Army Nurses in Wartime

March 16, 2011

Although GPO’s 150th anniversary has been on my mind lately, March is also Women’s History Month. A couple of years ago, Answering the Call: The U.S. Army Nurse Corps, 1917-1919, an excellent photographic history published by the Office of the Surgeon General’s Office of Medical History was one of the American Library Association’s Notable Government Documents. Established in 1901, the Corps had sent nurses to Vera Cruz, Mexico during General Pershing’s Punitive Expedition, but World War I saw Corps nurses mobilized on a much larger scale.

 At first, Army nurses served in six British general hospital units while American troops were trained and mobilized for service in France. As American troops arrived, some nurses assigned to special teams wound up in the front lines, dealing with shock, surgical, gas, and orthopedic cases. Answering the Call is profusely illustrated by Signal Corps photographs of the grim reality of modern warfare, including truckloads of wounded soldiers and grim-faced stretcher bearers carrying casualties to the closest dressing stations. Nurses also served in field hospitals and mobile units that ferried the injured back from the front lines. Owing to accidents and the great influenza epidemic of 1918, some Army nurses  died while serving their country, as depicted in moving photos of military funerals and grave sites.

It wasn’t all, grim, though. Answering the Call also shows nurses relaxing as best they could, participating in patriotic plays, and enjoying whatever opportunities for distraction they could find. I’m not a historian of photography, but it does seem that this decade marks a departure from the predominance of unsmiling group photos – smiles make those photographed appear more contemporary and individual, despite the period uniforms and poses.

This book opens a window to an organization and a period seldom mentioned in histories of American involvement in World War I. Both the images and text work to conjure up yet another aspect of women’s history that should be better known. Answering the Call is available here or in a library.

Quite a few Notable Government Documents came our way in 2008. I’ve blogged about a few of them, but looking over the list reminded me that there are some really good ones I haven’t gotten to yet – so stay tuned!

8 Comments | U.S. Army Medical Department | Tagged: , | Permalink
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Lincoln on the Threshold of Greatness

March 9, 2011

As I mentioned in my last post, the Government Printing Office celebrated its 150th birthday last Friday. Around here, we like to say that there were really two inaugurations on March 4, 1861 – President Lincoln’s and ours. Lincoln is also, as far as we know, the only sitting President ever to have visited GPO. Coincidentally, given these connections, a new book from the National Park Service (NPS) just hit my desk: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Greatness. Our 16th President is also special to the NPS. According to the introductory copy, it manages five National Park sites solely dedicated to Lincoln, four more with strong Lincoln connections, like Mount Rushmore, and a total of 47 “that include Lincoln and the Civil war stories as primary interpretive themes.” If you add in sites that deal in some way with slavery and Civil Rights stories, the total jumps to 75 – almost a quarter of all NPS sites!

I must say, though, that I wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened this handsome little volume. After all, hasn’t every Lincoln angle been covered by now? I should have paid more attention to the title. After a brief account of the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the election of 1860, the bulk of the book is an account of President-elect Lincoln’s train trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC – a literal “journey to greatness.”

In addition to brief descriptions of his welcomes to various cities along the way, the book includes quotations, such as numerous comments on his determination to preserve the Union and cogent remarks on immigration to the German Industrial Association of Cincinnati, Ohio. It also features classic vignettes from his trip, including his salute to Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York who, in a letter to candidate Lincoln, had suggested he grow a beard (“The President left the car, and the crowd making way for him, he reached her, and gave her several hearty kisses, and amid the yells of delight from the excited crowd, he bade her good-bye.”) My favorite of these, because it’s a reminder of the slyly humorous man sometimes overshadowed by the solemn national icon, is his appearance at the Leaman Place, Pennsylvania: “Loud calls being made for Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. L. brought her out, and said he had concluded to give them ‘the long and short of it!’ This remark – with the disparity between the length of himself and wife – produced a loud burst of laughter, followed by enthusiastic cheers as the train moved off.” 

Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Greatness is a great way to look at Lincoln the man and the statesman as he began what still remains the most trying period in the history of the Republic. When I finished it, I was ready to rally round the flag! You can find a copy of this new book here or find it in a library.

