Social Sciences Books

Bought this for an independent study course, and found that it is an excellect book for self learning. The concepts are explained well and the topics are easy to follow making it so that a regular class to discuss the book is not necessary.

I thought this was a well laid out book. It was very informative and all the information was relevent. It was easy to read and to take information away from. Kudos to the author.

I was required to have this book for an Adolescent Psych class and it has been a great read. The book is laid out in an easy to read format. This is much better than the CD of the book which is confusing to use.

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood is a work of nonfiction by Koren Zailckas, chronicling her love affair with alcohol. The book's organizational structure is telling itself, split into four sections: "Initiation," "The Usual," "Excess," and "Abuse." It begins with Koren's first taste, swigging sips of Southern Comfort on the sly, peer-pressured into it by her friend Natalie at age 14. Koren then moves through high school and college and has what almost anyone would consider a normal relationship with drinking throughout her education, though peppered with occasional moments of blackouts and vomiting. Within months of graduating college, she stops drinking altogether. While her experiences with alcohol aren't unusual, I think her underlying motivations are.

Koren wants the reader to understand that she considers her drinking history overindulgent. She makes this clear on the cover, a seemingly real-life snapshot of the author slumped over in a chair, her hair gratefully covering her shameful face. She also punctuates the text with footnotes and statistics that tear the reader from the narrative, serving as a reminder that this book has an agenda. Heavy-handed tactics like these are informational and clearly prove that the problem is bigger than Koren herself, but give away the author's secret: she didn't think telling her story flat out would work as an allegory to apply to America at large. This detracted from all the wonderful attributes of the book, like Koren's snarky sense of humor, her spot-on characterizations, and completely realistic retelling of the transition from childhood to adulthood, from innocence to wisdom, through the holding tank of extended adolescence called college. What's unfortunate is that these wonderful facets of Koren's writing could have easily made the story a very successful cautionary fable, rendering those distracting statistics unnecessary.

If this were a different story, with a different subject matter, I'm sure I'd love it. I love the author's writing style, and she weaves a wonderful story. Smashed comes off as didactic though, narrating the various shames Koren experiences after drinking too much, the kind of things that are nationally publicized when they happen to today's young starlets. This "Don't turn into Paris Hilton" adage is clear from the beginning, and quickly becomes overkill.

The real problem, rather than Koren's drinking, is her inability to stand on her own. She drinks because she surrounds herself with stronger personalities who drink, and follows their lead. She goes from person to person, admitting that she patterns all of her relationships, both platonic and romantic, after the one with Natalie, who "will be the blueprint for the kamikaze girlfriends... the suicidal personalities who seize the day by letting go of any expectations for a tomorrow." If Koren chose better people with whom to surround herself, or if she blazed her own path rather than always passively going along with what was socially accepted, her life story would read very differently. She even uses alcohol as something to hide behind, something to rely upon to relate to people and use as her mouthpiece. It's not her relating to others- it's the booze. It wasn't dependency on alcohol that thwarted her growth, but rather her dependency on others for identity and self-worth.

All that said, Smashed is still an entertaining, thoughtful, honest coming-of-age story. Koren Zailckas is a talented writer who I look forward to reading again, hoping her careful eye will be trained on personal strength rather than personal weakness.

When I first picked up the book I thought it was fiction. I got into bed and at first was disappointed to find out it was not. However I decided to give it a chance. I was hooked right away. My breath was stolen while I connected to the writer. At my age now I look at my adolescence and young adulthood as if it was someone else but while reading that book it brought back so much emotion. I encouraged my friends and sister to read it because I felt we all could relate and everyone has loved this book. The stories may be shocking, sad, and/or appalling but it happens. It is very real.

I read this in conjunction with 'Blackout Girl'. Both books suffer from the same disease...that the authors think the facts of their life story are interesting in and of themselves. But they are not. Tales of dysfunctional parents and wild debauchery may make for a good hour on the Jerry Springer Show, they do not necessarily make interesting reading.

The other issue is that most of the writing is cliched and trite to the point of exhaustion. It did get to the point where I could not finish this book....it no longer seemed worth the investment of time.

I read Smashed while stuck at an airport half the night due to a tornado in the area and managed to finish it on the airplane on my way back home. While I have to admit the book kept me distracted from my situation, I didn't particularly care for her writing style. The absurd amount of metaphors she used were a bit distracting.

