Security Books

It's encouraging that this is the #1 book on the topic of 9/11 in Amazon. It deserves to be. Not content with depicting the terrible events of 9/11, Wright brilliantly and logically draws out the origins of the nihilist religious movement that formed the ideological motor of 9/11. The roots of 9/11 are twofold: in the writings of Egyptian expatriate Sayyid Qutb, who ironically wrote his most inflammatory works while an academic guest in Colorado (some of Qutb's works form the Mein Kampf of Islamic extremism); and the toxic Wahhabi Muslim sect in Saudi Arabia. When you finish the chapters on these topics, you will thoroughly understand the repellent underpinnings of Saudi-specific culture, which in fact have very little to do with the humane face of Islam.

Obviously, the central figure in this book is Osama Bin Laden, and you will also find yourself knowing more than perhaps you really wanted to know about this unusually prolific mass-murderer. In Qutb's and Bin Laden's world, the deaths of innocent Muslims are of no more value than blowing your nose in a Kleenex.

The ultimate issue exposed beyond debate in this book is the calamitous incompetence of the CIA, coupled with the hidebound bureaucratic stupidity pervading all levels of the FBI, with its institutional rigidity and lack of acceptance of technology. The lion's share of the blame for the failure of the United States to forestall the attacks really has to be laid at the doors of President Bill Clinton and his CIA directors, who were responsible for the policies disallowing the CIA from sharing any intelligence information whatever with law enforcement authorities inside the US. Secondary blame has to be laid at the door of the Bush Administration, who had ample warning of impending attacks and had absolutely no interest in proceeding even with the lamentably weak anti-terrorism policies of the Clinton administration.

But, ultimately, as I've noted, the CIA is really to blame as an institution for allowing the 9/11 attacks to succeed. It leaves an indelible impression of decadence and decline in America, and that particular institution should be disbanded and those CIA functionaries who did not share vital information with the FBI really should be thrown in prison for the rest of their lives, starting with ex-Director Tenet. There is no excuse for such meretricious incompetence. Absolutely none. My fondest hope is that one or two of the people mentioned in the book as having committed these acts of arrogant stupidity will read these words or those of others on this page. These CIA people have as much blood on their hands as Bin Laden, as far as I'm concerned.

Can you tell I'm really, really angry with these people? You will be too, by the time you finish reading this book. The final chapter, "The Big Wedding," painstakingly describes the attack on the USS Cole and its aftermath, and clearly draws a direct line between that attack and the one that single-handedly (and ironically) ensured George Bush a second term. The book climaxes with a strikingly brief but utterly visual and devastating real-time narrative of the attacks as the ex-FBI man John O'Neill (another central figure in the book, who reminds me strongly of Tony Soprano if Soprano was a big-time FBI man) experienced them. This book will be read and discussed a century and more from now. It is an essential work of our time.

Looming Tower should be required reading for all Americans. It is by far the best book about Al Qaeda and its antecedents. While it is extremely comprehensive, it is never boring. I find it extraordinary how Wright was able to develop such a book so soon after 9/11. It reads more like a book written 20 years after the fact rather than just 5 years.

Wright is particularly good at "developing the characters of his story." In this it reads more like a great novel, rather than a typical non-fiction book. Wright creates fascinating portraits of Sayyid Qtub (the intellectual founder of modern Jihadism), Abdullah Azzam (the cleric who gave a fatwa calling on all Muslims to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, Ayman Al Zawahiri (the intellectual and organizational founder of Al Qaeda) and finally Osama Bin Laden (the financier and symbolic leader of Jihad), Jamal Al-Fadl (the defector who first told the incredulous FBI of the existence of the Al Qaeda), Ali Mohammed (who infiltrated the US Special Forces, copied their manuals and started the How to wage jihad encyclopedia).

Particularly interesting is how all of these radical leaders came from the upper-crust of Arab societies. One might expect that their anger and violent rhetoric came from very poor people, but that is not the case.

