C Books

This is the best C++ book i've ever read (and i've read many good authors). It explains the concepts in depth with plenty of sample-code and drawings. The author seems to be aware which concepts could be misunderstood and repeatedly clarifies them in his examples.You cannot become a serious C++ programmer, if you don't understand these concepts correctly. Most of the object-oriented concepts are illustrated with real-world examples, so u learn how the language can be applied practically. I wish i'd gotten this book during my school days.

This text is definitely classroom quality, covering almost all aspects of the language, both theoretically and practically, and the books size reflects this. It doesn't cover the STL at all, but to do so would have made the text too large. The best thing I liked about the book is that it discusses object oriented design concepts (as pertaining to C++) very well.

This is am amazing book that very clearly explains the 'how' and 'why' of each feature in Object Oriented Design.My design skills certainly got a lot better with this book.I loved the chapter on Inheritance.Inheritance is one of the most powerful features of any object oriented language and the most effective form of code reuse.This book does a very good job at giving the reader a good idea of how to exploit this feature effectively.

this is *the* C++ book that got me thru my programming assignments. from concepts to code, from design to implementation, the author detailed everything very clearly and thoroughly, excellent job! this book is evenly-paced and highly readable with golden nuggets everywhere. before getting this book, i used to be lost in lectures and assignments, confused about concepts of pointers etc, but after carefully studying this gem, i could truly understand the essence of C++ and write solid, high quality code. to sum it up, i have three words for you: GO BUY IT!!

I read most of the 1st edition.
A very insightful look into C++ programming with
detailed but simple examples to explain the fundamental
and yet powerful concepts and intricacies with the language!

This book introduces jazz to a young audience. It explores the sounds, rhythms, and emotions of the genre through colorful pictures and rhythmic words similar to the beat of "scat" singing.
Lots of the words are there just for the sound of them. By focusing on the sound words, students could develop spelling strategies that help them move from phonemes, the sounds they make, to graphemes, the written representations of those sounds.

This book is excellent. The illustrations and musical text allow for early readers to really enjoy and learn from this book. Perfect for preschool and kdg age. I used this book as the basis of a jazz unit, it worked wonderfully.

"Charlie Parker Played Be Bop" was my son's favorite book when he was two and nine years later we still have fun reading it. I now purchase a copy for new parents to read to thier babies. As a speech language pathologist, I want to share to magic of words and the music they can make! This book is an absolute MUST read for all children.

I wasn't sure how my little one would respond to this book even though I love it. If I ask, "Do you want to read about Charlie Parker?," she lights up and starts literally starts to bop. The baby digs it. Just more evidence that the jazz is a universal language. I like the introduction to poetry, rhythm and randomness ("Never leave your cat alone"). I bought two other copies and gave them to my friends for their babies.

I am an elementary school music teacher with students ranging from pre-K to 5th grade. I read this book to all of my pre-K and kindergarten through second grade classes and sometimes the mood strikes me to read it to older students. There is something in here for most every age. Everyone loves it.

So why does Raschka draw chicken feet in such odd places, e.g., on overshoes, alphabet letters, pancake flippers?

Well, rumor has it that one day Charlie Parker was driving back to his boarding house and, as luck would have it, he hit and killed a chicken that had run out into the street from someone's front yard. Such chickens are called "yardbirds". The alleged events include Parker doing the unthinkable, namely, backing up his car, picking up the dead chicken (aka "roadkill"), taking it to his landlady (hey, it was fresh!), her cooking it, and him eating it. When friends heard this story, Parker was known forever after as "Yardbird", which was eventually shortened to just "Bird".

If you didn't catch the part about the chicken feet on your own, don't feel badly. Insiders like Rachka and myself know it and now you do too. Rachka has done a terrific job in providing a lot of feeling about some very notable personalities. Plus he does it with humor, some of which is very subtle.

My students probably have as much fun going through Parker's history as with the book itself. But all of that is just the preliminaries: I then have to read it several more times with the students reading and acting out the story. We have a rockin' good time.

