Everyday Pediatrics for Parents: A Thoughtful Guide for Today's Families

Customer Reviews:

Partner in the Pages.......2003-10-14

Dr. Grossman was actually my pediatrition growing up in the bay area. I remember his kind care, big smile and big nose. When I became a mother and went to my own mother for advice, she often quoted "Grossman's Laws." She also spoke with respect about what a great partner Dr. Grossman was in helping her to maintain her children's health. I have found that same useful partnering to ease my mind and educate me on many subjects in the pages of this book.

Helpful, easy to use, delightful to read.......2002-10-27

Our daughter has used this book a lot in the first couple of years of our granddaughter's life. It's rare that she can't find answers to a her questions. In fact, she and her husband will often say to each other, 'Let's see what Elmer says.'

As a physician myself, I highly recommend this commonsense book on the medical and developmental questions new parents have about their children. Dr. Grossman's writing style is always graceful, often humorous, and simply browsing in the book is a pleasure.

Everyday Pediatrics for Parents.......2000-07-07

Dr. Grossman writes an easy-to-read, down-to-earth guide to raising kids that is informative without being preachy. I have referred to it countless times and found his advice to be right on target. When I was growing up, Dr. Grossman was our family pediatrician. He consistently put himself out to ensure the best possible care for my siblings and me. I have a great deal of admiration and respect for his knowledge of children and families. I HIGHLY recommend this book for all parents.

warm, useful info. helps parents ask important questions........1997-06-14

Dr. Grossman writes clearly and with humor about children's health. His approach is designed to help parents think through medical issues and the challenges of parenting, using professional advice as an aid but not a substitute for trusting their own common sense. I recommend this book as a reference guide for both new and experienced parents.

Sherman's March to the Sea 1864: Atlanta to Savannah (Campaign)
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A top pick for any military collection strong in Civil War history.

Sherman and the March To The Sea in a Nut Shell

Two Campaigns for the Price of One

Sherman's March to the Sea 1864: Atlanta to Savannah (Campaign)
David Smith
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1846030358
Release Date: 2007-02-27

Book Description

The March to the Sea was the culmination of Union General William T. Sherman's 1864 campaign during the American Civil War and was a devastating example of "total war." Confederate hopes in 1864 hinged on frustrating Union forces in the field and forcing Abraham Lincoln out of office in the November elections. However, this optimism was dampened by Sherman's success in the battle of Atlanta that same year.

Riding on the wave of this victory, Sherman hoped to push his forces into Confederate territory, but his plan was hindered by a Confederate threat to the army's supply lines.
After much delay, he boldly chose to abandon these, forcing the army to live off the land for the entirety of the 285-mile march to Savannah, destroying all war-making capabilities of the enemy en route, and inflicting suffering not only on Confederate troops, but also on the civilian population. Despite the vilification that this brutal tactic earned him, the march was a success.

Supported by contemporary photographs, detailed maps, bird's eye views, and battlescene artwork, this title explores the key personalities, strategies, and significant engagements of the march, including the battles of Franklin and Nashville, and the ultimate fall of Savannah to the Union, to provide a detailed analysis of the campaign that marked the "beginning of the end" of the American Civil War.

Customer Reviews:

A top pick for any military collection strong in Civil War history........2007-07-07

SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA 1864: ATLANTIC TO SAVANNAH by David Smith tells of a grueling march - nearly three hundred miles - in which the army lived off the land and destroyed all war-making capabilities of the enemy. Photos, maps, and art examines the major participants, strategies, and campaigns of the last months of the Civil War, making for a top pick for any military collection strong in Civil War history.

Sherman and the March To The Sea in a Nut Shell.......2007-06-08

David Smith in less than a hundred pages provides the best short volume available regarding "Sherman's Renowned March To The Sea". Providing a short biography of each key player, the reason behind the campaign, including Grant's fear that it would fail, Smith writes in a very readable fashion. I recommend it for the beginner or the seasoned reader who wishes to understand the impact that Sherman had on ending the American Civil War. Further, while Sherman did not invent "total war", he brought it to the United States. The lesson of the "march" is timely for today, especially the fact that war involves civilians, no matter how one attempts to paint the issue otherwise.
The book reads like a well-crafted novel and should be purchased without resveration.

