Book Description
In 1016, a rebel Lombard lord appealed to a group of pilgrims for help-and unwittingly set in motion "the other Norman Conquest." The Normans in the South is the epic story of the House of Hauteville: of Robert Guiscard, perhaps the most extraordinary European adventurer between Caesar and Napoleon; his brother Roger, who helped him win Sicily from the Saracens; and his nephew Roger II, crowned at Palermo in 1130. The Kingdom in the Sun vividly evokes this "sad, superb, half-forgotten kingdom, cultivated, cosmopolitan, and tolerant," which lasted a mere 64 years. It concludes with the poignant defeat of the bastard King Tancred in 1194, bringing to a close this extraordinary chapter in Italian history. With a comprehensive listing of all of Sicily's surviving Norman monuments, the result is a superb traveler's companion and a masterpiece of the historian's art.
Customer Reviews:
An investigation into the central role played by the Kingdom of Sicily during the High Middle Ages.......2006-08-26
The prospect of reading a 750-page tome on the history of Sicily between 1016 and 1194 would probably seem inviting only to the most masochistic of history buffs. That Norwich's book (originally published as two works, "The Normans in the South" and "The Kingdom in the Sun") has enjoyed its well-deserved longevity and such an admiring audience is a testament both to the thoroughness of his investigation and to the enthusiasm of his prose.
By necessity, Norwich populates his history on a crowded and expansive stage. This is less a chronicle of Sicily than the story of Europe during the Middle Ages, with the Normans in Sicily playing a starring role. Popes from Urban II to Alexander III, kings from Henry II of England to Louis VII of France, emperors from Frederick Barbarossa to Manuel Comnenus--they all warily circled the arenas in southern Italy and Sicily, with the Normans of Sicily at the center of nearly every major confrontation of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, from the investiture controversy to the Crusades.
But the real heroes of Norwich's masterpiece are the Sicilian rulers themselves, along with several of their often-insubordinate underlings. We are introduced to a sequence of memorable dukes and duchesses and kings and queens: Robert Guiscard and Sichelgaita, the fearsome husband-and-wife team who led the conquest of southern Italy and the campaign against Byzantium; Roger II, the first king of Sicily and a brilliant warrior, diplomat, and administrator; William the Bad, William the Good, and the final William III, who ruled over the island and its fragile government in its glory days; and Queen Constance, whose marriage to Henry VI, of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, brought Sicily into the Holy Roman Empire.
As the above dramatis personae suggests, "The Normans in Sicily" is largely a history of military campaigns, political intrigue, and diplomatic schemes. Norwich supplements his story, which was purportedly written with the tourist in mind, with doses of cultural history (particularly art and architecture) and with descriptions of the palaces, churches, monasteries, and other sites that have survived eight centuries of upheaval and restoration. He also examines the unusual melding of the three religious traditions (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Islamic) and how their occasional harmony and ultimate conflict affected the society and culture of Sicily in ways not coincidentally reminiscent of Spain during the same period.
Especially notable is his resuscitation of the reputation of William the Bad (or Wicked): "The epithet rings false. There was nothing evil about him. . . . [His] reluctance to face up to so many of his political responsibilities was due not only to his natural indolence but to a genuine conviction that there were others around him better qualified for the task. . . . Perhaps William the Sad might have been a more accurate description."
Of social and economic history, there is (not surprisingly) very little. The sources for such an investigation are limited, and these concerns were barely beginning to blossom among English-speaking historians in the 1960s--and Norwich admits he is not a scholar, though he writes far better than many of them. He was, however, conspicuously ahead of his time both in his assessment of the role of women in the expansion of the kingdom of Sicily and in his even-handed presentation of various religious customs.
"The Normans in Sicily" is, then, a traditional history, but one whose scope and whose value cannot be overestimated. And it doesn't hurt that it's exciting to read.
The Other Normans.......2006-02-28
Dull and daunting as this title might seem for the general reader, this is actually a facinating and important episode in European history. For the more cynical it could serve as a primer for any group seeking to achieve political power by taking advantage of the inherent problems of a weak and divided polity. Diplomatically, it proves a brilliant example of a weaker party playing off stronger powers to its considerable advantage. For the more hopeful, it provides one of the regrettably few examples of Christians (Roman and Orthodox) and Muslims not only coexisting, but mutually prospering and profiting, under a pragmatic but culturally informed leadership. Lord Norwich's writing style and sense of what is actually important creates a lively, entertaining and informative look at the period.
A sweep through Sicilian medieval shenanigans.......2005-10-18
This is one of the best layman's books about any conquest. Norwich is unputownable history at its best. Witty, wise and taking rather a different view of the Norman Conquest of Sicily and South Italy than Norman Lewis, his is above all a kind of adventure story. It is also a look at a dynasty that makes the Colby family look pathetic. The humour that sparkles throughout the book helps make the whole experience more enlightening. A masterpiece of popular history at its best, it may be unfashionably concerned with the doings of the mighty, but who can resist the corrupt Popes, the machiavellian intrigues of the Byzantines, the gormless Germans and of course the Italians themselves, and the city-states and vassal-states endlessly changing sides, like an Italian football supporter when his own team isn't playing.
Double Your Lord Norwich Fun...for the Price of One........2002-11-16
This excellent volume combines 2 books by the highly readable Viscount Norwich. His history of the Normans in south Italy and Sicily in the 10th and 11th centuries fills a gap in our knowledge of these fascinating mercenaries who-would-be-kings and rings true even today with the impact of Europeans on the Arab world and vice-versa. Remember, the Normans (of Norman Conquest of England fame) were the descendants of Viking raiders who settled in France and their military prowess against the Byzantine Empire and conquests in Italy were just as important as their better known invasion and conquest of England and Ireland in the same centuries.
Fascinating history, great story.......2002-06-27
Norwich is a storyteller as much as he is a historian. He resembles Barbara Tuchman -- you might not base a doctoral thesis on his work, but he certaily provides a great read. In many ways, this work is superior to his Byzantium trilogy. This may be because he has bitten off a more managable slice of history. This allows Norwich to go deeper on the main personalities and events he is covering. You really come a way with a feeling for this remarkable adventure of the Normans in Southern Italy and the advanced and powerful state they were able to create. It also highlights thier impact on the crusades, Byzantium, and the broader struggle between the Pope and secular power. I really enjoyed this book -- so much so that I travelled to Sicily to visit some of the many amazing artifacts left behind by this underdocumented "other conquest" of the Normans.
Customer Reviews:
Easy read of a canned history of Siberia.......2004-04-12
I bought this book for a couple of bucks in a used bookstore and read it on a plane. Bobrick's writing is clear and easy to read. He provides what I see as a standard history of the Russian conquest, and Soviet re-conquest, of Siberia. There are no footnotes or even a bibliography, so I can't figure out why he claims some things that I found questionable. I don't think he 'got it wrong', but it seems like the book is mostl cribbed from other English-language works and maybe a couple of the standard Russian-language histories.
