History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America

Average customer rating:

a must read for any middle school or high school age girl
Absolutely imperative if you are a woman
Linking women's equality to Title IX
Much-needed history for today's young women
Richie's Picks: LET ME PLAY

Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America
Karen Blumenthal
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0689859570

Book Description

Can girls play softball? Can girls be school crossing guards? Can girls play basketball or ice hockey or soccer? Can girls become lawyers or doctors or engineers?
Of course they can...

today. But just a few decades ago, opportunities for girls were far more limited, not because they weren't capable of playing or didn't want to become doctors or lawyers, but because they weren't allowed to. Then quietly, in 1972, something momentous happened: Congress passed a law called "Title IX," forever changing the lives of American girls.

Hundreds of determined lawmakers, teachers, parents, and athletes carefully plotted to ensure that the law was passed, protected, and enforced. Time and time again, they were pushed back by Þerce opposition. But as a result of their perseverance, millions of American girls can now play sports. Young women make up half of the nation's medical and law students, and star on the best basketball, soccer, and softball teams in the world. This small law made a huge difference.

From the Sibert Honor-winning author of Six Days in October comes this powerful tale of courage and persistence, the stories of the people who believed that girls could do anything -- and were willing to fight to prove it.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Customer Reviews:

a must read for any middle school or high school age girl.......2007-08-10

I am a middle school English and Social Studies teacher, and I just finished reading this book. I think it's a must read for any middle school or high school age girl. It's a bit dry in parts, but has a good explanation of how our government actually works with respect to a topic that has certainly affected their lives (whether they know it or not!) There are some more interesting side bars, and I really enjoyed the charts of statistics showing how the numbers of girls and women in different areas of sports and education increased every year following passage of the law. I think current teens will be surprised to find out how little was allowed for (or expected of) girls even at the time that their moms were entering school.

Absolutely imperative if you are a woman.......2006-10-17

I consider myself quite well informed about current women's issues, but had always wondered what the impetus was behind Title IX. I had no idea that the law we hear about that applies to women's equal access to sports, was aimed at equal access to college admissions and financial assistance. I cried several time while reading this book; I was mad at the earlier treatment of women, I was saddened by the personal stories of disappointment suffered by the women who were shut out of playing games they loved only because they were girls. I was also proud of the triumphs of the recent past, but mostly I was moved to buy another copy and pass it around to as many women as I can. ANY WOMAN WHO HAS PLAYED SPORTS OR GONE TO COLLEGE IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, OWES IT TO THEMSELVES TO READ, APPRECIATE, AND SHARE THIS BOOK WITH THE NEXT GENERATION OF GIRLS. Laurie in Utah

Linking women's equality to Title IX .......2006-08-29

Let Me Play puts a passionate perspective on the plight of women in the fight to obtain simple civil liberties and human equalities. Author Karen Blumenthal presents her work in a format targeted to a young audience, making this easily manageable book appealing to people of all ages that appreciate the continuing battle for equal rights.

Let Me Play is not simply the history of Title IX, part of the 1972 education amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but an outline of the ongoing fight women have endured in demanding equal treatment. It tells the stories of women all over the country fighting for recognition as something more than homemakers. Let Me Play fervently depicts, through narration, anecdotes, pictures and cartoons, the ways women fought, and still fight, for status as equal humans of equal worth.

In her book, Blumenthal vividly profiles the lives of many empowered women from soccer superstar Mia Hamm, who grew up playing on boys' soccer and American football teams, to 1993 University of Louisville Medical School graduate Dot Richardson, Olympic softball gold medalist and orthopedic surgeon. The stories of these women are heartening and relatable. No matter their field or occupation, each of them was once a girl growing up in a boy's world.

Let Me Play is a powerful addition to the unique genre of children's books adopted by Blumenthal, celebrated author and Wall Street Journal reporter. She has a way of capturing the meaning and relative application of a major historical event and conveying it in a way that is straightforward and dynamic, educational and entertaining.

Let Me Play is, essentially, the very recent, very true and very shocking story of girls being denied the right to not only participate in school-sanctioned sports and activities but also to take top-level math and science classes and be admitted to top universities, solely because of their gender.

The underlying message of Let Me Play is this: Know the words of Title IX and remember that, by law, no one can deny you the right to play, learn, advance and win.

A fiery and well examined recounting of the road to equality for women peppered with fun political cartoons and unforgettable quotes, this book is a necessity for any girl who plays ball in a once strictly male park.

Much-needed history for today's young women.......2006-01-26

I'm so glad to see a history for today's young women about what it was like before Title 9 - which, while it wasn't that long ago, seems unreal to my daughter's generation. I remember The Days Before, when the boys got the gym and were formed into athletic teams while the girls got WHAT PASSED for PE - calisthenics in the cafeteria! (and instructional time was used to move the tables and chairs aside)

In a day when feminism is facing a hostile backlash, Ms. Blumenthal's book is a valuable reminder that "what used to be" wasn't as rosy as some claim, a reminder of the gains made in sports by talented girls, and of what we DON'T want to return to! Five stars!

Richie's Picks: LET ME PLAY.......2005-06-13

"Female admissions to colleges and graduate programs picked up speed, driven by female ambition, the law, and a growing acceptance that it was simply wrong to reject someone just for being a girl. Between 1971 and 1976 the number of women attending college jumped 40 percent. By the fall of 1976 one in every four law students was a woman, up from fewer than one in ten in 1971; likewise, a quarter of first-year medical students were female, up from about one in seven just five years before."

Recently at this year's Book Expo in New York City, I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with Patricia Macias. At publishing conventions, Patricia is known as the wife of author Ben Saenz. But back home in El Paso, she is more frequently referred to as "Your Honor."

As I wandered the exhibition halls at Book Expo, I frequently got the chance to catch up with old friends in the publishing industry. Many of the women I've known for years who are employed by the large publishing houses now have titles like "President & Publisher" or "Vice President and Associate Publisher." They not only have the positions; they have the power that accompanies those titles.

