Events Books

Chemical And Biological Warfare analyzes the key issues related to chemical and biological warfare, detailing known chemical and biological agents, how they may be used in weaponry, and the possibilities of their use in modern conflicts. Readers seeking a technical survey of proliferation and basic concepts of chemical and biological weaponry receive more in-depth information here than in many titles.

A first class presentation of Chem/Bio warfare basics. Highly recommend it.

A first-rate survey of this important topic. Croddy has produced a calm and clear overview that should prove invaluable to both students and scholars.

I read, and enjoyed, Judith Miller's Germs book, but its sometimes superficial journalistic treatment left me wanting more concrete information: on chemical and biological agents, where they come from, who has them, how they could get used, what we can do to stop or counteract them, etc. I found all that and more in this excellent book, which, in spite of its straightforward presentation, is every bit as gripping as Germs. Croddy is no alarmist---he thinks a lot of the recent hoopla is overblown given the difficulties any terrorist would have spreading an agent like anthrax (and, thank God, he appears to be right on this score)---but there's plenty to get alarmed over in this book, and now is the right time to read it and digest its lessons, rather than waiting for the next chemical or biological panic attack.

Chemical and Biological Warfare: An Annotated Bibliography is a great book to read before bed, on the subway or lounging on the beach. It is sensitively written, and though the roto-protagonist isn't very well developed as a character, the subplot and the overall romance is beautiful. If you liked The Firm, you'll love this book. (I have gotten some great pick-up lines from this book, too!)

I have yet to use this product in my ministry but from reviewing the contents, I am elated to use the material. It takes away the guess work in "out of the box" program planning. Yet another great product from Group Publishing.

This is a year's worth of work in one easy to follow book. Every detail is taken care of to allow us to just have a fun & enjoyable ministry eperience.

As soon as I showed this book to our women's group, they said, "Now you're talking!!!!" Shopping, Gardening, a Cruise, food and holidays...can you think of anything more fun when you get a bunch of girlfriends together? This book is awesome at organizing and laying out all of the details for putting on "Wow" events in an easy to plan way...I can't imagine any women not wanting to be a part of this fun!!!

This will continue to be such a valuable resource to our ministry as we plan and prepare for the upcoming year. The book makes it so easy for a leader to delegate and prepare for an awesome event that will minister to many women and bring glory to God.

This book inlcudes complete plans for 5 ladies events - one specifically designed for each season plus an extra 'anytime' event. If you want to pull off an amazing ladies event at your church, in your community, etc. you need this book! Each chapter FULLY details what you need to do and all you have to do is follow the plan. For each event you are shown who needs to do what on your event team, given a timeline beginning 8 weeks before your event, given ideas for promoting and gathering supplies. There are easy to do interactive activities, devotions and a powerful closing to wrap up you half-full day event. The CD contains invitations, table talk tents, a hostess invitation, music plus all printed materials needed for the activities. All you do is add your event information and print! We can't wait to do the Chistmas "Winter Wonderland" event! Christmas cooking, Christmas topiary creations and an interactive Christmas devotion - now that is a WOW women's event!!!

This is a must read for all people. Each story is a personal glimpse, on an intimate level with the struggle to survive in a racist society. Some stories made me laugh out loud and some brought tears to my eyes. I am one of the authors. I had no idea how many others had felt my pain. Wish I could purchase a book for everybody I know.

Each essay spoke right to me. Some whispered and others shouted, but I knew exactly where the sound was coming from. Mind you, those hurts and slights may have happened quite awhile ago, but the memories seemed to have shaped (and are shaping) some extraordinary individuals. Will be giving this book to many people and genuinely hoarding my first edition copy.

