History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

Average customer rating:

Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Average customer rating:

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - What is happening to black men?
Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In
A Must Read
Why are so many Black Men in Prison?
Why are so many blacks in prison?

Why Are So Many Black Men in Prison?
Demico Boothe
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1425713971

Customer Reviews:

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - What is happening to black men?.......2007-08-04

Demico Boothe has explored the reasons so many black men are indeed in prison in, WHY ARE SO MANY BLACK MEN IN PRISON? He begins with his own story of a shaky upbringing and his subsequent dabbling in drug dealing. He was caught with a few grams of crack cocaine but because it was the dreaded crack, he was given 10 years in prison. When he left prison after serving his time, he was actually railroaded back into prison by a crooked justice system. He delves deeply into our justice system and the motives behind all the new prisons that are being built. He gives succinct and reasonable views of exactly what is happening now in the United States and how the past has played a role in the present. He uses persuasive statistics regarding the number of black men in prison as compared to the number of white men who are incarcerated.

Demico Boothe has done an excellent job of researching his subject and it is a plus, if unfortunate for him, that he has actually experienced first hand what he's talking about. I knew I was hearing the real story rather than just statistics from an intellectual who had no real idea of what the prison system is really like. I would have liked for Boothe to search a little deeper into the Haiti, Aristide and USA question, maybe even reading Randall Robinson's take on the situation, and then he might see it a bit differently. Otherwise, it is a good book and one every one in America should read. We indeed, have a crisis going on.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In.......2007-06-09

The book was very interesting. I learned soooo much about the government and the prison industry. I did some searching independantly to check on the things reported in the book and they are very true. Great Read!! Buy the book.

A Must Read.......2007-05-25

Mr. Demico's book is a must-read for anyone concerned about young African American men. Although I did not agree with every conclusion he reached, Demico's main premises are convincing. As a white woman who teaches mainly students of color, I am always impressed, and often in awe, of those young men who reach college with so much going against them. Demico's books lays bare not only the horrible inequalities of our society, but also the racist attitudes of our political system - - Democrats, Republicans, and most everyone in between.

Why are so many Black Men in Prison?.......2007-05-13

I is a well put together book. He really goes into a lot of detail of how our society is really set up.

Why are so many blacks in prison?.......2007-05-12

I found this book very interesting. As a white devil myself, I had no idea that I was responsible for forcing blacks into committing crimes and then subsequently clogging up the whole "Prison Industrial Complex"(tm). I will try to stop causing this, as I am sure it is creating a LOT of trouble for everyone! Sorry!

It is probably also my fault that young black men dressed in XXXXL clothes overtly threaten me and my family members routinely. Can anyone tell me what I should do to make this not happen?

I imagine it's also my fault that black on white violent crime is WAY higher than white on black violent crime, even though blacks constitute about 12.5% of the population, and whites are about 70%. But since it is impossible for a black to commit a hate crime according to our criminal justice system (since blacks are not under any circumstances racist), statistically, there are more white on black hate crimes. Boothe notes a statistic regarding hate crimes, but he skips the one about interracial violence in general.

In sum, Boothe notes that just about everything blacks do is actually MY fault, because my skin is white. Boothe, I've got a word for you.

Introspection.

Average customer rating:

Currie's got a good heart, but the book is dated and misleading
Fight conventional wisdom
Critical Thinking Book Review
Prison myths
Crime and Punishment in America

Crime and Punishment in America
Elliott Currie
Manufacturer: Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0805060162

Book Description

There are five times as many Americans behind bars today as in 1970. The national incarceration rate in 1997 was twice that in 1985. California's prison system has become the third largest in the world. And despite some limited recent declines in crime rates, we remain by far the most violent industrial society on earth.Though our massive investment in the prison system has not resulted in enduring public safety, politicians and the media continue to insist that America's unique problem of violence is the result of a lenient society "soft" on criminals; that incarcerating an ever-larger proportion of our population is a "social program that works;" and that all other approaches to crime--from prevention to rehabilitation--have failed. Nationally acclaimed criminologist Elliott Currie dissects these myths in a groundbreaking book that is already changing the terms of the current debate.

Customer Reviews:

Currie's got a good heart, but the book is dated and misleading.......2006-11-02

This book is misleading, and here's why:

Currie's main argument is that prisons do not work because they do nothing to deter crime. He backs up this assertion by stating while the United States started beefing up prison sentences and building more prisons in the mid 80's, that the crime rate actually rose significantly! Here, Currie is right. From 1984 to 1993, while prison time was getting stiffer, the rate of violent crime rose from 1984 from 41 victimizations per 1,000, to 52 per 1,000 in 1993.

