Spitfire into battle

Customer Reviews:

Low-key but still quite worthwhile narrative.......2006-05-17

(Posted from Edinburgh, Scotland) W.G.G. Duncan Smith's writing illustrates all the (stereotypical?) reserve and nonchalance of the World War II RAF fighter pilot. His narratives of aerial battles, close calls, and even being shot down and crashing into the Channel are remarkably underplayed. That one episode alone, when he came close to drowning while waiting in the sea for six hours, never certain if he'd ever be rescued, could have been a book all in itself. And other writers might well have told the story in more descriptive, more colorful language, or provided more emotional insight. Fear? Desperation? Panic? For "Smithy" and his RAF colleagues, it was mostly an occasion for a somewhat morbid joke at his expense upon his safe return.

Some might complain about the emotional reserve displayed in this book, but in fact I think that's one of its special charms. Duncan Smith several times discusses the death of good friends, and hints at the lasting impact such episodes have on survivors. But it seems like creating a carapace of distance, reserve, and even coldness is an essential skill in this line of work. Do we want our fighter pilots to be emoting all over their cockpits?

"Spitfire Into Battle" is a good mix of personal adventure, high strategy, entertaining asides, and even a touch of "techno-thriller" from the days before such a term existed (Duncan Smith clearly considered his various Spitfires as "costars" with him in this book). With the caveat that there's not a lot in these pages about the Battle of Britain - though quite a bit about later campaigns - people interested in personal reminiscences of "The Few" and their brothers in arms in the air will probably find it worthwhile spending some time with this useful book.

What a bore.......1999-12-15

Of the countless dozen WW2 air combat memoirs I have read, this must be one of the dullest ever. The author manages to take the reader through the entire war without once managing to make the action exciting enough for us to care what happens to him. "I got up, got into the plane, got to fighting altitude, got a German in my sights and got a few shots off at him," is about as thrilling as it gets. This book is just awful -- so much potential and such a pathetic end result.

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Spitfire Into Battle
G. Capt. Duncan Smith
Manufacturer: Arrow Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O7ZQ9E

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Spitfire Into Battle
W. G. G. Duncan Smith
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 075319824X

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Spitfire Into Battle
Duncan Smith
Manufacturer: Hamlyn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000JX08S2

Book Description

If we can decode the human genome and fashion working machines out of atoms, why can't we navigate the quagmire that is our health care system? In this important new book, Julius Richmond and Rashi Fein recount the fraught history of health care in America since the 1960s. After the advent of Medicare and Medicaid and with the progressive goal to make advances in medical care available to all, medical costs began their upward spiral. Cost control measures failed and led to the HMO revolution, turning patients into consumers and doctors into providers. The swelling ranks of Americans without any insurance at all dragged the United States to the bottom of the list of industrialized nations.

Over the last century medical education was also profoundly transformed into today's powerful triumvirate of academic medical centers, schools of medicine and public health, and research programs, all of which have shaped medical practice and medical care. The authors show how the promises of medical advances have not been matched either by financing or by delivery of care.

As a new crisis looms, and the existing patchwork of insurance is poised to unravel, American leaders must again take up the question of health care. This book brings the voice of reason and the promise of compromise to that debate.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent reading for students of medicine and public health.......2006-05-05

In reading the previous reviews, I must say that they are quite accurate in many of their findings - the style of writing tends to be verbose and there isn't much in the ways of "how to do fix the US health care system." But that is not what this manuscript is about.

Let me quickly rebut a few points from each of the previous reviews.

From Mr. Weston: " When I bought the book, I was hoping the authors' would answer the question "What is equitable health care?" Is it equitable for the government to pay for medications that control blood pressure, insulin response, and bone density when all of these could be managed by diet and exercise? Americans have a problem giving welfare to those who can work. Why give "healthfare" to those who can diet and exercise? "

First of all, equity is in the eye of the beholder. This is an area where even the most brilliant health economist cannot give a true answer. Our basis for equity depends upon our own moral upbringing.

Secondly, it is obvious from the latter half of his comment that he does not have anything to do with the health care delivery system. Lifestyle modifications for hypertension, diabetes, and osteopenia/osteoporosis, while certainly beneficial, are not effective to the degree needed to prevent stroke, heart attack, or hip fractures. However, I will concede that doctors often over-utilize healthcare resources of limited benefit.

Moving on to Ms. Clendenen's excellent review:
" The three that immediately come to mind are the complete neglect in discussing the impact that the cost of pharmaceuticals has had on the overall cost of health care, the impact that malpractice litigation and the threat of malpractice suits have had, and the incredible cost of the administrative labyrinths that exist for most providers. "

It would appear that for her, a serious health economist, this book misses the mark. There, however, is a brief discussion of malpractice litigation in Chapter 7. I believe the authors spent considerably less time on this subject than on the subjects of medical education and "orgranized medicine" because malpractice litigation appears to have limited effect on total national health expenditures (estimated to be about 1/2 of 1%).

I agree with her that this book does little to explain the impact of administrative complexities on physicians. I can firmly attest that I spend far too much time doing paperwork than seeing patients. However, in the concluding chapter, the authors suggest a system - albeit a system closer to the single-payer edge of the political spectrum - that naturally would result in less administrative hassles for everyone involved compared to our current "nonsystem".

