Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century

Book Description

David Aikman profiles six extraordinary people who have changed the century by modeling essential, undeniable virtues. With amazing insight, respected journalist David Aikman examines the lives of Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Billy Graham, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II and Elie Wiesel in this book about greatness for a generation without heroes.

Customer Reviews:

I'm biased, but this is great........2002-08-29

It was truly wonderful to read David's biographies of these great souls. There is quite a warts-and-all documentary style to this, but I really felt that I got into the lives of the people. For instance, I felt like I got a better picture of Billy Graham from the one chapter on him here than I did from the whole of Graham's autobiography.

Full disclosure: I know David a little, we go to church together. But it's STILL a great book. I hope you can still find it around.

Great writing from a great man........2000-09-15

What a wonderful book! I have the privilege of knowing the author, and I can say that Dr. Aikman has not only unveiled six great souls for our benefit, but has exposed the greatness of his own.

A word of gratitude to the author........1999-09-20

I really want to thank Mr. Aikman for this book. It illustrates the way a pure soul can be used by God to accomplish things beyond anyone's expectations. The author masterfully weaves anecdotes, interviews and biographical information to connect us in a unique way to these great people. I came away inspired to try and carry away remnants of each of these wonderful people. Thank you for such a masterful work. It is profound in so many ways.

A word of gratitude to the author........1999-09-20

Biographies of Six Spiritual Leaders.......1999-02-15

Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century is undoubtedly one of the best collections of biographies I have read in years. In an era where celebrities are designated "heroes" and fifty or so men in New Orleans are called "Saints", it is refreshing - no it's inspiring - to read about five men and a woman whose attitudes and actions had a profound and positive effect on this century. David Aikman, a talented foreign correspondent for Time Magazine turned writer, has done a superb job capturing, in a few pages, the extraordinary lives and accomplishments of Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela. If you are looking for perfect people, you won't find them in Aikman's book. What you will find, however, are six individuals who again and again, rose above their times and circumstances to change, if only for a brief time, the course of human events. Aikman's astute observations into the worldly and spiritual lives of these great souls hold important lessons for all of us today. Mother Teresa's inexhaustible compassion for the poorest of the poor, Nelson Mandela's amazing capacity to forgive, Billy Graham's urgent quest for salvation for the human soul, Solzhenitsyn's implacable pursuit of the truth, Pope John Paul's passion for human dignity and Eli Wiesel's constant reminders of the profound wickedness that lurks in the hearts of men, these are some of the lessons in store for those who read this enjoyable and inspirational book. Perhaps the best chapter is the last. Here Aikman uses Eli Wiesel's compelling and tragic story to inquire into the nature of evil. Was Adolph Hitler a charismatic but misguided despot or Satan incarnate? Was the Holocaust "a mutation on a cosmic scale" or "merely the natural shoots watered by Europe's longtime subterranean lake of anti-Semitism"? As we move from this millennium to the next, hopefully the brilliant lights of these great souls will illuminate the answers to these questions and be a lamp unto the uncertain path that lies before us.

Book Description

From his unique vantage point as a senior journalist with TIME magazine, David Aikman witnessed some of the most important world events and interviewed many of the prominent global power figures of his time. Aikman profiles six of these figures who embody specific virtues sorely needed today: Billy Graham (salvation), Nelson Mandela (forgiveness), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (truth), Mother Teresa (compassion), Pope John Paul ll (human dignity), and Elie Wiesel (remembrance).

Book Description

During the Vietnam war, the U.S. sought to undermine Hanoi's subversion of the Saigon regime by sending Vietnamese operatives behind enemy lines. A secret to most Americans, this covert operation was far from secret in Hanoi: all of the commandos were killed or captured, and many were turned by the Communists to report false information.

Spies and Commandos traces the rise and demise of this secret operation--started by the CIA in 1960 and expanded by the Pentagon beginning in1964--in the first book to examine the program from both sides of the war. Kenneth Conboy and Dale Andrad interviewed CIA and military personnel and traveled in Vietnam to locate former commandos who had been captured by Hanoi, enabling them to tell the complete story of these covert activities from high-level decision making to the actual experiences of the agents.

