From the author of the landmark bestseller What's the Matter with Kansas?; a jaw-dropping investigation of the decades of deliberate―and lucrative―conservative misruleIn his previous book; Thomas Frank explained why working America votes for politicians who reserve their favors for the rich. Now; in The Wrecking Crew; Frank examines the blundering and corrupt Washington those politicians have given us. Casting his eyes from the Bush administration's final months of plunder to the earliest days of the Republican revolution; Frank describes the rise of a ruling coalition dedicated to dismantling government. But rather than cutting down the big government they claim to hate; conservatives have simply sold it off; deregulating some industries; defunding others; but always turning public policy into a private-sector bidding war. Washington itself has been remade into a golden landscape of super-wealthy suburbs and gleaming lobbyist headquarters―the wages of government-by-entrepreneurship practiced so outrageously by figures such as Jack Abramoff.It is no coincidence; Frank argues; that the same politicians who guffaw at the idea of effective government have installed a regime in which incompetence is the rule. Nor will the country easily shake off the consequences of deliberate misgovernment through the usual election remedies. Obsessed with achieving a lasting victory; conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state.Stamped with Thomas Frank's audacity; analytic brilliance; and wit; The Wrecking Crew is his most revelatory work yet―and his most important.
#656933 in Books Edward Laxton 1998-03-15 1998-03-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 228.60 x 14.83 x 6.00l; .64 #File Name: 0805058443256 pagesThe famine ships
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. ... and gives you a glimpse of what it was like for those who left Ireland during the famine and ...By nancy hoeselThis book is compelling and gives you a glimpse of what it was like for those who left Ireland during the famine and came to the United States. I have three great; great grandparents who came during this time and one even came on one of the ships mentioned in the book. It told a story that I had never heard before of the suffering and desperation our ancestors lived and how relieved they must have been to have even survived the trip over the ocean. I could hardly put the book down and was sorry when it ended.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy smart shopperAmazing documentation of the Irish famine and history.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. The Famine Ships; the Irish Exodus to AmericzaBy Cathy BarnardInteresting history/topic but very; very dryly written with much redundancy and minute details that distract from the history. There is a tendency to go back and forth from one period to another and not stay on task chronologically; which I found distracting. Some of the writing itself seemed immature with a lot of of trite phrasing (i.e.; "watery grave" over and over) with an attempt to be profound; there were times when I felt I was reading someone's Master's thesis or doctoral dissertation; rather than an historic book written for the general public. It was so dry and laborious that I finally stopped reading it about three-quarters of the way through and picked up two other books to read. I would have liked much more detail about the famine itself and its impact on the families and/or details of the poorhouses from which many of the emigrants came and specifically what they were escaping. The destitution and impact of the famine wasn't detailed enough nor were the actual shipboard situations; the details involved the shipping companies and such; with only cursory details of the actual events on board; etc. Obviously; I was very disappointed in this book.
