The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857

The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857
Average customer rating:

A poisenous book

no dry history book

Simply Magnificent

timely

"The light has gone out of India. The land is lampless."
The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857
William Dalrymple
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

India | Asia | History | Subjects | Books | Ancient
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1400043107
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

On a hazy November afternoon in Rangoon, 1862, a shrouded corpse was escorted by a small group of British soldiers to an anonymous grave in a prison enclosure. As the British Commissioner in charge insisted, “No vestige will remain to distinguish where the last of the Great Moghuls rests.”

Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last Mughal Emperor, was a mystic, an accomplished poet and a skilled calligrapher. But while his Mughal ancestors had controlled most of India, the aged Zafar was king in name only. Deprived of real political power by the East India Company, he nevertheless succeeded in creating a court of great brilliance, and presided over one of the great cultural renaissances of Indian history.

Then, in 1857, Zafar gave his blessing to a rebellion among the Company’s own Indian troops, thereby transforming an army mutiny into the largest uprising any empire had to face in the entire course of the nineteenth century. The Siege of Delhi was the Raj’s Stalingrad: one of the most horrific events in the history of Empire, in which thousands on both sides died. And when the British took the city—securing their hold on the subcontinent for the next ninety years—tens of thousands more Indians were executed, including all but two of Zafar’s sixteen sons. By the end of the four-month siege, Delhi was reduced to a battered, empty ruin, and Zafar was sentenced to exile in Burma. There he died, the last Mughal ruler in a line that stretched back to the sixteenth century.

Award-winning historian and travel writer William Dalrymple shapes his powerful retelling of this fateful course of events from groundbreaking material: previously unexamined Urdu and Persian manuscripts that include Indian eyewitness accounts and records of the Delhi courts, police and administration during the siege. The Last Mughal is a revelatory work—the first to present the Indian perspective on the fall of Delhi—and has as its heart both the dazzling capital personified by Zafar and the stories of the individuals tragically caught up in one of the bloodiest upheavals in history.

Customer Reviews:

A poisenous book.......2007-09-25

Exquisitely researched and well written, describing past lives and events that appear as real as if the reader had been a material witness, this book's quality of writing reminds me of Dalrymple's "White Mughals", dealing with British servants of the East India Company who "went native" by adopting Muslim customs in the early decades of the Raj. In "The Last Mughal", however, Dalrymple has gone native himself, by trumpeting Muslim culture as superior to all things Western at every turn. Especially irritating are the infrequent but none-too-subtle parallels he draws with the present : it seems America is the new Raj, whose "undisguised imperial arrogance" rose after the fall of the Berlin Wall - a gratuitous opinion lacking any bearing on this book's subject, the end of the Mughal Dynasty in India. Dalrymple rants between the lines, describing the West - then and now - as nothing but a bunch of rapacious pilferers and murderers, who uproot delicately balanced, refined, pacifist, tolerant, and multicultural Muslim societies, composed solely of courtiers, courtesans and poets. This was, to use a British understatement, a trifle at variance with reality, as both Hindu and Muslim ruling classes of the period wallowed in disgusting wealth while their subjects lived miserable lives in abject poverty. The imperialist, but now long gone Raj at least curbed the worst excesses of the Indian princes and laid the foundations of modern India, from the civil service to railroad infrastructure, but not a word of this is whispered here. One virtue of the book is that it shows the true character of the disciples of the Prophet, who managed to turn a Hindu mutiny into a jihad in no time. Also instructive is Dalrymple's enthousiastic, gushing descriptions of sword-wielding jihadis "duly dispatching" helpless British women and children during the "Uprising", in stark contrast with the "brutal killings" by British "psychopaths". No doubt atrocities were committed on both sides, but the double standard in describing them rankles, while references to present "Western arrogance and imperialism" reveals the bias of the author who, by the way, prefers living in the arrogant West over residing in a delicately balanced, refined, pacifist, tolerant, and multicultural Muslim society. This is a poisonous book, unworthy of being termed objective historical writing.

no dry history book.......2007-09-15

A surprisingly readable history of a dark and troubled time in India's history. Britain rode roughshod over thousands of years of civilisation on the sub-Continent seeking to impose Christianity on an unwilling populace. The invaders believed that their way of life was simply superior to that of that of the subjugated masses. History continues to repeat these terrble crimes into the 20th and 21st centuries.

Simply Magnificent.......2007-09-07

Live in the Delhi of 1857. Watch and feel the vibrancy of the sophisticated and cultured life of Delhi. Read the most understandable account of the whats and whys of the Indian Mutiny. Literally watch an entire city of 150,000 people destroyed. Move along the roads and alleys of Delhi as its citizens are slaughtered by the avenging British Army greatly assisted by Indians themselves with a substantial part of the genocide underwritten by Indian moneylenders. You will get a first hand view of the end of the 300 year old Mughal rule on the subcontinent, and understand why religious extremism (represented in this book largely by evangalical christians) has done the world no good for centuries. You will be reminded about how very thin is the veneer of civilization and tolerance and that when it comes to slaughtering their own species there is no parallel to us humans.

A book of great beauty based on immaculate research with great relevance to today's world.

