Book Description
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATHERLAND AND POMPEII COMES THE MOST PROVOCATIVE AND BRILLIANT NOVEL OF ANTIQUITY SINCE I, CLAUDIUS --
IMPERIUM
A CAUTIONARY TALE OF CICERO, THE GREATEST ORATOR OF ALL TIME, AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY STRUGGLE FOR POWER IN ROME.
When Tiro, the confidential secretary (and slave) of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events that will eventually propel his master into one of the most suspenseful courtroom dramas in history. The stranger is a Sicilian, a victim of the island's corrupt Roman governor, Verres. The senator is Marcus Cicero -- an ambitious young lawyer and spellbinding orator, who at the age of twenty-seven is determined to attain imperium -- supreme power in the state.
Of all the great figures of the Roman world, none was more fascinating or charismatic than Cicero. And Tiro -- the inventor of shorthand and author of numerous books, including a celebrated biography of his master (which was lost in the Dark Ages) -- was always by his side.
Compellingly written in Tiro's voice, Imperium is the re-creation of his vanished masterpiece, recounting in vivid detail the story of Cicero's quest for glory, competing with some of the most powerful and intimidating figures of his -- or any other -- age: Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and the many other powerful Romans who changed history.
Robert Harris, the world's master of innovative historical fiction, lures us into a violent, treacherous world of Roman politics at once exotically different from and yet startlingly similar to our own -- a world of Senate intrigue and electoral corruption, special prosecutors and political adventurism -- to describe how one clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable man fought to reach the top.
Customer Reviews:
ANCIENT ROME'S CLARENCE DARROW........2007-10-10
IMPERIUM is a fascinating book that permits the reader a view of the Rome of Cicero, the legendary Roman orator. Indeed, Cicero is the focus of this novel, but this book is more than about Cicero, since it is told through the eyes of Cicero's loyal slave-secretary Tiro.
The novel examines two period's of Cicero's life, and thereby, two periods of Roman history. Cicero's climb to fame and fortune is the first offering of this work. The well researched history affords the reader a look at the brilliance and legal artistry of Cicero. One can easily understand how this great man rose to such prominence in his world. In the process, the reader meets a variety of political characters and military leaders, and in so doing, better understands the workings of the Roman Republic and the aspirations of some of its "giants".
The second phase of the novel explores Cicero's rise to the Consulship of Rome. The inner workings of the political animal that was Roman democracy is exposed, and while this so-called democracy was flawed, it did contribute to the evolution of modern democracy. Interestingly, some of the flaws and failings of the ancient democracy are still with us today, in our allegedly enlightened and modern democracy. Some things in politics are constants, like scheming, lying, and of course, the old reliable standby, corruption. And some of the political "slogans" remain the same too.
This book is a very quick and rewarding read. Its historical backdrop is accurately depicted, the characters drawn from fact, and the story intriguing. I unhesitatingly recommend it.
Cicero's Rise to Power.......2007-10-09
I am in awe of the fictional writers of the Roman Empire, Graves, McCullough, Saylor, Harris and many others. Each of their novels that I have read has brought me more in touch with some element of the complex culture of the time.
Here, through a speculative treatment on how Cicero became a "new man". We can get an idea of how elections took place and how corruption, for which this society was known, infected them. Harris also deals with issues of class and the entrenched attitudes about status and how this affected politics after Sula and the Civil War.
We also get a plausible portrait of Cicero, how he thought and what motivated him.
I highly recommend this for anyone who has interest in this historical period.
Excellent, and very different from McCullough.......2007-10-08
I love Colleen McCullough's sprawling Roman series, which is an extraordinary panorama of one of the most turbulent, fascinating and influential eras of western history, the six-decade-long Fall of the Roman Republic. She's not as polished a writer as Robert Harris, though...her books are wonderfully prolix, almost too much so, and she has certain repetitive mannerisms which can annoy. But the series certainly is a monumental achievement.
While McCullough focuses around the towering life and impact of Julius Caesar, Harris's choice of Cicero is perhaps even more revealing of the true nature of Late Republican politics. Cicero was a major player for most of this period, whose complex relationships with the various factions had immense influence on the course of events, and yet -- unlike Caesar, born to the highest aristocracy -- he was also an outsider who depended entirely on his wits to struggle and survive. Harris deftly depicts his qualities of pragmatism, idealism and political cunning as he negotiates the viper's nest of public service in ancient Rome.
