Governments

As someone who has done alot of research on the middle east, having read countless books on the matter and journals, I can honestly say that no present account is better than Enderlin's account of the failed peace process. The main reason are his sources. Most of his sources are all the people involved, from Shimon Peres, to the european delegation, Palestinian ministers, transcripts between Clinton and the leaders, even transcripts of Syria's Assad! The book is very fair in the sense that it does not place an emotional blame, just describes what happened and who did what. If you want to understand where we are now and how the tragic mistakes of the past can be avoided, read this book. You will not regret it.

This book is most interesting as it shows you how each side ( US, Palestinian, Israel) approached the peace negotiations process and how misunderstandings, political pressures, fundamental policy differences, promises made by one & retracted by another, the lack of preparation and trust lead all contributed to the failure of the Clinton Peace talks.

It is truely a behind the scenes view of the entire process.

It also covers how each side, especially the Israelis, managed the peace process. The management of press reports(pages 215 to 217)is just one aspect that I found most enlightning.

I would make this book required reading for anyone engaged in the study/practice of international negotiations.

Charles Enderlin (a French journalist in Jerusalem) has done a great service not only to Israelis and Palestinians but also to American observers of the conflict. With his inside access to the negotiators, Enderlin gives the reader a vast amount of primary material.

What were the two sides discussing? How did the negotiations work? Why did the summit at Camp David fail? Did either side really want peace? Enderlin has his answers, but he also gives the reader the opportunity to make his/her own judgments.

As Beilin, Sher, Ben-Ami, Ross, and others publish accounts as participants in the process, it is very helpful to have Enderlin's book as a resource. For anyone interested in understanding the failed attempt to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Enderlin's book will be essential reading.

Perhaps there may be too many names for a reader unfamiliar with the setting and the plot, but the main character, the Lithuanian people, could not have asked for a better story teller.
I was in Vilnius in August, September, October and part of Novembember of 1990, and met many of the individuals mentioned in the book, as well as others, yet unnamed. Perhaps I should have kept a diary and recorded some of the events that should be known. I would be glad to share them with Mr. Krickus, if he chose to contact me.

Krickus, who was on the ground in Lithuania for much of the period, offers a well written and insightful account of the Lithuanian independence movement during the later Gorbachev years. Unlike many foreign observers, he is sensitive to the differences in personality and tactics that emerged in the Sajudis movement. The description of the Soviet attempt to take the TV tower is particularly moving (I know some people who were there that night). I suspect Krickus is slightly overestimating the effect of Lithuanian resistance on the outcome of the August coup attempt, but this is a minor quibble.

Krickus' work in this area is told in the format of a novel, not dry history. The people involved in critical moments are real. It is a compelling story and one that puts into perspective why the expansion of NATO should include the Baltic states.

Ms. Smith's honesty and eloquence in telling a profoundly American story about the perfidy of the South of her childhood is a literary tour de force about an immensely important slice of American history. It is a profoundly American tragedy fashioned from the most basic of human materials, human fallibilities, many of which still consume us as Americans--black or white, north or south. This book is the most sombering account of who we Americans are--as opposed to who we wished we were--anyone is likely to ever encounter. Unfortunately, since her death, Ms. Smith's story of about race, sex, religion, politics, economics and deception in the south has become the American way of life, writ large.

The lucid and careful telling of Ms Smith's story is a great contributions to understanding our time and place. The hidden issues of race and injustice continue to plague our country. So much of it seems incomprehensible because it is wrapped in Christian Theology. Ms Smith reveals the secrets that keep the evil and pain alive.

I had a History professor who assigned this book for reading no matter what course he was teaching. I didn't understand why until several years after I finshed college. Ms. Smith describes the "ghosts" of the consciousness of the American south, the mythical fears that separate the races, in a way that is literate, poetic and unflinching. If you want to understand the history of the South, this book will fill in the gaps for you.

