R Books

I was never much a fantasy fan before. I watch the Si-Fi Channel and I love the fantasy movies but I would refuse to read. Then my dad gave me the original hardcover copy "MYTH Adventures" (Another Fine Myth, Myth Conceptions, Myth Directions, and Hit or Myth) with the original cover illustrations (just to show how old my copies are) and ever since I have been addicted to fantasy books. Especially the MYTH series.

Just to warn you this is a laugh-out-loud story. I would not recommend reading this in public. You might get some odd looks from people that obviously have no sense of humor. Everything is a play on words and the characters are amazingly thought up. The plot is actually imaginable and it flows smoothly. The magik (not magic, there's a difference) has rules. What Skeeve and Aahz can and cannot do in the world of magik does not change throught the series.

To make a long review short, get this book. If you don't enjoy it then don't read it. It just means that you are a boring and unimaginative slouch. However, I can guarantee that from the very first chuckle you'll be hooked. Take it from a fantasy skeptic turned MYTH addict.

First, if you haven't read the first two books in the Myth series, this book is a great chance to correct that. If you own the first two books, there's not much point in buying this collection. However...

According to the Asprin's new publisher, Meisha Merlin, the next few books, Myth Adventures 2 and 3 will both have NEW Myth Adventure novellas written by Asprin and Jody Lynne Nye. The short story in number 2 will be Myth Congeniality.

Also according to Meisha Merlin, there are at least two new Myth titles forthcoming, both of which will be by RLS and JLN. The next is due sometime in 2003 and will be called Myth-Alliances. The one after that is is Myth-taken Identity and is due August 2004.

Just thought you might want to know.

If you like fantasy books, if you don't like fantasy books it doesn't matter you'll love this series of Books. Robert Aspirin (who by the way, edited the theives world books) has written an inceredibly hilarious series of books. Skeeve and ahz are the main characters and the situations they get into and the witty and inventive way they get out of those situations is very comical these books have everything from demons ( not demons as we know them but demons= short for deminsion traveler) to dragons ("Bleep"). I have been blind sided more than a few times by these books they are anything but predictible... you can't even count on the main characters being alive at the end of a book..( of course it's just a cliffhanger for the next book). Each book is a continuation of the last. I could talk about these books for hours, and i can get lost in them for even longer.... I have never met anyone who hasn't finished one of these books after starting it.... It is a good idea to start with the first book in the series, Another fine Myth, that way you have a good idea of what kind of relationship ahz and skeeve have and how they became friends.... the myth series is hilarious witty inventive and overall the funniest books i have ever read. I have read and re-read these books a hundred times and they never get boring

In reading the back of the book you would think this is anything but the first book in the sieres. But it is. Other then that I only have good things to say about this book.

ok! I'm a long time Myth fan, so I was very suprised to see the new (old?) books brought to life again! Now, I hate to say it, but I always felt that pretty much all of the Myth books have pretty....short endings. Some are cliffhangers, some, maybe the publisher said, no only X # of pages and are very abrupt, and some are just totally unexpected.

But the concept of the Myth books is fascinating, and I have gone back many times to read then again and again... Much better when you have the whole series to continue on to! But the series is a must read for anyone who considers themselves a sci-fi fantasy fan! They are hillarious and definately worth the read (I don't suggest reading them IN a library cause I always end up stiffling my snickers and laughs!)

Few veterans describe themselves as "heroes." It's a painful word - filled with aspiration, horror and loss. Many veterans who write memoirs avoid the most devastating echoes of war - their own perceived culpabilities. It's understandable. Who wants to poke a finger into a festering wound?

Douglas Bergman is a brave man. Using a magnifying glass, he focuses a scorching sunbeam onto his own soul - allowing the reader to see his demons in great detail. It is unsettling in a world where few want to accept responsibility for their mistakes - where confessions are whispered litanies of shame washed away with a few penitential rosaries. My initial reaction was to look away but I soon found myself examining the author's broken heart like a curious onlooker drawn to a fiery car wreck.

This book is many things - a memoir, an adventure, a tribute, a confession and a sob. From the shiny hearse-white cover to the imagery-dense prose, Mr. Bergman's tale perplexes and intrigues. Vietnam was a conundrum for everyone. For the men who fought there, growing up was like peeling a scab off a half-healed wound. Boy soldiers drawn to the service to resolve other problems found new sorrows to occupy their nightmares. "Names I Can't Remember" is a close up view of a Vietnam Veteran's reaction to war - and a description of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that still torments many who were mere babies in the 1960s.

The author plunges into his story with profane vigor. He amuses and shocks with an almost adolescent glee - as though he has returned to his rebellious, angst-ridden youth and is set on taking the reader with him. He uses literary flourishes that complicate the read like a translucent veil draped over lovers laboring together for their love. You can see the movements, hear them moan - but their faces are dim behind the silken sheen of the fabric. Mr. Bergman peoples "Names I Can't Remember" with garish characters that touched his life but have now faded into ghostly symbols - a motherly whore, a man with a cat on his shoulder, a doofus unable to function in the jungle, an alcoholic CO who confuses courage and foolhardiness -- a nun and a Vietnamese child trying desperately to survive. Despite this distance - or perhaps because of it, this book is powerful and literate. I found myself lingering over the pictures the author created in my head - almost as if this was a novel. It was easier to appreciate this work on that level than to acknowledge the reality of Mr. Bergman's anguish.

