Equipment Books

I started reading Lynda Weinman's books way back when she did a book on creating graphics for the web. I don't recall the title, but it was a book on optimizing images, and it was made way back in around '99.

What I guess I'm saying is that Lynda is an authority, she knows what she's doing, and just as importantly, knows how to actually convey her knowledge in an understandable, interactive way. Hands On Training is kinda like those DeVry ads you've seen for so many years during Perry Mason episodes. It's about learning by doing. I mean, how are you going to learn how create layer masks with gradients and textures that are linked and include shapes and are feathered with paths and........if you're reading a book with one paragraph after another, and very few numbered steps. Are you really going to remember that shortcut key for the magic wand from reading a manual written in paragraph form, with one pictured example every 3 pages?

And, to sidetrack, do you really want to learn how to make 3-D warped multicolored lettering to be used in a Word newsletter?

I say no. And so does Lynda, I'm sure. And so, I'd guess, does DeVry. I've used Photoshop for 12 years and I'd say I'm an intermediate. Maybe in 20 years I'll know what Lynda and her fine associates know.

This is by far the best and most informative and detailed book of its kind. It covers every aspect of "everything you ever wanted to know about" rollovers and rollover animated menus! It does not leave you 'missing something' or saying: 'yes, but it really doesn't cover...' - It covers everything! The accompanying CD is excellent!

My favorite tutorial books for software are the Hands On Training and the Classroom In A Book series. And, if forced to choose one series or the other, I'd choose H O T.

Authors Lynda Weinman and Jan Kabili have done a great job.

Although I remain a devotee of CIB methods, my library will include the HOT books for all complex software.

Discussion of animated GIFs, automation and integrating with other programs, such as GoLive, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Acrobat and QuickTime [Chapters 13, 14 and 16] are of especial importance.

This book is a must for users of Adobe's ImageReady and Photoshop.

The most comprehensive tutorial you're likely to find covering PhotoShop's "little web sister", leave it to Lynda.com to come up with THE ImageReady book. Don't let the title mislead you, especially if you're already a long-time P-Shop veteran. The information contained in these pages, accompanied by outstanding tutorials and full color illustrations, is NOT a rehash of stuff you already know; it is a means of making the transition from traditional publishing to creating full-blown web pages with minimal compromise.

Even seasoned users of Adobe's cornerstone image editing tool may find some new and useful tips in streamlining graphics production - I certainly did. Instructor Jan Kabili makes the journey such a pleasure (not to mention a productive use of time), one could actually become converted to working in lo-res art! As in other titles by this publisher, the exercises are straighforward, economical and plentiful - the reader is presented with a great deal of material in relatively short order, yet in a way that is not at all difficult to retain practical information.

Granted, Adobe ImageReady is not a web management tool ..... that's Macromedia Dreamweaver's job, and though it may not integrate with that program as closely as, say, Fireworks, it contains no shortage of tools for fully preparing, creating, optimizing and animating raster images for web use. This entry in the highly-praised Hands-On-Training series is as good an introduction as you'll find on making full use of ImageReady in a short time, and a genuinely enjoyable one at that.

Acquire, read, and get thyself web-ready.

Excellent book on how to use and operate Canon XTi camera. Very helpful and very useful pictures

excellent book made understanding the cannon XTI easy the book is well written and easy to follow

The PIP Expanded Guide to the Canon Rebel XTi is accurately named. Many so-called guides to camera products are really dumbed down versions of the owner's manual, coupled with some chapters on basic photography. Not so with this book. In an orderly, comprehensable, and comprehensive way, this expanded guide opens the door to the amazing feature set of the XTi, and for each item in the set explains how to access it, what its for, how to use it, and why and when to use it. After reading this book, I felt as though I had a whole new camera. To get the full value of the amazing Rebel XTi, this book is essential. I'd even buy it instead of a new gadget--and that's really something!

One of the best books on the Canon 400D/XTi Rebel camera. Easy to read and understand. Great presentation and feel to this book! I have other books on the 400D/XTi and they are not as nice.

