Customer Reviews

The Handy Politics Answer Book (The Handy Answer Book Series)

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

 

 

I only browsed through this book in the bookstore, purchasing it now, but since there are no other reviews I thought my impressions might be helpful.

The book is just what it says - a politics answer book in Q&A format, divided into several related sections, making it relatively easy to get info on a particular topic. It seems to cover the subject thoroughly, both in breadth (covers important pols, issues, ideas, domestic and international, key historical people ideas and documents...) and in depth, the answers a general a few paragraphs (though some are longer where necessary) - enough to give you what you need without rambling.

At the title implies, it would be more useful as a reference book, although it was interesting enough that one could browse through it or even read cover to cover. I was impressed, I've been looking for a book like this to refer to for political science courses, more than just a political dictionary.

I wanted to find a basic government information book along the lines of the "Complete Idiot's Guides" or "for Dummies" books. This definitely falls in that category. The information ranges from basic need-to-know facts about how the U.S. government works to interesting bits of trivia (e.g. who was the first African American Supreme Court justice?).

I'm not sure if mine is the same edition as this one (mine has a brown cover, but I'm pretty sure it's from 2002). Due to the controversial political arena in the past 4 years the book could definitely use some updating, but since politics are inherently controversial it would be difficult to keep up unless it was updated once or more per year.

I had a difficult time deciding whether to give 3 or 4 stars. I decided on 4 because I think people should definitely read this book in order to learn the basics about the government. I found it very useful during election time because the political mumbo-jumbo started making more sense. But these were the items I found issue with:

~There are multiple proofreading errors, on the order of 2 or 3 per page at least. If it was just one typo here and there I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I found the frequent mistakes distracting.
~While the book tries to be impartial, every once in a while it leans to the conservative side. It is subtle, such as giving mild praise to President Bush's handling of the terrorism war and mild rebukes to President Clinton's affair. Whatever the author's personal feelings on these issues, they should have presented only the facts and not opinions.
~The book should be reorganized slightly, starting with explaining the branches of government before describing policies (such as foreign policy, economic policy, etc.).

Overall this book is certainly worth reading, and I recommend it to anyone who wants basic information about how our government works. Every registered voter should understand these basics.