Customer Reviews:
Bismarck the statesman!.......2006-12-15
Bismarck is one of the most dominant statesman in Europe and Eyck brings out his character in this short but good biography. While my one compliant is that a lot more time then I felt necessary was spent on his childhood years the rest of the book is great. He analyzes the political struggles and economic rises of Germany and gives compelling and well cited arguments for all of it. It is a little hard to read if you don't have knowledge of German history but it can be read without and still enjoyed. The prose is very good but a little dry in the beginning like most biographies.
Bismarck & The German Empire.......2006-08-08
Very excellent and timely service - the book was in the advertised condition and the delivery was timely - I am a satisfied customer.
Cheers PJA
The Master of Europe.......2006-03-05
This book on the great Prussian and later German Chancellor Bismarck by mr. Eyck, written in the 60's still holds the grasp of the imagination and facts to this day. This is important reading leading up to WWI because all the causes of that war can be seen by reading the history of the great Chancellor. Although that is of course touched on much later in the book it is worth noting that this book lays down very clearly that Bismarck valued the stability of Germany with a King over everything and would only wage war if it did not interfere with those facts.
This book starts out with the early life of Bismarck, his failures and later achivements. He credits his mother with his intelligence and his father only for his title as a Junker or Elite in German society. People trying to read European History have to read this book because Prussia WAS involved in everything in Europe after the revolutions of 1848. From becoming a unifided country, to competing for lands in Africa to finally the Kaiser wrestling control from Bismarck. That is how the book ends. But all the causes for the great war can be seen started in the Bismarck time period. The Franco-Prussian war, how it started and the final unification on Germany. The Austro-Prussian war and how it put Austria out of German affairs. Also it is interesting to read to Bismarck Manipualted every one he was in contact with, most easily the Kaiser at the time. Very interesting.
The Great War was inevitable I belive and the causes of it were mostly Economic. As Germany Unified they were threatening Britain as the leader in manufactured goods. They were cutting deeper and deeper into the British control of world trade. The Armamemnt race just was the subject that pushed everything forward. Lest not forget that before the U.S ruled in world dominance it was Britain who led the way for more than 200 years. Germany or the Kaiser's Germany made mistakes as well. Bismarck left a complicated system behind of treaties and alliances. The Kaiser chose to ignore them.
Bismarck was the leader of leaders and an Icon in Prussian and German Diplomacy. The one thing to understand is that one can't live forever and once a man dies most likely his work dies with him.
A perceptive view of a formidable man.......2001-11-07
Erich Eyck has written a history of the political career of Otto von Bismarck , explaining how Bismarck united the loose collection of weak German states during the mid 1800s by skillfully manipulating international relations and domestic politics. We see how Bismarck recklessly used his understanding of the desires and weaknesses of those around him. This perceptive understanding rarely failed Bismarck.
Erich Eyck tells only enough of Bismarck's early life to display his self confidence. Eyck tells how in his early life Bismarck declined to work in the Prussian government, because, as Bismarck explains, "The Prussian official is like a member in an orchestra, but I want play only the music which I myself like, or no music at all." Eventually Bismarck got the chance to play the music he wanted to play, even if no one else but the king wanted to hear it.
Bismarck became the preeminent individual in international politics. Bismarck was also the master of German domestic politics, manipulating the various parties for his own ends. Eventually no one in Europe would dare leave Bismarck out of their calculations. But Bismarck finally wore out his welcome when the times he had created changed and he did not change with them.
Bismarck had gaps in his understanding. Bismarck could not understand anything he could not control or manipulate. He could not understand economics. He could not understand that someone could act from purely altruistic reasons, what he called humanitarian rubbish.
Erich Eyck writing contains much shrewd analysis, although this makes his writing as labyrinthine as Bismarck's tactics.
Bismarck and the German Empire.......2001-07-25
Erich Eyck's Bismarck and the German Empire is a thorough analysis of German history that demonstrates how Bismarck emerged as the premier European statesman of his day and what that meant to German development. Eyck's book is not biographical, but rather shows how Bismarck permeated every aspect of German politics.. At times Eyck's writing is as complex as Bismarckian diplomacy, but the reader will find this an indispensable addition to understanding German history.
