Cultural Books

Reading "Tabloid Tokyo" is sort of a chicken-and-egg scenario - is the country as peculiar as these stories let on...or are the stories more an outgrowth of Japan's hyper-aggressive "wild weekly" reporting? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. One thing for sure: you'll be struck with the impression after breezing through this compilation that the brand of journalism practiced in this market segment is, ummm, "participatory." It is pointed out in the intro through, that "wild weekly" practices are light-years removed from the clubby, staid atmosphere of the mainstream, daily press. For someone who's been bored to tears by the Nikkei Shimbun and its brethren, this dichotomy is jarring.

Here's something to note about "Tabloid Tokyo" that made it sort of an odd read: the book's 101 two- to three-pages pieces were compiled by four Westerners with long-time roots in Japan. I had originally thought these editors simply translated the pieces. But, to the contrary: they've actually translated, summarized and interpreted them. Until you realize that, the book appears to have a rather stilted flavor, with reporters referring to their investigatory exploits in a strained third-person fashion. Once you realize instead that one of the four editors is giving you his interpretation of the original piece, things make more sense. Still, this is a technique I would have liked to have seen explained in the preface.

Everybody knows about Japan's manufacturing prowess. But I'll bet you didn't know that prowess extends to Dutch Wives, life-sized mannequins that substitute for the real thing. And the hard working Japanese salarimen are legion. But I'll bet you didn't know that they've raised goofing off to an art. The Mark Schreiber Gang of Four bring the one-dimensional Japan we usually get in English publications to a land of,...well, real people, very much like you and me. And in their own words rewritten sideways. Will you be surprised? Yep, sometimes. Will you be titillated? Yep, sometimes. Will you be skeptical. Yep, sometimes. Will you be entertained? You bet. Everytime.

Like its predecessor Tokyo Confidential, Tokyo Tabloid shows us a side of Japan that doesn't appear in the mainstream press. Japan is truly a bizarre country packed with the odd, the unbelievable and sometimes incomprehensible. Here is a group of writers who have not only translated but also interpreted these tales of obscurity into a volume that is truly a worthwhile read. Having spent time in Japan myself I can see that they really know their stuff. This is an inside job and it doesn't get better than this. These publications seem to go out of print, glad I got my Tokyo Confidential before they went up in price!

The short anecdotes are perfect for extended visits to the crapper. Don't be like others and gobble it all up in one sitting. Get the most utility from your 10 buck book. Enjoy the ribald tales for many, many sittings. Leave the book in your toilet and you'll be aroused, disgusted and inspired.

There are two Japans, exemplified by the astir calm of the ancient temples of Nara and Kyoto, and the wild neon and easy sex of Kabukicho and Juso. Both of these worlds draw in their own particular breed of tourists and gawkers, and both are equally valuable and authentic culture. In advertising and photography however, the beautiful grace of Mt. Fuji is generally showcased over the exoticism of the Image Club, and one has too look a little harder to find the reverse side of the coin.

Japanese people too are fascinated by this seedy underbelly, as shown by "Tabloid Tokyo: 101 Tales of Sex, Crime and the Bizarre from Japan's Wild Weeklies." Actual articles collected and translated from Japanese "Weekly" magazines, these are all the torrid tales and strange encounters not usually found in guide books or culture guides. This book is a sequel to "Tokyo Confidential" by the same author.

Categorized into ten sections, the articles range from sex and prostitution, to strange fashion, the dissolution of traditional Japanese values, crime and the Yakuza and to general "Tabloid Fodder." Each of these sections is packed with short articles, usually 1 or 2 pages in length, written in a breezy style that entertains and informs.

Not all of them are pure sex related, with articles such as homeless people being evacuated to make room for a flower-viewing party, and shoddy sushi practices, but the majority are along the lines of "Men Dress in Lacy Things" about pantie/bra clad construction workers and "Costumed Lovers Seek Sex Thrills" about the Cosplay crowd.

A fun, outrageous book for those interested in Japan as well as seekers of the perverse. Japanese learners can even pick up quite a few new and interesting vocabulary additions, such as eropuri ("Erotic Photo booths") and deaikei ("Encounter Websites").

This book was a great help in writing an essay for college, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of tattoos.

While I can not even come close to the great review that the previous reviewer wrote, I can in fact tell you that this is one of the most interesting books that I have read on the history of tattoos. I myself have 3 tattoos and since I got them, I have been enthralled with the history that surrounds them as well as trying to figure out where the stigma that is currently attached to them came from. I sat down to just leaf through this book and I had to read the entire thing, it was so completely interesting. If you have any interest in tattooing at all, this is a must read!

Not just a compendium of illustrations, this collection of essays, interviews, historical accounts and yes, some nice pictures, pulls together a great deal of the cultural history and tradition associated with tattooing. Well written, very wide-reaching and very entertaining. Gilbert is careful to detail where all his information comes from, adding to the work's authority and allowing interested readers to look more deeply into specific topics. This is a winner.

