Customer Reviews:
A truly amazing organized crime book.......2002-06-25
Claire Sterling does an amazing job of exposing the new world order of organized crime. Her references seem impeccable and the story she tells is one of world governments crippled by an inability to coordinate and cooperate to the degree that counter-governments (ie, crime families) are cooperating. As a result, the world Sterling paints is one where crime is rapidly becoming the single dominant force in world politics and economics.
A Book Without Boundaries.......2001-09-28
For anyone who wants to know the indepth ramifications of the new threat of global organized crime then look no further than Claire Sterlings supberb effort. I have read two other of Claire Sterling's books and was impressed. Very few authors can boast such a talent for researching as Mrs Sterling does.
The book covers the networks of organized crime groups as she details their very important relationships with each of the other. Also what I found very impressive is the way she manages to get the figures for the numerous sums of money that is floating around so many the illegal markets. She also talks about the "Pax Mafiosi", something that Judge Falcone was aware of, the Pax Mafiosi being the new conglomeration of multinational criminal confederations, that is now the biggest threat to the worlds economy. The Russian Mafia are also mentioned to great aplomb, the mysterious syndicates that are now thriving following the break down of the old USSR. This book is an absolute must for anyone seeking knowledge about how the modern Mafia's are joining forces and becoming a multi hydra headed monster, that just keeps on growing new heads, when others are cut off.
A Book Without Boundaries.......2001-09-28
For anyone who wants to know the indepth ramifications of the new threat of global organized crime then look no further than Claire Sterlings supberb effort. I have read two other of Claire Sterling's books and was impressed. Very few authors can boast such a talent for researching as Mrs Sterling does.
The book covers the networks of organized crime groups as she details their very important relationships with each of the other. Also what I found very impressive is the way she manages to get the figures for the numerous sums of money that is floating around so many the illegal markets. She also talks about the "Pax Mafiosi", something that Judge Falcone was aware of, the Pax Mafiosi being the new conglomeration of multinational criminal confederations, that is now the biggest threat to the worlds economy. The Russian Mafia are also mentioned to great aplomb, the mysterious syndicates that are now thriving following the break down of the old USSR. This book is an absolute must for anyone seeking knowledge about how the modern Mafia's are joining forces and becoming a multi hydra headed monster, that just keeps on growing new heads, when others are cut off.
An Excellent Work that Deserves Serious Attention........1998-10-11
This book represents and remains one of the most significant studies of the threat magnitude of international organized crime available today. It is a shame that it is out of print and that it has not received the attention it deserves. Sterling's thoroughly documented study makes crystal clear the breadth and depth of control/leverage purchased with drug profits by international crime organizations acting as a cooperative international affiliation of predators with an objective of power and all that can be achieved with such power over societies little aware of their existence. Sterling's work is an important statement that should have received far more visibility.
Book Description
he New York tabloids call him the pit bull for his relentless prosecution of high-profile defendants. Hes an assistant D.A., a spit-and-polish Marine, a trigger-puller on counter-terrorist missions to Afghanistan, a competitive boxerand a dedicated classics scholar. So when Matthew Bogdanos discovered that the Iraq National Museum had been looted during the battle of Baghdad, he immediately embarked on a mission to recover the stolen antiquities. Accompanied by a select group of men, Bogdanos set off across the desert without official sanction, risking his career and his life in pursuit of this priceless international treasure. THIEVES OF BAGHDAD immerses the listener into the rich culture, the colorful characters, the double-dealing, and the derring-do, to sort out once and for all what actually happened during the chaos of the Baghdad invasion, exactly how the thefts took place, and how the most notable objects were retrieved. We hear Bogdanos and his team going on raids and negotiating recoveries, blowing open safes, and mingling in the marketplacesoften encountering an assortment of rogues and villains. He gradually earns the trust of Iraqis eager to preserve their cultural heritageand then stuns the world by unearthing the most sensational treasure of all, The Gold of Nimrud over 1,000 pieces of gold jewelry, precious stones, and ornaments often called Iraqs Crown Jewels.
Customer Reviews:
A quick historical review.......2007-09-28
Colonel Matthew Bogdonos did a great service by writing about his account; however, I must completely agree with a prior review regarding this egotistical author. Being a former Marine and an undergraduate in Historical Studies, he discredited his book by boasting. A book of this scope should be strengthened by facts, sources, and even personal experiences, as long as the ego can be left out of it. While I was satisfied with the book, I wouldn't recommend this book unless one could forgive the semantics.
A soldier supporter.......2007-06-17
Colonel Bogdanos has a fascinating tale of the war on terror, Iraqi reconstruction, and the recovery of stolen artifacts. Unfortunately, the author's ego too often overshadows the amazing tale.
Certainly the author had the opportunity to witness history-changing events. He was a neighbor who saw the destruction of the twin towers. He visited Afghanistan and saw the trouble of rebuilding the remote country. Then he went through Iraq and finally settled in the Iraq museum in Baghdad, helping recover and protect artifacts.
Unfortunately, Bogdanos' boasting occurs early and often. He recounts how he evacuated his building in lower Manhattan after the towers fell. Reading his description makes it sound like he escorted his family through a war zone. He was packing a gun, hustling past roadblocks, and scanning for threats. My initial thoughts were "Didn't thousands of other people make this same passage safely ... and without nearly as much machismo?"
Based on his biographical overview, you'd think the author single-handedly came up with the idea of protecting the Iraq Museum, that he was the one who developed the plans to recover the stolen artifacts, and (best yet) that he was responsible for developing inter-agency anti-terror training.
My impression is that he was a part of those efforts, but that he had a lot of (understated) partners. Reading his book, you will see no such partners. Instead you will see a lot of underlings who are grateful for such a smart leader. You will see two types of supervisors: the bumbling ones who overlook Bogdanos' obvious qualifications and contributions, and the intelligent ones who give Bogdanos the authority to fulfill the mission only he can accomplish.
