Boniface Books

Take William Boniface's brilliant, lyrical style, a clever, funny story, and throw on some crazy googly eyes. You'd think something this much fun would be illegal. I have all of this author's books and the kids and I just love them-- the rhyming text is great fun to read aloud. The illustrations really compliment the book as well, lending themselves perfectly to the spoofy noir-detective feel of the story. My two kids love taking turns at the end, picking different bugs from the glossary to read the facts about. A bit off the beaten path and highly recommended!

Our grandson owns this book & likes it so much we purchased one for our nephew.

I wouldn't recommend you buy this book without reading it first. If you are looking for a book to read to your child, you should consider another book. There are many successful children's stories told in rhyming verse, there are also a few fun mysteries geared to younger children, perhaps there are even other books dealing with mobsters and thieves full of lust and murderess intent aimed at children, but I don't know of any.

If you child is curious they will want explanations of the phrases in the book. In this case don't buy this book unless you feel comfortable explaining the following terms and phrases:
"a two-bit hood", "a local thug", "local fence", "the underworld", or my favorite "dat roach made bug-eyes at my goil, but I dint take him down."

I would also hate to have to explain the ending - and still wonder myself it was feminine virtue, self-defense or sexual harassment that led to the "case of near insecticide."

This mobster tale has a great format with real protruding bug eyes on the front cover that match the illustrations. The illustrations them selves are dark and seedy like the mob bugs they portray. Though the expressions are well done, the scale of bugs to other objects in the story is odd and the color scheme is purple and black and dark green.

All that being said the book does get one star for the cool bug eyes and the list of bugs in the back. The book could possibly appeal to an immature twelve-year-old with an interest in poetry. If you already own this book I recommend you cut out the back two pages for reference and donate the book to some organization that sends children books to third would countries. They already think America is a bunch of murdering thieves anyway so it won't effect our reputation. If you don't own this book and you have nothing at all to read to your children I suggest the back of a cereal box or the local bus schedule instead.

I bought this book for a child and then realized how much it would appeal to adults with a sense of humor. I am planning to give it to my daughter-in-law who will laugh and then read it to my two granddaughters who will also laugh.

We enjoy this book. The rhyme is funny for kids and entertaining for grownups. If you want to read a book with clever rhymes, here you go. The only reason the book lost a star for me is that the plastic bug eyes get a bit scratched up after a while.
My caution to you is that you can't really read this book while lying down as the eyes roll back. It's kind of boring looking at white balls where the eyes should be. You have to sit up. I like to gently wiggle the book so the eyes roll all around while we're reading. It makes the kids laugh and makes it look like the bug's really feeling what's being written.

All in all, a cute book, clever rhyme, outstanding illustrations, and a fun way to read with your kids.

Cassian was a 4th/5th Century religious and priest who founded two monasteries in Western Europe. Later in life he wrote extensively of his experience of Egyptian and Palestinian monasticism. He holds the Egyptian form of cenobitic life as the ideal from which Western monastic communities could learn much. The work is divided into two parts: his description of the institutes or guiding principles of Egyptian monasticism; and in the second part of the book he describes the eight principal vices and their remedies. The book was written several decades after his experience in Egypt and Palestine and so we are depending upon Cassian's ability to recall accurately and objectively events from a somewhat distant past. One gets a first-hand glimpse into the life of the early desert fathers and the spiritual combat or "athletic competition" they engage in.
It is the notion of obedience that stands out in this work. The obedience of the monk to his spiritual father as representative of the monk's single-minded desire to accomplish God's will. Cassian shows that being one with Christ in obedience to the Father's will was what the monks of Egypt aspired to above all else.
The book is more descriptive than systematic in nature and therefore quite easy to read.

Saint John Cassian is best remembered for two lengthy studies of monastic life and moral theology, the first being this one, The Institutes, which presents systematically how the earliest monasteries in Palestine and Egypt operated, plus an examination of eight deadly sins, including gluttony, fornication (now translated into English, as it was not in an earlier Victorian era), pride, avarice, anger, vainglory, sadness and acedia, though in a more structured order from the physical to the most spiritual offenses.

His other most well known work is the The Conferences, also available in this series, a dialogic and thus less structured though much longer meditation on the object of the monastic life: purity of heart in all of its manifestations. This great series from the Newman Press, an imprint of the excellent Catholic Publishing House Paulist Press, presents all of Cassian's writings in a very clear and accurate translation by the Dominican Father, the Reverend Boniface Ramsey, of Manhattan.

