Book Description
This is the first full-length account of the CIA's coup d'etat in Iran in 1953âa covert operation whose consequences are still with us today. Written by a noted New York Times journalist, this book is based on documents about the coup (including some lengthy internal CIA reports) that have now been declassified. Stephen Kinzer's compelling narrative is at once a vital piece of history, a cautionary tale, and a real-life espionage thriller.
Customer Reviews:
A must read for America in increasingly disastrous times.......2007-10-12
The insights provided in this book are masterfully presented to offer both a page turning drama and sickening clarity on the trajectories of American meddling in the Middle East. This book goes beyond serving up mundane theories and conjecture. The overall picture here illustrated is profoundly clear and evident in light of the author's supporting research. A glimpse of the future for international policy in the Middle East may well be drawn from the series of events which transpired over the latter half of the 20th century, and which are so brilliantly connected in this book. A must read for anyone keen to understand the increasingly disastrous times of America in the East.
Consequences of One Week ,Fifty Years Ago.......2007-10-04
In 1953 the United States made a momentous decision. Partially out of legitimate fear of a possible Russian takeover of the valuable Iranian Oil field, and partly as a result of incitement by British interests who sought to stubbornly maintain their imperialistic power structure, the CIA led a sinister and clandestine coup that removed the most beloved and democratic leader Iran has had in a century; Mohammend Mossadegh.
Mossadegh was replaced by the Shah Pahlavi who became so hated that a Muslim fanatical mob overthrew him in 1979. The new theocracy, well remembering the American led coup, feared that the CIA would attempt it again. As insurance they attacked the US embassy and took 52 American hostages.
This act so infuriated the Americans that they supported Saddam Hussein's horrific war against Iran. This led to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan, the rise of the Muslim fanatics who created the Hezbollah and Taliban, the empowerment of Saddam, the invasion of Kuwait, the attacks on the US in Beruit, Somalia, 911, and of course our current clumsy missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
While America's awkward foreign policy proved disastrous in hindsight, the fear of communist control of Middle Eastern oil was a driving force in the 1950's. Blame must be shared with the British Anglo-Iranian Oil Company for their greed, the British for treating the Iranians so poorly, for the Iranian Shahs who sold Iran's concessions to fund their lavish life, and for even Mossadegh himself for becoming so blind in his justified hatred for the British that he refused any compromise offered.
Yet while the Iranians despise the US for our intrusions into their affairs and the suffering it has caused, they still honor the American institutions of freedom and democracy. These values are currently suppressed by the current theocracy.
Kinzer's well researched story reads like a first class spy novel. He avoids cynicism and anti American tirades and presents the story in a balanced light. While he does not avoid detailing the disaster we unleashed he also did not avoid the context of the anti Communist fears shared by many Americans in the 1950s.
He will make you think different about the current events in the Middle East.
All the Shah's Men.......2007-08-08
I think this is a book that every American should read because it explains so clearly the little known facts about the overthrow of the very first democratically elected prime minister in Iran. The seeds of democracy were there - just waiting for a little water but because Mossadegh was a nationalist and didn't want to be indebted to any foreign power including the U.S., we initiated this clandestine covert operation which brought the Shah back to power. At the time of the hostage crisis, I couldn't understand why the Iranian's hated us so much. Now I see that scenario with complete clarity. Regime change by any other name is still meddling in the affairs of foreign countries. Even if we don't care about what happens to that country, it always comes back to haunt us because it's bad foreign policy - bad for the U.S. in the worst possible ways.
Excellent crash course in the root of US/Iranian problems.......2007-07-17
I was recommended this book by a friend who is Persian. He considers himself Persian because he does not want to be identified as an Iranian due to misperceptions of the people in the United States. He also does not want to be lumped in with being the government that currently exists in Iran.
The book itself is a relatively quick read that can be done in a day or two. But the wealth of information that Kinzer has packed into what I would consider a short book is astounding. He chronicles the history of Iran dating back to the days of Darius and Cyrus albeit briefly. Then eventually focuses on several key events of the late 19th century and moves into the 20th century. The main focus of the book is the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and their nationalization by Mohammed Mossadegh in the mid-part of the 20th century. This eventually paved the way for the British to coerce the United States Government under Dwight Eisenhower to green light covert ops against Mossaedegh to remove him from his position of Prime Minister of Iran. This led the way for the Shah to assume authoritarian control over the country, which eventually culminated in the 1979 Revolution.
It is an incredibly fascinating story and goes to show how the United States in a sense created their own problem with Iran due to the desire to have oil flowing from the country. They got 26 years worth of it only to create a bigger problem by leading the way inadvertently for the fundamentalist government that is there now. It becomes clear why Harry S. Truman is so greatly appreciated these days due to his ability to make decisions that were and would have been better for the long term. He opposed any US action against Iran. If only that advice had been followed, who knows what might have been in the Middle East.
For those wanting to know why the current regime in Iran supports terrorist groups and is so vehemently anti-Western? This is the book to read. It does an excellent job of explaining why and how we got to the this point we are at currently.
