History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives

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The true "feminist agenda"
Important feminist study on militarisation

Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives
Cynthia Enloe
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520220714

Book Description

Maneuvers takes readers on a global tour of the sprawling process called "militarization." With her incisive verve and moxie, eminent feminist Cynthia Enloe shows that the people who become militarized are not just the obvious ones--executives and factory floor workers who make fighter planes, land mines, and intercontinental missiles. They are also the employees of food companies, toy companies, clothing companies, film studios, stock brokerages, and advertising agencies. Militarization is never gender-neutral, Enloe claims: It is a personal and political transformation that relies on ideas about femininity and masculinity. Films that equate action with war, condoms that are designed with a camouflage pattern, fashions that celebrate brass buttons and epaulettes, tomato soup that contains pasta shaped like Star Wars weapons--all of these contribute to militaristic values that mold our culture in both war and peace.
Presenting new and groundbreaking material that builds on Enloe's acclaimed work in Does Khaki Become You? and Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, Maneuvers takes an international look at the politics of masculinity, nationalism, and globalization. Enloe ranges widely from Japan to Korea, Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Britain, Israel, the United States, and many points in between. She covers a broad variety of subjects: gays in the military, the history of "camp followers," the politics of women who have sexually serviced male soldiers, married life in the military, military nurses, and the recruitment of women into the military. One chapter titled "When Soldiers Rape" explores the many facets of the issue in countries such as Chile, the Philippines, Okinawa, Rwanda, and the United States.
Enloe outlines the dilemmas feminists around the globe face in trying to craft theories and strategies that support militarized women, locally and internationally, without unwittingly being militarized themselves. She explores the complicated militarized experiences of women as prostitutes, as rape victims, as mothers, as wives, as nurses, and as feminist activists, and she uncovers the "maneuvers" that military officials and their civilian supporters have made in order to ensure that each of these groups of women feel special and separate.

Customer Reviews:

The true "feminist agenda".......2001-01-01

Cynthia Enloe is the author most quoted by opponants of women in the armed forces, because she presents the real Feminist viewpoint, which is staunchly anti-war and ambivelant toward the military. Enloe's arguments, supported by N.O.W., are coopted by "anti-feminist" foes of servicewomen as proof of their own contention that women have no place in the military. Paradoxically, after quoting Enloe, those same crusaders then lambast a so-called "feminist lobby" for promoting gender integration in combat operations. No doubt they confuse Feminism with some "politically-correct" positions of Congressional military panels, which are, ironically, often ignored or opposed by N.O.W. But Enloe's books go much further than simply stating Feminism's pacifist ideals. In "Maneuvers", she accuses the military of deliberate victimization of women worldwide. She makes a number of good points concerning the cruelties of war toward civilian women, but her antimilitary bias shows and is sometimes rather venomous. She gives no thought whatsoever to the conditions which make warfare an unpleasant reality and the armed forces a necessity. Nor has she any real concern for American military women or their reasons for wanting to serve. By relating selected incidents of harassment or violence against servicewomen, she presents a negative and mostly false impression of the American military's widespread and willful victimization of its female members. Read "Maneuvers" for the Feminist counter of Brian Mitchell's "Flirting With Disaster", but don't expect balance in the views of either author.

Important feminist study on militarisation.......2000-10-14

Cynthia Enloe adds to her series of writings looking at the effects of militarisation on women's lives - from the laundresses, camp followers, comfort women and sex workers to feminist military personnel and those who fight the home front.

Like Jan Jindy Pettman's "Worlding Women - a feminist international politics", Enloe's latest book seeks to look at international relations from a gendered perspective - and succeeds admirably.

The author relies a lot on secondary sources (citing a lot of newspaper stories), but weaves together the strands of militarisation on women's lives in a compelling and readable style. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes that illustrate the broader themes of the multifacted impact of contemporary militarisation (I particularly enjoyed the discussion on why British military officers from all services and US Air Force and Navy officers are allowed to carry umbrellas, but they are fobidden as too girlie for the US Marines and US Army! )

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General Story

Interesting Story-Melodramatically Told

Informative

Quick interesting read, bio of pararescue jumper

Quick interesting read, bio of pararescue jumper

That Others May Live: The True Story of a PJ, a Member of America's Most Daring Rescue Force
Pete Nelson , and Jack Brehm
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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That Others May Live: The True Story of the PJs, the Real Life Heroes of the Perfect Storm

ASIN: 0609605046
Release Date: 2000-02-08

Amazon.com

That Others May Live is the story of one of America's most elite military units. The PJs--pararescue jumpers--are to the air force what the Green Berets are to the army and the SEALs are to the navy, even though they are less well known. There are only about 300 of them, and their main function is to rescue downed pilots, often behind enemy lines. They also perform civilian rescues. "There are no more capable rescuers than the PJs," writes Jack Brehm, a 20-year PJ veteran who penned this book with journalist Pete Nelson. "No one else knows how to fall five miles from the sky to rescue somebody. No one else trains to make rescues in such a wide variety of circumstances and conditions on a mountaintop, in the middle of the Sahara, or 1,000 miles out from shore in hurricane-tossed seas." Some readers will recall the PJs' minor role in Sebastian Junger's harrowing bookThe Perfect Storm; Brehm actually coordinated that PJ operation, and he tells his side of the story on these pages.

