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I considered Cleveland's textbook on the Modern Middle East a great source of history. After reading this book, I guarantee that you will better understand the present-day crisis in the Middle East than over ninety-five percent of the people in the United States.
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The book Jurgen is from the same mold. Jurgen the pawnbroker moves from one of Cabell's stereotypical women to another. The book became well-known because of the godawful sex sequences, in which Cabell archly refers to Jurgen's sword, staff, or stick -- the resulting call for censorship made the book famous, but that doesn't mean it was Cabell's best. I thought The Silver Stallion and, in some respects, even The Cream of the Jest or The High Place to be better examples of Cabell's writing.
I would recommend that anyone who likes fantasy read at least one of Cabell's books, because he writes like no one else. This book had the usual Cabell wittiness and sardonic feel, so if it's the only one you can find, certainly try it.
Moments like this, simultaneously jaded and genuine, sentimental and cynical, are the most delightful parts of 'Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice.' Nominally the story of a medieval pawnbroker's quest to find his lost wife, 'Jurgen' becomes a bildungsroman in reverse as, on the way, its hero regains his youth and visits the lands of European myth, from Camelot to Cocaigne (the land of pleasure) -- each land shows Jurgen a way of life, and he rejects each in favor of his own sardonic stoicism, for he is, after all, a "monstrously clever fellow."
That phrase describes Cabell as much as it does Jurgen: the author is remarkably erudite, and, like a doting parent hiding easter eggs, drops in-jokes through the book on subjects as far-ranging as troubadour poetry and tantric sex. Cabell corresponded with Aleister Crowley in his day, and, in ours, is an influence on Neil Gaiman ('The Sandman,' 'Neverwhere,' etc.). The book itself caused quite a splash when it became the centerpiece of one of the biggest censorship trials of the early 20th century: something to do with Jurgen's very large *ahem* sword.
Social satire and an idiosyncratic cynicism in the guise of a scholarly romance-fantasy, 'Jurgen' is what would have happened if J.R.R. Tolkien and Dorothy Parker had gotten together to write a book.
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Told chronologically through his life and political career, Taubman lays down the major political events in Khruschnev's life and also documents how they effected those around him. By the end of the book all readers will have a better understanding not only of the man, but more importantly, the effect the man had on his people and the world.
I would highly recommend this book to any historical enthusiasts or anyone else even remotely interested in the Soviet Union.
(I would also recommend Mark Remenick's "Lenin's Tomb" as a preface to reading this book.)
Professor Taubman spares no effort to capture the intricacies or recreate the circumstances of Khrushchev's life. He conducted a multitude of interviews, including with Khruschev's son Sergei, other family members and former CPSU party officials. He even consulted the birth register from the church in the Soviet leader's hometown (Kalinovka) to determine his date of birth. In addition, the professor places Khruschev's own extensive memoirs in a full and proper context.
Ultimately, the reader sees a man at once insecure yet driven for power--the Soviet answer to "the man in the grey flannel suit", moving up the "Party" ladder, so to speak. Adherent to the romantic ideals of Bolshevism, Khrushchev nonetheless went along with Stalin's bloodlust and participated in the purges (although some evidence is presented as to his efforts to save select lives). The author evinces the complex nuances of Khrushchev, who became enraged when questioned on his role in the Stalinist inner circle and denounced his one-time "vohzd" in his famous 1956 secret speech. He also conveys Khruschev the reformer's intolerance for criticism of his policies, the same intolerance that heavily contributed to his downfall in 1964.
We also see the Khruschev contradiction in foreign policy. The man who wanted detente also tried to bully Western leaders whenever possible and caused (and lost) the Cuban missile crisis. Professor Taubman clearly documents how Khruschev alone, and against the advice of his advisors and the wishes of Fidel Castro, sent missiles to Cuba, and then had to back down in humiliation.
It is near impossible to do justice to this work and its analysis of the man who embodied Churchill's famous saying about the Russian enigma. The book is as complex as the man it describes so meticulously, and with such fairness and balance. Read it, digest it, reflect upon it and make your own decision: Was Khruschev one more violent Russian leader? Was he a survivor of a barbaric system who articulated humane and just impulses once he came to power? Was he both? Was he more? Just remember, as Professor Taubman obviously does, Russia is not the United States. A "reformer" within the context of a Tsar- and Stalin-ridden land cannot be a Jeffersonian.
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The repetition of the story makes it easy to read and easy for an older child to learn, and yet isn't the kind of repetition that drives parents wild. As the child gets older, you can drop words and let them "fill in the blank" as they look at the pictures to identify both the animals and the animals' colors.
When I was a Nanny my charge and I adored this book and read it at least a hundred times. Now that I am home with my own son, I bought the book for him and he loves it too!
Popular magazine articles that attempt to "explain" Islamic rage as the result of a "fear of modernity" or "jealousy of the west's freedoms" may as well bear a stamp proclaiming their authorship by the "Ministry of Propaganda." As an alternative, I recommend Professor Cleveland's textbook, which serves as a brief but remarkably thorough introduction to the history of this volatile part of the world.
No, the book does not cover Afghanistan or Pakistan, but clearly political currents in these nations are closely linked with what has transpired in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and the rest of the Middle East proper. At the heart of the current crisis is, of course, the Israeli-Palestinian condundrum, and here the author's explanations and analyses are clear, balanced, and incisive. His discussions of the evolution of Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the background *and consequences* of the 1991 Gulf War are also invaluable. In his recounting of the Iranian revolution, Cleveland offers a fascinating analysis of the apparent Islamicist rejection of "modernity," showing that those in the Middle East who reject the West do not crave a return to the ancient past, but instead wish to follow a modernization pathway that is guided by indigenous cultural principles, including the precepts of Islam.
Perhaps most impressive, however, is what Cleveland has to say toward the end of the book regarding the dangers of an overly intrusive and domineering presence in the Islamic Middle East by the lone remaining planetary superpower, the U.S. He does not prophesy the recent terrorism that has afflicted this country, but he does criticize the U.S. for policies that seem to rely more upon aerial bombardment than careful diplomacy. The application of Cleveland's conclusions to a reevaluation of the likely long-term consequences of "America's new war" is not a comforting process, but it's one that perhaps more Americans need to undertake.