Book Description
Meet BLACKWATER USA, the world's most secretive and powerful mercenary firm. Based in the wilderness of North Carolina, it is the fastest-growing private army on the planet with forces capable of carrying out regime change throughout the world. Blackwater protects the top US officials in Iraq and yet we know almost nothing about the firm's quasi-military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and inside the US. Blackwater was founded by an extreme right-wing fundamentalist Christian mega-millionaire ex- Navy Seal named Erik Prince, the scion of a wealthy conservative family that bankrolls far-right-wing causes.
Blackwater is the dark story of the rise of a powerful mercenary army, ranging from the blood-soaked streets of Fallujah to rooftop firefights in Najaf to the hurricane-ravaged US gulf to Washington DC, where Blackwater executives are hailed as new heroes in the war on terror. This is an extraordinary exposé by one of America's most exciting young radical journalists.
Customer Reviews:
Lazy hippie critizes American hero!!!! .......2007-10-08
How to describe Erik Prince? A man who grew up with tons of money and still decided to serve this country, in the Navy SEALs no less, risking his life in serveral engagements. Continuing his father's legacy of putting Americans to work and building this country by providing security and support to our military which Clinton gracefully gutted for us. A true American to the core!!!!
How dare Jeremy Scahill bash this man????!!!!! What has Jeremy Scahill done for this country lately??? Must be that liberal sense of "if you don't do anything, nobody can critize you since nothing is almost impossible to screw up". Blackwater employees have held out against terrorist with our conventional military, has a spotless record in regards to never loosing a person they had to protect under contract, and only lost less than 30 employees during the entirely of the Iraq War. Liberals like Jeremy Scahill want nothing more than Blackwater employees to be subjected to lynch mobs and ridicuolous RoEs (Rules of Engagement). Liberals love nothing more than court martialing our troops for performing their duties while watching from afar.
Jeremy Scahill seems to think New Orleans after the Hurricane was just daisies until Blackwater showed up. Does he critize the looting, rapes, murders, or any other of the horrid behavior that occurred in the aftermath of Katrina? No he is more concerned that Blackwater is not "accountable".
News flash!!! Blackwater is a private company meaning it is always accountable to their customers. They arn't the government who can take you money away through force. Long live Erik Price!!! This country needs more men like him.
Personal agenda wastes a potentially fantastic scoop.......2007-10-08
I just finished reading Blackwater:The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, and I am still reeling from how disappointing it was. Maybe I'm an action junkie, the stem cells of my attention span tinkered with by the cocktails of impulse that video games provide. I went in expecting to read about Blackwater and how it operated, its tactics, training, its harrowing hidden stories of what evils unregulated private armies commit.
What I got instead was a few pages of the good stuff, and four hundred remaining pages of anti-neo-con, anti-right-wing, anti-religious-right, anti-any-religious-con diatribe. What could have been a sharp tale about a frightening, unregulated cult of ex-special forces types selling their warfaring skills fizzled and drowned itself out. Instead, we got a tale about something bad that every person ever connected to anyone remotely related to Blackwater has ever done. The amount of implicit condemnation isn't just infuriating or unfair, it's just plain boring to read. Skeletons can be dug up in anyone's closet. Scahill had plenty of material for Blackwater alone, but each page just got more and more personal, attacking every politician or figure he's hated, until I closed the book, read the back cover, and discovered, to no surprise, praise form Michael Moore, who pioneered these very techniques.
What techniques? Why, the one where first you imply someone is a bad boy because someone else he knows has done something bad at some point in his life. Then, you simultaneously praise and criticize the same people, using them as you see fit. The favorite Moorian target is the soldier, who is described as a dumb lunk of American arrogance sometimes, and as a sensitive family man at others. It just depends on which heartstring they wanna pull. Scahill is a journalist, and should be above this kind of liberal manipulation. Read it yourself, and see how many scandalous things mentioned have anything to do with Blackwater itself.
Even with his personal agenda splattered on top, which would only bother conservatives like me, the book still lacks a good narrative. There are constant detours that leave me wondering what any of it has to do with Blackwater. There's way too much repetitious foreshadowing, and much of the "facts" could have been left in endnotes. I say "facts" because they are facts, but that doesn't make this an impartial book. If he wanted to say privatization of the army was a disaster, I'd wholeheartedly agree, free-market capitalist that I am. But if he was trying to tell a riveting tale of conspiracy, a soapbox was not the best place to spin an engaging yarn.
5 stars for Erik Prince - 0 for the novelist.......2007-10-08
The author Scahill definitely has an agenda as many of the 1 star reviewers rate. He wastes no time pointing out that Erik Prince donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republicans and $0 to democrats. The author also repeatedly 'accuses' Erik Prince of being a fanatic religious right winger who was brought up in Calvinism and later converted to Roman Catholicism - as if that is a bad thing. However, to his credit, the author did point out many of the wonderful gifts, million$ in sponsorships and contributions to colleges and businesses that Erik Prince's father, a self-made millionaire, gave to the lakeside community they grew up in. Mr. Prince was a capitalist with a heart of gold who not only took great care of his family but also took care of the people who worked for his company as well as his community. After attacking the Prince family, the author 'relives' the major fights in Fallujah and Najaf purporting as if he were there to know what our troops were actually thinking but he writes nothing about the Iran insurgency where the vast majority of the IEDs killing our troops and car bombs killing Iraqis come from. An entire chapter is devoted to the sources in the book but hundreds of the sources contain one word - 'ibid', or 'interview' but not with or by whom the interview was conducted. Fat slob michaelmoore drooled a blurb for the jacket- go figure! As for buying this book, wait for leftover stock and get it for $1, it will be there in very short order.
