I picked this one up as a "why not?" read and was pleased with what I found. I liked the book. I thought the future portrayed was a little too bleak to be factual (running out of ALL resources, etc.,) but it did set the stage well. Mr. Douglas's characterizations of his Marines were a bit above the usual stereotypes. Sometimes not by much though. The political situation he portrayed however, was very interesting. I liked the inteligence he showed in both putting it together very plausibly and in how he depicted his characters reacting to it. Although the tale is nationalistic (I liked that) it was not jingoistic so his characters were not mindless in their actions. That made it much more readable for me.

All in all however, the book was well done, interesting and exciting to read, and has indeed left me waiting for the next installment. It has also left me looking to see what else, if anything Mr. Douglas has written!

I have read over 50 books this year, and this book was one I could not put down--I had to finish it the same day! As a Heinlein lover over the years, I have not always appreciated our more recent sci-fi writers---they couldn't captivate me---but Douglas did! Right from the start. If you are looking for great science fiction---that is-- a swell story in a science setting of the future--this is it. Wow---what a terriffic revelation about the face on Mars---great ideas and development. I was never a marine, but after reading this I nearly joined up! I am now into the second book of the Trilogy and can't put it down either. Call me crazy, or misguided, or desperate for good science fiction---but these two books are excellent. I can hardly wait for the last of the trilogy.

After reading all 3 books of the "Heritage Trilogy" I felt compelled to write a review. I am one of those many readers who go through 'phases' and read tons of different types of books. I read most of the 'Starfist' series, which I found mildly enjoyable (except #2, skip that one). Anyway, I figured these would be quick, action packed, easy reads. I was partially right. There is action, and alot of Space Marine patriotism. Just what I was hoping for. A very pleasant surprise however was Mr. Douglas' excellent plot and character development. Unlike many series, where it appears the author(s) just decided to stick a new story onto the last one without any real regard for continuity, The Heritage Trilogy delivers. I found it to be fresh, interesting, and much more than just a bunch of Marines-fighting-against-impossible-odds cliches. I highly recommend "The Heritage Trilogy" in its entirety. Each book is better then the last.

OK I admit it--I love Jonathan Swift--An unbelievable satirist and a very talented writer and poet. This book has some great essays about Swift, his history, and contemporaries. These essays are somewhat esoteric and scholarly but worth the effort. Especially the Blackwell essay. If you are writing a paper on Swift (or you are a sincere fan) and you want info--read this book.

The title of the book "Nazi Gold" was only one of the subjects examined in the book. This would disappoint those only interested in the fate of Nazi Gold alone. However there are plenty of later books dealing specifically with Nazi Gold. In this book war plunder and loot of all types are described including, Black markets, Uranium, Radium, Platinum, Currency laundering, stolen National Treasures, Art, cigarettes, vehicles, business ownership, Mistresses & Prostitutes, forged papers, Narcotics etc.
After reading many similar books, I would say that this is one of the better books relating to the occupation life at the end of the war and focused upon activities in the American sector between 1945 and 1949. This particular version is less pleasant and a balance against the glossy version seen in the popular history books about the same time period.
When I read this book, I knew that most of the real Nazi plunder had already left Germany by 1945. This book more specifically addresses the fate of the millions that remained and were both hidden and scattered during 1945 and after.
The authors are British and therefore, while focused upon American wrong doing, seemed biased and tended to ignore wrongdoing in the other Allied sectors. Though they did give a few examples of other Allied thefts.
The book examines the social, political, organizational, and economic conflict atmosphere in the American zone during occupation, that led to various thefts and cover-ups. The geographic area of emphasis seems to be the areas near the Swiss, Italian border. The Authors make a point that this area was the most corrupt area of American occupation with a natural geography for hiding and smuggling.
The American corruption was so widespread and open that it undermined the integrity of the occupation of a defeated nation and could have provided additional cause for German desires toward ultimate reprisal, much as the corrupt Northern carpetbagging aftermath of the South after the American Civil War. The corruption weakened the case for remorse, reflection and restitution from the German people.
One can see that corruption of the first order was in play to such an extent that many Nazi war criminals were able to escape, often with much of their Nazi loot. Many of the American officers were compromised and cooperated secretly with the Germans up to the highest levels of American occupation governance. Some of the American officers were also surprisingly former German Citizens. Americans were vulnerable to bribes of loot and women with some American officers that even took in former high level Nazi Mistresses who were also acting as compromising agents.
The book is filled with circumlocutions and sidetracks. However it appears that the Authors were afraid to state certain things directly and therefore cleverly hid the truth along the tangental paths. For example, describing an important figure early, then reintroducing them later, when most would have forgotten. General Patton's connection to and possible causes for his fate, are mentioned.
Given today's retrospection over the tremendous sacrifice and bloodshed of the Allies, the book left one wondering who ultimately won the war. It seems that secret German leadership was able to compromise the US to such an extent as to ultimately circumvent restitution processes and to get their way. They were then, as a former agressor and then a defeated nation, able to grow economically faster than most of the economies of the 'victorious' Allies whose economies were victimized by the war and also in ruins.