Arline Lorraine Piper, author of the award-winning story, "The Question," in CHILDREN OF THE DREAM, captures the essence of the anthology in her extremely modest description of herself. "If I am at all extraordinary," she says, "it is in my willingness to expose my truth to myself, so that my truth can also be accessible to you. But this effort on my part to be ruthlessly honest with myself will only have full significance for you if it empowers you to the same honesty with yourself...." Welcome to the victors' tales, stories not merely of survival and overcoming, but of ultimately prevailing. With enormous range, across class, color, gender, age, lifestyles and experience, the stories in ruthless, honest remembering. For a nation suffering from collective amnesia where race is concerned, CHILDREN OF THE DREAM is a powerful cure. Sometimes funny, sometimes painful, sometimes subtle, sometimes in-your-face, each vignette is its own reminder of exactly how things on the race front got to be the way they are. This is a dialogue on race, voiced by people on the street, telling it the way it always has been and, regrettably, still is. CHILDREN OF THE DREAM is one more piece of evidence contradicting the popular, simplistic notion that there is one authentic Black experience. For instance, even though it happens to be my own story, not all African Americans grew up in single parent homes in the ghetto struggling to make ends meet. Dawn Bennett-Alexander's "(R)Evolution of Black and White" humorously, yet compellingly, makes just this point and Staajabu's "255 Sycamore Street" and Robert E. Penn's "War" go on to reinforce it. CHILDREN OF THE DREAM is a book for the entire family. Any young adult, for instance, can relate to the two 19-year old Bennett-Alexander sisters who share their experiences from markedly different perspectives in "The Black Experience" and "Betrayal in Black and White." When their baby sister, 9-year old Tess Alexandra, weighs in with her clear-eyed essay, "'Mixed' Emotions," even the youngest school-age child can hear and understand her voice. And as if that weren't enough, I dare you to remain unmoved after reading Antoine P. Reddick's brave but heartbreaking "All the Black Children" and then flip to Toure's "Blackmanwalkin," a young man's joyful tribute to his father. Finally, for those who think virulent racism is a thing of times past, apartheid lives well and prospers next door, on the bus, in school. Laurel Holliday has done something quite extraordinary. Once again, in this her last in the "Children of Conflict" series, she has stepped back and made it possible for readers to hear, without filters, the enormously varied voices of ordinary people speaking as the experts they are on growing up, in this instance, Black in America. CHILDREN OF THE DREAM offers readers the gift of entering the 21st century less ignorant, less divided, less mean-spirited, less smug, more generous, more hopeful, more sensitive, more empowered to face the clear and still present truth about racism's destruction. Make no mistake though. As one of the contributors to the anthology, I assure you that we do not point fingers, seek sympathy, or even threaten retribution. Rather, we have laid open pieces of our lives so you can see how we are all shaped, for good and bad, by the same forces. As with all gifts, you may take these or leave them. But for the wise ones, who desire a new, empowered, awakened way of racial being, the choice will be perfectly obvious

As a reader from outside America, this book was a revelation about a society which has so much to offer the world and yet often sells its own citizens short. Anyone, black or white who has ever experienced racism anywhere in the world will recognise themselves in these stories. It would be invidious to name specific writers from the collection, there is not a bad story in it which is to the credit of all the contributors but also to the work of Laurel Holliday who has brought yet another fine collection of stories by ordinary people to the reading public. What makes this collection exceptional is that it deals not only with racism by whites oppressing blacks, but the equally significant evil of blacks who seek to denigrate their brothers and sisters for 'not being black enough'. This is something which is recognisable to all who live in areas of racial or sectarian conflict. I wish that this book could be made compulsory reading for every school child, along with previous Laurel Holliday collections dealing with Palestine/Israel, Ireland and the victims of WW2 and the Holocaust. Read this book, it really will change the way you think!

Children Of The Dream A review by Gunter David Ft. Washington, PA

In the age of the status quo between black and white in American, when the races have social contact mainly at work, rarely at home, Children Of The Dream: Our Own Stories Of Growing Up Black In America makes a vital contribution. For how are we to know about each other, except by reading of inner thoughts and feelings, since most of us don't openly talk to each other?

This book is filled with memoirs of Afro-Americans struggling to come to terms with the color of their skin in a white world. But unlike other books having covered the same terrain, this volume describes the experiences of children, as told by adults looking back. The hurts, the wounds, but also the hopes and triumphs are recounted in the first person. They make for deeply personal stories, both revealing and informative.

Among the most moving is the very first in the book, "The Question" - a recollection by Arline Lorraine Piper of how her grandmother fed hungry white men during the Depression, when her own family had little to spare. "Sticks And Stones And Words And Bones" by Amitiyah Elayne Hyman, tells of relationships with white neighbors. There is sadness and a sense of loss in "My First Friend (My Blond-Haired, Blue-Eyed Linda)" by Marion Coleman Brown, on the theme of how children are taught to hate. And then there is "White Friends" by Bernestine Singley, a bitter indictment of both black and white social values.

