Exalted is an excellent RPG series, and Dragon-Blooded is a spectacular addition to the game. Because you still need the basic exalted book for the majority of the mechanics, most of its 224 pages is taken up with background material, including histories and profiles that will be very useful to any GM who wants to stick as closely as possible to the "cannon" of Exalted.

The castes are interesting, and the way in which the favored skills are broken up between them is much more satisfying than it was with the Solar Exalted.

As a matter of fact, the only reason this gets four stars instead of five is that I really really wish it could be used without the original Exalted book. The Dragon-Blooded are generally more dynamic, interesting, and well-rounded than the Solars are, and it's a shame that you have to spend close to $60 in order to play them.

Still, this is definitely worth your money if you're into medieval/martial arts action/adventure roleplaying or you are already a fan of exalted in general.

First of all Exalted is probably the best thing to come along for pen and paper RPing in a good long while.Particularly, it's the freshest thing to come to the fantasy genre in a good long time. I love White Wolf products, their other games are a change from other good but overplayed systems but this is something really new. The Dragon Blooded Supplement only adds to this. It contains a wealth of information on the realm, the dragon blooded, the immaculate order, and so much more. Though this background info comprises at least half the book, evert page of it is full of new and interesting material, next to nothing from the core Exalted book about the Dragon Blooded is repeated, that's how thorough it is. Furthermore, if you're dealing with intelligent gamers rather than pokemon-style "I want to be the very best" and kill everything people, then Dragon blooded make truly deep and excellent characters with opportunities for most any type of story. Even if your players don't want to play Dragon Blooded, this supplement is worth it for the background info and the detail you can include for Dragon Blooded storyteller characters. I can't reccomend this enough.

This was going to be an important book in many ways. It's the first big supplement for Exalted, and the figures it details are going to be the most common enemies for any Exalted game.

But it suceeds. Hugely.

The books is dedicated to fleshing out the Terrestrial Exalted, or 'Dragon-Blooded'. They're the weakest but most numerous Exalted, and currently control Creation from the Blessed Isle at it's centre.

A sizable portion of the book is given over to explaining how the Realm's society works. It comes across as a credible system of government in a world where the ruling classes are individually far more powerful than the plebians. You can believe that this system of government could actually exist, which lends quite a bit of credibility to the setting. It also explains how things are breaking down now that the immortal ruler of the Realm has vanished and the families she established are battling for position. Also mentioned here is what it's like for a Terrestrial Exalted to actually grow up, undergo education and make their way in the hostile world without and the twisting mazes of obligations and politics within. Also detailed are the Immaculate monks and their belief system and abilities. (Yes, as in martial arts movies, the bald-headed monks are the most terrifying fighters.)

Though this makes up about half the book, it doesn't seem a page too long. You can tell the authors have thought about how these superhumans would interact with each other, mortals and the outside world. As a result, the setting of the Realm and it's inhabitants has a consistency and credibility that a lot of other fantasy settings lack.

Then we move on to the game material. Pleasingly, the powers of the Terrestrials have not been beefed up so much as varied--the average Solar, Lunar or Abyssal will chew up a Terrestrial of equivalent experience and spit them out. They are, however, geared towards working as a team as opposed to Solar characters who can be built up into one-man armies. There are Charms that allow a group to enter a 'hive-mind' where they can draw on each other's knowledge of a battle, enhance the courage of their followers or allow a group of allies to all attack one enemy with no penalty. The Immaculate martial arts are also detailed, adding five new Styles to them. Finally, you get to use the quote "Your Snake style fighting is strong, but my Water Dragon style will defeat you!" Or maybe I've just watched too many kung fu movies....anyway, though the Martial Arts powers are deadly (The higher-level Charms let you rip people's souls from their bodies, burst into flame or transform into living stone) they carry an increased cost and can be accessed by other Exalted.

New character creation rules are introduced. To go briefly over them, Terrestrials don't have Allies or Contacts, they have Connections and replace Followers with Legions (up to 1000 soliders). Also, they have extra skill points (but have required minimum ratings for some skills) easier access to Artifacts and Hearthstones. They also have a Background called Breeding that allows them to alleviate their small Essence pool problem. While this doesn't make them overpowering (they're supposed to be the weakest Exalted type, remember), it does give them flavour and edges.

The book is rounded off by a section detailing possible uses for the source material. Campaigns with the PC's all being young Terrestrials at boarding school or with them being several generations of the same family over several centuries. There's also a thoughtful segment on how to present the Realm's less savoury practices in a game, and whether to impose 20'th century sensibilities on a fantasy culture or whether to accept 'that's the way things are here'.

