carpetbaggers," which really is more his style anyway.

It is no surprise to realize that the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was a success. Audrey Hepburn achieved new successes and a greater sense of her abilities as an actress. George Axelrod went on to become one of the producers of "The Manchurian Candidate" (another great movie from this period, would love to read a book on the making of that movie) and Blake Edwards acquired the kind of fame and respect that led to the establishment of the wildly funny Pink Panther series of movies.

Truman Capote was predictably bitter. It was one thing to buy the film rights to his book and then trash most of the plot, but it was another thing to succeed wildly in doing so. Had "Breakfast at Tiffany's" failed (which it probably would have had it starred Marilyn Monroe and Truman in the leads), there would have been some consolation. This particular movie became the source of many extended rants from Capote in the later years who was appalled that his character, Holly Golightly, who was a high class call girl in his original novel had been turned into a lady by Hollywood.

Sam Wasson's work on the making of this classic of Hollywood alchemy is really an fun read as well as being a bit of a guilty pleasure. From the beginning of the story to the end, he weaves a tale of ego, genius and professional redemption in an entertaining and at times moving way. Well worth the read.

An informative, fabulous book!, July 16, 2010
This is an very well-written work of film history...luckily for us readers, many of the personalities involved in the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's are still alive, so Wasson had the opportunity to conduct first person interviews as well as relying on historical accounts.

It really shows how times have changed....! If you are interested in film history, Audrey Hepburn or 20th century women's history, costume design, Givenchy...oh you get my drift, many people will enjoy this delightful book!

Bravo to Sam Wasson!

Fifth Avenue, 5AM is a classic HAUTE COUTURE book, June 23, 2010
This book is as fun and elegant as a perfect little black dress, but unlike my little black dress, I just wish it had been longer! When I finished it, I ordered 10 more to give as gifts as I'm sure just about all of my friends will love it too. Just like Audrey Hepburn and Tiffany's, I think this book will become a classic that is always in style.

Some Strong Points, But A Bit of A Let Down Overall, November 17, 2010
I found this book a bit of a let down:

- Overall, it seemed a bit thin on material and appeared to be padded out with biographical filler. I think it would have been more effective as an essay.

- The author's insight into the deal making involved with Breakfast At Tiffany's, insights into the personalities involved with the film, and other anecdotes were the strongest part of the book. I just wish the author had more to tell.

- I didn't appreciate some of the coarse language used periodically by the author (for emphasis?).

Only recommended for the diehard fans, September 19, 2010
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson
Harper, 2010
204 pages
Non-fiction; celebrity
3/5 stars

Source: School library

Summary: A look at the making of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's:' how the producers, director, writer, and stars came to make it and how it impacted cinema and American life.

Thoughts: I think I saw a review of this in People magazine and I put it on my list because it seemed like a breezy read with links to the classic movies I love (actually don't really like BaT but I also need to watch it again). This was a very quick and easy read. I'm not particularly familiar with any of it although I've seen BaT and I don't not like Audrey Hepburn (she's not in my top 10, but maybe the top 20). Reading the backstories was interesting-tracing Hepburn's path to this role and looking at the backstage people is always interesting as they're too often neglected.

But Wasson's argument about how groundbreaking this film was in its depiction of female sexuality is not well argued. Just repeating that it pushed boundaries and was remarkable does not equal a well-reasoned and well-supported argument. It also seemed quite shallow and I kept feeling like there should be more to the story although I wasn't sure what.

Overall: Definitely recommended for the diehard fans of BaT; otherwise don't bother.

Cover: I love the cover-Audrey in the iconic dress with Tiffany blue in the subtitle is perfect! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

If your US history class wasn't up to par all those years ago, read this to catch up!, September 15, 2010
I went to school in California, which I am ashamed to say means that I had a sub-quality education in many ways - especially in U.S. history. I try to make up for this as an adult by watching and reading as many educational items of quality as I can - therefore, I'd say I am an experienced judge by now of what qualifies as "quality". I give this book a 5 star rating because it's excellently written and full of well-researched information. It's also entertaining and a good read. You won't be disappointed.

Chronological Survey of American History with Many Visuals; For Adults, Teens or Read-Aloud by Parents to Younger Kids, November 14, 2010
This is the companion book to a documentary mini-series AMERICA THE STORY OF US that aired on A&E's History Channel in the spring of 2010.

This book is written to an adult audience and is fine for teens or even upper middle school students. For kids it would serve best as a read-aloud for family study for any family.

The book is loaded with visuals ranging from drawn illustrations to historical photographs or facsimilies of historical documents, and maps. Each two page spread has at least one whole page of graphics and some are comprised of two thirds images to text ratio.

The book moves at a good pace and never gets boring. The time period covered goes from the arrival of the colonial settlers to 2010 including the election of President Barack Obama, who also penned the introduction. The content does not candy coat history either; hard topics such as the treatment of Native Americans, slavery, and poverty in the early 1900s is covered.

This book is now a part of my family's library about American history and we are using it in our homeschool studies.

I love the chronological arrangement of historical events and all the visuals and the interesting text, therefore this book has earned a rating of 5 stars = I Love It.

... Read more

Editorial Review

How do we get from the polis to the police? Or from Odysseus’ sirens to an ambulance’s? The legacy of ancient Greece and Rome has been imitated, resisted, misunderstood, and reworked by every culture that followed. In this volume, some five hundred articles by a wide range of scholars investigate the afterlife of this rich heritage in the fields of literature, philosophy, art, architecture, history, politics, religion, and science.

Arranged alphabetically from Academy to Zoology, the essays—designed and written to serve scholars, students, and the general reader alike—show how the Classical tradition has shaped human endeavors from art to government, mathematics to medicine, drama to urban planning, legal theory to popular culture.

At once authoritative and accessible, learned and entertaining, comprehensive and surprising, and accompanied by an extensive selection of illustrations, this guide illuminates the vitality of the Classical tradition that still surrounds us today.

Reviews

A Compilation of Lectures on The Relevancy of The Ancients, November 25, 2010
Did you ever wonder what college professors of Ancient Western Culture did to keep their Chairs at the universities when the students in the 70`s and subsequent generations exhibited their disdain for studying all things which had to do with western culture by boycotting their classes? Well, they adapted, willingly or not. As such, you may want to consider this book to be a compilation of all of the important lectures they subsequently presented in order to keep students attending their classes.

First of all, what this book is not. It is not a reference book on ancient western classical thought or history per se. It is a reference book on the derivative impact and relevancy of Ancient Classical Western (principally Greek and Roman) culture on subsequent (including current) world culture.

For example, You will find no account of the Peloponnesian War here. When you search in the index for it, you will be referred to (for some strange reason) "Achilles" where you will find in the discussion of the "idea" of Achilles the notion of a disillusionment with the concept of Achilles because of the "general decay of values during the Peloponnesian War." (p.4)

What about Athens? The information on Athens begins, "Various cities and regions of the ancient world became symbols of self actualization in the collective consciousness of modern Western civilization...In this sense Athens competes for prominence with Egypt, Jerusalem, and especially Rome." (p. 97) Further on it states that, "Athens has achieved a unique status in what is generally called culture,...as a singular term of value, in terms of high or low culture." And again, "Athens` role as an icon of the classical per se begins not in the Middle Ages or modernity but in antiquity."

