Military Law Books

Field-Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery's reputation has tended to dominate the accounts written about the war in Northwest Europe in 1944-1945. His two subordinate army commanders, Canadian Lt. General Henry Crerar and British Lt. Gen. Miles Dempsey, have been overshadowed by Montgomery's capacity to inspire both admiration and loathing. Stephen Ashley Hart's attempts to correct some of the imbalance caused by historians focusing on "Montgomery's distasteful personality" by examining the roles played by the above three men in this book.

Hart has written an interesting and thought provoking book. Hart contends that Montgomery's reputation, as a cautious commander who only moved when he was ready, stemmed not from his fear that failure would damage his reputation, but was instead caused by a lack of British and Canadian manpower, which precluded a more aggressive strategy. Moreover, Hart believes that Montgomery's force, the 21st Army Group had such fragile morale that the commanders of that Army Group could not risk setbacks because any defeat would destroy the spirit of Montgomery's civilians in uniforms. In common with other historians, Hart seems to imply that the German army was composed of professional soldiers thereby giving them an advantage, but that ignores the fact the every army in World War 2 was made up of draftees or volunteers enlisted for the duration of war. An example of this was the 12th SS Panzer Division, the majority of whose soldiers were in the SS for less than a year before they entered combat in Normandy. Hart demonstrates that Crerar and Dempsey shared Montgomery's two main apprehensions about avoiding casualties and maintaining morale. Hart goes on to demonstrate the main elements of 21st Army Group offensive, which included administration, airpower, initiative, and balance among others. Hart also concludes that Montgomery and the British government sought the assignment of American forces to 21st Army Group because they knew any victories achieved by the American troops assigned would increase the prestige of the British and thereby enhance the influence of the British in any postwar peace agreement.

Where Hart's book falls short is in its failure to adequately address evidence contrary to Hart's thesis. For example, Hart implies that the Montgomery, Crerar, and Dempsey were successful in avoiding massive casualties, but he does not mention that monthly casualties suffered by infantry battalions in Northwest Europe in 1944-45 was exactly the same as the monthly casualties suffered by infantry battalions in the 1914-18 war. (100 casualties per month, source: David French's excellent book "Raising Churchill's Army".) In addition, Hart contends that Montgomery was successful in raising the morale of the forces about to assault Normandy by speaking to each unit. The only source Hart cites for this contention is Montgomery himself! What Hart and Montgomery do not mention are the boos Monty received from units like the 2nd Devons of the British 50th Division and the American 116 Infantry Regiment.

Hart has written a thought provoking book, but his failure to deal with evidence contrary to his thesis ensures that "Montgomery and Colossal Cracks" will not be the final word in the arguments over Montgomery's reputation.

Ashley Hart's "Colossal Cracks" is a thorough and thoughtful study of the operational approaches taken by the 21st Army Group in NW Europe during 1944-45. In a very logical and quite balanced manner Hart tackles a thorny issue likely to raise dander of some. Basically his thesis was that the methods employed by 21st Army Group under the tight "grip" of General/Field Marshal B.L. Montgomery were not only appropriate but contributed significantly to the overall Allied victory in the West. Moreover, Hart argues that these methods were employed 1) because of their commanders' experiences with similar methods when commanding the British Eighth Army in N. Africa and 2) because they fit the logistical realities facing the British/Canadian Army Group at that point in the war. With respect to this latter conclusion Hart provides ample compelling evidence that the manpower shortages facing Britain and its Commonwealth forces were indeed dire with respect to infantry riflemen reserves (while US forces was certainly not close to tapping their manpower resources) and thus Monty's perceived caution, oft maligned to overly so, was a generally appropriate response to this issue. Hart does not forgive Monty for failure to take aggressive advantage of situations as they arose - a misgiving Monty is certainly guilty of - but rather tries to place Monty's actions within a larger more complete context that included not only Monty's personality traits - which often form the basis for criticism of his generalship - but also theatre level, nationalistic, and post-war projection issues.

Intimately related to the manpower issue (and linked morale issues which Hart also does affine job assessing) is the issue of how Monty chose to make up for these deficiencies with what the Germans called Materialschlacht and Monty termed "Colossal Cracks"; namely the employment of metal rather than men. Hart makes a point for what should be obvious, and apparently was to Monty but historians have since forgotten - if you have material superiority why waste human life? By employing the combined arms strengths of the Allied forces Monty could not only save manpower he could ill afford to lose, but also maintain morale that had a positive feedback on troop performance. Hart makes clear the rationale behind this approach and places Monty's decisions to employ these tactical approaches to the theatre strategy as a whole.

In the end, "Colossal Cracks" is a fine study, a bit academic at times but still quite readable and certainly worth a read to the more serious student of WWII, whether interested in Monty and controversies surrounding him or the tactical and strategic operations of the British/Commonwealth Army Group on the Continent. Of added value is Hart's inclusion of lengthy discussions of 1st Canadian Army and Second British Army actions within the 21st AG and Monty's "grip", as well as the influence their respective commanders - Generals Crerar and Dempsey, respectively - on operations of these armies and their contributions to AG influences on theatre activities. 5 star effort of historical literature, 3.5 star effort for engaging prose; overall 4.5 stars!