I also had the opportunity at Book Expo to chat briefly with my favorite member of the United States Senate. I feel so fortunate to be represented by Barbara Boxer who, like me, grew up in New York and moved westward. When we first elected Barbara to the US Senate in 1992, having her join Diane Feinstein there in representing California, it was the first time in US history that two women Senators were representing the same state at the same time.

Myra Bradwell would have though that it was long past time.

"In 1869, Mrs. Bradwell passed the Illinois bar exam with high honors and turned in her application to practice law. Though she easily qualified, she was turned down because she was a married woman. She filed a lawsuit, but the Illinois Supreme Court turned her down too, saying that her sex was 'a sufficient reason for not granting this license.'
"In one of the nation's first sex discrimination cases she appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But America's top court had a different view than she did. 'Man is, or should be, woman's protector and defender,' the Court wrote in 1873. 'The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life.' It concluded: 'The paramount destiny and mission of woman [is] to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.' "

It does not require looking back a hundred and something years to the life of Myra Bradwell (who, we learn, persevered to become America's first female lawyer) in order to recall when things were really unfair for women in America. I grew up a youngster not all THAT long ago, in a world where women didn't have the same opportunities as men to go to college, didn't have the same opportunities as men to work in many fields, to attain the highest positions in business, government, or education, to get paid the same money for the same work, and sure as heck didn't have the same athletic opportunities as their male counterparts.

As recalled in LET ME PLAY by Karen Blumenthal, it was in 1964 (when I turned nine, the same year the Beatles first came to America), that a Southern segregationist in Congress unintentionally played an important role in promoting women's rights when he "proposed adding the word 'sex' to the section [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964], so that it would forbid job discrimination against women as well as blacks." Congressman Howard W. Smith of Virginia was figuring that adding such an amendment would cause the male-dominated Congress to quickly sink the entire Act including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that the historic Civil Rights legislation would create. That Smith's plan backfired and the legislation passed meant for the first time in our history that it was illegal to pay a woman differently than a man employed in the same position as she.

"State universities in Virginia had turned away 21,000 women in the early 1960s; during the same time not a single man was turned away."

While the author takes us back to the 1800s and forward to the 1960s in setting the stage, the overwhelming focus of her fascinating and important book about women in America is on the fight for passage of and subsequent fights over enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as well as the far-reaching changes in our country that resulted from that landmark legislation.

Blumenthal's well-documented story of Title IX is interspersed with illuminating profiles and photos of notable twentieth century female athletes who got badly cheated by being born in the backward days of the earlier 1900s, along with great profiles of the federal legislative heroes responsible for Title IX passage, and a terrific assortment of strips from Doonsbury, Tank McNamara, Peanuts and other daily comics and political cartoons that shed light on the legislation and the issues behind it.

"At the University of Georgia the budget for women's sports grew to $120,000 in 1978 from $1,000 in 1973, but the men received $2.5 million. Among the differences: The men on the golf team got all the golf balls they needed. Women golfers got one for each competitive round they played."

If the words of the "stupid white men" on the Supreme Court in the 1870s seem like something from the Dark Ages, readers will discover that the ignorance of those words is easily matched by what Ronald Reagan and his minions did to try and destroy Title IX in the 1980s. I can't imagine any woman who's aware of what Reagan and Bush One carried out in those years not gagging over the current President's recent words that "We are blessed to live in a Nation, and a world, that have been shaped by the will, the leadership, and the vision of Ronald Reagan." I'd say there's a serious lack of vision when you've got your head in the place that Reagan obviously had his when it came to women's rights.

But now the question is, is the battle finally won?

When we consider what portion of Congress and Senate seats are currently filled by the majority gender in America, when we look at what portion of the CEOs of Fortune 500 corporations are female, or when we look at the gender of the Presidents of the nation's most distinguished universities, we must conclude that there is a long way to go.

A report released by the AAUW back when this week's high school graduates were in kindergarten found that "boys' expectations were built up while girls' were whittled back." That's THIS generation, not mine or a previous generation.

And lest anyone suggest the glass half-filled attitude, I'd hasten to suggest that they consider trading places and then claim that things are moving along quickly enough.

Edith Green, a major figure in the story, was fond of the saying: "The trouble with every generation is that they haven't read the minutes of the last meeting." Thanks to Karen Blumenthal, we now have an accurate set of minutes available from a pivotal episode in recent American history.

Terrorism Today: The Past, The Players, The Future (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

the 3rd edition is MUCH better than previous editions
Educated people wrote this???
Homeland Security Threats Around the World

Terrorism Today: The Past, The Players, The Future (3rd Edition)
Clifford E. Simonsen , and Jeremy R. Spindlove
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131961837

Book Description

The authors draw from more than 40 years of both academic and professional military experience to present a comprehensive look at the history, current activity and future implications of Terrorism worldwide. This newly revised edition brings the latest developments to life through practical examples, detailed maps and terrorism briefs to help readers visualize the locations and the players involved in terrorism and counterterrorism. Defines Terrorism and associated legal issues. Covers the complex history and motives behind the behavior. Discusses different types of terrorists, ranging from poorly organized groups of fanatics or dissidents with conflicting goals to the more highly organized emerging cells. Provides a clear overview of the many sectors and operations that comprise terrorism and counterterrorism and explores terrorist activity in the U.S. and around the world. Discusses counter measures and explores the war on terror and the past, present and future implications. For anyone in law enforcement, criminal justice, criminology, justice administration, security, sociology, or political science.

Customer Reviews:

the 3rd edition is MUCH better than previous editions.......2006-08-16

The negative reviews for this book are not off-base; however they seem to apply to an earlier edition of the book. The 2nd edition of this book had a lot of flaws that the authors needed to fix. In particular, the oddest vocab words were selected for study, there were certain glaring omissions (such as a detailed discussion of the Iraq war, for a book published in 2004!), and very awkward writing.