Two Campaigns for the Price of One.......2007-04-16

In Osprey's Campaign No. 179, Sherman's March to the Sea 1864, author David Smith describes Sherman's campaign across Georgia and Hood's campaign across Tennessee in late 1864. This is a phase of the American Civil War that often gets short shrift, due to the lack of `popular' large-scale battles, but it was nonetheless decisive in determining the outcome of the war in the West. Smith manages to deftly weave together the two campaigns into a coherent narrative that nicely adds to our understanding of this crucial phase of the war.

The opening sections on the origins of the campaign, opposing commanders, opposing armies and opposing plans are good. Smith's section on commanders provides capsule bios of 6 Union and 3 Confederate leaders, while the opposing armies section details the forces in both Tennessee and Georgia. The campaign narrative proper is sub-divided into two chapters on Sherman's march across Georgia and one on Hood's invasion of Tennessee. Graphically, the volume is complemented by five 2-D maps (After the fall of Atlanta, September-October 1864; March to the Sea, Part 1, 15-26 November 1864; Hood's Tennessee Campaign, November-December 1864; the Battle of Franklin, 30 November 1864; and the March to the Sea, Part 2, 28 November - 21 December 1864), two 3-D BEV maps (the Battle of Nashville, first and second day, 15-16 December 1864) and three battle scenes by Richard Hook (the Battle of Allatoona Pass, 5 October 1864; a Union foraging party; and Fort Mcallister, 13 December 1864). The volume also has rather lengthy orders of battle for both campaigns, totaling 7 pages. Notes on the battlefields today and bibliography are short, but adequate.

Southern readers may find Smith's description of Sherman's march to be a bit anti-septic, in that it seems to downplay the harm and injury inflicted upon Georgia's civilian population. Sherman's march was an emotional, gut-wrenching experience for the Confederacy to witness a Union army moving unmolested through the heart of its territory and the psychological damage was complemented by a vicious scorched earth policy. Smith's account is lucid but lacks some of the emotive weight that provides the historical context for this campaign. Even Sherman realized that his operation was far more than a mere march or a plundering raid, but a deep stab into the South's vitals. Indeed, Sherman's march was an early example of a new philosophy of warfare, that held that attacks upon regular military forces was merely a precursor to the execution of decisive attacks against an enemy's civilian economy (e.g. Julian Corbett a few decades later). It was also interesting to see the author's discussion of the Confederate use of buried land mines outside Savannah, which posed a threat not unlike the IEDs in Iraq today.

The author also covers Hood's campaign effectively and avoids any pre-determination that the campaign was foredoomed. Indeed, the author suggests that under better conditions, Hood's invasion of Tennessee might have succeeded in diverting at least part of Sherman's forces (but for how long?). Readers thirsting for action while find their appetite sated by the sanguinary battles of Franklin and Nashville, which ended any chance for the Confederacy to retrieve something from this campaign. Overall, a good volume.

Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign

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Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign
George N. Barnard
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

History | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0486234452

Book Description

Reprint of landmark 1866 volume with 61 plates: battlefield of New Hope Church, the Etawah Bridge, the capture of Atlanta, much more.

The Capture of Atlanta and the March to the Sea: From Sherman's Memoirs (Dover Books on Americana)

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The Capture of Atlanta and the March to the Sea: From Sherman's Memoirs (Dover Books on Americana)
William T Sherman
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Taken from his monumental Memoirs, these substantial selections document Sherman's blitzkrieg-styled march through the heart of the South in 1864. The general's plain-spoken language reveals the theories that marked him as the first modern military strategist, from the use of railroads to the targeting of economic centers.

