BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
A review of the Pathfinder book Cointelpro: The FBI’s Secret War on Political Freedom by Nelson Blackstock appears in the Internet Bookwatch section of the March 2003 Midwest Book Review. The book "is a close and penetrating look at the illegal FBI counterin-telligence program code-named COINTELPRO," the review states. "Its methods for political disruption, techniques used by the FBI, CIA, and military intelligence, are all covered in-depth in this shocking and fascinating account. Enhanced with an introduction by Noam Chomsky, Cointelpro is especially timely reading in view of the radical measures being passed into law and implemented under the aegis of Homeland Security."
 

In February a program presented on Radio Havana Cuba by Bernie Dwyer featured Pathfinder’s newly published book Marianas in Combat: Teté Puebla and the Mariana Grajales Women’s Platoon in Cuba’s Revolutionary War 1956–58. "Brigadier General Teté Puebla, the highest-ranking woman in Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, joined the struggle to overthrow the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Batista in 1956, when she was 15 years old. Marianas in Combat, presented by Pathfinder Press at the 12th International Book Fair, is her story--from clandestine action in the cities, to serving as an officer in the victorious Rebel Army’s first all-woman platoon. For nearly 50 years, her life has been intertwined with the fight to transform the social and economic status of women, a course of action inseparable from Cuba’s socialist revolution," Dwyer stated. "With this book," he added, "one more strand of the rich history of the Cuban Revolution is now accessible to all. The editor, Mary-Alice Waters, dedicates the story of Teté Puebla to the young people in every corner of the earth who today, just like her 15-year-old subject before them, refuse to accept inequality and injustice and decide to join with others in a disciplined fight for a better world."
 

Writing in the January/April 2002 library journal Counterpoise, Travis Fristoe reviews Black Music, White Business: Illuminating the History and Political Economy of Jazz by Frank Kofsky. Fristoe writes, "Kofsky’s work demands answers to questions that pitifully few other jazz critics ever dare to ask, like how the controlling economic power (record labels, club memberships, union cards, venue bookings) lies overwhelmingly with the white businessmen, but the music has been creatively fueled and maintained by African-American artists since its inception." He continues, "The Marxist critiques of means of production, division of labor, and economic bottom lines suit the topic well. Combine this book with its pithier companion piece, John Coltrane and the Jazz Revolution of the 1960s, for criticisms still valid in our new millennium."
 

The full text of the above three reviews, as well as those for a number of other Pathfinder books, including Cuba and the Coming American Revolution, From the Escambray to the Congo, Playa Giron/Bay of Pigs: Washington’s First Military Defeat in the Americas, and Their Morals and Ours, can be found on book pages for these titles on www.pathfinderpress.com
 

When visiting the Pathfinder web site be sure to check out the "News from Pathfinder" section. In addition to providing information on Pathfinder’s upcoming publishing schedule and newly digitized books that have been recently printed in a more readable format, "News from Pathfinder" also makes available promotional flyers of some recently published Pathfinder books. Currently available are flyers for Malcolm X Talks to Young People, Malcolm X habla a la juventud, Marianas in Combat, and Marianas en combate. These attractively formatted flyers can be posted in Pathfinder bookstores, made into posters for displays at literature tables, and taken to other commercial bookstores that might be interested in ordering and promoting these titles.
 

Supporters of Pathfinder have launched a special six-week campaign from April 15 through May 26 to get the new 2003 Pathfinder catalog into the hands of as many bookstore buyers, librarians, and professors as possible. Goals are being adopted by Pathfinder supporters around the country to maximize the impact of this effort. The 60-page catalog, which sells for $1, provides brief summaries and cover reproductions of the hundreds of titles published and distributed by Pathfinder in English, French, and Spanish, as well as the Swedish, Farsi, Greek, and Russian languages. This campaign provides Pathfinder representatives with an opportunity to visit and deepen relations with current customers, as well as to visit and follow up with those who have not yet placed an order for Pathfinder titles. Those wanting to be part of this effort can place their orders for Pathfinder catalogs today at www. pathfinderpress.com.
 

You can now join the Pathfinder Readers Club online. For an annual fee of just $10, Readers Club members receive a 15 percent discount on all Pathfinder titles purchased online or at any of the more than 30 Pathfinder bookstores around the world. Higher discounts of 25 percent off are also available on specially featured books each month. Once their membership is in the system, Readers Club members will automatically receive discounts on all books purchased at www.pathfinderpress.com. Join today!!
 

Several Pathfinder pamphlets are now back in print with newly designed covers and a more attractive and readable format. They include Abortion: A Woman’s Right to Choose by Evelyn Reed and Pat Grogan; Revolutionary Dynamics of Women’s Liberation by George Novack; and A Political Biography of Walter Reuther: The Record of an Opportunist by Beatrice Hansen.  
 
 
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