Book Description
What is it like to be in battle? John Keegan, a senior instructor at Sandhurst, the British Military Academy, speaks for soldiers who were present in the fray.
For examples, Keegan selects Agincourt in 1415, Waterloo in 1815, and the Somme in 1916. What is common about them, what is different? Agincourt was hand-to-hand combat, thrust and cut--a fearful and personal encounter. At Waterloo, 400 years later, the battle was still largely personal. As it swayed back and forth, men on opposite sides came to recognize the same individuals they had fought off in previous charges.
Keegan closes his book with the Somme. For him it stands as the distillation of wars in the industrial age: long-distance killing of faceless men by others who merely activate the instruments of destruction.
Customer Reviews:
Reads like a PhD Thesis.......2007-09-21
I have read many recent historical works of John Keegan including has book on WWI and the Price of Admiralty. I enjoyed them both. So, I was very disappointed when I tried to get into the Face of Battle. The language was so stilted, the use of commas and long run-on sentences going in differnet directions was so painful that I almost stopped reading it. The book has an excellent premise: how to describe three important battles in three very differnt centuries from the perspective of the soldiers actually doing the fighting rather than the 10,000 foot view employed by contemporary military historians who were not participants in the battle. Unfortunately, Keegen spends the first third of the book explaining what a good military historian (like himself) can or should do, focusing on the unique quality of British military historians (they are less biased because the wars were mainly fought on someone else's soil. The book improves as he gets into the battles of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme, but a good editor could have made this a much better read. I realize this book was written in 1978, so perhaps it was, at the time it was written, in line with Keegan's academic proclivities. Not a book I would recommend to anyone other than an academic.
Post Graduate Military History .......2007-05-06
THis work lives up to the highest academic standards that I have come to expect of Keegan.He provides new insights in three epic battles ,He wets your appetite for history ,he makes it real and interesting
A classic.......2006-11-23
Keegan puts you on the scene at Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme. One of the earliest departures from the bird's eye, general's view, The Face of Battle captures the battles from a physical, sensory, even biological perspective. Keegan creates a model for historians to assess the ebb and flux of the battle by providing an almost socratic approach to combat inquiry.
My personal favorite is the narration of Agincourt. In this battle, the author looks at the reality of whether bodies could pile up as high as they are reputed to have done along the line of contact. He examines the effectiveness of arrows and notes that at the range given the primary effect would have been to enrage the adversary's horses and not, as is often thought, to inflict casualties. Especially fascinating was the brutal crush of fellow soldiers pressing the forward ranks into the "funnel" created by the forest, which made anything other than forward movement nearly impossible. Similarly, he captures the mayhem created in the ranks by returning cavalry, after a failed charge. And let us not forget, it isn't very easy to relieve oneself in a full suit of plate, especially with dysentary!
Engrossing.......2006-11-12
A fine worm's eye view of battle. The author has painstakingly recreated what it was like for a soldier on the field of Agincourt, Waterloo and the battle of the Somme. It's a grand tutorial in basic tactics.
Mr. Keegan's Opus.......2006-10-06
This is the first work that I and most others discovered Mr. Keegan's great mind for military history. It is an overview of the evolution of warfare from the middle ages to the present but more than that it seeks to answer the question of what motivates the common soldier to fight instead of following his instinct to run. Mr. Keegan's admiration and adoption of the common soldier's lot is moving and commendable in itself. He brings out the hero in the common man and for that all us common men can thank him.
Book Description
With motherhood comes one of the toughest decisions of a woman’s life: Stay at home or pursue a career? The dilemma not only divides mothers into hostile, defensive camps but pits individual mothers against themselves. Leslie Morgan Steiner has been there. As an executive at The Washington Post, a writer, and mother of three, she has lived and breathed every side of the “mommy wars.” Rather than just watch the battles rage, Steiner decided to do something about it. She commissioned twenty-six outspoken mothers to write about their lives, their families, and the choices that have worked for them. The result is a frank, surprising, and utterly refreshing look at American motherhood.
Ranging in age from twenty-five to seventy-two and scattered across the country from New Hampshire to California, these mothers reflect the full spectrum of lifestyle choices. Women who have been home with the kids from day one, moms who shuttle from full-time office jobs to part-time at-home work, hard-driving executives who put in seventy-hour-plus weeks: they all get a turn. The one thing these women have in common, aside from having kids, is that they’re all terrific writers.
Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley vividly recounts how her generation stormed the American workplace–only to take refuge at home when the workplace drove them out. Lizzie McGuire creator Terri Minsky describes what it felt like to hear her kids scream “I hope you never come back!” when she flew to L.A. to launch the show that made her career. Susan Cheever, novelist, biographer, and New York Newsday columnist, reports on the furious battles between the stroller pushers and the briefcase bearers on the streets of Manhattan. Lois R. Shea traded the journalistic fast track for a house in the country where she could raise her daughter in peace. Ann Misiaszek Sarnoff, chief operating officer of the Women’s National Basketball Association, argues fiercely that you can combine ambition and motherhood–and have a blast in the process.
Candid, engaging, by turns unflinchingly honest and painfully funny, the essays collected here offer an astonishingly intimate portrait of the state of motherhood today.
