First, I'll admit I'm not an unbiased reviewer. My dad served in Enterprise for three hard years ('42-45), and I've made my own efforts to tell her story.

That said, "The Big E" is without peer, as both a history of the World War II-era carrier Enterprise, and as a record of what carrier warfare in the '40's was like. Stafford's prose is both elegant and -- given the records he had available in 1960 -- accurate. His descriptions are vivid: you can feel the decks whip violently at Santa Cruz, you can see the vibrant green of the Philippines at Leyte Gulf, you can sense the tension in the ready rooms at Midway. Her men are not just names on a page, but tangible characters: bold, fast-thinking, humble, optimistic, but sometimes very worried about their prospects.

There are a couple points about the book which the prospective reader should be aware of. Stafford's focus is primarily on the ship's squadrons, and less so on efforts of her crew. Originally published over 40 years ago, some of the language is a bit dated, though, again, overall the writing is superb.

The fact, however, that a 40-year old book about a ship that was decommissioned in 1947 is deemed fit to reprint in 2002 should tell you two things. The book is not a throwaway, but a genuine work of literature. And Enterprise was not just a warship, but a unique bonding of man and machine, that came through for her country when she was needed most.

I have had this book since it was first published and I can no longer keep the book together, so it is time to replace it. I'm was thriller to see it still in print.
My father was a plank owner of the BIG "E" and loved the ship with a special love that only someone who have faced death and servived can feel. It was a disgrace to have her scrapped and after readin Cdr Stafford's incredible story, I believe that everyone would agree she(and more importantly the men who seved on her) were and are national treasures

This was the first book I read about World War II and it inspired me regarding the selfless way these men who fought put themselves on the line everyday for 4 years. Cmdr Stafford brought the ship to life. I lost this book over the years and the copy I have now is precious to me. The sacrifice of those on board cannot ever be discounted nor will it ever cease to inspire.

This work of Sir Conan Doyle clearly shows that detective stories did not limit his interests. An excellent adventure and a well written one. What else do we need in a good book? This is very solid five stars.

I expected to be disappointed with these stories since I knew that I would be comparing them to the Holmes stories. But, quite frankly, I enjoyed Etienne Gerard as much as I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and when I had finished the book, I found myself wishing that Doyle had written more stories about Brigadier Gerard. Gerard is a very different character than Holmes, but the characterization is just as brilliant. I highly recommend these stories.

How Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can write a character that is irritatingly arrogant yet, charmingly loyal and naive is beyond me. The depth of Gerard's character rivals even the great Sherlock Holmes. Just as with his more famous counterpart(Holmes), Gerard is not just a hero(although there can be no questioning his bravery),he can also be a clown,(without ever realizing it)a ladies man, the greatest swordsman in the Grande' Armee(or at least so he tells us). With exciting short stories we venture through Gerard's career as a cavalry officer. He quite often bumbles his way into situations an officer of his rank should never allow himself into yet, it is these situations once gotten out of(after much daring and a little bit of luck)that build not only his career but, the readers passion for his character. These stories are an excellent companion to the more famous Sherlock Holmes stories. Where have all the writers with skills like Doyle's gone?

This book consists of letters written by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It's extremely heart-breaking to read these letters as they gives "voices" instead of a mere figure. A lot of times, the figure of how many were killed, wounded, missing, etc but it does not portray any "emotions" the soldiers felt. At the end of each letter, the editor includes a few sentences on what happened to the author. It's extremely sad to read how many of those killed were just 19 year-olds, 20 year-olds, and these soldiers were just kids! It makes you think how wasteful, stupid, unnecessary wars are, and the sacrifices that has to be made.

The last chapter of this book speaks a lot. It is chronologically listed and you can see the evolving sentiments of the soldiers. At the beginning of the war, the soldiers were proud to fight against the Communists, how they think the war will be over soon. Towards the end of that chapter, most soldiers were scared, depressed and just wanted to get out of the war... alive! This shows why many Vietnam War veterans suffered from postwar depression as the horror of the war, how their friends, buddies were killed or wounded in front of their own eyes and how many could not possibly forget these horrifying images.

I highly recommend this book as this book speaks a lot. To me, the important message that it is trying to convey is the unnecessary sacrifices that these soldiers have to make, to fight a war that is not theirs, and the horror and bloodiness of the war is vividly described by these soldiers.

