Customer Reviews:
Brilliantly Written European History - 1932 to 1940.......2007-09-16
The Last Lion, Alone covers the history of Europe from the time Hitler first came to power in Germany to the time that Hitler invaded the Low Countries and World War II began. During this period Churchill, who continually fought against the appeasement policies of Chamberlain, rose from Back Bench irrelevance to become Brittan's Prime Minister.
The history of this period is a gripping saga of one man's malicious attempt to dominate Europe and another man's noble efforts to stop him - a classical case of good vs evil - told as an almost unbelievable story in the words of a master story teller.
Grab a bottle of Scotch and have at this book!.......2007-07-03
William Manchester informs and entertains in this excellent historical account of the critical years leading up to WWII, juxtaposing the appeasement practices of predecessors Baldwin and Chamberlain with the unwavering belief in the principles of freedom held by Churchill. The book (along with Manchester's first volume) gives terrific insight into the transition from the glory days of the British Empire to the Post WWI apathy that beset the British public. As well, the work provides delightful commentary on the characters surrounding Churhill's life including his colorful mother Jennie, his wife Clementine and his nemesis Adolf Hitler.
Churchill was begging...........2006-10-06
After the fall of France in June 1940, Winston Churchill was begging USA President Roosevelt for military aid (in fact, all sorts of support was then needed) as no one knew what would the 'fate' of the French fleet was going to be.
Churchill kept reminding the American president that Britain would not surrender even if left alone.
Churchill was defiant despite the fact that the two 'key' American ambassadors, in France and Great Britain, were pro Hitler (or at least they were not anti-Nazi).
Joseph Kennedy (USA Ambassador to GB) openly cautioned his fellow Americans against entering the war because the 'allies' would soon be beaten.
However, I would have liked to see more comments about the position and reaction of the king - king George VI.
Was he indifferent?
We should remember that Hitler had been addressing the King as the man whom the British Government circles have loathed, and as the only 'hope' for a reconciliation between the Third Reich and GB.
In this context it is true that Churchill was indeed ALONE
absolutely a delight to read.......2006-01-26
I was adrift when I finished this volume.
grasping at pathetic things to read for a while - nothing satisfied - Manchester can set the stage, his historical background is so rich that you'll find yourself spouting about it to your friends.
You'll learn more from this book than a two semester course in 20th century history.
Churchill himself is the lead player in a panapoly of exciting elements. But manchester never lets the reader forget the place in history - the man was a masterful writer.
solitary courage.......2005-12-29
No better profile of Churchill 1932-40 exists. Whetted with acrimony and disdain, Churchill is ultimately proved right (and his real task commences).
This is a work of the first order. `The Last Lion' (1874-1932) is also worthy.
Gilbert (worth reading) pales in comparison.
Average customer rating:
- Shocked
- Churchill's true finest hour; this book will give you a better appreciation of Winston's greatness, courage, and foresight
- The Hobo Philosopher
- The 3rd book in the series is coming...
- will the 3rd volume ever appear?
|
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940
William Manchester
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Political
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Churchill, Winston
| U.K. Prime Ministers
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Churchill, Winston
| ( C )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| England
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932
-
America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
-
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory
-
Imperial Grunts: On the Ground with the American Military, from Mongolia to the Philippines to Iraq and Beyond
-
In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition
ASIN: 0385313314
Release Date: 1989-09-03 |
Customer Reviews:
Shocked.......2007-09-28
This book was given to me by my father, who is a huge fan of Winston. I was absolutely shocked and amazed by the information that this book brought to light. I was taught, so little about WWII! I was amazed. I savored this book. I would recommend and have recommended this book to anyone, who would listen. Prepare to be amazed by the man and confronted with the real realities of Britain before and during the first declarations of war.
