Security Books

This is an exceptional work of real empirical science. Steve Biddle has a hypothesis that "force employment" is a more important determinant of military success than either technology or preponderance of military forces. He subjects this hypothesis to a wide range of analytical and empirical tests, and the evidence in support of his argument is compelling. And the author has the foresight to raise many of the issues that occur to a skeptical reader, and to treat them with reasoned analysis and data. His prose is clear, and this is compelling reading even to one who is not an expert in this field.

Stephen Biddle, a Professor at the US Army War College, has produced an important book on modern warfare. He shows how material forces, numbers and technology, only count if used in the modern system. Force deployment shapes the role of material forces. He analyses full data-sets of modern battles, proving that bigger is not always better.

The increasing lethality of firepower means that since 1914 exposed mass movement is suicidal. Only the modern system of using combined arms, cover and concealment enables the attackers' forces to survive the defence's response.

Biddle looks at three significant battles, firstly, the successful German attack of March 1918. For preponderance theorists, the Allies should have stopped this attack dead. The German/British force-to-force ratio was 1.5/1, among the least favourable of any major attack of the war. The British had a few more tanks, but the main weapons were still the infantry and guns of 1915-18, a defence-dominant technology. The British official history blamed the fog, as if there had been no fog until then.

The Germans won an unprecedented breakthrough, advancing 40 miles across a 50-mile front. The Germans implemented the modern system tactically and to some extent operationally; the British didn't. This broke the great stalemate, not new technology, US intervention or exhaustion.

Biddle's second example, Operation Goodwood in July 1944, was the failed Allied effort to break out of the Normandy beachhead. The British had more troops and weapons: 1,277 tanks, 4,500 aircraft and 118,000 troops against 319 tanks, several hundred aircraft and 29,000 troops. If preponderance theorists were right, the British would have won, but they tried an exposed mass tank charge, unsupported by infantry or suppressive artillery.

Biddle's third example is Operation Desert Storm of 1991, which US forces won with an unprecedentedly low loss rate. US forces used the modern system, the Iraqis did not. The superior US air technology did not eliminate the Iraqi resistance: 2,000 tanks still fought back after the air assault. US troops with or without advanced ground technology, and those fighting local engagements at better or worse odds, won equally convincingly.

According to Stephen Biddle force employment or the use of combined arms is the secret to military success not superior technology or overwhelming numbers. The first example that Biddle uses is the opening German offensive in 1918 against the British in which they succeded intially against the English army due to effective coordination of artillery and infantry. The second case that Biddle brings up is the British operation Goodwood against the Germans in 1944. The British failed, according to Biddle, due to the lack of cooperation between infantry and armor.Also Biddle dispels the myth that technology alone won Desert Storm because the Marines,equipped with only sixties era tanks, were able to defeat the Iraqis with superior tactics. The only weakness of Biddle's book is that he leaves out the two cases in which opponents with superior nummers defeated a force with effective force employment methods which is the defeat of the Germans to the Russians in the summer of 1944, and the rout of the Americans from North Korea by the Chinese in the winter of 1950. Otherwise, Biddle writes an effective case that force employment and not technology is the most important factor in military victory.

I'll begin by saying that this is an excellent book and highly recommended to anyone interested in the field. Well written and great to read even for a non-military reader.
Unfortunately, the case studies and battles are not really described, and if you were not already familiar with the battles before (as I was not in 2 of 3), the analyses will not help to gain any real understanding.
Second, the model presented is an excellent tool for "post mortem" analyses. However, since according to the model, the major factor that will decide the outcome of the battle is force emplacement, and since it cannot be known in advance what will the force emplacement be (neither for friendly nor for enemy forces), the model cannot really be used to predict outcomes of future battles. I see this as a major problem with the model.

Prof Terry Tucker, Senior Doctrine Developer, Saudi Arabian NG Modernization Program;
The author presents a balanced, provocative and well presented case for how victory or defeat occurs in battle. This book is designed for both the tecnical numbers kind of person and also the less technical. The chapters can be read as a stand alone or you can also go through the entire book. Either way it has immense value.
The thesis of this book is that force employment, or the doctrine and tactics by which forces are used in combat is centrally important. This book is great reading, is controversial in its presentation but clearly provides both empirical and quantitative analysis to support his position. THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ.

AWESOME! I have been mentoring women of all ages on these subject matters for many years. The concepts Mr. O'Shaughnessy shares will change your life if you are willing to take action. Some of the keys words to a good life are organization, goals and self-esteem. Mr. O'Shaughnessy presents the foundation for these keys areas plus so much more. Women take heed! Dare to be a Millennium Woman.

