The Atomic Bomb in History and Memory: The American Experience in World War II, Volume Seven

Book Description

World War II changed the face of the United States, catapulting the country out of economic depression, political isolation, and social conservatism. Ultimately, the war was a major formative factor in the creation of modern America. This unique, twelve-volume set provides comprehensive coverage of this transformation in its domestic policies, diplomatic relations, and military strategies, as well as the changing cultural and social arenas. The collection presents the history of the creation of a super power prior to, during, and after the war, analyzing all major phases of the U.S. involvement, making it a one-stop resource that will be essential for all libraries supporting a history curriculum.

This volume is available on its own or as part of the twelve-volume set, The American Experience in World War II. For a complete list of the volume titles in this set, see the listing for The American Experience in World War II [ISBN: 0-415-94028-1].

Book Description

In this provocative book, Benjamin Ginsberg examines the cycle of Jewish success and anti-Semitic attack throughout the history of the Diaspora, with a concentrated focus on the "special case" of America. For Ginsberg, the essential issue is not anti-Jewish feeling, but the conditions under which such sentiment is likely to be used in the political arena. The Fatal Embrace identifies the political dynamics that, historically, have set the stage for the persecution of Jews.

Customer Reviews:

Jewish Power and Anti-Semitism: A Catch-22 Situation?.......2007-06-14

Ginsberg advances the notion that the Jewish-state embrace, designed to ameliorate the effects of anti-Semitism, has, paradoxically, exacerbated the latter: "Thus, over the past several centuries, Jews have played important roles in the construction of absolutist, liberal, and socialist states as well as major parts in movements seeking to reform or supplant regimes to which they were unable to obtain access. Jews have traditionally offered their services to the state in exchange for the regime's guarantee of security and opportunity. Ironically, however, precisely this relationship between Jews and the state has often sparked organized anti-Semitic attacks." (p. 57). Owing to the breadth of this topic, this review focuses on only a few of Ginsberg's many points.

Considering the attention given to the numerus clausus in certain 1930's Polish universities, one may be surprised to learn of the existence of quotas limiting Jewish enrollment in American universities (pp. 96-99), sometimes as recently as the early 1960's (p. 2). Ginsberg also discusses the Jewish prominence in the ACLU (pp. 1-2, 100-101), including the deliberate use of gentile plaintiffs and attorneys, done in order to avert an anti-Semitic backlash, in the eventually-successful prayer-opposition lawsuit.

Jews played major roles in assisting the Hohenzollern rulers (p. 17), and in events leading to the unification of the German state under Bismarck (p. 18). No wonder that subjugated Poles commonly thought of Jews as their co-oppressors!

Unlike some modern authors (e. g., Jan Tomasz Gross), Ginsberg is exceptionally forthright about the extent and significance of the Zydokomuna (Jewish Communism). Beginning with Soviet Communism, he writes: "As we saw earlier, in the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution, Jews played an extremely prominent role in the Soviet regime." (p. 53). "Three of the six members of Lenin's first Politburo--Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev--were of Jewish origin...If the distinctive contribution of Jews to the absolutist state was in the realm of finance, and their singular role in liberal regimes was the mobilization of opinion, the special contribution of the Jews to the Bolshevik state involved the organization of coercion...During the 1920's and 1930's, Jews were a major element in the secret police and other Soviet security forces...Jews were also important in the Red Army...Another domain in which Jews were particularly visible was the Soviet cultural and propaganda apparatus." (pp. 30-31). "In twentieth-century Russia, Jews commanded powerful instruments of terror and repression." (p. 57). "During the Second World War, Jews played prominent roles in the Soviet government, particularly in the realms of propaganda and foreign relations." (p. 54).

Later, the Zydokomuna admittedly became an important factor in the Soviet imposition of Communism upon Eastern Europe. Ginsberg comments: "A third area in which Jews played a particularly noteworthy role was the governance of the Soviet Union's Eastern European satellites after World War II. Indigenous Jewish Communists provided the Soviets with a useful leadership cadre in...Poland..." (p. 32). This can be generalized: "As indicated above, in the aftermath of World War II, Jews played major roles in the puppet governments established by the Soviets in Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Germany, Hungary, and Romania." (p. 55).