Of Cassian I had earlier only encountered the Conferences, in French, in Solesmes, some 33 years ago, and would gratefully have read this present translation into English with excellent annotation, also by Father Ramsey, OP.

The first four books of the Institutes were written by Cassian at the request of a Bishop in southern France (then called Gaul) some seventeen hundred years ago, in order to establish and regulate monasteries there, as Cassian had lived as a monk first in Bethlehem, with frequent journeys to the monasteries in northern Egypt (site of the The Desert Fathers as in BEnedicta Ward's Sayings of the Early Christian Monks or The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century (Shambhala Library)). Therefore in these first four books of the Institutes (referring to the orders established by the Desert Fathers) Cassian reveals with as great a detail as his memory can provide (throughout he remains monastically humble yet direct) how the monks lived, worked and prayed, and the content of their regular prayers.

I find it very exciting to read, with such clarity of translation, the hows and whys of the monastic life, including the daily hours and order of the psalms. It is a great joy to me now to read these origins, so ancient and yet still lived by so pitiful few. We see here clearly the origins even of The Rule of Saint Benedict and Rb 1980: The Rule of st Benedict, as Saint BEnedict himself frequently refers to the work of Cassian and recommends the reading of the Conferences. Both Cassian and Benedict amazingly urge the reading and following of Saint Basil, as in The Fathers Speak: St Basil the Great, st Gregory of Nazianzus, st Gregory of Nyssa, etc.

This collection of four books, therefore might be of interest only to those of us who love the monastic life. The following eight books of the Institutes examine deadly sins and must be of interest to all Christians and those seeking the path to peace, and serve as a profound warning and guide for us even today. Therefore I strongly recommend this book to every reader as helpful and instructive and a strong shield of lectio divina. Please read this book and find peace, even today.

Although it contains no Imprimatur nor Nihil Obstat, it is difficult to imagine any believer so scrupulous as to find seriously this book avoidable on doctrinal grounds, as for nearly two millenia it has formed the backbone of our living the Gospel and served as the source for so many other orthodox sources. The Catholic Paulist Press is clearly itself above reproach, and Father Ramsey, who translates so clearly and accurately here, and who annotates briefly yet very helpfully, is of that great teaching order, the Dominicans, which also brought to our Church such great theologians and writers as Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Reverend Father Edward Schilebeeckx, OP (of whom please see his Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter With God, The Eucharist, Jesus: An experiment in Christology and his Christ: The Experience of Jesus as Lord, Mary, Mother of the Redemption (New Testament for Spiritual Reading) and Mary: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow Translated Maria for starters).

Like many early Christian writers, the life of John Cassian (c. 360-c. 435) remains shrouded in the mists of forgotten history. He was probably born in present day Romania (Dacia). When he was about twenty he traveled with his friend Germanus to Bethlehem where he joined a monastery. From Bethlehem Cassian and Germanus made at least two extended visits to the famous monastics down in Egypt (by some estimates they spent ten years there), and from there moved on to Constantinople. In Constantinople the bishop John Chrysostom ordained Cassian to the diaconate some time around the year 400, at which time he traveled to Rome to courier some letters and was ordained a priest by Pope Innocent I. Cassian later settled in Marseilles, where he founded two monasteries, and wrote three books. His Institutes, along with its much longer companion volume entitled Conferences (some 700 pages), chronicle the riches of early Egyptian monasticism based upon his considerable personal experiences and acquaintances, and in so doing transplanted that monastic influence in the West.

Compared to the Conferences, the Institutes ("teaching" or "guiding principle" worthy of emulation) is a simple book that is composed of two rather unrelated parts. In the first four "books," Cassian describes the nature and symbolic significance of the monastic garb, explains their regimen of day and night canonical prayers, and then provides a fascinating first hand account purportedly from Abba Pinufius about the reception of a new "renunciant" into the monastery. Books five to twelve then analyze the eight principal vices--gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, sadness, acedia ("a wearied or anxious heart" that suggests close parallels to what today would pass for clinical depression), vainglory, and pride.

