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As a sourcebook for Sword and Sorcery's Scarred Lands Campaign setting, this book is a must have. However, those people not playing in the Scarred Lands can find some use in it for presenting ratmen/ratlings/skaven, or whatever other name you wish to call rat people, into thier campaign worlds. This is a well written book, with excllent artwork and information. There are several Ratmen prestige classes, Spells, and new pieces of equipment presented, and most of them are well done.
However, the only factor that keeps me from giving it a full 5 stars is that the writers of the book make too many decisions for the Game Master using this book. Only some races of ratmen are presented as viable player character races, and are given full write ups for using them as such. Those subraces that the authors deemed too-powerful to be used as a player character race are denied such a writeup. Unfortunately, this takes alot of control away from the individual game master, and makes it more difficult to present NPC's from these subraces that possess character class levels beyond the norm for their race. Perhaps most annoying is that the most interesting of the subraces - in my eyes, anyway - are the ones not given an extra writeup for uses as a character race.
In all, I thing this book was a very good purchase, especially considering the price. I've found alot more enjoyment reading this and other Sword and Sorcery releases than the "official" ones from Wizards of the Coast. All things considered, this book is worth the cost, just for a new and interesting take on a culture of ratmen.
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Mr. Dean was a lawyer working in the White House. Thus, he was privy to many of the machinations of the Nixon Administration. If Mr. Dean is liable to be suspected of repenting or exaggerating his role, he may be at least presumed to be an authority.
One of Mr. Dean's overarching points is that Mr. Rehnquist was appointed to the Court nearly accidentally. The naive reader will be startled to see how little thought went into the selection, how late in the process that thought came about, and how few second thoughts were lavished on the selection once it was made.
In addition, the reader will be amused by the cavalier banter that passed for analysis between Nixon and his various sounding boards. Dean has reproduced dialogue from the White House tapes, so the quotations appear to be authoritative.
The "might have beens" are too delicious to spoil in this review. Dean deftly introduces each possibility with a capsule description so that readers who did not pay much attention in 1971 may appreciate who was who.
No one should be surprised to read that Nixon was prejudiced against blacks, Jews, and women, but the vehemence with which Nixon spews stereotypes startles even thirty years later.
Dean concludes that Rehnquist, in 1971 and 1986, fibbed his way thorough difficulties. The splendid irony that the fellow who presided over Clinton's trial in the Senate in 1999 had perjured himself onto the Court and into the Chief Justiceship is hardly news. To believe Rehnquist's denials concerning challenging minority voters in Arizona in the 1960s or concerning his memorandum urging the justices to uphold "separate but equal" as good law required muscular denial. [Dean does not raise the matter of the restrictive covenant on Rehnquist's property.] Those familiar with these issues will find very little new. However, those new to the matter will find in the "Afterword" a concise but articulate discussion of why Rehnquist's denials were unbelievable.
What readers may not gather from Dean's prose, however, is that, in a roundabout way, the system worked. Stymied by the American Bar Association [which found Nixon's first few candidates to be unqualified or unimpressive] and stung by mass media attacks on Nixon's attempts to appoint mediocrities, Nixon felt compelled to go for a little stature with predictable ideology. Rehnquist was a predictable conservative. He was also many cuts above the sorts of people with whom Nixon wanted to saddle the Court.
Dean brings us inside the "vetting" process used by the White House staff and Justice Department to select nominees to the Court. Dean floated the name of Rehnquist to several in the administration, including then Attorney General John Mitchell, as a possible conservative candidate for the Court as Dean had worked with Rehnquist in the Justice Department and learned of the Rehnquist's strict constructionist interpretation of the constitution. What was fascinating was that Rehnquist while toiling away at the Justice Department was tasked with "vetting' the other possible Court nominees chosen by the White House. Sounds much like the recent scenario of the selection of Dick Cheney as Vice President.
The book details the other nominees Rehnquist beat out for the coveted position. If anyone believes that politics plays no part in the selection of the members of the Court, then this is required reading. At times humorous and at times self-serving, this book is well worth the purchase. If you are not a Court watcher don't worry, you don't have to be to appreciate this book. Dean is a good writer and the text flows easily. Add "The Rehnquist Choice" to your summer reading list - you will gain an appreciation of the importance of Presidential nominations to the Court.
John Dean waited for the release of these tapes and along with his personal recollections during the time period has written a book that deals with the selection of Rehnquist and Lewis Powell as United States Supreme Court Justices. Its not pleasant reading for those naive enough to believe that Presidents seek out the most qualified people for appointments. Rather, the book exposes the process used by President Nixon to select two supreme court justices as frought with politics, bigotry, and regionalism. Nixon's bigotry about Jews, prejudice against easterners, and nasty language make this a book that someone who is very sensitive should not read.
The real shocker here is that before picking Powell who was a superbly qualified justice, Nixon first selected two candidates who could not even win acceptance as "qualified" for the Supreme Court by the American Bar Association Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Nixon stubbornly tried to get these individuals appointed until it became absolutely clear it was hopeless. Only at this point, did a real candidate like Powell get nominated. Nixon further abused the process by sending names to the ABA of other people he knew would never win approval.
Rehnquist had good paper qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court. However, it was known early on he was extremely conservative. He may have lied about statements he allegedly made expressing approval of racial segregation in schools. Dean presents the case for this. Its up to the reader to judge.
In the end, we are left gasping at the twisted and bizarre process which put Rehnquist on the Supreme Court. Even those who support Rehnquist and other conservative justices should wish for a better process to select judges. Hopefully, one day we shall see such a process and never see another President like Nixon again.
Mark
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Co-sleeping with your baby is not the only solution Dr. Sears suggests. For more information on co-sleeping historically and cross-culturally, I recommend The Family Bed by Tine Thevenin. If you're looking for solutions to your older baby's sleep problems, you may also want to see The Discipline Book by Dr. Sears.
I understand the urge of parents who want to have their babies trained to sleep through the night in a nursery room -- some times I wish for the free time I imagine that affords. But we have fewer night problems than people we know who follow other methods. It's easier to make choices as a parent when you sort your wants from your needs. Babies ask for what they need. We have a very peaceful time as a family by following Dr. Sears advice and it really shows in our toddler's daytime and nighttime behavior.
I highly recommend this book, though I wish it were cheaper.