***Buyer/Reader be aware: Praeger Press serves th academic not mainstream bookreader community and as such does most of its commercial business via libraries. The price of Hart's book is outside the range of most of our pocketbooks, this should NOT however deter you from tracking down a copy at a local librarry or via an Interlibrary Loan..

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Your score: 3

Those who think the federal government spends billions on protecting itself leaving the masses (us) to fend for themselves will enjoy reading this book. Not only are the masses left to assorb the attack but most government leaders and workers aren't any better off. This book is a history of Civil Defense in the Washington DC area. It is very well researched. Great narrative about how Civil Defense just never seemed to get the priority it deserved. If Washington couldn't get a decent program running then how could anyone expect the rest of the country to do so. There are great descriptions of Mt. Weather, Site R and FEMA ROCs. Extensive discussion on the Relocation Arch and Continuity of Government plans as well. Great book for emergency managers and those interested in civil defense. If you want to know the likely outcome of the current Homeland Security/FEMA restructuring and future disaster response, this book is the crystal ball. I highly recommend the book.

This is an interesting book, easy to read, and probably worth the four hours it. I have no idea whether or not the substance of the book is true or not. But what rings false to me is the author's claim to be a Christian, but not living a Christian life-style. He says he is a Christian, refers to his family spending full days at church, says his parents attended Wednesday choir practice, and knows enough about Christian theology to tell one of the prisoners that Christians believe Jesus is the son of God and his death paid the penalty for their sins, and that God loves us. The author even refers to the "born again" experience of one of his fellow soldiers.

However, he does not follow a Christian life-style. He says his first wife, the daughter of a Baptist minister, cheated on him with sexual liasons with his friends. That could happen, but it's not likely. The author drinks a lot of beer. Drinking beer isn't done by the typical Christian. The author had a relationship with another woman after he left his wife that was intimate enough for the other woman to become angry enough to burn his favorite blanket when the author decided to break up with her. That infers an intimate physical relationship, and that's not Christian behavior, either. The author lives with his girl friend before he marrie her. Again, not Christian behavior. The author refers to his parents going to choir practice on Wednesday night. Most churches have choir practice on Thursday because Wednesday is prayer meeting.

Whether or not the author is a Christian is a moot point. If he's not, and the book is accurate there's no reason to bring up the point at all. Or, the author could be as he claims, and he's just practicing an unusual Christian life-style. Nevertheless, the hallowness of his supposed background makes me wonder if he didn't just throw that in to gain favor with a certain segment of the population and make his book more believable. And if he did make up his religious beliefs, what else did he make up?

This expose of the atrocities at Guantanamo Bay as relayed by an American eyewitnessis an almost impossible book to review along the guidelines of what can be said. The book is filled with filthy language and none can be used. Erik looks like a good All-American young man, but listen to his language. He was trained to speak and understand the Arabic language, but I doubt they use the slang we Americans take for granted, but Amazon won't accept. It's okay in a book but not the book review.

Erik and Mark observed how inefficient the guards and female military are for extracting evidence. Having served a long jail sentence in the USA, Mark was emotionally deficient but enjoyed taking part in the sexual tactics purportedly for interrogation purposes. Eric had secured a college degree but his failing marriage sent him to join up for the military with dreams of glory. Mark was not so lucky. Being already a felon, he was denied that privilege to die with grace. Erik spent his R&R with a girfriend he picked up somewhere. Mark liked the unattached homeless women who abound everywhere.

This book was a great read. Accurate? You bet! I faced the same trials and tribulations stationed in the Middle East (unqualified people, find your own replacement or stay and rot, below prison standard living conditions, etc., etc.) Job well done!

I bought this book from the Dollar Store (of all places) and read it all in one evening...I couldn't put it down. Given the public attention that has been paid to activities, both known and as yet unknown, at Gitmo, I was surprised to discover that this book is out of print already, having only been published in 2005. Let's face it, the activities at Gitmo are highly secretive for either good reasons (like national security) and/or bad (like a potential cover up of less than desirable interrogation practices as far as the Geneva convention goes). Given what should have been high public interest in the book, and the place where I found it, I decided to check out the reviews on Amazon and quickly noted, as other reviewers had, that people either loved or hated this book with very little grey area in between.

One thing that impressed me is that nearly all the reviews here are some of the most well written I have ever read about any book sold on Amazon in the sense that most are clearly written by educated and thoughtful people. And I mean this about the one star *and* five star reviews. In fact, perhaps even more of the one star reviews; as more than one star reviewer pointed out, left leaning liberals are very likely to love Saar's book.

I note that many of the one star reviewers were stationed at Gitmo, and some were upset not so much by what Saar had to say, but that he complained about it in a public forum. Some of these reviewers and many other one star reviewers expressed disbelief that there really could be a widespread "cover up" operation that would actually work in practice. I didn't get the impression reading the book that Saar was describing a concerted "cover up" operation. But I find it interesting that reviewers who served in the armed forces are upset that Saar expressed his views about Gitmo publicly instead of complaining up the command chain, whilst they simultaneously poo-poo a "cover up"; if it is drummed into you in the military that you should never, ever complain to the outside world about problems you see in military infrastructure, isn't that a culture that encourages "keeping things amongst ourselves, even if we don't like it?". I am sure that many soldiers who served at Abu Ghraib didn't like what they saw going on there, but didn't go public. And I would be surprised if any of them complained up their command structure if they felt that the top brass condoned or worse yet, even sanctioned, what occurred there. Who wants to ruin their career? It is better just to shut up and put up. Which amounts to a cover up, even if the people not talking wouldn't call it such.

