Book Description
From the best-selling author of Black Hawk Down comes a riveting, definitive chronicle of the Iran hostage crisis, America’s first battle with militant Islam. On November 4, 1979, a group of radical Islamist students, inspired by the revolutionary Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. They took fifty-two Americans hostage, and kept nearly all of them hostage for 444 days. In Guests of the Ayatollah, Mark Bowden tells this sweeping story through the eyes of the hostages, the soldiers in a new special forces unit sent to free them, their radical, naïve captors, and the diplomats working to end the crisis. Bowden takes us inside the hostages’ cells and inside the Oval Office for meetings with President Carter and his exhausted team. We travel to international capitals where shadowy figures held clandestine negotiations, and to the deserts of Iran, where a courageous, desperate attempt to rescue the hostages exploded into tragic failure. Bowden dedicated five years to this research, including numerous trips to Iran and countless interviews with those involved on both sides. Guests of the Ayatollah is a detailed, brilliantly re-created, and suspenseful account of a crisis that gripped and ultimately changed the world.
Customer Reviews:
The First "War On Terror" (or should have been)........2007-09-28
This book provides an excellent explanation of the crisis, which partly cost Jimmy Carter the election and where America should have conducted its first "War On Terror" (perhaps, that would have dealt with the current "president" of Iran and the others with him sooner, rather than later, and he wouldn't have come to the U.S.). True, the U.S. shouldn't have let the Shah in, but it wasn't right for the "students", including the current "president" of Iran to take people hostage. I applaud all those who stood up to these thugs, and Bowden gives great detail. He also provides excellent notes and descriptions of what happened to the hostages, after their release. I have my own thoughts about what should have happened, after our people arrived safely in the U.S., but I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say that if anyone wants to understand why we are having the troubles we are with Iran, read this. I wouldn't have wanted to have been in former President Carter's position. I think it was a betrayal, after what the hostages went through, that the U.S., in the succeeding administration, did "deals" with these people, and admitting this "terrorist thug" [Ahmenejad] into our country recently; a former hostage taker, but this is an example how our political system works. [Sometimes, we're our own worst enemy.] Anyway, an important book.
War on Terror.......2007-09-20
The author is correct in his use of the term "inapt" for the phrase "war on terror." It was indeed inapt prior to 9/11 and certainly was not in use in 1979. But it's appropriate use since 9/11 means that finally after nearly 30 years we are taking the threat seriously and have finally begun to wage this necessary war.
Good book, heavily biased.......2007-09-14
An excellent blow by blow account of the Iranian hostage crisis. Bowden's bias knocks a star off. He basically sides with the hostage takers--describing them as just a bunch of goofy misguided kids engaged in mere horseplay. The hostages weren't tortued and beaten that bad, and plus they "mistakenly" referred to their captors as "ragheads." How ignorant! Perhaps Bowden thinks they should have stayed there a little longer just to make up for such transgressions?
In an attempt to make Jimmy Carter look competent, he wisely spends little time on the President's futile attempts to resolve the crisis--keeping the focus on the hostages themselves. But it's still a factual account--and the facts don't lie; Carter was a horrible negotiator. It was only a year into the crisis he figured out what "contingency" meant. Bowden's sly parallel of Ronald Reagan with the Ayatollah at the end of the book is also not lost.
Well-written and thought-provoking.......2007-09-06
What more could there be to say about a crisis that happened a quarter century ago? As it turns out, there are some very important things to say about it, and Mark Bowden's masterful history of that crisis says them.
First, this is an absolutely first-rate "you are there" account of what the American hostages went through as Iran descended into chaos and near madness after the ouster of the shah. You will literally feel their anger, fear, and depression, and you will feel their pride when they can defy or denigrate their captors, even fleetingly. However, you will feel the smugness and religious certainty of their captors, too. Make no mistake: Bowden clearly sees the American diplomats as victims of an outrageous act; there is no moral relativity here.
Second, the book is thought-provoking in ways I didn't expect. The ostensible trigger for the crisis was the decision by the US to admit the shah to this country for treatment of the cancer that would eventually kill him. However, that decision was sold to President Carter by his Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, who in turn was sold on it by Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller. As the years roll on, it's interesting how many disastrous US foreign policy decisions come back to Kissinger.
Further, the CIA was no better then at understanding and predicting events in the Islamic world than they are now. Shortly before the crisis erupted, the agency reported that the religious radicals would soon be relegated to the background there, so the US could deal with an emerging secular state with confidence. In reality, the country degenerated into a hurricane of religious nuttiness that soon swept aside all of the secular leaders. Quite literally, no one at all was really in charge of anything in Iran, and that's the reason the crisis dragged on for over a year.
This brings us to the role of President Carter. Nearly everyone felt at the time that he was too weak and vacillating to resolve the crisis. Not so; he tirelessly attempted to find a way to deal with the situation, but every attempt failed when the connection at the Iranian end fell apart. No one could have done much more, which is why presidential candidate Ronald Reagan continually criticized Carter, but never offered a word of explanation about what he would do.
The failed rescue attempt was blamed on Carter, too, but as Bowden makes clear, it had little chance of succeeding, mostly because the equipment available at the time was inadequate, and the situation was impossible. Even if Delta Force had made it to Tehran, it's likely that most or all of the hostages and rescuers would have died in the operation. Carter and the troops deserve credit for daring the attempt, even in the face of near-certain failure.
This book is must reading as the authoritative account of the first battle in the war with the "Islamofascists." And it's worth reading as a rich account of the courage that the hostages and their would-be rescuers displayed in very trying circumstances.