Imagine that Iran would try to dictate the US at which prices and to whom they can only sell their products and own resources..........2007-07-14
This book shows the kind of info that is not found, as usual, in the mainstream media. It shows you how the US along with other countries like the UK have tried to control the oil resources of a sovereign third country like Iran. They have used any tool for achieving their goals, even the coup de etat. At the beggining of the history, through the middle ages and until the discovery of America the main excuse for conquering and destroying countries and for genocide was the religion, like happended with the religion wars in Central Europe, in America with the Spanish Catholic Kings and with the English purintans, in France with the hugonots... Then it was the liberty, equality, etc, like with the wars of Napoleon or with Russia and the poor republics that suffered its influece after the war of the October's Revolution. Then it came the race with Hitler. And nowadays the excuse is the democracy. But, always, it is just an excuse that hides the real motivation: economic interest. Nowadays the Western countries while keeping their own population uninformed and sort of drugged with the everyday work and consumption needs, try to convince them to go to war with the excuse that the objective is to spread liberty and democracy. They do this at the same time that they incentivate and protect dictatorships and antidemocratic regimens like they do in most of the Arab countries (there is/were such regimens not only in Iraq or Iran, by the way, just look at the bunch of allies of the US and the UK in the Persian Gulf like Oman, Dubai, Soudern Arabia, Kuwait, Katar, etc.. where the lack of freedom of speach or of democracy does not take the American politicians to go these countries to give them the present of democracy by the force of war). This book is an example of the whole lie, cinism and hypocrisy that the international foreign Wester policies are about. Like alwasy, it is not about virtues but only about money and geostrategical control. For this according the report of the worldwide reputed medicine magazine The Lancet, and published by the American University of John Hopkins, about 660.000 Iraqi people have been killed in Iraq by the middle of the last year, most of them by artillery and air strikes by false called "coalition" forces. For this reason the puppet government of Iraq has announce at the beginning of this year that they will not disclosure more figures of deaths caused by the war. Obviusly the occupants are frighteened by the fact that today, one year after that report, we may have reached already one million deaths, something that if the people of the US and of the UK would be well informed and aware of it they would jump to the streets to stop their goverments spreading the democracy in Iraq. A democratic country of dead people with the second largest oil reserves of the world, a very easy country to control. Whoever that can not understand that it is not democracy or liberty should find the information that is there and that is not provided normaly by the mainstream media. I recommend everybody to read the book of John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitmank, to understand what it is going on behind the nice words of our politicians.
seeConfessions of an Economic Hit Man
Average customer rating:
- Half of a Yellow Sun - Great read!
- A Literary Classic!!
- Powerful characters captured by outstanding writing
- Still thinking about this book
- compelling read with complex characters
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Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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ASIN: 1400044162
Release Date: 2006-09-12 |
Book Description
A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as “the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,” Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed.
With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.
Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.
Customer Reviews:
Half of a Yellow Sun - Great read!.......2007-10-18
Well written and interesting story. Could not put it down, would recommend it for book clubs because many parts of it are great for discussions.
A Literary Classic!!.......2007-10-16
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the newest Nigerian writer in the mould of Chinua Achebe or Nobel Laureate Wole Shoyinka, and much like tham, her writing style is simply outstanding!
"Half of a yellow sun" is her second book, following the critically acclaimed "Purple Hibiscus", and has won the Orange prize for fiction. The book takes its name from the half yellow sun on the Biafran flag.
Filled with vivid prose and wit, and very real, colourful characters: Odenigbo, his girlfriend Olanna, her twin Kainene, her English boyfriend Richard (who becomes Igbo by association), and houseboy Ugwu, it is set in sixties Nigeria, fresh from Independence and still wobbling as she tries to find her feet.
More importantly, it gives one an insight into the suffering, pain, heartache, endured by the Biafrans (the short lived secessionist nation), the scheming of the west, as well as the blissful ignorance of most other Nigerians of the carnage going on in the eastern part of the nation, all this done without pointing any fingers or judging.
This book, though fiction, is an important chronicle of a part of Nigerian history that should never be forgotten, and left me deeply moved. A literary classic!!
Powerful characters captured by outstanding writing.......2007-09-25
It is the late 1960s. In Africa, the small nation of Biafra struggles to establish a republic independent from Nigeria. The world is not paying attention as people are slaughtered, as heroes are born, as classes and ethnic groups clash and fight and flee.
Amidst this backdrop of turmoil, you meet Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old boy just hired as a houseboy by Odenigbo, a university professor and revolutionary. You follow Odenigbo and his girlfriend Olanna as they abandon one house after another, fleeing with Ugwu, trying to stay one step ahead of the front line of the war. You travel with Richard, a young Englishman who considers himself a citizen of this new nation of Biafra, as he navigates the war and pursues Olanna's proud and beautiful twin sister Kainene. You get a glimpse, through these characters, into the chaos and instability that is the daily lives of those affected by war.
Adichie's new novel is ambitious - it manages simultaneously to be both broad in scope and intimate in its details. Her writing is beautiful, and her characters so well fleshed out that you keep thinking about them, wondering what will happen to them, long after the book is done. There is death here, yes, but there is also birth and friendship and lust. There is hunger, but there is also generosity and truth. Adichie does an excellent job portraying the surreal coexistence of the fear and devastation of war with the more mundane, but perhaps even more painful, struggles to maintain some semblance of "normal" life - meals prepared and eaten, school attended, marriages planned and babies conceived.
Adichie's novel is a window into the past, into a place that most of us have never been. The clash and coincidence of the love story and the war epic render Half a Yellow Sun into the kind of fiction that is often more telling, more evocative of a particular point in history, than any strictly historic account could ever be.