And now onto Ms. Craig: Her thoughtful review begins to introduce the concept, not discussed in this book, that a small percentage of patients represent the largest percentage of medical expenditures. She also refers to ICU stays - where I have witnessed survival rates less than 30% - that account for a tremendous fraction of our health care dollar. As a nation we do spend too much money on care in the last 6 months of life. Unfortunately, we often times cannot tell when someone will die. Additionally, even when death is virtually around the corner (by that I mean, when there is no chance for a "meaningful" life) we have families who want doctors to keep their loved ones "alive" for extended periods of time. As a nation, our culture of life may be in opposition to our appropriate use of health care resources.

Okay, enough of the rebuttals (I only do it because I liked this book). I believe the point of "The Health Care Mess" is to introduce the layman to the history of the American healthcare system. It does this while addressing issues relevant to physicians - medical education and the American Medical Association's persistent interference with progressive health reform. I believe this book may not be best geared towards the practicing health economist or the policy maker. "The Health Care Mess" is best designed for motivating a sleeping constuency - medical professionals and medical students. These folks are far too overburdened with their work to realize that they also need to be involved in the health care debate. Perhaps that is why the authors suggest making our current disorganized health care system focus attention on the academic medical centers as "hubs" for healthcare.

You will not find answers in this book. But you will find that political stumbling blocks are typically the reasons why most recommendations to modify our current system have failed. It is the politics, not the science, that is important in changing health policy. This is where the focus lies in "The Health Care Mess."

Misses the biggest problems.......2006-03-25

This book does a good job at pointing out how broken the American health care system is. I really enjoyed the retrospective look at how we got where we are today. Some of the reasons for the problems are pointed out well, as in the discussion of community rating of insurance. Unfortunately, the book misses some of the most important reasons for the health care mess. The solutions proposed also strike me as at best unworkable.

The book's authors are big fans of national health insurance. As they point out, national health insurance does have some things going for it. However, I just don't see how national health, if implemented in today's health care climate, would bring about any savings at all. The Medicare program is the closest thing we have now to national health insurance; far from saving us money, from what I see its costs are completely out of control and headed through the roof. The book never discusses this. The book makes no mention at all of how to deal with bringing down costs at the high end; the 5% or so of patients who create probably 80% or more of all health care costs. The fact is that at some point you have to be willing to say no, we are going to send this patient to a hospice to die instead of treating him, because his treatment is just too expensive.

I see the American health care system as caught in a trap of diminishing returns. In terms of quality of life, we get by far the most benefit from the first few dollars spent on a patient. By the time you get up to spending millions of dollars on a single patient, you are getting next to nothing for your money. Keep in mind that money has to come from somewhere; taxes, or premiums, or cuts in quality of service. Spend a million dollars on a one-pound micro-preemie in a neonatal ICU, and it will take hundreds of overburdened nurses scrimping on their time with other patients to make up for it. Some of those neglected patients will die as a result. No amount of money is going to relieve the human condition. All of us are going to die someday, no matter what is spent on our care. The authors never seem to realize this.

The book also misses the biggest problem with medical research today, which is that a treatment available only at exorbitant cost is actually worse than no treatment at all. Take the use of heart transplants to treat heart failure. By definition, each heart transplant requires at least two complex and expensive surgeries and decades of follow-up care due to immunosuppression. Many transplant patients die on the operating table or in the postoperative period, which pushes the cost per successful outcome even higher. There are also huge costs from maintaining the system to allocate donated organs. When you look at how else the money could be used, treatments like this hurt more people than they help. Research focused on complicated high-tech medicine is making public health worse.

As I see it, we have only two choices if we really want to cut medical costs: we can regulate the industry to outlaw the most costly procedures; or we can get rid of medical insurance altogether. I don't see much hope of the former. We may end up getting the latter by default. Medical insurance suffers from the basic problem that the doctors who are the ones who make the decisions over what care will be provided aren't the ones who have to deal with the people who pay the bills. This leaves us in a fog filled with conflicts of interest. Our current legal standards for malpractice cases, which don't allow cost considerations to enter into medical decisions, only make the problem worse.

The authors also ignore the reasons behind Americans' poor lifestyle decisions. Doctors are always telling us to eat less and exercise more. Somehow the doctors never mention that sweet and greasy foods are subsidized by our government to the tune of billions of dollars every year. Agricultural subsidies are what make corn syrup, bread, rice, cooking oil, hamburger, and cheese cheaper than fruits and vegetables. Government subsidies, crazy zoning laws, and parking requirements are why we live so far from our jobs and end up driving everywhere.

For a far more interesting perspective on the health care mess than the one provided by this book, I would suggest Hadler's "The Last Well Person." For more on what the automobile is really costing us, see Kunstler's "The Geography of Nowhere" and Shoup's "The High Cost of Free Parking."

Faults of Style and Substance.......2006-01-04

As a student of health care economics (due to being employed in a managerial position in a health care enterprise,) I embarked on reading this book with great anticipation and was left with great disappointment. My disappointment stemmed from faults in both style and substance.

As to style, the writing is replete with complex sentences with subordinate clause following on subordinate clause until one can no longer remember what the subject or the verb is, much less make any sense of the meaning of the sentence. I read extensively in professional journals as part of my employment and feel that the stylistic mannerisms of this book significantly diminished its impact. There were a number of simpler grammatical errors that should have been caught by the editors at Harvard Press. I was dismayed that two so presumably eminent scholars should write in such a confusing and obfuscating way.