A good story of post-war Iraq is in this book. Unfortunately, Bogdanos' bravado distracts too much from it.
Not Impressed!.......2007-06-11
This book for several reasons did not impress me. First, Bogdanos drops a lot of names of "important" people that enlist his help and vice-versa. Problem is, they're just names to the reader. I don't know these people from Adam and the author does very little to "flesh them out". Second, his need to continually quote famous historical figures to prove he is a well-educated serviceman not only shows his insecurities and self-righteousness but also slows the story to a snail's pace. While he claims to be telling a story about marines and the wonderful work they do, rather than himself, he engages in some pretty heavy self-glorification. Third, while he denies couching any of his story in political partisanship, the political theater that he participates in is filled with Republican "good ol' boys". Some of the justifications Bagdanos gives for the military's reluctance to safe guard museums and archaeological sites seems valid while other reasons do not. I saw Matthew Bogdanos at a lecture in Indianapolis this spring. His haughty demeanor did not dispel any of the reservations I feel about this bias account. On the positive side, Bogdanos does give the reader a picture of the historical significance of Mesopotamian artifacts and background on the domestic and colonial personalities that helped shape present day Iraq. His passion for history cannot be denied. He also gives some of the Western media as well as the Iraqi museum staff positive credit. However, for a truly humbling account of the "shock and awe" aftermath, please read Lawrence Anthony's "Babylon's Ark".
A Fine Story of the History, War, and Art.......2007-04-28
Matthew Bogdanos' story of the lost antiquities of the Bahgdad Museum is a fascinating and informative account of his experiences with an interagency counterterrorism unit following 9/11. However, its not just about Bahgdad, as he tells us about the challenges he faces growing up in downtown New York, his roots in Greek and Middle Eastern classics, etc. In fact, despite the extraordinary depth of his knowledge of classic literature, arts, and history, there is a certain air of self-promotion throughout the book that the reader just can't overlook. Nonetheless, I found Bogdanos' writing to be sophisticated and interesting and I felt that I finished his book with a better understanding of U.S. efforts to help the Iraqi people help themselves (despite the efforts of their fellow Iraqi's to sell their own heritage to the highest bidders). The beautiful photos add great depth to Bogdanos' account and spark the reader's interest in the history and art of the region. Enjoy this highly unusual account of one man's war time experiences.
Good, but it has some problems..........2007-04-10
Matthew Bogdanos' Thieves of Baghdad is an interesting novel of the robbings of museums in Iraq. His story keeps the reader interested in seeing the other side of the war in Iraq, that being what happened to the history of Iraq. Bogdanos takes us in to the museums and shows us what happened with looters, professional thieves and a misguided media trying to report what had happened.
When you think of war, you rarely think of robberies as being able to tell part of the story. Bogdanos makes a compelling argument of the importance of a country's history and artifacts in helping a country rebuild its identity. He takes in to these museums as they try and retrace what happened and what was stolen (often hard to tell due to poor record keeping) and who would have stolen it. Though normal citizens often did some of the stealing, Bogdanos shows how he was able to determine that many of these robberies were either inside jobs or by professional thieves.
He tells of stories of how the media was quick to jump on stories with grossly inaccurate numbers of some of the robberies (media reported over 100K artifacts stolen when that numbers was grossly inflated by tens of thousands) due to incompetence or another agenda. He tells of stories of mistrust between museum bureaucrats and the US marines that were trying to help them get their artifacts back. Compelling stuff.
The story though often gets bogged down by Bodanos and his need to 'boast.' He makes it clear throughout that he is telling the story of the marines and the good work that they did and that this was not a story about himself, but disproves that argument by his countless references to how much people appreciated him and his commitment to serve his country and risk his life to help the Iraq community. There are only so many times that we can read how he extended his servive, re-enlisted and was the only American that several of the Iraq museum bigwigs would talk to.
Overall though, it was a fine effort and an interesting story that I knew very little bit about.
Book Description
It was 1786 when Arthur Phillip, an ambitious captain in the Royal Navy, was assigned the formidable task of organizing an expedition to Australia in order to establish a penal colony. The squalid and turbulent prisons of London were overflowing, and crime was on the rise. Even the hulks sifting at anchor in the Thames were packed with malcontent criminals and petty thieves. So the English government decided to undertake the unprecedented move of shipping off its convicts to a largely unexplored landmass at the other end of the world.
Using the personal journals and documents that were kept during this expedition, historian/novelist Thomas Keneally re-creates the grueling overseas voyage, a hellish, suffocating journey that claimed the lives of many convicts. Miraculously, the fleet reached the shores of what was then called New South Wales in 1788, and after much trial and error, the crew managed to set up a rudimentary yet vibrant settlement. As governor of the colony, Phillip took on the challenges of dealing with unruly convicts, disgruntled officers, a bewildered, sometimes hostile native population, as well as such serious matters as food shortages and disease. Moving beyond Phillip, Keneally offers captivating portrayals of Aborigines, who both aided and opposed Phillip, and of the settlers, including convicts who were determined to overcome their pasts and begin anew.
With the authority of a renowned historian and the narrative grace of a brilliant novelist, Thomas Keneally offers an insider’s perspective into the dramatic saga of the birth of a vibrant society in an unfamiliar land. A Commonwealth of Thieves immerses us in the fledgling penal colony and conjures up colorful scenes of the joy and heartbreak, the thrills and hardships that characterized those first four improbable years. The result is a lively and engrossing work of history, as well as a tale of redemption for the thousands of convicts who started new lives thousands of miles from their homes.
Customer Reviews:
An Appealing Summary for Those Who Know Little About Australian History.......2007-07-30
Like a lot of myths, the founding of Australia by 'convicts' is altogether a misleading statement. Though the majority of people in the "First Fleet" had been consigned to 'transportation', if we are to believe Keneally, they were more schemers and scammers than violent criminals. In addition there were a number of marines and government officials who would 'settle' down with convict-wives and start up some of Australia's most famous families.