I have seen the movie in class last week and my teacher was in the war, but only as an engineer controller down in a ship. When my eighth grade class saw it, it was very good only some parts my teacher cut out because of nudity. I would suggest this boook or movie to anyone that has ever wondered about the Vietnam thing. This "war" that some people like to call it was not a war at all, it was just a police action and the soldiers were the police and we were just looking and were going to arrest the V.C.'s. If you have any problem with what I am saying then you can contact me at my address below. Thank You!

Sarah Quartuccio 14yrs. old

I still remember the day I walked into my college's library back in the late 1980s and saw this publication sitting on the table of new releases. I picked it up and headed for a couch. About six hours, many tears, mixed emotions, and several missed classes later I emerged from that couch and put the completed book back on the table. In those six hours my view about the Vietnam experience and those who fought it changed. The words of those soldiers in their letters are powerful evidence of the collision between innocence and experience that takes place when young men are thrust into battle.

This book should be required reading for all students of that war and required reading for every President who ever contemplates sending soldiers into battle.

Aldrich Ames' met with the author for several sittings after he was jailed and without the government's permission. That was just one more offense in a career of treason, drunkenness, slough and almost revolting passivity. Yet this man not only sent as many as 25 agents to their execution, he also spared no information to his KGB handlers. At times, he would be rooting for our side by day and by night he would have reversed and treacherously divulged everything he had previously learned.

Of course the answer is how? Despite the agency's superiority in resources and technology, they retain a dangerous and imbecilic "he's one of us" mentality. Ames repeatedly failed to follow protocol. He was spending money like a madman and while there were a few who were convinced of his guilt, the amount of time and the ultimate leakage that occured with every day was shameful.

Interestingly or not, the CIA has satellites that could zero in on Brezhnev as his dacha while he was being detained-but when it came down to getting the goods on Ames, they were more like the Keystone cops. Stealing trashcans, going door to door as salesmen, til someone called the cops and all of the vaudeville that one associates with those types of blunders. The book is far more flattering to the 'bureau,' who took full honors for the arrest even though there had been an agency team that had first fingered Ames and his wife.

The underlying issue for me was a) how the nature of espionage seems to be more about getting moles than about truly gathering intelligence and b) the astonishing lack of effective ways to figure out if someone is working for the other side. All of which, indicts or acquits the nature of being human in a world of frightening homeland security and total information awareness. Getting the info is apparently easier than managing it and logically acting on behalf of the constitution- not an ideology. There has been nothing discovered that has solved that problem. I really enjoyed reading this book and having some insight into diplomacy and superpowers and flawed characters all over.

Excellent book. Well investigated and written. Once you start, it's hard to put it down.

I really enjoyed Pete Earley's book "Hot House" about Leavenworth Prison and this book is every bit as good. An excellent combination of detailed research and captivating writing. Much more in depth than "Killer Spy" by Peter Maas (which was not a bad book, but tells more of the FBI's role in the investigation).

Every American pays taxes in one form or another, but not many of us understand its broader social policy implications. I read this book and it gave me a working understanding of how the dry old tax system affects broader human behavior: How tax affects how each of us saves, spends and invests. Ultimately, the tax system is about what values we as a society want to promote. Here, McCaffery explains how the tax system is wrong-headed by encouraging spending and discouraging saving and challenges us to rethink age-old liberal assumption regarding taxing income, rather than consumption. While a consumption tax is not a new idea and McCaffery certainly is not the architect of it, McCaffery does a good job of synthesizing the literature on taxes and challenges us to rethink the values behind our current tax code.

Mr. McCaffery's analysis is superb. This is a must-read for anyone who thinks their income tax is too high or that the tax system is in desperate need of a major change (that's just about everybody- isn't it).

Any [one] can see that the transaction costs of the current income tax system combined with its accompanying incentive to waste make it unworkable from a wealth maximizing perspective. Anyone who understands the current tax system, even a left-wing, ivy league educated law professor has to admit that a consumption tax, coupled with the elimination of the estate tax would better equip America to reduce transaction costs and incentivize saving. "The Mac" lays it all out for the world to see ... are they looking?

