I love Peggy Noonan but this was not her best book. It has wonderful scenes, fantastic chapters and is so good in places and then she seems to get lost and goes on and on with fairly boring stuff. I can only assume that it was unedited. Also, she tends to play the wide eyed innocent too much. This woman worked in the White House and lives in NYC-- you can't survive in either place and still be a babe in the woods. The scene where she goes to Jack Kemp's party and behaves like a yokel was pure smaltz and sacarhine. It was laid on too thick--like a pool of jello and I didn't believe it. What I Saw at the Revolution was a much better book and it's one I go back to again and again. I'm chalking this one up to the fact that every writer has a bad literary day sooner or later.

For those enjoying Peggy Noonan, her thoughful essays of how her life evolved in the 1990's will be a delight.
The topics are not especially political (although politicians are mentioned). The first part is about the lack of vision by Republicans that led to Clinton's election. The later essays, however, are mainly about personal transition, including that of being a single parent and returning to spiritual values.
Much of this mirrors the evolving lives of the baby boomers as they grow up: the real story that occured quietly and behind the scenes and not in the flashier stories on the 1990's.
However, those who are allergic to discussions of religion will probably hate it, as will those who hate Peggy Noonan for her political history.

It is indeed a shame that this book is not currently in print. I first listened to this book in audio format, and I am still impressed today. Ms. Noonan thoughts are intriguing and resonate within me. A good book for luxury reading, I highly recommend it.

John Stuart Mill is the prodigious son of the philosopher James Mill, both disciples of Jeremy Bentham, the founder of the Utilitarian doctrine, one of the foundations of the philosophical and economic thinking of the 19th century.
What astounds in this book is that it does not convey what should be expected as the output of a man known to have had one of the most impressive education one can get at that time, from the vintage point Mill had, which is the Victorian England, where JOhn had frequent contact with the best minds of the time, Jeremy Bentham among others.
His prose and style are dull, akin to some philosophical writtings of the 17th century. Despite being a good soul, Mill does not have the power to convince anyone of his believes, due to his lack of enthusiasm, and maybe to the many times he felt depressive, not knowing if all the stuff his father pushed down into his brain were worth the effort.
Despite all this, John Stuart Mill seems to be a very sympathethic person, one type of person everyone fights for, but who does not carry to his texts the vigor he had in some times in his life in the defense of public liberties, but specially women's rights.
What is more impressive is that the poor guy abdicated many of his early liberal thoughts and became a socialist in his late life. One remarkable thing also is that his Principles of Political Economy was the Economomics textbook everyone read at the time.

The editor of this collection states that when read together, the four essays contained in this Oxford World's Classics edition reveal Mill to be an organized thinker on par with Marx. I'm not quite so sure of that, but I will say the collections feels thematically consistant and well thought out. Readers should not be scared off because Mill is considered a "classic" text. The tone of these essays, with the possible exception of "Utilitarianism" is pretty light, and Mill even occassionally makes an effort to crack a joke. In "On Liberty" and "Utilitarianism" we see an abstract breakdown of his belief structure where he tries to answer questions like, "When is it justified for government to interfere in individuals lives?" and "What is the overarching goal of society?" After he attempts to answer these questions he gets more specific by applying the principles to how government should operate in "Representative Government" and in "The Subjection of Women". Some concepts now outdated, but on the whole, still a relativly strong argument. It is particularly frustrating to see Mill talking about proportional representation in "Represenative Government" and knowing that the logic of that argument has still not made much headway here in the United States well over a hundred years later. Mill's systematic thinking makes this collection worth owning.

John Stuart Mill's chief concern is how individual liberty, which he held to be paramount, can be reconciled with public utility or, in other words, in delineating the tensions that arise between the public and private sphere in modern society. He expounds, with much clarity and insight, the feasability, as well as the desirability, of state intervention in the affairs of individuals. He defines freedom, above all, to be the freedom to think and act as one sees right (provided that this does not encroach on the rights of others). His essay "Utilitarianism", is an incisive explication of the philosophy of utilitarianism developed by Mill's father, James Mill and the jurist and philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, which holds "the greatest happiness for the greatest number" as the chief aim of social organisation. "On Representative Government", which should not be mistaken for direct democracy (rule of the people by the people) he covers the mechanisms of state action. "On the Subjection of Women" reveals Mill to have been one of the pioneering feminists, as his arguments for the emancipation of women continue to be adduced by leading feminist philosophers today. Admittedly, one cannot agree with Mill on everything. This is because the "liberalism" of the nineteenth century, with its stress on work, discipline and duty, is almost totally opposed to the "open-minded" liberalism of today. Furthermore, Mill's theories are filled with flaws. Nevertheless, these essays are documents of profound importance and relevance and repay close study.

