The State, Oppenheimer persuasively argues, is always born in the conquest of one group by another. The conquerors then set themselves up as the government and extract tribute in the form of taxes from the conquered. This is the work that influenced another classic -- Albert Jay Nock's _Our Enemy, the State__ and also the great Austrian economist Murray Rothbard. It is indeed an eye-opener. After you read it, you'll never look at the government the same.

The other review nicely describe this gem, but makes it sound like something only a scientist could understand. I'd just like to add that any intelligent person will have no trouble following this lucid account of the first two years of Los Alamos.

This book is THRILLING in the scope and depth of its description of HOW the bomb was made. This was a unique historical event in that the best brains in the world, stimulated by a sense of extreem urgency and given, in effect, unlimited physical and financial resources accomplished in the space of three years somthing that in the 1930's was considered as Science Fiction.

The book is highly readable and understandable by non technical people. This book is proof that "once upon a time" we did things "Right the First Time" in this country. An outstanding historical and technical account of the "ultimate" invention.

Very well written and does not overwhelm the reader with technical minutia. This is an excellent companion to Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb and will please any student of the history of science.

I was attracted to this book by its provacative title. Unfortunately it reads like a book by an English professor which, in fact, it is. It is also an attempt to analyze the nature of moral, as oppossed to natural, evil. Personally, I found it tedious and pedantic.

For a better grasp of the origin and expression of moral evil I would recommend a little book of less than a hundred pages called _Blue Rose_ by Peter Straub (ISBN 0-14-600107-9, Penguin 60s, 1995). William March's classic _The Bad Seed_ (0-88001-540-3, 1954) is also illuminating in this area. Be advised that the movie based on this book changed the ending to appeal to a wider audience. Books by Bret Easton Ellis will help one to see the world through the eyes of a psychopath -- the psychopath being a fashionable model of evil incarnate. _The Silence of the Lambs_ by Thomas Harris is also to be recommended. Other sources of insight into the origin and experience of moral evil include works by and about Adolf Hitler.

I'm sorry I can't recomment Mr.Oppenheimer's book...it had such a great title!

To begin with, I'd like to say I for one am not an English professor, although I see nothing inherently bad (or in fact evil) in being one. The previous reviewer unfortunately mistook Oppenheimer's blatant genius for tedious pedantry (two words I'm sure he learnt from some professor to whom these terms applied much more closely than to the author at hand), which is a shame because it shows he must've read the book with something else on his (or her?) mind - supper on the stove, an unsolved mystery in his neighbor's life, or ....??? Oppenheimer's book for those who have read it (and I know quite a few, since I keep recommending it and sharing it with people) is a revelatory experience which provides a deep insight not only into the author's intellectual and linguistic abilities (which are both exceedingly stunning to say the least) but also into the nature of (yes, moral) evil. In expounding his theories, the author draws on a mind-boggling array of cinematographic, literary and political sources, which make the book one of the two most convincing books I have ever read. It is written in quite an entertaining style and is a great read even for those who may not be quite so familiar with academic discourse about evil (although it might be better if you first removed the supper from your stove). So, forget other books on evil. If you're only going to read one book this year (or next), get this one. It's worth it!

A classic of German literature which spawned a thousand watered-down progeny, _Till Eulenspiegel_ is a cheerfully scatalogical (but never raunchy) collection of loosely related fablieux-like vignettes depicting the life and times of the eponymous hero. It's little-known in the English-speaking world, largely because of the lack of a good, faithful translation, and this edition is obviously intended to remedy the situation.

It's a worthy goal, and the translation itself is lively and fluid without straying too far from its Germanic roots. The story itself is a good read, which moves too quickly from scene to scene to ever get boring. The trickster hero more or less devotes his life to deflating the pompous, the rich, the smug, the petty, and anyone else who dares obstruct his merry path through life. He does this largely by interpreting figurative or idiomatic phrases literally, like an infuriating younger sibling, but there are a good many tales that centre around more complex and witty scams, and it's these which make the book worth considering as a read. And, like other books in the _World's Classics_ series, the introductory essay is broad-ranging and stimulating.

It's not _Gulliver's Travels_ or _The Decameron_, but it's a very respectable cousin to both.