Cicero hasn't aged well in most modern historical recreations. I believe most of our contemporaries accept the greatness and inevitability of Caesar, or someone very like him. Because Cicero opposed Caesar and his faction, and eventually lost his life for it, he comes across most often as a stuffy, self-serving, conniving, all-too-outspoken conservative out of step with the times. The fabulous if inaccurate TV series Rome is just the most recent example.
In fact, Cicero may have been the only sincere defender of the Roman Republic remaining by the time he was killed...and for all its flaws, it was certainly a nobler form of government than its imperial successor.
This excellent book helps to redress the character of Cicero. I can't wait for the sequel.
Cicero Rising.......2007-09-15
Although Robert Harris writes historical fiction, he is not particularly attached to any one time or place. His first novel was actually an alternate history - a what-if-the-Nazis-won-WWII tale called Fatherland. He has, in his last two novels, however, gone back to ancient Rome, first with Pompeii (which I have not read) and now with Imperium, a fictional biography of Cicero.
Narrated by Cicero's slave Tiro (who serves more as an observer than a true character), Imperium tells of the rise of Cicero to the highest position in the Roman Republic, the consulship. The first half is actually more of a courtroom thriller, with Cicero prosecuting a corrupt Sicilian governor. Actually, most of the legal system is open to bribery, making Cicero's job all the harder. At stake is Cicero's whole career: if he can somehow pull off a victory, he can start his climb in power; if he fails, he will never be more than a lowly senator. Of course, since Cicero is well-known in history and the governor, Verres, is almost forgotten, most readers know who will win, but Harris is still able to make the prosecution suspenseful.
The second half of the book deals with Cicero's political rise and the intrigues that both help him and make him enemies. His principal ally - although not always reliable - is Pompey, the great general who is at the peak of his power. On the other side is the plutocrat Crassus, whose hatred of Pompey will create an enmity with Pompey. There is the vicious Catalina who has Crassus's backing and intends on opposing Cicero for the consulship. Finally, there is the ambitious up-and-comer, Julius Caesar.
Harris has written a good novel, but there are imperfections. For all his attempts at being historically accurate, he also has anachronisms, such as referring to the months of July and August (which would not be named until decades later after Julius and Augustus Caesar had risen to the peaks of their power). The story also ends rather abruptly, leading me to think that Harris has a sequel intended. Harris does succeed at the heart of the book, however, bringing Cicero - often thought of as the greatest orator ever - to life. Fans of historical novels - particularly Roman historical novels - should enjoy Imperium.
a good read.......2007-09-14
Imperium is the first of two volumes of a fictional biography of the Roman orator, lawyer, statesman, new man, Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Mr. Harris uses the often successful formula of relating the life story of a historical figure through the eyes of a confidante, in this case the secretary Tiro, and he does not disappoint us. Tiro does his best to show his master warts and all, while still maintaining his loyalty to him, thus creating a fairly complex character of Cicero, a reasonably approximation of the real man himself as we know him from his extensive writings, especially the letters.
That does not mean that Mr. Harris does not create his very own universe of the era and the man, with emphasis on Cicero's real or perceived adversaries, the aristocrats who disdain the New Man, and the favorite villains for most novelists writing about the late Roman republic, Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. The latter trio does not fare as well in way of characters, they are frequently drawn as carricature. Tiro himself is depicted as somewhat priggish and bland.
Characters more sympathetic in the narrator's - and presumably the author's - eyes, such as wife Terentia, brother Quintus, and the idealistic cousin Lucius, fare better, as does the potential villain Caelius.
That said , the novel is a good read, bringing Rome and the late republic vividly to life. The uncovering of Verres' horrendous excesses in Sicily is masterful. The reader gets a good introduction to Roman politics, and Cicero's work habits and his love/hate relationship with Terentia indeed do not strain one's imagination. Tiro's well known invention and use of stenography is being put to good use and on occasion does make for a nice suspense. As in the only other book by the author which I have read so far, Pompeii, the prose is excellent.
There are some anachronisms, indicative maybe of the lack of a good reader, but not to the point where they could become annoying.