Armchair Interviews says: The book makes you feel the characters struggle in a way that only the best fiction can.
Still thinking about this book.......2007-09-17
I won't say much since the other reviewers have nicely listed a synopsis of the book, but what I will say is that I loved this book. It is not often one finds a book where you care very much for the characters and want to know what happens next and can't put it down. The author writes in a way that makes you feel you are there. Those who have lived in Africa will also feel closer to the book and its characters. When I finished this book I cried... and am still thinking about the story. Buy this book, you will not be disappointed.
compelling read with complex characters .......2007-09-16
Africa is undeniably hip right now. Just ask Oprah, Bono, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, among other luminaries, make their annual pilgrimages between the "third" world and the "first" world to remind us of our moral obligation to our long-suffering brothers and sisters in Africa. From the continent has come one of the finest writers I have read in a long time. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the author of Purple Hibiscus, and her latest masterpiece, Half of a Yellow Sun. In this novel, which won the prestigious Orange prize for literature in the UK, Adichie brings Nigeria in the early '60s to life.
Through the lives of her central characters, we see the political and cultural tensions that were brewing in the years leading up to the Biafran war, a brutal conflict initially started by tribal differences. Thirteen-year old Ugwu is employed as a house boy to a radical University professor, Olanna is the professor's beautiful and privileged girlfriend who has eschewed her bourgeois life for the brilliant professor. Richard is a shy, insecure Englishman who seeks to rediscover himself in his relationship with Olanna's sister, Kainene, a fierce, mysterious woman who is beholden to no one. Adichie wasn't even born when these events were unfolding, but she heard stories about the war and its aftermath from her parents and other relatives who were swept up in these apocalyptic events that ultimately led to much suffering for Nigeria's people.
Why read this book? Aside from the political and moral questions it raises, it's a compelling read with complex characters who will leave you reflecting on their stories long after you have finished the novel.
Amazon.com
Even to those without Marxist sympathies, Che Guevara (1928-67) was a dashing, charismatic figure: the asthmatic son of an aristocratic Argentine family whose sympathy for the world's oppressed turned him into a socialist revolutionary, the valued comrade-in-arms of Cuba's Fidel Castro and a leader of guerilla warfare in Latin America and Africa. Journalist Jon Lee Anderson's lengthy and absorbing portrait captures the complexities of international politics (revolutionary and counter); his painstaking research has unearthed a remarkable amount of new material, including information about Guevara's death at the hands of the Bolivian military.
Book Description
This New York Times “Notable Book of the Year” is the definitive biography on Che Guevara, whose epic dream was to end poverty and injustice in Latin America through armed revolution. Anderson’s biography traces Che’s extraordinary life, from his comfortable Argentine upbringing to the Cuban revolution, from the halls of power in Castro’s government to his failed campaign in the Congo and assassination in the Bolivian jungle.
Customer Reviews:
Simply the Best.......2007-08-28
This is an excellent biography. It shows Guevara from all perspectives; personal, political, and as a historical figure. I can't recommend this book highly enough. As for Anderson, he needs to include better documentation for his sources. This is supposed to be history not a movie script.
Great for a classroom study but not for...........2007-06-03
This book is so full of information it begins to sound more like a step by step account of Che's life. I was sincerely looking forward to reading interesting and historical facts but there are more long winded historical segues and side stories narrated in the third person than one would expect from a biographical book. One example relates to an account of Che's purchase of a gift for a friend which spans 2 pages--was this a major event by normal standards: probably not. At times I felt as if I was reading the report of someone who had too much information but did not want to truncate it under the belief that it would seem dishonest.
However, if you dont mind reading minute details about someone as interesting as Che, then you should buy this book. If you are more interested in getting to the heart of his ideology and political inclinations, look elsewhere.
The Ultimate Book about Che!.......2007-04-30
This book is extremely detailed about Che's life. The author has researched his life so thoroughly. It is also very unbiased, explaining flaws of his character.
A capitalist at heart, this book made me understand the anti-imperialist sentiment in the world, as Che visits Mayan ruins and an American copper mine in Chile. The book also explains the United Fruit Company's presence in Latin America and the politics behind it.
This book also details the Cuban revolution. What an interesting story!! I didn't realize how smart Castro is or that he came from a rich family.
By the time you finish this book, you may not LOVE Che, but you will understand why he fought.
the best book on che.......2007-02-20
This is a balanced, well researched, and easy to read treatise on Che. A good portion of the book details the revolution and you also get to know Fidel well.
thorough.......2007-01-03
Excellent and objective book on Che Guevara. A long read (750 pages) but written in a very readable and chronological fashion. This book is also very insightful regarding the events leading up to and after the Cuban Revolution and provides a lot of insight on Fidel Castro as well. Highly recommended.
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Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonne
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
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ASIN: 039303786X |
Book Description
The definitive, complete catalogue of Edward Hopper's oils, watercolors, and illustrations published in a magnificent three-volume boxed set.
First published in 1995 at $750 and now available at one-third that price, this extraordinary collection includes essays on Hopper's place in American art, all his illustration work, 350 watercolors, 360 oils, related texts, and an easy-to-reference Windows CD with provenance, bibliographies, exhibition histories, and excerpts from the artist's own sketchbooks. 3 volumes boxed with Windows CD. 1,500 illustrations, 600 in color.