Excellent telling of the Iran Hostage Crisis.......2007-07-10
For those interested in history and especially the history of the relationship between Iran and the U.S., this book is essential. This book is well written, fine storytelling, and appropriately detailed without belaboring the point. Probably the best one source history of the hostage crisis. Some may find it a little too charitable to President Carter, but it appears to be a fair portrayal.
Amazon.com
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, many Americans yearned to understand why Muslim extremists felt such passionate animosity toward the Western world, particularly the United States. Since that historic attack there have been many books and discussions about this very question, but few of them offer such a readable and relevant response as this excellent offering by renowned historian Bernard Lewis (What Went Wrong?). For modern Westerners, Islam is an especially foreign religion and culture to understand. For instance, Westerners typically dismiss things as unimportant when using the expression "that's history." But for those raised in Muslim households, history—even ancient history—is just as important (if not more important) as the present. And to better understand the hostilities rooted in this history—one could start with recognizing the long-standing resentment the Islamic community harbors from having its homelands torn apart and re-packaged into random political states by occupying Europeans (Westerners). Or stretch back in time to the brutality of the Crusades. Or go straight to the U.S. political meddling in the region throughout the latter 20th century. This is not a pity fest for Muslims. Lewis even-handedly explores the sources of Islamic antagonism toward the West while also explaining how a supposedly peace-worshipping religion could be so distorted by violent extremism. He notes that the American way of life—especially that of fulfillment through material gain and sexual freedom—is a direct threat to Islamic values (which is why night clubs—places where men and women publicly touch one another—are targets of bombings). But it is basic Western democracy that especially threatens Islamic extremists, notes Lewis, because within its own community more and more Muslims are coming to value the freedom that political democracy allows. For anyone wanting an intelligent and accessible primer on the Islamic-Western conflict, this is an excellent place to begin. Gail Hudson
Book Description
In his first book since
What Went Wrong? Bernard Lewis examines the historical roots of the resentments that dominate the Islamic world today and that are increasingly being expressed in acts of terrorism. He looks at the theological origins of political Islam and takes us through the rise of militant Islam in Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, examining the impact of radical Wahhabi proselytizing, and Saudi oil money, on the rest of the Islamic world.
The Crisis of Islam ranges widely through thirteen centuries of history, but in particular it charts the key events of the twentieth century leading up to the violent confrontations of today: the creation of the state of Israel, the Cold War, the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan, the Gulf War, and the September 11th attacks on the United States.
While hostility toward the West has a long and varied history in the lands of Islam, its current concentration on America is new. So too is the cult of the suicide bomber. Brilliantly disentangling the crosscurrents of Middle Eastern history from the rhetoric of its manipulators, Bernard Lewis helps us understand the reasons for the increasingly dogmatic rejection of modernity by many in the Muslim world in favor of a return to a sacred past. Based on his George Polk Award–winning article for The New Yorker,
The Crisis of Islam is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what Usama bin Ladin represents and why his murderous message resonates so widely in the Islamic world.
Customer Reviews:
Crisis of Islam? What Crisis? .......2007-09-28
Sophmoric reasoning, innuendo, and misleading "facts" characterize "The Crisis of Islam" by Bernard Lewis, the US's best known scholar of the Middle East.
The first 60-70 pages of this brief book are a relatively dispassionate examination of why the Muslims are different from Christians. There are insights here worthy of attention -- although hardly original or brilliantly insightful. But the last 100 pages take on the character of a gradually building diatribe against the Islamic countries.
To give just one example of Lewis's misleading the reader, he characterizes the statistics about economic progress and quality of life in the Islamic countries as "devastating" (page 114). He reels off several pages of statistics to prove his point. Let's take just one set of figures and apply a degree of objectivity to it. The most widely accepted comparison among countries of quality of life is the "human development index" of the UN. Lewis portrays it as a "dismal picture" that Muslim countries do not rank higher. Brunei ranks 32, Kuwait 36, Bahrain 40, Libya 66, etc. But how bad are those rankings? Well, better than India, China, and Brazil -- which are often cited as the coming super-powers. And better than Russia, and better than more than 100 other countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. (The Human Development Index rates 177 countries in its latest version. The US ranks 8.)
Lewis insinuates that all the Middle Eastern Muslim countries rank near the bottom in terms of industry, education, life expectancy, and other quality of life indicators. That's plain wrong. A careful and objective scholar would have evaluated the statistics with more fairness. The Middle Eastern ountries as a group might be better described as "middling" or even "above average" in quality of life compared to the hundreds of millions of destitute poor in economic "powerhouses" like India and China or in truly poor countries in Africa.
Not that the Middle Eastern countries don't have problems. An unbiased scholar would note that they lag behind the West and several Asian countries in social and economic development. He might have a defensible case if he called their progress in the last 50 years "disappointing" compared to, say, South Korea. But for Lewis to throw all -- or even a majority of -- Middle Eastern countries into a pot of despair, poverty, backwardness, and evil is silly, wrong, and misleading. He's describing the half-empty glass, without giving the other side, the half-full glass. Fifty years ago Dubai was a flyspeck. Today, it's vying with Malaysia, another Muslim country, to construct the world's tallest building and buying chunks of the NASDAQ and the LSE.
Scholars of the Middle East like to talk about the Arab "street." If such a "street" exists, Lewis hasn't found it. Unfortunately, he has been influential over the decades in building up a body of biased scholarship.