Were you a fan of tattoing who had been stranded on that proverbial desert isle and allowed only half dozen favorite musical discs and but one or two books, it's a good bet that you would want Steve Gilbert's "Tattoo History: A Source Book" to keep you company.

A somewhat uneven quality of writing and of academic documentation mark this book. Even so, "Tattoo History: A Source Book" is an impressive work that reflects serious research, and it is a tour de force in comfortably handling material that ranges widely over time and space. On a subject that is so often dominated by photographs and essays that emphasize above all Japanese-style tattooing, it is a delight to learn as well of the long tradition of tattooing in the Pacific Isles, of the role tattoos played in the ancient Middle East, and of early 20th-century tattooing in the West. Gilbert's extensive use of source material--efectively translated from many languages--lends the book its gravitas and contributes significantly to his success in instilling in the reader an increased sense of respect for the tattoo arts.

Finally I should note that even if this book did not open new vistas for the reader, the essays which bookend "Tattoo History" would alone be worth the price of admission. Gilbert's opener, "Confessions of a Tattoo Addict," although but two pages in length, is an evocative essay that relates a fascination with tattoos to his coming of age in the 1940s. Meanwhile, the lengthier closing essay by Don Ed Hardy documents the resurgence of tattooing over the past several decades, the cultural cross-fertilization that has occurred, and the slow but growing acceptance of tattooing as a legitimate art form by the more conventional arts world.

As an archaeologist and a tattoo enthusiast, this is one of my all time favorite books on tattoos. I had been a fan of the web site version for some time and was glad to see that the book was so beautifully designed. But design aside, this is a "history book" that is unique in that it is NOT a narrative description of tattoos through the ages. Instead, it is exactly what it says on the cover -- a source book. Original source material, invaluable to researchers, is presented undiluted, in long quotations, with original illustrations. If you're looking for a plethora of modern tattoo designs that you can take to the shop on your next visit, look elsewhere. If you want to know about early tattooing all around the globe, then look no further.

This is an intelligent, well thought out defense of integrating evolutionary biology into cultural antropology. Without any apparent ideological ax to grind, Lee Cronk presents a balanced, witty, and ultimately compelling case for a careful combining of these two frequently competing disciplines. The book is short (only 130 pages) so its argumants are condensed into brief, clear paragraphs followed by a wonderful array of delightful examples. Here are few of the examples used by Cronk.

Mukogodo tribes people of Kenya, studied by Cronk and his wife, profess equal affection and value for their sons and daughters but give far better care to their daughters because they are worth cattle and sheep as brideswealth.

Male scorpionflies use dead insects as gift-food for female scorpionflies to gain mating but will use saliva on a leaf or physical force if no dead insect is available.

Cronk and his wife speak Swahili. So when a Nike commercial had a Samburu warrior statement translated as, "Just do it," they understood that he really said, "I don't want these. Give me big shoes." Cronk's correct translation got into the media and he spent a fun week of interviews. Nike gave Cronk a free pair of hiking boots for all the free publicity.

Tanka women of Hong Kong only nurse their infants with the right breast. In their old age, cancer is rare in the right breast but equal to high western rates in the left breast.

I hope I have tempted you to try this book. It has a very serious purpose and makes a strong case for one side of an academic argument that has gone on for 20 years. But it is very well written, accessible to the general reader, and has lots of wonderful stories to boot.

This short (130 page) book convincingly argues that culture must be taken into account when studying human behavior from an evolutionary perspective. Cronk supports his thesis with well-chosen examples, including references to the Mukogodo, former hunter-gatherers of Kenya with whom he conducts research. His views on the integration of the study of human behavior with the sciences generally, and the role of biology in underlying a universal ethics ("it is not clear that it is a sound basis on which to develop a system of ethics or that it truly offers us any way around the problem of cultural relativism"), should interest many. One issue I wish had been addressed more, however, is the difficulty of comparing human behavior with that of other species (chimpanzees, etc.) if culture is taken into consideration.

This graceful and well written book tries to do two things. First, he reviews an extensive body of modern behavioral ecology. If you've never encountered the treatment of culture in contemporary evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology, or biological anthropology, this book provides a very nice introduction. Second, Cronk argues that behavioral ecologists have understated the role of culture, and suggests how it be integrated into an overall theory of human behavior.

Towards the first goal, Cronk opposes the traditional notion in cultural anthropology and structural-functional sociology that holds that people's actions and values are reflections of the dominant culture. In Chapter 1, he gives several elegant examples of how people affirm their culture, while at the same time behaving in ways quite contrary to its dictates. In Chapter 2 he reviews the evidence that there is a universal human culture, and that it is rooted in human biology. The evidence is impressive and strong. In Chapter 3 he argues for the unity of the behavioral sciences around the coevolution of human genes and culture, and the marginalization of ethical philosophy that results from increasing scientific knowledge of human behavior. He illustrates this in Chapter 4 with a review on the universalities and particularities of human mating patterns, on which there is much evidence, most of which is quite hostile to the traditional notion that humans are highly manipulable through the proper acculturation. In perhaps the most original chapter in the book, Chapter 7, he argues that traditional cultural relativism is a vicious enemy of freedom, thus turning a traditional critique of sociobiology on its head. I am in complete agreement with him here.