Customer Reviews:
Better Values Elsewhere.......2007-09-05
If you love Edward Hopper and must have the complete works, you'll buy this regardless of what I say. But if you are just a fan and want to see a bio and highlights there are better compendiums out there. While these books are bound well, the paper could be better quality as could the color reproduction. The biggest drawback is that the books don't lie flat for better viewing.
Again, if you want the complete, historical Edward Hopper - I'd consider this. But for the money and for someone who just admires his more popular works, there are better, and less expensive choices.
Book Description
Though it lasted for only six tense days in June, the 1967 Arab-Israeli war never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades, from the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to the ongoing intifada, is a direct consequence of those six days of fighting. Michael B. Oren’s magnificent Six Days of War, an internationally acclaimed bestseller, is the first comprehensive account of this epoch-making event.
Writing with a novelist’s command of narrative and a historian’s grasp of fact and motive, Oren reconstructs both the lightning-fast action on the battlefields and the political shocks that electrified the world. Extraordinary personalities—Moshe Dayan and Gamal Abdul Nasser, Lyndon Johnson and Alexei Kosygin—rose and toppled from power as a result of this war; borders were redrawn; daring strategies brilliantly succeeded or disastrously failed in a matter of hours. And the balance of power changed—in the Middle East and in the world. A towering work of history and an enthralling human narrative, Six Days of War is the most important book on the Middle East conflict to appear in a generation.
Customer Reviews:
Needs more synthesizing.......2007-09-25
Accurate, detailed, long, too long. All the information you need and more is here, put in chronological order, from all sides, the planning and the making, the would-be's and the were, the personal interviews and recollections and the reporting. But it reads more as a police report than as an author book.
When it dwells into diplomacy and he-said and the other-said, its interests plummets, it becomes boring and frustrating. It's a huge work of collecting data all right, doing interviews to tens of people, etc, but I think readers would appreciate a more synthesized book than this one. Be specific, get to the point, don't just pour information like from a broken faucet. The author may use this as a lecture tool or as a text book in some college course, but for the general audience it's not fun.
Excellent hsitory.......2007-08-04
Great history, very readable, explains politics and is generally quite unbiased. Not a detailed military history.
Nothing like it.......2007-07-15
Pick up this book it's just amazing. it gives you details in a very understandable way. it's full of drama and a great page turner.
Slouching Toward the Apocalypse.......2007-07-14
If you only have time for one book about the Six Day War, make it this one. One may choose to quibble with this or that to show off one's discernment, but quibbles quiver before the stern mountain of fact piled up by Mr. Oren. Un-spun facts are the most valuable thing to a history buff. This book has them. Read why the war started. Read how the Superpowers set out their pawns. Learn the real meaning of the "arab street" and why it is important. Watch what happens when national leaders get caught up in their own propaganda. One caution, after reading how the brightest and best, from all of the countries involved, acquitted themselves, you may be tempted to follow the biblical injunction to "put not your faith in princes" with renewed conviction.
Must read!.......2007-06-27
This is an excellent book about the six-day war. The author is fair and impartial in his description. I Highly recommend it.
Book Description
Kurt Cobain filled dozens of notebooks with lyrics, drawings, and writings about his plans for Nirvana and his thoughts about fame, the state of music, and the people who bought and sold him and his music. Over twenty of these notebooks survived his many moves and travels and have been locked in a safe since his death. His journals reveal an artist who loved records, who knew the history of rock, and who was determined to define his place in that history.
Customer Reviews:
Not a revelation.......2007-09-12
I was expecting to get some sort of mystical revelation from this book, to get really deep into the psyche of Kurt Cobain, to see the tortured artist at his most artistically tortured. Unfortunately, I was let down.
This book is just a smattering of photoscans from Kurt Cobain's various journals he kept throughout the years. It is by no means complete or even coherent in it's selection of material. The book jumps around from here to there, giving random short stories, drawings, lyrics, ideas for recording, letters to various people, etc., etc. And I will admit, some of it is interesting to read, especially during the years where Nirvana was at it's peak of popularity. But it's not satisfying; in fact, I found it frustrating. Everything is so jumpy and choppy that you can't really appreciate the context of the journal entry, and much of the time it's so random that even if you did know the context, it wouldn't help much. I'll give the book one thing, though: it is roughly in chronological order. Even so, it's hard to follow at times.
I would have liked to have seen a book more in the vein of other artist's journals, where you get a more complete selection of journal entries. I don't feel as though I learned anything about Kurt Cobain, or got any insight into his art, or sensed any of his deepening depression as he neared his death. If I'm going to read an artist's journals, it's to come away with a revelation about them as artists and as people. "Journals" offers little, I think. It is so heavily selective with what it includes that it only gives very small glimpses into Kurt's mind. If you want to read it, I would suggest getting it from the library first, just to see what you think.
I hope a more comprehensive (and hopefully typed) collection of Kurt Cobain's journals come out one day, so that we can get a really clear view of Kurt's creative genius and emotional turmoil at work.
Shocking.......2007-06-12
There's no words to describe the handwrited notes and draws by Kurt. Simply, shocking...
Is the book that every shrink need to have to understand adolescent behaviours.
Better to burn out than fade away.......2007-04-02
Kurt Cobain was a talented and tortured artist that had a tremendous impact on my life. His songs, more specifically, his poems, really inspired me to write as well and publish my first book.