If it was not for the fact that this book was assigned for the course, I would have thrown it onto the wall in utter frustration for the periodic-style prose in which it was written. Yet in those moments of painful reading I never let my intellect be neglectful of the realization that what lay before me belongs to the highest canon of ethical philosophizing. Mill's ornate style of writing was appropriate for his time, but to the modern reader it sometimes takes several readings to understand a difficult passage.

I agree with the reviewer who noted that Chapter IV, unlike the rest of the book, is singularly almost unintelligible, not only for its long paragraphs, but also for its rambling diversions. Nevertheless, Mill's Utilitarianism should be a required reading for anyone with pretension for interests in issues of morality and social policy.

Now that Amazon has changed the product description and recognized that it is soft cover, I can, perhaps, give a decent review.

The text is, as are all Mill's writings, quite good. Regardless as to your agreement or disagreement, it cannot be argued that Mill does not present his points clearly, logically, and understandably. The editor's introduction is nice, though short. It is also nice that Mill's speech regarding capitial punishment was included as an appendix.

The actual binding is rather flimsy, but for this low price, I'll not complain too loudly.

As usual, Oxford put out another great edited classic work. J. S. Mill's Utilitarianism can be sometimes confusing, and as Roger Crisp notes, even scholars disagree on what Mill thought. Nevertheless, this book gives you a good introduction to Mill's thought prior to reading the actual text, Utilitarianism.

For example, I was able to converse with friends in the philosophy program about Mill's ethical theory without even reading his text; but I did read Crisp's edited notes about it. So I applaud Crisp for doing a good job on that. He also includes a summary of each paragraph for every chapter in outline form (located before the text). This was extremely helpful to me.

Located in the back of the work, like other Oxford editions, were text references that clarified persons who Mill spoke of, referred to, etc. It also clarified difficult passages (most of them anyways).

About Mill's ethical theory, you will have to read him yourself to come to a conclusion. I think the guy was totally wrong, but I'm not criticizing him; I'm reviewing this book :) But I should add that Crisp tries to deal with most of the criticisms (some of which are good responses) so that you can read Mill as charitable as possible.

Because of the work put into clarifying Mill, I highly recommend this book.

this was a boring read about a manipultive and rather unimaginative heroine...dull, tame sex and nothing much going for it.... pass, I'm afraid

well, maybe she'd be good to meet during ANY seminar ...

A divorced,late 30's Beth, with the body of a girl in her 20's, just out of a torrid afair with a 16 year old boy decides to work for a small brokerage firm in London as a financial analyst. After being there for a short while she hunts and seduces her boss, Simon, a day before she is sent to a seminar in a small Northern town.

To say that Beth is a very sexual person would probably be the understatement of the millenium since there seems to be very few people, either male or female that she doesn't like to couple with. I must admit that I did find it hard to believe that her first lesbian experience happens in this book at her age! Trust me with her libido, and the fact that she has been diddling herself since she was small makes this part even harder to swallow...

The great thing about this book is that it is well written and I never lost interest even though it is jam packed with raw sex. I guess I got a kick out of our oversexed heroine that seemed to always take mental steps back to watch herself having orgiastic sex with people she just met. The fact that Beth was a liscentious slut really didn't seem to bother her and that really was the wonderfull juice of the story.

The author certainly attained the Black Lace standard of a well written, easy to read, complete and believeable story of a woman that knows what she wants and then does not, supposedly,(at least not due to self recrimination retrospection) loose any sleep over her nightime escapades....