Cronk begins his own approach with a review of memetics, which is an evolutionary model of cultural diffusion. I think memetics is incurably fuzzy and quite useless for analytical purposes (mostly because it provides no theory of when memes spread and when they die out), but Cronk is a bit more tolerant. In Chapter 5, he provides his own theory of culture, which is that culture is a set of tools that people use to achieve their own ends. In this approach, people are active participants in making their lives, not the passive dupes who simply play out their culturally-dictated roles, as in most of traditional social theory. I am partial to this view. Indeed, I wrote a long article on the subject in 1981, and it appears front and center in Samuel Bowles and my Democracy and Capitalism (Basic Books, 1985).

I have two criticisms of the book. First, culture is not merely a tool. It also sets up conventions that give rise to what game theorists call Nash equilibria, in which, given the behavior of others, one's optimal behavior is quite narrowly truncated. This 'conventional' notion of culture must appear along side and instrumental view of culture. Second, I think we need analytical, mathematical models of behavior, without which all the theorizing in the world is just so much talk. Cronk doesn't go into this side of behavioral ecology, and in particular does not do justice to Boyd and Richerson, Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman, and others who try to model gene-culture coevolution.

Received this book for Christmas and am trying to decide how many to order for gifts! Not just for scientists or anthropologists, but spellbinding for anyone interested in or sometimes puzzled by human behavior.

`That Complex Whole' works on several levels both within the field of anthropology and for readers outside of the field. Within anthropology, I can think of at least three levels: as a meaningful springboard for discourse among professional anthropologists, as a tool for graduate students in anthropology who seek to understand the history and complexities of their field, as a resource for undergraduates who are discovering ways to study human behavior. In addition to anthropologists, biologists interested in the evolution of human behavior will also be enlightened by this book. Anyone interested in human behavior will find they can understand the topic as it is described in this book. Cronk uses examples from science fiction and popular culture that illuminate his points in a funny, sometimes laugh-out-loud way. The book invites you to think about science, human behavior, biology, and evolution in new ways. I highly recommend it.

This is a well-written narrative that doesn't go far enough. In particular, there's a very untold story about Hispanics in the suburbs that one documentary (Farmingville) brought to light at its worst -- and that was only touched upon in this book...the clash of race and class is being played out in the suburbs and Jose's brief stint in Porchester felt like an aside. That said, this book is moving, well-written, and compassionate, particularly the road trip to Mexico...a terrific story in itself. CBock

Thompson writes a fact filled account of the life of his friend Enrique, a Mexican immigrant living in Brooklyn, and the people around him. The author meets Enrique as a tenant struggling with housing issues. Later in the book Thompson travels to Mexico with Enrique and members of his family. The many experiences are described with conversations and impressions but little editorializing by the author. And that is not needed because the stories speak for themselves. This book fills an incredible gap.

Thompson's book goes where few others have gone before; inside the lives of undocumented workers from New York to Mexico. It's a human story of family, survival, and love. This book should give pause to anyone who tries to argue that undocumented workers do not bring value to our country. Thompson writes clearly and allows those he meets to speak for themselves, something that is too rare in our public debate about immigration.

The truth about Mexican immigration

Gabriel Thompson hits the heart of immigration problem. People tend to oppose to migration blindly without analyzing the factors that propel all these poor people to work outside of their homeland, being humiliated, underpaid, and overworked for a few dollars. Also all these "Minuteman" and other racists would not do the work that a Mexican does; yet they want to throw out the people who give this country their work so that those racists could live in the land of plenty. People that oppose this migration are also the descendants of other immigrants that came to this country for the same reasons as these new migrants. Mexican migrants and all migrants in general are the backbone of our industry and our economy, we should be thankful that there are people like these poor Mexicans and migrants from other countries that do so much work in exchange of very little. I'm grateful that amid this sea of racism and ignorance there are a few people like Gabriel Thompson that expose the truth as it is.

The best work of non-fiction narrative I have read in years. It reminds me of Jimmy Breslin's down-to-earth journalistic style. Sorry Lou Dobbs, there is no political spin here; you can get this book for your racist uncle or for your socialist aunt because this book speaks to the heart and helps you realize that Enrique could have been either an Irish, Norwegian, or German immigrant in a different time and a different place. Still, Enrique's journey is fascinating and knowing that people of his stature still come to our shores makes me feel optimistic about the future of this country.