My main problem with the book is that she seems to be glorifying what she went through. She insists she is not an alcoholic and I simply cannot understand that. I am speaking as a person who has much knowledge in alcoholism. There are two forms:

1. Heredity (born addicted)
2. Alcohol abuse that becomes addicting over a period of time.

The author of this book had her stomach pumped and continued to drink. She experienced black outs, lost her best friend and believes she was possibly date-raped. A person who simply abuses alcohol for pleasure would stop when drinking stops becoming pleasurable. Koren Zailckas did not stop.

I also find it highly doubtful that a therapist on-line would diagnose her condition without ever meeting her. This is extremely unprofessional and unethical. A true and liscenced psychiatrist / counselor / physician would have her schedule an appointment and get her screened. The doctor would also have to run tests and a medical check-up to make sure her health has not deteriorated after a decade of binge drinking (liver damage).

I gave the book two stars because I did find the book mildly entertaining. Her book has a nostalgic tone to it and I did find myself almost reliving my adolescence in certain chapters. My annoyances in the book mostly stemmed from the obviously inexperienced writing style and the obvious lack of maturity from the author.

This book isn't about alcohol abuse, really. It's about a girl from a priviledged family who grows up with lots of friends, becomes a college cheerleader/sorority sister, interns in New York, makes and maintains friendships along the way, and should be an all-around productive, happy citizen. But this girl, from an early age, wants to be a writer. She is especially awestruck by tortured female writers, like Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. I think she assumed that to be a great writer/poet, suffering is essential. Her driving force isn't alchohol, it's the pretense of alcohol abuse because it makes her appear to be tortured. She thinks misery drives creativity. Many great writers/artists are and were indeed lost souls, many with mental health problems. But the author's problems are all self-inflicted. "Look at how much I drink...I'm so tortured! Feel sorry for me!"
The more I read this book, the more I got the feeling that she had created a character in her own mind and was living it out. Maybe she should have gone into dramatic performance instead of writing. I wonder if the feminists she so hopelessly wants to impress with her smug treatment of men, are indeed impressed by her? She is certainly impressed enough with herself, blaming her actions on everyone around her.
I got the impression that once she felt that she had suffered enough, she had a book to write. If you continually choose to place yourself in stupid situations, that just makes you stupid, not deep. If you continually remain emotionally and physically detached from "boys," and play mind games with them, guess what, they're not going to stick around. It doesn't make you smarter than them, just more pathetic. This story is like a whiny love letter the author wrote to herself--"See, you are so tortured and filled with angst, you have suffered so greatly, you are a writer!" Making stupid choices and employing the overuse of simile and metaphor doesn't create a great writer...just an annoying story that is written in an annoying manner.

I had to return this purchase because this is a study guide, not a used textbook. I did not see it shown as a study guide at all. Very frustrating. It looked like a good study guide, but not really useful to me based on my instructor's syllabus.

This was an excellent introduction to the world of anthropology, with an attempt to remain culturally-fair with all topics touched upon, including its example of Christianity being "not perfect" by pointing out some of the problems introduced as a result of adopting Chrisitianity over another religious following. It prepared the reader for further studies in anthropology quite well, although (probably since I have already read more in-depth books in the field) it left me somewhat bored with the basic level of writing used. Would highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to be introduced to the very fascinating and diverse field of anthropology!!!

This book provides helpful insights into the four fields of anthropology: physical, socio-cultural, linguistic, and archaeology. The book begins with a look at the development of Homo sapiens and how H. sapiens has come to populate the world. The book then delves into the topics of political structures, religion, psychology, economics, linguistics, etc. One of the most intriguing aspects of this book is that it discusses the many specialties within anthropology, including forensic anthropology, medical anthropology, and paleoanthropology.

I highly recommend this book to those who wish to gain an understanding of the many fields of anthropology. Whether you are reading this book for leisure or as a student, you should find this to be and enjoyable and informative text.

I have received the item, which was exactly as described, good condition with the CD included. The seller provided fast shipping and delivered on the description provided.

book arrived in excellent, new condition in a timely fashion complete with software

I got the wrong edition of this book. I needed the 4th edition but the 3rd edition was sent to me. Can I have it exchange for the 4th edition. I would really be greateful.

Thanks

Lorna Grant

I bought this text to refresh my quantitative skills after many years of qualitative research. The book is easy to follow, and teaches statistical methods in a way that focuses on application skills, rather than seeming like a math text. I love that it provides basic commands for methods in SAS and SPSS. Easy and concise enough for undergraduates to follow, but makes a great desk reference for seasoned social scientists.

