Haunting--this book is raw and hontest. I can't get it off my mind. Will be visiting friends doing VSO in northern Ghana soon and am trying to get a copy for them as well.

I read a tattered, much passed around copy of Village of Waiting in my Peace Corps house in a village not far from George Packer's. I just returned in October 2001. Hard to imagine that after nearly twenty years, so much of what Packer wrote about Togo has not changed very much. . . Togo still waits. When people ask me about Togo, I'm still not sure what to say. I imagine Packer is still unsure. All I can say is that it is easy to give up on Togo, quite another thing to give up on its people. Packer's reflections of life in Lavie provide a lot of insight into the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is a book that many PCVs either love or hate. Although it must be said that they seem to hate it when they arrive in Togo, and love it if they read or re-read it later, especially after leaving Togo. Many PCVs have complained that he was too soft, and couldn't handle it, but it is my impression that Packer really understood his reality and that is what made it so hard for him to handle it everyday. He understood the absurdity and hardship, and did not romanticize it. It made him angry. I know how he felt. I often wondered about the characters in Packer's book, as I zoomed through Lavie on my way up-country. Luckily, this new print has some follow-up on the many characters of his village.

For the longest time after reading this amazing and wonderful book I worried about George Packer - how he had gotten on, if he was successful, where he had gone, and if he had written more in the same lucid and painfully honest style he used in this autobiographical essay on his years in Togo as a Peace Corps volunteer. So it was with special joy today that I discovered not only that he's just written a major work (on American liberalism) that has been reviewed by the NY Times quite favorably, but that's he's written other works as well. Truly, Packer has an intellectual honesty that is extremely rare, coupled with an innate ability to put in words the deepest and most sincere and heartfelt feelings of Peace Corps volunteer and of those who have share the volunteer experience, particularly those among us who were blessed with service in Africa. The Village of Waiting is a "travel narrative", you might call it, that transcends the genre. Highly recommended.

Although it is difficult for me to select my favorite modern Greek poet since I hold several of them in high esteem, among his peers, Seferis crests the wave of poetic intensity. His poetry is always laden with images often as tragic as they are beautiful. Like Kimon Friar, Edmund Keeley has brought the powerful verse of modern Greeks to the English reader (see the Amazon excerpts of this work). In sum, Seferis' poetic world is enthralling.

...(like myself). Seferis is graceful, erudite, and profound without being pretentious or willfully obscure. His work is lovely and haunting. I first became aware of his poems when Stephen King excerpted bits of them in SALEM'S LOT, which I think says something about how broad an audience Seferis appeals to. His poems tell stories as well as create imagery and mood, which helps make their beauty all the more affecting.

Kavafy is the the perfect guide in our exploration of life. I reccommend this book highly. Edmund Keeley has done a wonderful job in bringing Kavafy's poetry to us.

If you sorta like Military History, than you should absolutely buy this book. The book captures the thrill of victory, like never before. If you are like me, and had never heard of Gustavus Adolphus before, than this is an excellent book to read, as a stepping stone to learning more about these men.

An excellent study of exactly why these four generals were so successful on and off of the battlefield. Particularly emphasizes the importance of the cult-of-personality so prevalant in history's greatest generals, while still showing you enough of the army details to let you imagine you're charging across a ditch at Lutzen.

This was a great book for me to read because it influenced me to become the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army,which I am today.I would like to recommennd this book to historians to all people who are interested(especially generals).

Mr. Duby gives an excellent account of the Battle of Bouvines. A little known battle in history books, but one of important ramifications. A well loved King ( Phillip II Augustus) of France defeats two conspiring enemies Otto of Germany and his uncle John Lackland of England. The book not only gives accurate descriptions of the battle, culture and politics of medieval Europe,it also includes the role of the Church. In addition, certain events such as King John's signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 forever limiting a King's authority in England are described as after effects of this Battle. A great read.

In 1214 King Philip of France met and defeated the Emperor Otto of Flanders in the battle of Bouvines. In The Legend of Bouvines Georges Duby writes about this battle, and the legends which sprang from it, from a clear, unbiased perspective.

After describing the background to the battle, he presents an edited version of a contemporary account (that of William the Breton). This is followed by a general commentary on the ideology of peace, war, and battle in the twelfth century. Duby then analyses the evolution of the legends that sprang from Bouvines - in the centuries following the battle and, after its 18th century revival, in modern French historiography. Some of the sources for the battle are included as an appendix.