Churchill's true finest hour; this book will give you a better appreciation of Winston's greatness, courage, and foresight.......2007-09-10
For some inexplicable reason, the second (and unfortunately final) volume of William Manchester's biography sat on my shelf unread for some time. I think because the book spans the years 1932 to 1940 -- and does not cover most of World War II -- I skipped the book over, figuring that Winston's best and most important years were his war years. After reading "Alone", I realized immediately how wrong I was: if anything, Manchester's incredible book demonstrates that Churchill's so-called "wilderness years" out of power were his finest hour. Unquestionably, Churchill provided resolute leadership to Great Britain -- as well as the rest of the Allied world -- during the War. But he perhaps demonstrated even greater leadership while out of power, when he was quite literally the only European statesman who was repeatedly warning the world of the dangers of Nazi Germany and calling for rearmament to stand up to Hitler. Thus, "Alone" is not just about Churchill and his greatness, but also a powerful historical record of the dangers of appeasement in the face of tyrants.
This book goes beyond being a simple historical biography. Manchester's writing is delightful and seamless, literally depositing you into Churchill's time and Churchill's life. It maintains and builds a tenseness throughout the book as the world moves closer and closer to war despite Churchill's warnings, which if heeded, could have averted the conflict many times over. The work is meticulously researched and crafted, and flows perfectly. Perhaps most of all, reflective of the title, Manchester captures how completely and totally alone Churchill was during the 1930s. Aside from a very small coterie of loyal friends, Churchill alone rose in opposition to appeasement in the House of Commons and elsewhere hundreds of times as Hitler consolidated his power, practically begging his nation's leadership to stand up to the Fuhrer.
I suppose that one sign of a great work is that it moves you in some way, and evokes great emotion as you read it. The most striking asset of this book is how angry, shocked, and prideful I was as I read it. I shook my head in disgust at least 100 times as I read Manchester's descriptions of the putrid, almost treasonous behavior by Prime Ministers John MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, and of course Neville Chamberlain as they repeatedly ignored Churchill's warnings and countless pieces of evidence showing that Hitler would not be appeased. Manchester's sections on the Munich Crisis and Britain and France's literal sacrifice of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis is particularly noteworthy; the Chamberlain government literally served the nearly defenseless nation on a platter to the German war machine despite a pledge from the British to defend them if invaded. Much of the book in fact summarizes the folly of His Majesty's Government's appeasement policy, and Churchill's many warnings against the policy. Fascinatingly, appeasement was heartily endorsed by nearly the entire British media establishment, which repeatedly refused to air Churchill's views and other dissenting voices. Indeed, as Manchester well demonstrates, the government and media literally crafted its policies and made important appointments, with pleasing Hitler being the sole objective. While hindsight is of course 20-20, reading these sections was completely maddening to me, and made me want to scream many times over.
I hesitated writing a review of this book because I know it is impossible to do full justice to Manchester and this fantastic book. I just wanted to express how much I enjoyed the book; it completely lives up to its reputation as perhaps the finest Churchill biography and easily the most accessible. I, like millions of other readers, am greatly saddened that illness and other tragedies kept Manchester from completing the final volume of his intended trilogy. Treat yourself to this book: it will give you greater appreciation of Winston Churchill's greatness, courage, and foresight, and probably an even greater hatred of appeasement and diplomatic cowardice.
Five big stars.
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-08
This was the first William Manchester book that I ever read. I found it inspiring. After reading it, I promised myself that I would read everything that Manchester has written. To date I've read several but I still have a few to go. Mr. Manchester is another one of those historians that makes studying and learning History easy. I had no idea what a character Winston Churchill really was. Manchester recreates a real true to life human being, with faults, idiocincracies, humor, courage, and some great phrasing. After reading both volumes of Manchester's on Churchill, I then wanted to read Churchill himself. From a writing perspective Churchill was great - but Manchester was better. Today I am a fan of both men. They were both heroic in their lives and fascinating in their prose.
The 3rd book in the series is coming..........2007-08-22
I did a little research on this and thought I'd post what I found. William Manchester, sadly, died in 2004 before he could complete the 3rd book. But before he died he arranged for a journalist, Paul Reid, to write the rest of the book - now apparently scheduled for release in 2008.