Also interesting is how Al Qaeda's strategy and organization gradually evolved out of a serious of historical accidents - the visit of Qtub to the USA; the imprisonment of Zawahiri after Sadat's assassination; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; Zawahiri's work in a Kuwaiti hospital with radical Jihadi doctors; the near destruction of infant Al Qaeda in one small skirmish with the Soviet army; squabbles within Al Qaeda after the Soviets withdrew resulting in the assassination of Assam; the inability of the Arabs to return to their country after the war due to government hostility against the very people they recruited; the coup in Sudan which gave Al Qaeada a base just when they were losing their old one in Afghanistan; the USA passing up Sudan's offer to extradite bin Laden due to lack of evidence to prosecute him.

Wright also dismantles the myth that Al Qaeda brought down the Soviet Union by destroying their army in Afghanistan. This is a foundational myth for Al Qaeda and key to understand their seemingly irrational desire to attack the USA. Wright shows that only a few hundred Arab troops were actually in combat, and they did so mostly after the Soviets started withdrawing. Arab troops did not come in large numbers until after the Soviets completely withdrew, and they spent most of their time fighting against Afghan Muslims and each other. Even by the end of the war, the organization was just one of dozens of almost irrelevant radical organizations.

Wright somehow manages to maintain an objective perspective despite the murderous rhetoric, thoughts and action of his subjects.

wright prepared an excellent book. it's written as engagingly as a novel, but it is choke full of detail which has been corroborated. this was a fantastic page-turner. it did not provide the kind of detail that i sought regarding the actual attacks of 9/11, how individuals were trained and supported, etc. - it provided a comprehensive background on what was going on and who was involved. looking at the pages of interviews, pages of references, i am convinced of the thoroughness of the author and i appreciate why this book was the winner of the pulitzer prize. outstanding work!!!

A must read for any informed U.S. citizen. We all need to recommend it to our legislators for their reading..

I have read extensively about Islamic terrorism and Al Qaeda and The Looming Tower is by far the most compelling and comprehensive book on this subject. It clearly lays out the social, philosophical and theological progression and foundations that led to 9/11. Though you may not agree, by the end of the book you clearly understand the radical extemist's rationale and the historic time line of the people and events that led to 9/11. Though it provides history, The Looming Tower reads like a novel which I could not put down. It is the seminal book on this subject.

great book regarding the history of cryptography. The only way to truly understand anything is c the history of it's introduction

For a book on cryptology from a historical perspective it's really hard to believe it would be as entertaining as Singh makes it. Using his skill as an author he weaves history, technology, and methods of encryption together to explain topics that normally would leave many of us in the blind.

The most interesting thing about the whole book is that as you begin to read up on forms of encryption and decryption you begin to absorb yourself into the whole culture. One chapter describes the Beale Ciphers, a set of ciphers that gained popularity especially in the early 1900s and still are significant today linking to a fabulous treasure and yet still remaining unbroken. I remember spending the day after reading up on it thinking of ways I'd try to break the cipher. Not many books fill your mind with such rich images and excitement as this book seems to.

Generally, the book is wonderful and has enough to keep you hooked until the very end despite its historical nature.

Simon Singh does a very clever thing. He takes comlex topics and makes them understandable without dumming down the science or math.

If you have never read a Simon Singh book, it's time to begin now! While most Singh books can seem a bit boring when you read the synopsis (can a book about codes really be interesting??), this is not the case. He has a wonderfull way of explaining complicated things in an understandable way. I will also highly recommend "Fermat's enigma" and "Big bang".

As a mathematician in the early 1970s, I saw many advertisements recruiting mathematicians for the CIA. I knew that it had to do with cryptography and number theory but it was all very mysterious and since I never got a job with them I didn't see precisely how the disciplines fit together. As Singh describes the discover of the RSA coding system it all becomes very clear.
The story he tells is particularly interesting because it starts with the ancient Romans and the decoding of the conspiracy messages of Mary Queen of Scots in Elizabethian England.

Singh also wrote an very interesting account in layman's terms of the discoveries that led to the proof of Fermat's last theorem. That skill is also demonstrated in this book where the key concepts of cryptgraphy are discussed as they were developed through history. The uses of cryptography in World War I and World War II are brought out. We learn of the men in England at Bletchley Park who were able to decypher the German Enigma Machine and play a major role in the latter success of the allies. The gain of information from the U boats enabled the Americans to transport supplies and soldiers to Europe to fight the war. The U boats were very successful at destroying American ships prior to the breaking of the code.