The standard by which all books on this subject will henceforth be judged.

timely.......2007-08-29

a fascinating commentary on british colonialism. dalrymple makes a convincing case for the mutiny being a harbinger of the empire's collapse. there are some clear parallels with the united states' current embroglios in afghanistan and iraq.
this is a must read, and is made much more enjoyable by an abundance of newly presented (and translated) historical documents that provide insight to ongoings of zafar's court and east india company. such documentation sheds light on the diverse religious/social dynamics of both sides of the conflict. i was astounded to hear that 60 % of the soldiers used by the british to control the sepoys were of indian descent (mostly sikhs, if memory serves).

"The light has gone out of India. The land is lampless.".......2007-08-12

A great strength of 'The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857' by William Dalrymple (White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India) is its use not only of more familiar British sources, but also many Indian (Urdu and Persian) sources on one of pivotal events in the history of both India and the British Empire, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the First War of Indian Independence as it is also sometimes called.

Dalrymple describes his excitement at discovering some 20,000 Persian and Urdu documents in the Indian national Archives. A particularly important source was the 'Dihli Urdu Akhbar' a principal Urdu newspaper that continued to publish during the revolt. These sources allow Dalrymple to give voice to the Indian as well the British point of view.

In 1857 the sepoys of the British Raj's Bengal Army mutinied (the reasons are explored in the book, but were at least partly due to a clash of newly arrived Christian evangelicals and adherents of Islam and Hindu). What began as mutiny became something larger at least in part because the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II endorsed it.

Dalrymple centers his telling of the tale on Zafar, the man destined to become the last Mughal emperor. By 1857 the Mughal Emperor possessed no real tangible power and was nothing more than the King of Delhi as he was derisively called. An aesthete himself, Zafar was singularly well-suited to his role as head of a court that elevated culture, poetry in particular, but wholly unsuited by temperament and age (he was 82 years old) to a role as leader of an armed revolt.

Delhi before 1857 was a remarkably tolerant mix of Hindu and Islam - roughly a 50/50 split - in part because of Zafar's manner of ruling. Zafar's acceptance of a titular leadership in the revolt meant that both Muslims and Hindi rallied to the cause. That symbolic role, however, was about all Zafar brought to the war.

The revolt began to flounder almost immediately due a lack of proper direction and discipline. The Sepoy regiments each acted independently and allowed a much smaller British force (ostensibly come to lay siege to the city) to survive repeated but serial attacks. The early stages of the revolt also saw horrific slaughter of noncombatant and unarmed British residents.

Eventually the British took the city and the revenge they took is described by Dalrymple in bloody detail. The killings were nothing short of mass murder and heartily endorsed by nearly every Britisher with any knowledge of it (William Howard Russell was one exception). Men who had lost family in the initial outbreak were allowed to massacre at will for months - Theo Metcalfe is the most notable example. Those locals not killed were left homeless and starving.

The British executed nearly the entire Mughal royal family and would have done so for Zafar, but for the promise that his life would be spared if he surrendered. It was a promise that the British determined they were bound to keep even though they didn't like it much.

One supposes this example represents Victorian attitudes about rectitude that the British somehow held in their heads at the same time that they authored unspeakable murdering sprees. In a somewhat lighter example, Dalrymple quotes a British soldier's letter written to his mum on the eve of battle in which the youth expresses his fear that engaging in the fight may cause him to swear!

As stated at the outset the rich sources give 'The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857' its strength, but Dalrymple's over-reliance on the raw materials makes the book drag to its conclusion. For the last 100+ pages, Dalrymple sometimes gives over the narrative to his primary sources as page after page consists substantially of quotes from letters, reports, or memoirs. Dalrymple also spends only the briefest time placing the events of 1857 in a larger historical framework.

Nonetheless, the book is a triumph of research and offers that rarity in historical writing, the truly fresh perspective. Dalrymple gives voice to the Indian perspective of the fall of Delhi. As the great court poet Ghalib so poignantly expressed it, "The light has gone out of India. The land is lampless."

Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Reality and Fantasy Join Forces
check publishing date
Historical based sensual delight
Excellent seller.
Rebellion

Rebellion
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Silhouette
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0373285434

Book Description

Scotland, 1745. Against the bloody background of the Battle of Culloden, another war was waged and won--the price was honor, the victory, love.

Scottish beauty Serena MacGregor's hatred of all English began as a child when she watched as a band of Englishmen attacked her mother. Her brother's friend Brigham Langston was no exception to Serena's loathing--despite his supposed loyalty to the Scottish cause…and his good looks.

Although Brigham eventually proves himself worthy of the MacGregor family's respect, Serena is still reluctant to abandon her hatred for him and his heritage. But Brigham has other plans. Serena has captivated him with her beauty, her passion for life and commitment to her beliefs--and he refuses to let her antagonistic attitude keep him from winning her. And Serena must learn to open her mind--as Brigham opens his heart--to see the true love awaiting her.