What about Alexander The Great? Surely some accounting of his exploits would be included. However, under his name, believe it or not, in the second sentence there is a discussion of Oliver Stone's "epic film, "Alexander." It notes that the movie "may have bombed with the American critics and failed at domestic box offices, but it went on to recoup around the world even more than the staggering $155 million it had cost to produce." (p. 25)

By this inherent widely-focused design it is not systematically organized into neat chunks of information. I dare you to compile the following under a large section: pornography, meteorology, Jesuits, sexuality, suicide, tragedy, music, glass, Deus ex Machina, comedy and the comic, etc.

In essence it takes the form of a potpourri of knowledge compiled by classical scholars in a single, finely bound, and affordable volume of theirs and other contributors lectures on how the Classical tradition influenced subsequent human activity. The list of contributors takes up a whopping seven and a half pages, single space list. If you wish to broaden your understanding of the influence of classical history or classical thought, this may make for a very handy compilation of useful information.

Finally, it is not designed to be read from beginning to end. Weighing in at over five pounds, it is organized alphabetically and comes with a handy index in the back. Given its heft I doubt that it would be pragmatic as a bedside reader or for (heaven forbid) "john reading."

A big beautiful sumptuous book, November 1, 2010
Anyone interested in Western classical history would like this book. 1000 pages of entries from Aesthetics to Zeno's Paradoxes. No need to read from cover to cover, just open it up and be enlightened and entertained. It's no small thing these days to find a book beautiful presented, with a good binding and attractive pages. Something would be lost if it were an "e book". A nice gift for a history buff.

Most interesting, December 20, 2010
In a time, when Classics are loosing ground, this book is a most welcome reminder of the classical period's profound influence on Western Culture and Society.

Overwhelming Reference Book, December 23, 2010
This book covers the classical tradition of ideas that we know today. It is certainly no history book of Greece and Rome. It weighs a hefty 6 pounds and is rather large at 12 inches. It covers a vast number of subjects in some detail as an encyclopedia does. However, most all of the information appearing in the book could be gleaned from the internet from such web sites as Wikipedia and Britannica. Indeed these web sites remain more current (updated) than a published book. The politically correct (and somewhat controversial) dating system BCE/CE in place of BC/AD is used throughout the book. Our great thinkers in life continue to fix things that are not broken in order to be "modern". Note also that the font used in the book is somewhat smaller than most books.

In spite of the low price of $29.97 which included shipping, I still returned the book to Amazon.com. I must admit that Amazon.com has an excellent return policy. Two days after shipping, a notice of the initial charge reduced by $3.99 for return shipping was emailed to me and a day later the credit appeared on my credit card balance. It is no surprise that Amazon.com has done so well over the past years due to its excellent customer relations and integrity.

... Read more

Editorial Review

On June 14, 1940, German tanks rolled into a silent and deserted Paris. Eight days later, a humbled France accepted defeat along with foreign occupation. The only consolation was that, while the swastika now flew over Paris, the City of Light was undamaged. Soon, a peculiar kind of normality returned as theaters, opera houses, movie theaters and nightclubs reopened for business. This suited both conquerors and vanquished: the Germans wanted Parisians to be distracted, while the French could show that, culturally at least, they had not been defeated. Over the next four years, the artistic life of Paris flourished with as much verve as in peacetime. Only a handful of writers and intellectuals asked if this was an appropriate response to the horrors of a world war.

Alan Riding introduces us to a panoply of writers, painters, composers, actors and dancers who kept working throughout the occupation. Maurice Chevalier and Édith Piaf sang before French and German audiences. Pablo Picasso, whose art was officially banned, continued to paint in his Left Bank apartment. More than two hundred new French films were made, including Marcel Carné’s classic, Les Enfants du paradis. Thousands of books were published by authors as different as the virulent anti-Semite Céline and the anti-Nazis Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Meanwhile, as Jewish performers and creators were being forced to flee or, as was Irène Némirovsky, deported to death camps, a small number of artists and intellectuals joined the resistance.

Throughout this penetrating and unsettling account, Riding keeps alive the quandaries facing many of these artists. Were they “saving” French culture by working? Were they betraying France if they performed before German soldiers or made movies with Nazi approval? Was it the intellectual’s duty to take up arms against the occupier? Then, after Paris was liberated, what was deserving punishment for artists who had committed “intelligence with the enemy”?

By throwing light on this critical moment of twentieth-century European cultural history, And the Show Went On focuses anew on whether artists and writers have a special duty to show moral leadership in moments of national trauma. ... Read more

Reviews

A Panoramic View, November 8, 2010
Presents a vivid and readable panorama of French life during the German occupation of Paris, with particular attention paid to the various artists, journalists, film makers, writers and intellectuals of the time. The activies of many notables are featured--i.e. Coco Chanel, Maurice Chavalier, Sartre, Camus, Picasso, etc.

Only toward the end of the war, did the Resistance garner active moral and armed support. Prior to that, complacency and/or collaboration seemed to have been the rule. Several interesting photographs add to the value and interest level of this historical account.

The artist's dilemma, December 16, 2010
Alan Riding's book raises one of the most difficult issues concerning intellectuals living under foreign occupation:to what extent should they resist the enemy? Should they show defiance or show indifference to the occupying forces? What is the intellectual's role in a situation of war?
These questions started bothering Mr.Riding thirty years ago when he asked the same questions about the artists' response to dictatorships in South America. He writes that "few sold out to the dictatorships" then. After started living in Paris, he realized that the same questions could be asked about the French intellectuals and artists during the Nazi occupation in the forties.(p.10,Introduction)
His book starts with the fall of France in June,1940, when the German army drove into Paris unopposed. Within weeks, the remnants of French democracy were quietly buried. Riding continues to introduce us to a very big number of writers, painters, actors, entertainers and dancers who kept being busy under the Nazi occupation.
Broadly speaking, the artists were divided into three main groups: those who collaborated, those who opposed the enemy and those who chose to remain indifferent in a no-man's land. Among those artists discussed are Edit Piaf,Picasso, Chevalier, the pianist Alfred Cortot, the composers Boulez and Messiaen as well as the virulent anti-Semitic writers Celine, Brasillach and Drieu La Rochelle. Camus and Sartre are also discussed in detail. Marguerite Duras joined the resistance along with her husband, Robert Antelme, while the writer Colette spent much of the occupation in her apartment where her Jewish husband was forced to hide every night in a maid's room in the building's attic.
Theaters, nightclubs and cabarets made sure the show went on.
In one of the best chapters of his fascinating book, Mr. Riding discusses in great detail the trials held after the war against those who actively collaborated with the enemy. Laval's trial in October 1945 was most dramatic and then the trials of some artists followed, among them the trial of Brasillach who was condemned to death. Another writer, Charles Maurras, was condemned to life imprisonment.
Riding emphasizes one main thing and that was about writers who had shared one fundamental need during the occupation: that of seeing their words in print. Other artists acted in the same way, showing their motivation to keep appearing under the limelight.
Although some purges were conducted, the cultural life of the French continued after the war and only some artists have undergone judicial procedures.
The main conclusion of the book is that the answers to the questions posed at its very beginning are hard to answer and diverge. Life under the Nazi occupation was not a contrast betweeen black and white, and the many ambiguities, the numerous variants of the German occupiers, the many cases of collaboration or resistance-all these only emphasize the complexities of the whole central issue examined in this interesting book, which is based on extensive research (documents and diaries,mainly) and interviews and also includes sixteen pictures og the main protagonists.
In short, this book is extremely informative, extremely entertaining and a brilliant cultural history which shows how the elites in France reacted during a relatively short time when they were facing evil.