This book provides a nice escape from the American/ British/ German Japanese focus and concentrates at the deeds of the gallant Polish pilots against the German invaders, covering the era of the Polish Airforce and the RAF Allied squandrons. It is written in the standard Osprey format,which includes an excellent centerpage colour layouts layouts of some of the most famous aircraft.

With the eminent approach of war, Poland transferred its air force before September 1, 1939, to various remote locations. In the known airbases were some unserviceable machines for the Luftwaffe to attack. With an intact air force, Poland used this power once the war proceeded. However, the capabilities of the Polish aircraft at this time were much more limited than the German aircraft.

By late 1939 and early 1940, with the collapse of the Polish resistance due to the overwhelming odds, most of the Polish air force escaped to France and England. While in France, the Poles re-grouped and flew French planes to defend France. Then later with the Germans overwhelming France, the Poles fled to England to regroup. The Poles valiantly defended England and fought the Germans, distinguishing themselves as fighters not to be taken lightly.

At the end of the war, however, Poland was handed over to communist Russia. The fighting the Polish aces accomplished throughout the war, with the aim of freeing their country from German rule, was replaced by anguish at their country now being put under Russian rule. Poland, in essence, was betrayed by its allies and handed over to the Russians.

"Polish Aces of World War 2" by Robert Gretzyngier and Wojtek Matusiak lives up to the high standards of Osprey military books. This volume provides a concise, yet detailed, account of every major aspect of Poland's air force in World War II. The book is filled with many black-and-white photographs and pages of color illustrations. Within the 96 pages, the reader becomes acquainted with the accomplishments of the Polish aces and even what happened to them more recently. Skalski returned to Poland and flew in their air force for many years, Zumbach became a smuggler and organized the Katangese Air Force in the early 1960s, and Gladych immigrated to America, obtained a degree in psychology and now works as a doctor in Seattle, Washington.

Fretzyngier and Matusiak have come up with a fantastically illustrated and detailed account of the role Polish fighter pilots played in WWII as part of the RAF. A wonderful book filled with photographs, images of the aircraft art details and some wonderful stories. I'm happy to say my Grandfather is featured in the book (Alksander Pietrzak) on page # 73. A great honer. A wondeful book! -- Alexander Pietrzak

Excellent coverage of the vital role played by Polish pilots in the air war against Germany. Written without hyperbole, and all the better for it. Personally very moving as my father is featured in these pages. Poles and descendants of Poles can read this book with pride: too few US citizens know about this epic part of Polish history, and I encourage those with an interest in learning more to buy this book.

This book is considered a must have for Avionics technicians and is very useful as an authorative reference

I think this book it's a "must have" for anyone interested in avionics. It would be interesting if in future editions the autor writes more about mathematical analysis regarding avionics equations. Nevertheless, this book is an excellent source of information. If you are looking for something in avionics, and your professional background is an advanced techniciann or engineer, this is a very good choice.

This book is a much needed avionics reference book and text. It is an excellent overview of emerging and traditional avionics systems. The book starts with a short history of avionics development and then goes on to explain all avionics systems found in modern aircraft. Dr. Helfrick does an excellent job of explaining how various systems function and their role in the aircraft and air traffic control system. The book is written with the avionics technician or engineer in mind but would be very helpful to pilots who want a more in depth knowledge of the systems in the aircraft they fly. The book addresses future as well as all current systems and is a must for anyone interested or working in the field of avionics.

This book offers a clear and concise explanation of the modern avionics suite. The best part of all is that one does not really need a background to understand the material that is presented. The book does an outstanding job of cultivating the necessary basics and then builds on it. This text can either be read cover to cover, or as a reference and reviewed as needed. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this subject. Several of my colleagues intend to purchase this book for their own use.

Unique review of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in Latin American air forces. Contains bona fide data and rare photographs. Easy to read. A must for the aviation historian.

It is a great book regarding the P-47 serving with the South American Air Forces. Good text, good pictures. The the south american air enthusiasts, the plastic modelers will have a lot of good information.

