Book Description
This definitive survey examines the impact of nuclear weaponry on national security issues. Written by an experienced author and founder of the Peace and Common Security Institute in Berkeley, California, this text describes how current nuclear dilemmas have developed out of past choices and events. The final chapter of this chronologically organized text covers events that took place from 1985-1991, making the material relevant to the post-Cold War era.
Book Description
In July 1863 the bloodiest and most decisive battle of the Civil War was fought near the sleepy town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. While many books have been written about the landmark battle, When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg differs from the rest by detailing the horrific aftermath of the battle, detailing what it takes to put a town back together after two armies have fought through its streets and across the surrounding countryside. The small town of 2,400 inhabitants was faced with the enormous problem of burying more than 7,000 dead soldiers and caring for 20,000 wounded men who had been left behind by both armies. Fields that just days earlier contained crops and livestock were now littered with firearms, munitions, and swords, and nearly every building still standing was turned into a field hospital with mounds of amputated limbs left behind after the surgeons had completed their grizzly work.
This sort of information is often overlooked in the history books about the Civil War. Here are firsthand accounts of life in the town and on the battlefield in the days and months following the brutal fighting. Included are stories and vivid descriptions from soldiers, reporters, civilians, doctors, and nurses. Good Samaritans came to help the wounded and the dying, and profiteers and souvenir hunters were not far behind. Then came the politicians, followed by legions of families seeking the remains of their fallen sons.
When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg presents the heartbreaking human misery resulting from this battle and by the ongoing war wherever it went. From the backbreaking chore of clearing the battlefield of the wounded and dead to nursing the amputees, one can learn much of the battle by seeing what ordinary people who were pulled into the war did to survive and rebuild their lives.
Customer Reviews:
An intersting history about the battle..........2005-01-20
This book tells parts of the story of the Battle of Gettysburg that are not generally known. The author details the early history of Gettysburg before the battle, as well as giving information about what the citizens did during the battle. Most of the book is concerned with the aftermath of the battle, as it concerns the soldiers, citizens and the town itself. Primarily, the book is a history of the town of Gettysburg and its citizens, as told by diaries handed down by the citizens of the town. Surprisingly, this story has been little told, and even though I have read much about the Civil War, I found much new, insightful information in this book. If you are looking for a Civil War book which offers a different perspective on an often-told story, this book is for you. Highly recommended!
The Aftermath of Gettysburg.......2004-02-24
The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1--3, 1863) was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, resulting in over 51, 000 casualties. The Battle itself was only the climax of Robert E. Lee's Pennsylvania campaign which also included a raid on Gettysburg by Confederate General Jubal Early on June 26, and a long difficult retreat back to Virginia by Lee's defeated army following the battle.
The story of this great battle has been told many times. Although there are also good accounts of the aftermath of the battle and of the effects of the battle on the town, they are not as numerous as the books devoted to the combat and, frequently, tend to be devoted to specific issues (such as the care of the wounded following the battle.)
I found George Sheldon's book "When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg" (2003) performed a real service. It presents a good overview of the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg in a simple clear way. The book is intended for nonspecialists with an interest in the battle and in the Civil War. On the whole, it is ably written and well researched. I learned a great deal from it.
The book begins with a good and appropriate overview of the history of the town of Gettysburg before the Civil War, including its demographics (about eight percent of the residents of Gettysburg were African American) and politics. There is a discussion of the effect on the town of the pending Confederate invasion during June, 1863 and of the effect of Early's raid late in June. This is followed by a brief treatment of the Battle itself. There is an excellent picture of the Confederate Army's retreat through the mud and the rain beginning on July 4 and of the hardships the retreat imposed on many wounded soldiers.
The book describes very well the carnage of the Battle and of the strain that burying the dead and caring for the wounded put upon a small Pennsylvania town of 2400 people. The horrors and unsanitary conditions of the field hospitals are well described. I also found this book give a good basic treatment of the assistance provided by the United States Sanitary Commission and the United States Christian Commission in caring for the wounded at Gettysburg. The book also discusses the history of Camp Letterman, the hospital facility that the military established east of Gettysburg two weeks after the battle to care for the wounded. The information is given in sufficient detail to be useful but it does not purport to be a full history of the subject.
The book discusses the effect of Gettysburg on the civilian population with good, clear, and specific references to some of the townspeople who wrote memoirs of their experiences. Again the coverage was sufficient to be informative without making a pretense of being exhaustive. The book also pays attention to African Americans in Gettysburg and the effect of the Battle and of Lee's invasion upon them. This is an area that has not been fully studied, and Mr. Sheldon's book helps fill a real gap.
The book discusses the burial of the dead of Gettysburg and the exhumation and reburial of many of them in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. There is a short treatment of the dedication of the Cemetery and of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The book then concludes with a short history of the creation and administration of the Gettysburg Military Park, currently administered by the National Park Service, and of the reunions of veterans at Gettysburg in 1913 and 1938. The book bears eloquent, if brief, testimony to the importance Gettysburg has assumed to many Americans over the years.