A Child's Christmas In Wales CD: And Five Poems
Hurrah! Now I won't have to wait for the radio to play Dylan Thomas reading his wonderful Child's Christmas every Christmas. Truly a beautiful recording of the other poems as well.

My goodness, these illustrations are ugly. They completely detract from the beauty of the language. Either read it out loud to a blind person or stick with the version illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

This reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales is tops! It wouldn't be Christmas for us without hearing Dylan Thomas tell his story. He recounts a holiday of simple, family and neighborhood doings, and paints a picture of snowy, seaside Wales of the 1920's.

I love this story, as do all my children, who, from their earliest years, have not much struggled with the density of the language nor the scatteredness of the story. 5 of my 8 great-grandparents are from Wales, and the remaining 3 have the blood in them as well, so maybe it is like drinking water for us.:-D Our minds are all scattered, and words, even English words ;-D, fall on us in clumps....which makes it doubly hard to keep a clean house. LOL

The sort of prose-poetry imaginative way of seeing and describing the world unique to Welshwomen and Welshmen and Welshchildren, which does not seek to keep up the pretense that history can be separated from myth, story and desire, and which requires loving with eyes wide open to [and eventually embracing] one's own and others' bumps, bruises and idiosyncracies included, is extraordinarily well represented here. So, by the way, is speaking and listening to the close and Holy darkness!

My favorite version isthe one illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. To me she has captured the complexity of the Welsh personality best, though i have nothing to say against the other illustrators praised in these reviews. I DO have a warning for you: there are some skinny versions flying about which do not have the poem-story complete and correct. This sort of work cannot suffer removal or modification, IMHO.

gbg

If you have read A Child's Christmas in Wales, you know that it has to be a classic. But you can't fully appreciate it until you have heard Dylan Thomas read it. What a deep, expressive, poetic voice. For years, I have listened to the recording on a Caedman record. It is wonderful to have it on a CD.

The book is worth purchasing for the biographical background. His youth and adulthood were extremely tough and lonely. Hughes seems to have lost his religion early in life.

Excellent book and historical treasure that I intend to pass down to my grandchildren in the future.

I prefer his earlier stuff but there are poems in this book that make the entire thing worth it. Nude Young Dancer, Minstrel Song and countless others made me want to weep and smile. What can I say, I felt this guys pain...

If you haven't heard of Langston Hughes, I suggest that you purchase this, THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES, as an introduction to his style. Hughes was part of the definitive Harlem Renaissance Movement of the 1920s through the late 1940s, that was a very important period of time for African-Americans in the United States. For the first time, their voices were really being heard [and recognized] in the genres of music, writing, and sculpture, in this country.

This book is an amazing collection of five decades of his most powerful, intelligent and sensitive works. The poems start in 1921 through 1967. There are also several poems, written for children, that I didn't even realize Langston had penned! So beautiful and unexpected. What's more, one of his most well-known poems is featured, here, "What Happens to a Dream Deferred." Langston Hughes' views of race, society and social issues are truly timeless and compelling. For me, reading his works is like listening to a quiet, constant patter of rain on the rooftop, gradually growing with intensity, until the raindrops start flowing like teardrops from the great sky. That is how Hughes uses language. Essentially, he derives his beautiful rhythmic poetic language from an infinite river of words, he then pours them over on another and tells stories. This is truly the book to add to your poetry collection.

More than the exiled Eliott, greater than Walt Whitman, consistently clearer than Ginsberg, more powerful than Pound, freer than Frost, more American than Wallace Stevens, moreso even than the mighty Merton, here at long last is our greatest American poet receiving over-due respect.

A thick tome I purchased for my English learners which will instead fill my bed and my head for many cold and lonesome months ahead. Like the collected Poe, the collected Giovanni, an essential element to any American literature shelf, here for the first time meticulously researched and reported, with promise for more should any further works emerge. This is our American voice, clear and strong. This is the consummate volume of this great American poet, the one who wrote:

"( . . .) I've known rivers, ancient dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers."


May we once more grow deep with him, and by him. Read him, once more, here, complete and correct. Read him, and recall our America. Read him.