Smallchief
Great Book.......2007-05-18
Does a great job explaining the Middle East SNAFU, unlike any News Media channel!
Bernard Lewis is a Right-Wing Neo-Con sellout, but he knows a lot:.......2007-05-07
Whether you lean on the right or left side of the paradigm is your own personal business, but I have to say after reading this book. I can now say without a doubt that I have a better grasp of the issues that engulf the Middle East. Bernard Lewis is a historian with impeccable credentials. In the book Lewis takes you through Middle Eastern history and explains the politics that metastasized from it. You won't believe that a 169-page book could pack so much information.
I'm not going to give away too much info, but I have to remind you to be circumspect when reading this book his opinions are in favor of the Zionist.
In chapter 3 of the book Lewis writes about the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099 AD. To get the other side of the story I recommend "Arab Historians of the Crusades" translated by Francesco Gabrieli.
Moreover, chapter 3 then takes you through the second Turkish siege of Vienna, in 1683, which was a defeat for the Ottoman Turks, and by 1914 Germany allied themselves with the Muslim element in the British, French and Russian empires, which paid off in 1933 when the Mufti of Jerusalem allied himself with the Nazis.
In chapter 4 Lewis writes about the early encounters between the Muslim world and America. He ends chapter 4 in 2002. Only a scholar like Lewis could meticulously cram so much info in such a little book.
This was a great book, but don't believe everything in it. For example, Al'Qaeda doesn't really exist, and Osama bin Laden is really working for the CIA. Lewis will never divulge that information because of what side of the fence he dwells on. So if you want the complete story I recommend "The Terror Conspiracy" by Jim Marrs.
Even still, Bernard Lewis like Noam Chomsky is required reading.
The threat from Muslim extemists in a nutshell.......2007-05-06
If you don't have time to read hefty books about Islam then this 164 page book is perfect. Only an expert like Bernard Lewis would know how to boil such a complicated subject down to the essentials.
Understanding Islam.......2007-04-03
I am enrolled in an Air Force program that required reading three books off of the Chief of Staff Reading List. I chose this book to try and help me understand the Middle East and it has. It has raised more questions for me than answers, which is a mark of a good book to me. I spend time thinking about it after I've read a chapter and I can't say all books stick with me like that. It is an easy read and helps someone not familiary with the Middle East to understand the way they think and where their animosity towards the West comes from. Very interesting and thought provoking read, I would suggest it.
Book Description
A journalist reveals the disturbing realities of life in the Saudi kingdom. S audi Arabia: Land of oil, terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, and a crucial American ally. As the only Western journalist to have extensively worked in the Saudi Kingdom, John R. Bradleyis uniquely able to expose the turmoil that is shaking the House of Saud to its foundations. From the heart of the secretive Islamic kingdom's urban centers to its most remote mountainous terrain, from the homes of royalty to the slums of its poorest inhabitants, he provides intimate details and reveals underlying regional, religious, and tribal rivalries. Bradley highlights tensions generated by social change, focuses on the educational system, the increasing restlessness of Saudi youth faced with limited opportunities for cultural and political expression, and the predicament of Saudi women seeking opportunities but facing constraints. What are the implications for the Sauds and the West? This book offers a startling look at the present predicament and a troubling view of the future.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful Portrayal Of The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia.......2007-06-05
Bradley is a journalist who lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for more than 2 years. This book describes what he observed, obviously from a Western perspective, while living there. Some of what he discusses has been covered in other books. For example, the strict segregation of men and women, the brutal public executions and the extreme corruption and hypocrisy of the Saudi royal family. He also mentions the poor education and professional training received by most Saudi citizens which requires the country to be dependent on foreign workers. Many of these workers are people from poor countries such as India, Pakistan and the Philippines who do the "dirty jobs" that, supposedly, Saudis don't want to do themselves. But I find this questionable since Bradley also describes the high rate of unemployment among Saudi citizens and the fact that many of them live in poverty while the Saudi royals bask in the enormous wealth generated by the oil business.
Bradley also talks about the good qualities of the typical Saudi person, such as kindness, hospitality and generosity. There are certain Western right-wingers and Christian zealots who have an anti-Muslim agenda and are clearly biased in their writings. But Bradley doesn't strike me as that sort of person. I think he is simply trying to explain his experiences in Saudi Arabia with as much honesty and truth as possible. Of course, he is seeing the country from the point of view of a non-Muslim Westerner. But that doesn't mean he is necessarily wrong in what he is saying.
However, what really takes this book to the "5 stars" level for me is that he elaborates on the regionally based political and cultural differences in the kingdom. He talks about the Hijaz area, including Jeddah, as having a long history as an international center of trade which makes it somewhat more liberal and sophisticated than the rest of the country. The southern region is called Asir and includes people who, in many ways, have more in common with the neighboring country of Yemen than with their fellow Saudis. Finally, there is the Eastern province which is largely made up of Shiite Muslims who, like the people from Hijaz and Asir, often finds themselves at odds with the Wahhabi dominated central region which includes the royal family and the Wahhabi religious establishment that controls the country politically. In other words, Saudi Arabia is a complex and diverse society with people from a variety of religious and cultural perspectives who are seeking to challenge the hold on power by the Wahhabis and the royal family. This is not the picture provided to the broader American public, who tend to recognize that the royals are corrupt but still see them as the lesser of two evils when compared to the Osama allied extremists. Obviously, the situation there is more complicated than most people think.
