History Books

I love Absolut ad's and have always wanted to get one. They are expensive new , so I got an used copy from an amazon seller. It came quickly and I flipped through the book for about 20 min when it arrived 2 days later. I love all the ads and they are all so clever. I might not get some of the modern art ones, but I love the city ones in particular. Anyway, I got this book for my new house and new coffee table book, I think it is one of the best hardcover coffee table book (marketing story book) ever.

Compulsory addition to the coffee table library. An excellent example of a clever, consistent, cutting edge branding campaign helping to position a generic product at the top of consumer mind. Absolut genius.

If you like the Absolut ads, this is a good book for you. It's what you'd expect - big pictures of the Absolut ads with explanations from the ad agency guys who made it happen. A fun coffeetable book.

Absolut is one of the best selling vodkas in the world and the advertsing for it is second to none. In this fabulous book were are told the inside story behind the marketing and selling of this tasty treat. The paper is first grade and the pictures are outstanding to say the least. Absolut original with a bottle looking like a Roman ruin is probably my favorite one but there are so many nice advertising ideas that have become stupendous posters. Absolute Enivironment is also a nice one. This is a good coffee table book and a nice gift for the person that likes vodka and to read.

This is a wonderful, informative, and beautiful book.
This book is about the Absolut Vodka advertising campaign. How it began, and what it is about. There are many beautiful, and breath taking images which makes you see the entire light of the campaign which looks so simple from the outside. Now, you get the inside looks and it isn't simple at all but an amazing experience.
WOW!!

Outstanding look at new palaeontology and dinosaur work. Taking the various papers that Bakker wrote for scientific journals and converting them to a book that is slightly more understandable to the public. The basic premise is that dinosaurs were not cold-blooded lizards, but warmer blooded and quite fast at times. See Jurassic Park for an example of the theories in action. Really great work.

Bob Bakker book describes so brilliantly why Dinosaurs were so successful and ruled the Earth for 150 million years. The Dinosaurs were so successful that mammals throughout this time never grew larger than 1 meter long and many were rat sized. If it wasn't for a giant asteroid that hit 65 million years ago, they would be still around and we would not.

Bakker in this book describes how the Dinosaur's warm blooded metabolism was integral to their success and how cold blooded animals like reptiles back then as now were limited. He also goes to show us how Dinosaurs were fast growing, dynamic animals that were constantly changing, how bird evolved from dinosauts and how dinosaurs were key the spread of flowering plants.

A book you must read before you die.

In the second half of the twentieth century the current thinking about dinosaurs completely changed, so that they are now accepted as warm blooded, vigorous alternatives to the mammals, and in fact the ancestors of birds (though not all that bright, whereas birds can be). Bakker was a major player in this change of views, and offers some fascinating anecdotes on how various experiences led to insights which permitted proper interpretation of the fossil evidence. The reader comes away not only with an understanding of the dinosaurs, but with many insights into evolution in general, and all the types of reasoning and analysis necessary to glean the truth from fossil evidence. Bakker has a lively style, giving detail without getting bogged down (well, I occasionally skimmed a bit, but that is because I have little interest in anatomy). There are many illustrations, but I was not always happy with them. Some illustrations serve as hand drawn alternatives to Power Point slides, and are very good. However, the drawings to illustrate anatomy were often not simplified enough for me to better understand the point. I do wish Bakker had speculated why, in the world of the dinosaurs, it was the mammals who apparently occupied all the really small ecological niches, comparable to current day mice and squirrels. Also, his final chapter on the demise of the dinosaurs was stimulating, but not as well thought out as the rest of the book. He points to the development of land bridges (as water levels dropped) which permitted worldwide migration of larger animals, and the consequent extinction of many species which could not compete, and also the spread of pathogens and parasites. Interesting, but competition would not eliminate all species, and no arguments are presented as to why small animals, e.g. mammals, would be more likely to survive than large animals (great numbers?). While this book was published in 1986, I read it based on Richard Dawkin's recent recommendation, and I do not believe it is outdated.

This book talks about new theories(at the time) of dinosaurs and their extinction, ranging from warm-bloodedness all the way to dinosaurs evolving into birds. There are five parts to this story.

Part I:The Conquering Cold-Bloods: A Conondum
Basically this part describes reptiles and their advantages/disadvantages when it comes to either cold blooded or warm blooded animals. It even compares mammals to reptiles. It talks about how cold blooded and warm blooded reptiles/mammals how active and how their eating habits are different. Also talks about dinosaurs if they were warm or cold blooded. Here is a short excerpt from this part. "Ornitholestes was an impressive little dinosaur, and even the diehard defenders of orthodoxy yield a little to admit that perhaps Ornitholestes and its kin might have had high metabolism. Such a concession, however, would lead to yet another incosistency in the theory of mass homeothermy. Big dinosaurs, all of them, evolved from small-dinosaur ancestors. The idea that little ancestors had high metabolism and their bigger descendants didn't, would be tantamount to arguing that evolution reversed itself"(Bakker 98).

Part II:The Habitat of the Dinosaurs
This section discusses dinosaurs with their habitat and how their diet/body features adapt to their environment. It discusses dinosaurs who helped use gastroliths for digestion. Also talks about the evolution of plants in relation to dinosaurs. Here is a short excerpt from this part. "Brontosaur teeth, moreover, confirm the heretical idea that they ate a tough vegetable diet. If the brontosaurs dined only on soft water plants, then very little wear would appear on their teeth. But infact the teeth of Camarasaurus, Brachiosaurus and their kin manifest very severe wear, which could only have been produced by tough or gritty food"(Bakker 136).