The Vietnam War was not a Disney Movie -- neither is this book. However, if you are a student of psychology, a poet - or someone who wants to understand the warrior in your life, this is a wonderful read.

"Names I Can't Remember" is a tough, brilliant read of one man's journey into Dante's Inferno. All human foibles and flaws are put out for display. Mr. Bergman dares the reader to forgive him as he hasn't been able to forgive himself for thirty years. A piece de la triumph! 5 military gold stars - Lillian Cauldwell

"...there is something Keseyesque or Hunter Thompson - like about Bergman's prose: often profane and at the same time, image rich." - Daily News, Clem Richardson 7/8/05

This is not a book filled with words on a page, it is a capturing of a mans inner guts spewed upon pages from his tortured memory. We see the ramblings of a young boy yanked from the unsafe world of his home and the bottle, to be immersed into the world of drunking decisions, adult behavior expected from a still nursing infant. You need to digest every word and feel his feelings. Some of his experiences will fill you with disgust, horror, the need to nurture, but your diet will never be the same after you digest this meal of feelings.
Devour it...chew it... spit it out if you need to... But dont just sit there and read it........

"You'll be on an emotional roller coaster ride while reading this work. The author has given us a very raw look at a young life destroyed by a dysfunctional family drowning in alcoholism and how he carried that with him during his No Slack tour. Doug was in the same company as I was and we walked the same villages, but never met, the places he describes are familiar to me as they will be to others who read him. I wasn't ready for the constriction I felt in my chest as parts of this book made me wonder how he slipped through the cracks as he performed his duty as a platoon leader in an alcoholic fog. Read the book, it's a raw look at a personal battle with a life almost destroyed by abuse, mingled with war. Names I Can't Remember will shake your senses and make you ill but you will find that once you start reading it you can't put it down."
"Yankee Jim" Simchera - A Company 2/327th Infantry,101st Airborne Vietnam: 1969-70

Aquellos que les guste un poco de historia es un buen libro para conocer más alrededor de Napoleon Bonaparte

Delerfield's engaging history of the men who led Napoleon's armies across Europe is essential for anyone who is interested in this period of history. While not an in-depth study, the author did an excellent job of bringing the marshals to life, especially the larger-than-life Ney and Murat. These men made their imprint upon Europe as no one before or since. The reader practically becomes a part of the great campaigns of the Grand Armee across Europe and the torment of the Peninsula War.

While this book is not exceptionally well written it is very readable and keeps the reader engrossed in the events of the time. Even for any accomplished student of the Napoleonic Wars this is a must read.

My only gripe is that it wasn't 2000 pages so it could have really covered all of the ground. As it was the book offers lots of good insights into many of the lesser known Marshals like Suchet and Davout, two fighting marshals who were sorely missed at Waterloo.

I flew through this book. The narrative style of writing lent itself to a quick and enjoyable read. I came away with a better overall picture of those who were surrounding Napoleon.

Although the subject is broad in the sense that the author tackles so many people. He none-the-less does an excelent job of rounding out a solid picture of Naploeon's marshals, their personalites, their ambitons...flaws and credits.

There are several marshals that I would like to read more about based on the information gleaned from within these pages. Understandably the author could not devote as much time as he may have liked to each and every member of this group. He did, however achieve the goal of introducing us to all of them and more than just a basic glossing over.

What I liked most is that the author took the events and let time itself introduce and develop the marshals rather than simply lining each one up and giving the reader an encyclopedia type synopsis of each individual. This really brought each marshal into better focus in terms of what was going on at the time and why they entered the picture whent hey did, as well as what they were doing prior to entering into the service of the Empire.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Napoleon and also intersted in getting a better feel for those around him and what drove them to thier positions.

Buy and read this book.

You will give Delderfield credit for his vision, his ambition and his broad coverage to the Age of Napoleon. This book is a synthesis of the age, and a complement to all your other Napoleonic reading. It is an enjoyable book which weaves back and forth and round and round, as the author tells about the personalities of, and interrelationships among, the 26 men who became Marshals of France.

There are many reasons I like Delderfield himself. The leading reason is that he values selflessness, effort, merit and ability. Though British, he could have hardly been more American in that respect. He was not the often-encountered British snob who promotes the view that Napoleon was an ogre.

I share Delderfield's view, unabashedly, because I am a Son of the American Revolution, and I hope also a true Patriot. While we owe our cultural heritage to the English in very large measure, I believe we owe our freedoms mostly to the French.

Delderfield is critical about the 26 men and their Emperor when needed, but he understands the great achievements of the time. He appreciates the blows that the French made and took in the name of liberty and progress.

I thought I was buying a book of biographical portraits like Aubrey's Brief Lives, Seutonius' Twelve Caesars or Plutach's Lives. What I got instead was the whole story of the Age of Napoleon retold in a dramatic serial fashion (it would be a great HBO story), and in the action story form of Delderfield's own fiction, Seven Men of Gascony.

The book is organized according the normal conventions around the coalitions and campaigns. The story line begins at the end of the Age of Frederick the Great in order to bring the early lives of the oldest Marshals, such as Augereau, into focus. The story finally ends about 70 years later with the Funeral of Napoleon led by Marshal Soult to the tomb in the Invalides.

