This book successfully pulls off the difficult trick of being both a serious scholarly text and an enormously engaging introduction to the history and architecture of Crusader castles for the lay reader. The book is an obvious labor of love, which helps to account for its great charm. You first get a sense of this on the dedication page - "For Xana, with love, to remind her of Syrian days" - whereby Kennedy expresses his appreciation for his daughter's companionship on his rovings around Syria. (In his "Acknowledgements," he also credits his daughter with persuading him "to complete the climb to Bourzey when the spirit was willing but the flesh was getting a bit weak.")

If you needed any further confirmation that Kennedy is a scholar with a puckish sense of humor and a droll wit, you get it at the beginning of his "Note on Names," where he wryly observes that, "Like the naming of cats, the naming of Crusader castles is a complicated problem." Kennedy's writing voice conjures to mind images of a cozy library in some great English country house, where your host relaxes in a satin smoking jacket while both of you swirl brandy in your snifters and discourse about the comparative merits of crumbling castles on the western fringes of Asia. The book's first chapter - a survey of the development of Crusader castle studies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present - beautifully encapsulates Kennedy's discursive style and story-telling skills. "[Emmanuel Guillaume] Rey's life is something of a mystery," he muses, and you want to lean forward from your chair on the opposite side of the fireplace and say, "Tell me more." And he does, with an notable eye for the memorable quote, such as T.E. Lawrence's ironic complaint, while traveling around the Levant in 1909, that he was unable to reach Amman owing to "the unthinking activity of some local Bedawin in tearing up the Hejaz railway."

In form, the book consists of a generally chronological survey of the development of the Crusader castle, with individual chapters on siege warfare and the special features of (respectively) the castles of Templars, Teutonic knights, Hospitallers, and the Muslim princes. Another sign of Kennedy's passionate engagement with this project is the fact that he took all of the 90-some color and black-and-white photographs that illustrate the book himself. (There are also another two dozen plans, sketches, and prints illustrating the text.)

The photographs, together with Kennedy's text, cover not only the well-known structures like Krak des Chevaliers, Belvoir, Saone, and Montfort, but will also introduce you to a fascinating collection of lesser-known castles. Among these are the great Hospitaller citadel of Marqat, near the Syrian coast; the two castles overlooking ancient Petra; and - most curious of all - the cave-castle of al-Halbis Jaldak overlooking the Yarmuk River valley, the subject of a siege memorably described by the twelfth-century historian William of Tyre (which Kennedy helpfully quotes in its entirety). Kennedy's enthusiasm also extends to the humbler fortified towers of the lesser Latin nobility.

Kennedy's secret is plainly that he is both a scholar and a romantic - as anyone who wishes to write effectively about the Crusades should probably be. Let me close this review by quoting his own explanation for his enterprise in producing this book:

"There is something fascinating and frequently moving about forlorn and failed enterprises, those 'old, forgotten far-off things and battles long ago,' however perverse they may now seem. It is impossible for me to stand on the windswept battlements of Crac des Cevaliers, climb to the remote crags of the fortress overlooking Petra or explore the magical stillness of the deserted valley by Bourzey, without feeling a potent mixture of admiration and nostalgia which breathes excitement and emotional commitment into scholarship."

This book can be enthusiastically recommended to history buffs and armchair travelers, as well as to those with a more scholarly basis for their interest.

Everything Looks Impressive, the first novel by Hugh Kennedy, is the story of a Yale freshman from a modest background that finds himself in a world of culture and privilege beyond his understanding. While he grasps to form a bond, any sort of meaningful relationship that he can, he interacts with several colorful, charming and spoiled characters that take his emotions for granted.

You cannot help but fall in love with the innocent charms of the narrator who struggles to maintain his values while trying to fit in with his peers. A perfect scene when his girlfriend from home visits him at Yale shows him realizing just how phony he had started to become right under his own nose.

Packed with dynamic prose, witty humor, and a few surprising plot twists, this book is a must read for any fan of contemporary fiction.

This book goes beyond the contemporary stereotypes that go with the legacy of JFK. The author deals with the subject of the life and times of President Kennedy in a way that is sure to interest both the academic and casual reader.

Hugh Kennedy has written a witty send-up of the East Coast art scene. With deft descriptions, he filets posturing art dealers and their calculating clients in this tale of recent college grad Fred's first job with a Boston print dealer. I stayed up late into the night, unable to stop turning the pages that recount Fred's amorous encounters and at times hair-raising adventures. Each chapter is like a fine truffle, its dark smooth chocolate laced with unexpected essences.

When brokers of fine art conduct business like purveyors of pork bellies, it has a way of turning expectations upside down. Kennedy's sharp wit makes the fiftysome short chapters of Original Color fly by like a series of funny vignettes you might overhear in a crowded theater. The fast-paced story quickly draws the reader into the life of Fred Layton, a socially ambitious ivy leaguer struggling to find his niche in the world. The hero's preconceptions of WASPy gentility in all matters artistic are thrown out of balance when he gets a job working for The Most Vulgar Man on Earth. Through a suite of outrageous encounters with the charismatic but revolting art dealer, his colleagues and clients, Layton manages to get a grip on his own social and professional integrity

Original Color is one of the funniest books I've ever read, rarely can a book make you laugh out loud but this one does from beggining to end.

