Amazon.com
The late Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño has been called the García Marquez of his generation, but his novel The Savage Detectives is a lot closer to Y Tu Mamá También than it is to One Hundred Years of Solitude. Hilarious and sexy, meandering and melancholy, full of inside jokes about Latin American literati that you don't have to understand to enjoy, The Savage Detectives is a companionable and complicated road trip through Mexico City, Barcelona, Israel, Liberia, and finally the desert of northern Mexico. It's the first of Bolaño's two giant masterpieces to be translated into English (the second, 2666, is due out next year), and you can see how he's influenced an era. --Tom Nissley
Questions for Translator Natasha Wimmer
Natasha Wimmer translated books by Mario Vargas Llosa and Bolaño's good friend Rodrigo Fresán, among others, before tackling Bolaño's two long novels, The Savage Detectives and the upcoming 2666, which have had an immeasurable impact on modern Latin American fiction (and perhaps now on Anglo American writing as well). We asked her a few questions about the process of bringing such a vast and vital book into English.
Amazon.com: How did you come to literary translation, and to translating a work of such prestige? Is the community of Spanish-to-English literary translators small, given Americans' famous lack of interest in translated work?
Wimmer: Luck, really. I lived in Spain when I was little, which is where I learned Spanish, and then I studied Spanish literature in college, but it was a job in publishing--at FSG, the publisher of The Savage Detectives--that made me realize that literary translation was something I could try. I've been translating now for eight years. My first project was a novel by the Cuban writer Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, Dirty Havana Trilogy, and since then I've worked on books by Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Zaid, Rodrigo Fresán, and Laura Restrepo. When I read The Savage Detectives, I thought it was one of the best novels I had read in any language in years, but I was sure there was no chance I would get to translate it. Bolaño already had a great translator--Chris Andrews. But Andrews couldn't do it, and I was the extremely fortunate runner-up.
The community of full-time translators is definitely small--it's hard to make a living. But there are many great occasional translators--professors, editors, writers.
Amazon.com: We're told that Bolaño towers over his generation of writers (and I can believe it). What did he do that was new? What has his influence been?
Wimmer: Bolaño was (is) the first to make a true break from the legacy of the Boom. Many other writers of his generation, and younger writers, too, have tried and are still trying to make a literature of their own, one that doesn't languish in the long shadow of García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and the other novelists who exploded on the world scene in the 1960s. Bolaño made the leap seem effortless. The writers of the Boom put Latin America on the map. Bolaño creates a Latin America of the mind, a post-nationalist Latin America filtered through a rootless, restless, uncompromising literary sensibility.
Amazon.com: Could you describe Bolaño's style and his sentences? (I love his parentheses.) How did you handle the dozens of voices in The Savage Detectives?
Wimmer: Bolaño is both a maximalist and a classicist. He loves to play with excess, with the notion of reckless abandon, but beneath that there is a very careful sense of balance. He was a poet for many years before he became a novelist, and he is an endlessly inventive stylist. But--more rarely for a poet--he also has an unerring sense of character and a palpable fondness for his characters. The Savage Detectives could never have worked otherwise. There are very few writers who could write a novel from the perspective of fifty-odd characters and make each character's story seem urgent and intimate.
From the translator's perspective, some voices were definitely more difficult than others, but I rarely felt that I had to strain to make them distinct from each other. Mostly, it just involved following Bolaño's cues. The hardest thing, oddly enough, was getting the rhythm of his sentences right. There is something syncopated and unpredictable about them that would have been all too easy to smooth over as a translator, and I made a concerted effort not to do that.
Amazon.com: All of his books are full of references to, and appearances by, Latin American writers both fictional and real and I'm sure as a clueless American reader I'm missing hundreds of inside jokes. What's it like to read his work when you actually know the people he's referring to?
Wimmer: It adds a little something, but not as much as you might think. And many of his references are obscure even to Spanish-language readers. There is something cultish and purposefully arcane about the literary world that Bolaño's protagonist, García Madero, yearns to join, and like García Madero, the reader is entranced by authors' names and book titles without knowing exactly where they come from.
Amazon.com: You are working on translating his other giant masterpiece, 2666, the even larger novel that he completed just before his death. How is it going? What can we expect from 2666?
Wimmer: It's an extremely long novel (1100 pages in the Spanish edition ), so it's a test of stamina, but it's going very well. Like The Savage Detectives, it revolves around a lost writer (Cesárea Tinajero in TSD and Benno von Archimboldi in 2666), and the crucial episodes take place in the north of Mexico, but it is a darker book. The lurking sense of dread that many of the characters feel in TSD becomes something more palpable and sharply defined in 2666, and is linked to the killings of women in the Mexican city of Santa Teresa (modeled on Ciudad Juárez) and the legacy of the wars of the 20th century, particularly World War II.
Book Description
New Year’s Eve, 1975: Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, founders of the visceral realist movement in poetry, leave Mexico City in a borrowed white Impala. Their quest: to track down the obscure, vanished poet Cesárea Tinajero. A violent showdown in the Sonora desert turns search to flight; twenty years later Belano and Lima are still on the run.
The explosive first long work by “the most exciting writer to come from south of the Rio Grande in a long time” (Ilan Stavans, Los Angeles Times), The Savage Detectives follows Belano and Lima through the eyes of the people whose paths they cross in Central America, Europe, Israel, and West Africa. This chorus includes the muses of visceral realism, the beautiful Font sisters; their father, an architect interned in a Mexico City asylum; a sensitive young follower of Octavio Paz; a foul-mouthed American graduate student; a French girl with a taste for the Marquis de Sade; the great-granddaughter of Leon Trotsky; a Chilean stowaway with a mystical gift for numbers; the anorexic heiress to a Mexican underwear empire; an Argentinian photojournalist in Angola; and assorted hangers-on, detractors, critics, lovers, employers, vagabonds, real-life literary figures, and random acquaintances.
A polymathic descendant of Borges and Pynchon, Roberto Bolaño traces the hidden connection between literature and violence in a world where national boundaries are fluid and death lurks in the shadow of the avant-garde. The Savage Detectives is a dazzling original, the first great Latin American novel of the twenty-first century.
Customer Reviews:
Who are the savage detectives?.......2007-10-05
This book is a translation of Roberto Bolaño's first full length novel after publishing short stories and poems. The novel probably suffers in the translation of mexicanismos; otherwise the author captures the flavor of the 60's - 90's literary scene, not only in Mexico but internationally. Structurally, this novel is interesting; three parts include standard narrative style and one part devoted entirely to testimonials, interviews, as if the police were interviewing witnesses. .Many characters are real persons, well-known poets and writers. It's not an easy book but after one gets into the book, it is difficult to stop reading. This novel won an important prize. The author died in 2003. Mario V argas Llosa points out that this is a brilliant novel and should receive more attentiion.
Magical Mexican Mystery Tour.......2007-09-19
Well into The Savage Detectives, one character says to the other: "The visual arts are ultimately incomprehensible. Or they're so comprehensible that nobody, first and foremost myself, will accept the most obvious reading of them." Substitute "written" for the "visual" arts and you get a taste for what you are in for in this book: a combination of wisdom, puzzle and in-joke.
I loved the book and am now hunting down other Bolano novels. The Savage Detectives is not easy - two sections of conventional narrative set in Mexico about our poet heroes are split by nearly a 400 page section of oral history, almost like witness statements, from those who encountered them over the subsequent 20 years. The knowledge gained in this intervening section colours and adds a sense of melancholy when the initial narrative resumes. An obvious reference point is the film Y Tu Mama Tambien because of its Mexican setting, its young protagonists on a road trip, and the ephemeral nature of youth's passions (and lots of sex). While the novel's structure is challenging, it holds together because the voices are compelling. The characters ramble, digress, talk your ear off and engage in bawdy, violent and colourful adventures. There is a sense of urgency about their testimony, as though their experiences had to be recorded. While our picture of our main protagonists is never complete, often contradictory, there is a real power here. Bolano wrestles with representing the fullness of a life, while at the same time acknowledging the impossibility of ever doing so. We may be the centre of our own individual universes but in the end we are just dust in the wind.