As to matters of substance, I was surprised that some of the more significant influences on the current state of the US's health care "system" were either ignored or brushed aside as being uninmportant. The three that immediately come to mind are the complete neglect in discussing the impact that the cost of pharmaceuticals has had on the overall cost of health care, the impact that malpractice litigation and the threat of malpractice suits have had, and the incredible cost of the administrative labyrinths that exist for most providers. Also glossed over is the exorbitant amount of money being taken out of the health care system in the form of profits for shareholders of for-profit healthcare entities (not just big pharma)and salaries and bonuses for the high-flying executives of these for-profits.

All in all, this book was so narrowly focused on medical schools and medical education as to be nearly useless in explaining how we have gotten to where we are. Critical Condition, by Barlett and Steele, is a much better book in describing the history behind the current state of affairs, and offers a much better solution than Richmond and Fein propose.

Couldn't Read It.......2005-12-13

Note: This review was done after only reading the first 20 pages of the book. Please keep that in mind when evaluating the reasonableness of my review.

I bought this book as an impulse purchase after hearing the authors on Al Franken's show on Air America Radio on 11/15/05 because I wanted to get an understanding of, and solutions to, the health care problem.

I stopped reading for two reasons. First: the authors immediately expressed an assumption in the book's introduction that I felt would unhelpfully bias their presentation and recommendations. Second: the writing was so wordy that I felt the author's were trying to add weight to a simple message that was buried so deep in the book that it wasn't worth my effort to dig it out.

In support of my first reason regarding the authors' bias, consider the following sentences in the second paragraph on page 4: "We deplore the wide disparities not only in health care but in income, education, housing, and other important factors that affect well-being and opportunity . . . We seek a system in which the financing and distribution of health services reflect our image of a just society, a society in which economic arrangements reflect a moral dimension."

Now I agree that there are very poor and very rich people in America. I also agree that there are very sick and very healthy people. But the existence of extremes doesn't negate the fact that most people in America are generally satisfied with their lives because they are relatively healthy and are meeting their daily needs. When I bought the book, I was hoping the authors' would answer the question "What is equitable health care?" Is it equitable for the government to pay for medications that control blood pressure, insulin response, and bone density when all of these could be managed by diet and exercise? Americans have a problem giving welfare to those who can work. Why give "healthfare" to those who can diet and exercise?

In support of my second reason regarding the authors' wordiness, consider these sentences in the second paragraph on page 20: "It would have been easy to conclude that all that was needed [regarding medical education] was a marginal adjustment here and a bit of tweaking there. Such a conclusion would have been valid if medicine and medical education could have stood apart from the society in which they were embedded. But, of course, they could not do so. They necessarily were influenced by the world outside of medicine, and that world, that external environment and its influences, was changing."

Now couldn't the authors' have assumed their readers already knew, 1) medicine and medical education are influenced by the world in which they operate, 2) the world refers to the external environment, and 3) the external environment is always changing? It was wordiness like this that forced me to put the book down rather than continue my struggle to find what new truths the authors' had to offer on the topic of health care and public policy.

Since I still want to understand the health care mess and how we can get out of it, I ordered Paul Starr's Pulitzer Prize-winning book "The Social Transformation of American Medicine." I found the book by scrolling down the product page for "The Health Care Mess" and seeing what "Customers who bought this book also bought." I clicked on the link "One Nation Uninsured: Why The U.S. Has No National Health Insurance by Jill Quadagno." I then read the Washington Post's Book World review on that product's page, which referred to Paul Starr's book.

This is what I love about shopping for books and other products on Amazon. I would have never found Paul Starr's book unless Amazon had provided those links and reviews. If you are also shopping for a book to understand the health care mess, read the reviews, the table of contents, and the excerpts for Paul Starr's book in Amazon. Notice that this information is not available for "The Health Care Mess". I googled "The Health Care Mess" and the only reviews available are those on the book's back cover, which are from prestigious individuals who no doubt didn't take the time to read the book.

The truth is out there. Seek and ye shall find.

The Health Care Mess: How We Got Into It and What It Will Take To Get Out

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The Health Care Mess: How We Got Into It and What It Will Take To Get Out
Julius B. Richmond Rashi Fein
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press 2005
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MCK204

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A "GREAT" STEAK BOOK!!

The Great Steak Book
Grady Spears , and Torri Randall
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Meats | Meat, Poultry & Seafood | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Steak Lover's Cookbook

A Cowboy in the Kitchen: Recipes from Reata and Texas West of the Pecos

Cowboy Cocktails: Boot-Scootin' Beverages and Tasty Vittles from the Wild West

The Texas Cowboy Kitchen: Recipes from the Chisholm Club

Morton's Steak Bible: Recipes and Lore from the Legendary Steakhouse

ASIN: 1580082157

Customer Reviews:

A "GREAT" STEAK BOOK!!.......2001-01-16

If you like a great steak(who doesn't), this book will be a better purchase than your next cut of beef. From the knowledge he gained in the cattle business, Grady Spears is able to teach the proper ways to cook any cut of beef. The book also contains an informative diagram of where the different cuts come from.

Besides the instruction & information, this book contains the finest recipes you will find. Such as the pan seared rib-eye, pepper crusted tenderloin, Texas beef wellington and my favorite, smoked prime rib w/ horseradish sauce!

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The best bbq book ever....

This book RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every recipe that I've tried is mouth watering

Steaks, Ribs, Chops: And All the Fixin's That Make 'em Great
Better Homes and Gardens Books
Manufacturer: Better Homes and Gardens
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Meats | Meat, Poultry & Seafood | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Barbecuing & Grilling | Outdoor Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0696208288

Book Description

This meat-and-potatoes cookbook delivers 87 outstanding meat and side-dish recipes.

