Reviews (38)

Government Bungling - Again!
Gertz begins by relating how, prior to 9/11, the CIA failed to help an Afghan leader trying to rally forces against the pro bin Laden Taliban. As a result, he was captured and executed.
A little right biased
This was a informative book that outlined what Gertz thought was the reason Sept 11th happened. Though these were problems left over from countless decades of neglect to the intellgence community Gertz seems to protray this as the cause of failure. It is a combination af manyy things and to point your finger at one aspect of the pie is ludicris. The book does make a good point on how politics get in the way of policy. "It is what you do and not what you say, if your not part of the future than get out of the way." Stop pissing around and playing favorites and get the job done!

Excellent reminder of how 9.11 was a complete failure for
both the CIA and FBI.Mr. Gertz, the excellent correspondent for the excellent (meaning not anti-Bush/republican NY Times/Wash. Post/CNN/CBS/ABC,etc.) Washington Times does an excellent job in explaining how 9.11 could have been prevented.Examples include the lack of adequately trained translators, CIA apprehension in "penetrating" al-Qaeda, and the 1970 era of anti-CIA political machinatiions that decimated the US intelligence.Also, Mr. Gertz details the lack of attention paid to the intelligence community during eight years of Bill/Hillary/Madeline/fat Al Gore/Sandy stolen documents Berger/et al.Binny struck in 93, 95, 96, 98, and 2000 (and many aborted/thwarted attacks) and all we got from that administration was some cruise missiles and an exploded milk factory in Sudan (while cowardly running from Somalia).This all led to the tragedy of 9.11 (and now the madman Kim Jong-il.)
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Subjects:  1. Bin Laden, Osama,    2. Evaluation    3. History - U.S.    4. Intelligence service    5. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    6. Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence    7. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    8. Political Science    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Terrorism    11. United States    12. United States - 21st Century    13. World Trade Center Bombing, Ne    14. World Trade Center Bombing, New York, N.Y., 1993    15. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    16. Political Science / Political Freedom & Security / Terrorism   

Editorial Review

If the first 270 pages of this book had been published separately, they would have made up a lively, insightful, beautifully written history of theoretical physics and the men and women who plumbed the mysteries of the atom. Along with the following 600 pages, they become a sweeping epic, filled with terror and pity, of the ultimate scientific quest: the development of the ultimate weapon. Rhodes is a peerless explainer of difficult concepts; he is even better at chronicling the personalities who made the discoveries that led to the Bomb. Niels Bohr dominates the first half of the book as J. Robert Oppenheimer does the second; both men were gifted philosophers of science as well as brilliant physicists. The central irony of this book, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award, is that the greatest minds of the century contributed to the greatest destructive force in history. ... Read more

Reviews (134)

Ten Stars!!!
I have little to add to the many excellent reviews of this great book, except to say that, with many mediocre books getting four and five stars, a rating of "only" five stars for a work of this magnitude is woefully inadequate. Buy it, read it, enjoy it, learn from it.

Downright Scary!
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first (and hopefully the last) cities to be nuked. In particular, the eye-witness accounts of ground-zero Hiroshima at the end of this book were probably the most horrific things I have ever read, so wrenching that I don't want to give you an example (though I thought it was important to read). Scarier still are nuclear bombs available today that are 1000 times as potent as 'Little Boy'.
One of the Best Books Ever Written
It's a work of literature, it's a work of history, it's a work of engineering; Richard Rhodes wraps everything into one superb narrative.From Rutherford's canny experiments rigged with chewing gum and string, to Ernest Lawrence lighting a cigarette off an atomic test, nothing is beyond the author's grasp.This is a work of physics in action, the business end.From the very top, Mr. Rhodes' book details the decisions made by FDR and Truman, and goes right on down the chain of command to General Groves, the powerhouse behind the Pentagon's construction who was given stewardship over a bunch offractious geeks who were attempting to unleash the power of the sun.
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Subjects:  1. Atomic bomb    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: American    5. Military - Nuclear Warfare    6. Military Science    7. Modern - 20th Century/Nuclear Age    8. Atomic & molecular physics    9. History / General    10. Nuclear weapons    11. Ordnance, weapons technology    12. Science: General Issues    13. USA    14. World history: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (23)

A Fun, Easy & Educational Read for All Ages
What a great little book!Based on a series of History Minutes developed to air on The History Channel, every two-page spread of this little gem provides a short, easy-to-read and very interesting story-behind-the-story that most of us don't know.
Who'da thought?!
Some simply amazing stories.My ten-year old son chose this book for his "bedtime reading".Educational AND Entertaining.