After "Stalinism for All Seasons" it must be truly depressing to consider writing books of political sociology on the topic of the communist grand narrative. This is not only because Tismaneanu's opus, the outcome of a lifelong fascination with the topic, is so well-stocked with quality historical data (his archival research, and access to unique resources can hardly be replicated), but also because the author is a genuine maestro of both analytical insight and of a captivating writing style.
It is astonishing how he managed to strike the right balance between a sociological-political excursus of great analytical accuracy with a novel-like narrative that stretches over almost a century and whose charm ruins your work agenda for several days.
Although the book's focus is the case of the pariah Romanian Communist Party, Tismaneanu immerses this case in the wider phenomenon of world communism. The reader is stunned to discover, en premiere, the constitution of informal transnational party networks and narratives that spanned from Vietnam to Greece, and Romania. Particularly fascinating are Tismaneanu's foray into mechanisms of Leninist and Stalinist manipulation of the (rather excessively)romanticized world communism" of the 20s and 30s, as well as his treatment of the role of memory, charisma, nationalism and aesthetics in the ascension, ossification and in the decay of the party.
We have access to the operationalization of general issues of interest for political scientists such as puzzling hybridizations of mechanisms for political power conquest and maintenance, the crucial role of personalities (that escapes facile research designs accomodation), how resources are distributed and conflits are settled in opaque political machines.
For those interested in how birth pathologies impact the subsequent development of radical political projects that end up reaching the lands of dystopia, this read is undoubtedly set to be on list of classics.

Briefly - this multi-layer book is a masterpiece of modern political science. This history of Romanian Communism is one particular case speaking crystal-clear about global Communism . Due to Vladimir Tismaneanu and his history of Romanian Communism we have an accurate, a splendid x-ray of Communism in the world.
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More than that this book is as a wonderful political novel - written by Vladimir Tismaneanu with genius and, believe me, plenty of fine, ironical humor.

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Therefore, reading this work, you can easily re-make historically and politically the whole nightmare of the Communist era, in Romania, and in Europe, and world-wide as well. Yes - a tragic nightmare. A disaster.
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Vladimir Tismaneanu presents to us, with knowledge and skills of a master in laser-surgery, the anatomy and the functions of this Monster , Communism - alas ! somehow still alive . His lesson is a fundamental lesson about humankind's fatal errors and disasters ... which we do not have the right to repeat and re-live. At least, because you have to admit this terrible reality: nazism = communism = Islamic terrorism. At last but not at least, considering this irrefutable truth - I warmly recommend you the lesson of Vladimir Tismaneanu, his work as a unique book of our modern times. A healing book !
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And, for this lesson, we definitely have to be grateful, from the bottom of our hearts, to Vladimir Tismaneanu - who is practically the genuine creator of the modern school of Romanian political science.

Professor Tismaneanu, one of the sharpest analysts in the field of Eastern European politics, has written what is no doubt the definitive comprehensive study of the Romanian Communist Party. Brilliantly written and painstakingly researched over many years, the work will be appreciated by anybody interested in Eastern European politics or the stalinist system and its various deviations.

A solid political science work, the prose is lively and the entire work, complete with the cast of characters at the end, reminds me more of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury than other blander political analyses.

A superb book.

THE STAR CHAMBER is a very interesting book on several levels. It is most obviously an expose of the workings of the Office of Independent Counsel during the Clinton years. We learn about the horrors of the politics of personal destruction and such related issues as the need to read all newspapers with a large amount of skepticism.

John Wilkes is a pseudonym used by Stephen Smith. The author possesses a broad background in politics, academia and the law. As a result, he is able to shower the reader with original insights into a wide variety of people, events and situations.

If the reader looks carefully THE STAR CHAMBER can also be read as a love story and partly because of this the book often manages to maintain an optimistic tone.

Every American that cares about our Democracy needs to understand what is behind the Independent Counsel's investigation of our President. The Star Chamber helped me put the investigation in the proper perspective. This "Insider's Account", while written as fiction, rings true and places people and events in an understandable, and believable, context.

Insider John Wilkes, nom de plume of Whitewater figure Stephen Smith, takes a bitingly witty, albeit incredulous and occasionally bitter, view of political scandal. Set in the state of Alabama, the scandal involves a former governor subsequently elected President and a real estate venture gone wrong. Initially an investigation of presidential culpability by a truly independent council, an opportunistic takeover by a seasoned politico cum prosecutor turns the whole mess into a vengeful bloodbath. Only the blood that gets spilled is that of the innocent.