This book encloses a whole lot of historical data, photographs and images about the service of P-47 Thunderbolts in Latin America. Although technically and historically detailed, the book is very readable and amene. A must for Latin American aviation historians and modelers.

For anyone interested on knowing more about Mexicos Participation in WWII, (Pacific theatre. The Pictures are very good, de detail and description of the missions are excelent! About time the "Escuadron de pelea 201" receive the attention it deserves.

I owned the first edition of this book and decided to upgrade. That was a good choice. The discussion of USB-based devices is very valuable and explanation of Firewire helped me pick a video camera.

This is the easiest book on PC upgrading money can buy. A 10!

As a "computer senior citizen" -- most of this is new. This book helped me install more RAM and a new disk drive. Step by step pictures made it very easy. My kids were impressed!

My system was SLOW. Over the weekend, I followed step-by-step instructions to add RAM, defragment my disk, reorganize my file, and fine tune a couple settings. In a few hours, my system was running much faster. I'm a novice. The book made these intimidating operations VERY EASY.

Make existing capabilities better by adding disk-caching software and more RAM, defragmenting the hard disk, doubling disk storage capacity for compressing the hard disk, restarting your system daily, and upgrading to the latest version, especially with a computer less than two years old. Install and plug in to a surge suppressor as the first upgrade. Add a math coprocessor to run complex spreadsheets and math-intensive programs such as computer-aided design. Save money by replacing hardware: only hardware technicians know how to repair most PC hardware devices. Make repairs by beginning with the cheapest, easiest fix and working to the hardest and most costly. Think about basic physics for how computers work, and the problem area may show up. Find an area user technical support group for common fixes to common mistakes. These are some of the many clearly illustrated and reader-friendly comments author Kris A. Jamsa shares in RESCUED BY UPGRADING YOUR PC. His book stands out in a crowd, sharing concerns and information with Wayne N. Kawamoto's BUILD, UPGRADE AND REPAIR YOUR PC NETWORK ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET, Mark Minasi's THE COMPLETE PC UPGRADE AND MAINTENANCE GUIDE, and Aubrey Pilgrim's UPGRADE AND REPAIR YOUR PC.

I just passed the exam! I prepared the CompTIA RFID+ exam based on two books: this one and the one by Patrick Sweeney. I began by reading this book, and after reading it thoroughly, I moved on and read Patrick Sweeney's book. I think Paul Sanghera has done a good job by organizing the book well and introducing the concepts in a clear manner. Except for some apparent typos, this book is better for beginners than Patrick Sweeney's one. But Patrick Sweeney's book is a good compliment to this one. If you really want to pass the exam, reading two books will be more helpful. The practice exam CD from Patrick Sweeney's book is also better than Paul Sanghera's. The actual exam questions are quite distinctive from the practice questions you can find in either books. The questions in the real test are apparently longer, and require more comprehension of the RFID basics. After reading these two books, you should be able to pass the exam like I did. Of course, if you have, like, 10 years of working experiences on RFID, it's possible to pass the exam by reading this book alone.

I am preparing to take the RFID+ certification exam in Mid-April '07. I found this to be a very good higher level book to read first with the intention of reading a second more low level book afterwards. The book did contain quite a few grammatical errors and a couple of the end of chapter review tests answers were off (I think Chapter 3 supplies all incorrect answers for the review questions), but other than that it's not a bad book and it does a good job of targeting the exam objectives. I would recommend following it up with Patrick Sweeney's CompTIA RFID+ book which is a more intermediate level book and will fill in some of the holes such as specific standards overviews, that this one leaves (if you can handle the constant Odin Technologies plugs that Sweeney puts into his books). 4 out of 5 stars seems fair for this one.

I found this Study Guide best among all the available RFID+ study guides. The exam objectives are fairly covered and the questions in the sample exam are very close to the questions in the real exam. The book explains everything from scratch, and is very self-contained. You must read this book first before you read any other study guide or any other RFID book.
I also learned RFID while preparing for the exam. Very useful book indeed.