I give the book three stars and look forward to the sequel. However, I cannot agree with Allan Massie, who wrote that, "Reluctantly, I must admit that Imperium is better than [my six novels]." He is much too modest!
Book Description
Three complete novels of cross-time action and suspense by Keith Laumer, grand master of science fiction adventure. Brion Bayard was an American diplomat . . . until he was kidnapped on the streets of Stockholm, and thrust into what he thought was a truck. At first, he was relieved to find that his abductors were very apologetic, and very British. Then they began speaking about nations and leaders which Bayard had never heard of. That was understandable, they told him, because they were from Earth, but not his Earth. There are millions or more parallel Earths, each different in some slight way from the other, where history has taken every possible turn, where the heirs of Napoleon rule Europe, where King John tore the Magna Carta to shreds and executed those who had presented him with it, even one where the ancestors of Homo sapiens lost the evolutionary struggle to another upright ape, who became the dominant intelligent lifeform. But mostly there are uninhabitable worlds, destroyed by the discovery of the technology to travel from one parallel Earth to another and the misuse of it. The Earth of the Imperium is at war with another parallel Earth and Bayard can stop the war by killing the ruler of the aggressor Earth and replacing him-because the ruler is a parallel version of Bayard. But when Bayard goes on his mission to the alternate Earth, things don't turn out to be quite that simple. And that was only the beginning of Bayard's adventures as he defends his new homeworld, both from internal enemies and invaders from the other side of time, becoming the staunchest and most resourceful defender of the Imperium! Publisher's Note: Imperium has previously appeared in parts as Worlds of the Imperium, Assignment in Nowhere and The Other Side of Time. This is the first unitary edition.
Customer Reviews:
classic tales of multi-universal hopping.......2007-03-09
This book reprints 3 classic stories by Laumer, about alternate history and a multi-universe spanning organisation. If you have read and enjoyed the works of H Beam Piper and his Paratime universes, and Poul Anderson's Time Patrol, then Laumer's stories will be a great treat.
The first story of the book starts off the series, explaining how an American diplomat in our universe, in the years after World War 2, gets kidnapped by the Imperium, based in a Sweden [!sic] that benignly rules another Earth. The stories are now some 40 years old. But they hold up well. Plenty of action, without drowning you in the cyberpunk pervasive computing of more recent science fiction. Laumer had a gift for combining the spy novel with high technology in a fluid synthesis that sweeps the reader along.
The only pity is that Laumer never wrote many stories in this series.
Flint and the publisher are to be thanked for bringing these stories back into print for a new generation of readers.
Great classical SF multiversal yarn .......2006-08-07
I just love tales of parallel universes and time-travel, and this classic by Keith Laumer is one of the best of the genre, rich both in action and in daring speculations. Intriguing as Paratime by H. Beam Piper and Time Patrol by Poul Anderson. A must have for the transdimensional SF fan!
Average customer rating:
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Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition
Fantasy Flight Games
Manufacturer: Fantasy Flight Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Game
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ASIN: 158994206X |
Book Description
An age of twilight shall once more spread across the galaxy. A broken empire shall once more be re-forged. Hidden powers from dark space shall come forth to make an ancient claim. War shall rage across space. Secret treaties, political whispers, and devious plots shall again echo through the halls of the imperial city on Mecatol Rex. TI3 is an epic empire-building game of interstellar conflict, trade, and struggle for power. Players take the roles of ancient galactic civilizations, each seeking to seize the imperial throne via warfare, diplomacy, and technological progression. With new oversize geomorphic board tiles, finely detailed plastic miniatures, hundreds of cards, and a massive plurality of options, TI3 will ship in a massive, epic-size box, with more than 200 masterfully sculpted oversize plastic miniatures - the typical TI units (Ground Forces, Cruisers, Dreadnaughts, Carriers, Fighters, PDS, and Space Docks) as well as two new units (the massive War Sun, and the Destroyer). TI3 contains new oversize board tiles, more than 400 cards, every known civilization of the Twilight Imperium universe, almost every expansion rule and component ever published for TI, a gorgeous graphical overhaul, and an impressive full color rules set. The TI gameplay has been refined and redone by original designer Christian T. Petersen. The new design features faster gameplay, and involves players in a far more active game experience with much less down-time. In addition, TI3 will include the new Race Cards, as well a dramatic new approach to the structure of the gameplay itself using the new Command system. Are you ready for another age of Twilight?
