After reading this book, I suddenly realized the root problem of Western Civilization: We have no culture. Where there was once culture, we now have an expanding economic order threatening all life on the planet. Through its mechanism of growth and expansion, the Western global economy is onquering and converting life's diversity into an ecological and social monoculture of cash crops, Levis, soda pop and movie theatres. Perhaps moonscape would be a better word. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Our fast-paced, increasingly technological, capital-intensive, fossil fuel-centered, centralized, highly specialized, travel and commercial-oriented, often stressful society is by no means the end-all-be-all of human history. Murder, child abuse, drug abuse, theft, poverty, hunger, and every other problem that plagues the West are not products of human nature. The pathology of civilization is not natural or inevitable, and the Ladahi are proof of this. Read this book and rediscover ancient, profound, life-affirmating alternatives to the modern humdrum. Discover another way of living, thinking and feeling. Important, necessary, engaging and masterfully written - this book was a treasure to read. Indeed, it was an awaking.

This book has changed the way I looked at the issues of development, modernisation & morals. An amazing read, beautifully written and with great insights.

I have just returned from a trip to Ladakh and I could really relate to what Ms.Norberg talks about in the book.

Just a couple of side issues. It'd be good to know what exactly went wrong in Ladakh. Here are a people who for 2000 years had lived successfully by the rules of Buddhism. How & why did Buddhism fail these people in the face of global/western economic & cultural imperialism? Does the blame lie with Buddhism- it being too 'compassionate' and allowing a religion? Does the blame lie with the Ladakhis who probably were not as sincere Buddhists as they are made out to be?

After all if they really were such devout Buddhists, how come they fell to the greed that capitalism breeds?

Anyway, these are issues which could have been addressed in the book. Regardless, the book is excellent! A must read.

Rarely have I felt more dispair about the direction of what we know as civilization as I felt halfway through this book. The Ladakh people are described as happy, healthy, and self-reliant. Suddenly, the "real world" happens to them, and they come to see themselves as poor, when before they had no need of money.

The authors do a nice job of weaving a story of hope at the end but I have concern for the future of these people. It helps me understand the decision the government of Bhutan has made to isolate themselves from western-style civilization.

"Who Can It Be Now?," named after the Men at Work song, is just over 200 pages of music and pop culture trivia taken from the '80s. Most of the book is devoted to just one-liners (not the entire song), with the lyric on one side of the page and the song title, band/artist, and bits of trivia on the opposite side. Some of the sections in the book feature one-hit wonders (like Kajagoogoo {"Too Shy"} and Toni Basil {"Mickey"}), actors-turned-singers (like Patrick Swayze {"She's Like the Wind" in 'Dirty Dancing'} and Rick Springfield), as well as bits of movie, TV, and celebrity trivia, but only if it pertains to a certain '80s song. There are also lots of black-and-white photos (pretty much on every page) of singers/performers/actors, like Debbie (Deborah now) Gibson, Michael and Janet Jackson, Mr. T, Weird Al, and the Brat Pack, just to name a few.

Despite some of the catty remarks and photo alterations (see Mary Lou Retton and Lionel Richie), this book will certainly make you laugh and reminisce if you're a child of the '80s. It's hard to digest all of the info in this book in one sitting (flipping back and forth between the lyrics and answers does lose its appeal after awhile), but halfway into it, you'll be dusting off your old CDs/cassettes/vinyls and playing them while reading this book. The only gripe I have is that there's no index or table of contents to find certain pages quicker; other than that, "Who Can It Be Now?" is a fun and nostalgic trip back to the '80s. Worth reading if you're an '80s fanatic like I am.

I was one of those 1980s teenagers who watched MTV when it used to play music videos 24 hours daily, and this book has a lot of the music artists who performed on MTV, including the song titles in the book. It even has a picture of Ronald Reagan, the Rubik's Cube, and other 1980s nostalgia that I remember so well. Oh yeah, it also made me remember seeing Courtney Cox on that Bruce Springsteen music video doing that swinging dance on his stage when I read about Bruce in this book...also that old Madonna look complete with the Boy Toy belt and wedding dress. :) If you want to remember the great music artists of the 1980s, their songs, and the memories, get this book!