This is a book to read at a good steady pace - too fast will mean you will not savour the words and small clues left along the way, too slow and you will lose track of the multiple threads. One of the best books I've read in the last five years.
So Visceral, So Real.......2007-09-05
First of all, Natasha Wimmer does a great job with this posthumous translation. Considering the author's poetic style, I'm sure it must have been difficult.
Bolaño tells the story of a fictional poetry movement, the 'visceral realists', an anti-Octavio Paz group based in Mexico City (apparently modeled on Bolaño's own experiences with a similar movement called the 'infrarealists' ).
What's so great about this book , for me, is not so much the story but rather how the story is revealed: through so many unique voices (over 50?); one of whom being Juan Garcia Madero, a 17 year old student of poetry and one of the original anti-Paz "gang". His diary, which elevates the tale to a mythic quest, frames the novel in the 1970's.
The middle section of the book reads almost like a documentary; a sort of literary verité. It masterfully patches together the experiences of the quixotic figures, Arturo Belano (Bolaño?) and Ulises Lima, leaders of so-called 'visceral realists', from the reminiscences of tangential characters in their lives.
This is a novel you can read over and over and still pick up something new each time. I am looking forward to the upcoming Belano translation (thankfully by Wimmer as well) called "2666".
Bolaño the new Burroughs ?.......2007-08-25
Seriously. The story reminded me, oddly enough , of William S Burroughs' "Western Lands" trilogy. Don't know why. Fascinating read tho.
Lives of the Poets.......2007-08-25
First, a note to those readers who found the book slow: well, it is and it isn't. The first part moves along at a fairly fast clip and ends in the midst of a car chase. The very long second part, called "The Savage Detectives," presents forty-odd narrators, some recurring, some not, who take us through about thirty years of life, love, madness, poetry, children lost in caves, Latin American poets lost in Africa, and people generally (even savagely!) lost in their own lives. About fifty pages into this section, I too was getting annoyed, wondering where all this could possibly be going and what the point could possibly be. Then, the slow accretion of narratives and themes began to reveal the grand melancholy at the multi-layered heart of this brilliant book, and I was enthralled. The novel's third and final section is brief and brutal. I'll avoid spoilers here, but the ending conveys an inevitable and exhausted disillusionment only comparable, to my mind, to that of Sentimental Education, although Bolano is perhaps not quite so cynical as Flaubert. Or is he? His poets seem to be either anti-heros in spite of themselves, or sincere and manipulative poseurs; and yet, for as much as we may know about them, some mysteries about these characters simply cannot be solved. Formally, the book challenges our expectations of a novel (and although Bolano is compared most often to Borges, whose work and image he praised in interviews, formally he reminds me more of Julio Cortazar, although without quite the same ludic bravado as in, say, Hopscotch); thematically, it challenges ideals we may hold for art, especially if we are artists. And if my review makes The Savage Detectives sound like a long and somber read, trust me--it is exuberant and heartbreaking in its pursuit of both comedy and tragedy.
Average customer rating:
- I know, I know...
- A must read for anyone
- Good stuff, but less important than his other work
- Buy the ticket...take the ride
- A wild and extraordinary ride down a lost highway ...
|
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Hunter S. Thompson
Manufacturer: Vintage
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ASIN: 0679785892
Release Date: 1998-05-12 |
Amazon.com Reviews
Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" by the New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompson's documented drug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushing and D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto. Under the pseudonym of Raoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in a souped-up convertible dubbed the "Great Red Shark." In its trunk, they stow "two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls," which they manage to consume during their short tour.
On assignment from a sports magazine to cover "the fabulous Mint 400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevada desert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatory hopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tell them it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or the left). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the only sins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists, terrifying the help." For Thompson to remember and pen his experiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle; an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. A first-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of pure comedic genius. --Rebekah Warren
Book Description
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.
Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motion picture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Opens everywhere on May 22, 1998.
Customer Reviews:
I know, I know..........2007-09-30
I know, it's THE Hunter S. Thompson book. It would be like having the gall to write a review for the Grapes of Wrath or Slaughterhouse Five and think you'd be doing anything other than blabbing just to see your own words on a computer screen.
That said, read this book this instant. Whatever good anyone's ever said about this book, it's twenty times better. I read it in two sittings and only stopped myself from reading it again because it was a library book and had to be returned.
The late HST's gift for gonzo, that strange mix of fiction and nonfiction, is ultimately realized in this book. Reality is seamlessly mixed with a bizarre fantasy world of sentient reptiles and split personality through the medium of hard drugs that serve to clarify (and sometimes amplify) a violent and twisted town in a strange time.
This book will have you laughing hysterically at parts, so don't read it around other people unless you're okay with passing it to them. This book will have you cringing at the brutality of human nature at points, so have your wits about you.
I really can't say anything else, other than that this book must be purchased and read this very instant if you haven't already done so.
A must read for anyone.......2007-09-21
Thompson's book helps create a vivid picture of the drug fueled 60's and early 70's a way no one else has before.
Good stuff, but less important than his other work.......2007-09-14
¨Fear and Loathing¨ is a great ride for sure. A drug-addled, hilarious, disturbing romp through Las Vegas in search of the American Dream. Thompson is definitely a skilled writer and an outlaw and this stuff comes through in this book. I don't want to shrug this work off by any means, but I definately prefer his other work, such as ¨The Great Shark Hunt,¨ because it truly brings out Thompson's outlook on the world, his hatred of wealth, power and greed, etc. This book is fun, but Thompson is definitely capable of more depth and thought. While this work might be what gave him his big break, he definitely went on to better things.
Buy the ticket...take the ride.......2007-08-23
A bizzare journey to the heart of the American Dream, funny, witty and full of memorable episodes. The illustrations by Ralph Steadman are also superb. Raul Duke says it clearly : "buy the ticket...take the ride"
A wild and extraordinary ride down a lost highway ..........2007-08-20
The lost highway of the American Dream.
I wasn't old enough to remember much from the late 60's early 70's let alone the political aspects of Nixon's presidency or the drug culture of the time, so this review won't have any profound social or political commentary, except that comparisons can well be made to the drug culture of today, and it is glaringly apparent that not much has changed.
Considering the climate of the time: Nixon's presidency, the war in Vietnam, and the country's young men succumbing to the draft, it was no wonder that an entire generation wanted something more, for this was not the American Dream they had been sold. And for some, the only way to drown out the hypocrisy gnawing at your brain is to give your brain an escape. Expand your mind, as that might be the only part of you that is truly free. Whatever it takes to get you directly out of your head -- the higher the better. This story chronicles a journey utterly devoid of restraint and reason as these two men, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, and their trunk full of felonies set themselves loose upon Las Vegas -- the last vestige of the American Dream. However, their idea of the American Dream is not how most of us would understand it, but somehow, through the fog of hallucinatory metaphor, we can actually see and feel what the main characters are searching for so desperately.
All that aside, even if the 60's culture is beyond your age group, Thompson's writing is worth the read -- Brilliant, sarcastic, and frighteningly funny: Bars seething with has-been lounge lizards, tearing the patrons to shreds, blood soaked tacky hotel rooms, police car chases, kidnapping, gambling, excess, and debauchery ... not to mention the Narcotics Convention. The dialog is brilliant. Harrowing experiences abound; it is amazing that the two main characters make it out of Vegas alive.
Definitely a wild ride for all.
Book Description
National Book Award-winning author Jonathan Kozol presents his shocking account of the American educational system in this stunning New York Times bestseller, which has sold more than 250,000 hardcover copies.