It is interesting that after the war the academic community in the United States solved the problem of key passing for computer networks and developed the RSA code. These discovery were developed earlier and independently in England at their secret agency the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) based on the unheralded ideas of James Ellis. Their work was kept secret until the late 1990s when their achievements were finally brought to light.

The book also discusses the archaeological work on the Rosetta Stone and Linear B. This work uncovered the meaning of the hieroglyphics and showed that the Minoans language was a form of Greek. The techniques were very much akin to deciphering code.

Also of interest is the Navajo code talkers who used their language as an unbreakable code during the war in the Pacific in World War II.

Recent developments and conjectures about future breakthroughs are discussed in the last few chapters. The book provides very useful information about other books and interesting web sites including one that allows you to download Zimmerman's Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) which provides RSA level security.

This book is a fantastic beginner's book for learning the stock market jargon and the basics for how to start investing in stocks. It was a great read. Learned alot and it will no doubt make me money as well as save me money

Very good insights and explanations, I also enjoyed the section with the different strategies used by well known investors and analysts.

The material is very practical and it is easy to use the analysis tools described by the author.

This is a great guide that enables the reader to gather information and enter the complex world of investing in an intelligent, precise manner. The book takes you step by step and introduces strategies to create a permanent portfolio that all investors should possess before one ventures into the more volatile world of individual stock investing. I especially appreciated the blueprint Mr. Kelly has devised for the investor to research companies and compare 20 individual stocks for eventual analysis of data, and purchase of stocks. He adds humor and wit and has created an enjoyable, informative guide for the investor. I highly recommend this guide.

I read a lot of books, but I seem to only write reviews/comments on the super good one's or the time-n-money waster's. This book is a 5 star and nothing less. My new high-liter is about dry because I went crazy marking everything that I thought would be valuable to reference later on. Basic? Yes, this book is very basic and gives basic info and ideas. But sometimes it's good to go back to the basics to recheck and make sure you're headed in the direction that you intended to go in the first place. It's easy to get side-tracked and even lost at times in this insane market. Jason Kelly knows what he's talking about and with his simple permanent portfolio suggestions, you'll finally be able to keep a cool head when others panic; and they panic every day, win or lose. With his simple "long-term" strategy you'll still be able to trade on the side if that suits your fancy. But with the knowledge gained in this book you'll more likely have a better chance at picking winners yourself instead of relying on the media to tell you what the hottest thing on the street is, and by then you're already too late.

For 10 bucks you can't go wrong!

I think all women should read this book and share it with others (family and children). Not only does Mr. Bach discuss how saving a little here and there can help with retirement, but he also gives women inspiration to live out (and especially to finance) their dreams. A wonderful book.

I bought this book because I heard so many positive things about it. I am in my 50's, five years ago I went from having the wonderful life that all women dream of. I had the beautiful home in the suburbs, 2 beautiful children, friends, you name it I had it. Then I lost it all in the blink of an eye. I had relied on my husband to handle all the finances I couldn't tell you the balance in the check book. All I knew was he made the money and I spent it. Thank the Lord I was a RN, but I hadn't worked in quite a few years. I am not going to go into detail what happened but when I said I had nothing but the clothes on my back I mean just that. I have been working two jobs for the past five years making good money but I have NOTHING to show for it. By reading Suze book I was able to identify myself, it is so easy to understand that someone like myself with NO understanding of finance can take her suggestions and work them into my present life. It is going to take discipline on my part and learning to say NO to my children is going to be the hardest. But, I need to take care of myself. This book was just what I needed to read. I highlighted areas, I keep going back and re-reading certain sections. I keep it next to my bed. Buying this book was one of the best things I have done for myself.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to become wealthy and this book details how easy it can be. If you're looking for glitz and glamour and "get rich quick" this isn't it. There's no such thing as an overnight success. Read David's book and get going on the road to wealth.

