S Books

Not only are the images inspiring but the book has so much insightful wisdom in the art of photography. I've improved and grown in my creativity since reading this. Highly Recommended.

If you want to learn which f stop to use for a picture at the beach, don't read this book. If you want to learn what "ISO Rating" means, go somewhere else. If your pictures now are decent - well focused & exposed - but they seem to look like all the others, and lack _something_, then this book may help you find that something.

I had two pictures that I knew were excellent. I could feel it. They stood over the rest, but I didn't know why! I couldn't make more like them. If you have that frustration, then READ THIS BOOK! Now. Then look what happens to your pictures. They will be different. Mine were definitely better.

Good luck,
Jay

I think the central theme is good. I learned a bit about the Tao, and I like the parallels the author draws between the Tao and good photography. By the end I found some of it repetitive, but overall I enjoyed his thesis and found it thought provoking.

This inspirational publication gives a refreshing and unadulterated alternative to approaching photography as an artist, amateur, professional - indeed any combination one percieves oneself. This book speaks to all levels of photographers regardless of age, skill, financial resources or any other categories that may exist.

I recently read The Tao of Photography by Philippe Gross and S Shapiro. This is, by far, the best book I have found on how to allow the photograph to find you, rather than the other way around. I highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in thinking outside the box, even if you don't have much interest in Taoism as a philosophy. This book might indeed change your views on photography and Taoism both.

This book is full of information that is useful to a Soldier. It covers alot of lessons that are lost to todays young soldiers due to are ability to overwhelm with our technology alone.

While preparing to deploy to Iraq last Summer I embraced two books. The Small Unit Leader's Guide to Counter-insurgency and this one.

Poole took his research of every Eastern military he could muster and outlined the training and expectations of thier lower enlisted, stressing not only the importance of empowering the lower enlisted of the US military and our allies, but just how skilled our enemies may be.
Rather than officers having most if not all of the say in how operations had occurred, or are to be run, Eastern armies such as the Chinese, let all men involved in a battle have a say in what had happened, and how things can be improved.

Having been trained in a top-down military organization I am skeptical of the value of Poole's reccomendations for us to emulate the Chinese and other organizations, but I am not skeptical of his insight that things must adapt to their time. In a recent conversation with him he made reference to the French, stating that they had been an incredible military strength, but lost it over years of remaining as they had been when they were the most powerful military force of their time.
In North Korea they have their men go 10 miles into S. Korea as part of their training. Knowing Marines who have performed sweep operations on the DMZ and having heard stories of S. Korean Marines disappearing from one day to the next, mines being set where they'd been cleared the day before, I believe it.

Poole believes that the US Private should be the greatest warrior on the battlefield, confident in his abilities as he is in his fire team leader. Poole also believes that we should be able to send a Sergeant, Lance Corporal, and two PFCs into Colombia without any officers, and they should be able to accomplish their mission successfully.
After two years in Vietnam and close to 30 years in the Marines Corps as an infantry officer and enlisted man, he may be onto something.

John Poole has written a fantastic treatise on what will be needed to fight and win wars in the years to come. Though it makes for dry reading at times, this book is absolutely fascinating.It not only discusses enemy tactics, it recommends methods on how to develop ninjustsu-like tactics on your own. Spectacular book. A must-read for anyone in, or planning to join, the military. Top-shelf material!

This book is not a guide for people trying to get a grip on what is happening to our forces in Iraq. It is a good basic soldiers book that is made from many different types of 'field manuals', compiled and catagorized. Nothing new, but a good source for a yound Infantry NCO or Commissioned Officer who wants to keep his 'mind in the game'. Much of the information covers Infantry subjects, some of which is of no use in Iraq. However, we are a world-wide force and need to keep looking over our shoulder at the next conflict. The author speaks with some authority and it shows. As a graduate of the Infantry School at Ft. Benning (I wont say when) this book is a good refresher and contains some new information. If you go on patrol, regardless of you MOS or job title, this is a book you cna use.

I have not finished this book, you should know. However, you should also know that this book made enough of an impression of me that I am writing a review before I have finished in violation of my own rules. I am an author myself and I value these reviews greatly - I wouldn't write if I didn't mean what I say.