So, it's good for light non-fiction, but not for students or anyone serious about their history reading.
The Land of Sables and Gulags.......2001-12-14
Siberia evokes a host of mental images for any Westerner, most of them negative. Bobrick goes completely beyond the superficial "Gulag" images to reveal a vast and romantic land. He masterfully tells the story of how Russian pioneers battled the Khan tribes to conquer this weird country, river by river, valley by valley. Disasters abounded - particularly the near-extermination of the sable - but Siberia also gave us epic stories of exploration, culminating in the journeys of the great Danish explorer, Bering. Bobrick is as adept at telling their story as he is the stories of the settlers, many of them exiles or convicts, and their new life. There are also chapters devoted to "Russian America," i.e. Alaska, and other Pacific escapades such as the San Francisco base. We learn of border clashes with the Chinese over the Amur, and, later, the Russo-Japanese War, in which the Trans-Siberian railway played a pivotal role. Finally, Bobrick reveals in unflinching detail the Gulag system. This book is pure adventure and is surely deserves to be reissued.
Siberian epic.......2001-03-10
A pity that this book is out of print. A very intersting survey of the conquest of Siberia. Chilly and chilling even in its writing. No real glorious epic here although lots of gumption and bravery tales of the daring folks that settled Siberia. Just a tale of woe, but a woe that built a nation. Also a few questions about the mentality of a people still little known who forged itself in such hardship and near animalistic conditions. A must read to understand the influence of Siberia in today's Russia. One objection, many editing errors that cost it a star.
Easy reading of a broad subject.......1997-07-05
I found this book in the bargain section for $5 and now see it is out of print. What a shame. The book covers the hisotry of Siberia from pre-history to modern times. Perhaps the most interesting chapters cover the exploration of Siberia by Bering in the late 18th C. - this epic conquest pales the Lewis and Clark expedition in scope and time and is writen with such vivid description it would make a wonderfull movie. For these few chapters alone this book is worth seeking out. Overall a very intersting book covering a very broad topic
Book Description
Only now can the full scope of the war in the Pacific be fully understood. Historian Ronald Spector, drawing on newly declassified intelligence files, an abundance of British and American archival material. Japanese scholarship and documents, and research and memoirs of scholarly and military men, has written a stunning, complete and up-to-date history of the conflict.
Customer Reviews:
A One Volume History of the Pacific War.......2007-06-25
Ronald Spector's "Eagle Against The Sun" was published as far back as 1985 but holds up extremely well as perhaps the best one-volume history of the U.S. war with Japan. Spector's sweep is broad, inclusive, and incisive, packing a tremendous amount of analysis into just 500 pages.
Spector starts, not with Pearl Harbor, but with the political and military climates in the United States and Japan before the war, to make the point that decisions on aircraft, ship types and war plans would have an enormous impact on the opening phases of the war. Spector, a Vietnam veteran, was no worshiper of the brass; his caustic analysis of the U.S. command structure in the Pacific and the planning of each campaign suggests just how much was owed to political as well as to military considerations.
Spector's concise narrative sketches each of the major campaigns in the Central and Southwest Pacific areas, while finding time to address U.S. efforts in the China-Burma-India theater as well. The reader is left with a stunning sense of the sheer scale of the war waged against Japan. Spector also imparts an appreciation for the ability of the U.S. Armed Forces to overcame surprise and a lack of preparation in 1941 to defeat the Japanese Empire by 1945.
This book is highly recommended as a detailed popular history of the war in the Pacific that will appeal to both the general reader and the student of military history.
All the Amazon Reviews of this book are correct.......2007-04-18
Based on the 19 reviews in Amazon I bought the book. The reviews are on target, even the comments about the paucity of maps which I found to be only a minor issue for me. Spector's writing style is a big factor in enjoying this book. So, if you want a good overview of the Pacific war, this book is a very good choice.
Why it happened. Not how........2007-01-11
An excellent fresh look 'behind the scenes' at the war in the Pacific. Gives fascinating personal, technical and logistic data to compliment the well known strategy and battle plans. Required reading for the 'expert' on this conflict. Hard to put down.
Classic Analysis of the Pacific War.......2006-07-31
This is a superb analysis of the Pacific War between the USA and Japan. It is always very difficult for an author to strike a balance between sufficient detail on the one hand, and the risk of overwhelming the "big picture" with too much detail, on the other. Here, the author hits it just right. This is a detailed and thorough analysis of the Pacific War that focuses on the main trends of the war, while supplying sufficient detail to support the themes that the author presents to the reader.
Spector's basic thesis is not new, but this is the best presentation of it that I have encountered. Essentially, the author notes that superior American industrial capacity, organizational skills, and technology overwhelmed a highly trained, well-armed and competent Japanese foe. The Japanese training regime was brutal, featuring tough night training in the icy waters south of the Kurils--Japanese skill at night naval engagements were to give the US Navy ugly moments for years. On the other hand, the author speculates that the savage discipline of the Japanese service tended to "burn out" its officers, often causing them to avoid "thinking outside the box."
Both sides had problems with inter-service rivalries. The Americans fought the war with divided commands, whereby MacArthur advanced through the South Pacific with most of the Army, while Nimitz advanced through the Central Pacific with the bulk of the Navy and the Marines. The author argues that this was an inefficient, sub-optimal strategy. The Japanese Army and Navy were even more riven with rivalries, and the Japanese Navy on numerous occasions concealed from the Army the scope of its defeats at the hands of the US Navy. (It was a long time before the Japanese Army learned of the disasterous defeat of the Navy at Midway; the Army believed that Japan had won, not lost, the Battle of Leyte Gulf).
This is a fairly conventional analysis of the Pacific War, but the author sometimes does come to unorthodox conclusions that will challenge the reader's own opinions about command decisions made by the Pacific War's heavyweights. Frank Jack Fletcher merits heavy blame for lacking aggressiveness on several occasions, which is no surprise, but at times Admiral Spruance (a personal hero of mine) also comes in for criticisms that I did not expect. The author overall attempts to be fair, however, and generally does a pretty fair job of making his case.
Overall, this is perhaps the best single volume analysis of the Pacific War written for the general public that I have come across, and it is highly recommended.
Excellent One Volume History of Pacific War.......2004-06-01
A very readable, interesting history of the Pacific theater in World War II. Despite being a single volume Spector does a masterful job of covering all the key aspects of the Pacific war and does so in a very complete manner. The earlier reviewers comments about the lack of maps is true; you might want to have an atlas handy while reading this book. Definitely worth your investment several times over in both time and money.