Here is a blog posting I found from johninnorthcarolina.blogspot.com :
The Churchill Series - May 17, 2007
(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)
As almost all of you know, William Manchester, one of the most popular of Churchill's many biogrphers, died while working on the third volume of The Last Lion, the first two volumes of which, Visions of Glory and Alone, topped best seller lists and remain in print.
But there will be a third volume after all. It's working title is Defender of the Realm. Paul Reid, a friend of Manchester's is working with Manchester's notes and drafts to complete the book in time for release in 2008.
One of those asked to review proofs of Defender of the Realm reported to others via email receiving the following from Reid:
I have finished Parts One (1940) and Two (1941) and will be through Parts Three, Four and Five by mid-2007. Publication is set for sometime in 2008. Bill's notes and interviews run to thousands of pages, enough to fuel at least three more volumes.
My job, therefore, is to pace this final volume. About half of it will cover 1940 and 1941, about forty-percent the remainder of the war and about 10-15 percent the post-war years. Bill saw the post-war years (or at least the last decade) as a long "afterward". Having been guided by Bill the last year of his life, and having in hand the pages he wrote (to the fall of France) I think I have a good feeling for the pace he set and where he was going.
The pages Bill finished are, as was usual with William Manchester, marvelous, full of suspense and foreshadowing, a real tale beautifully told.
Among many things he made clear to me was his desire that this book be an enjoyable read for younger people, people under 40 years of age who did not grow up with stories of the War percolating through their household.
will the 3rd volume ever appear?.......2007-07-28
Rumor has it that Mr. Manchester is too ill to complete the planned 3rd volume of the Churchill biography. If true, that would be a colossal loss. For anyone interested in history and personality, you must read this series about Churchill. Our present age (despite its problems) pales in comparison with the epochal historical times of Churchill. Two world wars, a global depression with tens of millions of people out of work, the rise and fall of fascism, the rise of Communism, the rise of Russia and USA as the superpowers --- all happened in a short span of 50 years. And Churchill was in the midst of it all. I hope the world will never relive period like that again, and that future generations will be content to read about it and not to re-enact anything remotely like it.
Average customer rating:
|
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill; Alone: 1932-1940
William Manchester
Manufacturer: Laurel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| British
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Churchill, Winston
| U.K. Prime Ministers
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Churchill, Winston
| ( C )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| England
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932
ASIN: 0440500478
Release Date: 1989-09-03 |
Book Description
1885. An account about General Gordon and his gallant defense of Khartoum written by one who was present and saw what things were done; who shared the dangers of the siege with England's latest hero and his brave lieutenant, Colonel Stewart, who enjoyed Gordon's confidence, and who was capable of understanding and appreciating what he saw, should surely be of great interest to every one. As told in letters by the late Frank Power and edited by his brother.
Customer Reviews:
a forgotten gem.......2006-11-19
Producing a facsimile reprint of this 130 year old booklet was a very good idea. Frank Power, the young correspondent of The Times in Khartoum from mid 1883 till he left the town on 10 September 1884 (and was murdered soon afterwards on the banks of the Nile), shows himself, in his letters home, a very observant writer. The work of a skilled journalist off duty, without the restraints of writing a piece for The Times, these accounts - meant to be read by his family only - are full of fun, emotion and sordid details. For a short while at the beginning of 1885, after the fall of Khartoum and the famous death of General Gordon (26 January 1885), this book must have been a best seller. A few months later "The diaries of Major-General C.G. Gordon at Khartoum" (covering 10 September 1884-14 December 1884) reached England and were published to high acclaim in Britain, becoming - reportedly - the best selling book in English in 1885 after the Bible, eclipsing Frank Powers letters. Power himself would not have minded at all. On 22 February 1884, days after the arrival of Gordon in Khartoum, Power wrote to his mother: "The way he pats you on the shoulder and says, `Look here, dear fellow, now what do you advise?` would make you love him. And also: "He is indeed, I believe, the greatest and best man of this century".
Essential reading for anyone interested in the siege of Khartoum.
Customer Reviews:
Churchill may be a "fake" but this book is NOT!.......2006-08-22
This is a well researched book that documents the role of the FBI in denying and disrupting the civil rights of Americans from is earliest days right up to the late 80's when it was published (and continues today).