However, this premise is misleading because Currie never tells you that from 1973 to 1983, the violent crime rate was the same (around 50 victimizations per 1,000) as it had been when it "peaked" in 1993! Thus, Currie is hiding the ball and only telling you half the story!

And moreover, Currie's hypothesis is dead wrong when you consider the rates of violent crime since the book was published. When Currie wrote the book the crime rate was around 45 victimizations per 1,000, and he projected that the rate would increase because prisons don't "rehabilitate" its prisoners. However, the crime rate is now 21 victimizations per 1,000 - a 58% decrease in violent crime since 1993! How do you explain that, Currie?

However, the book is still on point when it criticizes how the USA imprisons far more many people than any other country. The only problem is that recent crime trends over the past 10 years show that contrary to what Currie said, imprisoning lots of people has made this country much safer (58% decrease in violent crime). This fact really kills Currie's main thesis.

Nevertheless, I think Currie is right when he says that there has to be a better way to deal with crime than just locking people up. For example, diversion programs for drug addicts would be a far more humanitarian and less expensive way to deal with these types of offenders than jail time. Also, the progressive social programs Currie discusses would also be helpful in keeping people out of jail in the first place. And of course, a greater investment in education is also key...but this has all been said before...

Fight conventional wisdom.......2006-07-01

Conventional wisdom can, at times, be wrong. This may very well be true of the idea that simply building more prisons and throwing more people in jail will solve the problem of crime. Very simply, Currie points out that this only takes care of the criminals who are caught. It really does nothing to take care of the problem at its source.

Although prison has a deterrent effect, the effect is relative to the situation the person finds himself in. For instance, if the person is desperate, the person is more likely to commit a crime than a person who is well off. Prison, as pointed out in the book, is largely mere incarceration. It protects the public, but it doesn't solve the problem.

What struck me most about this book is the number or programs that have worked at reducing crime. I was happy to see that change is possible, but I was dismayed that none of this seems to be making much of a foothold in political arenas. People are still in the grip of fear.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to seriously think about the problem of crime. I would also (if I had the power) require this book of all politicians whose office directly affects the citizenry.

Critical Thinking Book Review.......2002-12-03

This book is truly one of the better books discussing the problems with our punishment in America. Elliott Currie does not go directly into the book explaining his argument outright. The first two paragraphs describe the arguments as to why the "Prison Experiment" is and was a good idea, and after each argument for, he details why those specific arguments are flawed. The last three chapters of his book explain his argument for an alternative to our social crisis in a logical and reasonable manner.
Mr. Currie's argument in the last part of the book is that there are many alternatives to imprisoning our entire population that commits a crime. He states that the justice system as we have it right now is so completely focused on being a punitive system that it has ignored its potential to be a preventative system. His premise here is completely true and correct. He believes that our system should be focusing on rehabilitating our criminals and juveniles rather than putting them away and "assuming" they will be okay when they get out. This argument is also deductively valid because the conclusion would follow necessarily from the premise. If we focus on rehabilitating, the population would be extremely less likely to commit crimes because it would give people an alternative. Elliott Currie's book is also good because he commits no logical fallicies. He does a good job detailing the reasons why his argument is valid. He suggests anger management programs, drug treatment programs, more schooling, and stricter aftercare for paroled men and women. All of these programs would seem to logically reduce crime greatly once an inmate was paroled.
In conclusion, Elliot Currie offers an excellent argument as to an alternative to our "prison experiment." He clearly explains the reasons as to why his argument is valid and he gives a multitude of reasons as to why the arguments for the "prison experiment" are wrong. It was an excellent book full of good opinions.

Prison myths.......2001-05-25

Crime, like any other social issue, is a topic people have very strong opinions on. But also like any other social issue, most people don't have much basis for their opinions other than beliefs and values steeped in misunderstanding. Elliott Currie writes with the view that we must redefine our view of the criminal justice system, their purpose, and how our nation struggles with violence. The design of it all, he argues, is out of whack. Locking large numbers of people into cells and then releasing them without having addressed the underlying reasons why they got there in the first place is no solution. Currie brings in much statistical data, which can make the first two chapters slow, but it is necessary. You can't take social "science" seriously without such data. He ends on a more philosophical note, but in between, he creates a well structured critique of America's crime situation.

First, he wonders about prisons. Are we soft on crime? Does prison work? And do prisons pay back in prevented crimes what they cost? Then he suggests that there are alternatives to incarceration alone, and discusses methods of prevention. He also discusses crime as a social phenomenon, and economic factors that create favorable settings for crime. And finally, he suggests that our view of the justice system itself must be revised, that decreasing violence should be a priority above punishment.