The story revolves around the twelve or so basic campaigns and the role of the respective Marshals. The book is fresh and it does not repeat known erroneous myths or trite cliches.

From this book, we get insights into the interacting character of the 27 men, (Napoleon included and chief among them). Very few of the faults of the Marshals are left unexposed by the end of the story. Those who achieve the highest place in Delderfield's pantheon, and remain relatively unscathed, are Davout the Iron Marshal; Ney, the Bravest of the Brave, Lannes, the Roland of France; and Poniatowski, Prince of Poland.

The other Marshals are treated well and complimented for their roles and abilities -- though depreciated for their weaknesses and vanities. They are put on a lesser shelf, revealing more than anything the values of the author. I happen to agree with Delderfield that adherence to duty, bravery and loyalty are the three highest standards to judge these men.

All of the Marshals have an interesting personal story. We have to give all of them credit for ability and bravery beyond the common varieties. None of them became Marshals of France because they were incompetents or cowards. The abiding values of the Napoleonic Creed were merit and joie de virve or elan. The Marshals, on the whole, personified these values.

The Emperor could forgive vanity as in Murat; disloyalty as in Bernadotte, and greed, as in Messena. He forgave them all, and many times, in the name of merit (also probably in the name of necessity which is often a reflection of the same thing).

I recommend this book for three reasons. First, it is organized - it gives a compact lucid picture of the chessboard of the age. It tells us about how the campaigns and politics were structured. Second, it is complementary to other work such as Gallo, Tolstoy, Chandler and so on. It provides an additive perspective on the events which can enhance and enrich your reading of all the other literature on Napoleon. Third, it is literate and enjoyable. As I have already said, I share strongly the values and sensibilities expressed by Delderfield.

I suspect Delderfield's perspectives on the French and Americans were shaped by interactions in World War II and World War I. The 20th century Delderfeild, if placed in the 18th Century, would have been a political sympathizer in the American Revolution, and he might have crossed the Channel to march with Davout, Lanne, Bessieres, Oudinot or Ney.

I don't mean to say he would be a traitor to England - I do not wish to dishonor him that way. What I mean is, from the benefit of perfect hindsight, he would have seen the vision of marking men by ability. He would have marched off of the old Road to Serfdom, as Hayek called it, and onto the new Road to Freedom which was then being beaten across Europe by the French.

As with all books about this age, the principal subject is Napoleon himself, who by any objective standard was the greatest leader of men in battle the world has ever known. As is usually the case with a leader, you will see in this book that any given leader cannot do everything in a complex enterprise, and so must organize around himself a way that expresses his own goals, interests and competencies.

By examining the complexities of the individual Marshals and their interactions, you will be looking into the heart and mind of the Emperor himself. You will see why, at Waterloo, Napoleon was no longer himself. He was no longer able to articulate his visions without his Marshals of years gone by. You can speculate, for example, that if Berthier was present at Waterloo, the calvary would have stayed in reserve for the coup de grace, and that Grouchy would have not been lost, hence blocking Blucher from the field, while Napoleon finished Wellington -- who was at the time already beaten on the hillsides of Waterloo.

While Richard III would have given his kingdom for a horse, Napoleon lost his Empire for want of his Marshals.

I work on a small passenger ship, and we always keep a copy of this book on the bridge for mammal sightings. The photos are great, as are the overview charts showing comparative sizes. The descriptions of behavior give people some insight into the lives of these wonderful creatures.

This book is really great as it's full of very informative and interesting facts as well lots of colour photos and every species mentioned is illustrated. Excellent.

This is the only book we use on the Monterey Peninsula to go out whale watching with. It identifies quickly and covers all the marine mammals. Perfect field guide.

This books is very informational. I have gotten a lot of information from it and the pictures are fabulous! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Marine Mammals. My daughter wants to be a Marine Biologist/Marine Mammal Trainer and this book gave her all the right information at the right time.

Audubon has certainly delivered their best in this marine life field guide! When I bought this, I expected it to be the usual good Audubon repeat of their previous field guides. I was quite impressed by the number of species inserted, and the special illustrations used along with it. There are a surprising number of families and subspecies listed also.
The whales and dolphins section is the best part of the guide, listing rare and endangered species. I don't suspect anyone has heard of the "Tucuxi" dolphin, have they? Rather than just listing commonly seen or normal species, Audubon has done extensive research on others, and has inserted dozens or more in each family section, making identification completely unmistakable. The seals and sea lions covered are no different in variety and number of listings. However, many of the seals listed are subspecies of 6 previous listings.
The binding is usual quality by Audubon publishers, making an excellent reading book, whether on a boat trip, in a car, or simply in an easy chair at home. Forget other Marine Mammal Guides, and make an extensive search for this!

ILTy...a geologist, March 7, 2005
An early day Hunter S. Thompson?
Wow! I've read all of the above reviews. What more can be said? Might it be expected that putting piss into the title pulls in a lot of wannabe adventurers?

As one of Jules's students (paleontology) in 1956-58, I can attest to his mid-career foibles. Aside from Hunter T. there can be detected traces of Phillip Roth and Kerouac. Nice job Jules.

