Students of intelligence have been blessed this year with the publication of two outstanding books on American intelligence: Mark Lowenthal's "Intelligence" and Arthur Hulnick's "Fixing the Spy Machine."

Hulnick, a retired intelligence officer and former "CIA Officer in Residence" at Boston University and one of the Agency's first public spokesmen, provides a stimulating overview of the major problems facing the US intelligence community. It is a particularly useful book for those who seek a professional's critical view on issues ranging from the need for better recruitment to improved coordination between civilian and military clandestine activities.

Although Hulnick clearly has considerable sympathy for the needs of the intelligence community, this is by no means an uncritical whitewash. On the contrary, it is a thoughtful probing of present and future problems facing US intelligence and policy makers.

I would rate this book as one of a handful any serious student of US intelligence should read and own --- to come back to often as a reference volume.

This book has two good features-the author really does understand the personnel issues, and hence one can read between the lines for added value; and the book is as good an "insider" tour of the waterfront as one could ask for. How the book treats the CIA-FBI relationship, for example, is probably representative of how most CIA insiders feel. The book does not reflect a deep understanding of open sources and tends to accept the common wisdom across the intelligence bureaucracy, that all is "generally okay" and just a bit of change on the margin is necessary. In this respect, it is a good benchmark against which the more daring reformist books may be measured.

Frommer's Portable Las Vegas is an invaluable source when visiting Las Vegas. I just went on my first trip to Las Vegas and this book was small and light enough to fit in my purse. It gives you all the essential information without all the "fluff" and details of the larger books. I suggest you get a larger book (like Frommer's Las Vegas 2000) to keep in your hotel room but get the portable book for carrying around with you.

My best friend and I are planning a trip to Vegas (A Thelma and Louise Adventure) and this book was a great source of information! Good eats, places you must visit, sites for deals. Plus it fits right in your pocket!

Don't pass this book up!

I've used travel guides from "Fodor's" (Spain), one of those Cheap Travel guide (I can't remember the name, something like London on a Budget?) (London), and "Eyewitnes" (Rome), and have found this title about average. I actually like ALL the others better, with Eyewtiness being my favorite. It had lots of color pictures and iteneraries of places to see. I'm using the Frommer's guide presently to plan a trip I have yet to go on. There are a good variety of places to stay, and restaurants for different price ranges. Also included are smaller hotels (with character). It has a list of helpful www sites which is very nice, and a list of phrases (food phrases will help a lot, as i don't eat liver). I was disappointed that it did not tell me the season, teams, or contacts for the soccer season, to see a game. It simply states what stadium teams play at, and the phone number for the stadium, which isn't very helpful. Overall, this is an average book.

This book is very concise and thorough; it gives all of the little nuances and inside information necessary for complete trip planning.

I drove from coast to coast using this book and an road map atlas. It was of great help. My only complaint is that there were very few maps in the book. If you are planning a road trip, then don't count on this book as an atlas. Regardless of that, this book has almost everything you need, phone numbers, directions, descriptions, and a long list of places to stay. It's well worth it.

Since I am planing to go to road trip in this summer, I went through a lot of travel books across america. This is the best one out there. It not only includes hot spots in all over the usa, but also has a detail rates in hotels and motels. I love it. I am sure I will have a great time with this book handy!

I had first read the book in college (Purdue). I was a physics major. It is a good basic book about optics. I now have a ten year old asking questions, and I use the book as a reference to explain things to my son. My copy of the book is the third edition. I am purchaseing the fourth edition because it contains the topic of Scherlerion optics. Sorry for the misspellings.

This is a good book. It provides me the basic background in optical engineering. Actually, this book belongs to my advisor. He gave me to read and understand the basic idea of optics and it works. Not only did I get the basic idea of this kind of field, but I also have some advanced ideas how to deal with Optic in reality. Someone may say that this book is too easy for him/her, but would you think about it a little bit that how you could achieve something without the basic idea?

If you want to identify native plants, get an Audubon guide. If you want to grow them, get this book. It discusses cultivation methods; soils and other environmental factors; where in the region specific plants will live; where to find (and where NOT to get) plants, seeds, and cuttings; what sorts of insects and diseases harm our native plants; etc. Good reference for any Northwest gardener from Oregon through BC, whether you're east or west of the Cascades. Some historical uses for specific plants (culinary, medicinal, etc.) are also briefly given. The book's real drawbacks are its lack of color pictures (there are very few), and its sometimes slightly erroneous descriptions. I suggest coupling this book on growing native plants with a good Audubon guide if you're trying to identify what plants are growing wild on your land.

Of the books I own on NW native plant gardening, this book is my most often referenced. It is full of detailed information about a vast array of NW native plants. Dr. Kruckeberg's enthusiasm for the propogation and stewardship of NW natives shines throughout the book. However, this is not a book about landscaping or effective planting combinations; it is a scholarly work that may be useful to a homeowner interested in native plants and their care, or to the professional landscaper in need of detailed reference information. I am impressed by the breadth of the author's knowledge.