Mommy Wars is a book by and for and about the real experts on motherhood and hard work: the women at home, in the office, on the job every day of their lives.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Great concept .......2007-07-16
But it got a bit repetitive after awhile as all of the excerpts were from writers, many who attended ivy league and lived on the east coast. What happened to the single mom from Deluth who had to work her way though business school or the mom of twins from Seattle who gave up her career as an nurse to be at home for her kids? I think the concept for this book is a good one but I think it needed more of a variety of women, both economically, geographically and education wise.
Unfortunate Title Masks a Book that Has So Much Heart.......2007-05-08
Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families is a gut-wrenching collection of 26 essays that go far beyond the usual tirades of working versus stay-at-home moms. The authors in this collection shine a spotlight on the essence of motherhood in chapters that will have you nodding your head, rolling your eyes, even shedding tears.
The writers, including Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley and Lizzie McGuire creator Terri Minksy, run the gamut in their approach to motherhood. One mother wanted to work, but her husband made her feel so guilty that she walked away from a lucrative assignment. Another woman put away her briefcase upon learning her son's diagnosis of autism.
Other women could not imagine not working, including the book's editor, who had an abusive first husband and needed to know she could always provide for herself and her kids.
The stories in this book are fascinating. One black woman, married to a white man, calls herself "bicultural". She writes that historically, black women have worked to augment their husband's salaries. Her black friends never ask her about being a working mother; her white friends constantly discuss it. Another writer says that affluence contributes to the "mommy wars", because the working class, well, work, without so much handwringing.
The essays carry many common themes. Was your own mother happy, or not? Was your childhood happy, or not? Would you want you as your own mother? Are your choices working for you? Because if so, then it doesn't matter if another's choices are different.
This is a book that drives home how hard women are on one another, when they should be compassionate. It also stresses the fleeting years we have with young children, and how we need to be prepared for our lives post-kids.
Iris Krasnow, who is credited for kicking off the stay-at-home trend in 1997, writes about having older kids, kids heading off to college, and how time has mellowed her views.
"Who will I be when they're gone?" she writes. "What am I supposed to do with 126 Beanie Babies, including the Princess Diana bear we paid fifty bucks for and waited in line three hours to buy? My later book...explores the importance of developing ourselves beyond our families. Children do leave. Parents die. Jobs change. We can count only on ourselves."
This is a book all parents, fathers and mothers, should take to heart.
It Could Have Been Called "Editor Wars".......2007-04-14
This book is really pretty good, both informative and entertaining, but I don't think every essay needed to be written by a high profile professional writer or editor, most of whom wrote for The Washington Post or TV shows at some point in her career. That got old. I mean, how many people would rave about a similar book with mommy essays written by a bunch of lawyers, for example? I wish the author had mixed it up some.
Sensationalized title but solid book.......2007-04-03
Let's face it: the title of this book was chosen to exploit the whole media hype surrounding women at odds with each other-- in this case, a stay-at-home mommy vs. working mommy version of "Mean Girls." Open up the book though and you'll find a completely different message. The essays presented here are unflinchingly honest, no holds barred accounts of how stay-at-home moms and working moms really feel about their choices. There is no cat fight to be found here, which is a refreshing relief.
Some of the criticisms of this book have been that all the women are writers. That's not actually entirely true; while most of the women work or have worked in some form of media/publishing/writing, there are still others represented. The problem is that when looking for women to write essays that are going to be well-written, enlightening and enjoyable, it would be hard to randomly assign essays to women in all different fields-- you just wouldn't know what you would get. When you assign an essay to an established writer, you know you have a much better shot at getting something good. That said, I still felt that although the women represented here were largely writers, their feelings on motherhood and working (full-time and part-time) were completely universal. True, most of the moms represented here were also middle to upper middle class and therefore their decisions to work or not were largely internal and matters of self-esteem rather than financial necessity, but their guilt and/or ennui were just as powerful as anyone's. And several of the stay-at-home mothers did report that the decision to stay home did impact their finances negatively (although not direly) and tough financial decisions had to be made.
As for the essays themselves, most of them were excellent, but the themes did tend to get a bit repetitive at times. The book could have easily been 50-100 pages shorter and not suffered at all. There were several "perpective" essays that I imagine the editor included for variety, but which didn't necessaily belong in the group and only served to make the collection feel too long. For instance, there were two essays by women who don't yet have children which the author set up by asserting that though these two don't have children yet, they have a lot to say. The fact of the matter is that anyone who has kids knows that no matter how you thought you'd feel before having kids, it has little or no bearing on how you feel after having them. You just cannot intellectually prepare yourself for motherhood and how you will feel once you're holding that little baby in your arms. There were also a couple of irritating essays, like one by a working mother who feels so not guilty and is so tickled pink by her mothering skills, that it just doesn't feel honest at the end of the day. Not as compared to the other essays by women who bared their hearts and souls. There was also a "feminist viewpoint" essay by a woman who is now a grandmother which really shed no light on anything. But those essays were the clunkers in a series of wonderful, illuminating essays, where every page turn is another "a-ha! I feel exactly the same way!" moment.
This book does an excellent job of presenting both sides of the equation in a way that both sides can understand and empathize with. The stay-at-home moms can discover that the busy, self-important looking working mom is really torn as she drops her kid off at preschool and can't stay to schmooze with the other moms, and the working mom can discover that the smug seeming, "I'm better than you" stay-at-home mom is often bored out of her skull having to spend all day entertaining a toddler. The book is also enhanced tremendously by the editor's two essays which bookend the rest, wherein she admits to her own insecurities about her choices.
