Governments

Kari Frederickson's analysis of the Dixiecrat movement and their influence on Southern (and American) politics is an important volume, and will likely be the definitive work on the subject. The author charts the course of southern dissatisfaction with the national Democratic Party beginning in the 1930s, culminating in the "critical election" of 1948 when the Dixiecrats challenged President Truman.

What differs in this volume is the detail given to the Dixiecrat Party and J. Strom Thurmond and Fielding Wright, the party's candidates for president and vice-president, respecitively. As a result, we not only gain a better understanding of the Dixiecrats and why the party won the votes of only four southern states, but also how this pivotal event was the beginning of the end for the one-party South. Recommended for those interested in American political history and a must read for historians and students of the American South.

Frederickson furnishes the historical background necessary to understand the political history of the South--and the nation--for the past half century. The Dixiecrats, who bolted the Democratic Party in 1948 out of their opposition to the notion of racial equality, only won four states in their effort to elect Strom Thurmond. But their reactionary stance would eventually reach a wider public frightened by the integration of public schools, fair housing laws, and federal protection of citizenship rights. The campaign marks the beginning of the white South's flight from the New Deal coalition. Like Strom Thurmond himself, a lightning rod figure in this excellent book, the heirs of these segregationist rebels become Republicans in 1964 and 1968, and bring about the two-party South. The future of the region was foretold in the white supremacist revolt of 1948, and is retold here with clarity, grace, balance, and style. A fine piece of historical research and writing that illuminate American politics today.

I'm an anthropology student at Hunter College in New York. Professor Creed teaches here, and this semester I took his "Families and Households in Anthropology" Class. He's an amazing professor, and I look forward to reading this book. If his class reflects anything in the book, I am sure it will be great!

Once you get by some of the academic gobbledygook, this book delivers great insight into the challenges of a Bulgarian village making the economic transition. Creed has obviously 'lived the life' there, as opposed to just parachuting in for a couple weeks. I lived there too and can attest to the veracity of his observations. This is about the best book I can think of for anyone who wants to really know about the people and lifestyle of Bulgaria over the last 40 years.

Over the past seven years we have watch the most corrupt administration in American history and yet the approvals ratings are threw the roof. As a society have we just taken this for granted or are we fed up with the politics of Washington?

Robert Shogan's book, Double Edged Sword, enlightens this reviewer with a new and insightful reading about how this is not the first case of living and talking the double standard. Shogan has presented a clear case that politics and civilians are sometimes intertwined.

I enjoyed this book, and although there are some things I may disagree with, overall the author has a convincing set of arguments. Shogan has facts and data to back up what he talks about. Shogan makes reading enjoyable and fun with this book.

Whether Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal and everyone in between, The Double Edged Sword, should be on the must read list. A perfect book for the times and an impressive look into what makes the Presidency the most difficult job in the world today.

Over the past seven years we have watch the most corruptadministration in American history and yet the approvals ratings are threw the roof. As a society have we just taken this for granted or are we fed up with the politics of Washington?

Robert Shogan's book, Double Edged Sword, enlightens this reviewer with a new and insightful reading about how this is not the first case of living and talking the double standard. Shogan has presented a clear case that politics and civilians are sometimes intertwined.

I enjoyed this book, and although there are some things I may disagree with, overall the author has a convincing set of arguments. Shogan has facts and data to back up what he talks about. Shogan makes reading enjoyable and fun with this book.

Whether Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal and everyone in between, The Double Edged Sword, should be on the must read list. A perfect book for the times and an impressive look into what makes the Presidency the most difficult job in the world today.

As a participant in the political selling off, downsizing, and rightsizing of some of America's industrial and personnel infrastructure, I can tell you that McCormick hits the players in the process right between the eyes with a refreshing honesty. During a time when a soldier wonders what is happening to the Department of Defense mechanisms that were supposed to be in place to protect ALL Americans with a viable defense, McCormick's analysis of the players and decisions made are on the money. I personally commanded 3 units during inactivation and the Base Reutilization and Closure (BRAC) processes. The manipulation of statistics to placate assigned service personnel isn't working as evidenced by declining numbers of personnel staying in the military. Defense leaders wondering why need to read the book.

