Robert J. Lifton has dedicated his life to explaining the phenomenon of blind faith. However, to understand the Taliban world John Walker entered nine months ago one needs to add to the list of required reading, an eloquent memoir by someone not unlike the idealistic young Walker, Deborah Layton. Dr. Lifton and Layton's words together only broaden the scope of our possible comprehension of this difficult subject and make excellent reading for theologians and society at large.

Dr. Lifton's work gives us an excellent academic look into cult thinking. However, if you want to see how innocently these groups can start, if you want to understand the mind-frame of a believer, if you want to experience how it is that potent beliefs can skew one's morals then also include in your reading Seductive Poison. Anyone who has ever wondered how the unbelievable comes to pass Layton's memoir of cult life has the answers. Although three years old it remains a timely, intimate and enlightening look into a world that exists along-side our own. If you want a heart pounding visceral glimpse inside another world this book is it. It is not just evil that can do the things we've experienced since September 11. It can also be idealistic, devout folks like you and me. We are all more susceptible to fanatical beliefs since war has touched our soil. Would we now even question giving anthrax to "them"? Layton's work shows how it can go both ways.

Subjects like this are not always approached in the same way that someone might go to church, for example. An introduction to this book which depends entirely on a religious point of view might seem strange to the casual shopper, but it suggests the spirit in which this book might be brought into view with a certain humility.

I used to go to church a lot because it provided an opportunity to think. I have also gone to hear the author of this book speak for the same reason, but with much deeper results, because Robert Jay Lifton, at the time of the 50th anniversary of the atomic attack on Hiroshima, was in a perfect position to accuse the American President who tried to explain the attack, Harry Truman, of confabulating when he combined the elements of the situation in a way which was not quite factual. My impression of Lifton at that time was that he was quite old, and not open to the perverse glee that a personal encounter with me might provide, so we didn't quite meet. Given the differences between us, it should be obvious that he has written a much better book on the topic of Apocalyptic Violence than I ever could, embracing a wealth of detail with relentless fascination. Early in the book, on page 16, typical psychological judgments are considered insignificant, as Freud's association with the resolution of the Oedipus complex is compared to the possibility of a guru who can face a real "call to greatness, and a series of ordeals and trials culminating in heroic achievement." Religious greatness can surpass the usual psychological norm when it is possible to demonstrate "the hero's achievement of special knowledge of, or mastery over, death, which can in turn enhance the life of his people." Most of this book reports on terrible events, including the creation of weapons. The guru who is the subject of this book was born in 1955, and the events are quite recent. I see no reason to dispute that the people involved were thinking in the manner that is reported in this book. Some readers might consider this excessively factual, but people with books ought to be able to get real like this once in a while, too.

Certain essays from this book were requirements for an international relations class I took. After reading two of the stories I had to read the entire book. It is a truely excellent window into the effects of the atomic bomb on humans. It took me below the mushroom cloud, it was graphic, gripping, and effective. It does not focus on justifications for the bomb, it focuses purely on the effects. I plan on buying it in the near future because it is such an excellent testimonial.

I reviewed that te book was a great review of how terrible the devigstation was. Had great detail

This book will change how you've viewed the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. We've been lulled into the belief that it ended the war and "saved lives." But have our history books been truly honest in that simplistic regard to the act? This book urges you to look deeper into the issue, if you are serious about TRULY understanding the decision to use the bombs.

Lifton gives an incredibly thorough profile of the events and characters involved in the decision to start nuclear war. From political to psychological reasons, the characters are dealt with on a human level. It's a frightening tale, much more complex than the propoganda that was issued prior and following the nuke's use. Many will not like what is documented, because it reaches beyond the simplistic explanations, but sometimes truth is painful, especiallly when it may challenge what we believed are our true values.

This is a must read for all who believe nukes are a legitimate choice in war. Lifton will surprise you, and make you very intimate with Harry Truman and his thought processes going into the final months of the war, the pressures he was under, both from his own cabinet, the military, and the public.

We can only make choices based on the information made available to us. This book is unique in its presentation, and deserves full attention in our history courses and for those who seriously study the impact of our World Wars. It's not a literary guilt trip for the nation. It presents and profiles the hard truths, and no doubt took serious guts to publish.

Not many books can change your beliefs, but this one can, or at least legitimately challenged what you thought were established views.

Using sources made available only recently, Lifton and Mitchell examine the US government's efforts to mold public opinion following the detonation of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs.

These included squelching reports of radiation injuries, preventing release of ground-level damage reports, discouraging discussion of alternatives to the bombing, playing up the "military necessity" of what was (at best) only partially a military decision, and placing all of the scientists and their papers under a shroud of "Top Secrecy" to prevent non-military viewpoints from being discussed or published.

Like Gar Alperovitz (and drawing heavily on his work), Lifton and Mitchell present revealing portraits of the main characters involved in this turning point in history, and make a compelling case that their motives were not always as pure as we've been led to believe.

A cautionary tale of the seduction of power.

This is the most coherent, wise and well-founded book I have read on the topic of how we react to the stresses of postmodernity, which mainly involve historical dislocations (which are traumatic), the mass media revolution, and the threat of extinction. We can react to these by becoming flexible, or protean, which has the potential to create life-affirming species, or communal, consciousness. We can also close down and express some degree of dogmatic or fundamentalist (antiprotean) beliefs. In the process of describing the psychology behind this, which is backed up with interesting interview information, Lifton gives us the most cogent psychological explanation of the kind of fundamentalism that leads to terrorism that I have ever seen. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Nothing characterizes the modern age so much as change. Whereas individual of the past could orient their lives within the framework of absolutes recognized by their cultures, we are cut adrift in an ever-changing sea. Yet, we survive and thrive. How? Dr. Robert Jay Lifton explains in this book. He describes "proteanism", the individual's ability to re-create himself as exterior conditions demand it, just as the ancient Greek god Proteus could shapeshift as needed. For anyone grappling with constructing a meaningful life within the rapid changes of the modern world, this might be the best book ever written.

