Bryan Books

Greatest Hoosier artist ever? ... is a leading question. The sadly neglected tale of a shy 13 year-old boy traveling alone across the sea and the landscape to LaPorte, Indiana for early schooling and known there as "Sam Gilmour", was later to become universally known as one of the world's greatest artists -- Isamu Noguchi (a future Jeopardy question?).

Accessible, significant, colorful, inexpensive, the Modern Masters volume by Bruce Altshuler is easily the most accessible guide to Noguchi's works of a lifetime. This edition is distinguished by large illustrations, many in color and stylishly presented, yet in a less expensive paperback format. It is perhaps the best primer for recognizing the historic significance of the wide ranging yet simple, spiritual aesthetic gifts from this complex soul to the rest of us.

This book is filled with examples of Noguchi's artwork, mostly sculpture. I am currently enrolled in a Sculpture Class and found viewing the pictures a helpful reference for the sculptures I produced. It is most important as an artist to be influenced by other artists, and I feel that this book was successful in doing just that.

There is absolutely no doubt that all enterprises, small or large, are completely reliant technology to operate. Companies have aggressively built and deployed IT solutions. My experience has been that most executives kind of treat this as a black box. They understand that there are major benefits to deploying various IT solutions (and they are right), but they don't really understand the how and the why. This is where this book comes in. I think that it is essential reading for executives, particularly those who are not strong in IT. Executives need to really understand the hard issues related to managing their IT portfolio -- how should they manage their IT portfolios. This book provides an excellent road map. It will show you how to evaluate your IT portfolio in a concise and easy-to-read manner. I'm big into charts and checklists and this book provides them. With a bewildering array of IT options and the difficult task of sorting and prioritizing, this book will serve as an essential guide.

Paradigm shift is an overused term, but if there is a field in need of one, it is enterprise IT management. IT Portfolio Management presents the first detailed overview of an emerging, business-focused approach for managing all things IT.

If you only buy and read one book on IT management this year, it should be this one. The introductory summation of just how bad things generally are in enterprise IT is worth the price alone.

IT portfolio management ultimately presents the challenging idea of an overall, end to end value chain of IT investments, from initial idea inception through prioritization, delivery, management, optimization, and retirement. Handler and Maizlish propose the formal management of Discovery, Project, and Asset portfolios; their discussion of the Asset portfolio is a groundbreaking examination of issues that too many IT organizations are just beginning to face up to.

This well written book has detailed case studies from Cisco, In-Q-Tel, and Excel Energy, and much specific guidance in the form of checklists, charts, tables, and more.

I recently saw a figure of $800 billion per year for the combined expenditure on IT by US corporations. Given the massive size of this capital investment, it is very surprising how few substantive books there are written on its general issues. Technical publishing usually produces detailed reference guides that are soon obsolete; this book (like the recent _IT Governance_ by Weill and Ross) is in the smaller category of works that discuss more general issues of large scale IT management, and should have staying power far beyond the latest .Net tome.

If you are in IT management or concerned with the architecture of IT enablement systems - buy it. Now!

I have reviewed many of the writings of the American revolutionary James P. Cannon elsewhere in this space. This review should serve as an interim evaluation of this excellent biography of the premier Communist leader to come out of that movement in the 20th century. As such it is long overdue and, as pointed out below timely. I have read through this book once but want to read it again before making a full evaluation. I also want to dig more deeply into the incredible number of footnotes, perhaps more than the average reader may desire, the author has provided. More on this later. In the meantime kudos to Professor Palmer.


If you are interested in the history of the American Left or are a militant trying to understand some of the past mistakes of our history and want to know some of the problems that confronted the early American Communist Party and some of the key personalities, including James Cannon, who formed that party this book is for you.

At the beginning of the 21st century after the demise of the Soviet Union and the apparent `death of communism' it may seem fantastic and utopian to today's militants that early in the 20th century many anarchist, socialist, syndicalist and other working class militants of this country coalesced to form an American Communist Party. For the most part, these militants honestly did so in order to organize an American Socialist Revolution patterned on and influenced by the Russian October Revolution of 1917. James P. Cannon represents one of the important individuals and faction leaders in that effort and was in the thick of the battle as a central leader of the Party in this period. Whatever his political mistakes at the time, or later, one could certainly use such a militant leader today. His mistakes were the mistakes of a man looking for a revolutionary path.