Jules DuBar's "NEVER PISS INTO THE WIND" is a rollicking series of vignettes from his life. I found the book hard to put down because it is a great read.

DuBar is one of America's "Greatest Generation." He grew up during the depression in Canton, OH, a harsh blue collar town. His way out was military service during World War II. Using new options open to him, he became a geologist in academe, the petroleum industry and government. While an academician, he studied the coastal plain geology of the Carolinas during the hey-day of adequately-funded field geology. He focuses more on the unusual and interesting characters he meets in the Carolinas and the bonding he established with them. The actual science is left to a minimum and described clearly in lay terms. The people met int he Carolinas are, indeed, a colorful and strange lot.

The writing style is outstanding, the language is realistic, wholesome and lively, and his flashback sequences are masterfully done.

His accounts of the inner dynamics of academe are truly on the mark, exposing the pettiness and jealousies of faculty colleagues and its effect on the teaching/research program of a publicly-funded institution. Why their administration, board's of trustees or state higher boards of education permit this level of bickering is truly hard to divine.

I highly recommend this book for its realistic portrayal of life and the struggles to overcome adversity and being able to enjoy interesting and unusual moments along the way.

"Never Piss Into The Wind" is a book of one man's life presented in such a way that you will envision your favorite colorful uncle or grandfather reliving the days of old at family gatherings, but the stories are so much more interesting than what most of our families could reveal. From growing up in the Great Depression to the growing mature days of WWII, to sticking it out in college and becoming a professor through campus politics, DuBar has some interesting tales to tell.

Then there are the field studies. Dr. Jules DuBar is now a former Professor of Geology, but his previous scientific studies are fascinating enough to inspire readers to look at the earth around them. Learning the ins and outs of geological studies is fascinating and downright hilarious while reading about Dr. DuBar's experiences. On the more serious side, readers will see the very human emotions of going through divorce and living in less than ideal circumstances. Such is life.

Dr. DuBar has answered one of my wonderings. As a student I would often ponder who the person is behind the lectures and exams. Professors are people too, and sometimes turn out to be the most interesting people we can meet. Whether you make an acquaintance in a musty old forgotten campus museum or through the pages of a book, chances are you will find a story to learn from. DuBar has given you that opportunity.

Review by Heather Froeschl.

The book comes at you on multiple levels. On the surface we see a young soldier returning from war with eyes wide open about the hypocrisy of the life and times that he is living in. He takes us on a life journey that spans diverse experiences, university departmental politics, and widely varied episodes involving a whole host of quirky characters; some dangerous, but all strange in their own way.

On a different level, this book is a must read for geologists and would-be geoscientists everywhere. It provides a glimpse into the life and struggles of a field geologist/paleontologist, a truly dying breed. In this day when research is being conducted by professionals behind a desk with computers and fancy programs and no clue about the value of truly looking at rocks and fossils, Jules provides the reader with a down-to-earth understanding of the passion of scientific research for the sake of science. The quest for new discoveries is paramount and nothing can stand in its way.

It's a shame that history classes today do not include actual history
such as the content found in Jules DuBar's Never Piss Into the Wind.
While those modern history books spend pages upon pages describing
grandiose events of history that took place far beyond the imagination
of most, DuBar's autobiographical look into the past is a pleasant -
and yet shocking - view into an American past that is not so far away,
and yet so many of the modern generation are completely oblivious to.

Overall, this is a book that is stark in its honesty, holding nothing
back and leaving nothing censored. DuBar gladly rips open the drapes
for his audience and lets them peer in the house of his past and the
past of thousands upon thousands of other American youth who grew up
all too soon with the Second World War. But DuBar hesitates to simply
dwell on the war itself, and while it remains a convenient anchor
point of the past for the novel, DuBar prefers to fill his novel up to
the top with valuable historical details about how things used to be
long before the world got into a big hurry.

Not content to be only a historical treasure trove, the book is also a
very human novel, coarse and vulgar and strange and wonderful all at
once. DuBar's use of profanity only enhances the realism that younger
generations miss about the past, supplanted by idiotic grins from
picture-perfect parents. DuBar has none of that and slaps readers back
to reality with the swearing and the vivid descriptions of sex through
the eyes of a young boy and then a man.

While those features may seem like a somewhat-burlesque view of the
book, instead DuBar plays to an audience with a deeper, richer
outlook. His tales of his family, of his friendships - especially that
with Jim Solliday - add a very human element that takes readers off to
a place they never expected to go when the first chapter they read was
titled "The World's Slowest Train." Other lively characters include
his attention-hungry mother, his world-weary father and his cousin
Pete, perhaps one of the most loveable drag queens ever to be
described in non-fiction literature.

Now, while Average Joe will no doubt find this book to be pleasant,
enjoyable and beyond, scientists, academics and people of all kinds
can latch on to and develop a true connection with this mad geologist
who absolutely refuses to sink into a mold of the snobbish academic.
DuBar is certainly unlike the vast majority of scientists as the world
sees them and adds a very human element to the genius inside the
skull. He gives people the impression of the truth, that there is a
beginning and an end to these scientists, most of which involves life
outside the textbooks filled with unpronounceable rock names and
fossilized creatures.