It is not surprising that the reviews of this book are so polarized given that Saar described his fellow service people at Gitmo as being extremely polarized in their feelings about the place and what goes on there.

I have one comment to make about the CACI categorically denying that civilian interrogators were used; reading that portion of the book, I find it highly unlikely that Saar actually made that up since his description sounds believable. What I think happened is that CACI threatened one big honkin' lawsuit against Penguin unless it retracted that part of the book. As a government contractor CACI makes *a lot* of money, and Penguin could potentially lose a lot more money in such a lawsuit than they gained from publishing the book. Pretty much everything else in the book is focussed on the operations of government agencies and the military...no fear of lawsuits there given that the book was vetted by the Pentagon. The fact that Penguin retracted the description of the CACI interrogators does not make the book less believable in my eyes. I think it shows how difficult it is to tell the truth about what goes on at Gitmo without a lawsuit being slapped on you. Yet another way that "cover ups" are encouraged (in the sense that people have strong incentive to shut up and put up).

Saar likely did make a fair amount of money off this book. But I'm not sure if he is as craven as some reviewers make him out to be; his monetary gain comes at a price, in that I am sure some service people and others besides view him as a traitor and some would be happy to beat the crap out of him should they come across him in a dark alley. I wonder what Saar's life is like these days...

This should be required reading for all US citizens. However you feel about Bush or the War On Terror, this book will challenge your preconceptions about Guantanamo Bay.

Readers of this book will gain great insight into the grave danger facing the USA in dealing with an atomic Iran and its despotic , defiant mullahs with their twisted version of Islamic religion and law. Dr. Corsi shows them marching zealously and relentlessly to fulfill their stated goals of "wiping Israel off the map" and crippling " America,the Great Satan".
The ultimate goal is to force the entire world to conform to their Islamic theocracy. Read the pros and cons for allowing Iran to develop
nuclear power. Then decide if you want appeasement or force.This book may scare you; but you should be scared.

This was a "hard " book to read because the author is very straight forward with all the information that he has.I guess some people will find the book a little hard to believe, but the thing is that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.I really liked the strong no-holds-barred approach of the author.He points fingers at people responsible for the security of this nation and presents the facts in a logical manner.What a lot of people dont know is that a lot muslims feel that their religion allows them to lie whenever they feel the should.That's one of the things about a lot of muslims, especially iranians:they lie when they negotiate but as soon as you turn your back they go straight to whatever they were doing.So i have to agree with the author when he says that we cant trust them.I also enjoyed his description of the other arab nations such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq and their relationship with Iran.Great book to bring you up to speed in what's going on in the Middle East.

Iran is in the news nowadays for very important reasons. It is ruled by a regime that is bent on creating its own atomic weapons and has the expressed intention of doing harm to us and our allies. Additionally, it is supporting the Shiite side of the struggles within Iraq and actively undermining our efforts there and the Iraqi attempts at self-rule and democracy. Iran is also supporting Syria and through them Hezbollah and their attacks on Israel and the West.

The book is divided into three parts. The first presents five chapters on the way the Iranians are trying to influence our political process. Both sides of the aisle are compromised by these efforts, but in different ways. The huge amount of money that Iran and other Muslim nations make from oil gives them great power and they use that to influence those who would like to share in that wealth. Jerome Corsi lays out the facts and you can decide for yourself how disturbing you find this information. I found it not only revolting, but a cause for serious concern.

The second part presents five chapters on the terrorist activities sponsored by Iran and what their future strategies might be. It is clearly exporting terror to undermine the West since Khomeni took over in 1978. We simply have to listen to what they say and take the direct meaning of their fundamental goals seriously. The filigree about peaceful purposes for the nuclear efforts are clearly said to create diplomatic space for them to continue their work on their fundamental goal of being a nuclear power that threatens Israel and the West. Their ability to extort the West with oil will also increase once they demonstrate a nuclear weapon. What then?

The third part consists of two chapters on two approaches towards dealing with Iran. The first chapter deals with the variety of military threats and options we could use. It turns out that none of them are much good and the Iranians know that. They are not good for a variety of reason that have to do with geography, our weak allies in Europe, our quasi friends / enemies in Russia and China, and the willingness of the radical Muslim mind to take hurt in order to achieve their larger aims. Iranian leaders have stated that one nuclear bomb in Tel Aviv could destroy Israel, but a nuclear attack on Islam cannot destroy it.

The second chapter lays out the argument that we should increase our efforts and spend treasure on undermining the regime in Iran and encourage that significant but repressed portion of the Iranian population that wants to be a moderate nation that is free of the mullah tyranny.

The conclusion of the book draws all the points of the book together and the epilogue deals with events in Iran and the rise of Ahmadinejad in the "run-off" election against the more moderate Rafsanjani. These events occurred since the hardcover was published in 2005.

Good reporting and interesting analysis. Corsi doesn't provide simplistic solutions nor is a raving or partisan attack as some (who probably haven't read the book) claim. Read it and decide for yourself.