Some of Ginsberg's reasoning is dubious. In common with many authors, he attributes the Jewish over-involvement in Communism to the injustices that Jews had experienced in non-Communist societies (p. 28). But many other peoples (e. g., the Poles) were also downtrodden, yet they never supported Communism to any appreciable extent (a few Dzerzhinskys notwithstanding). Ginsberg does not explain this. Ironic to his argument, he also describes how, in the 1930's, Jews constituted about 500,000 of the ten million victims of Stalin's purges, including the majority of the politically most prominent victims (p. 53). Yet the Zydokomuna persisted. Ginsberg fails to answer the following question: If it was injustices that had driven Jews to Communism, then why didn't Communist injustices, especially those against Jews, drive Jews AWAY from Communism?

Ginsberg assesses the geopolitical fallout stemming from the actions of the Eastern European Zydokomuna: "This prominent Jewish presence allowed nationalist and religious forces to use anti-Semitic appeals to mobilize popular opposition to Communist rule in these nations." (p. 55). As an example of this, Ginsberg cites Polish Cardinal Hlond's statement that figured the Zydokomuna as a provocation leading to the Kielce Pogrom. Again, Ginsberg's reasoning is dubious. Soviet hegemony and Communism were almost universally hated by Poles, so there was no reason to mobilize public opposition against it, much less to introduce extraneous elements to do so! Second, Communism had been imposed on Poland on the heels of the "liberating" Red Army, and there never had been any realistic hope of overthrowing it. Furthermore, by the time of the (so-called) Kielce Pogrom, anti-Communist guerilla activity had already been largely repressed. The motive behind Hlond's comments had been rather prosaic: The western media had focused exclusively on the Jewish victims at Kielce (as indeed it does almost exclusively to this very day), but ignored (and still ignores) the reality of significant Jewish support for Poland's enemies.

A good assesment, but some points missed.......2004-01-24

This valiant effort to address the question of the danger of the Jewish alliance with government fails to pick out other important points. The basic argument here is that throughout history, since 70 A.D to be exact, Jews have tried to embrace government so as to be protected by it. As the weakest and more discriminated against people in Europe Jews frequently worked in the courts of Kings. When communism and socialism wee being Born this book shows how Jews worked to establish the Soviet in Russia and fought in the Spanish civil war. In America Jews quickly embraced the more tolerant state, aiding on both sides of the civil war and occupying a seat on the supreme court for more then a century.

The question this book asks is: Has the Jewish alliance with the state proved to be a fatal tactic? Examples of the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and the Stalinist purges of Jews in Russia seem to be prime example. But the book does not address the fact that in the middle eastern countries Jews had no status and frequently existed with no alliance to the state and yet the Jews of the middle east were also suppressed, pogromed, and sometimes expelled. Jews of the middle east, despite the fact that they were not visible were still hated and they were forced to wear distinctive embarrassing clothes and were restricted from riding horses and forced to work on the Sabbath. So the conclusion should be that it really doesn't matter whether Jews embrace or shun the state, either way we will be at risk and the reality is that at least by embracing the state Jews have gotten a measure of power to help influence government so that it is harder for government sanctioned anti-Semitism to take place.

The Fatal Embrace: Jews and the State.......2001-07-31

This is an eye opening book for most American Jews. As most Jews are assimilated into the political culture, enjoy reasonable prospects in the current era and have learned how to avoid the worst of anti-Semitism (consciously or otherwise), it comes as a shock to learn that it is actually a tool of politics used to subtley intimidate and manipulate us.

In thinking through comments made about NYC political life (in reference to municipal and educational politics) in the 1960s and my own experiences, I now realize how manipulated I was. It was systematic, calculated and directed...that makes it worse than if it was random, as it bespeaks an evil knowledge. It affected the employment of my wife, my in-laws and others I knew in the educational field. NYC education suffers today from the purge of Jews that occurred from that time on and we are all poorer for it.

