Writing a "book" review on a play that one has not read may seem a bit presumptuous. However, my wife and I saw the US premier of this play at Houston's Stages Theater a few weeks ago and can attest that it is some of the finest entertainment we have seen in many a day. I hope that many people will read it, that college English classes will study it, and, most importantly, that numerous theater groups will stage it.

Historical. Hilarious. Poignant. An exhaustive list of appropriate adjectives would exceed Amazon's page limitations.

The play has a large cast of memorable characters including a semi-blind theater seamstress and a bear. The scene is a barn in England in 1601, and Queen Elizabeth seeks diversion from the impending beheading of her lover in the company of William Shakespeare and his band of actors. The dialogue is both scholarly and witty, with many echoes from Shakespeare's plays.

But the driving force for the drama is the point/counterpoint exchanges between "King" Elizabeth, who feels compelled to shirk her womanly feelings for the good of her country and the actor Ned, a 17th century drag-Queen. More than that I will not tell.

See it if you can, but, until it plays in your area, read the book.

In 1601, Queen Elizabeth I was forced by duty to condemn to death a man widely believed to be her former lover. On the night before the execution, she demanded that William Shakespeare's acting troup, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, perform a play to distract her from the heartbreak that would occur in the morning. This much is truth. Timothy Findley takes these historical facts, blends in a few "what if's?" and creates a powerhouse play about men, women, fantasy, death, and ultimately, love.

After a performance of Much Ado About Nothing, Queen Elizabeth goes backstage to talk with the actors, and finds them all mourning the iminent death of the Beatrice of the evening, their terminally ill leading "lady," Ned. Ned has lived all his life as a woman, and does not know how to face his upcoming death with the courage of a man. Elizabeth, by contrast, has had to destroy her feminine side in order to rule England successfully. Realising this, the two strike a bargain: Ned will teach Elizabeth how to be a woman, if she can teach him how to be a man. What follows is a heartbreaking journey of self-discovery in which Elizabeth learns how to mourn, Ned learns how to die with grace and how to live with love, and William Shakespeare finds the greatest play never written.

This is an excellent choice for any Shakespeare fan, and for any lover of theatre. Powerful, enlightening, heartbreaking and uplifting, Elizabeth Rex is an exquisite journey for the heart, with beautiful dialogue, strong characters, and fascinating arguments. A must-read.

"Deliberate Deceptions" is the second Paul Findley book I have read. The first, of course, was "They Dare to Speak Out." Findley, a former congressman from Illinois, is a crusader for truth in the relationship between Israel and the United States. In "They Dare to Speak Out," Findley discusses the sinister influence of the pro-Israel lobby on American government. In this book, Findley broadens his criticism well beyond the borders of lobbying. The importance of Findley's books take on additional dimensions of meaning since the terrorist attacks of last summer.

"Deliberate Deceptions" exposes serious concerns about Israeli-U.S. relations. Findley argues, convincingly, that Israel is an aggressive, hostile state that will stop at nothing to further its own ends at the expense of others. Israel suctions billions of dollars out of U.S. coffers, with special deals on loans and military hardware that no other country in the world gets. Israel also has the bomb and refuses to allow international inspections of its facilities in the Negev desert. Findley reveals Israel's spy networks in the United States, its cozy relationship with the South African government (during the Apartheid era), and its tendency to resell American military technologies for self-enrichment. The amount of statements and evidence Findley marshals is both amazing and disgusting. Where is the United States government when all of this is happening? It's in large part our government that reinforces this bad behavior. Politicians, according to Findley, are scared of Israel's lobby and influence. The result is that the U.S. turns a blind eye to these shenanigans.

The Palestinians are the primary victims of Israel's aggression. Since the founding of Israel, the Palestinians have endured non-stop forced deportations, land seizures, violence, torture, and murder. Occasionally, the Palestinian people tire of Israel and events like the Intifada occur. Findley shows how Israel responds to these incidents by instituting policies that encourage soldiers to break bones and attack children and senior citizens. Palestinians that are considered citizens of Israel are treated as second-class citizens, as Israel considers itself a purely Jewish nation. The United Nations runs itself ragged denouncing Israel for its actions towards the Palestine people, and Findley provides a list of UN edicts towards Israel that is staggering to behold. Findley argues that great strides could be made in the Palestinian-Israeli problem if Israel would quit building settlements in occupied territory and withdraw to its UN mandated borders. Israel refuses to do this, and the whole world has to deal with the fallout, with endless peace plans and negotiations that go nowhere.

