I paid 25 cents for this book and it was the best quarter I ever spent. This book grabs you at the beginning and does notlet go of you to well after you are done reading it. The subject matter is so topical that the 22 years from original press does not matter at all. Buy it used, find in in the library, or if you have money to burn buy it from a Zshop. You won't be disappointed.

Readers of Frederick Forsyth, Jack Higgins and Tom Clancy must get their hands on this brilliantly written thriller of a potential nuclear catastrophe in NY city. This book seems especially plausible today and adds to the impression. The characters are believable and the plot unfolds superbly, no let-ups or loose strings! A must read for all thriller readers, you will not be disapppointed. I read this book at a stretch and it is at the top of my all-time favorites list (and I've read quite a few thrillers!)

The prospect of an event is everyone's worst nightmare. Yet it is precisely what the think tanks responsible for national security have on their agenda, and have for years...what to do...if. The prospect was so daunting that the US and USSR for decades pulled out all the stops to insure that a nuclear explosion would never be initiated at the expense of either side, yet ironically devised every diabolical delivery vehicle, intellectual platform and system capable of destroying NY or MOSCOW in a NY minute. Now it is horribly realistic, save the inability to acquire and successfully detonate one (but would need several to probably assure that a success would be achieved, notwithstanding discovery of one or more attempts)Fanaticism is unpredictible. Can you match unpredictibility with effective unpredictibility? An extraordinary look into a fictional story which we should hope never strays from that genre.

Perhaps one of the best biographies I have ever read, this book tells the story of the fabled Spanish bullfighter Manuel Benitez "El Cordobes"!

Born in strict poverty, this youngser defied all the odds in becoming perhaps the most famous modern day "toreador"! His phenominal rise to fame is truly something out of a novel! El Cordobes, desperate, illiterate, starving had one dream, to become a bullfighter. And the odds were stacked heavily against him. This noble profession certainly had no room for such a peasant! But the heavens were looking out for him and rise he did. With the help of an influential patron, El Cordobes succeeded, and with a fervor almost unparalleled. This is no "dull biography" but a gripping one, complete with all the ingredients of a first-rate novel! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

I have owned this book (in paperback form) for 30 years. Never have I read a book so entertaining that I could sit there and not put it down. Because of this book I developed an interest in matadors and tauromachy that is with me to this day. My only question is....Why isn't this book a movie? It has all the elements for a major motion picture. It just needs the right director and script. With all the attention focused on people who speak Spanish...now is the time to "strike while the iron is hot"..so to speak. This book is well-written and well-researched. I always felt I was right there beside El Cordobes ...the authors made him come to life on every page. Someday I want to go to Spain to visit all the cities, towns and villages named in this book. Anyone interested in the life of a courageous young boy who overcame insurmountable odds....has to read this book. It's fabulous! My personal favorite for 30 years!

This book demonstrates how all men are not equal. I was enthralled, horrified and moved by the story of El Cordobes, the famous bullfighter and his rise to the top of his profession. His strength and courage in the bullring, his quest for literacy and latterly for the right to medical aid regardless of ability to pay kept me rivited until the end. The style of writing is fluid, and the tight focus on the chronology make the story fascinating. Even if bullfighting is not your average sports scene, this is a must read - the excitment, custom and fragrance of the corrida emanate from every page.

I must have read this book 4-5 years ago. And it left such an impression that after all these years...I realise that I have to reread the book and write this review. For everyone who have read ths review, my advice is to read the book, I will not give away the suspense. But the interactions of the characters, the emotions protrayed and the reality of it all will definitely strike a chord in everybody's hearts. For once, I am so disappointed that the book is out of print, because, it should be shared by all readers young and old. It not only opens your mind, it makes you see things in a perspective you never knew existed.