As for Mr. Churchill, I agree with a past reviewer who says "THE DOCUMENTED FACTS PRESENTED HEREIN SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, even if the messenger is of questionable taste."
Every American who is concerned about the possible violations of our civil rights via the "Patriot Act", as well as the arrogance of the Bush administration concerning our constitutional rights, should read this book.
Two other good reads in this area are the already recommended "It Did Happen Here: Recollections of Political Repression in America" by Bud Schultz & Ruth Schultz AND "The Price of Dissent: Testimonies to Political Repression in America" by Bud Schultz.
See what happened the first time America had a Patriot Act!.......2005-09-14
This ever-timely book documents the FBI's activities against the new left. Under the guise of preventing communism, then-director J. Edgar Hoover ordered agents to infiltrate the black power and American Indian movements.
Comprised of young articulate and intelligent young activists, both movements delivered a scathing critique of the American system, the system itself was structured to support and maintain racism. This scared many traditionalists who genuinely believed America to have the best form of government.
Since the traditionalists held the power in America, they did not want to cede it to `different' people. The words and actions of radicals ultimately hit much closer to home than they had wanted to admit. Consequently the FBI was used to `contain' these people.
Because the public had an image of the FBI as brave and heroic men (women were not agents until Hoover's death) the activists who attempted to publicize the actual behavior were derided. After all, it seemed a surreal proposition that the United States would defend democracy by stifling the actions of it's own citizens.
Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELLPRO) events included the soapish (spreading rumors about the sexuality of an `activist colleague') to the deadly (the FBI attempting to murder new left leaders---and leave the cases closed) but all undermined the rights of all American people to live in a democracy.
The American people only now know about these events themselves because of the Freedom Of Information Act.
Ward Churchill and Jim Vanderwall deliver a thought provoking book needing to be read by everybody and anybody concerned about the current state of affairs. The book's emotional tone is expected given the subject matter--and especially relevant today when so many of our public officials want to expand wiretapping in the name of 'security'.
Communism and the red scare are (long) gone as an alibi, but what will seriously prevent the FBI from resuming their role as America's political police?---if they are not doing so already?
CHURCHILL IS A AMERICAN CULTURAL INDENTITY THIEF.......2005-02-09
All of his books are based on lies. He states he is writing from his personal Native American experience, but he forgot to tell people HE IS A FAKE INDIAN.
I am a Native American and most of the Native American community from the 2 largest Native American newspapers Indian Country Today and News From Indian Country and International AIM know this fake wannabee is fraud and a phony.
He lied on his resume to steal a job set aside for a Native American professor. He has never faced the same discrimination as real Native Americans. He is a Cultural "Identity Thief" for his own greed and ego.
He has no shame profiting off of American Indians. He makes over $100,000 a year off a "playing" Indian. Some Anti-capitalist phony? Why take those "Eichmans" money, unless you're a hypocrite. We all know you're a big phony.
IF HE LIED ABOUT HIS NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE, THEN HOW CAN ANY OF HIS WORKS HAVE ANY CREDIBILITY?
In fact the so-called ancestor he claims "Indian" from was actually an INDIAN KILLER and killed Creek Indians in a story by the RockyMountain News, one of the largest papers in Colorado. The same tribe Churchill said he originally was from.
DON'T BUY BOOKS FROM A LIAR. BUY BOOKS WRITTEN BY REAL NATIVE AMERICANS.
If he had any honor he would step down and GIVE THE JOB TO REAL NATIVE AMERICAN and stop using the guise of American Indian to enrich himself. He is a cultural identity thief for his own agenda, big bucks and EGO.