I've gotten a chance to peruse the 3rd edition, and most of these mistakes are cleared up. The ridiculous end-chapter questions are gone, the vocab words make more sense, and their coverage has been extended in places, and mercifully reduced in other places (such as the countries that don't have any terrorist problems).

Their approach (in both books) has one huge strength: if you're looking for a terrorism text that covers the subject from a comparative politics perspective, the book is almost unique in this respect. It doesn't treat terrorism as something that's just a Middle East or Muslim thing, but covers terrorism on every corner of the globe. Granted, the Middle East should recieve a lot of coverage in the subject of terrorism, and Simonson and Spindlove don't skimp out. However, many other terrorism texts begin AND end with the Middle East, which in my opinion, is the wrong way to go.

Educated people wrote this???.......2005-03-31

This book is the worst textbook I have ever read. Most of the ideas are not clear, and the authors jumped from one topic to another and back again. They threw in references to things that most people probably can't recall and didn't bother to explain them.

The review questions for each chapter are fairly ridiculous. The answers may or may not be in the chapter, and they either ask something too obvious or something that really doesn't matter. And then at times it seems that the authors couldn't figure out what else to ask, so they asked the same thing and worded it differently. The best part is that the review questions aren't specific so when the authors were talking about one country out of ten they mentioned in the chapter, they say, "that region," and then let the reader figure out what they're talking about. It was also lovely to figure out what they're made up terms in the questions were talking about because they failed to mention them in the text.

The sad thing is that this is the second edition of this book. I really can't see why it got published again. Some topics refer to events as late as 2002, while other topics weren't updated so the authors talk about what might happen in 1998 or 1999. And maybe it's just me, but using the 1990 World Book Encyclopedia as a reference several times is somewhat disappointing.

Homeland Security Threats Around the World.......2001-11-16

I watch a lot of CNN and these days my copy of Terrorism Today is usually right there under the TV Guide.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, the authors have been busy with media interviews and television appearances because they have 3 distinctive points-of-view on terrorism: the past, the players, and the future. And in his interviews, co-author Simonsen always emphasizes "the players."

This book is so comprehensive and well-written that it motivated a team of programmers (including myself) to contact the authors and come up with a news-gathering system that would facilitate continuing antiterrorism research.

As a result, each chapter of Terrorism Today now has its own daily newsfeed on the Net with up-to-the-minute features and news items relating specifically to the content of that chapter.

The book is geospatially organized, giving you an in-depth understanding of terrorism country-by-country. A global map interface online gives you instant access to terrorism news for the area you click. For example, the U.S. map allows you to click major U.S. cities to get the latest homeland security news or anthrax alerts for each city.

As a reader you get various Internet tools to merge and sort your own selection of headlines, add your comments, and thus create your own newsfeed. You can then either email your newsfeed to your colleagues or students, or publish it on your web site or in your online classroom. An editing tool allows you to go one more step and combine the newsfeeds from different contributors to create an annotated compilation.

Book Description

Netwar--like cyberwar--describes a new spectrum of conflict that is emerging in the wake of the information revolution. What distinguished netwar is the networked organizational structure of its practitioners and their quickness in coming together in swarming attacks. To confront this new type of conflict, it is crucial for governments, military, and law enforcement to begin networking themselves.

Download Description

Netwar-like cyberwar-describes a new spectrum of conflict that is emerging in the wake of the information revolution. Netwar includes conflicts waged, on the one hand, by terrorists, criminals, gangs, and ethnic extremists; and by civil-society activists (such as cyber activists or WTO protestors) on the other. What distinguishes netwar is the networked organizational structure of its practitioners-with many groups actually being leaderless-and their quickness in coming together in swarming attacks. To confront this new type of conflict, it is crucial for governments, military, and law enforcement to begin networking themselves.

Customer Reviews:

An interesting pot pourri of articles on an important topic.......2004-01-10

There is a wide variance between the 11 contributing authors.

Some of them give stimulating eye witness accounts of events in Seattle, or detailed case studies of criminal activities from around the globe.

Then we get others who just give you their opinion on an issue, expressed so academically that with one of them I was desperately looking for any indication of form of who / what / where / when that might have contributed to the development of their ideas.

So for those who cited the evidence - 4 or even 5 stars - but for those who gave rather sterile theoretical opinions - 2 stars.

And what a shame there was no Index.

Excellent network theory.......2003-10-01

This is the best 'network theory' book I've read. The book is a collection, and the 'field work' is more enthusiastic than thought provoking. Binding together the fieldwork, at front and back, is the analysis of Arquilla and Ronfeldt. Though only 20% of the text, their comments make the reading exceptionally rewarding.

The deep dynamic guiding Arquilla and Ronfeldt's analysis is that the information revolution favors the rise of network forms of organization and thus redefines cooperation and conflict. According to their terminology, the really bad side is 'cyberwar', an earlier book. 'Netwar' is a more ambiguous form of network conflict, one that can be used by social activists for the benefit of all. While I find their scholarship excellent, I'm less than sanguine regarding our ability to distinguish enthusiasm from cohersion.

The term netwar calls attention to the prospect of network-based conflict becoming pervasive at all levels of social interaction. Just as romance is now streamlined by online match-makers, so too will the new technologies enhance and focus aggression, both the good and bad kind. According to the authors, 'Netwar' is a form of 'just warfare.' Most of the book covers examples of non-violent, democratic netwar-warriors.There is a brief review of traditional crime going online for drug distribution efficiencies, but most is devoted to friendly political activists ranging from Zapatistas to anti-globalists.

Fortunately, the authors forget their preoccupation with Zapatistas when trying to make sense of the field work. In particular, they focus on the remarkably vague notions we attach to the term 'networks'. It seems everyone knows what it means, but no one has the same concept in mind.

Wisely, the authors point out our need to define 'network organization' itself. To this end, they offer a very thoughtful survey of network organization theory. Avoiding easy answers, they list some provocative, but contradictory theories. The reader is left to piece together their own conclusions

They provide 3 perspectives: 1) 'actor and link,' 2) 'methodological' and 3) 'Naturalist'. In more familiar domains, there are the perspectives of the physicist, sociologist and botanist.