The book is the latest in editor Laurel Holliday's "The Children Of The Conflict" series. Her introductions of each story beautifully set the scene. The pictures of the authors as children provide an illuminating touch.

For an academic book, "China's Leaders" is very readable; this non-academic enjoyed it on a long plane ride and left the jet feeling like some long-standing questions about China had been answered. It's one of those super-well-organized books so it's easy to skip around and find the stuff you dig: broad-based surveys, focused case studies, whatever.

AND at this point the book is recent enough to be relevant but old enough for Cheng Li to have made some predictions (note: very guarded academic predictions, of course) that have actually been borne out in the several years since publication. That, and his tone and scope, give the whole book a cagey credibility that's refreshing, especially with so many other authors running around making! crazy! predictions! about the next superpower.

Cheng Li does an outstanding job of uncovering the relationships that propel many of China's leaders. Excellent piece of scholarship and the best book I have run across dealing with elite Chinese politics. This is a must read for any person interested in China.

I just finished reading this book, and it is truly a first rate piece of China scholarship. It is a must read book for anyone trying to understand the leadership transition currently underway in Beijing. The book is very well written, and very readable. It also is clearly based upon first rate research and analysis. The entire new generation of leadership is discussed, plus more in depth discussions of Hu Jintao, Zeng Qinghong, and Wen Jiabao. Any journalist wanting to understand Chinese politics needs to read this book.

Taking the old "kremlinology" approach to figuring out Chinese politics, this book organizes each leader's factional affiliation by education, geographic location (the "Shanghai clique", etc.) and others. This approach has always been usable only as a general guide to leadership behavior, but it's all we've got. This book does it as well as any other, but a reader should know that it's not written in a narrative style, but rather in a reference format. Highly useful.

Cheng Li has written a first-rate book on the next generation of Chinese leaders: what backgrounds they are likely to have, where they went to school, what types of qualifications they are likely to have, etc. etc. While much of the first half of the book is a rather dry academic look at educational backgrounds and statistical analysis thereof, the real meat of the book is the chapter on the key roles of mishu or secretary (chief-of-staff is a better translation) and taizi or cadre kids. It is here that Li is able to really shed some light on the nature of the Chinese style of leadership grooming and promition. Drawing on CHinese language sources increasingly available from publishing houses such as mirrorbooks.com in Hong Kong, Li does a superb job of looking closesly at the careers of Zeng Qinghong and Wen Jiabao, two leaders likely to advance at the next Party Congress in 2002. Extensive use of data tables on so-called 4th generation leaders makes the book very data rich...a must read for those wanting to analyze China's leadership in the run up to the major changes likely at the next Party Congres....

Very good analysis on how/why American Confronts the M.E issues of the last 5 Presidents, give you a whole pictures of how they are related and dragged on to present time...

thoughtfull marvelously readable and timely written withut the angst and i saw it all tone of most of the current crop of personal reflections that masquarade as learned analyses provides important backgroumd context and history that helps to make some sense of the current state of affairs recommended to anyone who really wants to learn more

This book is a history of how the U.S. formulated and executed Middle Eastern Policy over a thirty year period from the Presidency of Jimmy Carter (1978-1982) through that of George W Bush (2000-2008). It also provides a useful, but concise summary of U.S - Middle East relations from the end of WWII to 1978. Essentially it provides an analysis not only of each presidential administration's Middle East Policy, but provides a description of how the policy formation process of each administration actually worked. Not surprisingly it was different for each president.

As the book makes clear, the U.S. has held two remarkably consistent strategic goals for this entire period: the security of the State of Israel; and the security of Middle Eastern oil production. Yet in a volatile region like the Middle East events well beyond U.S. control often erupt to disrupt the most carefully planned policy implementations. Freedman recounts for example how President Carter's tenure was defined by the Iranian Revolution and its subsequent hostage crises, even though Carter really wanted to be remembered for establishing peaceful and enduring relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians. Often the success or failure of U.S. policy in the region was a function of being able to cope with unexpected events or unintended consequences that suddenly threatened one or both of the strategic goals. Reading this book one is struck by how dicey even the best formulated policies are for this region.