He is certainly one of the most obscure Presidents in American history. I enjoy reading about people who achieve high office, fame or fortune, probably because I want to find a link among them that predated their successes. In reading this excellent and very balanced biography, I came away with at least 3 lessons: 1) That blind luck can be the key ingredient in a man's success, for the early life and times of Chester Arthur no more predicted greatness than did those of Harry Truman (Truman, at least, was essentially honorable), 2) that is indeed possible for the Office to make the man, for once he became President, Arthur overcame many of his moral inadequacies, and 3) that for all we complain about American politics today, the state of the State in the late 19th century was more corrupt than most 21st century Americans would ever imagine possible. For these three lessons alone, the book is certainly a worthwhile read.

High school history books tell you Chester "Chet" Arthur was a "dandy," a machine politician and an accidental president, but little more. This highly readable, very informative and interesting biography adds much historical flesh to the bare-bones treatment Arthur gets in text books. A man who is all but a caricature to generations of students is made fully human, with all the positives and negatives that entails. And while chronicling the president's life the author also chronicles a fascinating era in American political history, the day when the party bosses ruled and presidential candidates were chosen in smoke-filled rooms and not in state primaries; primaries may be more democratic, but they sure are a lot less interesting to read about. If you enjoy presidential history, add this book to your library.

The Ghost from the Grand Banks: I'd never heard of this novel before finding it at the library, and I quickly found out why. It's a rather self-indulgent outing by the master, spending more time demonstrating his erudition than furthering the rather thin plot, which involves raising the Titanic. He has some successful predictions in here (the Y2K problem, though he misjudges both its impact and solutions), and some unsuccessful ones (the Mandelbrot set as a fashion object). All in all, this is an uncharacteristically forgettable outing.

The Deep Range: Now this is more like it. The first sentence - "There was a killer loose on the range" - grabbed me, bringing me back to the days when I first read this book as I was just getting into science fiction. Here we have a future world where food is becoming scarcer, and whales and plankton must be harvested to feed the teeming millions. Into this comes Franklin, a traumatized astronaut looking for a new career. We cover the problems he encounters, both personally and professionally, concluding with the moral one of eating whales at all.

Still something of a rambling tale, but it's out of the classic days of sf, and it brought back fond memories for me, and I enjoyed it, regardless.

THE GHOST FROM THE GRAND BANKS was written more than a decade ago, telling a tale of an attempt to raise the Titanic in the early 21st century. It was only a few years later that James Cameron's TITANIC caused enough stir in interest for the old ship's future fate that such attempts to raise the old tin pot now don't seem so outlandish at all. This novel, written in typical Clarkean style, is filled with science and technology fitted to a spare and efficient fromework of a plot. Diversions into the world of mathematics via the 'Mandelbrot set' makes for a fascinating counterpoint to the main story.

In 1957, the year the Space Age began, ACC penned THE DEEP RANGE--about near-future undersea farming and exploration of Earth's "inner space." The author's love of the sea and it's creatures was prominently shown in this evocative novel. In the decades since it was published, the world has undergone a true revolution in attitude toward marine mammals and their habitats. Whale song has been studied, protective covenants established to preserve endangered species, and exploration of the seas continues. A classic tale that sometimes rankles the contemporary mindset, but exposing all kinds of future possibilities.

I chose this book to read was because I was suppose to read a historical fiction, but the reason that I chose this book out of all the other historical fiction books because it seemed to remind me of Abe Lincoln cabin.
The book is about slavery. The way that the author described time of slavery back and how everything there was so terrible. It makes me so glad that I live in this time now in this country. I wish that there were more that the black people could do instead of being treated like that. It was like time travel, when I
Reason why I liked it because it showed slavery from and black mans perspective and how slavery was for them. I didn't like was all the horrifying details it goes into slavery. Reason why I choose that book was because it's a good book about slavery and it shows you what really goes on in that time. It was like time travel, when I began to read it was boring, then it seemed that I was sent back in time and seeing the way that they were treated.

This is a really good book. I think all children should have this book in their possession. If they don't, parents you need to buy it.

"Apprentice to Murder" movie starring Donald Sutherland was based on this book. The book relates the accounts of true events that occurred in York County, Pennsylvania. Media coverage of the ensuing famous murder trial was worldwide.

Having read this work some twenty years ago, I'm dealing with a somewhat clouded memory, but I clearly remember being enthralled by this book. It recalls a grizzly murder and the subsequent trial that took place in the Pennsylvania Dutch country around Harrisburg. I believe the period was the 1920s. Three young men, raised in the local culture of superstition and dark rituals became convinced that their personal and family misfortunes were the result of a hex. Before long, they identified the perpetrater as a local farmer,whom they believed to be a witch. The ensuing turn of events was to shock America. The author writes a thorough examination of the prevailing rural culture and its medieval European roots. The charming farmland and hamlets of the time hide the more sinister traditions of the populace, who's greatest fear is exposure by the outside world of the 20th century. Though it's somewhat dated, I believe this book is a useful look into the dark side of the human psyche. I would dearly love to read it again, if I could find it.