Peace writes an exceptional book that identifies the component parts of normative conversion using Paul's encounter with the Risen Christ on the Damascus road as the paradigm. He steps outside the evangelical box by taking these component parts and identifying them in the pilgrimage of the disciples of Jesus in mark's gospel. By identifying a gradual conversion process he allows mainline christians to reclaim the language of evangelism from fundamentalists.

This reader found Peace's take on conversion to be innovative and helpful. We live in an "instant age" (coffee, pudding, credit approval, and even conversion), and Peace reminds us that conversion, like love, is something that is often gradual and needs to be slowly nurtured. The main text and argument are well documented and supported by scripture, and the final section on practical application was a joy to read. Peace gives us back another model of conversion - and one we should not take too lightly. It is after all, the model which brought the original 12 to Christ.

Richard Peace has already amply demonstrated he understands the application of theology in the real world. This book shows that he's a leader in understanding the dynamics at work in the bible and putting them in a context that makes sense in our time.

Some have said this is Yates' weakest work, and I suppose it might be, but I think credit has to be given to Yates for even managing to pull this off. This is a tough story to write, a man's journey from sanity to insanity. Yates stays in his usual third person narration all the way, even when the main character goes completely nuts, so his delusions become our delusions.

It's not a pleasant experience by any stretch of the imagination - we see get a no-holds-barred view into Bellevue and the complete breakdown of the protagonist. There isn't a likeable character in the entire novel, which isn't that different from Yates' other works, but the problem here is that it's very tough to have any sympathy for the main character, John Wilder. In Yates' more successful books, no matter how nasty the characters, we can't help but to feel for their faults. Not so here.

Disturbing the Peace may not have the amazing pace of The Easter Parade or the driving power of Revolutionary Road, but it's still a pretty good read. It's a tough book to find nowadays, so if you can get your hands on it, pick it up.

In his writing classes, Richard Yates said that the most important thing to him, as a writer, was "telling the truth." He wasn't interested in pyrotechnics. He was interested in technique as an instrument to be used in "telling the truth." He had us read "In Our Time" and "Nine Stories." He respected accuracy, economy, the telling detail. He had no interest in the fancy, the glib. He was obviously deeply influenced by Hemingway. For my money, Yates is better. This masterpiece will tell you what it's like to crack up. No Hollywood, nothing fancy, no self-pity. Just "telling the truth." Read this, then read the rest of Yates. You won't be sorry. The guy knew what he was talking about.

If I can grossly break Sharpe readers into two camps (those who read just for the battle scenes, and those who read for the story of Richard Sharpe, of which battle scenes are one thrilling part), then Sharpe's Revenge is definitely for the second group. Other than the surprisingly hard-fought battle of Toulouse at the start, Revenge concerns Sharpe's (almost) one-man adventures in post-war Europe.

It's a strange world for Sharpe (and the Sharpe reader), one in which the dogged British army we've come to admire through ten books of the Peninsula War is no longer the underdog fighting overwhelming odds, but is the overwhelming force itself. Everyone knows Napoleon is doomed. Indeed, it's sad to read about the bloodshed at Toulouse because sacrifices which seemed heroic a year earlier just seemed tragically unnecessary in April 1814. What a sad thing to be the last soldier killed in a war.

Like the army, Sharpe is changing. As he gets older (he's now 36), he's losing his relish for battle and finding it harder to keep down the fear. For much of the book, his friend Frederickson is the go-getter, as Sharpe struggles with self-doubt over his post-army role, his wife's infidelities, etc.

And, after victory, the army is broken apart and Sharpe is adrift in this new world. But, of course, not for long. There's one more adventure with Harper and out of it, Sharpe's post-war world takes shape.

I've enjoyed reading Cornwell's series of Civil War novels (the Starbuck series). I recommend them, however, only with certain reservations.

These books are best approached as works of pure fiction that are set against approximations of history. People who read them either as an introduction to or as an adjunct to a study of actual history need to be wary here. Cornwell is a novelist, not an historian. Usually he gets the facts right; sometimes he does not. He freely invents major characters and events, and there are places where he alters established historical fact to suit his fiction. The result can be confusing.

For example, in _Copperhead_, Cornwell has Johnston hatching the battle plan for the Seven Pines offensive all on his own. That's not the way it happened. What's known about what did happen is far more interesting than Cornwell's altered and simplified version of events.