Problems? Maybe that the book tries a bit too hard not to reprint information from the core book or supplements, sometimes leaving out quite important information like the names of the Elemental Dragons, the beings the Terrestrials worship. Also, there's little information on the Exalted-hunting organisation the Wyld Hunt, which is annoying, given that that's probably one of the main ways Terrestrial and Solar PC's will come into contact.

But that's a minor niggle. Whether you want to send a group into the Realm, run a lower-powered Exalted game (Spiderman level, rather than the Superman level of the Solars) or just want some detailed NPC's, this book will satisfy.

Given what a good job they've done here, I await with bated breath for the Lunar Exalted sourcebook.

The first book about weapons and armor i bought, and well worth the money too. Just one bad thing about it - for me anyway - It goes on for too long, including the american civil war and WW1. Even though this is well done, i find that it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the book, especially if you see that no armor exists then...

It also has a short chapter about "foreign" weapons: Japan, India, Afrika, etc. Again, if you're looking for medieval knights, not too interesting.

Regardless of what my predeccessors might say, this book is really a unique pleasure to have. It's illustrations are excellent, as is the historical information about almost every era. This is truly a book worth having, even if you are not interested in the research of arms and armour as myself. I would also recommend it as a book for children to have, because its colourfullness and relative simplicity makes it excellent for children to find out about arms and armour. Don't miss it!

From the ancient Greeks to the advent of the machine gun, all significant developments in the soldiers' combat equipage are comprehensively treated, with clear, concise narrative and many beautifully rendered full-color pictures.
The text is divided into broad historical areas for convenience, and the concomitant evolution of weapons and tactics are clearly explained. As a bonus, there are chapters on Oriental and Tribal Arms and Armor, and Sporting Arms and Armor.
This work is a companion to Bull's "20th-Century Arms and Armor", which is similar in format and also highly recommended.
A high-quality production, in large format, generously illustrated, with bibliography and index.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

Aaron Kipnis offers a comprehensive view of all aspects of the men's movement in this 302-page volume. Inspired by issues raised by members of an addiction/recovery men's group headed by the author, the book looks at various male images. Kipnis critically examines the old masculine values of the "heroic" male as well as those of the newer, sensitive man (what Kipnis calls the "feminized" man), and addresses at length the emerging "authentic, integrated" masculinity inspired by Robert Bly and friends. Intertwined with these accounts are stories and vignettes from men in the group, new knights of the round table on a quest for a new masculine paradigm.

Although the metaphor of the knights seems to get a little corny at times, the book has much to recommend it. This is the first, if not the only, book that globally looks at all facets of the men's movement. Everything from circumsicion, to myth, ritual and initiation, to the politics of male-bashing, is covered. There is an excellent table comparing the masculine images of the heroic, feminized, and integrated man and looking at how these differ along physical, mental, and emotional lines. There is a section on men's resources, with names and addresses of organizations and suggestions on how to get involved. Also, unlike most books on men's issues, this one actually has an index--a refreshing feature indeed!

I understood after reading the book in swedish way I lost contact with my now 14 years old doughter Emelie Finette, living in Westheim/Marsberg. I have seen her for only 6 hours totaly.

I also understood that we parents who wants to have equal rights for the children will have a long way to go yet.

Thanks Aaron for a wounderfull book.

Tommy Jonsson

Aaron Kipnis has put into words what I have felt for many years. He says that the "value placed on men's lives, as compared to women's, is greatly depreciated in our culture." It starts with how male infants are treated by their mothers right up to how devalued were the lives of so many men who fought in Vietnam. Had it been women who were dying senseless deaths over there, Kipnis points out, the war would not have lasted near as long.

He tell us in a way that resonates with me that, "Men frequently feel disconnected from an authentic source of aliveness within us." Maybe it is because so many of us have constructed an "heroic personality that is hard, inflexible and, like the armor of old, heavy to drag around."

This book was given to me by a friend who, with me, is a member of The Mankind Project, New Warrior Community, a group that Kipnis talks about in his book. The book has helped me to really understand the obsessive overachieving and workaholism of so many men and how they have numbed their lives and avoided real intimacy with both men and women in their lives, especially their significant others. (In reality, not very significant!)