A First Rate Piece Of Scholarship On A Crucial Issue.......2000-08-18
In the introduction, Churchill and Vander Wall trace the founding of the FBI in the mid-20's by J. Edgar Hoover, as he emerged from helping carry out the Justice department's anti-leftist terror campaigns during and in the years following World War One, to its official authorization by Franklin Roosevelt in the mid-30's as a full-fledged sophisticated political police with virtual impunity. They note that the FBI was grossly incompetent and unwilling at fighting serious criminals like the Mafia, prefering to go after the petty criminals of the Dillinger variety, car thieves, and so on to gain cheap publicity for the bureau and its director and that their chief function was and is to protect the economic and political status quo from threats by organized leftists and others. They note the immense propaganda machine constructed by the bureau to portray Hoover as a great crimefighting genius and hero, though he was nothing more than a crazed, reactionary and very cunning bureaucrat, and the effective techniques of making "friends of the bureau" in certain media outlets who would tell the public what the bureau wanted them to know and the techniques of intimidation against those media outlets or ex-bureau agents who wanted to come out with the truth about the FBI.
They move on to discuss Cointelpro, the greatly successful attempts at infiltration, disruption and weakening of dissident groups, extended from the usual Communist and Socialist party targets, to various leftist groups, people like Martin Luther King, but especially the Black Panther Party in the late 60's. Making massive use of declassified FBI documents and other sources, the authors note the FBI attempt to split the BPP, provoke violence between members or factions or with other militant black groups, to spread media disinformation about them and to drain their resources and mental stability by subjecting its leading members to repeated arrests on spurious charges. These objectives were accomplished by fabricating anonymous letters to particular prominent individuals within the party alleging that other party members or factions were plotting against or even planning to murder them, the use of infiltrators/provacateurs to further egg on the factional strife (e.g. the split between Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton) and encourage violence between members (e.g. the murder of Fred Bennet by member Jimmie Carr who suspected Bennett of being a police informant, after being led to this impression by police informant Thomas Mosher; Carr himself was later murdered by two Panther members who suspected him of being a government agent) or between the BPP and the Ron Karenga's organization(e.g. the murder of BPP leaders Alprentice Carter and Jon Huggins), the use of "bad-jacketing" through infiltrators to spread the false idea that certain members of the party were government agents (e.g. which resulted in the murders of Huggins, Carter and Carr and which led to Stokely Carmichael's expulsion from the party by Huey Newton), the spreading of media disinformation about alleged financial impropriety and other crimes among certain party members to encourage mistrust and suspiscion within the party, and so on. Two particular cases examined are the murder by the Chicago police of Chicago Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in December 1969, using a detailed floor plan of Hampton's appartment that had been provided by FBI infiltrator and Hampton's bodygaurd William O'neal (for which the survivors of the attack and families of the victim were awared 1.8 million dollars by an arbitrator in 1983). They move on to analyze the spurious (mostly through the use of FBI informer Julius Butler and the efforts of infiltrator Melvin Cotton Smith) robbery/murder conviction of Los Angelas leader Geronimo Pratt in 1971, who had been subjected to much harrassment and arrests on spurious charges by the LA police before the 1969 murder of Caroline Olsen, and according to police infiltrator Louis Tackwood (who helped the FBI murder George Jackson) and "Cotton" smith, had specifically been designated to be "neutralized" the LAPD.
