Zebra

...36 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR .JUNE 1980 with admission into a fraternity of "Death Angels...

...Please allow four to six weeks for delivery...

...This remedy, it is clear, must be a fundamental one, and it will require a deeper understanding than the one that is generally offered of what is necessary to preserve a liberal regime...

...A good part of the novel's attractiveness derives from its protagonist, CIA operative Blackford Oakes...

...On the contrary, he was trained as a nuclear physicist, he gained renown as a fighter-pilot during World War II, and he reads the geopolitical works of J ames Burnham for relaxation...

...Fluent in many tongues and related to--among other luminaries--the Queen of England, the young Oakes is at once effortlessly cosmopolitan and deeply patriotic...

...As it happens, I read William Buckley's latest spy novel in a single sitting...

...The Evolution of Civilizations An Introduction to Historical Analysis By Carroll Quigley A comprehensive and perceptive look at the factors behind the rise and fall of civilizations...

...but it ought to be read, mainly by those who may still have misgivings about capital punishment...

...Having qualified my enthusiasm somewhat, I can safely proceed to assert that Mr...

...Write A A. Lee...

...This declaration, however, is not as laudatory as it might otherwise appear, inasmuch as I always read thrillers in a single sitting...

...It is not a pleasant book, and, suffering as it does from both a slight touch of sensationalism and the liabilities inherent in its "nonfiction novel" style, it is not even a particularly good book...

...Although habitual criminals, they had been released after short terms in various correctional institutions...

...WHO'S ON FIRST William F. Buckley, Jr...

...they cannot say much about its characters, since these, in all but the be~t novels, are little more than what Ian Fleming once called "cardboard boobies...

...He identifies seven stages of historical change for all civilizations - m i x t u r e , gestation, expansion, age of conflict, universal empire, decay, and invasion - a n d tests his hypotheses with a detailed analysis of five major civilizations: the Mesopotamian, the Canaanite, the Minoan, the classical, and the Western...

...It seems that their secular inspiration must have come from the Black Panthers across the Bay, whose leader had shortly before been anointed by Jane Fonda as the only man who could be trusted in America...

...Their crimes notwithstanding, they will be up for parole in 1981...

...Oakes is no mere fop...

...A34 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250 Zebra tells the story of 23 random, cold-blooded murders and attempted murders--chosen from an estimated total of 250--committed in San Francisco during the period 19731974 by a group of Black Muslims...

...One is at a loss to imagine who on earth such an accomplished character might be modelled after...

...Doubleday / $9.95 Joseph Shattan Reviewers of mysteries and spy novels are apt to find themselves in an uncomfortable bind...

...Although Islam certainly believes in murder for correct reasons, it takes a less sanguine view of rape and robbery, in which the criminals, in their more lenient moods, also indulged...

...To order this book, or for a copy of our catalog, write: LibertyPress/LibertyClassics 7440 North Shadeland, Dept...

...They discuss the book's Joseph Shattan is Policy Director for the Coalition for a Democratic Majority in Washington, D.C...

...Its characters are credible, its plot is ingenious, and, though its tone is anything but didactic, it has a serious point to make...

...No obligation...

...and they are unable to analyze its argument, since a thriller usually has none...

...In a society in which public sentiment ultimately governs, nothing could be more disastrous than the triumph of the belief that interest alone rules, because here the belief will make it so...

...Pitted against Oakes is the wily KGB Colonel, Boris Andreyevich Bolgin...

...In the end, only the conscientious efforts of two detectives, and an unfounded fear of imminent capture on the part of one of the criminals, led to the group's arrest and conviction...

...Thus, they fall back on generalities...

...By using the latest techniques of Synanon and est or by employing a new method of behavior modification, the mental health people so prevalent in San Francisco's psychobabble culture may well succeed in restoring the criminals to model citizens by the time of their release...

...In adding up scores, high marks were given for killing women and children...

...Waving the Constitution and hurling about charges of "racism," the ACLU and its allies managed to bring to a halt a police search program which might have led to an early apprehension of the criminals...

...A quondam victim of Stalin's purges, Boigin is a man of regular THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR JUNE 1980 37...

...Washington, OC 20003...

...Despite the killers' fervent avowals, their religious commitment is somewhat suspect...

...Here, where the genius of Jim Jones and "General Field Marshal" Cinque reached fruition, the so-called Zebra murderers found their perfect milieu...

...They are not permitted to divulge the book's plot, since that would relieve the suspense novel of its raison d'dtre...

...Wilson does not provide the remedy, but he clearly diagnoses the problem, and he forthrightly attacks in both speech and deed the idea that ideas do not matter...

...The experiment in representative government, which is Wiison's subject,'began out of an attempt to prove the doctrine false, but the nature of the enterprise presumes that it may eventually be proven true...

...A "perfectly proportioned young American male" with an "inviting informality of manner" that women (not unnaturally) find irresistible, the Yale-educated Mr...

...If all this poses a threat to our political institutions, and Wilson implies that it does, the remedy must come in the way we think about government...

...Liberalism is a difficult discipline, and we have seen in the modern era that the unreflective pursuit of liberal ends can undermine those institutions that are necessary to achieve them...

...We pay postage, but require prepayment, on orders from individuals...

...There is hope, however...

...The San Francisco police attempted to apprehend the criminals, of course, but groups like the American Civil Liberties Union continually frustrated them...

...atmosphere and the author's style, pronounce the plot plausible or implausible, and, should they wish to bestow the highest accolade, declare that they read the entire work "in a single sitting," so enthralled were they by it...

...It is incredible that the acts of savagery described in this book could happen anywhere in the civilized world, but less so that they took place in San Francisco, where American liberalism reigns triumphant...

...If not, the outcome raises several questions, not least important of which is: Can our society deal effectively with terrorists when powerful voices try to justify crimes--no matter how heinous--as long as they are committed by a "repressed minority" ? [] -FR conservalive news weekly If you're a conservative, you should discover HUMAN EVENTS, the National Conservative Weekly (the only one) Essenttal thts election year...

...Reports from the deep inside Capitol Hill Hot news -- olten not printed anywhere else Tough writers FREE sample...

...democratic claims should have led to the decline of those institutions closest to the people--the parties and the state and local governments-and to the strengthening of two institutions very remote from them--the courts and the bureaucracy...

...The murderers were largely veterans of the California prison system, where the " t h e r e is no such thing as a bad boy" principle has been the dominant philosophy, for a number of years...

...The attempt to secure through the Supreme Court what cannot be secured through the legislative process leads directly to a contempt for public opinion and for those institutions which have traditionally represented it...

...According to Powell, the prisoners have shown no repentance and like many of their kind probably view themselves as "freedom fighters...

...Otherwise, I find that I lose track of the plot...

...Hardcover $9.00, Paperback $4.00...

...Quigley examines the application of scientific method to the social sciences, then establishes his historical hypotheses...

...He has reached sounder ground than has Arnold J. Toynbee "--Christian Sciem'e Monitor "Studies of this nature, rare in American historiography, should be welcomed" -American Historical Review...

...Buckley's novel, though not quite up to his highest standards, is still an entertainment of the fu'st rank...

...Only national publicatton covering Senate and House as well as presidential races...

...422 First St SE...

...During one of these sojourns they discovered the glories of Islam, in particular, the variety of Islam inspired by the teachings of Malcolm X. Taking the precepts of Malcolm X to their logical conclusion, the Zebra group decided to embark on a campaign of killing "blue-eyed devils" and rewarding individual killers with high scores Mike Partqsh lives and works in Bloomington, Indiana...