This is a great book. In short, it takes the premises - as best we know - of Togakure ryu Ninjutsu and applies them to contemporary military arts. Squad mechanics - the focus of every lieutenant who has ever served - are the focus of Poole's tactical revision of the current philosophy of combat in the US military.

I am not a military man, but I am surrounded by them. I am a ninja, studying Bansenshukai Ninjutsu. We also have some Togakure ryu curriculum, and Poole hits hard on the right stuff. Early in the book he points out that the close combat ryuha are not his focus. Instead, he is looking at the understudied arts of Zanson, Intonjutsu, Shinobi Iri and Hensojutsu. This is a book about how to not fight if you don't have to.

Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu practitioners will argue that this `is not ninjutsu' because it isn't what Hatsumi teaches (in public anyway) but they would be wrong. The taijutsu that BBT teaches is just a small part of what the ninja represents, and this book covers practically everything else. Admittedly, the second chapter references books by Haha Lung and Ashida Kim, who are widely discredited. However, even quacks can have good ideas and Poole expertly extracts the choice tidbits. You will not be displeased.

This US Army / Marine Corps manual reads far more like a book than a dry piece of doctrine. This recent manual draws heavily on US experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as lessons from US and British experience in the Philippines, Malaya, El Salvador and Vietnam. I have read several other COIN manuals and papers before (Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife and Resisting Rebelion) and this manual contains a good summary of these books and other papers. It would be a good place for anyone looking to study insurgencies and counterinsurgencies to begin their study.

The book begins by cover basic aspects of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies. The book then goes in to integrating military and civilian agencies, the role of intelligence, designing and executing campaigns and training host nation forces.

One area that the book does not focus on is in depth case studies. Numerous examples are cited to illustrate points, but to really look at a conflict one will need to go to one of the numerous books listed in reading lists provided at the end.

I've long nutured a private grievance against FM 3-24, which suddenly broke surface when I read this delicious comment by Steve Cole in The New Yorker this week: "Its reception reflected ... the appeal of counter-insurgency among sections of the country's liberal-minded intelligentsia. This was warfare for northeastern graduate students--complex, blended with politics, designed to build countries rather than destroy them, and fashioned to minimize violence. It was a doctrine with particular appeal to people who would never own a gun."

A more scholarly analysis of FM 3-24's failings, by Andrew Salamone, appears in the August edition of the online Small Wars Journal. He thinks that the historical examples in the manual are too selective, and warns: "While the current application of the new doctrine appears to be showing signs of success in Iraq, at least in terms of metrics measuring levels of violence and U.S. casualties, our enemy's well documented strategic, operational, and tactical adaptability all but guarantees that current doctrine will be out of date for the next conflict and result in the well known axiom of trying to 'fight the last war again'."

The Counterinsurgency Field Manual is a surprisingly well considered text on the nature of insurgency and the points where the course of an insurgency can be influenced.

Something is (or should be) rather confusing about the U.S. military. Since the inception of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, the U.S. military has been involved with counterinsurgency operations almost constantly, at home and abroad. (Put this way, Americans were waging counterinsurgency since before there was a United States; the French and Indian War...) What is confusing is 'why isn't the U.S. better at it?'

Setting this underlying question to one side, this text sets forth a framework for understanding the causes of insurgencies, and for dealing with them. The full scope of cultural, economic, social, political, and other factors are addressed in considerable detail, along with approaches to influencing these factors to address the root causes of insurgency. It is a robust, comprehensive work that can provide an adaptable conceptual structure for anyone involved in counterinsurgency or issues relating to counterinsurgency.

The big question in my mind; Why did the Army have to manage developing this process, when more than half the work required to respond to an insurgency should be done or overseen by the State Department? Why do soldiers have to arrange economic reconstruction and infrastructure development? Aren't those folks at the State Department competent to do all this stuff?

E.M. Van Court

This manual should be required reading for any candidate for public office at a national level, as well as all foreign staff personnel. After reading the manual I was better able to understand the motivations and actions of the various factions within Iran today. It also re-enforces the idea that terrorism / insurgency is not just an issue for a single nation, but anymore is a global issue.