Terrific resource on cooking, buying and serving meat.

Up-do-date information on cuts, how to cook them, cooking time and grilling tips.

Includes recipes for a smoker, as well as a grill.

Must-have rubs and marinades.

An entire chapter on side-dish recipes plus a desserts chapter.

Make-ahead directions and helpful hints on simplifying preparation.

Customer Reviews:

The best bbq book ever...........2002-04-22

The receipes are all original, easy to follow and foolproof.
The personalities and pictures are fun to read as you page through the sections and find the restaurants that contributed their own unique ideas which are featured throughout. I have made my own original sweet hickory sauce for baby back ribs for 20 years. It's been refined over time and a family favorite. I tried the Piquant Ribs from this book and I swear I'll never make mine again!

This book RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2001-05-08

This is one of the best barbecue books ever. I use several of the recipes (Apple-sauced chops, twice baked potatoes) regularly and have tried most of the other recipes at least once and none have disappointed. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to add some variety to their grilling.

Every recipe that I've tried is mouth watering.......1999-05-04

One of if not the best grilling/smoking book around!!!! I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys grilling/smoking.

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Great Steak Book

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0760757410

Product Description

From the Publisher Any cowboy worth his spurs will tell you that beef isn't just what's for dinnerit's a way of life. So when you're wondering what to do with that thick cut of sirloin, better turn to a real expert for advice. And we're not talking about just any cowboyranch hand-turned chef Grady Spears spent years riding and roping on the range before becoming executive chef of the legendary Reata restaurants in Texas and California. Following up on his wildly-successful A Cowboy in the Kitchen, Grady turns his attention to the finer points of cooking beef in The Great Steak Book. Inside, you'll learn about the importance of marinating which cuts are the most tender; and which cuts work best with different cooking methods. To top it off, Grady shares his collection of recipes, tips, and techniques from his friends Nolan Ryan and the Bellamy Brothers, Grady and his Great Steak Book are the real deal.

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Conchs, Tibias, and Harps -- A Survey of the Molluscan Families, Strombidae and Harpidae
Jerry G. Walls
Manufacturer: TFH Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0876666292

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The New Book of Image Transfer: How to Add Any Image to Almost Anything with Fabulous Results
Debba Haupert
Manufacturer: Lark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Transfer: Images on Glass, Fabric, Ceramic, Stone, Paper, Metal, Plastic and Wood

Easy Transfers for Any Surface: Crafting with Images and Photos

The Color Printer Idea Book : 40 Really Cool and Useful Projects to Make with Any Color Printer!

Digital Art Studio: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials

The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery : Mixed-Media Techniques for Collage, Altered Books, Artist Journals, and More

ASIN: 1579905293

Book Description

With the 40 fabulous projects in this eye-opening manual and the revolutionary new forms of transfer paper on the market, such as Lazertran, it’s possible to reproduce any design on a wide variety of surfaces effortlessly. The basic technique couldn’t be easier. Simply photocopy an image onto the paper, soak it for a minute, and the picture slides off as a transparent decal. Adhere it to nonporous surfaces such as metal, plastic, or fabric using the adhesive on the back of the film. Embellish a metal cocktail shaker and matching ice bucket with a retro 50’s design, scatter coffee beans on an espresso cup, or put playful sheep on a child’s pillow. It’s creative fun, and an inspiring start to a great new craft.

Amazon.com

Millie Owen was a New Yorker transplanted to rural Vermont. She arrived in the country knowing little about growing things but dug into the subject with enthusiastic dedication, teaching herself all about gardening and edible plants through reading and by trial and error. Her ultimate goal was to enjoy cultivating and harvesting from the wild the widest possible assortment of edible botanicals, including greens, herbs, and aromatics such as garlic, onions, and horseradish.

A Cook's Guide to Growing Herbs, Greens & Aromatics, written in 1997, is now part of The Cooks Classic Library, that growing collection of eternal culinary works from Lyons Press. In this book, Owen shares her enthusiasm and dispenses advice with warmth and intelligence. She reminds you that convenience should be your first thought when planning a garden. Eager for you to have home-grown edible plants at hand, she tells how even apartment dwellers can raise herbs. Typical of her quirky practicality, she suggests using grow-lights in a closet or under the bathroom sink, so you can devote the space on sunny window sills for more visually attractive flora.

Most of A Cook's Guide consists of 47 enchanting sections on individual edibles, from asparagus to wormwood. Among them, Owen's take on lamb's quarters--"Free spinach!"--is typically crammed with poetic images, detailed information on when to pick this versatile wild green, a precise inventory of its rich nutritional value, and a simple, appealing recipe for eggs baked in ramekins lined with blanched greens deliciously blended with grated Gruyère cheese. The sections on most plants include one or more recipes. From Seafood Grilled on a Bed of Basil--as simple as it sounds--to her unique Green Chicken Tandoori Grilled with Potatoes, a dish loaded with fresh coriander, Owen makes your mouth water at the prospect of clear, fresh flavors.

Spend an afternoon with Owen and your view of everything, from utilitarian onions to purslane, a weed "uncannily tuned to the sound of soil being cultivated," will change. Following her lead, and spurred on by Karl Stuecklen's friendly drawings, you may add mildly peppery violet leaves to salads and start tinting your Arroz con Pollo, the Spanish chicken and rice stew, with golden marigold petals. Keep this book in mind for anyone you know who gardens, as well as for cooks. --Dana Jacobi

Book Description

An indispensable guide to cooking with herbs and other flavor-enhancing plants; includes line drawings.