Eyck illustrates Bismarck's genius in working to unify Germany under Prussian leadership, but is not afraid to criticize Bismarck when warranted (he even uses a using biblical reference to chastise Bismarck at one point). Bismarck used alliances with Austria, France, Italy, and Russia at various times to further Prussian or German objectives, then subsequently dissolved many such alliances as Bismarck's ambitions changed. Eyck suggests that European history would have been vastly different had Bismarck pursued a similar alliance with Britain. But because Bismarck could never dominate British diplomats like he did those from the continent, such an alliance proved impossible. However, part of Bismarck's genius was knowing when to stop wars of aggression (Bismarck did not fight a war after he defeated France in 1871) and opt instead to pursue diplomatic channels.
Eyck works Bismarck's career to its natural conclusion when he came into conflict with the new emperor, Wilhelm II. The old chancellor is portrayed as having outlived his effectiveness and alienated most Germans in his attempts to retain power.
Eyck's writing style is at times cumbersome, but more importantly is the confusing editing. Many times foreign phrases are not translated, particularly lengthy sentences that are part of some important point. However, several short phrases are translated, even those that are quite self-explanatory. But Eyck remains a credible scholar proven by the fact that this volume is still in print in spite of the fact that it is nearly forty years old.
Book Description
Bismarck's German empire has been regarded as something of a paradox--from the mid-19th century, Germany experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization with the accompanying social upheavals, yet these changes occurred within a pseudo-democratic political state which never established itself as a modern liberal democracy. Using the most up-to-date critical research,
Bismarck and the German Empire 1871-1918 examines this formative period in modern German history.
Bismarck and the German Empire 1871-1918 describes the political, economic, and social structures of the Empire in 1871 and goes on to examine the repressive and manipulative techniques used by Bismarck to consolidate the regime. The study continues to explore the period of Wilhelm II's reign, and finally the outbreak of war and revolution.
This period of German history is a key element of modern European history. This book should appeal to anyone interested in an up-to-date interpretation of this era.
Book Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.
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- What the British Secret Service Doesn't Want to Know
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MASK MI5's Penetration of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Nigel West
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 0415351456 |
Book Description
MASK is the codename for one of the most sensitive, long-term sources ever run by any British intelligence organization. It concealed the existence of a radio interception programme operated by the Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS) which succeeded in monitoring, and reading, large quantities of encrypted wireless traffic exchanged between the headquarters of the Comintern in Moscow, and numerous Comintern representatives abroad, in countries as far apart as China, Austria and the United States. The content of these secret messages was of immense use to the very limited group of people who had access to it. Of greatest interest to MI5 and Stanley Baldwin's Cabinet was the material passing to and from the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), which was monitored from a covert intercept station located on Denmark Hill, south London. Its principal target was the daily wireless traffic of a clandestine transmitter based in Wimbledon and operated by a member of the CPGB's underground cell, controlled by a Scot, Bob Stewart.
GC&CS was one of the most secret branches of Whitehall, under the control of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), and for years had supplied the Prime Minister and a handful of Cabinet ministers with summaries of decrypted foreign communications.
Customer Reviews:
What the British Secret Service Doesn't Want to Know.......2006-06-29
This is a very useful but an equally careless book in a typical Nigel West style. As usual, the author barely knows the subject nevertheless he is brazenly digging it up. The reviewers - Vanity Fair, the Observer, The Sunday Times - are of the same level, so Vanity Fair calls him a "leading historian of the British security services". If that were so, one should have been terribly sorry for the British. Fortunately, their leading historian is a very respected and knowledgeable professor of history, Christopher Andrew.
"His [West's] information is so precise," writes The Sunday Times, "that many people believe he is the unofficial historian of the secret services. West's sources are undoubtedly excellent."
This is not true. West's information has never been exact and his sources are secondary. Thus, West states, based purely on hearsays, that Felix Wolf, codenamed KREBS, "worked undercover as 'Nikolai Rakov' and had been appointed a military attaché at the Soviet embassy in Vienna under the name Inkov." In reality, Nikolai Rakov worked in Vienna under the name 'Krebs' [see the diplomatic roster] and he had never been a military attaché.
In another place, writing about Krivitsky's debriefing, whose quality West himself is not able to evaluate properly because he doesn't know the structure and personnel of the Soviet services, he states that "Philby was well-established as a journalist, one of a limited number who had been in Spain prior to 1937". In reality, Philby was first sent to Spain in the spring of 1937.