I love Michael Jackson. Every fan should have this book, it means so much to experience his literary voice. He is so good at putting the right sounds together that I enjoy reading his poetry out loud. If you're a fan, get it. Just do.

I've loved this book ever since I checked it out from the library years ago. Now, I finally own it and I read it almost every day. The writings are very deep and insightful, and the pictures are beautiful. (My favorite pic is on page 62. :D) If you're an MJ fan you HAVE to have this book, or at least read it at the library or something.

Dancing the dream is a glimpse into the soul of Michael Jackson. It's a must have for any fan. It gives you a MUCH MUCH MUCH better idea of who he is than his 'autobiography' Moonwalk (which was little more than a recounting of his career). This book shows you the idealistic, perhaps naive, and sometimes sappy core of Michael.

If you're looking for the world's best poetry or writings, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a glimpse of Michael Jackson's heart, if you want to escape the harsh realities of everyday life and indulge in the idealistic dreams of someone who genuinely looks for the good in the world, then this is the book for you.

Any time I'm feeling down, I can always pick up this book and read a few pages and it always makes me feel better :)

After checking it out from the library, reading it twice, and not wanting to return it, I had to have my own copy, which I just received (used) from this site.

It is truly inspiring and I will undoubtedly read through it many times in the days and years to come when I'm feeling down and need a lift in my spirit.

Best 8 bucks I've spent in many moons.

This book is truly amazing and has so much insight on different things. You see Michael in a completely different light. It was almost like it was written directly for me. It had everything that i needed/wanted to hear, especially about trust and courage and even about the love of God. It was like it was direct advice to me personally. I like this book so much that i think anybody would enjoy it. It's so beautiful. You really get to see his pain and what's going on inside his head and i think if everyone read it, they would be like, "Wait, Michael Jackson wrote all of these?" He's so talented and i love him even more after reading this book. By the way, the pictures are great, i love them all!

McGovern illustrates strategies for creating more impactful web content without boring the reader to death. The advice is practical, easy to follow, and timely. I have been very satisfied with this purchase.

Gerry McGovern's "Killer Web Content" *seems* to be a primer about writing "killer content." And it is. He talks about simple ideas (e.g., "killer, not filler," or, on the Net, "in self-service mode, people go on gut instinct") in simple sentences, with lots of words in red so you get the idea. Then you put those ideas all together and think about them. And *then* you start looking at websites created from the grad school universe by professionals, all too often FOR PROFESSIONALS, that leave you - us - Everyman - frustrated or even amused (and that is not the intent). Ah, the epiphany: you realize that too many people are getting paid too much money when they have no idea how to talk to us: the folks who are surfing at 2AM in hotel rooms, trying to learn something for tomorrow's presentation to the Executive Committee. Obviously McGovern has practiced medicine: you listen to the patient, and the patient will tell you what the problem is. You listen to the customer, and the customer will tell you what she needs to hear. You listen to your children, etc.

Of course, the devil is in the details. Would that there were a standard operating procedure to ferret out the words that each of us wants to hear. Then we could fire Sales and Marketing - all they do is get us folks in Technology and Operations into trouble, right? Nope, says McGovern, you have to talk to people, relate to them, listen to them, hear what they say, abstract the content, try it out on your site. Each word is a hypothesis: true or false. Does it work? Does it bring people? You measure, you re-frame, you redesign, you re-relate. Surely it must be easier than this! All Jeff Bezos did is slap some stuff onto a website, and look at him! Right? McGovern just smiles, probably lifts a Guinness - he hints at his pleasure in Ireland - and, secure in the knowledge that you'll reread his book, just goes on about his business, writing and consulting.

Oh, it seems so simple. Oh, it's not really that complicated. Oh, it is so, so worthwhile. Read the book carefully.

David Block MD, PhD
Editor & Publisher, "The RoadeWarrior: every consultant's ezine"
www.roadewarrior.com
david@roadewarrior.com

I purchased this book specifically to read more about the process for researching usability issues. I am not a market researcher, but I am a web developer who understands SEO, basic usability issues and general web practices. I found this book to be well-written, simple to understand and it provides a pretty good map for researching your web audience. I have actually read it twice now, finding even more the second time around.

