Reviews (20)

SEALs are warriors
Dick Couch is a former SEAL. He loves the SEALs. This book is a good look(although limited)at modern-day SEALs. If you have never read a book about SEALs then this is an excellent place to start. This book is very informative. If you have read alot or know alot about the SEALs then skip the first 38 pages. The author really loves the SEALs. Did I mention that? On one page alone(small pages) the word SEAL is mentioned 16 times. Dick Couch is a good, not great, writer and is very detailed and I was really enjoying his book until I read his account, on page 183, of a close-quarters firefight in which he describes how good these particular SEALs could shoot because they had shot the bad guys weapon and his hands holding the weapon. This may have impressed Mr. Couch or maybe he is just trying to impress the reader, but that is not good shooting skill. This isn't an old TV western. That paragraph really made me wonder about the whole book. Fiction? Non-fiction?

Hit the Target!
A good companion volume to Couch's prior books, THE WARRIOR ELITE and THE FINISHING SCHOOL.A terific profile of the professionalism and heroism of special forces personnel who fight for our country and its interests.If you are interested in Navy SEALS and their operational deployment in the war on terrorism, you will enjoy DOWN RANGE.

Excellent read
A fascinating and great read about the work of SEALs in Afghanistan and Iraq. As one of the previous reviewers mentioned, the SEALs seemed to have their share of detractors in the war on terror. Therefore it was nice to see viewpoints from the SEALs themselves and a few of their missions. Compared to the other spec op units the SEALs' missions in Afghanistan and Iraq have not been as well published or publicized.
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Subjects:  1. Afghan War, 2001-    2. General    3. History - Military / War    4. Iraq War, 2003    5. Military - Naval    6. Military - United States    7. Military History - 1990-    8. Navy    9. Political Science    10. Politics/International Relations    11. SEALs    12. Special Forces    13. United States    14. Current Events / Military   

Editorial Review

Do yourself a favor: if you own a boat, you should also own theRead more

Reviews (27)

Indespensible boat manual
I'm not talking about yachting type books. I have owned and operated commercial fishing boats in Alaska, for over 30 years.And this book demystifies bonding, grounding, AC boat wiring, lightning protection, a whole chapter just on batteries, and that's just the electrical part of the book. If your unsure about some aspect of your boat's electrical system or machinery, and are walking the docks trying to find out something about them, GET THIS BOOK. Some of that BS one hears on the dock can sink you.

a very usefull manual
covers many important areas where problems usually arise. easily understood explanations and instructions to find and resolve problems. great resource to keep on the boat.

excellent book
i am a marine student in nz, i was doing a assigment of boat battery. i went to libarary for this book and i read through the first chapter of the book which gives me from basic to depth ideas about battery. it's worth to own a book like this if you are a real boatie. perticularly for trouble shooting. cheers, enjoy ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Boating - Boatbuilding    2. Boats and boating    3. Electric equipment    4. General    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Maintenance and repair    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Ship Maintenance And Repair    9. Ships & Shipbuilding - Engineering    10. Technology & Industrial Arts   

Reviews (81)

Gore Vidal is Not a Mainstream Wimpy Historian: He is Honest and Makes Readers Think
Gore Vidal's major assets in writing political books are his wit, knowledge, and ability to write.Mr. Vidal clearly shows what political problems exist and uses precision in diagnosing these problems.His PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE, a phrase used by the great historian Charles Austin Beard, is apt title for this book.Readers should note that Vidal gives Beard credit for this phrase.
Vidal, like Tom Paine, truly irritates the fat and comfortable
Anyone who wants to understand the basic value of free speech in America needs to read this long litany of the abuses of government authority by the police, politicians and press.
Does not fulfill expectations for a prominent essayist.
I was hoping to read a powerful and erudite polemic to frame modern history with the thesis set out by the title, something to turnover soil in the mind for planting of new ideas, something as intense and intelligent as Oriana Fallaci.It does not happen.
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Subjects:  1. American - General    2. General    3. Government - U.S. Government    4. History & Theory - General    5. International Relations - General    6. Literary Criticism    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Vidal, Gore - Prose & Criticism    10. English    11. USA    12. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (9)

