Customer Reviews

The Beauty Queen's Guide to World Peace: Money, Power and Mayhem in the Twenty-first Century

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Its a fun practical readable and optimistic take on how to solve the major problems in the world. And right now we need some optimism! It really helped me make sense of the world and told me loads of stuff that I never knew about terrorism, WMDs, democracy, the Second World War, the UN, Corporate Law and Renewable Energy. All those politics and international relations classes would have made so much more sense- and Plesch even made me laugh. I could not agree more with Jason Burke, the Al Qaeda expert, who said that Bush and Blair ought to read this book. I doubt they will, but you should.

Dan Plesch's book is without a doubt one of the most intelligently written summaries of the current world situation vis a vis international politics and 'the Great Game'. As the author states, we are children in the eyes of our political leaders, and there are many facts that they hide from us on a daily basis. Dan Plesch is there to open our eyes and wake us up; it is time for people to start making more of an effort to positively influence the political systems that rule us and the social system that we live in. A wise book that explains clearly and succinctly what's Really Going On.

I enjoyed this book. It behooves us to search for lessons from the past, which this book provides in a dose that is very relevant.

My primary complaint would be the number of distracting grammar or other minor errors which detract from the overall thrust of the book. Who's this shoe bomber, Richard Read? Is he related to Richard Reid? I re-read a few sentences only to realise they were missing a word here or there.

I'm no grammar fiend, but it's annoying enough that I picked up a pen to start editing this book.

I read the introduction to this book and then I threw it in the trash where it belongs. One example: Plesch thinks shareholders (owners) of a corporation should be fully liable for the actions of the corporation. Yet he fails to address how the resulting catastrophic disaster in financial markets would be addressed if shareholders were fully liable for even passive (mutual fund) investments in corporations. How many people would invest money in a corp if they had to put all their personal assets on the line to invest? If you went to get a mortgage to buy a house, would a bank fund your loan if you were an investor and fully liable for a corporation's actions?

If you are a secular progressive socialist ultra left wing liberal, this book is for you. If not, buy a more interesting book like, say, "The Thermo-dynamic Properties of Steam."

what a complete waste of time to read this horrid propaganda! Get a life!