Governments

Mark Brzezinski, Hogan & Hartson LLP, Washington, DC

It is one of the finest in-depth case study I have encountered of the problems of establishing the rule of law during the last years of a communist regime trying to implement reforms and during the more fundamental transition from communism to democratic government and a market economy. It will stand as a model for any future studies of such non-environmental topics as communist and post-communist labor law, property reform, and so on.

Quite apart from its status as legal analysis, this is a superb study of the relation between politics, economics, social interests, and ideology. Its audience will extend far beyond legal scholars. In fact, this book should have an impact on such disciplines as Environmental Studies, Political Science, Economics, History, and Sociology. Needless to say, this is more than most legal texts achieve.

This book is as thoroughly researched as any I have read on the topic. Hardly a source is left untouched. At the same time, never is there a hint of the problem afflicting all too many academic studies, the needless compiling of bibliographic references for the sake of displaying the references. Cole has obviously read everything that is worth reading (and more!), and integrates this material into a coherent whole.

The author was David vs Goliath, using an inexpensive website to rally support and slay city (Newport Beach) and county (Orange) governments that spent tens of millions. The internet was his sling. Information was his stone.

If you are using, or contemplating using a website to fight City Hall, you need to buy this book.

Internet for Activists sends a great message that "You can beat City Hall." It gave me the tools and encouragement to start making some needed changes around this town.

My highschool son got a lift out of the possibilities for ordinary citizens to be able to make it a better world.

This book made me angry and it made me cry. Susan Kuklin describes the lives of poor Pakistani families who are forced to sell their children into a life of bondage. This compelling piece of creative non-fiction is aimed at the middle school market, but the story is universal, and the black and white photos allow the reader into a world that is not an urban tale--but all too real. A must read for anyone that is interested in the future of the world's children.

I'm a media specialist at BelleVue Middle School in Florida. A small group of students and I read this book together. My students were shocked that many villages in Pakistan are too poor to have schools. They compared younger brothers and sisters to Iqbal in the factory. They learned a great deal about mobility and what it would be like to not have it. This book has a helpful index and glossary of terms as well as descriptive side-bars that make research easy.

Margaret Thatcher was truly a unique politician--not simply for the fact that she became the first female to head a western democracy, but because she was truly skilled and resolved in the art of politics.

Margaret Thatcher was born into politics. The child of an alderman, she served under Harold Macmillan and in the government of Edward Heath.

Her view of government and her rise to power mirrored, in many ways, the acension of Ronald Reagan in the United States. And, indeed, theirs is considered on the of the closest political alliances in history. Her view of smaller government, whatever the readers point of view, clicked with what England needed after years of shifting towards a socialist system. She was keen on privatization and lowering taxes. Something, that although cases could be made either way, certainly worked for her in 1980's Great Britian.

The book also points out her outspoken opposition to communism, thus earning her the title "iron lady." Young takes care to highlight her brilliance as a visionary, her willingness to restore British pride by refusing to give up the Falkands, and her resolve in not giving one inch of ground in her belief that the democratic, free enterprise system was superior.

This is truly a great book for all who are interested in the end of the Cold War and for those who wish to study the conservative "revolution" that struck the West in the 1980's.

Mr. Mawdsley tells his story on why he chose an activist path to shake up more then just the Burmese government, but to wake up the western democracies. Most readers will have dual feelings about the author, as his fanatic behavior seems suicidal yet courageous making him a fascinating character. The autobiography is taut and well written, gripping the audience from start to finish and deserves a large readership as the lesson learned is don't sit passively by whining, take action even small steps matter.

Harriet Klausner

Gordon K. Durnil is uniquely qualified to write such a book as this. He is the author of "The Making of a Conservative Environmentalist" (Indiana University Press, 1995). He has been an Indiana conservative Republican leader for decades, and for thirty years was campaign manager for Republican presidential candidates. He was the 1961 founder of Young Americans for Freedom.

President George Bush appointed him as the United States Chairman of the International Joint Commission. His holistic views of societal problems combine the need for a return to traditional values, while exposing the disingenuous nature of government from the viewpoint of a senior executive level official.

He is exceptionally well qualified to write this expose, which looks at the "if it feels good do it" philosophy of the '60s and '70s, and the resulting societal ills that affect us today. The flawed children of today whose parents were the flower-children of those days.

It is a good book. You might benefit by reading it.

Joseph Pierre,
Author of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS: Our Journey Through Eternity