This book is well written and gives some details about the story of Jonathan Pollard, a naval analyst who in 1986 was sentenced to life in prison for spying for Israel. However, the book is not always accurate. Blitzer makes a series of statements which are sometimes a 1-star statement and sometime a 5-star statement. For example, on p. 74, Blitzer gives the following account on Pollard's very first phone conversation with Col. Aviem Sella: "'This is Avi Sella,' the pilot said.... 'Shalom,' Pollard replied, jumping from his chair, literally standing attention as he held the phone. He couldn't believe how excited he became simply hearing Sella's low but pleasant voice." Pollard says that he did not jump at attention when Sella called and certainly didn't say "Shalom" over the phone. Further Pollard says that he never told Blitzer about the incident, and accuses him of trying to categorize Pollard as a Jewish equivalent of Sgt. Shultz of Hogan's heroes. Blitzer's description of the incident plays into the hands of the U.S. government's stereotype of Pollard as a bumbling "wannabe," who was, at the same time a dangerous enemy of the state, and for that reason is a 1-star statement. Another 1-star statement is when on p. 102, he writes that from Nov, 1984 to July, 1985, Pollard bought various items like meals, jewerly, drinks, and airline tickets for his (then) wife Anne Henderson, while on the other hand, he describes Pollard's dealings with Saudi contacts (pgs. 109-110. It doesn't occur to Blitzer that maybe these items that Pollard bought might have been for the Saudi contact(s) and not his wife. This and other statements gives ammunition to those who claim, such as the previous reviewer, that Pollard spied for the money, and not because of his concern for Israel's safety. Blitzer does redeem himself on this point by quoting Pollard on pgs. 109-110 as saying that if he was spying for the money, then he should have sold Israel's secrets to the Arabs-who would have paid Pollard a fortune-as opposed to his having to pay expenses as part of his spying for Israel, (5-stars)and later (p.320) when Blitzer concludes that Pollard's motivation was to help Israel, and not for the money. (5-star) On p. 318, Blitzer wrongly accepts the government's contention that Pollard damaged U.S. national security, (1-star) but then states much of the damage that Pollard allegedly caused had been contained (5-stars) and that Pollard's life sentence was excessive. (5-stars) I could go on, but I have only limited space, but one gets the idea. I came up with 3-stars by averaging out the 1-star statements with the five-stars statements and then give Blitzer the benefit of the doubt by rounding up to 3-stars. This book is recommended reading, but for those who want to know the full story about the Jonathan Pollard spy case, one should also read these following books: Bernard Henderson, Pollard: The Spy's Story; Elliot Goldenberg, The Spy Who Knew Too Much, and Elliot Goldenberg, The Hunting Horse: The Truth Behind the Jonathan Pollard Spy Case. One should also check out the Justice for Jonathan Pollard web site (www.jonathanpollard.org).

This book tells the story of Jonathan Pollard, an U.S. Navy Intelligence employee whom in 1985 - 86 spied for Israel. The book takes us through a brief life history of the man, the details on how he started his spying, the actual working of the spying, his capture and trial. The author does a very good job of keeping the reader bouncing between thinking Pollard was a socially challenged day dreamer with illusions of grandeur to an Israeli state hero. We learn of the many times in Pollards life where he presented to high school classmates, college friends and co-workers highly creative tails of himself as a top flight Mossad agent - all of which was a fantasy created within Pollards mind. We are also presented with the case that Pollard was providing to Israel valuable and necessary to their survival secrets that not only helped Israel but also the U.S.

The author also does a good job of presenting the case that the running of this spy was not done well at all. The book talks about the many mistakes Israel made on the running of Pollard and the others associated with him, and then details how Israel left Pollard out to twist in the wind. What was also interesting to me were the effects, detailed by the author, of this case of friends spying on each other. The author explains the political fallout from this case and the ways the intelligence community reacted to this "Jewish" spying.

Bottom line Pollard was a spy and what he did was illegal. The author is somewhat sympathetic to Pollard but in the end does state that the law was broken. There is a lot of sympathy in the book about the jail time the wife gets, but in my view she knew and facilitated the spying, therefore, she was just as guilty as Pollard and got off easy. Pollard complains about how hard jail is on both he and his wife, but you know what - jail is not meant to be fun, it is punishment.

The book is interesting and moves fast - similar to a CNN article. You get all the facts and they are spelled out in an easy to grasp fashion. If you are interested in this case this is a very good overview.

This is an excellent book about a most unusual espionage case. I believe that Wolf Blitzer deserves a great deal of praise both for his writing style and the quality of his research.

Bottom Line: Pollard was a venal, mixed up person who cheerfully betrayed his country for money. My impression from reading a recent Seymour Hersh article about Pollard is that the "I did it for Israel" excuse is a convenient afterthought. He should stay in jail...

But if it is necessary to release him in order to cajole some future Israeli government into a peace accord with the Palestinians, I could live with that. We should just revoke his citizenship before letting him make "aliyah" (emigration) to Israel. Personally, I'd like to see him sent there via a giant slingshot (like the way Dilbert gets periodically sent to Elbonia).

As a journalism myself when I first buy this book I didnt expect the things I got at the end of it. Even that the book concentrates more in the cases of war correspondants, in the way the book is written we can use those examples in our careers even do that we're not working in the war zone by the time. The authors give the readers all the information he or she might need when they decide to break into freelancing. The book is very easy to read and when you finish with it you realize you do it rapidly and you dont get bored or even tired.

Goodman tackles a broad subject with a concise eye for the practical approach to becoming a freelance foreign correpondent. He also might make it sound a little too easy, but I think his heart is in the right place and most of the book is realistic about what steps you should take before making the leap into the correspondent ring. Though still a college student, I have used much of Goodman's advice toward my goal of becoming a foreign correspondent by preparing here on the home front before embarking after graduation. Goodman focus on this side of the issue, preparing relentlessly before you go, is probably the biggest factor in sucess or failure in making the freelance leap work. Easy to read, full of helpful info -- though I wish it could be longer, it goes a long way in what it has.

Written before Wolf Blitzer joined CNN, this detailed study of US-Israeli relations provides a solid introduction to the foundations and limits of this military alliance. Blitzer was the Jerusalem Post's Washington Bureau Chief in the 1980s, and had exceptional access to the key political leaders of that era from Abba Eban, Stephen Solarz, and Jack Kemp. While clearly pro-Israel, Blitzer's insightful comments and observations could be described as "partisan objectivity." An excellent book for political scientists, media mavens, and activists interested in the search for peace in the Mideast.

I agree with the other review above. I purchased this book as a gift for my boyfriend. I had not read untill just resently for a school project. Had I known the liberal slant that this book portrays, I would not have purchased it. It seems like the soliers are seen as evil instead of honorable. This is a real anti-war book.

I should have none that when Wolf Blitzer gives a foreward this book is going to lean a little to the left. Good acounts of WW1 and 2. But like the typical liberal this book only shows the negative accounts of US involvement. Even goes so far as to suggest that there no mass killings in Bosnia and Serbs were only fleeing the US bombing. Guess the killing and Rapes by Milosovich's army had nothing to do with it. At least its left out of the book. Book is also way to soft on Saddam, practically saying the US picked the entire fight. Basically portrays 20th century US as a big war monger without any justification. Typical liberal regurgitation.