The Legend of Bouvines has a rare gem. Duby writes in the present tense, with a polished but effective prose, and brings alive both the ideals and the realities of warfare in high medieval France.

This is an amusing, cheeky introduction to a much maligned sensibility. Today's tell-all world sees camp as largely a quaintly archaic coping mechanism of yore; this book, with its provocative photos, sly, gossipy text, and astonishing breadth of subject, makes one wish it were not so. For here the flamboyant shares the stage with the subtly subversive. Where else could one find Hemingway and Oscar Wilde sharing equal billing? Where else could the Bright Young Things of 1920's England find themselves in close proximity to the rock group the Kinks? This book offers the kind of sophisticated, flashy wit, dreamy sensuousness, and naughty kinks that are in scant supply in our overblown, overexplicit, media-mad world nowadays. Camp is not dead, as some have proclaimed, but only waiting for the right moment to assert its subversive influence. Philip Core is the pied piper who will show us the way.

... and actually one of the most important poets of our century, awarded the Nobel prize in 1963. The only thing I can't judge is the translation.

Here is a true and engaging story that goes to the heart of a
bloody feud unresolved since 1947. "Cursed is the Peacemaker" is
the go-to book for the historical drama of what it took to
negotiate that brief shining moment when there was-- as close as
it gets-- to a cease-fire between Israelis vs. Palestinians and
others in the Arab world.

Author John Boykin (a former editor at Stanford Magazine)
recounts the gripping story through the eyes and viewpoint of
Philip Habib, Reagan's Special Envoy charged with the enormous
task of staunching the bloodshed and destruction in Beirut in
1982...in 1947 and left with an unfulfilled United Nations mandate that
was to have been, like Israel, the provision for their homeland,
some Palestinians relocated to West Beirut where Palestinian
leaders carried on the battle against Israel, which retaliated.
In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and laid siege to Beirut to
destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) once and
for all. The PLO is the umbrella of organizations that leads the
Palestinian diaspora.

President Reagan gave Habib, the Brooklyn-born son of Lebanese
immigrants, the task of talking to the warring sides and
persuading them to make some changes. Everything from vitally
important matters down to the price of Israeli pickles was thrown
on the table and it was up to Habib to sort it out. He convinced
the Israelis to stop shooting long enough for thousands of
Palestinian guerrillas to sail from the Mediterranean port city
under the watchful eyes of a multi-national force of 800 U.S.
Marines, 900 French and 500 Italian soldiers. This was no easy
feat. Habib persuaded the Palestinians to leave their families
behind in the West Beirut refugee areas of Sabra and Shatila with
their safety guaranteed by the multi-national force and the word
of Ariel Sharon.

This very readable story explains how imperfectly Habib
accomplished his task and yet how Habib's work stands as the
blueprint for the diplomacy that a person of iron will and
stature will need if ever there is to be a negotiated end to
this war that rips at the heartland of Christian, Jewish and
Muslim civilizations.

Boykin recounts the history in an engaging way and he's careful
not to assert his own opinions. The viewpoints he presses are
those that he documents were those of Habib, the talented, hard-
working, often gruff U.S. negotiator.

The book's completeness is a tribute to Boykin's persistence in
using, among other resources, the Freedom Of Information Act,

archives at Georgetown University's Foreign Affairs Oral History
Program, and extensive interviews with Habib's peers, his bosses
and underlings to piece together this important story about a
critical juncture in the life of an historical figure who
steadfastly refused to talk to reporters during negotiations.

Boykin provides the listening post for readers to "overhear" the
blunt conversations between Habib and the Marine Colonel James
Mead whom Habib came to rely upon to keep warring parties apart.
But Mead was no patsy. While he came to grudgingly respect Habib,
he was protective of those in his command. Boykin lays out the
negotiating positions of the various sides, noting that the
intransigence, the absolutist positions by Israel and Syria were
non starters.

Boykin conducted interviews with dozens of well-known diplomatic
players who knew Habib well-- everyone from Nobel Laureate Oscar
Sanchez Arias to Henry Kissinger (who knew Habib from his days
negotiating an end to the U.S. war in Viet Nam).