So when I first heard about this book, I was immediately drawn to it. I had strong feelings of interest beset by a sense of respect for him as a person. I wondered if reading his personal journals would be kind of like trespassing, an invasion of privacy, something Kurt would be offended by.
But Kurt invites all fans and critics to go ahead and probe around to try to figure him out. So, with hesitation, I embarked on this journey, completely drawn into the mind of my favorite true artist.
Anyone who can appreciate art might be intrigued by this book. It's a lot of scattered thoughts, eloquent poems, random and bizzare drawings--just Kurt pouring his heart out on paper.
Kurt's humor and sarcasm are embedded throughout this book. Many people find so much meaning in every single statement, plus any depressing thought captured is viewed as foreshadowing. C'mon people.
Everything in this book encapsulates some emotion we all have felt. People overanalyzing every single scribble of pencil or pen is a complete joke that I'm sure Kurt finds humorous.
Anyways, this collection of journals just adds to the mysticism of Kurt's life and "suicide". Some questions are better left unanswered.
Journals by Kurt Cobain.......2007-02-09
I was deeply saddened by Kurt's death all those years ago - it really affected me even though I didn't know him but I thought I did. I wish I didn't buy this book, as now I am completely dissallousioned. He was a tortured sole and it really disturbed me. I wish that I could have just remembered all the great songs he wrote.
Oh well, whatever, nevermind.
A Must Read.......2006-07-23
When this book came out, I read the whole thing in an hour in the bookstore. I couldnt put it down.
Many people think that it is wrong to publish this, and while it was done without Kurts permission, I think that in the end this is the ultimate keystone to his art and his life. Ultimately I think Kurt valued art above all and he would want this to be released because of its art value. Nirvana was a great band because they reestablished the ethic of raw do it yourself art is everything realness. That is why Nevermind destroyed the entire hairmetal crap on MTV at the time. People could see that. People knew how good Nirvana was. And the reason why his journals are so wonderful is because it is the most Raw form of Kurts thought that is out there. Non produced, stripped down and completely self examining. Kurts honesty is ultimately what i think killed him. His soul was just too strong for his body. However his honesty was ultimately the reason why he was one of the best songwriters that has ever lived. He had the ability to look himself in the eye and into his own heart. Doing that hurts a lot. This book not only helps art as a whole, but it helps to understand people with depression, and to understand the heart of a true artist.
Book Description
“Remarkably insightful . . . A groundbreaking revision that deserves to reframe the entire debate . . . It soars.”—The New York Times Book Review
In The Accidental Empire, Gershom Gorenberg examines the strange birth of the settler movement in the ten years following the Six-Day War and finds that it was as much the child of Labor Party socialism as of religious extremism. The giants of Israeli history—Dayan, Meir, Eshkol, Allon—all played major roles in this drama, as did more contemporary figures like Sharon, Rabin, and Peres. Gorenberg also shows how three American presidents turned a blind eye to what was happening in the territories, and reveals their strategic reasons for doing so.
Drawing on newly opened archives and extensive interviews, Gorenberg calls into question much of what we think we know about this issue that continues to haunt the Middle East.
Customer Reviews:
Romantic view of Israeli history from Israel's leftwing.......2007-04-26
Israel came into being as a result of a civil war during the last days of the British Mandate over Palestine. As the civil war gathered momentum the British abandoned the mandate with the approval of most of the rest of the world. The Israeli left knows this war as the war of Independence and the Arab Palestinians whether now Israeli citizens or stateless Palestinians as the 'Nakba' or 'disaster'.
In Gorenberg's book it is the war of Independence with its effective partition of mandatory Palestine without most of the Jewish religious sites and most of the Arabs with the exception of the Arab areas of the Galilee.
What frightens Gorenberg the most about the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria is that they contain most of the sites of Jewish religious significance and that they now also contain centers of Jewish religious population. He fears their existence more than he fears the Palestinian Arabs. The reason is quite simple: one is a distant neighbor and the other is too much like his own mother-in-law.
So the remaining areas of the stateless British Mandate for Palestine which Israel conquered in 1967 are referred to as being occupied territory. This serves both the interests of the Israeli left who don't want the Jewish religious sites nor the re-emergence of a strong religious sentiment among the Jewish people. It also serves the interests of the Palestinian Arabs who want to return to the days of 1948 when partition of the land on better terms for them was still available.
The Palestinian Arab viewpoint is that the entire area should be Islamic and Arab despite its large Jewish population. This is not well discussed. The idea that UN resolution 242 is effectively a return to the Peel commisions partition plan or the 1947 UN plan for partition plan is also not discussed. It is presented only as a preservation of the status quo of the 1949 armistice lines now disguised as being Israel and the rest as being occupied territory. This mis-reading of history maximizes the area of the partition for Palestinian Arabs without taking on additional Jewish religious sites. It also helps prevent the re-emergence of strong religious sentiment among the Jewish people in Israel.
As an Israeli it is a fun book to read, but understand that you are reading propaganda from a very interested party. A book on the same events from the standpoint of a Palestinian Arab or a religious Palestinian Jew would tell you an entirely different story.