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GPO, FDR, and The Malta Citation

March 4, 2011

On March 4, 1861 – exactly 150 years ago today – the United States Government Printing Office opened for business. On such an auspicious occasion, Government Book Talk examines a unique Federal Government document. Ordered by the President on the tightest possible deadline for a purpose of international importance, only one copy was created by GPO. It is also, as far as I know, the only GPO product ever reproduced in its entirety on a postage stamp. Here’s the story of the Malta Citation.

From 1940 to 1943, the British Crown Colony of Malta endured prolonged and brutal air attacks launched by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Axis was determined to bomb or starve the people of Malta into submission  to deprive Great Britain of a vital naval base and, in so doing, dominate the Mediterranean. Despite saturation bombing and near starvation conditions caused by submarine attacks on British supply convoys, the Maltese people carried on with exemplary courage until the Allied invasions of North Africa and Sicily ended this threat. To honor their resistance to Nazi aggression, King George VI awarded the George Cross to Malta and its people in recognition of an entire nation’s collective valor. In November 1943, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt decided that America also should salute the people of Malta. He decided to visit the islands after the “Big Three” conference with Churchill and Stalin in Teheran and present the Maltese people with a citation that expressed the sentiments that Malta’s defense had inspired in the American people. The text was composed at the White House, but it fell to GPO to transform that text into an appropriate form.

The order for the Malta Citation was forwarded to GPO from the White House on November 15. Delivery was required not later than 3 p.m. on November 24 to meet the deadline for transport halfway around the world. The President suggested that the citation should be about 16 by 24 inches with lettering resembling that of medieval illuminated manuscripts. The details of color and design were left up to GPO. A complicating factor was secrecy. For reasons of security, the President’s visit to Malta could not be allowed to leak out. This combined need for speed, secrecy, and artistic excellence made the Malta Citation one of GPO’s most exacting and unusual wartime assignments.

The Malta project was assigned to GPO’s Division of Typography and Design. Its Director, Frank H. Mortimer, was given complete responsibility for the design and execution of the Citation. Because of the need for secrecy, and because only one copy was required, Mortimer decided to do the job by hand rather than experiment with type faces. He chose to work with genuine sheepskin parchment, feeling that its qualities of endurance and its capacity to retain freshness of lettering in both black and colored inks made it the most logical choice. He used steel and crow quill pens, drawing letters in the gothic style he had selected. Two sketches were prepared and submitted to the President, who chose the simpler version. Once the design was approved, Mortimer set to work. He used red and black inks for the 1-page text, with initials illuminated in blue, red, and gold. Pure gold leaf was used in the surrounding border, along with two fine lines of blue and red on the outside. An ornamental design consisting of the shield of Malta with the flags of the United States and Great Britain, all superimposed upon an aerial contour map of the main island, was placed above the text.

 To house the Citation, GPO’s Carpenter and Paint Shop produced a specially constructed case of solid, highly polished walnut, lined with royal blue plush. It was designed so that the right half contained the text while the left served as a cover. A weight to hold the parchment flat when the case was closed was placed inside the left half. This was produced in the GPO Bindery and consisted of laminated wood covered with dark blue morocco leather trimmed with lines in gold leaf and faced with the shield of Malta. Public Printer Augustus E. Giegengack personally delivered the completed citation in its case to the White House at 2:45 p.m. on November 24, beating the deadline by 15 minutes. On December 18 he received a letter from the President containing this tribute: “I wish to congratulate you and your craftsmen on the splendid workmanship displayed on the scroll which was presented by me to the people of the Island of Malta. It was very beautifully done, and I am sure we can all be proud of this product of our Government Printing Office.”

And the postage stamp? In 1956, Malta issued a stamp (left) that reproduced the Citation’s text, documenting  its importance to the Maltese and serving as a reminder of the huge variety and high quality of work that GPO has produced for the last century and a half. Happy birthday, GPO!

22 Comments | Government Printing Office (GPO) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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Perusing the 2011 Statistical Abstract

February 28, 2011

Can a blog about Government books not talk about Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract? I don’t think so. The 2011 edition is now available and, as usual, it’s filled with all kinds of data that tell us who and what we are as a nation and a people. Of course, many of its tables have appeared in edition after edition, but I like to focus on those that seem most in tune with current concerns and interests. After all, the Abstract’s ability to remain relevant accounts for its longevity (since 1878!)