Love all his books - bought this, gave it someone and had to buy it again. It all depends what level you are on. Not too much non-common sense, but good for women to read.

Smart Women Finish Rich is a bit different from other financial books I've read. I have to admit I was surprised with how well David Bach addressed both the emotional and intellectual relationship women have with money. His grandmother taught him well.

I am going to say that Smart Women Finish Rich is more for a financial beginner than a woman with financial savvy. It's a well thought out system of gaining and keeping control of your financial self-sufficiency. Bach has filled this book with definitions, resources, quizzes, systems, exercises and tables. I was impressed and give it a must read if you're serious about becoming more financially organized.

David Bach addresses both the heart and the head in Smart Women Finish Rich. He used the lessons he learned from his grandmother, and his mother, as inspiration. After growing up with two such powerful role models, he was surprised by the number of financially uniformed women. Many of the women who came to him for financial advice, had no clue about building financial security.

Smart Women Finish Rich is easy to understand. I read it and "got it." This is a "how to" book that involves a commitment on your part to read, work and put the assignments and lessons into daily practice. Bach has carefully given us valuable financial keys, now it's up to us to follow through.

What you'll get out of this book is going to depend on what you're willing to put into it. It's a book that has the potential to give you a great foundation for financial self-sufficiency.

Here are some of the areas I found particularly useful:

1.The first exercise, "Financial Knowledge Quiz" is a great practical place to start. I found it to be thoughtful and quite an eye-opener. I learned about how well (and sometimes not so well) I understood the role money played in my life.

2. David Bach is adamant about pinpointing the reason money is important to you. To find this out, you'll need to examine your money values and ask yourself if your financial behavior matches those values. He provides a simple but thoughtful exercise called the "Values Ladder."

3. Smart Women Finish Rich is a great blend of exercises, systems, quizzes and practical "real world" information. For example, the "Finish Rich File Folder System" is a simple, easy-to-follow and yet an organizational time saver.

I definitely give Smart Women Finish Rich five stars! If you're ready and serious about getting your financial house and monetary priorities in order, this is the book for you!

A well written book covering investing in no load mutual funds and a list of DONT"S visa vi investing. The author has a method for getting out of the stock market at the right time. Emphasis on taking profits and limiting one's losses. Easy to read.

This book is a gem! Have a paper and pencil ready to take notes to start your own investment portfolio. Keep in mind the Author has been on both sides of the fence as he will tell you, and thereby offers some very insightful and extremely informative ways to help you in the markets. His absolute best advise given in the book is 'cut your losses!'
An outstanding book!

THANK YOU Albert Thomas! I found this book by accident while searching the internet for info on on trend-following for mutual funds, something I was sort-of doing on my own, but without a plan or the great advice Al relays in this book. I'm 13 months into investing using this book's simple method. I started Oct 1, 2006, and to date, my return after all commissions is 37% - the S&P 500 has gone up 14.8% in the same time period.

Al tells you in the book that you can get this kind of return in a bull market, and easily beat the market. From my experience, he's not putting you on. It's such a simple plan, and doesn't require any big amount of time. It's a fun, easy read, it makes sense, and it works. He's a no BS guy and knows what he's talking about.

I was one of the many who were duped into the "buy and hold" mentality over the years - until I lost big 2000-2002. I vowed to never let that happen again. This book really woke me up to how protecting your capital is SO important. This simple tip (and how to do it) combined with Al's showing you how to be in the best ETFs or funds - and WHEN - is fantastic advice. Do get the service he recommends for picking the ETFs/funds, it is WELL worth the small expense. Note that Al is NOT selling a thing, as I've heard other authors do in their books. He's just giving you a fantastic money-making plan.

Do not wait, get this book! Easily the best $20 I've ever spent.

I have to say the jury's still out on this book.

It's a trading manual based on 200 and 50 day moving averages. It uses the simplist of indicators. Hasn't been a bull market yet, so I can't really say how it works. In retrospect it works very well, but so do many back tested strategies. Does have some links to free websites that give timing signals, and you can get the authors e mail newsletter for three months for free. It comes out weekly.

Nevertheless, it is unique in it's style and approach.

