Reviews (6)

Understanding Vietnamese writers
I bought this hoping to learn more about the Vietnamese people and their history. I got bogged down with all the poetry and prose quoted by the writer. While he brushes off the importance of the battle of Dien Bien Phu in a couple of lines; he drones on quoting (translating) obscure Vietnamese writers until the reader becomes weary. His premise seems to be that if you understand some writer (who he thinks is interesting) and attach importance to what he said then you will understand Vietnam. His annoying treatment of Yin and Yang finally caused me to put the book down and look for another way to understand Vietnam. If you like words such as "efficacy" and "entropy" you will love this writer; if such words irritate you, give this book a pass.

WOW
This book's focus on contemporary Vietnamese literary sources through the years makes it absolutely unique in the field. Its blend of straight history narrative and multiple-voice literature excerpts fleshes out Vietnamese society in a way that was sorely needed in the field. To those well-read in Asian studies: this book can almost be seen as a Vietnam analog to Patricia Ebrey's book "Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook," which is a collection of contemporary Chinese sources through history. Excellent!!! Very accurate!!! Must Read!!!!!!!!
I think this book is amazing! Jamieson accuately protrays Vietnam and Vietnamese culture through the eyes and views of the Vietnamese in a way never before written by a Westerner. He is articulate of the moods and feelings faceing the Vietnamese, well educated in the arts and literature of Vietnam, understands the importance to the core family structure, and scholarly in his research of what it means to be Vietnamese. I highly recommend this book if you want to understand the Vietnamese people who live in Vietnam, in the US, or anywhere... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast Asia    2. History - General History    3. History: World    4. Military - Vietnam War    5. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    6. Anthropology    7. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    8. Social Science / Anthropology / General    9. Social history    10. USA    11. Vietnam    12. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (115)

A Page Turner...
This book is one of the best I have ever read on the Middle Eastern conflicts in general, and certainly the best about the Six-Day War. A lot of the previous reviewers have covered in details what makes this book so good. I would like however to comment on one thing that struck me throughout the book: the hate against America that virulently emerged in 1967 from the Arab dictators such as Egypt's Nasser or Syria's al-Assad who were using anti-American propaganda as a means to shore up their regimes and rally around the Arab street behind them. The Great Big Lie (the Arab regimes pretended that US ground and air forces intervened massively in the war to help Israel) is quite revealing... I thought anti-America hate was more a thing of recent times...but I was shocked to see how much the same slogans and arguments against America that we are hearing today were the same ones that were utter daily by Arab regimes at the time. It sounded eerily as today's Al Qaeda anti-US messages, except that the religious overtones of today were replaced by anti-imperialistic overtones. Nothing has changed under the Middle East sun basically, and this continuous hatred has now span more than one or 2 generations. Of course, America has not often questioned its Middle East policy towards Arabs and must share a part of the blame for the sorry situation Middle East is in, but Arab regimes are no less responsible of having willingly spread lies and misinformation about America.

One point of clarification....
There is a fundamental difference between `armistice' and `peace'.
Excellent Book; wonderful use of sources
Oren's book is a modern classic.Since the other reviews here go into such depth, it would seem superfluous for me to do so as well.I did, however, want to mention two things which impressed me about the book and which may not have been mentioned in other reviews:
Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History & Theory - General    3. History - General History    4. Israel-Arab War, 1967    5. Middle East - Israel    6. Military    7. Military - General    8. Military - Other    9. Military History (General)    10. History / Middle East    11. Warfare & Defence    12. World history   

Reviews (6)

WASN'T IT DR. MENGELE WHO BROKE THE OATH? AND NOW?
what have we become? Doctors on call to determine how much pain a person can endure for maximum intelligence milking? Or for sadistic purposes?
What Have We Become?
In less than 170 pages you will come away with unassailable facts about our treatment of prisoners or detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay: 1) American servicemen and women tortured and murdered detainees.2) Many of our doctors, psychologists, nurses, medics and other health practitioners were complicit in these murders and tortures.3) These tortures and murders were not the acts of a "few bad apples" as some have claimed.4) The highest levels of our administration sanctioned these tortures.
Why we must speak out.
Toward the end of Oath Betrayed, after a comprehensive overview of the complicity of doctors, nurses and medics in torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, Steven Miles observes:"The possibility of dissent makes the silence and complicity of senior and frontline medical personnel in the abuse and neglect of prisoners that much more inexplicable and inexcusable."Therein lies a compelling reason why Americans must speak out against the Bush Administration's embrace of state-sanctioned torture:We must speak out because we CAN speak out.Despite the dangerous direction in which our country is headed, under an Executive Branch that equates dissent with treason, we are still free to speak out for basic human rights.That's what Miles has done in Oath Betrayed.It's a very important book.
Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. Medical care    4. Medical personnel    5. Medicine, Military    6. Military    7. Military - Iraq War    8. Military - Other    9. Military - United States    10. Moral and ethical aspects    11. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    12. Prisoners of war    13. Professional ethics    14. United States    15. History / Military / Other   