DuBar's book is certainly a valuable piece of the American historical
puzzle. The only people that really know about what life in middle
America in those days are the people who lived them, and DuBar has
graciously allowed us to share in that rich past, to let us immerse in
it and understand how it led us to where we are now. He gives people
reason to believe that there is, and always has been, another world
out there hiding from us all along, one that contains mystery and
danger and hope and joy and for once we don't have to go to another
cookie-cutter novel to get it.

Thanks for sharing with us, Jules.

What a miserable life our Frost leads!

However, I don't feel sorry for him, because I know everyting will be all right with him in the end of the story.

I like happy-ending stories, and so I like this seiries of Inspector Frost.

This is my first Frost book and I'm an immediate fan. I've watched all of the TV series and loved them and am now enjoying the book too. The TV people have cleaned him up quite a bit physically and cleaned up his language too, as they'd have to in order to pass the censors but he still makes a wonderful character. The dishevelled, grubby, newly widowed Frost is joined by a new offsider, Det.Sgt.Frank Gilmore, only 24 years old, and totally unable to comprehend how this grubby, crumpled older man could possibly be the crack policeman that he is. As usual, the always fussy and inept Police Superintendent Mullett is always there to exasperate Frost, who does his job expertly, but in his own unorthodox way. There are two separate cases taking place, one the serial murders of old age pensioner women who are found with their throats slashed, and the other being a case of arson and murder. The writing is tight and the book flows seamlessly as the overworked police team from Denton moves in on the criminals. It's a great read which I can't praise highly enough.

Incredible. This was the first Frost book I read after seeing the inferior TV show first. In my opinion it's the best of all five Frost novels, with good mysteries, likeable (and unlikeable) characters, just about everything.

Whether you're British or American, you'll love this book (and the others in the series.) Here's hoping Wingfield writes more!

After reading all the Colin Dexter Inspector Morse books and feeling at a loss as to what could possibly satisfy me after such a delightful and rich reading experience, I was lucky enough to find Frost.Definitely not politically correct but what fun to read ! Great stuff.

Frost is a new series character for me and I will enjoy following him in this series. He is brash, rude, profane, obscene, callous, rough-edged, filthy minded and has poor personal hygiene. Nonetheless, he is also relentless and compassionate. He gets his bad guy and also shares the credit.

Most of the police have the flu and -- of course that's when a whole series of crimes take place, piling up on the exhausted Jack Frost. (Would someone's parents really do that to a child?) meanwhile, his vicious and incompetent superior is looking over his shoulder trying to find an excuse to scrape the Frost out of the force.

An outrageously good book! George Allen offers us a look into the notoriously secretive world of intellence analysts. What is stunning is that just as I suspected, there was no "failure" on the part of the Intelligence Community in Vietnam. The CIA predicted,prior to US involvement, that we could not stop the spread of Communism in Vietnam. As far back as the Indochina War, intelligence analysts, like George Allen, had observed the French struggle against a Viet Minh insurgency that was determined, well-supplied, and well-led. The almost endless supply of weapons flowing in from China (and Russia?) meant that the Viet Mihn could outlast us. All this was communicated to the higher ups including "the best and the brightest". But Hubris (sound familiar?) got in the way. Good intelligence was ignored. Rosy, upbeat reports were printed by Washington to coverup a fiasco. Career obsessed generals placed too much confidence in technology and forgot about man's Darwinian capacity to adapt and thus survive. Reading this book was like reading a memoir on the Iraq War. Let's hope Iraq is not another Vietnam. However, I'm haunted by Hegel's famous line: "History shows us that people don't learn anything from History."

'There's none so blind as those who won't see,' is a proverb that has proven itself over and over in life. And in the area of critical military intelligence it is a deadly proverb. It's an excellent choice of a title for this book on the intelligence failure in Vietnam.

The problem essentially comes when the estimates of the intelligence analysts conflict with the opinions of the leadership making the decisions. And the 'problem' in this case costs the lives of soldiers.

This book is basically a personal history of the author's travels, studies, and analysis of what was going on in Vietnam. He discusses the reports he made and how the powers in charge refused to believe the evidence he had collected through first hand observation during visits to Vietnam.

In his concluding chapter he says that President Roosevelt had the best understanding and recommendations for the future by supporting self-determination rather than assisting the French in re-establishing their empire. Oh what a difference that would have made.

Fascinating reading, especially in view of the current situation in Iraq.

This is an exceptional book, absolutely required reading for the history of the Vietnam War since 1950 but also for the foreign policy decisionmaking process in general. A classic! Reinforces those who thought the war a tragic waste of human lives and resources--who opposed the war.

This is altogether an extraordinary book by an extraordinary author. It is nothing less than the history of the evolution of U.S. policy towards Vietnam from the end of WWII to the conquest of South Vietnam by the Vietnamese Communists as observed by a professional intelligence analyst. The insights this book provides are not just on U.S. involvement in Vietnam (and by extension Laos and Cambodia), but on how U.S. National Security Policy toward South East Asia was formulated over a twenty year period. The comments about the value of a systematic process of formulating national security policy by integrating military, intelligence, and policy considerations are alone worth the price of the book.

If this were all the book did it would be a remarkable achievement. But George W. Allen does considerably more than this. Allen was from the beginning of his long career (some fifty years total) first and foremost a working intelligence analyst. As such he focused on Vietnam for some 18 years and developed in that time the increasingly rare quality of detailed knowledge of his target. Reading this book should provide any attentive reader with an excellent understanding of how the process of intelligence analysis actually works when executed by a real professional.