For those not familiar with this period a helpful introduction and copious footnotes by the author give an analysis of the important fights which occurred inside the party. That overview highlights some of the now more obscure personalities, where they stood on the issues and insights into the significance of the crucial early fights in the party. These include questions which are still relevant today; a legal vs. an underground party; the proper leftist attitude toward parliamentary politics; support to third party bourgeois candidates; trade union policy; class war defense as well as how to rein in the intense internal struggle of the various factions for organizational control of the party. This makes it somewhat easier for those not well-versed in the intricacies of the political disputes which wracked the early American party to understand how these questions tended to pull it in on itself. In many ways, given the undisputed rise of American imperialism in the immediate aftermath of World War I, this is a story of the `dog days' of the party. Unfortunately, that rise combined with the international ramifications of the internal dispute in the Russian Communist Party and in the Communist International shipwrecked the American party as a revolutionary party toward the end of this period.

As an addition to the historical record of this period this book is a very good companion to the two-volume set by Theodore Draper - The Roots of American Communism and Soviet Russia and American Communism- the definitive study on the early history of the American Communist Party. I have, as is the nature of the case, dwelt here on Cannon's development as a Communist in the early days of that party. When I update this review I will discuss his formative years in Kansas, his father's tutelage in his development as a socialist, his self-education in the rough and tumble of socialist and IWW (Wobblies) politics and some details of his personal life as they affected his political development. For now, if you want to know what it was like in the 'hothouse' (some would say loony bin) in the early days this is the book for you. Hopefully the author will continue this biographic effort further to analyze the later more decisive events that finished Cannon's education as a communist leader.

This is a long overdue biography of an outstanding figure of the American labor movement. Cannon was a member of the IWW and the left wing of the Socialist Party, a founder of the Communist Party and one of its leaders until 1928. He was almost alone to have the moral courage and theoretical understanding to resist the corrupting and fatal domination of Stalinism and founded the Trotskyist movement in the United States.
This volume (the author promises to follow it up with a second volume) traces Cannon's roots in the turn of the century America, the sweep of the radical labor movements of the first thirty years of the 20th century, and the factional and theoretical struggles of early communists.

The author is responsible for my losing sleep. Once again she develops characters that the reader cares about. TheIrish certainly suffered during this era, as did the families who were torn apart during the Civil War. Enjoyed the historical setting...fascinated by your 16th President...and his condemnation of slavery. Bravo for another excellent novel!

The lifelike protagonists overcome religous barriers to marry during the Civil War. The story vividly describes war scenes and the struggles and attitudes of Irish immigrants in the 19th century. In a nutshell, "Love Conquers All."

Historical reprint cookbooks are not the best place to go for exciting recipes, detailed instructions, and precise measurements. But they are a lot of fun to read.
With over 1000 recipes (and some very small print) this cookbook is even more fun than most. The recipes too seem more exciting than is typical -- the author doesn't just offer 20 types of bread, 10 over-cooked vegetables, and instructions for roasting or boiling plain meat. She gives real recipes, some of which look like they actually have flavor!
But be aware that the long list of recipes is a bit misleading. The book is sort of like a chinese restaurant menu, where the same basic cooking method is offered for, for example, beef, veal, chicken, pork and fish; or a dessert might be described with 10 different fruits -- as 10 different recipes.

This book was meaningful to me since I am from Kentucky. It is not only a cookbook but a history book of times when the housewives had to prepare meats without the use of refrigerators and freezers.

This is on our recommended list, too -- a good way to explain loss to children.

Again, I am nonplussed by the prices listed by various booksellers. Is this a scam? This book is still in print and available in paperback for $12.00 to $14.00 new.

This book is a "life cycles" book. In a simple, matter of fact approach you are taken through the life cycles of different creatures - starting with smaller creatures and working up to more complex animals including humans. The presentation style is geared for children and their perspectives. The story covers death through illness or injury as well. A wonderful way to introduce life and death issues to children who are grieving/preparing for the death of a loved one. The publication does not cover after-life possibilities or religous issues.

Here is a list of excellent books designed to help explain death to younger children or to help them cope. Note: some are religous or concern afterlife concepts and some do not:

When Dinaosaurs Die by Laura Krasney Brown and Marc Brown

Whats Heaven? by Maria Shriver

When Someone Dies by Sharon Greenlee

Badgers Parting Gifts by Susan Varley

Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs by Tommie Depaolo

When Someone Special Died by Joan Singleton Prestine

I gave this as a gift, so I did not read it. It is a short story and was good as I am told.

This was one of the best short stories I have ever read. It brings back hope to lost relationships. I highly reccomend it and encourage you to purchase the entire Welcome to the Monkey House book. Kurt Vonnegut is a very talented writer and provokes thought in every story he's written.