One of my criticisms with the book concerns Findley's account of the Intifada. Findley lists how many Palestinians were detained, murdered, and injured. I think he should have included figures on how many Jews were killed in the uprising. This would bolster his arguments better, in my opinion, as those numbers are probably lower than the Palestinian numbers. Still, this book is shocking in its implications and should be read by all Americans. I recommend reading this book before reading "They Dare to Speak Out."

An outstanding book in explaning who is controlling US policy in the Middle East.

Paul tells you the facts and nothing but the facts.....this is a book that is worth reading if you are wondering what is happening in US politics and who is controlling what is going on inside and outside America.

You should also consider reading "The Holocaust Industry" by Norman Finkelstein. This book will shed more light on why this country in heading in the direction that is not in the best interest of America.

This book addresses with hard facts the questions that should be on the tip of everyone's tongue regarding US policy in the Middle East. It lays bare the extent of our perversion of justice by our complicit attitude toward Israeli war and occupation crimes.
The only way we will be able to initiate change and bring about justice is if more people realize the error of our policy, to which end the dissemination of this book and the facts contained herein is vital.

The author of this book, Paul Findley, was a Congressman from Illinois for some 22 years. This puts him in the unique position to criticize his target. That target is the pro-Israel lobby, specifically AIPAC (The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee). Findley believes that many politicians have lost elections due to the influence of this group. Findley himself thinks they played a role in his own defeat in the early 1980's. Why would AIPAC use lobbying clout to defeat politicians? Because some of these figures dared to question the intimate relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

The book is extremely well written and organized, although there are no numbers in the text to match the endnotes at the back of the book. At first, I snickered at some of the accusations Findley makes. After all, shouldn't a criticism of AIPAC be extended to ALL political action groups? Wouldn't it be just as easy to point out that this is a symptom of a larger problem, that of outside influence in politics? What quickly becomes apparent is that AIPAC uses threats and intimidation to cow any voices that speak out against what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. Those who can't be dealt with immediately are publicly branded as anti-Semites or Jew haters. Some are even compared to Nazi war criminals. The people Findley discusses are hardly goose-stepping thugs. They are people who are concerned that Israel is using American weapons to kill innocent civilians. Some oppose the Israeli theft of Palestinian land, or Israeli spying within U.S. institutions. Almost all of these people begin to receive letters, threatening phone calls and other heavy-handed tactics designed to shut them up.

Findley shows how the pro-Israel lobby intimidates government officials, educators, restaurant owners and journalists into toeing the Israel line while denying the Arab position on any matter. Even presidents have felt the pressure from Israel's lobby. Reagan renewed the shipment of cluster bombs to the Israelis even after it was known that Israel used them on Palestinians in the past and would probably do so again in the future. Although not mentioned in the book, even Clinton felt the pressure. He came close to pardoning Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy, until the heads of the FBI and CIA threatened to resign if he did so. Findley talks about Pollard in the book, and the tale is staggering to behold. Pollard continues to receive pay from the Israelis, even though he is in prison. Documents stolen by Pollard were never returned by Israel, and many of these papers ended up in the hands of the Soviet Union, endangering U.S. lives and security. Israel also refused to hand over Pollard's handlers. These Israeli agents ended up with lucrative positions back in Israel.

Probably the most disturbing account in this book is that of the USS Liberty. The Liberty was a U.S. warship that was viciously attacked by Israeli planes and gunboats in 1967. Despite flying a U.S. flag in a stiff breeze and clearly marked numbers and names on the hull, the Liberty was strafed, torpedoed and napalmed by Israel. The toll was staggering: 34 dead and 171 injured. The U.S. government not only delayed sending a rescue mission to the imperiled ship until well after the attack, they covered up the entire incident. Documents were destroyed or hidden and letters to the families of the dead failed to take into account what really happened to their loved ones. A book written about the attack by James Ennes was blackballed. Even if this attack was a mistake, and Findley presents plenty of evidence to the contrary, covering it up is a crime tantamount to treason.