Part III:Defense, Locomotion, and the Case For Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs
The third section discusses the locomotion of dinosaurs in comparison to lizards,crocodiles,etc. Discusses dinosaur defense, like Triceratops' horns and the "boneheads" of the Pachycephalosaurs. Also talks about Pterosaurs. Discusses Archeaopteryx and it's feathers helping to support warm-bloodedness.
Here is a short excerpt from this part. "Anchisaurs' tails were stoutly muscled and they could easily have reared up, foreclaws at the ready, to face their enemies. Anchisaur hind claws, especially the one located on the large inner toe, could lash out with even more powerful blows than the foreclaws"(Bakker 256).

Part IV:The Warm-Blooded Metronome of Evolution
Talks about dinosaur sex, with threat displays of intimidation. Discusses growth in dinosaurs who were probably warm blooded. Talks about dinosaur lungs, heart, and large brains. Here is a short excerpt from this part.
"How can the dinosaurs' growth be measured? An accurate estimate can be derived from the texture of the fossil bone. A thin slice can be cut from a fossil-bone chip and glued to a glass plate"(Bakker 350).

Part V:Dynastic Frailty and the Pulses of Animal History
This final section discusses the Kazanian Revolution. During the Kazanian Revolution, warm blooded animals exploded in population. Discusses the dinosaur extinction and the animals who died along with them. Talks about the evolution of the Dinosauria and that they should be in their own class. Here is a short excerpt from this part. "A truly scientific skeptic would start assuming neither cold-bloodedness nor warm-bloodedness, and then reevaluate the evidence without prior terminological bias. So long as the DInosauria remain stuck in the class Reptilia, this type of analysis is impossible. Let dinosaurs be dinosaurs. Let the Dinosauria stand proudly alone, a Class by itself. They merit it"(Bakker 462).

Overall, this book is excellent. Bakker did all his own illustrations(which are very artistic) and even assumed dinosaurs were feathered even before they were discovered. Even though some of his theories may be outdated now, I still recommend this book to anyone. I read it back in seventh grade and it took me a while, but reading this book is surely worth the time!

Incredibly compelling book about the possible evolution of velociraptors into birds.

Dinosaur Heresies goes beyond mere dinosaur evolution, however. As an enthusiastic gardener, I was bemused and delighted to learn of the powerful link between Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaurs and the rise of flowering plants, how it was BECAUSE of these saurian herbivores that we have flowering plants instead of a world of gymnosperms (aka pines, cycads, ginko, etc.).

It was a FUN read!

For over forty years, I've been reading about the end of World War II and Japan. Were the Japanese ready to surrender? Were the atomic bombs dropped to intimidate the Soviet Union? Was racism the real motive?

Richard Frank's DOWNFALL: THE END OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE EMPIRE, is the best book on this subject I've ever read. Frank takes us back to 1945, and shows what the United States knew then, and how they knew it. Based on the information they had available at the time, the U.S. and British leaders had no reason to believe that the effective leaders of Japan were going to surrender any time soon, or that any alternative course they chose would lead to fewer deaths. Further, he shows that these judgments were correct: there is still no evidence that the effective rulers of Japan would have surrendered in 1945, and all the alternatives to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have definitely led to hundreds of thousands MORE DEATHS of civilians and soldiers.

I regard the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as atrocities and crimes, but the whole of the war was a succession of atrocities and crimes, the greatest bloodbath in history. Frank shows, convincingly, that the use of atomic weapons was the least evil among the choices Harry S Truman faced.

I was moved to reread this fine book by Richard Frank by the allegation by Presidential candidate Senator Barak Obama's former preacher and confidant Jeremiah Wright's that one of America's supposed "sins" that he was cursing it for was the use of the Atomic Bombs on Japan at the end of the Second World War. I was in High School during the Vietnam War period and I recall my teachers telling us that that use of the Bomb was unnecessary and was carried out merely to scare the Communist Soviets and didn't matter anyway since the Japanese were supposedly viewed as "racially inferior". We were taught that the United State government is inherently dishonest, so any such decision to use the bomb must have had "tainted" motiviations. Such cynicism is potentially destructive, as Frank shows in his book.
Attitudes like these have unfortunately become common in the United States over the years, and as Frank points out, are based on ignorance and self-righteousness. President Truman's aide, Admiral Leahy claimed after the war that the use of the bomb was "unnecessary" (Frank points out that there is no record of his opposition at the time the decision was made). This is, of course, true. The Japanese would have eventually surrendered even without the use of the bomb. The question, though, remains "at what cost"? There are two possible scenarios, (1) American and Allied forces invade the Japanes Home Islands in order to force a decision, or (2) no invasion is mounted, but a tight blockade and heavy air bombing keep up the pressure.
Frank shows that although a two-phase invasion was planned, Operation Olympic in Kyushu, followed by Operation Coronet on Honshu near Tokyo, as time passed, American interception and decryption of Japanese messages showed that powerful forces were being brought up to the planned invasion zones along with thousands of aircraft designed for Kamikaze attacks. The civilian population was also being trained to carry out suicide attacks (the government's slogan was "100 Million Die Together"). As a result, American enthusiasm for the invasion scheme waned and, instead, a plan to destroy Japan's railroad system to prevent the distribution of food was developed, which, along with the naval blockade, would bring starvation to the population, forcing the Japanese government to eventually capitulate. The question remained "how long would it take to reach this situation"? Frank points out that over 100,000 Chinese were dying every month during the war, in addition to large numbers of Allied prisoners and forced Asian laborers in southeast Asia. If the war dragged on longer, hundreds of thousands of these people would have died. Had the blockade "succeeded" in bring famine in addition to plague and civil disorder to Japan, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Japanese would have died.
Frank also points out that something like 350,000 Japanese died in the Soviet campaign to conquer Manchuria, many of them civilians. In addition there were still large Japanese forces in China , the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia) and southeast Asia. Without the shock of a surrender brought about by the use of the Atomic bombs it is conceivable that these forces would have continued to fight on (the Japanese Army in China had a history of subordination). There was also a Soviet plan to invade the Japanese home island of Hokkaido. One can only specularte on how many deaths would this have caused, in addition to the possibility that the USSR would have set up a "Japanese Peoples' Republic" in their zone, just like they did in Korea, for which the world is still paying to this day. It is odd that those who show "compassion" for the Japanese people in saying that the bomb shouldn't have been used, seem to lack the same compassion for the oppressed thousands who were dying every day in the Japanese-occupied territories.
Frank also shows that the popular "deus-ex-machina" scenario that supposedly the Japanese government had really made a decision to surrender and were in contact with the USSR government is false. It is true that there were contacts with the Soviets, but they were on a low diplomatic level, and no decision to surrender had been made before the first use of the bomb. In addition, no contacts were made during the three days that passed before the use of the second bomb. It turns out that some Japanese leaders thought the bomb was merely a one-shot affair which the Americans couldn't repeat. Frank shows clearly that America's leaders had no choice but to make the decision they did and that this decision saved untold number of lives, both Allied and Japanese. Anybody who saw the horrific casualties at places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa in addition to the mass suicides of Japanese civilians at Saipana and Okinawa would reach the same conclusion.
Richard Frank is performing an invaluable service in destroying the "politically correct" myths demagogues like Wright are propagating and showing that a clear, open mind leads one to the truth.