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (3/07)

Jerome R. Corsi has written "Atomic Iran" in an effort to give the American people a wake-up call to the crisis facing our country. He presents a strong case, advocating that the Iranian mullahs are supporting terror internationally. And that these same mullahs are already at war against both Israel and America. Israel is in danger of nuclear retaliation from the Shiite Muslim's of Iran, under the presidency of Mahmouid Ahmadiejad.

Corsi further warns that Americans have been lulled into a false security, influenced by the mainstream media. Behind the scenes the Iranian mullahs are influencing our politicians. Iran, a nation with a terrorist mindset, a nation rich in uranium resources, is on a collision course with America and the governments of Europe who are seeking to end the development of nuclear weapons.

Differences among congressional leaders on diplomatic and economic issues make it difficult to take an unbiased and objective stance while reading Corsi's work, however, since the book was first published in 2005 in the hardcover edition, many of his predictions have taken place and even the most skeptical are taking another look at the message of "Atomic Iran."

This is a book, urgent in its' disturbing message, well-documented, and timely. "Atomic Iran" should be read by every voting American. Corsi has presented a clarion call to the American people to become informed and to wake up to their responsibility as a citizen.

I have not read this book, but I do have to make a statement about the integrity of Mr. Corsi. He helped torpedo John Kerry when he co-wrote
"Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry", which helped in getting Bush re-elected!!
Shame on him.
I have heard Mr. Corsi deride, on Coast to Coast AM, this administration now, after the fact-duh, but I am still waiting for an apology!
He helped this madman get elected and he is responsible for all that has followed. I would question his integrity and wonder what his motives are for writing anything!

As it is mentioned on the front page, this book is "An Introductory to Law Enforcement Emergency Care". No need to criticize the author about what was done because Ian McDevitt did it well.
The content of his book gives a realistic overiew of what could be a TACMED job. Good enough to explain the different stages of tactical care involved when the "s... hits the fan". His book offers several valuable insights of the job.
Protocols described inside the book are for general knowledge. Remember, it is "an Introductory..." If you need more... well, go or go back to TACMED School !
Besides, Ian McDevitt is known in Europ for his experience and his knack to instruct this topic.

Christian - Tactical First-Aid Instructor.

This truly is just an introduction to Tactical medicine and I would only recommend this book to someone who has zero idea about what entails tactical medicine. This would be a good book for someone who is maybe interested in what a tactical medic does and what equipment they should carry. The book was very short and basic almost to the point of elementary.

I suppose that I should spit out my resume as well: I was a combat medic with The Infantry. When I got out I obtained a paramedic license and a BS in Biology, then I worked heavy rescue, and after growing bored I joined the Los Angeles Police Department and currently work in South Central LA. That being said, the first forty pages of the book were put togeather in a very simple to understand and systematic manner.
Frankly speaking there was a great deal of filler information placed amongst the first half of the book, and i believe (from a tactics point of view) the second half of the book to be filler information as well. Notwithstanding my point of view as a medic, if I were a platoon leader looking for a guide to lay out the responsibilities of my medical support this book could not be better suited. I in fact sent the book to a LT in the National Guard. As the back cover of the book indicates this is also an excellent resource for an individual new to the medical field and looking for a specialty. This book provides the flavor of tactical medicine, and makes for a nice introduction to the field.

As a paramedic and Spec Ops medic, this book was a total waste. Anyone who doesn't have a far better understanding of tactical medicine (military or law enforcemennt) shouldn't be even thinking about operating in those venues.

The book is written unevenly, has poor quality photos, virtually no suggestions on techniques and very uneven coverage of equipment. There must be a better tactical medical book out there, for a start "Ditch Medicine" by Coffee is at least helpful, if somewhat dated.

I serve as the Medical Director, ALS provider, and entry medic for a four county, seven agency regional tactical LE organization, as well as direct and respond with 3 EMS agencies and 1 SAR unit. In addition to this, I also currently serve as Medical Director for the Nebraska Panhandle Public Health Board and as Physician Representative for the Nebraska Panhandle Trauma Board. I also serve as Medical Director for the national SAR team in Belize, Central America, and consult for that government regarding prehospital & village care issues. I have 25 years experience in military & civilian TEMS, EMS, Fire, Law Enforcement, & Technical Rescue. With that said...

Focusing on LE & urban TacMed, as opposed to military tactical medicine, it provides an excellent overview of the state of the art as it is understood today. This is not a comprehensive textbook of medical care that takes you from square one, but instead teaches the unique priorities, techniques, and equipment needed for this environment. As such, it either will be an overview and motivator to go and get training for those without a background in field medicine, or a specific reference for those with prior medical experience wanting to make the transition to the tactical environment.

It will also be an excellent resource for those needing ýammoý to take to Administration. It is small enough that an administrator could read it, if you can find one that can read. Otherwise there are pictures and lists, and you can point to them and say ýSee, the book says so.ý

Seriously, this is going to be a handy reference for explaining the tactical medical environment to those not familiar with the concept, and immediately absorbable by those with prior medical training. Itýs a welcome addition to the sparse field of tactical medicine reference material.

To criticize this book for being "anecdotal" is to miss the point. It was intended to be such. This is not a text. It's an introduction and overview, illustrated by what works for the author. And anyone who feels that the material presented does not reflect mainstream thinking in the TEMS community, isn't in the current mainstream. This material represents cutting edge thinking, rather than the static material and curriculums still being taught in too many programs.

