Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • The Clash: Biology Calling
Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology

Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801872308

Book Description

Scientists conducting human genome research are identifying genetic disorders and traits at an accelerating rate. Genetic factors in human behavior appear particularly complex and slow to emerge, yet are raising their own set of difficult ethical, legal, and social issues. In Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology, Ronald Carson and Mark Rothstein bring together well-known experts from the fields of genetics, ethics, neuroscience, psychiatry, sociology, and law to address the cultural, legal, and biological underpinnings of behavioral genetics. The authors discuss a broad range of topics, including the ethical questions arising from gene therapy and screening, molecular research in psychiatry, and the legal ramifications and social consequences of behavioral genetic information. Throughout, they focus on two basic concerns: the quality of the science behind behavioral genetic claims and the need to formulate an appropriate, ethically defensible response when the science turns out to be good.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars The Clash: Biology Calling.......2000-11-14

This book provides a very useful introduction to key debates in and about behavioral genetics. A nice range of topics and perspectives is provided, many by leaders in the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, ethics, etc. Several articles (such as those by tobin, duster, and carson) are extremely insightful and informative, and purchase of the book is worthwhile for the articles alone.

(If only it were in paperback!)

But, like many edited volumes that cover "hot" topics, this book suffers from a lack of coherence. As noted by the professional reviewer, one must wonder to what "clash" the editors refer - even when contained in the same volume, authors of different perspectives seem to talk past each other rather than "clash," and the editors don't really put the debates in a perspective that illuminates the perceived relationship between the two constructs of biology and culture. Indeed, the book jacket reveals the focus to be quite different than advertised: "Throughout, [the authors] focus on two basic concerns: the quality of the science behind behavioral genetic claims and the need to formulate an appropriate, ethically defensible response when the science turns out to be good." While this is certainly a worthwhile topic, it is not nearly as intellectually challenging or interesting as the title promises. Nevertheless, some selections deliver.
Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology.(Review) (book reviews): An article from: American Scientist
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology.(Review) (book reviews): An article from: American Scientist
    Robert Plomin
    Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Digital

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    ASIN: B0008GTQWO
    Release Date: 2005-07-28

    One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First Ever National Championship High School Football Game
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • California dreaming, on and off the field
    • One Great Book
    • A study of contrasts - very well written
    • This book delivers
    • Fair & Well Written
    One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First Ever National Championship High School Football Game
    Don Wallace
    Manufacturer: Atria
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0743446224

    Book Description

    For more than a century, no Number 1 and Number 2 high schoolfootball team had ever met -- until October 6, 2001

    One Great Game

    This is the story of two teams -- Concord De La Salle, a private Catholic school in an upscale Northern California suburb, and Long Beach Poly, a proud public institution from a blue-collar SoCal seaport -- striving to achieve the same goal: the all-American dream.

    In this supercharged account of the first-ever national high-school championship game, acclaimed sports journalist -- and former Poly varsity football player -- Don Wallace goes out onto the field and straight into the heart of each team. One Great Game offers a rare look at the world of young-adult sportsmanship, featuring up-close and personal interviews with the team players and their families, coaches and cheerleaders, rabid fans and sworn enemies. The result is a powerful piece of sports literature in the tradition of the classic Friday Night Lights. More than a book about football, One Great Game is an engaging cultural history about twenty-first-century American life.

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars California dreaming, on and off the field.......2006-10-22

    One Great Game is an interesting chronicle for those who like high school football. The analysis of the longest winning streak in history in any sport would be enough in itself. Indeed the game account seems less important than discourse on social and economic differences between the featured schools and their students. Though the writing is ponderous at times, I learned a lot about the nature of high schools in other states - for instance most of the perennial powerhouse football teams are from private schools. The character sketches of players and coaches is good, but I still would like to know how to pronounce Bob Ladouceur's name. Cover notes on the book say it is "an engaging cultural history about twenty-first-century American life." I submit it is, instead, a cultural narrative about life in California. Where else would you find players, when gunshots erupt in the neighborhood, react by citing the type weapon being fired, then resume practice as if nothing unusual happened. Going in, I expected the story would convince me that California high school football is the best played anywhere in the U.S. Despite the author's conviction that California has not just the best but probably the second- and maybe third-best teams anywhere any given year, I came away figuring teams from my state and others would fare well playing the Golden State schools. Had there been more interstate games, I doubt The Streak would have happened. I give the book 3 stars because I consider it about midway between the most and least enjoyable books I've read. Oh yes, if you're buying it, suggest you get the September 2005 edition that includes epilogue and afterword rounding out the story.

