Street

There are others that have written about the same subjects as Sutton...Carrol Quigley(Professor of History at Georgetown University)...Werner Keller...Dr. Emanual Josephson...Gary Allen...Charles Levinson...etc...but none covered the subject in as great a detail and as broad an area and with the documentation that Sutton did...in Wall Street And The Bolshevik Revolution(Arlington House Publishers) he documents that a small group of Wall Street bankers financed the Bolshevik Revolution...in the 3 volume,Western Technology And Soviet Economic Development(Hoover Institution Press)these same groups actually built the
Soviet economic structure from 1917 to the
present...and it is this work, i believe,(in part) and the work of others documenting this subject that helped bring down the Soviet Union...if they financed the Revolution and built the economic infrastructure...then they controlled it...which is what they are doing today with the billions of dollars they are investing in the Peoples Republic of China...! Control of the economic structure of a country is real power not political power...!

Sutton has written about many other subjects but it is the above mentioned that are amoung the more important works...i believe they are available at...

www.amazon.com... you won't look at International Politics in the same way...again...

woody voinche
marksville, louisiana

He shows that the American government intervened on the behalf of Leon Trotsky, who was detained by Canadian authorities, so he could travel to Russia and agitate for the Reds. Apparently Trotsky might have been German instead of Russian, but in the end I guess we'll never know for sure. Both Trotsky and Lenin were sent into Russia with money and assistance from foreign governments to stir up trouble.

This book also goes into detail on the 1917 American Red Cross mission to Russia which had more bankers than doctors. William Thompson, then a Director of the New York Fed, gave $1 million to the Reds for propaganda purposes. He then brought enough of his Wall Street buddies on board that the Bolsheviks were their guys, to bring the White House over to their side. Wilson's influential advisor at that time was Edward Mandell House, who in Phillip Dru: Administrator stated that he believed in socialism as envisioned by Karl Marx, but with a spiritual leavening. With advisors as such, it was not so difficult.

House also used his influence to get Red agitator Minor, who drew a cartoon showing Wall Street types fawning over Marx in the introduction to the book, off the hook after being arrested by military authorities in France for distributing subversive Bolshevik propaganda. His daddy was a well-to-do person back in Texas, where House came from, who gave good old E.M. House a call to get junior off the hook.

Sutton also showed how many of the businesses that did business with the Reds originated from 120 Broadway. Since the robber barons already ran out all competition in the US, they needed captive foreign markets to satisfy their insatiable greed. They had a boot in all camps, and used their ability to feed, fund, and arm the winning party, in this case the Bolsheviks, to obtain trade concessions. This lot did the same by backing Sun Yat Sen in China, and various governments in Latin America.

Sutton also shows how many of these Wall Street supporters of the Bolsheviks started a group stating their opposition to the socialists. They then told New York Times reporters that they feared a Red revolution in America and that the Reds would sabotage and wreak havoc on our economy even as they were setting up the Ruskcom Bank and conducting business with them. Sutton appropriately described this behavior as totally amoral.

There was one quote from the book that will be forever etched into my mind. This quote was from a business figure working in the American consulate in Russia to a British colleague. It was along the lines as such:
You may have heard that I own 50% of the forests in Siberia and all of the Magnesium deposits in Georgia. Now, of course, this isn't true. But, let's say that it is true. I am an American wolf and you are a British wolf. But, both being intelligent wolves, knowing if we don't join forces this hour and together hunt the German wolf, we will come to naught.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the business mentality. It has always been that way, and with industrialization and our livelihoods increasingly put in the hands of these people, it explains very easily how the man in the street gets screwed. Read this book and take it to heart. These egotistical, greedy SOBs have been running our country into the ground for over a 100 years, and reading this book and sharing it with fellow patriots is the only way to stop these treasonous scumbags!

The novel opens with the manic-depressant Yolanda in the midst of a meeting with her psychiatrist. In her session, the reader is casually introduced to a few Water Street residents: her best friend, Mona whom she idolizes; her brother, KiKi, her husband, Junior; and a host of other characters who influenced her in childhood and adulthood. The beauty of the novel is the reader will learn more about Mona, Kiki, Junior, Sandy, Maxine, et al in subsequent chapters via a series of soliquies or third person accounts. Through the selected medium, the reader observes how they tackle a host of issues such as interracial relationships, marital problems, quests for love, divorce, absentee parents, etc.

Because it is a small town and all the residents live on Water Street, the stories are interconnected and the same characters are often mentioned in one or more stories. So for example, we hear about Mona, the best friend from Yolanda; Mona, my little sister's best friend that I slept with from Kiki; Mona in her own eyes, etc. We get up close and personal viewpoints from mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, neighbors and friends. One particular noteworthy item is that the author's skill in writing from the male perspective is equally compelling as from the female's. In "The Girl of My Dreams: Kiki", we find Kevin/Kiki calling off the wedding after the rehearsal dinner, but not for the reasons one may think because of the title of the story. We also experience other male viewpoints in the coming of age stories "Water Street, 1979: Junior", "Between Men", and a principled man in search of love in "An Ordinary Man: Reverend Townsend."

The dialogue is mature, the writing is great, and the stories are painfully honest. These are not eccentric or malevolent characters, in fact, they are so down-to-earth that they seem real, almost like ordinary folk instead of fictional protagonists. Just as with non-fictional beings, the harsh realities of life strikes Water Street as with any other street and the imperfections, vulnerabilities,pain, and joy of the characters are expertly revealed. Water Street's messages are universal and timeless: the same people with the same issues can be found in the inner cities as well as the rural landscapes in any decade. This is a great second novel by
Crystal Wilkinson; I must add her debut novel, Blackberries,
Blackberries to my list of books to check out this year.

