For some reason the entire line up of Richard Herman's books appeared on my favourite bookseller's shelves a year or so ago, at ridiculously low prices. I was intrigued, and laid out the necessary bucks.

Well - it was worthg it. In fact, twice the price would have been fair. Not, of course, that I'm complaining.

"Force Of eagles" is the second of Herman's books, and it's a great yarn. Tautly plotted, with excellent airborne and land battle sequences, the action's non-stop. The concentrated action, however, doesn't interfere with the development of a bunch of likeable characters.

Yes folks, it's battle time, and the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad. (OK, so they're a little cliched. But hey... get with the picture. They are the bad guys, after all!)

The scenario's realistic (Herman must have war-gamed the action a number of times) and is told from a number of perspectives: the pilots, the ground-crew, the medics, the CO and his staff, the odd civilian.

Good stuff... as good as Dale Brown, without the political posturing of the letter.

This is the first book I picked up by Herman ( I just happened to see the F-15 Eagle on the cover while browsing a bookstore). I have re-read this book so many times the binding is coming loose! I had to go back and read his first novel The Warbirds and have added it and every book since Force of Eagles to my collection. If you like reading about the military and the Air Force in paticular, Herman is the author for you! Lots of action scenes as well as political background information. A general synopsis of the book would be what could have happnened had the U.S. lost the Gulf War.

The genral at the pentogon is very mad because he wants his people out of prison. he does not care who does the job. Stansell gets the job and puts together a rescue team to get the pows out, but it is not easy trying to do all this. THIS book is the best i would recomend this book to any one.

Herman Ridderbos asserts that the material authority of the New Testament canon properly belongs within the scope of redemptive history, with the apostles serving as Old Testament-style prophets and witnesses to the redemptive event of Jesus Christ, specially commissioned and authorized by him to proclaim the kerygma. ... Ridderbos is extremely helpful in dispelling myths about the early church granting an authority to a group of writings arbitrarily and a-historically. He clearly demonstrates that the apostles saw themselves in a continuing line of witnesses to God's acting in history, and that the early church accepted this authority. His interaction with Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Reformed perspectives on the canon are helpful as he tries to clarify how his view both rejects the Roman Catholic and Lutheran teaching and builds upon the Reformed view. In its usefulness as an apologetic work, Redemptive History and the New Testament Scriptures is hindered by the centrality of the a priori of faith. However, for those who hold to this a priori already, it is a thorough justification in its defense.

This is not a review but a correction - the translator should be "Gaffin", not "Graffin"

This thin and razor sharp piece of scholarship is essential to the understanding and defense of true protestant religion. Too many so-called protestants don't know the first thing about "Sola Scriptura." And among the slightly aware, canonicity is a much neglected topic. Get a life and read this book today.

What a peace-nik. Not that that's all bad, but when you don't go to war, because you don't want your son to become a pilot in 15 years. Come on Dick?!? Richard Herman, a former pilot, was probably much better in a plane (I hope). This would've been a great story to sit around and hear him tell in a bar somewhere, but the book just made me want to slap the president. (ok, so I guess it is like real life) I would never recommend NOT reading a book, but if you've got a choice you may want to put this on the back burner for when you can't find anything else to read.

If you like Dale Brown, you'll love this book. Contains the power struggles in Washington focused around the White House, Pentagon, and personalities. On the aviation side, a good read as well. If you like reading high tech espionage books with ample doses of power, intrigue and war, this book is for you. A perfect book to take along on a vacation. Others have commented that Herman wasn't factual with the aviation, the Washington power struggles, and I think he could have closed the story a little better. I don't know about you, but I read to relax, and this one was a fun read. I couldn't wait to get a few moments to take in another chapter or two. I loved it!

This is the first Richard Herman novel I have read, and I was pleased with it's intelligence, and relevance to today's politics and culture. Human relationships, world affairs and the mlitary are portrayed with depth and subtlety. I've noticd all the reviews posted about Herman's books are posted by men. This might give the misleading-if prejudiced- impression that these books are "Wham Band- shoot-em-up" books. Not true. Everyone might enjoy- and benefit- from this book

These days it seems like only English professors and their students are reading Melville's poetry. MOBY DICK, and other works undoubtedly proved that he was a master of prose, but the critics weren't so convinced about his poetry, instead giving it lukewarm reviews at best, and calling it amateurish. For this reason we find Melville's prose in the literary canon while his poetry remains on the periphery of obscurity and limbo.