Words cannot even begin to describe the beauty of the works of art contained in this book. If you only ever buy one book in your life to just look at the pictures let it be this one. I could sit entranced by this embroidery for hours. I agree with another reviewer who stated that you can't conceive of this art being created by human hands. If you need proof simply look at the cover. That is not a photograph folks, it is embroidered.
The photographs are also quite beatiful. Consider as you look at them that the photo's are trying to capture texture...something very elusive in that medium. In many cases you can barely tell the photo from the embroidery and in others the embroidery is an interpretation of the photo.
I cannot state this enough... this book is truly, truly extraordinary and I don't think that there is anything else like it out there.

This is, by far, the most beautiful embroidery book I've ever seen anywhere, at any time. It seems impossible that such impressive works of art could have been created. Robert Ketchum's photographs are beautiful, but the embroideries are, indeed, so breathtaking that it's hard to believe real human beings could have worked on them. This is the kind of embroidery I would love to be able to do, but it is so amazing that I know I'll never reach such a high level of expertise (at least not in this lifetime). My thanks to all the people involved in this project for sharing their special gifts with me and anyone else fortunate enough to have purchased this book or, better still, to have seen these works in person.

I bought this book, sight unseen purely from the rave reviews listed. To be honest I was a bit disappointed with the book. Firstly, Robert Glenn Ketchum's photographs are very average. In fact any 15 year old with a good camera and decent eye could take photo's of this quality. The thing that redeems them is the skill of the needleworkers. Secondly, I just think the book is overated. There's several western needlework books that cover this type of embroidery and have better images in my opinion so I just don't understand the rave. An interesting read, but..........yeah. I wouldn't have paid this much if I'd been able to flick through it first.

This is, by far, the most beautiful embroidery book I've ever seen anywhere, at any time. It seems impossible that such impressive works of art could have been created. Robert Ketchum's photographs are beautiful, but the embroideries are, indeed, so breathtaking that it's hard to believe real human beings could have worked on them. This is the kind of embroidery I would love to be able to do, but it is so amazing that I know I'll never reach such a high level of expertise (at least not in this lifetime). My thanks to all the people involved in this project for sharing their special gifts with me and anyone else fortunate enough to have purchased this book or, better still, to have seen these works in person.

I'm not all that interested in embroidery, but I enjoy visual excitement. One day while gallery hopping, we came upon a small portion of the work depicted in this book. We were both blown away by the work! Absolutely amazing. I would really like some posters of this work.

For those interested in the embroidery details, it is done with fine silk threads, hand dyed, on various fine fabrics, some of which are so fine you can see through them. Much of the interesting texture and effect is from what they call random stitch embroidery, in which the scenes are depicted by various colored stitches .5 cm (1/4 inch) long running in various random directions, yet they all come together to make the image. Other parts of the images are done by carefully controlled stitch direction to give crisp images. They pick up the light and are quite luminous, some are displayed as screens with light coming from behind. Only the enlargements in the book give a sense of the beauty and amazing technique of the actual pieces.

Oh, and the book is good too. Definitely a 5 star quality coverage of the work, with background information, as described in other reviews. But the work itself is beyond 5 stars. (In the gallery they were priced around the $10,000-$150,000 range, some took several years to complete.)

VERY INTERESTING MEMOIR,THE IMPACT THAT DRIVE UKNOWN LIMITS TO COLOR PEOPLE,THIS STILL UNRESOLVE, THIS BOOK GIVES YOU THE BIG PICTURE HOW, BACK IN TIME THE WOLRD START TO DISSECT THEMSELVES AND NOT BEING RESPECTED AS REAL HUMANS BEING.

Adam David Miller's new memoir is a startling look back at a valuable life that was nearly extinguished by ignorance and fear. The book is a multi-faceted look at the human condition and how we treat one another in a world that would often have us consider one another the enemy. The fact is that Mr. Miller does himself great credit by not hammering on the idea that only white people were dangerous to existence, and emphasizing that race is not the only issue, but difference of any sort. This, despite the central fact that his tale is one of fear and oppression by white people. This lack of hyperbole gives credence to the basis for his story. Here is the tale of a man almost lynched by a mob of white men during the early 40's in the Jim Crow South, a tale that takes the time and care to cover all the ways in which human beings demean and punish one another for their individuality. In doing this, Mr. Miller makes it quite clear that there are good folks and bad folks, although he does not use that nomenclature, but that the hierarchy of oppression from white to black is only one sort of bigotry, and that horror begins with fear of difference. The central and underlying concept of the book impresses anyone who picks this volume up with its certain knowledge of what centuries of oppression does to those oppressed: to turn those of white skin against those whose blood contains so little as "one drop" of African-American blood, those of lighter color against those who have darker skin, male and female against one another, those with education and social standing against their less well-educated, well-heeled neighbors, those from one side of a town against those from the less-desirable address, and homophobes of whatever sexual orientation who fear they might become tainted by what a person does in the privacy of his or her own body against love, and those with the desire for love, however that might be defined. This moving book is the story of a town in the Jim Crow South, but it is also the story of anytown anywhere in the United States of its time - and of anytown anywhere today (despite the current emphasis on politically correct phraseology practiced in public). It is also the story of a boy turned man in one second by circumstances beyond his control, and beyond his ken at the moment he is betrayed. Mr. Miller's young life is held forfeit in the hands of a group of men who know him and his family and yet consider killing him because of his skin color. In addition, it is the story of all of us at that age (19) - bored with our hometown, looking for some new and interesting person/thing/idea, we leave the local setting and set out on our journey to human independence. The difference here is that Mr. Miller is thrown from one sort of exile into another, as much against his journey as his ancestors were against theirs. For most of us growing up with a wish for independence, we find ourselves in new territory, but Mr. Miller finds himself in terrifying new territory in the city jail, and later in completely new territory, both mentally and physically. It is a journey to independence as a human being, and Mr. Miller makes the telling of his odyssey with rare grace and aplomb. We can thank the framers of the Declaration of Independence (some of whom were slaveholders) for the quote "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...," but we owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Miller for having continued the tradition of citizens who fought for independence so that they might live in a way that honors the individual bravery and honor of all. This reminder is all the more ironic coming from a man whose ancestors were ripped from their own country and culture and exiled into enforced enslavement. Bravo, Mr. Miller! Next installment please!