The women in this book stand by their choices, but pass no real judgement on others' choices, preferring to turn the light inwards and explore how being a working or stay-at-home mom makes them really feel. Though most are content with their decisions, they have no problem listing the pitfalls along with the highlights of the consequences of their choices. The Mommy Wars are not with each other, as it turns out, but within each of us.
Sobering, Profound and Moving........2007-03-29
It's a decision all mothers face, at least in theory. For many, of course, staying home is not an option. But even when it is, life doesn't become perfect overnight - especially when one is "working from home," the third reality for mothers.
Steiner's title would have us believe we're going to watch an argument. Instead, we're treated to thoughtful, thought-provoking essays by a wide variety of mothers and journalists. Sobering, profound and very moving.
Book Description
One of the most influential experts on military history and strategy has now written his magnum opus, an original and provocative account of the past hundred years of global conflict. The Changing Face of War is the book that reveals the path that led to the impasse in Iraq, why powerful standing armies are now helpless against ill-equipped insurgents, and how the security of sovereign nations may be maintained in the future.
While paying close attention to the unpredictable human element, Martin van Creveld takes us on a journey from the last century’s clashes of massive armies to today’s short, high-tech, lopsided skirmishes and frustrating quagmires. Here is the world as it was in 1900, controlled by a handful of “great powers,” mostly European, with the memories of eighteenth-century wars still fresh. Armies were still led by officers riding on horses, messages conveyed by hand, drum, and bugle. As the telegraph, telephone, and radio revolutionized communications, big-gun battleships like the British Dreadnought, the tank, and the airplane altered warfare.
Van Creveld paints a powerful portrait of World War I, in which armies would be counted in the millions, casualties–such as those in the cataclysmic battle of the Marne–would become staggering, and deadly new weapons, such as poison gas, would be introduced. Ultimately, Germany’s plans to outmaneuver her enemies to victory came to naught as the battle lines ossified and the winners proved to be those who could produce the most weapons and provide the most soldiers.
The Changing Face of War then propels us to the even greater global carnage of World War II. Innovations in armored warfare and airpower, along with technological breakthroughs from radar to the atom bomb, transformed war from simple slaughter to a complex event requiring new expertise–all in the service of savagery, from Pearl Harbor to Dachau to Hiroshima. The further development of nuclear weapons during the Cold War shifts nations from fighting wars to deterring them: The number of active troops shrinks and the influence of the military declines as civilian think tanks set policy and volunteer forces “decouple” the idea of defense from the world of everyday people.
War today, van Crevald tells us, is a mix of the ancient and the advanced, as state-of-the-art armies fail to defeat small groups of crudely outfitted guerrilla and terrorists, a pattern that began with Britain’s exit from India and culminating in American misadventures in Vietnam and Iraq, examples of what the author calls a “long, almost unbroken record of failure.”
How to learn from the recent past to reshape the military for this new challenge–how to still save, in a sense, the free world–is the ultimate lesson of this big, bold, and cautionary work. The Changing Face of War is sure to become the standard source on this essential subject.
Customer Reviews:
Eh, it's ok........2007-06-27
I had high hopes for this book, but it let me down, perhaps because I was led to believe the author would opine on strategy which he did not frequently do. His writing style is a little difficult to follow and I blame the editor for this. Van Creveld did not do a lot to string together what worked, what failed, and what might have been done differently. I thought I would blow through it as a page turner, but it ended up taking me over a month because it was kind of boring.
disappointment.......2007-06-14
Mr. Van Creveld is an angry old man, which is really a shame since he also is one the worlds foremost military historians. Sandly enough, Van Creveld this time let his anger at the civil-military stablishment have the best of him. The last part of the book, the reason why I bought it in the first place is confusing, shallow and somewhat nihilistic. Someone of Van Creveld's stature should have produced something better.
An Anti-American Polemic.......2007-06-01
Prior to reading the Changing Face of War, I regarded Martin van Creveld as a gifted military historian, particularly for his Supplying War. However, van Creveld's latest book is riddled with factual errors and biased, unsupported conclusions. Readers should be quick to note the complete absence of charts, tables, maps or appendices to support the author's arguments. Instead of finding incisive historical insight, I found this to be a poorly-researched effort, with weak arguments, badly argued.
The Changing Face of War consists of seven chapters, each covering a major period of military history since 1900. To be fair, the first two chapters covering 1900-1918 are interesting, but these chapters seem more like synthesis of existing historical opinion rather than fresh analysis. Furthermore, the fact that the author dismisses the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War as irrelevant gives an early indication about the author's suspect methodology. It's in the third chapter, on the period 1919-1939, that the book begins to change from history to polemic. The author displays a marked tendency to use derogatory stereotypes, twice referring to Italian soldiers as "cowards" and British officers as "Colonel Blimps." This tendency to use stereotypes and generalizations grows worse as the book progresses, until one can actually sense the author's loathing. By the time that he reaches the chapter on World War II, the author is content to synthesize Keegan et al, adding nothing original of his own.
Throughout this book, I was disturbed by the large number of factual errors, that could have been avoided with even cursory research of standard secondary sources. I counted at least 26 significant errors, but I can only highlight a few here:
1. pp. 48, "trench systems [in WW I] were completed by the laying of millions upon millions of mines..." [anti-personnel mines not developed until the 1930s]
2. pp. 103, "France never built or completed a carrier." [the carrier Bearn was completed in 1935].