This book is written in a popular, journalistic way but it should not be underestimated. Mr. Sheldon has done his research and has succinctly told the basics of an important story in a single book. The reader wanting to learn about the aftermath of Gettysburg will not be disappointed. This is a good book for the student of the Battle of Gettysburg and of the American Civil War.
Like being there yourself.......2003-09-22
Anyone who wants to know how people ACTUALLY REACTED in a time of horrible stress and its tragic aftermath owes it to themselves to read "When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg." The author did an amazing job of putting together this fascinating historical treatise using material from diverse sources including newspapers, photographs, diaries, firsthand accounts, personal memoirs, letters and more. An enormous undertaking, Sheldon coordinated his research into a coherent whole that clearly shows the importance of Gettysburg to the Civil War and the lives it directly impacted. Which was all of us, of course.
But the greatest thing about this book is that you don't need to be a Civil War scholar to appreciate it. Just a human being.
A poignant and profoundly vivid narrative.......2003-09-19
When The Smoke Cleared At Gettysburg: The Tragic Aftermath Of The Bloodiest Battle Of The Civil War by newspaper correspondent and author George Sheldon, presents objective overview of the aftermath of one of the American Civil War's most important battles, including firsthand, personal accounts of the Gettysburg townspeople, as well as the soldiers, reporters, doctors and others who had to deal with burying the dead, tending the wounded, and rebuilding a place shattered by war. A poignant and profoundly vivid narrative, When The Smoke Cleared At Gettysburg: The Tragic Aftermath Of The Bloodiest Battle Of The Civil War is an original, "reader friendly", and very highly recommended addition to the growing library of Civil War Studies.
The challenge is enduring this book...........2003-09-16
The challenge in reading this book is to actually reach the
end without throwing one's hands up in dismay. The poor
writing, the factual errors, and the repetition all combine to
make reading this book not merely a challenge, but an
ordeal. Check the bibliography for some worthwhile books
on the topic.
Amazon.com
In a retrospective look at the war on drugs in the United States, journalist Dan Baum calls the nation's drug policy "as expensive, ineffective, delusional and destructive as government gets." He examines the Nixon White House's effort to turn the drug war to political advantage and the Carter Administration's brief flirtation with decriminalizing marijuana. He also details the cover-ups and blunders of some of the biggest drug busts in the country's history. Yet despite the policy's ineffectiveness, at least 85 percent of Americans oppose legalization. Baum sheds light on the reasons for this issue and calls for radical compromise.
Book Description
In a retrospective look at the war on drugs in the United States, journalist Dan Baum calls the nation's drug policy "as expensive, ineffective, delusional and destructive as government gets." He examines the Nixon White House's effort to turn the drug war to political advantage and the Carter Administration's brief flirtation with decriminalizing marijuana. He also details the cover-ups and blunders of some of the biggest drug busts in the country's history. Yet despite the policy's ineffectiveness, at least 85 percent of Americans oppose legalization. Baum sheds light on the reasons for this issue and calls for radical compromise.
Customer Reviews:
A great book!!.......2007-09-14
This book was a complete and thorough account of the history of US drug war. I loved it.... it was unbiased and covered all the facts.
The War on Drugs? An Abysmal Failure.......2006-02-05
Each year illicit drugs claim the lives of at least 450 Australians. In WA alone, heroin overdoses have cost more than one life per week so far this year. Politicians, health officials, the police and community in general are struggling to devise a solution to this drug menace.
American journalist, Dan Baum, in 'Smoke and Mirrors', has convincingly shown how NOT to approach the problem. Drawing on extensive research in the US, he begins his account after President's Nixon's election in 1968 and traces the ultimately futile War on Drugs through to the early phases of the Clinton Administration. Baum takes the reader through a series of case studies, anecdotes and interviews with key players in the drug war, and repeatedly exposes the cynicism, folly, ineptitude and sometimes racism of politicians and bureaucrats in trying to cope with drug use and abuse in society. Always in the background and, for Baum, at the heart of the problem, is the hitherto unchallenged policy of prohibition which Baum makes clear is seriously flawed in both practice and principle.
The cost of this unswerving campaign is staggering by any account. During the Bush years alone, $120 billion was spent on the Drug War. In addition, there has been the enormous cost in terms of human rights violations and crushed civil liberties, best documented by Baum in the harassment, imprisonment and occasionally shooting, of "harmless potheads and the generally peaceful growers who supply them".
The much-vaunted War on Drugs had its genesis in the turbulent 1960s when the counter-culture - as manifested in the massive Vietnam War protests, rock music and alternative lifestyles - reached its zenith. For Nixon, marijuana was a potent symbol of such "decadence" and its use was vigorously opposed primarily for this reason - not because of its pharmacological properties. Indeed, Baum makes clear that the Drug War has generally had little to do with drugs per se and a lot to do with crude political opportunism.