Most of That Others May Live (the title is a PJ motto) is told in the third person--an odd choice for a book that labels itself "autobiography" on the jacket. But it works well as Brehm describes everything from PJ training school (about 90 percent of enrollees quit) to family life (divorce rates are very high, even though Brehm is blessed with a supportive wife and five kids). The best parts of the book focus on daring PJ missions and include vivid accounts of, for instance, what free fall is like after jumping from a plane at 26,000 feet ("It's nothing like holding your arm out the window of a car moving at 125 mph. It's more like lying on a pillow of air, so restful you could almost fall asleep"). Brehm also reveals the startling low pay PJs receive: after a few promotions and a dozen years experience, he writes, they make "about what a high school graduate temping in an office can earn if she's really good at alphabetizing." Yet the job has plenty of other rewards for a certain type of person: "The stereotypical pararescueman gets a testosterone high from being physically fit, and an endorphin high from exercising, and then he gets an adrenaline high from parachuting out of an airplane to a victim in need of medical assistance, and then he gets a spiritual, godlike feeling of omnipotence from saving somebody's life, and then he goes to a bar after the mission and has a few shots of tequila to celebrate." Brehm assures readers that every PJ "will deviate" from this description, but the whole of his book reveals it to be a pretty good one-sentence sketch of PJ life. --John J. Miller

Book Description

THESE THINGS WE DO,
THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE.
--PJ MOTTO

They are the military's most elite force, a highly trained group of men serving the Air Force and National Guard with a mandate to fly behind enemy lines during war and rescue downed pilots. They are pararescue jumpers, or PJs for short, the most radically fit, mentally tough men in the armed forces. During peacetime, PJs keep their skills sharp with daring civilian rescues, recovering victims from scorching deserts, treacherous mountaintops, or raging seas. Most people learned of the PJs in The Perfect Storm, with its riveting account of how a helicopter of PJs from a squadron on Long Island plunged into the Atlantic during a rescue.

Senior Master Sergeant Jack Brehm was the PJ supervisor that night and coordinated the dramatic rescue efforts. Life-and-death situations are all in a day's work for the PJs, who are always on call, ready to put their own lives on the line so "that others may live." In an age seemingly devoid of heroes, these men are the real deal, a close-knit unit bound together by bravery and guts, selflessness and sacrifice, and the intense desire to both serve their country and live life on the edge.

That Others May Live is the thrilling story of Jack Brehm and his love affair with two things: the PJ way of life, and his wife, Peggy, the mother of his five children. In 1977, twenty-year-old Jack, an aimless kid from Long Island, made a decision that would alter the course of his life--he decided to become a PJ. He entered "Superman School," the indoctrination program where PJs are made. It is the toughest program in the military, more difficult than what the Navy SEALs or Army Special Ops go through. No one flunks out--it just gets harder and harder until most guys eliminate themselves. In other programs candidates might say, "They can beat me, but they can't kill me." In Superman School, the candidates say, "They can kill me, but they can't eat me."

Jack Brehm was transformed from a kid without a clue into a man with a purpose. He and nine other men graduated in the class of '78-03--they had the right stuff. More than eighty others in their class didn't. That Others May Live is a vivid, compelling account of Jack's twenty years as a PJ. We see him and his fellow PJs climb mountains and battle storms to save lives, struggle with their emotions as PJ friends die, wait anxiously to hear if they are called to war in a place such as Kosovo or the Persian Gulf, and try to keep their families together despite the enormous pressure of the job. Jack is luckier than most PJs, for he has Peggy and his five kids. In the end, it becomes clear who the real hero is in Jack's life: his rock-solid wife. Jack may wear the parachute, but Peggy wears the pants.

Customer Reviews:

General Story.......2006-08-31

This book was far more of a story in my mind than a matter-of-fact documentary. If you are looking to really read about PJ's and what they do I would consider looking elsewhere. The author takes numerous artistic licenses' in writing this book leaving me feeling like I've just read a story but by no means an accurate account.
Additionally, the editing of this book was quite poor. Numerous gramatically errors, which I am not accustomed to finding in a book, left me feeling like the factual content of the book must also be questioned.