Correction to Homer Stiltskin
Actually, until the mid-1960's, Naval Reactors did perform the ORSE.During that time, the Fleet Commanders convinced Naval Reactors (probably with little prodding since the FBM fleet with two crews each was growing so rapidly) to delegate the inspection to them.I was in one of the first Atlantic Fleet boats to have a non-Naval Reactors ORSE and it was savage to say the least.I remember particularly that the boat was taken to task for simultaneously having gear in the engineering spaces not stowed in lockers and for having added storage lockers that were not on BuShips approved plans.

Very Accurate Day to Day Accounts of Submariner's Life
I gave this book as a gift to my husband who works as a submariner and reads a great deal while they are underway. He says that Karam's book is a very accurate account of day to day life of a submariner and that it would be a wonderful read for anyone interested in submarines and attack boats. For someone wishing to learn more about what their husband, brother, father, boyfriend, or friend goes through on a sub, this would be an excellent place to begin. As a current submariner, he felt that "Rig Ship For Ultra Quiet" did not hold his attention. Rather there was a "been-there, done-that" reaction to the first-hand accounts described in the book - nothing new for someone who is currently participating in the same life. It may, however, be a good trip down memory lane for those who have already retired from submarine service and wish to take a moment to reflect on days gone by.

Very accurate
As a fellow submariner, I read this book to see if it was as true to the lifestyle as I remembered. The good news is that it is very indicative of the submarine life, a life of mostly just punching holes in the ocean.The only down side is that the author spoke a bit to much about reactor chemistry. Even though that was his job, it is a bit more info than was necessary. That said, the book was true to the submarine reality. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction - General    2. General    3. History / Military / Naval    4. Cold War    5. History    6. Intelligence service    7. Military - Naval    8. Nuclear submarines    9. Submarines (Ships)   

Reviews (1)

A 'must' for any who might need basic survival skills
Soldiers need to know how to read maps accurately, how to navigate, and how to understand all manner of maps, compasses, celestial navigation and more. So does the outdoorsman. For the military and the outdoors wilderness trekker, U.S. Army Map Reading And Land Navigation Handbook provides basic instruction on grids, scale and distance, reading overlays and using navigation equipment. A 'must' for any who might need basic survival skills.
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Subjects:  1. Army    2. Handbooks & Manuals    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Map reading    5. Maps, Military    6. Outdoor Skills    7. Reference    8. United States    9. Geography    10. Land forces & warfare    11. Outdoor survival skills    12. Sports & Recreation / Outdoor Skills   

Reviews (6)

Excellent for what it offers....though it's lacking....
I really love a book I just got, called the "Encyclopedia of Battles: From 1479 B.C. to Present"...that's a great book, not because it gives super large descriptions of battles, but because it HAS every battle and war in history. It also includes wars, and lists battles in order of these wars. I do not mind the lack of information, since I am merely using this book to look things up online in detail at wikipedia.com, so I'll be an expert on war and battles in history.
Military History: A Dispassionate View
War is both bloody and chaotic, yet if one wishes to understand it then one must not be so.In THE OXFORD COMPANION TO MILITARY HISTORY, editor Richard Holmes gathers the expertise of dozens of experts in military history to produce a massive text (more than 1,000 pages) on the entire spectrum of military history.When readers think of this topic they tend to think of battles and wars, and this text lists all the important ones and some that are known only to specialists.You want to know a one or two page summary of the battle of Stalingrad in 1942?Battles like this are discussed in detail and with clarity, often with surprisingly detailed illustrations and maps.Yet, this history includes far more than battles fought.Battles are not just set piece encounters of troop movements; they include the human element of both rank and file grunt and their respective commander.Further, battles are often won and lost solely on the basis of the technological superiority of one side over the other.Holmes' text includes all that and more.So for whom is this history intended?It it not for one who has no interest in matters of killing and strategy.It is for one who has a previous interest in a battle, a soldier, or a weapon.It is for one who has seen the film PEARL HARBOR and wishes to separate celluloid fantasy from historical fact.It is for the high school or college student who needs to know more than what is normally contained in a general history.And finally, it is for those who wish to have a handy one volume text of military arcana as the next step on a personal project or quest that involves using what Holmes' experts have to say.TOCMH is a superb gift to anyone who falls into any of the above categories.