The poems are dense and full of Civil War references, so it would behoove the reader to brush up on his history. Likewise, the reader will quickly realize why Melville's poetry didn't receive the critics' acclaim. They are melodramatic, with an overemphasis on composing within the traditional (some would say archaic) rules of poetry: rhythm, rhyme scheme, etc., which does not translate well into our time and makes it not the most entertaining style to read...

These are interesting poems, but seem to have more historic value (U.S. history and the history/development American poetry) than poetic.

My personal favorites include: "The Stone Fleet," where Melville experiences romance for the whaling ships sailing out of harbor and which, consequently, he never sailed on; and, "The House Top," from where he overlooks the New York enlistment riots, where he implies that those who don't fight for our country aren't for God.
--ross saciuk

I am one of the editors of the Prometheus Books edition of Melville's superb book on the Civil War. Alas, the Library Journal review, posted for the volume, is pathetic: two sentences, only one on Melville's poems, and that one half wrong, for Melville had NO direct experience of actual fighting in the war. What is more, there is no reference to the extensive supplementary material in our volume--including fine essays by Helen Vendler and Rosanna Warren. Caveat emptor regarding any such "review" of the "critics."

It has been said of Herman Melville that his prose is poetic, but his poetry is not. In his time, in fact, his poetry was little-read and quite unpopular. Of course, _Moby Dick_ received only a lukewarm reception back then. Now, his poetry deserves a reassessment.

First, _Battle-Pieces_ should be credited as artistic, sometimes beautiful, poetry. Some of the poems are somewhat doggeral, and would be much improved by a few less forced rhymes. Others, however, are truly moving.

In these latter poems, Melville conveys the horrors of the war--and occasionally the humanity that shone through, uniting the brothers across the battlefield. Few men or women of the time had the experience (he participated in a chase of a Southern soldier) and writing ability to show us this time so effectively. As a result, he produced what, in my opinion, is a book at least as good as his most well-known novel.

At the end of the book he includes an essay on Reconstruction, in which he pleads for an easy reconciliation with the conquered South, more along the lines with Lincoln and Johnson's plans than the Radicals'. While somewhat disappointing (we'd like the man who created QueeQueg to support Southern blacks' rights a little more), the essay is well-written, and allows us to read the nonfictional beliefs of a man we usually associate with fiction--just as the poems let us read the verse of a writer of prose.

This really is a good book even though the language is highly romanticized. It reveals the inherent vices that are imposed on the indigineous people. It's worth reading for the surprise ending.

I read this book while spending a month in a small Peruvian village in the Andes. A village that is far from the tourist path of Machu Pichu. A village that would mirror the mountain community of Killac, the setting for this engaging classic. Killac, is a village that depicts the neglect, backwardness and feudalism that existed in Peru at the turn of the twentieth century, and to some extent still exists today.

"Torn from the Nest" is a brilliant story of love, power, courage, oppression, virtue, incest and deceit written in 1889, and was selected as one of the first volumes in the Library of Latin America, Oxford.

The "Library of Latin America" series makes available, in English, major nineteenth century authors whose work has been neglected in the English speaking world. To be selected as one of the first works by this editorial committee was no small feat, especially when you consider the plethora of writing against which this title competed.

Clorinda Matto de Turner dared to change the demented orthodoxy of the Roman Catholic Church and the oppression of the indigenous Indians by the immoral wealthy gentry, including the village priest. Her anti-clerical tone was unmistakable; so much so, that the Catholic Church in Peru immediately condemned the book and considered it heretical and blatantly irreverent (that was enough to get me to read this book). This condemnation set in motion the persecution of Clorinda Matto de Turner. In the months and years to follow, because of her social, political and religious writings, she was suppressed, oppressed and finally driven from her county.

Though a century has passed, the Indians of Peru are still a oppressed people, held back by lack of education, oppression of culture and language and economic exploitation. This year, for the first time in Peruvian democratic history, a candiate from Inca descent has been elected president of Peru. For those interested in the . Highly Recommended

"If the book is good, is about something that you know, and is truly written, and reading it over you see that this is so." (Ernest Hemingway)

The Internet has changed the world in so many ways. This book is a collection of essays by some of the most prominent minds of the Internet. It covers security, freedom, intellectual property, privacy, and ethics of course. It was required reading material for a Computers, the Internet, and Society course I took. Very few other books could be better for that subject matter.