Seizing upon the issue of drugs to target political opponents, the Nixon White House went as far as to enlist television producers in the anti-drug fight through popular cop shows and sitcoms such as Mannix, Mod Squad, Hawaii-Five-O, Mission Impossible and My Three Sons. What they didn't expect, from another quarter in the entertainment industry, was Elvis Presley's unsolicited arrival at the White House in 1971 complete with a nickel-plated .45 automatic as a gift for the President. Elvis virtually begged to be co-opted into the White House's anti-drug campaign but seemed just as keen to souvenir another police badge of which he was an avid collector. The supreme irony, noted by Baum, is that the "King", a legendary dopehound, was a credentialed Special Assistant in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs when he died in 1977 of what was essentially a drug overdose.
By the mid-1970s when Jimmy Carter was elected President, drugs had all but disappeared from the political radar. A more enlightened drug policy was adopted even if it was orchestrated by politically naive advisers. A Presidential Commission on Marijuana, stacked with conservatives, made the embarrassing recommendation in 1970 that marijuana be decriminalised, a step which Nixon refused to consider. In fact, he blamed the Jews for wanting to liberalise America's drug laws.
However, the War on Drugs was resurrected with a vengeance when Ronald Reagan took office in 1982. Within a short space of time there were savage cuts to drug prevention and treatment, and a boost to "hard" drug enforcement bodies, eg. the Coast Guard, FBI and the increasingly powerful Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). More significantly, draconian mandatory minimum sentencing laws were passed leading to a doubling of the prison population during the Reagan years. The ideological shift saw the leadership of drug policy taken away from doctors and scientists, and passed to untrained, inexperienced and emotionally motivated parents. As a consequence, the drug war was sharply directed at teenagers and those who allegedly fostered their habits such as makers of drug paraphernalia. It was hardly surprising then, that a full 83% of Americans surveyed in 1986 believed it was proper to "dob-in" to the police family members who consumed drugs. One teenage girl in California who did so, soon afterwards found herself placed in foster care as a ward of the state while her parents faced 3 years in gaol.
The arrival of cocaine then its derivative, crack into the drug mainstream in the 1980s - both largely media beat-ups according to Baum - fueled wild speculation. By then, anti-drug rhetoric was reaching fever-pitch as evidenced by bizarre and hysterical pronouncements from those in the forefront of the drug debate. One prominent Congressman wanted to exile drug offenders to remote Pacific islands. William Bennett, Reagan's top drug czar and himself a chain-smoker, suggested beheading drug dealers while one of his high-ranking colleagues ventured the opinion that "homosexuality seems to be something that follows from marijuana use". Former LAPD chief, Darryl Gates, proclaimed that "casual drug users should be taken out and shot ...". Even Nancy Reagan, who framed the naive slogan of "Just Say No" to drugs, weighed in to the debate on recreational drug use. Brimming with indignation, she declared that the casual drug user is an "accomplice to murder".
Meanwhile, those dissenting voices critical of the War on Drugs often remained one step ahead of drug enforcement authorities. Baum recounts several amusing instances of citizens who turned the tables on officious bureaucrats and ridiculed the po-faced anti-drug zealots. For example, when urine-testing became widespread in American workplaces, wily entrepreneurs started selling pre-bottled, drug-free urine through mail-order catalogues. A drug legalisation advocate embarrassed the McDonald's hamburger chain by pointing out that its plastic coffee stirrers were being used as cocaine spoons. McDonald's promptly recalled the offending items amidst great embarrassment. And when drug-sniffing dogs at airports were nabbing traveller's with large cash deposits, procedures had to be re-evaluated when it was discovered that minute traces of cocaine are present on up to 96% of all US currency bills.
In the concluding stages of Baum's account of the unwinnable War on Drugs, he points to the growing chorus of law enforcement agents, public health experts, judges, academics, influential newspaper editors and a few brave politicians who have begun to question the cost-effectiveness of prohibition and unswerving commitment to zero tolerance of drug use. Although he doesn't flag any alternatives to these failed policies, Baum makes it clear that the longstanding taboo of discussing any policy other than total prohibition, needs to be lifted.
Baum ends his highly readable and entertaining book with a telling quote from (non-inhaler) President Bill Clinton who stated in 1992 that, "The definition of insanity is doing the same old thing over and over again and expecting a different result". All politicians, please take note.
One of the most important books ever published. Excellent writing, and a very easy read.........2005-09-12
There is conformity in our society, and it is a scourge that kills human spirit. It's a kind of ignorance, a common human narrow-mindedness that is at the root of keeping human beings from tolerating each other.
Similarly, at the root of this book's subject is the conformed intolerance emanating from people who believe that alcohol, caffeine and tobacco are the only recreational drugs that should be allowed to be legal and that, more specifically, cannabis should be illegal. This is conservative American mentality since the popularity of cannabis, at least among American whites, the vast majority of Americans, is relatively recent as compared to the popularity of the former drugs.