In ancient times, mythological systems and religious authorities told us what to think about death. How do we think about death in the modern secular world? The pre-eminent psychologist Robert Jay Lifton thinks that is one of the most important questions facing us today. This book looks at the question of death in the big picture. In the first part of the book, he traces individual development, and shows how the idea of death develops with the individual. In part two, he looks at the relationship of death to various emotions and to psychological disorders. In part three, he looks at the global picture, discussing what it means to live in a world with nuclear arms; here he cites from his extensive personal research with the survivors of Hiroshima. As Lifton argues, "We must open ourselves to the full impact of death in order to rediscover and reinterpret the movement and sequence of life" (p. 52). Indeed, contrary to what one might expect, this is a deeply optimistic and profoundly hopeful book.

This book is a collection of essays dealing with man's struggle with self-annihilation in the twentieth century. The topics dealt with include nuclearism and nuclear war, the Holocaust, cults, suicide, and the Vietnam War. The author is concerned with how the "survivor" of such an attrocity, either as the persecuted or the persecutor (or somewhere in between), is able to link up with their former self and visualize a meaningful existence afterwards. The author understands immortality to be that sense of connectedness with others, with history, and with the great chain of being, that all individuals experience. And, the author questions how there can remain a sense of immortality given some of the horrors that have occurred and continue to occur (in the form of nuclear weapons). The author takes a definite anti-nuclear stance in the book, and he repeatedly stresses the importance of avoiding falling into the illusion that stockpiling nuclear weapons is the only way out of our current nuclear dilemma. The author also includes essays on the Holocaust, in particular on the Nazi doctors who contributed at Auschwitz. Here the author explains how these doctors came to confuse the roles of healing and killing, a slippery slope which is all too easy to slide down. In addition, the author discusses those Vietnam veterans who came home from the war with a profound sense of futility. Rather than seeing the war as meaningful, they came to feel that they were fighting in a war with no real purpose. The author discusses his sessions with various veterans and how they dealt with their ambivalent emotions towards the war.

HIROSHIMA IN AMERICA: FIFTY YEARS OF DENIAL is required reading for a class I am presently taking on Hiroshima, but it should be required reading for everyone in America. I found the book to be both interesting and intriguing. The authors, Lifton and Mitchell, give a very detailed account of how the Americans treated and responded to the dropping of the A-bomb and its effects on the Japanese people living there. HIROSHIMA also offers insight into the political action and reaction of the bombing with unbelievable documentation and research from the War Department and the White House. For those in America who may wonder about the events surrounding the bomb, HIROSHIMA IN AMERICA offers one of the best sources of information by far!

I have had this book on my shelf since 1992 when it was re-published. I first saw the book with my friend Robert McLane, who is quoted in the chapter on "Zones of Rage and Violence." Bob was one of my healers during a time of ongoing depression back in the 1980's. We went our seperate ways so hello BOB! I next saw the book with a vet in Phoenix during the winter of 87-88 again with depressions. He helped me along my journey.

I was afraid to open it up. My healing took a long time. I can say that Lifton's advice about encountering the false, counterfiet cliches about that war are essential for healing and now as I am reading it in retrospect, I can see how much work I really did. The reinforcement about not-lying to oneself or others about the heinous dimension of the Vietnam War and the anti-war activity that we were engaged in is of great historical importance, for all time. All wars that may evolve from this great country are encased in a fabric of semi-truths. It is up to us, the citizenry, to interpret reality without blindly following orders.

Lifton has done us a service. We are healers and so he has given us new life. Jim Willingham

Lifton and Falk's INDEFENSIBLE WEAPONS. This cites been given many times for the nuclearism kritik, but most people still think the kritik only applies to nuclear language (i.e. saying "nuke"). Lifton and Falk write some good cards saying denying the impact of nuclear war entrenches the nuclearistic illusion. Psychologically we think nuclear war isn't that bad and a real world nuclear holocaust occurs. If you want some extremely depressing, yet flaming nuclear war bad cites, I'd suggest Schell's famous book THE FATE OF THE EARTH.

The author was an editor of Oslobodjenje, Sarajevo's independent newspaper that continued to publish daily throughout the 1992-1995 period that the city was besieged by Serb nationalist forces. The journal entries take in just the first 16 months of that siege. It is chilling to realize that the siege would continue for more than two years beyond the period covered by the journal-and that populations in some other cities and villages suffered even more than did Sarajevo's.

The stories of Sarajevo and Bosnia are breath taking. Mr. Dizdarevic brings to light the day to day struggle that so many residents of Sarajevo went through. Not only physically, but mentally as well. Sarajevo is a very beautiful city and is getting more beautiful as it gets rebuilt. I can not imagine what it would have been like to live these stories that Mr. Dizdarevic writes about. This is a must read book!

Written in the first years of the siege by an editor at Oslobodjenje, these poignant war stories, compelling descriptions, and perceptive reflections from a city under fire constitute one of the most authoritative testimonies of the entire Bosnian war. A powerful and often scathing articulation of Sarajevo's disillusionment with Western inaction and betrayal of international norms and values. (This short review is from "Book on Bosnia" published by The Bosnian Institute)