Edward Books

I agree with the other early reviewers. There are many books on marketing law firms, strategy, etc. But Wesemann's book is compact, practical, and memorable. Ton of common sense, applied with savvy. Like any business strategy book ever written, some pages seem a little obvious (enter an emerging industry, both risk is high [industry may fizzle] and reward is high [catch the swell]). Then he describes an attorney who joined a hospital board, was puzzled by the medical problems, and quickly replaced his $300/hr billing with a national-profile and essentially unique $15K/day hospital ethics practice. That's catching a wave, indeed. The book is a great bargain and worth the reading; it's not long (100 pp).

While I thoroughly enjoyed Wesemann's earlier book on Management Myths, this is a fabulous. It is curious that no other publication (that I'm aware of) in the professional service sector has explored the topic of competitive dominance. This is a unique topic and extremely well presented.

Ed Wesemann is one of my partners in Edge International, so I guess you may well think I am biased. But having recently reviewed a copy, I am delighted to recommend the book.
Ed needs no stars from me, but I truly feel he deserves five of them.
Ed is - as the headline suggests - straight forward. He tells you exactly what he thinks in plain language. His expertise as a law firm manager and consultant is a remarkable source for some very clever ideas and very wise recommendations. His experience on law firm strategic and growth issues is almost certainly second to none. He demonstrates these characterstics again in this, his second major book on law firm management.
When Ed says with Peter Drucker "If you cannot dominate your market, get out of it", most firms may disagree. Experience and history are on their side, though. And one of the best first steps law firm managers can take is to mine the book for its practical advice on how to become dominant in a legal market. And there is much to be found.

I feel that this book has been the most outstanding work ever done in the financial services sector. I recommend this highly especially for people involved in the financial services business. I have used this book immensely in my business too. My heartiest congratulations to all the four authors of this book. I look forward to another book from them in the future.

It is a superb book which has a total grip of the latest in the financial services sector globally.

A "MUST READ" for all financial services participants and strategists. I have read the book three times over and everytime I read this book I find a new angle which I could apply to my business.

A very useful book describing a variety of approaches to creating value, such as strategy, products, technology, logical and mathematical modeling frameworks for analyzing a firm's strategy, technology, and process choices.

A must read for managers of financial service firms, and consultants as well as researchers who work in the area of strategic planning, technology choice, process design and process re-engineering.

Absolutely outstanding. Simple, straightforward vision for modern humanity. Anyone who thinks Edinger "never really understood current issues in epistemology" has not read enough Edinger. No one understood Jung like this great writer. Read on and watch your world open, if you're lucky.

What relevance does Jung have for mankind today?

This book slices through his dense writing, adds a modern perspective and "pulls it all togather" to give the "Big View" of what he was saying and how it applies to us today and to the future of Mankind

some prior knowledge of Jung required but truly inspiring

Although Edinger never really understood current discoveries in epistemology, he treats the topic of consciousness and its origins from a superbly depth-psych perspective, spicing the book with priceless observations and commentary. I wish it had been a longer book--very enjoyable.

There is a remarkable section in which Edinger defends his thesis that the ego's individuative activities leave some sort of permanent deposit in the collective unconscious. He backs this up with several extremely interesting examples from various literary and religious sources. For me, this kind of thinking bridges the gap between Hillman's reduction of archetype to image (phenomenologists tend to be impatient with spiritual mysteries beyond word or image) and, the other extreme, the traditional Jungian Kantianism of regarding the archetype as some sort of untouchable realm of Platonic ideals. The deities NEED us, and it's regrettable that Edinger left us only these tantalizing hints of that.

In short, I've read a lot of Edward Lee's books and this
one is at the top of the list...so far. If you have a taste for
the weird, you gotta read this one. Go ahead...I dare ya!

This is actually one of Lee's best books, and it is supposed to be reprinted in hardcover by Necro Press very soon. It's a shame this one is so hard to find when "Messenger" and "Monstrosity" are still in print.