I am very disappointed. This book I was told has to be bought with a CD for the computer. I was given a choice of a book with and without the CD. I chose the book with the CD and it was not the correct one. There was no description as to what was on the CD. I was being asked to choose a book with a SPSS program on the CD and I gotthe introduction to the book with no choices to down load. You would have better business practices if you required the cd's to be described. I will have to think very carefully before I order my school books from here again.

I lived the same life in my early twenties, but instead of rappers, my life revolved around rock stars & Dj's, so I definitely was able to relate. It's just sad that this book got so many negative reviews commenting on how she's just "exploiting the black community" and "making money off of exposing people" and "blah blah blah". I'd bet that over half of these negative reviews are given by other black women. Now that's what I consider "black on black hate". Here's a story of a young woman trying to find herself as well as her self-esteem & is looking for it in all the wrong people & places and finally gets the courage to write a book & make a little money by telling all. And instead of praising her for it, all of you other black woman have to hate on it and give it a bad review, so typical for another black girl to hate on another fellow black girl. It's so much easier for you to hate on her than give her the benefit of the doubt. Be happy that she found her way and made a couple of dollars on top it. Nope can't do that can you?

This was a good read but not a lot of information like you might think.

I must lift my hat to KS who had the guts to paper her life as a whore among hip hops' unfinest. This book is obviously a best seller not because of the writing skills of the author but because of the telling revelations so candily splattered from across the not too many pages. Honestly, I would have loved to hear a lot more of what she has to say.

The saying that all men are dogs seems indeed true. Married or not, these men were having their cake and eating it and paying dearly for it.
KS did good, she brought these scumbags out in the open for all the young girls to see that yes, it is true, you are just being used.
I wish KS all the best. She is indeed a troubled woman, rich but troubled nonetheless.

Bottomline is, if you are naive like I was about what goes on in the hip hop circles, this book will have your eyes wide open. I read it in one day.

After hearing all the hype of Karrine Steffins book Confessions i had to read it, i had to know who was going to be outed and how her experiences changed her life. To my sadness and my dismay i must say that this is a novel i refer to as a "fake" book. I finish the 250 page book in two hours. The book told me exactly what i wanted to know but in many interviews she told that this was the biography of her life and she couldn't tell her life story worth out mentioning names of the people that played a part in her life i feel the purpose of the book was not to teach young girls to think better of themselves but to put money in her pocket simply because she didn't mention any normal average Joe Blow she was with no the only mention of any men in the book other than her father and the boy who raped her were famous powerful most of them married with children i can not be told that the only men Karrine ever slept with were the rich and famous. I am highly disappointed with her book and will not be purchasing the Vixen Diaries I can simply read the "tell-all" parts in a blog somewhere since that is the only reason worth reading this excuse of a book.

I thought that her back story was interesting. But I also think this really became a tabloid story because she never called out a lot of celebs.

She exposed a lot of people for the dirt they did. And while if you're doing wrong in the dark, things eventually come to light, the way she did it wasn't impressive. I did like how she didn't tell on that one specific person, although that got out anyway. But I couldn't blame all the people she mentioned if they didn't have anything to do with her ever again.

The book wouldn't have been interesting at all without the name celebrities she mentioned, though, so that's why they are included.

I'll make it clean cut here; the buyer gave me what I wanted and the item is in great shape. What else could I ask for? Very happy and the delivery was of average speed.

Robert Hirsch's survey of the origins and evolution of photography, "Seizing the Light," is a welcome addition to the expanding study of the medium. In clear, insightful, and engaging prose, Hirsch unfolds photography's hit-or-miss birth which was rapidly followed by coherent technological developments almost at the speed of light. Hirsch makes us believe that photography was inevitable; the darling and necessary child of destiny wed to information theory. And Hirsch's treatment of early 20th century Modernist photography and the philosophy behind Pictorialism is excellent.

As a primer for the invention of photography and its chemical underpinnings, "Seizing the Light" is as good as it can be. It falls a little short, however, in its treatment of contemporary photography. The book would have been better served by including a few in-depth surveys of important contemporary photographic projects in order to emphasize the centrality of this discipline in contemporary art history and postmodern theory which is heavily dependent on the nature of images and processes of image-making.

For everyone with an interest in photography, either as an artist of the medium, a beginner looking for direction, or a collector who wants informed background to enhance appreciation of fine photographs both from the past and from the present obsession, SEIZING THE LIGHT: A History of Photography is essential reading.