Take, for example, Table 191, Insufficient Rest or Sleep by Number of Days and Selected Characteristics: 2008. I’m writing this on a Monday morning and feeling as if I haven’t had sufficient sleep since the late 1980s. You can’t get any more relevant than that! Data that seems ripped from the headlines is in Table 336, Financial Crimes: 2003 to 2009. Corporate fraud, securities and commodities fraud, mass marketing fraud…you get the picture.

There’s a lot of more upbeat information, too. Table 295 tells us that more and more Americans are receiving degrees every year, while Table 1237 indicates how many of us are turning out for the arts – something personally cheering for me is that 7.8 million people went to a jazz concert in 2008.

Family debt, manufacturing, national security, international statistics – there doesn’t seem to be anything that the Statistical Abstract doesn’t cover. At more than 1,000 pages, it’s an America watcher’s dream. You can lose yourself in its pages here, get a personal copy here, or peruse it in a library. Meanwhile, let me see if I can find anything on book blogs…

 

9 Comments | Census Bureau | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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Shooting with a Camera above the Western Front

February 25, 2011

It’s been almost a century since the outbreak of World War I. Although it’s rightfully remembered for its frightful battlefield slaughter, the Great War also marked a huge leap forward in the use of modern technology in war. One of those technological developments was the use of aerial reconnaissance photography to map enemy terrain and extract intelligence information on troop movements, defenses, and strategy.

Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance and Photographic Interpretation on the Western front – World War I, published by the National Defense Intelligence College, is not the kind of product normally associated with that estimable agency, which usually deals with more contemporary issues. That’s one of the things that intrigued me about this hefty, profusely illustrated volume. It’s got lots of photographs, of course – the image of Fort Douaumont after Verdun gives new meaning to the term “leveled to the ground” – but also lots of information about how aerial photography evolved in the course of the war. It’s analogous to the progression of aircraft armament from a pistol in the hand of a co-pilot in 1914 to synchronized machine guns in1918. Interestingly, it was the French who led the way in developing aerial recon photography into a real science, and their partnership with American personnel was much more significant than is usually assumed.

I also enjoyed the brief biographies of the pioneers of Allied aerial photography: Eugene Marie Edmond Pepin, the brilliant Sorbonne graduate; John Theodore Cuthbert (known as “J.T.C.” – my initials!) Moore-Brabzon, the quintessential English gentleman (“‘You will obey your superior officers,’ the No. 9 Squadron commander once remarked early on. Moore-Brabzon replied, ‘Superior officer? – senior, if you please, sir.’”); and Edward Jan Steichen, the great American photographic master, who once joked that anyone producing a fuzzy photograph would be court-martialed! Retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves in 1924, Steichen received a commission as a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy reserves in 1941 at the age of 62, was on the carrier Lexington and in the Battle of Iwo Jima, and retired again as a Navy Captain in charge of all naval combat photography – talk about the engaged artist!

Shooting the Front is an excellent study of a neglected aspect of World War I and aviation history. At first I thought it might be too technical, but instead I found it absorbing to shift between the text and the photos, in a sense becoming a combat photograph interpreter myself. You can view the Table of Contents and Chapter I here, get a copy here, or find it in a library. For other Government publications touching on “the war to end all wars,” you can browse here.

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Information about Getting a Federal Government Job

February 22, 2011

Guest blogger Jana Sabol wishes she’d had this publication before she got her job.

Wouldn’t you love getting assistance in applying for a Federal Government job? I say this from experience, as I began my own Government career just eight months ago.

One publication that I wish I had known about before initiating the process of beginning my career within the Federal Government is How to Get a Job in the Federal Government. I was fortunate enough to have the assistance of other Federal employees to assist me in the application process. For those less fortunate, I highly recommend this publication by the U.S. Department of Labor. It will guide you through occupational series, qualifications, the General Schedule (GS) for pay scales, and other highly valuable tools for acquiring a job within the Federal Government. How to Get a Job in the Federal Government also guides its readers through the use of USAJOBS, the Government’s employment website.