I actually came away feeling at least a little more optimistic about the future, or at least the potential, of the country. But, of course, Saudi Arabia still faces a tremendous amount of problems and what happens there will continue to be of vital importance to the rest of us, especially considering that the Saudis have 1/4 of the world's known supply of petroleum.
A little bias detected.......2007-06-03
This was the fourth book that I read about Saudi Arabia and although I thought the descriptives were very good in that Bradley goes into some depth that other authors may consider too trivial (i.e. Najran and Flower Men), the author clearly takes hold of the arab militancy with a one track mind. This was the first post-911 book I read about the Kingdom and I was curious to find out what has changed, and all I found was a loud-echo of anti-Wahhabism and the outcry of abused Asian workers. I understand very well that K.S.A. has many issues in that area, but I also know many families who treat their workers well. I'm always leary of books that incite anger in me as I read, and this certainly made me angry and defensive toward the Kingdom when I have already met so many wonderful Saudis who give me an entirely different perspective. A fuel on the American bias fire, but worth reading if but for the descriptives of Shiite history in the Kingdom.
Try Again.......2007-05-23
really needs to try again here I was in the kingdom the same time as this man and have read his account, but cannot agree, one thing to put straight here is that the mention of a Keith Birmingham as an engineer is incorrect he was a welder for Saudi Arabian Airlines at the engine overhaul centre in Jeddah. Perhaps had John really spent time out and about in the rest of Saudi and met the those who you can say are not the city folk could probably had a very good book but this account is far from complete
Tipical Orientalist.......2007-05-17
I GREW UP IN A MIDDLE CLASS SAUDI FAMILY AND READ THE WHOLE BOOK.
John R. Bradley goes to Saudi Arabia for 2 ½ years, befriends upper class kids and some liberal journalists then thinks he figured out the whole country. These are some things you should know before you read the book:
-When a teenage boy has a satellite in his room he is rich even in Saudi Arabia. Same thing goes for students who hire a Briton to teach them English and for kids with fluent English.
-Average Saudis will not talk to foreigners especially not westerners.
-The book was written in June 2005 and Saudi Arabia is rapidly changing (for better or worse)
-This was before the new king came to power.
-The people he speaks of are not representative sample of the Saudi society(mostly pro-American liberal)
-Any other orientalist could not have done a better job of an inside view of Saudi Arabia through a westerner's eyes.
Insightful look at an understudied country.......2007-04-05
This is an informative book for those wishing to gain a better understanding of the political and social situation in contemporary Saudi Arabia. The author was apparently one of the few Western journalists in the country in the early 2000s and he was able to obtain a visa that allowed him to travel around the country and speak with people without facing many of the restrictions that apply to most Westerners in the country. The author discusses a number of subjects. I thought that the two most interesting chapters were the ones dealing with Saudi youth and gender relations, respectively. He also writes about the rise of crime, attacks against Western expatriates, and, of course, the royal family, among other subjects. The author traveled outside of Riyadh, the capital, to many different regions. One of the main themes of the book is that the tensions between various regions within the country, many of which are inhabited by distinct tribal and ethnic groups, pose perhaps the greatest threat to the country's unity. Perhaps the one thing that I found frustrating was that, at times, it seemed like the text was devoid of Saudi voices. While the author obviously made a great many friends and professional contacts in the country, I kind of wish that he would have presented more of their viewpoints. He often seems too eager to convey his own impressions and opinions of Saudi Arabia rather than let the country's citizens speak for themselves. Luckily, this isn't as problematic as it could have been, because his opinions are generally very insightful and well-argued. Overall, as someone with very little knowledge of Saudi Arabia (and the Middle East in general), I found this book to be a highly informative analysis of some of the major tensions and problems facing this country that has been so often discussed and misunderstood in the Western media.
Book Description
Written by Joseph Ratzinger shortly before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures looks at the growing conflict of cultures evident in the Western world.
The West faces a deadly contradiction of its own making, he contends. Terrorism is on the rise. Technological advances of the West, employed by people who have cut themselves off from the moral wisdom of the past, threaten to abolish man (as C.S. Lewis put it)—whether through genetic manipulation or physical annihilation.
In short, the West is at war—with itself. Its scientific outlook has brought material progress. The Enlightenment's appeal to reason has achieved a measure of freedom. But contrary to what many people suppose, both of these accomplishments depend on Judeo-Christian foundations, including the moral worldview that created Western culture.
More than anything else, argues Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, the important contributions of the West are threatened today by an exaggerated scientific outlook and by moral relativism—what Benedict XVI calls "the dictatorship of relativism"—in the name of freedom.
Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures is no mere tirade against the moral decline of the West. Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI challenges the West to return to its roots by finding a place for God in modern culture. He argues that both Christian culture and the Enlightenment formed the West, and that both hold the keys to human life and freedom as well as to domination and destruction.
Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI challenges non-believer and believer alike. "Both parties," he writes, "must reflect on their own selves and be ready to accept correction." He challenges secularized, unbelieving people to open themselves to God as the ground of true rationality and freedom. He calls on believers to "make God credible in this world by means of the enlightened faith they live."
Topics include:
• Reflections on the Cultures in Conflict Today
• The Significance and Limits of Today's Rationalistic Culture
• The Permanent Significance of the Christian Faith
• Why We Must Not Give Up the Fight
• The Law of the Jungle, the Rule of Law
• We Must Use Our Eyes!
• Faith and Everyday Life
• Can Agnosticism Be a Solution?