The book vividly describes scores of dangerous missions-including raids against North Vietnamese coastal installations and the air--dropping of dozens of agents into enemy territory--as well as psychological warfare designed to make Hanoi believe the "resistance movement" was larger than it actually was. It offers a more complete operational account of the program than has ever been made available--particularly its early years--and ties known events in the war to covert operations, such as details of the "34-A Operations" that led to the Tonkin Gulf incidents in 1964. It also explains in no uncertain terms why the whole plan was doomed to failure from the start.

One of the remarkable features of the operation, claim the authors, is that its failures were so glaring. They argue that the CIA, and later the Pentagon, were unaware for years that Hanoi had compromised the commandos, even though some agents missed radio deadlines or filed suspicious reports. Operational errors were not attributable to conspiracy or counterintelligence, they contend, but simply to poor planning and lack of imagination.

Although it flourished for ten years under cover of the wider war, covert activity in Vietnam is now recognized as a disaster. Conboy and Andrad's account of that episode is a sobering tale that lends a new perspective on the war as it reclaims the lost lives of these unsung spies and commandos.

Customer Reviews:

Bunglers and Bozos.......2007-07-30

Most of the stories of the activity into North Vietnam reads like a Keystone Cops comic book. For the most part, a depressing account of the "recruits" the CIA had to work with. Lost patrols, predictable ambushes, North Vietnamese deception techniques, among political foul-ups leads you to wonder why they ever attempted that Secret War.

If you want to know why the U.S. failed in this Secret War; you came to the right place. This book will have your head shaking in disbelief through most of your reading. Good Luck.

A dark chapter in the history of U.S. Spec Ops.......2004-10-10

This book tells the story of one of the darker chapters in the history of U.S. special operations intelligence during the Vietnam War. Dark, because the `The Vietnam War...only a brushfire at the time...grew into a conflagration that did not burn out for more than a decade...[became] the orphan of defeat...waiting in the ashes.' {p. 276}

However, this book needed to be written. This is also a book that should be read by all strategic intelligence students as well as anyone who wants to understand the relationship and possible benefits between special covert and military operations including, but not limited to, peacekeeping, low intensity conflict, and war.

Spies & Commandos portrays in detail that the administration by our `Best and Brightest' showed `little appreciation for the lessons learned...[and] pinprick attacks had virtually no effect on the North Vietnamese economy or, more important, Hanoi's desire to pursue its war effort in South Vietnam.' {p. 246} How we treated the brave men and women who executed our missions is another dark story in itself.

Excellant piece of work.......2000-07-15

Spies and Commandos is a great book for anyone interested in SOG's exploits in SEA. This book is well researched and goes into great detail about the missions executed throughout N.Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Conboy is a great author and any of his works are well recommended for those who seek an unbiased account of covert operations in SEA. A book of simular content was written by Dr. Schutlz but simply does not compare to this. My personal favorite subject discussed in this book is the developemnt, exploitation, and operations of the "EARTH ANGEL" teams(1969-1971) which were turncoat NVA soldiers who were advised/trained by experienced CIA and US Special Forces personel to gather intell in Cambodia. Truly an educational and exciting piece of work. Another interesting subject is how the ARVN Special Operations units fought in the 1972 and final 1975 NVA offensives. BUY IT. You will not be dissapointed.

SPIES AND COMMANDOS: HOW AMERICA LOST THE SECRET WAR IN NORTH VIETNAM

Average customer rating:

SPIES AND COMMANDOS: HOW AMERICA LOST THE SECRET WAR IN NORTH VIETNAM
Kenneth and Dale Andrade Conboy
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J3SCH6

Average customer rating:

SPIES AND COMMANDOS. How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam.
Kenneth and Andrade, Dale: Conboy
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2TZNY

Average customer rating:

Spies and Commandos: How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam
Kenneth Conboy and Dale Andrade
Manufacturer: UNIV PRESS OF KS+
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCLDCC

Book Description

Matthew Miller's "stimulating and constructive"* program for fixing America's most serious domestic problems-now updated to address the new administration (*Los Angeles Times)

Matthew Miller's The Two Percent Solution challenged our country to get past bipartisan ideology and change the way we approach our biggest domestic problems. His plan? Take 2 percent of America's GDP and direct it toward a handful of fundamental goals on which all of us can agree, whether we call ourselves Republicans, Democrats or Independents. For just two cents on the national dollar we can have a country where everyone has health insurance, full-time workers earn a living wage, poor children have great teachers in fixed-up schools, and politicians no longer have to grovel to wealthy donors. All this with a government smaller than it was when Ronald Reagan was president.