I've just passed the RFID+ exam after preparing mostly from this book. The author seems to have a knack of making difficult concepts easier to understand without compromising accuracy. The whole book flows like a story and there is no hopping from topic to topic as is usually found in most exam study guides. No fluff---just nuggets of information---yet all concepts explained in a crisp, concise, and easy to understand way. I know that it takes tons of experience and skills to write a book in this way.

First chapter refreshed my Math and basic Physics concepts necessary to understand the material in the book. Each chapter begins with listing the exam objectives that will be covered in the chapter; so I knew where I was in my exam preparation. It was also re-assuring to see that all the exam objectives were covered. Each chapter ends with a list of definitions of important terms introduced in the chapter. Each concept is defined and explained where it appears the first time...this makes this book self-contained and easy to understand.

The way material is presented, you do not need any other reference or any prior knowledge of RFID to understand this book. Actually, if you read this book first, all other books will make much more sense.
The coverage of the exam topics is comprehensive enough and the questions in the practice exam are quite realistic. I liked the exercises (and solutions) throughout the chapters, which helped me to comprehend the difficult concepts. Notes, Tips, and Alerts re-enforced the important points. Although I have passed the exam, this book is going to stay on my shelf, as I find it an excellent reference book too; a nice introduction to the field.

If you want to enter the magnificent field of RFID, this book is your gateway.

If you have owned a Springer, enhance your enjoyment & memories with this wonderful read. A great book.

I have read other books by this author. Most of them are autobiographical (mixed with practical hints about dog training and bird hunting). All are well written. This one is the best, I think. That relationship with his springer transcends the usual mush. The dog obviously was a paragon, the dog of a lifetime.
The reciprocity between the two gives the lie to those who claim that dogs have learned how to con humans into doing their wont.
The book is well worth reading. It will enlighten and grab you.

I read this book to learn something about training English Springer Spaniels. I walked away with a deeper reflection on myself. The Author shares his experiences during the time when he acquired his first Springer. He also shared with you things that where happening in his life (like the passing of his father) and the deeper understanding of nature that blossomed during that same period. A wonderful book and a great read.

I found this one by accident in the local library. The title was the flash of motion; the cover confirmed that this book was, indeed, something I should have been seeking; and a few minutes' idling through the first chapter snared my full attention. Fergus is a rare combination of sophistication, rural woodsense, and honest observation (within and without). He's the "thoughtful action" sort of character, intelligent and very much at ease in his chosen home, who so puzzles and disquiets our urban cousins who simply have no frame of reference in which he fits. His springer spaniel Jenny sounds like a godsend as hunting dogs go, but with enough flaws to keep her off any pedestal, and enough love of the hunt to keep her in the field. My father's long-gone springer spaniel Maxie was the legend around our pheasant-oriented household in Nebraska, so for me, Fergus's essays about his relationship with Jenny provide insight into my father's character. Of course this book will be wrapped under my dad's tree this Christmas. Not to be missed--just don't read it in July, with grouse season several months away.

This book is a collection of 110 color photographs that capture the drama, tension, and excitement of the most dangerous rodeo events - bareback, saddle bronc, and bull riding. Working out of his home base in Tucson, Arizona, photographer John Annerino has taken his camera behind the chutes, where he gets about as close as any observer can to the experience of riding roughstock.

This is a handsomely designed book, and the photographs are vividly reproduced, the images richly detailed, crisp and clear, often filling the pages. In a two-page spread, a cowboy flies to the ground from a bucking bull, while bull fighters in their clown costumes circle the animal, late afternoon sun casting long shadows and illuminating a cloud of dust kicked up around them. The gravel-strewn arena dirt is rough with the hoof marks of countless rides, and beyond a fence festooned with lite beer pennants, the stands are filled with hundreds of spectators, every face turned toward the action.

Annerino's camera reveals that in addition to the stereotypical cowboy, roughstock riders include Native Americans, African Americans, and women as well. And he writes a long essay at the beginning of the book tracing the arrival of the horse and horsemen at the start of the Spanish Conquest, the growth of the cattle industry and the evolution over centuries of the vaquero and in more recent times the emergence of the American cowboy. This is a fine book whose visual images offer an enthusiastic appreciation of the men and women who risk life and limb in rodeo's toughest events.