    5 out of 5 stars One Great Book.......2005-01-29

    Don Wallace's account of the first ever high school football championship game is frequently riveting, and always insightful. In the chapters leading up to the Game (An October 2001 matchup between #2 Long Beach Poly and #1 Concord De La Salle)Wallace proves himself more than able to juggle two disparate narratives, managing to track the players and football programs at these two perennial powerhouses while capturing the social dynamics of the towns in which they reside.

    At first, the towns seem diametrically opposed: Concord is a predominantly white, upper middle class suburb; Long Beach is an ethnically diverse community replete with gang warfare and violence, as well as Wallace's alma mater.

    But Wallace, it's clear, does not buy in to the American Dream vs American Nightmare pitch. Poly, it turns out, is an academic as well as a football powerhouse, a diamond circumscribed within the rough streets of Long Beach. And while the students at De La Salle may be economically priviliged in comparison to Poly's, they are also burdened by heavy expectations (A 116 game winning streak on the line)and must dedicate themselves completely to football.

    One Great Game concludes with a vivid account of The Game itself, often digressing into a play by play account. It's during these moments that Wallace's intimate familiarity with the two teams, as well as the game of football, comes across best.

    I highly recommend this book, not just to football fans, but to anybody with an interest in contemporary American society. You won't mistake One Great Game for a PHD thesis--its far too interesting and well worded--but you may find yourself admiring the poignancy Wallace discovers, or creates, from our best, quintessentially American sport.

    5 out of 5 stars A study of contrasts - very well written.......2004-07-30

    This book chronicles the first-ever meeting between the #1 and #2-ranked high school football teams in America. In October of 2001, #1 Long Beach Poly, a Southern California powerhouse with a long, storied tradition, alma mater to a record 50 past and present NFL players, played host to #2 De La Salle, a Catholic all-boys school from the upper-class suburban town of Concord, CA, home of the nation's longest football (and perhaps all team sports) winning streak, which, before the Game, stands at an astounding 116 games.

    Prior to this game, no #1 and #2 teams had ever met in head-to-head competition, which always beggared the question, "Who's REALLY #1?," since most, if not all of the USAToday's Top 25 high school teams would end up the season undefeated.

    Long Beach is the "most diverse city in America," a sprawling city of 425,000 sandwiched between monstrous L.A. to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. It has a long and rich history, much of it less-than-sparkling, where waves of immigration, first of blacks, Hispanics, and Japanese in the early part of the 20th century, then of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Central Americans following upheavals in their respective homelands, made for a boiling brew of racial tension. Despite all this, Polytechnic High School, located in the decaying heart of downtown Long Beach, is a shining beacon for the whole community, not only as an athletic powerhouse, but as an academic springboard to prestigious colleges. in the 2001 season, the Poly Jackrabbits have perhaps their most talented team ever, with 5 players ranked among the 100 best high school players in the country.

    Concord, California, is a wealthy, mostly white, upper-middle-class suburb in the East Bay Area, populated by the professional, educated types who toil in nearby San Francisco. De La Salle is an exclusive all-boys school where tuition is $7,200 per year. The De La Salle Spartans are coached by a living legend, Bob Ladouceur, who since 1979, has lost only 14 games in his entire career, and none since December of 1991.

    The book takes two parallel stories, one of Poly, the other of De La Salle, focusing on the players, coaches, families, and overall atmosphere of each school and community, before intersecting them at the Game, which is described in bone-jarring play-by-play detail. You can almost imagine listening to the game on the radio, the play-by-play is so well-written.