3. pp. 108, claims the French air force avoided combat in 1940 [In fact, France lost 294 fighters in air-air combat in 1940 and shot down over 300 Luftwaffe aircraft].
4. pp. 109, "In 1939, the Poles tried to use horses against German tanks." [this time-worn propaganda has long been discounted].
5. pp. 116, "the Battle of Annual in May 1921" [actually July 21, 1921].
6. pp. 126, "most Polish aircraft were destroyed on the ground." [only 24 of 260 lost were destroyed on ground].
7. pp. 130, "the Luftwaffe destroyed some 8,000 aircraft" on the first day of Operation Barbarossa. [more like 1,200].
8. pp. 130, "Army Group North reached the outskirts of Leningrad by July 10, 1941.." [it was early September 1941].
9. pp. 139, claims only 3 Japanese carriers sunk at Midway [it was 4].
10. pp. 159, "When US troops entered Aachen in October 1944, they found it deserted even by the birds." [U.S. troops found 7,000 civilians in Aachen].
11. pp. 161, says General McNair was killed by bombardment for Operation Goodwood [it was Cobra].
It is in the fifth chapter, on the Cold War, that the author shows his true colors. He writes that, "the Americans were much more aggressive" than the Communists (ignoring Communist aggression in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan). Van Creveld clearly sees America as a menace, claiming that long before President Bush, "the United States has behaved less responsibly than any other country on earth." He derides Americans, "who see their country as uniquely chosen and uniquely moral." At one point he compares American methods with Nazi methods and says at least the Nazis weren't hypocrites. He then goes on to praise North Korean and Iran for standing up to the United States, saying "Pyongyang's apparent decision to go nuclear makes perfect sense" and "whoever rules in Tehran has excellent reason to build such weapons as fast as possible." Readers should realize by this point that the author has embarked upon a polemical tirade, axe in hand to slay the American Ogre, and that the history lesson has stopped.
Of course, the whole purpose of this book was to give the author a scholarly platform to bash the U.S. war in Iraq, which he does with great glee. First, the author makes the general argument that since 1945, regular armies have an unbroken record of defeat by insurgents and terrorists. This begs the question, why spend more than half the work discussing pre-1945 warfare or naval warfare, which have little to do with counter-insurgency. Second, the author argues that the U.S. has learned nothing from the conflicts in Algeria or Vietnam and that it cannot win in Iraq.
It is apparent that the author is very ignorant about the course of the war in Iraq, since he seems to feel that U.S. troops there are the same kind of disgruntled, pot-smoking draftees as 1968. He feels that the US Army in Iraq was already demoralized by 2004 although if this were true, why would amputees be fighting to get back to the war? Van Creveld also fails to look at the insurgents and see their problems, such as the increasing difficulty in getting more suicide volunteers or lack of a political program. It is unfortunate that the author has written this book, because he could have added something to the debate on Iraq with a bit of research and self-restraint, but instead he chose to indulge in America-bashing and irresponsible generalizations.
Best military / strategy book this year.......2007-05-01
A "must-read" for any military history / strategy aficionado...
The must-read book about war for 2007.......2007-04-30
This book helps us clear our minds of misconceptions and baseless optimism so can we begin the long process of adapting to a world in which a new form of war has obsoleted our current armed forces and ended the military dominance of the western developed nations. A new face of war, indeed.
The author shows how the current state of warfare as the result of long-term trends. He is well qualified to do so, as the author of seventeen books which cover the range of the military arts -- including logistics, command, technology, gender, and history.
Only after putting current events in a larger context does he move to analysis of how we and our foes fight, and why. An analysis of 20th century wars comprises the largest part of the book. It ends on an optimistic note, showing how events in Iraq suggest that our current fighting doctrines need drastic revision. He also provides a few tips. Not solutions, but pointers in the direction from which remedies might be found.
In only 270 pages The Changing Face of War provides a concise summary of van Creveld's vast body of work on military theory and practice - and the best description to date of a serious danger we face. It is an easy read due to the clarity of his vision and the grace of his writing. This book is a must-read for two kinds of people:
1. Professionals in the military arts or military history, or those with an amateur interest in these.
2. Anyone interested in the survival of our civilization, as military inferiority is seldom associated with longevity of societies.
Book Description
This meticulously researched biography creates a complete and balanced picture of Reinhard Heydrich. A leading figure within the Nazi Party, he was responsible more than Himmler for the planning and execution of the Holocaust. Having joined the Nazi Party in 1931, Heydrich rose quickly through the ranks of the SS. By the age of twenty-nine he had become an SS Brigadier General, and his ruthless ambition led many senior Nazis to believe that he was the natural successor to Hitler. It was Heydrich’s initiative to create the Einsatzgruppen, paramilitary units which were established before Operation Barbarossa to murder Jews and political operatives of the Communist party. In 1941 Heydrich was made Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Supremely confident of his authority within the province, he would often drive alone in an open-top car. British-trained Czech partisans took advantage of this gesture, and in 1942 carried out a daring assassination attempt. Heydrich was mortally wounded in the ambush and died a week later in hospital. The reprisals that followed were brutal: more than 15,000 Czechs were murdered and the town of Lidice was razed to the ground. This book examines Heydrich’s meteoric rise to power, his complex personality, and the aftermath of his death: Hitler’s vengeance and the postwar fortunes of Heydrich’s widow and descendants.