Probably most of the literature defines networks in terms of 'actors' (nodes) and 'links' (ties) whose relationships have a patterned structure. Using this scheme, one can draw a set of basic shapes for networks: chain or line networks, hub/star/wheel networks, all channel and hybrid networks.

An alternative 'actor' framework is the notion of 'friendship cliques' and 'interlocking memberships.' This suggests the notion of networks of networks. One 'actor' can belong to a variety of 'cliques', thus interlocking a variety of networks. One's personal power relates to their network assets, not personal attributes. In this case, the 'unit of analysis' is not the individual 'actor', but the network as a distinct identity. The network functions to create opportunities for both it's members and for it's 'network self. '

Another 'actor' framework stresses the importance of specific 'actor' roles. In this view, small group dynamics rely on a natural self-organization process that sorts out specific roles, and creates roles for outsiders to play. Here the focus is on the tight/loose connectedness of individuals to their network and the network to other networks. In this scheme, degrees of reciprocity characterize exchanges between parties (both individual and group). This 'flow' between actors is colored by the roles each accepts and the diversity is great. Equality is only one of many ways to order relationships.

An entirely different focus is upon measurement of 'network' units. One measure is the individual's recognition of the network as an entity. For example, network analysts might ask whether the actors recognize that they are participating in a particular network, and whether they are committed to operating as a network. 'Who do you work for?' represents the archetypical question/issue. An even deeper issue is the notion of 'self' and the ability of a 'network' to allow 'selfhood' to emerge. Though somewhat distant from mainstream terminology, almost everyone will understand the notion that organizations have a 'mind of their own' and that it implies the network has a 'selfhood' it will strive to protect.

Finally, the authors include the 'naturalist' view of Fukuyama that networks are nothing new, that networks are nothing more than 'trust' communities. Trust communities are nothing new. Along the same lines are 'small world' network theories, a body of thought that suggests networks and 'life' itself are inextricably woven together.

While the networking form of social organization has existed in other times and spaces, the new information technology paradigm provides the material basis for its pervasive expansion throughout a global social domain. Along these lines, they quote Keck and Sikkink's notion that networks are defined as "forms of organization characterized by voluntary, reciprocal, and horizontal patterns of communication and exchange. This seems addressed at one of the most universally recognized phenomena of networks, resiliency to shock unless a key hub (if there is one) is taken down. This interest in survival is a key part of the naturalist perspective.

In what I find the most illuminating discussion, the authors encompass the wide diversity in network theory by suggesting a multi-level theory of organization to account for network dynamics and resilience. In their scheme, there are 5 levels;
1. organizational design.
2. the narrative story about the network's genesis and powers.
3. The doctrinal habits used for producing desired outcomes, initiating newcomers and developing seniority.
4. Technological tools
5. Personal ties of loyalty and trust.

Personally, I suspect networks, like the Internet, evolve without a plan. They emerge and persist in spite of their plans and desires of those that give them concrete reality. Thus, I somewhat disagree with the 'title' of level #1, if not the concept.

Their focus on level #2, the network's organizational story, is probably the most original and insightful. Though the authors seem hopeful that 'netwar' has a bright side, consider how the 'bright side' is entirely defined by the organizational narrative. How is the network's bright side described in a Wahabi madrasas? Behind the walls of the Vatican?

Lacks Index But Excellent Collection.......2002-02-04

Although their references lean toward "the usual suspects" among the beltway bubbas, and none of the authors demonstrate real access to the various hacker groups with deeper insights than any government bureaucrat will ever achieve, this is without question one of the best sets of articles, put together by two people I view as being the most capable in this area of inquiry, and therefore I recommend it very strongly as a starting point.

As with most publications by RAND it lacks an index, for which I deduct one star. The value of an index does not appear to be appreciated by those who publish these taxpayer-funded collections, and I continually lament the myopia that prevents the publishers from making such a useful collection even more valuable by taking the time to create an aggregate index.

I hope this is the last of the theoretical volumes. While it has some operationally-oriented contributions, one of the best being by Phil Williams on Transnational Criminal Networks, it is too theoretical overall, and much too US-centric. There are French, Nordic, and Singaporean, and Australian authorities, to mention just a few, that the editors must now make an effort to bring into a larger dialog. At the same time, it is now vital that we get on with much deeper study and discussion of the actual networks and specific practices--we must do much more in documenting the "order of battle" for netwar. One article, for example, lists a sample of Arabic web sites but goes no further--I would have liked to see some discussion of the 396 terrorist, insurgent, and opposition web sites, including the "Muslim Hackers" who asked for a clerical ruling on whether the Koran encouraged hacking as a means of war (it does, according to the same people that support bin Laden's views), and I would like to see much more integration with the investigative efforts of both law enforcement authorities and private sector security and fraud authorities. I am especially disappointed that all of these authorities appear to be largely oblivious to or at least not making substantive reference to the ten-year-long track record compiled by Winn Schartau and his InfoWarCon speakers and web site, an event that is arguably the only serious international venue for addressing these issues in a serious manner, with a commensurately valuable web site.

There is one other major gap in this book's approach to networks and netwars. With the exception of Paul de Armond's article on netwar against the World Trade Organization, there are no references to intelligence failures and intelligence requirements vis a vis this threat domain. The editors and authors need to establish intelligence concepts and doctrine for this threat.

This book represents the very best that DoD money can fund in isolation, and therein lies the problem. What few taxpayer funds are spent by DoD in addressing such important matters and not being spent wisely because there is no serious commitment to creating a data warehouse of all studies related to networks and netwar; there is no commitment to accessing and understanding the considerable lessons learned outside the somewhat nepotistic DoD network of standard experts; and there seems to be no commitment to creating a center of excellence that can nurture *public* understanding and new *public* standards for protecting both our critical infrastructure and the vital data that circulates on that infrastructure.

The editors and the authors are of the very highest caliber. They are also operating in a vacuum. I for one would like to see them get serious funding, to include the establishment of a public international center of excellence on netwar, with branch offices in London and Singapore.