Those who expect an answer to the questions volumes 1 and 2 have promised would be solved in vol. 3 may be disappointed. The whole book concentrates more and more on the war between the Marines and China, and nothing else. As readers we have been waiting for three books, and then we only get a few lines of information about the aliens/ancestors at the end. The Alpha Centauri plot in the middle of the novel ends abruptly and is never continued.The good action and story of vols. 1 and 2 has now been institutionalised and the fighting gets boring. It is not conceivable that the nations on Earth would behave like this in face of such an enormous discovery. Maybe this book is the preparation of volume four, money has frequently generated trilogies with more than 3 volumes. But if this is the case, we as readers expect more tension and more substance. This book is weak in comparison to the others.

Ian Douglas (AKA William Keith, Jr.) has managed to capture the feel of what it is to be a Marine in this trilogy. Combined with his talent for writing fairly realistic science into his work, he has easily created the best military sci-fi since Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg Legion series or David Drake's Hammer's Slammers. I eagerly awaited this book and wasn't disappointed at all. As for comments about the conclusion not wrapping everything up, why? Mr. Keith's website indicates that a second trilogy is on its way, that will take the Marines to the stars. Why wrap everything up when we have the chance to enjoy a long-running series with an epic sweep?

For an example of just how enjoyable Mr. Keith's (Douglas') series can be, I recommend you read the Warstrider series.

Europa Strike is the final of three books in the Heritage Series, a well written trilogy that combines some excellent military fiction with an engrossing science fiction plot that borrows heavily from the speculative archeology in Graham Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods". The characters are interesting and multi dimension, the plot is imaginative and the dialog is gritty and realistic. Once you get started, these books are hard to put down.

The third book takes place 27 years after the first, in 2067, when scientists have discovered an alien artifact trapped under the ice locked oceans of the Jovian moon Europa. In a desperate bid for power, the Chinese rush an invasion team to make first contact with the machine. All that is standing between them and the knowledge that could make China supreme on Earth is an outnumbered band of US Marines.

A better title would be the Essence of Non-Object Oriented Programming (using c++ as illustration).

The final paragraph of the last page of the last chapter includes the following:

"Then you will need to learn about the additional concepts of classes and objects, inheritance and polymorphism. ... See the bibliography for books on the subject".

The title states that it is to be the essence of programming in c++ book, yet includes neither 'class' nor 'object' in the index. This could mislead many of those who think that they will gain any experience of how to write a serious c++ program.

As a book on procedural programming, I am sure it follows a well tested route through this approach.

This book is excellent at teaching the basics of c++. If you are trying to learn object-oriented c++: this is not the book. If you don't know c or anything and want a good framework, variables, if statements, loops,basic console input and output, pointers, arrays, functions, file input and output, strings and others then this is the book. I usually buy 2 books instead of one all encompassing book. The first book is the foundation so that I can understand the second in a more complete manner. Note: if you are using visual c++ or even c++ builder (definitely worth a look by the way) this book may confuse you since they are both tied into a graphical way of designing programs, and this book is a total beginner's book. If you are starting out with one of the free gnu compilers (e.g. Bloodshed Dev-C++) or something basic like borland c++ 4 then this book will be great and easy to follow. Then you can learn how to make classes and objects.

Well writeen, simple and efficient. It covers various program design methodologies and gives some good examples. Highly recommended to those who need an introduction to program design

You've got to hand it to Ian Smith, he doesn't give up. Unfortunately, with Robert Mugabe massacring people left, right and centre people sometimes start to give Smith's arguments and rewriting of history credit they do not deserve.

In the world of Ian Smith as he would have you look at it, hearty Rhodesian farmers held the land in trust for grateful, happy blacks, while putting in place a slow and gentle programme of steady reform which would gradually empower a black population who were clearly not in any position to responsibly govern a great country. Meanwhile, he was brutally sold down the river by the mother country (Britain) who got foolhardy liberal ideas about self-determination and black empoerment.

The reality is somewhat different. Smith's regime has the dubious honour of outdoing Apartheid South Africa in the unpleasantness stakes. Smith's [associates] lived the high life while disenfranchised blacks were used for ... labour and segregated from white society. The failure of post-colonial governments such as Robert Mugabe's has aroused a new debate about the merits of a "benevolent colonialism." Whatever the merits of this argument, it's pretty academic because Smith's government was in no way "benevolent" and could never be held up as one of the better examples of colonial management. In fact, it could be a case study in ... abuse of power. What reforms the Smith regime implemented were hollow and deliberately rigged to make no real difference. Herculean efforts were made to stall the emergence of a well educated, politically aware black middle class which might ultimately challenge white rule. And if any of the "kaffirs" got too uppity they could always be dragged off to a cell to have electrodes attached to their privates until they changed their minds. Of course, this all came back to bite the Smith government in the backside because when it came to a shooting war, even moderate blacks had no real stake in preserving the status quo and little incentive to fall in behind the government.

During the run-up to the negotiations which resulted in the handover to black rule, Smith (who was acknowledged by everyone who dealt with him as a foul mouthed thug) toured London lecturing parties of the hard right faithful on the importance of teching the blacks to "know their place". Willie Whitelaw, not an ungenerous judge of character, described him as possibly the most unpleasant man he'd ever met. Don't be lured by the revisionist nonsense about a paternalistic, essentially benevolent regime. It was nothing of the sort.

Ian Smith was a man ahead of his times. His view of the inept leadership that Africans have offered their continent is correct.

It's too bad that inevitably down the road the so called "rich countries" will have to bail that country, with or without Magabe.

We shouldn't help. Let them lie in the bed they have made.