If my review title makes you scratch your head and say to yourself, "hmmm, where do I know that from?", you should really buy this book. (It's from Styx.) Anyway, this book is a little tongue in cheek, obviously, but it does more than just make fun of Tommy Tutone, Bananarama, The Human League, songs like 867-5309 Jenny, etc. It has dozens of little quizzes, where you see the lines from songs on one page, and then when you flip to the next page you find out the names of the groups that sang them. Interspersed throughout the book are tons of little articles (blurbs, really) about various groups, which tell you, in all likelihood, more than any human would ever want to know about, say, Spandau Ballet. But it's still a good book. I recommend the living daylights out of this one, it's hilarious, especially at parties.

There aren't a lot of books by former naval avaitors about flying and fighting during Desert Storm. This book is also rarer since the platform he flew, the A-6 Intruder, has been retired despite several advantages over its replacement, the F/A-18. The book describes the working up period prior to deploying to the Arabian Gulf, shipboard life, as well as the buildup and actual fighting done during Desert Storm from his carrier. The wrting isn't as gripping as a professional writer would do, but nonetheless is an authentic account from a unique source. Overall, I was gald to have had the opportunity to learn more about what makes combat and naval aviation so much more different than what land-based forces go through. As a book to throw in your bag for a weekend reading source, this will be fine.

Angles of Attack: An A-6 Intruder Pilot's War; Peter Hunt; Ballantine Books, New York, N.Y., 2002; softcover, 368 pages, illustrated. ....
This newest Gulf War memoir is excellent; it really does put the reader in the cockpit. Like the A-7 Corsair, its stablemate in the Navy's attack community, the A-6 Intruder flew its final combat sorties in the six-week action that ousted the invading Iraqis from Kuwait. Intruder squadrons flew from all six carriers deployed during Desert Storm (as well as two Marine Corps shore-based squadrons), and one A-6 aviator tells a story that covers the buildup of Desert Shield and the nightly launches that devastated Iraqi naval and land assets.
Peter Hunt's enthusiastic account is one of the best of the type this reviewer has read in recent years. The focal point of the book is, of course, his experience flying 45 combat missions with VA-145 and the close bond with his bombardier-navigator (BN). The descriptions of the prewar activities as the squadron, air wing and carrier prepare to deploy give a fine insider's view of carrier aviation. The work ups are described in detail that might at times slow the story, but Hunt carries the story well with the result that these portions are well worth the reader's time. Hunt tells what it was like flying combat from one of the Navy's oldest carriers, USS Ranger (CV-61).
Peripheral areas like a port call in the Philippines, the loneliness of Christmas Eve at sea ' he decides to sort out his personal survival items ' and thoughts of family so far away are some of the most appealing aspects of Hunt's work..
The author and his BN participated in the Battle of Bubiyan, which saw the destruction of several Iraqi navy PT boats that eliminated that threat. They also flew during the last major attack on Iraqi units along the so-called 'highway of death' as the invaders torched the Kuwaiti capital and tried to flee.
Though a rather large paperback, the writing flows well and the author has a nice, personal style. Unfortunately, the book concludes on a sour note because of his dissatisfaction with the post-war Navy, the impact of the Tailhook scandal and the resulting 'rot from within.' Family separation also plays a hand in his decision to leave, as does the demise of the A-6 community, with no replacement after the A-12 debacle. Nonetheless, Angles of Attack is a fine effort that tells the story of one of the Navy's stalwart aviation communities during its last combat deployment.
Peter Mersky

Title of this review says it all. The only reason I wanted to post another review of this book is to just add another 5 stars-it's that good.

This book should become a classic-alas, I fear it will be overlooked by most, and that will definately be their loss.

I kid you not-I've read most of the first person accounts of aerial combat, from all periods, and this one is right at the top of the list.

