An important work that sheds light and understanding of the struggles and triumphs of Afrocubans and their culture. Robin D. Moore takes you into a fascinating journey, with scholarly research and in depth analysis, of the racial experience during a period of tremendous changes and unrest in Cuba. This work is an enormous contribution to our understanding of this period between 1920 through 1940...Bravo!

This book needed to be written. It is the story of Afro-Cuban musicians in the pre-revolutionary atmosphere of commercialism and imperialism from the US. Part of the story revolves around the racism of that era, which existed as well in the genres of big band and jazz. And part of the story revolves around the music of that time period--some of the richest and most complex in Latin American history. If you want to understand the use of African cultural identifications in popular music, this is a good place to start. It fills in some of the history which led up to the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon today.

Robin Moore's work is an important contribution to cuban studies. Combining archival research and interviews, Moore traces the arc of afrocuban cultural expression in the early 20th century from dispised cultural form to national symbol, a process, moore notes, which has interesting parallels to the United States. Scholarly but readable, this book is destined to become a standard work in cuban musicology and contributes to cultural, ethnic, and popular music studies.

An extremely interesting read! It's amazing that somebody actually lived to tell it. If you liked the movie or book "Blow" you'll enjoy this story.

The book grabs you. To give you an example, there are 2 murders in the first three pages. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because thru the whole book he crys how he was scared of Rafa(you will find out who he is), and that is while he stayed in the business.

Max Mermelstein approaches this story as though he's a kid who managed to sneak into an R-rated movie, and now he has to tell all the other kids about it. This book was worth the money, although at times it's rather blandly eloquated and leaves you wishing he had a better way with words. The magnitude of what he was involved with more than makes up for that, though. It's a great read even for those not interested in the drug trade, especially if you have a mind for business. It's such a different perspective on money-making schemes compared to something you'd read in a business mag, but is definitely enlightening for that very reason. That morality inversely equates with revenue is a common theme throughout the book.

Former Mayor of Boston and U S Ambassador to the Vatican, Raymond Flynn draws a very personal and intimate portrait of Pope John Paul II. Through the various events, incidents and celebrations narrated with meticulous detail and color, the personality of the Pope comes alive to the reader. The impact the Pope has had on the average American public is truthfully brought out. This book will be of interest to an American Catholic who would be able to identify the personalities from American politics and Catholic religion, at the same time can feel along with Flynn in his admiration for this man of God. Indeed it's a smooth and delightful reading worthy of the Pope as well as of the Ambassador.

I have read many books about His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and this is by far the BEST book I have read about the Pope. It is very easy to read. Infact, once I started to read I could not stop until I finished the book. When I was done...I could not stop crying. Former Ambassador Flynn did an outstanding job in giving his reader a rare and personal glimpse of the Pope, that other authors who have written biographies about His Holiness simply cannot convey. I especially found the stories of the mother who lost her son, and when the Pope offered Flynn money stating it was not church money, but the Pope's own money to help pay for the medical bills of Flynn's oldest son very moving and touching. For those who have never met the Pope...after reading this book you will feel as if you not only met him, but have known the Pope as an intimate friend for years.

Ray Flynn has taken from his many experiences with Pope John Paul II and put together a highly interesting read. This is not your typical biography, although each stage of the Holy Father's storied life is mentioned. This book gives you the Pope up close and personal, in both his public and private dealings. What an absolutely incredible man this Karol Wojtyla is!!

This book is a confusing set of devices and instructions for players and storytellers alike. It is hard to read and equally hard to understand--i found my High School government textbook easier to read than this. However, if you do want to give you Tremere scorcer/witch a bit more depth i would recomend this book, and its companion book.

I will rarely say in these reviews on Amazon.com that that "only X type of person should read this" but this review is one exception. I think this book has so much information, so many great ideas and guidelines, and clan background that it is really only useful for storytellers and maybe wouldbe writers who like the "world of darkness". I think a player would get a lot of ideas, many of which would not be compatible with a story from this book so the best way to combat that and still allow Tremere and other magic using Kindred to develop would be for storyteller and player to look at this book together. I think it does a good job of detailing how to design paths and rituals, a sample worksheet might help in this regard, but also in talking about the limitations of the practice of bloodmagic.

A book detailing the complex discipline of Thaumaturgy has been long needed. This is a really good one and while it doesn't solve all the problems created by the past handling of Thaumaturgy in VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE, it goes a long way toward clarifying and further developing the discipline.

The book discussed the history and theory of vampiric blood magic. We learn that it predates the Tremere, for example, and hear about basic principles of magical workings. There is discussion about the difference between a Tremere vampire and a True Mage (metaphysical, mostly, and assumes familiarity with MAGE- for more practical instructions on vampires and mages, see VAMPIRE: STORYTELLERS HANDBOOK), how non-Tremere might learn Thaumaturgy and some examples of arcane tomes. Most of it is clearly explained (with few exceptions like the unnecessarily ambiguous section about the difference between spirits and demons).

There are welcome sections outlining the Koldunic sorcery of the Tzimisce (finally!) and voodoo-derived traditions of Necromancy. Both the Assamites and the Setites have their own traditions of blood magic, detailed here. There are paths derived from Alchemy and Kaballah. Biothaumatugy is recycled from SECRETS OF THE BLACK HAND.

Unfortunately, while the material introduced here is superb, the book doesn't pull together the various little bits of Thaumaturgy scattered between VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE and VAMPIRE: DARK AGES. It just once again gives us more and better. It would have been nice, for example, to have an appendix showing which previously introduced paths and rituals are in which books. Furthermore, some storytellers seem intimidated about Thaumaturgy and disallow it as "too complicated". Step by step instructions (and a pep talk) might have been good, too. I should mention also that this book is about vampiric blood magic ONLY- no numinas or hedge magic more appropriate to allies like ghouls.

