The Empire Books

Romano has built one of the great food empires and keeps on creating more. He has had over 25 different restaurant concepts and has made billions. He focuses on the creative content and the principles that have created hit after hit. He also analyzes his failures and the reason for why they failed. While Fuddruckers is arguably his most successful Romano's Macaroni grill has also prospered and even though both were sold off reading about their beginning was fascinating. His newest restaurant EatZi's is a great idea that combines upscale grocery store with eating experience. It will be interesting to see if this idea takes off outside of the large cities it is being tired in but overall this book will fascinate you and leave you wanting to start a restaurant of your own.

Philip J. Romano is "an idea man at heart." The innovative restaurateur launched multiple successful U.S. franchises, including Fuddruckers and Romano's Macaroni Grill. He discovered that people would pay for his concepts, so he kept thinking and opening new restaurants. In this chatty, inside-flavored autobiography, he shares his creative processes and the principles that guide his business decisions. He knows the hot dinner business cold, and doesn't mind saying so. We dish up this light, entertaining read to those who are interested in entrepreneurial success stories or to anyone who wants an insider's view of the restaurant business.

If you're in business, any business you can learn from Phil Romano. His grandmother taught him early about visualization, saying, "Talk of the devil and he will appear, talk about failure and it will happen, talk about success and you'll have it."

Phil never worked in a restaurant before owning one and has never relied on anyone but himself for a paycheck.

As I always like to point out in my reviews and my Blog (The Real Estate Investors Blog) there are several invaluable techniques as far as deal structure. Starting with the structure of Fuddruckers:

After being turned down for a bank loan Phil rounded up 10 investors at $15,000 a pop and gave them 48% and kept 52% for himself. So they put up the money and he ran it and called the shots. That 15k grew to $3.4 million in less than 2 years. This was his 12th restaurant concept and he walked away with $17 million.

His next move is mind boggling. He invested $250k to back the investors of the heart stint and walked away with $165 million over the next 17 years or thereabouts.

Then he's on to The Macaroni Grill, buying entire towns and toying with different concepts. He took a gas station from doing $500k in revenues to $5 million. Then there's Nachomama's, Spegeddies and EatZi's a 50/50 partnership with Phil and Brinker which was doing $3,000 per sq. foot in sales. Everything from the structure, the numbers and the margins are described.

Some Romano-isms:

"I've come to learn that creativity is mostly about identifying a problem and, instead of just living with it, coming up with a solution. Too many companies are resigned to working around problems instead of really addressing their cause."

"I don't predict the future; I imagine it. And my imagination has no bounds. Neither should yours."

"If you make a mistake in hiring someone, don't make the mistake in waiting too long to let them go. The problem will just get bigger and bigger."

"Throughout my life, I've often been asked why I don't do things by the book. Well, it's because "the book" is for people who aren't creative enough to figure out a better way."

"I've had my share of failures, most of which have been outlined in these pages. But something inside me has always said to get up, dust off, and move onto the next challenge with a positive attitude. Life is far to short to dwel on bad calls you've maid. Negative thinking can kill you, and it can infect others."

"I advise people in the restaurant business to dream big, imagine their success, and imagine the success of the employees around them. Negative thinking is toxic."

I bought the book for several of my friends, family and partners who are in the service industry and truly recommend it.

By Kevin Kingston, author of: A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate: A True Story About the Ups and Downs From Wall Street to Real Estate Leading to Phenomenal Returns

I just recently read WINNING by Jack Welch and I have to tell you that book is just a good. It is a real quick read and there was so much great info from front to cover. And, it is actually quite funny.

I reccommend this book as a great summer read.

I love reading about the creativity behind the business. I admire someone who has the courage to follow through on his inspiration. Phil Romano did it over and over again. I do believe that he puts service before profit -- the proof is in the restaurants themselves. This book makes me curious about the ones I haven't tried yet, and I'm waiting for what's next.

I even culled some business tips -- some rules to live by. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for some inspiration, a good story, and some sound business moves.

Given the times in which we live, it is easy to why hindsight continues to be the preferred tool of analysis for many of our leaders in Washington. For the remainder of us however, foresight, though not always accurate, is a more important goal despite the always unpopular political ramifications. That is where Dr. Doug Bandow comes in. Foreign follies almost cries out, 'I hate to say I told you so,' setting-up a tragic review of America's foreign (and domestic) policy follies. Should you decide to pick-up this excellent book, perhaps you will make the wise decision to seek out Dr. Bandow's columns ([...]) for a more holistic analysis of the state of U.S. foreign policy. Indeed, the business of foreign affairs is not about one's favorites, but rather the analysis that must often be complete, and most importantly, accurate. Anything less needlessly places lives at risk--something Dr. Bandow and a handful of other analysts are obviously keenly aware of.

Published in 2006, this collection of essays ranges from the late 1990's to its year of publication, and I was quite astonished to discover two things fairly quickly into the work:

First, the author is a conservative--a true conservative--and firmly opposed to what he calls "promiscuous intervention" or elective wars or global rampant empire-building. I was expecting a left of center diatribe against the follies of the Bush-Cheney Administration. Not so. The author is consistent--he railed against the follies of the Clinton-Clinton Administration first, and this followed over.

Second, as an estranged moderate Republican who believes in fiscal conservatism, a small government, and not supporting dictators or decadent despots like the debauched Saudi "royal" family of swindlers, pedophiles, and perverts, I was stunned to find my conservative roots reaffirmed, and the neo-conservatives, the false conservatives, soundly lambasted for their chicken-hawk enlargement of the military-industrial complex.

The author opens early with the statement that America is no longer a Republic, and I completely agree. The author, affiliated with the Cato Institute, has given me a new and deeper appreciation for that organization's intellectual and constitutional line of reasoning.

The early part of the book is a superb collection of varied arguments for completely avoiding foreign adventurism that enriches a few in the military-industrial complex, at three great costs:

1) Loss of lives and limbs among our brave troops;
2) Loss of natural treasure we cannot space on others
3) Loss of morality and rise of vulnerability to hatred occasioned by our foreign presence

The latter point merits special emphasis. The author's views are totally consistent with my own reading and world experience:

1) Morality, as Will and Ariel Durant tell us in their The Lessons of History, is a strategic asset of incalculable proportions. Others, such as Max Manwaring, in The Search for Security: A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century tell us that security--long-term security, can only come from legitimacy, legitimacy in the eyes of both our own citizens and denizens in every clime and place where we venture.