Not worth it even if you despise the War.......2007-09-30
This book was such a letdown. I had no idea it was written with such an agenda. Even though I probably agree quite a bit with the author, I did not buy this book to read someone's column. I expected a history of Blackwater to better understand it. Instead this book ruins any interesting tidbits by always throwing in a biased opinion. It made reading the book very difficult even for someone who is anti-war. Really a shame since this could have been an important book. The only ones who will like it are those so close minded that they can only read books that share their viewpoint. Hence the 5 star reviews. Not for anyone with an open mind.
Thrilling!.......2007-09-25
Highly enjoyable book if you can overlook the preachy and somewhat hysterical tone. I can't decide if it's inadvertent, since this is ostensibly some sort of exposé, but the author gives Blackwater this highly appealing aura of danger and excitement and glamour.
Have you ever seen one of those lurid B-movies from the 50s, narrator lectures on the dangers of marijuana, fast women, go-go dancing and other sensational trash? Yet, at the same time, promoting it because it's hot? It's a bit in that tradition I think.
Book Description
An unprecedented account of life in Baghdad’s Green Zone, a walled-off enclave of towering plants, posh villas, and sparkling swimming pools that was the headquarters for the American occupation of Iraq.
The Washington Post’s former Baghdad bureau chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran takes us with him into the Zone: into a bubble, cut off from wartime realities, where the task of reconstructing a devastated nation competed with the distractions of a Little America—a half-dozen bars stocked with cold beer, a disco where women showed up in hot pants, a movie theater that screened shoot-’em-up films, an all-you-could-eat buffet piled high with pork, a shopping mall that sold pornographic movies, a parking lot filled with shiny new SUVs, and a snappy dry-cleaning service—much of it run by Halliburton. Most Iraqis were barred from entering the Emerald City for fear they would blow it up.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews and internal documents, Chandrasekaran tells the story of the people and ideas that inhabited the Green Zone during the occupation, from the imperial viceroy L. Paul Bremer III to the fleet of twentysomethings hired to implement the idea that Americans could build a Jeffersonian democracy in an embattled Middle Eastern country.
In the vacuum of postwar planning, Bremer ignores what Iraqis tell him they want or need and instead pursues irrelevant neoconservative solutions—a flat tax, a sell-off of Iraqi government assets, and an end to food rationing. His underlings spend their days drawing up pie-in-the-sky policies, among them a new traffic code and a law protecting microchip designs, instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity production. His almost comic initiatives anger the locals and help fuel the insurgency.
Chandrasekaran details Bernard Kerik’s ludicrous attempt to train the Iraqi police and brings to light lesser known but typical travesties: the case of the twenty-four-year-old who had never worked in finance put in charge of reestablishing Baghdad’s stock exchange; a contractor with no previous experience paid millions to guard a closed airport; a State Department employee forced to bribe Americans to enlist their help in preventing Iraqi weapons scientists from defecting to Iran; Americans willing to serve in Iraq screened by White House officials for their views on Roe v. Wade; people with prior expertise in the Middle East excluded in favor of lesser-qualified Republican Party loyalists. Finally, he describes Bremer’s ignominious departure in 2004, fleeing secretly in a helicopter two days ahead of schedule.
This is a startling portrait of an Oz-like place where a vital aspect of our government’s folly in Iraq played out. It is a book certain to be talked about for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Pretty close to the truth...sorry to say.......2007-10-09
I was working at the CPA during the time the author covers in his book. I think I may have been at some of the meetings he describes. He captures the sense of the CPA, a bunch of well-intentioned, hard-working people without much of a clue about how to run an occupation in an Arab country. These were heady times and we believed we were birthing a new democracy. Few of us were equipped to pull it off and the split between DoD and the rest of the US and coalition governments doomed us from the start.
I was there!.......2007-10-06
I did a tour at the American Embassy in 2006, after the events recorded in "Imperial Life." It was fun being able to read about details of the Republican Palace, then go to that particular feature and see it for myself. More importantly, I could put what I read into context, both in the Embassy and in Iraq itself. Even though the CPA no longer occupies the Green Zone, the isolation of the military and state department staff from events occurring around us was similar to what happened to the CPA in "Imperial Life." Most staff (military included) rarely leave the the Green Zone making the average non-Iraqi resident unaware of what goes on beyond the walls. If you want to understand what living in the Green Zone is like, and why progress is slow in Iraq read this book.
Timely information.......2007-09-23
"Imperial Life" is honest, first hand, information. The author has a good grasp of the subject, of the surroundings and above all, of reality. He is able to pick up the essentials and deal with them without exaggerating his importance or his role. He is a well informed man, as he should be. The book is very well put together, and a pleasure to read. It is above all, timely. This means, regretably, that its importance shall pass, as the events he decribe will give in time place to "new improved" versions. The importance for historians to come and to serious readers will not be diminished.
Worse than a civil war; because most civil wars include some ethics........2007-09-18
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the reasons we are involved in Iraq. It is a personal account from a journalist who travels out of the green zone to get an inside look. The critical message I got from this book is that we shouldn't dictate how the people of Iraq should run their government. Rajiv Chandrasekaran with the Washington Post reports on the life of people involved with the CPA and their attempts to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure. His book outlines a critical perspective and helps to answer many questions. "Iraqi's needed help (good advice and ample resources) from a support of corps of well meaning foreigners, not a full scale occupation with imperial Americans cloistered in a palace of the tyrant, eating bacon and drinking beer, surrounded by Gurkhas and blast walls." Why should Americans be so concerned about Iraq being a democracy? Where the officials are debating over western ideas to propegate the policies of modernizing Iraq; In the shadow of a war torn country without the bare necessities for survival. The CPA who (couldn't produce anything) poisoned Iraq's politics and had big ideas of rebuilding Iraq, but couldn't provide essentials like: Safety for the Iraqi people, electricity, water, and adequate health care. You could argue both sides of this issue, but I think this book paints a very good portrait of life in the green zone.