Reviews (2)

breathing life into history
This book is not meant to provide a detailed history of ancient Egypt.Rather, it is meant to breathe life into that history.The book show snips of life (musical entertainment, feasts, marriage and courtship, crafts, etc)that most history books gloss over.It is richly illustrated in vivid color photography so that there are examples of almost everything discussed.It also provides a wonderful timeline that you can reference while reading.It's certainly not the only book you'll want to read in learning about ancient Egypt, but it is definitely to be included.Something like this went out of print?Grab one before they're all gone.

One of the most creative....
...ways I've seen to talk of ancient egypt. This is a great book, for beginer and expert alike. The stories of common everyday people will show what life really was like back then.... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 332 B.C.-638 A.D    2. Ancient - Egypt    3. Ancient Egypt - History    4. Antiquities    5. Archaeology / Anthropology    6. Civilization    7. Egypt    8. History    9. History: World    10. To 332 B.C    11. African history: BCE to c 500 CE    12. BCE to c 500 CE    13. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    14. c 1000 CE to c 1500    15. c 500 CE to c 1000 CE   

Reviews (2)

Iraq on a human scale
Kim Olson presents an excellent portrait of life in post-invasion Iraq. Her unique insider viewpoint humanizes the gigantic machine that is the military. Jay Garner's little group earnestly tried to create the infrastructure to fulfill a vague and poorly defined White House mission with little help and even less direction. The mission was nearly guaranteed to be a failure, and the toll it took on Kim was enormous. Her description of her background of 20+ years of military service and success, and her final failure to advance because of political infighting and mistakes and the grudges and discrimination of her superiors is a tale for all women serving in today's military. A moving story of war, the machine that makes it, and its human face is a fascinating read.

Trailblazer in a vale of tears
Colonel Olson rose to the top rank of Air Force jet pilots by taking charge of her professional life. Like other hard-chargers, she won some, lost some. This book lays out the atmospherics of Baghdad during the first hectic and terrible days of the American occupation, working along side Jay Garner. Flashbacks explain how she was invited to be Garner's executive officer and the many things she did trying to turn chaos into triumph. The whole thing came apart when the President put Bremer in and pushed Garner out. The defining aspect of this book is when Olson lays out a few serious missteps that cost her advancement without compromise to her character. There's really no other book around that lays out the daunting challenges Garner had to overcome, once Baghdad was captured. Whereas Bremer kept his own counsel close to his chest, Garner's strong suit was concensus building. Unfortunately for him--and maybe for the rest of us, too--he wasn't in place long enough to make a dent. Olson too comes across as the woman for her times. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. History    3. Iraq War, 2003-    4. Military    5. Military - Iraq War    6. Military - Persian Gulf War    7. Military - Strategy    8. Olson, Kimberly    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Personal narratives, American    11. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    12. Iraq    13. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    14. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (2)

a knowledgeable big-picture view about an underserved topic
After reading this book, you will laugh at newspaper reports that describe the conflict in Sudan as between "the Muslim north and Christian and animist south".Johnson not only has extensive academic publications in Sudanese ethnography and historiography, but also worked in the aid field in the country.He is also, in a well-sourced, calm and clearly presented manner, outraged at how thoroughly misunderstood the situation in Sudan is.The detail in this book is amazing.I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in an armchair kind of way about southern Sudan, and was consistently being presented with either facts of which I was unaware or, better yet, syntheses tying togethervarious fields in a historical perspective.The offensives, famines, factionalism within southern groups, agricultural schemes, external mediators, forced displacement patterns, and competing aid agencies are all here, and presented so one can see the linkages.This is one of the rare books in which, for example, the connection between the timing of government offensives to seasonal rainfall is convincingly fit within framework of underdevelopment as a political strategy.
A NEW AND EXCITING VIEW OF SUDANESE ISLAM AND ITS' ROOTS
An intriguing book that adopts a new slant on the development of Islam in the Sudan. Author Johnson shows us, step by step how the rise of states in this region and their relations with neighbors and the West resulted in a different form of religious expression. The Dervishes that fought the British at the end of the 19th century were imbued with a fervor, according to Johnson that reflected a long-developed process of assimilation and adaptation to both the Northern Arab, the Southern African and he West in general - the colonial experience. It is a fine addition to Francis Deng's great book, WAR OF VISIONS. I found THE ROOT CAUSES OF SUDAN'S CIVIL WARS a very enlightening read. As the author of a new book on the Sudan, JIHAD: THE MAHDI REBELLION IN THE SUDAN, I must include this volume into any meaningful understanding of historical forces in this region. TOP RATED!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa - General    2. Causes    3. Civil War, 1955-1972    4. Civil War, 1983-    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: World    8. Middle East - Egypt    9. Military - General    10. Sudan   