Oxford Companion to Military History
This book is very thorough for the type of history it covers, but it has biases that detract it from receiving the highest rating.
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Subjects:  1. Dictionaries    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. History: World    5. Military - General    6. Military History (General)    7. Military history    8. Reference    9. History / Military / General    10. History of specific subjects    11. History, Other | Military History    12. Reference works    13. Theory of warfare & military science    14. War & defence operations   

Editorial Review

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tony Horwitz returned from years of traipsing through war zones as a foreign correspondent only to find that his childhood obsession with the Civil War had caught up with him. Near his house in Virginia, he happened to encounter people who reenact the CivilWar--men who dress up in period costumes and live as Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks. Intrigued, he wound uphaving some odd adventures with the "hardcores," the fellows who try to immerse themselves in the war, hoping to get what they lovingly term a "period rush." Horwitz spent two years reporting on why Americans are still so obsessed with the war, and the ways in which it resonates today. In the course of his work, he made a sobering side trip to cover a murder that was provoked by the display of the Confederate flag, and he spoke to a number of people seeking to honor their ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. Horwitz has a flair for odd details that spark insights, and Read more

Reviews (237)

Wonderful
This is a colorful search for answers to an enigmatic childhood fascination with the Civil War, the most calamitous in our history. Visits to battlefields are described with an outline history matched with what the current visitor experiences. Reenactors are profiled (the author embeds himself in one group). Southern locals also provide their views about the War. The result is an engrossing, comparative record of distinct perspectives (and motives). Our current identity as a nation, defined by the prism of the Civil War, is nowhere better examined. History, given omission or embellishment, can become myth to some: to others, truth.
So what's in *your* attic?
Tony Horwitz has created an enigma around a mystery, that mystery being our (that is, the US's) ongoing love affair with a horrific holocaust that just about gobbled us all up when it really did happen.Horwitz describes charmingly of his childhood, during which he obsessed, as many adolescents do, about the many batttles of the War Between The States, but he put aside those things--he thought--when he went to work as a war correspondent during the Gulf War.God, or fate, or what have you, had other plans, and he and his bride moved back to the states to literally find the Civil War, in the form of hardcore reenactors, in their backyard.
interesting, unfortunately missed a very southern corner of the country
Horwitz does a fine job describing how the Civil War still resonates in the life of many southerners (black and white) to this day. The story of the murder of a young rebel flag bearer in south Kentucky is by far the most interesting chapter in the book. About the same age as the Kentuckian, and growing up in Missouri and Oklahoma, this chapter really hit close to home as I recalled some of the hatred I'd witnessed along racial lines.However, I was disappointed that Horwitz didn't spend at least a brief part of his two year journey visiting states like Missouri and seeing how the war still resonates in that region on the edge of the "old south."Horwitz doesn't mention Missouri one time in his book, which is a real shame considering the extreme importance the state played in the war and the very southern mentality that currently resides in many parts of the state. Missouri, a state painfully divided in 1861, is third behind Virginia and Tennessee in the number of battles fought on its soil during the conflict. Missouri was a slave state and offered up many young men to the lost cause.Like Kentucky, Missouri had a star of its own on the rebel battle flag and did pass an ordinance of sucession (now viewed as a "mock" sucession by most historians). From the southwest corner to "little dixie" near the center of the state Missouri has plenty of those flag flying rednecks Horwitz so wonderfully describes. Horwitz claims to be "putting away childish things" at the end of "confederates in the attic." It's my hope that if this great author ever takes another journey across the wonderful south he'll remember that forgotten region of the war's western theatre and delve into how that brutal war effects the citizens of today. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1861-1865, Civil War    2. 1958-    3. Civil War, 1861-1865    4. Customs & Traditions    5. Essays & Travelogues    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History - U.S.    9. History: American    10. Horwitz, Tony,    11. Influence    12. Journeys    13. Southern States    14. United States    15. United States - Civil War    16. History / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877)    17. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (21)