Customer Reviews:
Relevant but Misleading.......2007-06-07
As an "inner city" teacher, I found this book relevant yet misleading. Author Jonathan Kozol visited schools in impoverished U.S. communities, and shows the shameful way we fund public education via local property taxes. Readers see how this unfair system short-changes our poor schools, leaving students in leaky classrooms short of books, computers, and lab materials. Kozol correctly calls for equal funding of public schools, and even integration as needed.
But like too many reformers, Kozol avoids the vital behavioral/cultural issues disproportionate to impoverished minority schools - poor student discipline and motivation, gangs, fights, broken homes, truancy, pregnancies - perplexing challenges we teachers face daily. By avoiding these realities, Kozol misleads readers into seeing the problem (and solution) as basically one of funding. Not so. After all, my home suburb of Evanston (Illinois) integrated its well-funded classrooms back in 1967, yet glaring gaps between white and (usually poorer) black students persist, narrowing only modestly. In short, culture trumps funding, and Kozol barely mentions enhanced early childhood learning and pregnancy prevention - programs that help.
SAVAGE INEQUALITIES promotes equal school funding an overdue (but modest) reform backed by most of us teachers from poor schools. But Kozol misleads readers - and earns scoffs from many experienced teachers - with his naïve, unrealistic approach.
A Life of Equality.......2007-01-29
Before I began reading Savage Inequalities,by Jonathan Kozol, I was expecting a interesting, moving story of the truths behind poverty and equality and that it was i read. This story was a compelling read with significant insight into the dream and life of equality. However, Savage Inequalities,at times was very boring and dull. Throughout many parts of the novel I felt as if the author were repeating himself or stating the same points numerous times. Through vivid details, and the shocking truths behind the American education system, the reader gains a tremendous understanding into public schooling during the mid 1900's. Overall this novel successfully portrayed the tragedy of American school life for the millions of unfortunate children in the United States.
The biggest strength of this novel was the tremendous detail and imagery. The author witnessing life first hand gives the reader a greater, more insightful understanding of an childs actual life. As a school teacher in the novel, the author observed the children everyday and noticed the numerous struggles they had. The biggest weakness of this novel in my opinion was that at times the story became boring and almost difficult to read. Many times the author had excessive facts and , that the book became more like a list or documentary then a real story. Also, the author seemed to refute the same points and ideas various times throughout the book. For the first time reading a novel by Kozol I believe he is an insightful writer with a variety of great ideas. Savage Inequalities gave me as the reader an in depth understanding of Kozol's writing style. He seems a very honest straightforward writer, who speaks the truth. Reading this book I was able to learn of the life of American schooling during the mid 1900's from a first hand witness. I learned of the horrors and unjust ways many less fortunate children had to endure. Savage Inequalities demonstrated the harsh life for poor children and the shocking truths to American school life.
A sobering view of the American educational system.......2007-01-07
This book was a real eye-opener, exposing the wretched conditions of inner-city schools in America. I think it should be required reading for every person in this country, because it is an issue that receives little if any attention. I would never have known how bad the system is for some cities without reading this book.
Kozol is an appropriate author, detailing specific trips he has taken to inner city schools to directly observe the state of their schools in comparison to the affluent suburbs.
My only critique is that after awhile, the stories all seem to sound the same, but it just emphasizes how widespread this problem is and that something must be done about it.
Don't read this at night ~ This book will turn you into an activist.......2006-12-10
You could use this book to beat bureaucrats over their collective heads.
The failure to educate the poorest and the youngest in this country is an abomination and Kozol shines a bright light on some of the corners of it (not all) so the bureaucrats are like filthy little cockroaches scrambling into new corners.
Read this book. You might have a few nightmares if it's at night. Pass it along to a friend and discuss it.
We are all obligated to all our children and enlightenment is a very good first step.
You also might rethink what drugs you buy when given the option. I personally have decided that those who have ruined St. Louis will not get my money.
Nothing Changes.......2006-07-17
If George W. Bush could read - this is a book he should be made to read. As old as it may be - nothing has truly changed...so many children being 'left behind'. A devastating book. While we piss away billions abroad, TRUE Home Security (health education and proper employment) is ignored.
Average customer rating:
- not worth it
- Indispensable for Execs, Mgrs, Invest. Pros, Mgmt Consultant
- Great overview of main legal issues for managers
|
Managers and the Legal Environment: Strategies for the 21st Century
Constance E. Bagley , and
Diane Savage
Manufacturer: South-Western College/West
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 032426951X |
Book Description
Recognized and respected for both its inclusion of cutting edge material and for its strong strategic managerial approach, this is one of the most comprehensive and challenging, yet approachable and understandable legal environments texts on the market. It is equally suitable for students with substantial work experience as well as for those who are studying business for the first time. The text fully looks at the subject matter from the perspective of current and future business managers and leaders by providing an in-depth understanding of how law impacts daily management decisions and business strategies. Its integrated treatment of law and management presents a very strategic perspective, showing how the law provides ways for managers to minimize risk and create value, how to use the law to craft solutions to attain core business objectives, and how to spot legal issues before they become legal problems and effectively handle the inevitable legal disputes that arise in the course of doing business.
Customer Reviews:
not worth it.......2002-08-12
There are many better books out there that are easier to follow and comprehend if you are not a law student. Not impressive.
Indispensable for Execs, Mgrs, Invest. Pros, Mgmt Consultant.......2000-08-13
For the benefit of all the people who cannot take her course, Prof. Connie Bagley has written this book that has the same title as her course (she teaches a quarter each at the Stanford and Harvard Business Schools). It is an extremely very well thought out and well written book. Throughout the book Prof. Bagley has kept in mind the reader's background and organized and written content in a way that will be of maximum benefit to the reader.
This book is one of the best investments that any person can make. While almost everyone will benefit from this book, I feel this book will be indispensable to the following readers: 1. Any person in a Business Administration/Management role, especially Executives and Managers in large corporations, Investment Professionals and Management Consultants. 2. Professionals associated with legal matters who want a refresher and a quick reference book that covers key aspects of all the important laws. 3. Any person who wants to gain a knowledge of the legal environment, especially the environment in which business is conducted.
Unlike a law book intended for specialist lawyers, this book is readable by people who are not lawyers. After reading this book or using it as a reference one can get a good understanding of the legal process (how the entire legal system works) and several important areas of law such as Contracts, Torts, Product Liability, Intellectual Property, Labor, Environmental, Antitrust, Real Estate, Consumer protection, Securities, and International Business. The legal topics discussed are on the leading edge of business regulation. They include the World Trade Organization, employer liability for sexual harassment, compensation and liability act, and HIV in the workplace.
In keeping with the Internet age, Prof. Bagley analyzes the implications of the Internet and Information Technology to several laws (such as copyright law in the cyberspace), and also gives several Internet sources for the reader to conduct further research.
It is remarkable that the book covers each of the topics perfectly to the extent required - nothing more and nothing less. The book has around 1050 pages and the time invested in each page is worth the rewards.
As Prof. Bagley says, the purpose of the book is to provide you a good understanding of the legal system, how the laws work, removal of any fear of laws, how to avoid legal mistakes, how to protect yourself, when to take what legal action and, most importantly, make you smart enough to know when to go to your lawyer. You cannot expect to practice law after reading this book but you definitely will know when to seek legal help, and how to communicate effectively with your legal advisors.
Prof. Bagley has also written another book "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law". If only every entrepreneur read this book before starting out, the number of failures caused by legal blunders will be close to zero.
Both her books are extremely very well thought out and well written. I was fortunate to get into Prof. Connie Bagley's high demand "Managers and the Legal Environment" course at Stanford Graduate School of Business. The course is an absolute gem of a course. While this course is a high demand course, her other course "Legal Challenges in Entrepreneurship" is usually multiply over subscribed with around 150 students wanting to get into a class of 66! Prof. Bagley is a wonderful teacher and an amazing person. Her class was a wonderful learning experience for me and I thank her for that. I'm sure that after reading the book you too will thank her for having written this book.