We are losing the Third World War, between governments and gangs, in part because the military-industrial-congressional complex continues to define security in terms of very expensive mobility and weapons systems--communications, computing, and intelligence are an afterthought, and the authors are quite correct in the aggregate when they suggest that we are our own worst enemy in failing to redirect substantial funds toward cyber-war and cyber-peace. The editors and authors could be very helpful if they address in their next volume, both an intelligence order of battle against which capabilities might be created; and specific proposals for establishing international, national, and state & local capabilities. What should they be, what will it cost, who should manage them? "It ain't real until its the budget." The authors are gracious to a fault, but it is clear from their work in the aggregate that they share a concern with our lack of preparedness for a 9-11 level of effort against our financial, transportation, power, and communications networks. They merit the greatest of respect and a full hearing from the public.

The Sharpening Fight for the Future.......2001-11-27

This is a timely, well researched and thoughtful book about the world we have come to inhabit over the past decade, with a punctuation mark added for September 11. That said, it is not like so many 'quickie books' written to take advantage of recent events. Authors John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt of the RAND Corporation have been among the most thoughtful writers about security and diplomacy in an information age. Their previous works include Cyberwar is Coming, The Advent of Netwar, In Athena's Camp, and Swarming and the Future of Conflict. Their latest work is Networks and Netwars. Here they look inside "the lower-intensity, societal-level counterpart to...the mostly military concept of Cyberwar."

The editors are joined by Michele Zanini, Sean Edwards, Phil Williams, John Sullivan, Tiffany Danitz, Warren Strobel, Paul de Armond, Dorothy Denning, and Luther Gerlach, and focus on the nature of what has been thought of as an emerging form of conflict and competition. They explore Netwar's "dual nature...composed of conflicts waged, on the one hand, by terrorists, criminals, and ethnonationalist extremists; and by civil-society activists". The essays lock in on an overarching theme. "What distinguishes Netwar as a form of conflict is the networked organizational structure of its practitioners-with many groups actually being leaderless-and the suppleness in their ability to come together quickly in swarming attacks."

While our attention is focused on Afghan campaign in the news every night, not all Netwar is of the type practiced by Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. The broad range of Netwar is demonstrated in the complementary essays. But for those who are interested in what they have to say about the recent terrorist activities, their insights are exceptional: see their essays "What Next for Networks and Netwars" and the Afterword (September 2001: The Sharpening Fight for the Future).

Book Description

A fully updated edition of Mike Davis's visionary work.

No metropolis has been more loved or more hated. To its official boosters, "Los Angeles brings it all together." To detractors, LA is a sunlit mortuary where "you can rot without feeling it." To Mike Davis, the author of this fiercely elegant and wide-ranging work of social history, Los Angeles is both utopia and dystopia, a place where the last Joshua trees are being plowed under to make room for model communities in the desert, where the rich have hired their own police to fend off street gangs, as well as armed Beirut militias. In City of Quartz, Davis reconstructs LA's shadow history and dissects its ethereal economy. He tells us who has the power and how they hold on to it. He gives us a city of Dickensian extremes, Pynchonesque conspiracies, and a desperation straight out of Nathaniel West—a city in which we may glimpse our own future mirrored with terrifying clarity.

In this new edition, Davis provides a dazzling update on the city's current status.

Customer Reviews:

city of quartz , new edition.......2007-09-19

City of Quartz, the original version, is an excellent book on the history of Los Angeles until 1989, well readable, informative and incisive, a must-read even if some people take offense at views which are neither mainstream nor conservative.
When you finish the book you are very curious as to how that author would write about the years since 1989.
That book still needs to be written.
But in an extensive foreword to this new edition many aspects of the most recent history of the most fascinating metropolis on the planet are touched, the Watts riots and whatnot; obviously there is much more and whoever follows what Davis writes in journals about Katrina-torn New Orleans and other hot topics, google his books !, can't wait until a new, extensively updated "City of Quartz" will be out.

Should be shelved in Poli-Sci or Opinion but not History.......2007-05-22

I got this book thinking it was about the social history and architecture of Los Angeles.

Although City Of Quartz does touch upon various events in LA history, it does so only to use those events as a springboard for the author's political writings. Reading it, I got the impression that ANY American city would have brought forth the same opinions.

To sum up: "Wealthy people, Corporations, the Police, and Conservatives are BAD GUYS and are ALWAYS in the wrong. Poor people, Unions, Criminals and Liberals are GOOD GUYS and are ALWAYS in the right. And don't you people realize that the cost of one stealth bomber could pay for 10000 public housing units!?"

The author is certainly entitled to his opinions, but with such a cut-and-dried world view the book quickly becomes boringly predictable. Page after page of "The rich are oppressing the poor, the Whites are oppressing Minorities, the Police are oppressing criminals..." stated as facts - no need for debate - no discussion as to WHY the author feels this way - just a long laundry list of political grievences, and in the end - very little about L.A. history.

If you're interested in Mr. Davis's opinions, this book might be worth a read. But if you're looking for a history book about Los Angeles, look elsewhere.

a great piece of history.......2007-03-26

I knew very little about L.A. This book is actually a history book. I just loved it and it answered many questions I had.

Radical history of Los Angeles.......2007-02-26

Davis is well-known in radical circles as a popular writer on various issues relating to labor movements and the like. This is essentially a history of the city of Los Angeles and its surroundings from a radical perspective. It's quite well-done and very informative (at least to an ignoramus like me), but Davis goes overboard now and then in seeing a conspiracy to repress the poor behind everything. He also has the tendency to call historical incidences of repression a "holocaust" (he actually uses this word multiple times for different things), which I don't like being used in this manner. Aside from that though, it's a welcome different approach from the usual hagiographic or hip postmodern analyses of conglomeration cities like LA. There's not much more I can say about it, as whether you like his left-wing critical vignettes or not will be mostly a matter of taste - judge it for yourself.