Coburn's Brigade: 85th Indiana, 33rd Indiana, 19th Michigan, and 22nd Wisconsin in the Western Civil War

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Coburn's Brigade: 85th Indiana, 33rd Indiana, 19th Michigan, and 22nd Wisconsin in the Western Civil War
Frank Welcher , and Larry G. Ligget
Manufacturer: Cardinal Publishers Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Reference | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1578600707

Book Description

The Northern brigade of John Coburn has gained a reputation both notorious and laudatory. Accused of gross misconduct (as these authors show, improperly) when Thompson's Station was surrendered in Tennessee, they were captured and sent to Libby Prison. Released, they were determined to redeem themselves in the mediocre assignments given to them by the Western army. Then, having regained the confidence of their superiors, this group of Midwesterners fought staunchly and credibly in the Atlanta Campaign--shining particularly at the Battle of Peachtree Creek and were the first unit into Atlanta after its fall. This unusual and detailed history of a brigade which stayed together the entire war shows a little different version of unit solidarity. Not every unit was universally glorious; too often we pretend that is so. This is the story of a unit which failed and then succeeded. 462 pages; 19 detailed maps; 40+ illustrations; nearly 1,500 endnotes.

Breaking the Confederacy: The Georgia and Tennessee Campaigns of 1864

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Good summary volume on the Atlanta and Nashville campaigns

Breaking the Confederacy: The Georgia and Tennessee Campaigns of 1864
Jack H. Lepa
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0786421789

Book Description

As the Civil War moved into 1864, people in the North expected newly appointed general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant to roll over the Confederate armies and bring victory and peace by the end of the summer. With his friend William Tecumseh Sherman, Grant devised a strategy to defeat the Confederate Army of Tennessee and lay waste to the Deep South so that the area could no longer provide support for the Confederate war effort.

Making extensive use of materials both contemporary and modern, including letters, diaries, memoirs and histories, the author presents a detailed narrative of the locales, conditions, personnel, strategies, tactics, battles and skirmishes as Sherman's forces fought their way from Chattanooga to Atlanta and then made their famous march to the sea, destroying all resources along the way. He also details Confederate general John Bell Hood's ill-fated attempt to capture Nashville while Sherman was occupied elsewhere. The fighting and devastation in Georgia and Tennessee that summer of 1864 were indeed major factors in the final Union victory.

Customer Reviews:

Good summary volume on the Atlanta and Nashville campaigns.......2006-01-27

Jack Lepa must have a thing for 1864. An earlier book of his dealt with the Shenandoah campaign of that year, and here he recounts the Georgia and Tennessee campaigns. He begins by setting the scene as it looked in January 1864, with the South still reeling from the defeat at Chattanooga, not to mention the losses at Vicksburg and Gettysburg six months earlier. Things were beginning to look grim for the South, while the North was reluctant to rejoice for fear of another disaster lurking around the next bend.

After Chattanooga the Confederate Army retreated to Dalton, GA, where Joseph Johnston replaced Braxton Bragg as corps commander. Sherman as Union leader had orders to "move against Johnston's army, to break it up, and to get into the interior of the country and inflict all the damage you can." Sherman began his offensive in May, threatening Johnston from the west with turning movements, forcing him to retreat. This continued all the way back to just above Marietta, where the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain was fought towards the end of June. Bad weather delayed action for a while after this, but soon Johnston was driven back to he outskirts of Atlanta, where John B. Hood replaced Johnston.

The longest section of the book revolves around the month-long actions around Atlanta. Atlanta fell on September 1, and six weeks later Sherman began his march to the sea. Lepa covers that in only one chapter, followed by a chapter on Savannah. He then turns his attention to Hood's Nashville campaign, Hood's attempt to draw Sherman out of Atlanta. In succinct and straightforward fashion he describes Hood's invasion into Tennessee, the Battle of Franklin with it's tremendous loss of Confederate life (5 generals were killed), and the stunning Union victory at Nashville two weeks later. Lepa's book ends there.

The book is basically a summary of the most important events in these two campaigns, and what it does, it does well. Lepa cites entries from private journals and official records on occasion, which gives the summary a human touch. I think the book would make a good introductory volume for anyone just learning about these campaigns, but the lack of depth might eliminate it from the concern of more advanced enthusiasts.