Between our proper intuition that 2 percent is a small amount, and the Washington consensus that a 2 percent shift in priorities is beyond imagining, lies the opportunity to transform American politics. In this updated paperback edition, Matthew Miller examines how people responded to his agenda during the election year and invites the new administration to engage his revolutionary ideas. The Two Percent Solution is a call to arms that neither party can afford to ignore.

Customer Reviews:

Worth the read.......2007-03-21

In an era when politicians are concerned about the short term (no doubt dwelling on their chances of re-election), rather than the larger long term problems which loom over the USA, the author presents us with a refreshing solution which seeks to garner approval from both liberals and conservatives...and for the most part he succeeds.

The appeal of the book lies not only in the attempt to resolve such daunting problems with an ambitious plan, but to explain problems in an easy to understand format, whilst also seeking comment on his ideas from prominent voices from our time.

The reason for 4 stars, not 5, is two fold:
1. Under the section where he seeks to ensure that everyone has a decent minimum wage of $9-10 an hour, he suggests restricting it to US citizens only. As a hardworking (6 days a week) full time employee of a company, who has never claimed unemployment or welfare in the nearly 8 years that I have lived here, I find it insulting that I would not earn the same wage. Granted, I could become a citizen, but one could also argue that this minimum wage proposal is merely a way to ensure that everyone becomes a citizen.

2. Given the partisanship which borders on trench warfare, prevalent in current politics, I am highly doubtful that such a plan, laudable though it may be, would ever take place.

I do, nonetheless, recommend this book.

Matt Miller for President!.......2007-01-10

Miller does the impossible in this book, thinking way outside the box to innovate solutions that address the concerns of liberals and conservatives alike and actually solve the intended problem.

Sensible and Perhaps Do-Able but Probably Unlikely.......2004-06-04

The title is explained by Miller's bold assertion that the most serious challenges in the United States could be solved if the federal government spent only 2% more than it does now. These challenges include providing health care for those unable to afford it, attracting the best teaching talent to the weakest schools, establishing a "universal" living wage, and reforming campaign financing. In 2004, the gross domestic product will be approximately $11-trillion. Based on that, a 2% increase would be $220-billion.

Immediately I have questions. Has Miller taken in full account that as much as 85% (if not more) of an annual federal budget is already committed by law to programs such as Social Security and Medicare? Even if the Congress and the President were in agreement about the 2% tax increase and dedicated expenditures Miller proposes, would -- indeed could -- they make them? Even then, where would the (no pun intended) proverbial "buck" stop in terms of ensuring that the increased expenditures achieve the intended objectives? Finally, given the well-established infrastructures of government at the federal, state, and local levels, will an increase (in whatever amount) in a single year be sufficient to solve problems which have developed during the last (let's say) 50 years?

No reasonable person can quarrel with Miller's assertion that such problems exist, and, that public officials need to collaborate much more effectively on solving them. I agree with Miller that "our two major political parties are organized around ideologies and interest groups that systematically ban the expression of common-sense ideas that blend the best of liberal and conservative thinking." Perhaps there is a consensus in 2004 on what the most serious problems are. Historically, however, there has always been disagreement as to HOW to solve such problems and my guess (only a guess) is that political divisions are wider and deeper now than they have been at least since the 1930s and perhaps since the Civil War.

For me, this book's greatest value is best measured in terms of the controversies and conversations it stimulates. Miller does not have all the right answers...and doesn't claim to. No one does. In fact, he doesn't ask all the right questions. However, he offers a series of quite specific proposals and then supports them. If you disagree, as many do, Amazon offers this opportunity to respond and I am grateful for it.

A fiscal utopia ........2004-05-19

Mr. Miller is very creative, innovative, and what have you. But, he is totally unrealistic. His book is just an interesting utopia of what we could do with our money if it grew on trees, and if political considerations were irrelevant.