Phyllis
APOOO BookClub

Reviewed by Latoya Carter-Qawiyy
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Jenna Profit and her two young sons have not had an easy life since Craig died and the ensuing scandal. Craig's father died a month later after rewriting his will; he set aside a portion for his grandsons' educations and gave the rest of his money and property to charity. Jenna has been shunned by the "good" people of Harmony Hills, and supplements her teaching salary by taking in roomers in the big, old rundown mansion she and Craig had bought before his death. Jenna and her tenants all have one thing in common - heartbreak and betrayal. Having Nick staying with her and her ladies can only add more fodder for the gossips to feed on, but it feels so right having him in her life again.

317 Beulah Street is a rich and emotional story, which captivates the reader from page one. Nick is a troubled, tortured hero who only wants to make everything right for the only woman he has ever loved, Jenna. Jenna, however, is strong enough to overcome almost everything except Nick's doubts about his own brother's honesty. There is never any doubt to anyone that these two people have a future together. Sandra Steffen has created exemplary secondary characters giving each of them importance in this fantastic story. This is an easy reading, reader-pleasing romance as steamy and sultry as a Georgia summer.

As he lay in an El Salvador hospital in critical condition, photographer Nick Proffit receives the letter that informs him his brother Craig died. The letter from his sister-in-law Jenna traveled around the world taking two years to catch up to Nick. He plans to come home to learn what happened to his beloved sibling.

Nick arrives in Harmony Hills, Georgia to learn how far his brother's widow and his preadolescent boys have fallen by their current address. He is shocked to also find out Jenna rents rooms to two borders needing a place to start fresh. Nick revises his charter as he must know why his brother's family have been ostracized and where did his now deceased father's wealth go, a task made easier because he is falling in love with Craig's widow and two sons.

This is an interesting character study and contemporary romance that focuses on the key cast members' actions to the death of a loved one. The heroine keeps on moving in spite of the condemnation of the community because she knows she must provide a nurturing environment for her two children. Nick is more enigmatic because he never seemed concerned with life back home even when he didn't receive letters from Craig, but that still doesn't lessen his need to know now. Fans of small town dramas will enjoy a visit to 317 BEULAH STREET.

Harriet Klausner

Wait - those of you who haven't read this yet, please don't get the wrong idea! - just because I'm being sentimental about it doesn't mean that the book requires you to be. The articles in here are so worth reading by anyone, for any reason - please pick it up and see what you learn about the world.

I like the way this book is organized: six parts, each one highlighting a literary style or theme infused with interesting facets of Mr. Pearl's life and personality (Editor Helene Cooper provides some insightful anecdotes at the beginning). For example, Part Four ("Finding the Potholes ...") reveals his propensity for delving deep into the fabric of a society to get an unexpected story; Part Two ("I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music") plays off of his love for music ... all music. The writings in each part are presented pretty much (occasional exceptions) in reverse chronological order, so that his work from WSJ stints in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., London, and India are kept together. The fifty articles range in length from two to eleven pages, lending themselves well to intermittent reading when time is tight. I don't imagine every article will be of interest to all readers, so there's the option of covering everything or just picking out what you consider interesting (I chose the former). The book got better as I went along, with Part Six ("Nice Lede!") being the most entertaining. The Appendix articles from the North Adams Transcript are hilarious.

This book should appeal especially to Journal fans and those who love reading (learning) about diverse subjects from many worlds. I would also recommend this for anyone who wants to explore truly human topics that aren't offered on a daily basis by the news media.

Strange humor? You bet, but to me its the most hilarious stuff in the world. I was very disappointed when I bought the book, though, because at 144 pages I thought, "Oh no, I can read this at one sitting." My solution? I limited my reading of it to 6 pages a day. That way I could keep laughing for over three weeks.

I read JvA's Ballard Street daily newspaper cartoon in the LA Times for years, but then moved to humorless Atlanta. This book was a godsend, and I hope JvA comes out with a new one every other month. I'll buy them all.

The book does that too; it makes it uncomfortable to see street people as "them" rather than "us." "There, but for a good break, go I"--not to mention the realigning of one's perception of "there but for the grace of God," for there are many excerpts in the book (from her journal at the time) that address the painful spiritual growth that results from such a wrenching experience. I no longer think that I could survive even a few days, if I suddenly found myself to be a baglady, yet I'd always thought of myself as resourceful, resilient, frugal, educated, middle class. Think again. I'd need a lot of help.

This country cannot afford to pretend that Americans who are (usually temporarily) indisposed far enough to have lost their living quarters for the moment are somehow different or "un-American." They are us. What we do about those of us with these problems--including the elderly and the ill--may someday become very personally relevant and (if we don't do better, faster) could become a big national problem. The housing situation in Minneapolis at the moment is veering sharply away from keeping some of us in affordable housing who used to be "the working poor" rather than "the homeless." The situation needs to be addressed by those in legislatures, healthcare, social services, volunteer groups. This book can help them to understand better. Very often the real view from the street is not understood by those who "help" them, as when the physician who treats the understandably ulcerated feet of those who have no place to sit down, let alone a sink with warm water, tells the patient to "soak her feet." Right. How?

This book should be read by anyone, adult or teen, who has become too familier with the good things that many Americans feel entitled to.

I was quite overwhelmed as the last few chapters came round. I am highly recommending it to readers