Governments

This book directly addresses the issues we're confronting today with Enron and the mutual fund crises. Why would wealthy, successful people jeopardize their lives and security for money?

For those of us who live in fundamentally urban centers, this book provides a lovely depiction of the low country. It's as if it were a travelogue merged with a highly topical thriller.

Carl T. Smith's LOWCOUNTRY BOIL is much hotter than the two-hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit that gets water to steaming. This story steams from word one of the prologue to the last word of the epilogue. The protagonist, Sam Larkin, is an enigma, maybe a bad guy-maybe a good guy. I'm not going to give this complex story away, but I will tell that it's populated with a Southern town full of crooked citizens. There's corruption, conspiracy and murder. Add a vast drug conspiracy insanity, infidelity, murder, suicide, heroism and hot women and you have a roiling boil. Read LOWCOUNTRY BOIL . You won't be sorry

I came across this book at the Book Expo in L.A. -- and loved it. I was hooked from the very first paragraph. A real page-turner. A steamy mystery thriller that kept me on the edge right up until the end. Sam Larkin and Karen Chaney are a great new team. I can't wait until the second one.

This book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Dick Russell is quite possibly THE very best JFK Assassination book ever written.
Russell makes a startling case for a JFK Assassination resolution with this wonderful, 40th anniversary edition of his book based on the life of Richard Case Nagell.
Nagell, in a word, was an enigma, Just like the assassination that he shed so much light on was also an enigma.......until now.
Nagell, a former CIA man and Military Intelligence agent (As well as KGB agent too!) trusted Dick Russell so much, that he met with him, and corresponded with him for many years. In each of these correspondences, Nagell revealed bits and pieces about what he knew about the Conspiracy to kill JFK, and make no mistake, Nagell knew alot!
Too Much in fact, hence the title of this book.
Nagell stumbled upon the actual assassination plots (Notice I said "Plots", plural) that resulted in the assassination in Dallas, of President John F Kennedy.
That in of itself is startling, but even more startling than that is the fact that Nagell warned FBI Director J Edgar Hoover about the plots to kill Kennedy two months BEFORE the assassination took place!
Russell meticulously puts all of the loose ends of Nagell's story together and forms a very plausible solution to the assassination, and exposes who very well could be the true forces behind the murder of JFK.
You may ask, "What makes this book any different from other JFK Assassination books?"
The answer is that the other JFK Assassination books didnt have PROVEN sources that were actually involved with the people who killed Kennedy. Russell's source (Nagell) WAS DIRECTLY INVOLVED! Nagell was not only involved with these people, but he actually infiltrated the group and tape recorded them talking about the assassination of Kennedy!
Nagell also claims to have a photo of him and Lee Harvey Oswald.
It is proven that Nagell and Oswald had lots in common......so much so that Nagell thought that he himself may have been a consideration for the Patsy in the murder. And this takes us full circle into how Nagell's story became public to begin with......Nagell purposely got himself arrested so that he would have an alibi for his whereabouts two months later when Kennedy was killed!
Nagell was "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and he was put into a horrible position that forced him to work with the KGB (The Soviet's equivalent of the CIA). In fact, Nagell was hired by the KGB to kill someone. Someone VERY familiar to JFK assassination researchers. Someone named Lee Harvey Oswald!
It is a long, immensely exciting story, but I will leave the rest for Russell to tell you about.
When you read this book, it will feel as if you are actually learning the truth, the REAL truth about the assassination of JFK. Its almost as if you have secretly broken into the government's secret vault marked "Truth about the JFK Assassination".
You will be transported right into the true circumstances that resulted in the assassination, and you will finally understand many of the aspects of the murder that have been a mystery for over 40 years.
If ever a book was worthy of being made into a Hollywood Blockbuster movie, it is this book. And it may well yet be made into a movie. It certainly is full of mystery, intrigue, excitement, and many other elements that make this book a great candidate for a big budget movie.
This book is the utlimate "Spy Novel".
It makes the James Bond movies pale in comparison, because this story is a true one!
For the most interesting, exciting, and startling JFK assassination book you will ever read, I highly recommend this book.
Did Richard Case Nagell stumble upon the actual JFK Assassination plot? I will leave that for you to decide. But while you are pondering that question, keep this in mind........ Nagell was finally about to tell his story to an official government committee, but was found dead in his apartment before he ever had a chance to tell the Commitee all that he knew about the case.
The mystery has only deepened with Nagell's death.
To fully understand the JFK murder mystery, this book is a must read!
By the way, what was the cause of Nagell's death?
Well, just between you and I, .....the cause of death was in all likelihood because Nagell truly was "The Man Who Knew Too Much".

