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CARDINAL CHOICES

Name: CARDINAL CHOICES
Author: Gregg Herken
ISBN: 0-19-507210-3

PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE ADVISING FROM THE ATOMIC BOMB TO SDI

by Gregg Herken ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1992

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Engrossing and enlightening account of the checkered relationship between the scientific community and federal government from the Manhattan Project to SDI, by Herken (The Winning Weapon, 1980). Just how delicate the decisions are that shape nuclear-weapons policy is made very clear here: Even as Hitler's anti-Semitism drove vital nuclear scientists from Germany, Herken explains, so did a preoccupied American establishment ignore their significance until Leo Szilard used Albert Einstein's vast prestige to catch FDR's attention. Similarly, Harry Truman, who according to Herken was misinformed by nonscientist General Leslie Groves, used the bomb at Hiroshima rather than ``demonstrate'' it on an uninhabited area, even though evidence is strong that such a demonstration was favored by FDR and most scientists: Thus was the US identified for all time and with incalculable international results as the first (and so far only) user of the ultimate war technology. Herken traces nuclear policy through the emergence of Edward Teller and the H-bomb, the awesome stockpiling of weapons in the cold war, and attempted disarmament—a trail, he shows, on which political accident, personal ambition, national paranoia, and financial imperative continually and irreversibly shape policy. By 1980, the split between the government and the scientific community had so widened that, three months into office, Ronald Reagan had no science advisor because no serious candidate would take that thankless post. Reagan considered abolishing the position, and his budget director wanted to gut the White House's scientific advisory staff, since ``we know what we want to do, and they'll only give us contrary advice.'' As the author demonstrates, the stage was set for the stupefyingly expensive, perhaps ultimately unworkable SDI. Herken's clear, well-documented writing and his close attention to the human element make for a fascinating and wisely cautionary study.

Pub Date: March 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-19-507210-3

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GEORGETOWN SET
by Gregg Herken

- BOOK REVIEW
BROTHERHOOD OF THE BOMB
by Gregg Herken

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.