Interesting Story-Melodramatically Told.......2005-01-04

This book tells the story of Jack Brehm, a career pararescue jumper or PJ. After graduating from high school in the mid-1970s, Brehm answered an ad in the paper for men interested in learning how to jump from airplanes. The ad had been placed by the local PJ recruiter on Long Island. After talking with the recruiter, and learning the kinds of tasks PJs undertake, Brehm decided he was interested in signing up. He proceeded to basic training and then to the pipeline, a series of training schools starting with "Superman School", designed not only to build skills and physical abilities, but also to weed out anyone not possessed of superhuman strength, endurance, and motivation to put their lives on the line for others. Brehm made it through the pipeline and became a full-fledged PJ in the early 1980s. At the same time that he started flying missions, he also became a father to twins, and this story is as much his family's story as it is his.

Brehm describes for us the risks that PJs take on stormy seas or windy mountain tops. Over the course of his 20-year career, Brehm saved many lives but lost many of his friends in job-related accidents. He was also injured himself on several occasions. The one tour of duty that he wanted most of all to complete his career was a military rescue. The stories can be quite interesting; however, their melodrama is played out to the fullest extent. At times details are blown completely out of proportion, such as when Brehm is faced with the decision between following his PJ mentor to Alaska or applying to be the NCO in charge of his unit when his mentor leaves. This episode is presented as being extremely momentous. Certainly, it was an important time in Brehm's life, but not that remarkable compared with similar decisions that people with more sedentary jobs must make routinely. Other details are similarly exaggerated, and the level of melodrama makes the book read at times as if it were straight out of Reader's Digest. Nevertheless, Brehm's story is very engaging and informative about a branch of the services that many people have never heard of.

Informative.......2004-08-10

This is a good book, especially if you are a family member and want to know the PJ's perspective. As a mom of a pararescueman in training, I was enlightened by this point of view and the support system the families developed to sustain each other during emergencies. I enjoyed this book, read it from cover to cover as soon as it arrived. I have loaned it to several other family members who are also interested in knowing what our son may be called upon to do.

Quick interesting read, bio of pararescue jumper.......2003-06-17

Apparently this book is a retitled version of _That Others May Live: The True Story of the PJs, Real Life Heroes of the Perfect Storm_. If so, the current title is more accurate: the book focuses on "a PJ," coincidentally the author, not PJ's in general. And it's NOT about the Perfect Storm, except in passing, though that incident was particularly relevant to the author. As to the PJ's (Air Force Pararescue Jumpers) being "real life heroes of the Perfect Storm," there's no indication they rescued anyone during that storm. In fact, the Coast Guard ship had to come out and rescue THEM. Yes, you can be a hero for an attempt, but let's not go overboard in naming our book after one failed rescue attempt.
The book is interesting. Jack, of course, makes almost no mistakes, and his wife is a perfect angel. She understands when he says, "yes, I went to the strip bar, but that's where the debriefing session was held."
The unexamined assumption that OF COURSE men who work hard have to relax by drinking all night, having bar fights, and visiting strip joints is overdone.
The book does provide information about a little-understood group of airmen who put their lives on the line to rescue others in what can be very difficult situations, much like the Coast Guard rescue jumpers. Their main purpose is to rescue downed pilots and personnel in need of medical help, on land or sea, but they're also available to help civilians when civilian rescue agencies don't have the resources available.
There is some understanding of the mentality of repeatedly putting your life on the line -- you might as well die doing something you love, while helping others.
The book could have argued for better equipment for the PJ's -- although the author repeatedly recounts stories of how difficult it is for helicopters to refuel from tankers during rough weather, the author doesn't argue for a better, heavier, longer, wider (or whatever) fueling drogue design.
The Perfect Storm part of the book takes 30 pages, IF you include the soap opera parts about the PJ wives calling each other for news. A pararescue helicopter and tanker were dispatched during the Perfect Storm to rescue a civilian sailor alone on his boat. The rescue was aborted due to heavy seas, and the rescue helicopter itself ditched on the way back to base, with the loss of one airman, because the helicopter was unable to refuel with the existing drogue design. The author, in charge at the base, grounded rescue attempts of this airman due to his orders and impossible conditions. Yet his men took their anger out at him, sometimes in petty ways. They stole his jacket, and snuck a bottle of booze into his luggage as he was about to fly into a Muslim country, which if discovered would have caused Jack serious consequences. There's so much talk of the "teamwork" ethos in the book -- where did it go when his men were angry at Jack, and caused him to have to leave command of the unit?