Right, Left and caught in the Middle, December 15, 2010
France was the major cultural space of the western world in the 1920s and 30s. But it was increasingly wracked by intense cultural conflict in the 1930s between a reactionary and anti-Semitic Right and a socialist and often Communist Left. Intellectuals in the two camps engaged in literary warfare against a wider cultural backdrop of world-class art, music, ballet, and theater.

Then came 1940 and total political defeat. The German Occupation became a petri dish in which to gauge how different individuals and groups reacted under an often deathly stress. Many French gave a grudging acquiescence to the Vichy government under old Marshal Petain since when you lose, you lose. Many turned against this government "by stooge." After Germany invaded Russia in 1941, the French Communists organized and executed a highly effective and very brave resistance. Many non-Communist resistants also joined the overall movement. So there was a small, vibrant underground cultural resistance.

More interesting is the journey of the Right Wing writers. From being hate-filled polemicists in the 1930s, this group now had the power through their magazines to denounce other Frenchmen and cause their arrest by the Germans, possible deportation to concentration camps, or simple execution in France. Somewhere in here you find the Seventh Circle of Cultural Hell. The irony was that many were brilliant writers and thinkers who took a wrong turn in their personal development, the lure of the romance of extreme ideology with its promise of total commitment so beloved by intellectuals. This is one of the most fascinating sections of Riding's book.

Another interesting section is the account of American Florence Gould, who hosted a very popular salon in Paris during the Occupation. She was also involved in shady financial shenanigans with high-ranking Nazis in a Monaco bank. She said she did this to protect her husband, who was suspected of being Jewish. After the war, she survived investigations into possible collaboration and went on to become a prestigious supporter of the arts and recipient of the French Legion d'Honneur. Riding concludes, "Over the years, Florence's wartime salon and her questionable choice of friends have been quietly forgotten." So for the right people, money buys the prestige of privilege, which can be counted on to buy "understanding" from the right people.

The last section deals with the "epuration," or period of revenge starting with the Liberation and lasting into the peacetime years. This became the mirror-image of the denunciations by the Right Wing writers--a period of false denunciation, settling scores, and for many the safety of silence.

What is not emphasized, but does come out, is that many average French people and workers behaved well under difficult circumstances while many of the elite and privileged behaved rather badly. This book is a beautiful exposition of how a good people behaved in an awful war.

ONLY ABOUT THE COVER - Careless designer, October 24, 2010
Ready to read this recently acquired book, I'm amazed at the lack of detail --and absolutely lack of editorial respect-- shown by the designer of its cover (although the editor of the book is the one ultimately to blame). The upper photo of the female dancers is clearly not a genuine image taken at the period described in the book. Make-up, costumes, lights and style belong evidently to a much later date in history and may not even be from a show performed in France. To me, this substracts a lot of feeling and authenticity from the cover, which should always be an essential part of the book. I'm giving an average three-star rate just because this systems forces me to give something. This does not reflect the quality of the text, which I haven't read yet (and which could be worth a higher evalution). ... Read more

Editorial Review

This mesmerizing exploration of the most subtle, elusive, and effective form of power is a masterful analysis of civilization's greatest seducers, from Cleopatra to JFK, as well as the classic literature of seduction from Freud to Kierkegaard and Ovid to Casanova. Robert Greene once again identifies the rules of a timeless, amoral game and explores how to cast a spell, break down resistance, and, ultimately, compel a target to surrender. Presenting the timeless profiles of each type of seducer and the twenty-four maneuvers that will guide you step by step in the game of seduction, The Art of Seduction is an indispensable primer of persuasion that reveals the timeless power of this age-old art. ... Read more

Reviews

Better the devil you know..., September 17, 2003
This unusual text can be viewed from many points of view. On one level, the author's intentions are at best quite disturbing, because the texts theme has definite anti-social undertones. Deception, manipulation, exploitation of peoples weaknesses to achieve selfish ends has no moralistic value whatsoever; in fact the whole idea of preying on a 'victims' weaknesses in order to position them within your power, to then sexually dominate and influence them to your wiles and wishes, is a deplorable concept anyway you view it. Then again, from another perspective, the numerous techniques of seduction that Green instructs the reader on, supplying a plethora of examples from history and Western and Eastern literature, can teach us to be wary, or at least aware of certain individuals unscrupulous methods to attain what they desire. As the old saying goes, "Better the devil you know, than the one you don't."

The lessons on seduction, at bottom, can really only work if one's targeted victim has some weakness or vulnerability of character. (Green warns to stay away from confident, grounded individuals) Through subtly stalking your intended victim, listening to their every word, stroking their ego, thus discovering their weakness, you can then supply the necessary requirement, whether it be excitement, adventure, danger, loving parenting, add a little time and patience, your victim will eventually fall under your spell. This particular strategy of discovering weakness, focusing on needs, and appealing to an individual's ego, is as old as the pyramids themselves. What's interesting, however, is that this strategy works and continues to be used by individuals and organizations everywhere - but we continue to fall for the scam. And do not be fooled by Green's language and impressive erudite examples from the great works of literature - a scam is a scam no matter how you communicate it.

The text itself is a play on seduction. Green uses the two most seductive and sought after aspects of our existence to reel us into his tutorial: sex and power. None of us want to be victims, in fact we all want to dominate, be the winners, gratify our base and exalted desires. Do you want to unknowingly be seduced or be the seducer? The answer, of course, is evident. Green knows this and uses this strategy by proposing that he can give us an edge, supplying the means to attain our every desire.

In the end, after reading this text from cover to cover, I asked myself the question, what did I learn? What I learned is that certain individuals and organizations will go to any lengths, ethically or otherwise, to dominate others and get what they want. All things considered, it is better to know than to not know, no matter how unsavoury the subject matter.

A Radical Psychological Expose, March 10, 2007
For romantic persuasion studies to treacherous seduction, Greene's historical tale here is a work of art. This is a sardonic, yet often profound view of the use of persuasion, influence and manipulation for personal benefit. This book is a synthesis of philosophy and psychology, and is paradigm breaking. Freud must have had a similar unnerving effect on his contemporaries when he discussed premises for behavior that were previously not part of social discourse. The author expands his global metaphor of "life as war" from his book the 48 Laws of Power into love and spirituality. This piece may be the most effective tool in today's culture, but it certainly is an interesting study. Numerous conflict and struggle analysis, and subliminal persuasion techniques to exploit situations.

The first half of the book identifies a number of infamous seductive characters over the centuries, and identifies the unique characteristics of each personality. The second half describes the seduction techniques they used, and the likely personality types they would most effectually be used against.