In this one Philip Straker (Lee's pen name for his first two novels) is a down and out cop (the best kind) who leaves the big city to go to a small town police department. He is placed undercover and ends up in a strip bar which features Creeker girls. Creekers, for those that don't know, are rednecks who are inbred to the point that they look like Thalidomide babies. These girls, with their missing and deformed limbs, work at a strip club that doubles for illegal operations that involve higher ups in the community. Straker gets wise, and he is warned to back off. He must now decide whether to back off or to alienate himself with the entire town.

Chock full of the trademark Lee sex and violence, this features names drawn from other Lee works, and references that true Lee fans will appreciate. Hopefully this will be reprinted soon, as the original printing is very scarce.

Edward Lee is one of my favorite Horror Writer's. I haven't read a book of his yet that I have not loved, and Creekers has to be one of his best stories to date.

Creekers are a family of outcasts that live in the woods outside the small town of Crick City. They are a mysterious clan that has been inbreeding for centuries. They are hideously deformed with blood red eyes.

Phil Straker a homicide cop has come back to the town of his childhood in hopes of solving a bunch of gruesome murders that have been taken place in Crick City. There are rumors flying around that the Creekers are the ones responsible, and he is determined to bring them to justice. He has no idea what he about to get himself into.

I could not put Creekers down. I was glued to it the moment I started. I devoured it in two nights, and hated to see it end. It is an original story full of Blood, Guts, and Sex. There are scenes that will have your stomach churning, and heart racing.


Creekers is a must read for any fan of Lee's work. I was happy to see that it is reprint. Now more people will get a chance to read one of the best stories Lee has ever written.

5 Stars

We just visited our local Children's Museum and the book was part of a library within a large, interactive display about road and bridge construction. My 3 year-old son was more interested in the book than the display! I highly recommend this to any parent for their toddler. The text and illustrations are basic but captivating enough to educate even a parent about different bridges - past and present - in our world. Great!

The author truly captivated my child for hours on end with a simple to understand primer on bridge design. The illustrations were magnificent and my daughter can now appreciate the many different types of bridges in her world.

This book takes the pre-schooler easily through the history and constructions of all types of bridges. As every book should, it encourages the child to look more closely at elements of his/her everyday life and environment. It's great to see non-fiction for children. Great graphic images.

I *loved* this book.

It covers the essential number theory required to understand various encryption schemes, and while it is a thin book, it doesn't omit any steps between various mathematical steps (" ... and then magic happens ..."). You end up with the satisfying feeling of being able to derive the proof for RSA, starting from high-school math.

Highly recommended.

I cannot speak for the female side of the human race, but when I was young all the boys wanted to be a spy. We formed clubs and pretended to be secret agents. It was such great fun to create and use the codes to encrypt, pass and decode our important messages. Reading this book took me back to those days, not only reminding me of the good times we had but also how serious encryption is.
This book was a good deal of fun to read, but underlying the fun there is an air of extreme seriousness. It is not an exaggeration to say that secure encryption is the key to the efficient functioning of the global economy. Billions of dollars are electronically moved every day and without the security of unbreakable encryption, it would all be too unreliable to use. If the current codes were proven to be breakable, it would be a catastrophe, probably the only threat to the world economy that does not involve a major natural disaster.
The mathematics of encryption are surprisingly easy to understand. Starting with the simple substitution ciphers and moving through the more complex polyalphabetic and polygraphic substitutions, the techniques to create and break them are described. For most of the codes, the most complex mathematics needed to understand them is a basic understanding of matrices and how they are added and multiplied. It is only in the last chapter of public key cryptography where some advanced mathematics of number theory are used. Each chapter ends with a set of problems and solutions to the even ones are given in an appendix.
This would be an excellent textbook for a course in applied mathematics. There is an inherent fascinating quality to the subject matter and the tales of encryption are very well done. I strongly recommend that you read it.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

As I do not work for M.I.6, the N.S.A. or some other `Secret Service' a computer program as Wolfram's ` Mathematical Explorer' [at Amazon for $75, or so] which can encrypt a message by R.S.A [heavy duty crypto] is `really' all I need.

