Rating: 
Summary: Reagan Understood The Evil Of Communism
Review: An amazing book that details Ronald Reagan's epic struggle against communism. Reagan was often in the wilderness in speaking out against totalitarianism but he never gave up. If anyone doubts Reagan's belief that communism was evil, they should read Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million by Martin Amis. Amis book is about the incredible inhumanity of Josef Stalin and how Stalin turned the Soviet Union into hell on earth. Be prepared to read an incredibly disturbing book. Meanwhile, buy this book and learn how a very brave man stood against monsters like Stalin.
Rating: 
Summary: More Revisionist Prattle
Review: A brief and to the point comment will suffice in review of Peter Schweizer's "Reagan's War." If Ronald Reagan won the Cold War, there must be evidence that Errol Flynn won World War II. This is another attempt at mythical history, or perhaps serious political history in the guise of American hero worship (remember George Washington and the cherry tree?). In fact Reagan (and George H.W. Bush) just happened to be president of the United States at the end of the Cold War. There is little that Reagan did that actually contributed to that end. The truth is to be found in the ill-fated attempts by the USSR and its last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to adapt to the global economy (note the importance of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in this context if you need "heroes"). Gorbachev realized that the Soviet Union would soon be a secondary power if it could not compete on the economic level and instituted a series of reforms, domestically and interantionally, to that end. Ironically, he unleashed forces beyond his control that ultimately led to rapproachment with the West, the liberation of Europe, the reunification of Germany, and yes the end of the Cold War! Reagan was simply an interested and very vocal observer of all this. His bombastic rhetoric had little historical impact. Gorbachev failed in his purpose of preserving Soviet power, indeed he brought about the dismantling of the USSR. He was the inadvertant architect of the end of the Cold War, not the Gipper. Advocates of the Reagan scenario love to point to Reagan's demand that Gorbachev tear down the symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall. Indeed, he made such a demand, and the wall came down...two years later, as part of a bureaucratic snafu, not in reaction to the Gipper. Reagan's presidency and the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union were simply historical coincidences. There was no cause and effect here. Sadly, Schweizer, and others, miss that vital point.
Rating:
Summary: The man who slayed the Evil Empire
Review: If Ronald Reagan was "an amiable dunce", Carter and Ford were simple unicellular organisms. This book is a stirring account of one good man's holy crusade against the cancer of Communism. While it is empirical that Stalin made Hitler look like a nancy boy, the post-Stalinist Russia remained a War-based economy that relied on mass slave labour. A gulag is a gulag and a bully is a bully. Yet even though The Ron achieved a great deal in his own right, the book recognizes that it was his partnership with Margaret Thatcher, whom the Russkies termed "The Iron Maiden", that drove the final well-deserved nail into the Soviet coffin. The combination of the Star Wars defence programme and the deployment of Cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe, coupled with the total resolve of Reagan and Thatcher simply crushed the Russian Government's spirit. The book does not really explore the extent to which The Ron may have exaggerated the extent of the Soviet threat, although it it clearly better to over-estimate an enemy than the reverse. You can never have too many anti-tank missiles. I recall from military intelligence sources back in the seventies that there was a concensus that the Russian troops in the Soviet Bloc countries were garrison troops and that the populations detested the Russians even more than we did. For this reason, many analysts secretly felt that any Soviet attack on Western Europe would break up during the first 48 hours, partly due to the sheer decimation of Russian armour (even without Tac Nukes), and that this would quickly precipitate the collapse of the Soviet Union. Whether Ron knowingly exaggerated "Soviet" power or not, he certainly beefed up NATO to a point where the enemy could no longer compete, especially in the sphere of hi-tech weaponry. A great book about a great man, who ended the Russian reign of terror in Eastern Europe.
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Summary: Best Reagan book I've read!!!!
Review: I'll get right to the point. I collect books on Ronald Reagan because he is a personal hero of mine. This book stands above them all. The author gets right to the point and jumps into the main premise of the book, how Reagan dedicated his life to fighting communism. What is neat about the book too is that it gives you a history of how each president since Harry Truman handled the Cold War. The book gives you insight into what helped shaped Reagan's opinions and strategy towards defeating communism. A great read, I couldn't put it down. A must buy for any Reagan fan.