Book Description
Observing the dramatic shift in world politics since the end of the Cold War, Peter J. Katzenstein argues that regions have become critical to contemporary world politics. This view is in stark contrast to those who focus on the purportedly stubborn persistence of the nation-state or the inevitable march of globalization. In detailed studies of technology and foreign investment, domestic and international security, and cultural diplomacy and popular culture, Katzenstein examines the changing regional dynamics of Europe and Asia, which are linked to the United States through Germany and Japan.
Regions, Katzenstein contends, are interacting closely with an American imperium that combines territorial and non-territorial powers. Katzenstein argues that globalization and internationalization create open or porous regions. Regions may provide solutions to the contradictions between states and markets, security and insecurity, nationalism and cosmopolitanism. Embedded in the American imperium, regions are now central to world politics.
Customer Reviews:
A WORTHY READ FOR BOTH EXPERTS AND BEGINNERS.......2005-12-07
As a student of Peter Katzenstein, I am not sure that I can give you an unbiased review. Let me say first of all that, as an orator, he has managed to cultivate my interest in the subject.
In this work, I feel that his analysis - which is the result of thirteen years of study - proves to be very pragmatic and detailed. While he tends to focus on his areas of specialization (namely Germany and Japan) which can, but rarely does detract from the whole, the overarching theme of regionalism is brilliantly contructed. (In the final chapter especially, he depicts the S. American, S. Asian, African and Middle East concisely and specifically.) I recommend this work highly, especially if you liked Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations".
Average customer rating:
- Important, Fascinating View of the Russian Empire
- The Fall of a System of Government Never Meant to Run a Superpower
- a step closer to the mystery of the Soviet Empire ;-)
- Transcendent
- A Walk on the Dark Side
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Imperium
Ryszard Kapuscinski
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 067974780X
Release Date: 1995-08-08 |
Book Description
The Polish journalist whose The Soccer War and The Emperor are counted as classics of contemporary reportage now bears witness in Imperium to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This magisterial book combines childhood memory with unblinking journalism, a radar for the truth with a keen appreciation of the absurd.
Imperium begins with Ryszard Kapuscinski's account of the Soviet occupation of his town in eastern Poland in 1939. It culminates fifty years later, with a forty-thousand-mile journey that takes him from the haunted corridors of the Kremlin to the abandoned gulag of Kolyma, from a miners' strike in the arctic circle to a panic-stricken bus ride through the war-torn Caucasus.
Out of passivity and paranoia, ethnic hatred and religious fanaticism that have riven two generations of Eastern Europeans, Kapuscinski has composed a symphony for a collapsing empire—a work that translates history into the hopes and sufferings of the human beings condemned to live it.
Customer Reviews:
Important, Fascinating View of the Russian Empire.......2007-09-28
"Imperium" is more than a mere travelogue of the states comprising the former USSR, although if the book were only visit to far-off spots (like Kolyma, Zabaykal'sk and Nagorno-Karabakh) that very few get to see, it would be worth your time. Ryszard Kapuscinski's masterful work not only describes places within "the Imperium" and the history behind them, it plumbs the very soul of Russia.
The book starts in Pinsk, in 1939, when the author was a boy. Stalin ruled the USSR and the Soviet Army's invasion of Kapuscinski's home city gave the author his first glimpse of the terror of the Soviet regime -- made even more terrible by the utterly arbitrary use of power. The remainder of the first section of the book describes Kapuscinski's travels on the Trans-Siberian railway in 1958 and in the southern portions of the USSR in 1967. Here we learn about the beauty and tragedy of Armenia and are given a feel for life in the "stans."
The second, and longest, section of the book describes the vast areas of the USSR visited by Kapuscinski between 1989 and 1991. Kapusczinski describes Moscow as it was, before Napolean's invasion, Moscow before the Bolsheviks took over, and their transformation of Moscow into a dreary, vaguely industrial-looking city. The symbol of the replacement of worship of God with the mastery of the State is the nearly overnight destruction of the magnificent Temple of Christ the Savior, which was built over sixty years, and its replacement with the Palace of the Soviets. Kapuscinski travels to Georgia, Armenia, and icy Vorkuta. In a chapter on Central Asia, Kapuscinski describes the destruction of the Aral Sea -- another man-made ecological disaster, caused by Brezhnev's order to turn Uzbekistan into a land of nothing but cotton. But the most heartbreaking chapter is on Kolyma, part of the gulag where millions were sent to their frozen, hungry deaths. This is difficult to read, but important.