Frank has done an excellent job of dispassionately presenting the facts about the endgame of the Pacific War. I appreciate that Frank laid out the evidence and left it to the reader to judge where it pointed.

What is clear from the evidence is that neither the Japanese nor American leadership had adequate information to judge the other's intentions during 1945. In fact, there is some evidence that the Japaneese High Command was being mislead by underlings regarding the state of American morale. Thus the War Council believed that they were just one decisive battle away from being able to negotiate with the Americans for softer terms than Unconditional Surrender. On the other hand, American intelligence community were not adept enough to draw out from the vast array of intercepted cable traffic a clear picture. Thus they did not provide Truman information that was 'actionable'.

As for the bomb, the preponderance of evidence amassed by Frank points to the conclusion that once the decision to build the atomic bomb was made, the Manhattan project took on its own momentum and thus made the bombs use inevitable.

All-in-all a terrific book. Since I finished it on September 30th, it makes it onto my Summer Reading Favorites of 2007 :-)

Richard Frank conclusively shatters a number of myths about the end of the Pacific side of World War II.

First, Japan was NOT ready to accept unconditional surrender, even with the caveat of the preservation of the Japanese throne, until after both bombs were dropped. Frank uses extensive declassified transcripts of Ultra (military) and Magic (diplomatic) U.S. codebreaking to get members of the Japanese war cabinet's own words, or lack thereof, on this issue. Within that is the fact that Japan's attempt to use Russia as an intermediary-ally in negotiations was totally out of tune with reality, so much out of tune that Tokyo actually expected Moscow to honor the full one year's "down time" after abrogating the two countries' neutrality agreement.

Second, the Japanese Army was ramping UP the plans for Keisu-Go, the all-out defense of the Japanese homeland, after the spring firebombings of Tokyo and elsewhere. Top Army brass considered that the U.S. might well try blockade, and thought it had enough kamikazes, midget submarines, etc., to make the U.S pay enough a price for even the blockade that it would settle for a negotiated peace. Again, Frank looks in-depth at Magic and Ultra transcripts to show how much support there was for this.

Third, Frank demonstrates that U.S. casualty fears of an invasion of Kyushu were well-warranted and may even have been understated in some cases.

The determination of the Japanese Empire to resist was well-known by American troops in the Pacific who had seen the Japanese, on average, take 97 percent casualties in many of their defensive actions. A militaristic government was ready to exploit this to the death.

The atomic bomb was therefore used for reasons of the highest seriousness. It was NOT dropped on Hiroshima as a demonstration for Stalin. And, speaking of demonstrations, the fact that it took two atomic bombs on Japan to get it to surrender puts the lie to the idea that a "demonstration" bomb would have been enough to get the Japanese to a non-negotiated surrender with them attempting to hold on to territory.