Throughout the Institutes Cassian contrasts the outward and external aspects of monasticism with the inner heart of a person, that place where genuine transformation occurs. The collected wisdom of practical experience, as opposed to mere theory, informed monastic life. Cassian is also clearly eager to place himself in the mainstream of monastic tradition, and to avoid minority opinions and practices: "The opinion of a few must not be preferred to nor must it prejudice the common practice of all." Whether discussing a monk's ambition for clerical rank, the anger in one's heart that can flare even at an inanimate object like a dull penknife, or the horror of "crushing sadness," Cassian can be a master of human observation and psychological insight, often mixed with humor. Here, for example, he describes the silence that characterized night time prayers: "There is no spitting, no annoying clearing of throats, no noisy coughing, no sleepy yawning emitted from gaping and wide-open mouths, no groans and not even any sighs to disturb those in attendance."

Although every person, place, time, and culture is different, and so the externals of habits and practices will rightly differ, the goal of these monastics that remains fixed for us today is "the perfection of apostolic love." Elsewhere Cassian uses the language of human health and wholeness, as when he refers to "integrity of heart" or "a state of integral health." In reading Cassian's firsthand accounts of some of the earliest and most famous monks, one is humbled by their zeal of renunciation as they explored just what the words of Jesus mean: "Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38).

The Cavalry Horse and his Pack, by Lt. Jonathan Boniface, is a book rich in both history and detail coupled with photographs and illustrations. With 538 pages packed with information it is a wonderful reference book! Though the style of English used is well over a century old, it is refreshing and adds authenticity.

Initially published in 1903 in the day that the cavalry was still strong, it is easily evident that Lt. Boniface speaks to us with authority.

To say that this book is thorough would be an understatement. It is a manual covering a huge range of topics, which are not limited to but do include, the following:

a) a description of horse breeds and cavalry from around the world
b) how to determine a horse's age by teeth
c) shoeing practices & managing horses on long treks
d) picketing, hobbling and foraging techniques of the Cossacks, United States, French and British cavalries
e) fording and bridging rivers with special attention of ways to swim horses (comes with good cautionary advise)
f) fitting a saddle to a horse and packing the military saddle
g) pack saddles and packing techniques for bundles, boxes & bales
h) mule trains and use of a belled mare

As a horse packer for nearly a decade in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, I found this book full of useful ideas.

Thank you to The Long Riders' Guild Press for the 2005 reprint!

This book was written by my father-in-law more than 100 years ago. He was a 1st Lt. in the U.S.Cavalry, serving in the Philippine Islands. It was written for the Army, and considered the finest book ever written on the subject of horses and horsemanship. It was recently re-published by the Long Rider's Guild in England. The Guild is composed of riders who have made a 1,000 mile journey on horseback. They believe it to be the best book written on horses and horsemanship.

Lt. Boniface's book is a well respected equine classic covering nearly every topic imaginable in regards to horses and horsemanship. While no doubt any dedicated equine fan could fine one or more things to quibble with, it would be difficult to find one who wasn't completely impressed with this text.

There are several books written by Army officers during this period which cover related topics such as this. All of them are excellent. This one is no exception. It covers riding (just before Ft. Riley began to develop what would become the modern military seat), basic horse care, the horse itself, shipping horses, and every topic imaginable.

Boniface's book, which was issued in several editions, has long been sought after by those who are aware of it, and interested in this topic. The equine community is fortunate that The Long Rider's Guild has reissued this edition in a readily availabe format. We at The Miltiary Horse Society, to whom it is dedicated, are very honored that they have mentioned us in the dedication.

This is an excellent book, an eye-opener for those of you new to the world of radar meteorology. Do no let the sight of an AMS journal should not scare you. It is heavy reading, but still comprehensive, interesting and informative. There are not many books on weather radar but this is the best. Recommended.

Ramsey undertakes a truly daunting task here in crafting an overview of the major themes in the patristic literature of the early church. He does a more than satisfactory job of synthesizeing this vast body of work into a concise volume. While the readability of the book is occasionally dense, the book as a whole is a brilliant immersion into the world and thought of the Church Fathers. This book will satisfy those who are curious to learn more about the theology of the earliest church leaders. Ramsey even offers some helpful supplemental material, including a suggested program for further reading and a timeline of the Fathers, their writings and concurrent events in church and world history. Recommended.

St. Augustine wrote this model instruction for teachers guiding seekers in the first step toward joining the Church. That step consisted of an introduction to the central points of the faith that gives us our identify as Christians. It followed the seeker's stated desire to become a Christian "because of the rest that is hoped for after this life." The introduction consisted of an exposition of historical events from creation to the "present day" (the early 400s), the commandment of love, and the coming of Christ.