Keneally only writes about the three "Fleets" that arrived in the first five years of immigration. He has done his research into how the colony was started and what failed and what worked. He has also taken the time to try to present the emotional effect on the original (The Eoras) society that existed at the time of Sydney's founding. Unlike most histories, Keneally doesn't present the land as having been 'vacant' and only marginally occupied by the native people. He tries to give a flavor as to how the Eoras viewed the Europeans who had settled in their midst.
My one negative comment about the book reflects a lack of historical back- ground on my part not Keneally. I would guess that he wrote this book for home (Australian) consumption and therefore assumes that certain informa- tion would be evident to most readers. Unfortunately, most Americans learn little or nothing about Australia and therefore it would have been nice if an appendix could have been added to clarify some situations that Keneally mentions that happened later, such as the Irish Rebellion of 1804 and the mutiny against Governor Bligh.
An Amazing Adventure Story.......2007-06-10
This account of the founding of the first English penal colony in Australia is also a view into other things, not least the state of English society in the late eighteenth century, one of the consequences of the Enclosure Act, and human triumph over fantastic adversity. It is very difficult for us to even imagine the hardships these people endured, from what seemed an arbitrary legal system, the overcrowded jails and prison hulks, the voyage to the end of the world, and finally survival in a very alien land. It must have been no less difficult for the Aborigines, but their story is only peripheral to the focus of the book. There is a very good follow-up on what became of some of the first arrivals, those who not only survived but also succeeded beyond whatever they could have dreamed of in the Mother Country, becoming in time and in spite of their origins the pioneers and founders of a modern, vibrant country.
Balanced And Expertly Researched.......2007-03-24
"A Commonwealth of Thieves - The Improbable Birth of Australia" covers the establishment of the first English settlement in New South Wales (i.e. Australia), and the stories of the convicts, free men, and military personnel who played a role. He also has some stories of the unfortunate aboriginal population who were the first to encounter the European settlers.
The book is divided into two sections. The first section covers the decision to send the convicts, the preparation for the first fleet, the voyage of the first fleet, the evaluation of where to build the colony, and the establishment of the colony by the members of the first fleet. The second section covers additional shipments of convicts to the area, the continued growth of the colony and the interactions with the native population, and concludes with the departure of the colony's first governor, Arthur Phillip.
This is one of the balanced historical accounts on any period of history that I have ever read. Thomas Keneally does an exceptional job of relating the stories of the people and events without choosing sides. There is, of course, ample opportunity to criticize the Europeans, or to defend their actions, but Keneally stays away from that discussion, and simply relates what happened. He does offer the historical perspective of the time on the events as gathered from numerous resources. For the rest, he leaves the reader to make their own conclusions.
The research that Thomas Keneally did for this book is also superb. He draws from official historical records, as well as numerous personal journals from a fairly large number of the people involved. From these sources he builds a history which not only covers the settlement, but then blends that with biographical sketches. He provides an excellent bibliography as well.
This is an excellent book which covers the subject incredibly well. The writing is clear and concise. The only minor negative would be that the narrative can be a little dry at times. This is not a big problem though, and the book is definitely worth reading if you are interested in the early history of Australia.
Not well done.......2007-03-07
CoT is a rather disjointed attempt at a historical narrative that I strongly suspect was culled from a dozen or so different journals from settlers. This is not well done history and is a rather tiresome read. I found it amazing that there was almost no discussion of the culture or way of life of the aborigines. The discussion of the English settlers seems to focus on sex and punishment. What about the organization of the colony? How did the colonists manage their day-to-day lives to survive those first worst years?
For anyone who has a serious interest in history, CoT misses the mark by a wide margin. Not recommended.
A Commonwealth of Thieves.......2007-02-22
Take a motley assortment of thugs, thieves, pickpockets, and prostitutes guarded by a company of red-coated marines and supervised by a handful of bickering officers, set them down half a world away on an unexplored continent, and what do you have? The beginning of a new nation, Australia. Thomas Keneally, author of "Shindler's List" and other books, relates the curious enterprise based on official records and personal journals of some of the participants. There is much specific detail about the men and women of the colony. As exciting a tale as those of the first settlements of Virginia and Massachusetts.
Book Description
It is a secret that has been hidden for more than a half century. . . . The clues have been scattered across the globe. Now someone has begun to piece them together—and the future of the world depends on his being stopped in time.
In Maryland, a vicious gang breaks into the National Cryptologic Museum and steals a Nazi Enigma machine. In a London hospital, an Auschwitz survivor is murdered in his bed, his killers making off with a macabre trophy—his severed left arm. In Prague, a seemingly worthless painting is stolen from a synagogue. Three cities. Three puzzling thefts. Could there possibly be a connection?
When former art thief Tom Kirk is first asked to investigate, the Prague theft certainly seems unremarkable enough—until the stolen painting turns up alongside the amputated human arm. As Tom digs deeper into the past, both items appear to be elements in an elaborate trail of clues laid down in the dying days of the Third Reich by a secret order of SS knights—clues that stretch from the remote mountains of Idaho to the snowy streets of St. Petersburg and ultimately lead to a fabled treasure lost in the ashes of war.
Spurred on by the sinister light of the Black Sun emblem, ghosts from his past, and the poisonous manipulations of a deadly enemy, Tom finds himself trapped in a situation where the greatest prize of all is life itself—and not just his own. . . .
Customer Reviews:
Grabs you and won't let you go.......2007-03-25
This is the first book by Twining that I have read and I would have read Double Eagle first if I had known it had the same main character.
I won't summarize the plot for you since many have already done that. The plot is great and really draws you in. The storyline isn't all that new since there have been books written about The Amber Room but Twining does a good job by not making it boring. Like others have said, there is little character development, but that is alright since the book moves fast. The chapters are short and reminds me of James Patterson and that is fine by me since short chapters make you want to read more and more. I found some parts of the book similar to The Da Vinci Code but there were only a few. For example, the key that Tom and Archie find. Since I haven't read Black Order by James Rollins I can't tell you how similar they are.