I like the fact that the authors e mail shows you his positions and what he bought them at. It's his money in real time. I would buy the book because of it's unique approach and common sense advice. It should be updated to cover ETFs. Even this revised version is four years old.

Buyer beware-It is poorly edited and organized. It needs at least two read throughs plus visiting the sites mentioned and subscribing to the e mail newsleter in order for it all to make sense.

It's a good read and it will probably help you make some money and/or presevre capital.

I've spent a number of years researching and developing my own trading systems that produced average results. Like most people, I don't want to spend most of my time in front of a computer screen watching the price of a stock tick up and down. I was also tired of having to watch for news that might affect my investments. I wanted a method that would allow me to make money and free up my time. Al came through with a simple, but very effective method.
Living in the information age, we forget that simple is often the best. Al helps the investor to know when to be in the market or on the sidelines just watching. Sometimes the hardest action is no action and being on the sidelines with your account in cash can be the best place during a down market.
I enjoyed reading Al's book and I highly recommend it.

the title comes from a comment on The Iliad. a well written book. lots of details on the battle. also gives a broad view of the entire socio-political background. not for the faint of heart.

I picked this up to read on a month long travel trip. I ended up reading it in one sitting! Consequently, Im very glad I had also purchased a few other titles on the same topic. I really good read, disturbing and terrifying at times with a great deal of insight, but a great read.

His account of the fighting in and around Fallujah was very informative. He description of the bravery and determination exhibited by the Marines was very memorable. Yet by ignoring the political ramifications of fighting a trumped up war created by the Bush administration and the large number of civilian casualties that have been subtained, he intentionally created a very distorted overall picture of the conflict. Also, his comparison of the fighting in Iraq with the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War was extremely inaccurate. By blindly accepting the offical version of events, Bing did an injustice to his readers. Amazingly, he pretty much ignored the total incompetence of President Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld, and the political leaders who served there. As a Vietnam Combat veteran myself, I was very disappointed that he didn't recognize the harsh fact that one man's terrorist in another man's freedom fighter. Or rather, the glaring fact that we can't militarily win a war of occupation, unless we literally accept the fact that we are corporate occupiers and not political liberators.

It will be many years yet before we get a good general history of the Iraq War - history is still playing out. Too many of the recent books on the Iraq conflict are shrill jeremiads or ideologically-biased axe-grinding (whether pro or con). So it's perhaps not surprising that battle memoirs would be the first really good pieces of literature to come out of this war.

The Battle of Fallujah was the biggest urban battle the military has conducted since the Battle of Hue City, and it presents unique challenges to a writer attempting to chronicle it. There are no large set-piece battles to focus on: the insurgents are guerilla fighters, often untrained (and therefore unpredictable), and practice small-unit hit-and-run tactics. Instead West tries to follow the "flow" of the battle as the Marines and Army move from North to South through the city of Fallujah.

Much of the combat is up close and personal (the "House from Hell" chapter is truly scarifying), often involving desperate actions by squads who have to assault one fortified house after another. It's a testament to West's skill that these battles don't become confusing to the reader (however much so they must have been to the soldiers themselves); West intersperses the larger decisions of the officers and politicians, and how these decisions affect the grunt in the field.

Bing West, a retired military man himself, understands how to convey both strategy and small-unit tactics. This is a weakness of many other battle histories, which sometimes tend too much to the officers while neglecting the grunts; or focusing too much on the kinetic tactical stuff while ignoring the bigger picture. "No True Glory" strikes a good balance, and West is superb at keeping the reader "centered" in the battle at all times.

This book will stand the test of time, I think, and may well become the definitive account of the battle of Fallujah.

This is a sad story that includes descriptive descriptions of West's experiences in war. It is well written though at times a slow read. If you enjoy war novels, particularly non-fiction war novels, then you may like this book. It reminds me a little of "With the Old Breed on Pelilu and Okinawa." If you were tolerable of the gory details of that book, then you will likely not mind this one. This book may evoke bad memories and anxiety in people who have experienced war, and will most likely insult people who are opposed to this war. This book may provide insight and closure to the family members of the people mentioned inside its pages. I think it is a testimony to the fact that war is terrible. The pictures inside are not for children or anyone who is especially sensitive to seeing human suffering.