After attending a Millennium Woman Friend-Raiser in LA I decided to buy this book. I was inspired at the event, but the book brought it all home. As a woman I feel that this book speaks directly to me and the issues and fears I have about my own success and abilities. I now have my goals on my mirror and I am a Millennium Woman!

This book has been such a terrific guide for me.

It has helped me to organize, set goals, learn when to say yes and when to say NO. It opened my eyes to so much, I was amazed at how little I knew about finances, saving, debt, goals, self-esteem and even Real Estate. The author, although a man, seems so in-tune to the struggles of today's women--single, married, divorced, widowed, single-parent--all women and gives answers and guidelines--not just philosphies and baloney. It is a "nuts and bolts" book that gives you step by step instructions on how to turn your life around and be prosperous, happy and successful and he does it in a lively and sometimes humorous manner.

I am so happy I bought this book-it has been very, very insightful. Take the time-you'll be glad you did.

I was given this book as a gift and, at the giver's request, took time to really read the book. This book has been an inspiration to me financially, spiritually (although it is not a Christian book, the author definitely writes with God in mind), and personally. It discusses what women should do to become independent and move forward in life. It got me out of my comfort zone and woke me up to the possibilities available to any person. The author truly desires to assist women in bettering their positions and to not let others, male or female, control their lives. The author's points and suggestions have improved my position and my relationships with my children and spouse. If you want to improve your financial situation, this book is a must-read. Put it in your personal library!

Millennium Woman is a great book for ALL women: We are all either single, divorced, married, with kids or widowed and trying to make it. Written from the perspective of the "Other Team" author O'Shaughnessy makes it clear that women must use the same formula for success as men. We must lead balanced lives before we can achieve financial freedom. EASY to READ!

Derivatives are not simple things. It almost seems that complexity was a design goal when they were being set up. In order to determine their real value either today or in the future you almost have to model them on a computer.

This book covers dozens of different types of derivatives, including the common ones and some of the new even more esoteric ones. It talks about the structure of the derivative, and then presents models of them. The models are presented in the most common modelling 'languages' in use today. There is a lot of code involved, but there is not a CD included with the book. Instead, an access code providing a one time download for the code. Note, a one time download. Be sure and save the code quickly and on several media. This procedure allows the models to be updated as needed without regard to the time it takes for the book to move from being written to being published, but if you have a disk crash....

The biggest things this book provides are: first, you get to see what an expert in the field has done, and second, you get the code to run his models on your system, and of course you can modify them if you find some other aspect suits your needs better.

This is a new book, first printed in December 2006, so it is current with the derivatives being marketing at that time.

I highlight two points:

1. The inclusion of Matlab and Excel code in almost all topics of the book.
2. All the content is new and more advanced, there is no recovered topics of his previous book.

This book offers prebuilt, modifiable code that you can use for energy, power, weather and many other derivatives applications. The download process is fast and easy. For those who use Matlab, C++, or Excel, there is no competition. A great book with unique content and code.

This book was my ultimate go-to resource on several financial engineering projects (on the buy side). It covers many different derivatives and provides example MatLab and C++ code that is easy to modify and extend.

The instructions for setup and downloading the code could be more clear, perhaps on a CD.

Great book. But the code downloading process is a bit weird. Don't know why they just attach a CD.

WHAT A CHARMING PIECE ON THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH. CRAFTED WITH PURE GENIOUS AND A PEN FOR DETAIL, "THE MODERATES' DILEMMA" BRINGS TO LIGHT THE UNDENIABLE OBSTINANCE OF THE SOUTH'S PREMIERE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.THIS WORK IS A MUST READ FOR HISTORY GRADS OF ANY BACKGROUND.

I read the book, it is brilliant collection of writings. The editors offer an interesting, sophisticated analysis of the white response to busing. Being a former student of his, I can attest that Matthew D. Lassiter is an incredibly intelligent, dynamic individual. I highly recommend this book, and anxiously await his upcoming works.

Matthew Lassiter, editor-in-chief of this seminal collection, sets forth, once again, a fresh standard of scholarly excellence and eloquence. His essay, "A 'Fighting Moderate,'" illustrates one of his innumerable intellectual virtues, the ability to electrify his arduously acquired historian's sobriety with an innate psychological acuity.

Matthew D. Lassiter, perhaps the world's pre-eminent scholar of the American South, co-edited this penetrating and resonant collection of essays, to which he has contributed a characteristically elegant and astute study of Benjamin Muse, who figured prominently in the turbulent early years of desegregation in Virginia.

For my senior seminar, I wrote a paper on desegregation/busing in the South. While I was doing research, a librarian found this book for me. I had to wait 2 weeks to get it through interlibrary loan, but it was worth it!! The essays really bring home the complexity of Southern desegregation when viewed through the lens of class issues. I can only aspire to produce such insightful scholarship!