John Wilkes participation as a part of the independent council's legal team puts him in historic civil rights territory, Birmingham, Alabama. The story is laced with Alabama political figures that bring the story to life and aid in the reader's suspension of disbelief. While Wilkes, in the "Forewarning" comments, assures the reader that the book "is pure political parody" and that he "made it all up," my personal experiences in Republican politics in Alabama often paralleled events in the book. Like Miss Eudora and Beth Henley in Mississippi, or Flannery O'Connor in Georgia, John Wilkes AKA Smith knows his southerners and can tell their stories. Like Henley, Wilkes does not tell jokes, but the scenes he depicts range from the patently heart-rending to uproariously funny.

Unlike his fellow Southern writers, Wilkes also knows his politicians, having been one himself in his other identity as Stephen Smith. Besides being a duly elected legislator, Smith also served as an appointee of then-Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. Readers, Wilkes' assurances aside, will read fiction strongly resembling what Wilkes often refers to as the fiction of current political news stories.

What gives this book extra value is Smith's understanding of the legal processes and the liberal (no pun intended) smattering of legalistic analyses peppered with Latin bon mots. Given the context of today's news, this book is a page-turner that no observer of American politics will want to miss. The denouement blends just the right tone of optimism and pessimism to reflect the reality in today's news.

This wonderful and insightful work by Pierre Englebert is one of the best works out there on the political economy of Africa. His thesis is that Africa's wide range of economic experiences (despite the general malaise) has its roots in the varying levels of historical legitimacy exhibited by African states. He backs this argument up with impressive quantitative data and a qualitative look into how illegitimacy retards growth and development. His most controversial claims come as he questions that sanctity of the state boundaries bestoyed on Africa by colonialism. Brilliant, insightful and accessible!

I learned a lot from reading this book. It provides both a very thorough and detailed account of Africa's mixed development fortunes and an original theory of development and underdevelopment. It is very well written.

This book provides a sophisticated and nuanced theory of African underdevelopment, which also explains African success stories! It represents one of the most important theoretical advances in African studies in a long time, and it is not dogmatic at all. This book incorporates historical, sociological, political and economic insights to derive a general theory of the determinants of poverty and weak state capacity in Africa. It is very well written and will be accessible to undergraduates as well as advanced readers. Rich in statistical evidence, the text always remains clear, even to the quantitative novice, and is full of real life examples. A compelling argument and a real "tour de force."

I liked this book for the way Bunce is using Boolean algebra: a simple method but not widely used in Comparative Politics.

The book is really something. Why? Primarily for two reasons. First of all, there have been libraries of material written on the subject of the Socialist collapse, so the readers - new to the field as well as proficient scholars trying to find a good account of it within the boundaries of a book - find themselves somewhat lost in the jungle of different and presumably equally good accounts of the causes of the Socialist collapse. No more search for them now that we have the Bunce book. It covers the event concisely and to the point. The second reason is that it offers a unique and compelling explanation of the communist collapse as embedded in the system's design itself. That, of course, leaves a room for a debate whether the collapse was somewhat predetermined at the neginning, or it could have possibly been avoided. But if research can produce a debate, it is already potentially good, and hardly any book can conclusively identify all the causes of the collapse. This one, however, keeps the reader excited and the brain stimulating.

Among the multitude of books written on the issue of the Post-Socialist collapse, Subversive Institutions is a true masterpiece. It is very readable, and it can serve as a good introduction for a novice in the field, and as an excellent summary to an advanced scholar. Socialism did not collapse uniformly across the region. Bunce poses and answers three main questions: the nature of the collapse, the time of the collapse, and the reason for the collapse os state socialism. Why do some countries submerge into civil wars, while some disintegrated peacefully? To provide an answer to these and other questions, Bunce looks at the differences within the institutional arrangements, the institutional designs these countries developed during tne course state socialism. Undoubtedly, the book is one of the best ever written in the field of transitology.

Take Action is an excellent resource book for classroom teachers ! The step by step guide to student involvement in social issues has been a great help in encouraging my students to take positive action in the community. The book is very attractive with colorful layouts, pictures and presentations. It has been immensely popular with my students. Great work! Well worth purchasing! I am looking forward to a French edition!

I recently bought this book for my children and they simply refuse to put it down. They are organizing a fundraiser for a local charity and getting their entire class involved and this remarkable resource is showing them how. I also saw Craig on Oprah and was so moved by his story and after seeing Oprah's major support of his organization, I went out and got the book. Oprah was right again! Craig and his brother are inspirations to all children and young people. I think every parent who wants to inspire their kids should buy this book.