I highly recommend this book, I still use it as a resource as I learn more about market research, something I don't particularly care for, but that is essential to my success as a brand manager and web developer.

Gerry is a genius.

I work for a Fortune 500 company and was first introduced to Gerry McGovern through one of his workshops that my company was hosting. I really connected with Gerry's passion for both the customer's perspective, as well as his message to get the fundamentals right. Armed with his book Killer Web Content, I left the workshop inspired with new ideas for solving some of the UX issues we were having with our Careers website (strategic business tool for talent recruiting).

I started to read his book the next week and learned enough useful information with each chapter that I finished it. I got a lot of value from some of the techniques described in Killer Web Content. I appreciated the information specific to generating good content using "Carewords" in the right way and at the right time. I also learned from this book that the web user is a different animal than traditional application users. Gerry has a good handle on the machinations that drive this new information hunter's behavior.

I can honestly say that I've quoted Gerry's work in UX meetings dozens of times since first attending his workshop. Since December, I've given away three copies of Killer Web Content to other UX professionals. All 3 have given it rave reviews! In addition to attending one of his live workshops (absolutely awesome!), I HIGHLY recommend getting this book!

The book is a good read with a lot of useful information about content design and production. Don't expect a detailed tutorial, it aims rather to show you what is important and what approach you should take.

What I liked
- rich information about user behaviours regarding content consumptions (debunks some myths)
- eye-opener findings (did you know that the word 'special offers' is preferred to the word 'deal' when people are asked though when searching, they use the word 'deal'? etc.)
- clear examples and reasoning that can help you in situations when you have to convince clients about some fundamental content issues

What I did not like
- if you have been following Gerry's newsletters as I did, well, you already know most of what the book is about
- there are some chapters that did not tell me really anything (one is about some very rudimentary SEO, another about the importance of blogging)
- the design of the print: there are complete pages written in bold red letters, some pages look like this is the first Powerpoint presentation with an ISBN number

I must say that the author did an excellent job if he intended this book to be a record of the day to day action on all theaters of engagement between the French and the Viet Minh.

Because of the excessive level of detail, the book is very diffcult to read and appreciate. It is a mind numbing experience.

Read this only if you wish to know in detail the horrible sufferings that that combatants on either side faced in a senseless war. Otherwise you will be better off with just a summary.

The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu And the French Defeat in Vietnam

Apparently the best account ever written on Dien Bien Phu. Just two brief remarks:
1. History is shaped by strong personalities, and there was an abundance of them in Dien Bien Phu. Despite the book's large volume, there would be welcome a chapter sketching portraits of key protagonists (Bigeard, Langlais, de Castries etc), at the expense of details on arms specifications.
2.The author is favorably predisposed to French military leaders, and I tend to sustain his argument about injustices inflicted to the French army by politicians. Nevertheless, he is inclined to offer unnecessary excuses to the former, as well as to soothe down quarrels. Why not state bluntly that Cogny and Langlais could not tolerate Navarre and de Castries respectively? Even though the outcome might not be different, leadership exercised by de Castries was apparently inadequate. During this epic battle, besides heroism, mistakes had been made also on the French part, which the author appears quite eager to justify, out of respect to this unique effort.

T. E. Lawrence wrote that amateurs do something because they love to, and professionals because they must. We can thank the muses that Martin Windrow is a self-described amateur, because this work bears all the hallmarks of serious and loving craftsmanship. He places both the war, and the battle in context, he casts a glaring light upon some of its myths, and he gives serious attention to the technical aspects of the battle that the great majority of military professionals would otherwise miss, such as the state of Viet Minh artillery tactics and doctrine. Were Fall still alive and writing, Windrow would still have outclassed him. Anything and everything you want or need to know about the battle for Dien Bien Phu is here. The very best military history I've read in English in a very long time. Bravo!