Having sat in on Elliott Currie's "Crime and Criminal Justice" class at UC Berkeley, I found myself wanting a little more from the book. His class was more extensive and covered other issues like gun control, the death penalty, how to get and interpret data on crime, etc. But this is not a textbook on crime. It is Currie's plea that we all take responsibility for the lives of many who are young and live marginal existences, who suffer abuses and desperate conditions. We provide them with the social service of incarceration and hope to be rid of their disagreeable behavior. Is this what we really want? Even if your views on crime are more conservative than Currie's, he provides an argument that is intellectual and passionate, and you may at least wonder if he has a point.

Crime and Punishment in America.......2000-08-25

This book was required reading a sociology class I took and I would recommend it to anyone. The book is easy to read, easy to understand, interesting, and relevent to any member of society. Currie builds a strong thesis as to why our justice system does us little justice, and he offers some valuable suggestions as to how the system could do us more justice. I would especially recomend this book to all voters.

Three Strikes and You're Out: A Promise to Kimber : The Chronicle of America's Toughest Anti-Crime Law

Average customer rating:

Tough Love Through Strict Sentencing...
Awful book. Badly written, biased, waste of time/money.
Bad/sad story on how you go from grief to horrendous policy
Reads like a fast-paced novel.

Three Strikes and You're Out: A Promise to Kimber : The Chronicle of America's Toughest Anti-Crime Law
Mike Reynolds , Bill Jones , and Dan Evans
Manufacturer: Quill Driver Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Cruel Justice: Three Strikes and the Politics of Crime in America's Golden State

ASIN: 1884956122

From the Publisher

This is the story of the toughest sentencing law in America as chronicled by those who were intimately involved in the fight to see it enacted, and who believe in it passionately. It is the story of one family's heartbreak, of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering by soft-on-crime, liberal politicians in an effort to eviserate the law, and it's the story of the ultimate victory by a majority of Californians who, in a reversal of decades of citizen neglect, defied the crime "experts" and voted for common sense and justice.

Customer Reviews:

Tough Love Through Strict Sentencing..........2000-07-11

Until Mike became motivated by the loss of his daughter, California's prisons were a short stopover for violent criminals on their way to their next victim. Poor grammar aside, the book vividly portrays California's legislature being run by an immensely strong liberal cadre of men dedicated not to the public who elected them but to a political philosphy out of step with common sense and the one man who ran the assembly at that time, Willy Brown.

Not only was Kimber sensely sacrificed but also Polly Klaas. Polly was kidnapped from her home during a pajama party then raped and killed by a repeat felon just out of prison. This took place just as the initiative was being circulated for signatures. The event so moved the hearts and souls of the citizens of California that the politicians resisting the prison reform effort either got out of the way or joined the ranks of those supporting it.

The Three Strikes law has accomplished what it set out to do: Take dangerous repeat offenders off the street! Not only is crime down over 46% here in the state (2000 stats) but not one single prison has been built. In fact, prison population is down.

The only senseless thing is why did so many have to suffer and die and why did it take so long to bring about this common sense reform?

New Yorkers take note!

Awful book. Badly written, biased, waste of time/money........1999-04-08

If you are looking for an honest, intelligent account of the Three Strikes law, its origins, and its impacts, this is NOT the book to read.

The murder of Kimber Reynolds was a tragic, sad, horrendous event, and my heart goes out to Mike Reynolds. I can see how he would want to start a crusade to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.

I am a policy analyst who has done a great deal of reearch on Three Strikes. There are various potential benefits of the Three Strikes law, but the impacts on the budget and the corrections system will probably be vast. These costs and effects are never discussed in this book. The details of the law are glossed over.

The book is a pathetic attempt to turn a sad story into heavy-handed propaganda for a controversial law and its proponents. It's like an overly long campaign leaflet, launching harsh attacks on the law's opponents and making the law's proponents out to be heroes.

Easily one of the worst books I have ever read. If there were any way to give it less than one star, I certainly would.

Bad/sad story on how you go from grief to horrendous policy.......1998-11-01

This book is an embarrassment. Badly written, badly conceived. A sad, incomplete, and partial account of the tragic slippage from personal grief to the collective tragedy of a policy that does nothing but aggravate the problem it is supposed to solve. Relies on emotion, not on argument. Pitiful.

Reads like a fast-paced novel........1996-08-08

This is the story of how one man, working to overcome theheartbreak of his daughter's murder by a repeat felon,fought the powers that be and changed the system. It's a behind the scenes look at how politics works (or doesn't!) for the citizens. It may be nonfiction, but it reads like a thriller. Fast- paced, intriguing, often scary in its frank portrayal of politics as usual.

The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment in America

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Comprehensive overview of policies, presented as persuasive essays
Should be titled "The war against conservativism".
Another piece of trash from fringe-left cooks...
Comprehensive Coverage, But Heavy-Handed Bias
Wonderful Expressions!