I have a number of books on all kinds of cryptography ... `classical' crypto, `Codes' [different from cyphers], number theory and so on.

While there are `better' books on specific parts of cryptology this book is by far the best overall introduction.

The title of this book scared me a bit. I have never been that `comfortable' with some sorts of maths and this book `sounded' brutal, and while it is a `math' book it is really not impossible to `figure out' [although some spots I must have read twenty times but thats the topic].

`REQUIRED BACKGROUND'

You can `do' with less but it helps to know basic algebra and understand variables. The vocabulary and nomenclature of areas as Set Theory and Probability [which I had to `study up' on] would be `nice' but you can `slide' without them,

Reading level: age 14 through senility :-) [ but a challenge for those `dead and encrypted'.
`Classical', pen and paper, cryptology: B+
Clear Writing: A-
The `History' of cryptology: C+
Physical [binding and paper, type, type size ... ] B

Also covered in detail is "public key' cryptography which as I wrote I do by `pre - written' computer program.

The volume under review is one of two published collections of interviews by David Barsamian. This one, the second, features interviews conducted between February 1999 and February 2003. It takes the form of question and answer sessions, so its content and tenor owes something to Barsamian whose own interests and priorities point Said in certain directions. This means an emphasis on current affairs, personalities and controversy.

Said, I suggest, should be understood not as an advocate for the Palestinian cause per se, a mere partisan, but as an advocate for Enlightenment values. His criticism of Israeli policy is couched in terms of human rights and proportionality; his criticism of the US and the UK polities, in terms of the failure of democracy and public discourse; his criticism of Arab leadership and educated classes, in terms of corruption and failure to understand their own predicament. Said's stance is humanistic, rather than religious, universal rather than ethno-centric. Opponents choose to characterise his position differently: far from being a renaissance man fighting for truth and justice, he is a propagandist and apologist for terrorism. Even if one concedes that occasionally he is less than generous to his opponents positions, his account of events and their meaning is generally entirely credible. Nowhere in this volume does Said expound a comprehensive philosophy or belief system as such, but everywhere his outlook is evident: not as an ideology but as a cultural stance, a structure of feelings.

As well as seeking to re-educate the public and plead his case in the court of public opinion, he also makes a special point of taking to task the intellectual classes whose duties should include reminding everyone that we are talking about people. We are not talking about abstractions. He attacks American Pragmatism, French Deconstruction and Arab intellectuals. His side swipe at Baudrillard is particularly interesting, for it is at this point that his intellectual footing is revealed most clearly. His work on texts is not intended as a philosophy of meaning, but as a means of serving the cause of human liberation. The accusation laid against his fellows is that they have turned away from the great narratives of enlightenment and emancipation. He has surely earned his entitlement to make these criticisms. As a Palestinian-American he engaged in a life-long dialogue with the West of the most profound sort. His knowledge of Western thought and in particular literature is of the highest order and is well displayed in his frequent references to Western writers of fiction, poetry and political analysis. By listening to the best of the West he has learned well the highest aspirations of Western humanism and is a master of playing these ideals back against those who have abandoned them so readily for a sterile pragmatism or self-indulgent petty squabbling over definitions. Whilst, for example, US figures routinely denigrate the United Nations, he says the framework of the UN is absolutely essential.

Said's power comes not so much from his ideas alone, as from the coupling of his undoubted intellect with humanity. There are references throughout the book to poets, musicians, feelings; not so much to philosophies, theories or creeds. His attack on the failings of the intellectual class is made poignant by reference to Aimé Césaire's poem The Rendezvous of Victory; their failing being one not so much of the mind but of the heart. Whilst portraying the very picture of calm reflection and rational analysis Said none the less conveys the depth of his feelings. On the one hand, the anger felt by Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa incident, and on the other hand, the warmth he expresses towards men like Daniel Barenboim. This is not a question of nationality, ethnicity or an Oriental mentality: it is a question of human feelings he recognises and shares in.