If you have an interest in this field, this is a great book. Buy it!

Mr Cole has written a nice little story book about Iraq. I believe the only thing he knew about Iraq was, it is hot in the summer and the people spoke a differant language.
As a former Army MP,Police Officer and Contract worker in Kuwait,I knew going in that persons from from arab countries did things very differant.
After 3 months of living in Kuwait, I was never surprised at the things I saw.
Mr Cole never seemed to understand that. He just asummed that all police do and act like police from the USA. From basic police patroling to investagation work. They just spent 30 some years under a dictator rule, they were not police officers, they were security officers. To keep ones job and life they had to keep their mouths shut and play the game.
If you go to any county to work,learn about the culture and it's people 1st. It will make your life and job so much more enjoyable.
I am glad that I did not buy this book,it was a gift. If you want to read it, get a used discounted or library copy.

I found nothing in the book that was slightest bit unbelievable. It takes a certain amount of courage to tell the truth regarding Iraq when there are so many powerful (and well-armed) people wedded to comfortable (and profitable) lies and delusions. Other reviewers claim that Robert Cole is lying or distorting. Well, fine, - but why? Where's his profit? Nothing he has to say is the slightest bit sensational or an expose likely to increase sales of his book.

I love this book! This book was sent to me by someone in the Military Police in Iraq as a slice of life over there. It was fascinating. In fact it was a 'can't put it down' page turner. I highly recommend it. The only problem is that better editing is needed to correct spelling errors, very amature indeed.

Author Robert Cole is a retired police officer and international police trainer, who adds his technical insights to this story of training Iraquis in handling security challenges. His survey of the realities of life in Iraq and the challenges facing local police offers an unusual stark, realistic portrait of daily life in the country, plenty of insights into why traditional Western strategies won't work, and makes for excellent, involving reading suitable not just for military libraries but for any strong in Middle East culture.

This is the best fictional account of an actual event since Bill Clinton uttered those memorable words "I did not have sex with that women, Miss Lewinski!" I read this book and was absolutely floored by Cole's descriptions of life in Iraq. Some of it bordered on reality but it never quite reached the level of truth.

I have no idea who the "Kevin Kadowski" figure is, Cole so often refers to. However, I did know the fine American Police Officer who was killed when a small piece of schrapnel penetrated under his arm missing his vest. Cole wasn't on that convoy nor did he retrieve the officer's bible as he states.

Nor were "meat" wagons removing dead insurgent attackers, every morning, from around the Al Sadeer hotel. A place, where professional security teams, of Americans and Kurds, protected those inside. Cole may have been there, but he wasn't "protecting" the facility.

Cole is correct in that he did spend a year in Iraq as a police trainer. He has taken a slew of other's war stories and made them his own. Few of his personal observations are factual.

Jan Hogan, who penned this book for Cole, writes very well. The book, though erroneous in so numerous areas, is well written. I cannot suggest this book for purchase and if I could rate it 1/4 star, I would. Hogan's skills, as author, cannot make up for the half truths contained within.

I knew Robert Cole in Iraq and I can truthfully compare the contents of his book, to a sewer bilge pump. They both suck!

Dan Ratner: A man with brains and one hot body! He's got it all! I have had the pleasure of meeting this young and "yummy" hunk after the release of his book. I must say, his photo in the book doesn't do him justice. Ladies, you really have to see this hunk in person! If you are ever in the Chicago area, I would seriously advise you to go.

You can tell he works out by his incredible bulging muscles. Oh, yeah! What a physique! Is this guy for real or just a fantasy? Gotta wipe that drool off your lips, Ladies. *smack* Oh, I'd love to feel those arms for myself. His body, from what I could see, gets an "A" rating here!!

His personality rating is an "A" rating as well. He is so well mannered and is a pleasure to converse with. Quite refreshing to meet such a man. I would certainly love a date with this fine young author over a nice old fashion candle-lit dinner. His mannerism is a definite "A+" rating here!

Unfortunately, my meeting with Mr. Dan Ratner was not long enough to give an extensive review, although, I hope our next meet will be.

Anyway, if you like brains and brawn, I'd definitely recommend this author!

I'm glad I got this as a gift as I certaily wouldn't have paid for it. If you want to read it take my advice and wait a year. It's bound to end up in the dollar bin, and you're bound to find dozens of used copies showing up on amazon.

Save your money. The book is light on science and specifics, and heavy on hyping things that seem unrelated to either nanotechnology or homeland security. For example, they have a picture of nanotechnology-enhanced stain resistant pants from Eddie Bauer. For better information on the latest developments, I would recommend Smalltimes.

The Ratners explain nanotechnology in a way readily accessible to a general audience. The book tries to suggest what might be realistically achievable in a few years. There are some preliminary results described. Like an improved stain resistant trousers. But these are really early years. It is true that if you focus on the progress made in the book, then there might be some disappointment.

However, the authors make a plausible case that future progress can yield much more. Naturally, the book stresses how new weapons might come into being, based on nanotech. Some of this you might regard as wildly speculative, while other possibilities might seem well within the reach of a few more years of effort.

A useful topic raised is Moore's so-called Second Law. That the cost of a semiconductor fab doubles with each new generation of fabs. This spells the end of Moore's First Law within a decade. Hence, the book positions a nanotech approach as a technological discontinuity as a necessary shift in order for computer hardware to keep improving beyond then.

