Here is a true and engaging story that goes to the heart of a
bloody feud unresolved since 1947. "Cursed is the Peacemaker" is
the go-to book for the historical drama of what it took to
negotiate that brief shining moment when there was-- as close as
it gets-- to a cease-fire between Israelis vs. Palestinians and
others in the Arab world.

Author John Boykin (a former editor at Stanford Magazine)
recounts the gripping story through the eyes and viewpoint of
Philip Habib, Reagan's Special Envoy charged with the enormous
task of staunching the bloodshed and destruction in Beirut in
1982...in 1947 and left with an unfulfilled United Nations mandate that
was to have been, like Israel, the provision for their homeland,
some Palestinians relocated to West Beirut where Palestinian
leaders carried on the battle against Israel, which retaliated.
In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and laid siege to Beirut to
destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) once and
for all. The PLO is the umbrella of organizations that leads the
Palestinian diaspora.

President Reagan gave Habib, the Brooklyn-born son of Lebanese
immigrants, the task of talking to the warring sides and
persuading them to make some changes. Everything from vitally
important matters down to the price of Israeli pickles was thrown
on the table and it was up to Habib to sort it out. He convinced
the Israelis to stop shooting long enough for thousands of
Palestinian guerrillas to sail from the Mediterranean port city
under the watchful eyes of a multi-national force of 800 U.S.
Marines, 900 French and 500 Italian soldiers. This was no easy
feat. Habib persuaded the Palestinians to leave their families
behind in the West Beirut refugee areas of Sabra and Shatila with
their safety guaranteed by the multi-national force and the word
of Ariel Sharon.

This very readable story explains how imperfectly Habib
accomplished his task and yet how Habib's work stands as the
blueprint for the diplomacy that a person of iron will and
stature will need if ever there is to be a negotiated end to
this war that rips at the heartland of Christian, Jewish and
Muslim civilizations.

Boykin recounts the history in an engaging way and he's careful
not to assert his own opinions. The viewpoints he presses are
those that he documents were those of Habib, the talented, hard-
working, often gruff U.S. negotiator.

The book's completeness is a tribute to Boykin's persistence in
using, among other resources, the Freedom Of Information Act,

archives at Georgetown University's Foreign Affairs Oral History
Program, and extensive interviews with Habib's peers, his bosses
and underlings to piece together this important story about a
critical juncture in the life of an historical figure who
steadfastly refused to talk to reporters during negotiations.

Boykin provides the listening post for readers to "overhear" the
blunt conversations between Habib and the Marine Colonel James
Mead whom Habib came to rely upon to keep warring parties apart.
But Mead was no patsy. While he came to grudgingly respect Habib,
he was protective of those in his command. Boykin lays out the
negotiating positions of the various sides, noting that the
intransigence, the absolutist positions by Israel and Syria were
non starters.

Boykin conducted interviews with dozens of well-known diplomatic
players who knew Habib well-- everyone from Nobel Laureate Oscar
Sanchez Arias to Henry Kissinger (who knew Habib from his days
negotiating an end to the U.S. war in Viet Nam).

It can safely be said that there can be no peace in the Middle
East until there is a measure of justice for the massacre at
Sabra and Shatila, refugee camps that resemble acres of the
crowded tenement buildings that dot working class areas of New
York City. In these camps, Christian Phalangists went door to
door wantonly murdering more than 800 Palestinians while Israeli
soldiers stood guard seeing to it that no Palestinian could
escape. Details of what led to the massacre, for which even the
Israelis hold Ariel Sharon culpable, are of historical
importance.

Boykin describes what went on behind the scenes just before the
massacre of Palestinians on September 16-18, 1982. It was the
tragedy Habib had labored all summer to prevent and in the end,
he didn't, in part because Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger
withdrew the Marines who were charged with keeping the warring
parties apart. When the Marines left, the French and Italians
also left Beirut. That their families would be protected was the
key to persuading the Palestinians to lay down their guns and
leave Beirut. That Ariel Sharon broke his word and allowed his
soldiers to stand guard while mass murder was committed can not
be glossed over, especially since two decades later, Sharon
became Israel's elected leader.

This story is a microcosm for what has gone wrong in the Middle
East. If peace is to come to the region, this story may contain
kernels of the reconstructed blueprint for what, along with iron will, is needed to find a peaceful solution.