In addressing Western audiences Said is an educator, a polemicist and an erudite representative of his people and, I propose, a champion of Enlightenment values. He also addresses the Palestinians themselves and their fellow Arabs. His Israeli critics always start by demanding he denounce terrorism: he does. Israeli terrorism and Palestinian terrorism (And, of course, 9/11 and the holocaust). Does he denounce violence itself? He says he is not a pacifist but is willing to advocate pacifism because "armies are useless". He says there is "no military option", but this prudential (wouldn't be wise) rather a matter of principle. Said is a advocate of greater intercourse between Palestinians and the rest of the world, particularly the Arab world; of civil society. He chides Arab intellectuals and academic institutions for isolating Palestine and ignoring Israel as part of a supposed policy of refusing normalisation, which is simply a denial of reality. Based on his own frequent visits to the Occupied Territories Said rejected the 1993 Oslo accords and the so-called peace process but is an ardent advocate of coexistence between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs in one bi-national state. This despite the wrath he incurred from fellow members of the Palestine National Council. Here is a man who dares to dream. A man who dares to denounce illusions of progress and state the uncompromising truth: Jews and Palestinians have to find a modus vivendi. Neither is leaving and they are too geographically interwoven to make a two state solution viable. Personally, I find his arguments convincing both as to the aimed for outcome and the means of getting there. These means are not in origin political or military; they are personal and civil. Before political arrangements stand a chance of working each side must, like Said and his Israeli friend Daniel Barenboim, work on establishing a human connection without which the Other is always going to be "dehumanised, demonised, invisible". With his values grounded in those of the Enlightenment and his heart finding inspiration in Aimé Césaire, I'll take his vision of the way to a better future over the partisanship and power plays of some of his opponents any day. (c) hythlodaeus 2007.

Edward Said died on September 25, 2003, after a long battle with leukemia, and along with him the foremost voice for justice for Palestinians in the United States. The six conversations herein took place between 1999 and 2003.

Despite the gravity of the subject material, this is an interesting and enjoyable read thanks to Said's towering intellect and Barsamian's perceptive and incisive questioning. The result is a perspective of events in Israel and Palestine filled with truth and passion, almost directly opposite that which is too often reported, or not reported, in the mainstream press.

Said expresses an enthusiastic interest in Middle Eastern poets and their poetry. He also was himself a pianist, and he talks about being involved in several important projects bringing together Arab and Israeli musicians for concerts transcending the political divide. He and Barsamian cover other cultural ground, but obviously, the focus of the book is politics, specifically the plight of the Palestinians.

A fundamental argument Said makes repeatedly is that the situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories cannot be understood without an understanding of the events of 1948, when Israel was declared a state. In the ensuing war with Arab countries, 800,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and the same homeland that became Isreal, which they had occupied for millennia. More than 400 Arab villages were destroyed. Since then, Israel has denied any responsibility for these atrocities, using all kinds of propaganda. Today the Orwellianism has it that Palestinians were told to leave their homes by their leaders. Said expounds upon the completion of the conquest in the 1967 war.

Said states that since 1948, 78% of historic Palestine has become Israeli and that control of the remaining 22% is what the current fighting, the Second Intifada, is all about. Further, of this remaining 22%, Israel controls 60% of the West Bank, and 40% of Gaza. Illegal settlements continue apace, as does the pressure on the indigenous Palestinians.

It is pretty clear that the goal of Sharon's Likud government is the complete ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, increasingly referred to euphemistically as "transfer." Much of what remains of historic Palestine is divided up into small, non-contiguous pockets of autonomy, Bantustans, often locked down under curfews and checkpoints. Said maintains that these circumstances are the result of the peace process, and not war. Since publication of this book, a "security fence" is being erected, ostensibly to protect Israel from suicide bombers, but which in practice further isolates and dispossesses Palestinians.