I recommend this publication to all first time Federal Government job seekers as a highly beneficial tool in beginning the search and application process for launching their Government careers. You can purchase a copy of this book from the GPO Bookstore or as an eBook through Google Books. You can also find it in a library.

11 Comments | Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
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Safe Playgrounds for Kids

February 16, 2011

Back in the day, I did a couple of stints as a parent at a cooperative preschool. It was a great experience but, as in most aspects of life, some of the jobs were tougher than others. Take the annual mulching of the playground, for instance. The recipe: Take one truckload of mulch dumped in the school driveway, a couple of wheelbarrows, several shovels, mix in what was invariably a hot, humid Saturday in late August, add whichever parents you’ve managed to corral for the job – and start spreading. We weren’t enriching our kids’ intellectual or social lives – just trying to prevent yet another trip to the emergency room.

In fact, according to the Public Playground Safety Handbook, in recent years children have made more than 200,000 trips annually to the emergency room due to injuries on public playgrounds, defined as those in apartments and condominiums, restaurants, parks, child care facilities, other areas of public use, and schools, like Valley Drive Cooperative Preschool, my (by parental extension) alma mater. I’m sure that a lot of those injuries are due to falls, so proper playground surfacing is important. When I was a kid, playgrounds were floored with sand or dirt, or at least that’s the way I remember it. According to the Handbook, produced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, mulch is a good surfacing material, as is sand, but not dirt. This very useful book also deals with playground siting, shading (would I think about how the shade fell if I were planning a playground? probably not – I can’t even manage that at a cookout.), equipment selection and installation, hazards, and much more.

I liked reading this book because it’s detailed but clear, matter-of-fact about hazards, not preachy about regulations, and designed to help even very small entities, like preschools, design and maintain playgrounds to keep children safe. Are there any guarantees? Dream on! As a child, one of my sisters-in-law stuck her head through a porch railing and couldn’t get it out until assisted by the local mail carrier. This escapade so enthralled the neighborhood children that she felt compelled to show them how it happened – and got stuck again. The Handbook is up against the limitless ability of kids to get themselves in fixes but, given the nature of the challenge, I doubt if it could be met much better than by this book. You can read  the Handbook here, get your own copy here, or find it in a library. And keep your head away from that railing!

14 Comments | Consumer Product Safety Commission | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
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The Budget Blooms in Washington

February 14, 2011

Probably no one has ever compared the Budget of the United States Government to the crocus, but for inhabitants of Capitol Hill, and especially those of us who work at the Government Printing Office, both of them usually pop up around this time of year. In addition to printing the various components of the Budget, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does the annual distribution of Budget books to the press here at GPO and we sell additional copies to those representatives of the Fourth Estate who need more for their media organizations. Yes, even though the Budget becomes available on line at the same time as the printed version, the latter is still in demand for various reasons. Even the staff of Government Book Talk is pressed into action in our bookstore to expedite the flow of customers.

My own favorite component of the Budget is the Appendix, an imposing compendium of line items showing exactly what the President plans to fund – or not. The Historical Tables are good for comparing the U.S. Budget over time, and the Analytical Perspectives volume focuses on particular subject areas and issues. The main Budget book, of course, provides an overview of where the cuts and increases will or won’t be made. You can even get all of these books on a CD-ROM.

Do I actually read these books? Well, no, and very few do from cover to cover – but, like many of us in and out of Washington who are affected in some way by the Federal Government’s budget choices, I do look at those things I care about, and all of us in America have a stake in how our money is spent or not spent. You can browse through the new Budget on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) here or get your own copies of this harbinger of spring in Washington right here.

4 Comments | Office of Management and Budget | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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The Remarkable Story of Black Swan Records

February 7, 2011

Government publications go beyond books and pamphlets – there are some great magazines out there, like Humanities, published by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Every time I pick up an issue, I mentally kick myself for not doing so more often.