POV from up close and personal on war.......2007-09-14
Chandrasekaran was Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post when the American troops invaded Iraq. Imperial Life in the Emerald City chronicles life in the Green Zone based on his experiences and what he gleaned from his countless interviews. The time period covered is roughly from the first days of the U.S. invasion to Bremer's departure in 2004.
It is a tale of cronyism, hubris, myopia, incompetence, and well-intentioned people not having the appropriate resources (training, information, human or material resources) to perform their duties. It is about inter-governmental in-fighting, and about how political loyalty trumped experience (often with disastrous results). It is a story of how disconnected those leading the rebuilding effort in Iraq were with the Iraqi people and how imposing their ideals in Iraq resulted in greater unrest. It is a paradigm example of how failing to plan resulted in planning to fail.
The book would have been hilarious, except that the stories - as incredible as they are - are true! Knowing that this work is non-fiction makes it sad. Rick (Fiasco), Stewart (The Prince of the Marshes), Packer (Assassin's Gate), Woodward (State of Denial) and others seem to concur that the U.S. government has grossly mishandled the efforts in Iraq. Unfortunately, the price has been lives (both American and Iraqi, both civilian and military) as well as Iraqi and U.S. national resources.
Chandrasekran writes in the first person, and his writing style is easy, straight forward and engaging. Interspersed between chapters are vignettes on life within the Emerald City (a.k.a. Green Zone, "Imperial Life" refers to life under Bremer's rule). Chandrasekaran does not pass judgment; he merely reports what he saw and learned from his interviews.
Examples of ignorance, ineptitude, and denial litter the pages that at times I could not bear to read any more. It was difficult for me not to get appalled and angry at the egregious decisions that were made. After reading this book, most readers would agree with the Iraqi leader Chandrasekran quotes as saying "The biggest mistake of the occupation was the occupation itself, pg. 290."
Armchair Interviews says: First-hand reporting well done in this book.
Average customer rating:
- Everybody loves Max? Not quite.
- Satisfying thrid instalment
- Pleasant diversion
- If you are a teen you will love it!
- I hope this isn't the last for Max!
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Maximum Ride #3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (Maximum Ride)
James Patterson
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
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Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
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| Ages 9-12
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| ( P )
| Authors, A-Z
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Hardcover
| Patterson, James
| ( P )
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Similar Items:
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Maximum Ride Book #2: School's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride)
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Maximum Ride : The Angel Experiment (Teen's Top 10 (Awards))
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The 6th Target
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The Quickie
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You've Been Warned
ASIN: 0316155608
Release Date: 2007-05-29 |
Book Description
There's one last chance to save the world in MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS, the closing chapter of James Patterson's thrilling trilogy. The time has arrived for Max and her winged "Flock" to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of "Re-evolution", a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race...and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them--but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another?
Customer Reviews:
Everybody loves Max? Not quite........2007-10-07
I bought this book under the impression that it would be entertaining and at least relatively well-written. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken. Although younger readers may like Max and her companions, I would advise against the series for anyone over the age of eleven.
Many parts of the book were poorly thought-out, and there were gaping holes when loose ends should have been tied up. For example, there is no explaination of how Max's arm began functioning again, but the chip was gone. And what were Itex's motives for 'torturing the bird-kids,' as Max puts it? I could go on and on, but I would probably be typing for the next few weeks. Lastly, Max seems to have no flaws--she's pretty, strong, smart, and fast. And it's not just Max, none of the characters have any depth at all. The book would probably be about half as short if it weren't for the pointless space-filling details.
All in all, I think that Maximum Ride was a waste of time and trees, not to mention space and gravity. Don't waste your money.
Satisfying thrid instalment.......2007-10-05
It's nice to see that once again, the cast of Maximum Ride is portrayed as young people, rather than just little adults. Even in their not so perfect world, the episode where Max and Fang butt heads over Ari and Fang's reactions further down the line illustrate what it would be like to not only have to take on an evil multi-national conglomerate, but what it's like to be fourteen and taking on such a task.
The use of the internet as a rallying cry to bring other young people into the scene to help out the flock shows readers, young and old alike, that young people are bright and resourceful, not just running to the closest adult (who'd hear a kid telling a crazy story and blow them off) to resolve the situation.
Mr. Patterson has done a great job at creating a universe where young readers will very much enjoy themselves and want to come back for more. Heck, I've got a Master's degree and am ten years out of high school, and I can't wait for the next book in this series.
Pleasant diversion.......2007-10-04
Max Ride is a fun character. She and her companions have been well developed through the series. As the fifth book in which these winged adolescents appear, it is a pleasant way of relaxing into the world of one's imagination.
If you are a teen you will love it!.......2007-09-18
If this book was targeted for a broad audience then I would rate it a 1. However, and fortunately, it is not. If you are 9 to 14, buy it, you will love it! The series has a very specific range of readers: kids under eight will not be able to comprehend the concept (excluding the elite); teens over fourteen may be psycologically beyond accepting the elementary concept (for them I recommend adult science-fiction).
Patterson does a wonderful job of delivering an outstanding teen series. Read them all!
I hope this isn't the last for Max!.......2007-09-13
A great trilogy! I just hope this isn't all for this delightful yet action packed series. A great book series for any age.