While an undergraduate student at Seton Hall between 1997 and 2000, I had the distinct and memorable pleasure of being a student of the author of this book, Robert Mayhew. I sat for 7 of his course offerings over 3 years, and he continues to stand out in my mind as one of the most competent, engaging, and effective instructors with whom I have dealt in 22 years of schooling. Mayhew has the unique ability to satisfy the mildly curious as well as the most discriminating academician. In the years since graduation, I've paged through several of his volumes on the ancient Greeks, and I found them more interesting than any of the work I was doing in law school. You cannot go wrong with him.

Ayn Rand describes the necessary elements to take a theme abstraction and present it as a set of concretes directly related to the theme abstraction - the Romantic style. To help convey her reasoning she analyses examples from writers, herself included, who fit in, and some who don't. Victor Hugo and Isak Dinesen are two examples that are consistent with her preferences. Sinclair Lewis and Thomas Wolfe being two that aren't.

When I reviewed, The Fountainhead, I stated that Ayn Rand had an unfortunate tendency to indulge in 'eye poppingly bad' literary prose, which in this book she goes into great detail to point out its merits. Whilst her defence of these sections is logical, it still doesn't take away from their basic quality: they're still eye poppingly bad. As badly written as the pieces she has chosen from elsewhere to demonstrate how not to write. Unlike Victor Hugo's, and Isak Dinesen's, which is very smooth . When she writes more plainly, as she does for most of the time, her intention is conveyed perfectly well without any need for colourful and distracting prose.

That was the only real contradiction and failing of this book. Everything else is very appropriate for those who have the inclination and determination to write well in the Romantic style.

Her Non-fiction follow up is worth reading as a companion volume

The Art of Nonfiction is taken from a series of informal lectures that Ayn Rand gave to students in 1969 on the topic of the art of nonfiction writing. It was not prepared for publication by Rand, but the material in it was culled from these lectures, for which Rand had only an outline to prepare her. The Art of Nonfiction serves as a companion piece to The Art of Fiction, both from an author who wrote some of the Twentieth Century's most important and influential fiction and nonfiction works.

This work aims to teach the reader the principles behind the art of nonfiction writing. The chapters, which follow the order of the lectures given by Rand, cover such topics as how to get ideas for writing, the importance of and how to create an effective outline, the role of the conscious and subconscious in writing, editing, and how to prepare an article for publication. The book focuses on nonfiction article writing (all of Rand's published nonfiction works are compilations of her nonfiction essays), but also offers advice on nonfiction book writing. Rand was convinced of the omnipresence of one's philosophy in one's life and work, and this is evident in this book, which is replete with tie-ins to her philosophy and fascinating philosophical analysis of such topics as the nature of the subconscious mind and how to properly allow one's philosophical convictions influence one's writing.

Although the content is excellent and the progression is logical and persuasive, the reader should bear in mind that the material in it was neither prepared by nor intended for publication by Rand, who did not believe that the material as presented in these lectures would be good enough for publication. Still, it is remarkable how solid the material is, considering that it was done with little preparation on Rand's part.

One need not agree with Rand's philosophy to gain value from this book, so well reasoned and persuasive is her presentation. Both writers and readers have much to gain from this important addition to Ayn Rand's literature.

There currently is no better comprehensive guide to world wide marine shells than this new edition of the 'Compendium'. If you were a budding shell collector starting a library on this subject, this would be the most important book to get. The 'Compendium' is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the world's amazing variety of marine shells, displaying images of over 4200 species with their common AND scientific names. This feature alone enables any collector to access the rapidly increasing information available on the subject of worldwide molluscs - for instance on the internet - by targeting a particular species directly by its scientific name. This book is not only beautiful to look at but is also a great resource of general information on the subject, providing the most useful reference to date for all advanced seashell connoisseurs and collectors worldwide.

We have used the Compendium since it was first published as our primary identification reference. It is well organized, the pictures clear and colorful. It is a valued reference used by many in our museum library.

Since childhood, I've loved the beach and seashells. In our library are a dozen or so books on shells, but this is undoubtedly the best I've ever read. Small, unimportant shells that abound on the Gulf Coast are difficult to find in ordinary books, resulting in the fact that I'd picked them up since childhood, but didn't know what they were. I know now, thanks to the "Compendium of Seashells." If a person could have only one book on seashells, this is the one to buy.