On page 217 West makes a wild guess and identifies a CPGB official Bob Stewart "as the Soviet illegal rezident in London" codenamed BOB. At the same time the Venona London traffic (17 September 1945) demonstrates that BOB was Russian, that eight years after the events described by West BOB was still operating in London as the first contact of Lt. Gen, Fitin and Philby's handler. BOB and Bob Stewart are not the same. Until this day BOB remains unidentified.
The last but not least. In the Front Matter (p. x) West explains KIM as "Kommunisti Internationale Molodoi" which is absurd in an unknown language. KIM is the Communist Youth International (Kommunisticheskii international molodyozhy). Also MOPR - according to West - is International Labour Defence of the Communist International (in The Crown Jewels he even called it Monarchist Association of Central Russia - p. ix), while in reality it is the International Organization for the Relief of Workers.
These are just a few out of many examples of Nigel West's "precision" and "expert knowledge".
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(En)gendering the War on Terror: War Stories And Camouflaged Politics (Gender in a Global/Local World) (Gender in a Global/Local World) (Gender in a Global/Local World)
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
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ASIN: 0754644812 |
Book Description
Expanding on the issues she originally explored in her classic work, Gender in International Relations, J. Ann Tickner focuses her distinctively feminist approach on new issues of the international relations agenda since the end of the Cold War, such as ethnic conflict and other new security issues, globalizations, democratization, and human rights. As in her previous work, these topics are placed in the context of brief reviews of more traditional approaches to the same issues. She also looks at the considerable feminist work that has been published on these topics since the previous book came out.
Tickner highlights the misunderstandings that exist between mainstream and feminist approaches, and explores how these debates developed in the new environment of post--Cold War international relations.
Acclaim for Tickner's Gender in International Relations:
"For all who seek new ways to think about and understand world politics"
-- Political Science Quarterly
"Tickner... rethinks from a feminist point of view virtually every conventional category used by theorists and practictioners of international relations." -- Susan Moller Okin, Stanford University
Book Description
In this collection, a group of historians explores the role of masculinity in the modern history of politics and war. Building on three decades of research in women's and gender history, the book opens up new avenues in the history of masculinity. The essays by social, political and cultural historians therefore map masculinity's part in making revolution, waging war, building nations, and constructing welfare states. Although the masculinity of modern politics and war is now generally acknowledged, few studies have traced the emergence and development of politics and war as masculine domains in the way this book does. Covering the period from the American Revolution to the Second World War and ranging over five continents, the essays in this book bring to light the many "masculinities" that shaped--and were shaped by--political and military modernity.
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- The Struggle To Save Thailand's Biodiversity
- Alan Rabinowitz may be a biologist, but he is certainly a skilled writer.
- With Friends Like Alan, Who Needs Enemies?
- A captivating story of the state of the tiger in Thailand
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Chasing the Dragon's Tail: The Struggle To Save Thailand's Wild Cats
Alan Rabinowitz
Manufacturer: Island Press
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Beyond the Last Village: A Journey Of Discovery In Asia's Forbidden Wilderness
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Jaguar: One Man's Struggle To Establish The World's First Jaguar Preserve
ASIN: 1559639806 |
Book Description
In 1987, zoologist Alan Rabinowitz was invited by the Thai government to study leopards, tigers, and other wildlife in the Huai Kha Khaeng valley, one of Southeast Asia's largest and most prized forests. It was hoped his research would help protect the many species that live in that fragile reserve, which was being slowly decimated by poachers, drug traffickers, and even the native tribes of the area. Chasing the Dragon's Tail is the remarkable story of Rabinowitz's life and adventures in the forest as well as the streets of Bangkok, as he works to protect Thailand's threatened wildlife.
Based on Rabinowitz's field journals, the book offers an intimate and moving look at a modern zoologist's life in the field. As he fights floods, fire-ant infestations, elephant stampedes, and a request to marry the daughter of a tribal chief, the difficulties that come with the demanding job of species conservation are dramatically brought to life. First published in 1991, this edition of Chasing the Dragon's Tail includes a new afterword by the author that brings the story up to date, describing the surprising strides Thailand has made recently in conservation.
