i really like the Fords book cowritten by horowitz, so surfed his other books. this one may be great for the kkk scholar, but for the casual history buff who wants to learn something about the life inside the kkk in the 20's........it's about as interesting as a phone book.

David Horowitz has provided the scholarly community focusing of the Ku Klux Klan with an incredbily useful tool; the actual minutes from a Klan in La Grande, Oregon. With his brilliantly edited volume, Horowitz provides interesting insights into Klan functions, dress, politics, commerce and attitudes as told by Kligrapp Harold Fosner. What is more amazing though is that these records have survived, and through Horowitz's dilligence, they have been recovered from the Oregon Historical Society and made available by Southern Illinois Univeristy press. The historigraphy of Klan study has been altered greatly thanks to Horowiz's work, as speculation in past work can be either confirmed or refuted by examining Inside the Klavern, if in fact the La Grande Klan is a true representation of small town Klans nationally. A terrific read for all.

In The Art if Political War and Other Radical Pursuits author David Horowitz asserts that decreasing support for the Republican party is the result of Republicans' failure to engage in political warfare. He defines political war as purposely misleading the public into believing something other than the truth in order to gain political advancement. According to Horowitz, any Republican failure to pass legislation, win an election, or create policy caused by their refusal to lower themselves to the level of Democrats by making false statements and gaining support unethically. Various situations are analyzed and Horowitz points out alternative responses to crisis that could have resulted in increased credibility for the Republican party.
In analyzing George Bush's ephemeral one-term presidency Horowitz concludes that it was directly caused by of Democrats' political scheming: "This was the dilemma George Bush faced when he agreed to the Democrats' deal to raise new taxes..." (42). Bush's primary campaign was "No new taxes." The argument assumes that going against one's word and failing to do what one is elected to do is excusable. In the second year of his presidency he broke this promise to the American people by raising taxes. Horowitz justifies this act by explaining that congressional Democrats would only support Bush's war effort if he agreed to pass their proposed tax increase. Bush valiantly chose to put the nation's security ahead of his own political agenda, thus Horowitz deems Bush's actions "morally sound, but politically stupid" (42).
While Horowitz presents valid evidence to support his claims, his thesis is deeply flawed. I find it hard to believe that Republicans are inept politicians and don't understand the way the media, society, and voters interact to chose leaders and pass or reject legislation. Because of intense right-wing political campaigns I have observed (such as the California Proposition KK which stripped California homosexuals of their rights and Proposition 187 which urged voters to deny legally born children of immigrants their rights as U.S. born citizens,) I am unconvinced that Republicans are naive and simply unskilled at political warfare, or that they are unwilling to use unethical means to gain political achievement.
Flaws: -Many Republicans do engage in "political warfare."
-There has not been a more significant decline in support for the Republican party than there has been for the Democratic party.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in politics, race, or social class in the United States. While there are significant flaws in Horowitz's arguments, he presents opinions that will challenge many readers' beliefs. Whether readers agree or disagree with Horowitz's controversial ideology, The Art of Political War will cause them to reexamine their social attitudes.

This political booklet subtitled "How Republicans Can Fight to Win," despite its optimistic tone, carries a disturbing message - namely, that because we live "in a democracy," for conservatives to win they will have to, in my words, "demagogue" themselves to victory. Politics is war and politics is about winning. This brief book by renown author David Horowitz, who has written two bestseller classics, Destructive Generation and Radical Son, deserves careful attention from those recognizing the need to master the art of political warfare to effectively combat the advances of socialism in America.

Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. Editor-in-Chief, Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

Mr. Horowitz has penned a terse manual on the art of political war. The thesis is miitaristic, like the title: politics is a form of battle, in which the side with the greatest will to win, usually does. Horowitz outlines this clearly when he states that the attacker usually wins. This is typically true because 80% of the damage done to a reputation is done by the accusation, with little of it undone by later exonoration. Case in point: Reagan's first Labor Secretary, Raymond Donovan, after being acquitted of highly-publicized, false racketeering charges, asked in court, "When do I get my reputation back?" Democrats demogogue Republicans routinely on issues like Social Security; calm recitation of fact and principle will not sway the little old ladies frightened by scare tactics into reconsidering their reflexive vote. Horowitz recommends delegitimizing the Left; this is both good tactics and good morally. The Democrats use good tactics in the pursuit of bad policy; Republicans should do the like in pursiut of the common weal. Outing the Left is duty as much as it will be fun. -Lloyd A. Conway

Yes! Dubal loves to impress the reading public of how knowledgable he is. When you get around this, however, here is an interesting side of Horowitz that allows you to see the excentricities and warmth of one of the greatest pianists of this century. After listening to one of Horowitz's students about his lessons and meetings over three years with the Maestro, I have to say that Dubal has captured the real personality and intellect of Horowitz. The stories are fascinating and for any piano student, like me, this is an absorbing read. Not a great book....but one for travel and vacation that is easy to read, without the voluminous footnotes.

This entertaining book gives a small glimpse into the thoughts and habits of Horowitz in the last few years of his life. The conversations about composers and musicians are fascinating and Mr. Dubal has captured Horowitz's enthusiasm for and knowledge of composers and music admirably. Equally fascinating are the descriptions of the Horowitzes at home or dining out. This is a book to be dipped into and enjoyed.

A quick word about the author. Unfortunately, I do think that he inadvertently reveals himself as being rather unlikeable. Furthermore, his literary ability is questionable: I found the book to be poorly structured and written. Yes, he sometimes comes across as self-important and yes, if it weren't for Horowitz no one would ever have heard of Dubal, but the book is enormous fun and I have read and re-read it so many times that I may need to buy a new copy!

Other reviewers fault Dubal's self-absorption, and while I realize he is quite pleased with himself, I think the book is excellent - delightful to read, full of interesting stories about life with the monster maestro, and displaying the author's considerable musical erudition. There is much to be learned here. As for the ethical question -- when you have been a guest in a famous man's home for a period of years, do you then write a book exposing the flaws of your host? It is easy to look askance. But if Dubal had not written this book, we piano lovers would all be the poorer. I keep Evenings with Horowitz on a central bookshelf in my library, where I often refer to it -- not least for the valuable discography and insightful comments on Horowitz' recordings. I only wish Dubal had been a guest of Franz Liszt in the 19th century -- what a book that would have been!

Although the copyright of the book is 2000, the contents are from an older work as mentioned on the copyright page. I would estimate the information in the book is at least 10-years old! As an example, the auther refers to the PSA as "fairly new" when it was approved by the FDA in 1986. The latest treatments for BPH (example: use of microwaves to shrink the prostate) are not even mentioned.

I bought the book because of the year-2000 copyright and got old, incomplete stuff!

Although this book has information which is not state of the art, the pictures and basic data are very good, and are helpful in describing medical problems to patients. I recommend it.
Jennifer C. Logan, M.D.

This history text is certainly effective in outlining the most visible events of the past 50 years, but it makes no significant attempt to analyze them. Larger, more abstract issues, such as neo-imperialism, are completely ignored, and this book, therefore, offers nothing about US history that could not be surmised from a CBS documentary. This book is also conservatively oriented, and the sections detailing liberal and radical movements are riddled with quotation marks. Such punctuation clearly indicates that the authors are disagree with these activists, yet their dissent is expressed implicitly without any intellectual discussion, which is unprofessional and sub par academically.