The second bone I have to pick with Cornwell's Civil War books, is that people who have read his previous novels (the Sharpe series) will find the many of the same characters and themes recurring in these. The characters here are somewhat less one-dimensional, but they're still transparent and predictable. The dialog is better.

As an historical novelist, I would spot Cornwell somewhere between Patrick O'Brian and the Shaaras (Michael and Jeff). He's not as good a novelist as O'Brian; he's not as good an historian as the Shaaras. On the other hand, he's almost as good as all of them combined. Not quite, but almost.

For those looking for the best Civil War novels, I would read these only after first reading the Shaaras' trilogy and The Red Badge of Courage. If at all possible, I would then read them alongside more carefully written accounts of the historical backgrounds.

That said, this is an excellent series of books. It will hold your attention and give you a fairly accurate impression of the sorts of things that really did go on back then. The facts are somewhat loose, but the final impression you'll get will not be.

'Sharpe's Revenge' takes the series' hero, Richard Sharpe, through the battle of Toulouse to the end of the war with France. But Sharpe's old enemy, Pierre Ducos, has yet another scheme cooking which will make him extremely wealthy and leave Sharpe implicated in the disappearence of Napoleon's fortune. To redeem his name Sharpe, Sergeant Harper, and Captian Fredrickson must roam a newly peaceful Europe in search of Ducos. A bit of a transition novel in the series, it does tend to stray a little from the battlefield adventures of the other books, nevertheless it is a fun and exciting story that paves the way for the next novel in the series, 'Waterloo.'

I looked forward to reading this book, and like one reviewer, looked forward to a pleasant evening of reading. This book is painfully researched and definitely not an enjoyable read. I have no doubt the author knows what he is writing about, but unless you are really an Earp fanatic, you will not enjoy a pleasant read about a colorful western persona. The book would have been much more enjoyable if the author had presented his version of the history of Wyatt Earp first. It was very distracting with the constant reporting of descrepancies he found in other texts in every chapter, and at least for novices, would have been appreciated at the end of the book as a summary of research.

This is one of the best books on Earp that has been writen. It is easy to read and is hard to put down. The facts are there and are well documented.

I checked out Mr Erwin's book, (You can't tell a book by its cover!) and planned an evening of enjoyable reading.

I first want to thank Mr. Erwin for his great effort and research. Saying that ...

Richard E. Erwin has apparently set forth what he believes are the true facts. However unless you're a lawyer or one of those college professors whose writings are unreadable except to one of their own kind you will NOT enjoy this.

Without studying his book as you would one of your old history books just before a test, you likely will not be able to figure out what facts Mr. Erwin sees as true and false. They may be found within his book, but you better start a blank truth table as well as a flow chart and begin completing it as you read each sentence.

Perhaps, Mr Richare E. Erwin can pursuade someone such as Steven Ambrose or Kenneth Davis to put his trurh into their words.

Perhaps Mr. Erwin can do so himself without the lawyerese. I would likely enjoy such a book. And it would probably sell well at museums and tourist areas in the Western United States.

"Lifelong Quest for Peace" is a compellation of dialogues between Nobel Laureate and peace activist Linus Pauling and Soka Gakkai International president Daisaku Ikeda which attempts to proffer insights and attainable solutions to the world's myriad problems. I found Dr. Pauling's contributions to the discussion to be salient and constructive as opposed to Mr. Ikeda, who gives the impression of an evangelical philosopher who has learned to conceal vacuity with pretentious verbage.

Disappointingly, the parameters of discussion in "Lifelong Quest for Peace" are so limited that the indubitable reasons behind global conflicts since World War II are hardly touched upon at all. The reasons being that the whenever the Third World has attempted to break out of its service role (the provision of resources, cheap labour, markets, opportunities for investment and the export of pollution) it has been forcibly put back "into its place" by those countries shouldered with the responsibility of protecting the First World's interests. This truism, which is obstensibly evaded in "Lifelong Quest for Peace" is most adeptly covered in Noam Chomsky's "World Orders, Old and New."

The evasion of the above historical and systemic truism, along with Mr. Ikeda's emasculate contribution, are some of the reasons why, for this reader at least, "Lifelong Quest for Peace" is ineffectual in proffering substantial solutions to the problems it attempts to provide answers to.

I found this book thought-provoking, interesting and inspiring.