2) Bin Laden is on solid ground to use terrorism against us, an asymmetric method that is necessary for smaller actors, and the author is clear in validating the degree to which we merit and invite such terrorist attacks by intervening and by supporting debauched dictators like the Saudis. The author states clearly: "We must reduce the sources of foreign hostility to the US." The author quotes Pape, author of Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism among others on how suicidal terrorism is correlated with US occupations overseas, *not* with radical Islam per se. He goes on to say, as my colleague Robert Baer has documented in See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism and Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude, that "American commitment to the Saudi royal family is a moral blemish and a practical danger. See also Ambassador Mark Palmer's denunciation of our support for 42 of the 44 remaining dictators in Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025.

In 1999 the author penned this statement against the Clinton Administration that applies equally today to the Bush-Cheney Administration: "Indeed, where the President and his aides are arrogant, ignorant, and incompetent, others must lead." I agree with this author of the strategic logic of terrorism against US misbehavior, and point the interested reader to Pape's book above.

I am heartened to read this conservative author's sensible denunciation of both the lies of Bush and Cheney to all Americans, and of the idiocy of the neo-conservatives in striving for increased unconstitutional executive power, and in believing in an "immaculate presidency" that can do no wrong. He clearly labels Bush as wrong and as owing all Americans an apology. He properly dismisses the "stay the course" propaganda by pointing out that when you are on the wrong road, you get off at the first available exit.

He segues from that to a proper denunciation of American support for a genocidal racist Israel and offers this lovely quote: "Crackpot theology is no substitute for thoughtful analysis is developing foreign policy."

The author offers an elegant essay against conscription and the draft. As a taxpayer who now seems that 75% of my taxes are misspent on elective war, secret earmarks, and fraudulent procurements that benefit a small elite while destroying the working poor and the vanishing middle class, I am now all for eliminating federal taxes and forcing the federal government to apply to the states for funding of "common" needs. War is not in our common interest, and we should not have allowed our Congress and our Executive to become spendthrifts with out money--as Davy Crockett learned--it is not theirs to give!

I part with the author only on the subject of Taiwan--he is wrong to see Taiwan as a beacon of freedom. Chang Kai Sheik was one of the greatest war criminals and thieves on the planet in his time, and a cursory reading of the literature, for example, the books by Sterling and Peggy Seagraves, will quickly document that Taiwan is both an inherent part of China, and not at all a bastion of freedom as much as limpet fish sucking the blood from the American's so naïve as to believe these cheating miscreants.

Over-all I found this author to be inspiring. He neglects to address the war crimes of the extremist Republicans, nor does he venture to comment on the very high probability that Dick Cheney, Rudy Gulliani, and Larry Silverstein (and their insurance co-conspirators) are guilty along with Donald Rumsfeld of the mass murder of most of those who died on 9-11 to controlled demolitions in NYC and a missile into the Pentagon. Evidently there are some areas where "true blue" conservatives do not dare venture. For those interested in this aspect of the *other* neo-conservative crime of the century see my lists on 9-11 books and DVDs, and on evaluating Cheney, and most especially, Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency, where my review lists 23 of the 25 high crimes and misdemeanors of Dick Cheney that are documented in the public record (for the other two, see Ron Suskind's The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11)

Because of the Iraq fiasco, it is fashionable to blame the Bush administration for being the Ziegfeld of America's foreign policy folly. True enough, Iraq may be the height of U.S. folly -- an unnecessary war against a phantom threat that has given jihadists a convenient target in their own neighborhood, created greater anti-American sentiment throughout the Muslim world, and threatens to break the U.S. Army -- but such folly is not the sole purview of the Bush administration. In Foreign Follies, Doug Bandow has assembled a collection of essays that span more than a decade to demonstrate that U.S. foreign policy run amok pre-dates the current White House, but that the Bush administration has made things worse. Bandow chronicles unnecessary U.S. interventionist policy in Europe, the Balkans, Asia, and the Middle East. Of course, he devotes an entire chapter to Iraq -- the mother of all unnecessary U.S. interventions. Not only does Bandow make the case that U.S. foreign policy -- Bush and Clinton, Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal -- makes us less safe, but that it undermines the foundations of our republic. The real folly is that Bandow's voice is drowned by the shrill cries of partisan politicians and pundits who place self-interest ahead of the well-being our the country.

Bandow's work reveals one folly of any critique of US foreign policy is that the addled thinking is not limited to the past few years or the current administration. Drawing on his career of assessing foreign policy across the globe, Bandow showcases his astounding scope of expertise and insight - providing a cohesive point of view that brings sanity to any review of US foreign policy in the past -- and in the future. A must-read for every policy wonk, and every American.

Foreign Follies, a collection of Doug Bandow's columns and articles on U.S. foreign policy over the past decade, is an incisive diagnosis of what has gone so terribly wrong with America's position in the world. It is also an even-handed, bipartisan analysis. Bandow criticizes the faulty policies of Democratic and Republican administrations alike. He makes a compelling case that a more cautious, coherent security strategy would better serve the interests of the American people. Over the years, Bandow has shown himself to be one of America's most astute experts on foreign affairs, and it is gratifying to see his prescient analyses gathered in one place. Foreign Follies is a valuable book, and it deserves to have a wide audience.

This book is one of the best books on this subject and it covers rise and fall of Achaemenid Empire in details. Pierre Briant has showed his ability to use his extensive research to seek the truth about this great civilisation and he has examined Babylonian inscriptions and Egyptian documents to support it.
The theory of decadence of Persian Empire was introduced by some scholars and it has dominated the
Studies of ancient Persia but this book gives us an opportunity to study new evidence and to overcome the Hellenocentric view which has infiltrated Iranian studies.
I salute Pierre Briant for his dedication and love for Iranian history and for giving us such a valuable
Book and I recommend this book to readers with passion for Iranian history and to those who seek the truth about the past.

Pierre Briant's book "From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire" is probably the best book on the Persian Empire thus far. Pierre Briant use not only the western sources but also the eastern sources on the Persian Empire. He painstaking pieces together just about every bit of info on the Persian Empire to give the reader a panorama view of their culture. If you are intrested in the History of Persia this is a great book have on the book shelf!

This book is discussing pre-Islamic era of Iran. This book is discussing founder of Iran Zamin Cyrus the Great who found daynasty of Hakhamanishian. This dynasty came to an end by invasion of Alexandra.

Arguably, western historical tradition started with Herodotus trying to tell the story of the vast Persian Empire to the East of the Greek city states. Since then, western history of Persia has always been written from a Greek perspective, which was biased with a strong propagandist agenda.