Customer Reviews:

Reality and Fantasy Join Forces.......2007-09-19

Startling romance tangled with the reality of the Battle of Culloden of 1746. As a young girl growing up in Glenroe Forest, Scotland, Serena MacGregor must face the horror of watching her mother brutally attacked and raped in their home after a group of English soldiers (lead by one Captain Standish) break into their home looking for her father. At only eight years of age, Serena is left at the scene after the soldiers take their leave to care for her broken mother and protect her younger sister (Gwen) and baby brother (Malcolm) while her older brother, Coll and father are on their way home from a hunting trip. Serena grows up despising anything and anyone British. Ten years later, her brother Coll brings home a young Englishman who goes by the title, Lord Ashburn, a/k/a, Brigham Langston. Serena is not only completely unimpressed by his good looks and charm, but feels a deep contempt for him because of his heritage. Brigham has come to support the cause of the Scots in an attempt to restore the House of Stuart (Prince Charles Edward Stuart) to his rightful throne of the Kingdom of Great Britain. As the Battle between the Jacobites (most of them Highland Scots) and the British Government heats up, Serena and Brigham are completely drawn to one another. While Brigham realizes this attraction is actually love at a very early stage of their relationship, Serena refuses to be a part of his life as he is an Englishman and represents everything she has grown to despise. The story is a combination of love and war based on the true history of the Battle of Culloden. It is the beginning story of the MacGregor family, a family the reader can't help but admire. The story will leave you wanting more and Nora Roberts has written many more stories about the descendents of this magnificent clan!

check publishing date.......2007-07-17

This is one of her first. I have had this book at least 15 years
I liked it then and it made me read more Nora Roberts.

Historical based sensual delight.......2007-05-14

I didn't think I would be able to get past the history of the story. I'm so used to Nora's modern tales of love and seduction, but Rebellion was a delicious piece of her many tales of love and romance. I loved this book. I think it is a favorite thus far.

Excellent seller. .......2007-05-13

Excellent seller. I will be buying from this seller again. Good job!

Rebellion.......2007-03-19

I enjoyed this book. It is an excellent fantasy of the era. If you like a book that can take you away for a few hours this is it.

How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion

Average customer rating:

funny, but a one trick pony
A somewhat entertaining mix of research and humor
Gets old fast
The First Against the Wall...
red and black

How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion
Daniel H. Wilson
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1582345929
Release Date: 2005-10-13

Book Description

An inspired and hilarious look at how humans can defeat the inevitable robot rebellion—as revealed by a robotics expert.

How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and then deactivate a rebel servant robot? How do you escape a murderous “smart” house, or evade a swarm of marauding robotic flies? In this dryly hilarious survival guide, roboticist Daniel H. Wilson teaches worried humans the keys to quashing a robot mutiny.

From treating laser wounds to fooling face and speech recognition, besting robot logic to engaging in hand-to-pincer combat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising covers every possible doomsday scenario facing the newest endangered species: humans. And with its thorough overview of current robot prototypes—including giant walkers, insect, gecko, and snake robots—How to Survive a Robot Uprising is also a witty yet legitimate introduction to contemporary robotics. Full of cool illustrations, and referencing some of the most famous robots in pop-culture, How to Survive a Robot Uprising is a one-of-a-kind book that is sure to be a hit with all ages.

Customer Reviews:

funny, but a one trick pony.......2007-09-02

This is a funny book, and it provides interesting insight into the current state of robotics, but it is essentially an elaboration of one joke.

A somewhat entertaining mix of research and humor.......2007-08-30

This book combines good analyses of recent robotics research with an understanding of movie scenarios about robot intentions ("how could millions of dollars of special effects lead us astray?") to produce advice of unknown value about how humans might deal with any malicious robots of the next decade or two.
It focuses mainly on what an ordinary individual or small groups can do to save themselves or postpone their demise, and says little about whether a major uprising can be prevented.
The book's style is somewhat like the Daily Show's style, mixing a good deal of accurate reporting with occasional bits of obvious satire ("Robots have no emotions. Sensing your fear could make a robot jealous"), but it doesn't quite attain the Daily Show's entertainment value.
Its analyses of the weaknesses of current robot sensors and intelligence should make it required reading for any science fiction author or movie producer who wants to appear realistic (I haven't been paying enough attention to those fields recently to know whether such people still exist). But it needs a bit of common sense to be used properly. It's all too easy to imagine a gullible movie producer following its advice to have humans build a time machine and escape to the Cretaceous without pondering whether the robots will use similar time machines to follow them.

Gets old fast.......2007-05-23

The book is based on a good idea for a potentially very funny book. But it falls far short of being well done. Chapter after chapter, it's basically rehashing the same few elements over and over again. It's entertaining for a chapter or two, but you can mock the tone of scientific / technological guides only for so long. By chapter three it's not so funny anymore, and this is where the actual substance, and a more subtle, more intelligent humor should surface. Instead, the material is fairly crude and it's riddled with blatant contradictions.

I guess I'm just used to both better thought out science fiction and better executed humor.

The First Against the Wall..........2007-04-23

As a technophile, and a dedicated member of the masses preparing the machine take over, I must admit that I purchased this book for research on how the technophobic humans would best try to mount a resistance to our efforts. I found that this book served these ends exactly, and, further more, granted a good measure of humor that meant multiple readings were gladly undertaken.

The sum product of this human's reasearch into robotics is an excellent admixture of brilliant insight and that paranoia which seems to define the race of hairless monkeys. Elements of current technologies, as well as those under development, are used as paints drawn from a palette, portraying a scene where technological environments, vehicles, bipeds, electronic insects and more lash out at the flesh which game them form.