Kipnis says, "This numbness includes loss of emotional and even physical sensitivity." Men come home and escape into a few beers and the tube or even worse. The price we pay, he says, is pain: isolation, alienation, stressed-induced illnesses, sex and love addictions, codependence (taking care of our women before even thinking of ourselves and being dependent on them for approval), fear and anxiety and God knows how much more.

This is a powerful book and an easy read. It is mesmerizing because it is so damn true and accurate. Kipnis does not stop at describing this devastating phenomenon. He offers up many ways for us to seek healing. He tells women readers that they would do well to listen carefully to what they can do to help the men in their lives starting with their male infants and sons. He encourages us to join men's groups and seek therapy from psychologists who understand the acute losses to the masculine soul and may be wounded healers themselves. He shows us that the spiritual dimension of life is critical for our emotional and mental health and that sharing openly with other men the pain and fear we're experiencing is the beginning of healing.

Kipnis speaks of the "uninitiated male". We in the New Warriors understand him when he says that the uninitiated male has many problems. He quotes another author who says about Shakespeare's Hamlet: He has "no roots in the instinctive world--and he makes only division and tragedy of [the divine and sacred] in us, not paradox and synthesis." Kipnis says, "The narcissistic male, unable to wield the power of the father, cannot generate and protect life or transform the world, only devalue it.---Hamlet retreats into immobility as a defense against the conflicting emotions he feels."

I like the way Kipnis tells the real stories of pain, healing and joy that he and his men's group colleagues experienced. That gives life to the book and helps men and women understand that we can rediscover ways of male initiation and heal the wounds between fathers and sons and between we men and those whom we claim to love but find so it so difficult to do. This book is a must read for every man and still, I realize that only a small fraction of men and their women will read the book and benefit from the wisdom and practical ways of healing found within the book. I am very thankful that The New Warriors have entered my life and made possible a path, a life-long path, of loving myself and following the ways of healing of which Kipnis speaks so eloquently. He makes the masculine soul real.

I have discovered my masculine soul and I am in the process of empowering myself to be vulnerable and open with my brothers so the strange paradoxes of life can be understood and realized, especially, the paradox that the more open and vulnerable I am, the more powerful I am as a man, a spouse, and as a leader. As a personal life coach and leadership consultant, I am grateful that Aaron Kipnis has written this and other books which I can strongly recommend to clients and friends.

The Panther tank was Germany's main battle tank during the last two years of the war (it replaced the Panzer III, and was supplanting the Panzer IV at war's end). Walter Spielberger's book offers an overview of the Panther tank's development, as well as its variants, the Bergepanther recovery vehicle, and the Jagdpanther tank destroyer (an 88mm self-propelled gun). There are also drawings by Hilary Louis Doyle, though they are side views only, and not to a constant scale. Spielberger is the author of a well-respected series of books on German armored vehicles, but this English-language edition is slightly out of date, repeating some fallacies about the aborted Panther II and Panther F projects. Spielberger's colleague, Thomas Jentz, who once worked for him as a researcher, has since written his own Panther book (also published by Schiffer), which corrects many errors thanks to newly-uncovered information found in government and factory archives. Jentz's book also has three-view drawings by Doyle in 1/35th scale. However, Jentz's book covers only the battle tank, not the recovery and self-propelled gun variants. I would recommend the Thomas Jentz book to those interested in building a model of the Panther tank (including the Panther II and Panther F), while Spielberger's volume is more useful to those interested in the automotive engineering of the Panther, or the subsidiary variants.

A well produced and researched reference book on the Panther tank.The author goes to great lengths by well documented research and copious amounts of clear photographs and diagrams.Well done Walter Spielburger.

This is a very detailed of the German Panther tank, its variants, and their development. Well illustrated with many drawings and pictures, and text describing the development and problems thereof. Spielberger is preferred over Jentz for technical detail, although Jentz tends to have more combat unit information. Buy both if you can afford it. The only marring feature is that translation is not provided for German text that is part of certain of the illustrations-- a glossary of terms would be appreciated.

All too often we hope to catch a glimpse of something worth our attention, and this is definitely one of those times.

This original and revealing book certainly packs an astounding punch, especially in the descriptive style for which the author takes.

In allowing us into HER mind (and the unique world of many amateur wrestlers), Lisa Whitsett transforms herself into an "educator extrodinaire", by ultimately giving us a first hand lesson on what it's like to face ourselves, and the inner demons that forever attempt to cripple us from within.

Tremendous introspective to the very "soul" of a grappler!