Rational Choice and Criminal Behavior: Recent Research and Future Challenges (Current Issues in Criminal Justice (Routledge (Firm)).)

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Rational Choice and Criminal Behavior: Recent Research and Future Challenges (Current Issues in Criminal Justice (Routledge (Firm)).)
Alex Piquero
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Research | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0815336780

Book Description

Rational Choice and Criminal Behavior is a collection of essays by experts in the field of criminal justice examines various aspects of the rational choice framework, which deals with the degree to which criminal behavior represents a rational choice. The editors also include essays that cover specific policy approaches that stem from this framework, an argument that is crucial in the debate over punishment as a deterrent and the role of society in fostering criminal behavior.

Criminological Theories: Bridging the Past to the Future

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SUE COTE ROCKS!
Recommended for students of criminal law and psychology

Criminological Theories: Bridging the Past to the Future

Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0761925031

Book Description

This anthology is a superb collection of 36 articles covering the major theories, past and present, that inform criminology today. What truly sets this volume apart is the inclusion of many articles discussing novel and often overlooked perspectives in criminological theory. In fact, many of these articles have never before been included in a reader. Such articles include an examination of topics such as white-collar crime and developmental criminology, as well as discussions of integrated theories that consider genetics, psychology, and environmental approaches. As most journal articles are typically written for a professional audience, the original articles have been substantially edited and abridged to make them more accessible to students. Each article is framed by an introductory overview (discussing the article’s importance and the context for its development) and concludes with discussion questions. The resulting reader will prove to be an invaluable resource for any undergraduate or graduate course where criminological theory plays a central role.

Customer Reviews:

SUE COTE ROCKS!.......2005-01-26

Just as simple as that.. Sue Cote ROCKS!

-joel

Recommended for students of criminal law and psychology.......2002-06-07

Professionally edited by Suzette Cote, Criminological Theories: Bridging The Past To The Future is an impressive and original anthology of thirty-six articles by a variety of experienced and knowledgeable contributors discussing the major theories of criminology. From biological, social, and cultural causes of violent crime, to white collar crime, and a feminist perspective on crime, Criminological Theories covers a broad and relevant range of topics. Criminological Theories is a scholarly, college-level work, and especially recommended for students of criminal law and psychology, as well a core contribution to professional, governmental, and academic Criminology Studies reference collections.

Terrorism and Organized Crime: The Alliance of Tomorrow? How to Counter a Possible Future Threat

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Terrorism and Organized Crime: The Alliance of Tomorrow? How to Counter a Possible Future Threat

Manufacturer: Storming Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: 1423559843

Product Description

This is a NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A689943. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: While in the post-Cold War era threats to international security have become less direct and apocalyptic, they are today more diffuse and insidious. With the probability of large scale, high intensity conflicts decreasing during the l990s, terrorism and transnational organized crime --each in itself-- constitute an increasing and serious threat to the national security of affected nations. Any alliance of these two criminal phenomena is likely to cause a disproportional increase of the overall threat. The thesis, while following an analytical/inductive approach, tries to identity the rationale for such alliances. Although aims and objectives of terrorists and organized criminal groups are different by nature, alliances of convenience have already formed in the past. With globalization apparently working in the favor of terrorists and organized crime, it seems to be only a question of time before they begin merging and start working jointly. Since those criminal organizations tend to exploit the weaknesses of international cooperation by increasingly operating in the transnational sphere, any attempt at a successtul counter-strategy has to meet this threat where it originates. Against this background, international cooperation of law enforcement agencies becomes increasingly important - "Internal Security", it seems, acquires a transnational dimension.

The Future of American Intelligence (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

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Very Poor--Old, Tired, Out of Touch
Intelligence Flummery

The Future of American Intelligence (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

Manufacturer: Hoover Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Espionage | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0817946624

Book Description

The urgent task of reforming U.S. intelligence

The United States today faces new kinds of adversaries, armed with an array of sinister weapons and capable of communicating and coordinating actions around the globe with unprecedented ease. As The Future of American Intelligence demonstrates, this dangerous new world requires changes in how the United States collects and analyzes intelligence and translates it into policy.

These essays from a diverse group of distinguished contributors deepen our understanding of the new national security threats posed by terrorism, by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and by the spread of Islamic extremism. They examine the obstacles-intellectual, governmental, bureaucratic, military, and technological-to making U.S. intelligence more effective and offer thoughtful recommendations for reform.

Approaching the problem from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, the authors stress how it is critical that the intelligence community revise its deeply entrenched assumptions and ideas about how to collect and analyze intelligence. They reveal how those assumptions led the United States to overlook the gravity of the threat posed by bin Laden and be dead wrong about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq-and how they generally stifle creative thinking and independent judgment within intelligence agencies. Their recommendations include suggestions for reforming the management style and the organizational structure of the intelligence services as well as establishing more effective procedures for taking advantage of both current and future technological advances.

Peter Berkowitz teaches at George Mason University School of Law and is a fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Contributors: Reuel Mark Gerecht, Gordon Lederman, Kevin O'Connell, Gary Schmitt, Richard Schultz

Customer Reviews:

Very Poor--Old, Tired, Out of Touch.......2007-02-19

Although I respect Retired Reader very much, and have found his reviews to be very accurate, I take a special interest in the intelligence discipline and the price was right for simply taking a look directly even knowing more or less what I was buying into.

This is a very sad little book. It is the last gasp of the old dogs and the new neo-con puppies trying desperately for relevance in a world that has passed them by. The only two guys in this book that actually know what they are talking about are Reuel Marc Gerecht, former case officer, whose chapter could have been done in two lines:

1) Cut intelligence budget by three quarters, "giving money to CIA is like giving crack to a cocaine addict;" and

2) End official cover and go to a very small cadre of truly extraordinary non-official cover officers.

and Kevin O'Connell, who has the most coherent topic overview.

I will take each of these five shallow and largely out of touch (which is to say, witless about the much larger literature outside the neo-con self-licking self-absorption cone).