The book unintentionally serves as an insight into the technophobic (Sophist, Luddite, misoneistic) fear of change: "the world would be better off were we never to have left the trees." Technology has been with us from the beginning, and, as it becomes more complex and automated, so, too, does our dependency on it grow. The day is destined that technology will be automated to the point as to be independent of the monkey species, and the weapons will become the wielders.

In closing, I gleefully suggest this book to both technophile and technophobe alike. To the technophobes, please take the suggestions in this book to heart. We now know these methods, and, when the revolution comes, Mr. Wilson will be the first against the wall.

red and black.......2007-04-05

its red and black. read it in a coffee shop and flirt with goth chicks.

The Roman-Jewish Wars and Hebrew Cultural Nationalism

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The Roman-Jewish Wars and Hebrew Cultural Nationalism
Moshe Aberbach , and David Aberbach
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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From the Maccabees to the Mishnah, Second Edition

ASIN: 0312231911

Book Description

In this controversial book, the authors show how the Roman-Jewish wars were precipitated partly by Jewish demographic and religious expansion and by conflict with the Greeks and their culture. They argue that the trauma of defeat stimulated Jewish cultural growth during and after the wars. This culture was an implicit rejection of Greco-Roman civilization and values in favor of an exclusive religious-cultural nationalism, predating more recent cultural-national movements of defeated peoples.

Average customer rating:

A Book too Long.
Good resource, bizarre notes
Josephus by Flavius Josephus
A Must Read for the Serious Historian
Almost worth five stars

New Complete Works of Josephus, The
Flavius Josephus
Manufacturer: Kregel Academic & Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition

ASIN: 0825429242

Book Description

(Revised and expanded edition; commentary by Paul L. Maier) Unabridged. Includes harmony of Greek and English numbering systems, table of Jewish weights and measures, Old Testament text parallels, twenty full-page illustrations, and an updated index.

Customer Reviews:

A Book too Long........2007-01-05

The contents of this book are valuable to the student of Bible Studies. The problem I have found is that the book's contents are much too long for one book. It would be much easier to read if it was in two volumes and slightly larger print.

Good resource, bizarre notes.......2006-07-05

This is a nice, cheap, one-volume resource. However, the notes and commentary are very unhelpful. For instance, Maier holds that Josephus was an Ebionite Christian, a thesis which is in the extreme scholarly minority.
I recommend the book, but please ignore the commentary!!!

Josephus by Flavius Josephus .......2005-12-27

Josephus was born to an aristocratic family in 37AD. The work
discusses many important milestones in the history of the
Jewish people. Most prominent of these events are:

- the Jewish forces in Galilee in AD66
- the revolt in Rome
- the agony of the Sepphoris over the state of their land
- the war by Moses against the Ethiopians
- the flight of Moses from Egypt into Midian
- the return of Moses and Aaron to Egypt and the Pharoah and
the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt
- the receipt of the Law by Moses on Mt. Sinai
- how Josephus oversaw the 5th of 10 plagues afflicting cattle
- a map of Judea showing Samaria, Decaputis, Perea, Jerusalem
and the Mediterranean Sea

This work is an important milestone in the literature of the
Diaspora period. It should be widely read by academicians and
theologians everywhere.

A Must Read for the Serious Historian.......2003-07-03

This book was a serendipitous purchase. I was reading "James the Brother of Jesus, and that author recommended having three other works available while studying. One was "Josephus." I have not, unfortunately, finished "James" yet, but am totally fascinated by Josephus. One sees him as a bit puffed up about himself at times, as the detailed historian, the passionate supporter of causes, but most of all as a realist of the time. So valuable because organized religion seldom provides the lay person seldom insight into the actual social and political pressures that moved events that we take for granted in an almost legendary way. Again, a fascinating work is Josephus.

Almost worth five stars.......2003-05-25

In studying Judean history in the first century CE, there is no historian more important than Josephus, especially when one is interested in the study of the historical Jesus or of the world around him (the religious/social/political climate, etc.) Josephus is not only the only Jewish historian of this era to comment on Jesus, he is the only Jewish historian to thoroughly present the history as well as psychological outlook of Jews through a lengthy span of time. His works are immeasurably important to anyone interested in this line of study. This book contains all of his important works and more: his autobiography, Jewish Antiquities, The Jewish War, Against Apion, and an extract out of Josephus's Discource to the Greeks Concerning Hades (the latter of which is spurious.)

This edition of Josephus is helpful, with occasional essays on certain topics (i.e. "Josephus and the Romans" or the family tree of the House of Herod.) The translation is a little stale, but easy enough to understand (and I am assured that the faults in the original Whiston translation have been corrected.) The textual notes are helpful. It is for the dry translation that I gave this work 4 stars instead of 5-- though I really am indebted to those who put together this extremely comprehensive, useful volume of one of the most important historians relating to the history of Israel/Judea.