Of course Freedman devotes a good deal of attention to the current administration and its involvement in Afghanistan (and Pakistan) and Iraq/Iran. He attempts to trace the thought processes that gradually coalesced into what was known as Operation Iraqi Freedom and its aftermath. In doing so he identifies the emergence of the doctrine of preventive war and concept of a Global War on Terror. He then tries to provide a balanced summary of U.S. operations in Iraq up to the current partially successful surge that has brought a measure of stability to that unhappy country.

In the end he suggests that the U.S. might be well advised to adopt a Middle East Policy similar to that suggested by Ken Pollock in his latest book, "A Path Out of the Desert", which the book reviewer of the UK Magazine, "The Economist" suggested should be read together with the Freedman book. Both by most standards are pretty good books.

Here is the Economist's Review of A Choice of Enemies. Although it spends more space on Kenneth Pollack's A Path Out of the Desert, it also does treat Freedman's book.


The Economist
Books and Arts
America and the Middle East
How they got in, how to get out
Jul 24th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Foresight and hindsight in the world's bad places
A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East
By Kenneth M. Pollack
Random House; 539 pages; $30

A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East
By Lawrence Freedman
PublicAffairs; 624 pages; $29.95. Weidenfeld & Nicolson; £20

HOW did America get into its current mess in the Middle East? And how can it get out again? Kenneth Pollack's book is all about the second question but he starts by making a confession relevant to the first. He was a champion of the invasion of Iraq. In 2002, in an influential book entitled "The Threatening Storm", he argued the strategic and moral case for removing Saddam Hussein. Mr Pollack admits now that the intervention a year later was a fiasco, and that after such a disaster the inclination of most Americans is to turn away from the region completely and focus on problems at home. But that is not his view. His latest book is a powerful argument for continued, and perhaps even greater, American involvement in the Middle East.

As befits a former CIA analyst and member of the National Security Council, Mr Pollack builds his case on a hard-headed examination of America's interests in the region. Of these, the most important is oil. If a big percentage of it were suddenly to be removed from the market, the shock of higher prices could on some estimates spark a global recession akin to the Great Depression. American policy, he concludes, should therefore be designed principally to prevent "catastrophic oil disruptions". This means guarding against possibilities such as a revolution in Saudi Arabia or a massive terrorist attack on the oil-supply network.

You might expect a book that starts this way to dwell mainly on how America can maintain military forces in the region. Mr Pollack, however, wants nothing less than "an integrated grand strategy" to secure American interests for the long run. Such a strategy, he admits, may take "many decades", just as it took nearly half a century for America to help Europe and East Asia repair themselves after the second world war. For this grand strategy to work, he says, America will first have to harmonise its separate policies towards Iraq, Iran and Israel. It must also transform the region's politics and economics. That is to say--let no one accuse the chastened Mr Pollack of imperial hubris--America must help along the efforts of the locals, since outsiders "cannot possibly know how to change the society of another people".

But do the people of the Middle East want what America wants for them? Given the growth of political Islam, and the fact that Mr Pollack deems many Arab countries to be on the point of revolution, perhaps not. Nonetheless, a policy of continuing to prop up repressive regimes is like "playing Russian roulette" with foreign policy, as America discovered when the shah's fall turned Iran from staunch friend to implacable foe. Far better, he says, to encourage the region's governments to address popular grievances by embracing political freedom and social equality.

This will not be easy, not least because of the hated Bush administration's insincere or at least incompetent pursuit of this very policy. But Arabs tell pollsters that they want both democracy and Islam, and Mr Pollack reckons these two are compatible. Quoting an Egyptian activist who says that what her countrymen need is a job and a voice, he thinks America must find its path out of the desert by helping all Arabs get both.

A simple summary of Mr Pollack's main ideas does scant justice to this thoughtful and informative book. None of its prescriptions is especially novel. The patient promotion of reform, careful containment of the spillover from Iraq, a policy of carrots and sticks (but no military pre-emption) for Iran, building the sinews of a Palestinian state: to all except isolationists and the few surviving neocons, this has become a fairly conventional prospectus for America's post-Iraq policy in the Middle East. But Mr Pollack binds the strands together deftly and imparts a good deal of learning and wisdom along the way.