Whither Russia? When this book was written, more than a dozen years ago, it seemed that Russia was starting to unfreeze -- at least politically and economically. Kapuscinski's outlook at the time was bleaker than most. He recognized the enormous problems facing Russia -- the legacy of terror and repression, the poverty, the demoralization of significant portions of the society and the ecological depredations. He also predicted a confrontation between Christianity and Islam in the border regions.
I wish that the author had been able to return to the Imperium and provide his unique insights into Putin-ruled Russia today. Unfortunately, Ryszard Kapuscinski died this year. This book is part of his important legacy.
The Fall of a System of Government Never Meant to Run a Superpower.......2007-06-18
Russia for all its' history has only worked well when it had a philosopher- king as its' ruler. Peter and Catherine did more to pull the country into a modernized version than all of their predicesors. Ivan III (not the terrible but the venerated) and Stalin had many of the same megalomaniac ideas of how to govern. I.e. Banish or exterminate anyone who doesn't agree with you (both had a son murdered on their orders) and rule by fear.
The one thing that you would have expected the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) to have accomplished in seventy years, was the construction of a massive infrastructure to allow them to better control the population. But the biggest problem in Russia today, is the work that was done during the communist period. Pre-revolutionary buildings (built before 1914) have held up better than those built under Stalin and especially those built after WW2. Russia has never been able to feed its' own people during the twentieth century because of the poor distribution system that exists to this day. It is estimated that half the harvest is lost each year due to a lack of infrastructure to move food from the farms to the cities.
Kapuscinski gives us a background on the ways in which the CPSU controlled the country but never learned to govern it. He begins with his visits in the pre-WW2 era, gives us extended tours during the middle century and an interesting view at the time of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In his ending section (His Sequel) he is prescient in discussing how he sees the beginning of the failure of 'democrats' to rule Russia and the beginning of the growth of monopolies and dictatorship. Only a strong hand will help Russia survive while it tries to set its' house in order. He saw Putin coming before anyone knew his name.
a step closer to the mystery of the Soviet Empire ;-).......2006-04-26
Ryszard Kapuscinski is a guru to many people in Poland, and his books were always received with unending awe - because he traveled, when hardly anybody else could o anywhere apart from other countries of the Communist bloc, and moreover - he could write about what he saw... I still marvel how he managed to write so many things, which were in principle against the system, and still get published, but it is another question (Polish censorship was maybe not that tight or not that clever, or - most likely - clever enough to allow the chosen one his writing in the name of relative peace???).
"Imperium" is one of my favorites among Kapuscinski's books (NB. I have read the original, so have no idea about the translation, but after reading some earlier reviews I think it must be good too). I have been driven to the mystery of Russia and its acquisitions as well as to the phenomenon of Soviet Union for a long time, and here Kapuscinski gives a lot on these subjects in a concise form.
The book is divided into several parts, starting with the author's earliest memories of Soviet Union, when he was a schoolboy of what is now Belarus, and with his surprisingly acute observations (reminding me of my own, never put into words, forty years later, when everything was already much more relieved, but still the school was mysteriously insane). Then we go through Siberia on the Transsiberian train (still a cult trip for many students in Poland, albeit it must be very different now), and proceed to the other republics of the Soviet Union.
Kapuscinski traveled as a journalist, but always he managed to get something private out of each visit, which had to have an official program and probably nothing more was permitted. He talked to people in the forgotten corners of the Imperium and in the representative places, watched them, saw the ancient rituals and old habits under (and clashing with) the overwhelming, transplanted Russian culture, and wrote about it, preserving the memories and triggering in several generations the urge to see it with their own eyes, managing to capture the atmosphere of each place he got to... He evokes the image of "Homo Sovieticus", at the same time wondering about Russian soul.
The book is full of literary allusions and connections and contains a rich bibliography at the end, which is also recommended. "Imperium", as Kapuscinski warns at the beginning, is a collection of observations and his thoughts, as deep as they can be in this form, but because the subject is vast, everything is treated personally and rather as an encouragement to inflame greater interest, and then more monographic works come in handy (e. g. reading in "Imperium" about the North led me to excellent books by Mariusz Wilk, a longtime resident of Solovki).