Reviews (3)

Masterful Revelations of Egyptian Pharaonic Consciousness
The Temple of Man
Luxor Revealed
R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz spent 15 years at Luxor attempting to solve the riddle of Egytpian civilization. His final considerations are expounded fully in The Temple of Man. Lovingly translated by Robert Lawlor, this bookis at long last available in English. De Lubicz's masterwork in a stunning two-volume set!
De Lubicz's masterpiece, available for the first time in English, has been giving a beautiful translation and presentation.Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - Egypt    2. Ancient Egyptian Religion    3. Controversial Knowledge    4. Egypt    5. History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical    6. History - General History    7. History Of Civilization And Culture (General)    8. Miscellanea    9. Occultism    10. Philosophy    11. Temple of Luxor (Luxor, Egypt)    12. African history: BCE to c 500 CE    13. Religion / Antiquities & Archaeology    14. Unexplained phenomena   

Reviews (71)

Disturbingly realistic.Rieckhoff's book rings true.
Would you like to know what it would be like to be a soldier during the early months of the Iraq occupation?Rieckhoff's book is the place to start.
A Truly Great Personal Story
If you are looking for a war story, want to learn more about life in Iraq, or are just curious to know what it must be like to be a soldier... you hear all of that in this book. Most of all though, it is a well-written, truly great personal story that touches the part in all of us who grew up American, and constantly weaves its myth with reality.

These Words Are Worth a Thousand Pictures
I didn't read this book----I watched it. When done, you'll be reaching for your virtual reality goggles and wishing it wasn't over.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. History - Military / War    5. Iraq War, 2003-    6. Military    7. Military - Iraq War    8. Military - United States    9. Military - Veterans    10. Military History - 1990-    11. Military Personal Narratives    12. Personal narratives, American    13. Soldiers    14. United States    15. History / Military / Veterans   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Asian    4. Figurative painting, Iranian    5. General    6. Painting    7. Subjects & Themes - Human Figure    8. Art / History / Asian    9. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    10. Iran    11. Painting & paintings   

Reviews (20)

Excellent stories by a Marine about our troops in combat
This book is a series of snapshots in time covering the exploits of Marines and Soldiers in combat.Since it is written by a Marine, the stories are told from their perspective as opposed to being filtered by the media.
Great
This is a great book. It gets you right in with the action and keeps you reading. What is amazing is that it is real reality and not fiction. Lots of little details are thrown in at the appropriate times, for information and education. Really easy to read and also easy to read in small sections at a time.

Great read
Amazing first hand view of our Marines and soldiers in the field.Easy read (even for those without military experience).God bless our American heroes! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History - Military / War    3. Iraq War, 2003    4. Iraq War, 2003-    5. Media Studies - Electronic Media    6. Military - Iraq War    7. Political Science    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Television and the war    10. Television broadcasting of new    11. Television broadcasting of news    12. United States    13. Iraq    14. Political Science / General    15. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (3)

decent, I thought it was a history not an 'eyewitness' read
I thought this book was going to be a blow by blow history of the IAF.Unfortunatly much of it is the authors recollections.Now this does not discount the books greatness. The story is one of heroism and triumph over great odds. The Israelis built one of the best air forces int he world.An air force that able to defeat the arabs many times and proved in one on one combat to be far superior.Some detractors say this was simply because the 'American' weapon system was better, thats like a workmen blaming his tools, which is typical of the arab mindset, if they lose they always blame some plot that brought them failure, instead of crediting their opponents resolutness.Furthermore the Israeli air force was able to slip into entebbe and rescue Jewish hostages, something the americans failed to do in 1979 in the Desert One failure.On top of this the Israelis were able to airlift tens of thousands of jews from Iraq, Ethiopia and the Yemen.