-J. Reggie Roberts
High School wrestling coach (20 years)

As the parent of a very competitive 1st grade boy, I am so glad that I read this book. Being new to the sport, it really gave me insight into wrestling and the many potential ways that it can experienced by the wrestler. I recommend this book for any Mom or Dad with a child in the sport. Reading this will surely make me a better "Wrestling Mom". Once you start reading, you won't want to put this book down...so, find a comfortable chair!

Hi, I am Marc Anderson and I have enjoyed the development of women's amateur wrestling for years now. I have recently read the book BENEATH THE ARMOR OF AN ATHLETE Real Strength on the Wrestling Mat by Lisa Whitsett. Lisa is an accomplished amateur wrestler and has made her mark on the sport. Her book details her life in the sport she loves and it shows that she fears no one except herself and the possibility of failure. It shows how she battles her inner demons to become the best wrestler she can be and is an honest and frank appraisal of her efforts. I highly recommend this book to any young person who is interested in becoming a wrestler, especially females. It is my hope that Ms. Whitsett will write a second book about her life in the sport that will bring the reader up to date on her current efforts to advance women's amateur wrestling.

I've found this a useful introduction, but as I delve into the topic as covered by other authors and even by Turnbull's later publications, I discover numerous errors and important omissions.

The section on samurai personalities would be an extremely useful source if it weren't so brief. The information on each individual is often so short as to omit critically important facts.

The section on battles and sieges is also a useful section as an overview.

NOTE: The dates given for events are only accurate to the year as Turnbull has translated lunar calendar dates directly over. The 13th day of the fourth month of the year 1592 (May 24th) becomes "13 April 1592". Keep this in mind if you reference these dates against other works.

The Samurai Sourcebook is made as a reference book consisting of the following chapters: an outline samurai history, personalities and heraldry, arms and armour, strategy and tactics, battles and sieges, case studies and miscellanea. It also contains some useful maps and index. The Sourcebook is quite helpful in studying Japanese medieval history. The author, Steven Turnbull, is a well-known writer on the subject and the Sourcebook, as well as other books by him, is well researched and written and is an easy read both by itself (especially case studies and strategies section) and as a supplement to other books.
However, a word of caution: those who look for a serious in-depth research will be disappointed. This book does not state such goal, it was created for easy reference. But, to say only that would also be not a complete picture. Strategies and warcraft are given a well researched presentation. Various aspects of warcraft including castle building and their use in control of newly acquired territorial possessions, use of single combat and various types of arms, communication on battlefield and types and components of armour are described in good (for a layman, at least) detail.
Case studies are very well presented and provide useful information on Mongol invasions, Hideyoshi's campaigns against sohei (or warrior monks in lay language), Shimabara rebellion and some other important subjects. In addition, one will find such interesting and not-so-often described subjects as description of battle formations, various lucky and unlucky signs (found in faces of slain warriors!), classification of samurai exploits in battles and much more.
I would highly recommend the Sourcebook to those interested in samurai history.

Excellent source of information. This book has helped me put key people and places together with times. Superb reading and study material. Dr. Turnbull has made learning fun and interesting.

I'll admit that Iron Man is not my favorite character, but this is still a darn good book. It does a great job of covering all aspects of Tony Stark/Iron Man's career/life including his origin, friends, enemies, and also personal tragedies (i.e. Tony' alcholism, health problems, etc.). It does have a little too much techno-gobleddygook talk for MY TASTES, but that's just me. Also, it tends too focus more on War Machine than on Tony/Iron Man, but War Machine IS cool, I'd just rather have seen him gotten his own book. Anyways, this is good one, enjoy!

Before I get into reviewing the novel, let me introduce my background. I've been a comics fan for over ten years, and while most of that time was spent collecting X-Men-related books, I've always had a passion for Iron Man.

Unfortunately, the Iron Man title often suffered from relatively lackluster writer/artist combinations, making for poor collectability - but the concept of a modern-day knight in shining armor always intrigued me. And there's just something about having so much sheer technological power and invincibility that appeals to me.

So when I saw The Armor Trap (and its sequel, Operation AIM) in the library a few years ago, I immediately checked it out. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I never was able to find it again. So I purchased a copy through Amazon, and I re-read it.

Even after a few years, I remembered the plot of the novel enough that it wasn't entirely suspenseful reading. The gist of it is that Tony Stark is captured by a mysterious enemy who pretends to be Madame Masque of the Maggia. "Madame Masque" plays both sides of the fence, demanding that Iron Man steal an energy chip from AIM (which War Machine accomplishes), and forcing Tony to build a suit of armor for her.