I heartily recommend this book - it cannot disappoint!
Transcendent.......2005-12-25
Think of Dante's ability to create entire worlds. Think of Dante's skill at capturing the largest of themes and extracting their essences. Kapuscinski's Imperium is indescribably more than memoir, travel stories, or USSR history. If you relish writing of the highest caliber, read this book. You will be rewarded on every page. Along the way you will also come to know the world that existed behind an Iron Curtain for most of the last century. This is the work of an accomplished master who has distilled 54 years of observations and 36,0000 miles of travels into wisdom, insight, and poetry. I certainly wish that more than 5 stars could be awarded.
A Walk on the Dark Side.......2005-11-01
My grandparents left the territory of what would become the Soviet Union long before the 1917 Revolution. They came to America and I thank God they did. Whenever I read about the USSR, I always realize that only a couple of small decisions saved me from being born there, or more probably, saved me from being wiped out there, since I was born during World War II. Fate has a way of creating circles, though, and I've wound up teaching English to people from my grandparents' homeland. It's curious. Many of them are ethnically exactly the same as I am, but it is always obvious that there is a huge cultural gap. OK, they didn't grow up in America. I have never set foot in any part of the former USSR. I have spent the last 14 years peering into their pasts, constantly wondering why they are predisposed to think this way, act that way. I have thought long and hard about the issue, discussed it with many of my students, read their stories, listened to many more. A book like IMPERIUM goes a long way towards helping me understand that difference between me, "the one that got away" and them, "the ones that didn't".
Back in 1988, in a single week, I read three of Kapuscinski's books in a mad dash of fascination. I'd already spent over six years living in various Third World countries and his writing on Iran, Ethiopia and Angola captured something that no one else came close to, especially because he never sneered, he never condescended. No racist platitudes, no grandstanding for a Western audience for Kapuscinski. IMPERIUM, the description of his travels around the Soviet Union in 1958, 1967, 1989-90 and in 1992-93, continues in his own tradition of inserting himself into the most desperate of situations, visiting places where the most extreme sorts of human behavior have taken or are taking place. I feel that at times he does exaggerate certain events, certain facts may be forgotten or left out. (Plus, if you can't read Polish transcriptions, the names will all look strange to you.) No matter. He arrives at a picture that rings with authenticity; he is able to persuade you that you understand what is happening. (Or that nobody can understand what is happening.) This author can somehow portray the stupidity, the bestiality, bravery, and unconquerable human spirit that suffuses every event in our unhappy human history. He does it with a sense of immediacy, crossing every cultural and racial boundary as if it didn't exist. (Do they really exist ? Much less than most people think, I would say.) He visits the frozen horrors of the gulag archipelago, now fallen silent, crumbling into the permafrost. He describes the petty nationalist hatreds that increasingly suffused Soviet life to the end, the economic disaster, the environmental destruction, the brutality of a government that deliberately let ten million people starve to death, the lack of organizational knowhow, a dispirited despair. It is all a dark picture of a country that devoured so many of its own, shot itself in the foot so many times. He did come up with numerous insights that helped me to understand my own past or, as it were, my own non-past. No delving into party history, statistics, or laws and decrees; he cuts straight to the heart of the matter. If you need a single book that will describe the atmosphere in the former USSR, that will help you understand what happened to people there, choose this one.
Customer Reviews:
1/3 is reprints of trading cards, skip it.......2006-10-25
The Art of the Horus Heresy books have until now had high production values and interesting art work. But in attempting to stretch the series to 4 volumes they obviously ran out of material. The story and artwork end 2/3 of the way through this book, the remainder is thumbnail-sized reprints of trading cards, almost too small to read. Even some of the story is reprinted from old White Dwarf articles.
This last volume contains the climax of the story (hint, the Emperor wins) and some new plot points but ultimately is padded. The card reprints mean nothing to me and I doubt would even please the CCG players. If you're considering buying this book you probably are a GW fan and already familiar with what will happen. So skip it.