He leído este bellísimo libro en español "Mas Grandes que el Amor". El contenido de este libro esá mas allá de las palabras. Es increible la terminología extraordinaria usada por el autor al explicar el descubrimiento del virus del SIDA "AIDS" y otras plagas que han atacado a la humanidad. Es tan Celestial como Madre Teresa creó una clinica de amor para los moribundos víctimas de estas plagas, con personas sin muchos conocimientos médicos, y aún asi, pudieron curar el alma de estos moribundos antes de morir. Un libro de similar contenido: Médico de Cuerpos y Almas" "Dear and Glorious Physician"

My father gave me a copy oth this book about six year ago. I was captivated by the way individuals around the world had a positive impact on each other. i am thinking of the young priest who was gravely injured, but found that he could connect to others through praying for them. The work of Mother Theresas sisters, the scientists studying AIDS, it was truly a human mosaic. The intertwining of people who may never have met! Truly, "No man is an island."

The book starts telling two different stories. One is about an Indian family of peasants which, after a period of dry weather, is forced to abandon their land and to move in the suburbia of Bhopal. The other is about the Union Carbide, a huge American chemical company, which, at the beginning of the Sixties, decides to enter the Indian market of pesticides with its new product called Sevin. In order to accomplish its goal, the Union Carbide builds a factory near the suburbia of Bhopal. In this way, the two separate stories start to tie one with the other. They melt in a single story that ends with the tragic chemical accident that happened at the Bhopal plant of the Union Carbide, the night between the 2nd and the 3rd of December 1984, causing 30.000 deaths and 500.000 injured.

I think the author did a very accurate research work. Every character is fully described and every fact is well documented. The great quantity of details gives an astonishing realism to every phase of the story.

Just imagine if an Indian chemical plant exploded at midnight next to a major city in the U.S. and caused thousands of deaths and even more short and long term injuries...The outcry would be heard for decades; lawsuits would abound; guilty people would be tracked down and found ...The pain and the agony of the victims would be in the news a long time and sorrow and anger would be felt by all. And rightly so. But that did not happen in the U.S. Lapierre takes us through the Union Carbide pesticide factory explosion in Bhopal India in 1984. His book is a fast-paced study of the Carbide people and the building of the factory along with the many lives of the poor slum-dwellers who looked up to the great American company until that fatal day. Lapierre does admirable work in India and he writes admirably also. This original french version is excellent and it is a reminder that as a global society we have a duty to take care of our global village and its peoples...Many of us had long forgotten the Bhopal disaster and Lapierre reminds us that it's aftermath is affecting many lives 15 years later.

Un tratamiento excepcional al gastado tema del terrorismo internacional, situando la posibilidad de detonar una bomba atómica en el corazón de los Estados Unidos. Personajes totalmente humanos, situaciones poco relacionadas con la ficción y muy cercanas a la realidad, un lenguaje accesible, sin recargarse de detalles técnicos, manejando el ámbito terrorista en el fundamentalismo islámico. Un libro que todo seguidor de thrillers debe leer, sin duda, porque más que ciencia ficción parece premonición en el mejor estilo de Julio Verne.

If you watched the movie "city of joy" you MUST read this book. Thousand times better than the film. Just one word : Excelent !!!