The bulk of the book is centered on the particularly severe Cointelpro operations (using many of the same operations as against the BPP, using such infiltrators as Douglass Durham and even possibly being involved in murder, as in the case of Ana Marie Aquash) directed against the American Indian Movement (AIM), particularly at the hub of its activity, on Pine Ridge reservation, Sioux territory, South Dakota, the center of great natural resources eagerly eyed by corporations, throughout the 1970's and beyond. The AIM had risen as a particularly effective organization to fight government violations of Indian treaty and civil rights (what little of those remained). The AIM organized "the trail of Broken Treaties" in 1972, a caravan of veichles that led thousands of Indians to Washington D.C. to hold protests. The authors document a patern of government lies and duplicty with regard to accomodating the protestors and other promises which led to the provoking of the AIM (along with the Bureau of Indian Affairs head in solidarity which got him fired afterward) taking over the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington. The government blithely broke promises of non-prosecution of the BIA building incident, after the building had been released. On Pine Ridge, the government had been pouring funds into Dick Wilson's machine, who won the 1972 tribal presidency with considerable fraud, and proceeded to set up with FBI and Bureau of Indian affairs funds a paramilitary organization with the appropriate acronym of GOONS, who used terror against the inhabitants of Pine Ridge where AIM had widespread support. The next incident was the infamous "Siege of Wounded Knee," March-May 1973, the site where the army had massacred hundreds of Indian women and children in 1890, and where AIM leaders had gone to stage a press conference, only to find the Wounded Knee territory surrounded by FBI and Bureau of Indian Police, which AIM decided not to countenance, and they held down fort within Wounded Knee, gaining widespread international support and aid, with the FBI escalating the situation with its advanced weapons and other illegal Pentagon aid, with Dick Wilson's GOONS setting up illegal roadblocks and engaging in great violence with FBI support (but opposed by the U.S. Marshalls in this instance). After Wounded Knee, Dick Wilson's terrorists escalated their campaign, including murder, against AIM, with AIM members and traditional Indians filing innumerable complaints with the Justice Department and the FBI, which pleaded "lack of manpower" to deal with the situation, though their numbers continued to increase on the Pine Ridge reservation (in support of the Dick Wilson and theGOONS). Next came the "Oglala incident" near Pine Ridge in June 1975, with highly provocative FBI activity near the "Jumping Bull" compound in Oglala near Pine Ridge to "serve" a federal warrant for two youths who allegedly had gotten into a simple fist fight with a White boy shortly before. This resulted in a several day firefight with the Indians (most of whom carried weapons because of the climate of terror in the area) inside the "Jumping Bull" compound which resulted in the deaths of two FBI agents. The FBI proceeded to launch a reign of terror against Pine Ridge after the incident, looking for the murderers of the two agents, conducting innumerable warantless searches, ransacking houses, beating and threatening people. The authors examine the spurious charges brought against such AIM leaders as Richard Marshall (for murder and eventually released), Dennis Banks and Russel Means(both of whom suffered innumerable charges, including those for the incident at Wounded Knee, which judge Fred Nichol dismissed in 1975 on the grounds of gross FBI misconduct and fabrication), Bob Robideau and Dino Butler, and especially Leonard Peltier, who was alleged to have conducted the "execution" of the two FBI agents at the Oglala firefight. Peltier has become one of the international symbols of the American injustice system, promting widespread calls for his release and retrial, including from the Canadien government which originally extradited him back to the United States. For instance, a three judge panel in 1985, took note of the "improper conduct" of "some FBI agents" in Peltier's case, but ended their investigation there by saying that "we are reluctant to impute further improprieties to them."
The closing chapters deal with the FBI's increased attention on Cointelpro activities in Puerto Rico in the 1980's, including murder and burglary and harrassment. They continue with an account of large-scale burglary and harrassment operations against groups oppossing U.S. support for the Death squad regimes in Central America in the 1980's, particularly against the Committee in Solidarity with the people of El Salvador (CISPES). The FBI could never find any evidence that CISPES or
essential reading.......2000-06-20
In "Agents of Repression" authors Ward Churchill and James Vanderwall have demonstrated the true workings of American "democracy" in all its glory.
The "Agents of Repression" exposes how the FBI launched one of its major programs of repression (COINTELPRO) in order to disrupt lower-class solidarity by instigating violence in African-American ghettos, direct participation in the police assassination of a Black Panther organizer, burglaries and harassment of the Socialist Workers Party over many years, and other methods of defamation and disruption.
A tremendouly important book and essential reading for anyone living under the delusion that America stands for liberty, justice and fraternity.
Book Description
For those wondering how Bill Clinton could pardon white-collar fugitive Marc Rich but not Native American leader Leonard Peltier, important clues can be found in this classic study of the FBI's COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program). Agents of Repression includes an incisive historical account of the FBI siege of Wounded Knee, and reveals the viciousness of COINTELPRO campaigns targeting the Black Liberation movement. The authors' new introduction examines the legacies of the Panthers and AIM, and shows how the FBI still presents a threat to those committed to fundamental social change.