Kimberly Blaker and her co-authors have presented a well-researched, informative, and eye-opening account of the not-so-obvious ways Christian fundamentalists are seeking to overhaul our society, its government, and the educational system. The authors address the serious impact that these radicals have on children's welfare, women's rights, and separation of church and state issues. Anyone interested in preserving our constitutional and religious freedoms, from athiests to conservative believers, will benefit from understanding the epidemic of extreme beliefs in our country. This book has made me realize that it is not safe to sit by passively. The fundamentalists count on that. Instead, we must pay closer attention to the Christian fundamentalist movement and use our voting rights, at local, state, and federal levels, to take action against this very active minority emerging in the United States.

Kimberley Blaker's collection of contributions is as disturbing as it is eye opening. In this single book you are walked through a virtual maze of the many facets of religious fundamentalism and how it is seeping in to every pore of our society unnoticed ... almost.

The book is not an attack on Fundamentalists as one might fear, but is a very thought provoking examination of the threat fundamentalism, as a practice, poses to the future of our democracy. As the line of separation between Church and State becomes even more muddied, it is imperative that we each look around us and identify the factors which are contributing so heavily to this attempted erosion of our freedom. As Blaker, et al, point out so clearly - one of these factors is fundamentalism.

A book you can't put down. Very timely in this day and age of religious fundamentalism growing world wide...People think it can't happen here?? Think again.

If you're unacquainted with Gorey, don't start with this - start with Amphigorey. But if you've already got the EG bug, here's another must for the library. This sequel of sorts (in as much as anything can truly be linked to anything else by EG), is a delight that will get you snickering everytime you put marmalade on your aubergine.

In this sequel to "The Haunted Tea Cozy," the Bahhum Bug returns to Edmund Gravel and takes him on another journey to ponder over the fates and destinies of others. Upon their return to Gravel's home they calmly await the millennium. After all, will another day make a difference in the lives they just saw?

Edward Gorey died in the Hyannisport Hospital on April 18, 2000 from heart failure. On April 23, 2000, Charles Osgood on "Sunday Morning" (CBS) aired a final interview with Gorey and gave a short memorial to him. Gorey final interest featured finials, and his final stuffed creation was the figbash. Gorey's first work was THE UNSTRUNG HARP (1953) and THE HEADLESS BUST (1999) appears to be his terminal one unless he has left some manuscripts for posthumous publication. Let's hope that he did. He's gone, but he is now draped with the robe immortality and on his way to take his place in the Pantheon of Literature next to Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. A fitting poem for his mausoleum would be one by Walter Hamilton: "I never had a piece of toast, Particularly long and wide, But fell upon the sanded floor, And always on the buttered side."

What a fantastic journey this book was! The myriad adaptations that these creatures have made to various different challenges is truly fascinating. The photos of different ant species and the many detailed behaviours are very exciting. I would recommend this book to anyone with the slightest bit of curiosity. My only complaint (and certainly not a criticism) is that the writing in this book is clearly aimed at a 12-14 age level. Others may find the descriptions of behaviours and experiments a tad facile...

There are only a few writers who truly capture the natural world's complex structure, presenting it in a readable manner. Edward Wilson is one of these. Here, he's joined by Bert Holldobler in picturing one of our world's more enigmatic creatures - the ants. This book is a joy to read, whether you seriously study evolution or simply want a grander picture of life's mysteries. This book is a collector's item in reviewing what is known about ants and calling on students to consider how much remains to be studied.

The ants are one of the dominant forms of life on this planet. They've spread to nearly every environmental niche, adapting their habits and colony structure successfully. Wilson and Holldobler willingly convey their awe at this variety to anyone wishing to share it. Among the amazing accounts they relate, perhaps two stand out. The finding of the earliest known fossil specimens by a New Jersey family, and the night-foraging ants of Australia. Holldobler and Wilson's journeys have taken them to remote sites around the planet. They have a fine sense of how to bring the reader into their camps and excursions, sharing their discoveries and their tribulations.

Along the way, we learn how ants form their colonies, breed, forage, make war and enslave or absorb their fellows or other creatures. "Ants all look the same to the naked eye" they state, then show what a fallacy it is to continue believing that outlook. Beginning as solitary ground wasps, the ants have become one of the most complex social creatures in life. Their colonies range from simple bivouacs to huge structures. They can remove tonnes of soil to build a nest or range over extensive territories, terrifying even people with waves of migrating insects.

Anyone seeking to understand even a little of the diversity of life should own this book.