I believe this manual is an excellent overview of counterinsurgency strategy and some tactics. This includes the broad strategy as well as to the drill down for the units/teams/boots on the ground. Its stated audience is for battalion commanders and their staff and higher. I would recommend it to any soldier, sailor or marine regardless of rank and for U.S. citizens generally who have an interest in the topic.

According to the manual, the host nation (HN) and the counterinsurgency force (COIN) will win if they can provide security first, and then other functions of a responsive - responsive to the HN populace - HN government. Otherwise, the populace will seek security and services elsewhere (i.e., in insurgent organizations/militias). This is not necessarily a sequential ordering. While basic security is fundamental - once a baseline is reached - other governmental functions responsive to HN's populace's concerns should also be instituted, supported, and reinforced, while still improving and accelerating the improvement of the security environment for the populace. One example used is how insurgency organizations/militias can destabilize the security environment and create insecurity through terrorist strikes, in order to then be viewed by the populace as the cure to the insecurity by operating militias to defend against such insecurity, and thus try to gain popular support.

Bottom line: creation, maintenance and sustainment (or assisting/building up) of legitimacy in the host nation vs. the insurgent organizations is the contest and crux of the matter. Insurgency and counterinsurgency is a fight for the support of the populace (i.e., the big middle). This conclusion should have been clear by now - insurgency has been with us for a very long time. For some examples, in the West, you can go back to at least to Julius Caesar for lessons; see also Napoleon; in the East, you can go back to at least to Sun-Tzu's The Art of War.

According to the manual, to win an insurgency/counterinsurgency type conflict, requires staying power without intentional or unintentional signaling of wavering support for staying the distance, at least until the HN has achieved the "tipping point" in terms of legitimacy and popular support.

As an aside, there is a good appendix on Social Network Analysis (SNA), which provides a cogent overview of some of the key concepts for those not familiar with SNA or its use in war, conflict, or intelligence.

This book is easy on Beginners. Load Linux to your machine and work on the examples. You will become good at it.

The format is good and you eat one bite at a time.

I found this book has some useful tricks that compensates for the chapters that maybe useless to someone who been using UNIX for sometime. This book made my life easier since I needed a book where I can get some of the useful Unix commands yet a little description with it to help me get by

I like easy to read book and I also assumed that learning UNIX is not necessarily has to a struggle. This book stood up to my expectations almost perfectly: it is very well written and clearly expressed work. It does not overwhelm with technical details and does not press too much. I followed an advise in some review and purchased Linux and UNIX for a beginner training suite, 4DVDs + 2CDs includes 4 Unix Academy Certifications ed.2008. These two nicely complement one another. You watch it and you read it. If you didn't catch it from the first try you watch it again and read it again. In two months I found myself confident to that extend that gave advises to our system administrator and he accepted them because there were subjects that he wasn't completely sure. It is a way to start.
I can't overstate how much I have learned from them. Don't be naive, though. You will have to learn and memorize many things. The fact of owning neither book nor DVD will not make you knowledgeable, but if you will work it trough, trust me, you will surprise many people around!

The book is a real help when you struggle with new operating system's commands and horrible command line syntax. I paired this book with "UNIX Essentials" DVD and can't be happier! Book shows conception the DVD shows complete workflow! WOW! That is really smooth learning.
The book is very well logically organized and easy to navigate and it is free from stupid repetitions that many other books have!

The book is easy to use and understand, good choice for beginners, but might be a bit wordy for advanced users.

Its structure is very similar to a reference book, runs along the UNIX commands in 17 chapters, and provides enough information and examples to their usage. It contains three appendices summarizing the UNIX files and directories, the UNIX commands and their flags. It contains no theoretic essays at all, so if you are interested in the inner working or philosophy of UNIX, this book is not for you.

I liked that it uses a color (red) to distinguish the commands and flags from the output. I was glad to find links to the related topics inside the book, but missed a bibliography. And I missed one or more full chapters paying attention to the most popular implementations such as Solaris, AIX.