The Armor Trap is a novel that lends itself more to conspiracies and intricate plans than all-out brawls, which is precisely the kind of opposition you'd expect for a hero that wears a suit of invincible armor (otherwise, it would get way too easy to beat everyone). Nonetheless, even the heavily armed War Machine has trouble with a massive underwater battle and some one-on-one combat with a dreadnought. At the end, the two team up for another heavy battle.

But while these are Iron Men, they aren't robots. There are people inside, and Greg Cox's real burden is making sure that they remain true to form. And he hoists that burden easily, correctly characterizing everyone from the chivalrous Tony Stark to the hot-headed Jim Rhodes to the harsh Bethany Cabe. The only thing that's out of place is Jim Rhodes' amiable relationship with Tony; in the comics, Rhodes dislikes Stark a great deal, and they never made amends.

And the novel suffers from carelessness in other areas. For one, there seem to be some chronal inconsistencies. Tony is described as being in his early thirties, yet he was captured during the Vietnam War - so when is this novel set? In 1980? And if that age is accurate, how could he have helped to found SHIELD "decades ago"? Furthermore, Cox claims that Hydra was formed a few years before the time of the novel, but it was actually founded during World War II. And there are spatterings of smaller errors, such as when Jim Rhodes notices he has 18 hours until a deadline and then later mentions he has "over a day." To someone who notices details, they stand out glaringly.

But, on the positive side, Cox gives great attention to the armor's details. He subtly mentions its various features, layers, and mechanics without bogging the story down in technical jargon. It's easy to forget what a technological marvel the suit of armor is when you see it over and over again, but Cox restores some of that mystique. Unfortunately, he asks me to suspend my disbelief too far at the end of the novel (basically, the premise is so scientifically implausible that I can't help but laugh at it), but that's not a major problem.

I would say that this novel introduces Iron Man well to new readers, and fans of the comic book will definitely enjoy what is an improvement on the comic. But if you don't like Iron Man and you consider the concept silly, The Armor Trap won't change your mind.

I must compliment Greg Cox on his outstanding work in "The Armor Trap". I greatly enjoyed the battle scenes that focused on War Machine, the pages went by in a blur. However, (I'll try not to spoil the plot! ) near the end when Tony was "surfing" cyberspace in his brain, I got extremely confused with all the jargon and sentences that (to me) made almost no sense to me. Could be because I'm not that computer-savvy, or maybe that I'm only 15. But, hey, I stuck with it and it turned out to be a wild ride, so I'm sure you can, too! Thanks again, Mr. Cox!

The book is pretty interesting.

What's surprised me, though, is the vitality of the myth of the so called Tukhachevskii's "military genius." This legend is based solely on a fallacy: Stalin was bad; Stalin killed Tukhachevskii; ergo, Tukhachevskii was good. The only military operations successfully conducted by Tukhachevskii were against the anti-Bolsheviks revolt in the Tambov district, when this "genius" used hostage-taking "tactics" and chemical weapons (does it remind you of something?) against the insurgents, i.e. Russian peasants.

A remarkable detail: among different reasons for the Red Army's defeats in 1941, the author DOES NOT mention "obsolete" tanks. "Obsolete" Red Army tanks is just another popular myth, originated in GlavPUR, and being disseminated still by the History Channel.

Some extra photos could have made this book more interesting.

What I've been having a problem with, are the countless errors in the transliterated titles of Russian books and archived documents. What was the point of the transliteration, anyway? For those who read Russian, Cyrillic letters would do just as well; for those who do not, it doesn't matter. I don't believe that Cornell UP has no Cyrillic typefaces at its disposal. Furthermore, it's comparatively easy to find a Russian-speaking proofreader in the United States--not to mention an English-speaking proofreader who might do a much better job on this book.

Is the decline of publishing quality in this country irreversible?

Habeck does an excellent job of comparing German and Russian armor doctrines. Acccording to Habeck both the Germans and the Russians copied the British concpet of independent armored formations to strike the flanks of the enemy army. The Soviet and the German doctrines differed in the role that they gave junior offices. The German doctrines allowed a great deal of intiative to the junior officers while the Soviet doctrine set clear instructions to be followed to the letter by junior officers. Another difference is that the German army believed in the decisive battle while the Russian army thought a series of battles had to be fought in order to achieve victory. The Germans ignored the experience of the Spanish Civil War since the terrain did not favor armored movements. But the Russian opponents to armored warfare used the Spanish Civil War as an example of why armored formations failed in combat.Another reason why the Soviet doctrine appeared to fail was that Russian junior officers could not understand their directions during war games and the Russian army lacked mechanics to fix broken down tanks. As a result Soviet generals favoring armored tactics were purged and the Soviet army returned to an infantry centered force until the results of the German blitzkreig in France made them change their doctrine at the last minute. I would reccomend this book for anyone interested in the development of Russian and German armored doctrine.