Although a personal account, Allen's book has an authentic feel to it. This reviewer found much of his account hauntingly familiar although we never met or worked together. Certainly his inability on several occasions to perform truly all source analysis due to ill-conceived compartmentalization is quite familiar. The same is true for his encounters with senior military leaders and civilian policy makers who considered any intelligence that did support their views almost a personal affront.

The Washington D.C. area is fairly awash with former `intelligence officers' claiming to be intelligence or counter-terrorism `experts' based on often rather dubious experiences in the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). It is refreshing then when a real intelligence professional is actually willing to share his thoughts with general public. Towards the end of this book, Allen, identifies himself as a "professional intelligence analyst" which he truly was. The U.S. could use a lot more like him.

I have read a number of books on the US involvement in Vietnam, some of them quite good. This is the best, the ONE book you should read if you're limited to one book. Other recommended books are _To Bear Any Burden: The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath in the Words of Forty-Seven Americans and Southeast Asians_ by Al Santoli, and _Our Vietnam/Nuoc Viet Ta: A History of the War 1954-1975_ by A. J. Langguth.
With first-hand knowledge -- not just reading from second-hand sources or going through one general's papers -- George Allen describes what happened in Vietnam from before Dien Bien Phu through the fall of Saigon. He has detailed information on the US side, and informed accounts of what the North Vietnamese strategy was. He introduces us to the personalities and events so important to the way Vietnam happened, all in a very engaging and readable style.
One of the most fascinating parts of the book is the listing of the many times the US took action without a full examination of the complete situation. Allen writes, "In foreign affairs and national security matters, there is no substitute for thorough, conscientious, and objective analysis of all the factors bearing on a decision, of alternative courses of action, and of a weighing of the consequences -- domestic as well as foreign -- of all the options available." This was rarely done in Vietnam. Among the hasty decisions the US made were to consider the northern Vietnamese as part of a monolithic Communist threat, to aid the French in maintaining their empire, to take over the French role in Vietnam, to give the green light to the Diem coup, to not realize the problems the lack of post-Diem leadership would create, to not encourage South Vietnam to develop an effective political message and a stable appealing government, to appear to favor Thieu as a candidate (by proclaiming neutrality), by failing to build an effective intelligence system in south Vietnam, by US in-country personnel repeatedly lying to their superiors by exaggerating US success and minimizing enemy strength (thus depriving themselves of the needed resources to meet the real threat), by the false "light at the end of the tunnel" PR campaign (setting the government up for an even bigger fall when Tet '68 came), by giving South Vietnam false assurances of our post-withdrawal support, etc. etc.
These just touch the surface. Allen explains how even minor decisions like insisting ARVN units included artillery support, and not replacing ONE incompetent colonel, possibly had very significant bad effects. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Vietnam, recent American history, or politics. It should be required reading for US policy-makers.
Hopefully someday we'll have someone the caliber of George Allen tell the true story of 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq.

I am grateful to Fauna for sharing her compelling story. It is a very timely book to read, especially with the election of President Elect Obama.

Robin Alexis
author of "Robin's Song, Treasure Your Soul's Wisdom" and "Raising Humanity" Robin's Song: Treasure Your Soul's Wisdom Raising Humanity

You must get this book for your benefit, it will help you in so many ways to grow, mature, and discover who you are. I am lucky enough to have firsthand knowledge of Fauna's inspiring character, and her never say die attitude to get her message out. It will be one of the best investments you can make for yourself.

The story of this woman's life is absolutely amazing. I couldn't put the book down once I started it. I, too, hope a movie is made about her life as it sure makes you realize that your life wasn't as traumatizing as you thought it was. Once you start reading the book you won't be able to stop as each chapter unfolds yet another mystery about this woman's unique childhood and then adult life. Truly an empowering book that I have recommended to everyone!

One Day She'll Darken is a story I found to be a page turner. Once I started Fauna Hodel's book, I could not put it down until I finished it. I felt like I was with her every step of her early life. Her ups, downs, living in a black world with an adopted mother who had severe emotional and drinking problems and surrounded by prejudice, Fauna steals your heart. She never complains and has genuine compassion for all her family members, adopted and biological. This is a beautifully written story about real people and real heartache. I hope this life story is made into a movie as it is so worth it.

Fauna's story is amazing!

We don't always get to choose our life's circumstances. Fauna's journey is surreal and mysterious...her childhood...Hodel's connection...racial tensions and more. I read this book cover to cover very quickly as it kept me wanting to find out more about her story and what was going to happen next.

Through all this Fauna is a survivor and one of the mosting loving people I have ever met in my life. Her story will inspire you to keep pressin' on through all life's challenges. I highly recommend this book!

Also don't forget to check out the website about the book! The pictures are amazing and really helps to tie everything together.

Dr. Lester Sauvage, the founder of the Hope Heart Institute in Seattle, wrote The Open Heart, one of the most uplifting books I've ever read. He describes his philosophy and practice of open-heart surgery, and then turns the book over to a number of his patients, who describe their treatment and recovery. It's humbling and inspiring to read of the challenges some people face just to prepare an evening meal or walk to the store to buy food for a loved pet. This book is a great read about those who love life itself.