On an aside though and for thisand other contemporary authors, puullllleeeeze ...... lets stop the dumb safe sex condom references, gimme a break, it's erotic lit after all. I'm sick and tired of the warning lables on cigarettes, alcohol, movies, music etc etc not have to deal with this during the quiet little moments that I get to read a yummie book.....considering all the things they do in erotic lit books it appears very gratuitous, and definitely not a trun on for the heroine to have to rip the foil wrapper off a condom 20 or 30 times in the book. It's a given OK the girl practices safe sex..just say it and then lets get on with the story please ..... I mean when they get into a car you do not have to be told ... every single time ...they take out the key and put it into the ignition ..... right ...

I like this book ..I couldn't put it down. It kept me wondering what was going to happen next.

Its title claims a broad accomplishment, an "all your answers are here" assertion. Although it presents hundreds of historical figures, it is quickly evident that by "History of Women," the author means "The Plight of Women and What Their Heroes Have Done About It." The narrative embraces the concept that from this county's origin to the present, women are victims of misogyny, but that there are several heroes of the struggle. Despite the decline in feminist momentum, there nevertheless seems to be a wealth of "historical" readings recently published by feminists. A critique of feminism's tenants will not be attempted with this review, but it seems pressing to take issue with the didactic narratives of "historical" texts such as Born for Liberty. Exempt from their presentations is a clear discussion of three essential components: definitions of the terms "oppression" and "liberty," and the ideologies that steer their metanarratives in the name of "history." The exemption of these elements does not allow for rhetorical inquiry, which is vital for the veracity of the texts' contents. Feminist history, arguably a genre of its own, credulously seeks to convert its readers on the pretense that there is a universal understanding of what it means to be oppressed and liberated. Once readers naively embrace this pretense, they are prone to also believing the tenants of feminism. Perhaps, then, the narrative of Born for Liberty will successfully promote the feminist agenda, but its converts will have naively succumbed to the same tactics of hierarchical propaganda that it claims to abhor.

I enjoyed reading Evans look a the history of Women in the U.S. From it's beginnings in the colonial times, through the suffrage movement up to the 80's. It's a wonderful look at part of our history that is ignored in most texts. Highly recommend for any student of women's history!

Evans' "Born for Liberty" is an excellent history of women in the U.S. The women's rights movements are often times portrayed as struggles of white middle-class women for white middle-class women. Evans includes the struggles and contributions of working-class women, black women, and immigrant women to the women's rights movements. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the struggle for equality and the role of women in shaping this country's history.

The book itself is amazing, and is a most for anyone studying the constitution or constitutional law. However, the Cd-rom version is signifacantly easier to use, and a lot cheaper. Plus there is no real reason to buy the CD or Book because the whole thing is on at the Chicago University webpage for free. But, if you need some sort of hard copy, go with the CD

This is a monumental work, which I think is a must have for student of jurisprudence and constitutional law. I found it incredibly useful as a law student in studying the debates and understanding developments in the common law tradition and constitutional history since the inception of the Republic. It is well organized, and though their is some duplication of materials, it serves the purpose of making the reference more accessible and user-friendly rather than having a cross-referencing scheme. Perhaps, the other user might be right in pointing out that the CD-ROM might be better suited for some users. I have an affinity for the printed matter and the organization makes things relatively easy to find. Though, it is available online for free.

This 5-volume set is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the historical context of the U.S. Constitution. The editors have divided the Constitution up clause by clause. For each section they provide primary, explanatory materials such as letters, records of debates, and early case law. These resources reveal what the writers of the Constitution intended with the language they chose and how that langauge was orginally interpreted. The editors also provide interesting materials on early English law, showing the legal backdrop the Founders worked against.

For example, I found interesting the books' treatment of the second amendment's protection of weapons ownership. The volume provides the early English history of gun control, debates from the Constitutional convention on the proper role for militias, and reports from the earliest litigation on the right to carry concealed weapons.

The wisdom of our Founding Fathers -- collected in these five volumes -- helps inform modern debates on the many subjects that have roots in the words of the Constitution. Highly recommended.

Eh... I must disagree with Mr. Freund and Yitzak, I found the work so-so. Personally, I abhor any historical work which does not have the word "survey" anywhere in it's cover. If Dr. Hanson had included a lot more pictures, or, "challenge questions" at the end of each chapter I would have found it more entertaining. Whatever happened to books with pictures and "challenge questions" at the end of each chapter?