Book Description
The adventures of wily Commissar Cain, his malodorous aide Jurgen, and the 296th Valhallans have proved great favourites among Black Library fans. This omnibus edition is an attractive introduction to a very popular series.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Collection.......2007-06-28
This is an excellent collection of novels and short stories about the reluctant hero commisar Ciaphas Cain. Well written, amusing, and full of action. Commisar Cain tries to avoid danger but always seems to save the day despite that.
Top notch collection of brain candy.......2007-06-27
The Ciaphas Cain stories are a real pleasure to read. The book pulls together the first 3 plus the original short stories that explain how Commissar Cain became the "go to hero" that he never wanted to be.
Dark humor at its best.......2007-05-29
Even thought the WH 40k universe can be a dark and trecherous landscape Sandy Mitchell's character has a way of projecting his own sort of humor on every situation. The book takes place over the first three installments in Commissar Ciaphos Cains adventures along with a few short stories.
The best part of Mitchell's books is that they are humorous but not to the point of absurdity. The author does a good job of interjecting humor into most situations will stil being able to maintain a sense of suspense, adventure, or tension. The characters are well thought out and even though a good portion of the book is written from the point of view of Commissar Cain, the natual and self depricating style and angle from which it is written draw you into Cains world and psyche and make you root for him even though you get the sense that like the rest of us he only ends up in the most heroic of situations only be accident and only claims credit when it is advantagous and his original intentions are misconstrued.
Book Description
The Secret History of the Bush Regime From the Award-Winning journalist comes a much-anticipated collection of his penetrating and prescient coverage of the Bush Administration. Never has the American Republic stood in such a degraded state as it does today: terrorized, militarized, subjected to arbitrary rule, riddled with corruption, despised and feared around the world - and more exposed to attack than ever before. How the hell did we get here? Empire Burlesque tells the tale, giving us the secret history of the Bush Regime - the backroom deals, the covert ops, and the monstrous betrayals of American principles that have gone down behind the pious rhetoric and sugary deceptions.
Customer Reviews:
Insipid.......2007-01-21
Leftie ranting and raving, and I am left of center! Do not buy this claptrap! Low on facts, the few facts are spun out of control repeatedly as mantra that Republicans in general and "W" in particular are hell bent on a one track race to ostracize the US. Things are a bit more complex than this book acknowledges.
For Readers Who Really Want the Truth.......2006-11-03
Chris Floyd is one of a handful of writers on the political scene who report the truth and don't hold their punches. Mr Floyd's varied life experiences here and abroad give him an excellent perspective on what is really happening in American politics - and it's not lame, pro-Democratic Party reactionism, but a true analysis of what the current regime is doing. The only way to get beyond 'business as usual' with either major party is to have a clear understanding of what is really going on and of the real agenda of those in power, as well as what is truly at stake - elements totally lacking in mainstream journalism. Chris Floyd is one of the most important writers today who can help provide that understanding, and I strongly encourage readers to check out his work.
Serious and incisive.......2006-11-03
First a confession - I have not read this book, but I have read essentially all of its content through the Empire Burlesque blog. The work is consistently accurate, passionate, and frightening, as it details the US's descent into a neo-capitalist, fascist state. Chris Floyd nailed massacres in Iraq well before they were noted at other web sites. If this book has a flaw, it is its proclivity to project a kind of inevitability as the US morphs its Constitution to permit a Soviet style dictatorship and how it uses its all volunteer armed forces to support a burgeoning US corporate/military empire. I believe that the US does have the opportunity to reverse these tendencies with a change in political party. At least this is a possibility not discussed seriously by the author. This is, nonetheless, a well written book that should be considered an alarm for people who care about the country and our world.
Brilliant Book.......2006-11-02
Floyd nailed it earlier than most... despite death threats while he was working for the Moscow Times, Floyd was painting the picture far before everyone else post 9-11.
And he painted it well.
This book - a collection of Floyd's work - is essential for those who want to piece together the bigger picture.
Book Description
This Warhammer 40,000 background book is the essential guide to Inquisitors. It includes the famous personalities amongst the Inquisition, their allies and enemies, equipment, methods, political factions and more. Every entry is rendered in encyclopaedic style, with illustrations throughout.