The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment in America
Katherine A. Beckett , and Theodore Sasson
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0761929940

Book Description

The U.S. crime rate has dropped steadily for more than a decade, yet the rate of incarceration continues to skyrocket. Today, more than 2 million Americans are locked in prisons and jails with devastating consequences for poor families and communities, overcrowded institutions and overburdened taxpayers. How did the U.S. become the worldâ€™s leader in incarceration? Why have the numbers of women, juveniles, and people of color increased especially rapidly among the imprisoned?

The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment in America, Second Edition is the first book to make widely accessible the new research on crime as a political and cultural issue. Katherine Beckett and Theodore Sasson provide readers with a robust analysis of the roles of crime, politics, media imagery and citizen activism in the making of criminal justice policy in the age of mass incarceration.

Features of this text:

Critical Approach. Debunks myths about crime in the U.S., challenges many current anticrime policies that became harsher in the 1990s, and illuminates the political implications of crime and punishment.
Contemporary. Updated throughout with particular attention to Chapter 5, "Crime in the Media," including research and analyses of crime in the news, crime as entertainment, and the interplay of news media, entertainment, and crime.
Comprehensive Research. Draws on a wide range of scholarship, including research on crimeâ€™s representation in political discourse and the mass media, public opinion, crime-related activism, and public policy.
Consistent and Accessible. A great source to communicate new research to both non-specialists and specialists in accessible language with riveting, real-life examples.

Intended as a supplement for use in any criminal justice or criminology course, especially in the punishment, corrections and policy areas, The Politics of Injustice, Second Edition will appeal to those who take a critical approach to crime issues.

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive overview of policies, presented as persuasive essays.......2006-12-16

A very comprehensive review of current criminal justice system policies. Details what has worked and what has not worked, in a moderately fair manner, in general.

The book's main fault is that in several instances, conclusions are drawn as to the reasons why certain programs or certain policies succeeded (or failed), and politics often are brought into the discussion. There are some moments in which some of the authors' statements, presented without any cited studies or lacking footnotes, may appear somewhat speculative or even biased to the reader.

On the whole, a decent overview of the many directions the criminal justice system has taken as well as a decent look at some of the policies foisted onto the CJS by the politics of the last fifty or so years.

Should be titled "The war against conservativism"........2006-09-18

Without doubt the book is well written and the authors do an amazing job of using "smoke and mirrors" to convince readers that their analysis of the criminal justice system is true and factual. However, I have never seen a more perfect example of an author intentionally manipulating data and statistics to support his or her opinion.

Besides the clear political bias of the author, there are even a number of blatant factual errors. For example, look hard enough and you will find that the same exact bar graph is erroneously used twice in the book for two entirely different studies.

This is NOT a history book. Nor should it be used as such. It has a very clear purpose and that is to demonize conservatives and those who are "tough on crime".

Another piece of trash from fringe-left cooks..........2006-02-16

This is perhaps the most liberal textbook I have ever read in my entire life. The authors come across as subjective and emotional, espousing the evils of capitalism and taking responsibility for one's own actions.

Comprehensive Coverage, But Heavy-Handed Bias.......2001-05-04

The book takes on the ambitious (and useful) task of analyzing America's political and legislative responses to crime. Where it is strong is analyzing broad trends and recording the themes, policies, and actors that have impacted federal policy and the national debate on crime. Where it is less strong is in developing its thesis that prevention should play a larger policy role than "tough on crime" enforcement policies. Its constant filtering of the data along these lines detracts from the information provided as the reader never receives the opportunity to come to his/her own conclusions before heavy-handed author commentary in each chapter. Also, the book is weak in its attempt to fully portray recent innovations in policing and corrections. Still, it presents an easy to read outline of the history of criminal justice policy and is sure to educate its readers.

Wonderful Expressions!.......2001-03-22

I LOVED the book myself! Wish I had written it! Got straight to the point, AND made a lot of sense.

Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America

Average customer rating:

An informative read
Mastery of the Institutional Racism that is everywhere
A tremendously important book
Great
One of the worst books I've ever read.

Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America
Michael Tonry
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195104692

