EE Books

During the Civil War, while Britain and France watched from the periphery, Russian sent ships on formal visits to Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Part of a delicate diplomatic dance designed to stave off foreign support for the Confederacy and to bolster the international presence of Russia, the fleet visits were just part of the U.S.'s foreign policy moves that helped keep foreign powers from interfering in the U.S. Civil War. Drawing heavily upon the papers of Baron de Stoeckl, Russia's minister to the U.S., Woldman does an excellent job of exploring the motives and goals of diplomats from both nations. All too often foreign policy is overlooked in treatments of the Civil War, and it is a shame that Woldman's book has been out of print for so long.

In the gutsiest political manifesto of American history, Woodrow Wilson dared to say that the Founding Fathers had it wrong. What's amazing is that his analysis holds up after 100 years. Wilson believed that "separation of powers" did not exist, and that the building impenetrable walls between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches produced abdication of responsbility. Wilson held up as a model the Westminster cabinet form of government as a model of clarity, openness, and responsibility. You can read Wilson's 1884 pages as if he wrote them today. The style is pure Victorian -- run-on sentences galore -- but the analysis is rapier-sharp. My opinion -- get this book, and have your mind changed. You will never see American government the same way again.

PATRICK McGRATH The Campaign for Responsible Government Stony Point, NY

This is the classic text on the transportation revolution of the first half of the 19th century. An excellent read. Highly recommended among historians.

My grandfather was part of a pioneer family in Idaho, and this book holds a special place in his heart. He loaned it to me years ago, but I didn't get around to reading it until recently. I was spellbound by the blend of fiction (I'm not entirely sure that it isn't a true history, but it reads like an amazing novel) and historical and geographical facts about the state in which I live. Not just for history buffs or Idahoans; this book is for anyone who loves the idea of the untamed West or wonders what white/American-Indian relations were like at the turn of the century. You will be amazed and perhaps inspired to visit some of the actual places mentioned (Shoshone Ice Caves and Craters of the Moon, among other natural beauties). Enjoy!! (SO glad to see that this is being re-printed, as I'd like my own and need to return my grandfather's collectible, signed edition (1933 in Caldwell, Idaho, was the first printing.)

Baseball fans will enjoy the historical aspects of life in the major leagues in early 20th century America.

Es un libro de historia, muy bien documentado.El autor presenta la politica de EE.UU. durante el s. XX, analizando una docena de intervenciones militares en el extranjero. En ellas el Coloso del Norte aplica su poder politico y militar para expandir su territorio y su imperio politico. El Tio Sam sigue la ideologia del "Destino Manifiesto". Asi, enmascarado de falsa filantropia, se convierte en la unica superpotencia politica y militar de nuestro mundo.El autor le pide centenares de veces a esta moderna Ninive que se arrepienta de su pecado.

Terrific book - it is my son's favorite since he could first distinguish the pages. We are English speakers trying to bring up our son with at least some partial knowledge of Spanish and this book is a fun introduction as well. In fact, he loves it so much that he's worn it out and we need to purchase a second one.

Thorsten Veblen writes like a turn of the century lawyer with a snide, subtle, and wicked anger he humorously avoids concealing. His vision of American culture is so sound, so prescient, and so deeply irreverential towards all we hold dear, and he has much to teach us. I read this book because the introduction to The Technological Society, by Jacques Ellul says this book is better. Also because I've been dazzled by Veblen's other works Conspicuous Consumption and The Theory of the Leisure Class. This book, originally published in 1919 or thereabouts, is witnessing the nascent Soviet Union from afar, and the corporate corruption, stilled and consolidated into the Federal Reserve, up close. He sees the wealthy status quo as irrelevant saboteurs (the first chapter defines this term, with his characteristic scrupulosity)to the vital economic health of the country, and decries the advent of corporate takeover. He proposes a 'Soviet of Technicians' which the more optimistic of us could claim as a prediction of the rise of the Sciences in America during the twentieth century. However the final chapter is interpreted in retrospect, it is nonetheless an important commentary about the dynamics between capital and technology during the turn of the century. The bitter anger of his repeated use of the term, just yet, says a lot about his laconic and profound turn of mind. Please, materialists, read Mr. Veblen and find your way out!!!

John M. Chernoff's "Exchange Is Not Robbery" continues the adventures of Hawa, the West African bar girl introduced in "Hustling Is Not Stealing", which appeared several years ago. The two volumes are best read continuously, giving the reader the benefit of Chernoff's comprehensive and fascinating introduction to the first book. Hawa's vibrant personality and humor continue, but as she returns to Burkina Faso, the tone darkens somewhat. She moves between Ouagadougou and the village where her sick father lives, making observations about the sexual politics of being an "ashawo" and the economic stresses of the independent lifestyle she has chosen. Hilarious, but awful at the same time, are the stories of her encounters with French men (of whom she has a very low opinion!) and the lengths to which she must go just to survive. Awful but not hilarious at all is the oppressiveness of village life for women. Hawa never becomes bitter, but she expresses a greater sense of what her autonomy has cost her. This volume is also rich with folklore and magic, which blend seamlessly into the harshest realities. This book, like its predecessor, is unique and absolutely wonderful. I was sorry when it ended.

In this short but searching examination of how foreign aid and foreign policy interact, based on the Elihu Root Lectures delivered at the Council on Foreign Relations in 1963, Edward S. Mason reviews the priciples and practices of the U.S. foreign aid program. He analyzes what aid is, what kind of instrument it is, and what manner of policy it is designed to serve.

Since the interests of the aid-giving countries, in contrast to those of the aid recipients, are not always easy to spell out, one chapter bears the subtitle "In Search of a Rationale." Here, Dr. Mason clarifies the connections between development assistance, economic development, and the political and social consequences. His purpose, as he phrases it, is to discover some "statement of ends, and of means appropriate to the attainment of these ends, sufficiently persuasive to secure continuing support from Congress and the voting public." In this connection he also discusses the thorny difficulties of reaching agreement with the other donor countries of the West on an equitable sharing of the foreign aid burden.

U.S. foreign aid is predominantly bilateral, but we have embarked on an extensive regional enterprise, the Alliance for Progress. Dr. Mason reviews the problems which have bedeviled the early life of Alliance and suggests courses of action which may serve to reduce such dificulties in the future. Throughout this book, Dr. Mason presents sharp ansd knowledgable insight into the role of foreign aid and the problems it raises. He does so in languages and ideas which are clearly understandable to the reader whose grasp of economics is some distance behind the desire to discern its eddects in today's world.
--- from book'ss back cover