Herbs, Greens & Aromatics: A Guide for the Gardening Cook (Cook's Classic Library)

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Herbs, Greens & Aromatics: A Guide for the Gardening Cook (Cook's Classic Library)
Millie Owen
Manufacturer: Lyons Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Herbs | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The Cheers and the Tears offers parents and coaches sensible advice and healthy alternative approaches to the competitive and stressful world of youth sports.

"Full of practical and helpful ideas for parents who want their child's youth sports experience to be a success. . . . Refreshing, honest, and down to earth."
--Joan Ryan, author, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes; columnist, San Francisco Chronicle

"Shane Murphy understands parents and helps them help their children. His guidance is immensely practical. This book is essential reading for anyone who works with children in sports."
--Christy Ness, Olympic figure skating coach, coached Kristi Yamaguchi to the 1992 Olympic Gold Medal in Women's Figure Skating

"The Cheer and the Tears is terrific! Shane Murphy provides excellent solutions to tough issues. If your child is involved in organized sports at any level, read this book!"
--Sean McCann, sport psychologist, United States Olympic Committee

Customer Reviews:

Read this book!.......2000-04-05

This is a truly remarkable book which gives a balanced view of youth sports today. Dr. Murphy is exactly right, in my opinion, in laying the blame for what problems exist squarely at the feet of the adults. He does an excellent job of analyzing what's good and bad about the roles of coaches and parents. He recommends specific and reasonable ways to keep what's good and minimize what isn't. I'm a coach and league director and chair national meetings on youth sports. I repeated recommend this book to everyone I know in youth sports.

This was an outstanding book..........1999-06-12

Shane did an excellent job at recognizing and capturing the effects that misguided adults(more often than not they're unintended) are having on youth sports programs today. His recommendations on what youth sports organizations can do to improve their programs and what parents can do to improve their children's sports experience are excellent.

Shane's book is a MUST READ for youth sports administrators, coaches, and parents of competitive athletes.

Amazon.com

Most recently in the spotlight as one of the many defense lawyers attending O. J. Simpson in his first criminal trial, attorney Alan M. Dershowitz is also a powerful advocate for the liberal Jewish tradition in this country. In an earlier book, Chutzpah, Dershowitz celebrated an end to Jewish isolation and institutional anti-Semitism in America; in his latest book, The Vanishing American Jew, he decries the perhaps inevitable result of this desegregation: assimilation.

Dershowitz writes powerfully about his fear that, with nothing to struggle against and no powerful motivation to maintain traditions, American secular Jews will, within a few generations, lose their Jewishness. The author writes from a privileged position: raised an Orthodox Jew, he embraced secular Judaism in his young adulthood and thus comes equipped with an intimate understanding of what he has chosen to reject and accept. Though Dershowitz has no definitive answers for the problem of The Vanishing American Jew, the questions he raises may be the first step in discovering a solution.

Book Description

In this urgent book, Alan M. Dershowitz shows why American Jews are in danger of disappearing - and what must be done now to create a renewed sense of Jewish identity for the next century. In previous times, the threats to Jewish survival were external - the virulent consequences of anti-Semitism. Now, however, in late-twentieth-century America, the danger has shifted. Jews today are more secure, more accepted, more assimilated, and more successful than ever before. They've dived into the melting pot - and they've achieved the American Dream. And that, according to Dershowitz, is precisely the problem. More than 50 percent of Jews will marry non-Jews, and their children will most often be raised as non-Jews. Which means, in the view of Dershowitz, that American Jews will vanish as a distinct cultural group sometime in the next century - unless they act now. Speaking to concerned Jews everywhere, Dershowitz calls for a new Jewish identity that focuses on the positive - the 3,500-year-old legacy of Jewish culture, values, and traditions. Dershowitz shows how this new Jewish identity can compete in America's open environment of opportunity and choice - and offers concrete proposals on how to instill it in the younger generation.

Download Description

In "Is There A Future For Us?", Alan M. Dershowitz interprets what it means to be an American Jew in the next century--and the possibility that there may not "be" a future for American Jews--the loss of identity is that severe.

Customer Reviews:

It recognizes the problem .......2005-06-21

This book is to be commended for recognizing a real problem. The American - Jewish community is declining in numbers. It is an aging community, one with high- rates of intermarriage, and low rates of fertility. It is a community which is an increasingly small percentage of American society as a whole.
Why is this important?
I think that there are two answers, one for Jews and another for American non- Jews.
Jewish communities have thrived in various places in the world, and then disappeared. The American Jewry community is an especially important one for the Jewish people historically especially in its relation to Israel and the Jewish people as a whole.
As for the second reason, I would maintain that for general American society the survival and thriving of an American- Jewish community is important because this community has made great contributions to American life in many different areas, and as on the whole been a great creative factor in the shaping of American civilization.
In considering the situation of American Jews it is necessary to understand that the challenges and character of American life are different from those that the Jews have known elsewhere. Only in America have Jews been given a kind of access and acceptance which in our own time means that there is virtually no discrimination against them. It is because America accepts the Jews, and adopts so much of what is Jewish as part of itself that assimilation happens so readily in the United States.
Clearly to preserve its own tradition and way the Jews of America have to ( This is Dershowitz's major recommendation) greatly increase the quality and quantity of Jewish education. Sadly most American Jews are very ignorant about their own traditions. And one encouraging element in American - Jewish life is the intense return to Jewish learning by a certain minority of the population.
Clearly learning to understand what the Jewish community and its history is , is central to preserving Jewish identity.
Another point. Since the publication of Dershowitz's book there has been a dramatic increase in world-wide anti-Semitism. This often takes the form of Anti- Zionism and is directed primarily against Israel.
American Jews have in the past played an important role in helping support the survival of Israel. Though support for Israel among the broad American public is relatively stable over the past forty years, and though there is massive Christian Evangelical support for Israel there is also now in the US a strong anti- Semitic, anti- Israel movement which combines Islamic fundamentalists, Palestinian Arab nationalists, those of the extreme right, and perhaps even more alarmingly , extreme left, politically.
A strong American Jewish community is an important element in ensuring an Israel which can survive in the future.
In this regard one additional element in strengthening Jewish young people's identity as Jews is through their traveling to and knowing Israel. The special 'Birthright' programs have attempted to do some of this.
Dershowitz surveys the problem, and shows his heart is in the right place.
His book is in this sense highly recommended. It should be supplemented however by the works of Jack Wertheimer, Sylvia Barack- Fishman, and others who consider this problem.