Book Description

Despite the perennial claims of politicians that our courts are coddling hardened criminals, the fact is that America already sends a higher proportion of its citizens to prison--and for longer terms--than any other western nation. To quote the Canadian House of Commons's Committee on Justice, "If locking up those who violate the law contributed to safer societies, then the United States should be the safest country in the world." Yet despite well-documented and mounting evidence that increased penalties alone cannot reduce crime, the Reagan and Bush administrations repeatedly lobbied for tougher mandatory sentences and more prisons. Although black crime rates have been stable for twenty years, the number and percentages of blacks in jail and prison have skyrocketed since Ronald Reagan took office. The trend continues with President Clinton, who recently called for "three strikes you're out" legislation dictating mandatory life sentences for third felony convictions. In Malign Neglect, Michael Tonry addresses these paradoxes with passion and lucidity. Drawing on a vast compendium of the latest statistical, legal and social science research, he takes on the explosive issues of race, crime and punishment. As unconventional as he is committed, Tonry confronts uncomfortable truths head-on. On the one hand, he is outraged by politicians' talk of Willy Horton and Welfare Queens. The texts may be crime and welfare, Tonry writes, but the subtext is race. While he recognizes that the disadvantaged have no license to attack, rape or steal, and that the absolution of disadvantaged offenders would require a cynical acceptance of the suffering of victims, he argues powerfully that crime control policies can be recast so that, without diminishing public safety, they do less harm to disadvantaged black Americans. Tonry presents devastating evidence that our current policies are decimating black communities, and impeding the movement of disadvantaged black Americans into the social and economic mainstream of modern America. A blistering attack on worn-out misconceptions about race, poverty, crime and punishment and a fearless prescription for change, Malign Neglect is an indispensable briefing paper on a topic which goes to the heart and soul of the nation.

Customer Reviews:

An informative read.......2003-09-11

In his book, Tonry delineates the state of crime in the U.S. in a well-developed disscussion of crime policy, rates, and philosophy.

However, though he makes many good points, the book tends to offer explanation that tend to lean far to the right and try too hard to expose data that he purports has been manipulated.

While his ideas are good, he doesn't effectively address numerous policing strategies or propose substantive inniatives to reduce crime.

Instead, he seeks softening sentencing and extirpating "just-desert" policies. He doesn't purpose much philosophical or empirical evidence to back his claims.

Mastery of the Institutional Racism that is everywhere.......2001-11-15

Michael Tonry takes an in-depth look into the racism that permeates every level of the criminal justice and law enforcement institutions in this country. Tonry's book covers racial profiling, racially targeted crime policy, the unnecessary War on Drugs, punishment, sentencing policy, and the like. Reading Malign Neglect can lead to the basest of conclusions: that "The Burden on Black Americans" is vast and deeply entrenched.

Tonry's discussion of the history behind the War on Drugs, while leaving out the Nixon input, faults policy makers who knew the disparate impact it would have on black Americans. Seeing that when the official war on drugs was launched, the overall drug use in the country was decreasing, yet there was a change in norms, illustrates just how calculated the negative effects of the "war" were. The only population where drug use was not on an overall decline was the disadvantaged inner city populations. Therefore, with increased surveillance and increased punishment, it is malign neglect to assume all people will be treated equally by this "war."

Tonry does an excellent job explaining that there are no unfortunate accidents in terms of policies that over target African Americans. He makes the point that it is such policies that lead to the disintegration of communities based on the over-incarceration of black men. Tonry does not imply that crime should be ignored, but that it is un-Constitutional to target races for policies designed in the veil of universal.

Tonry supports jury nullification which is the setting free (with the exception of violent crimes) black defendants as a method of evening the score, so to speak, for the mistreatment of blacks by the justice system to date.

Tonry explores many issues that answer topics that Randall Kennedy attempts to tackle in "Race, Crime, and the Law. I would recommend reading them together.

A tremendously important book.......2000-05-31

"Malign Neglect : Race, Crime, and Punishment in America" is one the more revealing and informative books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. In looking at America's racist crime policies over the last couple of decades, Tonry illucidates what has been a virtual war against minorities and the poor.

Tonry effectively points out that the elite intelligensia who have crafted these racist programmes knew exactly that they were scapegoating minorities - specifically young Afro-American men. A tremendously important book in terms of understanding the history of class conflict and racism and their current guises as manifest in contemporary society.

Great.......1999-09-05

The United States is one of the richest countries in the world. Despite this it does not have a universal system of health care or a level of income support for the poor associated with most developed nations. Its criminal justice system is unusual as it still retains the death penalty, routinely executes people who would be regarded as juveniles in other countries and also executes mentally disabled people.

Michael Tonry has written a book which looks at the fairness of the criminal justice system and how it affects Afro Americans. The number of Afro Americans in the overall population in the United States is some 13%. They now however represent a majority of the population who is imprisoned. These figures alone rather flatter the reality of the situation. The Afro American community is split into an affluent group and an underprivileged group. One of the points that Tonry makes is that of that underprivileged group some 80 of males will be charged with a criminal offence. A huge proportion of that group will be jailed.

The reason for this is the war on drugs. In 1988 faced by a decline in the use of drugs and a stable crime rate President Bush announced a war on drugs. This involved the transfer of tremendous resources to policing the creation of tough penalties mandatory penalties and the removal of discretion from the courts. In the United States low level drug traffickers who would get a penalty of around 6 months in Australia routinely get penalties of 7 years. The effect has been a tripling of the prison population.