Robert Hirsch knows his subject and in one hefty book manages to share the beginnings of photography some 200 years ago with the evolution of the camera and the discipline of photographing. Well illustrated with both photographs and drawings, Hirsch chronicles the famous and not so famous practitioners of the art in succinct but richly colorful biographical abstracts to accompany examples of each artist. The phases through which this art form has passed makes for fascinating reading even beyond the scope of the title: the use of the camera in documenting the history of our globe at celebration, at war, at discovery, and at the side of the people of the day is a journey well lead by a writer well skilled.

Though this book is now six years old it remains one of the more important textbooks for the art school classroom. But more important it is so richly written that it remains a fascinating survey of life since the camera. From the beginnings of the pinhole box to the present day digital images on the cell phone etc, the invention of the camera has inextricably changed our perception of the world. Learn the how and why of it! Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 05

Seizing the Light: A History of Photography. is a wonderfully broad, contemporary, eclectic and entertaining book. Robert Hirsch has produced the most useful, readable, and practical successor to Beaumont Newhall's classic, The History of Photography, first published in 1937. Seizing the Light is written in a friendly, accessible way -- dense with information, but more hip and lively than other offerings, especially those aimed at college students. Hirsch includes the "canon" of standard western photographic history (represented by Stieglitz, Weston, Adams, White, et. al.) first set forth by Newhall and other researchers, but updates the information with special emphasis on the last five decades of photographic practice, including digital imaging.

Many teachers and interested readers will greatly appreciate Hirsch's conscious effort throughout the book, to include numerous women and photographers from other cultures. (Chapter Two opens with an image of an American Indian, and includes a portrait of an African-American, affording students the realization that marginalized groups actually did appear as subjects before the camera in addition to working behind them.)

Students will also appreciate Hirsch's habit of opening new chapters with a description of cultural and political events occurring during the period under discussion: Chapter Twelve starts with a harrowing description of life for immigrants in New York City in the late Nineteenth Century during the time of Jacob Riis, and Chapter Seventeen has a helpful summary of the ending of the Vietnam War, connecting it smoothly to such diverse influences as Richard Nixon and the BeeGees! There are also wonderful endnotes following each chapter that are absolutely addictive, giving curious readers further information and surprising tidbits of information.

Hirsch's knowledge gained as a Director of CEPA Gallery in Buffalo (a contemporary non-profit Artist's space) provides him with exceptional insight into contemporary photography. This is especially evident in his last Chapter, Eighteen, "Thinking About Photography," which abounds with infrequently seen and challenging images by Arnulf Rainer, Nam June Paik, John Baldessari, Anselm Keifer, Gilbert and George, William Wegman and the Bechers. There is a clear and helpful section on Postmodernism, including the usual suspects: Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Barbara Kruger, Sherrie Levine, and Victor Burgin. There are sections on "Gender Issues" with Judith Golden, as well as one on "Fabrications" with Sandy Skoglund, Olivia Parker, Joel Peter Witkin and others. "Altering Time and Space" includes David Hockney, the Starn Twins, and the delicious hand-colored work of Holly Roberts. Other sections include "Investigating the Body" (Andres Serrrano, Robert Mapplethorpe, Nan Goldin, Sally Mann) and "Multiculturalism" (Clarissa Sligh, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, and the Guerilla Girls). Hirsch closes this bulging chapter with a discussion of digital imaging, including images by Pedro Meyer, Nancy Burson and several rising young artists in new media. He concludes with an extensive bibliography of related books and resources, a helpful list of monographs by the major artists presented throughout the text, and a section on sources for artists' books.

Robert Hirsch has produced a most impressive and useful book that readers will find engaging and relevant. The currency and eclectic nature of Hirsch's thought is fascinating and his book serves as a much-needed supplement to existing texts in the history of photography.

(Submitted by Brian Taylor, Professor of Art and Design at San Jose State University, where he has taught the History of Photography for 25 years. Prior to that, he studied with Beaumont Newhall for three years during graduate school at the University of New Mexico.)

Overall a great book on the history of photography. VERY comprehensive overview of the evolution of photography. It ties movements in art and social events into photography trends and developments. It also provides insight into how photographers and artists used the medium to express themselves and how experimentation lead to improvements over the years. My only negative comment would be that some of the earlly forms of cameras were not pictured. There were diagrams of early cameras, but after the first hundred years, there is little to no documentation on how they evolved cosmetically/ functionally. It'd be nice to see an example of the various "groundbreaking" cameras as they were discussed. Otherwise, a great book.

Hoffer focuses on the active phase of mass movements, the one dominated by the true believer. Frustration seems to be inherent in this personality type. He cautions that although mass movements share many traits this does not imply that they're equally toxic or beneficent. The work tries to understand and explain, not pass judgment.