Customer Reviews:
Reinhard Heydrich: One of the Chief Architects of Genocide.......2007-09-19
Mario Dederich traces Heydrich's life from his early years in the Nazi Party, through his views on resettlement of Jews (p. 100) which evolved into extermination of the same, his assassination by Czech partisans, the ghastly German reprisals, and postwar issues. Heydrich is described as a man who was ruthless even by Nazi standards. Certain neo-Nazis have hailed him as "the Naziest of the Nazis." (p. 177)
Was Heydrich of Jewish ancestry? Dederich shows that he was commonly regarded, in Nazi circles, in that light (p. 37, 54-55). The evidence itself is inconclusive. The ancestral list, used by the SS to prove Aryan ancestry at least as far back as 1648, was "very superficial". (p. 54). The Suss (Suess) lineage, according to the ancestral list, was Lutheran (p. 37). But does this eliminate the possibility of conversion from Judaism? Furthermore, one of Heydrich's great-great grandmothers, Johanna Birnbaum, may have been Jewish, and, significantly, her name doesn't appear in the documentation (p. 56).
Heydrich held very strong anti-Christian views (p. 72, 74-75). "As did Heydrich, [Professor Alfred] Six identified the main enemies of the Reich as being the freemasonry, the Jews, and the Churches." (p. 99). In addition, Dederich notes: "...Himmler's allegation that medieval witchcraft trials were actually an attack by Roman Catholicism on German womanhood." (p. 100). Interestingly, some modern feminists have followed in Himmler's footsteps by leveling a similar accusation against the Church and calling it gynocide.
Not only the Einsatzgruppen but also the Wehrmacht had been involved in shootings of large numbers of civilians (p. 111). Dederich puts the subsequent Wannsee conference in perspective: "The Wannsee conference was not the beginning of the genocide; Heydrich had initiated that with the Einsatzgruppen in Poland in 1939 and in the Soviet Union in 1941. The death camps...had been in existence for some time." (p. 134)
As for the postwar war-crimes trials in West Germany, Dederich discusses how Pole-killers and Jew-killers such as Werner Best and Bruno Streckenbach escaped justice through various medical-related technicalities. Furthermore, he adds: "Not a single head of the RSHA Polish Division IVD2 ever came before a court." (p. 183)
Finally, Dederich concludes: "It is clear that of all the direct Heydrich descendants, not one has ever uttered publicly a word of regret about the crimes committed by their ancestor. Never have they furnished a gesture towards the Jews, Poles, or the survivors of Lidice." (p. 189).
Good book but could be better.......2007-09-01
This is without a question a very good book even if lacking in detail. Heydrich was such a complicated man that one would expect a book on his life to be more detailed, include more photos and even more authors speculations on this brutal character. 4 stars.
A Very Good Book but Lacking Photos and Length.......2007-07-14
I am a huge collector of books on the Third Reich and I found this one very interesting Heydrich definately was a complicated personality who did more harm than good for his country well mostly to the average citizen in his country, I often wonder what would have happened had he not been assassinated now thats a scary thought!! But all in all a really great book very detailed although very short and no photos in it thats why Im only giving it 3 stars, I understand that the auther died while writng it thats probably why it came out the way it did, but for those who want an intimate look into Heydrich's life this is the book to read.
THE EYES OF A RUTHLESS, EVIL HENCHMAN.......2007-06-17
While his face was not attractive, though many a woman found him so, it is the eyes that truly reveal Reinhard Heydrich. Piercing and cold, evil itself looks out forever in the extant photographs: Hitler's man with the iron heart, nothing seemed too much for Heydrich. He was the worst of the worst, more ruthless than all the others. And that is quite a statement.
On page 23 a partial explanation for the flaw in Heydrich may have been something biological: "To what extent the encephalitis damaged the mind and soul of the young Heydrich it is impossible to know." Could his evil truly have its roots in this such illness?
It has been some time since a biography of Heydrich has appeared and this book, finished by a friend due the author's death, is a well composed work, and an interesting, revealing study of a totally evil man, but a man of whom neither his wife or blood kin would ever say or write a bad thing. And to top it all off, though he led the group that wanted to kill all Jews, the one thing always troubling him, keeping him humbled before both Himmler and Hitler, was Hydrich's deep-seated fear that he himself had Jewish blood.
While I have Charles Whiting's study of Heydrich on my library shelf, I find this an up-to-date study and a worthy one. Even The Military Book Club chose it as selection. If you have stomach to face evil head on, then this WWII study will no doubt interest you.
Semper Fi.
Wow!.......2007-04-10
If you ever want to appreciate what evil is truly about, please read this book. We do not need to conjure up images of a devil with human beings like Heydrich roaming the face of the earth. Unfortunately, they still do occupy the space we all share. The man was truly ruthless and cold blooded. Read it and you will come away with a better understanding of the suffering and death that was needlessly inflicted on mankind by this horrible man.
Book Description
No single weapon has spread so much raw power to so many people in so little time—and had such a devastating effect—as the AK-47 assault rifle. This book examines the legacy of this world-changing weapon, from its creation as means of fighting the Nazis to its ubiquity today in every kind of conflict, from civil wars in Africa to gang wars in L.A.
Customer Reviews:
Enough to make you puke!.......2007-10-15
I checked this book out of my local library, and am very glad I didn't buy it. I have cheaper sources of tinder, and the paper is neither soft nor absorbent enough for its only other possible use. At page 151, where the Brady Campaign/VPC drivel became too nauseating to tolerate, I slammed it shut. If you believe in a right to self-defense and take an interest in weapons, this book is not for you.
