A Shade of Difference

Like it's predecessor, "Advise and Consent", "A Shade of Difference" provides outstanding insight into the inner workings of government -- in this case, the United Nations. Also worthy of note is the discussion of civil rights. The homeschooling parent will quickly note that the book is a bit dated -- but also prophetic, detailing the civil rights movement before it actually happened.I have read and re-read all the books in the "Advise and Consent" series, and two examples toward the end of this book demonstrate, to me, the brilliant writing of which Drury was capable (that is to say, they left me in tears.) One is the death of Sen. Cooley; the other the impassioned speech by Sen. Fry to the UN General Assembly.Again, a word of caution. The wise parent will monitor the age at which the student reads this book. While certainly not a major theme of the book, there are some sexually descriptive passages which may merit some discussion.

In "Advise and Consent", Allen Drury gave us an insider's view of the US Senate. Now, with "A Shade of Difference", Drury tackles the United Nations and the subject of racism.It is not often that an author's second book, especially a sequel or a book in a series, is as good as the first. This book is an exception to that rule, topping, if it is at all possible, his earlier work.In "A Shade of Difference", Drury demonstrated that he not only understood the inner workings of the United Nations, but that he was a political prophet, accurately (in concept, if not in detail) predicting the civil rights struggles of the late 1960's. He also provided the reader with several unforgettable character images, even more so than in "Advise and Consent". The examples which were for me the most striking, were the passages which detailed the filibuster and death of Sen. Cooley, and the impassioned speech to the United Nations made by Sen. Fry.The subsequent books in this series were good -- but none lived up to what Mr. Drury gave us in the first two.Like it's predecessor, "A Shade of Difference" belongs on the reading list in every Civics classroom in America.