The truth of the matter is that we have a structural Budget Deficit of 5% of GDP. In other words, day in day out our Federal government expenditures exceed our Federal tax receipts by 5% of GDP (about 21% to 16% respectively). In Miller's utopic language, we would call this the 5% Problem, or the 5 pennies on the Dollar problem.

Additionally, if we look at the Federal Government as an insurance company offering retirement annuity policies (Social Security) and health care insurance policies (Medicare, and Medicaid) for which it charges a premium (payroll taxes); the Federal Government is deemed insolvent. The net present value of the cost of those policies exceeds the premiums received by $72 trillion. This stresses that we actually have far more than a 5% Problem (in Miller's language) when we consider our tsunami of unfunded liabilities.

To resolve our fiscal crisis, we should think like libertarians on the expense side (cut the cost of government programs, restructure Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) and think like socialists on the revenues side (increase taxation to near European style levels). Miller does the reverse (think like a socialist on the expense side and like a libertarian on the tax side). Thus, none of the ideas he comes up with pay for themselves. Instead, they would dig us deeper in the hole.

Also, Miller's creative "grand bargains" amount to various voucher schemes to ultimately insure more people, increase the pay of teachers, and other most laudable social goals. Unfortunately, most of these "grand bargains" have already proven to be political nonstarters. School vouchers have already been turned down many times by voters at the State level.

If you want to read good books on the future outlook of the U.S. better grounded in reality, I recommend: Laurence Kotlikoff's "The Coming Generational Storm" that describes the impact of our aging society on our fiscal position. I also strongly recommend two excellent books by Robert Stowe England: "The Fiscal Challenge of an Aging Industrial World" and "Global Aging and Financial Markets." These books make extensive comparison between the U.S. and other developed countries' fiscal position. Also, Paul Krugman's "The Great Unraveling" covers well our deteriorating fiscal position.

Ambitious? Definitely. Too Ambitious? Probably........2004-04-29

I'd like to start by saying that this book is brilliant and a fresh take on politics that is so rarely heard today. By initially removing himself from bipartisan politics and attacking to current politics of both parties within the first part of the book, Miller convincingly overcomes possible accusations of bias, which would allow the book to be utterly dismissed as "conservative propaganda" by the left and "liberal propaganda" by the right. Instead, Miller calls for an agreement, a truce in the name of progress, between the two sides of American politics. As Miller himself puts it, "What if both sides came together and said, 'I'll get serious about teachers if you get serious about vouchers?' and vice versa." At least he admits that the current system of politics is a system of charades, conflicts, and no real action.

But are Miller's plans feasible? The Two Percent solution itself is not one monolithic plan, but four smaller but formidable ones tackling four of what Miller sees to be the biggest real-world issues today: universal health coverage, education reform, living-wage subsidies, and "Patriot Dollars", designed to tackle the problem of campaign finance. Each of these has its own pros and cons and will inevitably come under fire from both sides of the political spectrum.

This is why the book strikes me and others as naive. The issue of how, politically, these plans will come to be is underrepresented in this book. I'd fully support these ideas if Miller could actually propose how to bring everyone in modern politics out of their entrenched positions and to their non-reactionary senses long enough to consider his plans. He hopes for a grassroots campaign that will someday take over America, but this cannot be reconciled with another complaint of his. Namely, one of Miller's woes is the lack of interest and trust by the public in politics. Frankly, the Two Percent Solution will not generate interest in the ways that Miller wants. He calls for believers in the solution to tell their friends and acquaintances about the idea. However, the lack of interest in politics, as described by Miller himself -- the general political ennui -- means this isn't a feasible plan; personally, I can't imagine many people whom I'd tell about the plan actually believing in its power themselves. Even fewer would further spread the word.

The book has some wonderful, fresh ideas that I hadn't expected from a political book. However, the problem is its ambitiousness - perhaps too much ambition and not enough direction toward achieving practical solutions.

If nothing else, this book is an enlightening political discussion on several topics. The one I found most interesting was on the concept of fairness between the rivaling camps of Milton Friedman and John Rawls. Rawls' concept of the pre-birth lottery and decision making "behind a veil of ignorance" is a point too important to go unknown by the general public, as it is now. If you're looking for a new plan, ambitious as it might be, pick up this book just for this one breath of fresh air. Even if you're looking only for a relevant discussion of modern politics, read this book for Miller's discussion of the topic.