Said's voice is consistent and adamant that a solution must be peaceful coexistence between the two peoples. He bemoans suicide bombings, bad enough for their violence and carnage, but also as being counterproductive to finding a solution. He says, however, that to understand these bombings it is important to see them in the context of the desperate circumstances of the Palestinian people. Israel, for example, portrays itself as a victim, when in fact it is an oppressor. Almost all the fighting between the two sides has occurred in Palestinian territory, so it is ridiculous to assert, as Israel does, that it is only defending itself. Moreover, Palestinians have little more than stones for weapons, along with some small arms, while the Israelis have tanks, helicopters, jets, and all kinds of modern weaponry, supplied to them by the US military.

Although practically an aside, Said makes some poignant observations of George Orwell; observations you, like me I'll bet, perhaps have never considered in our adorations of Orwell. He agrees that Orwell was a prescient witness to injustice, but managed himself to remain disentangled from it. He was probably correct, declares Said, in his bleak assessment of where we're headed, but limited: "I don't think he's in touch with hope, with liberation, with critical engagement, with association or affiliation between people. The idea of human progress is quite outside his vision."

Among many other political considerations examined outside the specifically Palestinian, is a look at the psychology of "terrorism" for example, that are compelling and of a delightful perspicacity:

"Terrorism has become a sort of screen created since the end of the Cold War by policymakers in Washington, as well as a whole group of people...who have their meal ticket in that pursuit. It is fabricated to keep the population afraid, insecure, and to justify what the United States wishes to do globally. Any threat to its interests, whether it's oil in the Middle East or its geostrategic interests elsewhere, is all labeled terrorism...which is exactly what the Israelis have been doing since the mid-1970s so far as Palestinian resistance to their policies are concerned. It's very interesting that the whole history of terrorism has a pedigree in the policies of imperialists...Terrorism is anything that stands in the face of what "we" want to do. Since the United States is the global superpower, has or pretends to have interests everywhere...terrorism becomes a handy instrument to perpetuate this hegemony...people's movements of resistance against deprivation, against unemployment, against the loss of natural resources, all of that is termed terrorism."

Said's voice is consistent and constant in finding actions such as suicide bombings inexcusable and in seeking a peaceful, just resolution to the Palestinian question. Indeed, his writings are often banned in the Arab world because of this position. His voice is also that of an admirable and unique intelligence. He affirms Israel's right to self-determination, but grieves that Palestinians also do not enjoy this right, especially in light of the historical realities. He thinks the two peoples are too inextricably linked in too small an area for their separation to be realistically viable, and therefore favors a binational state. He spells out the circumstances where, however, a two-state solution might be a means to this end. This hope of a binational state, necessarily long-term, must be a peace between two equals, Said says, with equal rights, protections, and responsibilities, and not a peace imposed on the weaker party by the stronger.

"The Origins of Terrorism" is by far the most important chapter in this book. In it, Said points out that in spite of the oft-repeated American ideal of democracy, US policy has generally favoured whichever Middle Eastern despot has tended to uphold the interests of US oil companies. He then observes that Muslim fundamentalist terror has a basically Marxist root, in that it originates "in the sense of betrayal that many ordinary Muslims feel... living in poverty and desperation and ignorance. It's not difficult to start rallying people in the name of Islam." (page 107).

This is analysis at a level of rationality unthinkable for the likes of Samuel Huntington and Bernard Lewis, with their simplistic reduction of all the problems in the Middle East to the religion of Islam, the root of all evil.

The first review of this book hits the nail on the head.The book gives an fair view at the history of cold war civil defence planning by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It is similar to the book "Warplan UK " by Duncan Campbell about British (lack of) nuclear planning but without his often criticism of inadequacey and undertone of nuclear disarmament as the answer to survival. Buy it if you can find a copy !

The book is great. A very informational look at nuclear warfare, and what the government plans to do about it.

