Nice addition to the library

books:

	• The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace Howard Zinn Beacon Press, 2002 - 202 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Strong selections

I must admit that I am a bit surprised that this has received two poor reviews in a row. A quick look at the original book shows that The Power of Nonviolence was a true revision of the 60's book. The previous volume, with over 100 selections, was a haphazard affair with so many pieces that you got lost trying to keep the thread of the argument. I think that Professor Zinn should be commended for cutting out a lot of dead wood from the old book. It is curious that previous reviews have pointed out the selections because as I compared the two books I noticed that many of the selections picked out as poor choices were, in fact, part of the original volume carried over to The Power of Nonviolence.

I think the selection are top notch...I mean who really has heard of Tim Wise other than in this anthology? Which brings me to my last point: That it is the easiest criticism of any anthology to critique what it left out. By definition, an anthology should be judged by what is actually included...or so it seems to me. As a first step toward the study of nonviolence, it should be read and considered a success.

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selections disappoint

I was tempted to chime in after reading a previous review that commended the author for his selections. I read the book and had the exact opposite reaction.

Perhaps I'm getting more conservative as I get older, but if this collection is the best representative writing from the defenders of "peace".. sorry, but I'm very worried.

Most of the selections (esp. the ones by Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi etc.) are not their best pieces. They are either rambling or too short, and do not defend their positions adequately. In particular, they leave open the questions of "when is use of force justified?" and "how can one respond to a corrupt/despotic ruler that insists upon killing his/her opponents?" Personally, I think the author has hastily cobbled together writings from these "famous" writers, rather than actually examining/reading other pieces to cull the best defense. Granted, these writers are distinguished by their prodigious output, and selecting their best writings on peace is no easy task, but that's what I was expecting that Howard had done when we scanned and picked this book for our book club.

I was disappointed.

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Nice addition to the library

Reading through the writings of the included authors, you learn that their message is truly -timeless- and is just as relevent today as it was then.

This compilation truly brought to my attention that history repeats itself, especially if we allow the same force of violence to repeat itself.

A Must Read

This book offers good food for thought about the issues facing our world today. Even though there are works that were omitted, the ideas presented here are very worth reading.

reviews: page 1, 2

A stirring anthology of writings about peace and nonviolence from Buddha to Arundhati Roy As you read this, America is at war. President Bush declared a "war on terrorism" and 90 percent of the American people believed he was doing the right thing. But is there another way? From Buddha in the pre-Christian era to the most recent declaration of peace principles by Nobel laureates, nonviolence has always been an alternative.

With an introduction by Howard Zinn about September 11 and the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks, The Power of Nonviolence presents the most salient and persuasive arguments for peace in the last 2,500 years of human history. Included are some of the most original thinkers and writings about peace and nonviolence?Buddha, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," Jane Addams, William Penn on "the end of war," Dorothy Day's position on "Pacifism," Erich Fromm, and Rajendra Prasad. Supplementing the classic voices are more recent advocates' arguments for peace: Albert Camus' "Neither Victims Nor Executioners," A. J. Muste's impressive "Getting Rid of War," Martin Luther King's influential "Declaration of Independence from the War in Viet Nam," and Arundhati Roy's "War Is Peace," plus many others.

Arranged chronologically, covering the major conflagrations of the world in the last hundred years, including the war in Afghanistan, The Power of Nonviolence is a compelling step forward in the study of pacifism, a timely anthology that fills a void for people looking for responses to crisis that are not based on guns or bombs.

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