What an immensely readable treasure. I smiled, I cried, I was provoked, riled against the injustices, 'bled' from the scab of hurt living with this history in my lap. I was kept on the edge of my seat for two nights even though the book is structured with the 'ending' first--what an accomplishment just on that note alone. I'm deliciously confused how the author kept the suspense and incredible tension going in flashback. So all this to say, I'm waiting for the 'next installment...' (a memoir covering the next period of years?)

As a current college student, I found Adam David Miller's acute memoirs an important document for upcoming generations not only to gain an un-bias perspective of the segregated south but also to disscuss and explore the issues of race, gender, class and sexual issues Miller has observed. The parallel of issues to mine and other generations simply causes one to confront the issues we all face for simply being human.

Ticket to Exile The book, Ticket to Exile is a rare intimate portrait of an intelligent mind trapped in an ignorant world. As I read this book I found it to be thought provoking and inspiring. As a person of color, I kept comparing my life to Mr. Miller's childhood. I was amazed by how resilient and resourceful my elders were in stark contrast to how easy my life is today. Ticket to Exile opened my eyes to the subtle and damaging aspects of internal and institutional racism as it was at that time and it made me reflect on how it continues today. If this book doesn't change your mind I hope that it changes your heart. As it has mine. Ticket to Exile is an affirmation of life. Thank you Mr. Miller! I highly recommend this book for all readers, book clubs and especially High School students.

With his newest installment from an already well appreciated line of excellent books on various tactical aspects of military warfare, author Hans Halberstadt has again blessed military & police "operators" and the interested civilian readers with an outstanding text on the art of long and short range sniping. In my humble opinion, no one writing about military warfare and tactics has quite captured the essence of the psychological, physiological, technical and tactical aspects of "projecting force from afar" like Halberstadt since the late Carlos "White Feather" Hathcock, USMC wrote his military classic on snipers.

Make no mistake about it, "Triggermen" is not for those with a weak stomach. Author Halberstadt, through the stories of the snipers he interviewed for this book, allow the reader into the deep recesses of the military sniper's mind. For civilian readers, this book takes one on a unique journey where you begin to appreciate the mental and physical hardships associated with becoming a sniper on today's ever changing battlefield. From training, to target acquisition, to trigger compression, to terminal velocity; Hans Halberstadt transitions the reader from arm chair to prone position with eyes on the target. It just doesn't get any better than that!

"Triggermen" is MUST reading for all military and police operators; those seeking to be; and those who dream about what it would be like to defend this nation with a long gun and a scope. Five stars and a special salute to Hans Halberstadt!

Dr. Ron Martinelli
Criminologist/Law Enforcement Training Consultant
Technical Advisor, "Military & Law Enforcement Snipers"
The History & Discovery Channels
Martinelli & Associates: Justice Consultants, LLC
The Officer Safety Institute
Temecula, California

Much like Greg Mast, I must confess to being a dear friend of Hans. As one of the Commanders of a large regional SWAT Team, and the Sniper Element Commander of that team, I was delighted when Hans told me of his plans to write this superb book. Many previous works on sniping have documented the history of this deadly art, others have listed in great detail the hardware and tactics used by snipers, but none that I have read before have taken this approach of providing intimate, personal accounts of this specialized profession, straight from the mouths of the men in the field. I have also had the pleasure of meeting and sharing stories with Major Charles Greene, the inspiration for Trigger Men. This book is a fitting tribute to Greene and all the other military snipers who have proven time and time again that the most efficient, fearsome and cost-effective weapon on the battlefield is the sniper. Hans has done a magnificent job of turning these individual vignettes into an informative, insightful and thorough look into the world of combat sniping. No student of the military or the rifle should be without it.