I gave this book 4 stars only because it was published in 1995, which is over a decade ago. It is a good source for background information about a corporate executive I respect--and there are few of those to be found. Buffett told the author he would nothing to help or hinder, and the journalistic quality and information is well-presented and -documented. A good place to learn more about the "Oracle of Omaha". I'd like to see Lowenstein do a follow-up covering the more recent years.

Before writing my impressions of this book, I think it is first important to identify the reviewer so others can see my perspective. I am a young graduate with limited to no investing experience. I became interest in Warren Buffett after reading a fair amount of articles on Buffett the person; his success in investing, his political views, his recent contribution to the Gates charity, and most importantly, his character. I became intrigued enough to inquire about the details of who this man is and his philosophy.

This was exactly what the book offered; it is a biography, not an investment guide. That said, it is not really possible to unlink Buffett the person and Buffett the investor. His core values are too in entwined for it to be anything other. Lowenstein does a great job of presenting information in terms that a layman like myself can understand (with some help from simple research) while still providing enough information to get the details about Buffett's investment strategies and core values.

I found the book to be both informative and enticing. It has instilled in me a great respect for the man, as well as an interest in becoming less of an investment layman. The book is a bit dated, now being about 13 years old, but after reading it, I find this point moot. Buffett's approach has been the same since he learned from Graham, just with more information and an increasing scope in which to apply his tactics.

In my opinion, Lowenstein did a fantastic job researching his subject matter. The book is ripe with references and further signs that he truly knows his subject. I also found little to no signs of a subjective approach in respect to either glorifying Buffett or demonizing him, as far as is humanly possible. Buffett's mistakes are presented as clearly as his amazing triumphs (and they are quite amazing). Lowenstein's approach is instead to provide as clear as possible a presentation of Buffett's character, which is again entwined with his (enormous) successes and (minor) setbacks.

Highly recommended for those interested in his character. Again, this book is a biography, not an investment guide, but it seems hard to separate the two in regards to Buffett.

Warren Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist is a touching, human portrayal of a true capitalist. Roger Lowenstein's portrait of Warren Buffett as a modern day mathematical wizard and financier was touching both in its humanity and educational in its documentation of the making of the most successful, modern entrepreneur.

One would be interested to hear more about what Mr. Buffet has been up to since the release of this book. There have been significant events that have followed.

This is the book to read if one is interested in a biography of Warren Buffett. Highly Recommended.

This is a biography. It talks about his parents, what he was like as a kid and how he got where he is today. It is college level reading, but flows nicely. Specific chapters fill us in in detail about some of the more complex times in his life like the beginnings of Berkshire and being investigated by the SEC.

I've liked the book. I'm not quite done, but it's kept my interest for like 500 pages - and that's not easy (if you knew me).

Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Lowenstein is one of the most delightful books I have ever read. It was difficult to put this book down. If you enjoy an enterprising adventure, you'll love this one. More than investment epic biography; it is an exciting light fun read. There are tidbits of investing genius around every corner. My connection came when I learned how enterprising Warren was even as a young boy and then it gets better and better. Our investment club, also selected this book to study in 2008 and it has been exceeding expectations. It is one of several books I have read on the topic of Warren Buffett and it is by-far-and-away, the best. This is one you will want to keep for your collection and share with your kids, friends and family.

I bought this book as an additional material to study for the CISA exam. However it didn't help me with the exam at all. Furthermore, in an attempt to cover many things, it did not cover anything in detail. This book is just an endless recollection of bullet points. On top of that, it misses very sensitive topics like disaster recovery planning.

This book has some material relevant to the CISA examination based on the 2003 content areas, although it is not organized or focused as a CISA examination guide. If you are looking for CISA review material for the test, I would strongly suggest to stick with ISACA's combination of review manual and questions CD. I also searched everywhere for study aids for this grueling test and ended up using ISACA's expensive material, but it proved to be the best choice as I passed the Dec 2006 test.