Book Description
Best-selling text, WESTERN CIVILIZATION has helped over one million students learn about the present by exploring the past. Jack Spielvogel's engaging, chronological narrative weaves the political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military aspects of history into a gripping story that is as memorable as it is instructive. Each chapter offers a substantial introduction and conclusion, providing students a context for these disparate themes. The clear narrative of a single gifted author makes it easy for students to follow the story of Western civilization. Spielvogel gives the book depth by including over 150 maps and excerpts of over 200 primary sources--including official documents, poems, and songs--that enliven the past while introducing students to source material that forms the basis of historical scholarship. Available in many split options: WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Comprehensive, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-29), ISBN: 0534646026; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume I, To 1715, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-16), ISBN:0534646034; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume II, Since 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 13-29), ISBN:0534646042; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume A: To 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-12), ISBN: 0534646050; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume B: 1300-1815, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-19), ISBN:0534646069; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume C: Since 1789, 6th Edition (Chapters 19-29), ISBN: 0534646077; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Since 1300, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-29), ISBN:0534646085.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome Book.......2006-05-19
Very easy explanation in book.........dont try to read whole book otherwise you will get sleep
Great for CLEP resource.......2006-01-18
Got this book as well as Volume I and used them as my resources for taking the Western Civ I and II CLEPS. Perfect for the job, and helped me get a very good grade, highly recommend for anyone looking to use for that purpose.
Revionist History.......2005-07-05
After being required to read this text for a class, I bought two other history books to which I could compare this one. I thought that Spielvogel was leaving out chunks of history, and revising the ones that he included, and I wanted to double check my facts before making any accusations. Well, boy was I right. This book makes the Publisher's tag line, "Changing the Way the World Learns" seem a little too true..
If you DO get this book, here are some things to look out for:
1. He is wrong on just about everything that has to do with art or music. He cites obscure artists and names them as the most popular, most of them had Christian themed work.
2. He glorifies Hitler and the Nazis and makes the Holocaust seem like nothing but a minor glitch in history.
3. The author has a degree in Reformation History and seems to be unable to help himself from relating every single event in history to religion. So keep in mind that Voltaire had more to offer history than an anti-Christian revisionist account of the fall of the Roman Empire, as Spielvogel states.
If I were you, I'd buy a different history book to read as well as this one, if this is required for a course. Preferably one that was published for the first time in the thirties or forties and has been updated since, so that its more clear it isn't revionist history. This one was first published in 2003.
Honestly, if I could give this book less than one star I would, but there's no such option on amazon.com...
yikes.......2005-04-22
This book was horrible for AP Euro, it was not in chronological order and often confused our class. Also, he skipped over some events that were important to know for the AP exam.
THIS BOOK SUCKS.......2004-12-30
Jackson J. Spielvogel has no sense of organization whatsoever. And as for those people who read this book for fun, SERIOUSLY need a life. I, however, am using this book as a text book for AP Euro and think it is absolutely ludicrous that we have to use it. It's confusing and needs to be written better. A LOT better. This book should get -1000000 stars.
Book Description
Civilization in the West
blends social and political history into a fascinating narrative that brings history to life.
The authors tell a compelling story of Western Civilization that is enhanced by an image-based approach. “The Visual Record” chapter openers draw students in by illustrating a dominant theme of the chapter and exploring the dramatic changing contours of the West through standard maps, Map Discovery features and Geographical Tours of Europe. Discovering Western Civilization Online end-of-chapter Web site URLs make this the first Western Civilization book to include these resources.
Book Description
"Welcome to the Faith Club. We're three mothers from three faiths -- Islam, Christianity, and Judaism -- who got together to write a picture book for our children that would highlight the connections between our religions. But no sooner had we started talking about our beliefs and how to explain them to our children than our differences led to misunderstandings. Our project nearly fell apart."
After September 11th, Ranya Idliby, an American Muslim of Palestinian descent, faced constant questions about Islam, God, and death from her children, the only Muslims in their classrooms. Inspired by a story about Muhammad, Ranya reached out to two other mothers -- a Christian and a Jew -- to try to understand and answer these questions for her children. After just a few meetings, however, it became clear that the women themselves needed an honest and open environment where they could admit -- and discuss -- their concerns, stereotypes, and misunderstandings about one another. After hours of soul-searching about the issues that divided them, Ranya, Suzanne, and Priscilla grew close enough to discover and explore what united them.
The Faith Club is a memoir of spiritual reflections in three voices that will make readers feel as if they are eavesdropping on the authors' private conversations, provocative discussions, and often controversial opinions and conclusions. The authors wrestle with the issues of anti-Semitism, prejudice against Muslims, and preconceptions of Christians at a time when fundamentalists dominate the public face of Christianity. They write beautifully and affectingly of their families, their losses and grief, their fears and hopes for themselves and their loved ones. And as the authors reveal their deepest beliefs, readers watch the blossoming of a profound interfaith friendship and the birth of a new way of relating to others.
In a final chapter, they provide detailed advice on how to start a faith club: the questions to ask, the books to read, and most important, the open-minded attitude to maintain in order to come through the experience with an enriched personal faith and understanding of others.
Pioneering, timely, and deeply thoughtful, The Faith Club's caring message will resonate with people of all faiths.
For more information or to start your own faith club visit www.thefaithclub.com
Customer Reviews:
Faith Club.......2007-09-17
My wife purchased this book and is reading it for a book club. I heard her tell a friend that she loved this book.
The Faith Club.......2007-09-13
This book was full of good information and challenged me to think about my faith and to acknowledge the similarity between all three of these faiths.
As a Christian I was disturbed by the fact that the Christian seemed to give up some of the basic Christian tenets (that Jesus is truly the son of God and the way to salvation)but that did not ruin the intellectual\spiritual challenges of the book. I could discuss the topics of this book for years.
One Book; Three Pespectives.......2007-08-24
This was an informative yet personal book about the challenge of living in a diverse culture during a time of religious and political debate. Hearing the three women's voices alternatively helped to reveal different viewpoints and interpretations of the events and policies that affect us all. I appreciated some of the new information I read about Palestinians in particular. Yet more than gaining great new knowledge, I gained a broader perspective and deeper insight into many of today's most pressing national and international issues. At the same time, I was given the opportunity to glimpse into the homelife and family life of three different families dealing with three different realities and backgrounds. Fascinating, personal, introspective and heartwarming!
Not a minute too soon!.......2007-07-25
Considering all the conflict connected to religion in this country and around the world, "The Faith Club" was published not a minute too soon!