The science and engineering aspects of nanotech are solidly covered by the book. It deserves to be widely read; especially by policymakers.

Save your money. The book is light on science and specifics and seems to spend a lot of time on things that do not seem to be related to either nanotechnology or homeland security. For example, they talk about and have a picture of nanotechnology-enhanced stain resistant pants from Eddie Bauer. If your looking for the latest on nanotech, better to read Smalltimes.

Operation Paperclip allowed top Nazi scientist and engineers who were clearly involved in death camp "use of labor" and members of the Nazi party to immigrate to the US. At the time the US State Department opposed and strongly disapproved of the policy but eventually these "spaceflight scientists and Engineers" where relocated and made US Citizens by the assistance of Operation Paperclip and the US military-industrial complex (on the pretext of the Cold War). These Scientists and Engineers conveniently expounded the propaganda that they where members of the Nazi party strictly to facilitate their spaceflight dream. A Faustian pact if you ever saw one. One of the most prominent members of this group if not the most prominent member was Werner Von Braun. Von Braun co-operated with the SS in the infamous Dora cave complex. Von Braun immigrated to the US with offers of full US Citizenship by the US military-industrial complex. These so-called V-2 scientist and engineers exploited death camp inmates with the full knowledge that these inmates will possibly die in the Dora V-2 cave complex. What, to advance the course of spaceflight, rubbish! Most inmates did die horrible deaths at the hands of the SS camp guards. If anyone douts this I challenge you to research post-war Paperclip documents and Nuremberg war crimes documents. If we are to uphold our Democracy and maintain a Democratic society with morality and human decency, I think it is important that we look at books like "The Nazi Racketeers: Dreams of Space and Crimes of War" and start making questions. To maintain a true Democracy requires very hard constant work and vigilance.

I thought the book covers a lot on the effort of the Nazi's to build a new weapon to win the war, but obviously it cannot cover every little fact in the story about the team that build the V-2's. It was very interestingly how the SS finely took charge of the V-2 program in the end. The book is worth the time to read. I thought it was very interesting reading.

I learned quite a bit about recorded history that I previously knew nothing about prior to reading this book. I think it is a necessary read for both critics and admirers of von Braun and gave the book 3 stars to help balance the statistics.

I count myself as a life long admirer of Werner von Braun and went into engineering because of his inspiring work as well as the many public appearances he made on TV in the 50's when discussing the space program before there was one.

The notes written by the author demonstrate his passion and feelings about the many poor souls who suffered injury or death from the V-2 assembly effort at the terrible work camps and the ultimate delivery of these weapons in England and particularly London. His feelings are clear and the perspective from which he drafted his thoughts on von Braun are very understandable.

From my read of this book the record does give one pause and cause to think about what was done in order to advance early rocket work by von Braun. I believe that the scientists and engineers who worked on the Manhattan Project were against the use of the atomic bomb, but fully supported and applied their talents to make the bomb to help end a war. I also believe that they had some faith in their basic form of government which according to what I have read, General Dornberger and von Braun did not.

For what my opinion is worth it does appear that von Braun certainly compromised his values to help make his rocket dream a reality. I think the book provides both sides of the story by accurately documenting history, at least as it was recorded. We will never know exactly what happened or what von Braun's thoughts were.

The record shows that von Braun was a brilliant engineer, manager, and spokesmen for all forms of rocket research in both Germany and the United States and was a loyal citizen of his adopted country until his death. While a member of the Nazi party he was jailed for his interest in developing space flight and then released through the efforts of General Dornberger. The record is mixed. The book was still a very valuable read and I would recommend it.

I got this book since the Dora Concentration Camp was liberated by the 3d Armored Division during WWII and my father was in the 3d Armored Division at that time. Even though I learned a lot from the book that I did not know, to me the author was very biased against Wernher von Braun due to his participation in developing the V-1 and V-2 rockets that did so much damage to London.

The way I look at it, Wernher von Braun joined the SS just to keep his dream alive of building rockets to go into space. He was successful in that attempt when he joined NASA where the Saturn rocket was built that took man to the moon. There is nothing in the book that I could find that definitely states that von Braun even went to the concentration camps though he did go to the factory in the mountain where the rockets were built and could see first-hand the conditions under which the prisoners worked.

The one thing about this book is that the whole chronology of the Nazi rocket program is laid out from beginning to end so you are not looking backwards to find something that happened at one space in time. That makes it a lot easier to find out how the Nazi rocket program developed over time up to the end of WWII. What is not played out is the further development of the rocket program after the scientists came to the United States where they proceeded to be the forefathers of the United States journey into space.

What is not brought out in detail is the way the United States used the Nazi rocket scientists to further develop the rockets that put man on the moon, satellites in orbit that we now depend on for everything from television, communications, weather forecasting, etc. And, let us not forget the satellites that have gone to the various planets in our solar system and beyond to learn more about this rock in space we live on. I would like to see a book devoted to the Nazi rockets scientists who more then likely were the developers of this technology.

And,I wold like to see a more unbiased biography of Wernher von Braun come out that pertains to the contribution he made to the United States rocket program.