Fun facts to share with others...
This is the most fun to read and 'trivia contest' your friends with! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Curiosities & Wonders    2. History    3. History - General History    4. Military    5. Military - General    6. Miscellanea    7. Reference    8. World history    9. History / Reference   

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - Naval    7. Military - United States    8. Military - World War II    9. Navy    10. Officers    11. United States.    12. World history: Second World War   

Reviews (9)

Best of the best...
I bought this book new from the Smithsonian Museum bookstore when I was just a kid.Now some 20-odd years later it still sits on the shelf right behind my desk, and I still frequently comb through its pages with the same enthusiasm I had when it was new.I will never let this book out of my possesion.
Must Have for WWII Aviation Enthusiasts
If you enjoy WWII aircraft, and appreciate the breath taking detail and accuracy of Rikyu Watanabe illustrations, you must have this book. I found my copy 3 years ago at OshKosh, and have been offered (...)for it - no way was I parting with it. It is, without question, the finest piece of reference / art work on these 12 aircraft I have ever seen. Vet, IFR Priv. pilot, R/C aircraft modeler.

Incredible!
I'm a WWII airplanes enthsiast, and this book has filled all my expectations.The text, the scaled drawings, the fold-out panels, everithing isexceptional in this complete guide of WWII airplanes. The drawings of this book are incredibly detailed, and if you're meticulous, you'll never find a book like this. My grandfather was a WWII pilot and became nostalgic when he saw the plane he had flown. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Military    2. Military - Aviation    3. Military - World War II    4. Sale Adult - History - Military / War    5. Air forces & warfare    6. Aircraft: general interest    7. Non-Classifiable    8. Sale Books   

Editorial Review

The leaders of the American Revolution, writes the distinguished historian Bernard Bailyn, were radicals. But their concern was not to correct inequalities of class or income, not to remake the social order, but to "purify a corrupt constitution and fight off the apparent growth of prerogative power." They wished, in other words, to mend a broken system and improve upon it. In doing so they drew on many traditions of political and social thought, ranging from English conservative philosophers to exponents of the continental Enlightenment, from backward-looking interpretations of ancient Roman civilization to forward-looking views of a new American people. Bailyn carefully examines these sources of sometimes conflicting ideas and considers how the framers of the Constitution resolved them in their inventive doctrine of federalism. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A spark in the study of the Revolution
This is a book that all students of the American Revolution should be forced to read. Without understanding Bailyn's argument, that the "conspiracy against liberty" was the main reason why America decided to break away from the British Empire, a student will be forever lost in trying to understand the roots of the American Revolution. Almost all of the books on the outbreak of the American Revolution have had to take Bailyn's argument into consideration; so, if you're interested in the study of the American Revolution, then this book is an imperative read. Read T.H. Breen's "The Marketplace of Revolution" after this book, and you'll have a decent grasp of the roots of the American Revolution.
The Radical Whig Fountain of Libertarian Rhetoric
While the 17th century witnessed the failure of the libertarian Levellor revolution, the 18th century can be said to embody its partial victory in the form of the American Revolution.The radical libertarian nature of the Yankee revolutionaires has only recently been acknowledged by historians.Bailyn's volume broke new ground when it was published in 1967 by showing the Radical Whig foundations of the American Revolution.He says "attitudes and ideas that would constitute the Revolutionary ideology was present a half-century before there was an actual Revolution".
Groundbreaking Book
As of today, the work Bailyn did in this book is not new.But if considered in the context of the time period when he wrote it and what it did for the study of the American Revolution, this book was the beginning of the current dominate thought on the Revolution.Bailyn changed the way historians and Americans look at the Revolution by challenging the work of several scholars.Written extremely well, this book deserves every award it revceiced and is still entitled to be a mainstay in history departments around the country. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History - U.S.    4. History: American    5. Military    6. Military - General    7. Political Ideologies - General    8. Political science    9. Revolution, 1775-1783    10. Revolutions    11. U.S. Political History    12. United States    13. United States - General    14. United States - Revolutionary War    15. American history: c 1500 to c 1800    16. History / Military / General    17. History of ideas, intellectual history    18. Revolutions & coups    19. USA    20. c 1700 to c 1800   