    The Game was billed as a sort of David vs. Goliath, with De La Salle playing the part of David, traditionally undersized but winning on the basis of suberb coaching and relentless conditioning, and Long Beach Poly playing Goliath, with massive offensive and defensive lines and Division I college talent populating every skill position. However, when reading about each program, the reader gets the impression that instead of David vs. Goliath, it's more like Godzilla vs. Mothra, two unstoppable juggernauts heading toward a climactic Battle Royale. And ultimately, that is exactly what it is - simply one of the finest battles between two programs of the highest caliber in the biggest game of their lives, and possibly the lives of many others.

    I was very satisfied with this book. If you like football, sports in general, or just like a thrilling and consuming read, this book delivers.

    5 out of 5 stars This book delivers.......2004-05-31

    Don Wallace did an excellent job profiling the stark differences between De La Salle and Long Beach Poly, creating much more interest in the game and it's outcome. Whether you are a fan of DLS or Poly, you couldn't help but come away with a greater appreciation of the other school. Yes, it was One Great Game, and it was One Great Book.

    4 out of 5 stars Fair & Well Written.......2004-01-12

    When I first picked up the book I was worried that the account would be bias toward the Poly side, especially considering it's the writer's alma mater. However, Mr. Wallace presents a fair, balanced account of one of the most anticipated prep sporting events ever. He starts off about a year prior to the game, when it was only a rumor and concludes with an action filled account of the game (portrayed play by play). Characters are well developed, and -- although I can only speak from experience on the De La Salle side -- seem to be very accurate. The introduction leading up to the game got a bit long winded at times, but outside of that the book was hard to put down. I recommend it to any fan of high school sports, as well as for people curious of how two of the most successful football programs in America opperate.
    One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First Ever National Championship High School Football Game -- Signed First Edition
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First Ever National Championship High School Football Game -- Signed First Edition
      Don Wallace
      Manufacturer: Atria Books
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover
      ASIN: B000T5WJYG

      Prego! An Invitation to Italian Student Edition with Bind-In Card
      Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
      • Good Book But Too Expensive and What the Heck is a Bind-In Card???
      • It didn't have everything
      Prego! An Invitation to Italian Student Edition with Bind-In Card
      Graziana Lazzarino , Maria Cristina Peccianti , Janice Aski , and Andrea Dini
      Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
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      Binding: Hardcover

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      ASIN: 0072956429

      Book Description

      This best-selling text offers a four-skills introduction to Italian language and culture. The sixth edition provides communicative activities and streamlined vocabulary and grammar presentations, coupled with revised and expanded cultural material, all within a beautiful new design.

      Customer Reviews:

      3 out of 5 stars Good Book But Too Expensive and What the Heck is a Bind-In Card???.......2007-08-21

      The book is interesting and thorough...but it costs way too much. Also, what is a bind-in card? I asked three sellers and even THEY didn't know what that meant. Fortunately the book is usually used for two semesters of Italian, i.e. Italian 101 and 102.

      3 out of 5 stars It didn't have everything.......2005-10-03

      This book all though it had the bind in card from the publisher did not have the book key for quia.com which was what my professor uses. I bought online because I thought I was getting everything for less but it ended up being the same amount as if I had bought it in the school bookstore because I also had to purchase the quia key. So the moral of the story is that if you need quia just buy it at the bookstore and then you won't have to wait for your book.

      Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime: From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism
      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
      • A Masterful History of First Amendment Freedoms, and their supression in time of war
      • Speech in Wartime
      • book
      • Cooler heads did prevail....
      • compelling, inspiring analysis of free speech during times of war
      Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime: From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism
      Geoffrey R. Stone
      Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      ASIN: 0393327450

      Amazon.com

      By Geoffrey R. Stone's estimate, America has lived up to the ideals encapsulated in the First Amendment about 80 percent of the time over the course of its history. Perilous Times's focuses is on the remaining 20 percent, when, during war or civil strife, the better instincts of the public and its leaders have been drowned out by a certain kind of repressive hysteria. Stone, the former dean of law provost at the University of Chicago, identifies six periods of widespread free-speech repression, dating back to the administration of the nation's second president, John Adams, and continuing through the Vietnam era. In between, two of history's greatest presidents, Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, were involved in constitutionally questionable efforts to suppress dissent.