I read this book after viewing the Soka Gakkai-sponsored Linus Pauling exhibit (see paulingexhibit.org). This book is the long-awaited dialogue between two-time Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Linus Pauling and Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda, carried out over three years, covering many interesting subjects. Admirers of Dr. Pauling, especially those with an interest in Buddhism, will be delighted.

Though certainly the most ubiquitous, George Washington has also always been the most mysterious of the Founding Fathers; the one whose greatness is most difficult for us to comprehend. Here was a man who was less well spoken and less brilliant than many of his peers. He was not a great philosophical or political thinker. He lost most of the military engagements he led. And yet, the men of whom we think more highly in these regards almost universally revered him. What quality was it that made men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and the Marquise de Lafayette defer to him ? The answer must surely lie in the character of the man, and character seems to be a uniquely difficult quality to convey in writing. Perhaps it is actually impossible to describe the quality itself; instead the effects of it must be described.

One example from Washington's life seems to me to stand out above all others : his handling of the Newburgh Conspiracy. When, after the War, disgruntled officers, led by Horatio Gates, circulated a letter suggesting that the Army march on Congress to demand back pay and hinted at taking control of the government, Washington used a simple but elegant ploy to defuse the crisis. Having summoned the men to his tent so that he could read a letter meant to dissuade them from their proposed course of action, he paused, reached into a pocket, and withdrew a pair of glasses, which, thanks in large part to his vanity, few knew he even required. As he unfolded them and put them on, he said :

Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.

It is reported, perhaps with some hyperbole, that men wept; but at any rate, the insurrection crumbled.

It is hard for us, jaded as we have become about our leaders, to imagine the drama of this scene and the effect it must have had on his comrades, but then again, we are unfortunate enough to have a recent Commander in Chief whose preference in underwear, bizarre sexual proclivities, and genital deformities were all common knowledge. It is perhaps instructive that when he was at Boys' State as a teenager (as related in David Maraniss's excellent biography First in His Class), Bill Clinton devoted himself to one single purpose and achieved it : to have his picture taken with President Kennedy. At a similar age, sixteen year old George Washington copied by hand 110 maxims from a guidebook on manners originally compiled by Jesuits in 1595. Both men were trying to improve themselves, but there's a key difference : Clinton sought a photo opportunity that would be personally gratifying and which he might use to advance his political career down the road; Washington sought out those precepts which would help him to discipline himself, to develop his character, and to make himself more presentable to society. The fundamental object of Clinton's effort was personal aggrandizement, of Washington's, to make himself a better person.

In this little book Richard Brookhiser, who wrote a terrific biography of Washington, reproduces the 110 "Rules of Civility" in a much easier form to read than the original text (for example, check out an online version), along with a brief introductory essay and explanatory, often amusing, comments on many of the rules. Here are some examples (with Brookhiser's comments in italics where applicable) :

(1) Every action done in company ought to be done with some sign of respect to those that are present.

(4) In the presence of others, sing not to yourself with a humming noise or drum with your fingers or feet.

Don't carry a boom box either.

(13) Kill no vermin, as fleas, lice, ticks, etc., in the sight of others. If you see any filth or thick

spittle put your foot dexterously upon it, if it be upon the clothes of your companions put it off privately, and if it be upon your own clothes return thanks to him who puts it off.

Useful advice on the frontier. In 1748, when Washington was sixteen, he went surveying in

the Blue Ridge mountains and was obliged to sleep under "one thread bare blanket with double its weight of vermin." The last two clauses are useful anywhere: Don't embarrass those you help, and however embarrassed you may be to discover that you have been in a ludicrous or disgusting situation, don't forget to thank those who helped you out of it.

As the last example demonstrates, many of the rules seem at first to be hopelessly antiquated, but on further reflection, in the concern they display for personal dignity and humility, thoughtfulness of and respect for others, maintenance of civil standards, they are truly timeless. The final precept is the most famous and allows Brookhiser to sum up all that have come before :

(110) Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

The only open reminder of what has been implicit all along: Petty morals and large morals are linked; there are no great spirits who do not pay attention to both; these little courtesies reflect, as in a pocket mirror, the social and the moral order.

And this is the significance of Washington's attention to these seemingly petty rules, that the conscience is only a spark and that it may be extinguished unless one labors to maintain it. Because Washington did take that labor seriously throughout his life, he had the reserve of respect and honor built up with others which enabled him to cow the rebellious officers at Newburgh and had the personal moral fiber which enabled him, at the vital moments in the life of the new republic, to refuse political power, both when it was there for the taking and when it was freely offered. In some sense, these 110 maxims helped to create the man of whom King George III said, when he heard that General Washington planned to surrender command of the Continental Army to retire to his farm :

If he indeed does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.

