Book descriptions, reviews, commentary, and references

BOOKS

A very readable introduction to the Congress Of Policy Debate, which presents the details of its purposes, structure, operations, and administration. The need for the Congress is shown by sketching past failures of the executive, legislative and judicial branches to consider and debate the viewpoints that would have prevented disasters, and strong arguments of the voices of reason that policy debate is the best solution.

This book is a very compact and persuasive prescription for reform of policy making institutions, offering a peaceful and rational solution to the most difficult national and international issues.

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The National Memorial (click image for details)
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The fate of thousands of orphans hangs in the balance as a family struggles to advance their international project against the wishes of local leaders. A humorous and witty adventure among scoundrels and humanitarians, politicians and teachers, judges and assassins, skeptics and optimists. A gripping story of challenge and action, love and family, scheming and courage in a Maine mill town rocked by scandal. Can the institutions of democracy save the lives of countless children?

Can we make a better world with love and education, or must we throw off corruption in politics and the mass media to make progress? This intriguing tale of intelligent and courageous humanitarians, and their struggle to defend their work against the forces that tear apart civilizations, explores the limits and the power of sympathy and love to build and rebuild noble lives. It is a story of the nourishment of family and community, the tragedies that lead to unexpected joy, rejuvenation through rediscovery, and the magic of love that endures.




About The Author

John Barth jr. was born in Maryland, was raised in rural Pennsylvania, attended MIT to pursue interests in artificial intelligence, and became absorbed in international relief efforts and education. He has written two novels, numerous essays on public policy and engineering papers, several articles on sailing, and is working on a third novel. He lives in Maine and Florida. For those wondering, he is the son of the novelist John Barth, whose works of course differ, and seeks no advantage thereby.

Barth enjoys thoughtful and benevolent friends in every division of humanity, and seeks to advance truth and justice by encouraging sympathy and understanding, applying the wisdom of great thinkers to current events, and by making accessible in literature those experiences which in life are too uncommon, disordered, or harmful to be educational. Of course, the opinions of characters in his work may not reflect his own; and any resemblance of the fictional characters to actual persons is purely coincidental.