This is a very comprehensive resource for stock research ideas. I keep it handy and refer to it frequently.

This is without doubt an excellent starting point for investors (traders beware, this is of not much use to you!). By using traditional value analysis and their own business model analysis, Morningstar provides a "fair/intrisinc value" along with what it considers are "Buy below" and "Sell above" prices. In addition, the analysts assign a "moat" for the company reflecting its competitive advantage. Based on the current price and the fair value, the analysts provide star ratings for each stock. The book provides all this information and more for 500 stocks. The early parts of the book provide information on their methodology. The book also organizes their stocks into the sectors and according to different parameters such as price/earnings ratio, etc. While 500 stocks may be considered to be too big a sample for a "short list" for investments, it is still extremely valuable. For the price, no other source can provide such detailed, independent research. A must buy for any investor.

There is an old saying that people spend more time studying which refrigerator to buy than how they invest for their retirement. It is a sad saying because it is probably true in more cases than we would like to admit. There is also an awful lot of evidence that people are more often better off with a very low cost index fund than in picking stocks or even investing in mutual funds. Why? Because over the long haul, there aren't many who can consistently provide higher than market returns. And it is even more difficult to identify who those folks will be in advance.

Still, it is nice to look for the next Microsoft, or to figure out when it would be a good time to get into a good company. What too many people do is buy after the run has started and they end up providing capital gains possibilities for others. You may have heard of the greater fool theory. If not, feel free to email me and I can explain it to you.

While the web is full of information about companies, one has to do an awful lot of analysis and develop one's own perspectives about when to buy, when to hold, and when to sell. Again, during the learning curve one makes it possible for others to make money by taking your hard earned money away from you in transaction costs and in helping you buy high and sell low.

This terrific book has several virtues for the person wanting to buy some stock in companies that are likely to be good. However, the authors don't simply list 500 stocks and say, "Have at it." Far from it. They provide a very interesting page on each one of the companies and that page is crammed full of valuable information.

The obvious eye catcher are the star ratings. However, they do not say whether or not this is a sound company. Morningstar uses its star ratings to communicate the relative attractiveness of the company as an investment at its (then) current price given all the other aspects of its condition and position. I also appreciate the fair value price (the discounted cash flow value divided by the number of outstanding shares as Morningstar has evaluated their likely future cash flows). The last close, consider buy, consider sell, and yield are also interesting indicators for a person trying to understand that company.

Morningstar also provides a brief summary of the business, a rating of the stewardship of present management and why they gave that rating. There is also a good amount of historical financial information, ratios, competitors, comparisons of financial performance to those competitors, and about a third of a page "thesis" on the condition and prospects of that company as the named Morningstar analyst sees it on the date given for that article.

There are also about fifty pages of interesting short articles at the front of the book that explain these reports to the reader, the thinking behind some of their concepts like the competitive moat size. These pages also provide all the companies simply by name. Some are also singled out for being attractive and other for not being least attractive. The companies are also presented by sector and also the performance of various market sectors are also given. The back of the book has a helpful glossary.
Now, we all know that financial information becomes dated very quickly. So, Morningstar provides access to their online services that have more up to date information. When you buy this book you get access to fifty reports you can download at no additional cost before the end of December 2007. This is a very nice way to overcome the aging factor of the information in a book.

Still, this book is a wonderful study for anyone wanting to learn more about any of these 500 companies, business students, and prep work for folks getting ready to invest. It is quite interesting to compare what Morningstar thought months ago and what current markets have shown about those judgments.

A very useful and helpful book. Morningstar also offers other books in this series for bonds and mutual funds.

It's best to do your own research first, but of course a second opinion can never hurt. That's how I used this book for most part, but also got some ideas. I used this book for an experiment; I made up a mock porfolio of stocks I had done research on, and then took 16 totally random companies that this pick had rated with 5 stars, which is the highest rating. 12 of the 16 companies made money, while 4 didn't. Over 9 months, I gained about 10.5%, which doesn't factor in dividends, or fees for that matter. On the other hand, the stocks that I had actually researched, did about the same, 10%.

Overall, the book gets a 4.5. They strike a good balance between information, and quantity of top stocks. A beginner may not enjoy this book off the bat, because there are no explanations of the numbers, but after you learn a few things, the rest falls into place. They have the basic numbers for all the companies listed, but certainly, by the time the book comes out, those numbers will have changed, and at years' end, they will most likely be quite different. The vital info is across the top, and makes for quick reference.

Do your own research, use this book for a second opinion. Morningstar is without a doubt one of the most trusted names in the business.

Morningstar grades the stocks in its universe with one to five stars. This book has one page overviews of the best 500 stocks in that universe, rated and discussed in some detail.