• The Natural Knowledge of God
• "Supernatural" Faith and Its Origins
Customer Reviews:
Quite important in these days of relativism.......2007-08-04
A must read if you are interested in the recent and ongoing decline of western civilization. The causative factors are clearly delineated from many points of view, but always from the starting point of the pope's awesome faith and love for God and His Creation.
-Jeremy
Adressing the current situations with a keen and clear understanding.......2007-04-15
In this book Cardinal Ratzinger studies the tension that arises when a split occurs between the state and religion. He tackles modern secularist notions, discusses abortion, and also addresses the notion that if not atheism, then perhaps agnosticism is the best position that man can hope for. The discussion he provides is well thought out and easy to grasp. You may not agree with everything he says, but the beauty and brilliance of the arguments put forth are undeniable.
Succinct.......2006-11-08
Non-Catholics and those of nominal faith might be more comfortable reading
"Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam"
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Marcello Pera first. The analysis is much the same but correctives, in the form of a return to a pan-European shared faith (by Pena--the head of the Italian Senate) and/or individual action (Benedict)will find a wider audience.
Either book is a must read for anyone commenting upon or interested in the current geopolitical scene. At the end of the 19th century, Dostoyevsky in "Notes from the Underground" and Pope Leo XIII in "On Socialism" (Quod Apostolici Muneris) warned where conflicts within Western Civilization were headed. 1917 and the horrors of communist and fascist totalitarianism were not adverted. Pera and Benedict are raising the same warning flags today. Is the problem as critical as they believe? Can a tragedy be averted? No one knows of course. But that there is a problem is irrefutable and these two book should not be ignored.
Recently purchased "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It" by Mark Steyn. Rated it three stars and that was being charitable as Steyn not only provides little hope but the witty prose his newspaper columns are, rightly, admired for is flat and tendentious when spead out over 256 pages.
Benedict and Pera, in contrast, explain why the west is unable to condemn evil and what can be done to ameloriate that failing.
An essential read for understanding the crisis that we are in.......2006-09-12
Pope Benedict has been a keen and precise critic of the cultural clashes that have been shaking the West over the last half a century. He doesn't kowtow to the latest politically correct fad, nor does he mince words to state the truth. In this book he clearly outlines the what the greatest threats are to the Christian culture and the civilization which is based upon it. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand better the position of the Catholic Church in the ongoing global culture wars.
An essential read.......2006-06-01
Along with such classics as 'clash of civilizations' and 'rage and the pride' this book is a must read for anyone interested in the least bit in preserving their culture and faith in the face of the assault on the west by various non-western and supra-western cultures. For those who are pro partial-birth abortions, probably this book will be offensive because the Pope takes the Catholic church's view that abortion is immoral.
The central theme of this book is that the West is threatened by the new immorality of western moral relativism and that it is additioanlly partially threatened by the non-western immigrants who invade the west, however the greater danger is internal, the abandonment of religion and faith, and the denial of the fact that Christian roots are indigenous to Europe.
Many wont be able to stumach this book, and even some protestants will find the catholic overtones problematic. However it is an essential and important work.
Seth J. Frantzman
Book Description
The unique, gripping account of the perilous showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union. During the thirteen days in October 1962 when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In a clear and simple record, he describes the personalities involved in the crisis, with particular attention to the actions and attitudes of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. He describes the daily, even hourly, exchanges between Russian representatives and American. In firsthand immediacy we see the frightening responsibility of two great nations holding the fate of the world in their hands.
Customer Reviews:
first-hand-account, fast-paced, fascinating .......2007-09-12
Read up on one of the most terrifying moments in history, the near destruction of the world by nuclear holocaust. This quick read takes you inside the White House where policy makers decided how best to react to the Soviet Union's establishing a nuclear missile base on the island of Cuba. This is a first-hand-account, fast-paced, fascinating page-turner of a history book.
A short but complete walkthrough.......2007-03-23
I picked this book up as research for a speech I gave, and found I didn't have to look much further for an understanding of the events. RFK's account--from any source--is very accurate and detailed. It goes right along with the movie "13 days" but, as any book would, offers a much more accurate portrayal of the events. If you do get this book (which I highly recommend for anyone interested in the Cuban Missile Crisis, or history for that matter), you should also look in to the Havana Conference, which really shines some light on the full gravity of the situation.
Some insight, some disappointment.......2005-10-31
I was looking forward to reading this book on what I thought would be a keen insider's look at the Cuban missile crisis, and was somewhat disappointed. I realize that RFK was not able to complete the text, and perhaps that is reflected in it's length (100 pages of narrative). A large part of the printed material, about 1/3, is made up of supporting documents. I had hoped for more detail about the minute-to-minute events of those 13 days. The strength of the book is its undeniably interesting topic and author. There was insight to the crisis that I had not previously known, and reading it here was interesting and informative. For a mid-1900's buff, this might be one piece of a collection and its uniqueness may prove worthwhile. This is the first book I read on the Cuban missile crisis, and I am left wanting a lot more.
Thirteen Days : A Review.......2005-08-02
This is a riveting firsthand account of a period of intense confrontation between 2 superpowers that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. It is a short, intense read followed by additional material from other authors that rounds out the edges of the story. This book clearly shows how good President Kennedy was a balancing the military option with diplomacy to save us from nuclear war. It is hard to imagine how this could have beeen handled better by any other President.
On the Brink of Nuclear War.......2005-05-21
Thirteen Days recounts the days that the United States seemed to be on the brink of a nuclear war. The author Robert F. Kennedy chronicled his role in the think-tank that steared the United States out of this crisis in the book. It is a tragedy that the book was never truly completed as Kennedy intended to add a section that questioned the ethics of war and nuclear war. It is a shame that the world was robbed of the view point of his scholarly mind.