For the modern Casanova, Greene's seduction stories are a bit dated and chivalrous to translate into a modern day pick up artist, but highlights how the great seducer's of the past used their persuasion and charms to their advantage.

As far as the modern era, a comparable effective book for sexual influence, toying and subconscious steering of ones emotions to lure in women, I suggest The Professional Bachelor Dating Guide - How to Exploit Her Inner Psycho.

Besides being a great comedy, it encompasses very effective persuasion tactics and NLP to seduce the subconscious of each of a dozen personality types, who, let's be realistic, want to be seduced, or they wouldn't allow it to happen.

Seduce Anyone, November 11, 2002
This is the best book on seduction ever! Some reviewers argue that Greene doesn't make the seductive process clear enough and that these tactics will not work in every situation. Well, you can't seduce everyone, but I find that whether you suceed or fail usually depends on your observation skills and on how well you implement the tactics. You have to be innovative. No one book can tell you how to seduce every single person in every single situation. For example, one reviewer said that these tactics will not help you seduce someone you're already friends with. Yes you can--I've done it twice! The key is getting the person to see you in a new light:
Step 1. Put distance between you and your target. Don't tell her you're distancing yourself, just do it! If your friend likes you she will miss you. If she was just saying "Let's be friends" and doesn't care for you at all, she'll still feel your absence because your loss of interest will wound her ego--that's important.
Step 2. Be different. Alter your appearance, make friends with new types of people, sculpt your body, develop new interests, and date as many people as you can. Try to date only those who are at least as attractive as your target, otherwise she'll look down on you.
Step 3. Reintroduce yourself to your target. Don't approach her directly. It's important that she now come to you. If you haven't talked to her in a while, she may have forgotten about you. That's not necessarily a bad thing--maybe the old you was forgettable. But it's a good idea to have maintained an indirect connection with your girl. Maybe you are an aquaintance of one of her friends. Chat with that person occasionally (Don't mention the friend you'll be seducing!) and that person will probably give your target updates about you. Or maybe you work in the same office or have the same circle of friends. In that case, she can witness changes in you first hand. Remember, however, that if you have to see your target regularly it is all the more important to maintain an emotional distance until you're ready for the seduction to really begin. If your girl suspects that you're improving yourself for her or that you're trying to make her jealous, all your hard work will be destroyed.
Now you can reintroduce yourself in one of several ways:
a) Haunt her periphery by attending the places she attends without taking much notice of her, making her come to you.
b) Play the "coquette," seeming interested then disinterested, interested then disinterested.
c) arrange a "chance" meeting. I like this one.
d) befriend or date a friend of hers.

Once she starts to think she didn't know you as well as she thought she did and displays a little interest in the new you, you can start over again and use the tactics in Greene's book. Greene's book never outlined how to seduce someone you've been friends with for a long time. I devised this strategy based on the tactics outlined in "The Art of Seduction." Like I said, it's work twice for me. The first friend became so enamoured that I had to break up with her after only a few weeks. She was smothering me! But I am still dating the second girl and it's great. If you balk at the idea of doing all this just to win someone over, consider that she may not be worth winning over after all, or that you might not be much of a Casanova. But I think that all this effort will actually make you a better man (or woman since this strategy should work on a guy too.) Happy hunting!

Not for the faint of heart., July 5, 2005
If you are just looking for a good book to help you get laid with minimal effort, then put this book down. There are books that are much easier and will get you results much faster. This book is not about getting easy pussy at a bar or strip joint. It is about helping a person fall deeply in love with you, and this is better. A person in lust for you is wild and not concerned about you. A person in love with you will go to the ends of the earth for you.

If you have very little background in psychology and/or philosophy, put this book down because you're not ready to understand it yet. It is an incredible book and I hope you don't get turned off because you're not prepared to read it.

If you are a die hard, conservative Christian moralist who is happy with their life and belief system, then PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE put this book down. Your beliefs will change to some extent, I promise, regardless of how strong you think they are. And if they don't you'll just be filled with dissonant emotions when you really understand what the Bible means when it says the world can be a terrible place.

On the other hand, if you are intelligent, observant, and patient then this is just simply an incredible read. You will see everything in this world with a new outlook. It will teach you the most intricate workings of human nature. Human nature is dark. Consider the following two biological facts:

1. A woman is likely to retain more sperm when she has an orgasm during sex.

2. A man's sperm is designed to kill the sperm of other men.

What does this mean? Women have been biologically hardwired to seek one man (the Alpha male) to be the sperm donor and to seek out another to raise the kid (the Beta male). Sorry folks, nature is just that dark. And this book has exactly the same kind of dark twists. It explains what makes people fall for other people, even if it is not so pure and wholesome. And though it is dark, it still is true, and there is beauty in truth.

This book will teach you how to play other people's emotions. This is a very important thing to learn. One cannot survive in this world without these skills. The most important thing people must realize about this book is that what is containes here is a dual edged sword. It most certainly can be used for evil. It does teach manipulation. But it also a book that can be used for good. With this kind of knowledge one can keep their partner happy for life. A seducer is a benevolent manipulator by definition.

For instance, if the seducer is really interested in mutual benefit, much useful learning will take place. A woman will learn that the most powerful way to keep her man happy is to be a sexual woman and a fun playmate. She will learn how to keep things spiced up with a few masculine psychological traits to appeal to masculine narcissism, deepen a man's love by giving him the gift of missing her. A man will learn how important it is to let his woman know how much he desires her and will also keep things spiced up with styling. Men and women can both learn how to keep people happy by being nondefensive and natural, to psychologically enrich others by being charismatic and charming, and to give and receive love as ideal lovers. And I've seen how much people who embody the psychological traits of the anti-seducer are despised by other people. The anti-seducer leaves people feeling diminished and hurt.

To summarize, it's hard, it's dark, and it can be used to wreak havoc in the lives of others. But most people don't want to hurt others. They want to live, and help other people live, better, happier more enriched lives in all ways. I truly believe that with the knowledge that is in this book, people can accomplish just that.

Use it wisely, young Jedi. The dark side of the force is much more seductive.

Profound, October 9, 2001
I have been waiting for this book for almost 2 years. It did not disappoint me. I found it to be a profound book, although not necessarily a pleasant book. It caused me to re-think my relationships, perhaps even re-think myself. The 48 Laws of Power is the "bible of power". This is less general but more profound, which may be why it is unnerving. I have stopped reading the Joost Elffers sidebars, although I might in the future when I want a more light-hearted experience. I read a lot of books. My library is embarrassingly large. However, I do have a mental list of the few books that I would take to the proverbial desert island. This is one of them, and it is ironic that I would do this even though there would be no one else on the island to seduce. This book is a synthesis of philosophy and psychology, and is paradigm breaking. Freud must have had a similar unnerving effect on his contemporaries when he discussed premises for behavior that were perviously not part of social discourse.

I did not find the book to be amoral or manipulative. I found it to have a different morality than that which is instilled in us by convention. The book celebrates non-possessive intimacy, and describes the mindset that is the prerequisite to such an experience. I am struggling for words to express this, but it is as if there were more than one dimension to a relationship, a human bonding. We are used to relationships that are symetrical in time and depth: they are either shallow and brief, or they are deep and eternal. Greene describes a variation that is brief and deep. This is what differentiates this book from the tawdry.