A great read both for Jews and non-Jews.......2005-03-25

Book Review: The Vanishing American Jew

By: Alan M. Dershowitz
Review By: Joshua W. Delano

Alan M. Dershowitz uses his keen intellect to delve into the issue of The Vanishing American Jew with the same vigor and attentiveness he has applied to his storied criminal defense practice. Dershowitz makes a case that the prominent threat no longer lays within institutional anti-Semitism in America. Instead, he points out the threat to Jews and their way of life by assimilation. No longer do the Jews have to be united against a common enemy such as the Nazism of the Holocaust generation or Government sanctioned anti-Semitism. Intermarriage to non-Jews and assimilation into American society is now the primary danger to a people who've survived through so much persecution and toil.
Some 50 percent of Jews will marry non-Jews, and their children will most often be raised as non-Jews. In Dershowitz's view, the Jewish people will vanish from the planet sometime in the next hundred or so years. The threats to Jews are no longer external by his account. No longer are Jews in danger from the genocidal acts of Hitler or those fringe groups of present day whose threats Dershowitz discounts as marginal. Now Jews are threatened by themselves and the fact that as a people they've accomplished the American dream, becoming assimilated into the mainstream of this country.
Likely, there is no better person to take on this subject with a unique perspective both of Jewish religion and custom, as well as legal and political activism. Dershowitz has become an institution as well as a magnet to many young legal minds who aspire to greatness by choosing Harvard Law School, where he has enjoyed a successful tenure.
While dissecting the situation, the author elaborates on points such as Neo-Nazi whites and Nation of Islam anti-Semites uniting in lockstep against the Jews of present day. These threats are what he labels, as marginal and nothing compared to what Jews have faced in the past. He points out when he speaks to older Jewish audiences, he is often, "accused sometimes stridently, of minimizing anti-Semitism and am told that it is worse than ever." They see the glass as not half-full or half-empty, but instead as cracked and unfixable. A sentiment he says is in contrast with the reality of acceptance and notes that Jews are more so a part of mainstream America today than ever before. The author points out that the older generation's identities are so tied up with their victimization, they are incapable of accepting the good news that the situation is improving.
In comparison, a 1988 poll of Jewish students at Dartmouth College poignantly notes: When asked whether they believed that their Jewish ness would in any way hamper their future success, not a single student answered in the affirmative. Dershowitz considers this the current reality.
Whereas, the threat from black or Aryan neo-Nazi types is marginal, Dershowitz explains that the greater threat is that of the Christian right. Many Jews that convert to Christianity are not doing so per se, but actually converting to the American mainstream. At the present time Conservative Jews and Christians are uniting for many political causes and moving along at proficient level in policy and coalition building.
Though the author views this as a threat, it is hard for me to see it as anything other than the greater good. While Dershowitz calls it assimilation and a threat to group identity, I do not see it so cynical. Perhaps he has the wisdom and advantage of his years to have built upon his cynicism, but I see it in an ideally good way. Unity is a good thing, is it not? He refers to it as assimilation and a threat to the Jewish people and religion, I see it as all of God's people coming together for what is right, good, and just.
Mr. Dershowitz points out that his own son married a Catholic young lady, causing some unrest with his mother. He was happy, and is now with the outcome, although bothered in some ways internally. Though, Dershowitz's mother was a harder sell, requiring the consult of a Rabbi to find out why her grandson was "doing this to me." In the end all was well and Dershowitz lists some ways of handling these situations for Jews whose children intermarry. He urges that Jewish parents should be supportive, loving, and inclusive of the new spouse. Likewise, as in the case of his son, he recommended being positive and inclusive in the celebration of their Jewish identity.
This is what Dershowitz emphasizes as an essential aspect of maintaining Jewish identity and Jews as a people in America. Emphasizing the positive aspects of Judaism rather than always being so clannish and cynical. Numerous times however, Mr. Dershowitz uses humor in his book to emphasize the perceptions and misperceptions both of Jews as well as the anti-Semitic world view of those who are not Jewish. In his analysis, Dershowitz opines, "Judaism must become less tribal, less ethnocentric, less exclusive, less closed off, less defensive, less xenophobic, less clannish. We jokingly call ourselves "members of the tribe" (MOTs), as if to remind us of our tribal origins. Tribalism may be easy to justify when others treat us as a tribe, as they long have. But it becomes anachronistic and antagonistic - to behave like a tribe when others treat us like part of the mainstream."
In some aspects of the text, Mr. Dershowitz lists the sentiments of many Jews which the reader may confuse as the author's. As a seasoned defense attorney, he is always the epitome of a devil's advocate. In The Vanishing American Jew, Dershowitz weaves facts, perceptions, misperceptions, and myth as he makes his case for which modus operandi should be utilized to preserve Jewish identity in America. Jokingly, Dershowitz mentions that most Jews want their children to: be Jewish but not too Jewish, want their children to be observant of High Holidays, but not too observant, want their children to pray, but not too much.
