Philip H. Melanson is a professor of political science and a specialist in the study of political violence. This book is an authoritative expose of brazen official manipulation of the legal process used to cover-up the conspiracy to kill RFK. The numerous glaring and unanswered questions in this case, with the simplistic official solution, caused the author to research for additional unexamined evidence. He spent many years investigating the facts, interviewed dozens of witnesses, law enforcement officials and other sources, and analyzed hundreds of LAPD and FBI files released by 1991.

Philip H. Melanson provides evidence that Sirhan did not act alone, and, the official investigation authorities (LAPD, FBI) covered up evidence that suggested conspiracy (p.4). He was the first author to have access to most of the existing LAPD files on the case. He and his team found that the LAPD had altered, suppressed, and destroyed vital evidence in the case (p.6).

The investigation assumed a "lone gunman" immediately. The trial was only concerned with Sirhan's state of mind (pp.24-25). The number of shots fired, the bullets matched to the wrong gun, were all skipped over. The LAPD's conclusions, its methods and its competence were not tested in an adversarial proceeding. The tapes of Sirhan's interrogations were never released to the defense. The profound discrepancies and conflicts in the evidence were suppressed or ignored by the LAPD and were never addressed by the judicial process.

What made this case so hot that the 1997 Congressional Investigation wouldn't touch it? Will the assassination of RFK ever be reinvestigated by a Congressional Committee? We've also learned a lot since 1991 about the LAPD and the FBI: the Trial of OJ Simpson, and the Inspector General's report on the FBI. (Read "Tainting Evidence: Inside the FBI Crime Lab Scandals" by Kelly and Wearnes.)

Excellent pictures of great Key West houses including addresses. No interior pictures. Book fell apart at binding after very little viewing.

I love this book. If you enjoy the unique look of Key West Conch architecture you will enjoy this book. Color full page and full page plus photographs fill the book. Most pictures are full close-ups of the front of the house. It is a nice reminder of time spent in Key West. If you are interested in architecture it contains examples of the various unique Key West styles used. I enjoyed looking at picture of the famous houses and reading about why they are famous. Almost forgot it, contains the addresses of the houses in case you want to see them for yourself.

"I'm Surrounded by Methodists..." is based upon the diary of Chaplain John Stuckenburg of the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Gives a first-hand account of his experiences of the Civil War as he marched with the troops through each battle. Book also serves as the only regimental history ever written of the 145th, since no official records were ever composed.

I screamed loud enough to be heard to the next county, jumped up and down, and alarmed my entire neighborhood! And that was BEFORE I read the book! Okay, I read one page..no, two names on one page. This is the diary of Rev. Stuckenberg who was chaplain of the 145th PA Volunteer Infantry 1862-1863. It includes a copy of the pastor's list of the members of the Regimental Church, hand signed by 58 men. That's the reason a family historian of mature age would run 'round her house with abandon: for there in their own hand writing were two ancestors who had served with the 145th! The book , coupled with their military files, brought this period of the War of the Rebellion into sharp, detailed, focus. That alone would be enough to warrant its reading, however, I received an added bonus. Rev. Stuckenberg was Lutheran, as am I, and it's impossible not to finish this book without being spiritually moved by his observations, reflections, and foremostly, his love for the men to whom he ministered. His essay in appendix 1 and prayer in appendix 2 are extremely profound. If you are an ancestor of one of the men of the 145th, or even a general Civil War enthusiast, I highly recommend this book. Few scholars have studied Rev. Stuckenberg. After spending time with this man's words, I was left wondering at such a loss.
I intend next to read a biography of him.

This is the last book in the Travis McGee series written shortly before McDonald died. Although it has all the classic elements of earlier works in the series, it lacks the emotional punch which made many of the earlier books stand out from the detective genre crowd.

McGee and Meyer travel to the Yucatan in pursuit of a typically malevolent villian who has wronged a beautiful woman with "cinnamon skin". The character development is up to McDonald's usual high standards, complete with the requisite philosophical flights of Travis' balanced against Meyer's earth-rooted reasoning. In an unusual twist, it is actually Meyer who overcomes the bad guy in the final scene which takes place deep in the Mexican jungle.

If you have been a fan of the McGee series, all of which contained a color in their titles, this story will not disappoint you. In fact, reading it alongside one of the early (1950's) Travis McGee books offers some fascinating insights into McDonald's personal development as his hero acquires the politically correct attitudes of the decade.