Book Description
The first authorized inside account of one of the most daring—and successful—military operations in recent history
From the earliest days of his dictatorship, Saddam Hussein had vowed to destroy Israel. So when France sold Iraq a top-of-the-line nuclear reactor in 1975, the Israelis were justifiably concerned—especially when they discovered that Iraqi scientists had already formulated a secret program to extract weapons-grade plutonium from the reactor, a first critical step in creating an atomic bomb. The reactor formed the heart of a huge nuclear plant situated twelve miles from Baghdad, 1,100 kilometers from Tel Aviv. By 1981, the reactor was on the verge of becoming “hot,” and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin knew he would have to confront its deadly potential. He turned to Israeli Air Force commander General David Ivry to secretly plan a daring surgical strike on the reactor—a never-before-contemplated mission that would prove to be one of the most remarkable military operations of all time.
Written with the full and exclusive cooperation of the Israeli Air Force high command, General Ivry (ret.), and all of the eight mission pilots (including Ilan Ramon, who become Israel’s first astronaut and perished tragically in the shuttle Columbia disaster), Raid on the Sun tells the extraordinary story of how Israel plotted the unthinkable: defying its U.S. and European allies to eliminate Iraq’s nuclear threat. In the tradition of Black Hawk Down, journalist Rodger Claire re-creates a gripping tale of personal sacrifice and survival, of young pilots who trained in the United States on the then-new, radically sophisticated F-16 fighter bombers, then faced a nearly insurmountable challenge: how to fly the 1,000-plus-kilometer mission to Baghdad and back on one tank of fuel. He recounts Israeli intelligence’s incredible “black ops” to sabotage construction on the French reactor and eliminate Iraqi nuclear scientists, and he gives the reader a pilot’s-eye view of the action on June 7, 1981, when the planes roared off a runway on the Sinai Peninsula for the first successful destruction of a nuclear reactor in history.
Download Description
The first authorized inside account of one of the most daring—and successful—military operations in recent history
From the earliest days of his dictatorship, Saddam Hussein had vowed to destroy Israel. So when France sold Iraq a top-of-the-line nuclear reactor in 1975, the Israelis were justifiably concerned—especially when they discovered that Iraqi scientists had already formulated a secret program to extract weapons-grade plutonium from the reactor, a first critical step in creating an atomic bomb.
The reactor formed the heart of a huge nuclear plant situated twelve miles from Baghdad, 1,100 kilometers from Tel Aviv. By 1981, the reactor was on the verge of becoming "hot," and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin knew he would have to confront its deadly potential. He turned to Israeli Air Force commander General David Ivry to secretly plan a daring surgical strike on the reactor—a never-before-contemplated mission that would prove to be one of the most remarkable military operations of all time.
Written with the full and exclusive cooperation of the Israeli Air Force high command, General Ivry (ret.), and all of the eight mission pilots (including Ilan Ramon, who become Israel's first astronaut and perished tragically in the shuttle Columbia disaster), Raid on the Sun tells the extraordinary story of how Israel plotted the unthinkable: defying its U.S. and European allies to eliminate Iraq's nuclear threat.
In the tradition of Black Hawk Down, journalist Rodger Claire re-creates a gripping tale of personal sacrifice and survival, of young pilots who trained in the United States on the then-new, radically sophisticated F-16 fighter bombers, then faced a nearly insurmountable challenge: how to fly the 1,000-plus-kilometer mission to Baghdad and back on one tank of fuel. He recounts Israeli intelligence's incredible "black ops" to sabotage construction on the French reactor and eliminate Iraqi nuclear scientists, and he gives the reader a pilot's-eye view of the action on June 7, 1981, when the planes roared off a runway on the Sinai Peninsula for the first successful destruction of a nuclear reactor in history.
"Rodger Claire handles a complex story with ease and assurance. Infused with an understanding of the pilots and their historical mission, Raid on the Sun illustrates how what they achieved for Israel was as vital as that earlier flight of the Enola Gay to Hiroshima to end World War Two. Claire has created a patient, scrupulous story that still unfolds with the pace and verve of a thriller. Don't wait for the movie of the book. Buy it now."
GORDON THOMAS, AUTHOR OF
GIDEON'S SPIES: MOSSAD'S SECRET WARRIORS
"Raid on the Sun is an extraordinary look into the most secret, and perhaps the finest, air force on the planet. It is also a blistering indictment of the international arms industry that sells modern weapons to anyone with money. Raid on the Sun is required reading for everyone in the age of terror."
STEPHEN COONTS, AUTHOR OF FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER
"A stunning eye-opener, shocking you with the realization of the enormous service the Israeli Air Force rendered the free world with its 1981 attack on Saddam Hussein's nuclear facility. Claire went right to the source—the Israeli pilots who flew the mission—to tell in colorful detail the full story of this historic strike."
Customer Reviews:
RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION!" "THIS COULD BE THE BLUE PRINT FOR IRAN!".......2007-06-16
I'm sure you've heard the phrase: "I COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN, AND READ IT COVER TO COVER!" This book for me defined that, and if there really is a dictionary, (With famous phrases.) with the proverbial picture next to it, this book should be next to that phrase! This "TRUE" story, written over twenty years after the unbelievable Israeli bombing mission to destroy Iraq's nuclear facility, is too fantastic to believe. Why, was this in depth story never told before you may ask? Because Israel refused to talk about it, or release classified information. But now, this book was written with the "FULL" and exclusive cooperation, of the Israeli Air Force high command. I don't want to give away too much of the book, but it actually gives you information, way ahead of the actual mission also. Such as, Saddam Hussein's childhood and early years, that led and shaped him into the monster he became, as with the building of this nuclear reactor, and the vow to blow Israel off the face of the earth. It traces all the secret training in Israel, leading up to the historic raid. A titillating, page, early in the book, is an organization chart, of all the Israeli leaders in June 1981, and how they voted, pro or con, for the approval of the mission. This story makes James Bond look like The Hardy Boys. During the training of the pilots, Israel had to dismantle part of the jets, to lower the weight, so they would use less fuel, since the round trip mission from Israel to Iraq and back, had to be done with no refueling. Since I am not a pilot, but fly constantly. I almost felt like I was a passenger, along with the brave Israeli pilots, as they had to fly so close to the ground (100 FEET!) for 600 MILES over Saudi Arabia, to stay under the radar. The pilots had to contend with the rising heat from the desert, that adversely affected the jets. There were also things going on outside of Israel, that had to be done, while training was still taking place, to insure that the Iraqi nuclear reactor wouldn't go "live", before the Israeli plan was ready to go into action! These events were so unbelievable, that if you saw it in an Arnold Schwartzenagger, or Clint Eastwood movie, you wouldn't believe it! A beautiful blonde, pretending to be hit by a car, in front of a French Security gate, where the final pieces of the nuclear reactor were being manufactured. With this "blonde" diversion, Israeli agents got into the French manufacturing facility, to sabotage the piece, needed to finish the reactor. Thereby giving Israeli pilots, and masterminds, more time to prepare. The blowing up of an Italian apartment, owned by a supplier of parts to Iraq, as a warning not to supply the reactor. Of course, credit for the explosion was given to someone else. I could go on and on, but, that's why I said earlier, you can't put the book down. I want to tell you more, because it's unbelievable, but just go buy the book, and then I guarantee you, you'll want to tell someone else too. P.S. This could be a blue print for Iran. Wait and see?!