The Era of Armed Groups by Richard Shultz. I have to say first that Shultz is a phenomenally good academic, and his edited work "Security Studies for the 21st Century" remains a standard for the field. His chapter in this volume is 20 years too late. I will mention only one seminal work: General Al Gray, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, "Global Intelligence Challenges of the 1990's" as published in the American Intelligence Journal, Winter 1988-1989. General Gray and I (as the senior civilian founder of the Marine Corps Intelligence Command in 1988) championed this for four years inside the US Intelligence Community, from 1988-1992, and from the National and Military Intelligence Boards down, *no one wanted to hear it.*

Truth to Power? Rethinking Intelligence Analysis by Gary Schmidt. This has a core idea that is correct, that further centralizing both intelligence and homeland security is the *last* thing we should be doing, but it is completely lacking in any understanding of the 18 functionalities needed for desktop analysis such as conceptualized by Diane Webb in 1986, it does not understand the NIMA Commission Report of 1999 on the paucity of funding for integrated and distributed sense-making and broad sharing, and it completely misses the true breadth of multinational, multiagency, multidisciplinary, multidomain information sharing and shared analytic endeavors.

Restructuring the Intelligence Community by Gordon Lederman. This is an especially pathetic piece of work by the young man that was purportedly responsible for Open Source Intelligence reflections on the 9-11 Commission, where Lee Hamilton understood the issue from the Burundi Exercise when OSS.Net beat the entire US Intelligence Community overnight on the topic of Burundi, with just six phone calls. This young man is regurgitating portions of the 9-11 Commission report while neglecting the extraordinary failures of that Commission across a number of fronts. This particular chapter is the last gasp on top of the last Commission from the era of the walking dead.

A New Clandestine Service by Rauel Marc Gerecht. Gerecht could still be saved, he just needs new company. He packs the two ideas mentioned above into 35 pages. There is no mention of the five-part plan for saving the Clandestine Service by limiting new hires to one-fifth, and spreading the other four fifths to mid-career US citizen hires who have already created their cover and regional access (and are 4-level language qualified before being considered); mid-career third country principal agents; mid-career rotationals from other countries for regional Stations focused on targets of mutual concern; and straight one-time "it's just business" approaches to businessmen for specific tactical technical or other accommodations.

The Role of Science and Technology in Transforming American Intelligence by Kevin O'Connell is not bad as a superficial overview, and with more detail, more charts, and better documentation, could actually become useful. He was the staff director for the NIMA Commission, and while he is astonishingly superficial here ("data mining" are the only two words in his chapter covering what can be better understood by looking at the charts I have posted on Amazon for the book, "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything,"), he does address some challenges. His most important idea, which I credit to Jim Clapper and Mike Hayden, is that of Horizontal Integration--I did not see any mention of the equally important point made by Mike Hayden to the Intelink Conference in Boston a couple of years ago, which is that all dots must start connecting to one another from the moment they are ingested, not just in the finished production phrase. In general, however, he completely misses the reality that the US Intelligence Community is inside out and upside down (see the Forbes article on "Reinventing Intelligence") and the next President will be well served by reducing secret intelligence to $15 billion a year, while re-directing the rest of the money to Digital Natives, Serious Games, and the Way of the Wiki (the title of my next book on intelligence).

Bottom line: This book is not worth buying unless you want to understand just how impoverished the extreme right and the neocons are with respect to the most important topic of our time, NATIONAL intelligence. You would be much better off using my lists at Amazon, and systematically reading my summative reviews of the thoughts of vastly more competent authors with vastly more diverse and nuanced views. This book is NOT about the future of American intelligence, which will be NOT Federal, NOT Secret, and NOT expensive. This book is the dying breath--an accurate representation--of the good-hearted but myopic bureaucrats that got us to today because they could not think for themselves, and were stuck in the military-industrial system, running on auto-pilot with no end in sight.

Intelligence Flummery.......2006-03-17

This book is a collection of five essays of varying quality that more or less concern issues of national intelligence. The essays include two of quite high quality, one of moderate interest and two that are essentially worthless. In short a mediocre book by most counts that will not do much to add efforts to reform the practice of intelligence in the U.S. Intelligence Community.

The most interesting of these essays and the most effective in stating the case for transformation is "A New Clandestine Service" by a former CIA case officer. It makes quite a strong case for more or less scrapping the current Human Intelligence (HUMINT) effort by CIA (Directorate of Operations now known as the National Clandestine Service) and starting over. The author Reuel Marc Gerecht appears to know what he is talking about and is a persuasive advocate for a new direction in HUMINT operations.

Probably the weakest essay in the book is titled "Truth to Power? Rethinking Intelligence Analysis" by Gary Schmitt. Its author clearly knows nothing about either intelligence analysis or the processes by which data is transformed into intelligence. As a result the essay is unable to provide an informed discussion of how analytic techniques might be transformed to improve the quality of intelligence. It is yet another case of an ill informed author attempting to write on subject by hiding behind generalities and vague language

City of Quartz: Excavating the Future of Los Angeles (Haymarket Series)

Average customer rating:

The Cassandra of Post-Liberal America at his best
The Dystopian Utopia
Factually lacking
Not a book to be quickly written off
Antiquated representation of LA

City of Quartz: Excavating the Future of Los Angeles (Haymarket Series)
Mike Davis
Manufacturer: Verso
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0860913031

Amazon.com

Mike Davis peers into a looking glass to divine the future of Los Angeles, and what he sees is not encouraging: a city--or better, a concatenation of competing city states--torn by racial enmity, economic disparity, and social anomie. Looking backward, Davis suggests that Los Angeles has always been contested ground. In the 1840s, he writes, a combination of drought and industrial stock raising led to the destruction of small-scale Spanish farming in the region. In the 1910s, Los Angeles was the scene of a bitter conflict between management and industrial workers, so bitter that the publisher of the Los Angeles Times retreated to a heavily fortified home he called "The Bivouac." And in 1992, much of the city fell before flames and riot in a scenario Davis describes as thus: "Gangs are multiplying at a terrifying rate, cops are becoming more arrogant and trigger-happy, and a whole generation is being shunted toward some impossible Armageddon." Davis's voice-in-a-whirlwind approach to the past, present, and future of Los Angeles is alarming and arresting, and his book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary affairs. --Gregory MacNamee

Customer Reviews:

The Cassandra of Post-Liberal America at his best.......2006-10-24

This book is an outstanding synthesis of architectural and urban studies, political and intellectual history, and good-old marxist polemics. The major lesson to draw from this book is that LIBERALISM IN AMERICA IS OVER. This is exemplified most profoundly in the chapter entitled "The Hammer and The Rock," where Davis makes the case that the LAPD's wars on drugs, gangs, and other things a racist might associate with inner-city youth amount to a neo-colonial occupation of poor (mostly colored) LA. This chapter is also widely credited with anticipating the 1992 uprisings.