Ruthless, corrupt capitalists are the main force behind our corrupt drug laws. This book provides factual information to prove that money and power grubbing politicians and other lawmakers and law enforcers are the people who make the drug wars corrupt. In fact, politicians, judges, lawyers and law enforcers stand to gain in many ways by joining this corrupt war on recreational cannabis users. Baum doesn't stop at pointing out this fact, he gives a list of these people, right at the beginning of the book, presented like a movie or play presents its cast of characters. This is good. For over the past 40 years, the real life story of conservatives who have sold their souls in order to bust harmless cannabis users and thereby boost their political etc. careers is very much like an incredible play, a tragedy on a mass scale.
Huge prisons have been built to incarcerate all of these harmless cannabis users, and it is a fact that during a recent recession, the prison industry (criminal labor) was one of the few industries that remained profitable. A conservative TV pundit recently exclaimed how proud she is that we now live in a conservative time. But we should not be proud of how such conservatives abuse innocent people. Which they do, very much so. IF I WAS PRESIDENT, I WOULD RELEASE ALL WHO HAVE BEEN INCARCERATED FOR DRUG USE ONLY. THEN I WOULD INCARCERATE ALL WHO HAVE PROFITED AT THE EXPENSE OF RUINING INNOCENT LIVES.
One of the excellently reported true stories in this book:
In the late '70s, there was a woman who became enraged that her local record store was displaying cannabis paraphernalia (pipes, cigarette papers etc.) because she felt that children should not be exposed to such things in a shop such as this. To some extent, I agree with her. But she and Nancy Reagan spearheaded the "Just Say No" campaign, a bastion of conformity if there ever was one. It's overkill. Why not legalize cannabis and then campaign etc. to remove the selling of it and its paraphernalia from the public's line of sight, just like minors aren't allowed to enter into a cocktail bar?
I'll tell you what I'm outraged about. That ruthless capitalist schmuck from New York City who pushed his cannabis pipes business into those stores. He didn't give a crap about the children. As a result of this kind of ruthless capitalistic behavior, the straights got livid, went overboard with drug laws and propaganda, and now hundreds of thousands of innocent people languish in prisons. Like in playing music, a little bit of sensitivity and compromising to others' needs goes a hell of a long way to furthering a better, more tolerant, openminded and ultimately less corrupt society. This is the direction that soceities such as Holland's takes, and it makes theirs better than ours. I'd love to be proud of my nation, but this is what keeps me from being so. This is America, a damn thieves' hall where anything goes as long as you're ruthless enough to get away with it. Where people kick each other around in the name of "survival of the fittest" while this mentality inevitably makes a hell hole of everyone's lives, particularly those who aren't greedy, who aren't so good at kicking people around. Ours is a society that is running as fast as it can away from tolerance. People who call themselves Christians and condone this behavior are corrupt by default; nothing could be further from the teachings of Jesus.
But surely the most outrageous of true stories described in this book are the ones about how parents and siblings participate in the arresting of their family members who use illegal recreational drugs. Particularly the rehabilitation centers that abuse youths who are sent there by their parents. What kind of a parent would do such a thing? I'll tell you what kind. The kind that has accepted the idea that careers, formal schooling and conformed behavior is the only way to live. This is extreme conformity. Most of the ancestors of such people would likely slap them upside the face for their inhumane treatment of their children. Absolutely incredible levels of inhumane conformity have taken over the minds and hearts of too many people in our society. It needs to stop. Or else we really will become living proof that Bradbury was correct in his prediction of a ruthless, overly conformed society in the novel "Fahrenheit 451."
Argument by Anecdote.......2002-03-09
This book will not change one person's mind. Sticking to anecdotes, eschewing statistics and analysis, Baum strives to create an atmosphere of sinister conspiracy. But the simple fact that political spinmasters were involved in creating and selling the drug prohibition policy does not hopelessly discredit it. After all, politicians had to sell the Civil Rights Act, the New Deal, involvement in WWII, emancipation of the slaves, and everything else the government's ever done.
Like most people who'd be motivated to seek out a book on the War on Drugs, I am sympathetic to Baum's general idea-- the War on Drugs goes too far, and a little treatment would sure go nice with, or maybe even in place of, locking up tons of people, many of whom are black. But to those of you looking for a balanced, informative overview of the history of the drug war, keep moving. This ain't it.
An excellent history on the War on Drugs.......2002-01-05
The book Smoke and Mirrors is a history of the War on Drugs launched by Richard Nixon and that continues to this day. It is very critical of the War and shows the faults of the War and its negative consequences on American society.
The book does not bash just Republicans and the right wing. In fact Baum makes it clear that Nixon's drug-policy was actually not that bad and certainly better than what was to come. Baum also makes it clear that Democrats jumped on the bandwagon and supported the War on Drugs just as much as the Republicans.
I was for legalization of marijuana before reading Smoke and Mirrors and now I have even more faith in legalizing marijuana. While I was aware of many things Baum mentions, I did not realize how much the Supreme Court has eroded our civil liberities via the War on Drugs. If you want an engrossing read while learning something useful, this is certainly a book to read.
