This book is an excellent tool for novices of the game. It gives chapters about the positions and techniques of the game and could be very helpul if you are learning lacrosse. It is also a resourceful tool as a coach (of kids under about 14) and gives pointers on all aspects of the game. If you have been playing lacrosse for a while you may want to look to another source for information about the game, although this book would be somewhat entertaining.

This book helped me out a lot. I play goalie and defense and this book has very helpful sections on both postitions. My firends and I brought this to our team practice and our coach read it and said that he will use all of the drills given to help us out. This is a very good buy and i reccomend it to every beginning and advanced player out there.

Hey, I'm a 14 year old all county state and divios player and sting attack/ meddie for the chappaqua cross fire. i hily sagest you ording this book. 3 years ago this book got me into to the game. i had the skills but not the rules down. it was fun to read and i still look back at it. email me i always luv to talk about lacrosse. hell ya my email is bballjg87@aol.com and title it lax stuff. thanxs great book and good luck

Freedom From Fear is David M. Kennedy's prodigious volume in the Oxford History of the United States that covers America during the Depression and World War two. It begins and ends with a bang (the stock market crash of 1929 and the dropping of the atomic bomb to end the war in the pacific). Freedom From Fear is also a most fitting title. Franklin D. Roosevelt's words of inspiration characterize the American people and their ability to persevere the depression and a second and even more deadly world war.
Kennedy is an extremely good writer and that quality makes this book enjoyable to read as you gain a tremendous amount of knowledge and information from it. Kennedy does not miss a single pivotal moment within the time period making his book the best general (yet probing) history of the period. In conclusion, whether you are cramming for your oral examinations or are simply pursuing knowledge of this important era in American history Freedom From Fear is a more than adequate book.

David Kennedy has written a superb book that is definitely worthy of the Pulitzer prize it has recieved. Professor Kennedy treats the Great Depression and the second World War as unified events that constitute the seminal event of the twentieth century.Kennedy gives a lucid account of the causes of the Depression and gives one of the most accurate accounts of the career of one of our most misunderstood Presidents, Herbert Hoover. Hoover was in fact a Progressive Republican in the

tradition of Theodore Roosevelt.Hoover very much believed in using government to fight the depression. A case can be made that the New Deal was simply the logical conclusion of Hoover's policies.The author is clearly a great admirer of Franklin Roosevelt who He believes saved America twice.But at the same time He is not blind to FDR's shortcomings. He readily concedes that the New Deal, which ended around 1938, failed to end the Depression.The New Deal's primary achieve- ment was a series of economic reforms which gave the American people real security against future economic downturns.The book also shows us the treacherous political minefield that Roosevelt led the nation through in the runup to our entry into World War II. This book is a very lengthy one but well worth the time it would take to read it. Professor Kennedy's achievement is an awesome one and deserves to take it's place alongside the Historical literature of this crucial period. I highly reccomend it.

As a former student of Professor Kennedy's at Stanford, I confess bias. Nevertheless, David illuminates America's past like no other historian, contemporary or past. He has a unique talent for captivating readers, setting the stage and making the reader feel they are at ringside. We often forget the ordeal and emotion of the Great Depression and World War II, the Fireside Chats, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, Roosevelt and Hiroshima. Kennedy has painstakingly researched this book, inserting commentaries from those who made history plus his own penetrating insights. You will find balance and fairness here, not partisan rhetoric or pedantry. Hoover was in many respects ahead of his time (although some accuse Kennedy wrongfully of a Stanford bias), McArthur knew how to stroke the PR machinery, Roosevelt was a shrewd politician, Churchill was a master manipulator, Stalin a man whose patience ran thin waiting for a promised Second Front. Other great portraits include John L. Lewis, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, General Patton ... what a great read! Buy this book!

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Ogre. I love the background, I love the boardgames, I love the thought of my invincible cybertank visiting hideous destruction on those brave cardboard soldiers that litter the battlefields of the future.

So when this came out I *had* to have it. I even went out and finally bought GURPS itself - so I could use it. While GURPS is great, unfortunately I can't say the same about the Ogre supplement.

The production values are fabulous - a glossy cover, filled with fun artwork that has become the trademark of SJ games. Lots of neat sidebars packed with information - and a riveting history of the "last war" - where those little PanEuropean and Combine dudes square off for the last hurrah of (tactical) nuclear apocalypse. So far so good.

Where it falls apart for me is the roleplaying dimension. GURPS : Ogre is a self-styled "military background". This is evident in the military bias of the various character templates-'GEV jockey', 'Ogre Killer' and so on - and the plethora of neat vehicles, battlesuits and other widgets of appalling destruction.

Combat in the world of Ogre is fast, deadly and incredibly radioactive. Very few individuals live to stage a rematch. As an example, set up any scenario using the boardgame - not many of those little infantry guys are going home to momma after the game believe me. So where's the roleplaying dimension here? All I can see is some munchkinesque thrill of visiting mass nuclear destruction on some poor innocent cybertank, then flipping a coin to see if it landed on the edge (which means I survived the encounter). Thats the kind of roleplaying that I grew out of as a teenager 15 years ago.

So knowing what I know about the original game why am I disappointed? Well, so many opportunities were lost here. The background over the years has grown into something more than a simple counters and die boardgame - it has richness and depth. Some of that depth is admirably explored in the supplement - and it *is* a great read ... but the inherent bias of the book is as a participant in the slaughter. I have nothing against using war as a backdrop, even having characters who are engaged in the struggle - but in my humble opinion the opportunities for roleplaying in war are better served by plotlines like "Where Eagles Dare" rather than "Saving Private Ryan - Ogre style". You get the point :-)

So, I gave it three stars, two for excellent production values and one for plain old nostalgia (Ogre is, after all almost 20 years old!). From reading the sjgames website - I understand that they are planning to release Ogre : The Factory States - which does emphasise roleplaying. We can only hope. I for one, considering the fantastic legacy that is Ogre, am more than willing to give them a second chance.

This was a great read and a very interesting background. However this is one of the bleakest futures I've even seen presented for gaming. I recommend it wholeheartedly, especially if you're a fan of the original board game. I think I will have to do some tweaking and planning before I run something with this, though.

but many of the images are so rooted in traditions of american image-making they will almost certainly seem familiar. definitely worth trying!

Did George Bush pick a dingbat for his vice President? You bet. Were the
American people troubled by the notion that the dingbat could become
President one day? You bet. Did two conservative journalists write an easy
to read puff piece on the dingbat? You bet. Does it fail to hide the fact
that the dingbat is an intellectual lightweight and basically a spoiled son
of a wealthy family? You Bet. It's a good read though.