This book is a fast and entertaining read.......2007-03-19
If you are interested in military and middle east history, this may be a book for you. It has a good pace and is very easy reading. The pace of the book is not quite as fast as BlackHawk Down, but better than Bowden's other book, Killing Pablo. It almost has that 'reads like fiction' feel. I agree though, with one of the other posters comments that I read, and that is that there are alot of technical details that are not correct, (like "heat seeking Sparrow's") which does beg the question of whether or not he did not did not get all the facts right. But none the less, still a fun read and if even only half of it is right, its still an amazing story. I will highly recommend this book to my friends.
Incredible.......2007-02-24
Raid on the Sun describes the events leading up to to the 1981 raid on the Osirik reactor. It's a solid written, highly readable book. The book jacket nails it dead on by saying that this is something you'd see in a Hollywood thriller - a small country up against incredible odds both technologically and politically and overcoming them. I highly recommend it.
Reading some of the other reviews, I would like to point out that the comparisons to the current situation with Iran are perfunctory at best. Iran's nuclear facilities are deep underground, spread out in multiple locations over a large land mass, many cynically located under civilian areas such as schools. The Iranians learned many lessons from "the raid on the sun." There are three options on the table at this point from the Israeli perspective:
1. Wait and hope the U.S. bombs Iran. It's not looking like this is going to happen, as Bush probably needs Congress's authorization , and they most likely will not give it considering how Iraq is going. Furthermore, Bush has given authorization to Rice and the State Department to try to negotiate. Looks like Cheney and the neo-cons have lost power. Yet Israel will give it until the end of the year at least, according to leaked reports.
2. Attack Iran. Given how spread out the facilities are and Israel's capabilities, they have the ability to attack the three or four most important nuclear targets but not much more, which will delay the nuclear program for a number of years but not stop it. Iran will retaliate heavily, as well as its proxies Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. The Tel Aviv skyscrapers will almost certainly be hit; there will be a huge fallout internationally; and Israel's economy will go to hell.
3. Do nothing, which is of course the worst decision, given Ahmadinejad's statements about Israel and the apocalyptic beliefs of Shiite Islam.
We'll have to wait and see, eh? By the way, I highly recommend that you check out the MIT paper, "Osirak Redux? Assessing Israeli capabilities to Destroy Iranian Nuclear Facilities" by Whitney Raas and Austin Long, which is where the estimates from #2 come from.
Exciting .......2006-11-04
This is a great read. I found my heart pounding as these great pilots defended their country against this great evil.
Incredible tale!.......2006-09-11
This is an incredible story of the June 7, 1981, operation that took out Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor and, as a result, probably alone kept him from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Astonishingly, the brave Israeli pilots took 8 F-16's in to enemy territory and all returned home safely. This book details the planning and exeuction of this operation from start to finish.
This is a very good read, especially given the happenings of recent years in that region. Despite the almost unanimous international criticism Israel received for this operation, we probably have those brave men and women of the IDF to thank today for the fact that the world has not yet experienced a nuclear holocaust at the hands of a mad tyrant.
Book Description
Merely a decade ago there were no known planets orbiting sunlike stars outside our own solar system. In the past ten years, however, fast-paced developments in astronomy have revealed over 140 extrasolar planets--with more discoveries surely on the way. Though it will be years before we have direct images of these far-flung worlds, this lavishly illustrated book gives us an idea of what they might look like. A fascinating exploration of the cosmos written for a wide audience, Infinite Worlds brings together Lynette Cook's internationally renowned astronomical artwork, the latest and most dramatic images from the world's top observatories, and up-to-the-minute scientific findings on subjects ranging from the big bang and stellar evolution to a possible universe filled with countless planets and life forms.
The newly discovered planets are boggling astronomers' minds with their bizarre characteristics, including an unimagined diversity of sizes and orbits. In Lynette Cook's scientifically based illustrations--many newly created for this book--we glimpse the landscapes and atmospheres that might adorn these planets. Ray Villard's text elegantly describes the state of astronomy today, imagines where it will take us in the coming years, ponders the chances of success for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and explores the survivability of life in an evolving and accelerating universe.
Customer Reviews:
Mind Expanding.......2007-02-10
The text and artwork in this volume are first class. The art is exceptionally beautiful and is only enhanced by the story. Together, they bring together what we know with what is likely and expands that to a universe of pure possibility. There's nothing dry about this marvelous work. Infinite Worlds is noteworthy accomplishment.
reminds me of Bonestall's paintings.......2006-11-05
The images are everything in this book. Not that the text is badly written. Far from it. But the text is clearly subordinate to letting you see the imagination of many talented artists, as they depict worlds in other planetary systems. Speculative, but based on solid science. And astronomers now have detected over 200 worlds. The book explains how from sometimes single pixels, information is teased out about a world. Impressive. We now have detected enough worlds that we can start talking of classifications and statistics across worlds.
What the book clearly leads up to is a desire for more, better images. Well, you will have to wait at least 10 years, as new telescopes are being constructed.
Science fiction readers might compare these paintings to those made decades ago by Chesley Bonestall. His were necessarily more imaginative. But both types can be very evocative.
Different book than the title might suggest........2006-05-17
The title of this book is "Infinite Worlds: An Illustrated Voyage to Planets beyond our Sun". However, only a fraction of the book actually deals with extrasolar planets. I purchased this book based on the assumption that it would be about extrasolar planets. Instead most of the book is based on theories of galaxy formations, birth and death of stars and planets, and theoretical extraterrestrial life. It also describes our Solar System in detail. The artwork is very good although other space artists I have seen on the internet have superior artistic ability than Cook. Overall, though, this is still an interesting book. But potential readers should know that this is not a book about extrasolar planets.
nice but flawed.......2005-09-21
excellent atrwork of the highest standard; would have been nice to have mentioned HD114762, the FIRST extrasolar planet discovered by the center for astrophysics in 1989.