Book Description
Praise for Smoke in Their Eyes
"With the passion and talent that are his trademark, Mike Pertschuk tells the story of the tobacco wars from inside the crusaders' bunker—how they came remarkably close to victory but why big tobacco won in the end. Read it and weep, but don't just weep. Learn the critical lessons for movement leadership in the future, so improbable victories will happen."—Robert B. Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, Professor of Social and Economic Policy, Brandeis University
"Nobody has a broader or clearer understanding of the worldwide anti-tobacco movement than Michael Pertschuk. His inside analysis of how its brightest hour suddenly turned into its darkest moment is an urgent object lesson, teaching that even those firmly on the side of the angels can be consumed by righteousness and self-importance. The U.S. public health community's failure to seriously blunt the perils of smoking—the nation's most destructive drug—when it had the tobacco industry reeling is a national tragedy that needed to be chronicled."—Richard Kluger, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ashes to Ashes
"A wonderful resource for readers who want to understand the complicated mix of high and low politics that animates progressive, `movement' interest group activity in the United States. Smoke in Their Eyes is his best yet, a treasure trove of insight, and, as always, a compelling read."—Nelson Polsby, Heller Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley
"Certainly the best-written piece of nonfiction in its genre I have ever read. Pertschuk has a gift for taking what could be just another `Washington insider' story and transforming it into the true overarching moral/political/human drama it actually is. I read it through, transfixed, because so much of it is so relevant to my own experiences of forty years in the environmental wars."—Brock Evans, Executive Director, The Endangered Species Coalition
"Pertschuk brings great wisdom and keen insight to this sobering tale that should appeal to all those committed to political change and to instructors looking for ways to teach students about the complexity of turning ideals into policy.—Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Harvard University
"When the definitive history of the tobacco control movement is written, this era, this series of events, will constitute one of the central chapters. This book is essential, indeed riveting, reading. Written by one of the most thoughtful observers of the tobacco control scene, himself a major figure in its history, the book offers a trenchant insider's view of what transpired during those fateful months. Anyone interested in social movements more generally will find herein a vivid lesson, a textbook if you will, of the threats to a movement as it gains steam and resources. This is an important story. It is exceedingly well told."—Kenneth E. Warner, Richard D. Remington Collegiate Professor of Public Health, University of Michigan
"Smoke in Their Eyes is that rare combination: a great read yet also packed with insights for anyone interested in the politics of public interest advocacy or legislation or multi-party negotiation or leadership."—Philip B. Heymann, James Barr Ames Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government
"As a case study for popular consumption and for college and university courses, this is as good as it gets—as good as Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action, and for the same reasons."—William K. Muir Jr. , Professor Emeritus of Political Science, UC Berkeley
"Mike Pertschuk is above all a master teacher. He brings an enormous depth of wisdom and experience to this beautifully written volume, and draws conclusions that we must all heed."—Michael Daube, CEO, Western Australian Cancer Society, and Chair, Tobacco Control Program, International Union Against Cancer (UICC)
Customer Reviews:
Learning for the Future.......2002-02-05
Michael Pertschuk's book is a must-read for anyone who is working to accomplish significant social change in America, particularly on issues where there is a powerful, monied opposition. He gives us critical insights into how a progressive movement can hurt itself by unneccessary personal attacks and ideological rigidity. He also teaches us how a progressive movement can overcome these obstacles and become a powerful unified force for good in our society. Over the years, I have seen the kind of internicine warfare so artfully described by Mr. Pertschuk undermine efforts to reduce gun violence and health care expansion. I hope that his book will help all of learn how to work together to achieve our common goals.
Divided We Fall.......2002-02-01
Reviewer: Morton Mintz from Chevy Chase, MD United States. This is a riveting insider's account of an awesome snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory. The anti-tobacco movement had for decades soight legislation that would prevent the premature deaths of millions of Americans. On the brink of success--the McCain bill--the movement blew it. Michael Pertschuk's book--thoroughly researched, eloquently written, and scrupuously fair--tells how and why. It powerfully warns all humanitarian causes seeking legislation in a corrupted Washington: You can't get it all. Understand that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Embrace an imperfect compromise that takes giant strides in the right direction. And beware egomaniacal leaders: they can become best friends of your enemies.
Taking part in history..........2002-01-28
Mike Pertschuk's new book provides tremendously important lessons to all of us working on social justice issues. His story makes you wonder what could have been possible in the tobacco wars if people on the side of the angels worked together, strategized together, honestly communicated with one another, and avoided personal attacks.
As one who actively fought with many tobacco prevention activists to kill the settlement and "improve" the McCain bill, even I found value in reading the tale from the perspective of Matt Myers.
Mike's book in no way changed my mind about the final outcome (i.e,, I think the settlement deal flopping was a good thing for the movement. And while I feel bad that the McCain bill died, I remain skeptical that the industry would have allowed it to pass even with some liability relief). That said, there are lessons to be learned.
Smoke in Their Eyes did make me wonder about what could have been possible had movement leaders developed strong, trusting relationships with each other, and if they communicated actively, openly, and honestly. The lack of communication between both leadership camps was most telling, in my opinion.