Annerino's pictures are a true testament to his total immersion on the subject! John rides the subject matter like no other. His images do the talking. They take the viewer with him all the way and back! Ride on, John!

A "riveting roundup of roughstock rodeo...readers will hail it as mighty worthwhile."- TRUE WEST

Roughstock:The Toughest Events in Rodeo joins a growing body of work by the photojournalist John Annerino that portrays the American western culture with a photographic passion and historical perspective. This book portrays "the cowboy" as a diverse and multiethnic persona not the traditional "Marboro Man" and conveys through his thoughtful and well researched essay that the traditional image was never in fact the case. Annerino's photographs show the action of the roughstock rodeo events and bring to life the men and women who participate in them. The images are full of action and the sense of danger and risks are coupled with an intimacy created by his use of light and in his portraits of the cowboys. There is a rhythm and dance to the photos that creates a timelessness to the action. The book is wonderfully edited and layed out and may be the author's finest work to date.

I have read a number of books about the Iraqi weapons inspection process and I must say that this book is the most in depth. In what I admittedly would fess up to be a bit of a stereotype, the author is British thus the book is a bit on the dry side and full of detail. So much detail that at times it gets in the way of the main story. The author not only covers the story of how the Iraqi's hid the weapons or hindered the inspectors, but he also covers the formation of the weapons inspection team and process. He also covers many of the people involved and if you watched the lead up to the latest Iraqi war then you know all the names involved in this book. It seams like the years change, but the main experts are all the same.

The most interesting parts of the book for me covered the inspection process. I expected and heard a lot of about how difficult the Iraqi's made it for the inspectors. A constant peaty and nagging version of a cat and mouse game that would make even the most patent man scream in frustration. What I had not read before was the different ways the Iraqi's made it dangerous or how often the implied physical harm was around each corner. I kept wondering just how much these guys got paid given all the difficulties of their jobs, was it really worth it? The author also gives us a good review of the success the UN had in uncovering weapons in the first few years. The Iraqi's did seem to be somewhat cagey in their hiding of the weapons, but to be fair some of the discoveries were almost embarrassing for the Iraqi's. My toddler could have hidden some of the information and weapons better then these guys. It left one with the impression that the Iraqi's were in part a military organization filled up with incompetent relatives of Saddam that merely did as they were told with very little thinking.

Overall the book was interesting if not a bit long winded. The author could have cut out about 25% of the book and still got his point across, but in a much more readable fashion. He slipped into minutia of detail that was dull and not needed. I half expected his meal menu's and bathroom break details. It was also a bit humorous, given what we know today, with the last section of the book that was devoted to the breathless urgency of the Saddam threat. As we have seen, Saddam's only weapon of mass destruction was famine and poverty. At the end of the day the unstated story up to this point is that in the realm of removing weapons from Iraq, the UN did it's job. The book is interesting, but do not be surprised if you find yourself skipping a page here and there.

Hidden behind a seemingly specialised subject, Saddam's Secrets, lies the extraordinary story of one of this centuries greatest political transformations - that of the United Nations evolving from a forum of bitter rivalries into an arbiter of morals with the power and will to punish wrongdoers on a global scale. By setting up UNSCOM and appropriating a military force under its light blue banner, the United Nations (UN) heralded a new era from which it roared a resonant political focus. The events that led to this are detailed and analysed with Tim Trevan's aquiline eye and hawkish wit. The author unfolds the unique and bizarre story of the multi-faceted battle of two determined and abstractly united foes in a fragile world...

The premise is quite simple, as was my understating through CNN and the BBC that Saddam and his evil regime had lost the Gulf war and would be divested of the weapons of mass destruction it had accumulated and would not be capable of threatening its neighbours ever again.

The organ tasked to deliver this mission and the hopes of a `new world order' was UNSCOM. It would have to find out how much weaponry the Iraqis ever had, where the remaining arms were concealed and then destroy any that were warranted as offensive. This was logistically a mammoth task however unlike many other limp-wristed UN gestures; UNSCOM was comprised of determined and formidable political negotiators and uncompromising and belligerent inspectors that cajoled the UN Security Council for unequivocal support.