In the era of the cable news networks , much of the information in this book seems thin. There is so much Kennedy could have elaborated on in this book. In its time, the book gave Americans their deepest look into the Kennedy White House. Many other books have more indepth accounts of the Cuban Missle Crisis, but none have the personal touch of a Kennedy. Learning from the disaster caused by groupthink that caused the failure of the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy surrounded himself with a diverse group that was willing to debate all sides of the issue. All ideas were encouraged, but only one was selected. Seeing multiple view points allowed them to explore all the aspects of the issue, including how the Soviets might react/feel. Great thinkers traditionally explore topics in very open forums such as this. There is no narrow minded partisanism here, just a quest for peace. Though slight, this is a great account of one of the finest hours in the Kennedy administration.
Book Description
This study presents the first broad coverage of Indian experiences in the American Revolution rather than Indian participation as allies or enemies of contending parties. Colin Calloway focuses on eight Indian communities as he explores how the Revolution often translated into war among Indians and their own struggles for independence. Drawing on British, American, Canadian and Spanish records, Calloway shows how Native Americans pursued different strategies, endured a variety of experiences, but were bequeathed a common legacy as a result of the Revolution.
Customer Reviews:
Scholarly But Not Stodgy.......2004-09-24
The title and format (small print, footnotes on every page) of this delightful little book have probably scared away the general reader. That is regretable, for although it is slightly dense (a few too many unfamiliar proper nouns for extreme ease of reading), the book is quite accessible. With a prologue, ten chapters, an epilogue, and an index in just over 300 pages, the individual chapters are relatively brief and crisp. The organizational scheme (focusing 8 of the chapters on particular Indian communities from Maine to Florida) creates a subtle and complex portrait of Native Americans during the Revolutionary Era. Both diversity (of these communities and of their responses to the Revolution) and commonality (of the challenges they faced during the late 18th century) are addressed. Economic factors such as trade & technology, political factors including international relations, and cultural factors including religion & social changes are examined along with tales of many interesting individuals. Not perhaps a book for everyone, but certainly a book for more than just academic readers....
Book Description
From the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize 2006:
“The most urgent and disastrous threat to world peace today is the looming danger that Iran will produce nuclear weapons. . . . Kenneth R. Timmerman, a U.S. expert on Iran, has for more than twenty years exposed Iran’s nuclear activities and intentions. . . . Despite the illusions of many in positions of power, he has been right, again and again. His latest book, Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran, lays out this ongoing scandal in chilling detail.” —Per Ahlmark, former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, nominating Timmerman for the Nobel Peace Prize
IRAN: THE REAL ENEMY
Who is the greatest threat to America? The Islamic Republic of Iran.
In his chilling new book, New York Times bestselling author Kenneth R. Timmerman uses his exclusive access to previously classified documents, Iranian defectors and officials, and high-level intelligence sources to lay bare the true nature of the Iranian threat—and America’s failure to deal with the danger.
Crisscrossing the globe, Timmerman takes readers into secret terrorist gatherings in Tehran, tense meetings in the White House, debriefings at an obscure CIA outpost in Azerbaijan, diplomatic face-offs in the Kremlin, and many other dangerous spots to get the complete story on Iran’s radical Islamic regime.
And in a brand-new chapter for the paperback edition, Timmerman reveals that it may already be too late to stop the Iranian regime. For Americans interested in the truth about Iran, Countdown to Crisis may amount to a call for action—or even a case for war.
Customer Reviews:
Countdown to Nuclear Horror: Modern Iran = Evil Regime.......2007-07-21
This is one fantastic book with full historical documentation of the Iranian government's atomic energy program, and support of radical Islamic terror groups.
The Iranian government's support of insurgent killers who murder, torture, and maim innocent Iraqi civilians and American soldiers alike is another very serious wake up call for the west in our collective attempts to stabilize those nations like Iraq and Afghanistan plagued by war and civil terrorist violence.
The UN also has a responsibility to prevent the Iranian government from obtaining nuclear warheads, on top of sanctioning them for their rouge activities.
The president of Iran is a shrewd and media savvy individual, but also a hate filled and dangerous man who the west should always keep their collective eyes on.
All western nations, and Israel should be on guard, and on alert from the Iranian government's unscrupulous, and vile activities while holding full resolve in confronting Iran when or if the necessary time comes for possible confrontation.
All terrorist groups supported or allied with Iran should be immediately destroyed by full western military force, and all political and economic efforts by the UN and the west should be utilized when confronting the Iranian government on her nuclear ambitions.
Detailed Analysis of Iran's growing threat.......2007-06-18
Timmerman goes right through the history of Iran's growing threat - both the motivation and the nuclear program. He details all the signals that the US ignored and downplayed, as well as the willful blindness on the parts of our allies and the IAEA. After you read it, you will be fully versed on the topic.
A great book..........2007-06-13
...for 100%-pure bigots. If you want to reinforce your prejudices, your Coulterian demons, this book is for you. If your friends are tired of your quoting Coulter, now you can impress them with quotes from this pseudo-intellectual Timmerman. Countless assertions are made in this hackjob which the author makes no attempt to substantiate, but which are clearly designed to increase your level of hatred against people you don't understand.
Read this book, memorize the hooks, and go back to your favorite rightwing chatroom, where you can impress your bigoted pals with your newly found pseudo-knowledge.