A.B.

I too have looked far and wide for this incredible piece of work. Hanson does an incredible job. Truly commendable work! I suggest that all people, especially those who enjoy reading about the Revolutionary War, buy this book and even buy it for a friend. Just marvelous. I read it twice it was so good.

As a scholar of American History, I have searched long and hard for a book which contains what Necessary Virtue has. Charles P. Hanson writes an amazingly interesting and informative book on American History that has no match. This is a must for the serious History-buff. TBS!

While driving up the Oregon coast and searching the radio for something other than country music, I came across a station on which several speakers were discussing topics such as John Locke, the Enlightenment, Thomas Jefferson, etc. I couldn't believe my luck. My first reaction was that I had stumbled across some kind of educational program like you might hear on public radio. I soon found out that was not the case. The host of the show was interviewing author John Danford, a political science professor at-- I believe-- Loyola University, who was discussing and promoting his book, "The Roots of Freedom". After listening to the two men talk for several minutes, it became apparent that they both strongly favored a conservative Republican/Christian point of view. The word "Freedom" was a key, and in their discussion they used the word quite frequently (not to mention trying interest people in joining something called the Freedom Club or Freedom Organization or whatever it was). Individual freedom is a wonderful thing, of course, but it's something that must always be balanced against social equality. Our democratic government was founded on the twin ideals of liberty and equality, but it is probably going to take centuries for us to figure out how to actually put them into practice-- just as in a previous Age it seemed to take Western Civilization about 1500 years to finally digest the revolutionary message of Jesus. When we do, it will not some kind of overly oppressive society obsessed with superficial self expression. It will be a true Society of Individuals. But again, that is far, far down the road. For right now, I just want to warn potential readers of "The Roots of Freedom" that behind the book's treatment of some profound, classical social-political-philosophical ideas, is just another person with a contemporary political bias.

This work is a celebration of the western philosophical tradition. It is a must read for all those interested in the foundations of democratic theory. Danford skillfully and effortlessly guides the reader through several thousand years of philosophy, in a flowing and truncated exegesis, in an effort to reveal the threads, which form the tapestry of western freedom. He begins by asking two questions: Why have there been so few democracies throughout history and why are they short lived? As one reads the text it becomes clear that he offers these questions as a warning. If we fail to recognize and cherish the roots of our American political tradition as they are expressed through a study of the Ancients, the Christian tradition, the Reformation, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume and Adam Smith, we will lose sight of the dignity of the individual, the value of liberal education, the free market and limited government. Danford contends that although dangerous threats to our democratic tradition are already upon us, we can still preserve our democracy and the primacy of human dignity if we study the roots of our liberal tradition. The original question, however intriguing and important as it is, remains unanswered. Although Danford is optimistic that liberal education and a study of the classics will help to preserve democracy, the reader is left to wonder if this will be enough. Yes, the trend seems to lean toward democracy since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet menace, but communism is still viewed as a viable political system in China and North Korea and a possible collapse of the Russian economy could abruptly change the political climate. In an effort to celebrate our democratic tradition, Danford has not provided an adequate refutation of the alternatives. What this book does is stimulate reflection and inquiry into the richness of our western intellectual tradition. It asks that we become acquainted with our past so that we will value our future. Danford reminds us that to neglect the roots of freedom is to forget what made our nation great.

In Roots Of Freedom: A Primer On Modern Liberty, John Danford treats the reader to a comprehensive historical survey on the conception and evolution of the concept of political liberty. Beginning with its roots in ancient Greece and in Premodern Christianity, Danford continues with the emergence of Europe from feudalism, the Protestant Reformation, the contributions of science, political ambition and military conquest; Natural Rights and the Natural Condition; the relationship of property to liberty; commerce and liberty; the co-effected influences of wealth, cooperation, and liberty; prices and markets; American liberty; majority tyranny; free societies and the future. Roots Of Freedom is an enthusiastically recommended title for anyone concerned with the history, development, and defense of personal freedom and the political concept and economic consequences of liberty.