Quick interesting read, bio of pararescue jumper.......2003-06-13

Apparently this book is a retitled version of _That Others May Live: The True Story of the PJs, Real Life Heroes of the Perfect Storm_. If so, the current title is more accurate: the book focuses on "a PJ," coincidentally the author, not PJ's in general. And it's NOT about the Perfect Storm, except in passing, though particularly relevant to the author. As to the PJ's (Air Force Pararescue Jumpers) being "real life heroes of the perfect storm," there's no indication they rescued anyone during that storm. In fact, the Coast Guard ship had to come out and rescue THEM. Yes, you can be a hero for an attempt, but let's not go overboard in naming our book after one rescue attempt in a much bigger event.
The book is interesting. Jack, of course, makes almost no mistakes, and his wife is a perfect angel. She understands when he says, "yes, I went to the strip bar, but that's where the debriefing session was held."
The unexamined assumption that OF COURSE men who work hard have to relax by drinking all night, having bar fights, and visiting strip joints is overdone.
The book does provide information about a little-understood group of airmen who put their lives on the line to rescue others in what can be very difficult situations, much like the Coast Guard rescue jumpers. Their main purpose is to rescue downed pilots and personnel in need of medical help, on land or sea, but they're also available to help civilians when civilian rescue agencies don't have the resources available.
There is some understanding of the mentality of repeatedly putting your life on the line -- you might as well die doing something you love, while helping others.
The book could have argued for better equipment -- although the author repeatedly recounts stories of how difficult it is for helicopters to refuel from tankers during rough weather, the author doesn't argue for a better, heavier, longer, wider (or whatever) fueling drogue design.
The Perfect Storm part takes 30 pages, IF you include the soap opera parts about the wives calling each other for news. A pararescue helicopter and tanker was dispatched during the Perfect Storm to rescue a sailor doing a solo trip around the world. The rescue was aborted due to heavy seas, and the rescue helicopter itself ditched on the way back to base, with the loss of one airman. The helicopter ditched because it was unable to refuel with the existing drogue design. The author, in charge at the base, grounded rescue attempts of this airman due to his orders and impossible conditions. Yet his men took their anger out of him, sometimes in petty ways. They stole his jacket, and snuck a bottle of booze into his luggage as he was about to fly into a Muslim country, which if discovered would have gotten Jack in enormous trouble. There's so much talk of the "teamwork" ethos in the book -- where did it go when his men were angry at Jack, and caused him to have to leave command of the unit?

Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq

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Corruption at its best
No blood money
How the US snatched defeat from the jaws of victory
Conservatives should be the most furious
Crime Without Crimnals

Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq
T. Christian Miller
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316166278

Book Description

It was supposed to be quick and easy. The Bush Administration even promised that it wouldn't cost American taxpayers a thing -- Iraqi oil revenues would pay for it all. But billions and billions of dollars, and thousands of lives, later, the Iraqi reconstruction is an undeniable failure. Iraq pumps out less oil now than it did under Saddam. At best, Iraqi's average all of twelve hours a day of electricity. American soldiers lack body armor and adequate protection for their motor vehicles. Increasingly worse off, Iraqi's turn against us. Increasingly worse off, our troops are killed by a strengthening insurgency. As T. Christian Miller reveals in this searing and timely book, the Bush Administration has fatally undermined the war effort and our soldiers by handing out mountains of cash not to the best companies for the reconstruction effort, but to buddies, cronies, relatives and political hacks -- some of whom have simply taken the money and run with it. Blistering, brilliant and shocking, this will be the breakout title when it comes to Iraq books, and the catalyst for national debate.

Customer Reviews:

Corruption at its best.......2007-08-27

While the matters in this book have long been alluded to in congressional hearing and the media. this is the first book to gather it up in one volume. It shows an inept government unable to do what was done almost 60 years earlier. Admittedly, the culture and the circumstances were different but the resources were greater. The rampant graft and lack of aggressive action by those in charge, including contractors, is chilling. Have we as a nation state sunk so low?

It presents a thoughtful picture of the risk encountered daily by many employees of contractors. This is the first writing that describes the risk imposed on the professional truckers serving in Iraq. No other writer spells it out so vividly.

This book raises more questions than it supplies answers. Of course, that was the purpose of the book.