Not only is this book very informative about the three religions it addresses and very helpful at exposing and debunking stereotypes and misconceptions about Judaism, Christianity and Islam... it is written in a way that is accessible and interesting. Granted, the three woman, a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim, are not religious scholars, nor are they fundamentalists who strictly adhere to all the dogmas and literal interpretations of their respective faiths. But they are very intelligent, educated, spiritual women who greatly value their religious backgrounds and are willing to do the hard work, research and introspection required to not only explore their own faith but also the the faiths of others. If these women were fundamentalist believers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.... this book would not have been possible. Reading "The Faith Club" was a great benefit to me and I am recommending it to everyone these days!
Faith Club.......2007-07-21
I am learning about other religions and becoming more sensitive to other views because of this book. I recommend it.
Book Description
By virtue of his previous four books on the subject, David Ray Griffin is widely recognized as one of the leading spokespersons of the 9/11 truth movement, which rejects the official conspiracy theory about 9/11. Although this movement was long ignored by the US government and the mainstream media, recent polls have shown that (as Time magazine has acknowledged) the rejection of the official theory has become "a mainstream political phenomenon." It is not surprising, therefore, that the government and the corporately controlled media have shifted tactics. No longer ignoring the 9/11 truth movement, they have released a flurry of stories and reports aimed at debunking it.
In the present book, David Ray Griffin shows that these attempts can themselves be easily debunked. Besides demonstrating the pitiful failure of Debunking 9/11 Myths (published by Popular Mechanics and endorsed by Senator John McCain), Griffin riddles recent reports and stories put out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Time magazine as well as a new book by the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission. He also responds to criticisms of the 9/11 truth movement by left-leaning and Christian publications--which one might have expected to be supportive.
Throughout these critiques, Griffin shows that the charge that is regularly leveled against critics of the official theory-that they employ irrational and unscientific methods to defend conclusions based on faith-actually applies more fully to those who defend the official theory.
This book, by debunking the most prevalent attempts to refute the evidence cited by the 9/11 truth movement, shows that this movement's central claim-that 9/11 was an inside job-remains the only explanation that fits the facts.
Customer Reviews:
Best book on 911 and very READABLE.......2007-10-09
I am stunned by Dr. Griffin's meticulous attention to facts and research. I challenge anyone who thinks the Truth movement is a bunch of 'crackpots' to actually read this book and THEN decide!
I agree with the positive reviews already posted, so no need to add more, other than to say that I especially liked his analogy of a compact car hitting an 18-wheeler and continuing at its original speed and even gaining speed - right! just like what happened when the upper floors crashed into the much greater mass of the lower floors - and continued on with ZERO resistance! C'mon, people, use some common sense! You don't have to be a scientist to see that we've been duped BIG TIME!
I will just say that I was surprised by how very READABLE it is - I was expecting an exhausting, dry list of technical facts, but I am actually having trouble putting it down! Well done!
Not a great book.......2007-10-02
Having read the book in full, I must admit that Griffin does poke several holes and highlights some inconsistencies in the four documents he challenges. However, despite his critiques, the four documents still appear more scientifically and statistically sound than what Griffin offers as an alternative theory.
Too often, Griffin dwells on the semantics of "conspiracy theory" vs. "alternative conspiracy theory", while making far-fetched claims involving "voice-morphing technology", on the extreme end.
As a book, it simply drags. Griffin is too wordy and repetitive with his arguments. He could have put forth the same claims with half the verbiage. Either way, though, most of the claims are indeed bogus.
An Absolutely Undebunkable Rebuttal to the Official Theory Pushers.......2007-10-01
As a philosopher and epistomologist, Dr. Griffin examines all subjects dispassionately and with pure intellect and reason. Here is a fact. It is indeed correct that "conspiracy theorists," in the pejorative sense of the term, do indeed cherry-pick random facts to bolster their case. They also omit data that doesn't fit their case.
Another fact is that a conspiracy is simply an agreement between two or more people in secret to do something illegal and/or immoral. A conspiracy theory is a hypothesis as to who is responsible for the act. The officially historically sanctioned version of what happened is itself a conspiracy theory: The idea that 19 Muslim extremists conspired to attack America, their motive being they hated our freedoms (or, in an another interpretation, out of "blow back" for decades of aggressive U.S. imperial-style foreign policy) is itself a conspiracy theory.
Throughout Griffin's latest excellent volume, he shows how the champions of the official theory are guilty of precisely what they accuse the alternative theorists of doing: cherry-picking, omitting and distorting.
The NORAD tapes likely involve distortion, as their version is corroborated by no one but themselves. All news reports and personal anecdotes from the time run to the contrary of what the tapes allegedly reveal.
Popular Mechanics engages in all of the negative traits. Here is but one example: Omission. They claim that no one could have imagined what would happen if a large jetliner slammed into the building. They omit the crucial words of one of the chief architects of the towers. He said: "There would be a huge fire, and massive damage, and a lot of people would be killed, but in the end, the structure would still be there."
The above is just one of countless omissions and distortions in the Popular Mechanics book. Griffin's latest volume is especially important for balance in libraries and the like, because many major institutions, such as the BBC and the History Channel, not to mention the U.S. Government's own State Department website page, continue to cite Popular Mechanics as the final answer to debunking "9/11 conspiracy theories." This book is the REAL conspiracy theory debunker.
Excellent Read.......2007-09-26
I loved this book. David Ray Griffin has a lot to say and every bit of it is presented cogently and clearly. He sticks to the facts and adheres to the scientific method. In defending himself and other "conspiracy theorists," he presents an excellent case showing that documents presented to the American public as the "official story of 9/11" rely on two main methods to present their cases: cherry picking of evidence that bolsters the official story, and complete omission of evidence that doesn't.