Full, in depth, information.......2007-02-12
The Accidental Empire is a wide ranging book, but a wonderfully focused and well researched account aftermath of the Six Days War, the capture of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. TAE appears to be a wider treatment of Gorenberg's far less successful (though very interesting) first book, The End of Days, about the growing power of religious Zionists. Instead of focusing on the Temple Mount, TAE provides an account of the religious settlement movement, primarily Gush Emunim, and their attempts to create illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Perhaps the strongest point of the book is how muddled the thinking of the Labor leadership was about the new settlements. As aging revolutionaries, they were still wedded to the idea that settlements meant security; that creating facts on the land would lead to a more secure Israel. But they were equally drawn to the idea that land was a negotiating chip with surrounding Arab states. The pull between both impulses led to a sustained paralysis.
Any interested in Zionist history and issues must have this........2006-09-24
THE ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE: ISRAEL AND THE BIRTH OF THE SETTLEMENTS, 1967-77 offers up the untold story based on new original research, of the actions and issues which created the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. It goes beyond detailing the well-known events of the Six Day War to probe the birth of the settler movement in Israel, the product of Labor Party socialism and religious extremism. Israel's major figures and how they interacted with U.S. administrative forces - distracted by Vietnam - are probed in chapters which tell of the first Israeli settler in occupied territory p to modern times. Any interested in Zionist history and issues must have this.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Adds much to a better understanding of the historical context of the current strife in the West Bank and Gaza.......2006-07-09
It is essential in reading this book, and perhaps more significantly in reading reviews of this book, to separate the views of religious expansionists from those of the secular government and of by far the highest portion of the population of Israel throughout its existence regarding the settlements. It is also important to compare the strong emotional, almost messianic, attachment to the land of Samaria and Judea felt and espoused by the settlers with the need of the government to "create facts" on the land that supposedly distinguished its own internal legal opinions, and those of most of the rest of the world, regarding the "legality" of the settlements. Whatever personal views you may have on these and other core issues raised by Gorenberg's thoroughly researched, well documented and extensively footnoted work, his dispassionate, well written report of the events is an invaluable reference work that helps define the significance of the settlements as contributing to Middle East unrest. Moreover, Gorenberg's fascinating report of the inner workings of the Eshkol, Meir and Rabin cabinets, and the arrogant disregard of official government policy by cabinet members who represented a small but powerful portion of the population, provide insight into the intrigues that seemingly drive many national decisions in Israel because of the need to form coalition governments that direct the policies of the country.
A well written, well researched, thorough history of an import period of Israeli history.......2006-05-17
Although I consider myself very knowledgeable about the Arab-Israeli conflict, this book nevertheless provided me with much new information. I think that it is common for people to believe that following the six day war the labor government desperately desired to trade the newly conquered territories for peace and that settlements did not start until the Likud government took over in the late '70's. This book sets the record straight. Although, the Israeli government's official position was that it was ready to trade land for peace, their actions spoke otherwise. Largely due to an emotional attachment to the "Whole Land of Israel" as well as for security concerns, the labor government was actually conflicted about giving up the territories. Slowly but surely the labor government encouraged or condoned settlements including near major Arab population centers (eg Hebron). This was despite the government's knowledge that such settlement contravened international law. Israel's grasp on the territories was already quite firm before the likud governments of the 1980's.
Gorenberg's book is very well researched as he relies upon archived documents as well as interviews of the political players at the time. A unique aspect of the book is how Gorenberg follows certain "unknown" individuals, such as a regular army soldier who fought in the six day war, and intersperses their emotions and ideas within the relatively more dry telling of the history.
This is a very important book for anyone who wants to understand the current conflict.
Average customer rating:
- Bountiful insight into a talented, sensitive artist
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Charles Burchfield's Journals: The Poetry of Place
Charles Burchfield
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Charles Burchfield's Seasons (Essential Paintings Series)
ASIN: 0791409910 |
Customer Reviews:
Bountiful insight into a talented, sensitive artist.......1999-05-04
Organized by topic, this is a must-have if you wish to understand Burchfield. Beautiful production job.
Amazon.com
Bestselling author W.E.B. Griffin, whose novels about various branches of the military have won him battalions of fans, returns to the Brotherhood of War series with this crackling yarn. A detachment of Special Forces hotshots teams up with presidential counselor Sandy Felter to put a stop to Che Guevara's attempts to "liberate" the Congo from President Joseph Mobutu's anticommunist government.
Under Felter's direction, the Green Berets dispatch a special detachment to the Congo. Their mission is to convince Mobutu of the wisdom of the American plan to discredit and humiliate Che and his Cuban troops, rather than martyr him, and thus bring an end to his plan to export Castro-style communism to Africa and South America. Repelling the Simba insurgents with help from forces led by South African mercenary Mike Hoare, Mobutu accepts the plan, along with the Green Beret's covert assistance, war materiel, and a fighting force manned by many of the characters who peopled The Aviators, Griffin's last Brotherhood adventure. Yes, fans, the good guys are back--especially flying ace Jack Portet, (a pilot drafted into the army right out of Leopoldville, where he was helping his father run a regional airline), George Washington "Father" Lunsford, and Master Sergeant "Doubting" Thomas. And a lot of them are black, a talented crew of African American airmen and specialists pressed into the Special Forces not just because they're brave and able but because they can pass as Congolese soldiers and thereby keep the American presence under wraps.