To finish this off, I really liked this book and I will read The Double Eagle next and I'm waiting for his next novel, The Gilded Seal, to come out.
Black Sun, Dark Heart.......2007-02-15
In another few years WW II mystery writers will be hard pressed to find anymore "Live" Nazis to write about. Unless of course they do stories on time travel, age enhancement drugs, or some other ingenious plot line.
All that aside, Mr. Twining weaves an interesting tale of espionage, lost artifacts, Nazi legends, and evil men with historical fact to produce a most entertaining novel of suspense. The plot was simple: What happened to the Nazi Hungarian Gold Train at the end of WW II? To answer this question Mr. Twining has the reader go on a treasure hunt; with clues, numerous bad men, and much travel. The only problem is that he tries to pack too much into the 400+ pages. At times you needed a scorecard to keep track of all the players and organizations looking for the Gold Train. Because of all this the story at times became superficial in order to include all the different threads of the plot. Nevertheless, It was an interesting read.
Character development was shallow. There were simply too many characters to examine in depth. If the protagonist, Tom Kirk, becomes the chief character in a series then I will read Mr. Twining's other book, Double Eagle, to hopefully get a better feel for him. Other characters will need to be fleshed out if continued.
No gratuitous violence or sex. Good use of historical knowledge. Interesting suppositions.
Recommended. A good read while waiting for that delayed flight.
Good follow-up to Double Eagle..........2007-02-11
Having read James Twining's Double Eagle when it first came out, I looked forward to his follow-up novel, The Black Sun. While I didn't find it quite as riveting as his first novel, it was still a very good read with plenty of espionage and legends...
Tom Kirk, the former art thief from Double Eagle, is working within the bounds of the law now and minding his own business. He's asked to look into the disappearance of a painting from a synagogue. It's nothing special, but his former partner has pieced that together with a number of other thefts of works by the same artist. Even then, Tom's not overly interested until other crimes start to intersect with the paintings, like severed arms and stolen Enigma machines. These clues lead towards a secret society of German World War 2 leaders symbolized by the Black Sun emblem. This group supposedly hid a train filled with gold in a mountain as the war came to an end, and now an unknown number of groups are racing to find the clues that will point to the exact location of the prize. Tom's expertise in art and other darker skills has him on the leading edge of the hunt, but others are also using him to discover the correct trail. And you can figure that the one who gets there first isn't going to leave many loose ends wandering around...
I found the story rather compelling, as all the historical elements (the Black Sun emblem, the gold train, the Amber Room, etc.) are real and have stories behind them. Weaving this fictional tale into actual events causes it to come to life in a way many novels do not. I don't think I liked the book quite as much as his first, as there was a lot more character development in the first one. You could read these books in either order, but reading Double Eagle first will give you some background that you won't quite figure out here. Even so, I'll be on the early list to read whatever his next novel is...
3.5 stars for this because I think Twining was peaking over James Rollins's shoulder for this one........2007-01-23
No spoilers.
Anyone who has read Black Order by James Rollins will recognize that the foundations for The Black Sun are strikingly similar. The whole time I was reading this book, I kept jumping back and forth between "this is just a bite off of Rollins" and "actually, it's much different with just the same subject matter." While the subject, the Black Order of Nazi Germany is the same in both books, this one, as I found out as I continued to read on, is different in that what the Black Order is supposed, by the authors, to have been responsible for is different. Either way, this story did have me wanting to read on to untie the knot of the plot, so it did indeed serve it's purpose as an entertaining novel.
However, I did have a problem with it toward the end. Without giving anything away, the ending just barely falls short of being entirely satisfying and is sort of jumbled in how it unfolds. I often found myself questioning who the hell they were talking about when the "cape is revealed" and all the truth of the story finally comes out. Basically, it could've been a little bit more clear and could have lost a few characters and been better.
All in all though, not a bad story and I definitely enjoyed it, so I would recommend it very highly to any read who hasn't read Black Order, and somewhat recommend it to a reader who has.
An expertly written and researched espionage thiller.......2007-01-13
"It was one of the greatest works of art ever made. It must be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. What else would have warranted Himmler assigning his most elite troops to guard duty? What else would they have gone to such lengths to conceal?"
At this point, Tom Kirk, art thief turned thief catcher, has unraveled the mystery that lies at the center of THE BLACK SUN. He thinks.
Kirk is collaborating with the people "I don't trust...never have. Never will." --- the British intelligence services. To maintain his chosen lifestyle, always on the move and always on the prowl, waiting for that lovely day when he can retire to the Cayman Islands on his ill-gotten gains, Kirk is sometimes forced to cooperate with the law. In this case, if the bloody stump of sliced-off arm and an apparently worthless painting lying beside it in his freezer weren't enough, there is the intriguing possibility of catching up with missing pieces of his past. Kirk believes that the man he is hunting can tell him something important about his father, an international art thief who died carrying secrets that continue to torment Kirk.
We know that the British can write spy thrillers. They may have invented the genre, beginning with one Bond. James Bond. Bond's creator, a roué of the upper classes, had experience in spy-craft during World War II. And there's John le Carre, author and former practitioner of the craft of espionage. THE BLACK SUN is the brain child of a new voice in the literary art of intrigue. James Twining is an Oxford graduate and international entrepreneur who has done his homework well, researching the treasures that Kirk and the bad guys are out to recoup, and cleverly connecting their factual history to fictional antagonists. The legendary Hungarian Gold Train and the remarkable lost Amber Room each plays a role.