I am now in my 4th year of ongoing research into the lives of JFK/RFK and their assassinations, which will soon culminate in the writing of a historical fiction volume(s). I have over 1,000 pages of typed notes on my laptop. My bibliography is 6 pages long to date. I have been to Dealey Plaza, and I have researched at the National Archives.
To summarize my opinion of this relatively unheard of, brilliantly presented account of Richard Case Nagell's life and its implications, I am simply going to show you one quote.
In 1994, the Assassinations Records Review Board (ARRB) attempted to contact Mr. Nagell pertaining to their investigation into the declassification of documents relating to JFK's death. They were the first governmental committee to do so. The Warren Commission never did, and neither did the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in 1976. The ARRB dispatched notification to Mr. Nagell in October 1994, which was 2 years after Nagell first told his story to the author of this book, Dick Russell.
The ARRB's Final Report was released in 1995. This quote is from page 133 of that Report:
"Subsequently, the Review Board was informed that Nagell had been found dead in his Los Angeles apartment the day after the ARRB's letter was mailed. (The coroner ruled that he died as a result of natural causes.)"

Dick Russell's first edition of The Man Who Knew Too Much published in 1992 was a ground-breaking book, but the latest edition, just published in 2003, takes us even deeper into the almost unbelievable--but real--world of Richard Case Nagell. The latest edition includes information from recently released documents finally made available to the public, as well as information obtained from recent interviews, such as with a relative of David Atlee Phillips. It also contains new information about the circumstances surrounding the death of Nagell in 1995, an event that occurred with unfortunate timing--just as the Assassination Records Review Board was getting in touch with Nagell. Whether you've read many books about the JFK assassination, or are looking for your first in order to try to begin understanding what really led up to the killing of JFK and who was involved, this book is indispensible to understanding what happened 40 years ago. You will learn about Nagell and what he knew about the central and peripheral characters involved in the JFK assassination plot, such as Guy Banister, David Ferrie, and the anti-Castro Cubans who played a role in these history changing events.

Our whole family thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was written by a 13-year-old, which gave it interesting insights, yet was extremely well written. We read it aloud during a recent 1,000 mile trip and were inspired by Amy's courage and dedication. The ending was truly inspirational. It's a great book to give to any teenager (my 13-year-old daughter did most of the reading) to inspire them to have goals and reach out to achieve them. Highly recommended!

I got this book for Christmas last year, and I have to say that I enjoyed it immensely!! Amy tell story after [interresting, funny, heartwarming] story, and the spririt of adventure in this books inspires the readers to "reach really high" themselves!! After reading of Amy's accomplishment, I too wanted to get out and DO something!!

i am not yet finished w/ my american adventure but it is the most ^ lifting book my dream was to go on an "american adventure" and this summer my family is going to try to get on the road . and my goal is to record everyting and write a book about it. thats when i found my american adventure i was so excited that there was a book about somthing similar dream that i could read about!!! thanks amy,jon,emily,and kurt

So much of what happened during the political development of Micronesia now come to light as a result of this well researched book. Until now, much of what transpired during the political status negotiations required tedious search in US government archives and the Library of Congress. That is if the documents were declassified. This book is insightful.

So mucy of what happened during the political development of Micronesia now come to light as a result of this well researched book. Until now, much of what transpired during the political status negotiations required tedious search in US government archives or the Library of Congress (if unclassified). Insightful!

I speak as one who has lived in the Northern Mariana Islands for more than thirty years, and who had a role in the events (I was one of those who were interviewed) and who knew and worked with many of the central figures involved in them. Willens and Siemer have written a thoroughly researched and historically accurate work, and one which I enjoyed reading immensely -- as will anyone interested in this corner of the Pacific.