I was so fascinated by this book that I read all the previous reviews. I only want to add my unlimited praise and to add a few thoughts and stories...
I was as unaware as anybody of the details of the end of the Pacific war until I met a fellow (Bill Lear, son of "the" Bill Lear) who was on a troop ship to Olympic. He said the officers told them that they all were going to die. After that the book was a natural, and I couldn`t have chosen better.
In my present line, I am in Japan a lot. If there is any one thing that makes Frank`s book fascinating, it is the detailed look at the inner workings of that eastern mind in the government and military leaders, and the resulting confusion for their hapless diplomats. In some cases it is not so radical - we Americans still get huffy about Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese were following a pretty basic tenet of war. Frank didn`t really go to a lot of trouble to remind us that the "unfathonable" Asian way of seeing things is normal to them. Perhaps it isn`t necessary. Any Japanese soldier who sees dying for his emperor/country as his highest honor will tend to see anyone who surrenders or is beaten before he can sacrifice himself, as the lowest sort of worm, not worthy of bayonet practice let alone a bowl of rice. Just an example, but with a point. Frank managed to state facts, back them up with numbers and intel documents and let it go at that. The case builds easily in the reader`s mind that this was a terrible war and that the allies/Americans were in a real conundrum about how to end it. Which brings up the sadly fascinating fact that the very thing that the allies demanded, as a way of keeping "these fascist and militarist governments from starting a world war every few years", was unconditional surrender, the very thing the Japanese couldn`t accept.
One thing which makes a really great book is that it opens discussion on the topic rather than, say, on the writer`s vocabulary. By that measure, this is one of the best. Please indulge me...
I have been to the peace museum in Hiroshima. It is very moving and also very evenhanded. It shows the little uniforms of the school kids killed - they were in town that day to help build firebreaks. It also has the army order on the wall which commanded that when the invasion came, all subjects were to show up on the beaches with pitchforks, sticks or any other weapon that came to hand. Hiroshima, by the way (to answer a previous comment) was the headquarters of the 5th Japanese Army, in charge of Japan and Korea (where they'd been since 1920, only getting to Manchuria in 1931, re another comment)It was also a recruit center, and a navy shipyard, in other words not exactly non-military.
My Dad flew in B-29s. He was a tough old farm boy, but once he met an army buddy who had also `been there` That`s the only time I saw him cry. I don`t think it`s wrong to lament the terrible things humans are capable of doing to each other and to make them stop; a basic about war, by the way. The fact that millions of innocents had died and were likely to keep dying in this war would make any way of stopping it look pretty good, ie, "moral". I personally would say, you can`t argue with success. The Japanese had been fighting since at least 1920. Days after the bomb, it was over. I`m in the camp of "the Russians had nothing to do with it." I want to thank Mr. Frank for explaning readably and in detail, how that came about.
Finally a note from my Mom... The war council was correct in believing that Americans were sick of the war (Incorrect in their eastern way in seeing Potsdam as weakness). They were beaten but wouldn`t quit. If you had a family member in the service, you put a red star in your window, and if they were killed, you changed it to a gold star. There were plenty of houses with two gold stars in the window. People in 1945 wanted the war to end and wanted the boys home. Imagine you are Truman, and a wife/mother says to you, "You mean to tell me you had the means to end this war the day before my boy was killed, and you didn`t do it?"
Read this book.

Many books have been written about the horror and monster film genres over the years, but few have been written by fans specifically for fans. That's what makes "Horror 101" so special and unique -- as you read the essays contained within you can't help but share the enthusiasm that the writers have for the films, even the ones you've never seen. The books runs the gamut from silents like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "The Golem" to modern classics like "An American Werewolf in London" (a personal favorite) and "Ringu" -- and everything in between. No matter whether you're a neophyte just getting into the genre or a horror fanatic with dozens of films under your belt, you'll find plenty of reasons to pull a chair and audit a course in "Horror 101."

This book is an absolute must-read for horror film fans of any stripe. It covers everything from silent classics to more modern films in a series of conversational essays written by knowledgeable genre fans from all over the world and from a wide variety of backgrounds. It is, in short, kind of like hanging out with a ton of horror fans talking about their favorite movies. There are (as to be expected) spoilers throughout the discussions, so anyone who hasn't seen any of the films is advised to watch them before reading those films' particular chapters. As a guidebook and listing of horror movie essentials, it's hard to beat, giving the novice horror fan a solid foundation of classic films. As a book *by* horror fans *for* horror fans, there's simply no better book out there.

What makes "Horror 101" so good, for me being a huge fan of the genre, is that it doesn't leave out much of the favorites and even much of the classic unknown films that so often happens with books written about this subject. Here, we jump right into the mix of such classics as "Halloween", "The Shining", and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", etc. It even includes such obscure films as "Deathdream" and "Them."

The author gives a thorough review of each the films listed and politely doesn't give away much of the twists. It is a must read for us horror fans...and people researching the horror.

Buy this book!

Anyone who considers himself a serious fan of the horror genre would do well to pick up this book. It contains in-depth reviews of 101 of the most essential horror films and monster movies of all time, spanning the Silent Era up until the 1990's. Probably the best book of this type I've read in a long time!

Horror 101 is the ideal book for the lonely horror fan. We poor, misunderstood wretches who have no one close by with whom we can share our love of malevolent spirits, monsters run amok, and the undead in their manifold forms, hungering for living human flesh and blood! (Sorry, I got a little carried away there.) The articles in the book, ruminations on over a hundred of the greatest horror films, are written by horror fans from all walks of life, and are both entertaining and informative. It's like having a great group of knowledgeable friends always available to talk scary cinema. Bravo to all of the contributors and likewise to Dr. AC for compiling a terrific and unique collection. I highly recommend it to all horror and film enthusiasts, and can't wait for volume 2.

I read The Promise and it was a baseball fans dream, full of Yankee anecdotes and the sharing of personalities such as the batboys Ralph and Joe, the clubhouse man Pete Sheehy, big pete little Pete, Al Rosens stolen bat, the great Rizzuto, Berra, the antics od Stengle and martin, and the GREAT JOE DIMAGGIO- I aM AFRAID THAT BEN CRAMER'S BOOK ON DIMAGGIO WILL TRANISH HIS MEMORY. i HOPE NOT. WE NEED HEROES AND TO ME DIMAGGIO WAS A BASEBALL HERE AND A MANS MAN--

If you like tradition and the history of the game read Searching For Heroes The Quest oF a YANKEE BATBOY . i LIKED THE BOOK BECAUSE IT WAS INFORMATIONAL AND INSPIRATIONAL- The Yankees of the fifties were team players who played for the love of the game---A GREAT BOOK.