Pierre Briant has sought to overcome this long-ingrained Greco-centric view of the Persian empire through a very detailed & deeply analytical history which integrates all existing knowledge on the first full-scale Empire in Southwest Asia. Writing originally in French in mid-90s, Briant approaches this history with 1) an analytical approach to the political narrative which seeks to lay bare the ideological elements ingrained in the Greek texts and 2) a sweeping overview of the politico-socio-economical organization of the vast Empire built on evidence verified on local levels. What emerges clearly was the Persian Empire as a viable politico-economical super-structure that layered on top of deep-rooted local traditions. The Empire infrastructure sustained for the 200 years that the classical Greek culture flourished, and that this infrastructure was inherited-- though not sustained-- by Alexander and his companions through conquest.

This is a heavy tome as Briant tried to overcome a very deep-rooted academic historiographical tradition, so at times the writing can be tedious. Also, this book does not seek to cover Zoroastrianism at all (beyond describing the royal Achaemenid ideology which the author neither identifies nor disscoiates with Zoroastrianmism). However, the freshness in perspectives, plus the very well-rendered, top quality translation, makes the book a truly 'value-for-money' purchase in my view.

Dear Friends,

This book is not light reading for the casual dilletante, it is a scholarly book by a world renowned author who has produced the last book to be writted on the Achaeminid Persian Empire pending the discovery of a huge new archive of inscribed tablets that will provide a new book A NEW LOOK AT THE PERSIAN EMPIRE: THE X CUNEIFORM TABLET ARCHIVES.

I took a course on the Achaemenid Persian Empire from Professor Pierre Briant when he was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute in 1997 when I was in graduate studies in ancient history there. He is fully conversant in every piece of literature and archaeological evidence on the subject.

Be prepared for a lot of reading, the book is 1196 pages long,everything is referenced. The actual text starts on page 13 and ends on page 876, the other 300 pages are research notes, pages 977 to page 1050. There are indexes on personal names and topics. The Bibliography is from page 1059 to page 1124, a full 65 pages!

Those of you interested in numismatics will be sorely disappointed unless you have been unable to find a convenient genealogical table of the Achaemenid Dynasty

My own interest at the present time is in anceint weapons, also an area that is not covered by this book. I for one would like to see a book titled ARMS AND ARMAMENT OF THE ANCIENT ACHAEMENID PERSIAN EMPIRE that would illustrate swords, daggers, spears, missile weapons, armor, helmets, horse trappings, chariots and anything else in the field.

If you share my interest in ancient weapons, please feel free to join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ancientweapons or emai me at jpisc98357@aol.com. For those of you interested in a broader based discussion of anceint Iran, there has been a new discussion group formed. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Iranica-L There is not yet any content to the group which has staked out the eras from pre history until the Muslim conquest in the 7th Century.
There is a good site if you are interested in the Parthians at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Parthia-L The participants of this group are heavily into numismatics.

This book is not a good source for artifact studies, there are no photographs at all and the iconography illustrated is all done with line drawings. The maps are adequate but are not plentiful.

For those interested in a supplement to this book that will give you a real taste of what the Empire's captial looked like, I would recommend Persepolis Recreated, a book and DVD that reconstructs the great palaces of Persepolis using modern graphics technology. It is available for $85. from the producer, Farzin Rezaeian. Call (708)386-2720 to place your order.

Best regards, John Piscopo

This book applies communitarian thinking, and Etzioni's widely recognized insight into organizational behavior and political science to pressing modern international problems.

For those who may not have had exposure to the word "communitarian", it refers to a line of thinking that embraces both rights and personal responsibilities simultaneously, not just one or the other. It seeks to address the question of how to create a better and more moral society, yet while resorting to neither big government nor to libertarian disregard for order and fairness. Societal problems should be solved by individuals and communities whenever possible (thus the word 'communitarian') and yet society should also not shrink from intervening through government when necessary.

As such, communitarian thinking has been indentifed with the 'moderate' or 'centrist' policies of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, and has compared to the writing of "third way" thinkers such as Anthony Giddens. Communitarian thinkers have publicly praised communitarian initiatives of both Democratic and Republican administrations. This communitarian orientation integrally grounds the author's substantial contributions in international relations

Professor Amitai Etzioni's most recent book, "From Empire to Community", offers a thought-provoking commentary on global socio-political trends. The wholistic analytical prism through which Professor Etzioni assesses today's realities and extrapolates to a world in closer harmony breaks through traditional academic silos. Will our world ultimately realize a "legitimate global architecture", as Professor Eztioni suggests? Who knows? But that may not be the point. Rather, the value of this book resides more with its challenge to the reader to consider potentially logical implications of a world in which east-west cultures and values may be coming closer together more than we have understood.
Professor Etzioni conjectures that the world is migrating toward a security-driven global authority, and submits a rather convincing body of evidence in support of this hypothesis. The trend toward political unification in Europe, and the longstanding "sphere of influence" geographical driver of national foreign policy renders it difficult to dismiss this argument out of hand.
Certainly our global connectivity includes communications, capital markets, health, environment, and safety. Professor Etzioni submits that a higher and enduring global political order may emerge from such centripetal forces.
Professor Etzioni's extensive global life experiences, substantive underpinnings and keen mind are consistently in evidence throughout "From Empire to Community". Although one may cite countervailing trends, empirical data and opposing arguments to those submitted by the author, this reader finds high levels of satisfaction resulting from joining Professor Etzioni on his analytical journey. In short, "From Empire to Community" is a must read for those who appreciate a 360 degree commentary on our highly complex socio, political, cultural and
economic enviroment from one of our foremost global thinkers.

Stewart E. Sutin, Ph.D.
President
Community College of Allegheny County

Mr. Etzioni contends that the world is too rough of a place for nation states. That we need world government to contend with this evil entity called the internet. This treasonous book is a must read for every concerned citizen (probably about thirty total). Mr Etzioni comes from the infamous Council on Foreign Relations. This organization houses most of our political elite. It is responsible for a lot of our foreign policy. This isn't just some nut that wrote a book. This is the direction we are heading. Are you ready to give up your freedom for the New World Order? I'm not. Read this book and learn their strategies. Like how they substitute communitarianism for communism.