This book is a collection of political columns, written mostly for the Baltimore Sun, that H.L. Mencken penned in the early twentieth century. In virtually every piece, Mencken advances the view that politicians are third-rate men, devoid of convictions, willing to follow any platform that will make them electable. The only politicians Mencken likes are those that he believes have spine. He detests politicians that waver, particularly those that try to sit on both sides of the fence on the abolition issue.
Mencken is at his best when he covers presidential campaigns, as he does in many columns in this collection. He revels in the empty rhetoric he hears, and describes the bilge to the reader in truculent and uncompromising language. The whole art of politics, to him, is circus-like. The pols are clowns and their election speeches are the main act.
Anyone looking for sober commentary should look elsewhere. But anyone looking for extremely witty, well-written and combative columns should pick up this collection. There is probably no better example of attack-dog journalism out there, nor is there likely a more entertaining way to get a quick history lesson on the important political figures and issues of the early twentieth century. Enjoy!

If you are looking for a book on H.L. Mencken, I would highly recommend "On Politics." This book highlights Mencken at his most acidic through his constant verbal jabs at the "holy" Woodrow Wilson, "Silent" Cal, the "royalist" Hoover, Roosevelt Minor and the stupidity of Warren Harding.(Note: Take a look at what Mencken writes about Harding's mangling of the english language and then compare it to what some modern columnists write about George W's handling of the language. It is truly scary how history repeats itself.)

Besides being an utterly hilarious look at the aforementioned presidents and American society in general, this book is quite eye-opening in terms of showing Mencken's political leanings. I always thought that Mencken was a pure liberatarian with his constant attacks on the New Deal and FDR. Actually, Mencken somewhat liked FDR up until he was elected. Mencken also sides with progressive politicians such as Robert M. LaFollete and expresses sympathy (or as much "sympathy" as the great misanthrope can express) for jailed socialist leader Eugene Debs. Nevertheless, all of the aforementioned people also receive Mencken verbal lashings.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in early 20th century American politics or for anyone with a slightly cynical bent. On days when you feel slightly misanthropic and (mad) at the world, read "On Politics" and you feel much, much better.

Favorite Mencken Quote: "All artists are idiots."

Buy everything you can find that was written by H. L Mencken, this collection is no exception. Mencken was one of the most influential and popular men of letters in America. He covered the Scopes Monkey Trial as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, and was editor of two literary magazines: Smart Set and the American Mercury. His popularity waned for a variety of reasons. While he teased presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, he gave no quarter when it came to FDR, referring to him "Dr. Roosevelt" and "Roosevelt minor." He had little use for the New Deal. "The New Deal began, like the Salvation Army, by promising to save humanity. It ended, again like the Salvation Army, by running flop-houses and disturbing the peace." This and his pro-German attitudes didn't go over too well in the depression and war years. But over the last twenty or thirty years Mencken has enjoyed a resurgence or interest and popularity. As a journalist, a wit and a social critic he has no peer today.

The author recounts many unpleasant facts. Actually he buries the reader under a mountain of facts and documentation about the conflict in Liberia, so much so that you get the eerie feeling of becoming numb to the violence. That being said, he redeems himself by offering some very solid pearls of wisdom about U.S. foreign policy and how it made, destroyed, and can restore this war-ravaged West African country. I am glad I persevered to the end.

The author is not an African, but he has a rare understanding of Africa and Africans that permeates every page. If you're not an African - or maybe you're an African, but have not followed politics much -- you will understand the continent differently after reading this book. The author, a scholar and diplomat, recounts many of the sad, well-known stories of violence and horror. However, he distinguishes himself by arguing the need for Africans to stand up and take responsibility for the endemic problems of their homeland rather than forever waiting for others to bring them solutions. That insight, at once both respectful and provocative, is truly rare.

The disturbing tragedy of Liberia's descent from a refuge for the freed slaves and other African-Americans from the Americas into a Reagan-backed cold war dictatorship, violent civil war, and the despotism of a warlord-turned-president (Charles Taylor) is an important lesson about the very real threat that so-called failed states present not only to their own citizens, but to the entire international community. Dr. Pham lucidly narrates this history, uplifting a depressing series of facts with his penetrating analysis. While the account is not easy, it is an eloquent call for reexamining not only U.S. foreign policy with respect to Liberia, but also our perceptions of contemporary African crises in general. If some good might come from the Liberian tragedy, it might be in the salutary lessons that this profound book invites us to learn from one of the twentieth century's forgotten tragedies.