Besides its critical lessons, SMOKE IN THEIR EYES is a wonderful, gripping, story that makes you feel like you are right in the middle of the biggest national anti-tobacco battle in US history.
The lessons we learn depends on the questions we ask.......2002-01-28
"Lessons in Movement Leadership from the Tobacco Wars," is the telling subtitle to this deeply-searching book that examines the history of the 1997-1998 round-robin negotiations between the US tobacco companies, litigation lawyers, anti-tobacco advocates, the Clinton administration, and Congress. The matter finally came down to two votes against passage of Senator McCain's comprehensive tobacco control bill, which would have provided the greatest concessions to public health ever imagined, or indeed now imaginable. These included federally mandated regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration, a stiff increase in the price of cigarettes (the most potent measure to reduce the prevalence of smoking), severe strictures on advertising, penalties against the industry if teen-age smoking rates didn't fall, a national program for smokers who want to quit, among other provisions. The eventual settlement between the US Attorneys-General and the industry is a pale reflection of what could have been.
All advocacy and citizen movements have their "radical" and "moderate" wings. The rejectionists of the anti-tobacco movement refused to support the McCain bill in the end because
it provided the tobacco industry with a (large) annual cap on how much they would have to pay out in law suits each year, assuming they lost such suits. There were those movement leaders
who refused any concession that smelled at all of immunity for an industry whose products kill over 400,000 Americans each year, and castigated the moderates for even sitting down with the
industry to discuss a settlement. The failure of the McCain bill was also a set back to the nascent tobacco control movements in other countries, "because we are not able to stop tobacco aggression without success in the United States," as one Polish activist observed.
The author, former head of the Federal Trade Commission, founder of the Advocacy Institute, and long-time anti-tobacco activist, richly analyzes what went wrong with a primer on "Thirteen
Ways to Lead a Movement Backward," whose obvious inverse is how to lead a movement to victory. A successful movement strategically and knowingly blends vision and pragmatism,
engages in a "good cop-bad cop" approach to negotiations. The failed movement breaks out into factional war. The anti-tobacco movement yet to recover.
The other key lesson, is that all the principals but the rejectionists were willing to reconsider their roles in the debacle, to search deeply into their actions and motives, and to examine how they might have behaved differently. Pertschuk gives his own mea culpa. Even Ralph Nader learned something new. When the next opportunity comes, as it surely will, I would want these reflective persons to be out in front again.
History Rewritten While You Wait.......2002-01-23
In this book, Pertschuk attempts to rewrite history with
himself as a hero. He also demonstrates how little he
has learned from that history. The two may be related.
Fortunately, the history is well documented; we are
not dependent on unreliable accounts of it. The key
fact is: the tobacco industry killed the McCain bill
as soon as it started to get tough on tobacco and
good for the public. 3 out of 4 members of the Congress that
killed the bill, had taken money from the tobacco industry.
So it wasn't too hard for the industry to kill a bill it
didn't like.
Pertschuk's rewrite would have us believe that victory
for public health was almost within our grasp. The
key fact is, the industry had a veto at all times,
which it didn't hesitate to use. In this battle
there was no danger at any time of public health
prevailing over industry profits. No historic
opportunity was missed; the opportunity never existed.
Not with this Congress.
On the contrary: if anything was narrowly missed,
it was a federal bailout of Big Tobacco. This
same Congress that killed a bill that was getting
too good for the public, also had the power to give
the tobacco industry a get-out-of-jail-free card:
legal immunity, special rights in court. That
was what the industry wanted, because it would
keep it safe and profitable.
This was no hypothetical danger: various forms of
immunity appeared in the McCain bill at different times.
Indeed it was without immunity in the bill that
the industry turned against the bill and killed it.
So what was missed, if anything, was a legal device
to keep Big Tobacco profitable and powerful into
the next century.
This history forms a pattern: the tobacco industry
has many times, in many states and localities, tried
to enter into closed-door, private negotiations.
The history of such closed-door deals also forms a
pattern: they turn out to protect industry profits
and do little to protect public health. Secret
negotiations with tobacco industry lawyers have
a long, sad, history: they don't tend to produce
results notably in the public interest.
It is sad that Pertschuk has not learned from
this history. It is even sadder that he attempts
to rewrite a recent instance of it. But perhaps
this is not a coincidence. Perhaps it would indeed
be difficult to write "I later realized that
I was mistaken in my approach, and that the
predictions that I differed with at the time,
were proven correct by the plain facts of history."
And perhaps we could apply Santayana here:
those who rewrite the past, surely will not learn
from it, and are then condemned to repeat it.