That assessment, from a humiliated enemy, was accurate then, and the bloody course of every subsequent revolution, suggests that it may understate the case.

GRADE : A

I bought this book about six years ago because I had been told that George Washington had used these rules of civility to guide his own life and actions. I cherish this book. There are a few rules that are dated, but they are entertaining. The rest is pure gold and timeless.

A few examples:

5. If you cough, sneeze, sigh, or yawn, do it not loud but privately; and speak not in your yawning, but put your hankerchief or hand before your face and turn aside.

65. Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none although they give occasion.

82. Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.

If you can't figure out what to give that new graduate who already has everything, I highly recommend this book. I recommend it for everyone.

If I win the lottery I am buying the entire supply and handing them out on the street corners. Our society would be a lot more tolerable if everyone followed these simple rules of manners and courtesy. What would Washington have written about inconsiderate cell phone use? A must read for everyone. Buy this as a gift for your teenager or college student. Start your own revolution against boorish behavior.

Rick Dooling is a man who knows what to love and what to hate. He manages to create a world that looks a lot like ours, with characters just a little bit bigger than reality but close enough that they seem to be people we recognize, and as such, vivid, juicy, and alive. He skewers crisply but fairly--life in this book is very complicated. And the smug--including most of Western culture--are forced to rethink just what they believe about how the world is assembled. Not malicious, not whiny, not grumpy--just excellent satire. I wish it had been a bit longer--the ending feels jumbled upon itself, but funny, sharp, taut, and clever. Buy it!

White Man's Grave is reminiscent of Conrad's Heart of Darkness in its descriptions of a westerner becoming increasingly entangled in the ominous world of an alien jungle. Behind the obvious irony of contrasting life of a lawyer with life in the bush (which he does with some really apt metaphors), Dooling forces us to ask: What is civilization? To what extent is any culture just a comfortable reality built upon an agreed-upon set of beliefs? Describing "magic" in matter-of-fact terms, Dooling offers no explanation of its source, demanding that the reader take on the impossible task of reconciling magic with "western" "reality."

The character of Boone is far too simplistic. As a student of the humanities, in the western world (sleeping in a cemetary in Paris), Boone is sympathetic to the possibilities of thought and metaphor. But once he reaches Africa, he more and more resembles Lewis in his intolerance. Perhaps this highlights the limitations of western liberal studies; but the Lewis/Boone vs. Sisay/Killigan polarization became cartoonish by the end and detracted from the pure description of the world of the Mende.

The end is far too abrupt. After so many warnings about the dangers of the bush and of the baboon people, when Boone finally enters that world, it is anticlimactic. Once Killigan shows up, the story becomes a western spy story; Dooling passes up an opportunity to reveal the complexities of politics and culture of Sierra Leone in even more vivid and challenging detail.

I have never been to Sierra Leone and cannot speak to the issue of whether Dooling's depiction of the Mende is accurate or not. But I have lived and worked in both the US and West Africa (and dealt with Americans in West Africa) and the author is so dead-on in some of his characterizations that it is mind blowing. The only thing he left out was the juju man in fill-in-the-blank West African capital city's main market listed in the travel guides who sells young European tourist amulets at 50 bucks a pop, though the Peace Corps amateur pornographer was a nice touch. If Dooling had written the book today, he could thrown some Lariam-induced psychotic reactions into the mix.

No, if Hollywood got a hold of this, the Africans would be simpletons, and the Americans noble, and the kids with automatic weapons would be cartoonish instead of truly frightening. Besides, 17 year old Americans aren't interested in places they've never heard of.

On the other hand, if they could get Terry Gilliam to direct, this could have potential...