I purchased this book in March of 2002 and began my "diet" in April. I was obese to say the least. I have since lost a total of 60 pounds and overall 22 inches (13 from my hips and waist alone)I am sure that my personal motivation has had a lot to do with my success and I now have more energy than I have had in years. I am now able to wear a pair of jeans that I purchased my senior year of high school (I know... why would you save them?) which was 15 years and 2 children ago. I am absolutely NEVER hungry and actually crave drinking water now. (which I used to gag just at the thought of drinking) I have promoted this book to EVERYONE I know and even laugh about the fact that it was published so long ago, but still applies and is so useful.

My additional motivation is that I have gone from a size 22W pants to a comfortable 12 and often a 10. I run /walk 3 - 6 miles each day with my son, something I would not have been able to do 6 months ago and this also gives us some special time together.

I will say that this is obsessive, and my family hates to eat with me. Everytime we cook or eat together I do a lot of "do you know how much fat that has" or "I can't believe you ate sausages for breakfast!"

If you are even thinking of buying this book ... DO IT... RIGHT NOW!

I love this book! This is the only "diet" I have ever followed and I am still my high school weight at 45 years old. I first ordered the paperback from the back of the Special K cereal box at least ten years ago and have completely worn out the book. I've just ordered a hardcover edition hoping it will last into my old age. If you're new to this book, keep in mind the fat comes off slowly - replaced by muscle. It's not an overnight diet - but a forever body change. Give yourself a couple of months to really see the difference. Also, you won't be hungry. The only thing I do differently from the book is to have two starches at lunch and one at dinner; this seems to work better for me. Also, I've found that water-packed tuna with BBQ sauce for flavor really sticks with you. Have fun and be creative!

I first saw this diet in " Ladies Home Journal" back in 1989ish.
It had a page size color chart to figure your fat index, which the paperback book lacks.

I used this diet back in 1992 and lost 48 pounds. However, during the holidays over the years, the weight crept back.

Now my wife and I are both on this diet and in the first two weeks, I have lost:

14 pounds

2 inches in the hips

3 inches in the waist

1 1/2 inches across the breast

My wife keeps her weight secret, even after 14 years of marriage, but she has lost 4 inches in the waist, 3 inches in the hips, and 2 inches across the breasts, in our first two weeks. HINT: Buy a scale with a memory!
I would say the diet still works. In addition, I don't feel any hunger pangs between meals.

The exercise is important, but drinking 64 oz of water each day is more important, to wash out those fatty acids that accumulate from burning your stored up fat. DON'T WAIT until you are thirsty, start with water before the first cup of coffee.

There is no mention of increasing your water intake after drinking caffeinated drinks, that in hot weather would leave you dehydrated. The typical rule is to drink 2 times the amount of water for each amount of caffienated diet soda. Apparently, the fluid intake and outgo with 64 ounces of any liquid is enough to flush the system.

Our sample supper meal for one person:

Fruit: 4 oz high pulp Orange juice

1 Vege: 2 cups salad mix with 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar dressing

Protein; 1 Vege; 2 starch & 1/2 dairy:
2 yellow no fat tortillos
1/2 can no fat refried beans
1/2 can diced tomatoes with green chillies
grated cheese on top

Heated in microwave 2 1/2 minutes. Magnifique!

I whole heartedly recommend this diet. DON"T FORGET to exercise at least 30 minutes every other day. Walk, spade your garden, put up stuff upstairs or like I'm doing this morning...unloading 20 sacks of humas, 40 pounds each, which I found last night @ 49 cents each.

Over the past year I have read extensively about the 17th century. "The Age of Louis XIV" is the best book which I have found on the period. Volume VII of Will and Ariel Durant's multi-volume "Story of Civilization", this book documents more detail of the era than any others which I have read.

The book begins with sections on France and England. The next section is "The Periphery" dealing with Russia, Poland, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, and Iberia. After the geographically oriented sections, the reader is treated to sections organized along intellectual topics, such as science, philosophy, and faith and reason, which contain chapters dealing with specific philosophers or scientists. The conclusion wraps it all up with the denouement of Louis XIV.

