The author is very good and very thorough with the technicalities . . . A beautiful book for what it says about the love of the sea. This collection does contain some very good sentences, but it also has some that are unspeakable . . . The specific contribution of the book is Gardner's call for a curriculum based on the ancient categories of the good, the beautiful and the true. There is little 'theory' and much good sense.
Some chapters work better than others.
Those with the interest and the patience to overlook Hoffman's shortcomings as a writer can glean much from his insights. This book clearly establishes the main contours of the previously hidden landscape of Soviet espionage in the United States in the 30's and 40's. One can disagree about details . . . Mean Justice' is an intricate brief for one of them. Well researched and written with flair . . .