I read The Promise and it was a baseball fans dream, full of Yankee anecdotes and the sharing of personalities such as the batboys Ralph and Joe, the clubhouse man Pete Sheehy, big pete little Pete, Al Rosens stolen bat, the great Rizzuto, Berra, the antics od Stengle and martin, and the GREAT JOE DIMAGGIO- I aM AFRAID THAT BEN CRAMER'S BOOK ON DIMAGGIO WILL TRANISH HIS MEMORY. i HOPE NOT. WE NEED HEROES AND TO ME DIMAGGIO WAS A BASEBALL HERE AND A MANS MAN--

my name is dean and i live in farmingdale---- about two months ago Mr. Carrieri appeared a Borders book store and spoke about his experiences as Yankee Batboy in the 50s---- his eperiences were fastinating. His hero was Joe Dimaggio wh kept his promise to young joe and Joe Carrieri kept his prmise to the reeaders who share his love of the game. Dimaggio may not have been a hero to everyone but he was a hero on the field and that was the focus of the story. The writing was clean and the read fast----I loved it.

I HAVE BEEN READING SOME NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT DIMAGGIO AND THAT MAKES ME MAD. THESE INSIDE WRITINGS SHOULD BE BETTER LEFT UNSAID. WHAT RIGHT DOES A WRITER HAVE TO REVEAL THE INNER MOST SECRETS OF A PERSON BE HE BEGGAR KING. IT IS NOBODIES BUSINESS TO READ THAT DIMAGGIO WAS GREEDY OR CHEAP.THAT IS WHY I LIKED THE PROMISE. IT DESCRIBED A GREAT BASEBALL PLAYER WHO SYMBOLIZED GRACE AND STYLE-AN AGE OF INNOCENCE-WHEN PLAYERS PLAYED FOR THE FUN OF IT-

A frightening story with a redoubtable yet all too human hero who prevails. There are even evil and bumbling villains along the way during this shameful period. The Last Lion should be required reading for politicans and world history students. William Manchester does a masterful, well researched [and entertaining] job of describing the inspirational leader of the Free World.

There are two volumn of "The Last Lion" and both are them are an excellent history of not only one of Great Britain's finest statesman of the 20th century, but one of the World greatest statesman, historian, and many have said "the man of the 20th Century" And after reading these two volumns one might have to agreee with the historians.
Congtributed by Hurdrey Angus Jordan

This book was given to me by my father, who is a huge fan of Winston. I was absolutely shocked and amazed by the information that this book brought to light. I was taught, so little about WWII! I was amazed. I savored this book. I would recommend and have recommended this book to anyone, who would listen. Prepare to be amazed by the man and confronted with the real realities of Britain before and during the first declarations of war.

This was the first William Manchester book that I ever read. I found it inspiring. After reading it, I promised myself that I would read everything that Manchester has written. To date I've read several but I still have a few to go. Mr. Manchester is another one of those historians that makes studying and learning History easy. I had no idea what a character Winston Churchill really was. Manchester recreates a real true to life human being, with faults, idiocincracies, humor, courage, and some great phrasing. After reading both volumes of Manchester's on Churchill, I then wanted to read Churchill himself. From a writing perspective Churchill was great - but Manchester was better. Today I am a fan of both men. They were both heroic in their lives and fascinating in their prose.

For some inexplicable reason, the second (and unfortunately final) volume of William Manchester's biography sat on my shelf unread for some time. I think because the book spans the years 1932 to 1940 -- and does not cover most of World War II -- I skipped the book over, figuring that Winston's best and most important years were his war years. After reading "Alone", I realized immediately how wrong I was: if anything, Manchester's incredible book demonstrates that Churchill's so-called "wilderness years" out of power were his finest hour. Unquestionably, Churchill provided resolute leadership to Great Britain -- as well as the rest of the Allied world -- during the War. But he perhaps demonstrated even greater leadership while out of power, when he was quite literally the only European statesman who was repeatedly warning the world of the dangers of Nazi Germany and calling for rearmament to stand up to Hitler. Thus, "Alone" is not just about Churchill and his greatness, but also a powerful historical record of the dangers of appeasement in the face of tyrants.

This book goes beyond being a simple historical biography. Manchester's writing is delightful and seamless, literally depositing you into Churchill's time and Churchill's life. It maintains and builds a tenseness throughout the book as the world moves closer and closer to war despite Churchill's warnings, which if heeded, could have averted the conflict many times over. The work is meticulously researched and crafted, and flows perfectly. Perhaps most of all, reflective of the title, Manchester captures how completely and totally alone Churchill was during the 1930s. Aside from a very small coterie of loyal friends, Churchill alone rose in opposition to appeasement in the House of Commons and elsewhere hundreds of times as Hitler consolidated his power, practically begging his nation's leadership to stand up to the Fuhrer.