Their appeal derives from the promise in their materialistic, religious, nationalist or mixed natures. Intense, infectious emotion is required as fuel. Hoffer analyses the causes of the desire for change: discontent alone is not enough. Other factors are needed to activate it, like a sense of power and the ability to spread a vision of hope.

Faith in a cause is to a large degree a replacement for the individual's lost self-confidence. The movement offers a substitute for individual hope. Furthermore, movements are interchangeable to a surprising extent. As he puts it; "A Saul turning into a Paul is neither a rarity nor a miracle." The reason is that they attract the same mentality.

Antidotes include arrangements that discourage atomistic individualism or offers opportunities for action or new beginnings, like emigration. Creative expression is a potent protector: even the poor that are creatively involved are immune, as are the abjectly poor and members of close-knit family, tribal or religious groups.

Potential converts are the disaffected. Hoffer identifies them as misfits, outcasts, minorities, adolescents, the ambitious, the obsessed, the impotent in mind or body, certain categories of the poor, the extremely selfish, the bored and the sinners.

He explains the burden of freedom, how it aggravates frustration in certain individuals. The followers exchange their individual responsibility for the sense of redemption that the movement offers. Those who feel like failures value equality and fraternity much more than freedom. This illuminates Russia's regression into totalitarianism.

Another striking insight is that that visions, dreams and utopian hopes are powerful weapons; people will die for delusions. Craving/desire is what causes the reckless self-sacrifice.

Movements always target the family; Hoffer provides proof by quoting from inter alia the New Testament. Disruption of the family makes the person more dependent on the movement. Movements attract and retain followers due to the refuge they offer from the boredom, barrenness, anxiety and lack of meaning in the individual's life.

There are various species of misfit - the permanent misfit finds peace only in a total separation from the self. The extraordinarily selfish are likely to be the most fanatical champions of selflessness. Oddly, spinsters & middle aged women have played a crucial role in the birth of mass movements. Emotions like remorse and grievance appear to lead people in the same direction. Fervent enthusiasm helps to suppress a guilty conscience.

United action and self-sacrifice are the elements that determine the vigor of a movement. Both sublimate the blemished self. Ways of persuading people to fight and die for the cause include:

(a) separating them from the real self by means of assimilation into the collective
(b) creating a make-believe self or a collective show
(c) making them hate the present and worship the future; the present is not only portrayed as miserable but is deliberately made so
(d) separating them from reality with the wall of dogma. Observation & experience are rejected in favor of doctrine which provides certitude. It is believed in, not understood.
(e) Keeping them in a state of fanaticism by inflaming passions & breaking down the will, thus transforming them into automatons. Constant fanning of the flames prevents the attainment of inner balance. Reason is ineffective in trying to free a fanatic from these mental chains.

Hoffer's view of how different political persuasions view past, present and future is an interesting aside: The conservative is like the skeptic, echoing the thoughts of Ecclesiastes about nothing new under the sun whilst the liberal (Hoffer means the Classical Liberal, not today's leftist types) considers the present the legitimate offspring of the past, a springboard towards a better future.

On the other hand, both the reactionary and the radical hate the present. They differ only in their opinion on human nature's potential for change. The radical is convinced that human nature is perfectible whilst the reactionary believes the opposite.

Fanatics occupy the same space on the political spectrum which is circular, not linear. The real difference is between the fanatics and the moderates of all ideologies. It is the temperament, not the ideological content that is crucial: fanatics often move from one form of extremism to another: communism, fascism, xenophobic nationalism, religious intolerance. Sinisterism by Bruce Walker offers more insight into this phenomenon.

The unifying agents are hatred, imitation, brainwashing (although Hoffer believes that the power of propaganda is overrated and that it merely justifies & articulates opinions already present in the minds of recipients), leadership, action and suspicion.

His observations on the impulse to convert are most arresting. The missionary zeal emanates from a profound uncertainty, an aching inner void. Proselytizing is a search for something instead of a gift, a quest to confirm that the fanatic's faith is indeed the absolute truth.

Three personality types are influential in mass movements: (a) men of words (b) fanatics (c) men of action. The first prepares the ground, the second initiates/dominates the active phase and the 3rd consolidates. Hoffer remarks that the first, whether they be journalists, academics or priests, thirst for recognition & a status above the rest of mankind. They are often the first victims of what they have unleashed. The fanatic thrives on chaos & destruction. The man of action rescues the movement from the recklessness of the fanatic; when he assumes control the active phase comes to an end.