Morningstar uses a "value investor" approach to stock evaluation.

I use this book in conjunction with Morningstar's StockInvestor newsletter, and I am pleased with the results.

Even though this book does not go into the details of estate planning at length, it is nevertheless a useful book, written in common parlance. I would recommend it to anyone before they read a technical book on estate planning. A book of all season, not only for someone over 40.

David and Tom Gardner's writing style seems to try to imitate their speaking style on their NPR show, but it doesn't always translate well to the page. Some of their off-the-cuff humor is actually funny, but much of it just gets in the way.

Nonetheless, they've compiled a decent collection of all the things we boomers need to think about as we near the end of our regular working days. They ask us to think about why we want to "retire" (while shunning the word as sounding too much like withdrawing, which is not what a good retirement is about); they help us figure out how much we'll need; they remind us about such topics as health care, long-term care, caring for our parents, and estate planning.

Although much of the information was a bit vague (mainly because no one book can describe the best plan for everyone), I found many useful tips and resources (I've bookmarked dozens of websites) in every chapter, including the chapter on saving for your kid's college education, despite the fact that I have no children. (I do, however, have nieces and nephews, who might just benefit from one of the tips...)

If you read this book, you should make sure you read other financial-type books too (Suze Orman and Jean Chatzky are two authors whose books I've liked, and I have one from Money Magazine in my queue), as differing viewpoints will empower you to discover what's right for you in your situation.

As with all of our books, we love to hear your comments, whether positive words or constructive criticism. We particularly benefit from the latter as we eventually take our books from hard-cover to paperback, so if you have any corrections or other suggestions, our organization would love to hear from you -- you can e-mail our Fool team at CS@Fool.com.

Tom and I put a lot of work into this book and have had many others breathe life into it, from great customer anecdotes and Motley Fool stories to numerous quotations from a variety of well-known business leaders and celebs via our NPR show. As with all Motley Fool books, it's our hope that we have educated, amused, and enriched you, and that you're inspired to make better financial decisions as a result. Foolish best! --DG

David and Tom Gardner walk the reader through retirement planning in their usual good-natured style. Everything is covered here for us age-phobic boomers, such as investments, insurance, housing, social security, health care, educating our kids and taking care of our aging parents. I particularly liked their suggestions about the need to downsize our oversized houses and to sell off our excess possessions on eBay (presumably to unsuspecting members of Generations X and Y). A well-written and sensible book. Now all I need is enough common sense to follow their advice.

I've read several of The Motley Fool books and this one is great!

This is a profound book. I found myself writing the author to thank him--for sharing this story and this part of our history; for sharing so intimately of his father's life and the choices he made (I am inspired by his faith and actions); for exposing the realities behind the headlines and the snippets of history that were in our history books; for sharing his own journey; and overall for writing such an important book.

Essential reading for anyone interested in this dark chapter of the civil rights movement. The book is based on thorough research into personal and public files and on personal memories. The argument is spellbinding at three levels: 1)an account of precisely what happened when Orville Faubus tried to defy the federal law; 2)a highly sympathetic account of the support by the Presbyterian (white) pastor Dunbar H. Ogden for the nine students attempting to register at the school; and 3)a deeply moving account by Ogden's son, a renown theater historian, concerning his own search for understanding after fifty years. The book is a superb success.

Well written and gripping, this true story is one of the most interesting books I have ever read.

This is one of the most needed books for students today. The collaboration between unlikely allies and their story is just what students today need to read to be able to have strong examples of unity in times of important social and political growth. As a school librarian, I find this a must in my library not only for students but as a vital resource for teachers. We still have a tremendous amount of segregation in our schools today.This book is just the tool we need to revisit this issue and reflect on our committment to social justice.

This is the most readable page-turner from an academic publisher since Tom Clancy's first book. It's a true story with an unlikely hero: an aristocratic pastor from the old-style Deep South who led the 1957 integration of Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas because his conscience drove him to do it. In close partnership with Mrs. Daisy Bates, a feisty black female newspaper editor, Reverend Ogden kept up the struggle until the first black student had graduated (Ogden smuggled the young Dr. Martin Luther King into the ceremony). By then,Ogden had become an influential national spokesman for civil rights. Along the way he had to face his own doubts and depression, financial hardships, and terrible tragedy in his own family. His reward was to be fired by his congregation and forgotten by history, but he lived to see the outcome of the great revolution he had helped start. If any tale can be both a true inspiration and a great read, this is it.The Long Shadow of Little Rock: A Memoir

Grobman's 'Nations United' is concise and to the point, laying out the case against the U.N. logically, persuasively in a short book that's well researched and well documented. Whether or not you support the U.N., it's an engrossing book that's well worth the read.

