Customer Reviews

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Little Books of Wisdom)

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This book provides a great DBQ for social studies. It is also a moving and important document that has relevance today. Our greatest First Lady wrote this document and was instrumental in developing the United Nations. I was glad that I picked it up at the FDR Presidential Library and will use it in my teaching.

Applewood Books has produced here a fascinating and useful comparison to and contrast with their uniform editions of The Declaration of Independence with Short Biographies of Its Signers, The Constitution of the United States of America, which is also available from them in Spanish Constitucion de Los Estados Unidos, and especially The Bill of Rights with Writings That Formed Its Foundation. This little book contains the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Preamble and the 31 Articles, in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. (Each translation takes up 8 or 9 pages.)

While it would be difficult to criticize the first 21 articles, Articles 22 on stray into the dangerous area of "positive rights", which unless consciously and knowingly agreed to ahead of time, amount to a "right" to pick someone else's pocket or take away someone else's rights. Of course like so many of the nobler ideals of the United Nations, they've been honored more in the breach than in the observance; the only nations making any serious attempts to abide by them being of course those free and democratic nations whose citizens already possess similar rights under their own laws and constitutions. Still, even with the necessary caveats against the last 9 articles, it contains ideals worth striving for, assuming such efforts are directed against the "less free" countries rather than the "more free" countries.

Note: Applewood Books has produced a nice looking inexpensive series of sturdy pocket-sized reprints of important American books, documents, speeches, pamphlets, and poems, the Little Books of Wisdom, uniform with this volume, that are ideal for gifting to doctors, lawyers, teachers, business professionals, and students of same: The Way to Wealth, George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, On the Art of Teaching, The Poems of Abraham Lincoln, The Strenuous Life, The Path of the Law, The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, A Message to Garcia, A Declaration of Sentiments, Robert's Rules of Order, Good Citizenship, On Being Human, A Discourse Upon the Duties of a Physician, Teamwork, Stick-To-Itiveness, Opportunity, & You, The Wants of Man, George Washington's Farewell Address, The Speech of Chief Seattle, Common Sense, The Articles of Confederation, The Emancipation Proclamation, and The Gospel of Wealth.

Some selected volumes are also available in boxed sets: Books of American Wisdom Boxed Set, CEO's Gift Box of Wisdom, Doctor's Gift Box of Wisdom, Lawyer's Gift Box of Wisdom, New Citizen's Gift Box of Wisdom, and Teacher's Gift Box of Wisdom.

And one other has been published in Spanish: Un Mensaje a Garcia.

GREAT GIFT, GREAT PRICE! None of us will live to fully realize all 30 Articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but hopefully the next generation will. The books are beautifully bound, and are printed in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian and Arabic, so they are great gifts for travel abroad. I met Mrs. Roosevelt as a child, and was very struck by her profound humanity and compassion. This Declaration is her greatest legacy to the future of mankind. Highly recommend.