By a bigot, for bigots. Wish I had thought of this grand way to make a pile of bucks.
(I didn't buy the book, and I'm glad I didn't)
TWA 800 , Beirut , 911 , Hamas , Dhobar , USS Cole .......2007-02-10
Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran
1. Iran has Uranium enrichment centrifuges and used to convert uranium into fuel for nuclear weapons.
2. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has used Germany made tunneling equipment to bore into a mountain creating six tunnels. Two underground chambers house 15 nuclear warheads. The tunnels are disguised with a rock door. Two tunnels house Shahab-3 missiles that can be driven outside and launched in 25 minutes; likewise, the missiles can be moving the missile quickly back into the protective cover of the mountain, in the case of a counterstrike.
3. Harden underground near Isafahan is though to be a location where uranium hexafluoride is produced as a nuclear weapon fuel.
4. Weaponized labs near Parchin produce HMX, a non-nuclear lens that triggers a nuclear bomb.
5. UN IAEA turned a blind eye to Pakistan nuclear mastermind Dr. Abdel Qader Khan, who in 1986 signed a nuclear consulting agreement with Iranian leadership. Dr. Khan facilitated black market supply chains for the last 18 years, the inventories are bear, and it is believed that Iran possesses enough fissile material to produce 20 to 25 nuclear weapons.
6. Iranian officials were involved in 911 and collaborated with Al Qadea: provided passports, safe haven, intelligence assistence, secure communications, training in explosives and airline hijacking. Murder is one tool the ruling clerics used to disrupt opposition "Velayat-e faghih".
7. July 26,2001 Hamid Reza Zakeri defected and disclosed a the 911 plot to CIA operatives. In Zakeri's, 5 page letter, he describes "impending terrorist attack", however, the CIA thought Zakeri was lying. Zakeri sketched out the organization chart for the Iranian Shadow Intelligence Organization and revealed that Ali Akhar Nateq-Nouri was the top man and Mustafa Hadadian reported to him, Zakeri's boss. The 911 attack was to happen on the 20th of Shahrivar and strike: the World Trade Center, the Whitehouse, the Pentagon, and Camp David.
Countdown to confrontation:
1. Apr 12, 1996, Hussein Mohammad Mikdad, a Lebanese Shiite was instructed by Iranian handlers to hand carry a bomb onto an El Al flight in Tel Aviv.
2. Iran financial funds Hamas groups to disrupt security stability in Israel
3. Homayoun Maghadam, a member of the Iranian People's Party, describes an elaborate RAAD plan.
4. June 10, 1996 Homayoun says the Republican Guard Police and Iranian Defense plan to hijack a U.S civilian airline using Lebanese surrogates. The CIA can not use the information because it is not a specific airline threat lacking a date and location. The information can not be communicated to the airlines. The airlines do not want generalized threats because of the negative impact to their business.
5. June 20, 1996, CIA meets with Homayoun but can't confirm his "Elvis" source.
6. June 24, The Defense Intelligence Agency Middle East is told a plan is unfolding in Saudi and two days later, the Khobar Towers are bombed.
7. July 11, Homayoun reports that "attack on US civilian airliner is imminent".
8. July 17, The TWA flight 800 explodes, 20 minutes in the air, and 230 people die. The bomb is thought to be a double device: standard chronometer that delays activation and barometric that triggers the bomb at a certain pressure.
9. Apr 1997, Iran's Shahid Hemat Industrial Group test fires a R-214 rocket engine; the R-214 was a component of a Russian Intermediate rage nuclear missile from an SS-4, a mille that supposedly was destroyed under the 1987 INF treaty.
10. 1994, Iran turned to Russia after the failed test of the No-Dong/Zelzal 3 mille developed by North Korea.
11. Iran claims development and production of a new missile called the Shahib-3. The Shahib-3 gives Iran the capability to launch an unconventional warhead on Israel. Russia is becoming more active in Iran's nuclear missile program and Iran benefits from Russian advisors and shipment of missile components.
12. Russian missile cooperation has been accelerated by Vevgeny Primakov, the foreign minister in power, in 1996. Primakov believes Russia stands to gain from a stronger Iran as a counter against US influence in the Persian Gulf.
13. Yuri Koptev, a member of the Russian Space Agency is also involved in the transformation of Iran.
14. Russian Federation Security Doctrine states, "the main external force potential capable of creating a threat to Russian Federation military security and to Russian economic and political interest" is the US: conventional Forces in Europe and encroachment in the oil-rich Caspean sea.
15. July 21, 1998, The Shahib-3 prototype flew 620 miles Southeast from Shahroud toward the Persian Gulf and consuming 100 seconds of fuel burnt then is exploded midair. The Shahib-3 has a range of 800 miles and could read targets as far away as Tel Aviv and possibly Cairo.
16. Aug 31, 1998, North Korea test fires a multi stage missile called the Taepo Dong and the missile travels over 1,000 miles and overshoots Japan.
China:
1. July 7, 1991, Li Peng had a 3-day stop over in Iran with the purpose of determining if Iran would pay for Chinese weapons. The culmination of the trip, the two leaders signed $5 billion agreement for military, industrial, and economic packages. Li told the press that China would provide the expertise and technology to complete the Iranian Busheir reactor. China would help Iran build the manufacturing process that would allow Iran to nuclear components for their reactor. China backed off building the 27 megawatt heavy-water reactor under threats they would lose most favored nation status, if the deal went through.