We all know that there is an organization called the United Nations. But many of us are a little suspicious about it. Is it effective? Is it counterproductive? In this book, Alex Grobman shows how the UN has dealt with a member nation, Israel. And what he shows is scary. I think it demonstrates that there is something intrinsically wrong with the entire concept of the UN.

The point is not that the UN is bad for Israel (although that is manifestly true). The point is that the UN is simply bad for human civilization. In an attempt to build a foundation for a global human society, I think we've created a cornerstone for a wacky global tyranny that threatens scholarship, justice, and prosperity.

This book does a good job of exposing the UN's libels and demonization of Israel. There is a focus on the infamous "Zionism equals racism" resolution of 1975 (which was repealed in 1991). And there is an analysis of how much damage that resolution caused.

Should the UN be reformed? Some people say it ought to be. As the author relates, others are not so sure. And I think that the UN ought to be outlawed. But no matter what your opinion may be, this is an interesting book.

Some people say that the UN is useful just because it brings people together to talk. But I think when it merely gets used to applaud lies, it is being astoundingly destructive. I feel that it is bad that the UN has sided with aggressors so often. But I think this book shows that perhaps the worst problem with the UN is that it acts as a huge megaphone for lies.

The book begins with a short introduction to Zionism and anti-Zionism, showing the international scope and political nature of anti-Zionism. Following that is a discussion of Soviet bloc policies towards Israel. After that is a chapter analyzing the Zionism = Racism resolution. Next we see more on the history UN's attitude towards (and present obsession with) Israel, including that of the non-governmental organizations.

The book then shows some of the rather long-standing antisemitic propaganda (including blood libels) that led to the Zionism = Racism resolution. And there's a discussion of Arab and Jewish responses to that infamous resolution. Following this, there's a chapter on the uses and consequences of holocaust denial.

The final chapter tells us about some recent UN behavior, including the 2001 Durban conference, the UN investigation of the battle at Jenin, and the UN ruling on Israel's security fence.

Perhaps best of all is an excellent bibliography. While the entire book is under 200 pages, over 20 of those pages are used for a bibliography of books and more than 10 additional pages contain a bibliography of articles.

I recommend this book.

As far as I am concerned, any book that exposes the United Nations as an apostate organization bent on the erosion and even destruction of Israel and its western allies is well worth reading. That puts Alex Grobman's book, NATIONS UNITED: HOW THE UNITED NATIONS UNDERMINE ISRAEL AND THE WEST, on my short list of `must reads'. Grobman glaringly illustrates how the U.N. consistently betrays its own charter by failing to support the Jewish state; a nation created in part, by the United Nations.

Dr. Grobman begins his work at the conclusion of WWII, giving a precise analysis of the groundwork surrounding the establishment of Israel. He then takes the reader through the progression of events that have caused support of Israel, by the U.N., to deteriorate to the point of implacable antagonism and opposition. Such events are detailed as the former Soviet Union's disdain for Israel and the mounting dissent of the increasingly more powerful Middle Eastern Muslim countries, whose U.N. membership currently outnumbers Jewish membership by 23 to 1.

You will also glean valuable insight as to how the finances of the U.N. (which comes largely from the west) are being used to promote an anti-Semitic and anti-Western worldwide agenda; how the U.N uses primarily anti-Israel and secondarily anti-Western propaganda to mask the truth of oppression and fanatical leadership of many of the Muslim member states.

Dr. Grobman goes on to illustrate the plethora of ways in which the U.N has aided and abetted atrocious behavior and mishandling of funds by the Palestinians. The reader's attention is also directed to the June, 2006 U.N. Human Rights Council meeting where the primary focus was human rights violations against occupied Arab peoples (Palestinians), but human rights violations in places such as Darfur, Uzbekistan, Mexico and Sri Lanka went completely ignored.

The summary conclusion of Dr. Grobman's brilliant and critical work here is that the United Nations is like a cancer to world society whose time for dissolution is long overdue. The corruption (Oil for Food) and consistent pressing of political agendas has gone on for far too long and it is critical to the future of western civilization that this spurious organization designed to protect human rights be brought to justice for its corruption and terminated from existence for its failure to hold itself to its own charter laws.

This is a must read for anyone who has as much as a minor concern for the future of our world.