Captain Nicholas Gottuso
SWAT/Sniper Team Commander

My name is James "Rock" McGlynn. I was a Marine Scout/Sniper and I fought in Beirut Lebanon in 1983. Hans Halberstadt was gracious enough to interview me for this book and I think this book has the ability to give it's readers a much better understanding of what it means to be a "Sniper" on the modern battlefeild.
There are a whole handfull of books on store shelves about us.I have been written about in a few of them. Yet, "Trigger Men" will give you a view that not many of you have ever witnessed before. The art and the craft of being a Sniper has evolved into a new era. The Battles we are fighting in the Middleast and the urban settings in which those battles are taking place, have forced the modern day Sniper to adapt and overcome many obstacles that previous generations did not have to deal with.
This book tells the actual stories from those of us that have been there. I strongly reccomend this book to you. It is written well and it's told without being filtered. You get the realism that others may have lacked. Not because other books are not truthful but, because Hans has written it without being apologetic or fearful of offending.
Combat is the most Barbaric event that man can partake in but, killing the enemy is what it's all about. Snipers' kill with accuracy that our enemies have never seen before. "Trigger Men" will bring it home to you.
Thanks, Hans for writting a great book and I am honored to have been included in it.
Semper Fi
Rock McGlynn

This book couldn't have been written before the tragic events of 9/11. Not because snipers on the battlefield are a new weapon of war but rather how snipers have reshaped and marketed themselves as much more than a "one shot, one kill" asset. In fact, as Hans Halberstadt makes perfectly clear with exceptionally thorough and smooth writing, snipers in the war on terror seldom leave the comfort of their firebase with a single shot and scoot mentality. The numerous fascinating vignettes of real 21st century snipers, using both Vietnam era rifles or today's most advanced weaponry, are a lesson in true courage, deadly skill, and rifle scope face-to-face reality of executioner within the limits of a sometimes shifting combat rules of engagement. And although Hans leaves little to the imagination, and does without apology, the subtle but inarguable lesson is that the snipers' work has evolved. Iraq presents an urban jungle of high angles, dilapidated structures and stairwells, and narrow dark alleys spaghettied with low hanging high power lines. And although the sniper seeks secreted points of domination to overwatch a specific area for insurgent activity, it still requires a gutsy commander to approve the operation. Hans tells us how it took awhile, sometimes years actually, for many peacetime commanders to finally realize that a risk averse mindset actually led to more casualties of their own as IEDs were planted with impunity, insurgents established armed checkpoints, or ambushed passer bys at will. Hans tells us how snipers in Iraq were initially misunderstood, not employed with any imagination, and kept on a close leash for fear a sniper team might be overrun. Fortunately this paradigm has been shattered, as Hans explains with incredible skill of prose, as the asymmetrical advantage of today's snipers can't be denied by skiddish commanders. The talented and brave snipers in this book tell you just why that is so. Ultimately, nobody truly wants to go to war and Trigger Men is a story many probably would prefer as fiction. However, the reality is that today's efforts absolutely require men (and sometimes women it seems) that can aim a rifle, settle the crosshairs, control their heartbeat, and squeeze out a few pounds of trigger pressure. The feedback is immediate as the destruction is obvious, and although Hans tells us they execute their job "without remorse" even when the target is unfortunately a child, the chronic mental struggles and deep dark demons are baggage the commander can rationalize and ignore - it certainly is a different story for the trigger men. A truly fascinating story of brave modern day warriors.

A sniper's preferred method of killing people is when they are not expecting to be killed. "This is the story of the ways people are selected and slain, sometimes at long range, sometimes at very close quarters, by soldiers who are, in effect, invisible to their targets. This is the story of the art and science of precision long-range marksmanship and the effect of a bullet on the human body. It is about ambush, battle, mayhem, slaughter, winning, losing, living, dying, and war." "The sniper community is incredibly tiny; add up all snipers from the Marines, the U.S. Army, the SEALs, and the Rangers who are behind a gun in a combat zone at any one minute, and they will add up to about a few hundred men and no women." "Add up the kills these snipers make and compare them to the results of infantry battalions and brigades and divisions, and you'll find that many of them individually make more kills than entire battalions or brigades operating at the same time in the same area."

I am a Viet Nam era veteran and I find the study of the changing landscape of battle since the time I served extremely interesting. I believe the biggest change is in the evolution of the "SNIPER". One of the most powerful components this book provides is detailed reporting of not only the role "sniper/scouts" play in the current war in the Middle East, but also their prior roles in Viet Nam and even Panama. (Operation Just Cause). The United States has absorbed a hard earned education. Whereas in the past, a couple of snipers or marksman would accompany a battalion and all their armored equipment, now in today's urban, building to building fighting, the battalion and armored vehicles support the sniper teams.