I suppose that one sign of a great work is that it moves you in some way, and evokes great emotion as you read it. The most striking asset of this book is how angry, shocked, and prideful I was as I read it. I shook my head in disgust at least 100 times as I read Manchester's descriptions of the putrid, almost treasonous behavior by Prime Ministers John MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, and of course Neville Chamberlain as they repeatedly ignored Churchill's warnings and countless pieces of evidence showing that Hitler would not be appeased. Manchester's sections on the Munich Crisis and Britain and France's literal sacrifice of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis is particularly noteworthy; the Chamberlain government literally served the nearly defenseless nation on a platter to the German war machine despite a pledge from the British to defend them if invaded. Much of the book in fact summarizes the folly of His Majesty's Government's appeasement policy, and Churchill's many warnings against the policy. Fascinatingly, appeasement was heartily endorsed by nearly the entire British media establishment, which repeatedly refused to air Churchill's views and other dissenting voices. Indeed, as Manchester well demonstrates, the government and media literally crafted its policies and made important appointments, with pleasing Hitler being the sole objective. While hindsight is of course 20-20, reading these sections was completely maddening to me, and made me want to scream many times over.

I hesitated writing a review of this book because I know it is impossible to do full justice to Manchester and this fantastic book. I just wanted to express how much I enjoyed the book; it completely lives up to its reputation as perhaps the finest Churchill biography and easily the most accessible. I, like millions of other readers, am greatly saddened that illness and other tragedies kept Manchester from completing the final volume of his intended trilogy. Treat yourself to this book: it will give you greater appreciation of Winston Churchill's greatness, courage, and foresight, and probably an even greater hatred of appeasement and diplomatic cowardice.

Five big stars.

The story of a LOACH pilot who is part of the hunter (LOACH) killer (Cobra) team of the 1/4 Cav (1st Infantry Div).

I bought this book because I was stationed with an Army helicopter battalion at the same Phu Loi base as Hugh, but in 1967, and was familiar with the 1/4 Cav and the TAOR they served in. In 1967, however, LOACHes and Cobra's were just arriving and our (11th Combat Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade) assault helicopter units were all built around slick platoons (flying UH-1Cs and Ds) and gun platoons (flying UH-1Bs). The slicks inserted and recovered the infantry, while the gunships prepared the LZ's and supported the infantry while they were on the ground.

Hugh's war was more like an aerial LRRP activity. The LOACHes went out scouring the AO for signs of enemy activity, and then called in the accompanying Cobras (or the aerial infantry platoons of the the 1/4 Cav) to attack them. They also used their own miniguns and crewchief's M-60 to start the job. The LOACH crews view of the war was much closer to an infantryman's.

I particularly liked that the book had a map of the TAOR with all the important bases and Infantry division TAORs shown, so that you could refer back to it to be sure you understood where the action described was taking place.

This is a well-written book about one facet of US tactics in the Vietnam war. Late in the book, the author comes to the realization that many other authors describing their experiences express( and which I came to beyond the mid-point of my tour) that, although they have some effective tactics, and take justifiable pride in their efforts, they can't see any strategic plan. Absent one, all that lies before them is an unending expenditure of men and materiel with no assurance that it will accomplish any meaningful good.

Buy this book; it won't disappoint.

I have read many books on combat in Vietnam, but not one compares to Low Level Hell. Hugh Mills writes much like he talks -- with a rare combination of wit and wisdom that makes you want to say "tell me more!" I eagerly await his next book.

Very, very good book. Gave me a good idea as to what my father might have went through as a scout pilot flying the OH-6 with the 2/11th A.C.R. Blackhorse in Vietnam.

I recently read Low Level Hell, and I want to say it was one of the best books I've ever read!! Hugh does a great job of captivating the reader from the first chapter to the very end. Every chapter has you on the edge of your seat, taking you through the drama of fighting in Vietnam. I honestly felt as if I was flying with him! At times I was howling in laughter and others crying at the loss of fellow officers. Hugh's last chapter sent chills down my spine. I honestly cannot think of a better read on one man's experience in Vietnam. Great job Hugh!

Angie Chirnside

I was a Crew Chief on an OH-6A and sat behind my pilot each and every time the aircraft left the ground. We flew many a mission for Captain Mills and you will not find a truer account of the life of an Aero Scout Pilot and his Crew Chief as you will in his book Low Level Hell. He was there, we were there, and when you read the book YOU will be there! An excellent account of what we went through in Vietnam.

Not only did I receive this product faster than expected, it was brand new and it was one of the most amazing books I have ever read with some of the most exquisite photography I've ever seen!

if you believe in God or not, i dare you to look at this book and not be in awe of nature. my husband and i enjoy looking at this book any seeing God's wonderous creation. anyone who has children should get this book. they probably won't read every word, but they will learn a lot from the pictures.

I have not had the chance yet to review this product. I'd thought I'd purchased the dvd set for this same title, so was surprised to receive a book. I decided not to return it, but I know I will enjoy it.

BEAUTIFUL BOOK TO HAVE. NOT ONLY IS IT INFORMATIVE, BUT THE PICTURES ARE TRULY A PIECE OF ARTWORK.

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"The authors of [this] book (producers of the [Planet Earth TV] series) are extremely grateful to the [TV series'] production [the production team consisted of almost 25 people], post-production, and camera teams [the camera team consisted of more than 55 people] for their talent, dedication, and determination. The result of their hard work on this challenging series is not only obvious in the television programmes but in these pages. The stories they unearthed and the trips they organized were the inspiration for much of the text, and many of their unique images [or photographs] illustrate this book."

The above is found in the first paragraph of this book's acknowledgements section. According to this book's cover, it is authored solely by Alastair Fothergill, one of the TV series producers. However, according to this book's title page, there are five more co-authors (all producers of the TV series) making it thus authored by six people altogether.

This book (a "New York Times" bestseller and endorsed by Oprah Winfrey) is supposed to be a "companion" to and a "mirror" of the TV series which "took four years to make [and was] filmed in more than 200 locations worldwide." However, don't get the idea that this book is simply a rehash of the TV series because it definitely is not.