Infinitely enjoyable...........2005-06-22
A very delightful book. The writing by Ray Villard was surprisingly different than most "astro books" by *not* sounding like a textbook. There are many interesting facts and tidbits that I had not heard before that made reading it quite interesting. Lyn's art of course made the book. There are dozens of her trademark-styled images, each illustrating what the writer is saying. I particularly liked Lyn's use of stratus layers in the landscapes. Five of the images must have taken ages to paint with all the layers in there (Greenhouse Earth on pg 49, HD 16141 b and Moon on pg 108, Planet in the Virgo Cluster on pg 190, Terrestrial Planet at 55 Cancri on pg 171, and Planet Near the Siamese Squid Nebula on pg 53). The Siamese Squid image is really eye-catching with it's pink and green layers and Planet at 55 Cancri is a gorgeous painting in brilliant reds and yellows of sunset. Lyn's attention to the way the waves of the lake curve and reflect the light is just amazing, as is the detailed way the shadows of the rocks fall on the water. This is my favorite image of the book. Another very effective painting is HD 177830 b and Moon on pg 117, a beautiful image of a habitable moon orbiting a Saturnian-like panet. Imagine the night view beings on this planet would have! In fact, I found almost every image in the book to be excellent and inspiring. All-in-all, Lyn's done a remarkable job in this book, definitely a "must add" to your astronomical art collection.
Book Description
Sun-Tzu is a landmark translation of the Chinese classic that is without a doubt one of the most important books of all time. Popularly known as The Art of War, Sun-Tzu is one of the leading books on strategic thinking ever written. While other books on strategy, wisdom, and philosophy come and go, both leaders and gentle contemplators alike have embraced the writings of Sun-tzu.
Sun-Tzu is not simply another of many translations already available, but an entirely new text, based on manuscripts recently discovered in Linyi, China, that predates all previous texts by as much as one thousand years. In translating the text, researcher and interpreter J. H. Huang traced the roots of the language to before 221 B.C. to get to the original intent; Besides offering a wonderfully clear translation, Huang adds an introduction to the history behind Sun-Tzu and his own comments on the meaning of the text. In addition, Sun-Tzu includes six appendices, five of which were uncovered at Linyi and are not found in other editions.The writings of Sun-tzu have stood the test of time, and J. H. Huang's Sun-Tzu is the edition for the next millennium and beyond.
Customer Reviews:
Very Chinese.......2007-05-14
A Classic, although a bit pithy. Dig under, over, around and through, and the lesson is of classical leadership strategy. Good way to review basic knowledge through a different lens.
A good version.......2007-03-19
Sun Tzu's Art of War is extremely aged and terse, making it not the most pleasant read, but as far as versions of his book go, this is the best one I've seen. The translation seems good, and lots of extra relevant material is added to give it all a good context. If you've made up your mind to read the Art of War, but don't want something quite as crusty as the original, this is probably the version for you.
Asian military history and philosophy.......2007-01-09
A must have for anyone who thinks beyond what they see. This book contains very real situations that apply in any age and sharpens one mind in any form of combat. I recommend having this book on your personal book shelf you will come back to it more than once. Very good. A little metaphorical at times but is easily discernable for a sharp mind.
Lessons to take to heart.......2006-10-08
I'm not a military strategist, but it seems that neither are many of the people running military strategies these days. And I don't mean only American military strategy.
If Western civilization wants to survive, it had better hurriedly take Sun Tzu's most poignant messages to heart--messages perhaps best translated in this classic edition. Among these are the lessons concerning one's knowledge and understanding of an enemy's philosophy and thinking.
The lack attention paid by Western military, judicial, journalist, educational and law enforcement leaders to Islamic military, educational, judicial and apocalyptic ideology--and by that, I mean ideology as written by Islamic scholars and sages, not as interpreted by newspaper or academic apologists--is truly appalling.
Unless leaders start to pay heed to the advice of Sun Tzu, and become genuinely familiar with Islamic law as regards non-Muslims, the current state of Western military affairs will get much worse before they get better. In other words, there will be millions more casualties--not just the thousands we've had since 1979--but millions.
--Alyssa A. Lappen
Did not like.......2005-09-03
I was not a fan of this book. I'm sure on some levels it is very important and has some greatness to it, but I never found it. I found the book to be boring and not once did it hold my attention. While it may be a classic, I placed my copy on the bottom shelf.
Amazon.com
The author of Beyond Valor offers a new collection of oral histories from veterans of the Second World War, this time from the Pacific theater. In an introduction, Patrick K. O'Donnell warns, "oral histories are perhaps the best means available to reveal the horrors and pathos of the foxhole." Indeed, several of the accounts he compiles on these pages are grisly, such as the story of Tom Lyons, stabbed in the neck by a Japanese soldier on Guadalcanal. Lyons survived, but only after being heaped on top of a pile of dead bodies. Rumors of his death reached home: "My mother got a check from my insurance company saying I was dead the same day she got a letter from me written by a nurse at a hospital in New Zealand." Combat stories abound, including a firsthand account of Gunnery Sergeant William G. Walsh jumping on a grenade to protect his squad on Iwo Jima, a feat for which he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. O'Donnell organizes his material chronologically and introduces each chapter to help readers understand the context of the soldiers' individual narratives. For those who enjoy real-life war stories told from the perspective of the men who were there, Into the Rising Sun is hard to beat. --John Miller
Book Description
"Iwo Jima was a massacre. I never expected anything like that. People were dying left and right...No names should have been used on the flag raisings because we didn't get up there by ourselves. It was the collective actions of a lot of people and there were a lot of Raiders and paratroopers up there with us."
-- Charles Lindberg, Flag Raiser
Patrick O'Donnell has made a career of uncovering the hidden history of World War II by tracking down and interviewing its most elite troops: the Rangers, Airborne, Marines, and First Special Service Force, forerunners to America's Special Forces. These men saw the worst of the war's action, and most of them have been reluctant to talk about it. With O'Donnell's respectful coaxing, however, they first began telling their stories through www.thedropzone.org, his award-winning Web site. In 2001, veterans of the European Theater told their stories in O'Donnell's first book, Beyond Valor. Now, in Into the Rising Sun, O'Donnell presents scores of veterans' personal accounts, based on over a thousand interviews spanning the past ten years, to tell the story of the brutal Pacific war.
"They were making a lot of noise, talking, yelling to one another, and I heard someone getting beat up on the left. I can still hear the screams. He was begging for mercy. They [the Japanese] were berating him. Later on I found that it was one of my friends, Ken Ritter."
-- Robert Youngdeer, Guadalcanal
These veterans were often the first in and the last out of every conflict, from Guadalcanal and Burma to the Philippines and the black sands of Iwo Jima. They faced a cruel enemy willing to try anything, including kamikaze flights and human-guided torpedoes. As O'Donnell explains in the Introduction, most of the men in this book were at first reticent to talk. Over the course of the war, they had spearheaded D-Day-sized beach assaults, encountered cannibalism, suffered friendly-fire incidents, and endured torture as pris-oners of war. Heroes among heroes, they include many recipients of the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and other medals of battlefield valor, but none bragged about it. As one soldier put it, "When somebody gets decorated, it's because a lot of other men died."