I have been following Craig's remarkable story on Oprah for the last couple of years. As soon as I saw on the Oprah show that he had a new book out, I searched high and low until I found it on the free the children web site for my kids. I had bought his last book and my two daughters loved it! The Take Action is simply great. It gives them ways to become socailly involved and tells them in langauge they can understand. They are already using its fundraising and public speaking tools. I wish every school library had a copy.

After reading Len Wood's and Joe Baker's new book, I'm reminded why I entered this interesting profession. "Tales from the Trenches: Achievements, Blunders and Challenges in Local Government Management" provides an insightful glimpse into the event-filled life of public managers.

The eleven chapters reflect the key public manager responsibilities and challenges. Each chapter contains several stories that illustrate key management concepts. Included with these tales are tips containing advice and alternative approaches to addressing the situation. Stories are written in a straightforward manner, and best of all, are true to life because current and former local government managers contributed each tale.

What makes "Tales" especially valuable is the 180 page Instructor's Manual which complements the book, chapter for chapter. It contains discussion questions for each tale along with numerous case studies, management exercises and questionnaires.

Assuredly, "Tales from the Trenches: Achievements, Blunders and Challenges in Local Government Management" will inspire young professionals to take a close look at a local government career. This book is also a good mentoring guide.

This review was submitted to the California City Manager's Newsletter by Greg Ramirez, Assistant City Manager, Agoura Hills.

This book dspelled many of my personal myths about public management. I purchased Tales from the Trenches as a reference for my Business Management class. I wanted to contrast private management with public management. I felt private management was more dynamaic and challenging. I now see that public managers, espcially at the local government level, are just as sophisticated and resourceful as their private counterparts. They also make the same type of blunders. The authors have done a great job in their selection of real life tales. I found
the manqagement advice they dispersed throughout the stories very useful. I also loved the cartoons which set the theme for each chapter.

Collaboratively written by former city managers Len Wood and Joe Baker, Tales From The Trenches: Achievements, Blunders And Challenges In Local Government Management is a grand collection of great achievements and ridiculous blunders in local government. Innovations, challenges, and good intentions that went horribly wrong, pack the pages of this involving and highly readable guide which is especially recommended reading for all voters, and which will provide particularly meaningful to those with a personal and/or professional interest in local politics.

This is a really great and readable text on what is often a challenging topic. The authors really have provided some insightful analysis on what is always a timely topic. I learned a tremendous amount and easily made my way through the flowing prose. I suggest this book for anyone interested in taxation and also for those of us who are simply "tax curious". This is a particularly relevant book given the upcoming elections!

This slender volume is a readable and entertaining survey of the woes of the current income tax system and of a variety of tax reform proposals intended to replace the current system. The section of the book that discusses the tax system's effect on labor supply, saving & investment, incentive to work, international competiveness, and other economic 'macro' effects, is especially insightful. The authors conclude (probably correctly) that the tax system's effect on these things is probably marginal, and, in any event, difficult to measure empirically. Therefore, any tax reform that promises 'economic nirvana' should be taken with a grain of salt. The authors suggest, without endorsement, that the hallmarks of any new (or improved) tax system should be simplicity, enforcability, and revenue- raising efficiency; the last denotes the absence of 'social tinkering' through the tax system. Unfortunately, the authors note that all of the various tax reform proposals being floated by politicians suffer severe political defects. A national sales tax would be difficult to enforce (that's probably correct); a broad-based value added tax (VAT) would be highly regressive; the 'flat tax' (wage tax) would be less progressive than the current income tax; and the consumed income tax (consumption tax) would be more complicated than the current income tax (that's probably not correct, and the authors do not explain this assertion well). These are principally political impediments to reform- the authors suggest that it will take an act of political courage by Congress or the president to make any progress on the tax reform front. That's clearly correct, but don't hold your breath.

Tax reform isn't usually one of those topics that gets people excited -- most people view it the same way George Bush looks at broccoli. But Slemrod and Bakija do a great job of making it interesting and explaining complex ideas in simple language. If you want to know how Steve Forbes' flat tax will hit your wallet or how much the current income tax system stymies growth, this is the book for you. Simply, it is a great, great place to start to learn about tax reform. It's as good as it gets on the topic