Monty Rainey
Junto Society

Written by Jewish historian Alex Grobman, Nations United: How the United Nations Undermines Israel and the West is a stinging indictment of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Israel speech and action, especially as seen in the United Nations in modern history and the present day. Chapters briefly summarize the origins of Zionism, decry the UN's 1975 Z=R resolution that declared Zionism to be "a form of racism and racial discrimination" (this resolution was repealed in 1991, yet Grobman maintains that repercussions remain), discuss the reprehensible usage of Holocaust denial as a weapon and its consequences, describe modern anti-Semitism in the context of Z=R, and much more. The final passage, "Is the UN Worth It?" crystalizes Grobman's doubts about the failings of this international institution. Part history, part ardent defense of Israel and its practices, part political manifesto, and entirely critical of the UN, Nations United is heavily researched with an extensive list of articles and an index, and worth reading for its insights into the conservative Zionist perspective regardless of whether one agrees entirely with its claims.

This well-researched work chronicles the founding of the United Nations, its role in the recognition of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent history of relations between the two. Unfortunately the world body's attitude towards Israel started to deteriorate soon afterward as Grobman's analysis reveals. This change was brought about by the USSR in alliance with Arab states, later joined by the so-called Non-Aligned block of nations. The book explores the origins and development of the transformation in detail.

The UN became a hotbed of Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism; this strategy culminated in the disgusting 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism. Although the US finally managed to have it revoked in 1991, the sinister forces behind it were not stopped by the end of the Cold War. The hostility towards Israel and the West did not cease and these agendas are more active than ever, with a majority of member states issuing an unending stream of condemnations against Israel while ignoring the murderous acts of terrorist groups and criminal states.

One of its more loathsome "achievements" was the World Conference Against Racism, the unrestrained Anti-Israel hate-fest which took place in Durban in 2001. The author shows that the organization thrives on Antisemitism while remaining willfully blind to atrocities in places like Rwanda, Chechnya and Darfur. It is obsessed with the deligitimization of the Jewish State and continues to disseminate anti-US and anti-Israel propaganda through its plethora of agencies and associated non-governmental organizations.

The book provides answers on why the UN has failed so miserably with almost every single crisis that it was intended to solve or ameliorate. One of the main reasons is projection: the hatred of successful societies deflects attention from the abject failure of the accusers' own miserable countries. Another is that the privileged UN bureaucrats are in it for themselves, forming part of the set of parasites called "transnational progressives." These fat cats pursue their self-serving agendas by using the money of Western taxpayers.

Another illuminating book covering some of the same ground is Tower of Babble by Dore Gold, whilst Global Deception by Joseph Klein and The Beast on the East River by Nathan Tabor show how the UN has become a threat to the security and sovereignty of the USA. Dominated by power-hungry bureaucrats, shady billionaires and special interest groups, Turtle Bay is nothing else but a pestilential swamp of corruption, nepotism and even drug dealing, as revealed in The UN Gang: A Memoir of Incompetence, Corruption, Espionage, Anti-Semitism and Islamic Extremism at the UN Secretariat by Pedro Sanjuan. Finally, the collusion of the mass media and the details of the Oil-for-Food scandal are brilliantly covered in Eric Shawn's The U.N. Exposed.

Nations United provides detailed information on the history of the Middle East conflict and on the nature of the UN. Copious notes at the end of every chapter plus an extensive bibliography provide an impressive collection of sources for further investigation. The book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on this corrupt and criminal organization.

United Abominations

This book is a must read for anyone involved in the ever-changing world of technology. Reading this book provided an amazing plain-english understanding of all issues surrounding network security especially as they relate to my businesses and my clients. As an attorney, this book gave me the ability to understand the language my clients speak and to relate to the specific needs of their different businesses - especially in light of today's regulatory environment (i.e. Health care, Securities, etc). It has also proven to be an essential tool for my own IT department regarding our own issues when dealing with sensitive and confidential client information.

This book is a must read for a business owner or IT Director. The authors do a wonderful job of breaking down security issues in such a way that an executive can understand the dangers that exist, and IT staff can recognize and diagnose exposure within their own networks. They bring many issues to light that may otherwise be overlooked, and are able to break down a complex and cumbersome topic so that it can be understood and applied to an individual company. The reader learns how to asses his or her company's risks and what to do to mitigate the damage. An essential tool for any manager. Beautifully organized and illustrated, it allows the business person to understand the technological issues while bringing the business concerns associated with network management to the IT department.
Have at least one copy of this book on your company's shelves.

I'm not a computer wiz, far from it actually. I consider it a successful trip to the internet when my computer doesn't freeze up or start spouting error messages at me. Never in a million years would I think that this book would interest me. Boy, was I wrong! A friend of mine (computer geek) had this book sitting on his coffee table last weekend and I picked it up to see what was what with something I know nothing about. I was expecting the usual technical manual, a Saltine, dry, uninteresting, tasteless. What I found was a witty, colorful, and interesting tome on network security. The guys who wrote this book obviously know what they are talking about and they make it easy for a layman like me to understand a field of knowledge I thought I'd never be frolicking through.