By at last telling their stories, these men present an unvarnished look at the war on the ground, a final gift from aging warriors who have already given so much. Only with these accounts can the true horror of the war in the Pacific be fully known. O'Donnell has carefully verified each account by comparing it with official records and interviews, and he intersperses each story with brief commentary. Together with detailed maps of each battle, the veterans' stories in Into the Rising Sun offer nothing less than a complete picture of the war in the Pacific, a ground-level view of some of history's most brutal combat.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting, if a bit limited in scope.......2005-01-29
This is the second of Patrick O'Donnell's books. O'Donnell is a gifted oral historian who's been collecting the recollections of men who were soldiers and served in the Second World War, partially through a website he set up some years ago, and partially through other sources. This compilation shows off O'Donnnell's strengths, and weaknesses (such as they are) and is a good example of his work.
O'Donnell, for whatever reason, is very attached to "elite" infantry units. In his book on the European Theater, this included paratroopers, rangers, and the members of the 1st Special Service Force. In the current book, which covers the Pacific Theater, the distinction between "elite" forces and the regular ones is somewhat more blurry: Army Rangers, paratroopers, and members of Merril's Marauders are the participants from the army, but the author chose to distinguish the Marine Raider and Parachute units from other Marine outfits. This is a weakness as all of these forces were disbanded in 1943-4, and so the book would be rather truncated as far as the Marine Corps went for the last 18 months or so of the war. This (of course) is unacceptable, so the author merely follows former members of these specialized units who were absorbed into other, regular Marine regiments.
The result is that some battles are covered in considerable detail here, while others (notably Saipan and Peleliu) are ignored because the Marines who participated in these campaigns weren't "elite." This includes members of the 1st Marine Division, who were arguably the most experienced in terms of combat against Japanese soldiers. So what's here is rather skewed and somewhat disjointed, but if you accept that, then the material that's here is worthwhile.
I enjoyed this book, within its limitations, and I would recommend it and the others in O'Donnell's series, provided you accept what they are.
Stories about the Pacific War........2004-05-29
A fairly interesting book. O'Donnell lists the campaigns of the elite troops of this theater of command, details the plan of battle, and then gives the oral histories of those who served in those campaigns. Most of the veterans are at the end of their lives, so these oral histories present a heartfelt tribute to the difficulties these soldiers endured during combat. What surprised me most was how these soldiers/veterans got choked up recounting the battles they went through, and the friends they lost. Freedom isn't cheap, and these soldiers are living proof of how America was affected by the battle.
This is a good read. Oral histories are good at describing the personal experiences of soldiers, but they don't put perspective on the actual battle campaigns. If one wants to know more about the War in the Pacific, one needs to read a general history, before reading this book.
One of the most honest books about combat in the Pacific War.......2004-01-12
Well, if other reviews don't say it already, this book was one of the more brutally honest books written about war against Japan. Its honest because its brutally politically incorrect. The American soldiers who relates their stories, tell not only of the horrors that the Japanese troops committed but additional horrors of what they did to the Japanese troops. This was no-hold bar combat, where there were no "good guys" or "bad guys" per say. The stories related in this book was all about killing, surviving and living on. In doing so, anything goes and there were no rules. It may be that many general readers may be kind of shock to read so honest account. Some of them may not like the read how the Americans in these pages acted with certain amount of brutality that almost mirror their enemies. But then, what is war after all, right?
A measure of the sacrifices.......2003-08-26
This review is of the Audio CD version of this excellent book. Jeff Riggenbach did a fantastic job reading this text. He managed to give proper emphasis without drowning the material.
Many soldiers are reluctant to talk of their wartime experiences for fear of seeming boastful. O'Donnell got these veterans to open up and tell their stories. They did so that the fallen heroes would get proper credit, not to tell of their own exploits in a grand fashion. Many of the other reviewers have told of the specific episodes relayed in the book, but what struck me was the depth of feeling that these men had many decades after the fact. One soldier tells of looking up the family of a fallen buddy after the war. It was as if he felt driven to tell them of their son's valor and his worth to his fellow soldiers. Another tells of a friend he saw die in combat after having met his wife and been their with him during the arrival of their child. It was a common theme that these men had these experiences with them every day, if only just beneath the surface. I highly recommend it to those who would like to grasp the depth of the sacrifice these individuals made on our behalf.
Experience Battle from your Armchair!.......2003-04-16
I read this book after "Beyond Valor" by the same author and I wasn't disappointed. "Into the Rising Sun" is a collection of first hand accounts of the brave men who fought in the Pacific. The author sets up the accounts with some background material to make more sense to it all. After re-living some of these battle through this book, I started to understand what a living Hell these guys lived through. The intensity of the Japanese soldier was astonishing.
This book has special meaning to me since my father was a Marine fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. He was at Guadalcanal and Okinawa .I now know what a hero he was!
Average customer rating:
- Excellent
- great lesson story for home or school
- Sun Bread BEAMS!!!!!
- Here Comes the Sun La La La Laaa
- pure pleasure
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Sun Bread
Elisa Kleven
Manufacturer: Puffin
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ASIN: 0142400734 |
Book Description
Winter's gray chill has set in and everyone misses the sun—especially the baker. So she decides to bring some warmth to the town by making a sun bread. And as the bread bakes, rising hot and delicious, everyone comes out to share in its goodness. Everyone, including the sun itself. With a lilting, rhyming text, colorful illustrations, and a recipe for baking your own sun bread, this tasty treat from the illustrator of the best-selling Abuela is just right for all ages to enjoy.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-02-11
This is absolutely the best piece of children's writing I've ever read. The rhyme and meter are strong and playful. Kleven teases us with internal rhymes and alliterations. My three year old and I read this all the time.
The basic story line is that, on a cloudy day, a canine baker whips up a magic sun bread recipe that brings out the sun and everyone's joy. The book does to the reader what the bread did to the characters.
My three-year-old daughter and I made the recipe on the back cover, and I have to say it's a disappointment: dry and heavy. I'd halve the butter and maybe beat the egg whites for a lighter texture, but the idea is still great. The mold for the bread is cool too, and it looks happy in the oven.
A definite must-read-to-your-kids.
great lesson story for home or school.......2006-09-06
i got this book from our library for my 3 yr old daughter who absolutely loves to mix flour water salt yeast and sugar for her "bread". She loves the illustrations as there are always little things to find within the pages; but not so many things that the story becomes cluttered....just nicely detailed. She also loves the story; it has a good feeling about it and leaves her feeling happy when we are done reading it. the recipe on the back cover for sun bread is a great way for child/parent/teacher, etc... to make; just to round out the lesson being taught. Excellent book and a must for your child's library and/or classroom library.
