Book Announcement- Vox Clamantis In Deserto

VOX CLAMANTIS IN DESERTO by George W. Liebmann
This is a collection of 110 short ‘op-ed’ articles written over a 25-year period encompassing the unfortunate Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama and Trump administrations; included are a few longer pieces on welfare, reapportionment, Palestine, and civil rights ‘consent decrees.’ This collection is followed by book reviews of works by Gary Hart, Sarah Binder, Jack Balkin, Hillary Clinton, Gabriel Schoenfeld, Victor Klemperer, Lee Congdon, David Bernstein, Donald Rumsfeld, Susan Hertog, Frederik Logevall, Jonathan Fenby, Frank Costigliola, John Paton Davies, Constance Jordan, H. L. Mencken, Richard Evans, David O’Brien, and Jill Lepore and three longer essays on the original design of the United Nations, the Kennedy administration, and the after-effects of Naziism.
The collection expresses the views of a self- described iconoclast. To the extent that it has a unifying theme, it is found in Judge Learned Hand’s eulogy of Justice Brandeis in 1943: “the herd is regaining its ancient and evil primacy; civilization is being reversed, for it has consisted of exactly the opposite process of individualization.” (Chaucer Head Press, Baltimore)
Available at Amazon.com: $22.00 for 350 pp. paperback
By the same author:
The Last American Diplomat: John D. Negroponte and the Changing Face of US Diplomacy
“A detailed account of this remarkable career. [Liebmann’s] book will be valued by all serious students of American foreign policy.” –Times Literary Supplement
“Well informed and objective” –American Diplomacy
“A true masterpiece, a book far above the standards and the contents of the great majority of the dozens of, often ephemeral, works published each year about the theme and themes of American foreihn policy.” –John Lukacs, author of The Future of History
“So much more than a biography, this fascinating new book by George Liebmann is a major contribution to diplomatic history.” –Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard University and former American Ambassador to the Holy See
Diplomacy between the Wars: Five Diplomats and the Shaping of the Modern World
“[A] critically astute examination of five consequential but lesser known Western diplomats at work in the early decades of the twentieth century… Liebmann enriches our understanding of a vital period during which unfettered diplomats in roles they largely created for themselves mattered.” –Brandon Grove, President Emeritus, The American Academy of Diplomacy
“Liebmann’s thesis will not be welcomed by those who give more than two cheers for democracy, believe that all international problems are capable of solution or think that international law and organisations are the answer to all the world’s problems. He makes a powerful case for realistic and informed diplomacy guided by professionals.” –Times Higher Education Supplement
America’s Political Inventors: The Lost Art of Legislation
“Liebmann’s expertise in American government and its history is evident throughout. He makes the historical development of institutions come alive by putting faces and personalities on those who promoted them.” –William A. Fischel, Dartmouth College
“Citing historical and contemporary critics, including Tocqueville, Theodore Lowi and Robert Wiebe, Liebman condems pluralistic government by interest groups in which in Lowi’s words “there is no formal specification of ends and means…and therefore, no substance…only process. In place of this, Liebmann urges ‘devolution,reciprocity of obligations, institution-building and predictability.’” –Chronicles
“This book consists mostly of engaging vignettes of individuals who pioneered the development of largely successful schemes for the improvement of American life at the state and local levels… This is an original, well-written, rewarding book meriting a wide readership.” –CHOICE
The Fall of the House of Speyer: The Story of a Banking Dynasty
“A solid work of financial and social history…Mr. Liebmann has done a service by bringing the history of an important, but almost forgotten, banking family to notice.” –Wall Street Journal
“A richly detailed and highly useful history… Thick descriptions of investment deals will likely be the most useful part of the book for the economic historian…an invaluable read for any historian interested in the biggest financial players of the era.” –EH.net
“The tale of the Speyers’ far-reaching investments in railways and other infrastructure projects in the 40 years before 1914 is original and illuminating.”- Stand Point

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