[PRengin]

A review of the book, "The Iron Web."
Totally loved the video.

I have read thousands of books in my 60 years, but this one instantly became one of my favorites. Rose writes great dialogue: he presents important philosophical ideas in conversations that you can imagine real people having with one another. And while this may not be the best plotted book I've ever seen, the author seems to have put his anarchistic, freedom-loving soul into it, and it shines through like a star. I read the book in just a few days. Two weeks later I read it again, to make sure it was as good as I thought it was the first time through. Then I ordered 10 copies to send to friends. Yeah, that good.

The book focuses on three characters: a young woman fresh out of high school, a newbie Federal Agent (ATF), and the personal secretary to the newly elected President of the United States. These three are all mild, ordinary folks of good will. Nothing special or particularly interesting about any of them . . . which turns out not to matter too much, because the real show is what's going on around them. The author throws his characters into the middle of a Waco-like government siege of a rural community in Arizona. The government and the ever-trustworthy news media call the besieged folks "terrorists" belonging to an "anarchist cult" called "The Iron Web." But as soon as the viewpoint characters meet the people who supposedly belong to this dreaded conspiracy, they find that the government is up to its old tricks of demonizing people of good will who happen to hold politically incorrect opinions. In this case, the government has real cause to be frightened of these folks: tyrants must always fear men who know that they are free. And that's all I'm going to say about the story - you should have the fun of discovering it for yourself.

Like Atlas Shrugged, this is a novel of ideas, powerful ones. There's even a little speech like the famous John Galt polemic - with the difference that this speech is plain fun to read.

Just to give you a taste, here are a few of the many tidbits I enjoyed:

"Whatever else happens, never tell someone that you accept that he has the right to rule you. Never. You will make him into a monster, and you will make yourself into a slave."

"When has polite talk ever reduced tyranny?"

"What have you done with the country they [America's Founding Fathers] gave you? Today you tolerate a level of oppression and intrusion far beyond King George's wildest dreams, yet you cannot even imagine engaging in passive resistance, much less forcible revolution, in defense of your own freedom. The bravest thing you'll ever do is walk into a booth every few years, where no one can see you, and press a button to say which of two slave-masters you'd rather be owned by."

"Majority rule is not freedom. Majority rule is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."

"We view and treat each other as adult human beings, each responsible for his actions, each obligated to judge right and wrong for himself. We detest the alternative: the giant daycare center that so many of you seem to prefer, where a bunch of whimpering brats whine about their 'needs' and demand preferential treatment based on some twisted, delusional notion of 'fairness,' while at the same time begging the nanny to punish the kids they don't like."

Buy the book, and enjoy the whole feast.