Sun Bread BEAMS!!!!!.......2005-12-23
This is such a great book and inspires to make your own bread which I have done with pretty good success! (our oven runs a little hot!) Wonderful pictures to engagage your toddler (also fun to make bread with!), my almost 2 1/2 yr old loves it so much we got it for her for Christmas along with other Elisa Kleven books involving the Paper princess. We've gotten all our Elisa Kleven books from the library but had to have some for our own colection! Her story telling is magical, whimsical and yet based in real kid realms. Hard to explain- but we're fairly picky as to what we'll let our little girl read so far and this book tops the cake! Or Bread as you prefer :)
If you like her illistrations take a peek at Dies Diditos or better yet http://www.elisakleven.com/ Enjoy all the whimsy that is Elsia Kleven!
Here Comes the Sun La La La Laaa.......2005-12-20
This children's book is delightful in rhyme and illustration. It is a perfect book to honor the Sun especially when it's reluctant to stick around during those long winter months.
Convince the Sun to come out again (just as the canine baker does in this wonderful book) by making Sun Bread with your child "And praise the joy good bread can bring."
A great time to do it would be during the Winter Solstice when the Sun can be coaxed into gradually returning and you can use it to teach your child about why the season's change.
The book comes with a recipe for making Sun Bread but, unfortunately, while Elisa Kleven is a great writer and illustrator--the recipe is--not so tasty. But that is a very minor complaint and easily solved. Just get out your Betty Crocker or whatever cookbook and use its basic bread recipe and then shape your dough into cute Suns. I'm pretty confident it will work out just fine.
pure pleasure.......2003-04-08
In the midst of winter Elisa Kleven's Sun Bread brought my eight-year old son and I pure pleasure, warmth and joy. We stayed on each page much longer than it took to read the dancing words, just to study all the happenings amongst the animals in this diversely populated town. Early on, each window, each character revealed the effects of an incessent grey winter, yet we eagerly turned the pages in anticipation of what might follow. Elisa's exquisite, remarkably intricate illustrations, eloquent and flowing verse, and creative baker dog prove that while external factors may be difficult, we can always create our own happpiness, warmth and sun. All ages will love this book at their own level.
Average customer rating:
- A boy who wanted to make a difference...
- Another great historical novel by Gloria Whelan.
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Burying the Sun
Gloria Whelan
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ASIN: 0060541148
Release Date: 2007-05-01 |
Book Description
Too young for the army, one boy takes saving the city into his own hands. The Russian city of Leningrad is darkening with winter and war, and Georgi's family prepares for the worst. His sister, Marya, packs up the great artwork at the Hermitage museum for safekeeping, and their mother tends to the wounded soldiers. But at fourteen years old, Georgi is too young to join the army, and he wonders how he can possibly help his friends and family. As the city slowly starves from lack of food and hope, Georgi knows he can help his people survive, but he must face dangers as real as the battles on the front lines.
Customer Reviews:
A boy who wanted to make a difference..........2004-11-28
In Buring the Sun, the continuation of the stories first told in Angel on the Square and The Impossible Journey, 14-year-old Georgi and his family have returned to the city of Leningrad, rented a little apartment, and started up a new life. Leningrade, 1941, is a peaceful city, grand and beautiful but all changes when Germany turns against Russia and WWII finally hits the communist country. Suddenly Georgi's life becomes a whirlwind of change in preparation of war. His mother joins the Russian army as a nurse, his sister Marya is working at the Hermitage, a museum, where she is helping pack up the artwork so that they can be sent somewhere safer. Georgi is too young to join the Russian army but that doesn't stop him from trying to help the war effort. He and his friends do tasks around the city to help the needy. However the days grow darker as food and supplies is cut off from the city and the residents are literally starving to death. Georgi sees the once grand and tall city change in just a few months into hell. Is there some way he can help the city survive?
Gloria Whelan has once again written a poignant historical novel. Like its two predecessors, Burying the Sun doesn't try to hide the cruelities of war and famine. Instead Whelan tells the truth in a way that is not too horrific but still gets the suffering across. Her biggest achievement though is showing how the determination of one young boy managed to illuminate a city shrouded in the darkness of war.
Another great historical novel by Gloria Whelan........2004-09-16
BURYING THE SUN continues the story of the family from ANGEL ON THE SQUARE and THE IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEY. This book is Georgi's story and begins when he is fourteen years old. The family has returned to Leningrad and rebuilt their lives there. But war lurks on the horizon, about to disrupt their peaceful lives. Georgi and his friend Yelena, along with the other young people of the city, are given "patriotic work" to do for the war effort, the first of many changes in their lives. Georgi's older sister Marya has to leave home, and soon the city falls under siege by the Germans. With food running low, Georgi is determined to find a way to help his city.
Gloria Whelan has written another wonderful historical novel and readers who enjoyed the first two books about this family won't want to miss it, and it will appeal to new readers who enjoy historical fiction as well.
Book Description
The Russians were wrong-footed from the start, fighting in Manchuria at the end of a 5,000 mile single track railway; the Japanese were a week or so from their bases. The Russian command structure was hopelessly confused, their generals old and incompetent, the Tsar cautious and uncertain. The Russian naval defeat at Tsushima was as farcical as it was complete. The Japanese had defeated a big European power, and the lessons for the West were there for all to see, had they cared to do so. From this curious war, so unsafely ignored for the most part by the military minds of the day, Richard Connaughton has woven a fascinating narrative to appeal to readers at all levels.
Customer Reviews:
An Rich, Detailed Military History.......2007-06-18
There are not a great number of modern histories of the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War, but Richard Connaughton's Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear is clearly the best. The author, with 30 year's experience in the British Army and access to British official records on the war, brings a richer and more detailed military account than Denis and Peggy Warner's The Tide at Sunrise (which is also very good, but less detailed). While the author leans toward admiration of the Japanese war effort - at one point, describing the Japanese army as "a well-oiled machine with high morale, confident, well practiced and undefeated" - he is more than fair to the Russian side as well. This book is marked by superb detail, superior organization and insight derived from sound military judgment and experience.
Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear consists of 15 chapters, with a conventional chronological structure based upon major topics. The author also provides 15 sketch maps, which are a bit skimpy but adequate. Connaughton provides a succinct but excellent background chapter on events leading up to the war, followed by an even better chapter on opposing forces. In addition to excellent detail on both ground and naval forces, the author cites the main Russian weakness as an over-abundance of elderly, ineffective leaders. In the sections on early ground and naval actions, the author notes that a British correspondent reported the attack on Port Arthur as it was occurring- a first in journalism. Throughout the book, the author makes the point - and supports it with evidence - that Japanese operations were facilitated by a superb intelligence effort, while Russian efforts were hindered by awful intelligence support. Despite the fact that the Russians usually had numerical superiority on the ground and at sea, they continually thought they were out-numbered.