When the arm is examined, Kirk and his Foreign Office minders find that a tattoo has been surgically removed from it. Assuming it to have been a concentration camp number, they reconstruct the markings. What they uncover is far more puzzling, and leads Kirk on the road to the inner sanctum of the Black Sun, the perverted Nazi cult of Camelot. Always dogging the trail of the elusive Renwick, who he believes holds the answers to the mystery of his own father, Kirk finds that the treasures stored up by the infamous cult reach far beyond the world of great artworks. Despite extreme and constant danger, Kirk is compelled to chase the demons of the past and confront them. As the beautiful Viktor tells him, "You're angry, like me. I can see it in your eyes."
THE BLACK SUN, the second in a series that started with THE DOUBLE EAGLE, spans two continents and two centuries. It has enough twists and switchbacks, grit, gore and glory to satisfy the hardcore thriller fan, and enough historical detail and cleverly conceived spy-craft to rope in the lovers of the intellectual espionage genre.
--- Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott
Book Description
In the predawn gloom of a February day in 1994, two thieves entered the National Gallery in Oslo. They snatched one of the world's most famous paintings, Edvard Munch's
The Scream, and fled with their $72 million trophy. The thieves made sure the world was watching: the Winter Olympics, in Lillehammer, began that same morning. Baffled and humiliated, the Norwegian police called on the world's greatest art detective, a half-English, half-American undercover cop named Charley Hill.
In this rollicking narrative,
Edward Dolnick takes us inside the art underworld. The trail leads high and low, and the cast ranges from titled aristocrats to thick-necked thugs. Lord Bath, resplendent in ponytail and velvet jacket, presides over a 9,000-acre estate. David Duddin, a 300-pound fence who once tried to sell a stolen Rembrandt, spins exuberant tales of his misdeeds. We meet Munch, too, a haunted misfit who spends his evenings drinking in the Black Piglet Café and his nights feverishly trying to capture in paint the visions in his head. The most compelling character of all is Charley Hill, an ex-soldier, a would-be priest, and a complicated mix of brilliance, foolhardiness, and charm. The hunt for
The Scream will either cap his career and rescue one of the world's best-known paintings or end in a fiasco that will dog him forever.
Customer Reviews:
A good romp.......2007-05-10
Edward Dolnick has turned the story of the theft of Edvard Munch's famous painting "Scream" from a museum on Oslo into a great character study of the English detective who gets it back. Two mystery men steal a ladder, climb a wall, break a window, and make off with the poorly-defended painting.
Detective Charlie Hill uses his half-English, half-American upbringing to impersonate an employee of California's Getty Museum interested in ransoming the painting. James Bond-type intrigue ensues - missed connections, interfering local police, thuggish bodyguards, aimless drives through the middle of the night, fistfights, etc. etc.
Dolnick writes with humor and verve; the story moves speedily and only occasional descends to cliche. The greatest strength of the book is its some heroic depiction of Hill and some sidekick characters. My only slight disappointment was that the "whodunnit" revelations at the end seem like an offhand afterthought. The motivations, plans, and intentions of the actual thieves are given minimal space; I was left feeling a bit teased (teased, but satisfied).
I'll never look at art the same..........2007-02-06
This was a fascinating look at the world of Art theft and those responsible for recovering the masterpieces. While the book's central focus is on the theft and recovery of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" (taken from the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway on February 12, 1994), it also managed to pack in true stories of solved and unresolved thefts of some of the worlds most beloved paintings.
I have been to some of the world's most renowned museums and have seen original Van Gogh's, Renoir's, DaVinci's and Rembrandt's, etc., and on each occasion the place always seemed so secure. Not so according to this book. Evidently museums are lacking the funds in their budget to beef up security, making it a sitting duck. What's worse is that the criminals, if caught, face very little penalties for stealing these items. It's outrageous if you think about it.
Excellent book that was well worth my time.
Right Up My Alley.......2006-07-13
To use an old cliche' this book was right up my alley. It fascinating because it's about "true crime," which is far more intriguing to me than the antics in the Da Vinci Code. The meanderings didn't bother me. I wanted to know about the history of art thievery. Charlie Hill is a great character--flawed, quirky and still believable--a complete mess! I also found the writing well drawn--good vocalbulary--good descriptions. I loved the way he described Charlie as if "a careless ckerk had stapled together pages from several resumes." I found myself smiling as I read this great book.
A really interesting subject.......2005-10-19
This was a book I would not have purchased if I had not heard the author on the radio. I am so glad I did. While the book does jump around a bit, I didn't really find it distracting as the story and Charlie Hill are so fascinating! Even beyond the theft itself, I found myself wanting to know more about Edvard Munch. If you have a chance, read a bio on the artist first and then read this book. It's very interesting to know what Munch was trying to convey in his painting and give more insight as to why the painting is so valuable.
a good read, but jumps around.......2005-10-18
This is a good book that hooks you from the beginning. However, there seems to be a lot of jumping around from topic to topic within chapters and some unnecessarily long descriptions that diverge from the topic at hand, Norway and the theft of The Scream. All in all, it's a decent recommendation.
Book Description
In 1812, Sir John Malcom, a Lieutenant General in the British Army wrote "A Sketch of the Sikhs," commonly believed to be the first account of the Sikhs written by a non-Sikh. In truth, soldiers, travelers, diplomats, missionaries, and scholars had provided accounts for many years before that. Drawing on this difficult-to-find material, the editors of this volume have compiled a unique source that offers a fascinating insight into the early developments in Sikh history. From the first ever written accounts of the Sikhs by Persian chroniclers of the Moghul Emperor to the travel diary of an Englishwoman, this volume contains material invaluable to those studying the evolution of the Sikh religion.
Customer Reviews:
An outsiders mine of informations on the early sikhs /khalsa........2007-05-08
This book is specialy interesting and instructive to be read by the sikhs
and those who have allready some knowledge of Sikhism.