The surprising thing was the endorsement, on the flyleaf, by neoconservative imperialist Max Boot. How Boot expects people who are terrified of firearms to conquer the world for him is incomprehensible. Of course, one only needs to examine the mess that the neocons have made for us in Iraq to understand that logic was never their strong suit.
If you're a real American, take the money that you might have wasted on this book and apply it to the purchase of an AK. Even with our dollar at an all-time low, you can still acquire a semi-auto Romanian model for about $350, and a thousand rounds of 7.62x39 mm ammo for less than $200. After a few more years of neocon rule, when our dollar is trading one for one against the Zimbabwean dollar, you'll really wish that you owned an AK, but won't be able to buy one at any price.
The "AK" Does Appear to Have Been Effective.......2007-06-25
It does seem that the AK-47 has been quite effective at changing how it is that wars between those that have 'all of the technology' and those that have 'none' are prosecuted.
The main point of the book appears to be that the AK-47 has made it possible for small groups of determined people to become a real menace to any well organized political/military organization (army or government).
This gun does seem to belie the point that a superior numerical force and superior weapons are all that is needed to win.
The book was a good read. Sure, there are things said in the book that do need corroboration (as should any read that purports to present 'facts'). But, that does not take away the fact that the AK-47 does exist in the millions throughout the world and has changed how 'professional' armies approach even the most so-called 'rag-tag' group that has the 'piece of sh.t' (from page 97) called the AK-47.
A Jaded History Lesson.......2007-06-07
I had high hopes for this book but after the short history lesson on the AK all that was left was a biased, rhetorical, diatribe on the evils of private firearms ownership and the big, bad United States. The author seems to know liitle about guns or responsible firearms ownership. Kahaner doesn't seem to understand that a gun is just a tool- not some magical object that causes evil. Banning a tool will not eliminate the evil actions of the individual! Maybe he should spend a little more trigger time at the shooting range or hunting and a little less time writing crooked opinions or hanging out at the Washington Post?
Hannibal
AK-47; easy read -- not much new.......2007-04-01
I am strongly ambivalent about AK47. On the one hand it's easy to read and it covers an interesting subject that is relevant today - that easy access to the AK series of weapons in the third world today has helped fuel violence in the last 20 years and is likely to do so for another generation. On the other hand, the book is really a poor political analysis; a book that would not have even been published except for its tie to the AK.
I began the book with high hopes but as I was reading the first few chapters I became increasingly uncomfortable. Finally I realized what I was reading was more of a political commentary interspersed with discussions of the AK.
First, despite his argument that the AK "fuels" conflicts around the world you have to keep in mind that the AK is only one variable in a complex equation of why violence exists. His implication that the AK somehow causes the violence is simplistic and he never really analyzes other causal factors. Having said that, in a strategic sense, the AK does provide the "means" in the strategic equation of a given group trying to achieve a particular goal.
Kahaner also tries to answer the question as to "why" the AK has become so prevalent in today's conflicts. He does this by addressing three factors; political context, arms trading, and the AK's low cost. This leads to the books second weakness: Kahaner spends most of his time with light-weight political analysis. He seems to rely more on "popular" interpretations of past and current wars vice any serious analysis of a given situation. He does this even to the point of throwing in several conspiracy theories without question, and he sometimes engages in outright speculation without supporting his claims by identifying sources. At the same time his narratives on the arms trade shed no new light on the subject, and are not documented despite some rather interesting claims.
At the end of the day the author has no apparent expertise in the areas of international relations or military affairs, which probably explains his weak efforts at putting the AK in political context and showing "why" the weapon has become so common. I have to admit that when I read the author's bio and his list of publications I had reservations; with one exception his area of expertise is the business world. The brief exception mentioned in the bio was a comment that he, "covered the infantry training center at Fort Benning for Knight-Ridder newspapers." But even here his credibility is in question because at one point during the book he writes about a Peruvian general attending the Army's School of the Americas, now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, at Fort Benning. Unfortunately, at the time the general attended, the school was located in Panama; a small factor but someone familiar with Fort Benning and the school would have known it had been in Panama at the time.
I do agree the AK has affected cultural patterns in some areas of the world; Kahaner points out the AK has not only become an element of barter - a replacement for currency - but that it has also given some traditional tribal groups more power over their rivals, and that the AK has replaced traditional methods of "warfare" in those areas. Also he notes that the AK has become either a status symbol in some groups and a perceived day-to-day necessity in others. And it certainly has become a bit of a cultural icon. But none of this is new.
About all that can be said of the book is that it presents nothing new, but it does put what is known about the AK's impact on society in one place for the lay reader. If your're looking for an easy read with a quick overview of the AK's impact on the world's conflicts today, and as long as you can ignore the political analyis, this is the book for you.
Thin, weak.......2007-03-30
There are more than enough subjects here for several books. Kahaner has not given adequate coverage to them.