the book just kind of grabbed me, twice.
first when i saw it on the library shelf, i read "hell in a very small place" many years ago and have a continuing interest in vietnam and america's involvement there.
the second time is when i started reading it, it reads like an excellent detective story, i sat and sat and finished it at one sitting, not a small feat considering it is over 700 pages long. This style is the first very notable characteristic.

not only is the writing excellent, but the author is one of those people who you can imagine talking to. he appears to a military historian from his amazon authors page. writing since the 1970's with an accent on french and the foreign legion. But this book looks like a long term research project and literally a work of love. the detail and interest he displays puts it in a class almost by itself. the only other military history that i've been this impressed by is the boer war by pakenham. The research and simply put love that went into this book is evident thoughout and is a second notable item.

there is something else that makes it outstanding, several places he shows some very unique and well thought out ideas. they are just snatches of his worldview: some pages about the wounds caused by military bullets, a couple of places where he talks about the relationships between politicians and military leaders, and his discussion about how men fight for their buddies next to them, not geopolitical big things. There are just a few of these rather tantilizing glimpses, enough to make me look for more of his books. This disclosure of the man behind the work and his ideas developed from a lifetime of study in history is remarkable and the 3rd item i wish to point out.

I'd not a fan of military histories, nor an i particularly interested in the genre. But i do like his writing. I find the careful analysis of what happened, what lead up to it, how people responded fascinating and as yesterday proved, somewhat addictive. There is an overwhelming number of names, who went where and fought whom, etc, those datum that make up military history, but it is not so bad that it bores or obscures the ideas. He is a very careful documenter of the facts, desirous of completeness and setting the historical record straight. All elements which appear strongly in the book.

There is another thing remarkable about the book and it's author, a desire to look at the facts and the events and truly learn from them. To see this part of our world, a somewhat dark one, filled with the dead and lost, and remember them not just for their sacrifices but what these things have to teach us about ourselves and the societies we find ourselves in. and the first place to find the meaning of events is to get them right, to be factual and see what happened and propose why. something that this book does in a uniquely interesting and useful way.

i sure wish the militaries of the world had more thoughtful people like this author, either in their general staffs or in their officer universities. perhaps a significant dose of reality and history is what more of our military leaders need before embarking on disastrous campaigns.

This is a superb and well constructed book and is by far one of the best accounts of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu that has been written. The author gives the reader a great insight to the formation of the Viet Minh and their rise to become a formidable fighting force whose journey to power led to the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu.

The book is well balanced and very readable. It gives a well presented account of the battle and how it unfolded and also shows how, although the French were defeated, at some stages of the fighting, victory could have gone either way with the staggering battle casualties suffered by the Viet Minh.

He also deals with the communist purges in the north after the French had been defeated and the division of the country into North and South Vietnam.

This fine book would not be out of place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the military campaigns of Vietnam.

"If he desired to know about automobiles, he would, without question, study diligently about automobiles. If his wife desired to be a gourmet cook, she'd certainly study the art of cooking, perhaps even attending a cooking class. Yet, it never seems as obvious to him that if he wants to live in love, he must spend at least as much time as the auto mechanic or the gourmet in studying love." ~ Leo Buscaglia from "Love"

I smile as I type these words--just having Buscaglia's book, "Love," open in front of me is enough to make me happy. :)

Seriously. This is hands down one of my favorite books. I've purchased at least 250 copies of it. We used to give it away to all of our partners at my last business [...] and I used to bring a copy with me to nearly every business lunch I had. (I'm a little wacky like that. :)

I have no doubt you'll fall in Love with "Love" as well. By the end of reading it, you'll wish you could give Leo Buscaglia--a former Professor of Love at USC--a big ol' hug.