Just like an accident, if you don't know the risk, you are bound to get hurt. This book tells everyone about the risks, either past or present, in vaccines. These blunders have not been dealt with by government or industry due to the economic impact that any correction might have. They (government and industry) want to scare you into vaccinating for everything because if you don't you'll get sick. Everybody please panic, so that the vaccine producers make plenty of money. Why is it that if Polio has been eradicated in the US are there still polio cases among those who have been vaccinated. How can a monkey kidney virus cause cancer in humans and why was such a dirty animal's kidney chosen as a substrate for vaccine production.
This is a must read for anybody who thinks that vaccine production and development is as sound and safe as the interpretation of the bible by religious zealot. If you are going to invest your faith in anything, invest it in yourself and read this book. If not, wait for the movie . . . because it reads like a medical industrial espionage thriller.

If you enjoyed reading this book, I suggest you also read The River, by Edward Hooper. Hoopers book posits a similar Frankensteinesque consequence of the race for a polio vaccine: the emergence of HIV in central Africa resulting from a batch of experimental polio vaccine, created in Zaire, using infected monkey kidneys.

This book shows just how much the corporations and even our own government do not care about you or me, they care about continuing their domination of our lives and making money.

I've likely had the polio shot that is described in this book, and you probably have too, it was around for four DECADES.

My mother fell into the years where the first horrible joke of a vaccine was first introduced in the United States by Jonas Salk, and she died from ALS in 1995. Maybe there is no connection, Lord knows there are other toxins in our world that could have been responsible, but was it their right to continue to vaccinate us with trash viruses from monkey kidneys? Is this the US or Hitler's Germany?

This book is meticulously researched and written. It's the one book I've run across on vaccines that none of the "pro-vaccine" people I've talked to have been able to debunk.

If you haven't already read this book, do so. It's scary, but I would rather know than not know.

And these are some of the same type of corporations currently pushing for legislation for the HPV vaccine to be mandatory - I don't trust them, do you?

Someone remarked in a previous review that this was a horrible mistake -- no, it wasn't. A mistake is when you shut your finger in the door and then realize how and why you did it, so that it doesn't happen again. This was calculated crime, in my opinion, by the "powers that are" on millions of Americans. They knew it was there [SV40] and they made choices to leave it there. What other viruses are in there that no one has found, or even bothered to look for?

The other reviews have more than expressed the high level of journalism these authors have attained. Suffice it to say they should be inundated with movie offers by now. This is indeed the most compelling read in a very long time.
It is appalling to know just how reckless (and criminal) the vaccine programs really are and how deep the disregard for the public health. I promptly sent "Virus and the Vaccine" to a friend who is a top cancer specialist, to get an outside opinion. He too was blown away, horrified and found the book a powerful read. If your here and wondering if you should get this book..YES READ THIS BOOK. You will not regret it.
It is my opinion that the authors have done a great service to this country (and humanity) by dedicating their talents and time to uncovering this outrageous tale of woe. A Nobel Prize might just be in order! I am buying this book in lots, and sending copies to the most influential people I know (and my family). Bravo! S.A. Sarnoff, Founder & Pres. Health Advocacy in the Public Interest, Santa Barbara CA

This book is a frightening expose of the potential damage done to millions of unsuspecting Americans who were receiptents of polio vaccines that may have been carelessly contaminated with monkey virus that somehow eluded the best intended manufacturing processes of that day.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning for themselves whether vaccines may have caused more harm than good over decades of use. Let us hope the authors are wrong, because if they are right, the harm done will be uncomprehensible.

I purchased Lou's book after I had found his website when I was planning my latest trip to Walt Disney World. After looking at his site and even signing up for the forum, I knew I had to purchase this book I'd been reading about! And I am so glad I did. The trivia is fun if you're reading alone or if you take turns reading with a partner and it's multiple choice too. Even more, the answers are found following each section with a short statement to provide further information about the correct answer. What I really love about this book is that the layout makes it a simplistic read that doesn't get boring. Even though it isn't a guide book, anyone (or any family) planning to take a trip to WDW can benefit from the exciting learning experience the book has to offer. It is a must read for first timers and fanatics!