No blood money.......2007-05-10

This book is a devastating indictment of the US intervention in Iraq. For the author, the clearest signal of the failure of the reconstruction program is the unabated violence.
The second Iraq war created a paradise for cynical war profiteers, while the Iraqi population was left in the cold. The aid packages were in fact remarkable programs of US domestic handouts and corporate welfare, profiting nearly only to retired Republican operatives, US businessmen and dubious Iraqi exiles with a double agenda.
The profiteers organized an orgy of greed on profit guaranteed contracts. Control was inexistent, e.g., $ 9 billion out of the $ 20 billion of the Iraq Development Fund disappeared without a trace (mind-boggling!). Insurance companies sold mouth watering policies for labor protection. Foreign private security firms played a leading role in the daily violence in Iraq. The contractors hired slave laborers in order to maximize their profits.
The newly installed Iraqi government was not a shade better, e.g., its Defense Ministry misspent or `lost' $ 1.3 billion in its first year in office.

The author illustrates poignantly his terribly shocking exposé with concrete examples of personal tragedies, like the suicide of Col. Ted Westhusing, or the murder by his kidnappers of a 19 year old Nepalese, who paid a broker's fee of $ 3000 for a $ 200 per month job in Iraq.

Miller's book shows also the disastrous effect the UN sanctions had on the Iraqis under Saddam (one schoolbook for every six children).
Its final conclusion is that the Iraqi people didn't receive `blood money' - the payment of compensation by an attacker to the family members of dead or injured loved ones. Instead, they inherited a living standard below the `Saddam' level (no power, no water, no sewage treatment).

This book with its formidable title is a must read for all those interested in world current affairs.

How the US snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.......2007-04-23

This books deserves a Pulitzer Prize for plugging the huge gap in our knowledge of why the spectacular military triumph was succeeded by the even more spectacular reconstruction fiasco that quickly alienated average Iraqis. The press has focused mostly on the daily casualty counts and on the political maneuvering among Iraqi religious and secular leaders. Left unreported has been the story of why the mainstream Iraqi population that was so hopeful after the US toppled Saddam has turned against us in despair. Miller's investigation and reporting skills are remarkable in detailing so much of what went wrong with virtually every aspect of the occupation. Much of the blame is attributable to the unprecedented reliance on profit-driven private sector firms to carry out public policy of rebuilding Iraq -- which was doomed to failure because normal marke forces don't exist to control behavior of corporations left to run amok. Absolute must reading for anyone trying to understand how any American military success can be rapidly and overwhelmingly squandered by failure to plan for all that must follow.

Conservatives should be the most furious.......2007-03-07

Much about the Iraq "war" has been covered. The mythology, the manifest destiny, the lies, the propoganda. But one dimension that's been touched on by Robert Greenwald in "Iraq for Sale" and this fine, fine volume is the profiteering that's going on in Iraq.

Some others critics have commented that the book doesn't list criminals. On the contrary, many are implicated! Indeed, aside from the corporations and their directors who are making out quite literally like bandits, the text also covers the dubious qualifications of those assigned to high positions in Iraq, e.g., persons who were chosen because of their position on Roe v. Wade.

Those who purport to be conservative should be the most angry at what is going on. When they talk about big government, yet refuse to complain when megacorporations are charging the taxpayers--yes, that's you and me--hundreds--THOUSANDS of times what a service is worth there is something wrong. And this book specifies who's getting away with those acts so far. (In a review, I regret I can't get more specific or my review will be eliminated.)

Get this book for yourself and for ALL who still defend what's going on, especially those, again, who claim to be conservatives. This truly is the most important book I've read on the "war" and I'm well-read on the subject. I talked with an attorney referred to in the text who argues that a main motive for the war is to establish a new ruling class. You'll be able to figure out how such a ruling class may be established by reading and pondering this fine volume.

Crime Without Crimnals.......2007-02-05

This book lists crimes but pulls back from from pointing to the criminals.

The crimes themselves are well known to readers of the Internet. There is nothing new here. If you don't pay attention to the Internet the list of crimes and profiteering in Iraq is sobering.

Probably out of a justified fear of retribution the author fails to draw the obvious conclusions of who did what.

Three stars for generalities and one star for specifics= two stars overall.

Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors

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A new perspective
Great introduction to 2 somewhat parallel lives
Crazy Horse and Custer
Death in Battle - Death in Peace
Interesting

Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
Stephen E. Ambrose
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385479662
Release Date: 1996-05-01

Book Description

On the sparkling morning of June 25, 1876, 611 men of the United States 7th Cavalry rode toward the banks of the Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory, where 3,000 Indians stood waiting for battle. The lives of two great warriors would soon be forever linked throughout history: Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Sioux, and General George Armstrong Custer. Both were men of aggression and supreme courage. Both became leaders in their societies at very early ages; both were stripped of power, in disgrace, and worked to earn back the respect of their people. And to both of them, the unspoiled grandeur of the Great Plains of North America was an irresistible challenge. Their parallel lives would pave the way, in a manner unknown to either, for an inevitable clash between two nations fighting for possession of the open prairie.