In addition, Augustine offers suggestions for the teachers on how to avoid discouragement in a number of different situations, which will ring true with today's catechists. He acknowledges, for example, that repeating simplified explanations may become boring to the instructor. If we find it difficult to repeat familiar phrases suited to the ears of small children, he writes, "we should draw close to these small children with a brother's love...and as a result of our empathy with them, the oft-repeated phrases will sound new to us also."

Today's catechists will also rally to Augustine's instruction on dealing with scandals within the Church. The beginners are to be cautioned about not imitating those in the Church "whom you see to be living evil lives...of greed and pride, or those who engage in any other form of life that the law condemns and punishes."

This work, written more than 1600 years ago, has practical and historical value, and would be of special interest to those involved in instructing beginners in faith today.

I bought this book while deployed in Iraq. I found it funny and good to break up the monotomous dullness of every day work. The book is full of angular jokes, suprising facts, and cultural humor.

Nowadays, the Pope is typically seen as a benign figure, even by those who do not share his beliefs. Well, Wood's collection of essays about an earlier pope, Boniface 8, and his dealings with Philip the Fair of France, is a jarring reminder of an earlier era. When a pope wielded real secular power, as a de jure monarch in his own right.

The rise of Benedict Gaetani to the Papacy in 1294 is chronicled. He is described as an ambitious schemer, amongst other appelations. Attracted to the office's power. But the book then describes how during his reign, his miscalculations greatly weakened the Vatican. Inadvertantly, he aided the rise of various nationalisms.

I had not heard of Roger Boniface before the writing of this book. As a student of life and cultures I am interested in the conditions, problems, solutions and outcomes. In my opinion Roger brings all these points out in his book. Anyone who wants to argue statistics is missing the whole point of the book. These are actual interviews with some of the North Vietnamese pilots themselves, with their thoughts and their reasons for fighting a war in their own country.

In America, during this time The United States was going through its own political and racial turmoil, so what was the point of fighting in Vietnam? There were numerous Anti-War protests and a lot of Americans were loosing their lives in an unpopular war.

In time, history will bring both sides out and put closure to all the events that happened. Fighter Pilots of North Vietnam, is certainly a step in that direction. GOOD JOB Roger!

After some time I have at last completed reading Roger's fascinating book!
Indeed it is the first time I have reviewed a book and of the non-fiction nature makes it more poignant and interesting to me.
So here goes and I hope it makes sense.
Firstly, I will say I know Roger and he is a very personable individual who is a person that is not a full time author (Not yet at least!).
To find a book that tells the story about a people who have defended themselves and being so outnumbered shows just how determination and belief can overcome tremendous odds.
Not only that, but having military equipment that was on paper inferior to the opponent is a testament to courage needed for such odds.
This also shows how things work on a human level and not a political one. People are just people when they have the determination to do what is necessary.
This is what I found on reading this book showing the "other side's" story. Not only that but it shows the ingenuity needed with limited resources to continue a campaign.
Roger has taken a very large amount of research to get the story out to the general public.
The details can only be as accurate as the information supplied. Therefore no one can berate information supplied given the fact it is so difficult to get everything.
If we were to try to reconstruct other scenarios such as WW2 from another perspective we too find things in a different light.
It is very graphic in explaining the air and maneuvers employed by pilots who knew they were out numbered a likely to be victims rather than victors.
I think Roger had found an area, which has been neglected and misconstrued by the passage of time.
I suggest if only for curiosity but preferably interest, you should purchase this book and judge it for yourself. It is a read you will not have had before!
Many thanks go to Roger for writing it, thanks for the publishers who printed it and the Internet enabling people to know it is available.
I only know too well how difficult it is to get an idea out into the wide world.
Aug 2006

There haven't been many books on the Vietnam air war from the North Vietnamese side. Istvan Toperczer, for instance, did several books for Squadron/Signal and Osprey with mixed results. I had hopes that Roger Boniface's FIGHTER PILOTS OF NORTH VIETNAM might prove a worthy addition to my collection when I purchased it years ago. Boy, was I wrong!

To be fair, Boniface's book has some good points: interviews with MiG pilots and aces; tons of pix of pilots, MiGs and assorted NV military hardware; 24 pages of black & white MiG profiles; lists of VPAF kills and losses; etc.