Great overview of main legal issues for managers.......1998-12-02
This book is amongst others used at the Stanford MBA course as an introduction to legal issues that may arise for managers in a variety of business situations. It is comprehensive and is well illustrated with landmark case studies and relevant hypotheticals. Constance Bagley takes out most of the cumbersome legalistic language and makes the complexities of US corporate and civil law understandable.
Book Description
The Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. It brought down six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, returned de Gaulle to power, and came close to provoking a civil war on French soil. More than a million Muslim Algerians died in the conflict and as many European settlers were driven into exile. Above all, the war was marked by an unholy marriage of revolutionary terror and repressive torture.
Nearly a half century has passed since this savagely fought war ended in Algeria’s independence, and yet—as Alistair Horne argues in his new preface to his now-classic work of history—its repercussions continue to be felt not only in Algeria and France, but throughout the world. Indeed from today’s vantage point the Algerian War looks like a full-dress rehearsal for the sort of amorphous struggle that convulsed the Balkans in the 1990s and that now ravages the Middle East, from Beirut to Baghdad—struggles in which questions of religion, nationalism, imperialism, and terrorism take on a new and increasingly lethal intensity.
A Savage War of Peace is the definitive history of the Algerian War, a book that brings that terrible and complicated struggle to life with intelligence, assurance, and unflagging momentum. It is essential reading for our own violent times as well as a lasting monument to the historian’s art.
Customer Reviews:
Chilling Masterpiece.......2007-09-26
I selected this book wishing to know more about the French war in Algeria. Mr. Horne more than satisfied my curiousity. He provides an in-depth, virtually blow-by-blow account of the eight year conflict, pulling no PC punches, and taking great care to remain as impartial as possible. This is no easy feat, given the intensity of the situation. He is very careful to present this as not a typical colonial war as much as a battle between 2 diametrically opposed visions for Algeria. On one side were the Pieds Noirs, whose families had lived in Algeria for generations, understandably saw Algeria as their home, and wanted to preserve "Le Algerie Francaise." On the other hand, you have the FLN (not the spokesman for most Algerians), with its demands for Algerian independence, sans the Pieds Noirs. What made this conflict a battle between extremes was the FLN's reign of terror against relative moderates among the Algerians (many of whom had advocated finding a "middle ground" in the conflict). This has the effect of presenting the FLN as France's only "negotiating" partner within Algeria. Moreover, it pushed many of the Pieds Noirs to support such hard-line groups as the OAS. Essentially, the FLN set up the conflict to end in its favor, as the war nearly tore France apart on several occasions (and nearly claimed the life of Charles De Gaulle on an equal number of occasions). Mr. Horne captures this story very nicely, weaving back and forth between Algeria and France. He demonstrates beyond all reasonable doubt that the conflict had very high stakes for the French. Also, he describes how the outcome of the conflict proved to not be France's finest hour, to put it very charitably.
Read it before you start a Mid-East War.......2007-09-21
What every President should know before getting seriously involved anywhere in the Mid-East or Muslim world. It would seem that we are damned if we do, and equally damned if we don't. It's not so much the book's details (although the book is magnificently detailed), as it is the portrayal of the depth of hatreds and the commitment to violence as the sole means to the proponents ends.
Shines a light on insurgencies in the 20th century.......2007-08-19
Horne's classic book on Algeria is one of those rare works of history that breaks open the subject at hand to peer deep into the heart of an era. It details the entire Franco-Algerian war from its historical antecedents through the military and political struggles of the war itself and into the late 20th century, tracking the Algerian fight for independence and the wrestling of the French nation with redefinition after colonialism. The parallels to numerous other insurgencies in the 20th and early 21st centuries are obvious.
What is most tragic about Alistair Horne's tale from my perspective as a theologian, however, is the seeming inevitability of the whole Algerian tragedy. Though Horne highlights several points at which the confrontation might have taken a faster and more complete track toward reconciliation, it's difficult to see how the actors in the moment could have grasped these opportunities. The stage seems to have been set for years of violence sometime deep in the past, as pieds noirs became firmly Algerian and native Algerians became jaded at the empty rhetoric of their French occupiers. Plenty of blame can be spread around to perpetrators of horrible and inhuman acts during the seven and a half years of conflict, but it is difficult to see how any one actor or group could have decisively brought about a clearer peace.
The lessons of the Algerian conflict are ripe to be picked by anyone willing to study it. Many of Horne's insights about these types of confrontations carry over to the war in Iraq, civil war in numerous spots around the globe, and the struggle to combat terrorism around the world. Indeed, the book is being studied at the highest levels in Washington, according to news reports. One can only hope that the venerable chronicler of France's last years as a colonial power is being heeded.
Peering Into the Cesspit.......2007-08-10
One of the things that perplexed and, frankly, disgusted me, throughout this book was the posturing of many key figures on the French side about "honour" and "grandeur". In pursuit of their honour, many of these people behaved in the most disgraceful and dishonourable manner.
They preened themselves on their honour and spoke volubly about "restoring the glory of France", but when the going got difficult, they mostly resigned their positions or simply abandoned their responsibilities - often to return later to repeat the whole disreputable process - or intrigue among themselves.
Perhaps a psychologist could shed more light on this cesspit of misplaced values than an historian.
But what of the other side - the Algerian independence movement? The alphabet soup of factions (FLN, CRUA, MTLD, UDMA etc etc) was liberally peopled by thugs, assassins, torturers and thieves. They squabbled among themselves, intrigued for office, occasionally betrayed each other, and terrorised their own people - all in the cause of Algerian independence.
Even after independence, members of the ruling clique continued to wage war upon each other and upon the Algerian people. The struggle continues to this day.
Ordinary Algerians on both sides were the victims of the war - as is ever the case. At its end, within months, almost all the "pied noir" population had fled the country in one of the great mass migrations of the post war era. Muslims who had worked and fought for the French and who were unable (or chose not) to flee were mercilessly hunted down.
I finished the book with a sense of disgust, of having been soiled by the mostly contemptible people shaping events on both sides. When one peers into a cesspit of struggling fanatics, one inevitably gets splashed.
However, readers should not be deterred from reading this book. "A Savage War of Peace" deserves to be read. Its lessons are equally valid today in the Middle East and elsewhere.
The book gives an excellent account of the war from both French and Muslim sides, but while the latter was adequately covered in a factual sense, that side of the story was somewhat dry and impersonal.
To a large extent this simply reflects the availability of sources - and those willing to talk freely and honestly. The author claims to have been hampered by the "traditional secretiveness and suspicion of the Algerian Arabs" - especially when the possibility of assassination was ever present for those critical of the Algerian leadership.
Within these limitations, Horne gives an objective account of the 8-year war, during which up to 600,000 French military personnel were stationed in Algeria. As the struggle went on, both sides resorted increasingly to torture and terror to achieve their aims.
At one point military victory seemed in sight, although one must suspect that, had the French "won" in a military sense, the price would have been some sort of partition of Algeria into French and Muslim zones, and the permanent military suppression of the latter. Sound familiar?
Another conclusion one can draw from the book is that the relentless pursuit of an ideology rarely, if ever, results in a better life for ordinary people who are to be "improved". This was true for Communism and will probably be proven true eventually for the various forms of Islamic fundamentalism currently destroying lives in many parts of the world - and true also for ideologues on the other side who fight them in the name of freedom and democracy - and who are equally convinced of their righteousness.