Sir Lawrence Freedman is less interested in how America should proceed after Iraq and more in working out how it tied itself in such knots in the first place. As an historian, he is more tolerant than Mr Pollack of George Bush, noting that after September 11th this president faced a challenge more complex in some ways than the one Franklin Roosevelt had to deal with after Pearl Harbour in 1941. Whereas Roosevelt knew who the enemy was and what America would have to do, Mr Bush had to choose and name an enemy in a new sort of war without obvious rules, aims or front-lines. He did so, moreover, in a region where no power had exercised a consistently sure touch, and where America had long been torn between an underlying dissatisfaction with the state of affairs and the traditional instinct of a great power to protect the status quo from aggressive states or radical movements.

It is instructive to read these books together. Sir Lawrence's aim is not to lay out a policy. He has no grand unifying theory of the Middle East. His aim is only to render the "most credible" account possible of momentous events such as the fall of the shah, the three wars in the Persian Gulf, invasion and jihad in Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter's half-success at peacemaking at Camp David in 1978 and Bill Clinton's failure there two decades later. All these and more formed the treacherous backdrop of American interests and alliances against which Mr Bush had to formulate his response to the attacks on the twin towers. Sir Lawrence's subtle narrative is a marvel of concision, even over more than 500 pages. By the end it cannot but make the reader wonder how realistic it is to advocate, as Mr Pollack does, an "integrated grand strategy" capable of being sustained for decades in such a violent and unpredictable part of the world.

To that Mr Pollack has a simple answer, in the form of a question. What is the alternative? Thanks to its energy needs, America is locked into the region for the foreseeable future, even though the future is so hard to foresee in the unhappy Middle East. Since there are no quick fixes, it had better reconcile itself to the long slog. And although unexpected events will continue to knock it off course, it is more likely to succeed if it can cling to at least some general sense of where it is trying to go.

The black and white battle between good and evil is a common element of fantasy. But that's all it is - fantasy. "A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East" is an examination of America's involvement in the growing conflicts with the middle east, conflicts which are almost as far from black and white as something can possibly be. Many of America's alleged 'enemies' are not in fact working together, and are just as antagonistic towards each other as they are America. An intriguing look at America, its enemies, and their countless interrelations with one another, "A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East" is a top pick for community library current events collections.

The following is an excerpt from John D. Roth's "Choosing Against War, A Christian View":

"...the crucifixion, as all Christians know, is only part of the Easter story. The dramatic climax of the gospel narrative is actually not Christ's death on Good Friday--after all, countless other good people have died cruel deaths. Rather, the main point of the Passion Story, the axis around which the whole gospel turns, is Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday. When, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day--just as he told his disciples he would--God announced to the world that the powers of evil and violence do not have the final word. The resurrection was the vindication of God's ultimate triumph of love over the forces of violence."

Roth makes a -solid- approach that is hard to ignore.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK if you believe that the Bible stops at "an eye for an eye".
If you are willing to be challenged by the way of the cross, this book will give you a powerful challenge and inspire you to further growth, both on a personal level as well as on a social and a political level.
The book bases itself on the Bible, particularly on the words and the life of Jesus, with helpful examples of real life applications of the gospel through the ages.
"The resurrection was the vindication of God's ultimate triumph of love over the forces of violence. It guarantees to all those who follow in the humble way of Christ, that in the end -against all odds and contrary to the logic of human reason- Shalom will indeed prevail."
The book is well written and easy to read and would be a good start for any congregation to look at its own position toward the use of force and violence.
The reader from Canada who wrote the one star review above must not have read the book. John Roth does refer specifically to the Old Testament. " The Old Testament story offers a series of powerful hints regarding God's desire to reconcile humans to each other and Himself. But the fullness of God's revelation to humanity is to be found in Christ and the message of the NT gospel. This may seem like an obvious point for most Christians, but it is especially relevant for those who see in the violence of the OT a justification for Christians to participate in war today."