Great explanation how a world empire defended its citizens
I do not agree that this book is only for specialists. I am of the opinion that it is a book for history lovers. And, moreover, it is for any person who wishes to understand how a highly developed society managed to defend its way of living. It most valuable because it depicts the success of the Roman system in the first two centuries of our era. The Third Century depicts the problem of a World power which has began its decline.
Eye-opening analysis
This book is a very interesting analysis for everybody who wants to know more about the strategy of the Roman Empire. While also very accessible to non-experts, even experts or people who have read a lot about Rome will learn a lot and see things a new way.
Ancient history for current events
Although much of this book may be at a level of specificity of interest only to Roman history buffs, Luttwak's assessments of the Roman Empire's strategic strengths and weaknesses has much relevance to the modern United States, which occupies an historical position not unlike Rome's at the beginning of the Empire.For example, issues such as the efficient use of a relatively small professional army, or the maintenance of client states, are directly relevant to the modern world.Each section begins with a sufficiently adequate historical summary that readers not yet familiar with Roman history will not be lost. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - Rome    2. Army    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. History: World    6. Military - General    7. Military Science    8. Military history, Ancient    9. Rome    10. Strategy    11. Ancient Rome    12. BCE to c 500 CE    13. European history: BCE to c 500 CE    14. Performing Arts / General   

Reviews (86)

Our desparate and inhuman quest for righteousness
Wow.Chris Hedges completely plowed me over with this book.I originally checked this book out from the library, but am now purchasing two copies - one for myself to reread immediately and mark up all the profound and illuminating passages and one to loan out to every independent-minded person I know.
Interesting but localized perspective
A good and well-written book full of modern anecdotal material and sensible observations but nothing particularly new. I'll make this simple.
Tolerable reading that comes to conclusions about war.
A long polemic about war - the horror of it, how we glorify it, how we think it gives us meaning.Note: the title of this book is misleading.Hedges does not argue that war gives us meaning, just that it seems to, and this meaning is shallow compared to love.A very personal account, probably best for those who already have some background on the balkan wars and political science in general.not extraordinary, but has some valuable content none-the-less. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Ethics Of War And Conflict    3. General    4. History - General History    5. Military - General    6. Military History (General)    7. Military Science    8. Military history, Modern    9. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    10. Political Science    11. Politics/International Relations    12. War    13. War (Philosophy)    14. Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy    15. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (6)

Excellent resource
This is a very valuable resource that I wish I would have had prior to Naval Officer Candidate School. (Naval OCS training is conducted primarily by Marine Corps Drill Instructors.) I recommend it for all those anticipating Marine Corps/Naval training.

View from the past.
I am a Marine Vet. I still have my original "knowledge" from boot from 15 years ago. For those not in the know this book is refered to by Drill Instructors as "The Knowledge". It is meant to be a guide book through boot. This version is not much different. My original has the breakdown of a .45 instead of a 9mm. Although when I was in the 9mm is what we used. For those in DEP do not bother. You recruiter will give you "free" material that you MUST memorize. Although you could just Google it. The instructions on how to setup fireing lines and fighting formations is ambiguous with out having a the terrain and personnel to see it. All amply provide for you in San Diego or Paris Island. I also DEP'd and the recruiter would run us through the basics. I am rambling now so here are my experienced suggestions:
It's O.K.
I'm in DEP so I'm looking to soak up all the information I can before boot.This book does have a great deal of information in it but most of the essential stuff like General Orders and Ranks and the motto and birthday were already in a book the recruiter gave me after joining.This book does have dress codes and grooming and disassembly of the M16 which I found very interesting.Some of the pictures though are poor quality and it's hard to make out what they are.The book is very small and top to bottom instead of left to right. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Military    3. Military - United States