Wheeler assumes Masterson's identity and writes a first-person account of a 1919 trip the old lawman, gambler and businessman might have taken out west to make sense of his life and legend.
The author seems to care very much about getting historical details right, which is important to me as I like to learn something about history when I read historical novels.
Masterson was, by 1919, a newspaper columnist living in New York City with his wife Emma. Wheeler has Masterson uneasy about the dichotomy between his legend and his real life and sends him back into the American West to reach some conclusion about how he would like to be remembered.
It's a fact-filled odyssey that takes Masterson to Dodge City, Trinidad, Los Angeles, Leadville and Denver (among other places). Along the way he reminisces about his life in the West, talks to Wyatt Earp, gets a bit part in a William S. Hart movie, discovers the result of a forgotten act of kindness in Denver and formally marries Emma (a rite they had somehow neglected oh those many years).
There's a touching scene when he visites the grave of Doc Holliday and hears that the long-dead dentist's widow has been paying to have flowers put on the grave every week for years. "God bless you, Big Nose Kate," he says to no one.
It's a masterful book, no pun intended, and I'm glad I read it. But it suffers from lack of a plot, which is why I'm giving it just three stars. I won't fault the author for that, however, as the whole premise mitigates against the use of a plot in the meaning that the term is generally accepted to have.
"Masterson" does exactly what historical fiction is supposed to do. It entertains and instructs simultaneously. I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in the reality of the American West but has trouble digesting non-fiction history books.

As far as Western's go this book by Richard Wheeler is not half bad. His historical fiction of Bat Masterson is for the most part a well written book. The only exception is his treatment of Wyatt Earp. It was the one low spot in an other wise fine book about a true Western Lawman "Bat" Masterson.

Richard Wheeler does creditable research on his main subject Masteson in the waining days of his life as a New York Reporter. He peoples his novel with very real people such as Louella Parsons. I found his charaters were fleshed out rather well for the most part, but found his charicature of Wyatt Earp who was very much a real friend of Bat Masterson less than honest. Wyatt was far better educated than portrayed. That aside, enjoy the book.

It's a rare treat to walk through an actual person's mind in such a convincing book as "Masterson". I only knew of Bat Masterson as the foppish crime-solver from the TV series, and this Masterson is a much more human and plausible man. This is a Western hero I could believe in. It's a grand, sad journey he and his lady take in this book. His life, "past" and "present", and the historic settings through which he travels were obviously well researched. Are there any missteps here? Only Bat could tell us. I think it happened just as Wheeler says.

Well-meaning, I suppose, but very lightweight advice. Take a hot bath. Breathe deeply. Drink decaffinated tea. Please. Nothing new here. A nice little book for someone who's pretty oblivious to the world around them. Sorry to be jaded; but nothing here that would seriously stop the sweating! Maybe it would stop mild perspiration, but not real sweat!

This cheerful book aims to make us stop and smell--if not roses--whatever is sitting in front of our noses. It is just like the other series of "Don't Sweat" books but with a women-minded twist. It offers meditations designed to make us appreciate our lives, keep our emotions in perspective, and cherish other people. I also highly recommend "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Little Book of Eastern Wisdom" by Taro Gold. If we all followed the guidance in these books, we would be happier, more harmonious women.

How do women become so wise and resilient? And why do we sweat the small stuff so much? Is there some balance, some moment when you realize that most of it is all small stuff?

Kristine Carlson is married to Richard Carlson and together they show great insight into the everyday life. Their books can seriously start to change your life if you use the principles they present in these easy-to-read compact books. I especially like their "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love" book and I think it helped me improve my own relationship considerably by making me realize that one of the most important needs humans have is to be listened to. I had never really thought about what the other person needed in conversation, always so busy jabbering on. Wow, that was quite a revelation to me and it changed my entire view of conversation.

Expect real revelations from these books. They are more than enlightening. Sometimes a simple awareness of an issue can trigger an entire thinking pattern that will help you make changes. When reading this book a highlighter is essential!

Kristine discusses why you should set aside time every morning to reflect. See, that is a good excuse to spend a little time in the morning chatting online? Right? Ok, well I think that she actually meant spending time alone thinking about your day.

As you move into your day, you try to get organized and at times the entire day feels like it is falling apart. Have you noticed that if you pick up the house in the morning, the entire day is more enjoyable? Kristine gives herself an hour each morning to clear the path of her day. She spends time each morning organizing her life. I loved her thought about laundry. A gentleman she met makes folding clothes a Zen meditation. Ok, so I am not burning candles while I fold towels, but I try not to be as stressed about it all.

Some of her ideas include:

Make Peace with The Mundane - Sometimes life just IS.
Ground Your Energy in Nature - Take a walk in the evening.
Protect Your Inner Flame - Nurture yourself.

Plan an Inspiration Flow Day - Just go with the flow...oh, what fun this type of day is. It is very freeing and you do just what occurs to you. I write the most reviews on these types of days. They might include reading a great book, watching a movie, sitting outside with the cats, making dinner, writing in a journal, exercising. On other days, you might feel like just leaving the house for most of the day and forgetting about that load of laundry, those dishes, etc. Just escaping can be most freeing.