      Stone examines these pivotal episodes with a lawyer's attention to detail and precedence and a writer's focus on character and story structure. From Adams's secretary of state, the "grim-faced and single-minded" Timothy Pickering (who scanned the papers daily looking for seditious language) through John Ashcroft on one side, and the cheeky late-18th-century congressman Matthew Lyon and the Yippies of the 1960s on the other, there are plenty of characters enlivening these pages. Given its publication during the War on Terror, Stone's work feels particularly timely and vital. He devotes only a few pages to the post-9/11 environment, crediting George W. Bush for his refusal to scapegoat Muslims in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but castigating his administration for "opportunistic and excessive" actions centering around the Patriot Act. One wonders if Stone will some day be forced to update Perilous Times with a full chapter on the early 21st century. --Steven Stolder

      Book Description

      "A must-read for all who treasure the First Amendment."—Alan M. Dershowitz, Boston Globe

      Geoffrey Stone's Perilous Times incisively investigates how the First Amendment and other civil liberties have been compromised in America during wartime. Stone delineates the consistent suppression of free speech in six historical periods from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the Vietnam War, and ends with a coda that examines the state of civil liberties in the Bush era. Full of fresh legal and historical insight, Perilous Times magisterially presents a dramatic cast of characters who influenced the course of history over a two-hundred-year period: from the presidents—Adams, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, and Nixon—to the Supreme Court justices—Taney, Holmes, Brandeis, Black, and Warren—to the resisters—Clement Vallandingham, Emma Goldman, Fred Korematsu, and David Dellinger. Filled with dozens of rare photographs, posters, and historical illustrations, Perilous Times is resonant in its call for a new approach in our response to grave crises.

      Hailed as "the most important book of its kind since Zechariah Chafee Jr. first published his heralded Freedom of Speech in 1920," Perilous Times, in the words of Studs Terkel, is "must reading for every citizen interested in something called the First Amendment." Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times wrote that Perilous Times is "an important, indeed necessary book on freedom indispensable…to the discovery and spread of political truth," and Bob Woodward proclaimed Perilous Times to be "a lively, masterful history—and reminder—of the essential role of the First Amendment during the stresses of war." Perilous Times incisively investigates the First Amendment in wartime like no previous book and, according to Elena Kagan, the dean of Harvard Law School, "promises to redefine the national debate on civil liberties and free speech." Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; A New York Times Notable Book, a Philadelphia Inquirer Top 10 Book, a Washington Post Book World Rave, a Los Angeles Times Best Book, and a Chicago Tribune Best Book of 2004. 63 illustrations.

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars A Masterful History of First Amendment Freedoms, and their supression in time of war.......2007-08-31

      ~Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime: From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism~ is an erudite constitutional analysis of First Amendment freedoms to speech and assembly. Throughout American history, free speech and freedom of assembly has been adversely affected by rationalized wartime suppressions in the name of security. Justice Robert Jackson in the mid-20th century declared, "It is easy, by giving way to passion, intolerance, and suspicions of wartime, to reduce our liberties to a shadow, often in answer to exaggerated claims of security." Sadly, overzealous wartime suppression of liberty has plagued the United States throughout much of its history.

      Geoffrey R. Stone has put together a well-written account of American constitutional history from the time of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to the Patriot Act of 2001. His focus is First Amendment Freedoms. In 1798, ostensibly to guard against the threat of a counterpart "French Revolution" spearheaded by imagined American Jacobins from emerging on American soil, Federalist Party officials marshaled the Alien and Sedition Acts as an effective counterpoise. Its constitutionality was clearly suspect. In reality, it was a shameless partisan attempt to prosecute and suppress critics of the Federalist administration. Virginia and Kentucky responded by protest and state interposition through their Resolutions of 1798, which threatened state nullification of unconstitutional acts.