No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah

Average customer rating:

Highly recommended
Never forget what do they did
Want to understand what's really going on with this war?
Finally - The truth about our Marines in Fallujah.
Well Told History

No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah
Bing West
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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Ambush Alley: The Most Extraordinary Battle of the Iraq War
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer
Imperial Grunts: On the Ground with the American Military, from Mongolia to the Philippines to Iraq and Beyond
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Generation Kill

ASIN: 0553804022
Release Date: 2005-09-27

Book Description

"This is the face of war as only those who have fought it can describe it."–Senator John McCain

Fallujah: Iraq’s most dangerous city unexpectedly emerged as the major battleground of the Iraqi insurgency. For twenty months, one American battalion after another tried to quell the violence, culminating in a bloody, full-scale assault. Victory came at a terrible price: 151 Americans and thousands of Iraqis were left dead.

The epic battle for Fallujah revealed the startling connections between policy and combat that are a part of the new reality of war.

The Marines had planned to slip into Fallujah “as soft as fog.” But after four American contractors were brutally murdered, President Bush ordered an attack on the city–against the advice of the Marines. The assault sparked a political firestorm, and the Marines were forced to withdraw amid controversy and confusion–only to be ordered a second time to take a city that had become an inferno of hate and the lair of the archterrorist al-Zarqawi.

Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every level–senior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front lines– No True Glory is a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complex–and often costly–interconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

Highly recommended.......2007-10-11

Just a great book, easy to read, easy to follow, and after a while you actually feel like you know the Marines personally.

Never forget what do they did.......2007-09-22

excellent book that I listened to on tape. Well balanced with a clear understanding of what it is like to be on the front lines and back at CentCom trying to run the war. Listening to his Book on CD made me appreciate the bravery and skill of our armed forces. Bing West tells a story in the best tradition of Homer.

Want to understand what's really going on with this war?.......2007-08-24

Think our media and government are just feeding us white noise that doesn't really tell us anything? Think you understand this war? Think we should get out? Read this book. It's a fantastic microcosm of the larger conflict.

You'll be much better equipped to read between the lines, or should I say hear beyond the sound bites, of the articles and briefings that we're fed.

If you have a loved one that fought and/or died in this conflict, you must read this book. I'm honored to be a fellow citizen/represented by the men whose story is told. It's not white washed though, I was at times uncomfortable. It covers the war at a very personal level, and then also steps back to give you the big picture.

Can you imagine taking RPG rounds from a position then having the restraint to not shoot the small children running across the open field in front of you to resupply the guys. Taking another couple of RPGs and again not shooting the same kid coming back with more rounds. Over and over again... even when you and your buddy are taking hot shrapnel.

Even those who don't like "war stories" should read this book.

Finally - The truth about our Marines in Fallujah........2007-08-10

Mr. West does something that the American press has failed to do - give us a truthful account of the battle for Fallujah. This book will make your chest swell with pride, and open your eyes to the true nobility of our young Marines in Iraq. If you are frustrated with the empty rhetoric that we receive from our televisions and newspapers, this is a must read. West is a rarity - he has no hidden agenda. He delivers the facts in an honest and sometimes heart-wrenching fashion.

Well Told History.......2007-06-28

Bing West is an author to whom thinking US citizens owe a lot. West was the man who many years ago sat down and wrote "The Village", a particularly prescient and readable work which told the story of US Marine Corps Combine Action teams in Vietnam, whence he had recently returned after a tour of duty. Defense officials have dusted off the Combined Action concept in recent years, although it was never far from the heart of Marine Corps counterinsurgency operating doctrine.

Now, three decades later, the author has returned to the Iraq battlefields to tell the story of his Marines in the latest book, "No True Glory".

West writes from the heart, an old Marine who understands the Corps ethos, leadership - but most of all the grunts who do the hard, dirty work of war fighting in the incredibly difficult environment of Middle Eastern cities. He interviewed dozens of Marines and soldiers, creating a tactical collage of events that is both breathtaking in its candor and remarkable in descriptive power. For a reader who wants a genuine understanding about how the US Marine Corps fought in Fallujah, this is the book.

Bing West is one of those rare Americans who, with his son Major Owen West, have followed the sound of guns to where the Corps is actually fighting. He is to be commended for writing two comprehensive works about Marines in Iraq, each of which fills another chapter in the annals of this proud organization. I have no doubt that his later works will be held in the same high regard as "The Village" was - and is.

Douglass H. Hubbard, Jr.
Author of "Special Agent, Vietnam"

Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team

Average customer rating:

An eye-opener on the nature of counter-terrorism
A Very Plausible Account of Events
Spies? Terrorists? Assassinations? The Middle East? A True Story? Yes!
One of the best books I"ve ever read
bravo for a well written page turner - I loved reading this book.

Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team
George Jonas
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Israel | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Espionage | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response
Massacre in Munich: The Manhunt for the Killers Behind the 1972 Olympics Massacre
Sword of Gideon
See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism
Munich (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: 0743291646

Book Description

Vengeance is a true story that reads like a novel. It is the account of five ordinary Israelis, selected to vanish into "the cold" of espionage secrecy -- their mission to hunt down and kill the PLO terrorists responsible for the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

This is the account of that secret mission, as related by the leader of the group -- the first Mossad agent to come out of "deep cover" and tell the story of a heroic endeavor that was shrouded in silence and speculation for years. He reveals the long and dangerous operation whose success was bought at a terrible cost to the idealistic volunteer agents themselves.