It can safely be said that there can be no peace in the Middle
East until there is a measure of justice for the massacre at
Sabra and Shatila, refugee camps that resemble acres of the
crowded tenement buildings that dot working class areas of New
York City. In these camps, Christian Phalangists went door to
door wantonly murdering more than 800 Palestinians while Israeli
soldiers stood guard seeing to it that no Palestinian could
escape. Details of what led to the massacre, for which even the
Israelis hold Ariel Sharon culpable, are of historical
importance.

Boykin describes what went on behind the scenes just before the
massacre of Palestinians on September 16-18, 1982. It was the
tragedy Habib had labored all summer to prevent and in the end,
he didn't, in part because Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger
withdrew the Marines who were charged with keeping the warring
parties apart. When the Marines left, the French and Italians
also left Beirut. That their families would be protected was the
key to persuading the Palestinians to lay down their guns and
leave Beirut. That Ariel Sharon broke his word and allowed his
soldiers to stand guard while mass murder was committed can not
be glossed over, especially since two decades later, Sharon
became Israel's elected leader.

This story is a microcosm for what has gone wrong in the Middle
East. If peace is to come to the region, this story may contain
kernels of the reconstructed blueprint for what, along with iron will, is needed to find a peaceful solution.

So MUCH information & images, many I'd never seen before. A compendium indispensible in understanding how the story moved from novel to stage to screen. Production stills, various early script treatments in their entireties... including oddities such as Forry Ackerman's 1st Edition Dracula hardcover signed by everyone from Stoker to Lugosi to Chris Lee and WAY beyond. Unbelievable-- a true treasure.

I am a third grade teacher in an urban community. While studying rainforests with my third grade class, I introduced a geography activity. The children learn where some particular animals are from,locate them on the map, and color the region in on b&w map. I have done this activity for years, but never with so much excitement and success. The FOF Children's Atlas brought the activity to life. It has an easy to use index with map coordinate references. The beautiful color pictures and maps make it interesting and inviting. The detailed maps with overview map inserts for each region make it easy to find on a world map. My third graders love it; my collegues love it. I just ordered 5 more for my classroom!

Less to do with the bomb per se, but a scholarly history of the Indian nuclear program. This is a work that will be quoted again and again.

As an Indian immensely proud of his country's accomplishments and having had to enter multiple debates with other non-Indians in May 1998, I gained a great amount from the book. It is immaculately researched and it seems that Perkovich has left no stone unturned. It goes into such depth and understanding of the Indian polity's psyche as previously unseen from a non-Indian author. Perkovich is not merely narrating a set of events which led to the testing but defending a theory that goes against current understandings of international relations and nuclear non-profileration by setting India as an example. I enjoyed every chapter of the book and hope that current policy makers in the field learn from it. A must read for every Indian interested it their country's policies and others making policy for the rest of the world.

This is easily one of the best books I have read about my own country. Very informative.

Note to editorial Reviewers: India entered the nuclear club in May 1974 and not in May 1998 as suggested by some of your reviews.

Some highlights of the book.

* The term nuclear "haves" and "have-nots" was coined by Homi Bhabha initially and used by others and till date has been central to putting forth our country's opposition to NPT and CTBT.

* University of Chicago's late Prof. Chandrasekhar's refusal to head the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) after the death of patriot Dr. Homi Bhabha.

* One of my disappointment is the author's avoidance in the discussion of the cause of the death of Dr. Homi Bhabha, even though such an incident is beyond the scope of this book. Since Bhabha provided the impetus and leadership during the nuclear program's infancy, I expected the author to throw some light on this issue.

* Vikram Sarabhai's hatred for Nuclear tests is news, especially since he was heading the Atomic Energy commision. As a spaceman it is surprising that he headed the organization in the first place.

* Indira Gandhi's refusal to allow more nuclear tests after 1974 stemmed from her abhorence for anything nuclear after her post-Pokhran I experiences. This is contrary to the popular belief - international pressure.

* Most sections of the book has an objective view of the Indian nuclear scenario except the last few chapters where the author seems to bend towards India signing the CTBT and the NPT. Or atleast implying that India's moral stand on nuclear issue was defeated after the May 98 tests.

* BJP (and its predecessor Jana Sangh) has been the only political party to openly campaign for Nuclear power.