Although many historians have been very harsh on the Russian war effort, Connaughton notes that Russian strategic plans were usually sound, but poorly executed. On the ground, the Russians were also hindered by commanders who adhered to outdated tactics, such as volley firing and attacks in mass formations across open ground. The Russians did enjoy some advantages, such as a superior logistic capability based upon the China Eastern Railway and new quick-firing artillery pieces. Russian infantry units were also quite good at building defensive positions integrating machineguns and barbed wire, intimating conditions that would soon appear in the First World War. The author also notes that the Japanese were unsuccessful in following up after their victories, with pursuits being hindered by inadequate cavalry and weaker logistics. I also noted from this account, that the Japanese made the mistake of using landmarks such as rail lines as boundary markers between their formations - which usually leads to no one really controlling the rail line.
The sections on the siege of Port Arthur are particularly interesting since they allude to the slaughter that modern weapons could inflict on infantry. The author is equally harsh on General Nogi's wasteful attacks (which Allied generals would repeat in 1914-16) and the self-defeating behavior of General Stoessel. Interesting details include the Russian use of naval torpedoes on land and the Japanese mistake in making their assault ladders too short. Russian heroes, such as Smirnov, Tretyakov and Kondratenko do get their due in these pages, as well. Amazingly, the author notes that the Japanese prepared the surrender document two years before the war began (talk about prior planning!). Japanese success in blasting the Russian defenders off the vital 203 Meter Hill with heavy artillery may have convinced European military observers that firepower could break any defense.
In a few cases the author overstretches himself. At one point, he states that "an approach march at night culminating in a dawn attack was a new phenomenon of warfare." Didn't Washington teach the British that lesson at Trenton and Princeton in 1776? At another point, he notes the appearance "for the first time in modern warfare [of] the construction of opposing lines of trenches.." which ignores the appearance of trench warfare at Petersburg in 1864. However, these omissions are not that for a British military historian, since they rarely acknowledge or utilize examples from American military history. In a few cases, the author may have used `facts' that were unconfirmed, such as Japanese heavy artillery consumption at Port Arthur (the figures sound unreasonably high) and the infamous Samsonov-Rennenkampf brawl (which probably didn't happen).
The author asks two key questions: why were the Japanese able to consistently defeat the Russians and why were the lessons of this war not understood before World War One? As for the first, the author believes that the Japanese had a distinct advantage fighter closer to home, which led to higher morale. The Japanese military also benefited from a leadership structure based more on merit and ability, rather than political connections. As for the second, the author notes that different observers took home different lessons from the war and often drew diverging conclusions, often in line with their own prior biases.
Good Background but often confusing and tendious.......2006-11-01
Chapters One and Two were extremely interesting. However, the author often allowed the story to become bogged down in the tactical minutia--Regiment X advanced on Hill Y to attack Brigade Z. Connaughton demonstrated very little ability to convey the wider importance of individual engagements or make the reader care. Despite maps included at the beginning of almost every chapter, I rarely understood who a particular engagement fit into a larger battle. Thus, chapters five through nine and parts of nine and ten were painfully dull. If Connaughton was intent on writing a comprehensive tactical history of the Russo-Japanese War, it needed to several times longer to adequately explain events. Given how well this book started, I was very disappointed with the final product.
On a side-note, the chapter in this book on the Russian Fleet's journey around the world seems to be more-or-less a summary of The Fleet that Had to Die, by Richard Hough. At times he even uses similar phrases! Also, the absense of citations was bothersome.
Good book with significant flaws - regarding a very important war !.......2005-11-15
There aren't NO footnotes to this Cassell edition of this important book. It is indeed sad - and very unprofessional - that an otherwise very good book of this level of narrative detail would omit its reference sources. Additionally, the narrative detail is degraded by the poor quality of maps provided. The maps in this book are of such extremely poor quality, they provide barely enough detail to orient yourself to the flow of combat. As a result you cannot adequately envision a lot of of important details regarding the conduct of operations. If you can locate some independent maps, the narrative detail is much more meaningful. Most people are highly ignorant regarding the importance of this war in regards to the military operations througout the 20th Century. Both of these significant inadequacies (no sources and poor maps) in this edition only exacerbate our lack of knowledge regarding this important war.
Excellent Book.......2005-10-14
This is a very informative book on the Russo Japanese war! A very straight forward and fact filled book. A very well researched piece of work. I enjoyed it very much.
Good account of an obscure war.......2005-06-12
This is one of two serious-length books on the Russo-Japanese war available in English. There are two shorter books (the Osprey "Essential History" and an "Illustrated History). The other book, "The Tide at Sunrise" by Denis & Peggy Warner, is longer and from a less military point of view, Denis Warner being a journalist. The current book is written by a retired British soldier, and consists of a "substantial revision" of a book he wrote in the late 80s after winning a silent auction and becoming the proud owner of a large library on the subject from the staff college he taught at.
The Russo-Japanese War is one of the stranger wars of history. The two opponents *looked* well-matched for one another, with the larger and more experienced Russian army handicapped by the length of their supply line along the trans-Siberian railroad. In actualy point of fact, however, the Japanese were pretty much universally aggressive and resourceful, while their opponents seemed to be able only to come up with excuses for failure, as opposed to ways to succeed. As a result, there were no major battles during the war that the Japanese actually lost or that the Russians were able to claim to have won. Russian soldiers were stolid and brave, and given some time skillful in battle, but the Japanese only rarely gave them a chance to learn anything and exploited every weakness they could find.
This is a good military account of the campaign, with some flaws. The various battles are examined intelligently, the character and actions of the various commander dissected dispassionately, the course of events recounted clearly and concisely. There aren't any notes to the text, however, and at times this is maddening. It's my firm belief that any work or person quoted in the text of a book should be attributed *somewhere*. If you don't do it in the text itself (something like "a British observer says..." isn't enough) then it should be in a footnote or something. The maps are only adequate, and don't do much to convey the movement of the troops or their dispositions at various times. There's also a reference to Takano Isoroku, who later changed his name to Yamamoto and became Japan's senior admiral at the beginning of World War II, but since the author makes no mention of the name change, most won't recognize Takano-san as anyone other than Admiral Togo's aide. The index is useless, failing to list entries that should be listed, and not citing places where the subject does appear. While the text of this book is worthwhile, the finishing touches are rather shoddy.
I enjoyed this book, and unless you can find a used copy of the Warner book this is the only account of the Russo-Japanese War available that I'm aware of. It also has the virtue of being shorter than the Warner book by a couple of hundred pages, if I remember right. So my recommendation, while qualified, is largely positive, because there are so few alternatives.
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- Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
- Madame Dread: A Tale of Love, Vodou and Civil Strife in Haiti
- The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-free Writings, Music, Art & More
- Gobi: Tracking the Desert
- Floral emblems of Australia
The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century (Canto)
The Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)
Byzantium: The Early Centuries
The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean
Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)