The backers of the official story would like you to believe that people who believe in conspiracy theories are nut cases. But David Ray Griffin points out that the official story itself is a conspiracy theory. Therefore, the only real question is this: Who were the participants in the conspiracy? This book presents a very strong case that participants included top American officials and members of the Big Business elite. But that's only the case presented by the facts. There's also the case presented by a few of the "really good looking facts." Take your pick.
Logical, rational, and undeniable.......2007-09-17
Griffin's book is a devastating critique not only of the government's story regarding the events of 9/11, but also of the official defenders of that story. It it this book that finally convinced me beyond all doubt that the official story isn't only suspicious, but utterly absurd. I would strongly encourage anyone with even a mild interest in the events of 9/11 to read this book. Dr. Griffin cites strong evidence (with mountains of useful and accessible references) and uses basic logic and fundamental physics to dismantle the (as Griffin terms it) "official conspiracy theory". While there still may not be any solid proof about precisely what DID happen on that day, Griffin succeeds spectacularly in proving what did not. I would without any hesitation recommend this book to anyone, especially those who do not understand what reasons there are to question the government's version of events. Griffin's articulate, dispassionate, and intelligent arguments are very difficult to dismiss.
Book Description
In 480 BC, a huge Persian army, led by the inimitable King Xerxes, entered the mountain pass of Thermopylae as it marched on Greece, intending to conquer the land with little difficulty. But the Greeks—led by King Leonidas and a small army of Spartans—took the battle to the Persians at Thermopylae, and halted their advance—almost.
It is one of history's most acclaimed battles, one of civilization's greatest last stands. And in Thermopylae, renowned classical historian Paul Cartledge looks anew this history-altering moment and, most impressively, shows how its repercussions have bearing on us even today. The invasion of Europe by Xerxes and his army redefined culture, kingdom, and class. The valiant efforts of a few thousand Greek warriors, facing a huge onrushing Persian army at the narrow pass at Thermopylae, changed the way generations to come would think about combat, courage, and death.
The battle of Thermopylae was at its broadest a clash of civilizations; one that momentously helped shape the identity of classical Greece and hence the nature of our own cultural heritage.
Customer Reviews:
Thorough in most things, lacking in others........2007-09-03
The author goes to great lenghts to accurately depict the events leading up to the battle of Thermopylae,as well as a detailed look into the spartan way of life and the overal state of the Greek civilization as well as that of the Persian Empire. A detailed look at the immediate and long term consequences of the said battle is also depicted to great extent, leading up all the way to comparisons to past and current western vs eastern conflicts.
What baffles me, very dissapointingly is the lack of content concerning the actual battle of Thermopylae itself, a mere 11 pages cover chapter 7 (the battle) I was expecting a little more on that subject. Perhaps more detailed info on the naval battle of artemisium would have been nice, (although perhaps not directly related to sparta, I find it an important piece of the battle of Thermopylae)
Although throughout the book, one will find added bits of information of the battle, I still wish more was devoted to the actual accounts of the battle, I understand that perhaps very little about is actually known to separate facts from fiction, I'll just have to look elsewhere and hope to find a literarly piece that depicts what I was hoping to learn about.
The author's extensive research is remarkable and his efforts are certainly notewhorthy, I consider it still a must read if one wishes to find out the intricacies of that time period and the way of the spartan society.
Theromopylae Review.......2007-08-19
While I thought this book was very good, with authentic, true detail, I felt the author's writing style was just a bit challenging to follow. I read the book twice, back to back, and missed some details the first time.
While I don't give it four stars, it is good enough to be someone's first purchase in beginning to learn about ancient Greek battles.
Wonderful in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end. .......2007-08-10
The former reviewers imagine that you can write a book on a three-battle day in some more than 340 pages (Spanish edition). If that is indeed the case, they'd better read a novel on the topic. No source, now and ever, will tell you the feelings of Demaratus, Megistias, and all the actors of this epopeia during the three day battle.
Homer did that in the Trojan war, due to the very nature of the conflict. Aristocratic, one vs one combats, in an age six centuries earlier than the Thermopylae battle, with a quite different concept of war.
Some others tend to ignore the fact that a war is a business of a state and its allies against another one and its allies. Politics cannot be ruled out of a war, because, as "someone" put it, war is politics, by other means, as politics is war, by other means. In essence they cannot be divided.
Others suggest that he is making a direct comparision between Thermopylae and the 9/11 hijackers' suicidal massacre of innocent people. Having read the book, from the beginning to the end, I don't see where, when Paul Cartledge states in no uncertain terms his awesome aversion for such acts as 9/11 and related massacres.
Finally, many fail to see what the intent of this book is all about. That if we're to defeat terrorism in all its faces, we must show, at least, no lesser degree of 'assabiya (Wikipedia: Asabiyya) than that of our foes. And that playing to division and partisan games we are risking all the civilization we've created.
The number of times he recall Simonides quotation, should make us see that we have our laws, voted by all, and that we have elements to develop such 'assabiya.
If only for this message, I would award this book 10 stars. Being only able to award five, I award five, with honours.
look elsewhere.......2007-08-02
I agree with many reviewers who stated that this book is mostly a long and painful description leading up to the battle and seeingly a fly by with just a few words about the actual battle. The writing is terse and reminds me of my least favorite courses in college. Please consider purchasing:
The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece -- and Western Civilization by Barry Strauss. I learned a lot more about Thermopylae with Strauss' book plus a TON about the naval counterpart. Extremely well written and engaging. It was hard to put Strauss' book down.
Not a good book.......2007-07-10
Carteledge seemed more impressed with his knowledge of the events leading up to the battle than the battle itself. The book should have been named differently. His connections with the Greeks and the 9/11 terrorist floored me - not to mention his interjection of modern "Bush bashing" and even a dig at this website.
I wish I had not purchased this book.