*Democracy on the Air* is the single most helpful public policy guidebook available on the role of the electronic media in democratic countries. The guidebook explores "how autonomous and responsible media systems function in democracies"; "the ways in which television can be used in the coverage of democratic elections"; and "how journalists cover the lives of ethnic minorities and ethnic conflict, if and when it arises, as well as integrate minorities into the journalistic profession." This is what the guidebook promises, and indeed does, deliver, with an added overview and analysis of policy alternatives. For those interested in learning about public policy, democracy, and the media, this book is clearly written, globally informed and informative, and covers topics such as political freedom for broadcasting, news coverage of elections, paid political advertising, and coverage of conflict and ethnic minorities. Jimmy Carter's foreword is of particular interest.

GREAT. Wish there were more books like this out ther

This is the essential resource for anyone interested in all aspects of upland shooting. Norris is probably best known as an old school gentleman wingshooter; this book shows how upland shooting is done right. It is interesting to note how Norris's method of wingshooting as practiced in the countryside around Philadelphia stands in stark contrast to the market duck hunting that was practiced just to the south on the Chesapeake. This book will also interest dog lovers (it contains descriptions of various breeds and general dog-care instruction). Norris was a doctor by training and this is apparent in his method of writing. He conveys clear accurate technical information. But behind all the technical information is an implicit lesson, that of fair chase. In the modern era, very few hunters can articulate this concept; and it is all but lost on the general public.

Being a beginner myself, I can't say that I enjoyed this book as an introduction to the Egyptians. The lack of a timeline and the assumtpion by writers that the reader is accustomed to the history of Ancient Egypt makes it difficult for someone who doesn't have a proper grasp of the ancient Egyptians' era to enjoy the reading. However, the portrait it gives of the various social groups which made up the Egyptian world is quite remarkable and can be enriching for any reader, even the unexperienced ones.

Dr. Covell has done a marvelous job with this field guide. His wonderful descriptions and pictures of moths make it easy for the average Joe to identify moths.

Dr. Longest's work, "Genius in the Garden" is a brilliant achievement. While precise in scholarship, the text is a tremendously enjoyable read. Academician and lay-person alike will easily absorb every sentence. It is a rare joy to find such a masterful use of language combined with such superlative research detail. Dr. Longest's text and supporting references are flawless.

Anyone; art or general historian, architect, landscape architect, garden designer, researcher of Virginia/Richmond history, or pure devote of the garden, nature, and beauty will thoroughly appreciate and enjoy "Genius in the Garden."

Charles Gillette played a pivotal design role in early 20th century Virginia, which was felt thorought the country. His ouevre was a developement and transliteration of the uniquely American "Jekyll & Lutyens" synthesis of natural and formal garden design. His career reflected both a poetic and ideal type of style. Gillette, his contemporaries, and the 'zeigheist' which motivated them, were never surpassed in the 20th century or today.

George Longest's definitive history and biography tributes this genius eye-to-discerning-eye. The photographs are lush, vivid, and constructive. As mentioned the text and supporting documentation is impeccable. No one should regret this lovely book as a welcome addition to their library.

This is a wonderful book. I've seen it while in Maine. It hits
on all parts of Maine's history. Did you know Maine was almost called "Columbus"?

This charming 1998 edition of Mary Trumbull Prime's travel diary from a voyage up the Nile during the winter season of 1855/1856, NILE JOURNEYS, edited by Charles Derowitsch, makes an interesting and curious addition to an earlier account of the same trip, published by Mr. Prime way back in 1857, within a year or two of the voyage. William Cowper Prime, 1825-1905, was an early Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1857, Harper and Brothers of New York published two volumes comprising Mr. Prime's account of their travels to Egypt and the Holy Land: BOAT LIFE IN EGYPT AND NUBIA and TENT LIFE IN THE HOLY LAND. Insofar as this reader can determine, Mr. Derowitsch was completely unaware of the important link between Mrs. Prime's travel diary and her husband's earlier publication. Beyond doubt, the woman's point of view is valuable for its own sake, but the editor might have avoided a number of misreadings of Mrs. Prime's handwriting if he had done his homework and used her husband's version of the voyage as a constant reference.

Of the dozens of books that relate to Orde Wingate, the majority deal primarily with either the Chindit operations into Burma or serve as answers to the character assassination that was done posthumously after Wingate's death in a plane crash in 1944. Of the remainder, this book, along with the authorized bio by Christopher Sykes, and the most recent one by John Bierman & Colin Smith, stand out as the most complete. Of these, the Sykes version is the earliest, from 1959 and the author did not have access to certain records that the latter did. The Bierman and Smith version is quite thorough, but ends with some editorializing commentary on the current state of affairs in the Middle East totally contrary to those views that Wingate himself held. For this reason it leaves a sour taste in one's mouth. Royle's book suffers none of these flaws, and is perhaps the easiest read of them all. It is an excellent introduction to the life and thoughts of a man whom it will be revealed in time, was in fact a man of destiny, as Churchill's epitaph for him stated he was likely to become.