This book details the training required not only in structured schools, but also in on-the-job-training, when the need for additional sniping/scouting/spotting personnel is immediate and on the battlefront. One of the real life stories involves successfully adding two cooks to the sniper team. This tale is at its absolute best when being narrated by actual snipers. At times the author bogs down the flow with too much minutiae about the weapons themselves. I have read many sniper books recently, and this one not only doesn't pull any punches about the "unique" mindset of the type of individual that would fit the parameters of a successful sniper, it also doesn't shy away from the celebration accorded the up close and personal ending of an enemy combatant's life.

The author and "ALL" the snipers portrayed, make it blatantly obvious to anyone who has ever served in combat, that more care and regard to the "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" (ROE) are observed by our American troops in a week, than all our enemies combined do in a lifetime. I shudder at the thought of how many American lives have been lost while we go through chain of command before we shoot, as compared to terrorists walking into schools, restaurants and places of worship, and with no conscience at all, destroy uncounted civilian lives from toddlers to adults.

It takes a very, very, unique individual to be a United States Sniper. And as it's obvious to see, the ranks of these highly qualified warriors must increase for us to be successful in today's type of war. It should be noted that one of the main pre-requisites as stated in "DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SNIPER TRAINING FIELD MANUAL FM-23-10 SECTION 1-3 (Washington DC,1994)": "THE SNIPER MUST BE ABLE TO CALMLY AND DELIBERATELY KILL TARGETS THAT MAY NOT POSE AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO HIM. IT IS MUCH EASIER TO KILL IN SELF-DEFENSE OF OTHERS THAN IT IS TO KILL WITHOUT APPARENT PROVOCATION. THE SNIPER MUST NOT BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO EMOTIONS SUCH AS ANXIETY OR REMORSE."

This book was one that opened my eyes to the welfare program and the problems it has. It has also illustrated the social gaps that have been created by gender, race, and poverty. Rosemary did an excellent job in description in the life that she lead, and to how she has overcome the many barriers in her life. A great read for all!

Unafraid of the Dark is a beautifully written, inspirational and deeply touching book. I was unable to put it down from the moment I read the first page. I admire Rosemary and feel that she is an inspiration to all African American women.

This woman knows how to write and she has something to say. She makes her point very effectively. For the cost of a paperback, you can give a copy to every Republican or other person who matters to you who doesn't understand or support Aid to Dependent Children or welfare, etc. Her book leads people to care about her and understand.

A deeply moving, inspiring story. I felt like I was right there with her when she described her brief childhood encounter with Martin Luther King. Her writing brings characters alive like the best fiction I've ever read. I would seriously consider trying to get my school to order this book (I'm studying to become a high school English teacher).

Rosemary Bray's memoir cuts through the anti-welfare hype and contempt for poor people, especially poor black women, that brought us "welfare reform." Her mother went on AFDC because her father was a violent gambler, and she had four kids to raise. Welfare enabled rosemary to grow up in threadbare but at least decent poverty--food on table, roof over head,school supplies and so forth. Far from promulgating the "culture of dependency," welfare helped Bray's mother get some independence. And far from passing welfare on to her daughter, Rosemary went to yale. Bray writes so perceptively about her family and her childhood, about the racism of l960s Chicago (and of yale). she made me think about all the little cruelties and deprivations poor people are expected to just accept, and how wrong this is. I wish every white person would read this book, and every person who thinks people are poor because they "don't want to work." Isn't it interesting that even in the midst of the "memoir boom," this book didn't get front page reviews?

WEB DuBois:American Prophet is an absolute gem for in the ever expanding field of religious history. Blum's ability to analyze his sources and to use them to discover the spiritual side of DuBois allows the reader to understand the real DuBois. Blum is able to dismiss the idea that DuBois was secular in nature. A must have for all religious historians!!!!

This is a beautiful book, lucid, passionate, rigorous, and engaged. Blum's pathbreaking consideration of DuBois as a key religious figure in America transforms the "black church" model that has needlessly constrained the story of African American spiritual striving, and powerfully dislodges the religious/secular dividing line that has likewise constrained scholarship on DuBois in all of the disciplines that claim him. This is the beginning of a new and needed conversation on prophetic faith in America, one to which historians and scholars who might otherwise have little truck with religion may join their voices without apology.

The spiritual dimensions of W.E.B. Du Bois is the subject of a new book by Edward J. Blum, a history professor at San Diego State University. Blum's compelling work goes against the grain of previous Du Bois biographers, who uniformly claim that Du Bois was either agnostic or atheist.

Blum's volume uncovers Bu Bois's multiple religious selves, and since the biographical details of his life are relatively well known, Blum resists a chronological approach and instead offers an innovative, thematic analysis that investigates The Souls of Black Folk (Enriched Classics Series), Du Bois's sociology of religion, his understanding of Christianity and Communism, the uses of religion in Du Bois's creative work, and the reception of the spiritual Du Bois among students, scholars, and cultural critics. Blum canvasses Du Bois's massive corpus, not only including weighty academic works, but also letters, literary expressions, and even prayers written for students at Atlanta University in 1909-1910, published in 1980 as Prayers for Dark People.