Power to be used for good or for evil..., May 19, 2005
That all are suduced by something becomes plain after thinking carefully through this book. Used in it's wider definition, one can be seduced by the peacefulness afforded by contact with a saint. Rather than fear the power of seduction, I think it better to understand seduction (the art and the technique), and then use it for good influence and be wary of it's use against me and my loved ones for ill means.

This book helped me understand some of my more destructive behavior in such a way that I feel less inclined...sort of turned on the lights so that I can see the magician's mirrors and silk thread so that the seduction loses some of it's power.

At the same time, understanding seduction helps me maintain the interest of those whom I love (a good thing for both of us since I mean no harm).

A similar classic book, "Influence," by Robert Cialdini--who infiltrated a wide variety of occupations (from waiters to Krishna members) to study how sales are made--shares the same disturbing quality: the information is so powerful it could be used for good or for destructive purposes.

If for no other purpose than self defense, I'll re-read this one occasionally. If I'm ever married again, this book will take on even more significance: Satisfying and being satisfied by one woman for many years takes much more skill in seduction than does attracting a variety of short-lived friendships.

Charles Runels, MD
Author of "Anytime...for as Long as You Want: Strength, Genius, Libido, & Erection by Integrative Sex Transmutation"

Knowledge is Power, January 22, 2004
I was a little skeptical of this book when I first got it but I was pleasantly surprised. The author really seems to have studied history and psychology very deeply. His insights into the unconscious drives and archetypes are spectacular.

This book is not just a primer for wannabe Casanova's but also good for defensive purposes. When I got this book I was actually under "attack" by a would-be seducer. Had this enchanting young lady only wanted sex there wouldn't have been a problem, but she wanted to enslave me for other reasons. This book allowed me to see what was going on and enabled me to break the spell before it was too late.

If you want to use the knowledge in this book for your own seductions keep in mind that it takes a great deal of self-discipline to seduce someone. You must be master of yourself first before you can master someone else. It is very difficult for instance to do a strategic "withdraw" from the object of your desire when every fiber of your being wants to be with them. But if you can control yourself and trust the process I think the knowledge in this book can help anyone seduce the object of his or her desire.

"My God,it's full of stars", January 3, 2002
...
This book explains the psychology of seduction. With examples throughout history it shows what works, and what doesn't. It doesn't start from the humanistic premise that all people are generally good, but from the biblical idea that "all men are evil" and will do evil. This makes the book downright devilish, and extremely practical and useful.
Approach indirectly, play the coquette, mix pleasure with pain, insinuate, "Use the demonic power of words to sow confusion", be hard to figure out. These are just some examples and this stuff works.
This is a handbook on manipulation. Although it can also be used to avoid being manipulated (very usefull, indeed).
Do yourself a favor, learn from the past, not only your past but the past of peoples from the dawn of time. This book was worth every cent.

A diva/seductress is humbled..., January 22, 2005
This book will change your life--if you're ready for it. I actually bought this book 4 months ago, but never read it. It was just a conversation piece I'd have in my bookshelf. I flipped through the pages and think, "This is really intense." Then I'd put it back on the shelf and read something else. It wasn't until I received it as a gift from my best friend that I actually had the courage to sit down and absorb what lay inside.

This book is perfect for those who are overly romantic, hypersensitive, and think that love is an "all or nothing" quantity. I am all three. :) Or at least I was. The author of this book is brilliant (and did a LOT of homework judging by the material both in the body of the text as well as in the margins). I was impressed (and intimidated) by the density of the book--which is probably why I didn't want to read it at first. It took me about an hour to read 10 pages (not "skim," but "READ"). But I couldn't put it down because I felt that whatever I didn't get to read was making my present-day actions incomplete. (Yup. It's that powerful.)

I devoted a solid week of my time to reading this book (and yes, I do have a job--and a life). It was just that good. I'm actually reading it a second time to make sure what I gleaned remains in my mind. It helps if you're somewhat of an educated individual, though. Some mythological references stirred up things I had learned in middle and high school, so I had to constantly refresh my memory and think, "Oh yeah! I remember that story!"

If you open this book and find it daunting, then you're not ready for it. Simple. But when you are ready for it (or when a third party who loves you and knows you well believes you're ready), you won't want to put it down. It's an amazing text which completely altered how I view both myself and the world around me. If you're open to change, this is the book for you. If not, then you'll probably be a seducer's willing victim somewhere down the road. :)

"You think you know, but you have no idea..."

Interesting - Yes. Practical - No., July 21, 2004
If you are looking for a book for how to pick up that cute girl next to you in a bar ? this isn?t it.

The book is filled with examples of historical seducers and their techniques. However, the great majority of these historical characters are from the old royal courts of Europe. These people had two big advantages over the rest of us ? wealth, leisure time, and repeated exposure in social circles with the people they were trying to seduce. Many of the ?techniques? in here apply only when you see the person on a regular basis so you can work through a seduction.

How about the rest of us who typically have just a short while to convince that little honey next to us to give us their phone number? Not in this book. Read Regan?s Evolution of a Warrior for that kind of skill.

In any case, I give the book a 5 for its historical content, a 2 for practical advise, and a zero for ethics. (It was a little distasteful to read the word ?victim? to refer to the object of one?s affection.)

Good luck?
... Read more

Editorial Review

Gail Collins, New York Times columnist and bestselling author, recounts the astounding revolution in women's lives over the past 50 years, with her usual "sly wit and unfussy style" (People).

When Everything Changed begins in 1960, when most American women had to get their husbands' permission to apply for a credit card. It ends in 2008 with Hillary Clinton's historic presidential campaign. This was a time of cataclysmic change, when, after four hundred years, expectations about the lives of American women were smashed in just a generation.

A comprehensive mix of oral history and Gail Collins's keen research--covering politics, fashion, popular culture, economics, sex, families, and work--When Everything Changed is the definitive book on five crucial decades of progress. The enormous strides made since 1960 include the advent of the birth control pill, the end of "Help Wanted--Male" and "Help Wanted--Female" ads, and the lifting of quotas for women in admission to medical and law schools. Gail Collins describes what has happened in every realm of women's lives, partly through the testimonies of both those who made history and those who simply made their way.

Picking up where her highly lauded book America's Women left off, When Everything Changed is a dynamic story, told with the down-to-earth, amusing, and agenda-free tone for which this beloved New York Times columnist is known. Older readers, men and women alike, will be startled as they are reminded of what their lives once were--"Father Knows Best" and "My Little Margie" on TV; daily weigh-ins for stewardesses; few female professors; no women in the Boston marathon, in combat zones, or in the police department. Younger readers will see their history in a rich new way. It has been an era packed with drama and dreams--some dashed and others realized beyond anyone's imagining. ... Read more

Reviews

We've Come A Long Way, Baby - But We Still Have A Long Way to Go, October 26, 2009
From June Cleaver to Hillary Clinton, Gail Collins` new book, When Everything Changed, reminds us of both how much everything has changed for American women in the last 50 years and just how little. Collins writes skillfully about the "olden" days when a glamour career for a woman was to be a stewardess and when the reason most women went to college to get a "Mrs.".