Sherman's March: Atlanta to the Sea (Civil War)

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Sherman's March: Atlanta to the Sea (Civil War)
David Nevin
Manufacturer: Time-Life Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0809448122

Campaign for Atlanta And Sherman's March to Th Sea

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Campaign for Atlanta And Sherman's March to Th Sea
Theodore P. Savas
Manufacturer: Savas Woodbury Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

The Civil War Sherman's March Atlanta to the Sea

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The Civil War Sherman's March Atlanta to the Sea
Nevin David
Manufacturer: Time-Life Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UD3QZ8

Major General William T. Sherman, and his campaign

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Major General William T. Sherman, and his campaign
F Senour
Manufacturer: H.M. Sherwood
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Marching through Georgia: Pen-pictures of every-day life in General Sherman's army, from the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign until the close of the war

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Marching through Georgia: Pen-pictures of every-day life in General Sherman's army, from the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign until the close of the war
Fenwick Y Hedley
Manufacturer: R. Donnelley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Amazon.com

While campaigning for president in 2000, George W. Bush downplayed his lack of foreign policy experience by emphasizing that he would surround himself with a highly talented and experienced group of political veterans. This core group, consisting of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armitage, and Condoleezza Rice, has a long history together dating back 30 years in some cases. Dubbing themselves the Vulcans, they have largely determined the direction and focus of the Bush presidency. In this remarkably researched and fascinating book, Mann traces their careers and the development of their ideas in order to understand how and why American foreign policy got to where it is today.

As Mann makes clear, there has never been perfect agreement between all parties, (the relationship between the close duo of Powell and Armitage on one side and Rumsfeld on the other, for instance, has been frosty) but they do share basic values. Whether they came from the armed services, academia, or government bureaucracy, the Vulcans all viewed the Pentagon as the principal institution from which American power should emanate. Their developing philosophy was cemented after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and is best reflected in the decision to invade Iraq. They believe that a powerful military is essential to American interests; that America is ultimately a force for good despite any negative consequences that may arise from American aggression; they are eternally optimistic about American power and dismiss any arguments about over-extension of resources; and they are skeptical about the need to consult allies or form broad global coalitions before acting.

Rise of the Vulcans succeeds on many levels. Mann presents broad themes such as the gradual transition from the Nixon and Kissinger philosophies to the doctrine espoused by Rumsfeld, Cheney, and the rest in clear and logical terms. He also offers minute details and anecdotes about each of the individuals, and the complex relationships between them, that reveal the true personalities behind the politicians. This is essential reading for those seeking to understand the past quarter century and what it means for America's future. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

When George W. Bush campaigned for the White House, he was such a novice in foreign policy that he couldnÂ't name the president of Pakistan. But he was advised by a group that called themselves the VulcansÂ—a group of men and one woman with long and shared experience in government, dating back to the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and first Bush administrations. After returning to power in 2001, the VulcansÂ—including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armitage, and Condoleeza RiceÂ—were widely expected to restore U.S. foreign policy to what it had been in past Republican administrations. Instead, they put America on an entirely new course, adopting a far-reaching set of ideas and policies that changed the world and AmericaÂ's role in it.

In this revelatory and newsworthy volume, James Mann narrates the hidden story of these six history makers, their early careers and rise to power, the interactions and underlying tensions among them, their visions, and their roles in the current administration. Along the way, he offers a wealth of new information (about how Rumsfeld schemed in the Nixon White House, how Cheney toiled as RumsfeldÂ's doorkeeper, how Wolfowitz first warned of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East in the 1960s) to complete a remarkable look at George W. BushÂ's inner circle.