Average customer rating:
The Two Percent Solution: Fixing America's Problems in Ways Liberals and Conservatives Can Love
Matthew Miller
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MU869K

Average customer rating:

Bush's actions speak louder than his (deceptive) words

A great book that neads proofreading...

What a Joke nicknamed a book

Let's roll with the Truth

Let's roll with the Truth

The Dirty Truth, The Oil and Chemical Dependency of George W. Bush
Rick Abraham
Manufacturer: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Public Policy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0970519001

Book Description

THE DIRTY TRUTH unmasks a presidential hopeful who fails to walk his talk of "local control," "partnership," and "personal responsibility." It documents the abysmal environmental record of Texas Governor George W. Bush and reveals a controversial `back room' style of governing that grants special access and consideration to big business polluters and campaign contributors. THE DIRTY TRUTH follows their money to show how they were allowed to shape public policy and reap benefits at the expense of Texans and the environment.

Customer Reviews:

Bush's actions speak louder than his (deceptive) words.......2006-02-13

It's really extraordinary how the Bush supporters who review the book have no specific points to make, at all. They just call it a "hatchet job" or a "false perception of the truth" (hey, how can you have a "false perception" - if you simply describe something that's true, where does "perception" come in?). Wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't read it, just taking umbrage at the tone of the favorable reviews.

The real value of this book is for those who are uncertain whether to accept Bush as a person who is simply misinformed but honest (in issues such as Iraq WMD, etc.) or whether he is someone who deliberately sets out to mislead, using lies, distortions and secrecy to achieve his ends. Once you've read this account of his tenure as Governor of Texas, you will be in no doubt. It's a truly shameful catalog of dishonesty and sleaze.

Is it factual? Well, there are 222 (count'em, 222) endnotes giving sources for everything in the book. If the righties can show where these are all wrong, I might be able to pay them some attention. Until then I thank the well-respected writer Rick Abraham for helping us to "perceive" some important truths.

A great book that neads proofreading..........2003-05-23

As a previous reviewer stated, if edited correctly, this book would have gotten the highest rating possible, and even more. The author successfully shows how GW is an oil-addicted, old-time republican, sort of a fox let loose in the chicken coop. Anyone who doubts that this administration is corrupt should this book. Anybody who does will see through the evil Bush Empire.

What a Joke nicknamed a book.......2002-12-14

Can people really be that misinformed about reality and what really matters? Why waste your time even reading these reviews. This is a Joke, nicknamed a book.

Seek the truth in all matters, not the perception of the truth...this is very likely only someone's false perception of the truth.

Let's roll with the Truth.......2002-08-09

If you have any doubts about Bush's attitude toward the environment this book will eliminate them once and for all. It never ceases to amaze me, a book written factually with supporting evidence is always maligned as the commie, pinko, or liberal media by corportists, incidentally defined by Mussolini as fascists . I give the book five stars for anyone wanting a clue about who and what is running the country, and the ground they are running it into.

The irony of a President who believes in maintaining a healthy body but has no regard for maintaing the health of our living planet earth is beyond comprehension. We overpopulate the earth, strip and mine out the land, suck the oil up from the ground, only to spew it back into the atmosphere increasing the hole in the ozone, thereby raising the temperature of the planet. We contaminate our water supply and soil by dumping toxic chemicals and nuclear waste. Deforesting the Amazon decreases the earth's ability to produce vital oxygen we need to breathe. I don't exactly see the correlation between exercise and a healthy body as long if we continue to pollute the earth as we do.

A healthy body needs fresh clean air, water, and a proper atmosphere that will effectively filter out harmful radiation from the sun in order to live. Our planet is no different than our bodies. Global warming is akin to a human running a fever, a sign that we are not living on a healthy planet.

Money can't buy a new body anymore than it can buy a new earth to live on. It's probably time to put homo sapiens on the endangered species list. It may just be that the earth we live on will begin to consider man a virus and start fighting to eliminate the virus in order to ensure it's survival as any living organism does. Mother Nature can pack a powerful punch, something to ruminate on.

Let's roll with the Truth.......2002-08-09

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