Gets the facts right, but misses much of the story
This book tells the extended story of the Israeli Air Force, famed but also perhaps a sometime victim of its own rep. From its humble beginnings of foreign volunteers and Piper Cubs to the supersonic age of super-aces in F-16s, the IAF always possessed the veneer of the heroic.Being the principal military branch for a young nation repeatedly beset by war, the IAF's story closely parallels the history of Israel - from the scrappy jury-rigged days of the war of independence, the disappointment of 1956, the near-miraculous triumphs of 1967, the tragic near reversal of 1973 and the painful realities of Lebanon. Though the IAF has come a long way since its humble beginnings, and its history covers half a century, the shift from a cobbled-together, volunteer-staffed air force to an elite-trained arm equipped with cutting edge aircraft was sudden - about the time the major European powers turned to Israel as a counter for the pan-arabism of Egypt's Nasser, leading up to the abortive Suez campaign. Most of the foreign volunteers had returned home by then, and the Spitifres that fought the Independence War put into storage. (Late model F-51 Mustangs, however, remained in service and flew missions against the Egyptians in 1956; though seeming contemporaries of the Spitfire, IAF's Mustang's are more identified with the '56 war, then the war of independence). Israeli pilots, traveling abroad (seemingly on vacation) were taught to fly unforgiving transonic jets like the French Mystere. The IAF had opened its own academy by then, and had already established its reputation for being unforgiving to its cadets. A Book for the Serious Student of Israeli Military History
Any serious Israel Air Force buff should have at least three books on his shelf:Ehud Yonai's "No Margin for Error", Peter Mersky's "Israeli Fighter Aces", and Eliezer Cohen's "Israel's Best Defense".As a former fighter and helicopter pilot, Eliezer Cohen had first hand experience with, and access to the pilots and leaders who have made up the most respected air force of the jet age.His retelling of his own, and comrade's experiences in the face of war is riveting, and the scope of his IAF history takes him a full decade further into the story of this remarkable marriage of machines and men than does Ehud Yonai's own remarkable telling.Perhaps his one weakness in telling this story, is that Eliezer Cohen is a pilot by trade, and not a journalist, or novelist.Reading this book, you can see his skills as a story teller developing with each turn of the page.His finesse as an author starts out weak, but by the time that you reach his account of the Six Day War, Cohen's narrative becomes far too absorbing to pass this book by. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Air Force    2. Air Forces    3. Hel ha-avir    4. History    5. History: World    6. Israel    7. Israel.    8. òHel ha-aòvir    9. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (40)

Western pride, simply packaged
THis book might be better as an example of what the west is capable of rather than as a historical book.It is in affect a book that is full of pride and distate for the other.THere is no accepting of the other, no idea that his values or his ideas must be understood, no excusing him, no moral relativism saying that 'well it is his culture so its is ok'.Yes this book is sort of like what is read in every classroom in the Muslim world, except reversed, it is a book that likes the west, likes not having to pray five times a day, likes not having to have a women's testimony be worth half a mans, and a likes to adit that, ys the Bible does guide some people.
The Everlasting Hatred
This is an informative and sobering review of the root cause of the conflict we are in. This conflict we are in is the most serious that we have faced in my lifetime because our nation is divided concerning the cause and results that face us. Our people are asleep and subject to attack. One would think that the WTC disaster of 9/11 would have awakened them to the danger. Perhaps it did for a time but they have returned to their state of apathy and need a dose of "The Everlasting Hatred" to awaken them.

Ancient Hatreds: Today's Issues, Tomorrow's Holocaust!
Hal Lindsey's book, The Everlasting Hatred:The Roots of Jihad, is a short summary of events that have resulted the white-hot hatred that has existed between Arabs and Jews for centuries.Exacerbating this hate is a religious fervor that makes killingJews a right, even an obligation, for devout Muslims.It is this"obligation," that has the world on the brink of destruction today.
Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Islam    3. Islam - General    4. Islamic fundamentalism    5. Jihad    6. Middle East - General    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Religion - World Religions   

Reviews (3)