In Rikards 3rd adventure he returns to the less legal aspects, of among other things, archaeology. Rikard who was the hero of both Jewels of the Dragon, and Crown of the Serpent, now has two new companions...Grayshard, a tathas type (fungal) life form, and Droagn, an Ahmear (a large serpent-like creature) who was 'rescued' by Rikard and Grayshard from the Tschagan, after being in stasis for a few million years (read Crown of the Serpent for the details on that story). In Lair of the Cyclops, Rikard and his crew head out to discover the secrets (and perhaps a few nice artifacts to sell on the black-market) of a race that changed the galaxy for the better, and then was wiped out of existence. Along the way Rikard and his friends run into another Gesta who creates much grief for all who encounter her. Ms. Toerson, cares nothing for anyone or anything, her ego is so great she would destroy acient and irreplaceable artifacts, just so no one else could ever see them. Unwittingly Rikard is her nemisis, even though he is also a gesta, like Ms. Toerson, Rikard has reverence for life and antiquities, and he must stop her rampage of destruction. Ms. Toerson's connections to wealthy and powerful people keep her immune from criminal prosecutions, and even to some degree Rikard. At every turn she is there to thwart and destroy every discovery Rikard and his friends make before they can be recorded for the scholars to study. It is truly a struggle of wills and prowess between the two gesta. Readers should definately check out the first two books in the saga, to get the full background in Rikard and his friends, but this book stands well on it's own which is good because the first two are hard to find. Mr. Wold has an incredibly vivid and fertile concept of of the universe these novels take place in, and I am definately looking forward to more adventures of Rikard Braeth, either in his home stellar region, or another such as the Anarchy of Raas, or the Abogarn Hegemony

Is Paris Burning? is one of the best books that Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins have wrote together. A huge job, a piece of history novel, good as only a few can be, with a great work of investigation; interviews with people like General Dietrich von Choltitz, (who recieved the order from Adolf Hitler, to burn Paris, in case that the defense couldn't be accomplish) or for example the Chief of Operations in Europe, the General Dwight Eisenhower. As usual in their books, Lapierre and Collins, put the reader inside of one of the most importants chapters in the history of the XX century, the liberation of Paris, with precisions of days, hours, and places. The order of Hitler, the beginning of the resistance, the slow arrival of the allied, the clear disobedience of General Von Choltitz.... in fact, a crucial moment in the history of one of the most beautiful citys in the world, a turning point in the development of the Second World War. A different way to learn history.

If Hitler had his way, there would be no Notre Dame, none of Paris' beautiful bridges, no Eiffel Tower. The Allies didn't stop him, a brave German general did. At a tremendous personal risk, he resolved not to be the man to destroy the most beautiful city in the world.

The story is told with the in-your-face realism of two journalists. Yet it's full of humor and even downright silliness. Would-be soldier Enrnest Hemingway captured a German soldier and relieved him of his pants. Why? He figured no man would escape half-naked. He was right.

This isn't about troop movements, it's about real people risking their lives (and those of their families) to liberate Paris. After all, Eisenhower didn't think he had enough fuel or time to fight a mini-war for Paris. He desperately needed to push east to Germany.

So how did it all happen? Read the book, in Paris if you can, but whever you can find a good lamp. Is Paris Burning? will keep you up late at night.

I bought this book, started reading it on the way home from the store, and finished it all in the same day. The author's style of writing is eminently readable. The book introduces you to many of the people involved in saving Paris, makes you love some and loathe others and keeps your attention glued to the end.

The book is based on interviews with as many of the key players in the liberation of Paris as possible, including the German commander of the city. The facts are laid out clearly, and the differing points of view are based on the actual opinions of the people involved, unlike some histories which seem to attempt telepathy.

The only (minor) problem I had with this book was a lack of footnotes, although there is a good bibliography some explanation in the text of where some of their information comes from. I could have used a bit more support for some of it, but on the whole I was pleased with and enjoyed the book.

This book provides a detailed examination of the events surrounding the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948. The story is told through the technique of alternating viewpoints from the the Arab and Jewish sides. The major players in this historical drama are made to breath because their characters are written about with the style of a great historical novel.
Absolutely essential reading for an understanding of the foundations of the current situation in the region.
The book shows two peoples who are both captive to historical and political forces that set them on a path toward beligerence with each other that seems today to have no end in sight.
Both bravery and brutality is displayed by each side as the struggle for control of Jerusalem develops.
What is especially disturbing is the inevitability of the conflict that was accepted by both sides from the very beginning. Reading this book now with the events of each day in the news sounding incredibly similar to those that took place in 1948 gives this history remarkable relevance and enabled me to synthesize what is occurring today into a broader historical context.
The book is well researched and documented and written in a brisk style that makes it difficult to put down. Highly recommended for a deeper understanding of a troubled region of the world.