Definitely not a travelling book but a scholarly book looking in-depth into the independence of India & its divisions into India proper & Pakistan, & subsequent split of West Pakistan & East Pakistan into present day Pakistan & Bangladesh. As William Darymple wrote his books via his encounter with common people, Patrick French tended to concentrate more of his effort in researching the archives. For me, it required more effort to absorb this book than Darymple's, which were always entertaining. But it doesn't detract from the fact that Patrick is a resourceful author & he successfully investigated few characters that played pivotal roles in the independence of India, both English & Indians included. The myth about Ghandi was brought down to earth, Bose was hailed as a hero despite his involvement with the Axis power for his nationalist attitude, Nehru as a moderate politician in contrast with Patel who had tremendous hatred for the Muslims, Jinna for his involvement with the Muslim League & his deep distrust of the Congress, Wavell for being an unsung hero who had contributed much to India's independence, Radcliffe for partitioning India accordingly with Wavell's initial plan down to the letter, Mountbatten's role for keeping the peace in India during those turbulent time after the independence. There were also discussions about the Calcutta Massacre, The Partition, the absorption of other kingdoms into India (some of them by force) & the unresolved issued about Kashmir, etc. To summarise succinctly, what Indians got in the end wasn't Liberty OR Death, but Both of them. The country is still divided by race & religion after all these years. This book is a reminder of how lucky we all are for living in the environment, which we are not judged by the colour of our skin, the race that we belong to, but the content of our characters. Only then, there's this slightest chance the world would become boundaryless and all of us would live in peace and harmony.

I had mostly read history of partition of India taught in school in Pakistan which was really a one sided version all along. By accessing some newly declassified archives and throughly researshing his main charracters and events Mr. French has written a very readable account of Indian partition. I get the feeling he is neutral. Admirers of Ghandi, Jinnah, Patel and Azad may not like what they read. Nehru, Liaqat Ali Khan and Bose fare better. Mountbatten was biased towards Congress and Nehru, he should have been neutral. Chruchill was almost a villan and hated Indian leaders. Most of the English masters made bad decisions which has hurt both the countries in the long run. This book however tells us that leaders from both Congress and Muslim League were party to all the controversial decisions that were made that lead to the partition and to a very bloody aftermath in which nearly a million people died.
I agree with another reviewer that the author should have written in the end about the feelings and condition of millions of Indian Muslims who chose not to migrate to Pakistan.

French carries no historical baggage - he was born in 1966 and has proved his credentials with an excellent biography of Younghusband. This book is an affectionate portrait of the story of India's struggle for independence. French departs from conventional methods by trying to look at Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru and Patel as human beings and politicians. To me - educated in India - this is refreshing, because in the subcontinent, no one is objective about the four and their influence. Using access to archival material declassified recently, he shows the increasing weariness of Britain to govern her reluctant crown in the jewel. He implies that the father-son relationship between Nehru and Gandhi lead to exasperation on Nehru's part - Gandhi's saintly nature sometimes being out of step with Nehru's urbane instincts.

Although this book is billed as an advanced C++ book, in my opinion it only reaches the intermediate level. A more appropriate title should have been, "building a PIM." While this book examines a variety of subjects: sorting, B-Trees, indexing, disk I/O, it strays into "synonyms" (interesting feature) and specific requirements of the example program.

On the plus side, the author understands B-Trees and labors to explain them. This is the first author that actually mentions pages used within the b-tree, and this b-tree is presented in a real example, not just an example in memory.

The example program is a personal informational manager (PIM) called ROBIN. And the author introduces topics while building the program, in an attempt to give the reader a real-life application for the code written from the exercises. This PIM application is implemented in a command-line environment.

The author focuses on ANSI standard C++, and the code can be used on a variety of platforms. This book provides a lot of usable source and examples, but unfortunately few programmers will need to implement their own indexed flat files.

Interesting read. The author also lightly touches on design concepts, and offers some advice.

What is NOT covered: GUI, STL, advanced polymorphism, MFC collection classes, or Microsoft specific technology.

This book broadens the reader's C++ point of view. By carefully follow examples in the book, you will gain a lot confidence in the C++ world!

This book is the best c++ book that i've ever seen. The author must be a genius. All C++ books in this world are rubbish except 'Teach yourself more c++ in 21 days'.