Etzioni's new book is in effect two books that contradict one another, each with a challenging and novel thesis. The first part argues that Western ideas about rights, autonomy and free markets are merely half of the moral narrative that ought to guide the development of a core of globally shared values. The other half, which the East brings to the table, are concerns for the common good, responsibility and community. He recognizes that these are far from alien concepts to the West, but especially when the USA "exports" values it neglects these "Eastern" values, as well, in recent history, at home. The thesis of an East West value synthesis is worth exploring in face of the arrogance of the West, claiming to have The Truth and treating others as heathens (Bush talks about crusades) and-- the East sense that the common good should guide all. A systensis of East West values does seem to have promise.
In contrast in part 2 From Empire to COMMUNITY , Etzioni makes a case for Western, at least U.S.A. domination. He points out that the U.S.A. has established, after 9/11, a global anti- terrorists police agency, supported by most nations of the world either out of self interest, or a sense that such a agency is needed, is legtimate, or because of American pressure. Etzioni key point is that although born out of might, such an agency make lay the foundation for a global state that can provide for more goods than fighting terrorists (E.g. humanitarian interventions) and a state it may gradually become more democratic. He points out that historical nations born out of force, such as Germany and the UK, became more democratic over time. An even more challenging thesis than the first one.
Thus while the first half deals with moral values, the second is much more grounded in real politics. While the first half plays down the role of the West, the second part is playing it up. One may wish that the true Etzioni stand up but one cannot deny the novelty and possible merit of both abutments.

You could buy Mr. Lackey's ridiculous harangue of Professor Etzioni's "From Empire to Community" or you could consider the glowing assessments by the likes of former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Harvard Kennedy School ex-Dean Joseph Nye, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission Lee Hamilton. Best bet would be to read Etzioni's book yourself. If you do, you'll find a reasonable and perceptive yet accessible account of the foremost international problem facing the United States and how best to deal with it by one of the world's leading scholars, public figures and commentators. Professor Etzioni applies his powerful communitarian thinking to the emerging threat of terrorism and presents thoughtful alternatives to the "bring 'em on" approach that has alienated the U.S. from most of the world and won countless converts to extremist causes. Etzioni's book does not answer all the difficult questions before us. It does open the door for dialogue and mutual understanding among civilizations, and this is an infinitely saner and safer course than that offered by Samuel P. Huntington and others.

Smith's historical survey of U.S. foreign and domestic policy post-WWII is a must read. His lucid writing, thorough chronology and partiality towards justice will envelope readers seeking to make sense of our politically troubled world. Divided into decades, the book chronicles the misdeeds done by the world's superpower in small capsules making it appealing to even the non-historian or nominally politically inclined. "Greatest Story" should be required reading for all college and high school U.S. history survey courses.

"The Greatest Story Never Told" is a bold, provocative slash through the history of our country, a lively, uncompromising narrative which is a refreshing antidote to the self-congratulation so often found in Americans writing about the United States.
----Howard Zinn, Author, "A People's History of the United States"

An excellent compilation of events which the media rarely reminds us of, and which young Americans have scarcely heard of.
------William Blum, Author, Killing Hope and Rogue State

We are continually told of how benign and well-meaning America is. This notion is not shared by the rest of the world, but it provides an effective shield against coming to grips with the realities of empire. Happily, there are people like Michael Smith to disabuse us of the illusion of innocence. His fierce compendium of the misdeeds our leaders would have us forget is an indispensable guide to a history that is perpetually suppressed but must not be forgotten."
----Joel Kovel, Professor of Social Studies, Bard College

This book reads like fiction. Unfortunately, it is all meticulously documented fact. For all who are interested in U.S. post-WW II history, it is essential reading. Actually, it is essential reading for all Americans, because it reveals the seamy underside of U.S. foreign policy, all the news that ISN'T fit to print in the New York Times or report on the Jim Lehrer News Hour. After a brief introduction, the book is separated into decades. Unlike conventional histories, which tend to be dry accounts full of names of places and people and dates and statistics, this presents events in a manner akin to a snapshot: each entry is headed by a year, followed by a location and a headline. The author then places us in a scene and describes it using vivid, dramatic language. Typical entries run from a single paragraph to one page in length, so one can't get bogged down. Joel Kovel's quote on the back cover is apropos, particularly in this post-9/11 era which is aleady disturbingly reminiscent of the hysteria of the McCarthy witchhunts of the 1950s, a subject documented in the book: "We are continually told of how benign and well-meaning America is. This notion is not shared by the rest of the world, but it provides an effective shield against coming to grips with the realities of empire. Happily, there are people like Michael Smith to disabuse us of the illusion of innocence. His fierce compendium of the misdeeds our leaders would have us forget is an indispensable guide to a history that is perpetually suppressed but must not be forgotten." ...

This is a realistic appraisal of recent US history, rejecting the idealist illusions that block understanding of reality. Using sources like I. F. Stone, Chomsky, Herman, Parenti, Solomon and Zinn, Smith shows a brutal ruling class that commits crimes at home and abroad in the name of anti-communism. He details the US state's appalling assaults on other countries, from Hiroshima to Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Panama, Iraq and Yugoslavia.

In 1990, US ambassador Glaspie tells Saddam Hussein, "we have no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait." Bush then double-crosses Iraq by invading. US forces drop fifteen times more explosives on Iraq than it had used in all World War Two. When asked how many Iraqis had been killed, Colin Powell, the liberals' hero, replies, "It's really not a number I'm terribly interested in." He also says that the US invasion of Somalia was `great public relations'.

The head of the US Information Agency tells a reporter, "the vipers, the bloodsuckers, the middlemen - that's what needs to be rehabilitated in the Soviet Union. That's what makes our kind of country click!"

Smith writes of the USA in 1995, "Profits zoom capital swells, stocks boom, assets consolidate, accident rates and labor hours rise; wages, benefits, and working conditions decline. The Wall Street Journal announces that corporate profits are up `an enormous 41%' over 1993, a `colossal success' resulting from a `sharp' decline in the `share going to labor'."

The USA is the only industrial nation without a health plan. Consequently 100,000 people a year die from lack of access to treatment. Smith tells how Clinton, so fawned over by last year's Labour Party Conference, ends federal income support for low-paid workers, plunging millions more children into poverty, a step no Republican President ever dared to take. Just like Blair, wrecking the NHS, the Tube, the fire and rail services, in ways that even Thatcher did not dare.

The cheap response is to decry any criticism as `anti-American'. But it is no more anti-American to oppose the US state than it is anti-British to oppose Thatcher or Blair.