Step into the Past.......2006-06-02
I bought this book expecting to read articles with a bigoted, mis-informed view of the Sikh culture and people from an anti-Sikh western viewpoint, or worse, pure ignorance. I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed and fascinating detail on the circumstances of Sikh people and life during the periods covered. I appreciate that there are gaps in coverage, but that adds to the authencity of the accounts and helps you formulate a view in your mind how the Sikh's could've changed from a small band of warriors under Bhanda Singh to the organised armies under Ranjit Singh. What I liked were the commentaries by the narrators who put the writer's circumstances into context before putting the writer's actual account before the reader. This helps the reader appreciate the limitations of the writer's perspective, and appreciate the actual gems of insight where they are to be found. The book also gives a glimpse into the past when it wasn't necessary to be 'man with turban' to be sikh, but there were other ways to be spiritually sikh without donning the appearance of a Khalsa sikh.
Overall, a gr8 read. Now onto Patwant Singh's book...
A must for Sikh History researchers.......2005-11-02
This book has got all that you need to avoid reinventing the wheel. A must for Sikh history researchers.
Excellent piece of historical research.......2005-02-24
Well done to the authors and all who supported them in this long overdue project.
Amandeep and Paramjeet have attempted to write this book in an unbiased fashion, and I must say, have succeeded. This is a rare acheivement for authors of history and historians, as the biased historical accounts of the early Europeans in India show.
The accounts (some apparently eye witness) of Banda Bahadur are particulary informative as to the culture, opinions, attitudes and politics of the rulers and the Sikhs in the early eighteenth century.
It's a shame that there is still a gap in mid eighteenth century Sikh history, although there are accounts of this, they are still very limited in content and historians rely heavily on the hearsay of the time.
Maybe a project on the Sikh Misls could be a possibilty, using all known sources!! There is a lot of misinformation about this period and the Sardaars. A comprehensive and historical records based study is much needed!
There is some very interesting information as to the practices of Sikhs which I never knew of before e.g. stirring amrit with a boars tooth, which is very believable if looked at in the context of the problems faced by the Sikhs of the time.
Unsuprisingly, there are comprehensive reports of Ranjit Singhs darbaar.
In all, this is an eye opening, inspiring and educational book.
Harcharan
Amazon.com
Arthur Conan Doyle fictionalized him as the superhuman Professor Moriarty, and the popular press luridly chronicled his daring heists, though the police never managed to convict him of anything major until he was nearly 50. Forgotten since his 19th-century heyday, master thief Adam Worth (1844-1902) gets a contemporary dusting-off in this cheerfully cynical biography by a British journalist, who sees Worth's story as a case study in Victorian hypocrisy. The colorful New York and London underworlds are as meticulously described as Worth's surprisingly attractive personality.
Book Description
He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson.
He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city.
He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. . . .
--Sherlock Holmes on Professor Moriarty in "The Final Problem"
The Victorian era's most infamous thief, Adam Worth was the original Napoleon of crime. Suave, cunning Worth learned early that the best way to succeed was to steal. And steal he did.
Following a strict code of honor, Worth won the respect of Victorian society. He also aroused its fear by becoming a chilling phantom, mingling undetected with the upper classes, whose valuables he brazenly stole. His most celebrated heist: Gainsborough's grand portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire--ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales--a painting Worth adored and often slept with for twenty years.
With a brilliant gang that included "Piano" Charley, a jewel thief, train robber, and playboy, and "the Scratch" Becker, master forger, Worth secretly ran operations from New York to London, Paris, and South Africa--until betrayal and a Pinkerton man finally brought him down.
In a decadent age, Worth was an icon. His biography is a grand, dazzling tour into the gaslit underworld of the last century. . . and into the doomed genius of a criminal mastermind.
Customer Reviews:
Not for fans of Confessions of A Jewel Thief.......2005-09-30
I picked this book up because it is heavily promoted by Amazon with Confessions of a Jewel Thief, Bill Mason's larger than life book about being a burglar. These books have nearly nothing in common other than fitting into the true crime genre. Macintyre misses the mark by getting bogged down in details and random facts (his research is impressive, yes) and forgetting to spin a compelling tale. There is too much material here with no cohesive narrative. Many other readers have hit it in the head by identifying the failings of Mason to focus solely on the topic of Worth and his exploits.
Terribly disappointing.......2005-08-04
If you meander through all these reviews, checking the lower-rated ones, you will get a fairly accurate view of this book. I have read hundreds of true crime books, and this ranks near the bottom. It is a fascinating topic. Or should be. But in the hands of this author, it is a tedious, irritating, blather. Let me explain.
Two of my favorite reads in the past few years make interesting comparisons. Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas was one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. Lukas wandered far and wide, reeling in everything and everyone, and in doing so, built a portrait of a time and place that was riveting. Every detail was useful, every speculation added value. Some of the reviewers found the rambles bothersome; I have rarely finished such a big book wishing it were even longer, but Big Trouble left me wanting more.
A similar book was Dark Horse by Kenneth Ackerman. Extraneous details were seamlessly woven into the tale, making the world come alive and the characters multi-dimensional. I could almost hear the creak of boots and smell the cigar smoke. Skilled writing and skilled choosing.
But this book ambles pointlessly, dragging in details that are neither of interest in themselves nor add to the tale being told. Long excursions into the lives of everyone who wanders into the main tale, endless condescending sermonizing about Victorian moralizing and double-standards, repetitive and irritating discursions into the "double" which the author seems to think the Victorians invented, and the most silly and irritating speculation sink this tale. Which is amazing, for the story of Adam Worth in the hands of the most plodding storyteller should be gripping. The man was a doer of great evil (which Macintyre blows off rather casually; Adam Worth left a wake of broken businesses, crushed dreams, falsely accused victims, and bankrupted people, but because he shot no one, and was "elegant" it seems OK.) He committed some astonishingly brave and brazen crimes. But there just isn't enough there that we can know, so invented details that grow wearying are heaped on.