As accessible as she is on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times, and as wryly funny, Collins illustrates the historical facts with the stories of real women including those whose names we all know (Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama) as well as those we would probably not know unless we read her book.

What Collins does particularly well though is to highlight that there still isn't gender parity in America's workplaces or homes. She ends on a note that celebrates how far we've come with a reality check - the gender pay gap still exists, too few women serve as CEOs or sit on corporate boards and the work-life balance conundrum has yet to be resolved.

When Everything Changed is an inspiring book. If we have forgotten the sacrifices and struggles of women who blazed the trail and take the fact that they changed the world, we should be reminded. And even if we haven't, Collins shows us that we have miles to go before we sleep.

Here's how America's I.Q. was doubled, October 25, 2009
Revolutions with the greatest lasting impact are sometimes the quietest events of their time, a description that applies to the dazzling struggle for equality that American women waged from 1960 to the present.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra O'Connor tells of graduating from Stanford Law School and being unable to get a job in any Phoenix law firm except as a file clerk. She grew up on an Arizona ranch where her Dad expected her to handle almost every job done by men; yet, even with a Stanford law degree, she was virtually shut out of the legal profession in Arizona.

Her court nomination was heralded as a major breakthrough. Why? Why is recognition of anyone's intelligence a "breakthrough"? Collins is a gifted writer who explains why equality is so radical, yet so just and inevitable.

O'Connor's career, and that of millions of other women during the past 50 years, is a genuine "revolution" in social attitudes. It changed America and the world without a shot being fired and only a few bras burnt. Accepting women as equals in all endeavours doubles the intelligence of any society. Fifty years ago, women had the choice of career or housework. Today, women have the right to hold almost any job (except submarine crews) they want.

It's a long complex and continuing effort. After the Equal Rights Amendment was abandoned, women by the millions set out to win their rights one issue and one job at a time. Collins tells a masterful story based on personal efforts. The "revolution" was privatized; nothing could stop it. This isn't a book of dull theory, bewildered opposition, political theory or arcane legal savvy; it is the stories of hundreds of people who made Equal Rights a fact of American life and an example for the world.

Often, great events are the product of great leaders motivated by great ideals. Instead, the campaign for women's rights involved dozens of leaders plus millions of individuals. This mass movement made it an inevitable event, despite the rage of Schlafly, Bryant and other conservatives who can't respect the right of people to make their own decisions.

The difference is subtle, yet profound. Personally, I grew up in a society whose formal head is the Queen of England. It took until the 1980s, and Canadians hailed it as a major breakthrough in equality, for a woman to be named Governor General of Canada (the Queen's representative). Really. Is it a cultural breakthrough when a woman is appointed to represent a woman? Or is it a century overdue?

For Canadians, a woman representing a woman is major progress. Yet, this incident typifies similar idiocies in the U.S. It is so logical as to defy explanation. However, changing attitudes is a genuine revolution. What is so strange about allowing anyone to use their full intelligence? Yet, as Collins deftly illustrates, it takes a lot of quiet cleverness to penetrate the fog of the status quo.

Collins cites example after example, showing how individuals overcame the idiocy of the incumbency. It is a beautiful, inspiring and very timely book in response to those who always say "No!" to every decent new idea.

a book for all, but especially for young women, November 6, 2009
Gail Collins has written a revealing book both for those women of a "certain age" who lived through the events she chronicles and for those who are too young to know how difficult a journey it has been. The names everyone knows are here but the real beauty of this book lies in the stories of those unheralded and brave women who, at great personal cost, stood their ground and made a difference. Collins's witty, concise, reportorial style makes for a delightful read, once past the somewhat leaden introduction.

I learned many surprising things about where we were in the decades of my early adulthood and about how we came to be where we are now, as well as how far we have to go if we do not backslide. Collins skillfully puts the progress of women into the larger picture of social history.

This book is my holiday gift of choice for all the women in my family, especially daughters and daughters-in-law. They are the ones who will continue the amazing journey, provided they heed the warnings Collins implies.

A terrific book, but more "herstory" needed, November 7, 2009
There is something ironic in finding a link to an excerpt of this book in AARP's website. This is a book as much for my daughter as for those in my generation who lived through this entire period. Gail Collins has done a stellar job of telling the story of women's struggle for equality during these past five decades, with enough wit and anecdotes to make the narrative always lively. But I hope others will follow suit and write about stories she didn't have the space to include -- for example, about the women who flooded therapy programs, graduating with a new consciousness which was passed to their primarily female clients; about the women whose novels and criticism changed a generation's mind (e.g., THE WOMEN'S ROOM, WRITING A WOMAN'S LIFE, BELOVED, THE WOMAN WARRIOR, et al); the women who bankrolled the movement at critical moments, such as Peg Yorkin, Joan Palevsky, and Barbara Dobkin, among others and those that changed the landscape using the resources of major institutions like the Ford Foundation); the women whose efforts on campuses transformed undergraduate and graduate learning, including curriculum, pedagogy, and the canon; the women who fought for and gained some equality in the major religions; the women, like Judy Chicago, whose The Dinner Party opened the door to looking at herstory from a new artistic perspective. So my only quibble with the book is that it did not include as much social, intellectual, literary, and artistic history as I may have wished. However, its political history is superb. I hope Ms. Collins or others will follow suit and write a companion volume.

Great Herstory!, November 6, 2009
Finally, someone has written an accessible, readable book about a critical period in American history. I thoroughly enjoyed reading "When Everything Changed." This is a wonderful, creative, and informative book about a revolution that seems to have gone unnoticed. For those of us who lived through these tumultuous times, the book is a refresher, a reminder of the struggle that was both personal and historical in nature. For those of you under thirty-five, it is a must read. You must know where you have been, to know where you are, so that you can know where you are going. You must understand your Herstory. (My only negative is minor. I understand that Ms. Collins did not set out to write the "definitive" history of the time period. But, I was distracted from some of the main points by too much reliance on the individual stories. On occasions, I felt overwhelmed by too much anecdotal information, too many quotations, and too many stories of individuals; albeit, fascinating in there own right. More analysis and less reliance on individual stories would have made this a truly great book.) On the whole, however, I highly recommend this book to all. I only wish this book was published when I was teaching my Herstory Unit! Oh, the stories you would be able to tell your students....It should be in every library from middle school and up. It should be on the reading list of every history teacher. Everyone will enjoy this excellent history.

A Fast-Moving and Involving History with No Hidden Agenda, January 5, 2010
My lovely and accomplished daughter gave WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED to me for the holidays. This was a most thoughtful gift, since Gail Collins is among my favorite newspaper columnists. IMHO, her columns are sensible and elegant and often hilarious. Further, she never wastes her space. To me, she reads like the second-coming of Russell Baker, albeit more focused on politics than the strangeness of modern life. She is superior with my morning coffee.

The subtitle of WEC--The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present--pretty much sums up the intentions of Collins in this book, which is to provide an overview of how everything changed over 50 tumultuous years. To do so, she devotes the first section of her three-part book to the expectations and opportunities women faced in America in 1960. Then, part two examines how opportunity exploded for women in the mid 1960's. Finally, section three explores the backlash provoked by social change and then follows the experiences of a range of American women through the 70's, 80's, 90's, and the 00's.