Its amazing how quickly we forget our leaders. After serving 31 years in Congress, running one of the most likeable Presidential campaigns in history, and nearly getting elected majority leader of the U.S. House of Represenatives, Democrat Morris Udall's political career was cruelly and tragically brought to a halt by Parkinson's disease. Once famed as perhaps the wittiest man in Congress (as well as one of the most effective), Udall died seven years after his retirement -- his sterling wit permanently silenced as the disease robbed him of his ability to speak. Most tragically, this man who -- with his brother Stewart -- co-founded both the current conservation movement and America's first Mormon political clan, died a forgotten figure, remembered only by a few political junkies like myself. Fortunately, however, Donald Carson and James Johnson have produced a wonderfully engaging biography of this man that gives us a warts-and-all portrait of a remarkable public servant. While giving ample reason why the man was so beloved, they also don't flinch from revealing why Morris Udall ultimately remained a mystery to even his own family. Unlike other political biographies, this book neither sets out to debunk or canonize Rep. Udall but instead stands as a sharp portrait of a complex man whose public service -- whether you agreed with his liberal politics or not (I certainly don't) -- made this country a better place.

Written in a breezy, conversational tone that still manages to maintain a proper biographical distance, Mo follows Udall from his strict Mormon childhood in Arizona to his first election to the U.S. House. While a great deal of the book focuses on Udall's legislative achievements -- Udall was an environmentalist before it become trendy -- the best of the early chapters deal with Udall as a liberal upstart setting out to reform the stodgy House. As Udall himself would often wryly point out, his political life was often a bizarre tragic comedy of second-place finishes that ultimately became victories for others. Both of Udall's insurgent campaigns for both Speaker and Majority Leader ended in failure but sparked the revolution that overthrew (however briefly) the Congressional seniority system. The book's highlight is the detailing of Udall's 1976 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination where he managed to finish second in a record number of primaries without ever once finishing first. If Udall didn't set the electorate on fire, he did distinguish himself by revealing himself to be one of the most genuinely witty Presidential wanna-bes to ever pop up on a primary ballot (or, as one columnist put it, "Is Morris Udall to funny to be President?" That's the 70s talking. As of late, some genuine and intentional humor in American politics would be a bit of a relief, I'd think.) The campaign made Udall famous for his wit but as this biography reveals, that wit often concealed a rather distant temperment that so focused on work that even his own children grew up calling him "Mo." As a politician, Udall was that rare thing -- an honest and sincere compassionate liberal who actually saw big government as a way to help the downtrodden. Yet this same man who dedicated his life to helping strangers drove one wife to divorce and another to alcoholism and suicide. The dichotomy makes for a fascinating read and Carson and Johnson explore these issues without ever descending into lurid muckracking. The book concludes with a touching (and quite frankly heartbreaking) section dealing with Udall's final, brave, and tragic battle with Parkinson's Disease (which, as I read it, was also sadly reminicent of Ronald Reagan's -- another politician never given the respect that was his due -- current battle with Alzheimer's; another nefarious disease that, like Parkinson's, cruelly robs men and women of their dignity without reason or warning.)

Despite the fact that, politically, I'm probably about as far to the right as the late Congressman Morris Udall was to the left, I still find myself mourning the comically tragic failure of his 1976 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination. As the election was the first post-Watergate election and the Republican Party was going through one of its periodic near-deaths, the election of a Democrat was pretty much assured. All Udall had to do was win the nomination and, for four years at least, a one-eyed, 6'5, former probasketball player and nonpracticing Mormon named Mo Udall would have been President. Of course, the nomination didn't go to Udall but instead went to the far less witty Jimmy Carter. Considering the way the world was in the late 70s, its doubtful Udall would have had any a better time of it than Carter but instead of hearing that America's problems were due to "malaise," a President Udall would at least find time to tell at least one corny, Ayatollah joke. And, even if the voters didn't realize it at the time, America would have been better off for that joke. Just as its now better off to have this book to remember Morris Udall by.

Morris King Udall was one of the great Democrats of the 20th century. After reading this book, you will see why - and you will also regard "Mo" as one of the greatest legislators of the last century. Rep. Udall certainly was one of the most complicated.

The strength of this book rests in the writing style as the authors present a human portrait of a legendary politician who is model public servant. The writing is tight and the story is brisk. The book is a solid work that covers all the facts in Udall's public and private lives - warts and all. It is a perfect blend of personality and public policy as the book discusses Udall's towering legislative achievements regarding environmental protection and Native American rights, his legendary and futile White House run, all the while describing the price his career cost his family and, with heart-breaking impact, the toll Parkinson's Disease took on the legendary Arizonan and his unrelenting battle against the illness.

