Boardwalk Empire By: Nelson Johnson

If you are looking for a book to mirror the HBO series, continue to look. I must admit, it was what I was looking for.  I wanted more insight on Enoch "Nucky" Johnson AKA Nucky Thompson.  Although it was not that, I was pleasantly surprised.

Very interesting book about the rise, fall and rise again of Atlantic City, New Jersey or formally known as the Island of Absegami.  Although it does spend a considerable time on Enoch "Nucky" Johnson and his predecessor, Louis “Commodore” Kuehnle, it delved into the lives of their lieutenants and their henchmen who subsequently rose to and fell from power.  It sheds light on the cronyism and corruption of the olden days.

Not surprisingly, the book makes the Republican Party out to be the racists by using statement like this "The switch in loyalties came in part as Blacks recognized the racist tactics of the Republican machine." - Chapter 8.  The previous quote being in the 60's.  So what the author is saying is that the racial tension, lynching, Jim Crowe, Black codes etc created and perpetrated by the Democratic Party theretofore were benign; yet the Republicans caused the black loyalty to falter because they marked ballot cards? Ironically, Nucky earned the black vote in his tenure because of the pre-new deal help he gave black families.

The book is more about the political cronyism than that of the traditional "mob" stories. It does move back and forth in time although it is understandable due to the nature of the book.  Some of the "no-names" during Nucky's rein, went on to be a force to be reckoned with and the author needed to re-trace their steps.

All-in-all the book is good.  If you can put aside the partisan bashing you should be OK.  To the author's defence, AC was definitely run by Republicans.  The book's author is Nelson Johnson (No relation to Enoch Johnson), a former New Jersey Judge.

Hardcover: 312 pages
Publisher: Amereon Ltd (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0848833228
ISBN-13: 978-0848833220

Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past By: Bruce Bartlett

Where do I start on this book?  The premise of the book is one that attracted me early on.  I had it on my "to read" list for quite a while.  Finally I read it.  I agree with the author on the latter years of the Democratic Party, however as most of my review state, I do NOT agree with this author that Lincoln went to war with the South to free the slaves.

The author says:
"Those who murdered, tortured, abused, and enslaved millions of black people should be given a pass, they implicitly said. Let's just pretend that nothing happened; in effect saying that hundreds of thousands of people on both sides died for nothing"

Funny thing though, the author leaves out how Sherman and his march to the sea murdered innocent civilians that did not own slaves and were not part of the rebel force all under the orders of "The Great Emancipator".

The author paints ALL the North as non-racist, anti-slavery and all around great people.  However his opinion on the South is a bunch of racist, slave owning, ignorant fools that deserve the death and destruction they suffered by the hand of the North.  The North, being the ones that wanted to "save the Union".  I guess by exterminating thousands of women and children that had nothing to do with the South's or North's issues.


"People won't risk their lives in war to fight against a tariff; no war in history can be traced to that origin." Here the author tries to tell you that the war was indeed fought from the south to keep slaves even by those that did not have slaves fought (only 4% of the South were slave owners).  He obviously chooses not to remember the Stamp Act of 1765 which can be argued was the genesis of the Revolutionary War.

The book does show the twisted affinity of blacks in this country to the Democratic Political Party which has done so much to keep them to this day enslaved and used for political posturing.  I do NOT agree that you party affiliation makes you or precludes you from racism.  Racism is something that would not exist if we all ascribed to the notion that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.  I believe by allowing the government and others to label you or associate you to a group, whether it be race, creed, sexual orientation or whatever, we are segregating ourselves and giving fuel and opportunity to those who use "race" as a political weapon.

This book is chock full of examples of how disingenuous the Democratic Party is about its past.  I truly believe that one of the reasons the Dems accuse the Republicans of being racists is to draw the attention away from their dark past with regards to race.

The book is very informative and I think you should read it if only to inform yourselves of the racism the blacks have endured.  It is truly sad to see the Human Family act in this fashion.  Although slavery is an abhorrent institution, I have to say that level of treatment and abuse suffered by blacks in this country after slavery and up until the late 20th century is far more abusive and vindictive than what we saw with the founding father's era of slave ownership.  I do not give them a pass.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (January 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 023060062X
ASIN: B003R4ZJNE

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever By: Bill O'Reilly & Marting Dungard

Aside from numerous inaccuracies and "bold fresh" (pun intended) lies coupled with the selective blindness by the author; the book was OK.  O'Reilly suffers from what so many today suffer; he suffers the apotheosis of Lincoln syndrome.  To O'Reilly, Lincoln can do no wrong.  I have read numerous books on this subject and know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the "Civil War" was indeed not fought for the purpose of freeing slaves.  Anyone that does not call out Lincoln for being a racist of the highest order has not done the most basic research on the subject.  

The first 5-6 chapters reads more like a Civil War book than that of a Lincoln assassination book.  Then, the author takes off touching on Mary Sarat's involvement and painting the conspirators web.  O'Reilly leaves much of the details out and on NUMEROUS occasions, leaves facts out or adds theories and conjecture which have already been disproved and presents them as fact.

O'Reilly is wrong on his assertions that presidential assassins plan their "hits" for a long period of time.  This is not the case of any of the book I have read regarding such Presidents as McKinley, Garfield, Lincoln, Jackson and even Kennedy.   

I enjoyed the book because I happen to love the subject matter, however there are better books (Please see my review of American Brutus by: Michael Kaufman)

The book is fairly safe for a young reader 12 and over.

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; First Edition edition (September 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805093079
ISBN-13: 978-0805093070

The Litigators By: John Grisham

A bit anti-climactic.  The book is well written however the story takes you down this long drawn out mass tort case about a drug names Kraoxx that is suposed to be causing death and heart attacks.