Studies of drug use in the States show that white people and Afro Americans abuse illegal drugs at around the same rate. It is difficult to police drug use in the white community as it occurs indoors. The poorer sections of the Afro American community live in crowded conditions and buy their drugs on the streets. It is thus far easier to arrest the poor. Thus the major effect of the war on drugs has been a massive increase of low level Afro American drug offenders being imprisoned for longer and longer periods. The cost of jail construction has been massive and in some states is greater than the higher education budget.

The political basis of the war on drugs was the use of the Willie Horton case to destroy Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential campaign. Willie Horton was an Afro American who had been jailed for violent offences. He was released on a furlough a type of leave then permitted by the state of Massachusetts. Horton brutally raped and murdered a woman and the fact that he was released whilst completing a sentence was used by Bush to suggest that Dukakis was soft on crime.(Despite the fact that the program had been up to that time routinely successful) Since that time American politicians including Clinton have emphasized their toughness on crime.

This book is well written and contains a depth of statistical material which makes it compelling. The sense of outrage is palpable on each page. It is short some 200 pages but the depth of its research and the clearness of its arguments make it a must read.

One of the worst books I've ever read........1999-03-18

This book was forced on me in a political science class. If you love left-wing propaganda and dogmatic party-line thinking, you'll love this book. It's filled with half-truths, opinions stated as facts, and outright lies. By the end I felt physically ill. You won't find solutions in this book for the problem of blacks committing the majority of crime in America, only pathetic excuses. The author also dismissed a priori the idea that poverty does not necessarily lead to crime, rather a third factor may lead to both regardless of race: low I.Q. (p. 134) (The Bell Curve). The author shows his elitist attitude when he characterizes the electorate as dupes (p. 179) and advocates punishing law abiding gun owners (p. 200) because of the actions of criminals.... truly frightening and an excellent example of left-wing authoritarianism

Cruel Justice: Three Strikes and the Politics of Crime in America's Golden State

Average customer rating:

A stark and disturbing account

Cruel Justice: Three Strikes and the Politics of Crime in America's Golden State
Joe Domanick
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520246683

Book Description

When the people of California overwhelmingly voted for the 1994 "three strikes" law, many had no idea what they were approving. The official ballot argument in favor of what Newsweek called "the toughest law in the nation" kept it simple: "Three strikes keeps career criminals who rape women, molest children and commit murder behind bars where they belong." What few people realized, however, was that the sweeping nature of the law would put thousands of nonviolent men and women in prison for twenty-five years to life, for crimes as minor as shoplifting $2.69 worth of AA batteries, forging a check for $94.94, or attempting to buy a macadamia nut disguised as a $5 rock of cocaine. In his riveting, well-documented book, Joe Domanick reveals the drama of the shattered lives involved with the law. Focusing on personal stories, Cruel Justice expands to tell the larger tale of how the law came into existence; how it has played out; what political, social, and economic forces lie behind it; and how the politics of crime and fear work in America. Domanick demonstrates how laws passed in haste, without deliberation, and in reaction to public hysteria can have unforeseen consequences as tragic as those they were designed to thwart. Domanick draws powerful portraits of the two innocent young girls--Kimber Reynolds and Polly Klaas--whose murders were the catalyst for the three strikes law; of the men who killed them; of the fathers who sought their revenge; and especially of the many people serving lengthy prison terms who are victims of the three strikes law itself.

Customer Reviews:

A stark and disturbing account.......2004-06-07

Cruel Justice: Three Strikes And The Politics Of Crime is a no-holds-barred look at the rise of the "three strikes" law in California, first instituted in 1994 in the wake of the media-followed murders of Kimber Reynolds and Polly Klaas. The vagaries and utter ruthlessness of the law have resulted in 25 year to life prison sentences for not only violent offenders, but countless individuals convinced of nonviolent crimes such as petty theft or serving as an alleged lookout for a $20 drug deal. The utterly brutal and disproportionate punishmet meted out to nonviolent offenders has caused the even the family of Polly Klaas to speak out openly against the law; yet it remains entrenched, and political interests resist every effort to amend it to apply only to "serious" or "violent" offenses. A stark and disturbing account of a very real and ongoing law that is causing tremendous impact in the state of California today. Highly recommended.