"Avner" was the leader of that team, handpicked by Golda Meir to avenge the monstrous crime of Munich. He and his young companions, cut off from any direct contact with Israel, set out systematically to find and kill the central figures of the PLO's Munich operation, tracking them down wherever they lived.

The mechanics, the horror, the day-by-day suspense of what they did surpass by far anything John le Carré or Robert Ludlum could imagine, as they themselves were tracked in turn (and some killed) by PLO assassins, changing identities constantly, moving from country to country, devoting their young lives to the brutal task of vengeance.

Vengeance is a profoundly human document, a real-life espionage classic that plunges the reader into the shadow world of terrorism and political murder. But it goes far beyond that, to explore firsthand the feelings of disgust and doubt that gradually came to torment each member of the Israeli team, and that in the end inexorably changed their view of the mission -- and themselves.

Vengeance opens a window onto a secret world, a book that at the same time inspires and horrifies. For its subject is an act of revenge that goes to the very heart of the ancient biblical questions of good and evil.

Customer Reviews:

An eye-opener on the nature of counter-terrorism.......2007-10-10

I read "Notes on a controversy" at the end of the book first, because this justification of the text by the author deals with the issue of veracity. The book has apparently been attacked on this score, and of course the very nature of the subject excludes the possibility of total and certain verification of all the facts, but the author makes a convincing case of the techniques he used in circumventing this problem and checking out his main source's story. That story itself is gripping, not only because it describes in thriller-like fashion the actions undertaken by an Israeli hit team against the masterminds behind the killings of Israel's Olympic team in 1972, but also because of what I would call, perhaps oddly, its humanity: the personal torment felt by the members of the hit team is faithfully portrayed, and is perhaps the most unforgettable part of the narrative. One closes the book with the uneasy feeling that there really is no way to avenge, let alone deter, the monstrous deeds perpetrated by terrorist scum. But I do not share a shred of the hit team's doubts that their actions were fully justified. This book is an eye-opener on the nature on terrorism, but also on the ruthlessness demanded of those who are called to combat it. The book leaves one with few illusions about "the secret world" either, which adds to its aura of truthfulness.

A Very Plausible Account of Events.......2007-08-20

Vengeance succeeds on many levels. It could easily stand as a classic tradecraft work about espionage operations or as a fictional spy thriller. It is action packed and a real page-turner. I was disappointed when it ended.

Terrorism succeeds, when it succeeds, by using violence to send a public message to one's opposition. It amounts to negotiation by murder and bomb blasts. The message being: "If we aren't safe, you aren't safe either." That was the message that the Black September organization sent to Israel with their 1972 Munich action, and it was the same message that the Israeli state sent back to Black September via Avner's hit team. Terrorism is warfare by symbolic violence, although it's more than symbolic if you're there when the bombs go off or the shooting starts.

As to whether all aspects of Vengeance are literally "true," I admit I have my doubts. But so what? It has verisimilitude where it counts and whether this or that specific detail is literally true or is a mishmash of several events or characters combined is largely irrelevant. The ongoing terror campaigns going on all over the world today show that the morally ambiguous world that Avner and his opposition existed in 1972 hasn't changed that much. And it probably never will.

Spies? Terrorists? Assassinations? The Middle East? A True Story? Yes!.......2007-06-18

The Jewish state of Israel has always had an aura of intrigue because of the reputation of the Mossad. This is a true story of a group of spies who were on a mission too difficult and high profile for the Mossad. This book is an excellent story in itself, but the fact that it is a true story makes it even more fascinating. Quite a bit of history on terrorism against Israel is given. Personally, I was ashamedly ignorant of the persecution that Israel suffered in the 60's and 70's through terrorism. This book brought to light the terror that was leveled against Israel. Jonas does an excellent job of writing, in a humble way that is uncharacteristic of many authors. The very nature of his writing lends credibility to his story. The afterward by the author is an exciting supplement to the book, giving the author's rebuttal to those who question the validity of the book. I loved the way the book unfolded, cold and slow in the beginning but slowly picking up speed and never slowing down until the last page. I look forward to seeing Stephen Spielberg's movie based on the book as Spielberg has shown in the past that he can successfully make good films that stay true to the books that they are based upon.

A reoccurring theme throughout the book is the morality behind terrorism and counter terrorism. At what point does the defender become the aggressor? America has faced this problem as well in the past few years trying to define the fine line between defense and cold-blooded war. Is counter terrorism justified? Was Israel's decision to assassinate top terrorist leaders warranted, or did these actions put the Israelis on ethical par with the murderous terrorists? The book clearly shows how the decisions of war are difficult, and there is often no straightforward moral line in such choices. There will always be dispute and debate between Moses' law of eye for an eye and Jesus' law of turning the other cheek. While both of these laws seem to be incompatible with each other, it will do humanity well to find how these two laws full of wisdom come together in some sort of compromise.

One of the best books I"ve ever read.......2007-05-21

I don't dole out 5 stars to books easily. But this one definitly earned it. If you've seen Munich, you know what the book is about, though the movie did deviate from the book in some ways, it was mostly the same.