      With much of the major wars throughout American history from the Civil War of the 1860s to the Great War, World War II, Vietnam, and now the Iraq War, shameless attempts emerged to intimidate, stifle and suppress political dissent. Lincoln was the precedent setter for unconstitutionally suspending the writ of habeas corpus, and found a follower to his dubious doctrines in George W. Bush. During the Great War, resident aliens were deprived of the right to due process prior to deportation. The Cold War paranoia was so absurd that the FBI drew up reports citing the classic 1946 Frank Capra movie like It's A Wonderful Life as being evidence of subversive communist propaganda. And thus began the McCarthy era. The 1970s felt the tragedy of the Kent State Massacre in Ohio as National Guard troops shot and killed students protesting the war in Vietnam. In the 1970s, ostensibly the FBI and CIA were reigned in on by Congress for running astray in anti-war activities, but those restrictions came loose following 9/11 when somehow unbridled federal power became more trustworthy.

      James Madison judiciously reminds us: "The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences of the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle." It was to secure against suppression of freedom of conscience that the First Amendment was framed. It was flatly a negative against Congress to legislate on such matters, hence the interpretative keystone, "Congress shall make no law..."

      5 out of 5 stars Speech in Wartime.......2006-11-08

      Geoffrey Stone's Perilous Times is a great book for understanding how free speech is affected during times of war and other periods of unrest. Specifically, Stone looks at episodes in American history including the Sedition Act of 1798, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Red Scare and the Cold War, the Vietnam-Watergate era, and very briefly on the war against terrorism. This is an excellent book in my opinion and written in an eminently readable and engaging style.

      These episodes I just outlined are the main areas where Stone gives us an idea of just how serious freedom of speech was threatened by our leaders in government as well as by our citizens. The Federalist period in the late 1790s saw a vagrant attempt to suppress political dissent expressed by the Republicans, i.e. those who followed Jefferson and Madison. Judge Chase is a key figure in this blatantly political attempt to suppress the opinions of those who politically dissented from the Adams Administration. The Civil War period also saw some controversial excesses, most notably in Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus ,as well as the enactment of martial law (in certain circumstances) by military officers, who did on occasion act contrary to Lincoln wishes. But Lincoln, overall, did prove to tolerate those who voiced opposition to his administration.

      President Wilson did use the tool, quite popular with many politicians even today, in branding (or at least inferring) those who voice dissent against a war as being disloyal and unpatriotic. The Espionage and Sedition Acts during his administration helped demonstrate the willingness of political leaders and the courts to undermine freedom of speech. In addition to all these events and the others which I will only touch on, Stone traces the evolution of the Court's handling and deciding of cases (during these historical periods in question) that involved or challenged the right of free speech in wartime. In addition to leaders like Adams, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Nixon and so forth and the courses of action they took in these crisis, he examines various justices of the Supreme Court like Holmes and Brandeis to lower court justices like Judge Hand, to noted scholars, lawyers, attorney generals and others who played major roles in cases involving freedom of speech. You see those who bravely did the right thing and those who succumbed to their own prejudices and fears.

      This book sheds light on terms used in regards to deciding what represented protected and unprotected speech, such terms as bad tendency, express advocacy, clear and present danger and so forth are all used to shed light on the decision making processes involved in the cases discussed in this book. This serves to illuminate and reveal the level to which the courts had to decide some of the more controversial cases involving freedom of speech. Sometimes the courts reflected the mood of the times and as a result could react in a negative way and sometimes it acted more wisely.

      Stone is fairly balanced in his treatment of those who faced these questions, though he does scold some while lauding others. He is sensitive to the times they lived in and how even those serving on the courts (who we all think of as being above the fray) succumb to the same feelings and emotions all people do, especially in times when fear runs rampant. The other periods in question include World War II , which saw the internment of Japanese Americans, the period known as the Red Scare often symbolized by Joseph McCarthy with his over-the-top accusations that helped fan the flames of fear and suspicion that threatened free speech, the Vietnam conflict and the period of government coverups, to the present day war against terrorism.

      There are many things I'm leaving out, but the point to this is that in all these important periods in American history, our leaders and institutions have often failed to live up to the ideals of the First Amendment right to free speech, though as Stone discusses, we have come a long way from years such as 1798 and 1918. The times do influence all of us, but we must hope that cooler and wiser heads prevail. A very good book.