This book does to Christian Nonresistance what Stephen Hawkings does to cosmology. It's an easy read laying out important Christian priciples and practical applications. It is a highly challenging topic that I resisted at first, but after reading through my Bible and other authors, I know it's true. This other "review" by someone who hasn't read the book should be ignored, they really ought to read the book themselves, it answers their questions. They make it sound that since some people aren't peacful, we ought not to be either. That contradict's Jesus's teachings. "Blessed are the peacemakers, they are the children of God." This book really is a must read, if you disagree or not. Too many are opposed to pacifism who haven't an understanding of what it really is.

John Roth has written a theologically sophisticated and yet wonderfully readable book about pacifism as a Christian response to war. While John Howard Yoder is probably the most powerful advocate of the pacifist position, his books are not always accessible to the ordinary reader. Roth, on the other hand, has written a book that should be studied by every Sunday School class in America. He invites us to consider an option many of us have ignored.

This book balances careful theological thought, effective stories and illustrations, a historic survey, and questions of practical application. Roth works hard to support pacifism while rejecting the elitism that often colors many anti-war manifestos. He faces head on the difficult question of how to be a Christian and a citizen. While his position is well articluated, he acknowledges other views without ridiculing them.

My hope, in this time of war and rumors of war, is that many will discover this fine book and share it with their friends.

I used Roth's book for a class on Biblical Pacifism at a Church of the Brethren. All members of historic peace churches (Mennonite/Church of the Brethren/Quaker) will find this book a welcome addition to their understanding of the biblical mandate for peace and justice. For others, the book offers a fresh and careful look at a minority view within the Christian tradition today. Roth (who has his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and is an historian at Goshen College, in Indiana) takes great pastoral concern in the six chapter book, and prefaces what is perhaps the boldest chapter (5--dealing w/ the problems of Christian citizenship) with a chapter on pacifist humility. While this is a simple introduction, it does not shy away from serious themes, as so often can occur in a "primer" that is intended for a broad audience. Roth discusses the idea of worldview at length, and in doing so, some informative insights about the Enlightenment, Nietzche, Modernity, Post Modernity, and American Religious History take place. In "Choosing Against War," Roth is able to reach that broad audience he intended (pacifist, just war theorist, pastor, student, and beyond), without avoiding complex issues and questions. Roth's book is worth owning--for its great prose, simple set-up, and vigorous discussion of not-so-simple subjects.

The first thing I have to say about the book is a critique of the actual book itself. I have never read a book so full of mistakes in my life! It gave me the impression that getting it to print was more important than quality assurance. I mention it because it was to the point of real annoyance. About the message of the book. It very clearly states the fact that we must maintain our Christian witness throughout our Y2K preparations as well as how we act should there be an emergency after January 1, 2000. There is some very good spiritual insight in this book. One very important thing mentioned, is that the witness and testimony of Christ to a needy world in Y2K crisis should be in the hands of born-again believers and not cult members. However, it was a tough read at the beginning. For example, after listing things that weren't going to happen with Y2K (such as: "We will NOT have a nuclear meltdown", among others), the authors state "We just do not believe these sorts of major catastrophes are going to happen." That's not good enough reason for me to breathe a sign of relief! But if you can get through the beginning of the book, the rest of the book is well worth it. They take a middle of the road stance on possible scenarios, and I find that I am even more conservative than they are. It is a very sound book theologically. The focal point is that we should be prepared spiritually first and foremost, and then physically for Y2K (Matthew 16:26). I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to be spiritually prepared, as well as physically prepared for Y2K.

I found "The Christian's Y2K Preparedness Handbook" to be a wonderful, and sane approach to dealing with all the issues that have been related to Y2K. The writers take a reasoned, thoughtful look at all aspects of life, and offer sound advice for dealing with investments, family, community and the church. They offer clear challenges we can all relate too...'being prepared' for everything from food shortages to opportunities to express and enhance your faith. This book should be read by everyone, Christian or not, who is concerned about the Y2K problems and especially if you are uncertain about the actions you should be taking to protect your family.

I loved the first part of the book that dealt with the possible scenarios. I finally understand what really has caused this problem, and what is likely to happen on January 1. I also really liked the down to earth way that the authors present the facts- their style is easy to read. They take a very loving and practical approach to how Christians should react to all of this, and how they should minister to their neighbors. My wife liked the middle part of the book with all of the really practical advice on preparing for possible shortages. She says that these are all things we can actually do! We are going to start preparing now. We loved the book!

