Andrew has written an interesting and informative book about some of the programs that created vital opportunities for indigent people to escape poverty. Andrew discusses the key laws Johnson passed to improve the lives of Americans, including Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicaid, Medicare, Head Start and many others. As a historical account of legislative acts it is excellent, and on that point it deserves five stars. However, when Andrew discusses how the Great Society affect later laws, the book becomes quite week. In fact it seems like Andrew wrote the bulk of the work in the eighties and only later interspersed a few sentences about the nineties. The index is also a bit sparse and could have been more detailed. This book is, nevertheless, a good read and deserves the attention of persons interested in the Johnson administration.

Anyone who reads this book will find that LBJ's Great Society was far from a failure, as Republicans today characterize it, but a mixed bag with many successes and a few long term failures. Yet, overall, it was - and still is - positive for America.

Just look at the record -- Clean Air and Water bills, Medicare(health insurance for the elderly), Medicaid(health insurance for the disabled and poor), The Elementary and Secondary Education Act(for the first time the federal government gave K-12 schools funds), Head Start, labor law reform, Minimum Wage increase for the working poor, housing expansions through HUD, the Department of Transportation, increased farmer aid, wage supplements for the poor, job training expansions, the National Endowement for the Arts and Humanities, public broadcasting, consumer protection laws etc. The list goes on and on and on. These successes benefited - and benefit - everyone. The middle class and poor benefit from Medicare and education, as well as job training. The poor are given dignity in Medicaid and the Minimum Wage. All benefit from public broadcasting, as well as with clean streets, aid and environment and consumer laws. Working people support pro-labor labor law reform. And, let us never, ever forget, LBJ passed 3 monumental civil rights laws which benefit all persons of morality and conscience.

Yes, as the book points out, there are some failures here. Welfare policy for the poorest of the poor - as well meant as it was - was a failure. Yet, I suspect it failed not because of what Great Society liberals intended to do long term, but because of what they expected the program to become with more funding. That is, funding was decimated for AFDC, and liberals in the 1970's wanted public works instead, which never came, so they settled for AFDC. In regard to Model Cities, the same rings true - failure.

Yet, the positives outway the negatives by far and away - as this book shows all too well. Long live the Great Society!

As a contributor to this book, I strongly disagree with the assessment from Kirkus Reviews. Yes, there is much here we've heard before (but that doesn't mean it isn't worth saying--and hearing--again.) Then, too, there is a range of perspectives in this book--from the conservative to the liberal--that is greater than Kirkus acknowledges. Some writers see racism as black men's greatest enemy; others call for us to take more responsibility for our own lives. "Black Men Speaking" is a worthy companion to Don Belton's "Speak My Name," and essential reading for anyone who cares about black America.

Rob Johnson, goes into great detail exposing the flaws, the history of the media and how it works. His stance on the matter is made rather clear, and the book is not to overpowering as it allows the reader to make their own mind on the mattter. Well worth a read it you want to find out all the details about John Laws, and Alan Jones..

This book gives a good introduction to argumentation theory and its twists and turns over the course of its existence. I found it helpful to get started, especially coming from a completely different field. It gives the essence of Toulmin and Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca but I would have liked to see a bit more on Austin and Searle.But then again the references mentioned are very extensive and can be followed up. All in all a good book if a bit pricey for students (whatever happened to the paperback cover?)

Classic book about a revolutionary technology

I'm a student of Bullion and I found his book just as captivating as his lectures. The book is a very telling personal account of exactly how LBJ was. This book is by no means an autobiography of Johnson. However it does go into detail regarding Bullion's personal encounters with LBJ and his father's professional relationship with the former president. I enjoyed the detailed accounts of Bullion spending time at the LBJ ranch and getting to know the wildlife there. I especially liked the way the Bullion described Johnson's physcial prowess and how Johnson used it against his friends and opponents. This naked account of Johnson by no means glorifies his stay in office nor his rise to power.

This book was really well done. It really helped me with a report I was doing on James Weldon Johnson. I learned a lot that I didn't know before, I'm really glad I read it, I'm just sorry it is unavailable. Lanky

I never had any experience with babies, not even playing with them. This book offers a month by month guide to a baby's development and offers solutions for you. So when he is approaching 10 month, I'll read that chapter and you'll find that the phenomenon presented in the book is quite accurate. You can then use the suggestions to stimulate your child's mental and physical faculty.

If there were a mathematics of watching paint dry, Martin Gardner would make it interesting. Without peer as a popularizer of mathematics, he is equally adept at explaining all areas. This book, another updated collection of his Scientific American columns, is a twenty member set of polished pearls. Although somewhat mundane as a descriptive adjective, the word readable fits his writing like a custom made body stocking.
Always interesting and entertaining, reading his essays is somewhat like eating tiny chocolate bars. You can't get enough, each seems too small, and there are no negative side effects.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.