Reviews (64)

sgaleckas

Learn anything and everything!!
I think it is so important to gather all the helpful information that you can as a military spouse and this book is one of the best resources for surviving the challenges of military life.
Thank God for Wives Like Meredith!
I married into the military over 5 years ago and coming from a totally NON-military life I had no idea what I was in store for.
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Subjects:  1. Armed Forces    2. General    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Marriage    6. Military    7. Military - United States    8. Military life    9. Military spouses    10. United States    11. History / Military / United States   

Reviews (1)

Military History
The book gives a good overview of the Military development of the Armed Forces of the United States. Main parts, like the Civil War offer some detail, but certainly not as much as a book primarily on the subjets.
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Subjects:  1. Armed Forces    2. General    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. History, Military    6. History: World    7. Military - United States    8. Military History (General)    9. United States    10. United States - General    11. History / General    12. Warfare & Defence    13. World history   

Subjects:  1. Air Transportation    2. Aviation - General    3. History - Military / War    4. Military - Aviation    5. Military Aircraft    6. Military Science    7. Transportation    8. Aircraft: general interest    9. Yearbooks, annuals, almanacs   

Reviews (9)

The Bear Went over the Mountain
To capture the lessons their tactical leaders learned in Afghanistan & to explain the change in tactics that followed, the Frunze Military Academy in Russia compiled this book for their command & general staff combat arms officers. The lessons are valuable not just for Russian officers, but for the tactical training of platoon, company & battalion leaders of any nation likely to engage in conflicts involving civil war, guerrilla forces & rough terrain. This is a book dealing with the starkest features of the unforgiving landscape of tactical combat: casualties & death, adaptation, & survival. Provides an intimate look at the boring but brutal business of counterinsurgency. Maps.

Tactically good but not so exciting
Being in afghanistan I ordered a few books to learn where I was and this one was a great tacitcal book, I could overlfy some places this book talked about and point out areas well but as for the average reader, its black adn white, no cool photos and no real exciting stories.Its more of a pure military history of battle book.

Tactically good but not so exciting
Being in afghanistan I ordered a few books to learn where I was and this one was a great tacitcal book, I could overlfy some places this book talked about and point out areas well but as for the average reader, its black adn white, no cool photos and no real exciting stories.Its more of a pure military history of battle book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. History    3. Military    4. Military - Other    5. Military - Strategy   

Reviews (27)

Gen. Manstein's Own Account of His Amazing Victories across WWII Europe
By the end of WWII, General von Manstein was widely recognized by most German soldiers as the Wehrmacht's most brilliant strategist, a man of honor, and easily the most obvious choice for the Wehrmacht's Commander-in-Chief. Manstein was responsible for formulating most of the strategy that won Germany its great early victories using blitzkrieg tactics in Poland, France, and the Crimea. From Fall 1942 - Spring 1944, Manstein's heroic efforts against hugely overwhelming odds consistently frustrated every attempt to cut off and destroy Germany's armies in the Ukraine.
Not for everyone
The five stars is for what it is supposed to be-- a detailed military memoir by an exceptional leader of German armed forces. Manstein was by any judgment a first rate staff officer, who excelled with troops and shone in use of combined force tactics and strategy on a large scale. His impact in WWII was immense -- on both the Western and Eastern Front.
The Best of the Best
It is generally recognized that the greatest military mind produced by any nation during World War II belonged to Erich von Manstein. His qualifications for such a laurel are numerous, and include the detailed plan which lead to the conquest of France in six weeks in 1940, the conquest of the Crimea in 1942, and Germany's last major victory on the Eastern Front, the recapture of Kharkov in 1943. It is Manstein's record as a "defensive" general, called in to restore the collapsing southern wing of the Eastern Front after Stalingrad, however, which cemented his reputation. Any general can win brilliant victories with first-rate troops, air superiority and unlimited supplies, but it takes a very special type of brain to be able to repeatedly fight off a numerically superior enemy who enjoys all these advantages. As von Moltke the Elder once commented, when told by an admirer that he was destinted to go down as one of the greatest marshals in all history: "No, for I have never conducted a retreat." Manstein did, under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, and in doing so probably saved the whole southern wing of the German army in Russia from annihilation.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Campaigns    3. Europe    4. Germany    5. History    6. Military    7. Military - World War II    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Strategy    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. History / Military / World War II   

Reviews (10)

The Best of the Genre
I have 42 books on WW1 in my library, including most of the well known historian's books. This is absolutely the best, clearest, most lucid and comprehensive one I have read. If you are looking for one book to learn about WW1, this is the one.

