ESR Books
Recent reviews and excerpts of books that have run in Enter Stage Right
Spark's Tract satirizes environmental extremism: It's been two decades since Jack R. Stevens' novel Spark's Tract was published and did a marvelous job of taking environmentalism down a peg or two. Thomas M. Sipos is pleased to report it was recently re-released
Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano and the declining dignity of work: Although published back in 1957, Thomas M. Sipos argues that Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano may as well be chronicling modern day America
Gab founder believes ‘Christian nationalism’ is viable, not how the left portrays it: Andrew Torba has come under a lot of fire over his notion of "Christian nationalism" and Rachel Alexander reviews his book, Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide For Taking Dominion And Discipling Nations, which explains what it actually is
Slices of Objectivist life: Ayn Rand was no fan of libertarians, once referring to them as hippies of the right, so she probably wouldn't have enjoyed The Pianist Who Liked Ayn Rand. Thomas M. Sipos, on the other hand, thought it wonderful
Don’t waste time or money on Silent Earth: Paul Driessen says this new book is just another junk-science screed against modern civilization and technology
The Border Patrol’s failure to protect our border exposed: - Rachel Alexader reviews Ed Ashurst's Kidnapped: Mystery and Collusion in the Bootheel of New Mexico, a fictional tale of a kidnapping by narcos and a Border Patrol as corrupt as the gangs in Mexico -- a story that has some reality to it
Death by bureaucracy: - Dr. Joel Hirschhorn's Pandemic Blunder: Fauci and Public Health Blocked Early Home COVID Treatment raises some awkward questions for government, the medical community and ultimately Dr. Anthony Fauci himself, writes Steven Martinovich
MSM ignores huge successful border effort against terrorism: America's borders are once again in the news but potentially a greater danger is the possibility that terrorists are using them to gain entry at will, something that's explored in America’s Covert Border War: The Untold Story of the Nation's Battle to Prevent Jihadist Infiltration, writes Rachel Alexander
The ongoing war: Piers Shepherd takes a look at Thomas J. Fleming and Frank Brownlow's A Thousand Years of Jihad, a series of essays which examines the relationship between the West and Islam
Meeting the terawatt challenge: Duggan Flanakin says that Robert Bryce’s latest book, A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations, lays out a powerful case for treating electricity as a human right
Move over, Communist Manifesto, The Capitalist Manifesto is here: Rachel Alexander offers a review of the new e-book by Ralph Benko and Bill Collier entitled The Capitalist Manifesto: The End of Class Warfare, Toward Universal Affluence, an answer to the twisted classic by Marx and Engels
Here are the rules for defeating radicals: Saul Alinsky has long held sway with radical leftists -- and his tactics have been very successful, but Rachel Alexander argues that Christopher G. Adamo's Rules for Defeating Radicals, Countering the Alinsky Strategy in Politics and Culture may be answer to that success
History from the front lines: Henry Kissinger, loved and loathed in equal measure, finally sits down to provide an oral history of the Nixon years in Winston Lord's Kissinger on Kissinger: Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership and Steve Martinovich is mostly satisfied
The right environmentalist: Bruce Walker's Pseudo-Green Leftism and True Green Conservatism pitches a different kind of environmentalism -- one from the cultural conservative perspective. Steve Martinovich reviews his efforts
Superheroes…super humans?: Can comic book characters be moral role models for us today? Travis Smith's Superhero Ethics: 10 Comic Book Heroes; 10 Ways to Save the World; Which One Do We Need Most Now? argues so and Steven Martinovich reviews his efforts
Fiction for the Milo crowd: Steve Martinovich reviews Appalling Stories: 13 Tales of Social Injustice, a collection of short stories by three different authors that takes direct aim at the political and cultural left
America’s first year: Steve Martinovich reviews 1776: The World Turned Upside Down, a new monthly serial by The Associated Press and Serial Box that explores the first year of America as a nation
A strident voice for the voiceless: Dr. Lester Jackson is unapologetically in favour of the death penalty and Steven Martinovich reviews his book length treatment on the matter, Equal Justice for Victims: A Blueprint for the Rightful Restoration of Capital Punishment
Dr. Warren Farrell explains The Boy Crisis: Are American boys in a state of crisis? Rachel Alexander reviews The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It which purports to answer the question
Cutting the arteries of terrorism: Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism's Money Masters chronicles and the financial war that Israel is fighting with terrorist groups and Steven Martinovich found it to be an entertaining effort
Berlinski’s brilliant indictment of the angry, irrational ‘new atheism’: Charlotte Cerminaro says David Berlinksi's 2009 book The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions delivers the goods when it comes to attacking athiesm
A county goes to war: William Geroux's The Mathews Men: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler's U-boats tells a very under-appreciated branch of service involved in America's fight during the Second World War, says Steven Martinovich
Surviving the meat grinder of Vietnam: Doug Stanton's latest -- The Odyssey of Echo Company: The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War -- wasn't perfect but Steven Martinovich was impressed nonetheless
When the shark becomes the prey: Dewey Andreas, star of of Ben Coes' series of techno-thriller novels, is back in Trap the Devil, and he's as lethal as ever, writes Steven Martinovich
Yes, Christian women can overcome hurdles to become leaders in Canada: Rachel Alexander says that Faith, Life and Leadership: 8 Canadian Women Tell Their Stories is an inspirational effort for any woman trying to balance faith and life
Lessons to the young: Rachel Alexander says that John Hawkins' 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is a useful primer for American youth today
Teenagers of the world unite!: Bernie Sanders may be gone but his philosophy continues to resonate, something that Hunter Lewis examines in Where Bernie Went Wrong: And Why His Remedies Will Just Make Crony Capitalism Worse and Steve Martinovich reviews