A heartwarming, inspirational book beneficial to all. A must read type of book to finish off a stressful day. Love, hope, healing and happiness is what matters. It is a great perspective on life and healing. This book is a great gift idea. It is inspirational.

What an uplifting book. I loved every page. Will make a great Christmas gift and I plan to give it to my family members as I'm sure they too will love this book.

This is simply one of the most wonderful and inspirational books I have ever read. The story of Dr. Sauvage and his patients' interwoven lives is riveting and gripping. It truly helps to give a perspective of what is important in life and shows us that there are indeed doctors out there who are concerned not simply with ego, money and status but the whole person that they are treating. A fantastic gift idea! Thank you, Dr. Sauvage.

. . . bound to change the course of the reader's life. It is a book of infinite values. The reader discovers that the heart of medicine is Love, and that Love is the most powerful remedy that cures not only the ailments of the heart, but of the spirit as well.

The Open Heart is a page turner that is difficult to put down. Beautifully well-written, outstanding from beginning to end. This book is a treasure that should be read by everyone! I keep a copy on my night table for quick reference. It offers the reader help and comfort during troubled times. I found some powerful ingredients, such as peace of mind, enjoyment of living and the conquest of fear.

The Open Heart is a masterpiece of divine connections between the science of medicine and God's Love! Dr. Sauvage has demonstrated that Love is the key to healing! - Cora Hussey, author, Love Is the Answer

I definitely recommend this book for anyone working with OpenGL's new Shading Language. I would, however, say that probably the most difficult part of working with GLSL is getting it working in the first place. Especially on Linux, this is somewhat confusing - some cards support GL 2.0, some don't, but still support the GLSL if using the ARB function calls. I would also make sure to point out to new users that GLEW is close to essential when working with the GLSL - you can download it from sourceforge. It might be worth mentioning in future versions of the book, along with ARB functions which are the same as the GLSL standard functions shown in the book.

I'm not a fan of the 'group of papers' style of book. But this book pulls it off nicely. The text is consistenly good throughout. And the illustrations and formulas are high quality and presented nicely.

I would have liked full color throughout, but I accept that it would have been cost prohibitive on a book of this heft. Speaking of heft, yeah, this is a doorstop of a book. I think some of the text could have been edited down and the formatting tightened up to reduce bulk.

The recent trend in graphics hardware has been to replace fixed functionality with programmability in areas that have grown exceedingly complex (e.g., vertex processing and fragment processing). The OpenGL Shading Language has been designed to allow application programmers to express the processing that occurs at those programmable points of the OpenGL pipeline. Independently compilable units that are written in this language are called shaders. A program is a set of shaders that are compiled and linked together. The OpenGL Shading Language is based on ANSI C and many of the features have been retained except when they conflict with performance or ease of implementation. This shading language is without a doubt the most important addition to OpenGL since its inception, and this book provides an excellent guide to programming with it. The author was one of the primary contributors to the development of the language, and he provides a well-written and insightful explanation of the language and its use.
The book begins with a review of OpenGL basics, followed by an introduction to shaders and how they fit into the pipeline. It then covers the language itself, including data types, operators, interaction with the OpenGL state machine and fixed function pipeline, built-in functions, and more. It also introduces and explains the OpenGL APIs needed to use shaders.
The last half of the book focuses on shader development, including general process and workflow, and coverage of many specific techniques, such as procedural textures and GPU-based animation. It even includes a section on implementing the fixed function pipeline using shaders. The book ends with a handy comparison of OpenGL Shading Language with other shading languages, such as Cg, HLSL, and Renderman and a couple of appendices providing a language grammar and API reference.
I particularly liked chapters 6 through 8, which take you from a simple shading example -"brick"- through the specific steps of shader development that you would need to master regardless of the API you are using. Also the chapters on procedural textures and noise and the accompanying code examples helped clear up some matters that were murky when I read "Texturing & Modeling: A Procedural Approach" by Ebert et al. In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in implementing software shading, both from the standpoint of OpenGL and from the standpoint of the design process itself. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents for the second edition, so I do that here:
Chapter 1. REVIEW OF OPENGL BASICS
OpenGL History; OpenGL Evolution; Execution Mode; The Frame Buffer; State; Processing Pipeline; Drawing Geometry; Drawing Images; Coordinate Transforms; Texturing;

Chapter 2. BASICS
Introduction to the OpenGL Shading Language; Why Write Shaders?; OpenGL Programmable Processors; Language Overview; System Overview; Key Benefits;

Chapter 3. LANGUAGE DEFINITION
Example Shader Pair; Data Types; Initializers and Constructors; Type Conversions; Qualifiers and Interface to a Shader; Flow Control; Operations; Preprocessor; Preprocessor Expressions; Error Handling;

Chapter 4. THE OPENGL PROGRAMMABLE PIPELINE
The Vertex Processor; The Fragment Processor; Built-in Uniform Variables; Built-in Constants; Interaction with OpenGL Fixed Functionality;

Chapter 5. BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS
Angle and Trigonometry Functions; Exponential Functions; Common Functions; Geometric Functions; Matrix Functions; Vector Relational Functions; Texture Access Functions; Fragment Processing Functions; Noise Functions;