Fantastic book! What you may have thought you knew...but didn't! An interesting book of facts that help you understand the making of Walt Disney World. A must have book for Disney mania! Volume 1 is just as interesting!

Just received the Walt Disney Trivia Books, Volumes 1 & 2. I've read through both and cannot wait until my next WDW vacation. Thank you, Lou, for writing the best Disney trivia books ever. Just one question, when will there be a third?

My son and I love this book and we've only read the first section. We can't believe how much we're learning and how much we didn't know. We're enjoying finding out all the "little" things we never knew about Disney World.

The Walt Disney World Trivia Book is like the friend I've always wanted who flies me down to Disney (for free!)and proceeds to take me through every park, attraction, and resort, telling me things I never knew about my favorite place. With a loyalty only a true Disney connoisseur can possess ("ever hear of some guy named 'Bugs Bunny'? Hmph. Me neither."), Lou presents his information the way I like it-it's personal, frank, and fun. Kind of like Lou himself...drop him an e-mail, and you actually get an answer! If there is one Disney informant to swear by, it's Lou Mongello. Some of his facts I knew, some made me laugh, and some made me realize that perhaps I'm not the Disney expert I make myself out to be. All I know is that those around me will have to endure new rounds of Disney fact-spouting. I almost feel bad for them. They had assumed they were safe after our (sniff!) last Disney trip in 2005. Although I shouldn't really mourn the trip's passing; with the WDW Trivia Book, I'm there all over again.

Rabbi Harold Kushner is best known for his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, but this work is in my judgment his greatest contribution to the philosophy of the spiritual life, Kushner's pièce de résistance. Using my favorite Hebrew Bible text, Ecclesiastes, as a springboard, Rabbi Kushner writes about the "ultimate thirst of our souls": the need for "meaning," for "the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter." Rabbi Kushner offers readers his wisdom -- born out of years of study, struggle and life experience -- about how to live a life that matters.

READ this BOOK! Rabbi Kushner hits on so many relevant and pertinent topics that you will be amazed how you see yourself in the anedotes and examples used to illustrate Kushner's point. Rabbi Kushner uses the Old Testament story of Ecclesiastes to illustrate how man's search for happiness is eternal and not unique. I could not believe how similar Ecclesiaste's view on life and search for happiness are so similar to my own. I found myself stopping on many occasions and telling my wife "READ THIS!"
I have been on a self-help book crusade for the past several months. Reading a bunch of these books have helped in finding some understanding to the search for happiness I have been after. After each book, I can say one or two of the points explained in the book have made sense and have some good practical applications to dealing with everyday situations that arise in my life. Kushner's book is by the far the best. He gives you straightforward and understandable examples of the negative behavior that conflict in man's search for happiness.
From the opening pages Kushner had me! He hits the nail on the head when he says the lines "If you ask anybody what is more imporant - work or family? - without a doubt they answer family. But then ask them how much time they spend away from family by putting work ahead of family and making work more important than family obligations." (paraphrased) He has many of these observations that help the reader get some insight into how destructive these behaviors are towards our supposed goal of happiness. I highly, highly recommend this book - READ this BOOK!

A great book and one the everyone should read at some time in their lives!

Thanks again for getting me the book so fast and in such good condition!

Gary

A thoughtful, spiritual examination of why fame and fortune do not produce happiness, and why "average" and "successful" people often feel emptiness in their lives. Many brief anecdotes are used to illustrate the author's observations, which are linked to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Read by the author. You will read (or listen to) this more than once!

Kushner is a sage and this book is a classic. As always Kushner's knits together wonderful stories, quotes, and historical observations that are always on the mark and move his thoughts forward. The disease that plagues our age is overconsumption and Kushner invites the reader to step away from the table of materialism and instead search out the things that really matter.