Take the November- December 2010 issue, for example. It’s just coincidence that I looked at this issue at the beginning of Black History Month, but I’m glad I did. The cover article, “Black Swan Rising,” tells the remarkable story of Black Swan Records, which from 1921 to 1924 was the first major black-owned record label, and one that recorded black classical music and spirituals as well as jazz and blues. It was conceived by Harry Pace, a protégé of W.E.B. Du Bois, who also sat on Black Swan’s board of directors. William Grant Still, later an important composer, was the label’s in-house arranger and the great Fletcher Henderson, who contributed so much to jazz in the 1920s and 1930s, was the recording manager.

Named after Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, also known as “the Black Swan,” the 19th century’s most accomplished African American concert singer, Black Swan Records was established to display the broad scope of contemporary black music of all kinds while demonstrating the entrepreneurial skills of African American businessmen. In its brief history, the label issued recordings of spirituals, arias, Christmas carols, and the first recorded performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Black Swan also had hit blues records by Ethel Waters, Alberta Hunter, and Trixie Smith.

The growing popularity of radio – the “new media” threat of its day – an overly ambitious capital expansion, and competition from other record companies led Black Swan to sell out to Paramount Records in 1924. Even before then, the need for inexpensive material led the label to issue recordings by white jazz and pop artists under “black” pseudonyms – and apparently no one noticed.

“Black Swan Rising” is just one among many terrific articles in this issue. Other topics covered include the Buddhist caves of Xiangtangshan, Founding Father George Mason, the Fort Shaw Indian School girls’ basketball team, and much more. You can read “Black Swan Rising” here, get a subscription to Humanities here, or find it in a library.

I’ll be blogging about this great periodical again soon because it’s  really an amazing resource – and who could  resist an article that tells the story of Sir Isaac Newton’s lifelong infatuation with alchemy!

3 Comments | National Endowment for the Humanities | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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Steps Toward a Higher Education

February 4, 2011

Based on personal experience, guest blogger Ingrid Reyes-Arias has some good advice for college-bound students.

It’s unbelievable the amount of influence money has on an individual’s pursuit of success.  Before college I had many stressful days of thinking how I would pay for my education, and there were very tough moments when the problem was not the admissions step but the finance step.  I remember when I began applying to colleges, I had a wonderful counselor that gave me all the resources I needed and, most important, helped me organize my finances.  For those that do not have the privilege of a counselor available every moment of every day. this great checklist can help.

The College Preparation Checklist (revised 2009) is a free publication provided by ED Pubs (U.S. Department of Education Publications) that prepares students for the journey of pursuing higher education.  This checklist has been created to reach students of all ages who are contemplating further education, as well as parents of children in elementary and secondary school.  This “to do” list begins by addressing elementary age students regarding how to prepare academically for higher education and how to support this opportunity financially.  The checklist has been divided into portions for students and parents, each tailored to meet their respective needs.  In addition, it suggests different resources for more information.  The checklist is broken down into “to do lists” for elementary and junior high, as well as the different high school grades.

As you may know, the Federal government contributes to higher education through Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  This program within the U.S. Department of Education assists eligible students in getting funds to pay off the cost of attending school.  Every year a student should fill out the FAFSA application to seek financial aid, such as work-study, student loans, scholarships, or grants.  The aid goes towards expenses such as tuition, room and board, books, and supplies. The application can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov. 

Most important decisions require time to think about, which may lead to you starting the process later than others.  Even if you get a late start, the checklist includes a “must do” list.  The first thing listed is completing the FAFSA application, followed by contacting the school you plan to attend to find out about other payment plans or scholarships.  It is always good to keep in mind that this is a process, so at times you must rely on subject matter experts, like teachers and guidance counselors, for help.

If you are at the beginning stages of planning, this publication includes a FAFSA4caster, which estimates your expected family contribution.  It will then estimate the award amount and give you an idea of the loans or grants for which you may qualify.  This estimator can be found at www.fafsa4caster.edu.gov.  Additionally, the checklist encourages you to research and apply for scholarships.  It provides many resources on scholarships, including a Department of Education database: www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov./scholarship.

Keep in mind that knowing which steps to take will make the process go smoothly and eliminate unnecessary stress.  The college application is already stressful enough, so don’t add more! The College Preparation Checklist offers a lot more help, so take a good long look.  You can find it at the Ed Pubs website http://www.edpubs.gov/ and order a copy or two at no cost.