This is an amzing book to read for all time . Regardless of time ,place & seasons - it is amazing . Leo Buscaglia is one of the brilliant author of all time , an amazing poet of love & an instrument of LIVING & GROWING with LOVE . He is exactly right when he said : IF LOVE IS THE ANSWER WHAT IS THE QUESTION? From the beginning , I learned & read all his books , I cannot stop thinking about what the good & important phrases I ahve learned from him . He inspired me to live , to love & to grow with highest respect of LOVING everyone without any expectation in return . He is one of the KEY of my good & honest relationship to all . His book & all his writing are inspiration of my whole being . I will never forget the person who introduced me to read his books since 1987 , from then on She became the greatest inspiration of my life .
Leo B. is amazing . He can moved everyone to understand LOVE as the reason of our existence . I compared him to DALAI LLAMA of Love & Spiritual inspiration of all seasons . Thank you LEO B. for bringing your words & wisdom into my life .

With highest respect to you & your writings ,

Noel F. Cruz
University of Cambridge Teaching Hospital
Cambridge , England

This book is one that everyone who is in a relationship..or has children.. should read and pass on to their friends.

This book has been in my library for years. I have given copies for gifts many times, I wish I knew how many. The information in this book is so very important for everyone and written in such a way that it can be easily read and understood by everyone. Should be required reading in every high school and university.
I have read other Buscaglia books and found them all to be well written and filled with beneficial content.
Thanks for the opportunity to review a winner.

Everyone should read,no make that study Leo's books. This book opened my eyes and softened my heart. Anyone who reads it with an open mind will find themselves transformed. I am someone who grew up VERY ANGRY. My anger caused me problems upon problems and was a contributing factor in the breakup of my first marriage. When I hit rock bottom and knew things had to change, it was then that I came across a worn, slightly abuse copy of a book at a second hand store. The Title on it was simply "LOVE". Don't misunderstand me, I am far from free from my anger. Yet, those who know me will tell you how much I have changed. I feel Leo books, DVD's (I have several), and tapes have been a major factor in that change. I recommend ALL items by Leo Buscaglia.

Leo talks not only about loving others, but loving yourself. Love your face, even if your nose doesn't quite match the rest of your face. Love yourself for who you are, no matter who that may be. It's the funny and odd things about us that sometimes makes us the most loveable. So, buy this book and, if your paying attention to what is said in it, learn to laugh, hug, cry (yes, even grown men can cry), and fall in love with this rollercoster we call life.

This book got me to a point where I was well prepared and confident walking into the exam. Its an excellent choice.

It was not for me, I've been working for the postal service for seven years, It was a gift for my brother and he raised the score from 78 to 91 by just followig this book tips... The best one in the market as of today.

This book/software package is an ideal purchase for individuals preparing to take the United States Postal Exam 473 & 473-C. The material is not only accurate and up-to-date, it's affordable, easy to follow, and comes with wonderful live customer service! This package takes you from the beginning to the end of this exam. It provides detailed information about each segment, strategies to overcome common obstacles, and finally simulates the actual exam with six practice tests. If you are serious about preparing for this exam, you want this book/software combo! Watch out for fraudulent companies! They are out there, and they will take your money. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way. The first company (which shall remain nameless in this review to avoid slander) stole my money by twisting the truth and providing me with irrelevant out-of-date material. If it had not been for the discovery of this book/package and Mr. T. W. Parnell's wonderful support team, I would have failed the exam. If you buy this package and follow the steps, you won't regret it! This book contains, "The Right Stuff!"

This book was really easy to follow and I felt really confident before and after my test. I think I had about a week and a half before my test to do this program and it seems just about right.I was so confident as I took the test, I finished with time to spare and went back and double checked myself. I took the test in 2005 and scored very well thanks to the book and computer program. I have had several interviews because I scored so well. I have had some questions along the way and they have been very helpful. The pathfinder people are very nice people to work with and very up up date on all their information. They communicate well and are quick to respond. I think they have many insiders that give them accurate information that the other books seem to not even have a clue on. You cannot go wrong with this. He gives you clues and tips to make it so easy to do. I have been to the library and read through many of the other books out there before I purchase this one. None of them compare to it in information and ease of use. Just buy it you won't be disappointed!

I bought the CD version of New Postal Exam 473 & 473-C Computer-Based Course (Paperback)by T. W. Parnell (Author), Susie Varner (Illustrator), from Amazon.com merchant wadsjk (http://www.amazon.com/shops/wadsjk). This study guide is great. It gives very helpful advice - even though I modified some Mr. Parnell's suggested strategies to suit my way of memorizing.