At the end of section three, she observes: "So there you are. American women had shattered the ancient traditions that deprived them of independence and the right to have adventures of their own, and done it so thoroughly that few women under 30 had any real concept that things had ever been different."

There was much to like about this book. But I especially enjoyed the story of Howard Smith playing games with the Civil Rights Act and its historic unintended consequences; the overview of women in the civil rights movement; the respectful treatment of the maddening Phyllis Schafly; the analysis of the failed Comprehensive Child Development Act; and the discussion of Clinton's run for the presidency and its aftermath. For me, Collins's treatment of these subjects was especially fresh and revealing. At the same time, this work had, like the rest of the book, great clarity, sly humor, and a light touch. Never is her work pedantic, poorly paced, or boring.

Regardless, there was one tiny shortcoming in WEC, which I must point out to the Amazon.com community. Not to spoil everything; but Collins wrote this 471 page book without a single reference to Seamus, the Irish setter Mitt Romney strapped to the roof of the car during a family trip to Canada. (Her loyal readers know what I'm talking about.)

Otherwise, excellent and recommended.

I wasn't paying attention. . ., February 11, 2010
I lived through all of this, so I thought I would be familiar with all Collins had to report. I was in error. I may have been alive, but I was not noticing. I remember many of the events, but I did not react at the time to their importance. This book became, then, a necessary lesson in what I lived through and profited by but paid too little attention to.

Most informative to the reader are the author's many personal interviews that portray the details of the daily lives of American women of the era. This is not library research. It is woman to woman sharing of memories, frustrations and small victories that took place as "everything changed".

I asked for this book for Christmas, I have given it several times as presents and when it gets to paperback, I may just stand on a street corner and give it to every woman passing by.

A Must Read for Women!, March 6, 2010
Can you figure out this answer to this riddle?
"A man and his son were in a car accident. The man died on the way to the hospital, but the boy was rushed into surgery. The surgeon said "I can't operate, for that's my son!" How is this possible?"

When I first heard this riddle as a girl in the `70's I was stumped for the answer. Thanks to the women's movement modern girls are probably (hopefully!) quickly able to discern the answer. This is because everything has changed for women. While the glass ceiling still exits and stereotypes abound, generally, women are free to be, do, and own almost anything that was once reserved for men only.

When Everything Changed by Gail Collins details the historical changes from 1960 to the present, and examines the impact of these events on the lives of ordinary women. As Collins explains, once upon a time, men and women existed in different societal spheres, with men occupying the higher level:

Then, suddenly, everything changed. The cherished convictions about women and what they could do were smashed in the lifetime of many women living today. It happened so fast that the revolution seemed to be over before either side could really find its way to the barricades. And although the transformation was imperfect and incomplete, it was still astonishing.

When Everything Changed is an entertaining, but more importantly, a knowledgeable book of recent history that should be read by women of all ages!


Oh and here is the answer to the riddle: the surgeon is the boy's mother.


Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (October 14, 2009), 480 pages
Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Amazing Journey Doesn't Even Start to Describe It, January 12, 2010
This book hit very close to home to me, as I identified with so many of the women Ms. Collins interviewed. Not just the fascinating stories, but the broad sweep of history in the woman's movement from 1960 to the present. From my 60's childhood, to coming of age during the early days of "libbers" (the name I recall hearing most often), the sweeping changes of the 70's, the having it all '80's, through the reality of the 90's and today.
As I sat there and pondered what it all meant as witness and participant, Ms. Collins summed it up for me in the final paragraph: " . . . But women did not figure out how to keep marriage from crumbling into divorce, and they were not particularly successful in making their lovers grow into dependable husbands. They had not remade the world the way the revolutionaries had hoped. But they had created a world their female ancestors did not even have the opportunity to imagine."
One minor issue: I would have preferred the biographical information about the women interviewed at the beginning of the book, not the end. I honestly couldn't keep their names and stories straight.

Reaching for Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited, January 5, 2010
Flight attendants, along with millions of other women and men, who hired on or committed to various jobs and work in the USA from 1960 to the present, will surely find Gail Collins' book When Everything Changed, The Amazing Journey of American Women From 1960 to the Present a powerful and accurate account.

Collins' research includes many quotes and personal stories from the early 1960s to the present. Instances of gender based discriminatory practices range from some airlines' policy makers enforcing the firing of stewardesses for marriage, pregnancy, aging and weight. Unreasonable restrictions on women are also included in a story from a Kansas housewife explaining she did not even have her name on the deed to the house she and her husband purchased in 1960.

The pain of the set backs and the pleasure of ongoing successes are apparent through the stories of women who stood their ground and often created alternate routes for progress. Examples include Lorna Weeks' fight for a switchman's job at Southern Bell in one of the first victories on the road to try to end job discrimination against women. Some airline stewardesses, experiencing severe discriminatory policies from employers, showed up at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offices being set up to implement and oversee the Civil Rights Act of 1964 even before the office furniture and typewriters were unpacked. The newly founded National Organization for Women (NOW) was so inundated with mail that it lacked enough staff to sign up the women trying to become NOW members.

Backlash efforts against the women's liberation movement are documented and followed up by the enduring efforts of women and men to "make it after all." There are pivotal points in the 1970s when the efforts of women are focused on education and serious efforts that required long term commitments. Hillary Clinton's campaign as a serious candidate for president of the USA during the first decade of the twentieth first century is a strong testament to the effectiveness of changes from 1960 to the present.

I yearned for an accurate account of the amazing journey of American women from 1960 to the present. Gail Collins' book When Everything Changed, supported with its impressive bibliography and index, met my expectations. I highly recommend this book as a must read for women and men of all ages.

Georgia Panter Nielsen, author, retired career flight attendant and retiree organizer ... Read more

Editorial Review

In 97 Orchard, Jane Ziegelman explores the culinary life that was the heart and soul of New York's Lower East Side around the turn of the twentieth century—a city within a city, where Germans, Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews attempted to forge a new life. Through the experiences of five families, all of them residents of 97 Orchard Street, she takes readers on a vivid and unforgettable tour, from impossibly cramped tenement apartments down dimly lit stairwells where children played and neighbors socialized, beyond the front stoops where immigrant housewives found respite and company, and out into the hubbub of the dirty, teeming streets.

Ziegelman shows how immigrant cooks brought their ingenuity to the daily task of feeding their families, preserving traditions from home but always ready to improvise. While health officials worried that pushcarts were unsanitary and that pickles made immigrants too excitable to be good citizens, a culinary revolution was taking place in the streets of what had been culturally an English city. Along the East River, German immigrants founded breweries, dispensing their beloved lager in the dozens of beer gardens that opened along the Bowery. Russian Jews opened tea parlors serving blintzes and strudel next door to Romanian nightclubs that specialized in goose pastrami. On the streets, Italian peddlers hawked the cheese-and-tomato pies known as pizzarelli, while Jews sold knishes and squares of halvah. Gradually, as Americans began to explore the immigrant ghetto, they uncovered the array of comestible enticements of their foreign-born neighbors. 97 Orchard charts this exciting process of discovery as it lays bare the roots of our collective culinary heritage.