As a matter of historical fact Guevara failed badly in the Congo, and after retreating to Cuba, tried the same gambit in Bolivia, where he eventually died under fire and gained the martyrdom the U.S. tried so hard to prevent. But Special Ops offers a close-up look at a little-known piece of military history in a gloriously testosterone-pumped epic, seasoned with a touch of sex and romance. That may seem incongruous, given Griffin's clipped, terse writing style, which is punctuated with plenty of military dispatches and a few gratuitous growls at the internecine rivalry among American intelligence agencies. It's even more incongruous when the general's daughter gets the flying ace, and her father's highly placed friends not only get Portet an officer's stripes but fly her to the Congo to stand by her man. But none of that will stop Griffin's delighted readers from snapping up his latest chronicle of men at war. --Jane Adams
Book Description
W.E.B. Griffin returns to the series that launched his phenomenal career-- in an explosive new novel that pits a team of Special Forces warriors against the legendary revolutionary Che Guevara.
Customer Reviews:
A poorly written and unentertaining read.......2007-01-08
No-one expects war novels to be great literature but one does expect them to be written to a professional standard. Anyone who buys a war novel by a professional writer and 'recognised' author of these sorts of books such as W.E.B. Griffin does expect two qualities to feature in the text: the first is that the book is entertaining and the second is a certain level of competence when it comes to using words. Special Ops has neither--and the reading, and paying, public certainly deserves better.
The plot and the story-line are long, dragging, and convoluted without being suspenseful or interesting. This together with all the comings and goings of the characters who almost to a man and woman know each other or have been associated with each other in some way previously in their service careers, coincidentally and unbelievably, make the story slow going. (I never realised that the United States Army was such a small world.)
And if the plot and plan of the novel weren't long and drawn-out enough, Griffin adds insult to injury by writing in a tediously verbose way. He says in ten words that which could have been said in six, or even less. And with this Griffin throws in some very trite lines, adding a certain immaturity and silly schoolboy naivete to the book which it could well do without. Another aspect of the book's language is that Griffin sometimes uses expressions that weren't in widespread use in 1964/65 in the US, or anywhere else, but became current after the 1960s, during the 70s and 80s. Some of the characters utter lines in dialogue that sound as if they came from the mouths of adolescents in the 1980s or 90s rather than from full-grown men and women in the mid 60s.
All in all, this book is not a good book: it is too poorly written, tells a slow and not very credible story in too many words, and is simply tiresome to read. I see that others in some reviews of this book have come to these same or similar conclusions. This is unsurprising: the book's flaws are quite clear. I've given it a one-star rating as there is no nil rating.
In a few years' time, I may read another of Griffin's books, just for the sake of comparison, as anyone who has written as prolifically as W.E.B. Griffin must have written a good book somewhere along the line. But after just wading through some 773 pages of unremitting tedium of Special Ops (once I start a book I finish it) it will certainly be a while.
I usually don't read this type of novel.......2006-12-26
And I don't expect the quality of writing in serious literature but there are subjects he seems to be winging it on and really doesn't know much about. There is a lot on Argentina which Mr. Griffin obviously does know a lot about but I'm not sure how this much on Argentina fits.
There is a lt colonel investment banker, a lot polo which fits well with Argentina and investment bankers, they are all staying in luxury digs in the keys, and lots of drinking and fine dining. No middle class officers here.
All in all not a particularly interesting book, not believable, and not terribly well written.
Great book.......2006-11-10
After so long Griffin decided to continue in his brotherhood of war series.
But nevertheless it is just as good as the others in the series.
Comment on entire series.......2006-07-14
I have just finished re-reading the entire Brotherhood of War series. While the storyline is interesting, there are too many errors in the research or in the editing. I am not sure who is to blame.
Foremost, to anyone who has been in the military is the use of an incorrect phoenic alphabet. Next, anyone who has flown or has read anything about flying knows that runway numbers are derived from compass headings and therefore couldn't include a runway 37 as listed in one of the novels. Another reference to "Kennedy" airport in 1959 is just plain dumb. Idlewild was not renamed until 1963. Also in the 1959 time frame was a reference to a "Visa" card. First of all the initial visas were called BankAmericard and they didn't come along until the mid to late '60's.
I could go on and on regarding the research and editing errors, but you get the idea.
Having said all of that, If one can put aside the obvious errors, this series makes for a good read.
Entertaining action and characters.......2006-02-01
Having not read previous books in the series I cannot comment on how it fits the series. I am generally a pure military history reader but occasionally pick up an historical fiction such as this so I have only read a couple of Mr. Griffin's other works. I must say, Mr. Griffin knows how to weave a great plot and create a depth of characters like few other authors. I enjoyed this work very much. At times it seemed to move a little slow but the time spent in understanding and relating to the characters pays off when the action and mystery unfolds. All in all, the book gives you an enjoyable time in service with the early Special Operations forces.
The reader in this edition also did a great job of appropriate emotion in the reading.
Amazon.com
Regeneration, one in Pat Barker's series of novels confronting the psychological effects of World War I, focuses on treatment methods during the war and the story of a decorated English officer sent to a military hospital after publicly declaring he will no longer fight. Yet the novel is much more. Written in sparse prose that is shockingly clear -- the descriptions of electronic treatments are particularly harrowing -- it combines real-life characters and events with fictional ones in a work that examines the insanity of war like no other. Barker also weaves in issues of class and politics in this compactly powerful book. Other books in the series include The Eye in the Door and the Booker Award winner The Ghost Road.