The Greatest Story Never Told: A People's History of the American Empire, 1945-1999 by Michael K. Smith provides hundreds of historical snapshots that you will not find in you local paper. Smith takes a decade-by-decade approach from the end of WWII to the people's victory in Seattle when the World Trade Organization was shut down. Smith focuses on political, social and environmental issues in the U.S. from a progressive prospective. Michael Smith provides a people's prospective reminiscent of Howard Zinn's The People's History, yet with a sometimes sobering sprinkling of Noam Chomsky's analysis. Here's a sample from page 442:

1999: Washington
Portrait of a Clinton Ritual

1993-"I am asking the United State Congress to pass a real campaign reform bill this year." (Cheers)
1994-"I also must now call on you to (pass) tough and meaningful campaign finance reform and lobby reform legislation this year." (Cheers)
1995-"We should also curb the role of big money in elections....this year, let's give the folks at home something to cheer about." (Cheers)
1996-"Now I challenge Congress to go further-to curb special interest influence in politics by passing the first truly bipartisan campaign reform bill in a generation." (Cheers)
1997-"Let's work together to write bipartisan campaign finance reform into law...by the day we celebrate the birth of our democracy-July the fourth." (Cheers)
1998-"I ask you to strengthen our democracy and pass campaign finance reform this year." (Cheers)
1999-"Now we must w3ork to renew our national community as well for the twenty-first century...(by passing) the bipartisan campaign finance reform legislation." (Cheers)

A well-documented historical compilation of short news items you won't find in the "news." Check it out.

This is an excellent collection of interviews on the subject of the neoconservative counterrevolution in Washington, and the strategies surrounding 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Behind the public statements of the administration lie the deeper motives of the operation: control of dwindling resources, intimidation with a display of military strength, and a neoconservative philosophy promoting an explicit imperialism. Exploiting the anxieties of the 9/11 catastrophe is the crux of the propaganda game. The text includes interviews with Tariq Ali, Chomsky, Benjamin Barber, Chalmers Johnson, and Shadia Drury who provides an interesting commentary on the hidden Straussianism of the neoconservative clique.

You might consider buying this one and giving it to everyone you can think of. It's preaching to the choir of course: most of us who see it understand that the NeoCon group's approach to foreign policy is horrifyingly similar to that of Gary Cooper in HIGH NOON (the quintessential go-it-alone guy.) It's amazing to watch this film and realize how long the propaganda has been coming at us, manipulating us through our fears. If you're worried about the Wolfowitz/Rumsfeld/Bush triumverate and their quest for empire, this will only make you worry more. It's a very unsettling movie. At times, you might find yourself wishing you could turn off the background music, which is a bit melodramatic. But all told, this is an urgently important film - I only wish we could figure out how to get the Bush supporters to watch it. Any suggestions?

Nothing new here. Anyone with the lights on knows what has been going on since the rise of the Bushies. This film, however, patches together much of the key information that helps blow away the smokescreen hoo-ha that the neo-cons have invented to sell their agenda. These cats (Bush, "Wolf"owitz, Cheney et. al.) make the Romans seem like schoolyard pranksters. There is only one problem with this film: it promotes the very thing it is trying to dispell ---- fear. All in all a great counterpunch but I suspect it will be another example of preaching to the choir.

"Hijacking Catastrophe" is a well-researched educational documentary of the 9/11 attacks, the context that gave birth to them, and the way the US government has used them to promote its preconceived plan to solidify American empire through a global War on Terrorism. Unlike many other 9/11 films, like "Loose Change" and "Improbable Collapse" (both worth seeing), this film does not speculate about government complicity, it merely explains the roots of the neoconservative philosophy--a philosophy that does not shirk at deceiving the public to advance its selfish economic and political goals. Note, however, that this is not the DVD. This is the book version. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the DVD is not available on Amazon. If possible, you'll definitely want to get your hands on a copy. Along with "Hijacking Catastrophe," I would also recommend the DVD "9/11 Mysteries: Demolitions" and David Griffin's incisive, and well-argued book, "The New Pearl Harbor". Both are invaluable for understanding the inherent contradictions and scientific absurdities of the official 9/11 story.

j.w.k.

First, I saw this as a documentary on a DVD of the same name, and that is how I plan to review this item. Produced by the Media Education Foundation, it most effectively presents the argument that the Bush administration "sold" the war via the most popular conduit of news - television. Using video news clips from mainstream media such as FoxNews, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS, as well as interviews with extraordinarily credible officials and experts, Hijacking Catastrophe describes in chilling visual format how the NeoCons used 9/11 to push the country to accepting a military solution in fighting terrorism. Awful in its implications, this documentary should be seen by everyone who feels violated and mislead by our leaders. And some way should be found to show this to friends and family who still prefer the sleep of the deluded. I certainly wish I had the funds to buy thousands and leave them in every mailbox in the county.

Oman is the definitive tactical and operational description of the British and French campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. It's also among the best descriptions in the English language of the realities of early 19th century ground combat.

My reading was of the original volumes in the 1970s; I'm most pleased that these unmatched references have been re-printed.

This is a reprint of the first of Charles Oman's masterful seven volume History of the Peninsular War, and covers the period from the initiation of hostilities to Moore's retreat to Corunna. Quite simple, this is the definitive English language reference on the Peninsular War, and nobody can call themselves a serious student of this era without having read this series. This first volume was published in 1902, the seventh in 1935, and although there has been mountains written since about the campaigns, the battles, and the soldiers in English, French, and Spanish, this is still the undisputed masterwork, and the standard by which all others are compared.

Virtually all of the political, military, and economic issues related to the campaigns are presented in these volumes. Every major battle is described in minute detail by Oman. He personally travelled to virtually every battlefield in Spain and Portugal to better understand the lay of the land for himself. Even more than in central Europe, the terrain played a critical role in the Peninsula, and Oman made every effort to understand how it affected the outcome. There are detailed orders of battle for all combatants and maps for all battles. The maps are large, color foldout format for the more significant battles. Political events are also described, particularly as they relate to the military sphere.

There are some drawbacks/limitations to all the books in this series. First, there is a HEAVY pro-British bias in outlook in all these books. I got the impression that Oman considered the French to be largely incompetent. These books to not present a balanced view, or even seriously try to explain the French perspective of the campaigns. The Spanish are also presented as largely irrelevant, although most of the fighting was in Spain! Second, there are few details of the guerilla operations. This may be the first war in which guerilla operations (what we would today call fourth generation war) played an important (decisive?) role. Oman doesn't omit discussion of these entirely, but they are certainly downplayed. I think that a more detailed discussion of guerilla leaders, operations, and their relationship with the larger military campaigns would have been a great addition to an already long series. Third, like virtually all English military historians, this is a virtual hagiography of Wellington. Don't let this in anyway prevent you from buying these. This series is certainly not the end all on the subject, but it is still, after 70+ years, the best that has ever been written about it.