A World Undone
In less than 700 pages Mr. Meyer summarized this catrostrophic event byincorporatingcritical background ambitions and blunders which enables the reader to have a satisfactory overview of the entire event. Great job.

All histories should be this good
Absolutely outstanding.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Europe - History    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - World War I    7. World War I    8. World War, 1914-1918    9. History / General   

Subjects:  1. Armed Forces    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History - Military / War    5. History, Military    6. History: American    7. Media Studies    8. Military - United States    9. Military history, Modern    10. Sources    11. United States    12. United States - General    13. American history    14. History / United States / General    15. Maritime history    16. USA   

Editorial Review

Journalist Mark Bowden delivers a strikingly detailed account of the 1993 nightmare operation in Mogadishu that left 18 American soldiers dead and many more wounded. This early foreign-policy disaster for the Clinton administration led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and a total troop withdrawal from Somalia. Bowden does not spend much time considering the context; instead he provides a moment-by-moment chronicle of what happened in the air and on the ground. His gritty narrative tells of how Rangers and elite Delta Force troops embarked on a mission to capture a pair of high-ranking deputies to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid only to find themselves surrounded in a hostile African city. Their high-tech MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down and a number of other miscues left them trapped through the night. Bowden describes Mogadishu as a place of Mad Max-like anarchy--implying strongly that there was never any peace for the supposed peacekeepers to keep. He makes full use of the defense bureaucracy's extensive paper trail--which includes official reports, investigations, and even radio transcripts--to describe the combat with great accuracy, right down to the actual dialogue. He supplements this with hundreds of his own interviews, turning Read more

Reviews (655)

A good book
A good book and story that needed to told, the movie can lets you see the action better, but book makes you see the men as heroes.
Impressive
It should come as no news flash that this is a fine piece of journalism.After you've read it, which shouldn't take long, you might think that you blasted out of Mogadishu with Delta Force on the "Day of the Rangers".
Eye-opening book, but a second-rate audio book
Blackhawk Down follows the harrowing story of a two-day battle that took place in the remote town of Mogadishu in October '93.The description of the Americans and the Somali people is detailed and interesting.It is amazing to read how an actual battle took place.The book is full of gore and human suffering, which proved to be a real eye-opener for me.This is probably the most violent book I've ever read (or in my case listened to), but the message is powerful.Out there beyond our country we have soldiers fighting battles we might not even be aware of, but the battles are important nonetheless.Lives are important and we have soldiers risking theirs that we may live ours.My respect for the military went up several notches after experiencing this book.
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Subjects:  1. 1934-    2. Africa - General    3. Aidid, Mohammed Farah,    4. Army.    5. History    6. History - Military / War    7. Military    8. Military - Other    9. Military - Strategy    10. Military - United States    11. Modern - 20th Century    12. Operation Restore Hope, 1992-1993    13. Task Force Ranger    14. United States.    15. Africa    16. Air forces & warfare    17. History / Military / General    18. World history   

Reviews (95)

Pick Fick
I'm not a Marine, but I feel like one.Fick's account is a compelling look into the training and deployment of the Corps.Extremely well written to the point where the book is a real world page-turner.
A Leader and A Writer
This is a very good read - a good story by a good writer(a Marine officer with a B.A. in classics). Based on his story and writing I'd follow this man, this officer into battle. This book should be considered a companion read of GENERATION KILL by Evan Wright. Mr. Wright was an embedded reporter with Captain Fick's Marines. Read both books, not just one or the other. BOTH.