Well, start off with very flat stereotypically characters: Brave dashing American Hero (hot pilot low responsibility), Toss in some evil Arabs (chemical warfare types), some brave Zionists (protecting their country), even a sexy female spy (only there for the love interest and honey trap). Now mix this well with a scene stolen right from TopGun, a tragic flight accident to turn our hero around by interfacing him with a experienced legend.

This book is the typical formula that that was old after Clancy's first book - it is looking no better with age. So, we have nothing new - but the death of many trees. It is a sad thing that this type of book gets published when there are probably much better books just waiting.

Israel is under siege (again) in "Firebreak" by USAF Veteran Richard Herman. While armies and fighter planes converge on Israel, both Israel's and America's leadership grapple around like blind men, and opportunists on overy side use every subtle (and not so subtle) trick to turn things their way. Author Richard Herman is supposed to be an expert on military aviation, but he may be out of his league when he goes into the political sphere (actually, few of the political machinations in "Firebreak" are subtle), and when he goes into combat flight mode - supposedly his expert area - Herman creates flight scenes to anemic to remind readers of the high-speed knife-fights that first aroused their interest in air combat.

In between the combat, Herman shows a less-than-deft approach to Israeli politics. USAF pilots, well educated as they are, usually have their own opinions about such subjects as Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the settlements erected there - but Herman's protagonist is conveneiently clueless, and the readers can take heart that a sultry Israeli love interest is on hand to explain the UN resolutions against the Settlements while arab bombs rain down from above. The Knesset scenes, where charachteristically litiguous Isreali politicians censure each other for believing their own propaganda, is probably accurate. Less so are scenes meant to depict life in typical Israeli combat units. One such unit, a tank platoon, contains a Druze arab and an orthodox jew, the latter of the two doesn't really do anything but annoy his commander. Because the orthodox doesn't really exist outside his CO's negative perspective, he comes across less as a separate charachter than a blank apparently intended to symbolize all orthodox jewish soldiers. Let those orthodox jews who serve extended military tours debate the accuracy - it's simply poor writing, the product of any writer who can push just about anything with his miltary credentials, no matter how unrelated to his area of actual expertise. Doubtless orthodox soldiers still unaccounted for in the Lebanon war weren't given copies of "Firebreak" to enliven their captivity (assuming they lived long enough for the paperback ed.)

Worst of all, Herman's Israeli protagonist is the sexy Israeli linked up with the novel's hero. When are writers going to wise-up and realize how dated this stereotype is? This has to be the 3rd book I've read since the Gulf war that featured Israelis exploiting sex. Desert Storm, which showed how far ahead our military is in just about every way, has also revealed the how medeival technothriller writers are. Herman's understanding of the mid-east clearly neglects how often real-life anti-zionists (whether Islamic fundamentalist or secular pan-arabist) fall back on the stereotype of Female Mossad agents seducing otherwise stalwart arabs into sedition. So dated is this stereotype that, were Herman's military units comparably equipped, they'd be fighting with slingshots and pointy sticks.

Instead, Herman applies his critical thinking to his command of military technology, but even here comes up flat. These have to be the flattest flight scenes of any technothriller - comparable to some circa-1991 flight simulator. As usual for this sort of book, the plane come off feeling less like soaring engines of military might than cheap plastic models. Ofcourse the author refuses to depict air-to-air confrontations from a single point-of-view, preferring instead to show where his planes are at all times. In real air combat, the relative positions of different planes is one of the single most important factors. Herman's inability to exploit this element robs his air combat of both drama and realism, marring a book with little credibility to recommend it.

In the footsteps of his previous novels The Warbirds and Force of Eagles, it shows formerly irresponsible pilot Jack Locke in command of a squadron in the 45th with the grandson of the President under his command. This book shows how Matt Pontowski changed from a spoiled grandson to a top-notch fighter pilot with confirmed kills in combatOne thing about Herman that happens quite often, is that he seems to kill off his characters prematurely, such in the case of Col. Waters, Thunder Bryant, and in this book, Jack Locke and Mike Martin. However, this "aura" of death serves as a prod for the upcoming officers to prove their worth. Some do, and some don't. The former fighter pilot certainly writes a great book, one that is worth reading over and over without losing any of its impact.