1. Kahaner does not understand enough about firearms to comment on the technological history of modern military firearms; including the move away from the ballistic overkill of early repeating rifles. The AK-47, SKS, M16, and FN-FAL are all products of this trend. For example, he barely notes that South American 'insurgents' prefer the 7.62 round over the 5.45, thus passing over the ongoing controversy over the instability of the small, ultra-high-velocity rounds. In Vietnam, and everywhere since, this ammunition has caused problems: however 'deadly' the wounds it inflicts, military ammunition should not be deflected by grass and leaves, nor are human bodies the only targets. Soldiers have to shoot at vehicles, walls, doors, etc., and the ultra-light projectiles of the M16 and AK-74 are not up to the job.
2. Kahaner blurrs the significance of the AK design with the social/logistical issues involved with: first, the enormous distribution of Soviet small arms during the Cold War; and second, the vast orgy of fire sales after the USSR broke up. The arrival on the world market of scores of millions of military small arms, for sale below cost, is a matter of immence political, social, economic, and military signiicance. This would be the case even if the main product was the SKS or the PPSh 41.
Many of these reviews seem to be inspired by the political opinions of gun-nuts and gunophobes. The merits and faults of Kahaner's book should not be obscured by the noise thus generated.
The book is an easy, 'light read' but no more.
Average customer rating:
|
Faces of Time: 75 Years of Time Magazine Cover Portraits
National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)
Manufacturer: Bulfinch Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States
| Regional
| History & Criticism
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Exhibition Catalogs
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Illustration
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Arts
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Pop Culture
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0821224980 |
Customer Reviews:
Wow!.......2003-09-17
I bought this book for my classroom and wondered later why I picked it up. When I really looked through the book, I found some really great art focusing on important personas from the 20th Century. It is a really nice book to have. A keepsake.
Summary.......1999-12-12
'Celebrating Time's 75th anniversary, this book presents work commissioned for the magazine's cover by some of the century's best-known artists, ranging from Andrew Wyeth's portrait of Dwight Eisenhower to Andy Warhol's Michael Jackson.This book presents seventy-five artworks commissioned for the magazine's covers by some of the century's best-known artists, from Dwight Eisenhower by Andrew Wyeth to Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol. Faces of TIME accompanied an exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D. C. Among the outstanding covers reproduced are Roy Lichtenstein's dynamic 1968 image of Bobby Kennedy, Ben Shahn's Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gerald Scarfe's papier-mache caricatures of the Beatles. Jay Leno relates his feelings - and his mother's reaction - to being pictured on the cover of TIME. Frederick S. Voss provides a visual history of the magazine and shows how making it onto the cover of TIME has come to be the ultimate accolade.' - From The Publisher
Average customer rating:
|
A Face Like a Chicken's Backside: An Unconventional Soldier in South East Asia, 1948-1971
J. P. Cross
Manufacturer: Greenhill Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Southeast Asia
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Middle East
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1853672394 |
Customer Reviews:
AuthorZone.Com Book Review.......2003-08-01
Excellent book. Well written, easily read, thought provoking. Is long, but not cumbersome.
I first read 'About Face' written by Col. David Hackworth during the late 1980s. I found it extremely valuable in helping me...a woman with little knowledge of anything military, understand better my children's dad, a land based Viet Nam combat vet and the problems he had to deal with before his death.
As the wife of yet a second Viet Nam combat vet, special forces, I suggest this book for anyone who wants a better understanding of the debt of gratitude and respect we citizens owe those willing to serve in The United States Military.
Reviewed by: molly martin
should be required reading for all seving military leaders.......1999-07-15
I first came to hear of ABOUT FACE from a friend and fellow NCO in Korea. He said I might think it was good, Was that an understatement. I read About Face in one fourteen hour plane ride back to Korea. I've read it three more times so far and recommend it to all my friends deserving the title Non-Commisioned Officer. I truly believe that all military leaders should read this and take from it; Hack's wisdom and experiance dealing with the military, Integrity and soldiering.
A Great Man, A Great Book, A Great Read.......1997-08-07
I bought this book when I was about 11 years old and a big fan of "war stories". I am now approaching twenty and have read this book at least once a year since first purchasing it, to the extent that it is now in three parts and the photographs have fallen out. This book is an intense, gripping, readable but most of all honest and believable account of one of America's greatest warriors and his experiences...from the forested slopes of Trieste in 1946 to being chased around Washington DC by Army Intell goons in 1971, this book, while entertaining, will also teach you everything you need to know about duty, honour,bravery and honest patriotism, qualities that come hard to find in the era of Iran-Contra, Tailhook, Whitewater and the like...
This book will make you laugh, cry and think.
Please, read it.
A grunts-eye-view look at the career of Col. Hackworth........1997-07-25
This is the tale of America's most decorated living hero. From his humble beginnings to his glorious career in the U. S. Army. A man destined to be one of the elite movers and shakers in the military. He became disillusioned with America's war effort in Vietnam and the "ticket-punching" pursuits of the manager-officers. He gave up his career and moved into self-imposed exile. This story is a must read for those interested in the development of the U. S. Army since WWII. It's a real wake-up call
Average customer rating:
|
LA LUFTWAFFE FACE AU DEBARQUEMENT ALLIE: 6 Juin au 21 Aout 1944 (Album Historique)
Jean Frappe
Manufacturer: Heimdal
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
World War I
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
French
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
History
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All French Books
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 284048126X |
Book Description
This large format, highly illustrated book is a detailed study of the performance of Luftwaffe Me 109's and FW 190's over the skied of Normandy during the invasion. The apprendices alone make the book worth every penny, detailing all the German victories and losses.
Average customer rating:
- Invaluable resource for a retro look!
- Turudich is a rip-off artist!