Rating:
Summary: THE RIGHT MAN AT THE RIGHT TIME
Review: I never was interested in the man when I was growing up. But a lot of things that I remember usually revolved around criticisms and putdowns of a lot of things he did. I read this book hoping to find out more about the man, since so many titles have been coming out. I wasn't disappointed. Here was an individual who had prepared all his life to fight against tyranny and oppression. It was really amazing to me how smart and insightful Reagan was considering all the bashing he gets. I don't think anyone can disagree with his determination and will to bring the Soviet Union down. I really appreciated the references in the back since it made the book even more credible.
Rating:
Summary: Are you people NUTS?
Review: Final triumph over communism? Anyone writing these reviews have the slighest idea fo what the long march is... I doubt it because you are burried in your arrogance. The long march was a peaceful march against the imperialist government in China led my Mao along with farmers almost dead of exhaustion. (Any of you who just laughed cause his name sounds like something that cuold be aona sandwhich, are racist hicks; now downgraded from rednecks) This is just one example, communism has a history. It may have survived if not for us. The people who first foughtfor revolution were not fighting against a free democratic government, but rather an imperialst government which could kill all and any with the slighted shrug. These were cruel leaders. The United States of America, gave things to these leaders. They gave bombs and bullets to these leaders. Russian and Chinese revolutionaries, small hungry farmers, fought for an idea they believed in. And they were slaughtered... their blood is on our hands. A book about his struggle and final triumph? Not true. For those of you who know anything about communism besides what you saw in cold war films about hate thy enemy, the idea of communism is not to trade with other countries when not absolutely necessary. Russia trades out of necessity today, but basically communism is a closed system. Russia didn't want anything to do with the U.S. Russia was always the underdog because they never had the resources. When we decided communism was evil and pointed all of our weapons as russia from bases in Germany we made an enemy. If we had teh right to point our missiles at them, they had the right to point them at us. Furthermore if we had the right to point missiles at them from our allies, they had soemwhat of a right to do so from Cuba. The idea taht the U.S. is great and communism is horrible, is flawed. Commusims failure was due in part to us, and some flawed economic structure in the planning. Flaws can be re-analyzed and changed. We have to right to hate them, Regen had to right to hate them, there is no right to hate.
Rating: 
Summary: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bombing Starts In Five Minutes
Review: The above is one of Reagan's best quotes. Before a planned speech , Reagan had once joked, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Soviet Union has been declared an outlaw nation. The bombing starts in five minutes."
Much of Reagan's outlook can be inferred from this quote.
This a book on Reagan's long struggle against Communism. It goes back to his Hollywood days, when he fought against the heavy handed and illegal activities of some Communist union members who were even on Soviet Union's payroll.
It would be a mistake to think that Reagan was simpleminded in his anti-Communism. He was a shrewd and subtle thinker. He gave encouragement to union memebers who were thinking of leaving Communism but were afraid of backlash.
Concerning Senator Jospeh McCarthy, while Reagan agreed with his goal--rooting secret Communist influence from government--AND THERE WERE SPIES--he disagreed with his tactics and felt that McCarthy's tactics was hurting the cause of anti-Communism.
An interesting comparison is made between Nixon and Reagan. Nixon had made a career of being anti-Communist. He was one of the top anti-Communist politicians in the 50s and 60s. But when Nixon was President, he pursued a policy of detente with the Soviets and made an overture to Communist China. How did Reagan feel about this? Reagan disagreed with Nixon's policy of detente. Reagan was proved correct in this, for during the detente period from Nixon to Carter, the Soviet Union proceeded with an expansionist policy and countries in developing world fell to Communism. As to the overture to China, I learned that Reagan agreed with this. Reagan is quoted, "Russia is still enemy number one...so the president, knowing the disaffection between China and Russia, visits China, butters up the warlords, and lets them be...Russia, therefore, has to keep its 140 divisions on the Chinese border...we buy a little time and elbowroom in a plain, simple strategic move..." (page 67)
Nixon is not generaly remembered as having a sense of humor. Reagan however, was the "happy warrior" as the quote at the top of the review shows.
Many times Reagan stood alone, even from his usual allies. He proceed with an arms buildup, which even allies in the Republican Party disagreed with. But the arms build up was only one part of a general orchestrated plan to change the Soviet Union. Other things that he did was to give material support to freedom fighters such as in Afghanistan; imposed sanctions after the delaration of martial law in Poland; engaged in the propangada war by radio broadcasts and leaflets; and got Saudi Arabia to glut the oil market, dramatically reducing the price of oil, which hurt the Soviet Union, for it derived hard currency from the sale of oil; proposed a new technology, SDI, to defend against Soviet missles and thus forced the Soviet Union to compete in technology.
