A SHINING CITY

Excerpts drawn from 50 of Reagan's post-presidential speeches (delivered during 199094), interwoven with tributes to the president from a variety of notables, including Billy Graham, Henry Kissinger, John Major, Charlton Heston, Lech Walesa, Jimmy Carter, George Bush, and President Clinton. The speeches, given at a variety of occasions (from luncheons to political conclaves to library dedications), are unsurprising in their politics and familiar in their cadences. They lack, however, much power on the page—it was, after all, not so much what Reagan said as the uniquely earnest way he said it that gave his remarks their impact. The tributes vary widely, from glib celebrations of Reagan's accomplishments in office to more affecting personal glimpses of the man. Two of the last pieces, consisting of copies of Reagan's handwritten letter in 1994 announcing that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and of Nancy Reagan's remarks before the 1996 Republican convention, are the book's most moving. (45 b&w photos and 8 pages color photos, not seen)