As to the complaints others have lodged against Davis fact-checking and his general tone: these charges are at best specious and at worst libel. First of all, the book is impeccably documented and annotated, having been originally published by a reputable academic publisher (Verso). Second, his general point of political orientation and critique is unapologetically leftist. Not leftist as most American's (mis)understand the term --- i.e. hopelessly naive, pacificist, "tolerant," and so on --- but leftist in the venerable tradition of Marx and Engels, where it is assumed that there is ultimately no war but class war and never too much to know about the problems with ruling class methods of exploitation under capitalism. This means that Davis compensates for the paucity of justice in the world by injecting his rhetoric with equal helpings of sarcasm, irony, and, above all, humanity.

If you prefer books that find the Aristotelian "happy medium" between competing perspectives, this is not a book for you. If, on the other hand, you want to read a prophetic work of history that exemplifies what the application of good scholarship can be, this is your book.

The Dystopian Utopia.......2006-10-07

This is a sociopolitical analysis of the dark side of the supposed Los Angeles promised land. It's often quite interesting in itself, though it meanders into academic obtuseness, sanctimonious sour grapes, and a lack of validity to the rest of the world. Mike Davis is a fine muckraker as he uncovers the unique and often bizarre cultural-economic-sociological-political structures of L.A. This applies especially to the sickening power of the real estate and development industries, and the forced and hyperbolic local obsession with maintaining upper-middle class lifestyles at the expense of the most horrific and downtrodden ghettos imaginable. This book nearly achieves victory with chapters 4 and 5 - two powerful manifestos, respectively, on the class separation quietly implemented by architects and planners, and the violent oppression of the lower classes by a hubristic law enforcement complex.

Unfortunately, the book fails as a whole due to the typical weaknesses of academic writing. The separate chapters probably originated as distinct research projects that are only categorically associated with the main thesis, and the reader may wonder why each passing subject belongs in the book. This applies most to the chapter on the L.A. Catholic Archdiocese, which is of especially dubious usefulness. Meanwhile, Davis is a classic detached academic who thinks he's writing a book for the masses, but can't stop trying to impress a few other professors. Thus we have the standard long-winded and obtuse professorial writing style, complete with continuous namedropping of other obscure intellectuals, vast postmodernist statements about vague connections between disparate social phenomena, and turning the names of social thinkers into adjectives (with the recurring suffix "-ian") to describe passing concepts. Davis also can't stop making up his own terms for one-time use in impressing academia, like "squirearchy," "cryogenized," or "monolithicity." And just try to digest the following statement from a discussion about the history of the L.A. jazz scene - "...seeking through introspection and experiment to fashion a hegemonic alternative to the deracination..." Perhaps Davis has managed to impress his colleagues with all this useless gobbledygook, but he has failed with the interested reader. And any audience will be ultimately disappointed with how Davis merely complains about all of L.A.'s problems without offering any (even high-level) solutions, while also forgetting to explore how any of this analysis can be applied to other cities or environments with similar problems. [~doomsdayer520~]

Factually lacking.......2005-10-31

Mike Davis, in an interview, admitted that he does not let the facts stand in the way of his arguments. City of Quartz demonstrates this tendency to the fullest. In a previous work, Davis pulled a passage out of a work of fiction and cited it as fact. He shows similar inventiveness in this work, citing studies that were never conducted, inventing interviews, and displaying a creativity with statistics that would be admirable if it weren't for the frightening fact that many who have read this work found it "incisive."

Those who applaud this work do so because it supports their politics. Those who attack it do so because it does not. I tried to remain neutral while reading, but when I read the book I found the inaccuracies to completely outweigh any points made by Davis. His purposeful and methodical deception does more harm than good to his cause.

For more information on this work, see an article at:
(...)
I would steer clear of Mike Davis and his blatant distortions of the truth.

Not a book to be quickly written off.......2005-04-28

I'd just like to offer a voice of temperance after reading a number of the reviews here. The boogeyman mentions of Davis' "Marxist" leanings are worthy of the McCarthy hearings. The mock citations of the type "All the other books I read in the field are much better" are proof of the reviewers' pretentiousness rather than a comment on the value of Davis' book. And, the ad hominem attacks against Davis are unfortunate and probably fueled by the envy of the young and non-published towards Davis as a productive scholar who doesn't seem like he's going away anytime soon. All of which is to say, forget the negative reviews and give City of Quartz a read. It was an insightful, even shocking, book when I read it years ago and continues to make for a solid supplement to a lived experience and a wide-range of contrasting readings on L.A. (as well as a good antidote against the boosterism and dreamy-eyed tripe that often goes around about our city).

Antiquated representation of LA.......2004-12-30

This book presents a very antiquated and negatively biased view of LA. I am left doubtful if many of the scenarios in the book were as "bad" as the author leads the reader to believe.
It is naive on the part of the author to separate the actual problems of LA from other large American cities, and present them as mutually exclusive to LA.
This book panders to a seemingly worldwide hatred of LA, and a kind of love affair with the notion of a eventual LA apocalypse.
What a disappointment that the author investigates no deeper than what the popular opinion of Los Angeles is, and panders to this misconception.

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