This book consists of two outstanding features:

(1) exquisite, revealing, and unique colour photographs (of which I counted more than 360 captioned ones)
(2) text (which is quite comprehensive and informative)

To give the potential reader a "feel" for this book, I will give the chapter titles and a brief description. Note that the first chapter should be read first and subsequent chapters can be read in any desired order:

(1) The Whole Earth (Gives a general overview of the entire planet and orientates the reader.)
(2) Frozen Poles (The ultimate places of extremes, the Artic and the Antarctic.)
(3) The Great Forests (Between the poles and the equator lie huge tracts of forest. These forests have great effects for both the wildlife living there and for the health of the entire planet.)
(4) The Great Plains (These plains cover more than a quarter of the planet's land. They support the greatest gatherings of wildlife anywhere on Earth.)
(5) The Great Sands (Deserts are the hottest, most arid regions of the world. Only the hardiest of plants and animals can survive in these areas, each with a special repertoire of tricks.)
(6) Mountain Heights (Mountains epitomize wilderness--remote high-altitude places, where only the hardiest of animals survive the cold.)
(7) The Underworld (Caves are the least known environments on land, are home to some of the strangest animals, and offer unique landscapes and thrilling experiences. **This is my personal favourite chapter.)
(8) Fresh Water (All life on land is dependent on fresh water. It is the most precious resource on Earth.)
(9) Rain Forests (Reliable year round sunshine and regular rain downpours result in a rich rain forest with a variety and complexity of life unmatched by any other habitat on Earth.)
(10) Shallow Seas (These are by far the richest parts of the ocean. It's in these seas that you find the coral reefs, the sea grass beds, the kelp forests, and 90% of the world's commercial fisheries.)
(11) Open Ocean Depths (The deep and open ocean covers more than 60% of the Earth's surface. It regulates the climate, conditions the atmosphere, and contains some of the least known and most extraordinary animals on Earth.)

Finally, there are some problems with this book. Note that these problems in no way affect its readability but are irritations (at least to me):

(1) In the book's front material is a world map with the names of the continents, oceans, selected seas, and other selected landmarks printed directly on it. (This map is not indicated in the table of contents.) As well, there is a numbered list of almost 55 features whose numbers are printed on the map. This map is untitled and there is no explanation of how it's to be used.

When I first came across this map, I assumed that it was unimportant and forgot about it. It was not until I was well into the book that I discovered accidentally what it is and how it's to be used.

This map is a locator map. The idea is that when you come across a place, feature, etc., in the main narrative, you look it up on the map. For example, if you came across in the main narrative the Himalayas, you then go back to the map to see where these mountains are located.

The numbered list of selected landmarks is used in the same way. For example, the list of landmarks indicates that the Great Barrier Reef is #52. When you come across this reef in the main narrative you are then supposed to find this number on the map to discover the Reef's exact location.

I think this is a good idea since this actually adds another dimension to the book. However, I found another problem. The reader is not told when to refer to the map. So what you end up doing is guessing if a particular place, feature, etc., is on the map. I guessed wrong many times and thus became frustrated.

My question is why is there no instructions on this map of how it`s to be used? As well, in the main narrative, why isn't the reader told when to refer to this map?

(2) The same problem goes for the photographs in the book. The reader is not told when to look at a particular photograph. You either have to read the entire narrative on a page and then look at the photograph (many pages have more than one picture per page) or you have to guess when to look at a photograph when you come across the name of a particular animal, feature, etc., in the main narrative.

(3) Much of the material in the text gives some highly specific detailed information. Why isn't there any credit given as to where this information was obtained?

(4) All the back material (most notably the index) in this book is not indicated in the table of contents.

In conclusion, this is a fascinating book where you truly get to see the planet "as you've never seen it before." I leave you with the final paragraph of the book's Forward (written by (Sir) David Attenborough):

"This remarkable and beautiful book should stand not just as a revelation and celebration of the wonders that our planet retains at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It surely must also be seen as an eloquent rallying call to all of us who care for the Earth's welfare to redouble our efforts to protect those wonders that still survive."

(first published 2006; foreword; locator map; 11 chapters; main narrative 305 pages; index; copyright; names of some people that made the television series possible; acknowledgements; picture credits)

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Simon has written a gut wrenching book with dignity and class. He has a way with words that touch the soul. This should be required reading about overcoming the most horrific of situations with dignity.

This wonderful little book will challenge every grain of moral weight you think you have, and without a doubt you will be better for reading it.
Every person should read it.

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.

I've used Wiesenthal's The Sunflower as a text in college courses several times. On each occasion my original high estimation of Wiesenthal's narrative grows, while my dissatisfaction with the chorus of responses that takes up nearly two-thirds of the latest edition deepens.

Wiesenthal asks exactly the right questions that all of us need to confront about forgiveness. Is forgiveness always ours to bestow? Is it permissible or even possible to forgive on behalf of others? Should forgiveness be tied to repentance on the part of the transgressor? Should the transgressor try to atone for his/her wrongdoing? What if, as in the case of the dying SS-man Wiesenthal meets, the performance of overt acts of atonement are impossible? Are there certain actions that are unforgiveable, or is the philosopher Jacques Derrida correct when he insists (On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness) that the only kind of forgiving that makes any sense is the kind that forgives the unforgiveable? And in a godless world--a world where, as several characters in The Sunflower say, wickedness is so rampant that God seems to have gone on leave--is forgiveness necessarily a different kind of phenomenon than it would be in a Godded world?