However, as owner of a copy of this book, I assure you that this is an excellent reference of IT management, planning, implementation, risk assessment and control procedures for anyone in the IT business. Most of the material is still relevant as of 2007.

Audit is not the most exciting topic in the world, but this no fluff book really sets the standard. The care the authors took is obvious from the start, the table of contents is one of the most detailed I have ever seen, it allows the book to be used as a reference.

My favorite chapter was Quality Management, best job of making quality approachable I have seen to date. My least favorite was Project Management, it seemed to lack the application and lean to theory a bit.

I am not an auditor, but as an auditee, this book really helped me understand how they think. Recommended!

Not having much experience in the IT audit field, this book was a great resource and was easy to understand.

This is a huge book but spends no more then 1 page on any topic. In my opinion the authors only have financial audit experience and little understanding of IT controls. This book shows the failure of the 'integrated auditor' as the authors are tyring to be IT auditors with little IT experience. They touch on some very good points in a few instances and, in general, the book is decent. The authors do not know much outside of the CISA, IIA and financial based certifications as they seem to think that the ISSA (Information Systems Security Assoc.) is sponsored by ISC2/CISSP's (it is not). Overall, I have not been impressed with this book.

Very handy cookbook reference for my office bookshelf. I've used it a number of times, and it's more than paid for itself in expediting regularly-scheduled inquiries of our AD structure here at GEICO HQ.

Excellent reference if you work with AD on a regular basis either as an admin or a developer. Each "how to" offers methods for manually performing a specific task as well as (where possible) how to automate the task using code. Should be on every Windows admin/developer's desk.

Overall, this is a great book for reference.

There are a number of areas where I think the book falls short - all of the scripts are very hard coded scripts that don't tell you how to do some functions that would make their scripts actually useful (like "pull the list of users with attributes from a tab-delimited file and create them" or something similar, this would make mass creation of users actually useful, instead of "create user1, user2, user3, etc..."). I think that the writers expect you to be a VB expert (or at least close to it) if you're going to actually make the vb scripts useful.

Most of the scripts are "How to use a script to do the same functions that you can already do in AD with ADUC or another MMC", but I think that the most important thing for me about the book is what it inspires me to think of doing. Things that MS doesn't necessarily expect you to do. I'm still not seeing a way to add sidHistory to an object (MS does it with another applet - there is a way...), but there are so many things in the book that just have me thinking about how you can implement changes to an environment that MS says you can't do. What they really mean is "You can't do that with the GUI tools that we provide you".

I am so glad that this book was recommended to me by a guy I took a class on scripting from. I use this book everyday (almost). I even took it on vacation with me for light reading.

Hard to say in words to adequately describe how much I like this book. I highly recommend to anyone who works with AD.

Wonderful experience. Seller worked out all the details with me and I was so pleased with the purchase. Would definitely refer others to him and also buy from him again. Thanks so much.

Pictures. These will remind you. Haunting. Sad. Heart wrenching. Moving. These words won't do it for you. The book will give you more. Over 3000 people died that day. This book will help you to never forget what happened to them and us.

The point comes across, but I think there is plenty of other work that should have been included.

A message to each and every reviewer who takes time to add thoughts to a any media of memorial of 9/11, World Trade Center Towers tragedy... thank you from my heart.

My spouse and I resided on the Lower West Side, Battery Park City, Gateway Plaza, So. End Ave. As survivors of the 9/11 World Trade Center Towers tragedy... From our Gateway Plaza apartment, facing the street and 300 yards from the Towers, we helplessly witnessed all from our apartment windows. The closeness of the Towers viewed from our windows - gave an illusion that one could reach out and touch the Towers; their beauty with night lights reaching toward the sky promoted a contemplative emotion.

We viewed the planes entering the Towers, the overwhelming inferno, individuals jumping, the collapse of the Towers, the darkness as debris hit our windows with a fury. What occurred over a period of hours, seemed like a much shorter time span. The darkness was darker than an eclipse, darker than the darkest night; and then a momentary hush after the air cleared. Viewing the roof garden one floor below, with the human reaction of looking out to see if someone might be on that roof garden and in need of help. Debris strewn everywhere, recording tape and paper hung from the trees of the garden and oh, so much ash. The momentary hush, whether real or imagined, then the viewing of debris for a second, fantasized that a parade had just passed by on our short street. I now really understand the expression a "feeling of helplessness", I couldn't fix what had just happened.