Well, I know my Presidents now, that's for sure! I had great fun learning them, too, sitting on the couch with my husband one afternoon. The two of us went through the book, working through it and giggling at the references all the while. It was a lot of fun and we learned every president during the read. I planned to buy it, learn them, and then relist the item. But, I decided to instead hold onto it for when my nieces come over. I am always hunting for new ways to entertain them and this will keep them busy for sure! :) Lots of fun for all ages.
I highly recommend that you buy it and have as much fun as we did, and learn a little something, too! 5 stars!

This book was ordered for my son, who is a teacher, for Christmas and it came in plenty of time. Thanks so much.

This book is the best and most fun ways to learn about the American Presidents that I have ever seen. For each president from Washington through Clinton, there is a brief caption regarding his life and accomplishments. There is also a drawing taken from a photo or portrait, a cartoon style drawing and associated play on words to aid in remembering the name and whom they succeeded. For example, the cartoon for Dwight Eisenhower shows the Eiffel Tower with eyes on it being held by a tree with eyes. The caption is "The tree-man is crawling up the side of a huge tower that has eyes on it. It must be the eyes-on-tower!" The cartoon for Harry Truman, who preceded Eisenhower, shows the tree-man.
One of the best books for learning history and social studies, I strongly recommend this book. If my children were of a suitable age, I would buy it for them.

After one night, I knew all 43 presidents of the United States in order without looking. This book is AWESOME!!! :D

I had to memorize the presidents in the fourth grade. I'm in college now and I can still remember everything from this book. Not only does it work, but it's fun to look at the pictures and learn the presidents. People of all ages can learn from this book.

No one has told his heart and the agony of Vietnam as has Charles Boyle in "Absolution". In telling of his time there, he lays bare his soul, what his effort was all about. He tells the how and why of his dedication to America and what Vietnam was all about to the US soldier. A great book -- one that should be required reading for all highschool students --- required reading in colleges.

This book accurately shows what goes on in the mind of an infantry lieutenant. It focused on the human aspects of leadership and command. It showed how to deal with the loss of soldiers and friends in combat. Every leader has been too close to soldiers and this book shows why it is dangerous to do so. Having said that, it also shows what a soldier in the right place at the right time can and will do for his leaders. SGT Jay Cee and his friends from Company C, 3/22 Infantry gave their lives for their commander and friend. Absolution tells why soldiers will give their lives and how leaders deal with it. I recommend it for cadets before commissioning, lieutenants in the basic course, and captains prior to command. It is an excellent resource for leaders.

No one has told his heart and the agony of Vietnam as has Charles Boyle in "Absolution". In telling of his time there, he lays bare his soul, what his effort was all about. He tells the how and why of his dedication to America and what Vietnam was all about to the US soldier. A great book -- one that should be required reading for all highschool students --- required reading in colleges.

I have finished reading Charles J. Boyle's, Absolution: Charlie Company, but I know this book will never be finished with me.

There is a great healing that needs yet to be done is this country; a great open wound that lies on the national soul and in the wounded bodies, minds, hearts and souls of those who we sent there. It does not matter where you stood, or stand, on the conflict called the Vietnam War; what matters now is resolution. That is what Charles Boyle has provided in Absolution. I have read hundreds of thousands of words penned on all sides of this so open wound, but none that I have read before have so touched heart and soul. There were times when I had to put the book down to process what these men, our sons, fathers, husbands endured in that time and place that is still so much with us; times when I felt weak with sharing their pain, awed by being witness to their courage. Boyle has taken us there, absolutely there; step by step, hour by hour, day by day as our young men grew, against all odds, despite betrayals from above, into men of courage, into comrades in arms, in a time and place, in a war often without explanation or understanding. Boyle graces us with witnessing the turbulence of mind and spirit when all that has been learned before is challenged in young lives, in blood, terror, conviction, fortitude, and courage. Be prepared for a great adventure into tears, into outrage, into anguish, into great pride. If you are prepared to face the beginnings of finding resolution, if you read only one book on the conflict called the Vietnam War, read Absolution: Charlie Company. "Falcon Six, this is Charlie Six. We're moving." Do move to read Absolution; it is time for the healing and it can begin here. Welcome home, Charlie Company.