That would be saddest of all, because the tobacco
industry is still fighting hard to get
special rights in court. And is still a master
of closed-door negotiations. All it needs is
a couple of public health figures to endorse them.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent book on the history of the 1st Texas Cavalry
|
Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke: The First Texas Cavalry in the Civil War (Texas a & M University Military History Series)
Stanley S. McGowen
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
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| United States
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| History
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ASIN: 0890969035 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book on the history of the 1st Texas Cavalry.......1999-12-29
Congratulations to Stanley S. MacGowen for this excellent book. I most enjoyed reading it. It gives the most complete and detailed overview on the history, the leaders, and the horsemen of the 1st Confedarate Texas Cavalry Regiment (also known as the First Texas Mounted Rifles). The book covers the regimental history from the time the regiment was raised by Colonel Henry McCulloch to defend Texas frontiers against indian warriors over the time the regiment was part of the Confederate Armee under the Colonels Augustus Carl Buchel and William Overall Yager until the end of the Civil War. Even being not correct at some details such as the origin of Colonel William O. Yager (Yager was not a German immigrant. He was born in Viriginia and graduated at the Virginia Miliraty Institute) the book has a high value to all interested in the History of Texas and the War between the States.
Karl-J. Schmeink, Kiel, Germany EMail: Karl-Josef.Schmeink@1st-Texas-Cavalry.de
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SCENES THROUGH THE BATTLE SMOKE (Afghan War 1878-80 & Egyptian Campaign 1882)
Rev. Arthur Male
Manufacturer: Naval & Military Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1847342779 |
Book Description
During the Vietnam era, conscientious objectors received both sympathy and admiration from many Americans. It was not so during World War II. The pacifists who chose to sit out that war--some 72,000 men--were publicly derided as "yellowbellies" or extreme cowards. After all, why would anyone refuse to fight against fascism in "the good war"?
This book tells the story of one important group of World War II conscientious objectors: the men who volunteered for Civilian Public Service as U.S. Forest Service smoke jumpers. Based in Missoula, Montana, the experimental smoke-jumping program began in 1939, but before the project could expand, the war effort drained available manpower. In 1942, the Civilian Public Service volunteers stepped in. Smoke jumping soon became the Forest Service's first line of defense against wildfires in the West.
Drawing on extensive interviews with World War II conscientious objectors and original documents from the period, Matthews vividly recreates the individual stories of Civilian Public Service smoke jumpers. He also assesses their collective contribution to the development of western wildfire management. By revealing an unknown dimension of American pacifism, Smoke Jumping on the Western Fire Line fills a gap in World War II history and restores the reputation of the brave men who, even in the face of public ostracism, held true to their beliefs and served their country with honor.
Customer Reviews:
A specialized history about conscientious objectors and firefighting.......2007-01-04
This book will be of use to those interested in the history of conscientious objectors in the U.S., and those interested in the history of fire fighting in the forests of the western U.S. It is written by a journalist, not a historian, and tells an interesting story that should have some new information even for those already familiar with one of the two topics. I bought it because my first cousin was a smoke jumper, and I found his name in the index and some quotes and information about him that was new to me.
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The Tobacco Wars
Walter Adams , and
James W. Brock
Manufacturer: South-Western College Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0324012969 |
Book Description
Designed as a supplement for either Principles or Intermediate Microeconomics, The Tobacco Wars is an interesting and unique way to illustrate the concepts of microeconomics as applied to real-life, current events. Not only does this lively discussion of the tobacco litigation provide insight into the recent and historical controversies, but it also follows along with the concepts taught in microeconomics. The Tobacco Wars presents the economic theory surrounding the tobacco wars as a creative dialogue between an economist, a historian and a tobacco industry executive. The conversation between these three fictional key players illustrates the real-life issues and controversies currently at play and asks the readers to make up their own minds, and reach their own conclusions.
Customer Reviews:
A Powerful Story of the Holocaust by a Real Survivor!.......2005-11-04
Gripping and beautifully written. Another powerful holocaust story of survival in the most extreme and terrifying conditions. Liana is to be praised for her courage and deep inner strength. Her story is one of tragedy and hope.
Recommended Emotional Nonfictional Account of Italian Jew.......1999-04-01
Set down in the middle of Birkenau, an infamous concentration camp, Lili (Liana) tells readers her story of pain, hope, and dispair. Time is lost, and that loss causes many amazing things to happen. Truthful tales of death, life, and living death wrench the reader in every direction manageable. Easily read by any person in their teenage years or older.
shocking memory of holocost survivor........1999-01-15
i guess i'm confused. i am sitting here with a copy of "smoke over birkenau" by seweryna szmaglewska, translated from the polish by jadwiga rynas. henry holt and company n.y. copyright 1947. first printing. Did she change her name?
Average customer rating:
- Reveals the complexity of human nature fired in the cauldron of war
- tree of smoke
- Glad to see Johnson tackle a big novel
- Long Flabby and Incoherent
- Not a good book
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Tree of Smoke: A Novel
Denis Johnson
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0374279128
Release Date: 2007-09-04 |
Book Description
Once upon a time there was a war . . . and a young American who thought of himself as the Quiet American and the Ugly American, and who wished to be neither, who wanted instead to be the Wise American, or the Good American, but who eventually came to witness himself as the Real American and finally as simply the Fucking American. That’s me.