Book Description
As the year 2001 unfolded, the United States stood at the apex of global power, possessing unrivalled military capabilities, a vibrant economy, and--most of all--great self-confidence about its security. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 shattered America's prevailing illusions of invulnerability, prompting the world's sole superpower to embark on a revolutionary national strategy that led to a preventive war against Iraq. Will the United States be safer and more secure as a result? This book shows why America's new assertively unilateral foreign policy will actually create perils for the next generation of Americans. Written by two seasoned scholars, After Iraq conducts a sweeping survey of America's present position in the global arena and identifies the opportunities and risks that the United States will likely face once the war in Iraq draws to a close. Kegley and Raymond provide an insightful overview of the U.S. response to the unconventional threats posed by global terrorism as well as a searching assessment of the challenges created by the rise of China and other emerging competitors. They argue that the current course of American foreign policy will harm the country by setting dangerous precedents that undermine the moral and legal restraints--which were built painstakingly over the past century--on when and how states may use force. Drawing upon a rich array of historical parallels and empirical evidence, the book illuminates instances in which previous great powers embarked on similar self-defeating strategies. Like the U.S. today, these states once stood at the pinnacle of world power. But due to misperceptions about what they could accomplish with unilateral, preventive uses of military force, they made short-run decisions that undermined their long-term strategic interests. With Americans facing questions about how to combat global terrorism, how to diffuse the nuclear threats of Iran and North Korea, how to adjust to the growing power of China and India, and how to repair relations with traditional allies, After Iraq charts a path for restoring America's reputation and leadership in the world to strengthen both U.S. and international security in the turbulent decades ahead.
Customer Reviews:
Ethical Sanity, Sensible Guidelines.......2007-01-24
I am in Boise, Idaho, where I came to hear Al Gore deliver the single most sensational and sensible lecture I have ever heard in my lifetime. The DVD and the book titled "Inconvenient Truth" do not do him or his message justice.
It was in this context that I discovered that Boise, Idaho is a hotbed of ethical sanity. The Frank Church Institute (sponsor of Al Gore's visit to Boise) and these two authors, one of whom is the Frank Church Professor of International Relations, the other the Corporate Secretary of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, have all of the moral credibility and legitimacy that the Bush-Cheney regime lacks.
I bought this book while visiting Boise State University, and I believe it may well be one of the most important works relevant to recovering from the enormously mis-guided, inept, and corrupt practices that Bush-Cheney have forced upon all of us. As a moderate but estranged Republican, I heartily embrace the solid reasoning of these two authors.
The most important part of the book is the final section that I have marked very heavily. The authors highlight the number of military interventions the US has undertaken, making the important point that Bush-Cheney are not the first to abuse military power, but perhaps the first to do so in such an outrageously ill-conceived manner.
They draw respectfully on historian Niall Fergusson's summary of American interventions and this is worth repeating here:
1. Impressive initial military success
2. Flawed assessment of indigenous sentiments
3. Strategy of limited war and gradual escalation of forces
4. Domestic disillusionment in the face of protracted and nasty conflict
5. Premature democratization
6. Ascendancy of domestic economic considerations
7. Ultimate withdrawal
There you have it. The authors go on to outline "Rules for Rivals" and I will not summarize those--buy the book. The most important observation made by the authors is that if one pays attention to an idea new to me, the Composite Index of National Capabilities (CINC), then one can quickly see that the US pales in comparison to China, and simply does not have the capacity for sustained global warfare in the conventional sense.
The authors outline several characteristics of the emerging collapse of US foreign policy and credibility and effectiveness, not least of which is their proper emphasis on the failure of American education.
This is a very important book, and it deserves to be noticed by the varied book sections, especially the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.
As one who can be bombastic at times, I especially admired the manner in which the authors made their case in an even-handed relatively neutral manner. Boise, Idaho is a very sensible place! America would do well to absorb and act on the common sense thinking they are doing here.
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications
Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble
Books:
- Iron Fist, Lead Foot: John Coletti and Ford's "Terminator"
- It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy
- Kindling the Spark: Recognizing and Developing Musical Talent
- Magician: Apprentice (Riftwar Saga)
- Mirror Universe Part 1: Glass Empires (Star Trek Mirror Universe)
- Modern Multithreading : Implementing, Testing, and Debugging Multithreaded Java and C++/Pthreads/Win32 Programs
- Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
- Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire
- PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives
- Pure Sea Glass: Discovering Nature's Vanishing Gems
Books Index
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