I have read much on the Y2k situation and have been most impressed with "The Christian's Y2k Preparedness Handbook". Understandably, being copyrighted in 1999 would make it as up todate as possible,but more than that is the way the material is presented. It shows Godly wisdom on this matter, not just hype. It gives different scenario's of what may happen and why, and goes into what a person should do about it for the Glory of God. I just got my copy 2 days ago and wanted to order a copy for my brother-in-law and his family as they also are looking for God's hand in all things and how to serve him.

I make my living as a computer consultant and have worked with computers for the last 20 years. I find that most people do not understand what all the Y2K fuss is about. This book is written from a viewpoint that only someone with experience in the computer field would have. It was not written by a writer looking to make a quick buck on the Y2K paranoia. The book gives the worst case, best case and in between possibilities and the reasons they may or may not come to be. This allows the readers to decide for themselves how extensively they want to prepare for Y2K. Information in this book is presented from the Christian viewpoint, but is of the value to all people interested in preparing properly for Y2K. I highly suggest you buy a copy and decide for yourself what level of preparedness you want to be at when you know the facts.

This is a fascinating little book that outlines truly realistic ways to handle yourself in unspeakably frightening and intense situations. The authors do a great job of tailoring their advice for average people--their point is that you do NOT have to be a black belt in karate, soldier, or police officer to protect yourself in a hijacking, suicide bombing, or other typical forms of modern terrorism. An eye-opening and valuable book for average American citizens who might someday find themselves in the midst of a terrorist incident and who want to learn about various ways to respond to save themselves and others.

This book is rather short, a mere 128 pages, yet insightful and well-written. Learn realistic methods to identify and subdue suicide bombers before they can carry out their deadly missions, escape from and/or disarm gun or knife-wielding attackers, recognize and respond to homicidal drivers, and react properly to hostage situations. This is hard-hitting and much needed information in today's dangerous world, useful for martial artists, law enforcement officers, security professionals, and every day civilians alike. The Madrid train bombings on 03/11/04 and the London subway/bus bombings on 07/07/05 are graphic reminders that this information is relevant and sorely needed. The author is a retired Israeli counterterrorism expert who founded a security training firm. You can't learn all his secrets from this short book but it's a great place to start.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

After having spent 15 years in Security and 20 years in Defensive Tactics training and teaching I was so blown away by the effectiveness and simplicity of the techniques, tactics and concepts of survival that I arranged for Itay to come to Australia and train Military, Law Enforcement and Civillians in a number of courses. At the end of the courses I was amazed at how much progress I and all the others had made.Itay Gils book is something for every thinking Citizen, Law Officer or Military person who may have to confront extreme violence in their day to day existence. After September 11th, Bali and Madrid it only high lites how valuble this infomation is.

This book is an investment in your safety.

Finally, a book that equips the Average Joe with the means to fight off 9/11-style terrorism -- but without building up false expectations of what an individual can do in the face of the biggest threat of our times. I found Itay Gil's no-nonsense and pragmatic teachings most refreshing. He advises safe precautions to limit risk as well as last-ditch, all-out lethal confrontations. The techniques he teaches, once practiced at home, are novel, but amazingly simple and effective. The Citizen's Guide should be standard for the self-defense bookshelf. Anyone know if Gil is planning a sequel, perhaps with more detailed tactics from his SWAT days?

In a world where freedoms are being stretched to their extreme; a world in which the word "innocent" is becoming synonymous with "victim", here is a book that re-addresses the balance in favour of you and me - the good peace-loving citizen.

I found the book a most useful and practical guide that dispells many of the myths surrounding this subject - including the most prevalent... "I cannot do anything myself to stop this".

One always hopes that such techniques never have to be employed - but I feel a lot more secure knowing that if i need to ... i now can.

Well crafted... A must buy.