This is the story of Skip Sands—spy-in-training, engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong—and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel. This is also the story of the Houston brothers, Bill and James, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war in which the line between disinformation and delusion has blurred away. In its vision of human folly, and its gritty, sympathetic portraits of men and women desperate for an end to their loneliness, whether in sex or death or by the grace of God, this is a story like nothing in our literature.
Tree of Smoke is Denis Johnson’s first full-length novel in nine years, and his most gripping, beautiful, and powerful work to date.
Customer Reviews:
Reveals the complexity of human nature fired in the cauldron of war.......2007-10-17
Other novels of the Vietnam War have been moving, tragic, heartrending and absurd --- as much so, perhaps, as the war (any war?) itself. But with the possible exception of CATCH-22, no other war novel I've read has been as trenchant as Denis Johnson's TREE OF SMOKE. Beginning with the emotional impact of the assassination of President Kennedy, Johnson presents each year from 1963 to 1970 in its own chapter, following the life of a young, bookish CIA operative named Skip Sands, who has followed his idolized uncle, the Colonel, into the service. Skip spends much of the book undercover and in the dark about his pending assignment from the Colonel, reading philosophy in a remote villa in Vietnam. His fervent belief in the rightness of his country's mission in Vietnam is allied with his admiration and love for his uncle, a hard-drinking lifelong agency operative.
Contrasted with Skip's earnestness, the novel also chronicles the lives of James and Bill Houston, poor young men from Phoenix who enlist to get out of finishing high school and get away from their born-again single mother, whom they love but whom they consider pathetic. James is the younger of the two, and with him we see, hear and feel the war in Vietnam. "James slid himself along the bench to the end of the carrier and ventured to look out at the Vietnam War --- rain dripping from gigantic leaves, deformed vehicles, small people --- the truck gearing down, engine bawling, mud boiling under the big tires --- barefoot pedestrians stepping away from the road, brown faces passing, rut after rut after rut, the beer lurching in his stomach."
James serves in a Recon unit, and the only action he sees in his first tour occurs in the Purple Bar and the hooches out back where the whores work. "God almighty, some part of him prayed, if this is war let peace never come." So he re-enlists, and his second tour, which begins with the Tet offensive, is a very different and ugly story. Ultimately, James's unit comes under the Colonel's directive, and the two main narrative threads briefly converge.
Can there be a war without God? Says the Colonel, "In order to prosecute our own wars we raise them to the level of human sacrifice, don't we, and we constantly invoke our God. It's got to be about something bigger than dying, or we'd all turn deserter." The women in the novel are all religious in their way: Skip's Midwestern mother, unsure about the justice of the war; James's mom, absolutely certain that God is on the U.S. side and disdainful of war protesters; and Kathy, an aid worker trying to make sense of the Calvinist God who took her husband.
The Biblical metaphor of the tree of smoke (Joel, Chapter 2, usually translated as "pillar of smoke") plays multiple roles: as a symbol of destruction and as a symbol of obfuscation. Most of the characters, despite their class and racial differences, struggle to make sense of the war, and their ponderings and utterances pierce the reader's heart in language that is fresh and resonant. Here is Kathy's observation of the American soldiers in Vietnam: "They threw hand grenades through doorways and blew the arms and legs off ignorant farmers, they rescued puppies from starvation and smuggled them home to Mississippi in their shirts, they burned down whole villages and raped young girls, they stole medicines by the jeepload to save the lives of orphans."
If Johnson has an agenda, it seems to be only to reveal the complexity of human nature fired in the cauldron of war. His compassion for all of his characters shows in his careful detailing of what they see, hear and think. The plot also concerns a double agent, the Colonel's megalomaniac shenanigans and the aftermath of the war. But this epic book is simply too huge to do justice to in a review. Read it for yourself; it packs a wallop, and you won't begrudge a single one of its 600 pages.
--- Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol
tree of smoke.......2007-10-10
superbly written, disturbing novel. undoubtedly the most ambitious undertaking related to Vietnam yet produced. The book was a real page turner, but at the same time truly poetic.
Glad to see Johnson tackle a big novel.......2007-10-10
I've been a fan of Denis Johnson for years...since Fiskadoro. This book has more depth and complexity than any of his more recent fiction.
The book drives one to remember Vietnam from a CIA perspective which is demonstrated through twists of chaotic and twisted activity. Overall it's a satisfying read.
Long Flabby and Incoherent.......2007-10-09
I bought this based on reviews but I just dont agree with those who liked the book. Its not a good VN book (Im a vet and have read them all) or a good CIA book (Ive read those too). If the point is to say that the war was a confused, pointless waste thats fine but the same can be said about the book.
Not a good book.......2007-10-06
ok - i have not bought a hardcopy book at retail price in a long time and i read one of these raving reviews and thought, wow - this book sound pretty good. who are these people writing these reviews? i think they work for the publisher b/c this is one of the worst written and meaningless books i've read in a very long time. Total incomplete character development and only moderately interesting at best. Don't waste your money on this one - you'll be lucky if you can finish it.
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- On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family
- Out of This World: Colliding Universes, Branes, Strings, and Other Wild Ideas of Modern Physics
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