There is plenty of evidence in this book to make any thinking person stand up and take note. To criticize Israeli policy is not anti-Semitism. Not one of the people in this book ever tried to deny Israel the right to exist as a state. They merely wanted Israel held accountable for its behavior towards the Palestinians. As can be expected, Findley has suffered insults and slurs for his beliefs. Read this book.

I feel that this book is a must read for all Americans interested in U.S. - Middle East relations and the challenges to formulating a more balanced and just policies. Paul Findley, an Illinois Congressman for 22 years, examines the role of pro-Israel special interest groups in heavily influencing public officials and policy makers into making biased and counterproductive decisions impacting our relationship with the countries of an important region of the world. Findley has carefully researched and examined the extent of pro-Israel lobbying in this nation. While he defends the rights of American citizens to support causes they feel a moral obligation to, he argues eloquently that the interests of another country should never be placed above the interests of the United States.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the importance of having balanced foreign policies, particularly at a time when the United States is trying to serve as an honest broker to resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. It was educational and a real eye opener to me, a seeker of truth and objectivity.

Paul Findley has written one incredible, eye-opening book that calls into question the high pressure, unethical, slander tactics used against academics, religious figures, journalists and political figures who speak out against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's overzealous involvement and desirous control of economic and military diplomacy as well as education. This is a group that nobody wants to mess around with. The power hungry citizens and 'big wigs' in this lobby have a disturbing amount of clout that really makes you look at government differently. To stand up and speak out against Israel's lobby and their very questionable dealings in national and foreign affairs is essentially to put a career/social/economic death mark on your forehead. The shady dealings that this group instigates and leads, whether it be on a large or small scale, undermines the ethics and principles for which this country and the Jewish faith stand for. This book is an education in itself. Although disturbing, because it makes the Constitution seem like a useless piece of paper with 'silly' writing on it, Findley's book is very benefical if you want to know how a facet of foreign and national policy operates.

As a Muslim growing up in the USA, it has always been hard for me to be named a terrorist everytime I read the paper or turn on the television.

Although many of these facts are known by the Islamic community, which has written about the prejudice and bias against Islam, no book until now was available for all Americans to read. In his book, Paul Findley, described as "First class" (Christian Science Monitor) and "Straightforward and valid" (Washington Post), confronts, as well as explains the false images of Islam and Muslims in America throughout the past few decades.

I certainly believe this is one of those books that must be read, not only for the Muslims that are desperate to get a brake, but also for the Americans who think to themselves after Headline News; "How can this religion have over one billion followers if it's about blowing up everything they see?"

Hopefully, this book will have great positive effect on Americans and their idea of Islam...

Before I read this book, all I had thought was that many muslims were terrorists or supported terrorism.(I got most of these ideas from watching movies like Executive descision and others) After I read this book I was stunned, such a rich, diverse and extraordinary religion, the Veil or Hejab that women wear in my opinion was wrong I thought at the time, no more I see it so much differently after I read this book. It's about respect, I also read other books after this one about Sharia(Islamic Law) and I found more examples of respect towards women, such as rape, in Sharia a rapist is swiftly given death, no man can touch a woman without her consent. It got me thinking afterwards and I also read up on religions and world statistics, Islam is the second largest religion in the world today with 1.3billion followers, it is also the fastest growing, and soon will be the largest. Most of the converts in the U.S. are women. in the past 2 years there have been many great documentaries that clear up misconseptions of this religion. The most notable was Islam: Empire of faith, excellent film. I urge people not to judge this religion based on what you see in the movies, look into it, talk with muslim people, read the english translation of the Quran if you can. Get this book, it will teach you alot. I'd like to thank Mr. Findley for this excellent book.

Mr. Paul Findley examines the false images of Islam and Muslims that linger in American minds by the Electronic Media. It is the most informative, factual and fair book that I ever read. Every American must read this book in order to learn the truth about Islam. The fastest growing religion in the World including the US. The religion of Islam is practiced by more than 8 million Americans and 1.6 billion people World wide.

Summed up in one word, disappointed. I never dreamed that the pictures in this book would be in black and white. So much for fish identification when snorkeling, which is why I bought this book. If you want this book for Identification purposes, forget about it. However, if you don't mind seeing page after page of these beautiful fishes in black and white (What is the point?) then this book is for you.