One point I'd agree with Dershowitz on undoubtedly would be that there has to be a balance. He concedes that Jews must maintain their culture and religion without being clannish. Also, that Jews should assimilate into mainstream America to the extent that they should still be observant of their identity as Jews. Likewise that Jews of the present and in the future should maintain the religious connection passing on the Jewish culture and customs to future generations.
Mr. Dershowitz does a great job of weighing all perspectives and getting down to the problem at hand. The laborious analysis and supporting argument for maintaining and prolonging Jews into further generations gives the reader a sturdy foundation with which to come to a conclusion. While looking to the future, Dershowitz recalls from his own past as well as historical input to show that Jews must not forget who they are, where they've come from, and where Jews as a people are headed.
This issue in my eyes of course will be slanted by my being both a Gentile and a Christian, albeit a Monotheistic one. I view Judaism and the Jews as God's chosen people and the need for their survival as a people is very important. In the book Dershowitz uses historical analysis and Judaism as a religion as his vehicle for convincing the reader of his cause and his case. At the same time, he takes a more intellectual and humanistic approach as to the reasoning behind his argument, only supplementing it with the religious aspect to appeal to all Jews in the Orthodox to Reform-liberal strata.
It is obvious he believes in the importance of maintaining the religious aspects but seemingly he puts too much of a humanistic focus on the crisis to suit my palate. If God has seen Jews through all these years, why can Dershowitz not trust in God that He will see them through until the coming of the Messiah? I of course have faith that God will see Jews through because they are His people and they shall not depart from the earth as a people as Dershowitz predicts.
Dershowitz makes a great case and if you are thinking along humanistic terms and don't have any faith in God then this book is great. However this is the main shortcoming in that God is still all those things that we've attributed to him including, omnipotent. While Mr. Dershowitz's perspective isn't altogether wrong from my vantage, he doesn't see with the same eyes as I do, or from the same heart. I enjoyed his refreshing outlook on what he says is an over hyped threat of anti-Semitism in our day and time. Though it exists, I, as the author also feels, see this as something that has been much blown out of proportion. In our society there always remains a fragment of the population who will be oversensitive and read into things and see that which isn't there. Always, will there be among us those who are ignorant, bigoted, and uneducated.
On the other hand, as time passes not only can you describe societal norms being that of tolerance and acceptance but of that of unity and brotherhood to some extent. People will always be self interested and those who hate or are uninformed to the point of bigoted stupidity will eventually become marginalized over time. Jews and Christians as well as all races will, as I feel we are for the most part now, come together in consensus on many subjects and sentiments. This is why politics in America has had to become inherently centrist, since extremes exist but those moderate among us make this country work. America is a progressive country, which Dershowitz points out has been the most congenial to Jews, more so than any other host country in the past.
America was founded upon much bloodshed and treachery, even racism, though the positive attributes reflect the good of this country which has for so long welcomed so many to this country. The most important attribute to me and to Jews, as well as all people is not some PC baloney of this socialistic enlightenment period we live in but the saying engraved on our currency, "E pluribus Unum." While all of this sounds over idealistic and patriotic, I'm just pointing out that all thing work together for the good. God watches out for the Jews, in my opinion primarily, as they are His people, His children. I see myself as adopted and glad to be so by His grace and mercy. All of this is said not to preach or get theological, but to show my opinion of this case made in the book, that Dershowitz is well-intentioned and even correct on what he suggests to solve this problem. However, it is my thought, although I've been told that Jewish people, "don't do faith," as one good Rabbi friend of mine told me, that God is still the God who parted the Red Sea, helped Joshua, Daniel, David, and Job in their time of need. All I might add to victory. God will still see the tribe of the Lion of Judah through to the end.

Well written, enjoyable and on the mark.......2004-11-09

A well-written easy-to-read book that right on the mark as it tackles one of the most difficult problems in contemporary judaism. As with all of Dershowitz' books, this one is filled with humor, meticulously researched and contains compelling arguments in support of his view that organized judaism is failing to provide the proper educational foundation to ensure the continuation of reform and conservative judaism in the USA.

Even if you, like me, do not share Mr. Dershowitz' orthodox background or left-wing politics, don't let that deter you from reading this excellent book.

Interesting.......2004-08-15

Dershowitz conveys a genuine worry that Jewish people will lose their identity in the years to come. He is concerned about Jewishness getting lost in the struggle and furiousness of America. He says time and again in the book that the Jewish people need something to fight against to be great. He did not totally convince me of this. I think there are great Jewish doctors, professors, businessmen and women. Intellectual and business prowess. Isn't that something to be proud of?

I also wish that Dershowitz would have included more examples, perhaps little vignettes of various Jewish people and how they struggle in the world, or perhaps how they try to retain their identity in a fast-paced, sometimes fickle world. This would have been a good direction to take.

On the whole a very interesting topic for a book. Thank you for writing the book Dr. Dershowitz.