In conclusion, Hoffer discusses good & bad movements, the sterility of the active phase and some factors that determine its length, plus useful mass movements. The book concludes with notes arranged by chapter, a portrait and brief biography of the author.

This book was recommended by Mark Levin on his radio program. I was interested and so ordered it through Amazon and finished reading it a few weeks back.

First, my hats off to Mr. Hoffer. A self-educated man who witnessed the evils of the 20's, 30's, and 40's and came to the conclussion that those decades were not aberations.

There have always been mass movements and they all tend to share the same characteristics. Also, they share the same type of leaders - those who preach while safely in the rear - and the followers who perform the dirty work.

This years - 2008 - political election gives a prime example of a mass movement with the slogans of hope and change.

On a side note, I just finished the novel Gai-Jin by James Clavell. It is interesting how the use of a mass movement is used in this novel.

I recommend this book to anyone trying to understand lemming-like behavior. Beware - it is for the serious reader.

A very short book that demands introspection and thought from the reader.

Although written 50+ years ago I walked away with a much better understanding of current events, especially the radical Islamic movement and environmentalist.

This book may validate your preconceived notions about those movements you disagree with, but it will also directly challenge those you may support. Hoffer does not take sides and you quickly learn that radicals, regardless of their political/religious beliefs, have more in common with each other than they do with the public in general.

Should be essential reading for kids entering college. If nothing else, it would provide them with a neutral starting point.

Read this years ago and it was a mind blower. A clear, concise, well written book that is as valid today as it was 30 yrs. ago. A Philosopher that all can read and understand. His view on the world at that time. Not an author who is trying to impress academia but a brilliant man reaching the masses, at least those who read. Recommended for all thinking people.

This book is a real gem. To begin with, it is the first publication of an American legend: Eric Hoffer. A self-educated central valley farm worker and San Francisco longshoreman, Hoffer's abilities of self-expression are enviable and the penetrating insights of his writings are astonishing.

He wrote this book in the early days of the Cold War and the specter of communism pervades the book from beginning to end. However, his central thesis is that mass movements - whether they are nationalist, religious, political or otherwise - are all essentially driven by the same types of people and all follow more-or-less the same organizational trajectory. Indeed, he frequently notes that the most likely recruits for one mass movement are members of another, even if they are diametrically apart in philosophy. For instance, Hoffer claims that Hitler, who hated communists with a passion that rivaled that he held for the Jews, viewed rank-and-file German Bolsheviks as valued targets to join the Nazi party.

What makes "The True Believer" an important read today is how directly it applies to the current focus of American foreign policy: Islamic fundamentalism in general and specifically al-Qaeda. A Navy SEAL recently back from Afghanistan encouraged me to read "The True Believer" in the context of the War on Terror and I'm glad he did. It is amazing to read Hoffer and then a book like Lawrence Wright's Pulitzer Prize winning "The Looming Tower" about the genesis and development of al-Qaeda and the 9/11 plot. The parallels between al-Qaeda's history as told by Wright and Hoffer's hypothesis on the nature of mass movements is uncanny.

Hoffer writes that mass movements start with a "man of letters" who has likely been rejected by his society in ways real or imagined and who has little appetite or ability to lead. In the case of al-Qaeda, the man of letters would be Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian scholar who penned one of the most influential Islamist tracts ever - "Milestones" - and who was executed by the secular regime of Gamel Abu Naser in 1966.

Next, Hoffer argues that the philosophy laid down by the man of letters is embraced by the "fanatic," who has the charisma and will power to put the thoughts into action. For al-Qaeda, the fanatic role was played, of course, by Osama Bin Laden and to a lesser extent by Egyptian Ayman Zawahiri and Palestinian Sheikh Abdullah Azzam.

The rank-and-file drawn to these movements, Hoffer writes, are rarely the most poor or desperate in society, but rather those just below a comfortable existence or those who have long felt an outsider or humiliated and long for an identity and redemption through a cause, almost any cause. It is known that most of the radicals drawn to al-Qaeda's banner are from prosperous families, well-educated and often have had interactions with the West.

"The True Believer" is less than two hundred pages and can easily be read and digested in a few sittings. It should be noted that Hoffer's arguments are based almost solely on first-hand observations and his own voracious reading from public libraries up-and-down California. There is no scientific method to his research or academic rigor applied to his findings. I would imagine that mainstream sociologists in the academy sneer at Hoffer and his theses, but that is just an educated guess. Nevertheless, this is a classic that is absolutely worthwhile.