The United States of America versus Theodore John Kaczynski: Ethics, Power and the Invention of the Unabomber

Average customer rating:

Redundant Beyond Belief
Contending Egos
Embracing Unpopularity
Good Points, Redundant Messages
About Time

The United States of America versus Theodore John Kaczynski: Ethics, Power and the Invention of the Unabomber
Michael Mello
Manufacturer: Context Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1893956016

Amazon.com

The Unabomber case both captivated and worried Americans, prodded by extensive media coverage of his 17-year-long spree of terrorist "anti-technology" attacks. Few of us were prepared to deal with the likes of a Ted Kaczynski--who he was, what he did, what he believed in and stood for. When Kaczynski emerged from hiding in his absurd shack in the mountains with his piles of anti-technology literature, the image of the unruly bearded man in a bright orange jumpsuit burned into our collective unconscious. We haven't yet been able to shake the sight. Such is Michael Mello's thesis, which he elaborates in this masterful account of the legal side of the Unabomber story. Mello, both an accomplished journalist and a notorious defense attorney (he represented serial killer Ted Bundy), actually spent time as an advisor to the Kaczynski defense team during pretrial proceedings; his perceptions are, he freely admits, skewed toward the defense in this case, particularly in matters of procedure. Yet the book never reads like propaganda. Instead, Mello opens up new lines of inquiry into the manner in which the United States government handled its prosecution of the case. With a biting, trenchant approach, he unfolds layer upon layer of the fascinating case and opens it to public view. He also constructs an eerie parallel between Kaczynski's case and abolitionist John Brown, who was executed by the government in the 19th century after his raid on Harpers Ferry. Is it fair, Mello asks, that we should remember Brown as a civil rights martyr and Kaczynski as a comical, albeit defanged, monster? This is fascinating reading, regardless of whether or not you agree with Mello's take on the case. --Tjames Madison

Book Description

On January 22, 1998, Theodore John Kaczynski, Montana recluse and accused Unabomber, pled guilty and received three life sentences after a dramatic behind-the-scenes legal struggle. Kaczynski was written off by most as a vicious sociopath or Luddite eco-terrorist, and revered by a few as a modern-day John Brown defending a utopian vision at all costs.

In this provocative analysis, Professor Michael Mello, who informally advised the Unabomber defense team, sifts through the media circus, court transcripts, and his own friendship with Kaczynski to expose the conflicts of interest and ideological forces that led to one of the most famous non-trials in legal history. Mello's book is an up-close look at a man who got lost in a system that could not accommodate him because it could not imagine him.

Customer Reviews:

Redundant Beyond Belief.......2001-01-07

I certainly agree with the reviewer,Dr.Alan A.Abrams, on his review of this book,especially in the area of editing.Although a few of the points in this book were,I feel correct,and well accepted such as the judges refusal to allow Kaczynski to defend himself even though the possibility of recieving the death penalty was being persued by the prosecution, the judges refusal to allow Kaczynski to proceed with the trial and defend himself with no clear sanity/insanity diagnoses determined was flawed. I don't know of anyone who doesn't believe in a defendants right to his day in court.I feel Kaczynski should have been allowed to defend himself not having been definitely diagnosed insane by the doctors and/or the court even though it was obvious that Kaczynski knew what was at stake and was taking advantage of every legal opportunity available to manipulate and delay the inevitable trial.The main point of this book was just that,the denial by the judge of due process, Kaczynski's right to represent himself.I believe most people agree with that even though Kaczynski accepted the plea bargain.This gets us back to this book,the main point of which has been stated above.After laborously enduring hundreds of pages of redundant text,hoping for a few new facts,I finally got to the end and was totally disappointed.There were few new facts in this book that hadn't been already in the news.As Dr.Abrams stated in his review,this book was in dire need of editing.I believe that the complete book could have been reduced to one or two chapters at most and still cover the main points brought out in this book.Definitely not recommended for anyone without a very,very long attention span who is also able to endure endless redundant text.

Contending Egos.......2000-10-22

The author appears so involved in his own axes to grind with other public defenders, and his own self-promotion, that the book never tells us anything of interest about Kaczynski, Kaczynski's mental states, the accuracy of media reporting or the delicate balances in the legal system. There is an interesting conflict in our legal system around the issue of self representation since the Supreme Court decided Faretta v. California in 1975. The case of Colin Ferguson in New York (the man who shot the passengesrs on the LIRR) exemplified this - a marginally sane defendant, allowed to represent himself, who uses the trial as a forum for his paranoid ravings. The question - can a barely competent defendant not only waive their right to an attorney, but also their right to a meaningful or fair trial? Should a barely competent defendant who is seriously mentally ill be allowed to refuse to present evidence of their mental illness because they believe that their delusions are true? The book doesn't begin to explore the frequent problems of conflicts, miscommunications, and deceit that pass both ways in many criminal (and civil) litigation. The author appears only interested in portraying Kaczynski's attorneys as rigid ideologues ( as opposed to himself). The author's critique of modern psychiatry is as superficial as his exploration and pseudo-psychology of Theodore Kaczynski. (The author nowhere fills in the gap between Kaczynski being teased as a child to deciding upon killing strangers). The author's premise that Kaczynski was a normal person who was cheated out of his day in court is fatally weakened by this lack of explanation of Kaczynski's psychology. The author's style is in desperate need of editing (the same sentences appear repeatedly). The author's self righteousness makes this an even more difficult read.