17 Comments | Department of Education | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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A Snapshot of the Surge in Iraq

February 2, 2011

Government publications sometimes seemed ripped from the headlines, like the oil spill and financial crisis reports I’ve blogged about recently. Even history can be amazingly contemporary, though, especially if the historian is working alongside those who make the history. The U.S. military has a tradition of embedding historians in its fighting units so they can record history as it happens. It’s a long way from academe to Iraq, but the opportunity to write “a first draft of history even as it unfolds” must be an alluring one.

Dale Andrade, who’s currently with the Army’s Center of Military History (CMH), knows all about that, I’m sure. In Surging South of Baghdad: The 3rd Infantry Division and Task Force Marne in Iraq, 2007-2008, he recounts the experience of one unit participating in its third deployment to Iraq. As CMH Chief Historian Richard W. Stewart notes in the Foreword, at this point in the Iraq War, “For better or worse, the George W. Bush administration decided to gamble on a troop increase, sending thirty thousand troops to Iraq in order to stop the bloodshed and bring stability to Baghdad and the surrounding area. By June 2007, they were all in place, and the so-called surge began.”

Surging South of Baghdad brings home the utter complexity of the political and military situation in Iraq. The Army had to be aware of a multiplicity of opponents, many of them working at cross-purposes with one another. These factions were and are political “improvised explosive devices” motivated by internal rivalries and conflicting ideologies that had to be understood to be combated effectively. But the book also portrays the human side of war: grief over dead comrades, the desire for payback, the need to understand and even empathize with civilian Iraqis who may or may not be trusted – all described in tandem with the strategic and tactical progress of the Division as part of the surge.

This book is a detailed look at how the surge was implemented from a “boots on the ground” viewpoint, enriched by the perspective that a participant with analytical skills can bring to the description of historical events – a tradition in writing military history since Thucydides. You can read it via the CMH Web site, get your own copy here, or find it at a library.

5 Comments | U.S. Army | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
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The Financial Crisis: Why?

January 28, 2011

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Lehman’s was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, and its demise marked the  beginning of the global financial crisis and was a major catalyst of the  financial meltdown. President Obama is using the Lehman anniversary to put an emphasis on the economy, kicking  off a series of events with a Rose Garden speech Monday. His National Economic  Council is set to release a report detailing the economic advances.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-obama-defends-approach-financial-crisis-anniversary-lehman-brothers-collapse-article-1.1456570#ixzz2f48bm7eR

All of this creates a good opportunity to revisit blogger Jim Cameron’s review of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report from January 28th, 2011 – JET

I recently read a book about Ivar Kreuger, the famed “Match King” of the 1920s. Kreuger attempted to monopolize the match manufacturing industry on an international scale by obtaining state monopolies from national governments in exchange for large loans. His amazing financial record got him on the cover of Time magazine in October 1929, just as the stock market crash was beginning. Less than three years later, his companies teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and his crude forgeries of Italian bonds coming to light, he shot himself. Yet the author concludes that, for most of his career, his companies produced real profits and excellent returns for investors – he wasn’t simply a world-class swindler who single-handedly brought on a world crisis. It brings home the fact that great financial crises and collapses are not usually tied to a single individual or industry – the blame tends to be more widespread. It takes much more than a Kreuger or Madoff to light the fuse.

All of this comes to mind when perusing the official edition of The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, the final report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States. Note: This official edition is complete, including all 129 pages of dissenting views. I’m no economist, but it seems clear that a series of interlocking corporate and government practices and missteps, extending far beyond any one person, company or sector, caused the economy to tank.

It’s also interesting to see how quickly events recede in the mind. When was the last time you heard about the downfall of Lehman Brothers? Reading this report transports me back to those very scary weeks a little more than two years ago, when everything that had seemed so secure in the economy suddenly displayed all of the characteristics of a wooden skyscraper full of termites.

This book is no easy read, but its subject is compelling, faced as we are with the aftermath of the crisis. It’s a serious report for serious times, and the voluminous dissenting views show how uncertain root causes can be, accept them or not as you will. You can find The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report here, buy a copy of the official edition, including all of the text of the dissenting views, here: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/search/apachesolr_search/financial%20crisis, or get it at a library.

10 Comments | Financial Crisis Commission | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
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