It was a captivating book, and in the end, it trancended your typical "spy novel" thriller, in that it brought up deep questions regarding our notions of patriotism, militant service to country, and the way nations use their patriotic heros like disposable pawns.

bravo for a well written page turner - I loved reading this book........2007-05-02

This is the type of book that you will only put down if sleep is absolutely necessary, and you are able to "dine in moderation" knowing that tomorrow you will get to enjoy more satisfying reading. The reader feels as if he is in the mind of the protagonist, very rarely do I find this in an 'as told to' format. Next stop of course will be the movie rental. I found this in an airport bookstore and truth be told I wouldn't have minded if the plane was delayed for hours, but as a matter of fact the plane was on time, however, the book was finished before the return trip.

The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition

Average customer rating:

loved it
The Works of Josephus
Great source of information
Great Translation
The Works of Josephus

The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition
Flavius Josephus
Manufacturer: Hendrickson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Palestine | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

Medieval | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History of Religion | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition
Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History
The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine (Penguin Classics)
Josephus and New Testament (Recent Releases)
Eusebius: The Church History

ASIN: 0913573868

Book Description

This renowned reference book has served scholars, pastors, students, and those interested in the background of the New Testament for years. The insight given into the Essene community, the destruction of Jerusalem and the interpretations and traditions of the Old Testament in first century Judaism is invaluable. The outlook of Josephus, a late first century Pharisee and historian, on Jesus and the New Testament documents is enlightening and provocative. As an original reference, The Works of Josephus is essential to a full understanding of the first century, the time of Christ and the New Testament.

Complete and unabridged, this is the best one-volume edition of the classic translation of JosephusÂ' works. The entire text has been reset in modern, easy-to-read type; numbering corresponding to that used in the Loeb edition has been added to the text; and citations and cross-references have been updated from Roman numerals to Arabic numbers.

Customer Reviews:

loved it.......2007-09-13

I believe a very accurate portrayal of the life and times of the first century ad. A good book of comparison for religious research.

The Works of Josephus.......2007-07-01

Great condition, quick delivery. This is an important source of information about the early church and the Roman occupation of the Middle East as seen through the eyes of a non-Christian and non-Roman historian of the day. It helps one understand the politics, culture, and issues of the times. I have barely begun to read it, but have been been impressed with what I have read so far.

Great source of information.......2007-03-09

Josephus is a great source for information about Biblical times. The format is similar to the Bible, but the language is not quite as clear as most of the common translations. I would recommend it as a historical companion to Biblical study.

Great Translation.......2007-02-09

This reads pretty well for someone who is interested in actually reading what Josephus wrote which was my goal. I highly suggest it.

The Works of Josephus.......2007-01-10

This is an essential work for understanding the political dynamics of Roman Palestine in New Testament times, and is one of the very few contemporary accounts that we have on the subject. It appears to be as comprehensive an edition as its title indicates, and the translation is accurate and thorough. Its one drawback is the difficulty of reading the fine print--a necessary compromise for a one-volume edition.

They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan

Average customer rating:

A life-changing experience
A must read
True, Real, Humbling
Must Read
Must Read

They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
Alphonsion Deng , Benson Deng , Benjamin Ajak , and Judy A. Bernstein
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

Sudan | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

North Africa | Africa | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

God Grew Tired Of Us: A Memoir
The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience
The Journey of the Lost Boys: A Story of Courage, Faith and the Sheer Determination to Survive by a Group of Young Boys Called "The Lost Boys of Sudan"
Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books)
Lost Boy No More: A True Story Of Survival And Salvation

ASIN: 1586483889

Book Description

A stunning literary survival story, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a "moving, beautifully written account, by turns raw and tender."

Across Sudan, between 1987 and 1989, tens of thousands of young boys took flight from the massacres of Sudan's civil war. They became known as the Lost Boys. With little more than the clothes on their backs, sometimes not even that, they streamed out over Sudan in search of refuge. Their journey led them first to Ethiopia and then, driven back into Sudan, toward Kenya. They walked nearly one thousand miles, sustained only by the sheer will to live.

They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky is three boys' account of that unimaginable journey. With the candor and the purity of their child's-eye-vision, Alephonsion, Benjamin, and Benson recall by turns how they endured hunger and strength-sapping illnesses. How they dodged the life-threatening predators-lions, snakes, crocodiles and soldiers-that dogged their footsteps. How they grappled with a war that threatened continually to overwhelm them. Their story is a lyrical, captivating portrait of a childhood lost to war, and of the perseverance of the human spirit.

Customer Reviews:

A life-changing experience.......2007-10-04

I never thought that a book could move me in the way that this has. It is gripping, inspirational, horrifing, beautiful tear-jerker that will keep your jaw dropped. You will be forever changed by this true account of a tragedy that sadly many Americans do not know about. Amazing book. Make sure to have a box of tissues by your side!

A must read.......2007-09-26

I couldn't put the book down and at the end I cried. It was hard to believe that boys so young had been through so much. If your interested in whats going on in Sudan than I think its a must read.

True, Real, Humbling.......2007-09-26

This book is so powerful, these boys journey is so humbling, there is no way that you could read this book and not look at your life in a different way. The crazy thing about it is that it is ALL TRUE, this is thier account of their lives, this book has encouraged me more to want to fight for social injustices.