Embracing Unpopularity.......2000-06-02

This book is an antidote to the kind of pop psychology in which people live in a loving society in which each one strives to obtain as much popularity as possible by pleasing everyone. Instead, this is the work of an expert in the law's use of the death penalty, a measure which ought to be reserved for those cases in which something evil needs to be eradicated, as the Unabomber seemed to be successful on a few occasions in which he picked his own targets and used our customary methods of communication to deliver his bombs. What is most offensive to me is a presumption that there is any innocence here, a legal fiction which is often used as a professional matter to keep anyone who has formed an opinion from speaking about things which are obvious to those who are not engaged in the drama which conswists mainly of pretending that no one knows what is going on. There is still a little doubt in my mind that Ted was absolutely sincere in pleading guilty to what he did, but after he managed that bit of confession, it is great that a law professor like Michael Mello could write this book to show how the attempt to defend him was even crazier than he was.

Good Points, Redundant Messages.......2000-01-14

The author well states legal points of debate regarding the "non-trial" of Dr.Kaczynski. Provides interesting insight to the legal system and inparticular Dr. Kaczynski's plight. However, the book could have been reduced to 2-3 chapters if such points/observations were concisely and clearly stated once.

About Time.......1999-09-28

If there is a particular strength to this book, it is in the revelation that the man who dared to judge Kaczynski, one of the fed's premier affirmative action judges, failed to understand the processes of his own courtroom. Unwilling to become a joke like Brother Lance, this judge decided that his courtroom would not become a soap box for Ted's deranged philosophies, forgeting, along the way, that the Constitution requires that the courtroom become a soap box for the defendant, his one chance to speak his defense, and for the people to weight that defense. Thank you Michael Mello for reminding us that everyone is entitled to his day in court. Top notch book.

The Wrong Men: America's Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions

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Three Florida cases: Jerry Rogers, Roy Swafford, and Peter Ventura
A Must Read - Even If You're Pro-death Penalty, Like Me!
Overwhelming evidence of innocence on death row

The Wrong Men: America's Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions
Stanley Cohen
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0786712589

Book Description

In January 2000, Illinois Governor George H. Ryan declared a moratorium on state executions. Three years later, Ryan commuted all Illinois death sentences to life imprisonment, saying, “Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error, error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die.” This book chronicles over one hundred cases where journalism students, grassroots organizations, families, and pro bono lawyers—armed with DNA evidence and other instruments of justice—have defeated that demon. Cohen reveals how eyewitness error, jailhouse snitch testimony, racism, junk science, prosecutorial misconduct, and incompetent counsel have often populated America’s death row with the wrong men. Readers embark on journeys with men who were arrested, convicted, sentenced to death, dragged through the appeals system, and finally set free based on their actual innocence. Some languished for decades in our death houses. Notable cases of wrongful imprisonment outside of death row are also profiled. Although these stories end with vindication, there are those that have ended with unjustified execution. The Wrong Men is sure to fuel controversy over a justice system that has delivered the ultimate punishment 820 times since 1976, though it cannot guarantee accurate convictions.

Customer Reviews:

Three Florida cases: Jerry Rogers, Roy Swafford, and Peter Ventura.......2005-03-10

Jerry Layne Rogers, Sr. -- wrongfully convicted and innocent. From 1989 - 1992, I was his investigator at CCR.

Mr. Rogers' case consisted in 1992 of at least 80 boxes of documents, from court files, prosecutor and law enforcement files, trial and evidentiary hearing transcripts, etc. Mr. Rogers's case was the largest and most complicated that CCR [The Office of Capital Collateral Representative -- a state agency in the judicial branch of Florida government] has ever represented that I am aware of.

The second largest and most complicated was that of Mr. Gerald Stano, whose lead attorney during most of the development of his case was Mark E. Olive.

In 1995, Mr. Rogers began receiving pro bono representation from the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington and Burling. The result was an unanimous Florida Supreme Court (FSC) 26 page opinion ordering a new trial in Mr. Rogers' case due primarily to prosecutorial misconduct, in particular Brady v. Maryland violations.

To read the opinion, go to the FSC website, then at "Public Information", to the recent opinions, to the year 2001, then toward the bottom at February 15, 2001, one will find the FSC opinion.

During the summer of 2002, Mr. Rogers was re-convicted, however sentenced to life upon the jury recommendation. Now twice Mr. Rogers has been wrongfully convicted.

In 2004, the Florida 5th District Court of Appeal denied relief. The FSC declined to accept jurisdiction and thus denied t