By the end of the book, regardless of political persuasion, you will regret that there are no more Mo Udalls in public life today. And, you may lament, as I did, that Morris Udall never achieved his dream of serving as President of the United States.

Every student of U.S. politics or Arizona history should read this book. Carson and Johnson thoroughly and brilliantly chronicle the life of a man who profoundly influenced the course of America in ways that politicians of greater renown never did. The authors reveal how Mo Udall could champion the most liberal causes and yet gain the respect of someone as conservative as Barry Goldwater. Read this book and you'll wonder what turns America might have taken had Udall fulfilled his dream of becoming president.

Michael Barone is the co-creator (with Grant Ujifusa) of the Almanac of American Politics, itself an almost inexhaustible well of the curious and (sometimes) interesting. Our Country is an effort to put the same sensibility to work in a narrative history. Barone has absorbed a lot and forgotten little, and he likes to remind the reader of things others are more likely to forget. Civil rights, for example. One wing of the Republican party had its roots planted firmly in the abolitionist movement, dating back to before the Civil War. You could call it "the Eisenhower wing," if you were clear that it did not include Eisenhower. As general, and later as president, it seems fair to say that Eisenhower just didn't get it - not so much hostility to blacks as a kind of blank incomprehension - why weren't they willing to keep the place (one is tempted to make comparisons with General Sherman). Lyndon Johnson, by contrast, is one who emphatically did get it. Vulnerable and insecure as he always saw himself, Johnson was able to show real empathy for the plight of American Blacks. So we have the kind of irony so familiar in politics - the soldier-statesman who didn't get it, imposing a civil rights bill on Congress against the best efforts of the cracker politician who did.

Barone obviously relishes the irony there, but he likes the story in particular because of an even more consistent enthusiasm. That is: he is fascinated by the hard work of governing, which he comes close to glamorizing in its very unglamorousness. You can see it perhaps best in his appreciative account of a man who he nominates as a forgotten progenitor of modern social legislation - Robert Wagner, the senator and father, inter alia, of the Wagner Labor Relations Act. Without Wagner, as Barone tells it, the New Deal's legislative agenda would have been a lot more insipid. It perhaps explains also his affection for Hubert Humphrey - a name perhaps mostly forgotten today, or remembered if at all only in the sour aftertaste of the 1968 presidential election, which he lost to Richard Nixon.

What perhaps gives zest to Barone's account is that for all his skill as a data-miner, he believes at the end that politics is culture and not economics that divides us or draws us together. It impels him to insist that there is a society more important than its contentions and divisions, more than the sum of its parts - in some sense, a res publica, or (back to Barone's title here) "Our Country." Only one afterthought: this is another book that cries out for an new edition.

Two warnings: First, the book is long. Second, the author is conservative and doesn't make an effort to hide it. If these facts don't disturb you then I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is a wonderful story of twentieth-century American politics, crammed with polls, stats, and insightful commentary. Why has ethnicity been a more important factor in politics than class? How did the political pendulum shift from conservatism to liberalism to conservatism again? Who are some of the most important statesmen in history that you've never heard of? And much, much more. If Michael Barone's "The Almanac of American Politics" is the Holy Bible of politics, then this work is a book of prayer.

Barone knows American political history inside and out. He gives the reader crisp, incisive portraits of individuals from Henry Wallace to Jack Kemp, of legislation from the Taft-Hartley Act to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- and he shows the reader how these people and measures fit into and shaped the world as it existed in their time. (The first two chapters, in which he presents brief portraits of Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Tammany Hall politico Charles Murphy, brilliantly illuminate how Republicans and Democrats thought and felt about their country in the early 1920s.) In addition, Barone knows the hard data of politics -- survey results, voting patterns, demographics -- and analyzes them in ways which often produce striking insights. His analysis of the timing and nature of the New Deal realignment, and the patchy and hesitant way in which liberal policies came to be accepted in the three decades or so following 1932, ought to be read by anyone interested in how ideological shifts really take place in American politics. Lastly, Barone (a journalist and former Democratic activist) recognizes and respects the achievements of the United States in the twentieth century -- and doesn't define "achievement" solely as "movement towards the political left" (as many other writers on American history, even sincere admirers like Harold Evans, sometime seem to do.) I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone with an interest in twentieth-century political and social change.