The Day After World War III is not just another "survival" book. It's a rich resource of information about how the US government has ( and still is ) planned to WIN a nuclear confrontation. Written in 1983, in the early Reagan years, it is full of interviews, documentation, historical vignettes, and mucho footnotes ( the sources and acknowledgements section is over 46 pages alone ). I found the details exquisite, the background intrigueing, and the overall book a blockbuster to me because of MY personal interests. I have spent years researching the area of civil defense and disaster preparedness, and find this book is one of my best finds ever. I can NOT recommend this book highly enough.

It gives FAIR treatment to the entire idea of NATIONAL preparedness, the costs involved, the layers of government responsibility, the full spectrum of reasoning in these areas, and just how much minutae is required when thinking....of the unthinkable. Ever hear of "Federal Emergency Plan D"? Its on page ONE of this book. It is THE plan for use AFTER a nuclear war has started. Details beyond belief abound in all aspects of recovery of a nation.

If you CAN get a copy of this book, PLEASE do. Amazon found a used copy for me a couple of years ago, and I now have THREE. Just is case, ya know....

Unlike 'With Enough Shovels', THIS book is open and non-judgemental in its treatment of the power behind our nuclear history and defense complex. Worth the time to find and read.

This book is very funny and entertaining from the first page to the last. I highly recommend it.

I originally picked this up as a gift for my 8 year old nephew but while reading it I found it to be written on par with a Chuck Jones Warner Brothers cartoon - entertainment geared for kids but with enough tongue-in-cheek humor that I throughly enjoyed it on an adult level. My nephew loved it too. It was just twisted enough to appeal to both of us. It's a fun read and I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times.

This is a great book for the kids or adults. It has very good illustrations and is very humorous and I enjoyed it to the very last page. Would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Deep Down Trauma Hounds is an extremely powerful short story. The premise of this piece is a grandfather leaving a video for his children and grandchildren. The legacy he leaves is the truth about the horrors and nightmares of his youth in Buchenwald.

The three dimensional descriptions presented in this work were so true to life and so deeply touching (and sometimes bone numbingly disturbing) that I started questioning whether this was a work of fiction at all. I actually felt myself transported to that place in time and space when this man's grandchildren watched that video. I shared their mixed emotions as they grieved for their grandfather's youth and were simultaneously awed by the strength of this man who may have appeared a little distant while alive.

Mr. Ed Morris is an author with a fecund imagination. His ability to combine fiction with truth in this short story is fantastic.

By building an association between the hellish life, and a memory of such Mr. Morris brings to light the history of the concentration camps in more than just a political interest...

Having had the unique experience of knowing Ed as a preteen in Hollidaysburg Jr High school I always knew his imagination as well as his philosophy on life would carry him far.

I never imagined however he would produce such prodigious masterpieces....

Mr. Morris takes the time to amalgamate the reader with the factual and personal histories of the Holocaust from a first persons perspective.

In awe - and thinking this is worth much more than the half dollar I spent....

Glenn

Edward Morris is nothing if not a dedicated author. His alternate history/SF history stories are extensively well-researched and full of detail that help place the reader vividly in the middle of the period being described (perhaps it's because he is a self-professed history nut!)
Morris puts a lot of himself into each of his stories. But what captivates me more than simply the premise or his unique writing style is that each of his characters seem to come alive on the page. Like one of his great influences, Roger Zelazny, Morris's SF characters are complex, imperfect, impassioned.... human. Each of them comes with his or her own personal history of which we see only a glimspe. He tells the story of the little boy in DDTH with such heart that I was broken up about it for days aftewards. Morris conveys an intimate understanding of real events and the way in which they are more horrifying than any masterpiece of fantasy horror ever could be.
That being said, a word of warning: This story is not for lightweights! My reading of Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning", which is a REAL survivor's account of the holocaust, still did not prepare me for my intense reaction to DDTH. I consider it a classic that any alternate history fan should have in her/his collection.