The result of this thematic investigation is a convincing picture of the multiple ways Du Bois engaged religion--and in particular Christianity. One of the book's major contributions is to show when, where, how, and why Du Bois brought spiritual insight to bear on global issues he investigated both historically and sociologically, particularly those related to black Americans. It is interesting to note that Du Bois's commetaries on the issues of his time still resonate deeply with today's concerns--something I suppose prophets are able to do.

Blum's book is clearly an academic work, but unlike many scholarly monographs, it also speaks to students and other curious, interested readers, a notable achievement and something for other writers to emulate. Blum's work is a must read for anyone interested in American history, religious history, or even world history.

There is no doubt _W.E.B. Du Bois, American Prophet_ will stand as one of the most important works for understanding this important historical figure. Be sure to pick up your copy today.

This is without question the definitive study of Du Bois and his relationship to religion, faith, and the church. Not only is the scholarship top notch, but the prose are thoughtful, rich, and compelling. It is so well written, so well-researched, and so engaging for anyone interested in religion in American history, race and religion, and the genius of WEB Du Bois.

Blum delves in to so much with respectable sensitivity, and his analysis and insights go much deeper than all other biographers concerning Du Bois's relationship to religion.

Brilliant. Highly recommended for students, professors, people interested in religious studies, history, identity, etc.

Like many others I had long ago gained enormous respect for W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the outstanding leaders in race relations in the hundred years immediately after the American Civil War. As a writer, lecturer, scholar, and teacher he was a persistent voice for equality of opportunity, integration of society, and the civil rights of African Americans. I had never thought of him, however, as a religious thinker. That is, until now.

In this marvelous new book by Edward J. Blum, an historian at San Diego State University, Du Bois emerges as a major thinker in Christianity and the social gospel. As Blum demonstrates, Du Bois was in no small measure motivated by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, by the moral teachings of scripture, and by the thinking of theologians throughout the ages. And in this aspect of his life, like all others, Du Bois found ample scriptural and moral teaching advancing equality of all people. It is an eye-opening and unexplored aspect of Du Bois's character and one that all future investigators of his life and career will have to bring into the discussion of his other activities. As Blum shows, Du Bois's work cannot be understood absent his spiritual life.

This work is a fine analysis that progresses through a series of Du Bois's writings to probe the depths of his moral and spiritual beliefs. A major chapter on "The Souls of Black Folk," as only one example, demonstrates the significance of his seeking universal truth in religion. Part sociological analysis, literary criticism, and theological exploration, Blum's work on Du Bois offers a new avenue for understanding one of the towering figures in American race relations. It is a brilliant, authoritative, and seminal study that all scholars of U.S. religion, race relations, and the early twentieth century will find invaluable.

Scandalous! But unlike the sound bite scandals of today, this is scandalous behavior which is also very provocative and thought provoking. Sparsely written in screenplay style, it amazed me how completely it took me into the scenes. It was like tumbling through a magnifying glass into those intriguing background scenes of colored speakeasies in "Fried Green Tomatoes" or "The Color Purple" with the lyrics of the blues moving the story line along.

Despite the title, this fictionalized history goes far beyond anything racial. Author Moncrief suggests that on one level this is a story of acceptance. For me it also stimulates thoughts and debate on many of today's situations: the complicated society of working women, sexual roles and identities, domestic violence, life on the road, the rap artists and the thugs and the players. . . and on and on. This book also inspired me to delve deeper into Bessie Smith research and I guess that is the greatest compliment that can be paid to any author.
"Blues on my mind . . . I said blues."

I loved this book. It gave me the opportunity to enter a world I could never be part of and to see it from the inside. It took me places I never imagined and, as I read, the author's presence faded and I was swept into the world of the characters. I suffered, celebrated, laughed and cried with Bessie Smith and her entourage. I highly recommend the journey.

This book is easy reading so I was able to finish it fairly quick. Actually I couldn't put it down because I was captivated by its subject, Bessie Smith, as well as by the other colorful characters that occupied her world. "When Color Was Cool" is not only entertaining, but also a look into a very significant part of American history that we don't often hear about. After finishing the book, I ran out to purchase a couple of Bessie Smith cds. What an amazing woman! What a delightful reading experience.

When Colored Was Cool is an amazing story, that with its flamboyant characters, brought tears to my eyes. The often comedic and frequently tragic lives of Bessie Smith and her troupe are woven together expertly by an obviously gifted author. Though a work of fiction, I feel as though I have now had very real glimpse into a time long before my own. I heartily recommend this book.

I could not put this book down! From start to finish, it held my attention. I could picture all the characters in vivid images and felt like I was right there watching every exciting moment take place. I enjoy reading about the Harlem Renaissance period and would definitely recommend "When Colored Was Cool."