Product Description
Real World Color Management covers one of the most vital steps in the digital workflow. Each chapter offers in depth information on the fundamentals of color, an overview of the color management process and how to use in both photo and graphic applications. Learn in detail how to build, evaluate and edit ICC profiles in order to acheive consistent results all the way through to the final print. Book Sections: Introduction to Color Management lays the groundwork for the entire process Building and Tuning Profiles covers the creation of unique profiles based on your equipment and final output Applications and Workflow outlines how to include the previous sections in to everyday use,when using Quark, Freehand, CorelDraw, Illustrator or Photoshop 534 pages / soft cover
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Introduction to Color Management and Beyond.......2007-08-09
This book is an excellent introduction to color management. It is practical, but does not shy away from presenting the science behind the important concepts. Even better, the book is able to this in a way which motivates the key ideas by not drifting too deeply into the mathematics behind that science.
The organization of the book was perfect -- the authors do an excellent job of presenting the material and making it very interesting. I read the book cover to cover for the first two parts (the last section applies the newly learned material to particular color-managed applications like Photoshop, Quark, etc.).
I highly recommend this title to photographers and artists who are trying to understand more about what colors in your files, from your monitor, and on your prints really mean and how to take advantage of that understanding by producing outputs which are more faithful to what you intend.
Real World Colour Management.......2007-07-17
If you are relatively new to the world of colour and want to obtain a better understanding of the topic then this is the book for you. I found this book to be well structured and extremely useful in understanding all the jargon and also clearing up some myths about different colour work flows. EXCELLENT!!
Excellent source book.......2007-05-13
When I needed to better understand color management, Fraser's book was a perfect find. It doesn't pretend to be simple, but it is very well written with a sense of humor. I find myself revisiting chapters for re-reads when my needs demand. It is a complete course in color management for the first time student, and it has become a oft used reference. It makes so many other books "too simple..." Because it covers the history of color management as well the concepts and tools, the book is also one of those excellent references needed for all serious photographers.
Invaluable Guide.......2007-03-29
My purpose in buying this book was to help me print photos that looked like the image on my PC monitor. The phrase "color management" can probably mean many things to different people but this is really what matters to me. It can be difficult enough to edit photos so that you are satisfied with how it looks on your screen. If you print it out and the photo looks more red than the screen, or darker, or any number of other possible differences than you will know only frustration and heartache when trying to print photos.
While simple in concept, successfully getting a printed image to mirror that on your screen is a complex task and this book will greatly aid you in the process. It methodically covers all aspects of color management both from a theoretical perspective and a practical series of concrete specifics to manage color successfully on your system.
Depending on your needs, it is almost certainly not necessary to read every page of this guide. For my purposes a lot of the theoretical discussion was not relevant and a lot of space is devoted to CMYK printing in a professional environment while I print exclusively at home. There are undoubtedly people with different interests, however, who will find such information invaluable while they may gloss over some of the sections that were most useful to me. In the end, that is why I give this book 5 stars and my highest recommendation. It provides great information no matter what your needs are and you are free to consume as much or little as suits you. If you are a photographer and haven't gotten into color management at all, then quit sitting on the fence. Buy this book and start the process and your photos will benefit tremendously.
Read it if you need it........2007-01-22
Of all Bruce Fraser's wonderful books, this has to be the best. I grew up in the analog imaging world. In those days, long ago, you could get by with training your eye and if necessary, working by trial and error. You could concentrate on the image and let Kodak do the math.
With the miracle of computers we have far greater precision and--let's be honest--far greater complexity (which is a nice way of saying, difficulty). What RWCM does is take something that isn't easy and isn't simple and, by brilliantly explaining it, makes it a little easier to grasp. Of course, you can't sell books by saying "Turns astounding difficulty into mere complexity!" but if you're going to put human color perception on paper or the web, that's what you're dealing with.
That said, I think the vast majority of digital imaging users would gladly settle for pleasing color as opposed to accurate color if they knew what was involved. For these folks there are the Scott Kelby-type books and gizmos that calibrate your monitor while leaving the rest of your workflow untouched.
Customer Reviews:
Great - but could have been even better.......2007-09-27
As good as this book is, it could have been much better. Kovaly has a fascinating story to tell but too much of her story tells how this happened and then that happened without enough analysis or explanation. Kovaly lived through Hitler and Stalin and she has an amazing story to tell.
The book starts with the deportation of the Jews from Prague, where Kovaly lived, to the ghetto of Lodz in Poland. She describes the horrors and the death she encountered there. She then skips ahead to the last concentration/slave labor camp she was in before the war ended. She describes how she tells the German man who runs the factory about the extermination camps, a topic with which he seems to be utterly unfamiliar. And although the part she tells us is fascinating, she leaves out much of the story that she tells him. Finally she tells us of her escape as she is being marched away from the advancing Russian armies, her return to Prague, and her rejection by all the friends she had left behind. By far this is the best part of the book.
But this part ends sixty pages into the book and she has much more to tell us. After the war, Kovaly marries the man she always loved and he becomes a member of the Czech communist party and eventually a minister in the government. With the failures of communism, a scapegoat is needed by the government and her husband is arrested and executed as a traitor as part of the Slansky trials. As the widow of a traitor, her life in Prague is hell but she spends her every effort to care for her child and to rehabilitate her husband. Finally, in the early 1960's, reforms in Czechoslovakia led to her husband and all the others having their convictions overturned. The reforms continue until the Prague Spring of 1968 leading to the Russian invasion and the crushing of the new freedoms. At this point Kovaly flees for the West to join her son who is living in London.
The book is short at less than 200 pages and many things happen so the story moves quickly. But too much of the story tells us what happened as a way for Kovaly to avoid talking about herself. For example, by starting with the deportations, we learn nothing about Kovaly's life before the Nazis. Kovaly doesn't even tell us how old she was or what she was doing when she was rounded up. With all Kovaly has been through she has had to have built a wall to protect herself and she only shows us glimpses through that wall. But the book still remains an amazing story of the holocaust and the early communist years in Czechoslovakia. Her glimpses into how communism must always fail by its very nature from someone who was on the inside are worth reading to help us understand the 20th century. Kovaly leaves out the happy ending she finally achieved. It is a happy ending she deserves.