      4 out of 5 stars book.......2006-11-06

      Perilous times is an in depth review of the repression of free speech and assembly and political affiliation from unmasking Lincolns assumed good intentions, the debauchery of the cold war and mccarthy era until the consolodation of views by the media today. dense read. good to smarten up and learn the truth.

      5 out of 5 stars Cooler heads did prevail...........2006-06-22

      As recent history attests to, some people act irrationally when under conditions of stress, and frequently do not hesitate to deny others basic human rights or even react violently. This kind of behavior does not occur under normal conditions of life, so the trick is get back into mental equilibrium as soon as possible after the shocks have occurred. The time needed to do this varies considerably between individuals, and the individuals who are having trouble calming themselves put undue burdens on those who do not. Therefore there is usually a considerable amount of tension between these two types of people, and this in fact creates more stress on top of what was experienced by the original shocks.

      One can see this type of conflict throughout the history of the United States, as the author of this book shows in great detail in this book. Superbly written and full of helpful references and footnotes, the author narrows his discussion to the effects of war, or rumors of war, or invented threats of war, on free speech. When reading the book one is amazed to learn the low degree to which citizens of the United States have placed on the First Amendment, even as early as 1798. The First Amendment was not really thought of as sacrosanct as it is at the present time (outside of the government). This may explain why early on in U.S. history, the populace was quite willing to stifle speech they thought as treasonous or threatening in time of war (or false threats of war). And the stifling of speech was not unique to a particular political party, newspaper, magazine, or pamphlet. Both the left and the right, and in between, took their turns in the suppression of speech at various times in U.S. history.

      Everything in the book is fascinating, and those readers who are not aware of the events discussed may be shocked that they actually took place in a country that so prides itself on freedom, both in speech and association. The author though is not content to merely report facts. He analyzes the different attitudes about free speech, both in the minds of the citizens, the press, and in the courts. Legal issues in constitutional law are all discussed in great analytical detail, and the author does not hesitate to express his own opinions on how the different cases should have been decided. A book like this definitely stands out against the hype and yellow journalism that so frequently is labeled as objective analysis these days. It is a welcome part of the political and legal literature, and all readers willing to take the time to its study will walk away with a massive amount of information and insight, and be better equipped to grapple with the issues of free speech as even now they are being debated (and suppressed). Cooler heads did prevail throughout the U.S. constitutional history of free speech, as this book proves without question. One can only hope this will continue to be the case.

      5 out of 5 stars compelling, inspiring analysis of free speech during times of war.......2006-03-10

      Throughout Geoffrey Stone's engrossing examination of free speech during times of war, two crucial conclusions emerge. Both drive from an explanation articulated by Justice Louis in 1927: "fear breeds repression" and "courage is the secret of liberty." Exquisitely researched, gracefully written and forcefully argued, "Perilous Times" is a compelling exploration of the First Amendment in wartime. Professor Stone, through argument and anecdotal evidence, develops a convincing thesis that the American people, hesitatingly and often with frustrating slowness, have embraced not only the right, but the need, to honor dissent during times of national emergency. This is a hard-earned victory for free speech, one gained only through the raw and open courage of dissidents and the often underestimated and unseen courage of jurists who stood for principle when it mattered most. "Perilous Times" is an unusual historical analysis; its scholarship is meticulous, making it an academician's treasure, and its narrative drive is irresistible, welcoming a large audience to its research and understandings.

      Wartime political dissent invariably brings charges of disloyalty and suspicions of motivation. Stone chronologically analyzes six periods of the condition of free speech during times of war; from the nation's first attempts to thwart free speech during the "half war" with France in the late 1790s to its coming of age in respect for the First Amendment in the Vietnam War era, those in power have had an uneven approach to the First Amendment. Within a decade of writing the First Amendment, a repressive congress passed the nefarious Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, blatant contradictions to the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech. During World War I, the purportedly scholarly Woodrow Wilson unleashed an unprecedented assault on free speech through government-issued propaganda and outright prohibitions of "disloyal" speech. Of all the wartime presidents, Wilson's record receives the greatest criticism. At the onset of the Cold War, President Truman vacillated between steadfast commitment to First Amendment rights to outright capitulation to regressive legislation. His tolerance of "loyalty oaths" helped unleash McCarthyism.