We vacated our apartment finally at 5:15 p.m. that day, waiting for someone to knock on our door, with only a battery radio to keep us abreast of happenings. "In a New York minute", we evacuated via the stairwell touched with ash, the result of a first floor door left open. With a few belongings, gathered with a tad of thought of what was being left behind, we stepped out of the door onto the pavement, seeing and standing in ever so much ash & debris, I wanted to turn around and go back to our home. It was one moment of reality in time, I carry to this day.

We planned to walk up the East Side, glimpsed the tired fire, police, volunteers, and med techs in our immediate driveway and street, so instead opted to pass through the building in back of the apartment complex. We gained access to the Esplanade walking the short distance to reach the Hudson River North Cove dock. We were escorted to the New Jersey shore via New York Police boat. From the boat deck, we viewed even more damage to the Manhattan skyline, especially noting the zigzag shape of the side of the American Express building, housed in one of the World Financial Center buildings along with the glorious Winter Garden, as well as the fall of World Trade Center Building 7. We were taken to the Jersey City Hospital, attended to by compassionate staff. Then traveled by National Guard truck to Hoboken, NJ where we were housed by a wonderful family who with great trust welcomed strangers to their home.

On Friday 9/14, our eldest son & daughter-in-law drove from New Hampshire via New Jersey routes to Hoboken for transport us to New Hampshire for temporary residence with our daughter, who along with her friend and our youngest son, greeted us with open arms & the overwhelming feeling of not wanting to let go with each hug that followed. Our daughter and son had spent that Friday in New Hampshire collecting items of clothing and necessities which the Concord community generously opened their hearts and donated by churches, stores, individuals, employers, American Red Cross, et al.

One of our grandchildren -- he was 8 at that time - arrived home from a few days with his Dad. He hugged us so tight, understanding the depth of 9/11 events for someone so young and yet so wise. He told Grandpa & Babcia that he had something for them... his Mom was not even aware of his gift. He had spoken to his classmates about his grandparents' closeness in location of the World Trade Center Towers. Presented to us was a large envelope full of hand-made cards from each of his classmates. And if that isn't love and caring, I don't know what is - from the hearts and minds of children!

Residing now in New Hampshire, not because of 9/11 drove us away, but circumstances just went that way as we continue to put our lives into perspective.

We Miss - New York City deeply; events found nowhere else in the USA, the introduction to & interaction with so many wonderful cultures. There isn't a day or night over these years that we do not think of 9/11... the Lady of Liberty & Ellis Island both on the merge of the East and Hudson Rivers. And that Lady of Liberty wept, I just know it, & still stands with pride that the USA is a democracy that will prevail.

We Remember - the victims, the survivors, their friends and families, the workers from the public and private sector, the volunteers, our neighbors in Gateway Plaza and staff in the small group of stores on South End Avenue, Battery Park City.

We Remember - the places we visited, the book signings attended, the celebrities we met, the concerts and theater plays, the movies, the arts, the parks, the strangers we talked with, on streets, on subway and those while standing in line for an event...

We Remember - Always In Our Hearts, Forever In Our Souls, Heroes, Victims, Survivors One and All... We Were There.

Painfully, the lump in my throat and the twist in my stomach, the tears in my eyes and the pain in my heart, to the depth of my soul, forever reside.

LIFE has done a first class job of putting together a book covering this horrific act by such a cowardly enemy.Rather than to make the Americans cower as these fanatics probably thought and probably thought and hoped for;it showed what a good and strong nation it is.History will remember both 9/11 and Pearl Harbor for the terrible and misguided acts of hatred they were.
This act conjours up different thoughts for everyone who witnessed it ,in whatever fashion,but no more so than those who had friends and particularly those who lost loved ones.
To those who may turn a little soft on the War on Terror a review of this book should remind one of what we are dealing with.
A great book TIME and thanks.