UNSCOM needed to be this robust as Iraq in the other corner had an array of illegal punches and spoiling tactics that would brashly dispose of lightweights. Iraq had only mouthed agreement to the full disclosure of its capabilities under its terms of surrender. Like a poisonous dance between Mr and Mrs Mantis, Iraq and UNSCOM spun political protocol and legalistic diatribe to mesmerise the watching world into lending support or disallowing advantage as a fickle referee. If UNSCOM dictated the tune then Iraq would be left honourless and emancipated without its chemical, biological and nuclear apparel. If Iraq out-manoeuvred the worlds will then UNSCOM would expire and `peace and security' would ensure its fame as the mother of all political platitudes, and so by default the UN credo.

The loaded situation produced a colossal detective story with the tedium of painstaking evidence gathering, conspicuous surveillance and brilliant hypothesis with an array of monstrous characters to divert suspicions. Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, Dr Germ and the various other agents of death and destruction are described with the non-fussed detail of reality yet emerge almost apocryphal by their scheming and morality. Some events like the `car park siege' are completely fantastical. The lapses of Iraqi memory and excuse making are so ridiculously hilarious so as to question the authors' sanity.

However this was real history, it is a story that we have already seen, we had formed our opinions and we believed it was over. The baddies were shot down by the Anglo American alliance and that was that. Tim Trevan however hand-holds us through the nuances of real-politick. When we thought it was over, Tim was still there fighting the battle with UNSCOM... and now its over for him: IRAQ is still a threat. Saddam Hussein is still a dictator. The world seems still gullible enough to believe that decent and righteous humanity will one day vanquish all that is bad.

What Tim Trevan gives us as his parting shot is the most prudent observation of politics as a necessary evil since Machiavelli opined to the unknown prince. Real time.

If you want a cynical political advantage over your enemies, read this book and don't tell them about it, especially Saddam.

Hidden behind a seemingly specialised subject, Saddam's Secrets, lies the phenomenal story of one of this centuries greatest political transformations - that of the United Nations evolving from a forum of bitter rivalries into an arbiter of morals with the power and will to punish wrongdoers on a global scale. By setting up UNSCOM and appropriating a military force under its light blue banner, the United Nations (UN) heralded a new era from which it roared a resonant political focus. The events that led to this are detailed and analysed with Tim Trevan's aquiline eye and hawkish wit. The author unfolds the unique and bizarre story of the multi-faceted battle of two determined and abstractly united foes in a fragile world.

The premise is quite simple, as was our understating through CNN and the BBC that Saddam and his evil regime had lost the Gulf war and would be divested of the weapons of mass destruction it had accumulated and would not be capable of threatening its neighbours ever again.

The organ tasked to deliver this mission and the hopes of a `new world order' was UNSCOM. It would have to find out how much weaponry the Iraqis ever had, where the remaining arms were concealed and then destroy any that were warranted as offensive. This was logistically a mammoth task however unlike many other limp-wristed UN gestures; UNSCOM was comprised of determined and formidable political negotiators and uncompromising and belligerent inspectors that cajoled the UN Security Council for unequivocal support.

UNSCOM needed to be this robust as Iraq in the other corner had an array of illegal punches and spoiling tactics that would brashly dispose of lightweights. Iraq had only mouthed agreement to the full disclosure of its capabilities under its terms of surrender. Like a poisonous dance between Mr and Mrs Mantis, Iraq and UNSCOM spun political protocol and legalistic diatribe to mesmerise the watching world into lending support or disallowing advantage as a fickle referee. If UNSCOM dictated the tune then Iraq would be left honourless and emancipated without its chemical, biological and nuclear apparel. If Iraq out-manoeuvred the worlds will then UNSCOM would expire and `peace and security' would ensure its fame as the mother of all political platitudes, and so by default the UN credo.