This book is an explanation of why anti-Semitism does not get "solved", but merely goes into remission until needed again -it is a tried and true technique to influence people. That both Democrats and Republicans have used such techniques also indicates its universality and that no one party is a "friend of the Jews". This is the knowledge used by practitioners of the "politics of division". Black anti-Semites use it in their power moves within the Democratic Party. Bill Clinton used it in his defense of pardoning Marc Rich and it is used by Republicans in dealing with Middle Eastern politics as viewed here in the US to forestall the will of the Congress on a Jerusalem based embassy.

This book will annoy those who do not want to hear that message, that an age old hatred is so institutionalized that it is current state-craft.

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The Fatal Embrace Jews And The State
Benjamin Ginsberg
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPD88M

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Fatal Embrace: Jews and the State
Benjamin Ginsberg
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OMW7SM

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The Fatal Embrace: Jews and the State
Benjamin Ginsberg
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPHTH8

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Time Series Prediction: Forecasting the Future and Understanding the Past: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Comparative T (Proceedings ... Studies in the Sciences of Complexity)
Andreas S. Weigend , and Neil A. Gershenfeld
Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Analysis of Time Series: An Introduction (Texts in Statistical Science Series (Chapman and Hall))

Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, Second Edition (Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)

ASIN: 0201626020

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Time Series Prediction: Forecasting the Future and Understanding the Past : Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Comparative Time S (Santa ... in the Sciences of Complexity Proceeding
Andreas S. Weigend~Neil A. Gershenfeld
Manufacturer: Perseus Books (Sd)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLIP7A

Amazon.com

David Brower, elder statesman of the ecology movement, reflects on his half-century of controversial environmental activism as former Sierra Club executive director and founder of Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Institute. Sparing no sacred cows - himself least of all - Brower outlines his plan to save our planet. Recalling past glories and stinging defeats - Glen Canyon Dam chief among them - Brower outlines his modest yet thoroughly plausible plan to rescue Mother Earth for the next generation. An intellectually moving and emotionally stirring book, Brower challenges readers to change their ways because, as he says, it's not too late to administer CPR for an ailing planet if we all work together to win the crucial battles for the Earth.

Book Description

Credited with galvanizing an entire generation of environmentalists in the 60's, David Brower, the highly respected "archdruid" of the modern environmental movement, recalls with wit and wisdom his 50 years of controversial activism and offers an inspired strategy for the next generation of "those who would save the Earth."

In this intelligent and engaging chronicle of his years as an agitator for the planet, Brower points out the irony that since the first Earth Day 25 years ago, we've lost one-seventh of the world's productive land to pollution, clearcutting, and pavement-and our population has doubled! From the politics of preserving the environment and how to use New York-style PR to save tigers and dolphins, to reengineering cities, the future of hypercars, and his vision for the Earth Corps, Brower takes us on a sweeping journey of what has been and what could be if we apply CPR (Conservation, Preservation, Restoration) to our wounded world.

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous Book!.......2002-04-28

This novel was great. It was innovative and original. Unlike a lot of environmental books, this one wasn't dull or scientific. Instead, it reached out at you with it's practicality and simplicity. Brower uses real life examples to make his ideas tangible to the reader. This book was well written and is a modern Must Read. Get Inspired!... Read this book.

The archdruid at his best.......2001-01-31

The Late David Brower takes us through the journey that was his life. With explicit detail, david brower shows us the world in his eyes. His deep passion to inspire everyone with CPR ( conservation preservation restoration) and respect for the environment in which we live in is truly written with heartfelt words, and continues to move me. Founder of Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Insitute, Browers Legacy will indeed never be forgotten. Being so involved in some of the most important national monuments to be made such as dinosaur national park, his spirit and love will forever shine through in his life work to both serve and protect mother nature in all of her natural glory. Told by Brower he takes you on the path of his life, both past and to the present, giving such details of an exciting and meaningful life, such as his times with the wonderfully talented photographer the late ansel adams, work with JFK, and much more! From start to finish this book is indeed a classic, and a wonderful tribute to the late archdruid himself.