It has been rumored for years that there was a final McGee novel with the color black in the title in which the aging hero dies. Some have even speculated that "Spenser" author Robert B. Parker was working to complete the unfinished McDonald manuscript. True McGee (and McDonald) fans will be glad neither has materialized. Closing with this book, and never being heard from again, is a far more appropriate ending to a pair of long and storied careers

It wouldn't take much of an argument to convince me that CINNAMON SKIN is the best -- or at least one of the best few -- of the fine "color-titled" Travis McGee mystery novel series by prolific John D. MacDonald (author of CAPE FEAR, etc.). This actually is at least two novels in one, as Trav and best-friend Meyer first travel America (mostly the Texas-area Southwest) ferreting out the murderous past of a serial killer -- then track him to his current lair in the Cancun-Yucatan area of Mexico and lay a dangerous jungle trap for him there. VERY highly recommended for fascinating characters (good and bad), local color, and tense action. Of course, as with all JDM's work and especially the McGee series, CINNAMON is well-crafted and written. Enjoy!

A boat blows up coming into harbor in the Florida Keys. Within hours a Chilean Terrorist group claims responsibility for planting the bomb with intent to kill the famed economist Dr. Meyer. Private Detective Travis McGee is suspicious and tracks Meyer -- a good friend -- down and finds he was in fact, not aboard the ill-fated boat.

Photographs from a nearby boat reveal that a man Evan Lawrence also may not have been aboard the boat. Lawrence recently married Meyer's niece, and when McGee's suspicions seem confirmed, the two friends (he and Meyer) begin a hunt to find out about Evan Lawrence's past.

Thus begins Cinnamon Skin, a taut, fun mystery thriller that leads two friends through the criminal past that formed a killer. Some of the most deft touches in the novel come when MacDonald describes the lives of people along the Rio Grande Valley in southwest Texas. At one point, I actually got out a road map and traced their quest from Eagle Pass to El Paso and back all the way to Brownsville. MacDonald blends fact with fiction at just the right pitch in this, his twentieth Travis McGee novel.

MacDonald writes like a writer who has earned it, man. He seems to know his story so well, there is very little drift in the way he tells a story. Each sentence is exact or darn near exact, and the end result is a taut mystery that is very fun and very entertaining -- the kind of novel you'll want to talk about with friends.

I highly recommend Cinnamon Skin to folks who like good old storytelling at its best, most genuine form. It is the perfect airplane, poolside, vacation novel to help you beat the heat this summer. And its depth will leave you feeling satisfied at any time of year. Good stuff.

Please hit the "helpful" button if you found this review helpful. I like to know you care.

Stacey

John Davis has definitely done his research. He is a good soty teller, and I will probably read more of his books. My problem is with the title. It leads you to believe this book is about the Gambino Family. Only the first 150 pages really talks about the previous bosses. The rest is about John Gotti. I was looking into reading about the older bosses, but instead got another book about Mr. Gotti. If you haven't read any of the books about Gotti, than this is a good buy for you, as you will learn a little of the history about the Gambino Family, and then also get a book about Gotti.

Read this book for a corrective to the seductive powers of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy and HBO's The Sopranos, which promote the "The Family" in more or less sympathetic tones. Davis' narrative combines historical research (locating the roots of Cosa Nostra in 19th century feudal Italy), psychological profiling (well-drawn portraits of the genius Carlo Gambino, luxury-loving but ultimately out-of-touch Paul Castellano, and blowhard John Gotti), and legal journalism (blow-by-blow accounts of the three Gotti trials of the 1980s and 1990s). There are comical moments, most notably Castellano's tawdry affair with his maid (caught on FBI tapes) and Gotti's obscenity-laden self-incriminating boasting that he always knows what is on (while being taped), and mob lawyer Bruce Cutler's courtroom tirades. But most of all, there is throughout the undeniable rot of organized crime, where murder is treated not as a sin, but as a business expense. Despite some grammatical errors and occasionally too much information (the book could have been better edited in my view), this book will balance out American culture's strange ambivalence regrading organized crime.

I picked this book up on a whim. I had just read the Westies and I wanted to learn more about the Italian mafia. Well this book was probably the best I could have picked up for an overview and it led me to some other more cetralized books. I see a lot of reviewers have complained that it centers too much on Gotti and yes this is true. In fact the book mostly focuses on Gotti and Castellano. I feel this is because there isn't much to go on for the older bosses in the way of written history. Davis does a good job of piecing together bits to create a history of the Cosa Nostra from the turn of the century to Carlo Gambino. You can tell that information is pretty scarce because he moves quickly through the bosses and the histroy and you get to Castellano after like 200 pages. Most of Davis's information comes from Gotti's and Castellano's tapes. Therefore the remainder of the book gets very detail oriented and recounts much of the history at a pretty rapid pace. One thing I think Davis could have done better would have to not be so repetitive about quotes. He used many of Gotti's and Castellano's quotes from the tapes and testimony over and over. But if you are looking for a solid history and are new to this genre of reading then this is probably the best you can find. Then if you want more precise novels pick up; Boss of Bosses, Bound By Honor, The Westies, Wiseguy, Donnie Brasco, Underboss, etc...

This book will build a good base for calculus. The only problem with the book is that there are not enough examples nor enough variability in the exercises. Sometimes you would have to use another precalculus book as reference. In overall it has great subjects in logistic and mathematical theorems with their proofs,and you would learn how to build those proofs.