Mirror For Our Times.......2007-08-09
Alistair Horne's seminal book on the Algerian War, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962, is a thorough look at a war that closely resembles the current conflict in Iraq. I read a couple of really interesting articles on this book earlier and felt compelled to read it. Terrorism, civil war, torture: these things also took place in Algeria and it would seem that there are some lessons to learned, but it seems they have not been heeded. It was a very long and complicated book, but not without its rewards. Apparently it has been read by Bush and several of his advisors. I think it would have been more meaningful to me if had a better grasp of the conflict and French history since 1945 in general, but that being said there was a lot of interesting information about this conflict. Terrorism, de Gaulle, France, and other conflicts like those in South Africa, Ireland, and Indo China. I think this paragraph sums up the situation pretty astutely:
One is left with the controversial role of de Gaulle, criticized both for going too slow and too fast. As far as the latter reproach goes, in the last stages of negotiations he suffered from the lesson not learned by Kissinger in Vietnam, or perhaps by Israel vis-à-vis the Arab world, or by the South Africans; namely, that peoples who have been waiting for their independence for a centenary, fighting for it for a generation, can afford to sit out a presidential term, or a year or two in the life of an old man in a hurry; that he who last s the longest wins; that sadly, with the impatience of democracies and their volatile voters committed to electoral contortions every five or four years, the extremists generally triumphs over the moderate. Just keep on being obdurate, don't leave deviate from maximum terms, was the lesson handed down by the F.L.N. (Front de Liberation Nationale) and remains as grimly valid today-Northern Ireland or the Middle East or southern Africa. One after another de Gaulle saw his principles for peace eroded in the face of the F.L.N.'s refusal to compromise. As his disillusion grew, so did his resolve to liquidate the war with all the speed. In his final haste injustices were perpetrated, such as the exclusion from the peace talks of any representative Algerian faction (e.g. the M.N.A.-Mouvement Nationaliste Algerienne)) other than the F.L.N. Yet de Gaulle did liquidate that savage war.
Book Description
Written by more than 100 internationally recognized experts, this volume is the first definitive and comprehensive text/reference on intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. It features 1,000 full-color echocardiograms and covers every aspect of intraoperative TEE, from physics and "knobology," to specific studies of cardiac valves and arteries, to the use of TEE in cardiac and noncardiac surgeries. Major sections cover principles of echocardiography, intraoperative examination, critical care, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, thoracic aortic disease, congestive heart failure, interventional cardiovascular medicine, and noncardiac surgery. The text focuses on uses of TEE in surgical decision-making--preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative--and includes specific clinical recommendations.
Customer Reviews:
One text cannot do it all, but this one tries........2006-02-26
The book seems to have two goals: Clinical use of TEE in the cardiac operating room; and passing the "Echo Exam."
When it comes to echocardiography I am a tyro. Thus the review of this work is not from the perspective of an expert in the field, but from that of someone who is trying to use this book as intended: as a textbook in transesophageal echocardiography. It is an excellent text for this.
Were it not for a curious omission, and for what I think an excessive number of errors (especially in one chapter) for a book of this importance and price, I would give it five stars.
Echocardiography is primarily a visual discipline, and this book is profusely, and for the most part well, illustrated. The publisher's web site claims "1,000 full-color echocardiograms" and I expect this is true.
The illustrations, for the most part, can only be called superb. But, reflecting of what I see as lack of editorial oversight, several chapters have illustrations which simply best illustrate that one cannot take Power-Point® slides and turn them into even barely acceptable book plates. Fortunately the chapters which took this approach are the most dispensable.
Sticking with lack of editorial cohesiveness for a moment, I personally found it disruptive that the text for multi-image figures in some chapters used the "A) ... Text", whilst that in others used "Text ... A)" formatting. Why yes, I am detail oriented, and, yes there are larger issues in the world: but there is no more reason for doing this than there would have been to have switched typefaces or fonts with each chapter.
In addition to the illustrations, each chapter has a well written, in-depth text, an extensive bibliography, and concludes with Echo Exam review questions. Truly the only subjects which I thought could have been better covered were the determination of IVRT and a more clear presentation of parachute mitral valve.
There are over a hundred contributing authors. This gives expert coverage in each area, but, inevitably, leads to duplication. Perhaps a bit too much duplication, especially of images. Truly, does the Cleveland Clinic have only one TEE frame of an Alfieri repair, or of the RUPV? The more you see, the more you see. Repeatedly viewing the same image simply does not help to broaden ones visual memory and range. Again, I think that more aggressive editing would have caught this, and would have presented the learner with an even wider range of images.
Leaving aside the very few, very short, fluff chapters, save for a single exception the chapters are of an optimal size to be studied in an evening. This is important, as it gives the student a sense of progress in a very complex subject which at times seems overwhelming. Concise, clear, small chapters also makes going back to review a particular point quite easy easier.
The exception is chapter 28 "Assessment in Mitral Valve Surgery" which, at 85 pages (excluding bibliography and questions), is simply too long. It could have, should have, been broken down into several separate chapters. It is notable that similar information on the lesser complexities of the aortic valve is presented in two comfortably sized chapters.
Also notable is the density of errors which appear in this oversized chapter. I do not know if the chapter editor was simply overwhelmed with the task, or if the chapter was turned in late. In any event, the errors are all of a nature that should have been caught and which do detract from the discussion of one of the most difficult and important areas in TEE.
Two examples will suffice. In table 28.2 the ME LAX MV views are mistakenly shown for the ME 2C MV (later correctly shown in Fig 28.31). This is simply an editorial mistake, as no knowledge of echocardiography is needed to see that the drawings are repeated. A more subtle error is found in Fig 28.70 where the derivation of a simplified ROA estimation drops the square of the radius from the equation. There are many others, many more than in the remaining chapters.
Yes, I do realize there will be mistakes in any text. I became painfully aware of this in the early 1980s when trying to learn i86 assembly language. Assembly language is the lowest level human readable programming language for a particular processor. All of the early texts had errors: fortunately no two had the same, so one could piece things together. This seems to be true of current echo texts as well.
I find learning echocardiography about as difficult as learning assembler, and, at my level, I do not recognize all of the errors in the texts. I expect that many other learners may be as confused as I by TEE's murky grey images overlaid with swirling bright colors. In such a complex field, I believe textbook editors should take special pains to insure accuracy.
All that aside, the MV assessment chapter (28) still has a wealth of well presented information. Indeed the single most valuable insight I gained from the book was on page 459 of this chapter. My epiphany was the realization that the mitral valve is oriented near vertically. Somehow I had missed this fact in all the reading, courses, dissections, videos, and actual echoes I have done. The "3D Imaging Plane View" illustrations on this page made the orientation obvious. For me this alone was truly worth the price of the book. Sadly, turning the page immediately brings one to the most egregious error in the work.
On the whole the book is tightly focused on developing the knowledge and skills to effectively use transesophageal echo in the cardiac operating room. I would have preferred a chapter on transthoracic echo to some of the surgical minutia and to the odd inclusion of a chapter on basic statistics. Though the latter is an exceptionally well written chapter, I was perplexed at its appearance in a book on TEE in the OR.
The twenty-nine page appendix also confounds me. Whilst a useful compendium of echocardiographic tables, the pages are perforated. Perhaps there are those who would rip out the pages in a two-hundred dollar book, but I am not among them. So, for me, it simply means I had to run tape along them to keep them from tearing loose on their own.
As to the book's suitability for preparation for the PTEeXAM I cannot actually say, as I am still trying to figure out if I am eligible to sit for the exam, and, if so, which certification I might be eligible for. No more whining about this confusion here, there is enough of that at any echo conference. However, given that the many of the authors of the exam are also authors of this book I expect that time spent with this book would be repaid.
What is surprisingly missing from this text is an accompanying video disk. Given the importance of moving pictures to understanding echo and the low cost and ease with which a disk can be included in a book, this is a curious omission indeed. Sidebotham's very excellent "Practical Perioperative Transoesophageal Echocardiography" does include such and I would strongly recommend purchasing that text in addition too, or, if cost is an issue, instead of, this more comprehensive and expensive text. The addition of videos, in my opinion, more than makes up for the lesser coverage in Sidebotham.
It is possible that a disk was to have been included, as, when I came to this Amazon page to write the review under "Editorial Reviews" I saw it stated "An enclosed CD-ROM includes full-color TEE videos and multiple-choice questions and answers for self-assesment [sic] and exam preparation."
