- Paperback: 216 pages
- Publisher: Beacon Press; 1 edition (Sep 12 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0807014079
- ISBN-13: 978-0807014073
- Product Dimensions: 14 x 1.4 x 21 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #575,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
There is no easy way out of the spiraling morass of terror and brutality that confronts the world today. It is time now for the human race to hold still, to delve into its wells of collective wisdom, both ancient and modern.--Arundhati Roy
The Power of Nonviolence, the first anthology of alternatives to war with a historical perspective, with an introduction by Howard Zinn about September 11 and the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks, presents the most salient and persuasive arguments for peace in the last 2,500 years of human history. Arranged chronologically, covering the major conflagrations in the world, 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.
Included are some of the most original thinkers about peace and nonviolence-Buddha, Scott Nearing, 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 these classic voices are more recent advocates of 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 Vietnam," and Arundhati Roy's "War Is Peace," plus many others.
The Power of Nonviolence, the first anthology of alternatives to war with a historical perspective, with an introduction by Howard Zinn about September 11 and the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks, presents the most salient and persuasive arguments for peace in the last 2,500 years of human history. Arranged chronologically, covering the major conflagrations in the world, 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.
Included are some of the most original thinkers about peace and nonviolence-Buddha, Scott Nearing, 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 these classic voices are more recent advocates of 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 Vietnam," and Arundhati Roy's "War Is Peace," plus many others.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strong selections,
By Martin McGuinness (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace (Paperback)
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.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Thrown Together?,
By
This review is from: The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace (Paperback)
I stand second to none in my admiration of the writings and life-work of Howard Zinn. But I'm afraid this anthology is a sad disappointment, reading as if it were thrown together with too little forethought and too much regard for quick marketability. Some of the selections are more judicious than others: the Penn essay is a gem, and Emerson on war is both good and little-printed. But many of the other selections have been printed so often that one wonders why they need to be trotted out in yet another anthology. Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and Camus' "Neither Victims Nor Executioners" immediately come to mind. Not that these essays aren't worthy of being read; it's just that they're utterly predictable--and badly edited, at that. Other selections are so abbreviated that they appear mangled. Selections from the Buddha, Gandhi, Ikeda/Pauling are examples here. Finally, other selections seem absolutely ... well, irrelevant. Scott Nearing's selection, and Zinn's own piece on Vietnam fit into this category. Writings on Vietnam, in fact, are way over-represented in the anthology, once again causing one to suspect that old standbys were conveniently trotted out for this anthology. There are many other better anthologies--e.g., David Barash's *Approaches to Peace.*
3.0 out of 5 stars
selections disappoint,
By
This review is from: The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace (Paperback)
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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