This book makes the 17th century understandable. The premier character of the era was Louis XIV, the Sun King of France. During his reign, the policies of he and his ministers established France's day in the sun. Absolute ruler of the most populous and powerful kingdom in Western Europe, Louis made France the center of Western Civilization. On these pages we learn about the Fronde, the revolt by the nobility at the rising of his Sun, from which Louis acquired his life long aversion to Paris, Louis' aggressive support of Catholicism, while at the same time maintaining illicit personal relationships, and his generous support for the arts. This era, rich in French literature and theatre, as represented in Moliere, is revealed.

The forces threatening to rend the Catholic Church further asunder, as well as the relationship between King and Pope, are dealt with in detail. I was surprised to learn that Louis exercised a power over the Church in France similar to that which Henry VIII had previously established over the Church in England.

England, meanwhile, endured Cromwell, The Stuart Restoration, and the Glorious Revolution, while spawning Milton, Dryden, Swift and other literary giants.

Interesting contrasts are illustrated. Whereas in France the monarchy was strengthened into absolutism, England was making hesitating steps toward democracy. Whereas Louis excluded much of the nobility from government and military service, essentially forcing them into the role of idle rich, the English nobility gradually gained power and responsibility for the governance of their country. We can see how these trends may have encouraged the resentment of the aristocrats on the part of the French peasantry, which may have contributed to the intensity of feeling during The Terror of the French Revolution. By contrast, the empowerment of the English nobility may have helped solidify the tradition of peaceful political maturation.

On the Periphery, Charles XII brought Sweden to the zenith of its international power, while Peter the great modernized Russia. Germany survived the onslaught of the Turks, while Italy and Iberia, the "Old Europe" of the day, slid through an era of decline.

Intellectually the era was one of giants. Many of the names with which we are familiar come alive as we read of Isaac Newton, Thomas Hobbes, John Lock, Spinoza, Leibniz and others.

The conclusion of the era was the sunset of the Sun King. Having exhausted his country with dynastic war, bled it with unequal taxation and incurred the enmity of the world, Louis negotiated a peace which left his kingdom a shattered hulk of its former greatness.

For anyone desiring an introduction to the history of the 17th century, this is a great place to start. It has me ready for other books in the Durants' "Story of Civilization".

Though the central figure of this book is Louix XIV, this book is not about French history, but about European history as a whole.

The focus of this book is not on political and military history but on the history of religion, art, literature, science and philosophy. Or I can say politics is deeply involved in religion, art, literature and philosophy. I have never studied European philosophy before, and I thought it would be exttremely difficult to understand philosophy. But while I was reading this book, I found that phlosophy could be much easier when it was explained in a political context of the times.

And in this book English history was emphasized as much as French history. It is quite natural because Louis himself was deeply involved in and greatly responsible for the 17th century English history, and Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were Englishmen.

I believe that this book is the best book I've ever read. I'd like to read all 12 volumes of Will & Ariel Durant's "The History of Civilization" series.

By the way, I found 2 trivial mistakes in this book.
According to p 505, Halley identified another comet, seen in 1680, with one observed in the year of Christ's death; he traced its recurrence every 575 years, and from the periodicity he computed its orbit and speed around the sun. According to my own calculation, however, 575 x 2 + 33 = 1183, while 575 x 3 + 33 = 1758.
According to p 513, Mariotte amused his friends by showing that "cold" could burn: with a concave slab of ice he focused sunlight upon gunpowder, causing it to explode. To focus sunlight, however, we need a convex lens, not a concave lens.

The Durants succeed again in encapsulating the 17th century in Europe. They label it as the landmark century intellectually and scientifically and there is much truth to their assessment: the 18th Century, the "Enlightenment" and "Aufklarung" usually takes pride of place given the American and French Revolutions that dominated them and the general retreat of superstition and obscurantism that marred both Catholicism and Protestantism in the previous centuries. The Durants clearly show that all the 18th century did was develop themes initially sounded and expounded by 17th century thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Newton, Leibniz, Spinoza and the English Deists. These writers, and others, laid the bedrock for the various revolutions that shook Europe in the 1700 and 1800s and which have culminated in our own day: The Industrial, Political and Scientific.