David Zinc is a well paid attorney for a big "hordy-tordy" law firm in Chicago.  He is making $300,000.00 a year but works way too many hours.  He finally snaps and suffers a meltdown causing him to quit the firm unexpectedly.  In his new found freedom of the morning he quit, he stumbles into a bar and gets sauced all day avoiding calls from him co-workers and his wife.  He finally leaves the bar and ends up in a law office far from the heavy hitting downtown firm he left.  He finds his way to Law Offices of Finley and Figg; a motley crew of ambulance chasers and divorce attorneys.  Wally Figg ends up finding a mass tort case that is about to take them to the big times and away from the divorce and personal injury cases. 

The problem with this book is that it takes you into the world of mass tort law suits explaining in details the trial proceedings.  Then proceed to wrap everyting up in two chapters (out of ~49).  ****SPOILER ALERT**** I have to say though, I found myself on the tip of my seat when David did the cross-examination on the clinical testing practices of Varrick, however I was let down quickly by the loss of the case.  Then the actual case they [David] win, without a trial mind you, is quickly glossed over.  I think the title of the book should have been placed in "" since they obviously did not show any skill in litigating save that of David cross-examination.

I will give Mr. Grisham another chance.  This is the first Grisham book I read.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (October 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385535139
ISBN-13: 978-0385535137

Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? By. Patrick Buchanan

This book was not what I expected.  Although I find myself agreeing with him on points such as how the US' population is shifting from Anglo-Saxon to other "minorities" such as Blacks and Hispanics, the book is not clear on what we do if in fact this is a problem.  Aside from eugenics of the African-American, Hispanic, Korean and other communities and the promotion of childbearing in the Anglo communities I see nothing that CAN be done nor do think SHOULD be done.

I agree with Buchanan that "Affirmative Action" is offensive to those who benefit from it.  If the requirements for the Naval Academy is a 4.0 GPA average, I find it insulting that Hispanics, African-Americans etc are only required to have a 3.5 GPA.  Why is this?  Am I not capable of getting a 4.0 that I need special help?  It perpetuates the myth that non-Anglo-Saxons are less intelligent.  Additionally, it discriminates the Anglo that indeed has gotten the required 4.0 GPA that will not be picked because someone less prepared (GPA wise) is going to take their spot.  Ironically, when writing this review, my son from Middle School showed me HIS report card and he received a 4.0 for the year.  I know how hard he worked.  Could I tell him that even though he met the requirements and worked real hard, it was still not good enough because he is 2nd generation American but has a Hispanic last name and the diversity police require an African-American or Korean, or %enter your race/color/creed/sexual orientation%?  I cannot.

Mr. Buchanan is obviously against free trade.  I disagree with him, however I believe that the problems that exist today and the reason we continue to experience them is not that China is less expensive to manufacture, albeit true; the issues are that the US' economy has been so bloated and distorted that today a salary in the US due to Unions and inflationary steps taken by the "Fed" require companies to be beholden to the unions.  Not that the unions are solely to blame, but they are a big peace of it.  I do not believe that closing off trade with the world will do the trick.

Mr. Buchanan comes off extremely racist.  I know that many liberals will say "of course, he is Republican".   Although only part of that is true, he DOES have and interesting chapter regarding the Democratic Party and their roots.  Not so squeaky clean as they portray themselves to be.

I did find some interesting subject matter to do further research, however I do not necessarily recommend this book.

Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (October 18, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312579977
ISBN-13: 978-0312579975

Forgotten Conservatives in American History By Brion McClanahan

Really enjoyed the book.  The book covers many of the distant and not so distant "conservatives" of American history.  This book is not an exhaustive biography of these individuals but does serve to whet your appetite to further research these interesting individuals.  Obviously the term "conservative" will not pass the smell test for the Hannity / O'Reilly enthusiasts, but it does remain true to its original meaning.  The interesting thing about some or most of the individuals is that the "left" thought they were right-wingers and the "right" thought they were liberals (what ever the terms for the present day understanding for the respective times).  Some of the individuals covered in the book would not have made it on my radar for "must reads".  I will try to find some good books on Calhoun, John Taylor of Caroline, Cleveland, Sam Irvin, and H.L. Menken.

I must admit, I am not too familiar with the co-author Clyde Wilson, but have subsequently researched a bit and have heard Mr. McClanahan tell the story of how they met and eventually collaborated.

Mr. McClanahan is a great author.  I read his previous book "Founding Father's Guide to the Constitution" and it was equally informative and much more.  I am also a member of LibertClassroom dot com where he has lectures as well.

I recommend this book to any liberty warrior that is interested in the real heroes of liberty throughout our history. 


Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Pelican Publishing (April 16, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 145561579X
ISBN-13: 978-1455615797

No They Can't By: John Stossel

In the spirit of disclosure, I align to a higher degree with the Libertarian party.
John Stossel, a Libertarian, is, as always, right on mark.  His sensible way of looking at issues make it painfully obvious that the two party dictatorship attempts to purposely confuse things and provide straw-man arguments.

Stossel tackles all the "hot topics" in a sensible, intelligent, logical and concise manner.   Stossel covers everything from the "WAR" on drugs to health care.  Stossel addresses the economic issues today with his "Laissez-faire" view.  I love his cool, demeanour and the way he explains things in a very simple understandable and most importantly, non emotional manner.  Anyone who knows me knows that I always say, "If you remove emotion from the argument, you are left with nothing but facts".

The chapter on education was incredibly informative.  He explains how "Intuition" would lead you to believe things in a certain way, but then he gives you the "reality" view of the problem.

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Threshold Editions (April 10, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451640943
ISBN-13: 978-1451640946