The top shelf of the bookcase holding my collection of personal favorites constitutes an exercise in what might be classified "Abnormal Psychology" by the status quo. There, you will find tomes authored by Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, the Marquis de Sade, Anne Rice writing BDSM under a pen name, the autobiography of serial killer Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins, a couple choice works of the 19th century German existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the collected transcripts of Adolf Hitler's infamous "Table Talk," and now, this wonderful gem of misanthropic, unapologetic stories and musings written by a very promising young man from Harlem, Bryan Gibson.

Not that Gibson can be pigeon-holed into the Curiosity's Corner. Make no mistake - he covers a wide range of subjects - writing eloquently about matters of race relations, the Black experience in America, fatherhood, love, pride, manhood, insecurity, sexuality...I could go on and on. In Gibson, I find a modern urban voice being given to the timeless, and often dark, passions that have both haunted and inspired men for ages.

This is one of those books you simply have to read to fully embrace, as no description crammed into a few paragraphs could do it justice. It's not for the faint of heart. Gibson pulls no punches when addressing topics that most people tend to avoid, sublimate, or bury their heads into the sand and ignore. He can be subtle, but not cowardly - he hits the nail head on.

If you have read any of the authors I mentioned, or anything flowing through that same vein of honesty, realism and inherent courageousness, and you appreciate sentiments and thoughts regarding the truly human, and unapologetically so, don't skip this one. Its more than worth it. I look forward to the day when Bryan Gibson is, if not a household name, one that ranks among the top tier of recent authors bold enough to step outside the confines of genre and demographics and create the drumbeat to which future generations of thinkers as well as feelers will march to.

Do yourself a favor and catch this guy right now, early in his career.

This book immediately drew me in. The first story struck cords within my soul as it reflected many things that I have seen, things that I believe in and also things that are within me. There were periods of fear at some of those perceived similarities. But always also were the bits and pieces of witticism that I so relate to.

Periodically, I would stop and reflect on the many subtext which run ramped throughout the entire book. It is definitely NOT a book for someone who does not think outside of the box or who is easily offended. It is a thinking man or woman's book...one that if allowed, will thoroughly entertain you.

A Must Read!

This is a good overview of some recent Israeli tanks, APCs and IFVs. One thing to be aware of, though, is that it only covers the most recent developments in the Merkava tank, not a thorough overview of that important tank series. Apparently, you have to buy Osprey Publishing's earlier book, "Merkava Main Battle Tank MKs I, II & III," to get a fuller view of the Merkava program (but, irritatingly, you still have to buy this newer book to get details on the current Merkava IV!). Otherwise, I have very few complaints about this volume. Like most Osprey books, it's brief and thus a bit thin, but informative and well-illustrated. Another quibble: the cutaway views are only from one angle, when some of the details clearly need to be shown from at least two different angles to make much sense.

Unfortunately, Israel has spent its entire existence in war of greater or lesser intensity, and as a result has developed a reputation for excellence in both the technical and operational aspects of armored warfare. At this point, we have a good understanding of Israeli armor in the first half of its existence, including the critical battles of 1967 and 1973. Although Israel emerged victorious in 1973, the cost was very high and the decisive arms of the IDF (armor and air force) were savaged. Much of Israeli developments since then can be seen as a result of the damage inflicted by the Arabs in October 1973.

This book covers the last twenty years, which have been covered only sketchily. During this period, Israel has remained prepared for conventional ground combat, while using armor in low-intensity combat in Lebanon and against the Palestinians. During this period, we have continued to see the characteristic pattern of a few home-grown Israeli systems and the more numerous modernization of foreign vehicles, often beyond recognition.

The book starts with a brief background and then starts with infantry carriers. First the variety of Israeli M113 variants, then all sorts of heavy infantry and engineer vehicles which are a distinctive Israeli specialty. Then the book proceeds to the many variations of the Patton (Magach) and the more recent variants of the Merkava, including the Merkava 4. The information is detailed, considering security considerations.

The layout is excellent, the text is well written and edited, the photographs are good and the color plates by Tony Bryan are outstanding. This book is a winner and a must-buy for anybody interested in the topic.

Companies that admit that they have an information security problem, is the first step toward a solution. If you are one of those companies, this book is for you! Authors Russ Rogers, Ed Fuller, Greg Miles, Matthew Hoagberg, Travis Schack, Ted Dykstra, Bryan Cunningham and Chuck Little, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that will help the majority of experienced INFOSEC professionals in the industry find the optimum security solution for their respective organization.