Hugh Kennedy attempts to summarize nearly eight centuries of complex History into a little over 300 pages. The result is a tedious, incomplete yet interesting read.

His intentions are to give the Muslim side of the story (an aspect which has been seriously considered by so-called "western" scholars only in the last half century, and which is sparking increasing interest especially in North, Central and South America).

As an academic Historian he achieves his goal at the price of having to oversimplify and often make assumptions based on the most current opinions. This is not necessarily to say that he is biased. But I do believe that he has over-extended the possibilities with this book. There is way too much information, which is too complicated to be compressed into such a small space.

He is to be admired for his ambition, but I'm afraid that unless you are already aware of the History of the area and just need a summary of events which is a bit more detailed than any encyclopedia, this book is going to be a heavy load to carry.

For the beginner who just needs to know more about Muslim Spain, this is a reliable source, but don't get discouraged by the density of its contents, take it one chapter at a time, and you can greatly benefit from it. For further details on certain aspects and for a list of sources, Kennedy provides a very good bibliography at the end, which will undoubtedly enrich your knowledge of the subject.

I give it four stars for its factual content (a very high achievement on its own), but won't give it the extra star because of the overload it causes.

Kennedy's book is a great introduction to the political history of Muslim Iberia. Densely packed with information, the book could have used more maps and lexcionic information. If you are not already familiar with the general outline of the situation in medieval Iberia (either from an encyclopedia or a survey of the Middle Ages), you may want to become so before tackling Kennedy's work. This book should serve as a foundation for building a larger and more detailed understanding through future reading.

Mongols, Huns and Vikings is another well written, well researched installment in the Cassell's History of Warfare series. The author, Hugh Kennedy, does a fine job of weaving comprehensible language into a serious, scholarly endeavor that keeps the reader hooked. The illustrations, maps and diagrams are excellent visual aids, particularly those 3-d battle graphics which effectively buttrusses textual decriptions of certain battles mentioned in the book. So, what's the problem? Well, I won't call it a problem. Let's call it a concern. Considering the extent of the Mongols' domain during the 13th century, and how successful they were at wedding undaunted ferocity on the battlefield to a keen strategic and tactical acumen that would win them 20th century admirers of the likes of Rommel, I am concerned that the author did not choose to focus exclusively on them. Why does he have the Mongols sharing space with groups of lesser military accomplishments? Maybe such a decision was not the author's perogative, but a desire of the editors of the series. I don't know. In any event, there is not enough literature, at least that I have been able to ascertain, on the Mongols. And for a formerly disparate bunch of hard scrabbling nomads who later went on to forge the largest contiguous empire in history, the Mongols' low profile on the historical landscape is questionable. Again, I don't dispute the book's style or the accuracy of its content; I just wish there could have been a singular focus on the Mongols.

Hugh Kennedy's "Mongols, Huns & Vikings" is the latest installment of Casell's History of Warfare series, a multi-volume collection edited by the Britsh historian John Keegan. The book is a bit mistitled--Arabs and Turks command more of the author's attention than, say, the Vikings--but it is still an interesting survey of nomad warfare in the Dark and Middle Ages.

Kennedy explains why, for 1,000 years, the nomads were so successful in their wars against civilization. They had incredible mobility, so that they could outmaneuver their opponents in battle. If things went badly, they could quickly vanish into the desert, steppes or ocean from which they had come. They were very tough and lived off the land, so they did not need long supply lines. They had capable leaders, who led because of their skills rather than because they were members of an established nobility. And they were an army in search of a country: every male in the nomad population was likely to be a skilled warrior, whether that meant firing an arrow from the back of a pony or swinging a sword on the deck of a ship.

For nearly 1,000 years, the nomads threatened the civilized world. But though they were very successful, surprisingly little is known about them: it may be true that history is written by the victors, but it is just as often the case that history is written by the people who can write. Because nomad societies tended to be illiterate, their history was usually told by their horrified victims.

And their victims had plenty to be horrified about. As Kennedy makes clear, the Mongols, Huns and Vikings had a very well-deserved reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness. The nomad threat began to wane only with the emergence of gunpowder weapons, which could not be easily obtained by nomads but could be produced in abundance by stable societies.

"Mongols, Huns and Vikings" is a reasonably well written, informative and well-illustrated survey of the rise and fall of the nomad warriors. The battle maps, in particular, are quite well done and very clearly lay out what is known about how several decisive battles were fought. ...

Although this book is intended for the "next generation", I found it well worth reading, and was impressed with Ms. Hunt's thorough and detailed coverage of the assassination, and its aftermath, including an examination of every possible theory as to "who killed JFK". Being a large-size "coffee table" book, there are, of course, many photographs, which adds immensely to its impact. "JFK for a New Generation" is a great addition to the subject for both newcomers and oldtimers alike.

This book is supposed to be a basic overview of Islamic history from the sixth century to the eleventh century. The problem is that if you are a beginning student of Islam it throws way to many names in rapid succession at you with not enough in depth discussion for you to remember any of them. On the other hand if you are an expert in the field you probably know you all these people are and there is not enough analysis to make it worth your time. Compounding the problem is the ridiculous price of fifty dollars for a paperback!