It is difficult to top a book on Michael Collins composed primarily of his own words. After all, what better way to peek into his brilliant mind than by reading his words? This book was indeed published to coincide with the release of Neil Jordan's film in 1996, ostensibly to give curious moviegoers a way to better understand Collins before or after viewing the biopic. Tim Pat Coogan's foreword to the book is excellent and shows him in his usual top form. The book's chapters are "Advance and Use Our Liberties," "Alternative to the Treaty," "The Proof of Success," "Four Historic Years," "Collapse of the Terror," "Partition Act's Failure," "Why Britain Sought Irish Peace," "Distinctive Culture," "Building up Ireland," and "Freedom within Grasp." This book sheds light on how articulate, well read, historically aware and insightful Collins actually was. It is too often thought that Collins was a country bumpkin whose knowledge of anything beyond 'murder and mayhem' was quite limited. This simply isn't the case and it becomes apparent almost immediately into the book that Collins was a more than capable thinker. Collins discusses Ireland's tumultuous history, the accomplishments of the Easter Rising, the political events of 1914-1918, the many aspects of British rule, the potential resources of Ireland, and the work of Sinn Féin.

If you are looking for a traditional biography on Collins, this is probably not the right selection for you. _Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland_, the book Tim Pat Coogan excerpted his foreword from, would be a much better fit for that need. If you are already basically familiar with the life and times of Collins, this book will give you a much richer sense of how his mind worked.

These essays or articles are engrossing reading for the insight they provide into the mind of one of the most fascinating revolutionary leaders in modern history. Thought of by many during his time and even now as a 'terrorist' or gunman, these writings reveal Collins to be a thoughtful, intelligent leader with a far-ranging interest in all aspects of the present and future of his country. Had he lived it seems very clear that the quality of his mind and the compassionate concern he had for his people would have made him as formidible a leader in peacetime as he was in war. His death was Ireland's great loss but he left an impressive legacy.

Michael Collins own words provide a clear and insightful look at life in Ireland circa 1921, delving into the social conditions and circumstance that led to the infamous Black and Tan War. This book helped me see that enormous importance of the independence movement of the time, how Ireland was not even recognized as its own country, and what it meant to finally achieve that status. I could not picture a world without a free, seperate Ireland, its amazing to me that this was the case up until well into this century. Micheal Colins here is addressing the people directly, so you get a head-on view of the realities of the times without a lot of historical or sociological analysis. Thats good, because its better to encounter his words personally, to understand the case he is making in all its simplicity: The Irish people are, now and forever, Free!

An great book for understanding about leadership in ancient Athens. Since Pericles was elected to the position of general once a year he was required to walk a political tightrope. This book will give you a good feel for the difficulties of yearly elections. You will not get great detail for the life of Pericle beyond Plutarch. Fans of leadership, democracy, warfare and international relations this book is a must!

This is a good biography of a great man. Kagan not only distills a great deal of information into a very accessable book, he also manages to impart understanding and insight about Pericles and his Athens. This book is valuable to anyone interested in classical Greece. With particular emphasis - anyone contemplating an attack on "The Peloponnesian War" by Thucydides would do well to get "Pericles" as a companion. Even if you already have Thucydides under your belt, you will probably gain fresh insight into that famously difficult work through Kagan's lucid exposition.

In reading Kagan's epochal Peloponnesian War series (if Amazon had a six-star rating that series would deserve it) one is struck by the relative paucity of material present on one of the central characters of that period, Perikles of Athens. While Kagan gives his usual detailed treatment of events, what led up to many of Perikles' attitudes and intellectual precepts is left untreated.

A reader lucky enough to possess this volume will find the time spent in reading it in parallel with the four-volume magnum opus to be well spent. It supplies a view of the great man and his city with a color and richness that truly makes the reader's cup overflow, and might, if treated in this detail in the larger series, have slowed the latter's breakneck pace to a crawl. It is, of course, wonderful as a standalone reference.

Readers unfamiliar with Professor Kagan are missing a real treat. His prose is lean and concise, and its vividness lights the sometimes bland subject material of ancient Greek history with clarity and a contemporary relevance that is always illuminating and occasionally breathtaking. This is not "pop" history, but it is so well-written that it achieves the latter's accessibility without its superfluity. If more ancient history were written this way it would a much more popular subject of study.