Under A Cruel Star & Reflections of Prague.......2006-08-07
My mother's book, in print since 1973 under various titles, the last being 'Under A Cruel Star', inspired me to write my own side of the story about my lost father, JUDr Rudolf Margolius. Now published and called 'Reflections of Prague: Journeys through the 20th century' it fills gaps in my mother's book provided by further research and historical information, some of which was not available to her and which many readers of her book had asked us for over the years. Hopefully this companion volume provides answers to these questions. I hope you find this book interesting and would welcome your feedback.
A mother's undying love for her son; a son's undying love for his mother..........2006-07-14
When I finished reading Heda Margolius Kovaly's stunning chronicle of continuous struggle, concentration camp survival, and eventual triumph, I had to stare out my window onto the street below for a long while, watching the people.
There I was, working and residing in modern-day Prague, mingling amongst the tourists and locals, with my feet touching those very same cobblestones of a city which Ms. Margolius Kovaly horrifically describes in her heart-rending tale of human resilience, UNDER A CRUEL STAR.
The realization blew my mind. I had to catch my breath.
Not too long ago -- a mere drip in the historical bucket -- very bad people once populated this ancient city and land. They were entirely free to express their poisonous views, shouting vile epithets about so-called "pure race," the so-called "scourge" of Jews, and about the so-called "evils" its then-society faced from saboteurs, fifth-columnists unaligned with Czechoslovakia's Communist Party.
As I walk these streets, I interact and share the same space with these people, the descendants, heirs, and inheritors of a very rotten recent legacy. It's this legacy that Ms. Margolus Kovaly chillingly describes and in vivid, sordid detail in her poignant memoir, UNDER A CRUEL STAR.
Commend, I say, this mighty woman of valour for sharing with you how much pain she once had to endure. Applaud her for how much strife she had to overcome when she returned from the unspeakable indescribable conditions of the Nazi's killing factory at Auschwitz, of which much has been written in the canon. I needn't repeat it here.
Be shocked at the clarity and the precision of Heda's language, and -- trust me -- reel and wonder why it is that she even chose to return to this infernal place, this city of Prague, municipal architect of her early life's damnation. For that, Heda deserves the equivalent of a "purple heart" for her resilience and fortitude. But this is not nearly enough...
As I read Heda's story, those small insignificant stresses which descend on a given day PALE by comparison. No longer will I feel needless stress. No longer will I be affected by it.
I am describing to you the impact of this memoir. Heda's strength will permeate you.
I love this book because it pries open a vista on a period these present Czech authorities are anxious to enshroud in mystery. I hear very little discussion today of what is known as Czechoslovakia's "collaborationist past" in the modern-day "Czech Republic."
Not a single leader in this fledgling country is willing to boldly take responsibility for the actions of this successor nation's preceding governments, whose reins -- the ones they now grip tightly -- are the offshoot of very rotten roots. Today's government must own up to its legacy, one which is responsible -- among countless other atrocities and crimes -- for murdering eleven perfectly innocent men, like Rudolf Margolius, Heda's late husband and father to her author son, Ivan, in 1953's Slansky (show) Trial. I was angered when I'd read how the doctor's in Stalin's infamous "Doctor's Plot" were not hanged, while Mr. Margolius and his ten other co-accused were. It made me *very* angry, and anger I wish not to think too much about for fear of what it might result in.
Evaluating this all, you scratch your head wondering where Heda derives all her strength? From where comes her unassailable moral fortitude and her staunchness without fail?
Look, don't read this book because *I'm* telling you to. I know I review a lot of titles, and you'd normally trust me judgement because you trust me, but don't, okay?
Also don't read this book because it's stylistically-impeccable and superbly written. I'll have you know there isn't a shred of literary critique I've got for the brilliant lines filling Heda's pages.
Read this book to place your life into perspective, if it's a comfortable and cushy one. Read this book to either compare or contrast Heda's past with what you call *your* past, and finally understand how the might of the human spirit is unbreakable. Heda Margolius Kovaly is the living proof. She is the embodiment of intrepid courage. And it's high time you get to know what that is.
I wish there were more than five stars I could give.
-- ADM in Prague
(for the writings of Ivan Margolius, please see "REFLECTIONS OF PRAGUE," for more information)
extraordinary memoir in several languages.......2006-05-26
I am the English-language publisher of Ms. Kovaly's extraordinary memoir, that is now being read in major universities around the world for an eyewitness view of twentieth century totalitarianism --in this case Nazism and Stalinism -- in Central Europe. This translation has been the basis for the UK, French, German, Dutch and Japanese editions of this book. There are very few books in any language by or about Czech Jewish women. Another excellent one is my wife Helen Epstein's journalistic memoir of her maternal line of Bohemian Jews titled Where She Came From: A Daughter's Search for her Mother's History, which covers the years 1800-1948 in the Czech lands.
a note from the translator of this book.......2005-05-14
As the translator from the Czech and the editor of the Plunkett Lake Press version of this book, I'd like to address the confusion about editions. Heda Kovaly first wrote this book in Czech. It was translated first by Czech philosopher Erazim Kohak who published it together with his own writing in one volume. In 1985, Heda Kovaly and I together translated and produced a new edition of her memoir. We called it Under A Cruel Star. That version was subsequently published by Penguin and then Holmes & Meier. There are also British, French, German, Dutch and Japanese translations that have been published under different titles. All have used the Plunkett Lake text.
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- Differential Equations, Dynamical Systems, and an Introduction to Chaos (Pure and Applied Mathematics (Academic Press), 60.)
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