Customer Reviews:

A new perspective.......2007-08-23

I have been a big fan of Ambrose and have read most of his books. I grew up in Montana and was aware of "Custer's Battlefield". The name was changed from Custer's Last Stand to the Battle of the Bighorn. Very appropriate.
Ambrose opened my eyes to the policy of the government as it related to the "Indian Wars". He does a great job in positioning both Custer and Crazy Horse throughout their lives and how they were destined to meet in SE Montana.

This book helps me understand how the Native Americans were treated and mistreated during the opening of the west.

If you are a history fan, I encourage you to read Stephen Ambose's works. His details allow you to put yourself in the shoes of an observer to history. Check out Undaunted Courage if you want to see the world through the eyes of Lewis and Clark.

Great introduction to 2 somewhat parallel lives.......2007-06-10

I went into this book primariliy interested in crazy horse, yet by about half way through i was captivated with custer. Many of Mr. Ambrose's detractors say he stretches the facts. This could easily be true, i am in no way an expert on either crazy horse nor custer. Yet when i walk away from this book i dont remember many facts but more so feel as though i have a sense of who these two individuals were and how they operated in their respective worlds. If i was writing a dissertation on the topic i probably wouldnt cite this as a source, at the same time i think this is a great introduction book to crazy horse, custer, and the indian wars. Overall its a captiviating and fun read, enjoy!

Crazy Horse and Custer.......2007-01-09

Excellent book-goes into depth about both of their lives and the parallels between them.

Death in Battle - Death in Peace.......2006-08-30

They are books like those written by Stephen Ambrose which keep the flame of my interest in reading of times and events of long ago burning. Some have accused Ambrose of taking too many liberties with the facts. To those I would say, Bah Humbug! This book is well written and worthy of the readers time, unless, of course, you are a "fact-checker", in which case the original sources, to the extent they even exist, might be more to your liking. For Orginary Joe's, like me, Mr. Ambrose has provided a good deal of reading entertainment and information. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be transported in time and place to the high plains during the Indian Wars.

Interesting.......2006-08-04

Great study of two complex personalities. I never realized what a mysterious figure Crazy Horse was, and his integral role at the Little Big Horn. Ambrose, as usual, does phenomenal research and his gift of prose make this book a pleasure.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Generals in Gray Lives of the Confederate Commander

Average customer rating:

Few books are REALLY essential..........
The good the bad and the ugly...
Excellent Source of Information on Confederate Generals!
Excellent reference book
A must have reference work

Generals in Gray Lives of the Confederate Commander
Ezra T. Warner
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0807108235

Book Description

When Generals in Gray was published in 1959, scholars and critics immediately hailed it as one of the few indispensable books on the American Civil War. Historian Stanley Horn, for example, wrote, "It is difficult for a reviewer to restrain his enthusiasm in recommending a monumental book of this high quality and value." Here at last is the paperback edition of Ezra J. Warner's magnum opus with its concise, detailed biographical sketches and—in an amazing feat of research—photographs of all 425 Confederate generals. The only exhaustive guide to the South's command, Generals in Gray belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the Civil War.

AUTHOR BIO: Ezra J. Warner (1910-1974) was also the author of Generals in Blue. A native of Lake Forest, Illinois, he lived in La Jolla, California and was well known for his work in Civil War biography.

Customer Reviews:

Few books are REALLY essential.................2007-06-30

.....but this one sure is. The Civil War is still a current event for many of us. For four long years, both sides were carried by their armies, and led by their Generals. Now, lots of us know about Lee and Jackson, but there were a total of 425 Confederate Generals over the course of the war, and some even I've never heard of. Of these, 299 were serving as General Officers at the end. A total of 77 were killed in battle; the rest died of natural causes, resigned, got fired, etc., etc.

They're ALL here, at least the ones that we can't argue about whether they were really a General. [There are others about whom we can argue, for various reasons--a separate book has come out in recent years...see "More Generals in Gray"]. While Lee has has more biographies than I can count, and many have at least one, for most of these guys, this is all we've got. Here we get pictures, pre and, where appropriate, post war careers, grave sites, and a study of just what the man accomplished [or didn't]. Robert E. Lee gets three and a half pages, but all get a good write-up.