This book is easy to read. Could easily be used by elementary, middle school, and secondary school teachers to prepare a number of interesting lessons and scientific projects. Not only can insects (ants in particular, of course) but society, community, non-linguistic communication, evolution, and putting the universe into a size perspective provides many areas for class discussion. "Ants are oblivious to human existence." An incredible statement that will spark great conversation. Ants do not even know we are here! And they wont miss us when we are gone. After we have destroyed our natural habitat, they will continue to live in their microwildernesses. Text also provides a brief chapter on how to collect and observe ants and ant colonies. I am a language teacher but found reading this text simple and interesting.

In this "Enzyme Nutrition", Eddie Howell and May Murray managed to squeeze a lot of information into a compact space. A good effort indeed!
The book is small; but, touched every vital point. Its outline good, and includes: the catalytic nature of food enzymes; their individual sources; stability; instability; as well as other biochemical and physiological characteristics.
This book will be of great benefit to nutritionist/dieticians, biochemists, pharmacologists, and many others. Its theme is simple and straightforward. Still, I will advise any non-science biased enthusiasts (like: bodybuilders and fitness [people]), who would like to venture into it, to keep a biochemistry dictionary at hand. "Enzyme Nutrition" will assist its readers in assessing and selecting healthy natural foods. It is an ideal and affordable advisor, which diabetics and other persons with limited food choice would enjoy reading.

I found this book very informative and enlightening but too technical at times which made the learning process a little less enjoyable for me.

This seminal work by Dr. Howell fills a much needed void in the nutrition paradigm. With abundant clinical research to back his findings, he explains the critical importance of consuming foods rich in natural enzymes and how these life-sustaining molecules are destroyed by our modern methods of cooking, sterilizing, and processing foods. Written on a level basic enough for people with little nutrition background, yet comprehensive enough to take a doctor like myself to a new level of understanding regarding the power of raw foods in both health and disease. He even takes one quote from the standard "bible" of anatomy for all U.S. medical schools, Gray's Anatomy, which points out that the human stomach is actually similar to the well known ruminant animals in having two seperate divisions for digestion. This book, which took over 20 years to compile and originally spanned over 700 pages, was written by a man who dedicated his life to patient care and research. This is an excellent primer for anyone interested in learning the value of unadulterated food in its natural state for health maintenance, as well as the ultimate natural weapon in conquering disease.

It is hard not to like Ahmad as you read these interviews. First, he is a thoughtful critic of international politics and economic systems. He is as tough on the Soviet left as he is on the capitalist right. And in the process he is engaged by such thinkers as Edward Said, Albert Camus and Antonia Gramsci. Like many leftists, however, Ahmad offers more criticism than solutions. He is not as rabidly anti-American as Chomsky, but he does embrace some of the third-world cliches about the West and the US that grow tiresome after a while. I, for one, am not convinced that the rest of the world is trapped in an American economic construct from which there is no possibility of liberation or advancement. The tough work of building a civil society, of opening the doors of debate and freedom, of embracing a reasonable economic policy that allows for some human ingenuity, none of this is prevented by a US power structure. On the contrary, the US generally has only blocked -- on a few occasions -- forays into Stalinist systems hostile to both local and international interests. On the other hand, some of his observations are keen -- his conclusion, for example, that non-violent resistance can only be effective against oppression that is morally founded, such as British colonialism (bringing enlightenment to the rest of the world). It would not work against Stalin or Hitler (or Saddam). He is also a valuable guide through some of the India/Pakistan issues that are confusing to many of us. Like William Appleman Williams, another US critic, Ahmad has some interesting things to say, but they must be weighed against the total evidence of history.

I read this book in 3 hours on a long haul flight and then talked my neighbouring passenger into following suit. It's that good.

A stirring page turner with simple unawashed straight-talk about politics, religion, world order, even the vagaries of corporatization. Really, I hesitate to make this into a long intellectual review but you will find themes ranging from the opportunism of Gandhi, to the seeds of discord that US itself sowed in the middle east and south east asia (and what the future holds), to the after-effects of blatant commercialization on our social lives, to.... Wait, what am I doing. There is no way you will regret the 11 dollars that go into this incredibly eye-opening insight, so stop wasting your time reading these reviews and just buy it!

Quite simply as close to an intelligent thriller as a work of non-fiction can come. Required reading.

Eqbal Ahmad is a rare example of a man who struggled to live by his principles and has shown others the way by the sheer humanity and clarity of his thought. He was a true and worthy inheritor of the sufi tradition.