I purchased my volume directly from a Lippincott sales table at the ASA, and it is possible that I simply got one without a disk. However, the Lippincott web site makes no mention of such a disk in their description of the book. My suspicion is that this is something that was dropped at the last minute. I did write Lippincott and have asked, but have not yet had a reply.
You cannot go wrong by purchasing this book (with or without the mystery disk) as it gives an extensive, clear, in-depth introduction to transesophageal echo in the operating room.
Sadly though, when studying echo, one is left with the sense of mastering the horse and buggy (2D echo) whilst knowing the motorcar (3D) is just around the corner.
Bonne Chance.
Book Description
Dr. Savage, sage prophet of the airwaves, has been diagnosing liberal mental illness for more than a decade. Now, in his third and most insightful book, he strikes at the root of today's most desperate issues, providing a hefty dose of his unique conservative medicine, including:
Homeland security: "We need more Patton and less patent leather. . .Real homeland security begins when we arrest, interrogate, jail, or deport known operatives within our own borders. . .One dirty bomb can ruin your whole day."
The ACLU, National Lawyers Guild, and MoveOn.org: "I believe it's time for the heads of . . . left-wing agitation groups who are using the courts to impose their will on the sheeple to be prosecuted under the federal RICO statutes."
Illegal immigration: "I envision an Oil for Illegals program. . .The president should demand one barrel of oil from Mexico for every illegal alien that sneaks into our country."
The Doctor is in and the diagnosis is clear. Read Liberalism is a Mental Disorder and find out what you can do to treat it.
Customer Reviews:
Make your teenager read this book, .......2007-09-26
This is one of the most important books in years. Why? because it is the truth. If you can not get your kid to read it download the Audio version on Itunes and make them listen to it. The Future of the West is at stake.
Where Angels Fear to Tread.......2007-08-31
Reviewing any conservative book will yield almost automatic trashing. However, I recommend this book above all others to liberals, Democrats, and so-called SPs (social-progressives) because the arguments in this book should make you look in the mirror and consider just what it is about a "liberal" agenda that makes logical sense?
The essence of Savage's argument (here and on the radio) is that the only explanation for modern liberalism is that liberals are too often swayed by their emotions, and not logical, rational analysis--from Global Warming to Earth Day. More recently, he has decried the morphing of classical liberalism (I disagree with you but would fight to the death for your right to say it) to what is essentially neo-liberalism (I will shout you down so that noone will hear what you have to say), characteristic of 21st century liberal politics.
Savage decries, the only explanation for neo-liberalism is that is must be mental disorder--there can be no other explanation. Since he so often touts his two master's degrees and Ph.D. from the great American University, the University of California at Berkeley, perhaps he could come up with a deeper analysis. However, Savage himself would probably say that this wouldn't make for good talk radio, and above all things, he is a radio entertainer: a multidimensional space where each listener pulls up their chair to hear their "favorite uncle" dissect the issues of the day.
Of course, he has produced what you need to back this up--Arbitron ratings that are through the roof even in "liberal strongholds" such as Portland, Oregon, 16 books on nutrition, and 4 consecutive NYT bestsellers, with almost no publicity given most authors on the Larry King and Fox News circuit.
A "me too" book for conservatives, this is probably THE ONE to read if you are still trying to hold on (or are a newcomer to) to the idea that progressivism, not patriotism, is what we need to answer America's critics in the days of the flying Immams!
A great read by a fine writer--and I know I'll only get a couple of "helpful" votes just by treading on Savage Nation turf...Savage also presents solutions to current socio-political problems, not simply a tome against the left, but few in places of power seem to pay them any mind, even though he won the "Freedom of Speech" award in 2007!
THE DOCTOR IS IN!!!.......2007-08-26
The left loves to spew about how we conservatives hate. They never tell you why we hate. It's always vitriolic invective with an "Oh Yeah/Says You" approach. Yeah, they're right, I hate a lot. For instance, I hate child molesters! I hate rapists! I hate home invaders! I hate murderers! I hate car jackers! I hate able bodied native-born welfare recipients who reproduce at a geometric rate like a virus! I hate insane foreigners who spit on us once they come to our land! I hate the ACLU who trip over themselves to make cops feel like criminals! I hate the fact that the vote of a hard working, law abiding citizen is as much value as that of someone on welfare! I hate the diversity and multiculturalism which turned our country into a tower of babel! I hate the fact that English is not the only language on a voting card! I hate my fellow citizens who listen to the orchestra while the Titanic sinks who in turn label me as extreme because I want to survive instead of being soothed into my own death! I hate Hate Crimes legislation which makes it a crime for what I'm thinking instead of what I'm doing! I hate the fact that if I report suspiciuous behavior to the authorities in the post 9/11 era, that I'll be labeled as the criminal! I hate politicians and entertainers who while in the most luxurious of environments in the safest quarters of the world label our soldiers who endure in the most God awful privation far away from family and home as torturers and murderers! I hate the fact that the West acts like a battered woman while Islamo-fascists continue their march! I hate the very lefty establishment that calls the punishments of violent criminals in our country as cruel and unusual while they remain silent on adulterers in Iran who are being stoned to death! I hate the priviliged elites who live in guarded ivory towers who tell me that I have to understand them! I hate those same people in those guarded ivory towers who aim to take take my guns away to defend myself! I hate a pop culture that rips into the work ethic and propogates an anti-achievement attitude! To my critics who think I have issues: go back to your "American Idol", your up to the minute entertainment update on CNN, your indulgence of the luxury known as freedom while you scorn those very people who safeguard it for you! May you all get taken out in the next terrorist attack! At the rate we're going, it's coming...
Fanstastic Book- Worth Reading Every Page.......2007-07-16
I loved this book. God bless Dr. Savage, he sure knows his stuff inside and out.
Its so nasty, and sad that there are all of these hate mongerors out there trying to inflict harm on those who disagree with their extremist ideals.
Thesre radicals will lose, and the truth will set us all free.
Mental Liberals Respond HERE!.......2007-06-22
The (progressives) LIBERALS respond by their reference to his real name (oh! it sounds Jewish). Then they use the words like, "obnoxious". I have always hated that word. Read the 1-Star reviews and then BUY the book, share it. They are the SCOUNDRELS!
Customer Reviews:
Review of High Touch Selling.......2005-07-18
John was an icon of the industry and a very down to earth fellow. The book is an easy read with some real gems, but can be a little verbose at times.
God information for Insurance Salespeople.......2003-01-17
As an insurance professional I am disappointed at the lack of insurance industry specific material available. Mr. Savage is right up there with Ben Feldman and Jack and Garry Kinder in the insurance industry. Mr. Savage encourages simplicity in his presentations rather than the complicated 45 min - one hour sessions as taught by most major insurance companies. I find his material a great read, full of insight and information. His other books, Savage on Selling and It's Getting Easier" are also highly recommended. I am still looking for a copy of "The Easy Sale" if anyone finds one less than $$$ for the paperback.
Amazon.com
Book Description
Written with the sweep of an epic novel and grounded in extensive research into contemporary documents, Savage Peace is a striking portrait of American democracy under stress. It is the surprising story of America in the year 1919.
In the aftermath of an unprecedented worldwide war and a flu pandemic, Americans began the year full of hope, expecting to reap the benefits of peace. But instead, the fear of terrorism filled their days. Bolshevism was the new menace, and the federal government, utilizing a vast network of domestic spies, began to watch anyone deemed suspicious. A young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover headed a brand-new intelligence division of the Bureau of Investigation (later to become the FBI). Bombs exploded on the doorstep of the attorney general's home in Washington, D.C., and 36 parcels containing bombs were discovered at post offices across the country. Poet and journalist Carl Sandburg, recently returned from abroad with a trunk full of Bolshevik literature, was detained in New York, his trunk seized. A 21-year-old Russian girl living in New York was sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting U.S. intervention in Arctic Russia, where thousands of American soldiers remained after the Armistice, ostensibly to guard supplies but in reality to join a British force meant to be a warning to the new Bolshevik government.