Dr. McCormick's work is unusually sensible and down-to-earth, a quality that one does not often find in a scholarly work. The subject is a difficult one to approach, much less assess. If, indeed, McCormick's observations and conclusions are correct, the country probably would do well to seek his continued input as our largest organization, the military, considers its options and level of reorganization.

As above, a wonderful description of Chinese history in the 20th century by someone who was there. From the manchu's through early revolution to Chiang and the Communist struggle; one insight follows another.

If you wish to understand Sino-American relations in the 20th Century, this book by our most brilliant (and persecuted) Political Officer in the State Department, must be your starting point. It is more than educational. His digressions - descriptions of the voyages of Cheng Ho during the Ming Dynasty; Mukden during the early years of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria; the celebration in Moscow after V-E day; etc., etc. - reveal a literary gift of the highest magnitude. Truly, one of the best books I have ever read. In fact, it irks me that so few people have read it.

Of course it is very ironic that "The Dred Scott Decision" is one of the volumes in the "Cornerstones of Freedom" series because the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding slavery is one of the darker moments in the nation's history. Brendan January does an excellent job of presenting this infamous decision in its historical context. This is an extremely informative book that covers every stage of the case, culminating in not only the major arguments in Chief Justice Roger Taney's majority decision but the dissenting opinion offered by Justice Benjamin Curtis. January makes it clear that the decision was based more on the prejudices of the justices than Constitutional principles. The only omission of any significance I can see is that January does not talk about the geographical limitations that were stopping the spread of cotton into the southwest, which threatened the precarious balance between the free and slave states in the U.S. Senate. This was what forced the slavery issue to a head as much as anything else, but given the comprehensive presentation of the issues and personalities involved in this case, this is a minor quibble (besides, I love the aside January provides that Missouri supreme court justice Judge William Scott was not related to Dred Scott). High school students will be hard pressed to find a comparable volume for their own age group that provides as much information about the Dred Scott decision as this volume. I have found the "Cornerstones of Freedom" series to be very good across the board.

I had to write a paper on the Dred Scott Decision. Although I am not of the age group group that this book is geared towards, it explained the very complicated subject in a simple way that was very informal. It was quite useful in writing the paper and I would recommend it to children as well as adults interested in important rulings of the supreme court and history.

This is a grand effort at a difficult and complex subject. Miller does a great job in setting forth the basics in a clear and easy-to-read manner. Teenage readers will find it very informative, but the book is written in a pleasing style for any age. I was most impressed with this book, which stands far above the rest of recent books on this subject. Thank you.

This book presents an easy-to-understand, well thought-out description of the relationship between drugs--both therapeutic and harmful--and mental illness. It provides useful references for readers who want more information, and the writing--simple, straightforward, and neither too complex nor overly childish--is just right for teens.

Mr. Atkinson is a partisan Republican. He is upfront about it in his author's bio on the book's dustjacket, which mentions his numerous positions in the GOP. At times one senses his partisan glee as he chronicles the rise to power of the Republican party in the Old Dominion from the 1960's, when the Civil Rights movement and the administration of LBJ (who carried VA in 1964)identified the Democratic party with extreme liberalism, until the early 1990's, when Republican stock continued to soar statewide and nationwide. For the most part though he maintains objectivity and gives his readers a gripping account of this very important political transformation.