This book takes each Disney animated movie, and analyzes it with the following subheadings: Original tale, Disney version, plot holes, bloopers, strange/critical reaction, attractions made, cutting room floor, and hidden images.

This book was more slow moving than his behind -the-scenes expose of Disneyland. If that's what you're looking for, purchase the Mouse Tales books. You won't find much interesting here. On the other hand, if you'd like to hear how the movies evolved, and enjoy uncovering hidden Disney images, this is a good book for you. You should be a fan of the animated movies to read this book, as there's little else here of interest.

It held my interest---but not by much.

While I was REALLY excited about this book, especially after reading MouseTales-a behind the Ears look at Disneyland , I am only so-so on it now. Don't get me wrong; on a scale of 1-10 it would still be a 7.5 and is a good read, but I was a bit disappointed. The book is well laid out and set-up to follow a familiar pattern. First comes the ACTUAL story that the Disney movies were based on. This is really interesting, especially to see how far some of the "Classics" have actually gone away from the real story line. Then comes a couple of pages write-up on the Disney story including some background information into how the story evolved, who was involved, and how it got from here to there-all good stuff. Then he talks about Bloopers, Hiddens, and Theme Park Attractions. And he does this for almost all 34 animated features plus Song of the South, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mary Poppins and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. So the book really is quite comprehensive. I loved the Actual Story and the Disney Story parts of the book, but the information on Bloopers, Hiddens and Theme Park Attractions was not particularly extensive and in a few parts-especially on the harder to find films like Sleeping Beauty and Song of the South outright wrong. (I have both.) While my opinion might be somewhat tainted by my own knowledge (I am one of THOSE fans and can from memory list a good number more than is in the books), this brush treatment of these subjects is enough to cast aspersions over the other parts of the book and make you wonder how much of it may or may not be accurate

I was surprised to find that Koenig's book details movies all the way up to Tarzan, and even hint at the future with the fact that "Treasure Planet" was planned long ago.
Filled with fascinating behind the scenes glimpses at the production of the movies, along with trivia notes and things to catch, this book makes watching the Disney Animated Features an extra special treat.
You'll learn about the missing songs from the classics, and just how Disneyland and WDW got their famous rides.

Recommended for the Disney phile- particularly those who want to study each film piece by piece now that most of them are available on video.

Dark Wing was OK, but definetly not Mr. Herman's best. It was the first A-10 novel I've come across, and the flight scenes were excellent, however they only made up a small portion of the book, with the rest occupied with various other subplots, many of which I felt weren't needed for the story. The whole thing with Kamigami formulating all his strategy based on his girlfriend's dreams and predictions of the future seemed a wee bit far-fetched, and didn't add much, if anything, to the story. Still, it's essential reading for any Herman fan.

The book was a sugestion from my military father so I knew that if it had to do with the military it would be good. I was right in believing so. The book kept me enchanted and I followed along wanting more. I was indeedwanting more when it ended and would love to see him right another one. I've always loved the A-10 and Rich did it justice.

Dark Wing is the second book by Richard Herman that I have read, and I can say that it is fantastic! He gives the A-10 the needed publicity it deserves as a kick ass warplane. The plot is interesting and has lots of twists and turns. His technical descriptions are great, not over-explaining things and not under-explaining them. This book drops from a 10 to a 9 because of all the Chinese names, internal Chinese politics, and Chinese spirituality. Other than that, a great read.

More like 2 and and a half stars would be an appropiate rating. In Richard Herman's eighth novel, a B-2 is sent to destroy a chemical weapons plant in Sudan, but the mission goes wrong and results in the B-2 pilots being captured and an Air Force officer back in the US going on trial for supposedly having leaked information of the mission. Overall, this was a rather dispointing book from Herman who is capable of writing a lot better stuff then this. The only portion of the book that really sustained my interest was a subplot involving the Army's Delta Force mounting a rescue operation to get the pilots out. The rest was very slow paced and seemed to drag on. Very little attention or characterization is given to the main character, a government prosecuter, or any others for the most part, and there is the ridiculous inclusion of a "super computer". Read Force of Eagles, Firebreak, or Edge of Honor instead, all far superior Herman books.

This is my first time to read this author. I enjoyed the book very much. It is very interesting and although it was difficult to keep some of the characters straight, because of the many sub-plots, I never wanted to put it down. His characters are likeable and his plots intriguing. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

This book reads just like today's headlines. Invaluable....! A great vacation read.