Chapter 6. SIMPLE SHADING EXAMPLE
Brick Shader Overview; Vertex Shader; Fragment Shader; Observations;

Chapter 7 OPENGL SHADING LANGUAGE API
Obtaining Version Information; Creating Shader Objects; Compiling Shader Objects; Linking and Using Shaders; Cleaning Up; Query Functions; Specifying Vertex Attributes; Specifying Uniform Variables; Samplers; Multiple Render Targets; Development Aids; Implementation-Dependent API Values; Application Code for Brick Shaders;

Chapter 8. SHADER DEVELOPMENT
General Principles; Performance Considerations; Shader Debugging; Shader Development Tools; Scene Graphs;

Chapter 9. EMULATING OPENGL FIXED FUNCTIONALITY
Transformation; Light Sources; Material Properties and Lighting; Two-Sided Lighting; No Lighting; Fog; Texture Coordinate Generation; User Clipping; Texture Application;

Chapter 10. STORED TEXTURE SHADERS
Access to Texture Maps from a Shader; Simple Texturing Example; Multitexturing Example; Cube Mapping Example; Another Environment Mapping Example; Glyph Bombing;

Chapter 11. PROCEDURAL TEXTURE SHADERS
Regular Patterns; Toy Ball; Lattice; Bump Mapping;

Chapter 12. LIGHTING
Hemisphere Lighting; Image-Based Lighting; Lighting with Spherical Harmonics; The *erLight Shader;

Chapter 13. SHADOWS
Ambient Occlusion; Shadow Maps; Deferred Shading for Volume Shadows;

Chapter 14. SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS
Refraction; Diffraction; BRDF Models; Polynomial Texture Mapping with BRDF Data;

Chapter 15. NOISE
Noise Defined; Noise Textures; Trade-offs; A Simple Noise Shader; Turbulence; Granite; Wood;

Chapter 16. ANIMATION
On/Off; Threshold; Translation; Morphing; Other Blending Effects; Vertex Noise; Particle Systems; Wobble;

Chapter 17. ANTIALIASING PROCEDURAL TEXTURES
Sources of Aliasing; Avoiding Aliasing; Increasing Resolution; Antialiased Stripe Example; Frequency Clamping;

Chapter 18. NON-PHOTOREALISTIC SHADERS
Hatching Example; Technical Illustration Example; Mandelbrot Example;

Chapter 19. SHADERS FOR IMAGING
Geometric Image Transforms; Mathematical Mappings; Lookup Table Operations; Color Space Conversions; Image Interpolation and Extrapolation; Blend Modes;

Chapter 20. REALWORLDZ
Features; RealWorldz Internals; Implementation; Atmospheric Effects; Ocean; Clouds;

Chapter 21. LANGUAGE COMPARISON
Chronology of Shading Languages; RenderMan; OpenGL Shader (ISL); HLSL; Cg;
Appendix A. Language Grammar
Appendix B. API Function Reference

Twenty years ago, I used to program graphics on an Evans and Sutherland PS340. It was then one of the top of the line graphics computers (costing $100k). It could labouriously do shading, but only Phong and Gouraud. Nowadays, many PCs have this ability, and much faster. But a problem still persists, where often the shading methods are restricted to what is implemented on the graphics chips.

In contrast, you have the approach in this definitive book on OpenGL Shading Language. This lets you implement in your code, shading routines of your own devising. To be sure, given the same shading method, one done in this language, and one in the hardware, then the latter will have better performance. But it turns out that today's computers are fast enough, and have enough RAM, that the difference in response might not be appreciable.

The book describes an extensive set of built-in convenience functions that come with the language. And the language's API is explained in detail. The author rightly recommends that you come at it with some experience in the standard OpenGL.

Since the language is still quite new, you are more or less on your own, when looking at development tools. This dearth is expected to be remedied in a few years. But right now, you'll have to rely on your wits. Along with a chapter that gives general principles of how you should develop your own shader. What may be even more use, however, is the second half of the book. Devoted to case studies of many shaders. Understanding these may be more beneficial than any IDE.

Oh, as you might expect from a graphics book, there is a lovely set of colour plates in the middle of the book, showing what custom shaders can do. Treat it as inspiration if you wish.

The OpenGL Shading Language is without doubt the most important addition to OpenGL since its inception, and this book provides an excellent guide to programming with it. As one of the primary contributors to the development of the language, Rost provides a clear and well-written explanation of the language and how to use it.

The book begins with a review of OpenGL basics, followed by an introduction to shaders and how they fit into the pipeline. It then covers the language itself, including data types, operators, interaction with the OpenGL state machine and fixed function pipeline, built-in functions, and more. It also introduces and explains the OpenGL APIs needed to use shaders.

The last half of the book focuses on shader development, including general process and workflow, and coverage of many specific techniques, such as procedural textures and GPU-based animation. It even includes a section on implementing the fixed function pipeline using shaders.

The book ends with a handy comparison of GLSL with other shading languages, such as Cg and HLSL, and a couple of appendices providing a language grammar and API reference.

If you're doing shader development with OpenGL, you'll definitely want this book on your desk. My only complaint about it is that it was written before GLSL was officially promoted to the core. When that happened, a number of important things were changed that aren't reflected in the book. However, determining the differences isn't difficult, so don't let that deter you from picking this up.