I found that this book serves the purpose I bought it for to its best. However, the author seems to wander off at times, following his line of thought towards other directions from those he's pursuing, fact which can become tiring. Also, if you're looking for illustrations this book is definitely not for you. The content is very interesting and detailed, and he covers many subjects, although he says his main interest is the Medieval Era. I recommend it, but it would be best if read in conjunction with another book with more illustrations and less historical fact.

I was actually prepared to take a negative view of this book, but Oakeshott's relaxed but enthusiastic and well-informed book won me over. This subject is obviously the love of his intellectual life, and he has compiled a wonderful study of the development of swords, often being able to match those in art to surviving bits, and the rest of weaponry by the by. He discusses techniques of use with good sense and practical experiments. Also, he is one of the few authors to mention that the Vikings were adept at riding and fighting, by his choice of quotes, and explaining the term Riddaraskap.

Ewart Oakeshott is one of those rarest of wonders, a historian who captures the imagination and holds one's attention. Critics have said that as an authority on swords he is not a god. Of course not! Like any decent scholar, he names his sources so that his facts can be taken in context and noted along with other reference works. It is just this accessibility and the down-to-earth quality of his prose that has endeared him to history buffs, weapons enthusiasts and the average reader alike for decades. It has been nearly twenty years since I first picked up "Dark Age Warrior" and his engaging style speaks to us as clearly as ever.

Otto Lehrack has edited a vast compilation of recollections of the front line grunts who fought the war up close and personal. The good, bad and grotesque are equally represented. Unlike the REMFs who conducted the war from air conditioned offices in the rear or in Washington, Lehrack talks with the foot soldiers who suffered, lost their buddies and were forever changed by their experiences. Perhaps most prominent is the unique sense of brotherhood embodied by these story tellers. Driven together by the senselessness of the Vietnam conflict they come together out of need for one another.

This book hits home because of the clear message it sends; the troops didn't always know what they were fighting for but it was clear that they had to support one another if they were going to get home. As Capt John Ripley, winner of the Navy Cross in 1972 on his second tour puts it, "The worst that can be said about a Marine is that he wasn't around when we needed him, that we couldn't count on im. That was absolutely unthinkable to him." The Marines who recount their tale in this book provide a clear understanding of what it was like to spend thirteen months in-country with the enemy trying to kill you each and every day.

Perhaps if Americans at home understood what was going on sooner this war might have had a different outcome. By the end of No Shining Armor, the reader will certainly have a new respect for the tremendous sacrifices made by those who chose to honor their country by serving in Vietnam.

These are the words and reflections of Marines from one unit which saw a lot of combat action west and north of DaNang. The author has done a wonderful job of interviewing a good cross-section of officers and enlisted men and organizing their stories chronologically from 1966 to 1970. The pride of the Marines and these mostly young soldiers is evident even 30 years after the war. This is the "grunts" story told in their own words with humor, pride, and passion. J.Kratz, US Army, Vietnam '66-67, '70-71.

Everyone, regardless of whether they were "for" or "against" the Vietnam War should READ THIS BOOK! It gives an unflinching, brutal and grim portrayal of ground combat by the men (specifically U.S. Marines) who know it best because they were there, they experienced it, and they lived to tell others about it. It shows what heroism and duty to country really are and it shows by the examples of these men. I've read many, many books, both fiction and non-fiction on the war, and none come close to giving the sense of how it really was for these men in ground combat in Vietnam.

Many veterans are still paying the price in physical, psychological and/or emotional terms for doing their duty as American citizens. And most non-participants will never realize the sacrifices these citizens/soldiers made. Personally I have no knowledge myself since I was only 17 when the war ended in 1975, however, I am still un-nerved by the treatment these men received by fellow-countrymen then, and to some extent now (even though it is now "OK" to be a Vietnam veteran).

Read this book and see how it truly was for these brave men in their own words (and for those of all the other services involved, as well). Whether you thought this war was good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral...READ THIS BOOK and see how it truly was for the soldiers fighting on the ground.