At times the book has the tension of a good thriller, along the lines of Advise and Consent or The Manchurian Candidate. Certainly Atkinson presents to us a genuine cast of characters and a series of ups and downs, successes and failures, conflicts and confrontations one would find in a novel. There is the collapse of the Harry Byrd machine in Virginia, which in election after election had delivered the state solidly to the Democrats; there is the election of Virginia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction, Linwood Holton, a man decidedly not a conservative in a very conservative party in a very conservative state; there is Mills Godwin's agonizing decision to quit a lifetime of membership in the Democratic party and become a Republican in order to stop "wildman" Henry Howell's ascension to the VA governorship; there is Richard Nixon's wholesale attempt to convert scores of conservative Virginia Democrats to the GOP, an effort killed, of course, by Nixon's own Watergate; there is the promise of good things cut short by the tragic deaths of Democrat Sergeant Reynolds and Republicans Richard Obershain and John Dalton; there is John Warner's campaigning for the U.S. Senate with that Hollywood apogee of glamor, Elizabeth Taylor, by his side; there is the appearance of Chuck Robb, as though a white knight upon a steed, to rescue the Democrats from yet another ignominious defeat at the hands of the GOP, and on and on. Atkinson's spares no detail in this very lively account, which portends good news for his party, less good news for us remaining Southern Jeffersonian Democrats.

Atkinson's title is a prescient one. In politics, as in much else, Virginia IS dynamic and changing all the time. One would welcome a sequel from Atkinson, or at least an updated edition of this fine book, in light of the election of Republican majorities to the VA legislature in 1999 and the more recent election of Democrat Mark Warner to the governorship, which some observers attribute in part to internecine warfare in the GOP.

In 1945, the Republican Party of Virginia was basically dead, having only four members in the 140 member General Assembly - two in the Senate and two in the House of Delegates, but in the last 50 years, the GOP has risen to a status of parity with Virginia's Democrats, who have been the majority party since Reconstruction. The Dynamic Dominion is an excellent account of the early history of the Republican Party's rise to preeminence in the Mother of Presidents. Mr. Atkinson goes into excellent detail about the events that helped to shape the future destiny of the party, especially those following the controversial 1978 State Republican Convention, in particular, the death of US Senate Nominee Richard Obenshain (whose name is still very much revered in Virginia Republican politics today) and the eventual nomination, candidacy, and election of John W. Warner, who was given invaluable assistance in his campaign by none other than famed actress Elizabeth Taylor. I would suggest that Mr. Atkinson's work be made required reading in political science courses at colleges and universities all across the country.

Most people don't think economics is very interesting. In fact, they tend to think of economics as dry and boring. Professor Stroup has written a book that should reverse that thinking. He has taken his analytical skills as an economist and shown how the basic principles of that discipline are imperialistically invasive; that is, they can easily be applied to a broad range of topics, including the environment.

If you want to understand why some people, especially many economists, consider environmentalists to be somewhat hypocritical, this is the book to read. If you want to understand how and why even environmentalists can be at odds with one another, this is the book to read. If you want to see why economists enjoy practicing their discipline, this is the book to buy. It is not a long book, so if you want a quick lesson in basic economic principles couched in terms of an issue that should be of interest to most people, read this book. If you don?t like the book, donate your copy to a local library. I'm sure a lot of other folks in your community will find it interesting.

Eco-nomics: What Everyone Should Know About Economics And The Environment by Richard L. Stroup (Professor of Economics, Montana State University) is a straightforward look at the practical and economic realities of preserving the environment, including learning from past mistakes and failed environmental laws, to balancing property rights and the necessities required to preserve habitats, to what truly constitutes judicious and effective use of government action. Eco-nomics is an insightful, timely, and welcome contribution to Environmental Studies reading lists and policy reference collection.

An excellent text on the fundamentals of public finance as applied to state and local government. The author's own personal style, which is both engaging and rigorous, makes the subject matter an accessible read for those students of public policy who are non-economists. For those who do have a particular bent for public finance it is also an excellent resource which provides a very applied approach to the subject matter.

Author makes economics fun and interesting. Shows a great grasp for local and state taxation issues--makes boring topic easy to understand.