As the international director of the campaign to stop one of the dirtiest oils in the world from perpetuating the American oil addiction (i.e., tar sands oil from Alberta, the second largest oil reserve in the world), I'm constantly reading books on coal, oil, and global warming. This book by Michael Brune is one of the first that I've read that is actually a pleasure to read (despite the subject matter). Michael's writing style is crisp with active tense, great little vignettes, and a little humor thrown in to keep you from getting depressed. Each chapter contains the juiciest and most relevant facts, great examples of what other countries or industries are doing to end the fossil fuel habit, and very specific ways to learn more and take action. I highly recommend this book! Michael Marx, Executive Director, Corporate Ethics International.

Coming Clean hits all the right notes. In his first book, Michael Brune meets the challenges of a climate in crisis and an imperiled environment head on. Brune offers hope to those feeling helpless and overwhelmed by climate change and our global addiction to fossil fuels. More than just another primer on the most urgent environmental issues of the day (though it fills that niche effectively), Coming Clean offers easy steps that any citizen can take to help usher in a clean energy economy.

Coming Clean isn't another environmental treatise accessible only to the academic elite. This book is for the rest of us. Every chapter engages the reader by putting a human face on complex issues ranging from oil and coal to biofuels to building a safer, more efficient mass transit system.

If you ever wanted to make a difference but weren't sure how to get started, pick up a copy of Coming Clean and create an environmental legacy you'll be proud to leave to the next generation.

"Coming Clean" offers real solutions to our current energy crisis. It should be required reading of ALL corporate CEO's and politicians. If only we, as a nation, would heed the warnings and act on the sound advice offered by experts, we could lead the world in use of clean energy and in making the billions that would be connected to the new industries created. I will be leaving this book out for any of my guests and friends to see and comment upon.

I thoroughly enjoyed Coming Clean! Michael Brune writes about complex issues of climate change and energy in an accessible, engaging way. The book is chock full of information - it clearly presents the problems we're facing, but it doesn't make you feel hopeless. Brune tells fascinating stories with an insider's view of past activism to stop major corporations from destroying our environment, as well as stories of regular people taking action in their communities. Every couple of pages, I found myself jumping out of my seat to share something with my boyfriend or whoever happened to be nearby at the time. I love that every chapter gives you things you can do right away to address the issues raised in that chapter. It's a very empowering and affirming read!

Coming Clean is an important book that is a really great read for anyone who wants to understand why America is addicted to oil and coal, and more importantly, learn how people are fighting for a clean energy future that will be good for our country, our economy, and the planet as a whole. Even more importantly, you'll learn about many ways you can get involved and be a part of the solution yourself.

I really liked Coming Clean's focus on vision and action, combined with its hopeful tone giving a sense of what is possible and plenty of inspiration and tools as promised on the cover. I started using the Take Action and Resources sections before I even finished the book. I also found there to be a lot more useful nuts and bolts and thought-provoking information and statistics in this book than other more challenges-focused books that tend to be overloaded with less essential info (and that for me usually start to feel onerous around the halfway to 2/3 mark).

In contrast, Coming Clean is lean and focused with clarity of purpose. There's great use of humor and engaging stories of people making a difference that make it an enjoyable, quick read. But once you are finished, you will likely be inspired enough to return to it often to utilize its many tools for taking both individual and collective action.

This wonderfully illustrated book was welcomed into my home right before Thanksgiving. Amongst our family and friends at the Thanksgiving table was a young family, whose father had just returned from the war and met his daughter for the first time. The encouraging words and bright illustrations helped the couple begin the conversation about their fears and uncertainty on how to raise a small child with a father away. I would recommend this uplifting text to any family!

This is a fabulous book that will really help military families. We need this in every library! Wonderful story and beautiful illustrations. Exceptional book.

As a school counselor....and as a former Military Brat....I cannot overstate the importance of this book for the children of any military personnel. I hope Ms. Lorenzana follows this up with books specific to other branches of the military and I hope a copy of this book is soon to be found in every elementary school library.

This book is excellent for children who have parents in the military. It helps them to understand military life and what to expect when a parent may be away serving his/her country. The illustrations are fabulous and there's one on every page in beautiful color. I think any child would be delighted to own this book.

This is perfect timing for this book, with all of the soldiers in Iraq, and all of those families waiting. This is a topic that hasn't has a light shown on it before - how military service affects the families, specifically the children. I hope this is the first in a long series.