I bought the version of this book that came with a CD. The CD has a series of lessons (no substitute for reading the book as Mr. Parnell points out). The CD also allows you to simulate a test taking session. It includes instructions for taking the Exam (which are very similar to the real thing) and realistically times you on each part. The tests and answer sheets are in the book.

This Postal Exam is a TIMED TEST. It will be difficult to get through some of the sections of the Exam unless you practice. On one part of the Exam you are to make 60 responses in 6 minutes - 6 seconds per item! I have taken this Exam twice recently - six days apart. Even though I recieved Mr. Parnell's book two days prior to the first time I took the Exam, I completed 58 of the 60 items. Six days later I was able to complete all 60 on a different version of the Exam.

I'm confident the this book helped me score well on this Exam. I hope to update this review after the USPS sends me my scores.

This is one of the best combat depictions of the Viet Nam War that I have ever read. I highly recommend it for former military readers.

My friend Beetle was there. Lee Burns was there. Others were there. Nolan writes almost as if HE were there. It happened before I got in-country, but it was a legendary fight by legendary Marines and Nolan tells the story so very well. I am proud to have helped carry these Marines in my helicopters and supported them in every way possible. They are heroes in the truest sense of that so misused word. This book is an EXCELLENT read!

Keith Nolan has managed to capture the absolute confusion and fear associated with modern combat in Operation Buffalo. I started this book in 1997 or there abouts and was unable to finish it. As a former Marine who was in boot camp in San Diego when this operation took place I had a difficult time with the content. Lose an entire company of Marines to a sly enemy? Impossible. And then to read about the loss of additional Marines in trying to recover the dead and wounded (something that is very important by the way) that had fallen the day before....difficult. I just couldn't finish the book.

Well, I picked it up again, after ten years, and read it completely. In a very belated way I have to compliment Mr. Nolan on not only his ability to tell a difficult story, but to tell it in a way that makes sense and then manages to touch the heart. As another reviewer stated, Operation Buffalo hurts the heart of the reader and this reflects the sensitivity that the author weaved into his tale.

The doctrine at the time was that the Marines divided an area in to map grids. The Marines would sweep a grid with a company, clear it, and then move on. The NVA would wait for the Marines to leave and then move into that grid knowing that they were probably safe for a while. The battle that took place in July of 1967 is the result of the Marines out smarting themselves. They decided to sweep the same map grid twice, trying to catch the NVA off guard. It worked. But a single company was no match for what the Marines stepped into.

The American fighting man has been depicted in less than a glowing manner in Viet Nam. Brutal, drug crazed killers. I think while some of that may be deserved, the bulk of that criticism is undeserved and is served up by people who have never humped a pack or shared water out of a canteen. Nolan does a huge service for the Viet Nam vets by explaining the sheer meaness of the NVA in how our wounded were treated. Well done.

Operation Buffalo isn't a book for the weak of heart or for those who don't really want to be informed. It is a book that speaks well to the commitment of American fighting men in general and of U. S. Marines in particular.

Semper Fi.

This is as terrifying an account of the Vietnam war as I've ever read. Forget the melodrama and sensationalism that characterized much of Vietnam war literature in the early and mid-eighties: Nolan's sparse style and clear representation of what took place on the DMZ in the summer of 1967 will give you nightmares. Don't look to find refuge here in a simple war story: Nolan tenaciously presents history as it unfolds.

This is a must have book for your library. After over 30 years you forget why you hated Vietnam until you read a book that brings back all the memories. This is such a book. I served with 1/1 and 3/1 after these battles and am amazed that keith Nolan is able to bring to life what it meant to serve in a Marine Corps Infantry Bn in Vietnam. I got angry, I laughed and I cried as I read this book. At times I felt like I could reach out and touch some of the people, the writing was so vivid. Everyone should read this book and remember what the Marines paid in blood for that war. THANK YOU USMC for what you gave me and THANK YOU Marines all over the world protecting us now.