However Boniface doesn't weave all that material into a valuable history of North Vietnamese fighter ops. FIGHTER PILOTS OF NORTH VIETNAM isn't good history. Hell, it isn't even history. It's a one-sided propaganda piece. Boniface had a golden opportunity to present a balanced account of the Vietnam air war using NV and US resources but chose to produce a one-sided, blatantly anti-American tract. In his book, North Vietnamese claims are accepted as gospel; American claims are almost always discounted. MiG pilots are heroic defenders of the homeland; the Americans are all Yankee air pirates. When a MiG pilot is killed, Boniface comments that his family will grieve. Hello! Didn't all the American aircrew lost over North Vietnam have family too? What about them?

When I was doing the research that led to MIG KILLERS OF YANKEE STATION, I realized there were two sides - or more - to each MiG encounter. I tried to compare, double-check, triple-check everything to get as accurate a portrait of all those combats as possible. Boniface obviously doesn't subscribe to that philosophy. His book is so one-sided, it's ridiculous.

Short and sweet: What an opportunity! What a waste! What a shame!

*****
I seem to recall this book was first offered by Schiffer Publishing but was mysteriously dropped. Then it surfaced from AuthorsOnLine. What gives??

I thank Mr W L McRae for his comments about my book "Fighter Pilots of North Vietnam". I hope to answer the points raised in his review but I shall begin with the general reasons I wrote the book.

My main aims were:-
1. to tell an account of the air war over Vietnam based on interviews, letters, books and available data from Vietnam with the emphasis on material not yet published.
2. to write an account based solely on the Vietnamese perspective
3. to introduce new data
4. to produce a book readily available at an affordable price
5. an account which is easily readable and understood by the general reader

It was with these reasons that I wrote my account of the air war as viewed and experienced by the Vietnamese. Mr McRae has claimed that the book is not well researched. However, it should be remembered that a lot of information about the Vietnam War is still classified in Vietnam. The level of research cannot be the same as in the US where there is an abundance of information which facilitates a high degree of academic and scholastic work. Nevertheless, the account was based on first hand experiences of pilots, aircrew, eyewitnesses and diaries written soon after the event. A final draft of the work was sent to Major General Pham Ngoc Lan for his comments and approval which was forthcoming. Another draft was passed by the Vietnamese news agency employing reporters who were working at the time of the events. I did not consider it ethical to cross-reference my work with US data as this data is disputed by the Vietnamese. Mr McRae assumes US data is accurate because it has been "researched".

History is often defined differently by opposing groups and my book shows this to be the case. Instead of attacking every and any error that can be found more effort should be made to identify the new evidence that the book uncovers. I feel that it is unfair to say that the book is obsessed with kill ratios after all terms like ACES and MiG killers were not made in Vietnam. Nearly every book on the subject published in the West contains statistics and ratios proving the success of fighter pilots. Why should a book about North Vietnamese pilots not do the same? There is a Vietnamese bias to the interpretation of the kill ratios. The opposite view needs to be considered to reach a balanced conclusion. According to Mr McRae, the combat scenes are not realistic enough. From the information I have, North Vietnamese pilots did not carry pilot log books and few, if any, combats were written down. The combat scenes were told to me by the pilots themselves and as such I wrote them down. these accounts were from memory and details such as winter action and speed changes were not recalled. some scenes came from the Vietnamese journal "9 Layers of Cloud" and some were from private sources and diaries. The combat scenes were not told in a formal style but in the way that the Vietnamese feel is appropriate.

On the point of Randall Cunningham's last victory on 10 May 1972, it must be accepted that there are conflicting views. Randall Cunningham was sure he scored his third victory over the North Vietnamese ace Colonel Toon a pilot we now know as fictitious. This in itself is not sufficient but coupled with Vietnamese data the whole combat scene is open to debate. I suspect a divergence of views will always exist on this point. I made special mention to those reading my draft to look a the May 10th combats with particular attention. The events in the book. represent the North Vietnamese viewpoint.

The evidence I used to claim that only four kills were made from Atolls comes from the work "Dirty Little Secrets of Vietnam".