I started reading this book with great expectations of an intellectual stroll through history. On the whole, the essays contained in this book were disappointing, although (as one should expect) there is an uneven quality of entries.

First off, the reader should be aware that the book does not, in general, provide "alternative history;" instead, it is a compilation of important moments in world history (with weight on US history). Perhaps it should have been called (as is another, regrettably unread, book on my shelf) "Turning Points in World History." Some of the essays are excellent - inspired and thought-provoking (e.g., the first essay by W McNeill on ancient Jerusalem). Others are silly - the first such, by Lapham on Teutoburg, induced me to do a web search to discover his credentials (he hadn't appeared to have given it much thought). Some were infuriating (why did I waste my time?): for example, McPherson's essay on the "Lost Orders" in the Antietam campaign (OK, here comes the rant). Sure, this was a random, low-probability event that had a major effect on the war, and could easily had turned out otherwise. But McPherson (a highly regarded historian) goes on to speculate that, absent the discovery of the orders, the 1862 campaign would have been similar to the 1863 MD-PA campaign, with the Confederates moving north as far as Harrisburg and the Susquehanna, then concentrating (from the north and west) at Gettysburg; while the Union army, shielding Washington, moved up from the southeast (OK...). But then he supposes that the armies somehow switch positions, with the Union army attacking the Confederates from the north and west at Gettysburg!?!

Well, I know it's just for fun, but I'd like to see the authors put a little bit more into it. As it is, I can recommend this book for its entertainment value, and occasional nice essay. But, most of the time, you could probably do better yourself.

Who hasn't wondered about a decision not taken or the string of uninterrupted causation that is required for any single person to exist? Think about your own life: the chain of events which resulted in your parents meeting; how you ended up in your current job; the college you attended; you never attended college; or how you met your current significant other. We are all shaped by historical choices, both ones made by ourselves, and those made on a scale that can alter history.

"What If?" gathers some of the world's foremost military historians to offer hypothetical counterfactuals, including: What If Alexander the Great had died in battle at the age of 21, before he had built an empire? What if the American Revolution had resulted in disaster? What if certain key battles in the American Civil War had changed? This is fun reading as it is always interesting to consider alternative paths not taken or paths unavailable by happenstance.

This book contains a number of excellent examples of counterfactual speculation, with only a few medicore essays. The authors examine how individual actions can have an impact as can the whims of weather.

This is an enjoyable book and, because of the broad area of military history, invites the potential for sequels. For example: One counterfactual I've always wondered about occurred in December of 1814 here in my home town of New Orleans. A prosperous son of Creole planters was awakened by the sound of British troops landing at the back of his plantation. Young Mr. Villere jumped out the window and headed for New Orleans, dodging a shot from a British sentry. Villere arrived in New Orleans and spread the alarm. Gen. Andrew Jackson gathered his forces and launched a surprise attack on the British. The British, unsure of the forces facing them, slowed their advance to give time to consolidate their forces. This gave Jackson time to throw up some defenses on the plains of Chalmette. Within 2 weeks the British had been defeated after suffering enourmous casualties attempting to storm Jackson's fortifications.

But what if the British sentry had not missed young Mr. Villere? Had the British continued their advance it is conceivable that these veterans of the Peninsular campaign could have won the Battle of New Orleans. Today people only remember that the Battle of New Orleans was fought after a peace treaty had been signed. But the treaty had not yet been ratified. Further, in the treaty the British recognized the status of borders prior to the war. But Britain had never recognized the Louisiana purchase, as the Spainish had violated a treaty with Britain when Spain secretly sold Louisiana to France. Britain could have attempted to keep New Orleans. This would have meant a widening of the war. It also begs the following question: Would there have been sufficient British troops to win at Waterloo?

As you can see counterfactual speculation leads to a never ending string of alternative possibilities. But it is enjoyble to speculate, as is "What If?"

What if George Washington had been captured on Long Island in 1776 and summarily executed by the British?? What if Robert E. Lee and his forces had achieved a decisive victory at Gettysburg in 1862? What if the Normandy Invasion (D Day) had failed in 1944? Your guess is as good as mine but the guesses of eminent historians are much better. Specifically, David McCullough, James M. McPherson, and Stephen E. Ambrose, respectively, who ask "What if?" in reference to these key situations in military history. Others speculate on, for example, "The Immolation of Hernan Cortes" (1521), "The Repulse of the British Fireships" (1588), "How Hitler Could Have Won" (1941), and "China Without Tears" (1946). Robert Crowley has done a masterful job of editing this anthology of essays. You may disagree with many of the answers to the repeatedly asked question "What if?" but I am certain you will be entertained as well as informed while reading this splendid book. My hunch is that the eminent historians had at least as much much fun formulating their speculations as readers now have when sharing them.