- A slender volume but still a nice reference
- Very Disappointed
- ...
|
Vintage Face
Daniela Turudich , and
Angela Bjork
Manufacturer: Streamline Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Popular Culture
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Cosmetics
| Beauty & Fashion
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
1940s Hairstyles
-
Face Forward
-
Making Faces
ASIN: 1930064039 |
Book Description
Exploring different makeup techniques and practices from the looks of the 1920s through the 1950s, this guide to creating authentic period faces offers instructions on how to simulate each look, from the curve of the lips to the arch of the eyebrow. Filled with photographs of famous starlets and icons such as Louise Brooks, Greta Garbo, Rita Hayworth, and Audrey Hepburn, as well as complete instructions for re-creating each star's look, this indispensable reference for creating vintage beauty and glamour explains how to achieve everything from bee-stung lips to the perfect Marilyn Monroe mole. Included are period color charts for powder, rouge, lip color, eyeshadow, and nail polish that can be taken to any beauty counter for comparison and color matching to get an authentic look.
Customer Reviews:
Invaluable resource for a retro look!.......2006-12-31
I cannot believe I lost this on the BART train on my way to visit a makeup artist!
This booklet helped me achieve exactly the type of look with authenticity of makeup color for the time, etc. that I was looking for. For every period, there were several looks, from innocent to siren, that gave you a wide range of authentic period styles to copy for.
I am not willing to pay $250 to replace my copy at this time, but I REALLY feel a tremendous loss to not have this as a resource.
Now I know how different the youthful Audrey Hepburn's eyebrows were, say from those of Elizabeth Taylor. And when I want Audrey's eyebrows, I want hers--not Liz's. They really were quite different and GORGEOUS!
Turudich is a rip-off artist!.......2006-06-08
Not exactly. The people who sell her book for loads of money are. Her books are just great to flip through. If you are looking for thorough details, this is not for you. I have this book and I like it as a collector's item (not to mention cherish it for it's value. I can't believe I paid over $140 on this book!! I'm ridiculous!). If you want to copy actual make-up from the early and mid-20th century, you should buy books that are from actual make-up artists. In my opinion, She copied a lot of her stuff from Kevyn Aucoin's "Making Faces." He's a real make-up artist who covers the flapper, vamp, bombshell, etc... looks in his books (you should also check out "Face Forward" also by Kevyn Aucoin). In "Vintage Face" Turudich covers those and a few others but she basically says the same thing over and over. She just changes up the colors to use for each look. Some websites are even more helpful than this book. Another extra info, her "1940s Hairstyles" isn't even that great either. She completely copied a book that was published back in the 40s, leaving out some detailed instructions. There is nothing in her book giving credit to it. I guess what I'm trying to say is: If you want to copy the looks, this isn't the book for you. If you want to collect Turudich's books (like me) than go ahead and spend a bill or two...haha. Also, just wanted to point out: you should really be careful buying expensive books. I bought this book from a seller here and some pages are missing (the last few about where you could find vintage colors on the market)!
A slender volume but still a nice reference.......2003-05-02
Yes, this book is not a comprehensive guide to vintage looks and cosmetics.
Yes, the photos are sadly only in black and white.
However, the classic film star photos to accompany each look are wonderful. Case in point, the evolution of Gene Tierney from the 1930s with slightly pudfy cheeks to 1940s glamour girl.
Defintely snap this one up if you can find a good quality used copy. A discounted price will help soften the blow of the covers being too close together.
An expanded, revised edition would be a most welcome addition to my personal library
Very Disappointed.......2002-09-16
This book has no pictures to further illustrate the points that it makes. It is all in black and white. It is basically information that you would know anyway from general makeup application. It goes through the different eras but doesn't cover in very much detail. At the back there is a recipe section for making your own makeup but it is unlikely that these would be made as some use dangerous products!!Very diasppointed with the book-lucky I bought it second hand.
..........2002-07-31
What a complete waste of money. This book was much anticipated until I got it in the mail. Not only was it small, but it lacked so much detail!! The stupid thing isn't even in color! Yea, they give you a color chart, but don't show how to apply it when using make up.
If anyone still wants to buy it...I got one for sale.
Books:
- The Fire: The Bombing of Germany, 1940-1945
- The Jewish Confederates (NS)
- The Last King: Rome's Greatest Enemy
- The Origins of the Second World War in Europe (2nd Edition)
- The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: The Presidency: Keeping the Peace (The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower)
- The Practical Mariner's Book of Knowledge: 420 Sea-Tested Rules of Thumb for Almost Every Boating Situation
- The Predators' Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and the Rise of the Junk Bond Raiders
- The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power
- The Reality of War: A Memoir of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71)
- The Rise of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Jesus of Nazareth
- Bearer of the Pipe
- Sustainable Architecture: Hi-Tech Housing
- The Dynamics of Hired Farm Labour: Constraints and Community Responses
- The Secret Language of Birthdays
- Building Trust at the Speed of Change: The Power of the Relationship-Based Corporation
- A Blush With Death
- Stickley Style: Arts and Crafts Homes in the Craftsman Tradition
- The de Young in the 21st Century: A Museum by Herzog & de Meuron
- Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems in Monsoon Asia
The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
The Mask of Command
A History of Warfare
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
The First World War
![AK-47 Assembly, Disassembly Manual 7.62 X 39mm [ILLUSTRATED]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/094974980X.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