"Rabinowitz seems to crave risk and adventure, and the story of his hazardous years 'chasing the dragon's tail' in the Thai forest?which includes encounters with angry poachers, a narrow escape from his own leopard trap, and the aftermath of his participation in an opium counci?makes engrossing reading. He also reveals much about Thai life and its contradictions. . . .
?Publishers Weekl.
"...one of the best recent books on Thailand. Although essentially the record of a zoologist conserving wild cats in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, the book also offers a penetrating account of author Alan Rabinowitz's struggle to come to terms with Thailand and the Thai people.
?Far Eastern Economic Revie.
Other titles by Alan Rabinowitz include Beyond the Last Village and Jaguar.
Customer Reviews:
The Struggle To Save Thailand's Biodiversity.......2006-08-21
This book describes the day-to-day life and frustrations of renowned conservationist Alan Rabinowitz in Thailand. While the large mammal biodiversity of the country is amazing, it is being severely depleted. The large mammals are victims of a local culture that seems to think of wildlife as free wealth to be plundered for subsistence or luxury.
While he is primarily a conservationist, Dr. Rabinowitz sometimes assumes the role of animal rights advocate as he describes acts of heartless cruelty by the locals towards animals. Examples: a python which is skinned alive by some of his servants (it is easier to remove the skin when the animal is alive), and a magnificent gaur (the largest wild cattle species in the world) which had died a slow death from starvation after its jaw had been shattered by a bullet.
A distinctive feature of Dr. Rabinowitz's passionate first-person narrative is that he cares for wild animals as individuals apart from his desire to save them as species. His study animals are given Thai names and not numbers. He is emotionally involved with their well-being and does not maintain the cold detachment towards them that one might expect from a scientist. He also does not hesitate to give vent to his anger and anguish when one of the animals he has grown familiar with dies a horrible death at the hands of poachers. His view of the local culture is heavily influenced by how they treat animals and is understandably negative. This has been described as "cultural imperialism" by a reviewer but it is hard not to be moved by the sufferings of animals which are skinned alive and left to die in agony. Readers would have to judge for themselves on this point. In my opinion, Dr. Rabinowitz would have failed in his duty as a conservationist if he did not portray accurately the problems of saving Thailand's biodiversity - and most of the problems undoubtedly stem from the fact that the local culture does not see animals as deserving basic human sympathy, kindness and ethical treatment. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
Apart from the above sociological aspects of conservation in Thailand, the book contains a lot of information about the mammals themselves and their ecology. There are detailed descriptions of radiocollaring leopards and other wild cats which are very exciting, as are some of the descriptions of the largest cat of them all, the tiger.
Alan Rabinowitz may be a biologist, but he is certainly a skilled writer. .......2006-01-23
This is the true story of a biologist with a dark past heading to a small Asian country to study leopards. Though the story is about animal conservation, the human interactions are what make the bulk of it. The author is an emotional person, and the conveyance of his feelings and thoughts in his writing make this story very entertaining. He is also very candid about some of the things he did in Thailand.
I have to say one more thing about his writing style. As I was reading the book, I could picture myself hiking along the trails of the forest reserve, or talking to the forest monks. I cringed and felt helpless as I read of the daily cases of skinning and cooking animals alive. And I felt the sense of helplessness and frustration of trying to stop an entire nation from devouring every bit of wildlife left.
With Friends Like Alan, Who Needs Enemies?.......2004-05-01
Self-indulgent prose about a self-involved man's self-pitying and self-important journey halfway around the world to assert himself and his culture on other people. I'm not qualified to comment on his zoological practices, but I don't come away impressed with him. His writing is C level work -- simply wretched. It does have the quality of being revealing, but not necessarily of the point he labors and fails to make. This book is a depressing first-person account of cultural imperialism. No wonder Americans are so universally reviled in other countries...
A captivating story of the state of the tiger in Thailand.......1997-10-01
"Like his first book, Jaguar, Rabinowitz's Chasing The Dragon's Tail is a telling testimony to the difficulties emarked upon in the attempt at large predator conservation. Rabinowitz's books are a must read for anyone interested in habitat preservation and conservation."
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- Broken Music: A Memoir
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- Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
- Con Thien: The Hill of Angels
- Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy: A True Story of Discovery, Acting, Health, Illness, Recovery And Life
- Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man's Tour of Duty Inside the IRS (P.S.)
- Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom From Black Barber Shops
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Bismarck and Germany 1862-1890
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