The story depicts the struggles of early Indians on the American continent. The indian unwillingness to assimilate to the early colonists causes widespread turmoil for both races. Bloodshed occurs because the early Americans wanted to dominate this land without condition. Since the Indians resisted the effort, all kinds of killings occurred. One side avenging for the acts of the other and vice versa. This makes facing east a long road for environmental dominance by the Americans.

The book has many problem sin my view as a history graduate student. Although many important arguments were included in this work, I found it to be a struggle to determine which was an "Eastern" view or an actual fact. Richter used his imagination a bit too much. Sometimes historians have to make the best possible interpretation but going on a limb and guessing what someone may have thought is not HISTORY. Furthermore, Richter is somewhat unclear throughout the work. He switches between imagination and reality, and sometimes it becomes a task in itself deciphering what is his idea or fact. Richter uses almost NO missionary documents when trying to argue his point. Very few examples of missionary texts were given, creating a situation of where did your idea come from. Furthermore, Richter generalizes far too much. A tribe in Delaware is not going to react similar to one in S. Carolina. While trying to put his point across he fails to discuss changing regimes in Europe (England, France, and Spain) and their effect on colonial policies against natives. He mentions that Louis XIV wants natives wiped out, but says nothing of the Stuarts or Hapsburg policies.

Now I understand this was supposed to be a work facing east, not west, but Richter seemed to go too far outside the scope of the sources and use his imagination a little to often. What happen to American Natives was sad, but imagining history to glorify them does not do justice to them or the faculty of history.

Traditional histories of Native Americans have focused on the point of view, or history, of European Americans. But in 2001, historian Daniel Ricther breaks this trend in his novel work - Facing East From Indian Country. The "eastward" approach incorporates the interpretations, or stories, of early Native Americans who observed the movements of Europeans from eastern America. His research is by no means exhaustive, but advances a fresh perspective of the scant pre-existing primary sources on early Native Americans. His sophisticated synthesis and analysis of the aforementioned sources, coupled with his incisive imagination shed light on a virtually untold Native American history.

Richter chronologically organizes his work and concentrates heavily on early colonial times in his opening chapters, which appear to be his area of expertise. His passages of primary sources are often lengthy and precariously worded, but his strong narrative and eloquent articulation of Indian culture supersede these minor distractions.

Revisiting the oft told stories of Pocahontas and Metacon, Ricther articulately portrays these individuals as being champions of peaceful co-existence, and cooperation, in the New World. In addition to the previously noted amenable traits, Native Americans also possessed sound diplomatic skills. For instance, Richter provides considerable detail about the sophisticated "treaty protocol" that early Americans utilized. Noting that this process "ideally consisted of nine stages," ( 135) Ricther explicitly detailed the expectations of Iroquois during these meetings in the mid-eighteenth century and illuminated the European's poor cultural understanding of these protocols. These examples, and others, highlighted the European's ignorance of Indian culture.

The latter chapters chronicle the Indians transgression from peaceful co-existence with the Europeans in the eighteenth century to all out war with them in the early nineteenth century. In the mid-eighteenth century, for instance, Ricther convincingly argues that "diversity wrought an increasingly pervasive view that Indians and Whites were utterly different, and utterly incompatible." (180) These views became more solidified in the nineteenth century. And Indians gradually surrendered more rights, and property, in the New World.

In the epilogue, which was more suited for the introduction or opening chapters, Ricther outlines the writings of Native American writer William Apess who sought to promote an eastward narrative of Indian history in the early eighteenth century. According to Richter, his work was silenced by European histories.

This work, in closing, creates new opportunities for scholars to re-interpret Native American history. This paradigm shift will likely lead to more sophisticated studies of early Indian culture in the New World, and ultimately add to our rather meager understanding of Indian history. A must read for Native American scholars and graduate and undergraduate history students who wish to broaden their understanding of early American history.

Mr. Richter does a fine job of deftly parsing small bits of information to imagine the Indian American's point of view. I was rather expecting an I-hate-America diatribe, but that's not at all what this is. It DOES show that between the clash of cultures in North America, the natives were much more adept to adapting (because they had no choice) than were the Europeans. And adapt they did, somewhat successfully until the war of Independence was fought between the US and Britian. After that, well, there were so many indefensible acts by the new US that it came down to "civilize-or-die" to the natives. Even those that did civilize were not safe, being punished by vigilantes for 'outrages' by other Indians - not even of the same linguistic group.
Those few who understood the complicated culture of the natives were by and large ignored, while small bands of cunning Indians would sell land that wasn't even theirs.
Sometimes it is said that there's enough blame to go around; if by that it's meant that because all Natives were not "Good Injuns" we should exterminate those who refuse to be deported, well okay.
Some say slavery was the darkest blot on our history, I believe it was the lies, broken treaties, forced removals, genocide and outright stealing of land that is that darkest chapter.
Read also Eve Ball's "indeh", and Britton Davis' "The Truth About Geronimo."