Thematically, the book is erected upon the scaffolding of the Le Roi Soleil's life. They present his wars, mistresses, patronage of art, political autocracy as well as murderous bigotry. In my opinion, in their conclusion they let Louis off far too lightly. He was a man who countenanced, nay, actually encouraged and gloried not only in wars to dominate Europe--a common enough failing amongst the crowned--but in the Persecution of the Huguenots he left a blot on his record that, in light of the deadly century we just left and the religious fanaticism of 11 September, should sink his record in the humanitarian sense.

His vanity and thirst for "la glorie" (which he admitted himself to have been his worst failing) bankrupted France and left the Peasants in a savage and degrading poverty they hadn't experienced since the calamities of the 14th century. His refusal to use his power to actually reform government and tax the nobility mark his reign as regressive and disastrous in many ways. Still his impeccable taste in the visual and plastic arts-as opposed to his love of second-rate playwrights and third-rate opera--make him the supreme art patron in history. And the prestige and admiration that accumulated acted as a sort of bank that his incompetent, worthless successor cruised upon. Only under sixteenth Louis did the credit of the Sun King's name finally run out...

Still, the Durants must credited for making this error sparkle and shimmer with life and the lovely prose still entrances and pleases regardless of how dull or recondite the subject might be. Again, they are two of the greatest of all American writers. Someday, I hope, they will be acknowledged as such.

The Ancient City: LIfe in Classical Athens and Rome is a good book because it has a good description of the two civilizations. Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece are two different periods, and the book divides the two with clarity and nice colorfull pictures. It will give you good information that you can't find in a encyclopedia.

I wanted a basic overview text on Greek and Roman civilizations. Luckily I stumbled upon this book by Connolly and Dodge. The book is terrific. The layout is excellent. The writing is succinct and the text moves along smoothly. I now have a basic knowledge of Greek and Roman eras. I got a lot more out of this book by also reading Edith Hamilton's The Greek Way. However, I must confess, this book is far more interesting and keeps one glued. A joy to read. Very highly recommended.

Having returned from my first visit to Rome I was looking for answers to many questions about how the Coloseum was built used. The 27 pages here devoted to the Colosseum are far more informative than other books more specifically focused on the subject. The architectural illustrations throughout are outstanding.

Many other aspects of daily life, food, plumbing, politics, marriage customs (Ancient Athens had wedding cakes), idioms (the origin of "deus ex machina"), philosophy and the arts are richly told and illustrated.

We have been more strongly influenced by Athenian and Roman culture than we usually realize.

A superbly written insider's look at the Russian revolution. Babel can convey the horrors of war with very few words. I enjoyed the best his sarcastic treatement of the bombastic communist rhetoric in such stories as "Salt" and "Treason" (maybe because I was exposed to it myself at one time).

I stumbled across Isaac Babel because of a single line quoted in Paul Johnson's "History of the Jews". And then I was forever hooked.

First, a caveat. Be sure you understand when reading Babel's short stories that you are not reading his autobiography or journal. He did in fact listen to our creative writing teachers; he wrote what he knew. He knew the Russian revolution. He knew the Cossacks. He knew war. He knew living inside and outside the pale. His world jumps off the page because he lived it first.

The stories contain autobiographical material, actively mixed with the yeast of fiction. Use this aspect of his writing to chase rabbits. Follow up this book with his biography or find out more about the Russian revolution. Both of those topics will make more sense after reading his collected stories.

As a writer, I stand in awe of Babel's stingy use of words. Some scenes are so hugely horrible that I would have been tempted to throw in appropriate adverbs and adjectives in an attempt to convince you, my reader, just how hugely horrible it really was. Babel simply tells the story, and you gasp when you are done, horrified when you peak through the keyhole (and I would have blasted a hole in the wall).

When you read Babel, you must be willing to go at the stories with an open mind, not expecting him to flatten the Commies, defend the Jews, or paint the picture the way you want him to. He will not do that, no matter how many times you try to make it so. You will hear no overtones of right or wrong, get no definitive answers about the people on either side of the Russian revolution.