A story every American man and woman should read.
Nathanial Fick's "One Bullet Away" is a book that everyone should read.I was very intrigued by the book and found myself feeling like I was right there with the platoon and Lt. Fick in Iraq.The book really helped me to understand the emotional conflicts that these warriors face when they are in battle and how difficult and terrifying their decisions can be....these Marines are so human!!Nathanial Fick does a phenomenal job of describing his experiences and really touches the reader by expressing the Marine Corps. values with his close platoon mates; honor, courage, and committment. The strength and beauty of their brotherhood and the loyalty in the platoon spoke loudly and was so impressionable. As I neard the end of the book, I did not want it to end because I felt like I had become a part of the platoon.I felt as if I was sharing all of these emotions with these men I have never even met.
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Subjects:  1. Afghan War, 2001-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Iraq War, 2003-    6. Marine Corps    7. Military    8. Military - General    9. Military - Persian Gulf War    10. Military - United States    11. Military - Veterans    12. Military History (General)    13. Military Training    14. Officers    15. Personal Memoirs    16. Personal narratives, American    17. Training of    18. United States.    19. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Editorial Review

When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, few could have anticipated its potential for devastation. Pulitzer prize-winning author John Hersey recorded the stories of Hiroshima residents shortly after the explosion and, in 1946, Read more

Reviews (184)

"The hurt ones were quiet; no one wept, much less screamed in pain..."
When the atomic bomb dropped at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was a thriving city of two hundred forty-five thousand people.By 8:20, one hundred thousand of those people were dead.Combining the broad perspective of the absolute devastation of the city with the tiniest details of six individual lives, John Hersey provides a powerful closeup of a few survivors of the atomic attack on Hiroshima, giving the carnage a human perspective.
Should be read by everyone
Hiroshima was written shortly after the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Journalist John Hersey traveled to Japan to record the devastation and interviewed many of the survivors, choosing six to focus on. The book begins at the precise moment the bomb exploded, taking each person in turn, setting the scene of where they were at the time and the immediate aftermath. I can't say this book is brilliantly written. There's little style and at times it becomes just a recitation of facts. But if you can put yourself in the place of the survivors, try to see what they see, feel what they feel, you realize how important it is for you to keep reading. This book isn't about entertainment, it's about understanding what the citizens of Hiroshima went through. Seeing them not only as statistics, but real people.

Thought Provoking
This book was very well written, it contains bits and pieces of journalistic facts while using the lives of ordinary people to show the impact of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in a compassionate and perceptive voice. John Hersey uses facts and the recollections of those who survived to weave a truely remarkable tale of what happens when one decision changes the lives of many. This novel contains bits and pieces of people's lives before and after the atomic bomb had been dropped. Although the book may seem short, the time that you spend thinking about the book is actually quite long. This book is not a light and happy read, it is not some classic that becomes cliqued and quoted all too many times, but what it is is an admirable tale spun not by the author himself, but by the lives of those who managed to do the near impossible. This novel tells the story of those who managed to live. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Japan    2. Atomic bomb    3. Blast effect    4. Bombardment, 1945    5. Hiroshima-shi    6. Hiroshima-shi (Japan)    7. History    8. History - Military / War    9. History: World    10. Japan    11. Military - Nuclear Warfare    12. Military - World War II    13. World - General    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. History / World   

Reviews (15)

Life And Fate At The Front
A treasure-trove of wartime observations from the unbelievably well-traveled and dangerously honest Soviet war correspondent Vasily Grossman.Editor Anthony Beevor has done a great job cherry-picking through these notebooks, which are complete except for one section covering the first part of the battle of Stalingrad.Readers familiar with the political climate of the Soviet Union will gulp in trepidation at some of Grossman's notes--if these had fallen into the hands of the NKVD, he would have been fired, jailed, or worse.
Invaluable firsthand accounts ofthe Soviet side of WWII
I'm glad this writing survived to see translation; it provides insight into many facets of the Soviet Union in WWII.
A Jewish Soviet Newspaper Correspondent on the Front Lines
Vasily Grossman's "A Writer at War" is a firsthand account by a Soviet newspaper correspondent of life with the Red Army on the Eastern Front. There are no punches pulled here and Grossman vividly describes the absolutely catastrophic impact Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 1941 had on the Red Army. In the first six months of the war the old Red Army was virtually annihilated by the German Wehrmacht, suffering more than five million casualties, including some 3.3 million Soviet soldiers captured. In all, more than 177 Soviet divisions were lost. Grossman describes the panic, cowardice, desertion, treason and just plain command incompetence as the Red Army struggles to escape its attackers.