Customer Reviews:

Arc of the Vulcans -- Six Who Rose and Failed.......2007-01-26

This book was published a year after the commencement of the current (2007) war in Iraq, at a time when the initial military outcome, foreordained by the disparity of forces involved. had taken place and when the problems of the occupation and reconstruction phase were beginning to fester, with developments to come that were unknown or unpredictable with any precision. While the dismal results of the postwar situation are now known to all, the book should be read with a "pre-war" frame of mind, looking forward from 2001-2003 and not backward, if that is possible. In other words, if the reader perceives the present situation as one of abject failure, then he should look for the structural flaws of the "philosophy" responsible for that failure, as that philosophy is presented here, and not towards weak exculpatory dodges such as "incorrect implementation of a good idea". The book is not so much a summary of the specific arguments for the war as it is a history of attitudes (and careers) that are part of a broader geopolitical philosophy formed over thirty years or so, of which the drive for the war in Iraq was but one instance realized in the flesh.

As a sociological study the book can be viewed as an interesting and detailed set of case histories that illuminate that vague buzz-concept "social networking", except in this case the "society" in question is that limited subset of people driven by political ambition (or, in kinder terms, aspirations toward leadership which the aspirants feel they have merited through thought or deed) and the institutions in which they flourish. As a comprehensive case-study in the history of political ideas "Rise of the Vulcans" does an excellent job of tracing the step-by-step transformation of conservative thinking about containment and balance-of-power politics in the Eisenhower-Nixon era into the new unilateralist "crusaders for freedom" philosophy of the neo-conservative think-tankers (and "tankers" is not a bad image, since they seem to have pushed a great deal of both caution and actual recent history to the side in bulldozer fashion). If there is a common trend within the public lives of each of the six people portrayed in the book it is one of gradual drift from practical political concerns into a more rigid ideological frame of mind.

Of the six it is also not really clear how many of them are sincerely intellectually committed to the received wisdom of neo-conservative assumptions and goals - perhaps Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. In some sense the most recent high-level positions obtained by the six are all "second acts" in their own careers -- and in the sense of also being probable "last acts" in public life, this fact may have driven some of them into adopting extreme positions in order to hang on to whatever power and authority they achieved with the election of G. W. Bush, a very old and invariably dismal story. This certainly seems to be the case for Powell, and probably for Rice as well. Wolfowitz is a man who, as a bookish intellectual, always seems bewildered by the messiness of reality, and this book does nothing to dispel that image. Armitage does not appear to be a man burdened by any complicated geopolitical ideas at all but one moved by strong personal loyalties, not only to individuals but to foreign regimes which we have buoyed up only to let down when things start to go bad. In terms of the development of ideas (which can be read from the public record) and of motives (which can always only be inferred) it is Cheney who comes across as the most questionable of the six. His career as it is documented here is full of self-contradictions in the realm of policy statements (most pointedly concerning any compelling "need" to remove Saddam Hussein, which he dismissed in 1992); the only consistent threads in his life are ambition for office and its perquisites, payback to his allies and sponsors, and his ability to gingerly practice a "rubber glove" handling of contentious issues in order to be able to disassociate himself from any failures stemming from his involvement in public policy. This is only vaguely hinted at in the book but should be obvious to people who have watched his performance as Vice-President.

(The Vulcans, who anointed themselves with this nickname, should have read a little more classical history or delved into a study of Graeco-Roman mythology. Vulcan, aka Hephaestus, was the god of the forge (and therefore responsible for the creation of iron weaponry, which was the wonder of the world when it appeared in the late Bronze Age) but he had other well-known characteristics which it would be unwise for a public figure to associate himself or herself with. He was the butt of the Olympian gods' malicious humor -- and the gods could be downright nasty and certainly politically incorrect in this respect -- due to his status as a cripple and a cuckold. Perhaps, given their penchant for lofty, self-serving pronouncements, they should have called themselves the Jovians and been done with it.)

"Rise of the Vulcans" is judicious and fair-minded -- none of the portraits is a "hatchet job" and, while the author makes critical observations on the shortcomings of some aspects of the neo-conservative's ideas about geopolitics, he also states areas where he agrees with their interpretation of reality and their policy recommendations. In the case of the Vulcans the history of events on the ground in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East will do the hatchet man's job, and future historians will either condemn them in far-too-simple terms or attempt to rescue their reputations by "revisionist" prestidigitation or slanderous assaults on their critics. The circus of American political life goes on, and only after the six and their ring-master have left the center ring, will it be seen how deeply and for how long they have damaged America's position in the world, and, more importantly, its conception of what is acceptable behavior at home and abroad. While this reviewer hopes that their failures will undermine the next incarnation of American exceptionalism and its current drive for hegemony under a spurious "idealistic" banner, he is not optimistic about such an outcome. We'll just go on fooling ourselves because we don't like the alternative (i.e., understanding the limits of power and acting accordingly and with less swagger and silly self-righteousness).

To be fair is sometimes to go wrong or neutrality is not necessarily objectivity........2006-08-24

This is a very interesting book- one that is still very important in trying to understand the mind set and ideology of the current misadministration.
As a group biography and a beginner's primer on the evolution of America's foreign policy since the Nixon administration, Mann's book is excellent. He discusses the "real" politic approach of Kissinger, the Carter doctrine, the Reagan doctrine, what became known as the Powell doctrine, and the Bush/Rice doctrine of preemptive strikes. Along the way, he lucidly portrays the roles that each of the Vulcans played in that development.
It should be obvious from reading the reviews below that Mann tries very hard to be fair and objective. Some people seem to believe him as being overly fair to Democrats and some to the current gang of miscreants. I guess you can tell on which side of that divide I fall. Several comments about his history come to mind.
One of the best points that Mann makes about the weakness of the Democrats is that they don't seem to develope people who are both politicians and experts on foreign affairs (with the exception of Al Gore). There is no one like a Rumsfeld or a Cheney or a Bush 1. By that I mean there are no Demos who develope long term relationship with the intelligence, the defense and the foreign affairs communities. Thus the Demos always seem relatively weak in these areas. It should be obvious that the Republicans have beaten the electorate over the head with this fact. That needs to change. The chants of "peace now!" are simply not enough to constitue a foreign policy. The Demos need to articulate an alternative foreign policy vision.
On a different topic, I am somewhat troubled by the way Mann has picked and chosen his sources. He leaves out entirely from his account any reference to the sort of incident that Richard Clarke talked about in his book, "Against All Enemies", where he related how on Sept. 12th or 13th, Rumsfeld was already trying to link the 9-11 attacks to Iraq in spite of expert opinion to the contrary. I think Mann has downplayed considerably the enmity that the Vulcans felt toward Iraq and their blindness to any argument against an attempt to overthrow Hussien.
Part of why this omission bothers me is that Mann's history is no better grounded in verifiable sources then Clarke's. If you read Mann's notes, they are full of references to unnamed sources. This is an unavoidable issue in the writing of current histories. The author inevitably get used by players who are trying to manipulate public presentation of their actions. But you do end up wondering why authors end up ignoring some sources and not others. Why didn't Mann interview Clarke for this book?
In decisions like that one, the author's interests and ideological foibles are revealed.
I think in Mann's case, he tries too hard to be fair. And that makes him blind in some ways to just how misguided the Vulcans have been. And to how much they misguided the American people.
Mann also does not include the extent to which it was obvious that the King George and his royal bullies were manipulating the data in the windup to the war. Anyone who actually read more then the front page of the newspaper at the time noted that on the same days that everyone trumpeted Powell's or Rumsfeld's presentation of the WMD data, in the back pages there were articles about long time experts in the Mideast intelligence community talking off record about the ambiguity and unreliability of that same data. None of this is discussed in Mann's book.
I do think that this book brings out what is the central problem in American foreign policy which is to what extent military power should be relied upon as the means we use to enforce our policies. The Vulcans feel that we can basically dictate to the world the way things are going to be. I would argue that the insurgency in Iraq proves otherwise. Mann's book, in spite of its weaknesses helps to clarify the issues in that debate. For that reason, all of us should consider reading it.

An excellent look at Bush II's first cabinet.......2006-05-08

This book filled a lot of knowledge gaps I had about President Bush's first cabinet members. I had not heard of many of the people he had in the cabinet before they came to power.

I enjoyed learning about their history and how intertwined all have been in the political history of the United States. I think Mann provides a well balanced veiw of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armitage, and Condoleezea Rice. However, his distaste for Cheney and Rumsfeld did come through.

The Limits of Liberal Historians.......2006-03-02

This is a thoroughly researched and mostly fair-minded account of the rise of the 6 most important members of Bush's war cabinet from his first term. By digging deep into their respective backgrounds, James Mann clearly demonstrates how their life histories and career experiences shaped their views in favor of American military dominance, in the process debunking many of the lunatic conspiracy theories that pass for mainstream criticism of the decision to go to war with Iraq and the conduct of that war. He also clearly shows just how silly were those antiwar loons who pinned such high hopes on Colin Powell by pointing out that both he and Richard Armitage were by any rational definition war hawks who merely disagreed with the rest of the Vulcans on WHEN and HOW to fight Iraq, not WHETHER.

And yet..., and yet.... Though James Mann is no partisan hack, though he clearly made a sincere effort to be fair and unbiased, in the end his liberal bias seeped through. This shows up most clearly in his at first annoying, then unintentionally hilarious, and finally just plain sad continual assumption of the worst about the motives of the Vulcans. When facts are available Mr. Mann sticks to them, even taking time to debunk some of the more idiotic conspiracy theories, but when facts are absent, Mr. Mann continually falls into the trap of assuming venal motives for the same people he has just defended from only marginally loonier accusations. The saddest thing is that I am sure that Mr. Mann is completely unaware of it, and would probably respond with a confused stare if I tried to point this out to him. He just wouldn't be able to get it.

Another area where he's blinded by liberal bias is in his continual attempts to make a big issue of how people who once opposed Democrat foreign policies designed to spread democracy turned around and supported Republican foreign policies designed to spread democracy. The reason it turns out is rather simple. The Democrat policies were condemned because they usually failed, resulting in more oppressive dictatorships, while the Republican policies were praised because they usually worked, resulting in real democracies! This is actually a good microcosm of the liberal-conservative divide on a whole host of issues: conservatism is results-oriented; liberalism isn't.

What this means, sadly, is that we are probably going to be forced to rely more and more on conservative historians going forward, not because they are unbiased, far from it, but because they are the only historians with enough self-awareness to even ATTEMPT to guard against their own biases.

Biased. .......2006-02-10

Rise of the Vulcans contains some useful information. However, Mr. Mann is on a respected historian's PNAC list of 320 members, signatories, and authors. This would, from my perspective as a published researcher, disqualify him as an "excellent source." Far better to read Gary Dorrien's impartial "Imperial Designs." Mr. Dorrien is not a member of the PNAC lobby.

Neo-conspiracy theories.(Book Review): An article from: The National Interest

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Neo-conspiracy theories.(Book Review): An article from: The National Interest
Gerard Baker
Manufacturer: The National Interest, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00096SZMU
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The National Interest, published by The National Interest, Inc. on December 22, 2004. The length of the article is 3351 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Neo-conspiracy theories.(Book Review)
Author: Gerard Baker
Publication: The National Interest (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2004
Publisher: The National Interest, Inc.
Issue: 78 Page: 130(6)

Article Type: Book Review

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Review of Rise of the Vulcans: the History of Bush's War Cabinet.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch

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Review of Rise of the Vulcans: the History of Bush's War Cabinet.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch
Thomas Fortenberry
Manufacturer: Midwest Book Review
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Reviewer's Bookwatch, published by Midwest Book Review on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 891 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Review of Rise of the Vulcans: the History of Bush's War Cabinet.(Book Review)
Author: Thomas Fortenberry
Publication: Reviewer's Bookwatch (Newsletter)
Date: November 1, 2004
Publisher: Midwest Book Review
Page: NA

Article Type: Book Review

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Rise of the Vulcans: the History of Bush's War Cabinet

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Rise of the Vulcans: the History of Bush's War Cabinet
James Mann
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N76AXQ

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