They were a varied lot: six General Lees, six Jacksons, eight each of Smith and Walker. Professional soldiers, lawyers, politicians, even three preachers [Polk and Pendleton, you know; read this and find the third]. Some were heroic, some were drunks, a few were both. Some brilliant, some inept, one or two both. The post war lots of the survivors were as various as the men; poverty and wealth, glory and apostasy, and all points in between. Trivia: Who was the ONLY Confederate General born in Texas? Who was the last living Conferderate General? ONE man answers BOTH questions. [OK, I'll give it to you...Judge Felix Huston Robertson of Waco died April 20, 1928]. The very first American Indian to wear General's stars AND the last General to surrender...he's here, in all his glory.

I can go on all day. The late Ezra Warner, Illinois native and California investment counsellor, published this in 1959...it needs to stay in print forever. While I've had this, and the companion "Generals in Blue", for years, only recently has a trade paperback made it readily available, and affordable. A "thank you" to the publisher, and a huge, everlasting, "THANK YOU" to Mr. Warner.

The good the bad and the ugly..........2006-02-17

This book is a must for any Civil War buff. Learn the good, bad and the ugly about all general officers of the army of the CSA. I keep this book, and its companion, Generals in Blue, handy when I am reading historical accounts of battles of the Civil War. How often, while you are reading, have you yearned to get additional information on a particular general? These books are perfect to provide more information, when you want it.

Excellent Source of Information on Confederate Generals!.......2004-03-27

I remember first reading Generals in Gray as a teenager and have often referred back to the book over the years.

Warner gives a synopsis of each general , usually containing the following information:

1. Birthplace and birthdate.
2. Pre-Civil War life.
3. Battles served in, promotions, woundings, death (if applicable).
4. Postwar career (if he survived the war).
5. Death and place burial.
6. Brief mention of the general's competency (or lack thereof).
7. Relationships with other generals (superior, subordinate).

I have often found the book to be extremely helpful when reading a book on a particular Civil War battle. Doing so helps me to better understand the general when studying a particular battle.

Whether you have a serious interest in the Civil War or a novice, I highly recommend the book as an excellent reference!

Excellent reference book.......2002-09-23

Warner does an excellent job in giving short biographies on all 425 Confederate generals, including a picture of each general. An excellent reference guide and a must have for your Civil War library.

A must have reference work.......2001-02-13

If you have even an ancillary interest in the American Civil War, this is essential to read and to own. I consult my copy on a weekly basis and I've owned it for twenty years. Warner writes well and succinctly about all of the Confederate Generals. Each biography is accompanied by a single photograph of the subject. The book is like a large biographical dictionary, easy to navigate and peruse at your leisure. If you are interested in in-depth material on any of these Generals, it's best to consult an individual biography of your chosen favorite. But if you have a casual interest or merely want an essential reference tool, this is a "must have."

Amazon.com

Inscribed on a wall at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is a quote from the Bible: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). On the other side of the lobby, five rows of stars are etched into the white marble wall, each representing a CIA officer killed in the line of duty. Below the stars is a case containing the "Book of Honor"--"a tome as sacred to the Agency as if it held a splinter of the true cross," writes Ted Gup--and in it are the names of the men and women who gave their lives serving the CIA. Well, not all the names; about half the entries are blank because the CIA says it doesn't want to compromise ongoing operations. Yet, as Gup argues in his own tome, also called The Book of Honor, the truth behind many of the stories that aren't being told threatens nothing--except perhaps the agency's own sense of shame over botched operations.

Gup, a well-known investigative reporter with experience at The Washington Post and Time, interviewed hundreds of current and former CIA case officers to tell the stories behind the stars. "In the aggregate, the stories of the stars form a kind of constellation that, once connected, reveal not only the CIA's history but something of its soul as well," he writes. Yet this is, thankfully, not an indiscrete book. He writes of "a young woman who died a violent and selfless death in 1996 ... her name is withheld from this book. The Agency made a compelling case that to identify her would put others at risk." The bulk of The Book of Honor does, in fact, name names and describe how they died. In this sense, it is similar to the runaway bestseller Blind Man's Bluff, which described the secret history of American submarine espionage during the cold war. Yet what's most striking about Gup's accounts is how many of the deaths were routine or accidental. Many agents merely had the misfortune of being on planes that crashed--hardly the stuff of a James Bond adventure. Throughout, Gup is sensitive to a situation in which, "between the values of an open society and the demands of a craft rooted in deception and betrayal, the CIA is asked to steer an uneasy, often irreconcilable course." This fascinating book strikes a clean blow for the open society--but it serves a larger purpose as well: telling the truth. --John J. Miller

Book Description

In the entrance of the CIA headquarters looms a huge marble wall into which seventy-one stars are carved-each representing an agent who has died in the line of duty. Official CIA records only name thirty-five of them, however. Undeterred by claims that revealing the identities of these "nameless stars" might compromise national security, Ted Gup sorted through thousands of documents and interviewed over 400 CIA officers in his attempt to bring their long-hidden stories to light. The result of this extraordinary work of investigation is a surprising glimpse at the real lives of secret agents, and an unprecedented history of the most compelling-and controversial-department of the US government.