I hope I have explained why the book has portrayed events in this style. I suspect it will add to the discussion of the topic. I must state that I am no left-winger but writing a book about the North Vietnamese who flew for a Communist regime made a certain slant unavoidable. Finally I must add that at no point did I lift information wholesale form the VPAF Volumes 1 - 3. The originals are written in Vietnamese and kept in military archives at a military library in Hanoi.

I thank Mr McRae for his comments and I am in his debt for informing me of my error in identifying an Atoll missile for an Alkali missile. I feel Mr McRae has a genuine interest in the subject and I wish him well.

If you're expecting a well written and researched book like Michael O'Connor's "Mig Killers of Yankee Station" forget it, despite what the Roger Boniface says in his preface and acknowledgements.

I hadn't heard of Roger Boniface before but was informed by a researcher from France on ACIG.com that he was a "left-wing" journalist. Reading the book it becomes quite clear that Boniface is a journalist writing about a subject he has not taken the time to learn about and that he does have a definite agenda in what he has put together.

The book covers three areas. Descriptions of air combat, Boniface's interviews with three pilots, and then Boniface's Statistics (not official Vietnamese or Soviet). The core of what Boniface does is take Vietnamese claims and say that they are all true and that the US claims are all "crap" or at least 30% are. He does no cross reference checking to seriously interpret what happened during different air engagements.

Those familiar with Ivan Toperczer's "Air War Over North Vietnam" may think it is a rehash of that book but it is not. It seems to have more pilots names attached to the combats (which is important to researchers) with some battles descriptions seeming a bit less realistic. It has photos which are different but not in the same quantity. There is no bibliography or index in the book. Boniface says he used various journals and diaries, VPAF & B-52 museums etc. In the body of the book he mentions the official history of the Vietnamese People's Air Force, Volumes 1-3 and I have to wonder if his descriptions were the just a lifting from these volumes. Maybe Merle Pribbenow knows.

Boniface makes many claims that show his lack of knowledge on the subject and are too many to list and I am not referring to specific outcomes of dogfights. One quick example is he claims that the US says that only 3 or 4 US planes were lost to Atoll missiles- I've have never come across this claim before in any official US documentation or books printed in the west. Looking at the official Red Baron reports or Marshall Michel's "Clashes" quickly disproves this. Boniface incorrectly identifies an Alkali missile on a photo of Mig-21 as an Atoll while correctly identifying Atolls in pictures. There are many instances where Boniface fails at describing various technologies and the purpose of the equipment.

His overall analysis doesn't stand up because he failed to research and cross reference. Boniface has a fixation on kill ratios and really seems to think that if there was plane going down it must mean a dead pilot despite ejection seats and parachutes. He provides a death list of VPAF pilots covering 1965-1992 by date. He uses this as his major argument that the US shot down fewer planes than claimed. He also says he visited cemeteries to prove his point but I'm surprised he couldn't find the North Korean cemeteries in Vietnam that had been mentioned some time ago on the internet and no reference to their pilots during Rolling Thunder. Boniface also makes sure to say that certain kills by Steve Ritchie and Randall Cunningham did not happen. In fact, he claims that there is no evidence the very last claim by the US (Kovaleski/Wise) happened; however, on Boniface's death list there is the loss of Senior Lt. Luu Kim Ngo on 1/12/ 73 the exact day in question which is strange because he seems to link all US claims in his analysis to his death list .

Boniface provides one other table which is an alphabetical list of 102 pilots with a breakdown of their ¼, ½, full, unmanned, helicopter, and total kills. It totals out to 258 kills. Boniface has a note below saying that the he has traced 126 different pilots who have shared in 319 kills and he is in the process of verifying them. Based on his research in this book I put little credibility in his ability to verify them. He would have provided a better service to his readers by including the dates, types of planes downed, and location so the curious could do some real research.

Boniface does provide the organization of VPAF and his interview with Nguyen Nhat Chieu says that the reason Mig-17s were called snakes had to do with low altitude weaving flight pattern used and not the paint jobs of the aircraft.

Lyall McRae

Don't buy this book unless you read French. It apparently has not been translated to English.

Mademoiselle Fifi demonstrates the mastery that Guy de Maupassant exerts over the short story structure. Mademoiselle Fifi is at once brilliant, suggestive, and finally horrifying. A brief note on plot-- it is a fictional account of German occupation during the Franco-Prussian War. If tales such as Mademoiselle Fifi ever become substantiated by real-life accouts, you'll likely be shocked by German war crimes that well predated the Second World War...