Piszkiewicz does a good job with getting the historical documentation down but fails miserably when he outs his obvious anti-Von braun spin to them. He constantly speculates without facts about Von Braun's thoughts, beliefs and motives, always casting them in a negative manner. He goes into detail about Himmler's attempts to eliminate Von Braun and the danger that posed and still castigates Von Braun for not acting to help the Dora workers. He dedicates the book to the V2 and Dora victims which seems to be why he wrote this revisionist tale. It is his way to find someone to blame and Von Braun seems to be as good as target as any for the author to attack. He admits the V2 was not an effective weapon yet he ignores the huge drain on resources that it had on the German war machine. This drain was praised by Winston Churchill for keeping more planes and guns off the field of battle, saving lives. He also twists quotes and facts out of context, a sin for a historian. This book is not about history so much as it is an attempt to discredit Von Braun. No documentation or factual evidence is ever presented to show Von Braun could have done anything to help the Dora workers. Von Braun was not a saint but neither was he a war criminal.

The book is good written. It cover the basic and littlebit more on leadership. A quite detailed on how to write a "warning order" which I had never seen before. It also cover movement outside but not on how to move indoors. Anyway all this should be known to an new Team leader and like someone elses wrote it is littlebit to basic. If you have never learn any leadership at all -read it. If you are interested in planning there is better books.
3 Stars just becuase it is good written otherwise it should be a 2 star.
An other book on planning is M.Lonsdale-RAIDS

The author covered the basics very well, but it is very basic to have the word "Leadership" in the title. This book would be good for a new operator, but anyone with tactical experience should be looking for another book. Experienced tactical operators will find this book decent for review, but not much else.

This book is not applicable to American tactical law enforcement. It seems most of the book was copied straight out of U.S. Army field manuals. an utter waste of time and money.

Very well written. The author is obviously experienced in this field. The content is basic and more areas could have been covered. The areas dealt with in this book is well presented and will be of great use to any SWAT leader or instructor. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next by the same author.

I read the book cover to cover and didn't find too much that I didn't know already. The book did cover alot of basics that someone new to a SWAT environment would benefit from. It is a good "refresher" book for the SWAT leader.

There were many inaccuracies in this book regarding Dr. George Ochikubo. Much data was gathered from the national archives written by persons that did not care for Dr. Ochikubo due to the fact that he embarassed them in the courts. One of the discrepancy was that he did not speak the Japanese language. The fact is that he was fluent in the language because his grandparents only spoke Japanese. That was his only method to communicate with his parents.

One is immediately forced to judge this book by its title. The author's choice of words betray his intentions -- to once again prove the United States government's failures (in this study, he calls it a "disaster"). The choice of "Inquisition" shows the author's bias, choosing to equate the government's actions with those of the Roman Catholic Church's Inquisition of examination and extermination. Other authors use similar tactics when they use such terms, e.g. "concentration camps," revealing an attitude of disgust and distrust of our Government.

Muller continues his theme in this recent work of his: Look how bad our Government was to the Nikkei. He closes his book with the warning: We'd better watch out because the Government might do it again, i.e. the "unfettered deployment of military power against American civilians on American territory."

Basically, Muller tries to point out that the US military and US Govt. were out to get the Nikkei, that the WDC and Provost Marshal's Office were guilty of thinking the Nikkei were guilty of disloyalty simply by association, that they had the idea that no Japanese could ever be loyal to the US, so they had to lock them up. I quote:

"...a very different view led to the mass exclusion of the Nisei from the West Coast. That view saw the Nisei as an unassimilable group of native-born foreigners, individuals whose 'racial traits' and family bonds prevented them from forming true loyalty to the United States... They were the /only/ group of American citizens who were presumed to be disloyal."

With these results:

"The consequences of the army's presumption of disloyalty were severe. The presumption led all of the Nisei in General DeWitt's exclusion zone -- more than 70,000 American citizens, of whom nearly 40,000 were over the age of eighteen -- into so-called assembly centers. Without charges, without proof, without hearings, and with only a few days' to a few weeks' notice, they were herded into makeshift barracks at racetracks and fairgrounds in and near the major West coast cities."

Notice again Muller's use of "all" -- this comes out a lot in similar works and articles, even to the extent that insinuates all the Nikkei were American citizens!

He brings out the fact that out of 38,449 Nisei who were interviewed, 12,404 were found to be of questionable loyalty. What Muller fails to mention is that nearly 90% of the Nikkei answered "Yes" to Question 28 of the Questionnaire of 1943. They were proof of trust and were not counted disloyal.

The other District Commands did not put the 15,000 Nikkei who were living outside of the West Coast military zones into camps. That was proof of trust, even though among them were enemy aliens.

There were 4,000 Nikkei who voluntarily evacuated and relocated outside of the military zones. They were trusted.

There were 1,000 Nikkei being released from the centers each week. That was proof of trust.

The real issue is this: Why did thousands want to remain in the relocation centers when they could have left. Muller does not address this. Nor does he discuss the groups of Issei and Kibei who were intimidating and threatening the majority of the evacuees with yakuza-like tactics -- that citizens should not volunteer or do anything to help the United States, that Japan was their real country, and that no Japanese should swear allegiance to the United States as required on the registration forms. This egregious display of disloyalty was ignored by Muller.