Walk Through Open Doors - A positive attitude shows you more open doors.

Let Go of "Perfect" Plans - have a sense of humor when things don't work instead of crying your eyes out. Dissapointment is so hard to take when you have very high expectations.

Climb Your Mountain One Step at a Time - set goals, but take it one step at a time.

Save Pot Stirring for Cooking Dinner (I really liked that one!)
Gather and Let Go
Define Your Small Stuff

This is a collection of essays that will inspire you and you will learn to appreciate people in your life, swallow your anger, take time for yourself and nurture your friendships.

Use this as a way to make your own list of things you want to change in your life.

Then:

Go run in a rain puddle
Light Candles while you watch a movie
Think about Beautiful Moments
Start a Journal
Say something inspirational to a friend
Tell someone in your life you love them
Let some things go, don't obsess so much (ok, but it is hard to do!)

Define what is not really important then imagine it drifting away on a small boat, down the river in front of you. After all, who has time for all that baggage.

Read this book to help you see the really important things in life.

Great Insight! You might even want to buy a few copies for
all your friends. That reminds me to add a few to my
wish list!

The story that Larry Berman tells of Nixon-Kissinger diplomacy is a familiar and unpleasant one. Just before the 1968 election the Nixon campaign contacted President General Thieu of South Vietnam. In returning for Thieu opposing peace talks that had just started, and subsequently ruining Hubert Humphrey's election chances, Nixon and Kissinger promised him a better deal. Four years later Kissinger, while keeping Thieu largely in the dark, finally came up with an agreement in October 1972. The Americans would withdraw, American prisoners of war would be returned, the North Vietnamese army would allow to keep troops in the south, and instead of being the sole government of South Vietnam, Thieu would now have to share this with the National Liberation Front (NLF). Thieu was extremely upset about this and in order to appease his feelings the United States claimed, falsely, that the North was trying to seek major changes in the agreement. They bombed the North (the infamous "Christmas Bombings"), returned to the negotiating table, made token changes to the agreement, and falsely proclaimed "peace with honor" in January 1973.

Much of this has already been well known, and has been detailed by such writers as Gareth Porter, Seymour Hersh and most recently Jeffrey Kimball in Nixon's Vietnam War. Berman argues something new however. Nixon and Kissinger claimed that they had won a viable agreement which was undermined by Watergate. The collapse of presidential authority let a cowardly Congress ruin their farsighted policy and allow the North to win. By contrast, their many critics claim that Nixon and Kissinger had obtained nothing but a "decent interval," allowing them to extricate themselves knowing that the North would conquer them in a few years.

Berman, by contrast, argues that what Nixon and Kissinger really wanted was a peace agreement that they knew the North would violate. Once they did they could invoke American airpower aggressively and continually until the end of Nixon's term. The agreement was nothing but a sham, only a necessary stage in producing what would be a new Gulf of Tonkin resolution. I am skeptical about this argument. First off, it only really appears in the last 100 pages of the book. The statements that Berman cites from Nixon, Kissinger and Haig can be interpreted in a variety of ways. It could be self-delusion, especially on Nixon's part. It could be simple belligerence designed to buck up their south east Asian allies and their own anti-communist beliefs.

The second weakness with the argument arises from the deal itself. The United States had already conceded a Northern military presence in the South, the essential unity of the country, and some form of NLF presence in the government. Given these concessions it would be tricky to argue that the North had broken them and then get from Congress the blank cheque to attack them. Even more problematic was the fact that the United States and the South also violated the agreement. Thieu had no interest in any kind of national reconciliation, and Berman himself admits that the United States violated the agreement by transferring bases to the South. Berman also notes that neither Kissinger nor Thieu wished to free the thousands of political prisoners in the South. The key point is that if both Thieu and Nixon violated the agreement, they could not reasonably expect to mobilize Congressional support when the North did.

There are other weaknesses in Berman's book. The book is poorly annotated, which becomes increasingly irritating as one goes further into the books and where one wonders what the source of Berman's statements are. It is really appalling that publishers are allowed to show such contempt for endnotes and footnotes. Berman does have access to new documents, but there is a tendency to overquote them. This gives the book a "cut and paste" tendency. Most serious of all is Berman's treatment of the military situation and his attitude towards the Thieu regime. It is less South Vietnam, let alone Vietnam, but the Thieu regime who is viewed as betrayed. Berman's book insinuates that by withdrawing on these terms, Nixon and Kissinger doomed Thieu to inevitable conquest.

