This back of the book cover led me to believe there would be interesting information on his wife, Carolyn. Ha! There was practically no information on his wife. I learned more about her in a single magazine article then from this book. It has the basic geographic info: born, lived, schooled. Boring. If you are a diehard JFK JR then go for it, otherwise there are much better books on him. If you are looking for Carolyn info, look elsewhere. Period.

As a generation "Xer" this book intrigued me for one shallow purpose at the forthright. John F. Kennedy, Jr. was and will always remain in the public's eye as a sex symbol. I was glad that the author started out with something familiar when introducing her book. Beginning with the how and why of John's appointment to the sexiest man alive was something that I remembered and could identify with. Without any knowledge of the Kennedy "clan" as she terms them, and even less historical knowledge, I could identify with the placement of John on the cover of People magazine. While I had heard of President Kennedy's alleged affairs it came as a shock to see other members of the Kennedy family hold such little esteem for marriage vows. The author really brings Jackie Kennedy down to earth and sure makes me long for her happiness and admire the strength of such a delicate looking woman. She certainly isn't short on male companionship and some of her relationships leave you wondering why she didn't just go it alone. The details behind John's relationships are intriguing and the relationship with Madonna was particularly surprising to this reader. The author paints the picture of John being less than the smartest Kennedy but far outshining with his personality, athletic abilities, and Kennedy charisma. The well-known ending is tragic and left me with the same sinking feeling as I did watching the T.V. hoping his plane would be found or by some chance to find out he hadn't been on board at all. A good read for anyone wanting more information on the Kennedy family and most importantly on John Jr.

This book had many good points, and I finished it fairly quickly. It made me laugh out loud, and at other poignant moments I cried. I enjoyed reading about John's college exploits, his years as an assistant D.A. and details of his relationships with the ladies. It was vividly written, capturing my imagination in a way that presented me with a good sense of his splendid personality, in turn giving me an evengreater admiration of the man. Too much time, I think was devoted to his early childhood days, and I was disappointed that missing was a major portion of his later life after the debut of GEORGE, and of his married life. I would recommend this book, though, to anyone wanting a keepsake to revisit the memory of our beloved John Jr.

Although this 102 page volume purports to be a translation of a 12th century manuscript written by a man called Hidetomo Nakadai for Japan's first Shogun, Minamoto Yoritomo (who in fact DID exist), it is in fact a fictional work penned by Stephen Kaufman. A man who admittedly does not speak Japanese and has no academic background to speak of, Kaufman would certainly be an unlikely candidate to "discover" a Japanese manuscript which has been "lost" for 800 years--and somehow present it to us in English. The fact is that no such person as Hidetomo Nakadai existed. There is no historical work called "Shogun no Rin" ("Shogun Scrolls"). Author Stephen Kaufman is also known through his previous two books as someone who does not mind altering ACTUAL historical documents in an effort to get them to conform to his desired meaning (he has done this with Musashi's "Book of Five Rings" as well as Sun Tsu's "Art of War"). He also tends towards the ignorant, referring to both Minamoto and Hidetake by their first names, a blooper nobody who'd taken a year of Japanese history or language would commit.

As there are a number of true century-old documents which offer advice on bushido to warriors and leaders and have been translated into English and are also much more thorough in scope and clearer in context ("Hagukure" and "Budoshoshinshu" come to mind), I fail to see why Kaufman crafted this spurious work in the first place! In his introduction, he mentions Machiavelli's "The Prince", (page viii) which suggests that this book of his may have been inspired by that work (I am inclined to believe this is his creative interpretation of that book). Kaufman also admits that "As a working philosopher and motivation lecturer, I am not interested in actual historical events..." (page viii). Nonetheless, Stephen Kaufman is NOT clear about the veracity of this book, never once warning the reader that this is not a work of fact, but an imaginative fictitious hodgepodge concocted by his active imagination and incomplete knowledge of Japanese history.

Generally, there is a belief common among martial artists (and others) that people should conduct themselves honorably. This includes being truthful and honest--NOT being misleading. There are undoubtedly a number of well-meaning people who in seeking an education in Budo, have stumbled upon Kaufman's book "The Shogun Scrolls" and trusting the author's words, taken them as historical fact. Whatever Kaufman's motivation in doing this, I cannot believe his intentions were good. What a pity that Kaufman couldn't present his own honest philosophical views, in a straightforward manner and in his own words, perhaps using actual historical events as his base. If only he could banish his ego to impart wisdom to his readers rather than leaving them misguided, ignorant, annoyed and confused.

At the time of this review this book has been in print for three years, and has the distinction of being the only book on the little heard of subject. Kaufman apparently uncovered references to the original scrolls while researching the Five Rings and the Art of War. The book is clearly a work of fiction. It does not even feign to be a translation. An 800 year old Shogun text appears out of nowhere and there is just one thin little paperback written about it. Curiously, Kaufman lists no references or bibliography. There is no honor in this Hanshi 10th Dan. Perhaps, he should read the books he was doing research on. So much for Joie code, etcetera.

A Twelfth Century Shogun, Yoritomo, suggests that Nakadai, a scholar and counsellor of political strategy, advise him in matters of conducting the business of the realm. This is the genesis of The Shogun Scrolls. Stephen F. Kaufman, Hanshi, 10th Dan, has brought to light an important and very readable work containing wisdom that will give the reader a tremendous advantage for controlling the realm, whether "the realm" translates into corporate empire, local, state or federal government or a law firm. It is a wonderful and important addition to martial art literature. Although usually found in the martial arts section of a book store, Shogun Scrolls is not meant to enhance one-on-one fighting skills. Nevertheless, it is clearly important to read if it is your aspiration to live the martial way. To be a leader that desires to keep order and live the martial way, means you must lead the martial way. Shogun Scrolls is your guide: it is a valuable lesson in management from almost nine centuries past. Every martial artist would benefit from reading this fine work; any leader or manager who opts to ignore Shogun Scrolls, does so at their own peril.

It remains an intriguing fact: the trip of Rudolf Hess to England. There were no indications that he was mad (at least not madder than the other nazi leaders) and all of a sudden he decides to fly to England to start the peace negotiations...

The authors write a very stout book to investigate what happened or what could have happened. And that is my major problem with the book: on the basis of a number of very flimsy clues they draw far-reaching conclusions which they then present as the only possible truth in the rest of the book. They then use those conclusions as the basis for even more far-fetched conclusions etc.

I also think that there is more to the flight of Hess than the ravings of a lunatic, but this book is a very easy way to come with a fantastic story. And the major conclusion (the person in Spandau prison was a double of the real Rudolf Hess who died in WW 2) is not supported by the evidence presented in this book.