A reasonable attempt.......2004-01-30

This book is a reasonable and sincere attempt to deal with a difficult problem -- how to preserve Jewish culture in an era when the pace of Jews' assimilation into their home societies is accelerating.

Among its better points, it tries to grapple with defining the essence of what it is to be Jewish, especially if one is to be inclusive of secular and agnostic Jews such as Prof. Dershowitz himself. He shows that Judaism includes many principles and practices, but that many of these are either shared with other groups, or not practiced by some people who nonetheless consider themselves Jewish. So it's hard to say that the content of any of these principles or practices is the distinguishing content of Judaism. His discussion of this is very illuminating, I think.

Ultimately, he comes up with the distinction that the common essence of Judaism is procedural rather than substantive -- it is a *way* of dealing with changes and differing opinions, rather than a specific set of principles or doctrines (content). The distinction he attempts to draw is one familiar to lawyers, but perhaps less so to others, and might be a bit of a let-down to many.

Prof. Dershowitz also defends the principle that being Jewish should be a matter of self-identification. Along the way he points out the contradictions between, on the one hand, the ultra-Orthodox view that religious law has been fixed since the time of Moses, and, on the other, their position that a child's religion follows his or her mother's (opposite of what is set forth in the Old Testament). It isn't clear, however, whether his liberality would also apply to someone who neither had a Jewish parent nor went through a conversion procedure -- maybe someone should ask him.

It probably will be difficult for any reader, Jewish or not, to identify with all the issues he tries to deal with along the way to reaching this result. For example, I personally found his discussion of religious ceremonies for agnostics and atheists a bit mind-boggling. But while I don't fall into either of those categories, there are many people who do and who also consider themselves Jewish. For this reason, I understand why he'd discuss this and similar topics.

There are a couple of pertinent things he doesn't mention, especially when it comes to intermarriage. (I speak from the POV of a committed Jew married to a non-Jewish woman.) One is that many modern Jews are turned off by the exclusionary language that is found in many Jewish religious texts (written, for the most part, thousands of years ago or under circumstances of violent persecution by non-Jews). If you find it hard to believe that the Jewish G-d or supreme power is really different from that of a sincere Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, etc., it's harder to swallow the absolute necessity of marrying a Jewish person, especially when Jews make up less than 3% of the US population and less than 0.2% of the world's.

He also doesn't mention that it's possible to convert children to Judaism without necessitating the conversion of a non-Jewish parent. Sometimes the non-Jewish parent doesn't have the personal conviction to warrant a sincere conversion, but nonetheless strongly supports the idea that children should have an unequivocal identity as Jewish. (Maybe this is easier to do when that parent has a strong ethnic but weaker religious identity, as is common with many people from Japan, China and some other East Asian countries. Negotiating Jewish and Japanese identities within a family, for example, might be easier than negotiating simultaneous Jewish and Christian ones. Of course, there are some committed religionists in East Asia too.)

I've got to agree with the reviewers who mention Prof. Dershowitz's frequent self-aggrandizing comments as one of the truly irritating features of the book. From having heard him speak almost 30 years ago, I'd guess this is one of his more enduring traits (not that other trial lawyers are significantly more modest). His use of jokes bothered me less, though they mostly come from one source (Jewish Humor, by Joseph Telushkin, which relates many of them in an overly abbreviated, and therefore flat, manner). So if you know that book you'll have heard 'em all before.

But I disagree with reviewers who suggest that Prof. Dershowitz is racist or feels Jews are better than other people. I think that's a misinterpretation, though his self-aggrandizement doesn't help get his sincerity across. He's candid about his divided feelings about his son's intermarriage, but I think he recognizes that it's possible for a human being to have inconsistent or contradictory feelings inside themselves. I might not agree with him on every point, but think it's to his credit that he deals with the intermarriage issue from the standpoint of publicly examining his own personal ambivalence, rather than adopting some doctrinaire point of view (which he makes fun of later in the book).

For the most part, he's grappling with a very legitimate issue: As a tiny minority who find themselves in an open, hospitable home culture, there's a strong attraction for Jews to thoroughly assimilate into that home culture. Over the course of a few generations, such assimilation makes it easy to lose the distinctive culture from their past. Prof. Dershowitz feels that there's a lot of merit in the Jewish cultural heritage, at the same time that he's an enthusiastic supporter of the open society that creates this dilemma. My impression is that he'd like for Jews to participate fully in that society while also retaining something particularly Jewish.

I think that most ethnic groups in the US face similar issues about integration vs. identity, though there are some unique aspects that complicate Jews' attempts to accomplish this goal, just as other ethnicities have their own unique circumstances to deal with. In the case of Jews these issues include (i) blending of culture with a religious heritage that's different from US majority, and (ii) relative lack of distinguishing physical or linguistic characteristics. I think his book is a sincere attempt to help a Jewish audience deal with this difficult conundrum.

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The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century. (book reviews): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
Gary Rosen
Manufacturer: Institute on Religion and Public Life
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Institute on Religion and Public Life on August 1, 1997. The length of the article is 1324 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century. (book reviews)
Author: Gary Rosen
Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 1997
Publisher: Institute on Religion and Public Life
Issue: n75 Page: p66(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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The Vanishing American Jew : In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century

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The Vanishing American Jew : In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century
Alan M. Dershowitz
Manufacturer: Little, Brown
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Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PW86EU

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The Vanishing American Jew. In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century
Alan M. Dershowitz
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OU3DXC

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