What happened in the New World before the Europeans? What did the Indians think of the Europeans from discovery to colonization to the American government of the early 19th century? Was the destruction of Indian race inevitable from the very first European explorations and colonizations? These are fascinating questions & Native American and Colonial Historian, Daniel K. Richter attempts to answer them and, thus, understand the Indian's role in the European conquest of their land.

Richter, a white historian hundreds of years later, attempts to understand the Indian experience largely through documents written about them. For instance, he takes the De Soto Chronicles, written by participants in the Spanish explorer's exploration through the American Southeast from 1539 to 1542, and attempts to turn them inside out and tell them from the point of view of the Indians who the Conquistadores encountered. This sort of speculative history is akin to imagining other people's thoughts and feelings without asking them. This sort of 20/20 psychological hindsight is dubious at best and presumptive at worst. Throughout the narrative, Richter adopts a latter-day politically correct understanding sympathetic to the Indians and damning of the Europeans. This "moral hindsight" conveniently ignores the decidedly un-p.c time the participants lived in. Today, one can argue what the imperial colonizers did was wrong. One can conversely argue the colonizers acted and thought in the context of their own time.

Richter does an excellent job delineating the clash of cultures between east (European) and west (Indian). Richter, like any historian, is on firmest ground when he deals with recorded facts. One can hardly imagine two cultures being more dissimilar. Differences in technology, agriculture, spirituality, & commerce rendered the Indians historically primordial compared to the European powers. One could argue that the fact they spoke different languages was the least of their worries. The Europeans colonized to The New World for two predominant reasons: to make money and, then, to spread Christianity.

From the outset, it is abundantly clear the technologically inferior Indians were burdened with the task of assimilating and cooperating with the European powers for their own survival. For the Europeans, any cooperation was merely a matter of expediency. As long as these Indians are here, we might as well work with them on their terms so as to make a buck off them and "civilize" them as long as they aren't too much of a hassle to us. Thus is the history of imperial colonization. Power conveys the conceit of doing the weak a favor by allowing them to participate on any level. The Europeans, for the most part, paid little heed to the Indian communities, religions, culture, and agriculture they were displacing and destroying.

Contact with the diseases brought by Europeans devastated the Indian population and was a crushing blow the Indians never recovered from. Entire tribes ceased to exist or were permanently displaced. Consequently, remnants of surviving tribes combined to make new tribes, or nations. Thus, not only did the Indians have to contend with the alien Europeans but were oblidged to mix and match cultures, religions, & traditions in their own communities. The Europeans wasted no effort in exploiting these internal conflicts and the constant warfaring that had always existed between the tribes.

After a time, Europeans and Indians were able to achieve a sort of seperate but unequal status quo. As long as the Indians behaved, they were allowed trade with the Europeans. The trade was heavily weighted to favor the Europeans, of course. It is very telling that the Europeans were able to impose their faith on the Indians and not vice/versa. There is no convincing evidence that the Indians were any other than a weaker partner at the mercy of the Europeans.

When the Americans won their revolution and established their own government, they discontinued the colonial model and began to treat the Indians as hostiles in a strange (American) country. The time of intercultural cooperation came to an end and the era of expansion and its accompanying extermination and forcible displacement began.

In the end, I think Richter fails to support his assertions that 1) European settlers and Indians ever coexisted on any sort of equal bearing for any time and 2) the Indians were not doomed to either cultural extinction wrought by colonization or actual extinction at the hands of the Americans. Ironically, he provides the excellent historical research to defeat his own premise.

This text provided the most basic background for selecting the sampling technique. This book is an excellent introduction to basic survey research and provided the framework from which to consider this project. As this project goes beyond the scope of this text, it became necessarily to imagine what alternatives existed given the material provided in this text. Some of the options were available in other texts, such as books on SPSS and GIS computer software, as well as some of the information in Ethnography Step by Step, which provided additional information on computer data collection options available to researchers.

Book came ahead of scheduale, I believe 2 or 3 days after I ordered it, which was great!

Not the best book on the market, but has a comprehensive review of the essential theories and interventions.

Everything was satisfactory. I recieved the book on time and it hsa been very helpful.