Absolution, by Charles J. Boyle, is an outstanding book about a great lieutenant and his men. As an avid reader of the Vietnam War, I have never read a book about Vietnam that touched my heart as much as this one. Once I started reading the book, I could not put it down. A true and accurate portrayal of the Vietnam War and its brave American soldiers.

This book, like Stephen Flynn's "Edge of Disaster" succinctly dissects the problems we face in warding off terrorism at home and exposes our vulnerabilities. They are large - ports, shipping, energy infrastructure, chemical plants, food processing facilities, for openers.
Flynn describes the problem only too well,

At the root of the problem is the Department of Homeland Security's secrecy, lack of internal coordination, turf battles, and incompatabile data base systems. Equally problematic is the complacency of the AMerican people, who are being shielded from the realities by a patronizing government.

Flynn ascribes the current situation to be comparable to the "phony war" between the time of the nazi attack in Poland in 1939, and the invasion and capitulation of France in the SPring of 1940 because of failure to consider, plan and consider new battlefield tactics. In short, the French (and also the British, were using WOrld War I tactics to fight new German panzer tactics. The parallels of today's attitudes and the last days of the Roman EMpire also are, indeed, chilling.

The government is not the only culprit that lulls our citizens into complacency. In my personal opinion, the news media does not help with its focus on the trivial, a hiding of coverage of the war on terror, and seldom reviewing the vulnerabilities Flynn covers so well and rallying our citizenry to the realities of what's at stake.

The solutions?: Active involvement of citizens; Active involvement of government with relevant private industry; open communicatioan with all relevant players in state and local government; making infrastructure sufficiently resilient that terrorists no longer find a potential target attractive.

WHat is needed, and implied, is a revival of an approach pioneered by NASA in the early 1960's when they had to establish operational paradigms and procedures for which there was no precedent. It's called 'conceptual blockbusting'. FLynn's book will help us get there, if everyone reads it.

Flynn quotes Abraham Lincoln concerning new paradigms:

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with uncertainty, and we must rise to the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."

It's as relevant now in the war on terro as it was in 1962.

BUY this book, and buy extra copies for your loved ones and closest friends.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in the short comings of our Homeland Security Department. I initially bought the book after thumbing through it and finding a section on the lack of security with our cargo containers, a specific worry of mine.

This book not only breaks down where we are vulnerable, it explains why and offers workable solutions as to how to reduce this vulnerability. The book is a bit frightening in a way, when you read and realize how vulnerable we really are, even after 6 years of security measures. Why isn't more being done? What are the government officials covering up?

What makes this book hit like a sledgehammer is the credentials of the author. He was a Coast Guard Commander for 20 years, an expert in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been on Congressional Task forces studying the problems in homeland security as well as serving in the White House Military Office during President George H. Bush administration and director for Global Issues on the National Security Council during the Administration of President Bill Clinton. Stephen Flynn is obviously an expert on this issue and his words should be given their due weight.

Bottom line, insightful, a bit frightening, definitely a book to read if you like current events or really want to know how safe we actually are.

This book focuses practically entirely on the vulnerabilities of the American homeland, and offers some suggestions that could begin to lay the foundation for protecting those vulnerabilities. The book does not talk about the war on terror in the terms of the offensive operations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, intelligence matters, and targeted killings of Al-Qaeda at all.

The author's cogent argument rests on the concept of defense in depth. In addition to offensive operations to route out the terrorists, we also need to make our homeland less susceptible to successful attack and more resilient to the aftermath of the inevitable one that slips through the net.

The homeland is defined not just as American territory, but extends to include the global commercial, transportation, trading, and financial networks that are central to our way of life and our economy. This represents a rich field of targets for terrorists, with successful attacks being able to ripple through the networks and cause continuing and ongoing damage. Flynn opens his book with a scenario of an attack on shipping containers, and transportation links with radiological devices. The hypothetical comes off as very plausible and sobering.

The remainder of the book talks about what the major vulnerabilities of America are, such as chemical plants, food distribution, overextended medical systems via biological or chemical attacks, etc. He shows that we currently lack the capabilities, organizational structure, and practices to adequately secure these vulnerabilities.