Ward Churchill is author of From a Native Son. Jim Vander Wall is co-author of The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States, with Ward Churchill.
Customer Reviews:
Don't Worry About The Government.......2006-11-12
The reissue of Agents of Repression is not only based on the historical significance of the book, but also the concerns expressed by co-author Ward Churchill in his lectures and writings about the direction of this nation with the advent of the Department of Homeland Security and legislative measures that have trampled over the Bill of Rights.
The book was published in 1988 based on the then ongoing litigation by some government officials against an author and publisher who had a work published concerning the illegal repression of AIM.
Agents of Repression is basically split into four sections; a history of the FBI, the government's war against the Black Panther Party, a lengthy exploration of AIM and the steps taken by a variety of government departments to destroy the grass-roots movement and how nothing has changed in the 1980s.
For readers who have explored these issues through other forums, it is an outstanding history. Readers who may be researching this era for the first time, I highly recommend the book since it takes larger topics and breaks them down into succinct chapters.
Churchill became the punching bag for the lightweight talking-heads on cable "news" shows more than a year ago due to comments he made in an academic setting concerning 9/11.
I urge a potential book-buyer to disregard that rhetoric and disinformation campaign waged against the co-author Churchill and consider that perhaps the payback for truly believing in civil rights means the attempt to silence him.
The suppression of domestic dissent by the FBI.......2003-07-16
This book maintains that the primary purpose of the FBI, from its inception and at least through to the late 1980s when Agents of Repression was first published, was to repress political groups and individuals who posed a threat to the status quo. The text is accompanied by heavy documentation and I was often reminded of the writing style of Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman. The focus here, however, is on the domestic crimes of the government. Churchell and Vander Wall show that the FBI was willing to use massive illegal force (including assasination) to repress political enemies and serve the interests of those in power. This is an excellent eye-opener to the true nature of the Bureau and the harsh crimes visited upon the American Indian Movement, the Black Panther Party and others such as the Puerto Rican Independence Movement. One is left wondering what activities the FBI has engaged in since the '80s and especially since 9/11. The best book I've read in some time.
Book Description
The definitive guide to the world's most recognized butterfly.
Monarch butterflies are widely distributed around the world. The two most distinct populations are located in North America -- one to the east and the other to the west of the Rocky Mountains.
Their wide distribution, coupled with their vivid orange, white and black coloring makes the monarch the most recognizable butterfly. Regrettably, in recent years, ecological changes -- specifically the loss of its feeding grounds -- are threatening the monarch's existence.
The Last Monarch Butterfly provides a thorough and essential overview of these delightful creatures and helps readers to understand their plight. The book documents the monarch's life cycle to provide a clear understanding of its natural condition including its migratory nature. Easy-to-understand text is illustrated with thirty bright, colorful photographs.
The western butterfly winters in California and the eastern butterfly winters in Mexico. Natural disasters such as a recent cold snap in Mexico imperil the already depleted monarch populations. Areas in California that once hosted the monarch are now being used for residential and industrial development. Even the vast fields of flowering weeds that supported the monarch in the northern states are depleted for new development.
The Last Monarch Butterfly is the definitive environmental reference on this endangered species.
Books:
- The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II
- The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival
- The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness
- The Making of The African Queen
- The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes: Jim Berkland, Maverick Geologist--How His Quake Warnings Can Save Lives
- The Medical Millennium: 1000 Pioneers Who Have Contributed to the Development of Medicine Over the Last 1000 Years
- The Naked Soldier: A True Story of the French Foreign Legion
- The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Olive Oil in the South of France
- The Original Jesus: The Life and Vision of a Revolutionary
- The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Nicolas Poussin 1594-1665
- How to Become an Alpha Male
- Legacies: A Repairman Jack Novel
- Guilty As Sin
- Lost Girls
- Laboratory Manual to accompany Biology
- If I Live to Be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians
- U.S. Civil War store cards
- Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians of Florida: The Amphibians, Part 3
- The filterable viruses: Bergey's manual of determinative bacteriology, ed. 6, 1948, with rev. and en
American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880 - 1964
The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill
Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches
