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With the same drug-addled alacrity and jaundiced wit that made Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a hilarious hit, Hunter S. Thompson turns his savage eye and gonzo heart to the repellent and seductive race for President. He deconstructs the 1972 campaigns of idealist George McGovern and political hack Richard Nixon, ending up with a political vision that is eerily prophetic. A classic!
Book Description
With the same drug-addled alacrity and jaundiced wit that made Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a hilarious hit, Hunter S. Thompson turns his savage eye and gonzo heart to the repellent and seductive race for President.He deconstructs the 1972 campaigns of idealist George McGovern and political hack Richard Nixon, ending up with a political vision that is eerily prophetic.A classic!
Customer Reviews:
A Master Work in Political Campaign.......2007-05-31
Another classic from HST, in fact maybe my favorite work of his. The setting for the book is the presidential campaign of 1972 pitting Gorge McGovern against Richard Millhouse Nixon. It begins with Thompson being sent by Rolling Stone to be the Washington D.C. correspondent for the magazine. From there the rollercoaster ride begins. HST chronicles the campaign from first, covering the Democratic primaries and running to the nomination of McGovern at the Democratic National Convention, and finally the Presidential election itself.
HST pioneered his own unique style of gonzo journalism and this book, along with the classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, defined him and his craft. Stark in its style and approach, the prospective provided by HST of what it is like to be out there on the campaign trail is unique to my knowledge. A dramatic inside story of the battles of the campaign trail emerges and fills in significant gaps in other press coverage of the time. HST's quest for truth, politics, and the eternal buzz paint a picture that the straight press never could because of restrictions like `objectivity' and the like. The result is perhaps the best account to date on what is really going on behind the scenes of a campaign for the highest office in the land.
The only drawback about reading HST is that it always gives me an incredible urge to drink and act in a semi-crazed style. It is says something about the infectious nature of his work and one often finds oneself wishing there were more gonzo journalists writing today.
This book is essential reading for anyone interested in politics and the machinery behind it. Even if politics aren't your cup up tea, HST brings a new dimension to any subject that he writes about, one that can be appreciated for its raw truth as well as its unconventional delivery. Although HST only provides one way of looking at politics out many possible, readers would be doing a disservice to themselves by passing over this book. Other views are widely espoused by many journalists and pundits, but to my knowledge no one else has tread where HST has dared to go.
This one gets 5 stars for being original, highly entertaining, and remaining relevant to this day.
here and now...and later.......2007-03-30
As I write this review, a dozen and a half presidential candidates are revved up to fly around the US, spending (all told) billions of dollars of Other People's Money, talking out of several sides of their mouth, slinging more mud than a construction crew, and falling over each other to get into the TV and newspaper spotlight.
It is astounding how much this book, written 35 years ago, can teach us about what is going on today. I have vowed to read this book again in 4-5 years.
Insight into America's lost innocence.......2007-03-27
For me this is Hunter's masterpiece - Its what crystallises all of his skill and insights as a writer. Fear and Loathing is an excellent book but its also a head trip which gives first time readers the wrong impression of Thomphson but its Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail that will show you the real Hunter in all his savage intelligence and wry observational skill - its a tour de force which shows so often the sharp mind behind the stories of drugs and debauchery - if you've only read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas then you don't know Hunter at all - this is a good starting point.
Its a picture of an America which has torn itself to pieces - the 1972 elections were a watershed in American politics, the death of Bobby Kennedy at the hands of Sirhan Sirhan in 1968 tore the heart of out the Democratic faithfull and was the major hinge of a series of events that led to the election of Richard Nixon in 68 when a country burned out on the divisive LBJ presidency voted Republican. The failure of the Democratic party to present a strong candidate in '68 led to the McGovern collapse in '72 as the party tore itself to pieces internally, consumed in infighting and political infighting that left it weakened and damaged.
Thompson's insights into the system go beyond mer reportage, he has an ability to get inside the process and lay it bare and clear and at the same time present a picture of the US on the eve of a recession and worn out from a long and divisive war. Oh and somebody mentioned how Hunter seemed unfair on Humphrey in the book - On the contrary he more than explains his reasons why he dislikes the candidate and some reading on Humphrey and history would enlighten - for one thing he won the Presidential Nomination in '68 without winning a single primary - Thompson and other democrats were quite justified in seeing him as the a political hack controlled by the likes of Chicago's power broker Mayor Daley.
Seriously. Read it. Distilled Hunter in so many ways and if youre expecting some sort of balance then youre in the wrong place - Hunter is here as always un comprimising - bitching about bias is missing the point - he never sets out to be balanced.
Lively & Exciting, if Biased.......2007-02-12
Journalist Hunter M. Thompson applies his gonzo style to the 1972 Presidential campaign, and makes us feel as if alongside the contenders as they move from rallies, to bus rides, to hotel rooms. The book focuses heavily on the Democratic primary campaign of Senator George McGovern, as he battled Hubert Humphrey, Ed Muskie, and several others for the Party's nomination. I enjoyed the author's fast-moving style and didn't mind his pro-McGovern bias, but saw no reason for his relentless slurs against Humprhey as a shameless phony - charges he never substantiates. McGovern won the nomination, but Thompson fails to see how the man's too-liberal positions and questionable competence (i.e. The Eagleton affair) doomed his chances. The author describes incumbent President Richard Nixon as devious and dangerous, but also sees him as rather human. Nixon wouldn't speak to Thompson, except for one brief interview granted on the condition that they only discuss one subject - football. It actually made interesting reading. This is a lively book, even if Thompson's kindly but bumbling candidate lost to the devious but skilled Nixon by a 61-38% landslide.
Many progressives loved Thompson's anti-establishment writing and didn't mind his lack of objectivity. Whatever your view, this book has a lively informative style that makes for fun, informative reading.
A Raw and Hilarious Account of U.S. Politics.......2006-08-03
'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72' is a fantastic journey through a spectacle which grips the U.S. every four years. It is a journey which in the hands of other authors would be thoroughly boring. But Hunter S. Thompson (HST) succeeds in combining great intelligence and insightful commentary with shocking hilarity and the result is a great book.
'Campaign Trail '72' doesn't have the same constant flow of wacky, laugh-out-loud humour and outrageous anecdotes as some of HST's other works, but then HST wrote this book as part of a year-long assignment to cover the Presidential campaign, not a week-long bender at the Kentucky Derby. In some respects, the length of time over which Thompson was reporting helps reveal a more 'everyday' side to an author who at other times appears to lead a wholly surreal lifestyle. Even the Doctor of Gonzo has down-time and boring days.
HST undoubtedly achieves what he set out to do in December '71. He gives his readers an insider's account of what it's like to cover a Presidential campaign. He reveals some of the underhand and downright corrupt tactics of the candidates and their entourages, the fickle nature of the electorate's support, the decisive role of the media in an election, and the importance of 'perception'. Thompson reports in a way that no one else is capable of reporting. He goes with gut instinct and from page 1 refuses to write from within the journalistic confines of objectivity. He openly supports Democratic candidate George McGovern, and sees Richard Nixon as a great threat to the U.S.A. and the rest of the world. Indeed, on a few occasions, he openly likens Nixon to Hitler; something which no other journalist would dare write, no matter how strongly they felt it.
Rick Steadman's sketches provide another interesting angle on the campaign and complement HST's writing excellently. The author also offers up a few timeless maxims on the nature of politics, which will strike a chord with anyone who lives in a Western 'Democracy'. In all, despite the fact that some of the detail in this book may seem mundane and dated to a present-day reader, most of HST's writing is timeless and one gets an overall sense that U.S. politics don't appear to have changed much since '72. Post-election, Thompson considers running for the office of Senator in Colorado; after reading this book, he certainly would have had my vote.
Product Description
The best account yet published of what if feels like to be out there in the middle of the american political process.
Product Description
Non-fiction account of what it feels like to be out there in the middle of the American Political process.
Book Description
David Rattray is known to many thousands of enthusiasts for his emotional and evocative lectures, he also owns a top battlefield-touring lodge Fugitive Drift, close to Iswandlwana and Rorke's Drift. This is David Rattray's first publication (his cassettes and videos have sold thousands) . No one is better qualified to explain the causes of this strange colonial war when British Imperial might was initially humiliated in a ghastly slaughter. Pride was somewhat salvaged by the heroic defense of Rorke's Drift and thereafter the Zulus were doomed. Today the battlefields are frequently visited and this attractive book is the perfect companion, being both authoritative, well illustrated and highly accessible.
Customer Reviews:
David Rattray's Guidebook to the Anglo-Zulu War Battlefields.......2004-01-22
Read the book, see the film, but if you can go and visit the battlefields in the company of David Rattray and his team.
The guidebook is a well written, easily digested and comprehensive guide to this corner of South Africa, by the author, who is extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject, having lived so close to two of the sites of major engagements, Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift, and who also owns and runs the Fugitives Drift Lodge. For those with only a short time to devote to seeing some of the sites the book is essential reading, the descriptions and directions to the sites being particularly useful. The illustrations and photographs are also useful especially in knowing exactly what one should be looking for at particular sites, in view of the sometimes overgrown and obscure nature of the locations.
The historical facts are well explained, giving the reader a good introduction as to why this conflict came about and on the major players in the campaign. A gripping narrative as to the conduct of each battle makes the book difficult to put down and readers would be advised to start the book earlier in the day rather than later!
Together with the guidebook a battlefield tour in David's company is guaranteed to make the visit come alive, his passion for the land and the Zulu people is obvious, the talks making it feel as if you were there on the day, especially on this 125th anniversary of the battles of Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift.
It is highly recommended from one who only recently purchased a copy, and was then lucky enough to visit South Africa, all within three weeks.
David Fuller
22 January 2004
Probably close as I ever get to South Africa.......2004-01-15
I actually brought the book for modern photos and illstrations since I figured that I would never get to see these places in person. However, the book proves to be an excellent reference material as well. Its pretty clear that David Rattray knows his material and how to present them. Combination of great photos (b/w and color), excellent illstrations, maps and well written narrative, this book actually covered all aspects of the Zulu War. There are tons of information packed in this short book. This book appears to be a history book in disguised as a tour guide book. Can't get any closer to South Africa unless you were there already.
Book Description
Perils of Dominance is the first completely new interpretation of how and why the United States went to war in Vietnam. It provides an authoritative challenge to the prevailing explanation that U.S. officials adhered blindly to a Cold War doctrine that loss of Vietnam would cause a "domino effect" leading to communist domination of the area. Gareth Porter presents compelling evidence that U.S. policy decisions on Vietnam from 1954 to mid-1965 were shaped by an overwhelming imbalance of military power favoring the United States over the Soviet Union and China. He demonstrates how the slide into war in Vietnam is relevant to understanding why the United States went to war in Iraq, and why such wars are likely as long as U.S. military power is overwhelmingly dominant in the world.
Challenging conventional wisdom about the origins of the war, Porter argues that the main impetus for military intervention in Vietnam came not from presidents Kennedy and Johnson but from high-ranking national security officials in their administrations who were heavily influenced by U.S. dominance over its Cold War foes. Porter argues that presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson were all strongly opposed to sending combat forces to Vietnam, but that both Kennedy and Johnson were strongly pressured by their national security advisers to undertake military intervention. Porter reveals for the first time that Kennedy attempted to open a diplomatic track for peace negotiations with North Vietnam in 1962 but was frustrated by bureaucratic resistance. Significantly revising the historical account of a major turning point, Porter describes how Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara deliberately misled Johnson in the Gulf of Tonkin crisis, effectively taking the decision to bomb North Vietnam out of the president's hands.
Customer Reviews:
The Truth Eventually Surfaces.......2006-08-25
This book sure shatters a lot of Old Wives' Tales about the political situation and the Balance of Power in the 50s and early 60s.
Of course, we have had and still have the Mainstream Media working to perpetuate the myths -- after all, many of those involved are paid good money and/or foster long careers by doing so. Thus, we're forced to swallow the Gulf of Tonkin/Vietnam War in one generation and 9-11/Irag in the next.
Leaving most of us bewildered and "wondering" what happened to our 35th president (who saw the Cold War for what it really was, i.e., 5% truth & 95% bunk) as well as to why America was in Vietnam (or Iraq) in the first place.
The truths will eventually come out but unfortunately only at a time when nobody cares anymore, the result being (in the words of one historian) nothing more than a historical footnote.
In the meantime, it's no surprise that they do such a crummy job of teaching history in our schools, obviously they don't want too many people asking too many questions ....
Sucking JFK and LBJ into the bloodbath.......2006-05-13
In the first place, Gareth Porter was 'on the ground' as an independent scholar, un-armed and un-protected in Vietnam's I Corp in '68. It was already notorious as scene of the heaviest fighting, and it was later infamous as the locale of the My Lai massacre. His courage and commitment cannot be matched by the plethora of chicken hawks who attempt to obfuscate the causes of the debacle and justify the taking of 3 million lives.
How could the disastrous consequences of the exercise of power be taken on so blindly? I think of another folly now openly admitted, which was exposed by the same methods of investigation. "I did it just because I could" is the simple reason President Bill Clinton gave Larry King as to why he went at it with Monica - and he called his rationale the worst of all reasons humans can use for immoral conduct.
Thanks to Kenneth Starr, we even know which senator Clinton was on the phone with during one of his assignations, because mundane documents were meticulously interrelated until no one could hide much of anything.
To a much higher purpose, Gareth Porter has sifted through day by day logs of the Kennedy & Johnson era White House and examined relevant notes, memoirs and meeting transcripts kept by the players and staff. His investigation is no less meticulous, and we see how both JFK and LBJ tried to be more in tune with larger political issues and more worthwhile national agendas as they sought viable alternatives. But Perils also reveals how `the Whiz Kids' were able to throw in more and more firepower and destruction through a series of short term, dispassionate maneuverings of their `Commander in Chief.'
It was fascinating to have this glimpse of the inner workings of two administrations as the events played out into rivers of blood. Time after time after time, JFK especially would be assured that certain things would be done along the more diplomatic lines he wanted; that new possibilities for peace, or at least for de-escalation, would be opened and new options explored. He would think this, as we can see from various eyewitness accounts laid out in `Perils' because the assignments he made and agreements he entered into were documented and are recounted here. And time after time after time, we see how the players would walk out of the meetings and do the opposite of what they'd just assured the President they would do for him, and do it in his name.
Then you look at the players who kept JFK impotent, and you realize that they all had connections to that `military industrial complex' of which Ike had so recently warned. Gareth calls that the `National Security Apparatus' and it has only grown stronger.
The relevance of Perils of Dominance is striking as we stand on the verge of yet another escalation. As with Vietnam to Laos to Cambodia, we're seemingly to be taken from Afghanistan to Iraq to Iran, with no one to hold a candle to Kennedy's brilliance in attempting to stop the madness.
Brilliant, Most Valuable, and Proven.......2006-04-22
Forget the Bushist nitwit who claims this marvelous book's sources are primarily "North Vietnamese". Because, you see, Bushists are not part of the "reality-based community". No, they're in Bizarro Land. So anything that confronts and conflicts with their mental and moral constipation must be Islamo-fascist, LIBERAL, Old Europe or North Vietnamese!
Onto the book.
Vietnam is the red flag of modern American history and it has been done to death, usually by ax-grinders, memoirists, Restorationists, and Halberstams. There are exceptions: David Kaiser's "American Tragedy", Howard Jones's "Death of a Generation", John Newman's "JFK and Vietnam", Frederik Logevall's "Choosing War". Still, what can one possibly bring to this subject new in terms of information or interpretation? Gareth Porter has the answer.
"Perils of Dominance" takes a topic of mind-boggling complexity, weaves a clear and consistent narrative from all the elements, and presents a picture staggering in its basic indictment of back-stabbing, endless lying, high crimes and misdemeanors, and outright treason. The traitors were the Hawk extremists who did all they could to drag John F. Kennedy(who successfully resisted until his execution) and Lyndon Johnson(whose resistance weakened under his huge domestic goals) into the war that killed 60,000 American soldiers and 3,000,000 Southeast Asians. Perhaps the most surprising and moving part of "Perils" is the picture of Lyndon Johnson, a strong opponent of expansion from Dallas through his defeat of Goldwater. We know of Tonkin Gulf, of course. And LBJ has been crucified for 40 years because of the deceptions involved. Porter shows us that it was Johnson himself who was most skeptical of the torpedo lies. And it was Johnson himself who trashed the attempts of the Hawks following the initial incident to fabricate more Tonkin Gulf-type phony attacks to justify the bombing of the North and takeover of the war by the U.S. military. Once elected, of course, LBJ gave up the ghost and the rest is genocidal history.
The real hero of the book is John F. Kennedy. Kaiser, Jones and Newman had gone pretty far in making the case that if not for Dallas, there would have been no wider war. And the horrors of the 60s and 70s for Southeast Asia would have been avoided. (At least the U.S. generated part of it.) Gareth Porter clinches it. Kennedy here is a true Machiavellian, outflanking and trumping opponents of his anti-war policy, playing things very close to the vest. Until Diem. The murders of Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother shocked Kennedy. And -- perhaps for the first time -- he understood exactly what he was up against. In the weeks that followed, he spoke often of his own death and possible assassination. Including the morning of November 22, 1963.
One hopes for a sequel from Porter, taking us through the anguish of Johnson's second term, and into the intentional genocide of the Whittier Vampire and his Nobel Peace Prize-winning lapdog.
As much of a disgrace in 2006 as he was in 1976.......2006-02-15
Porter's latest piece of revisionism fails for the same reason most others do: Construct a theory based off of prejudices, find information to validate, ignore information that does not validate, and "creatively interpret" where no material exists.
Porter is only partially correct in describing the balance of US Soviet power as decidedly on America's side. While the US had significantly more tactical and strategic nuclear weapons than the Soviets, all the way into the late 60's, the Warsaw Pact outnumbered NATO forces in Europe by over 2:1 with a comparable level of capability in its forces. Considering the known ramifications of even a "limited" nuclear exchange, this was not an option except in the most dire of circumstance. US military dominance was anything but "total" in the early days of the cold war and in many ways was at a distinct disadvantage in many military areas, a scenario that played in the Korean War. The books' contention that US involvement in Vietnam was fairly new until Kennedy, the fact is that US confrontations with communism in Asia had a long history including support of the French against communist guerrillas in Vietnam, the Philippines an Burma in the late 40's and early 50's.
"Perils of Dominance" also bases its "novel" interpretation of postwar Vietnamese history and politics almost exclusively from North Vietnamese sources along with their decidedly apologetic conclusions. These sources are retrospective justifications for the brutal policies of Hanoi, and do not stand up to scrutiny, but Porter eagerly regurgitates their analysis of the political situation in post WWII Vietnam. This simple version of history where Hanoi is an innocent victim of western Imperialism, driven to extremes by unwarranted provocation is not a new one for Porter. For example, Porter repeats the line that the VC were a completely indigenous and independent movement in South Vietnam flies in the face of the fact that the VC were controlled and orchestrated from Hanoi since at least the early 50's.
This book sounds suspiciously like another widely praised piece of Porter's brand of revisionism on Pol Pot:
"The U.S. and government and news media commentary have gone to great lengths to paint a picture of a country ruled by irrational revolutionaries, without human feelings, determined to reduce their country to barbarism. This study is aimed at setting the record straight on these crucial events."
In short, Porter needs to give up his 30 year fantasy.
Naked Power.......2005-10-16
Gareth Porter has written a unique, insightful and marvelous structural analysis of the Vietnam War quagmire. He convincingly posits that unfettered, naked American power is the primary causal force on events of the time, thus disputing the now conventional "Domino Theory" and related ideological theories. US power so far superseded Soviet military and economic strength by the 1950's that total world strategic dominance had been attained. Porter argues that the US didn't stumble into the quagmire of Vietnam. We were propelled there by the belief that we couldn't lose and had much to gain by inserting ourselves, first by being the paymaster for the French and then by our own military intervention. The book fits nicely into an analytical tradition begun more recently by C Wright Mills in "The Power Elite." Porter's book is carefully crafted and well documented so he doesn't attempt to draw out a historical tradition of power abuse in America. One would hope for a Porter follow-on book about this sordid American tradition, probably beginning just after the American Civil War and accounting for more than 200 military interventions up to and including present day Iraq.
Review by Phillip Butler, PhD
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Gamebirds of Southern Africa
Rob M. Little ,
Tim Crowe , and
Simon Barlow
Manufacturer: New Holland Publishers, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Hunting
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Nature Writing
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Africa
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General
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Reference
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ASIN: 1868723186 |
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