A Minor Fault--Attention Publisher.......2000-11-28

I'm about 180 pages through the book and have been marking it up extensively for future reference. Brower does an excellent job of summarizing a lot of current and older but useful thinking on environmentalism. Each time I go back to my reading, I keep wanting to refer to earlier passages, so I look for an index. In fact that's why I'm writing this brief review. I hope that the publisher sees it and actually produces one for a future edition or printing. It would be very helpful, since I'm sure I'll want to come back to the book.

Over the last several months, I've hit upon the topic of saving the earth from another author, Daniel Quinn, the author of Ishmael. The goal is the same, but Quinn offers an alternative way of thinking that I find quite interesting. I'd like to ask both Brower and Quinn what they think of one anothers approaches, but, of course, that is now impossible in the case of Brower. If anyone knows whether they have ever met or read about one another, I'd be interested in knowing their reactions to the other's work. Since Quinn's approach is not an environmentalist's approach, I doubt that they have knowledge of one another. However, Quinn is pretty savy on all aspects of saving the earth.

I don't know if I specified it was OK to show my e-mail address, but here it is if someone wants to respond: mtn_view@sirius.com.

Outstanding.......1999-05-20

Although this is somewhat irrelevant to the book itself, I'm amazed that David Brower was able to write such an articulate, evocative ecological eye-opener at the age of 82...which is not to say I applied a lower set of standards to the judging of "Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers run". Such a bias wouldn't be necessary for the book to be praised and revered by all environmentally-conscious readers who happen upon it; in this, the era of unfettered desecration and destruction of the Earth, the former president of the Sierra Club provides a much needed argument on behalf of all those who enjoy nature and, also, all those who merely want their descendants to be able to breathe . In the gentlemanly prose he maintains throughout the book, Brower explains the necessity of wildlife preservation, what the restoration of the planet would entail, and the political factors involved in the environmentalist movement; he recounts pass successes of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, encounters with prominent individuals such as FDR and John Muir, and, when he was a boy, describing the beauty of the pristine bay area locale he grew up in to his blind mother. Aside from issuing an eloquent "call to arms to those who would save the Earth", Brower also seems to attempt to convert those who have not yet recognized how nature can enrich their lives tenfold; from dramatic descriptions of his mountaineering exploits to waxing poetic about

Book Description

How to Save a River presents in a concise and readable format the wisdom gained from years of river protection campaigns across the United States. The book begins by defining general principles of action, including getting organized, planning a campaign, building public support, and putting a plan into action. It provides detailed explanations of how to:

form an organization and raise money
develop coalitions with other groups
plan a campaign and build public support
cultivate the media and other powerful allies
develop credible alternatives to damaging projects

How to Save a River provides an important overview of the resource issues involved in river protection, and suggests sources for further investigation. Countless examples of successful river protection campaigns prove that ordinary citizens do have the power to create change when they know how to organize themselves.

River Stops Here: How One Man's Battle to, The: Save His Valley Changed the Fate of California

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River Stops Here: How One Man's Battle to, The: Save His Valley Changed the Fate of California
Ted Simon
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Riding High

ASIN: 0679428224
Release Date: 1994-09-06

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"... the book transcends the specific issues of the fight [over the Dos Rios Dam] to become a meditation on the larger issues of growth and conservation in America....a triumph---well-conceived, elegantly arranged, and eminently fair." --Audubon

Cass Save the River!/Take Care of Earth (Pair-It Books)

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Cass Save the River!/Take Care of Earth (Pair-It Books)

Manufacturer: Steck Vaughn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 0817273875

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Cheyenne Bottoms: Wetland in Jeopardy
John L. Zimmerman
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (Cambridge Studies in Ecology)

ASIN: 0700607129

Book Description

Our wetlands are endangered. Half the acreage in the United States has disappeared since European settlers arrived a century ago.