Good Background on Democratic Nation-Building
This is one of the portfolio of books exploring what it takes to create successful democratic nation-building--From German to Iraq (as the subtitle notes).It is also one of the better volumes among such works.
For the interested reader and the expert
This is one kind of pre-war analysis for post-war Iraq that the Bush administration is accused of ignoring.(Iraq-specific background is the other.)Indeed, the back cover attributes to CPA head Paul Bremer, "...a marvelous how-to manual...I have kept a copy handy...since my arrival in Baghdad."
Excellent Policy Analysis with Congenital Defect
This book present an excellent policy analysis of USA-led enforced democratization. Based on historic-comparative study of seven such cases (Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosova and Afghanistan), striking policy recommendations are derived on military and police presence over time, humanitarian help, economic reconstruction, building of civil society, holding of elections and more, as as to maximize success in democratization. In all these respects the book is outstanding, in terms of method and substance alike, as is to be expected from a RAND Corporation study. However, the book also demonstrates a widespread cultural blinder of USA policy thinking, namely underrating of cultural factors and over-optimism in respect to making the world democratic. Paradigmatic is the following statement, put forth without any reservations (on page 204) "democracy is transferable to non-Western...societies", followed by a definite statement that "there is no reason why Iraq cannot be democratized and establish democratic institutions and a pluralist polity". Little wonder that this frame of thinking, as applied in the book to Iraq, failed to foresee, at least as a contingency, what is now happening there, the idea of persistent and increasingly effective armed resistance against USA and other Western "democratizisers" after "victory" not being taken serious enough. If what is probably the best strategic Think Tank in the USA suffers from such misunderstanding of realities that do not fit into Western perceptions of "the other", there is much that USA policy makers and policy planners have to learn so as to enable the leading country of the West to fulfill is increasingly crucial role as the leading guardian of Western civilization and security. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1945-1989    2. 1989-    3. Case studies    4. Foreign relations    5. International Relations - General    6. Intervention (International law)    7. Military policy    8. Nation-building    9. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    10. Political Science    11. Politics - Current Events    12. Politics / Current Events    13. Politics/International Relations    14. United States    15. 21st century    16. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. International relations    18. Iraq    19. Political Science / International Security    20. USA    21. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (1)

The Cold War Was Much More Than Containment and McCarthyism
Christina Klein contends that the paradigm of the Truman Doctrine can not offer a complete understanding of Cold War American culture or policy. She juxtaposes its policy of global communist containment with a 1957 speech by American diplomat Francis Wilcox that harped the need to educate Americans about the world beyond the national boundaries. This contrasts what the author terms the "global imaginary of containment" with the "global imaginary of integration." Both of these are educational projects. The first teaches the global politic as a heroic crusade against communism, the latter teaches it as a sentimental connection with the cultures of non-Americans. While acknowledging the abundance of quality scholarship that investigates the former project, Klein positions Cold War Orientalism as an investigation of the policy of Cold War internationalism and its related trope of "sentimental education." In doing so, she aims to dichotomize the discourse of history by proving that integration of the capitalist world went hand-in-hand with Soviet containment.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    3. Asia    4. Asia - General    5. Asians in mass media    6. Foreign public opinion, Americ    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Orientalism    11. Public opinion    12. United States    13. United States - General    14. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    15. American studies    16. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Asian studies    18. History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)    19. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    20. Social & cultural anthropology    21. USA    22. c 1945 to c 1960   

Editorial Review

One of the most vexing problems in Egyptology is the question of establishing reliable chronologies, whether through relative methods such as stratigraphy and the dating of artifacts or through more absolute time horizons established by astronomical ephemera or radiometric dating. In this overview of ancient Egypt--meant for advanced students, but accessible to general readers with an interest in the area--Ian Shaw and 13 contributors pay close attention to issues of chronology, reconciling conflicts of dating that mark older scholarship.Read more

Reviews (12)

Encyclopedic work
The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is really more of an encyclopedia than a narrative history.Each of its 15 chapters is written by a different author, presumably an expert in the particular time period under study.This lends itself to a disjointed style as each author presents an overwhelming welter of archeological facts in an effort to deal with their own view of the controversies in the assigned area.While no doubt providing the experienced Egyptologist with fine details is important, the casual reader will find the book a dense and confusing read. The details of stone-age arrowhead manufacture or the various types of thrown pottery in the First Intermediate Period tend to obscure the bigger picture. As a prerequisite for reading this book I would recommend something lighter and more cohesive such as "A History of Ancient Egypt" by Grimal.