He provides what are really "glimpses" of possible solutions to these problems, including RFID tracking of cargo containers and food shipments with embedded WMD sensors, government security standards for critical and hazardous infrastructure (nuke plants, water treatment facility chlorine gad tanks, etc.) continuing reorganization at the federal, state and local level to focus on security, insurance measures, and a particularly innovative concept to enlist private company participation patterned after the Federal Reserve system.

However at the length of this short and easily readable (if not pleasently readable) book Flynn cannot go into detail. The cost and time of implementing such systems are not gone into in a satisfactory manner, but that's not the point of the book.

The point of the book is that the government needs to do more to protect our homefront. Flynn convincingly makes his case, and provides reasonable guidelines about how to improve upon the situation.

A good read for American citizens who want to ensure that we are doing the best we can to protect our civilization.

That is how one of the chapters starts. It's a matter of when the next terrorist attack will happen, not if it will happen, according to the author, Stephen Flynn.

With absolute simplicity, common sense logic, and an irrefutable argument, he demonstrates how and why our government is failing to protect us from the terrorist threat. Industry and government are not willing to take the time and the money required to provide greater security for a war on terrorism that will never end.

Our water and food supplies, our chemical plants, and our ports are alrmingly unsecure from terrorist attack. Flynn creates a terrorist scenario demonstrating how the terrorist threat can become reality. He asserts our enemies are willing to spend the time to create the act of terror, while we are not willing to spend the time defending ourselves to foil it.

He blames industries which see no benefit in spending the money on security which will be passed on to their consumers, while non-security minded companies will maintain lower prices and take business away from the security-conscious ones.

This means that congress must act. It must set security standards that will be implemented across each industry thus spreading the cost to everyone. So far, congress, not wanting to offend their million dollar contributors have done nothing. Flynn also suggests that Americans must be willing to make the sacrifices necessary for this security.

We are operating on a World War II mentality i.e. the best defense is a good offense by taking the fight to their countries. That is not what Flynn recommends. Terrorists will always be able to get into this country. We must strengthen our security at home which will take years of dedicated preparation and action.

The author's book is a siren song. The beginning of his fourth chapter bears repeating as a end to this review. "When it comes to dealing with the new security agenda, Americans need to grow up....Terrorism is simply too cheap, too available, and too tempting ever to be totally eradicated. We must have the maturity both to live with the risk of future attacks and to invest in reasonable measures to rein in that risk."

For those who use the argument that we haven't been attacked since 9/11, remember, it took five years of planning. 9/11 is now more than five years ago. Truly, American apathy and complacency are the terrorists' greatest allies.

This is a clearly written, well reasoned book on how to provide real security for the U.S. homeland. To his credit, its author Stephan Flynn wastes no time either in partisan bashing of the current administration or in dissecting the many faults of the Department of Homeland Security. Rather he immediately shares his analysis of why domestic security in the U.S .is such an elusive goal. In the course of a number of chapters he builds a pretty strong case that in spite of all the talk, the U.S. is just as vulnerable to terrorist attacks as it was in 2000 before the 9/11 catastrophe. Flynn provides some specific examples what these vulnerabilities are and is especially effective in his analysis of shipping port vulnerabilities as a result of the exponential growth of containerized shipping. He also provides what appears to be a sensible and more importantly doable plan to actually reduce our vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks. He is an advocate of applying that long held business concept of `risk management' to the practice of homeland security. Like Richard Posner (Preventing Surprise Attacks - amazon.com) he points out the impossibility of making the U.S. completely immune to any terrorist threat and argues that it makes far better sense to rationally and logically identify which potential targets in the U.S. would cause the most loss of life and economic or social disruption if attacked and build a dynamic and multilayered defensive system to protect those targets.

Of course, Flynn is a former Coast Guard officer so his prescriptions for protecting America are practical not theoretical. Having spent twenty years protecting U.S. interests in our coastal waters, his thought on how to protect this country is based on a realistic understanding of the threats we face and a knowledge of what actually can be done to mitigate those threats. It is a shame that the Department of Homeland Security has not seen fit to follow his example.