At one point, Macintyre compares Worth to Captain Nemo. Now, this is a weak comparison on its own grounds, but then we get something about "no one knows if Worth read the book, but if he did, he would certainly see himself there." Now there's a pointless speculation. One of the common tactics of authors trying to puff up a lesser talent is to compare their achievements in some irrelevant way. "As Shakespeare did, So-and-so lived in Stratford," thereby gratuitously tying a grade z author and an acknowledged master. At gerat length the author "compares and contrasts" Worth and J.P. Morgan, in a stupendously overblown manner. Over and over we are told how Worth would have enjoyed this quip by Wilde. Give us a break, pal. The guy was a crook, a scuzz, a humbug, and a thug who hurt many, many people, much like Melmotte in Trollope's novel, The Way We Live Now (another book we don't know if Worth read.)
Misleading Title.......2005-03-16
I agree with the reviewers saying this book missed its target. It seems like MacIntyre couldn't find sufficient material for a book about Adam Worth, but went ahead and wrote it anyway. My guess is that there's plenty of information about "The Duchess of Devonshire," and so MacIntyre used that to pad out his manuscript. Worth pulled off plenty of other capers, and I'd like to read about those. What I don't want to read is the author's unsubstantiated speculation about Worth's psyche.
If you're interested in the provenance of the "Duchess," this book might be an interesting read. Otherwise, I'd recommend Asbury's "Gangs of New York." Two of Worth's contemporaries and sometime associates also wrote books which might be worth tracking down. These were Sophie Lyons and William Pinkerton.
Elementary, Dear Adam.......2005-03-14
This book provides a fascinating portrait of one of the last of the gentleman criminals. In fact, Adam Worth wanted to be known solely as a gentleman rather than as a notorious criminal. The crimes were simply his way of gaining power and prestige in a Victorian world where he could never gain this position without buying it. And buy it he did by perpetrating almost every crime imaginable. An honorable thief who was fiercly loyal to his henchmen, Worth was devilishly clever, many times carrying out operations right out in the open without being caught. No wonder Doyle tapped him for Sherlock Holmes' arch-rival and Elliot immortalized him as Macavity, the Mystery Cat. Not bad for a guy who officially "died" in the Civil War at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run (reports of his death were greatly exaggerated--and he used his deceased status for financial gain, thus beginning his very lucrative criminal career).
Much of the book is taken up with his most famous crime, the stealing the "Duchess of Devonshire" by Gainsborough mere weeks after it was sold at the highest price ever paid for a painting up to that time. For a crime that was almost done on a whim, it is the one for which he is most well known and for which he was never caught (he returned the painting 25 years later anonymously).
Two very nice sub-themes run throughout the book. First was his undying love for his best friend's wife, Kitty Flynn. Flynn went on from humble beginnings (and after dropping he thieving hubby) to become a true Victorian lady of note, but Worth never dropped the torch he held for her (he was probably the father of two of her children).
The second was his friendship with William Pinkerton later in life. Born of mutual respect for each other throughout their careers as antagonists, Pinkerton not only did not volunteer evidence that could have condemned Worth to life in prison after he was caught and exposed, but also brokered the return of the Duchess while keeping Worth anonymous. Pinkerton mourned Worth when he died and kept a promise to watch out for his children by bringing his son into the detective agency, an ironic legacy for the Napoleon of Crime.
Fascinating stuff. Truly stranger than fiction.
Missed his Target.......2005-01-18
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the subject matter is guaranteed to fascinate. Adam Worth was a truly bizarre and unique character who knew and was related to several famous people. The book is also very well-written.
My complaint is that the author often seems not really very interested in his subject, Adam Worth. Large sections of the book--including the beggining and the end--are not about Adam Worth at all. The author seems obsessed with the Gainsborough painting, The Duchess of Devonshire. Admittedly, stealing this painting was perhaps Worth's most famous crime and would certainly have rated a chapter. However, Macintyre drones on and on and on about the painter, the history of the painting, the many people who have owned the painting, wholly unsupported psychological assertions about the painting's affect on Worth. He devotes an entire chapter just to J.P. Morgan, who Worth never met nor stole from. Morgan rates a chapter simply because he was the last owner of the Gainsborough.
This is a basically good book that is fatally flawed by the author's tendency to obsess about what is a peripherial issue. Too bad. If you are an art historian I can recommend this book whole-heartedly. If you are interested in a biography of Adam Worth, I recommend the book only with reservations.
Average customer rating:
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Stealers' Sky (Thieves' World 12)
Robert Asprin , and
Lynn Abbey
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Abbey, Lynn
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| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Asprin, Robert
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| Authors, A-Z
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Asprin, Robert Lynn
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General
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Similar Items:
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Uneasy Alliances (Thieves World, Bk 11)
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Aftermath (Thieves' World, No 10)
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Blood Ties (Thieves' World, No 9)
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Soul of the City (Thieves World Book, No 8)
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The Dead of Winter (Thieves' World, Book 7)
ASIN: 0441806120 |
Average customer rating:
- Not the best of the series.
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Soul of the City (Thieves World Book, No 8)
Lynn Abbey ,
C. J. Cherryh , and
Janet Morris
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Abbey, Lynn
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Cherryh, C.J.
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Morris, Janet
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General
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| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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General
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Similar Items:
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Blood Ties (Thieves' World, No 9)
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The Dead of Winter (Thieves' World, Book 7)
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Aftermath (Thieves' World, No 10)
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Uneasy Alliances (Thieves World, Bk 11)
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Stealers' Sky (Thieves' World 12)
ASIN: 0441775810 |
Customer Reviews:
Not the best of the series........2005-06-10
In Book 8 there is a lot of wrapping up going on. Many threads regarding Roxane and Jihan are closed (or are they?). Tempus returns to Sanctuary and is reunited with Niko as his partner.