More than a matter of loyalty or trust, however, it was preservation, and the US Government did a marvelous job of it in not only protecting the Nikkei but sustaining them in a very generous way, even those who were very much anti-America and pro-Japan. No other ethnic group in the history of the US had had such treatment. In reality, the US Government did succeed in weeding out the disloyal, to the joy and relief of thousands of Nikkei.

Muller would do well to investigate those 20,000 Nikkei who never were in relocation centers, or the 6,000 Nisei who were in Japan, during WWII. They certainly had no questionnaire given them to fill out, yet they were obviously trusted, the latter amazingly by the Imperial Japanese Government as being "loyal" to their ancestral motherland. Their Caucasian fellow Americans did not receive such a welcome, but were thrown into real internment camps.

With his special affinity for dissenters and resisters, Muller has found a few sole court cases which took on the US Government for its unjust and tyrannical actions. To the author, these dissenters are also real heroes of democracy and loyalty. He portrays one Kiyoshi Okamoto as an "excellent example" of the War Relocation Authority's abuse. Okamoto was the chief organizer of the draft resistance movement at Heart Mountain Relocation Center, for which he had "stunning success." He and others were convicted for conspiracy to evade the draft and counsel others to do the same.

It is difficult to discover in books of this nature what the real message is. I perceive it to be this: That the Nikkei in the US before and during WWII had nothing in them that deserved to be distrusted, that they were all loyal, that they were all discriminated against and treated unfairly. In other words, it matters not there was a war between the two countries -- all the Issei were to be naturalized and left alone, with their Nisei families; "alien enemy" must never be used to describe the Issei during WWII.

In his "Conclusion," Muller's theories unravel -- the US Government may not necessarily have been unfair. He uses numerous words such as "probably," "perhaps," and "maybe," revealing his own inconclusiveness over all the research he has done. "Perhaps" there is hope, then, that this was not a "sorry chapter in the history of the government's treatment of its citizens" after all.

Anyone interested in this period of history then has hope Muller will expend his research skills in something more definitive, rather than "prejudice, misjudgment, and mistake." We welcome a true and balanced story from the keyboard of Muller -- a book on the Japanese Americans who never knew evacuation and relocation under the US government, or, something more closely related, a book on the people of German ancestry in the US during WWII who were "rounded up" and interned.

This is a book which primarily concentrates on only one superficial aspect of the World War II program which evacuated persons of Japanese ancestry from West Coast military zones. That aspect was the loyalty screening of such persons for release from relocation camps. Unfortunately, the book, as it relates to the overall evacuation program itself, contains a number of errors, omissions, and misrepresentations which negatively affect its historical credibility.

Specifically, the book incorrectly describes the legal status of the evacuated Japanese during WWII and completely ignores the intelligence reasons for their exclusion from West Coast military areas. The author refers to such persons as all being " American citizens of Japanese ancestry" and the book as "a study of the Japanese American internment as a system of legalized racial oppression." The problem here is that those about whom he writes were not all American citizens, they were not "interned" (as he himself admits in a footnote) nor was their evacuation based on race. The author confuses national origin with race. We were at war with Japan as a nation, not with the Japanese as a race.

As for citizenship, the book does not reveal that the majority of the ADULTS among those evacuated were Japanese nationals, enemy aliens subjcct to detention under long-standing law. Furthermore, the vast majority of the U.S. citizens among the evacuees were minor children at the time. Those of them over age 17 for the most part held dual citizenship status, being also citizens of Japan, thousands having been educated in Japan. Among such Japanese-educated dual citizens were reservists in the Japanese Army and more than 5,000 who renounced their U.S. citizenship to support the Japanese war effort. None of this is covered in this book. Nor is it mentioned that during the war more than 33,000 evacuees were cleared for loyalty and left the camps, some were citizens, some were Japanese nationals.

At several other places, figures in the book do not add up or disagree with their source as cited in the footnote. At one point in Chapter 9, the author cites a source which does not account for some 20,000 evacuees and misquotes the source (Robinson) at the same time. In several instances the author cites himself as a reliable source.

In summary, this book should be read primarily for its entertainment value rather than as faithful reproduction of the wartime historical record.

This book is well researched and written in a manner that, although scholarly, is very readable and full of information of facts not previously known to me. In the light of the current state of afairs in our country, this book points out how we have previously acted under the stress of war.

Contrary to the first review, I believe that Eric Muller's book is an important and timely study of the Japanese American internment, and while narrowly focused on the question of "loyalty," this question and how it was determined and the racial prejudices that were exhibited by the various military agencies and WRA point to the ways in which the line between those deemed "loyal" and "disloyal" were arbitrarily drawn, largely by the prejudices of those involved (DeWitt being foremost among those who has been documented as saying that the internment was revenge for Pearl Harbor--a troubled and flawed and revealing comment if ever there was one since it demonstrated that DeWitt, like to many others during WWII could not distinguish between Japanese nationals, Japanese miltitary, Japanese in America of the first generation unable to apply for citizenship due to racist immigration/citizenship laws, and Japanese Americans whose cultural influences included Mickey Mouse, the Boyscouts, and American jazz, as well as Akido, Sushi, and Buddhist practices).

The work that Muller has done will resonate with the questions we are currently facing as a society living in a post-9/11 world; Muslim and Arabs living in America are at risk in a similar way currently. We need to remember the lesson of internment and this question of "loyalty" as not being commensurate with race or religion.