The original typeface (from the early 20th century editions) has been preserved in this modern re-publication. This really give the text an authentic feel. Seven volumes of 600+ pages each may seem like a lot of reading, but Oman wrote with a easily readable and absorbing prose. This series is obviously a bit of a time commitment, but I would recommend this to even someone with a passing interest in the epoch. I should mention that I first read this serious about 15 years ago, I decided that I didn't know enough about the Peninsular War and borrowed each volume from the library. I've since bought the reprinted volumes (a complete collection of the original volumes is a wee-bit expensive, if you can find them), and re-read sections regularly. If you can believe it, I felt that even after seven volumes, there were many topics that Oman didn't cover in enough detail (see above)!

In short, if you are a serious student of the Napoleonic Wars, you must read this series of books. You will not regret the money or the time spent. I would give this series 6 stars if I could. Outstanding.

Sir Charles Oman's comprehensive seven volume history of the Peninsular War is the yardstick by which any other history of this theatre must be measured. It is exhaustive in detail and in breadth of coverage. If it happened, it is in one of these volumes. Napoleon may have considered Spain a side show, but as results turned out it was a bleeding ulcer. French losses here, combined with the 1812 campaign, placed a strain on the Empire which could not be overcome by even the best generalship. Any true student of the Napoleonic Wars should find these books and read them. They are essential to a complete understanding of the conflict.

This is the first of a seven volume history of the Peninsular War in Spain and Portugal between the forces of Napoleonic France and Great Britain, Portugal, and Spain. Oman's account, although dated, is still the definitive account of this long conflict. This first volume recounts the background to the French invasion, the French conquest of Portugal and Spain, and the results, which included insurrection in Spain and British intervention in Portugal. Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, makes his initial appearance in the war at the head of a small British expeditionary force which ultimately displaces the French from Portugal. A larger figure in this first volume is Sir John Moore, who took over leadership of the British expeditionary force and led the ill-fated campaign in Spain. Oman does a superb job capturing the complexities of the conflict at the strategic and operational levels of war. In particular, Oman does an excellent job laying out the conflicts within Spanish ranks which seriously hamstrung their resistance to French occupation. His tactical narrative is adequate; those fascinated by the cut and thrust of battle narratives will do better with other authors. This first volume provides much necessary but sometimes tedious background to the War; although Oman's interest in the British intervention is obvious, he is evenhanded in covering events in Spain. Those undertaking the whole series will find that Oman's writing quality improves with each succeeding volume. This volume is highly recommended to the serious student of the Napoleonic Wars and of the history of the British Army. Possession of a good map of the Iberian Peninsula will supplement the smaller maps included in the text.

I am ashamed to say, after studying the Napoleonic Wars for quite some time, this is my first reading of this excellent volume. It is an exhaustive, authoritative account of the Peninsular War that is without peer in English. Oman spent years researching and writing this multi-volume epic, and it is invaluable both as a reference and a research tool on its own. The only way you will find like information is by going into the archives yourself.

Oman does somewhat over simplify 'column versus line' in his study, but the detail, and the sweep of these campaigns that he so meaningfully tells more than make up for that.

This book, and the series it introduces, are highly recommended for any and all enthusiasts and historians, and it has an honored place on my bookshelf. The price may be somewhat steep, but it is definitely worth it.

This reissue has an invaluable introduction by Col John Elting, the noted authority on the period, which is helpful in understanding how and why Oman wrote the series. This book, and the series, is a definite keeper and is without peer for the study of these critical campaigns.

This novel is less about Japan and the expat existence, and more about the celebrations and despairs of everday life. The exotic setting is finely drawn, but it is a backdrop to the compelling heart of the novel, universal themes that every reader will recognise; a failing marriage, unfulfilling careers, new love, temptation, grief, displacement, depression. My favourite story was Claudine's, comfortable in her new homeland but a stranger in her marriage. This novel is a sophisticated, mature debut from a gifted writer. You may learn something about Japan from this novel; you will certainly learn about yourself.

Living the life of a gaijin in Japan... a strange experience indeed. I was there, for almost 20 years. During that time, I read several books about foreigners building lives in Tokyo or elsewhere, but none of them quite rang true because none of them managed to convey that extraordinary mixture of opportunities, frustrations, comfort, misunderstanding and that totally "sucked-in" effect. Dianne Highbridge does. And how! Her Tokyo is the real one. Whether you were an English teacher or an expat, you will recognise part of yourself and your life there in her stories. And if you have never been anywhere near Japan and think of it only as a land of cherry trees and high technology, read these stories for a glimpse into the most accessible of Never-Never Lands, or is it the most inaccessible of quasi-Western societies?

From the first page, this beguiling book lures the reader into a strange, exotic world. The cast of characters-mainly expatriate Brits and Aussies- but, also Japanese, expatriates in the confusing world of contradiction that is modern Japan- tell their tales with lyrical starkness. One or two phrases place the reader right in the midst of the struggle to triumph over transplanted self that is central to this beautiful, moving book. And always, in every page, every paragraph, there is a nearly visible example of beauty and grandeur , celebrating the tiniest of things, impressing them on your memory. Bravo, Ms Highbridge.

These loosely connected stories of expatriates in Japan (mostly women) portray the push-pull of living in a foreign culture. Although fictional, the experiences felt recognizable to me from my own couple of years living in another country. I look forward to future books by this author.