      Genuine heroes and heroines emerge in battle for free speech. There's the firebrand Mollie Steimer, whose outspoken opposition to capitalism and World War I earned her a fifteen-year prison sentenced for violating the Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1917. Her crime: distribution leaflets that proclaimed: "there is only one enemy of workers...and that is CAPITALISM." During the Great Depression, the "boy wonder" of academia, Robert Maynard Hutchins, steadfastly championed free speech and thought at the University of Chicago. With extraordinary elegance and quiet courage, he breathed life into the need for more, not less, speech during times of duress. It's not difficult to measure the author's respect for David Dellinger -- pacifist, activist and advocate -- who used the First Amendment to help create movements for social justice and change.

      Despite the existence of rogues -- and there are many of them who degraded the First Amendment in times of war -- Professor Stone reserves his greatest disappointment for the American people, who often responded apathetically or with outright encouragement when the government enacted repressive measures. No government of free people can reduce rights to rubble without their tacit approval. "Perilous Times" painstakingly confirms the conclusion that wartime restrictions on free speech reflected contemporary public opinion.

      This distressing conclusion does not daunt the author. In a stirring final chapter -- one in which the Bush administration receives harsh reviews -- Stone argues that our government needs some institutional procedures that safeguard civil liberties during times of war. When passions run highest and calls for restricted free speech ring loudest, Professor Stone offers a series of guidelines that each of the three branches of government would be wise to adopt so that basic liberties may not be impaired.

      "Perilous Times" is an important, triumphant work. Celebrating often overlooked heroes (like Judge Learned Hand, probably the greatest twentieth century jurist never to sit on the Supreme Court) and quixotic characters (for instance, Congressman Matthew "Spitting" Lyon, jailed for dissent in the 1790s), this lucidly written analysis of free speech should achieve its desired end. Professor Geoffrey Stone summons us to have the courage to stand for the principles of the First Amendment when the fear-laced winds of repression blow hardest.
      Fighting words: the silencing power of war.(Book Review) : An article from: Columbia Journalism Review
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        Fighting words: the silencing power of war.(Book Review) : An article from: Columbia Journalism Review
        Anthony Marro
        Manufacturer: Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
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        Release Date: 2005-08-01

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        This digital document is an article from Columbia Journalism Review, published by Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1451 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

        Citation Details
        Title: Fighting words: the silencing power of war.(Book Review)
        Author: Anthony Marro
        Publication: Columbia Journalism Review (Refereed)
        Date: November 1, 2004
        Publisher: Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
        Volume: 43 Issue: 4 Page: 65(2)

        Article Type: Book Review

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        Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(book by Geoffrey R. Stone)(Book Review): An article from: Parameters
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          Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(book by Geoffrey R. Stone)(Book Review): An article from: Parameters
          Richard Halloran
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          Citation Details
          Title: Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(book by Geoffrey R. Stone)(Book Review)
          Author: Richard Halloran
          Publication: Parameters (Magazine/Journal)
          Date: June 22, 2005
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          Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Page: 146(3)

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          Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(Book review): An article from: Constitutional Commentary
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            Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(Book review): An article from: Constitutional Commentary
            Michael Kent Curtis
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            Release Date: 2006-05-22

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            Citation Details
            Title: Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(Book review)
            Author: Michael Kent Curtis
            Publication: Constitutional Commentary (Magazine/Journal)
            Date: December 22, 2004
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            Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime, From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(Book Review): An article from: Stanford Law Review
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              Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime, From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(Book Review): An article from: Stanford Law Review
              Frederick Schauer
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              Release Date: 2005-09-19

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              Citation Details
              Title: Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime, From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.(Book Review)
              Author: Frederick Schauer
              Publication: Stanford Law Review (Magazine/Journal)
              Date: May 1, 2005
              Publisher: Thomson Gale
              Volume: 57 Issue: 6 Page: 2157(14)

              Article Type: Book Review

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