Not to put the previous reviewer down, but which culture hasn't studied the constelations ("fixed stars") & plenets ("wandering stars") for centuries?

This is a great book. The wording is very practical and down to earth. The subject matter in most of these chapters is formidable (given the limited space), and allows dialog between the reader & writer. What I enjoyed the most was not the diversity that was braught to the book, but the depth of knowledge that was braught to it. The chapter written about Chinese "Five-Element" Astroloy was my favorite. For more info about "this stuff"; I recomend anything written by DEREK WALTERS.

Now if you'll me let complane (which is what most of the critiques on Amazon.com do), I'll share with you what I don't like about most practicing astrologers. Most people (including Fagan) try to dispute the validity of using one Zodiac over another (sidereal vs. tropical). But the fact is that some Zodiacs don't even use the ecliptic! Incuding Chinese astrology. Or the Nakshatras, which most western astrologers "throw in"! And this is my point, that these Zodiacs are a cration. Our creation! And that's what makes astrology valid! Remember Arroyo. Don't forget Arroyo. He said, "If astrology is in fact an emination of universal mind or 'Collective Unconscious' or anything like that, then instead of imposing foreign dogma on astrology, I would say, let us open our eyes to what astrology already is! Let's acknowledge its inherent, extremely sophisticated, psychological [soulful] dimentions. It's all there. It's a tremendous tool, a language of consciousness and inner experience... This is one reason why traditional astrology has become quite meaningless to many of us; the astrology has not for the most part evolved to keep pace with our growth [in] consciousness. And it's why every culture has it's own astrology-the consciousness of that culture determines what level of understanding they can have of astrology."

I really need to emphisise this feeling I have about these truths! It seems as though all we need to do is look up and astrology becomes valid, alive because we are!

For another "good read" try The Origin of The Zodiac by Rupert Gleadow.

This is a book about astrology from China, India and Tibet. I do not know of any other book in which there are so many different astrological techniques from the East. Everything is clearly explained. In this book, you will find the wisdom of the sages of the East who have spotted the stars and planets for centuries. Now you can learn about their insights.

Robin leads readers on an excellent journey into themselves to find truth and hidden talent.
Working through the exercises is exhilarating, fun and enlightening.
True, you can learn a great deal about storytelling from this book, but you can also discover a great deal about yourself, your hidden past and how you think and experience life.
Read this book yourself, then read this book to your children. You will be forever grateful to Robin.

It is rare that any novel unabashedly makes clear the politically incorrect writing style that sees the world solely from the male point of view. Edward McGhee and Robin Moore in THE CHINESE ULTIMATUM tell of a world of tough-talking military men bashing their fists on a huge oaken table as they bark their orders to properly subservient lessers. Battles are described in all their gore just as if the reader were right there getting drenched in a carmine blanket. And women exist solely as eye candy for powerful men.
The plot is surprisingly intricate. A pre-unified Germany stages a coup, routing the Russian soldiers from a post-Nazi Germany so that Germany stands again as one nation. The Russian Premier, Kharkov, is foaming angry, and to complicate matters, he learns that the only reason the Germans had the nerve to unite their country was a secret deal that the Germans made with the Chinese. The German act was to be only the preliminary surprise assault by the Chinese against Russia. Kharkov feels that he has no choice but to launch a pre-emptive strike. He places the venerable Marshal Korzybski in charge of the attack. Korzybski was a graduate of the cordite and bullet school of war, an education bloodily learned at Stalingrad and Moscow. His plan is simple: a good defense means a better offense. He is quite willing to shed as many casualties as necessary to smash the Chinese threat for ever. His reckless attitude worries Kharkov, who correctly recognizes that the Chinese can afford monstrous losses that the Russians cannot. Ultimately, he is forced to replace Korzybski with a more conservative general. The war between the two countries is inconclusive, and by the novel's end an uneasy bloody status quo is reached.
The charm of the novel is distinctly masculine. The battle scenes are replete with guns shooting, shells landing, and individual soldiers on both sides performing heroically. The switch in scene from one sector of battle to another recreates the confusion that must reign on such a battlefield. What McGhee and Moore make abundantly clear is that modern war involves masses of troops smashing into each other in a manner not unlike the Crusaders bullying their way through massed Moslem ranks of the tenth century. Men die by the scores of thousands in such warfare. The lesson that McGhee and Moore teach us is that war is bloody and chaotic, and if any modern leader of any country forgets that, then reading THE CHINESE ULTIMATUM may prevent in real life what was only described in print.

IF YOU LIKE SMUGGLING, GUN RUNNING, AND THE DRUG CONNECTIONS OF THE POST CASTRO ERA IN CUBA; AND CENTRAL AMERICAN HIGH-JINKS. IT'S ANOTHER ROBIN MOORE, WITH BOOKS, FAST MOVING AND INTERESTING. ALLEGEDLY NON-FICTION.

I return to this book over and over as a reference for the design of play environments.

I enjoyed "The White Tribe" greatly. It is very well-written and the history that it is based on is extremely interesting (it's a fictionalized account of the author's experiences in the Rhodesian war). It's a pity that it's out of print. However, I do have one problem with it. The author portrays Rev. Andrew Young as a homicidal race-baiting nut case who calls the Republicans in the USA, the Rhodesian whites, and everyone else he disagrees with "Fascists" and "racists" and rails about how all American whites secretly support white rule in Africa. Although Rev. Young supported some causes that were not worthy of the support of a man of his moral standing (Robert Mugabe and Communist-directed army, basically), he is not the lunatic portrayed in the book. I recommend "The White Tribe" to any interested in a good war story and/or history.