Reviews

A Great Read, June 30, 2010
I heard the author of this book on NPR and wanted to know more about the topic. I found this book fascinating. It shared many insights into life in the tenements of New York in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, most especially about the foodways of the immigrants. It was fascinating to read about the different groups and the "exotic" foods that they ate--some of which have become staples of our modern American diets. One small complaint was that I felt the book ended a bit abruptly. I think even a short conclusion or epilogue would have added to the book's closing.

If you do read this book, I'd also recommend looking up the website of the Tenement Museum in New York, which now occupies 97 Orchard Street. You can see addtional photographs and additional details about the lives of the families profiled in the book.

The Kindle formatting was good. The pictures mainly seemed to translate well, although some were small. But judging by a reviewer of the hardcover, this was also the case in the paper book.

The price was a bit high for a Kindle book, but I decided it was worth it for such a fascinating glimpse into the lives of our ancestors.

most interesting, July 12, 2010
I really enjoyed this book. I heard an interview with the author on NPR radio and I ordered it that day. It didn't tell as much about the families themselves, but I suspect not much more was known than what Ms Zeigelman wrote.
The talk of food and the recipies were so descriptive that I had to go out and buy dark breads, cabbage, saurkraut, sausages, etc.
Having German and Polish parents I grew up with most of the food.
All in all, the book was entertaining as well as informative.

A good book for the new generation, July 4, 2010
the book was a classic in telling the story of immigrants.. I live in a small town in Pittsburgh and could relate to all that was written in the book.. The food especially and the hard life the immigrants were living then..We still have the same going on in Pittsburgh but with different ethinic groups , nigerians, hatian and mexicans. They live in smaller tenaments in the city and our trying to keep their heritage from evaporating in the American climate.. So a great book for a better understanding of immigrant heritage..

Great Stuff!, August 14, 2010
Simple, straightforward telling of true tales. Well researched, scrupulously documented, with an eye and ear for detail. Vivid, memorable. Yet surprisingly not at all dull. The writing is smooth and straightforward. A pleasant read that's also educational. Highly recommended!

The Melting Pot's Cooking Pot, November 20, 2010
This is an intensely personal book for me. My father was born in 95 Orchard Street, directly next door to what is today the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side of New York City. The fourth child of immigrant parents, he was the first born in the US. A physician, a scientist, a bon vivant, my father was immensely proud of his heritage and of his Orchard Street-Lower East Side beginnings.

While growing up, I ate many of the same or similar foods that my parents ate as children, but to me, they were all jumbled up. I thought I knew the derivation of corned beef and cabbage, lasagna, fresh green salad, garlic dill pickles, rye bread and all the other foods put before me on the dining table. However, this book has been a real eye opener; an informative, nostalgic, and entertaining trip to my "roots".

Jane Ziegelman, the author of 97 Orchard, has written what is called "An Edible History" and it is just that. If one were to construct an immigrant-style recipe for this book one would perhaps say: "take a cup of history, a tablespoon each of sociology and anthropology, a pinch of original recipes, mix well, edit and print".

Five fascinating and interweaving chapters present the culinary history of five different immigrant families who resided in 97 Orchard Street over the course of a 70 year period. First the Glockner family from Germany, then the Moore's from Ireland, the German Jewish Gumpertz family, the Russian Jewish Rogarshevskys, and the Baldizzis from Italy each lived in the crowded tenement, and each contributed their culinary traditions to what we Americans eat today.

One cannot underestimate the complexity and arduousness of the life of an immigrant woman trying to feed her family while living in a fifth floor tenement walk-up with no indoor plumbing or running water! Tubs of water (and everything else) had to be hauled up and down flights of stairs. This premium on water affected the way one cooked. Soups and one pot dishes were the most efficient methods of feeding large families nutritious and budget conscious meals. All ingredients were purchased fresh from the pushcart vendor or public market for the meal at hand. There was no refrigeration, no food storage. If the recipe called for three eggs you bought three eggs. Life was immediate and nothing was wasted.

How our lives have changed (thank goodness for that!) but our food traditions have endured.

I found the book highly entertaining and informative.

PS.I will be attempting the Eggplants in the Oven recipe soon.

Great book with a flaw, June 26, 2010
This book is wonderful, but has a major flaw: the photos are very small and very hard to see. There are a couple of cartoons and captioned drawings and it's impossible to see what they say because of how tiny they are.

A unique topic and a fascinating book, October 6, 2010
I loved this book, from the details of what it cost to feed immigrants at Ellis Island to the specifics of what different ethnic groups ate as they moved into American society. The author has a light touch and keeps things moving so quickly that the book is easy to swallow in one sitting. She also has a gift for making the various immigrants come alive so that there is much to enjoy besides the food. It's fun to recognize foods from my childhood - and my current kitchen output - in the foods that immigrants adapted from the old country when they got here.

Is this for foodies? Well, if they are foodies who are interested in their heritage, rather than what is the newest thing on the block.

This would be an enjoyable book for those folks/families who like to read aloud to each other. Lots to discuss as you go.

A strong positive recommendation.

Living Food History, September 14, 2010
As someone who is fascinated by all things food, including and especially the history of food as a mirror of culture, I loved this book. In addition to the foodways of each of the immigrants in the United States, the author explores each family's food culture in their native land and then discusses what did and did not transfer to the U.S. and how their culture was then changed by the U.S. And, further, how the rest of America assimilated that which the immigrants brought with them and changed our food habits for the better.

I particularly loved the chapter about the Irish immigrant couple, which goes into significant detail about why the potato famine was as devastating as it was to a whole generation of Irish and how British land and export policies caused the tragedy in the first place. It's a not often told story and not well known. I thought it very interesting that the Irish immigration was largely an immigration of teenagers and young adults, rather than families, and included more young women than men.

The other favorite chapter was the one about the Polish-Russian Jews because that is my personal heritage. When I was a child in the 50s and 60s, my own immigrant parents from Poland fed us in pretty much the same way as the Jewish mother back at the turn of the 20th century. It was all very familiar to me.

The reason I have given 97 Orchard 4 instead of 5 stars is that I wanted the author to provide a concluding chapter that brought all the threads together, discussing the legacy of immigrant foodways to our eating habits today. The book seemed to to end with a "plop!" rather than tying the themes together. Maybe in a later addition the author could remedy this lack.

97 Orchard Street, September 25, 2010
I enjoy cooking and bought this book to read about the foods the imigrants cooked & ate in the 1800's. However, the history of the early daily lives of the newly arrived immigrants was fascinating!
If you like history and food you will enjoy this interesting book on the history of the immgrants who arrive in NYC in the 1800's.

Tasty Alternative to Conventional History, December 2, 2010
This book tells the history of New York and of the United States in microcosm and through food.

There's a certain genius to that.

I found the chapters on the German immigrants the most enlightening because Americans of German descent assimilated so long ago that much of the story was fresh and new to me. My own ancestors came from Germany to Virginia before the American Revolution, so they were not a part of the cultural center of German immigrant life in New York. (In fact, until recently, I didn't even know that my ancestors had come from Germany instead of England. They merged into the forming country like salmon swimming in a familiar stream.)

So this book was priceless to me. It was not only a history, but almost an "alternate history" for my own family.

And who doesn't love a good sauerkraut, am I right? ... Read more