"O Jerusalem" is a classic. By focusing on one narrow yet vitally important aspect of the Arab-Jewish conflict surrounding the birth of Israel between WWII and 1948, the authors bring to life all the characters, good bad and neutral who played a role in the saga of Jerusalem. As readers of the book will discover, prior to 1948, Jerusalem was a city with a mixed Jewish-Arab population. The Arabs and Jews lived in relative harmony, sometimes in mixed neighborhoods. Under British rule, all religious groups had access to their own holy sights. The authors demonstrate how villaims like Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, a rabid anti-semite who spent WWII hiding from the British in Berlin, brought ruin to the Arabs of Jerusalem. Indeed, the Arabs come across as the ultimate victims, which they were. Their victimizers were not the Jews, however, but their fellow Arabs. Ultimately, war comes in 1948 and the Jews are victorious in establishing the state of Israel. Many Arab residents of Jerusalem are forced from their homes either by the Israeli Defense Force, fellow Arabs or their own fears. Most wind up in the part of the city that has come to be known as "East Jerusalem". The old city, including the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall is captured by Jordan and ALL Jews are expelled. The book describes in great detail, the tragic consequences of this conflict which was not wanted by the Jews, not wanted by their Arab neighbors but spurred on by interlopers like the Mufti, the British and many bad players fromt he Arab world like King Abdullah. It is a fair analysis. It does not make the Jews out to be saints nor does it portray all the Arabs as blood thirsty monsters. It lays blame where it belongs. Those pre-disposed to a revisionist view of Israel's birth will not appreciate this book because its fair analysis does not meet with revisionist ideology. But for anyone who wants to learn the truth about this conflict, this book is a must read.

I tend towards books in the historical novel genre, and count among my favorite authors Herman Wouk and Leon Uris. "O Jerusalem!" was recommended to me by someone familiar with my interest in the history of Israel, and I was hesitant to read it at first, thinking that I didn't want to slog through some dry account of such a worthwhile topic.

Well, "dry" cannot be applied to any aspect of this book. Considering all of the college history books I've read, I think I can truly say that this is the best "true" historical telling of a topic that I've read...yet. The authors, in true journalistic form, did their research, and brought in those "human interest" aspects I so love in the historical novels. Their treatment of both the Arabs and the Jews is about as unbiased as one can be--I didn't see any blatant pandering to either side-- and felt that any (potentially) incindiary remarks were based wholly on historical track record (e.g., Arabs don't have a history--in Palestine--of cultivating the land, and this neglect is mentioned a few times). I recommend this book to anyone wishing for an in-depth (but not too technically deep!) look into the partition vote, the siege of Jerusalem, and the establishment of the State of Israel. ( As an aside: I'm not too interested in politics, but the political wrangling inherent in the entire partition process is quite fascinating. It goes to show that 'goodwill gestures' have about a million moving parts--not necessarily made out of love!).

After reading Beyond Love and City of Joy, I expected this to be just as good. Two third of the book is interesting - although I discovered what a prejudice author this is - but the nearer I got to the end of the book, the more disappointed I was. I expected a great ending, instead I found a very slow one.

I have read almost all of Lapierre's books and loved them. They were vivid, well-researched and absolutely riveting. But this book seems dated. He takes old pieces and pieces them into a book. We've been there.

This is an interesting book by a man who has obviously had a fascinating life. He takes us across many continents and interviews many people, throwing in anecdotes about his life and interests.

However what stops me giving this book a 5 star rating is the fact that I feel that some of the topics are given superficial treatment (despite the lengths of the chapters), and there is too much emphasis on the author's own involvement. Fair enough, you might say, it is his book about his experiences, but I feel it is these experiences which should take central stage.

This is however only a small criticism, and it is a VERY interesting book, about interesting people in interesting times.