Thieu's defeat was probably inevitable, but not for the reasons that Berman suggests. He quotes the right wing critics of the deal, like Admirals Zumwalt and Moorer and Ambassador Negroponte. But he does not explain why Vietnamization failed to rebuild or reinforce the Southern Army. He does mention that the NLF rallied remarkably after the 1972 Easter Offensive (other scholars think they rallied even earlier) but he says little more about them. But as Arnold Isaacs pointed out in his invaluable Without Honor, the South Vietnamese Army always had enough arms to defend itself. Before the final offensive it had the third largest navy in the world and it had twice as many tanks as its enemies. As late as 1974 when already guerilla forces were weakening it, it outshot the enemy by a margin of 60 to 1. What the ARVN lacked of course, was an army with leaders who were honest or competent or courageous (anyone of these qualities would have worked) and an infantry who were willing to fight for their causes. For this failure Thieu was especially responsible, as were for that matter his disgruntled and belligerent countrymen.

In 1973, soon after the Nobel Prize Committee announced that Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho had won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in bringing about the treaty that ended United States military involvement in Vietnam, former US Ambassador to Japan and Harvard history professor Edwin Reischauer said that the Nobel Committee had apparently changed the award to the "Nobel War Prize." Among other things, Professor Berman's latest book certainly demonstrates that no one deserved a peace prize for the Viet Nam War (what the Vietnamese call "the American War"). That Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon constantly engaged in duplicity with the South Vietnamese government and with the American people is not exactly news today. However, Berman's prodigious research demonstrates beyond all doubt that Kissinger and Nixon knew very well that whatever peace agreement they reached with the North Vietnamese government would be at best temporary, and would result in the collapse of the South Vietnamese government. Furthermore, Berman demonstrates that Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon were only interested in getting the US out of Viet Nam,and were not at all concerned with what would happen to the South Vietnamese people afterwards. "No Peace, No Honor" is an important and readable book on the last years of US involvement in the Viet Nam War, especially the behind-the-scenes negotiations that resulted in America's less than honorable exit from Viet Nam.

Larry Berman is the perfect person to expose President Richard Nixon's duplicity regarding his Vietnam War policy, wherein Nixon sought to promote a peace agreement he and Henry Kissinger both knew would accomplish nothing in thwarting North Vietnam's design to achieve a unified Vietnamese Communist nation. In the typical Nixon fashion, design was preeminent over ultimate reality as he heralded the agreement ending U.S. participation in the nation's most controversial war with the glorious phrase, "Peace With Honor."

"No Peace, No Honor" is the logical sequel to Larry Berman's earlier penetrating work, "Planning a Tragedy," which was a fascinating look inside the Johnson Administration and the mindset which brought about America's entry into the Vietnam conflict. Robert McNamara, despite his earlier assurances, proved to be a naive administrator, making mistake upon mistake in forcing America into an ever deepening hawkish posture. The wise counsel of State Department operative George Ball, who provided the beneficial hindsight input of French president Charles DeGaulle, whose country fought a war in Indo China between 1946 and 1954, was unfortunately spurned.

With Johnson gone and the Nixon Administration taking over in January of 1969, the scene is set for Berman's latest work. Taking advantage of recently declassified government documents, Berman presents a chaotic scene in which Nixon and Kissinger seek to find a way out of the Vietnam morass without conveying the impression that the U.S. was running out on an ally and leaving it vulnerably exposed to a successful Communist insurgency. Despite ferocious bombing, Nixon was ultimately confronted with a situation wherein public support for the war in America had reached its lowest level while his anticipated strategy of helping build Vietnam's fighting forces into a team formidable enough to hold off the insurgency from the North had notably failed. As a result, Nixon sought to convince Americans that the agreement he was able to achieve embodied "Peace With Honor" when Communist troops remained in place in the South, prepared to finish the job and achieve a unified Vietnam. Debate had persisted over the years over whether Nixon and Kissinger were aware of what ultimately would transpire, and that the agreement signed and put into place was nothing other than a facade meant to disguise an ultimate result of which they were well aware. The documents unearthed by Berman demonstrate an awareness of Nixon and Kissinger of the tragic nature of circumstances and the inevitability of a Communist triumph.

William Hare