Customer Reviews:

The Ultimate Sacrifice.......2007-09-13

By far the best book that I have every read. Ted Gup does an excellent job of painting the picture of the lifestyle and dedication of the people that worked with or for the CIA.
Within the book, he tells various accounts of those that sacrificed all for love of the country and not recognition or money.

Sigh- How I'd like to rate it higher.......2006-03-15

The problem is that this book is biting off more than it can chew. (There also happen to be at least a couple of factual errors in it, though that may not be the fault of the author, I wonder about some of his sourcing.) Gup is trying to give us real insight into the lives of these fine folks who died in the service of their country and the world.

But, try as he does, he is missing critical context around many of the stories. The context is key to filling out what ends up otherwise as flat. The author's bias seems to be towards enlightening the world about convert operations - as if that in itself is a higher good. Unfortunately, while I must admit that at times the "government" paints with a broad brush when it "secretizes" things, nearly everything that has to do with clandestine service needs to be kept in the dark.

The fact is, that these men understood the "deal". They volunteered. They were heroes because they went willingly to do harder work than most people can imagine because they believed in it. They understood they might "win a goald star". They knew what it meant to win a medal only to have it stored it in a box at HQ.

But they didn't give a damn about the kind of recognition Gup wants to give them. Is it hard on the families? You're damn right it is. That's why the families are true heroes as well - sacrificing so much for something bigger than themselves. But that is also besides the point.

The context is where it's at. Tell the story of each of these people by explaining what THEY understood about the life and death of the geopolitics in which they operated - and WHY they chose to operate in it, Guppy, and maybe YOU'LL earn another star.

By the way, both the Agency and a reviewer got the quote out of context: It does say, "Know ye the truth and the truth shall set you free" but what follows is, "I am the way and the Truth and the life. Whoever believes in me shall not die but shall have eternal life." It is a quote from Mathew's Gospel. The truth is always more complex than it may seem.

In Remembrance of Those Who Gave All.......2005-08-01

When imagining the deaths of those CIA employees fallen in the line of duty, each symbolized by a star engraved in the Book of Honor at Agency Headquarters, images conjure up of Hollywood-style gunfights between shadowy figures in a European capital or of a heroic American spy being tortured to death by his Russian captors. The reality of the matter, however, is that these fantasies couldn't be further from the truth.

In a stunning feat of investigative journalism, Ted Gup reveals the powerful, untold stories of the lives led by these nameless stars and their less than glorious deaths. Some were victims of terrorist atrocities, others lost in plane wrecks while covertly participating in proxy wars, and one was even left to rot away in a Chinese prison for almost two decades. What is most surprising, however, is that so many of these deaths were due to simple accidents and nothing more.

Gup also tells the stories of those family members left behind, of those grieving spouses, parents, and siblings who were often told fairy tales about their relative's death. In most cases, the CIA publicly disavowed all knowledge of their existence, and family members were left to mourn in silence.

This book serves as a somber reminder of the risks involved with intelligence work overseas, and how those affiliated with the security services must accept the possibility of being "left out in the cold" should the public reputation of their country be put on the line as a result of their actions.

On a side note, Ted Gup brags about previously uncovering "extremely sensitive" government secrets and publishing them in the Washington Post, specifically, that of a "top secret government installation... [where] Congress was to go as a kind of government-in-exile in the event of an impending nuclear war." The last time I checked, jeopardizing national security was a treasonous act, and I therefore see no reason why he should feel proud to have damaged our nation's ability to defend itself. While I fully understand and support Gup's argument about combating unnecessary government secrecy, there must be limits about what can and cannot be revealed (like conservative columnist Robert Novak's politically motivated publishing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's name in a major US newspaper).

All in all, this is definitely a book to be examined and kept in any quality collection of literature dealing with intelligence history. Well worth the read.

slow and with a slant.......2004-08-23

I haven't read the book but the 6 hour audiobook was fairly slow for what could have been much more interesting considering the subject matter. It seemed like the author really has an axe to grind against the CIA. The stories seemed overly focused on any mistakes the CIA made. The author lost credibility with me when he said he was the one who revealed the presence of the secret nuclear bunker that was to be used by the US Congress in the instance of a nuclear strike.

Great CIA "behind the scenes" history book.......2004-08-23

I found this book very well researched and written. It would be of interest to anyone with a fondness for CIA-spy type history that we often don't read about in mainstream publications. Highly recommended and not very expensive, which is always nice too.