Rogers, Fuller, Miles, Hoagberg, Schack, Dykstra, Cunningham and Little, begin by helping you understand what the IEM is intended to address, why this type of work is requested, where it could potentially be applied, and the phases into which IEM is organized. Next, the authors focus on those activities that occur prior to the start of the evaluation. Then, they delve into one of the most critical preparation aspects of doing any evaluation: assessing customer expectations, the tangible and intangible factors, that will affect the outcome of the evaluation. The authors continue by discussing the components and activities of the scoping process that will give you the majority of the information needed to do an effective and efficient job during the evaluation process. In addition, the authors next provide an overview of a number of legal issues faced by information security evaluation professionals and their customers. They also discuss the various aspects of the TEP and some of the things you want it to accomplish. Next, the authors discuss the framework of the on-site evaluation phase, where the meat of the technical evaluation occurs. Then, they discuss the network discovery portion of the onsite evaluation phase. The authors continue by covering the vulnerability scanning and host evaluation portions of the IEM. In addition, the authors then cover the remainder of the scanning, or hands-on, portion of the IEM. They also discuss the out-brief meeting that you'll hold with the customer. Next, the authors walk you through the process of categorizing , consolidating, correlating, and consulting, to develop practical and effective solutions for the customer. Then, they cover the sources of finding information and how this information can be put into a single chart that the customer an use as a road map to improving their security posture. The authors continue by identifying some type of metrics that will be needed to readily identify the current security posture. They also cover the presentation of the final report. Finally, they sum up the entire book.

With the preceding in mind, the authors have also done an excellent job of writing a book that addresses the process-level security issues along with the technical findings, so that you can improve your chances to mitigate problems before they occur. So, in the end, all of these pieces can come together to create a custom and valuable security solution for your customer!

I am a security consultant in the DC area, so I have heard the NSA IAM and IEM terms bandied about the Beltway. I read Network Security Evaluation Using the NSA IEM (NSE) to get a better understanding of the IEM side of the equation. I found the business process coverage of this book helpful, along with the general understanding of the goals of the IAM and IEM. For these two reasons you may find NSE helpful too.

The Prologue, ch 1, ch 2, and Part I (which oddly begins with ch 3 and ends with ch 6) occupies about 40% of the book. None of the material is technical, but it helps the reader understand why the NSA IAM and IEM exist, how the methodologies help clients, and what you as a security consultant owe clients when providing an IEM-centric service. These business issues, which largely sit outside the NSA's purview, are very helpful for those of us trying to provide good services to clients. I found contracting advice in ch 2 to be especially useful. Warnings about scope creep, salespeople over-promising, and setting expectations all rang true. I also liked the legal section (ch 5), but I wished it had avoided trotting out the tiresome links to "cyber terror"; cut pages 100-103 in the second edition! I did learn a critical legal lesson, however: consultants should avoid even the pretense of interpreting laws like SOX or HIPPA when advising clients. This could be misconstrued as "practicing law," which is illegal without a license!

Part II discusses "on-site" evaluation issues, which for ch 8-10 means discussing tools to accomplish the ten IEM baseline activities. These tool sections were fairly generic, and anyone with decent security experience will not learn anything new. One exception for me was Ophcrack, a recent password cracker. Ch 9 boasted of getting Unix-centric Nessus to run on Windows using Cygwin, but disappointed by providing no further details. Ch 10 mentions network protocol analysis as the tenth IEM baseline activity, but has nothing helpful to say besides mentioning running Ethereal or EtherPeek. If the purpose of protocol analysis is discovering insecure protocols or cleartext passwords, avoid Ethereal -- run a password grabber like dsniff or similar.

Part III addresses tasks done in the post-evaluation phase, like report-writing and delivery. Some of the material is superfluous and preachy, e.g. p 316 "Knowledge is individualistic. It is inherent to individuals and is acquired through the natural process of experience and learning." Ch 14 finally displays the 17 IAM (not IEM) categories, which had been alluded to in previous chapters but never explained (which would have been helpful for those unaware of the IAM). The sample Technical Evaluation Plan in Appendix B is a good way to provide concrete examples for IEM beginners.

I would like to see a second edition of NSE after an editor reads the entire book, as I just did. That editor should strive to remove as much extra and redundant information as possible. For example, there are sections repeated nearly word-for-word in ch 2 (p 40-43) and ch 4 (p 74-78). The risk triangle appears on p 246 and 383. CVE is introduced in ch 7 and again in ch 13. Calculating ROI is presented in ch 3 and again in the same words in ch 14. These duplications are the result of ten people contributing to a 400 page book.

Overall, I still recommend reading NSE. I return to the first 170 pages of the book for its best advice, such as entire chapter on scoping an engagement (ch 4). There are far too few security books that explain how to deliver a valuable service to a client. NSE addresses that issue in great detail, and for that reason I commend the authors.