In 1919, wartime legislation intended to curb criticism of the government was extended and even strengthened. Labor strife was a daily occurrence. And decorated African-American soldiers, returning home to claim the democracy for which they had risked their lives, were badly disappointed. Lynchings continued, race riots would erupt in 26 cities before the year ended, and secret agents from the government's "Negro Subversion" unit routinely shadowed outspoken African-Americans.
Adding a vivid human drama to the greater historical narrative, Savage Peace brings 1919 alive through the people who played a major role in making the year so remarkable. Among them are William Monroe Trotter, who tried to put democracy for African-Americans on the agenda at the Paris peace talks; Supreme Court associate justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who struggled to find a balance between free speech and legitimate government restrictions for reasons of national security, producing a memorable decision for the future of free speech in America; and journalist Ray Stannard Baker, confidant of President Woodrow Wilson, who watched carefully as Wilson's idealism crumbled and wrote the best accounts we have of the president's frustration and disappointment.
Weaving together the stories of a panoramic cast of characters, from Albert Einstein to Helen Keller, Ann Hagedorn brilliantly illuminates America at a pivotal moment.
An Exclusive Note to Readers from Ann Hagedorn
Savage Peace is the biography of the year 1919 in America told through interweaving narratives that connect the reader to the individuals, events and themes that make the year so hugely significant. My quest is always to make history as accessible as possible to the general public using storytelling techniques and so I structured Savage Peace like a work of fiction with main characters and story arcs. It is, however, based firmly on facts gleaned from primary sources housed in archives nationwide, including declassified military intelligence and justice department records. I spent more than five years researching and writing the book in an effort of course to get to the very core of the significance of the year 1919 and to deliver that truth to you, the reader, in an entertaining style.
But why 1919? First, I consider the year a missing page in our history. We typically associate 1919 with the Paris Peace Conference, Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations--all important aspects of the year, of course. But there is far more to the year than what happened in Paris. In fact, Savage Peace tells the story of what happened in America while Wilson was in Paris. Remember that 1919 was the aftermath of a world war, a flu pandemic, and the Russian Revolution. It was an uncertain, very intense year that shaped policies and attitudes for nearly a century in America. In many respects it was the year that made modern America. Consider that the foundation of our domestic intelligence system was firmly established in 1919; that our "cold" relationship with the Soviet Union emerged from events such as U.S. intervention in north Russia that year and the government's raid on the Soviet Bureau in Manhattan; and that our response to the 1919 race riots (in 26 cities) was to use segregation as the solution instead of identifying it as the problem. One of the things that drew me to the year was that it offers us all an opportunity to observe democracy under extreme duress. This was a time when Americans were caught between the promise of democracy--Wilson told us we were fighting the war to make the world safe for democracy--and the penalties for exercising democratic rights at home in the aftermath of the war. After the Armistice, certain wartime measures and laws were kept in place in the name of protecting the nation from the new threat of Bolshevism. This allowed the nation to stay immersed in the mentality of war, the culture of fear, and a state of perpetual crisis, which in turn justified an attack on Democratic rights and raised the issue of the delicate balance between national security and the safety of the constitution.
During World War I, a massive domestic intelligence system was put in place to protect Americans on their own soil, to outsmart German spies, and to identify German sympathizers. It was indeed the largest corps of homeland spies ever assembled in any nation during wartime and it included at least 300,000 volunteer spies in organizations such as the American Protective League, the National Security League, the Liberty League, the Home Defense League, the Sedition Slammers, and the Boy Spies of America. There were wartime laws too, such as the Espionage Act of 1917, which made it a crime to obstruct the war and to criticize the war, and among other things, gave the postmaster general the right to censor "seditious" magazines and newspapers. The Sedition Act in 1918 (an amended version of the Espionage Act) went further and said it was a crime to "willfully utter, print, write or publish" any expression of disloyalty toward or criticism of the U.S. government, its Constitution, its flag, or its military uniforms.
In 1919, these laws and the domestic intelligence network were still in tact. Now the task was to identify those who favored leniency for Germany in the ensuing peace negotiations and, as the Justice Dept. told the Washington Post on Armistice Day, to keep a "vigilant watch over anarchists, plotters and aliens." Soon dissent in America was bundled into one package labeled Bolshevism. Hiram Johnson, the Republican senator from California who was loudly speaking out against U.S. intervention in north Russia--a military adventure unauthorized and in fact unknown by most Congressmen and one that evolved into a civil war in which we were fighting with the White Army against the Reds--said in one of his speeches to the U.S. Senate, "It is a dangerous and delicate thing to speak of Russia and to even inquire concerning our activities there. During the war it became fashionable to call all who disagreed with any governmental policy pro-German. Now the fashion has changed: and any man who will not accept the wrongful edict of entrenched power is by that token a Bolsheviki."
In Savage Peace I show that one of the people who best understood just how hard it would be to free the nation and the Constitution from the emergency restrictions put in place during the war was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., then an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In March of 1919 he issued an opinion saying effectively that the right of free speech could be taken away if the speech or circular contained wording that presented a "clear and present danger" of causing unlawful acts. His critics argued that expression could not be censored on the basis of the possibility that it might incite such acts as the acts could be punished when and if they occurred.
That summer and autumn Holmes reconsidered the limitations and the protections of free speech in America. And in November, he modified his view in a dissenting opinion that expanded the definition of protected speech in America. In that opinion he wrote: "When men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas--that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market... We should be eternally vigilant against the attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purpose of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country."
Fortunately, Holmes' words outlived the hysteria of the year in which he wrote them. So did Democracy.
There is so very much more I could say about the importance of 1919, especially about what we can learn from that year. Savage Peace is as the Chicago Tribune wrote in its great review of the book "a potent reminder of the fragility of civil liberties and the power of conspiratorial fantasies propagated by true believers and opportunists alike during times of war and uncertainty."
Looking at the year 1919 indeed reminds us to listen to the voices in America's past who well understood that Democracy has the capability of correcting its errors only as long as its citizens can exercise their rights. I'd like to end this note to my readers with the words of one of the individuals portrayed in Savage Peace, New York attorney Harry Weinberger, who often represented people charged with violating the Espionage Act: "Democracy lives on the exercise and functioning of democracy. As a child learns and grows by doing, a people learn democracy by acting in democratic ways. I know from the history of other countries that even the best democratic constitutions did not prevent dictatorships unless the people were trained in democracy and held themselves eternally vigilant and ready to oppose all infringements on liberty."
Thanks for reading and enjoy the book!
--Ann Hagedorn
Customer Reviews:
Mostly Fear.......2007-08-16
A modern liberal's look back on a difficult year in U.S. history. While the subtitle of this volume promises hope as well as fear, it is the fear that is delivered.
The book is strongest in reminding all of the inhuman nature of lynching and the inexcusable race relations of the time.
It is less convincing in painting President Wilson as a hero, when he was actively unhelpful in easing America's many and deep racial wrongs. Furthermore, his peace plan was a failure due to his own political missteps in selling the idea and the more basic fact that many nations--especially the U.S.--were not really ready for an effective and armed collective security mechanism for the entire world.
The author also discounts the real threat of the followers of Lenin. In 1919 a number of longstanding world empires had recently crashed with the end of the Great War. The Reds had prevailed in Russia. Given the tens of millions who later died in the 1920s and 30s in the USSR, I do not think it totally stupid for U.S. authorities to pay some attention to this domestic situation.
Finally, how does the British expedition to Brazil to prove the German's (Einstein) grand theory fit in a book focused on 1919 in America?