I love this book. I think it's going to be a classic. I'm both Japanese and American, living for now in Tokyo, and I think Dianne Highbridge expresses the nuances of the relationships between people of different cultures with true art, and without condescending to anyone. (I've read more than enough books by Westerners about Japan that do just that). And she's written the best book (fiction) about a city and its atmosphere that I've ever read. She writes like a dream. There are so many small, beautiful details. She seems to notice everything, even the crow shifting its claws 'impatiently' on the branch, waiting for its chance to grab a cake off a grave. But I've read several reviews of 'In the Empire of Dreams', and none of them have mentioned one other thing --- that she's also very funny. Even the title makes you smile, when you learn what the Empire of Dreams is. I smiled at poor Gwyneth trying to 'pay her respects' at the family shrine and do it right, and I laughed out loud at other things, though sometimes it's so touching you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Sometimes you can only cry. Dianne Highbridge knows how to make you see people as they really are, and how hard it is for them to understand each other. She knows how to tell a love story, too. I identified completely with Cathy's passion for the potter, and how deeply confused she was by the intense experience. (Some really memorable descriptions here, the way the late afternoon sun catches on the top of the mountain, and 'spills down the side like one of his own glazes,' and the way 'flames ripple around the stacked pots in translucent waves' in the kiln). I loved the way people's lives touched in this book, sometimes without them really knowing, just as it happens in real life. This book shouldn't be read as telling only about Japan, it's about life, and some of its big questions. But I know my sense of the places she writes about is so heightened by reading this book, and the characters are so real to me, that I'm already going around Tokyo thinking, 'this is where Teruko and Larry might have been when...' In this respect it's like the classic stories of American expatriates in France in an earlier era, like Scott Fitzgerald --- but this is a contemporary woman writer, writing about the E.Asian experience at the end of the century. Now I'm going to read Dianne Highbridge's other novel, 'A Much Younger Man.' I feel great confidence in this writer, and I can't wait to see what she does with a story that has a different background and theme.

I have been doing research on the Indian slave trade and this book is a gem! It explains the political and social climate so to explain the "whys" of something that is difficult for 21st century minds to comprehend.

A wonderful read! This is one of my favorite books. The way the author seamlessly pulls together information that has been passed by numerous historians before him, and writes about it in clearly stated but intricate text is outstanding. The Indian Slave trade us unlike any book I have ever read. No wonder it won the Bancroft Award. Give it a try, you won't be dissapointed!

Focusing on the early decades of South Carolina, Alan Gallay places English colonization in the context of the French and Spanish presence in North America, and of the immensely disrupted "first nation" cultures struggling to recreate stability in the face of European intrusions. Since the book won the 2003 Bancroft Prize, it shouldn't be necessary to praise it excessively or to call it to the attention of serious students of American history. For more casual readers, let me flag a few surprises:

* First, the mere idea of Indian slaves! Yes, the colonists enslaved Indians more often than they converted them to Christianity, and lured the young men of some tribes into warfare aginst other tribes for the purpose of capturing slaves to sell to the English.
* South Carolina exported more slaves in its first fifty years than it imported, most of them captured Indians sent to New England, the Bahamas, and other English sugar islands which were already more populous and more economically important than the mainland.
* The rapid expansion of cultural mayhem from the spottily settled English colonies to the whole of North America east of the Mississippi.
* The culture of slavery and the perception of racial identities that so quickly emerged in the American South! Was the Civil War inevitable from the onset?
* The immediate emergence of conflict between the interest groups of the English, that is, the proprieters vs. the settlers, the local authorities of government vs. the ungovernable colonists, the rivalry between colonies, etc.
* The challenge to the dominant historical hypothesis that Virginia was the model and seedbed of later Southern colonies and states; Prof. Gallay suggests that South Carolina may have disseminated its values and habits rather more widely than many have supposed.

Some readers may find this book overly detailed and laborsome. Fair warning, okay? But those who are seriously interested in American history, of any era, should be advised that "The Indian Slave Trade" is required reading.

The second part of the title, The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, is a more accurate description of what this good book describes. Gallay presents a detailed description and analysis of the interaction between European colonists, particularly the English in what we now call South Carolina, and the native peoples of the Southeast at the end of the 17th and the early 18th centuries. Gallay is primarily concerned with 2 issues. First, how did the native peoples respond to European colonization? Second, what led to the British gaining the upper hand over the French and Spanish? According to Gallay, the key feature that addresses both these questions is the Indian slave trade. While the French and Spanish pursued colonization for essentially strategic reasons with very limited resources, the British Carolina colony originated as a commercial enterprise originally supporting Caribbean sugar plantations. The British colonists became enmeshed in relatively large scale commerce involving virtually the whole Southeast while the French pursued diplomacy with commercial elements in a more limited area and the Spanish attempted to use a mission system in the Florida region. Gallay presents the Indian slave trade as the key feature of the English trade system. The British colonists used European goods to barter for slaves and other products, particularly hides, from native groups. The slave trade connects the Carolina colony to the larger Atlantic plantation economy and drives development of the colony. This led to an increase in warfare between Indian communities as warfare became commerce driven. The British colonists were then able to exploit their commercial leverage and the increase in turmoil to establish a preeminent position in the South. Gallay is careful to point out that the South was anarchic and conflict ridden prior to European intervention and that slavery was a traditional institution, though expanded greatly with commercial slaving. While Gallay does not say so, this is essentialy an extension of the model of slaving developed to describe the African end of the great Atlantic slave trade. In both the case of Africa and Gallay's discussion of the American South, the model points up the key roles of, and the power of the indigenous communities, which were actually more powerful than the European communities.
This is a creditable interpretation but the data that Gallay actually presents about Indian slaving is relatively modest. There is some anecdotal information and he does make an estimate of the number of slaves taken, arguing that more slaves were shipped out of Charles Town (modern Charleston) than came in. Gallay is clearly limited by his documentary material, most of which does not address directly the issue of the Indian slave trade. Most of the book, however, is not directly about the Indian slave trade but a detailed account of 2 related topics. The first, and best documented, is about the struggles between colonists, the colonial government, and the governing investors in England to regulate the colony, particularly trade with the Indians. The second is an effort to reconstruct the diplomacy and warfare between the different European groups and Indian communities in this period. This is arguably the best part of the book; an effort to describe realistically the independent roles of native communities. Again, though Gallay does not mention this but pioneering work by Francis Jennings and others have demonstrated the powerful and independent role played by North American native communities, particularly the Iroquois, in this period.
Overall, this is a valuable and clearly written book.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It just flows so smoothly that, while I don't consider the topic wholly engaging, I'm having as easy a time with it as if it was a gripping novel. Even reading this as an assignment, it's not a burden at all. Gallay is such a masterful author, and the book is so accessible, that you move seamlessly along as if the words were your own thoughts. I really have no higher praise for its quality than that.

"Into Africa" is a wonderful, almost breathless, whirlwind tour of the African continent. The travels described in the book may have begun as a search for what remains of the ancient empires that once existed, but became as much a discovery of what Africa is today, and what it will become.