The Thieves World books are always at their best when they are slowly building to a climax using the small stories of the Maze and palace that the various writers do so well. The relay format does not work as well at crafting a single climax point. The result is not bad, exactly, but it reads like a more typical fantasy series installment. One of the nice thing about Thieves World at its best is that it does not read like that at all. There were also some very nice plot points opened up in Book 7 that are completely ignored here-- a little bit of continuity with some of those elements would have been nice.
Lynn Abbey, Janet Morris and C.J. Cherryh were the writers in book 8. As you can imagine, begin at the beginning and not here if you have not read any of the books before.
Customer Reviews:
Liked the Thieves World series? Try the roleplaying game!.......2007-08-04
The darkly grim city of Sanctuary was an immediate hit with readers, and not surprisingly, gamers wanted to adapt the city to their fantasy game settings. The Thieves World roleplaying game (ISBN 093363501X) was released in 1981. Greg Stafford, et al at Chaosium, worked with with some of the brighter lights of the RPG industry (Dave Arneson, Steve Marsh, Midkemia Press, Marc Miller, Steve Perrin, Lawrence Schick, Ken St. Andre, and many others) to make the Thieves' World RPG compatible with 9 RPG systems: AD&D, Adventures in Fantasy, Chivalry & Sorcery, DragonQuest, D&D, The Fantasy Trip, RuneQuest, Traveller, and Tunnels & Trolls.
Truly a Rosetta Stone of early roleplaying, the box set includes 3 source books and 3 fold-out maps (A map of Sanctuary, the Maze, and the Maze Underground). Gorgeous!
Wayne Gralian
Wayne's World of Books
Super Reader.......2007-08-04
A shared world anthology to come out of a science fiction convention meeting between a group of established authors.
Thieves World : Sentences of Death - John Brunner
Thieves World : The Face of Chaos - Lynn Abbey
Thieves World : The Gate of the Flying Knives - Poul Anderson
Thieves World : Shadowspawn - Andrew J. Offutt
Thieves World : The Price of Doing Business - Robert Lynn Asprin
Thieves World : Blood Brothers - Joe W. Haldeman
Thieves World : Myrtis - Christine DeWees
Thieves World : The Secret of the Blue Star [Lythande] - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Reading, writing and spells.
3 out of 5
Card reading can be scary.
3.5 out of 5
Down and out godrobbery, and sikkintair swordplay.
3.5 out of 5
Wanding, women and whipping.
3 out of 5
Gladiator commerce is death.
4 out of 5
Dog racing dodginess and stabbing.
2.5 out of 5
Really old and really good looking is handy for running a brothel, but a bit off-putting for the average bloke.
3.5 out of 5
Master magician duel and horizontal mambo mojo inflicted.
3.5 out of 5
Thieving Thieves........2006-05-30
Thieves' World, edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey is an excellent book. The small city of Sanctuary, a city where every resident, down to small children, must thieve, cheat, or scam every earning they make. It is in this waste-land that Robert invited other published fantasy authors to place their characters, each of which could be used by the other authors, within certain limits. For example Mr. Brunner couldn't kill off Poul Anderson's character, or alter him to an extreme. However, the collection of stories piece together the history of Sanctuary, a seamless mosaic of literary genius. Thieves' World is not to be passed by.
Get Lost in Sanctuary.......2005-07-31
I picked up this little, actually rather large book, at the library and became intrigued at first by its title: Sanctuary. The picture on the front depicted people of a time long ago, in a medievil setting...even more interested, I flipped through a bit. Hmmm...three books in one. I must say, this is the most interesting anthology that I have ever read...you get the feeling as you read along, with all of the different perspectives of so many authors, that the story just came together at the end brilliantly. That being said, I cannot find the book on amazon containing all three books, I will begin with "Thieve's World."
A marvelous first short story introduces us to Enas Yorl, a mighty magician with a terrible curse. Is he good, or evil, or neither...interestingly enough, he is depicted as both sensual, and downright disgusting...if that can make any sense without giving the story away. Anyhow, he is an extremely interesting character who will make many more appearances as you read on. Unfortunately for Jarveena, she kind of falls out of the story, so do not get too attached to her! You will, however, also meet Illyra and Dubro, who are vital occupants of Sanctuary. Again, you get different versions of them from different authors, but they are basically harmless, but still rather important.
This is also the first introduction to the charachter of Molin Torchholder. You will love to hate him, even though he is a supposed man of the cloth. However, the gods in Sanctuary are quite different than the gods that are revered today. Remember, this town is very medievil, and even a bit mythological, as well.
In my opinion, one of the most important, if not the most important, character of this series is introduced in the fourth story, Shadowspawn, or Hanse the thief. A brilliant example of why females love the bad boys! Oh, how we do love their soft and vulnerable sides. Just read about him and you will also fall in love instantly!
Than, of course, their is the mage, Lythande, who holds a heavy secret in order to be a part of the Blue Stars. What will become of him in stories to come?
All in all, I think the authors worked really hard at bringing an illusionary world to life. The characters are all amazing, not to mention the extra twist you get from seeing the other authors points of view on some of the more important characters. A great read, indeed, you will be begging for more of that desolite town!
Not Anything Especially Great.......2005-03-20
It started off interesting with Asprin's short story - after that, it took a steady downhill run. I'm sure that many of these authors have written better as time has gone on. This one - well it just didn't hold my interest past the initial story that sets up the whole world.
Books:
- Twelve Keys to an Effective Church (The Kennon Callahan Resources Library for Effective Churches)
- Twisters and Other Terrible Storms (Magic Tree House Rsrch Gdes(R))
- Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates (Harvest Book)
- Vanishing Acts: A Novel
- Whitethorn Woods
- Win Your Child Custody War: Child Custody Help Source Book--A How-To System for People Serious About the Welfare of Their Child (11th Edition)
- Worlds of Difference: Inequality in the Aging Experience
- Yellow Eyes (Posleen War Series #8)
- A Certain Slant of Light
- Absolute Fear
Books Index
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