Interesting, enlightening in spots, but uneven.......2007-08-01
Hagerdorn is at her best in this book in describing the 1919 Red Scare and connecting it with labor rights issues. (She has a nice thumbnail on the early rise to power of J. Edgar Hoover as part of this.)
She also does well, in the context of race relations, in noting Wilson's refusal to meet with prominent black leaders, and getting the State Department to deny them passports for the Paris Peace Conference.
But, she hamstrings herself with the "history of a year" concept by not delving deeper, much deeper, into Wilson's racism, starting with any 1912 campaign promises he made about equality.
Second, in the lead-up to the Senate vote on the Treaty of Versailles, she gives short shrift to the pig-headedness of both Wilson and Senate Majority Leader Lodge.
Third, rather than using the attempt of an interracial couple to marry in New Hampshire, and spending about 40 pages on it, why didn't she talk more about lynching in the North as well as the South, if she really wanted to look at civil rights in the North?
Fourth, she didn't do a good job linking 1919 to the Roaring '20s. That includes having a scant analysis of the 1920 electoral contest, not looking at Babe Ruth being on the cusp of transitioning baseball to the live ball era, nor looking at how the Roaring '20s were a decade of escapism.
And, other than burning Wilson in effigy, she says little about the suffragist movement and the progress of the 19th Amendment.
Also, for a theoretically in-depth book, Hagerdorn gives relatively little attention to how the world of physics, outside of Eddington, reacted to Einstein's theory of general relativity and its confirmation.
The book could have been 100 pages longer, well-written, and be the right length; it could be 100 pages shorter, in the same style, and too long. It could easily be longer, and better, because just such books have been written about Versailles alone. It could be shorter, and better, with much of the interracial marriage saga replaced with narrative of a few Northern lynchings, and more focus on sports and entertainment as they got ready to lead to the Roaring '20, plus a bit more detail on all the would-be presidential candidates.
Reviewer Yardley Missed The Point of Savage Peace.......2007-07-19
Rebuttal to Jonathan Yardley
I disagree wholeheartedly with Washington Post reviewer Jonathan Yardley's review of Ann Hagedorn's Savage Peace. A year is a perfectly legitimate and even desirable way to categorize the passage of human events in our country's history. His review is petty and does not accurately reflect the true spirit of the book.
For example, Mr. Yardley's statement "Wars don't begin on the first day of a year and end on the last, nor do presidencies or natural disasters or anything else except, of course, years themselves. But that doesn't prevent journalists, astrologers and other shady characters from attempting to set each year apart from every other and read its events and dominant personalities as if they were tea leaves."
Yardley, completely misses the point of the book. The timeline of history is how we understand and make sense of the past and the course of events during a particular year is absolutely quantifiable from the vantage point of hindsight.
"Tea leaves" are not the means of Hagedorn's relaying of the year 1918 as Mr. Yardley implies as he wholesale categorizes journalists as shady characters. Solid, meticulous and impassioned research is the engine behind the stories related. The fact that Hagedorn fleshed out the lives and activities of various people both well known and obscure during the year 1918 brings a color and vibrancy to history that educates as well as entertains.
Yardley's subsequent attacks on Hagedorn's prose and credentials as well as her choice of subjects is simply unproductive reviewing. His meanspiritedness overwhelms the great reporting and research that is the true hallmark of this book It is Hagedorn's choice to decide which stories paint the portrait of 1918 and as Yardley state himself "Obviously not everything that happened during this tumultuous and difficult year can be squeezed into a single book." Again, Hagedorn's passion and vividness for the subject of 1918 transforms the reading of history which can be overly erudite in less capable hands. To lambaste her prose style is myopic and Hagedorn's pedigree as a front page Wall Street Journal reporter more than legitimizes her. The fact that Mr. Yardley does not care for her writing style hardly qualifies his final diatribe of a paragraph.
The good old days not so good. This book...excellent........2007-07-06
Pick a year, any year, a good historian can choose any year from this country's past and produce an important and interesting book on it. However few years make for as compelling a tale as 1919 especially when in the hands of so gifted a writer as Ann Hagedorn. Indeed "Savage Peace" reads like a novel replete with heroes, villains, treachery, barbarity, tragedy and pathos.
1919 is an obvious choice for a work such as this because it was so pivotal to this country's near and distant futures. The war in Europe was just over but there remained the tricky business of sorting out the peace to follow and the US role in maintaining it. Over too was the Progressive Era and the spirit of change it exemplified was taking a darker turn with sinister powers now in the hands of a few within government as epitomized by the rise of J Edgar Hoover. African Americans had served their country with valor during the war and inevitably were going to expect a more appropriate role in society. Dramatic change was possible and just how dramatic it could be was widely feared to the levels of paranoia.
The "Great War" had been over for a few months when 1919 dawned but the assault on civil liberties that it had wrought in America continued unabated gradually morphing from a fear of all things German to a full blown Bolshevik paranoia. Dissent was rampant in manners ranging from bomb wielding anarchists to organized labor strife to legislative foreign policy debate. Levels of tolerance were low but no one suffered more than those who had already suffered the most -- America's Black citizenry.
"Savage Peace" is most savage in its stories of virulent racism practiced throughout the country particularly the horrific lynchings precipitated mostly in the south. Even for seasoned readers of history such as myself, the specifics of some lynchings that Hagedorn relates with all the gory details are quite depressing indeed. As a partial antidote there are the stories of African American heroes such as W.E.B. Dubois and William Monore Trotter.
Other heroes appear although who a particular readers admire will vary. Certainly Carl Sandburg, lawyer Harry Weinberger and Senator Hiram Johnson will have their boosters. Others may take a shine to pint-sized radical Mollie Steimer or even president Woodrow Wilson.
America was a brutal angry country in 1919 but paradoxically it was full of hope and opportunity with a million new ideas and millions of characters of all stripes. No, "Savage Peace" doesn't capture it all. Surely there could have been more on the cultural scene, the daily lives of ordinary Americans and immigration and...well the list can go on. But it's quite unfair to take Hagedorn to task for what isn't in her book when there is so much that IS in it and it so masterfully captures the highlights.
One of the best things a book like "Savage Peace" does is cause readers to be curious about some of the people and events it touches upon. The best books are the one that make you want to read ten more. "Savage Peace" is both an excellent book for those of us with a long standing interest in this time period and a great intro to readers unfamiliar with the terrain.
Metaphorical History.......2007-07-02
This slow-paced but nevertheless excellent book can be read as a straightforward "biography" of the pivotal year of 1919, or, as Hagedorn overtly intended, as a metaphor for our present era, a time which in many ways bears a striking similarity to what was happening nationally and internationally in 1919. Paying heavy emphasis on the government's role as suppressor of civil liberties, on racial issues---perhaps concentrating too much on race issues, in my opinion---and on the involvement of American troops in an undeclared war on foreign soil: in this case stationed in Russia against public sentiment in both the US and abroad, in an effort to establish a democratic government in a nation strongly resisting US interference. Hagedorn provides many shocking details on how vigorously the US government used the Red Scare, the fear of anarchists, and the canopy of pro-Americanism to attack and imprison ordinary citizens guilty of little more than dissent, including the poet Carl Sandburg, all in the name of national defense and patriotism. This is the story of persecuted labor leaders and of discarded soldiers returning home to a less than ideal welcome in the land of freedom. Savage Peace is also a book about the coinciding epidemic of lynchings in the deep south, and the pandemic of Spanish Influenza which struck every corner of the American nation, sparing neither old nor young, rich nor poor, black nor white, destabilizing an already hyperactive and fragile society, adding fuel to the fires of radical and reactionary dogmas. In its dense chapters one reads about back room deals between big business and elected officials, of the hypocrisy of Wilsonian ideology, and of the undermining of the Bill of Rights. In this expose one discovers a coldly frightening version of the United States of America that one would like to relegate to the past, but which every reader will all too obviously recognize for its reflection of who we have once again become today. This is not a pleasant book, but it is a very good one that was written at exactly the proper time.
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