Authors Marq De Villiers and Sheila Hirtle divide the book (and the continent) into nine sections, each with its own distinct character and history. Part one looks at southeast Africa, highlights of which include a visit to the impressive stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe, ruins which produce a sound when one's ear is pressed against them, the source unknown. We are introduced to the Makuni or the "Living Stones" of Zambia, named not after the famous explorer and missionary but rather for the fact that a chief begins his duties by swallowing a small stone, which lodges in his gut and becomes an embodiment of his people. This region is also home to the colorful Maasai warriors, often noted by tourists in colorful red garb (so that people will want to photograph them), nomadic pastoralists that have been pushed out of the increasingly artificial wildlife sanctuaries of Ngorongoro and the Serengeti despite having lived there for many hundreds of years.

Part two looks at the east coast of Africa, the lands of the Swahili speakers. Fabled east Africa, long a tropical coast skirted by (increasingly threatened) coral reefs and (disappearing) dhows, one can still find along it Lamu, near the Somali border, still an island of coral brick buildings and mosques dating back to the 14 century. Even more famous is exotic Zanzibar, fabled island known to the ancients and part of Tanzania in name only, once a famous source of spices.

The third section looks at southern Africa, a land largely shaped by the Zulus and the migrations they caused in the 1800s thanks to the tyrant Shaka Zulu. We read about mountainous Lesotho, well known for its conical hats, vigorous ponies, and blankets (called Victorians), a distinct national character that is only 150 years old, invented by arguably Africa's wiliest diplomat, Moshoeshoe the Great; and Swaziland, one of the last of the traditional African monarchies, famous for the Umhlanga or Reed Dance, where barely clad young maidens symbolically offer themselves to the king as brides. The enigmatic San or Bushmen of the Kalahari also receive attention.

Part four looks at the ancient rain forest lands of the Kongo, long a source of slaves for the world and even well into the 20th century under the yoke of forced labor by France (in the Congo) and Belgium (in Zaire). It is a troubled region, but one of great contrasts; separated by the Stanley Pool of the mighty Congo River are two very different capital cities; Brazzaville of Congo the authors describe a sleepy and pleasant town, in vivid contrast to Kinshasa, capital of Zaire, a much larger, angrier, and dangerous city. Some of the most interesting passages in the book are in this section, particularly of his travels up the Congo River, in war torn Angola, and among the pygmies of Cameroon.

The fifth section looks at the Gulf of Guinea, long fabled as the Gold Coast and dominated by the fierce Ashanti, bold enough to challenge the British Empire and almost win. Of particular interest are violent and overpopulated Nigeria; the country of Benin (growing more into a model of how Africa could be), whose ancient kingdom of Dahomey was once noted for "Amazon" warriors; Togo, where vodun (the African incarnation of Haitian voodoo) still reigns; Ghana, perhaps the most "Christian" of the west African nations and a robust democracy; and Liberia and Sierra Leone, whose prospects are gloomy indeed.

Section six was quite interesting, examining the peoples and old empires of the Sahel, the grasslands bordering the southern Sahara, as well as the Sahara itself. Once dominated by a series of mighty empires, first Ghana for over 800 years, then Mali, the greatest perhaps of Sub-Saharan African empires, then nearly 400 years later the Songhai. Fabled Timbuktu is covered in this section, the desert city a center of Islamic learning from the 14th century on. The authors' coverage of Mali is especially interesting, notable for Mansa Musa, an African king so extravagantly wealthy he was well known in 14th century Europe after his pilgrimage to Mecca, and his predecessor, Abu Bakari II, the Voyager King, who actually sought to reach lands he believed to exist on the other side of the Atlantic, disappearing from history when he accompanied personally 2000 vessels for a perilous journey into the unknown. Also fascinating was coverage of the Tuareg or "Blue Men" of the Sahara, a fair-skinned desert nomad group where the men go veiled, not the women, and the Dogon tribe, cliff-dwellers in southern Mali that are neither Christian nor Muslim but have instead their own complex religion.

The later sections of the book are somewhat shorter, but no less interesting. Part seven looks at the Maghreb and the Barbary Coast of North Africa, an area once controlled by the now extinct Carthage, the land of the Berbers, the Bedouin, and the Moors, once dominated by the Almoravid and the Almohad civilizations, in part infused from the Andalucian culture of Islamic Spain. Part eight devotes some time to Egypt, which the authors maintain it is definitively a part of African civilization, and Ethiopia, a fascinating land of rock-hewn churches and according to some the home of the Ark of the Covenant, and once dominated by the powerful Axumite Empire. The book closes with the Great Rift, believed by paleontologists to be the true cradle of mankind, home to the enigmatic Chwezi or BaChwezi empire, the fabled Mountains of the Moon, and the horror that was Idi Amin in Uganda and is the conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu in Rwanda and Burundi.

A fantastic book!

This book was extremely entertaining and interesting and most importantly stimulated interest in me for learning more about many of the regions and peoples described. Much in the work, however, seemed a bit over-romanticized. Nevertheless, I highly recommend the book: it was one of the best I read last year. Excellent introduction to the history and current situations in Africa (a little out of date for Zaire, of course)

The major highlight of this book is that it mentions every country on the continent; many books which view Africa as a whole tend to stick with maybe a dozen of the 45 countries that make up Africa, but the authors have touched, albeit briefly, along all modern African states, and attempt to bring them together as a whole, and make cohesive conclusions about the continent. The continent - a real study of the continent in all of its incarnations. As an overview of the continent, as a pair of authors taking the long view, and reaching unique and enlightening conclusions, there is no better book.

As a seasoned traveller to Africa (on bicycle and 4wd). I was relieved to find this book both informative and enlightening in its excellent balance of past and present times. The lighthearted approach mingled with the odd tribal poem and sometimes witty dialogue will appeal to those for have an affinity for Africa and wish to delve a little deeper. My only real criticism is that the book doesn't delve deep enough - but should it have, then the lighthearted feel would be lost. The style of writing is a joy considering the breadth of Africa and to have the authors own past thrown in at times, reaqlly does purvue a sense of a 'personal account' of this wondrous continent. If you want to feel Africa in your heart and its culture in veins without the security blanket of a tour operator and a 5* hotel this is the book you have been waiting for!

I really enjoyed this book because it was well written history of the African people. The man who wrote this book is an exceptional writter for National Geographic. He seems to have a very good perpective upon the history of the African people. The other great thing is he provides a source for the Pharoah Khufu being an African person. He shows the deepest respect to African people and their culture. He is one of the only white writters on Africa that seem to do this. We have other people like J PHilipe Rushton,John R Baker,and the people behind the bell cruve seem to be on a cultural campain to posion the masses.
I wish however the writter would have went more indepth into African spirtuality. He does talk about the Mountains of the Moons being the source of the acient Egyptains.