Customer Reviews:
Suprisingly Fantastic.......2007-06-02
Honestly, my teacher assigned the book. I would never have picked up the book. It just did not sound like "my thing." Reaccounting the horrors of war just plain worries me. I guess I always fear the author will regurgitate cold, hard quasi-facts wrapped up in a political agenda. Thankfully for me, my teacher has wonderful taste. The book is emotional. It focuses less on the physical and more the mental well-being and change in the war combattants. Constant peaks into the characters' minds allows the reader to engage with the characters on a personal level and see them develop. There are no clear cut answers. They live in a perpetual grey, faced with hard decisions, and split loyalties. This book will make the reader question what the reader thinks, and give a whole new spin on the evils of war. Although, the book constantly has humorous moments; I'll never be able to look at a billygoat the same. It's an emotional experience of a lifetime.
Sabrina K.'s Counterargument .......2006-09-05
"Rivers' analysis of Sassoon's attitude towards the War shows Rivers the futility of Sassoon's protest. By refusing to participate in the War, Sassoon is not only breaking the oath he took when he entered the service, but because he is not serving, he is similar to the leaders and generals prolonging the War from afar."
Although Sassoon is technically breaking the oath he took when he entered the service by refusing to serve, this by no means places him parallel to the leaders and generals prolonging the war from afar. Unlike those war officers, Sassoon feels an immense emotional connection to his men, which is a main driving force in his refusal to serve in the war any longer in the first place. The oath that Sassoon has vowed to his men, therefore, a promise to protect them and to make sure they are safe, does not break during the novel because he is hoping to save their lives through his protest. Causing Rivers, an extremely intelligent psychologist, to question the motives and direction of the war as well, Sassoon demonstrates his ability to cause those of authority to question the morality of the war as well. In causing Rivers to question the reasons of the war effort, Sassoon provides the reader with concrete proof that his struggle is not futile.
Sassoon is steadfast in his desire to return the front, being described as almost ecstatic to be returning to his men at the end of the novel. Even though Sassoon's protest does not cause the war to end, he is still able to raise serious doubts about the sincerity of the war in Rivers' mind and is able to return to his men and resume fulfilling the physical aspect of his oath by protecting his men from bodily harm.
by Ava Hess.......2006-09-05
In "Regeneration" Pat Barker describes the psychological consequences of war, for both the soldiers and the doctors meant to help "cure" them. One of the strengths of the book was Pat Barker's ability to make every character as realistic and human as possible. None of the characters were simplified, as in many other books, to help the reader decide who they like or agree with. The characters are continually evolving and changing their views and values, as real people do. I must admit that at first I didn't like that I couldn't mold the characters to fit how I wanted them to be. For example, when I read that Sassoon was being sent to a mental hospital to be cured of his anti-war thoughts, I wanted his doctor (Dr. Rivers) to be mean and not at all understanding. This however would have made the book much easier and much less interesting had it been as simple as that. Looking back, one of my favorite aspects of the book was Dr. Rivers' doubt in not only himself, but his psychological techniques and views on the war as well. With the authority of the book, Dr. Rivers, questioning his own sanity and his justification for his work (sending the soldiers back to war), the book takes on a completely new level of meaning, quite an eerie one as well. Now one realizes how completely alone, misunderstood and mistreated the soldiers are.
Regeneration.......2006-09-02
By Mollie
I thought this book was really good. I got attached to the characters and I wanted to read more about them and what happened to them!
I thought that Dr. Rivers was an especially interesting character, and it was my favorite part of the book, reading about all of his changes. As we discussed in class today, the book is about Seigfried Sassoon but you can observe monumental changes in Rivers. As he tries to rehabilitate his patients, he learns things from them and through them, changes himself.
I also liked that pat barker brought up the subject of bonds between men during the war, and all the men that realized that war wasn't really a manly experience, they actually ended up gaining more feminine qualities, nurturing and taking care of each other, and the other psychological effects of the war that you wouldn't normally think about.
I definitely recommend this book and I want to read the rest of the trilogy.
By Mollie Little
Regeneration.......2006-09-01
"Remember, you must behave as becomes the hero I expect you to be."
In Regeneration, by Pat Barker, Dr. Rivers, a brilliant psychologist is given the task of "curing" the soldiers sent to his mental institute so they can return to service. Ironically, these mental problems are caused by their service in WWI. The story tells of a brilliant psychologist, Rivers, and his treatment of several patients, the most important of which is Siegfried Sassoon, the published War poet who was taken to the Craiglockart Mental Institution for his written protest against the War. Rivers is forced to treat Sassoon, who is not remotely insane, but possibly saner in recognizing the evil of the War, which is evident in all the patients he treats. Sassoon forces Rivers to come to terms with his own work and mission at Craiglockart. Rivers' analysis of Sassoon's attitude towards the War shows Rivers the futility of Sassoon's protest. By refusing to participate in the War, Sassoon is not only breaking the oath he took when he entered the service, but because he is not serving, he is similar to the leaders and generals prolonging the War from afar.
Pat Barker expertly illustrates the horrors of the War through its victims. Regeneration is so blunt, open, and horrific that it forces us to square with the terror and outrage of this tragedy, and discover our real feelings on the conflict in the world today. WWI is the perfect setting for this dramatic anti-war book. The author uses the destructive weapons, real people, and extreme mental breakdowns to emphasize what these men went through.
There is a poem by Wilfred Owens, a character in the book and friend to Siegfried Sassoon, which mirrors the brutal horror and futility of the War.
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an Angel called him out of heaven;
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him, thy son.
Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,
A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
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