When I bought the book, I didn't know what to expect but am now very happy I made the purchase. It clearly and concisely informs, pointing out the holes that may exist and providing the tools and know-how for business-driven solutions. Now I have a whole lot more confidence in my ability to address security concerns and articulate our capacity to investors, helping to reassure them that we are vigilant in practice.

The map is indispensable, perfect for rendering network issues in comprehensible terms. When network security questions arise, it'll be nice to have the map handy to help illustrate explanations, which, the book demonstrates, need not be unwieldy.

Both tech guys and execs should read the book. It provides a common language with which to talk about network security, facilitating communication on the most serious of organizational priorities.

With intelligence and wit this book tackles an issue that keeps business and IT executives up at night. For an intelligent business person, the book strikes the perfect balance between readability and technical content. It fills the wide gap on the shelf between the dumbed down primers and the textbooks for doctoral candidates. The graphic interpretations (that Edward Tufte would appreciate) perfectly complement the text.

You'll find the book indispensable if you are a non-technical executive who needs to understand network security or if you are an IT professional who needs to explain it in business terms.

When I first selected this book, I was expecting material rather specific to CCIE Security preparation. What I found after reading it, however was that it not only covered CCIE Security preparation but CCIE R/S preparation as well as many real-world security topics.

Many authors attempt to cover a wide area of technologies and wind up losing organization of their presentation of the topics. I find Yusuf's organization to be excellent and flowed very well making this an easy read. In fact, considering how many topics this book covers I am amazed at just how well it is organized, which is better than many of the technology-specific books I have read over the years. I become very annoyed with having to go back to reference past topics time and again but I did not find that I had to do that with this book and was able to continue going forward along with the topics.

I also found that this book gets right to the point. Yusuf didn't pack a lot of fluff and filler into the material. Instead you get right into the meat of the topics. Keep in mind that if you are looking for a thorough reference to take you from the very beginning of a specific topic then this book is not for you. This book is part of the "CCIE Professional Development" series and as such assumes you have at least some pre-existing knowledge in these areas. With this in mind, I find this an excellent study guide as well as a real-world reference for various areas of Cisco security.

Perhaps one of the most unique and possibly useful chapters of this book is the non-Cisco material. For example the section covering security policies is invaluable. As a consultant I see client after client without a corporate security policy and in this day and age that's trouble waiting to happen. This section discusses the value of such a policy and how to begin developing it. Another area within this chapter contains information on various regulatory compliance mandates, such as HIPPA and SOX. While this info is readily available elsewhere, Yusuf neatly summarizes the various regulations, including who is mandated to comply, penalties for not doing so and the various Cisco solutions used for compliance.

I found this book to be excellent.

Are you a network engineer or a security engineer, consultant, or a candidate pursuing security certifications. If you are, then this book is for you! Author Yusuf Bhaiji, has done an outstanding job of writing a primary reference book that will help you design and build a secure network.

Bhaiji, begins by introducing you to the principles of network security, security models, a basic overview of security standards, policies, and the network security framework. Then, the author describes the capability to perform traffic filtering using access control lists. The author also covers some of the most common techniques used for device hardening and securing management access for routers, firewall appliances, and the intrusion prevention system appliance. He continues by covering port-level security controls at Layer 2 and security features and best practices available on the switch. Then, the author introduces the software-based IOS firewall features, including the legacy Context-Based Access Control and the newly introduced Zone-Based Policy Firewall feature available on the router. Next, he provides comprehensive coverage of firewall operating systems, software features and capabilities. The author continues by providing mitigation techniques for a wide range of attacks at Layer 2 and Layer 3. Then, he covers details of the authentication, authorization, and accounting framework and implementation of AAA technology. He continues by highlighting the common use of ACS software functions and features. Next, the author introduces common two-factor mechanisms. He also covers the Cisco trust and identity management solution based on the Identity-Based Networking Services technique. Then, the author provides an overview of wireless LAN and details of securing WLAN networks. He continues by showing you how to implement the Cisco NAC appliance solution as well as the NAC-L3-IP, NAC-L2-IP, and NAC-L2-802.1x solutions. Then, the author gives a basic overview of the various cryptographic algorithms, including hash algorithms, symmetric key, and asymmetric key algorithms. Next, he covers a wide range of IPsec VPN solutions. The author continues by showing you how to implement various types of DMVPN hub-and-spoke and spoke-to-spoke solutions. Then, he covers the innovative tunnel-less VPN approach to provide data security. He also covers the newly introduced Cisco AnyConnect VPN. Next, the author shows you how to implement Layer 2 and Layer 3-based MPLS VPN solutions. Finally, he covers regulatory compliance and legislative acts including GLBA, HIPAA and SOX.