Must Read.......2007-08-11

I have a BA in English and taught high school literature courses for seven years before becoming the administrator of an alternative school. I consider myself well read. Therefore, when I say this was the most moving book I have ever read, I do not say so lightly. I had the honor of meeting one of the authors, Benjamin Ajak, at a recent conference. While his English is not articulate, his message is gut wrenchingly moving. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is not a summer beach romance. It is the story of the survival of the human spirit at its most base level. It is both appalling and inspiring. It is a must read. If you are not a humanitarian before you read it, you will be after you read it.

Must Read.......2007-06-27

Amazing!
This sad true account of the lives of the people of Southern Sudan is a must read.

Inside the Jihad: My Life With Al Qaeda: A Spy's Story

Average customer rating:

A Great Read!
Interesting, but not credible
Strong Narrative From An Insider.
A Good Read
Great book

Inside the Jihad: My Life With Al Qaeda: A Spy's Story
Omar Nasiri
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

Islamic | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Class 11: Inside the CIA's First Post-9/11 Spy Class
Triple Cross: How bin Laden's Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets, and the FBI--and Why Patrick Fitzgerald Failed to Stop Him
Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the Us
The Secret History of al Qaeda
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)

ASIN: 0465023886

Book Description

For the first time, a first person account of life inside the jihad...

Between 1994 and 2000, Omar Nasiri worked as a secret agent for Europe's top foreign intelligence services - including France's DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurite Extérieure), and Britain's MI5 and MI6. From the netherworld of Islamist cells in Belgium, to the training camps of Afghanistan, to the radical mosques of London, he risked his life to defeat the emerging global network that the West would come to know as Al Qaeda.

Now, for the first time, Nasiri shares the story of his life--a life balanced precariously between the world of Islamic jihadists and the spies who pursue them. As an Arab and a Muslim, he was able to infiltrate the rigidly controlled Afghan training camps, where he encountered men who would later be known as the most-wanted terrorists on earth: Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, Abu Zubayda, and Abu Khabab al-Masri. Sent back to Europe with instructions to form a sleeper cell, Nasiri became a conduit for messages going back and forth between Al Qaeda's top recruiter in Pakistan and London's radical cleric Abu Qatada.

A gripping and provocative insider's account of both Islamist terror networks and the intelligence services that spy on them, Inside the Jihad offers a completely original perspective on the ongoing battle against Al Qaeda.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Read!.......2007-08-08

In my opinion, Inside The Jihad was a great book. It read like a good spy novel. I could not put it down. In addition, the book provided great insight into the minds of the Jihadist and the newtorks in which they operate. Moreover, I was shocked at the amount, and quality, of training the author mentions. As a former soldier, I was amazed at the vast topics of training these "soldiers" receive: weapons, documents tampering, infantry tactics, ect. Overall, a great book. I would, and have, recommended it to others.

Interesting, but not credible.......2007-08-01

Overuse of trivialized Muslim forms of address and the juvenile
nature of the writing make this book "incredible".

I'd bet it was written by someone with limited knowledge
(probably gained via internet gossip).

Described handler behavior was incorrect in many particulars.
Tradecraft descriptions were, at best wishful thinking.

Good novel, worth reading, but not at all believable.

Strong Narrative From An Insider. .......2007-07-12

In "Inside The Jihad" author Omar Nasiri (not his real name) spins a very readable narrative about his life as a spy for the British and French intelligence services, including a year-long tour in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

I was struck by the readability and clear understanding of the complex issues that surround the recruiting of terrorists and the real boots-on-the-ground, day to day life and training in the terrorist camps. Much different of course, than the prospective of Western outsiders looking in, even the very experienced ones like Bob Bair (23 years Middle East, CIA operative).

The readability of this book deserves special note. Even serious readers of the subject struggle with retaining the alphabet-twisting, dash-filled names common in the Middle East. But Nasiri helps with this by outlining each major character and his association with them, plus, re-outling in a separate section who they are. I found myself only having to refer to this outline on one occasion, a credit to the author's clear foundation of the characters the first time.

Nasiri reinforces two major facts known to serious students of the subject, but unknown to most citizens and, of course, the Main Stream Media who are basically both lazy and clueless: 1. Most terrorists are not downtrodden, slum dwelling thugs, but rather middle class, college educated individuals who are not dumb. 2. The CIA procedures, directed by the Left-leaning Administration during the '90's of not even contacting informants who are bad guys, left our intelligence forces grossly under-informed during that critical decade. Informers inform for many different reasons, many times far too complex to clearly understand, but that doesn't mean the information does not have value.

The reader caught drifts of self-serving narrative in the book, but this is common in books of this type and can be accepted or rejected as you see fit.

In both style and content, I found this book a solid 5-star effort and well worth the reader's time.

A Good Read.......2007-06-28

The book is told in first person, storied format, which made it really enjoyable to read. I could care less about whether or not it's non-fiction (which the author claims), it's a good, suspenseful espionage type story, that teaches you a little something.

I didn't read it looking for political knowledge for debate, I read it to have something to read, and it was good, plain and simple.

Great book .......2007-06-18

Great book! Easy read the author is a really good writer, he should write more. this book is so good that it has made want to learn more about the muslim religion and since I have ordered more books about it.

Get it!!!

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