This orchestrated campaign put a great strain on the Soviet economy, which spent a great amount of its GNP on armaments. So
Mikhail Gorbachev was made General Secretary in order to reform the system.
I was an adolescent and young adult during the Gorbachev period. My impression of Gorbachev was that he was basically trying to "square the circle", that is, to do something that cannot be done--mix freedom with Communism. Gorbachev reforms led to one thing to another which eventually led to the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and Russia. Unfortunately, Communism still exists in some areas, like in North Korea and the American university.
There are some things I wish the author would have gone into more detail one--Reagan's relationships with other anti-Communist forces. Pope John Paul II played a role in the collapse of Communism, with his support of the Solidarity movement in his home country of Poland. John Paul II obtained information from priests and the Solidarity movement, and shared it with Reagan. I would have liked to see even more detail on this--WHAT exactly was shared? HOW did they get this information? How was this information used? Telling this story could have been just as good as any John LaCarre spy thriller.
One of the major lessons to be learned from this book is that there ARE causes worth fighting for--there are today, and there will be in the future--and one person who has courage, faith, a general strategy, and good spirits can make a difference.
Rating:
Summary: Not balanced, but highly recommended anyway!
Review: This exciting book tells the story of Ronald Reagan's lifelong war against communism. Skipping unnecessary background history, the book immediately launches into the exhilarating story of Reagan's defiance of communism in Hollywood, and his presidency of the Screen Actors Guild. Following that, the book follows the history of American-Soviet relations under the various American presidents. And then, in exquisite detail, the author follows the actions of President Reagan, as he wrestled the Soviet system into discredit and bankruptcy. Let me start out by saying that if you want a balanced look at President Reagan's strengths and weaknesses in dealing with the Soviet Union, then you will be *terribly* disappointed by this book. This book is a shout of "Halleluiah!", a celebration of Reagan's courage and farsightedness. Using newly opened Soviet sources, the author looks at what the Americans did throughout the era, and what the Soviets thought and did. I must say that I enjoyed this book immensely. Coming of age at the beginning of the Reagan Revolution, I remember a good deal of what this book covers, but this book does an excellent job of filling in the details that were unavailable at the time (secret meetings between Americans and Soviets, Politburo discussions, personal opinions from both sides of the wall). Therefore, if you want an exciting, fact filled look at Ronald Reagan's triumph over communism, then I highly recommend that you get this book!
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Summary: You can trust KGB Files more than US media
Review: Forget the twisted half-truths of The Times or The Post, go straight to the quotes from the KGB files on President Reagan, as Schweizer did. These files document such scandals as President Carter plotting with Soviet Ambassador on how to stop Reagan from winning in 1980. Etc, etc, the book exposes many Liberal closets full of skeletons that we would never heard of had it not been for meticulous KGB record keeping. Neither side ever imagined this information to see the light of day. But here it is! Until 1992, when Russian people toppled the huge bronze statue of the KGB chief, the "moles" and the "useful idiots" in the West felt safe. In fact, they often occupied the moral high ground. But KGB kept meticulous records in their vast archives. Not much came out until Peter Schweizer of the Hoover Institution at Stanford wrote a book of Reagan era "REAGAN'S WAR". Since we now know how this war ended (remember our peace dividend), this book, backed up by hundreds of footnotes, flushes many names from their high grounds into sewers.
In 2002 we have a President that is again facing similar adversities at home and abroad. I think that it will help everybody to read this book. It is a real lesson in leadership and establishes the historical facts that so many have tried to pervert. I already bought 4 books!
Rating:
Summary: Eye Opening
Review: This book certainly opened my eyes to the central role President Reagan played in the rolling back of the Soviet Empire and the eventual victory of the United States in the Cold War. Buy this book for yourself and learn of a courageous man who stood up to Communists in the film industry who threatened both him and his family, and who stuck to his ideal of freedom for all oppressed peoples throughout his long political career. As for the one star review below, it neatly illustrates Ann Coulter's pointing out that many of the arguments put forth by (hyper)liberals can basically be reduced to "You're stupid!" Granted, an amazon.com review forum hasn't the space for a full refutation, but you'd think s/he could've given SOME concrete fact which the book got wrong or SOME specific instance in which s/he disagrees with the author's reasoning.
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