For that, I am most grateful to Isaac Babel. Nothing about our world can be easily distilled into sharp black and white. His stories give us the real world in astounding color.

The frightfully ugly picture on the cover of this edition (what in the world were the publishers thinking?) might keep a lot of people away, but the few brave souls that look inside will find one of the great 20th century craftsmen of prose. I can't think of another writer than chooses his words more carefully, that can pack more into a single sentence. "Pierced by the flashes of the bombardment, night arches over the dying man." Single words can take your breath away - the choice of "arches" is the one that does it for me - but you'll probably have others. The brutality of the world he describes may seem foreign, but it never becomes oppressive, mainly because the writing is so good. The stories themselves are rather difficult to love - there is very little hope to latch on to, there are very few characters one can feel close to; there are very few real characters at all, except the narrator. Even under these horrific circumstances, though, Babel creates emotions than one can identify with - pride, love, lust, anger. He has a thorough understanding of human character. It is apparent that the circumstances of war don't create new emotions, they just amplify things we feel anyway.

This book is a necessary read for anyone that wants to learn how to write poetically without being florid, compress pages of description into a few words. This compression is one of the reasons that the stories stay in mind long after they've been read. Buy the book - or get the other edition in a used book store, so you don't have to look at that awful picture.

Peter Dale Scott poses essential questions and his investigations lead to very disturbing answers.

He uses the JFK assassination as a paradigm for the revelation and understanding of the real powers in the US.
With parallels to 3 other political scandals (MacCarthyism, Watergate, Contragate) he shows that there are deep continuities in the US political system. He arrives at the most alarming conclusion that the US power system is intrinsically vicious, violent and murderous and that conspiracies form an essential part of it.
He shows convincingly that the real powers in the US lay in a symbiosis of public government, organized crime and private wealth.
Most diabolic are the FBI (lead by the insidious Edgar J. Hoover) and the CIA, which are both responsible for the ruthless destruction of opponents and dissidents without legal or moral restraint.
This book gives an appalling picture of the Agency, fighting for the justification of its existence and its resources by prolonging the Cold War. It infiltrated the media in order to preach its Gospel. It used organized crime and drug traffickers as means for its ends.
Very revealing also is the fact that 20 percent of the shares of General Dynamics were in the hands of the mob.

His final analysis is devastating: 'how far our office-holders, including our Presidents, have been reduced to the status of clients, dispensable when the more enduring patronage is withdrawn?' and 'To what extent has our visible political establishment become one regulated by forces operating outside the constitutional process?'
After reading this book, I confess that posing these questions is answering them.

A provocative, dark and disturbing book.
A must read.

Scott's account explores the reasons behind John Kennedy's murder, which he regards as a highly complex crime. He explains it in terms of "deep politics," or an "intelligence, mob, corporate gray alliance." This was an odd coalition of big-city political bosses, Mafia, CIA, FBI, anti-Castro Cubans, and generals eager to escalate the Vietnam War, working to eliminate a president perceived as threatening the status quo. Scott begins by examining JFK's decision to withdraw 1,000 American advisors from South Vietnam and continues with a discussion of Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald's alleged mob and government connections. On the issue of Vietnam withdrawal, Scott borrows heavily from John Newman, who alleges that Kennedy planned to withdraw from Southeast Asia. Scott repeats this claim, ignoring the consensus view that this merely was a rotation, not a withdrawal of troops. Scott's assertion of Ruby and Oswald's connections is based simply on circumstantial evidence. He accuses no one, but seemingly implicates everyone. Despite this flaw, Scott's work is a stimulating piece that does not rehash the mechanics of the assassination but examines the political roots of a political crime. All levels.

In a country such as ours, anyone attempting to voice an opinion that falls outside the mainstream is ridiculed and margainalized until no one takes them seriously. Not so with Professor Scott. Incredibly well researched and documented, he makes a strong case for who actually runs this country, and why.

It is books like this that show you why your vote is meaningless, protest is generally futile, and how the US can skip around the world, bringing down governments (and at home) and no one says boo. Frightening book, and required reading for anyone interested in the death of JFK, a landmark event.