Among the wetlands that remain, a few are outstanding for their size, location, and role in feeding and sheltering vast numbers of birds and other wildlife. Cheyenne Bottoms, way station for hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds, songbirds, and waterfowl, is one of the most important wetlands in North America.

Located in central Kansas, on the main migration highway between wintering grounds in South America and breeding territory in Canada, the 41,000 acre marsh called Cheyenne Bottoms is a critical refueling stop for migrating birds. It hosts 90% of the populations of five species of shorebirds as well as most of the remaining population of the endangered Whooping Crane and several other threatened and endangered species. Because of its critical role, it has been designated by treaty as a Wetland of International Importance.

Ecologist/ornithologist John Zimmerman provides an introduction to the Bottoms that is at once personal, impassioned, and technically accurate. Narrating the history of the Bottoms from its formation 100,000 years ago to the present, he describes the rich variety of birds, mammals, and reptiles that depend on it and the intricate web of interactions among them that preserves the Cheyenne Bottoms ecosystem.

But recently, Zimmerman notes, the fate of Cheyenne Bottoms has been determined by human history, not natural history. He describes the impact humans have had on the Bottoms and the complex problems created by irrigation, water rights disputes, and politics. He also chronicles the grassroots effort to save the Bottoms--a campaign that brought together conservation groups, garden clubs, grade school and high school students, and the state government. The struggle to preserve Cheyenne Bottoms, according to Zimmerman, is part of a global environmental battle that must be fought in our lifetime. "It has become the arena of confrontation," he writes, " between our desires to exploit the earth for our own short-term benefit and the altruism that will be required if we are to maintain the diversity and life-support systems of our planet. Cheyenne Bottoms is a focal point, a bridge at Concord, in the environmental revolution."

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Entering the Watershed: A New Approach To Save America's River Ecosystems
Robert Doppelt , Mary Scurlock , Chris Frissell , and James R. Karr
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1559632755

Book Description

Entering the Watershed is the product of a two-year project established by the Pacific Rivers Council to develop new federal riverine protection and restoration policy alternatives. It recommends a comprehensive new approach to river protection based on principles of watershed dynamics, ecosystem function, and conservation biology - a nationwide, strategic community- and ecosystem-based watershed restoration initiative. The book:

describes in detail the existing level of damage to rivers and species
analyzes flaws and gaps in existing policy
provides the framework necessary to develop new policies
outlines the scientific underpinnings and management strategies needed in new policy
makes specific policy proposals

The Fight of the Salmon People: Blending Tribal Tradition with Modern Science to Save Sacred Fish

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The Fight of the Salmon People: Blending Tribal Tradition with Modern Science to Save Sacred Fish
Douglas W. Dompier
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1413492967

Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run: A Call to Save the Earth

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Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run: A Call to Save the Earth
David Brower
Manufacturer: Sierra Club Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

ASIN: 157805138X

Book Description

As executive director of the Sierra Club through the 1950s and '60s, Brower spearheaded its landmark campaigns, launched its publishing program, and, in Jerry Mander's words, "essentially vaulted the ecology movement into a major international force." Above all, as Amory Lovins observes, Brower was the movement's charismatic pied piper, inspiring countless young people--Lovins included--"to give up safe, conventional . . . unrewarding career tracks . . . to save the world."
This small but incendiary and vastly entertaining volume, now back in print after a few years' absence, is vintage Brower, recounting events from his life and times as preludes to his siren songs on behalf of the Earth. His voice is, as always, erudite but never pedantic, beautifully cadenced, infuriatingly opinionated, and spiced with dry humor. And his insights are uncannily prescient, with projects he called for in the early 1990s now coming to pass: the adoption of hybrid cars, urban core infilling, wildlife corridors, and more. We also get telling glimpses of Brower's other sides: as a leading mountaineer and officer in the famed 10th Mountain Division during World War II and as an innovative and discerning editor.
It is wholly typical of the man that his tale begins at a Grateful Dead concert, where he is composing a speech in his head, puzzling out how to move the young audience to as much passion for conservation as they express for their music. With this delightful book available once again, still more young (and not-so-young) people can be moved by Brower's words.

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