The loaded situation produced a colossal detective story with the tedium of painstaking evidence gathering, conspicuous surveillance and brilliant hypothesis with an array of monstrous characters to divert suspicions. Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, Dr Germ and the various other agents of death and destruction are described with the non-fussed detail of reality yet emerge almost apocryphal by their scheming and morality. Some events like the `car park siege' are completely fantastical. The lapses of Iraqi memory and excuse making are so ridiculously hilarious so as to question the authors' sanity.

However this was real history, it is a story that we have already seen, we had formed our opinions and we believed it was over. The baddies were shot down by the Anglo American alliance and that was that. Tim Trevan however hand-holds us through the nuances of real-politick. When we thought it was over, Tim was still there fighting the battle with UNSCOM... and now its over for him: IRAQ is still a threat. Saddam Hussein is still a dictator. The world is still gullible enough to believe that decent and righteous humanity will one day vanquish all that is bad.

What Tim Trevan gives us as his parting shot is the most prudent observation of politics as a necessary evil since Machiavelli opined to the unknown prince.
If you want a cynical political advantage over your enemies, read this book and don't tell them about it, especially Saddam.

Hidden behind a seemingly specialised subject, Saddam's Secrets, lies the extraordinary story of one of this centuries greatest political transformations - that of the United Nations evolving from a forum of bitter rivalries into an arbiter of morals with the power and will to punish wrongdoers on a global scale. By setting up UNSCOM and appropriating a military force under its light blue banner, the United Nations (UN) heralded a new era from which it roared a resonant political focus. The events that led to this are detailed and analysed with Tim Trevan's aquiline eye and hawkish wit. The author unfolds the unique and bizarre story of the multi-faceted battle of two determined and abstractly united foes in a fragile world...

The premise is quite simple, as was my understating through CNN and the BBC that Saddam and his evil regime had lost the Gulf war and would be divested of the weapons of mass destruction it had accumulated and would not be capable of threatening its neighbours ever again.

The organ tasked to deliver this mission and the hopes of a `new world order' was UNSCOM. It would have to find out how much weaponry the Iraqis ever had, where the remaining arms were concealed and then destroy any that were warranted as offensive. This was logistically a mammoth task however unlike many other limp-wristed UN gestures; UNSCOM was comprised of determined and formidable political negotiators and uncompromising and belligerent inspectors that cajoled the UN Security Council for unequivocal support.

UNSCOM needed to be this robust as Iraq in the other corner had an array of illegal punches and spoiling tactics that would brashly dispose of lightweights. Iraq had only mouthed agreement to the full disclosure of its capabilities under its terms of surrender. Like a poisonous dance between Mr and Mrs Mantis, Iraq and UNSCOM spun political protocol and legalistic diatribe to mesmerise the watching world into lending support or disallowing advantage as a fickle referee. If UNSCOM dictated the tune then Iraq would be left honourless and emancipated without its chemical, biological and nuclear apparel. If Iraq out-manoeuvred the worlds will then UNSCOM would expire and `peace and security' would ensure its fame as the mother of all political platitudes, and so by default the UN credo.

The loaded situation produced a colossal detective story with the tedium of painstaking evidence gathering, conspicuous surveillance and brilliant hypothesis with an array of monstrous characters to divert suspicions. Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, Dr Germ and the various other agents of death and destruction are described with the non-fussed detail of reality yet emerge almost apocryphal by their scheming and morality. Some events like the `car park siege' are completely fantastical. The lapses of Iraqi memory and excuse making are so ridiculously hilarious so as to question the authors' sanity.

However this was real history, it is a story that we have already seen, we had formed our opinions and we believed it was over. The baddies were shot down by the Anglo American alliance and that was that. Tim Trevan however hand-holds us through the nuances of real-politick. When we thought it was over, Tim was still there fighting the battle with UNSCOM... and now its over for him: IRAQ is still a threat. Saddam Hussein is still a dictator. The world seems still gullible enough to believe that decent and righteous humanity will one day vanquish all that is bad.

What Tim Trevan gives us as his parting shot is the most prudent observation of politics as a necessary evil since Machiavelli opined to the unknown prince. Real time.

If you want a cynical political advantage over your enemies, read this book and don't tell them about it, especially Saddam.