This most excellent book serves as a valuable resource for candidates preparing for the CCIE Security certification exam that covers topics from the new blueprints. Perhaps more importantly, this great book serves as reference for any networking professional managing or considering exploring and implementing Cisco network security solutions and technologies.

This is a great reference book to understand the latest network security technologies based on Cisco security solution. It is certainly not for beginners but more suitable for CCSP / CCNP knowledge level readers. The book is divided into five parts and twenty five chapters with various degree of complexity. Each chapter has references at the end so readers can look up the URLs to find more information.

It starts with the basic overview of network security, OSI layer and the infamous Cisco security wheel. The next chapter explains IP address classes, subnet masks and access control list (ACL) in a short and concise manner. However, the explanation for IPv6 comes short as it is only 5 sentences long with a note to go to www.cisco.com/go/ipv6 for more details. The book describes the access control functions and types well although I doubt that many of us will use distributed time based ACL or Receive ACL for high end routers quite often.

The book does a very good job in explaining the security features for switches, IOS firewalls and firewall appliance in the following chapters. Some basic but essential security features like DHCP snooping, Dynamic ARP inspection, and Spanning Tree features are clearly described with some brief configuration examples. Network address translation, security context, failover and IP routing are illustrated well. It also very briefly mentions new features in software version 8.0 like EIGRP and AnyConnect VPN client. It should at least dedicate more explanations on these new features.

The next chapter for Cisco Secure ACS, 802.1x, wireless security and NAC will be overwhelming for beginners as it tries to cover a massive amount of information in five brief chapters.

The best part for this book is the data privacy section that covers solution architecture and configuration and deployment scenarios for IPSec VPN, Dynamic Multipoint VPN, Group Encrypted transport VPN, SSL VPN and MPLS VPN. Readers will probably spend more time understanding these than the rest of the remaining chapters.

The remaining chapters are for intrusion prevention system (IPS), Cisco Security Agent (CSA), Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response System (CS-MARS), Cisco Security Manager (CSM), and Cisco Guard DDoS Mitigation. The basic theory, concepts and deployment guide for each of these appliances and software will help readers to understand how each product should be used to mitigate certain security risks.

The information in the book seems disjointed since the author divides the book into several parts making all these technologies in their separate entities while in fact many complement each other. The authors need to provide one more chapter to integrate most of these technologies together and present them in overall network security design to fulfill Cisco Self-Defending Network solution.
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The last chapter is for security regulation compliance. The author needs to include this since all of these security technologies are mostly implemented to meet the regulatory compliance. This chapter will certainly put network administrator like me to fall asleep in 5 minutes. I rather have the author to dedicate more pages for the VPN topics.

I am usually skeptical on any books that try to cover everything as they usually come short. However, the author does try hard to incorporate all these security technologies with easy to understand explanation and reference links in each chapter. I rate this book 5 out of 5 starts for its vast and diverse amount of information it covers while still keeping them easy to understand and concise. That is not an easy feat to accomplish.

Yusuf does a great job at putting together all the relevant material on network security technologies in one place - and all that with comes with an easy to read guide compiled nicely into relevant chapters/parts.

Overall book is divided into five parts, and information is presented in a manner that it serves both novice and advanced readers.

a few things can be improved in a later edition, e.g.., a)allocation of breadths to the newer areas (more on zone-based FW than CBAC) and b) less repetitiveness around the subject matter (ie, overlap with other cisco titles).

All in all, a great title and highly recommended for network security professional at all levels!

During the first 7 chapters the author gives overviews of security vulnerabilities and attack mitigations in the current networking world. When finer points are confusing, there is detailed explanation to make the problem clear. For example distinguishing between MAC spoofing and ARP spoofing. Each threat is outlined with a description, background, problems, and mitigation techniques using Cisco configuration. This is not just a theory book but manages to fit in useful configuration examples in almost every turn of the page. This is not a quick read: you will want to have a lab setup to practice on while you read.

Unlike many security discussions that make much of vulnerabilites that are highly unlikely or virtually impossible to pull off, the author clearly states when an attack is improbable, and not worth the effort to consider.

The second unit of the book focuses on identity and access management. I found the sections on layer 2 access control most useful. Particularly the use of 802.1x protocol with a RADIUS server. Something I am currently trying to implement in a network.

Part 3 is all about privacy and encryption and covers many ways to tunnel, hide, and encrypt data packets. The last sections are about Intrusion Detection and Security Management.

Perhaps one of the most helpful setions in the book are the guidelines for establishing a security policy and making it work in a real world environment. Chapter 25 walks you through starting with a security model that gives you a foundation for fleshing out your companies standards, guidelines and procedures so you will be ready for your next audit as well as the real security threats of today.