Weisenthal doesn't pretend to answer any of these questions, but he and the other characters in his memoir discuss them, presenting different perspectives and coming to different conclusions. The very real value of The Sunflower is that it encourages readers to think about the questions.

Which brings me to the responses. Most are impressionistic, unanalytical, platitudinous, and hence totally out of step with the brutal authenticity of Weisenthal's text. A few stand out from the others: Robert Coles', Rebecca Goldstein's, Abraham Joshua Heschel's, Primo Levi's. But most can be given a pass. My suggestion would be to focus first and foremost on Weisenthal's text and forget about the responses. A nice cinematic complement to the book is the documentary "Forgiving Dr. Mengele."

Summoned to the bedside of a dying Nazi who had willingly participated in the systematic annihilation of Europe's Jews, concentration camp inmate Simon Wiesenthal found himself the captive, solitary witness to this 21-year-old SS man's confession of responsibility for committing acts of unspeakable cruelty.

Kurt had asked a nurse to bring him a Jew (any Jew would do); quite by chance the nurse selected Wiesenthal from the work detail assigned to the hospital that day. Against his will, he listened to this man recount his experience of packing a house full of Jewish men, women, and children and then setting the house on fire while lobbing grenades into the inferno and shooting at anyone who had attempted to escape this hell. Kurt watched a father, mother, and small boy leap from a window to their certain death. Before the leap, the father had shielded the child's eyes.

The image haunted Kurt, who was unable to fight again. Instead, he froze on the battlefield and suffered and injury that first cost him his sight and then took his life. Before he died, though, he wanted to confess his sins to a Jew that he might be forgiven and die in peace.

Wiesenthal, who was about the same age as this soldier, heard him out but refused to forgive. Instead, he offered silence in response to the story and returned to the concentration camp.

The experience haunted Wiesenthal; soon after it happened, he discussed it with his friends back at the camp, with a Polish Catholic seminarian. Much later, he presented the story to theologians, political leaders, Holocaust survivors, and victims of other attempted genocides and asked each of these persons what he or she would have done in the same situation.

The story itself is first book of The Sunflower; the responses to the question, "The Symposium," are the text of the second book in this volume. Broadly grouped, the respondents are Jews and Christians, primarily. There are two Buddhist respondents and one Chinese respondent who makes no reference to religion though his response is in keeping with Buddhist thinking. Within these broad categories respondents reflect on different facets of the experience Wiesenthal describes and facets of their faith and life experiences and knowledge to make a response.

The Jewish respondents point to the fact that only the person against whom a sin has been committed has the right to forgive the sinner. Therefore, Kurt cannot be forgiven; his victims are dead. The Christian respondents point out, first, that they feel they have no right to address the question because they have never been on the receiving end of genocide. Then they point out that God alone can forgive and that it is incumbent on each of us sinners to find forgiveness in our hearts for others. The Buddhists respond, as Buddhists do, in the present tense and with an eye on enlightenment--a release from suffering. Each perspective reflects a different concept of individuality and therefore of the nature of accountability.

For this reader, The Sunflower accomplishes the important task of bringing the reader into the concentration camp alongside one of its victims, into the hospital room of the dying SS man, and into the heart of the questions the Holocaust raises about responsibility, accountability, forgiveness, restitution, and grace. These are questions that refuse pat answers and therefore remain alive and active in our minds. Wiesenthal's book challenges our ability to empathize with those who suffer and our ability to think about how and why we believe what we do about ourselves and each other. It is a humble and beautiful tribute to those who suffered and died in the Holocaust. We too can honor their memory by participating in the conversation this book presents.

Great story, it was hard to read at times. The brutality of the Chetchen terrorists is unthinkable, EVEN BY TALIBAN STANDARTS !!

The herorism of the Russian soldgers that went all out to save as many children as they could restored some of my faith in humanity.

Great book that is something we should all read because it will happen here sooner or later!!!

This book should be be considered "must read" materials for parents with children attending school. The first 3 parts of the book addresses the terror attack itself and what the terrorists hoped to achieve. The last part talks about teaching your child to survive. In these days and times, children are "locked down" in a school when something happens. If I were a terrorists or just a VT or Columbine nutcase I would thank you for teaching your child to sit and wait for me. Please read this book and help keep your children alive. Even if you only read part 4 of the book, it will be worth it.

Wow! A real eye opener. What has become of the human race?! This book is very powerful. Written to "capture" you from the first page. We live in a world with so very many differences. Wars have been fought from the beginning of time. Children have lost their lives due to "collateral damage". And now, our school are being targeted. Not to destroy, but to use our children as weapons. This book brings out our need to become aware of the dangers that now exist within our own country. "We're not in Kansas anymore".

A fantastic book that connects the dots of terrorist acts in Russia to those in the U.S., the Middle East, Africa and Israel. Should be required reading for school administrators, military and law enforcement officers.

The attrocities committed by the terrorists are difficult to read about, but necessary in order to understand. I applaud the author for recognizing the contributions that can be made by the general population. It has been a long time since the public at large have been engaged in the defense of this country, and that needs to change as soon as possible.

I waited a long time to get this book, because it was sold out everywhere I looked, and now I understand why.

This story is a tragedy through and through. What happened in Russia cannot be allowed to happen here. It's time to stop being politically correct pandering to fanatics. These people do not understand good will, they only respect ferocity that is greater than their own.
Mr. Giduck puts you on the ground, at the school. You will hear the children , you will feel the anguish, and you will become angry. You will not be able to put this book down.
SSG John Tidona
NYG G3 NCOIC