Good intentions: The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians may be one of the most depressing books you'll read in a long time, writes Steven Martinovich, which is why you should read it
Leading from the front: Another book on how to be an effective leader? Steve Martinovich says he still found a lot of value in Breaking the Trust Barrier: How Leaders Close the Gaps for High Performance
A very well-timed confession: Daniel M. Ryan enjoyed the anonymously written The Confessions of Congressman X, an insider's look at The Beltway that shouldn't surprise too many people with its ugliness
The FDA has the blood of millions of Americans on its hands: Rachel Alexander takes a look at Darcy Olsen's recently released effort The Right to Try: How the Federal Government Prevents Americans from Getting the Life-Saving Treatments They Need
Bringing the factory to the science class: Michael Hiltzik's Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex tells an engrossing story of how science was transformed and the man at the center of it, writes Steven Martinovich
The eternal optimist: Dana Perino's And the Good News Is...: Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side is an unfailingly positive account of her life in- and outside of the White House, says Steven Martinovich
The king is dead…long live the king: Steve Martinovich thought Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I was a engaging look at how dreams of freedom gave way to bloodshed in Stuart England
A brave sortie against political correctness (Part Two): Mark Wegierski examines Marxism, Multiculturalism, and Free Speech, a critique of political correctness by Frank Ellis, whose own career was undermined by his dissent from its strictures
A brave sortie against political correctness (Part One): Mark Wegierski examines Marxism, Multiculturalism, and Free Speech, a critique of political correctness by Frank Ellis, whose own career was undermined by his dissent from its strictures
A world of oil: Is putting gas in your car a moral good? Alex Epstein's The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels argues so and Steve Martinovich reviews his efforts
A collection of essays questioning Canada's high-immigration consensus: Mark Wegierski notes that the Fraser Institute goes beyond economics into social and cultural questions in The Effects of Mass Immigration on Canadian Living Standards and Society, edited by Herbert Grubel
Prisoners of fear: Jan Jarboe Russell's The Train to Crystal City: FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America's Only Family Internment Camp During World War II tells a story that must not be forgotten, writes Steven Martinovich
Capital city: Whether you love or hate New York, writes Steve Martinovich, Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America is an engrossing story of one moment in the city's long life
Gerald H. Priest: His life and crime against a 'company of fools': - A Rock Fell on the Moon: Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist tells the story of one man's modern era silver heist in the wilds of the Yukon and Jane Gaffin enjoyed every word of it
The deliberate underclass: Jason L Riley's Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed attacks programs that are designed to help Black America and Steve Martinovich reviews his efforts
The gentleman's guide to change: Dr. Ben Carson's One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future calls for civility and a return to American values, writes Steven Martinovich
Knights of the sky: A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II tells a remarkable story of men during war, writes Steven Martinovich
The high cost of freedom: Brothers Forever: The Enduring Bond between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice is a celebration of the lives of two of America's finest, writes Steve Martinovich
American legend: Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed proves that the pioneering pilot deserves every bit of praise he continues to receive, writes Steve Martinovich
The man who would be king: Steven Martinovich wasn't entirely convinced by Catherine S. Neal's efforts in Taking Down the Lion: The Triumphant Rise and Tragic Fall of Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski but still found it interesting
A Prince of war: Blackwater founder Erik Prince attempts to defend himself with Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror and Steven Martinovich reviews his efforts
Six that saved the war: Five men and one woman helped save the the United States during the Revolution and Steve Martinovich was gratified to learn more about them in George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
Witness to history: Under the Wire: Marie Colvin's Final Assignment is a fitting memorial to Marie Colvin, the American war correspondent who died last year in Syria, writes Steven Martinovich
The problems of war: David Mamet's novella Three War Stories wasn't a complete success but Steve Martinovich found enough in the playwright's latest effort to keep him satisfied
The battle between language and liberty: The far left and right the same thing? Sinisterism: Secular Religion of the Lie: How the Myth of an Ideological Spectrum Helps Evil in Our World, 3rd edition, Vol. 1 makes that and other argues and Steve Martinovich was a fan
The rise of the machines: Today's kids have taken to technology in a way that few older generations can understand, argues The App Generation: How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World, which Steve Martinovich reviews this week
King of news: Steve Martinovich thought Roger Ailes: Off Camera an enjoyable effort that revealed quite a bit about the controversial founder and president of Fox News
Failed revolution: Jerry Clinton Oliver returns with The Diary, a sequel to his 2008 novel in which residents of a small town spark a second American Revolution and Steve Martinovich reviews his efforts
Modern general: Steven Martinovich was sorely disappointed by one aspect of retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal's My Share of the Task: A Memoir but overall thought it was a worthwhile effort
Letters to the future: With Dear Chandler, Dear Scarlett: A Grandfather's Thoughts on Faith, Family, and the Things That Matter Most Mike Huckabee speaks with experience and love, writes Steven Martinovich
Leadership when the sky is falling: As management Steven Martinovich has endured a lot of seminars on the topic. He was pleasantly surprised by Into the Storm: Lessons in Teamwork from the Treacherous Sydney to Hobart Ocean Race
American story: Steve Martinovich has read a hundred books exactly like Sen. Marco Rubio's An American Son: A Memoir but he still couldn't help but enjoy it