2. China provided Pakistan assistance with its weapons program. China was heavily invested in Pakistan nuclear infrastructure, in some sensitive areas it was easier for China to operate through Pakistan than deal directly with Iran. Iran and Pakistan ancestral hatred was a concern between the two communities; Rafsanjani acknowledge strong ties to fellow Shiites in Pakistan but the commitment only extend through charitable foundations, not meddling in the domestic affairs; Iran was committed to developing strategic cooperation with Pakistan, and was pleased to have China's blessing in this endeavor. Pakistan was producing new weapons with Chinese help in Islamabad and Lahore and eventually Pakistan and Iran concluded a defense treaty. China gave Pakistan bomb designs, equipment, and technical assistance. Pakistan turns around and sells it to Iran.
EPCI
1. 1990, Bush passed the Enhanced Proliferation Control Initiative to prevent military technologies from reaching Iran. Under EPCI, U.S. exporters were required to obtain a license to export any goods-even a pencil or screwdriver-to foreign entities or projects of proliferation concern. The regulation called on Commerce to develop a black list of such projects and make it available to exporters. The Commerce never published a blacklist, for fear that identifying projects and entities of concern would jeopardize U.S intelligence sources and methods. New trade restrictions signed into law by President Bush in 1992 prohibited high-technology sales to Iran altogether. Despite this US exports to Iran increased in the ensuing month under G-DEST authority of the commerce department. In 1992, 60 of the $750 million worth of US goods and equipment shipped to Iran were subject to Commerce Department shipping. By Oct 23, 1992, the percentage of licensed goods dropped to mere 2.5 percent of total exports. Among the equipment shipped under G-DEST authority were toxins (medical research or bioterror), microorganisms, turbojet engines, vacuum pumps, centrifuges, machine tools, gas separation equipment, large hydraulic presses for metal formation, gas chromatagraphs, and mass spectrometers; also, a series of high-powered computers, worth close to $1 million each. The commerce department classified these items as "Low-level equipment". Lantos name more than 230 companies that were selling technology and equipment to Iran.
Interesting Polemic Backed by Facts.......2006-12-31
Kenneth Timmerman's 'Countdown to Crisis' was interesting for what it is. He outlines Iran's quest for nuclear weapons and how they have put their clandestine program together. He also draws attention to al-Qaeda's relationship to Iran. He weaves in horrific stories of Iran's hand in terrorism inside and outside of Iran for further effect.
Considering Iran practically admits it desires nuclear weapons this book seems more like history than an expose. Much of his intelligence regarding al-Qaeda is from an Iranian defector named Zakeri who the CIA and others believe is not reliable. Timmerman also seems to elude that the CIA has an interest in sheltering Iran which is difficult to comprehend.
Even though it appears that Timmerman is familiar with all sides of the Iranian resistance, it seems he does not understand Iran well. There are a fair amount of 'cheap shots' and sarcasm throughout the book which make it seem more like an editorial than anything scholarly. Timmerman comes across as an idealogue and almost xenophobic, although he is apparently well traveled.
Timmerman assumes that the Iranian government needs to be changed but does not lay out the case for that opinion. In the last chapter he suggests some ways that could be done which are far from complete. He does not care for Reza Pahlavi or the Mujahedin-e Khalk, but suggests that we support pro-democracy groups inside Iran clandestinely. It may be a good idea... if reliable, legitimate ones existed. He also paints a picture of a sea launched nuclear weapon near the East Coast which came across as nothing more than a scare tactic for a knock out punch.
After reading this book you will know that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and that they may have had a working relationship with al-Qaeda- if Timmerman's sources are to be trusted. You will not understand the internal politics of Iran or the nature or history of the United State's relationship with Iran. A much better and comprehensive book in my opinion is 'The Persian Puzzle' by Kenneth Pollack.
Book Description
The Past, Present, and FutureâExposed
The events wracking the Middle East today are confusing to even the most avid news buff. Now all the answers to your questions are offered in just one resource. Divided into five main sections, Iran: The Coming Crisis contains the most up-to-date, thorough information available and is complete with maps, charts, and timelines for visual assistance. Iran’s past, present, and future are exposedâthe country’s quest for nuclear weapons and support of Palestinian terror groups, its ability to âplay the oil card,â and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic beliefs that motivate his actions. You’ll discover the truth about today’s events, how they relate to Bible prophecy, and what the Bible clearly describes is yet to come. It’s a crisis unlike any the world has ever faced.
Are We Headed for a Nuclear Jihad?
â Israel must be wiped off the map,â Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it himself. He has denied the Holocaust, and his actions are motivated by a dangerous apocalyptic view of Islam. Meanwhile, Islamic extremists are in hot pursuit of nuclear weapons as they stand as gatekeepers to the Persian Gulf oil flow. Closer to home, President Bush has stated that the greatest threat to America is nuclear terrorism.
In a prophecy written over 2,500 years ago, Ezekiel 38-39 foretells Iran ’s future. Iran , Russia , and other Islamic nations will invade Israel in the end times. Today, the connection between Iran and Russia only grows. How close is this invasion?
What will happen?
Will America survive?
Will the world?
Mark Hitchcock , an expert in Bible prophecy, exposes Iran ’s past, present, and future with striking clarity. Find maps, charts, and answers to your every question inside.
âI highly recommend Mark as a faithful guide to understanding current events in light of God’s wonderful plan of prophecy.â
Tim LaHaye
Pastor and bestselling author
Story Behind the Book
There seems to be no turning back from the looming crisis in the Middle East. The Islamic and political rulers of Iran are set in their ideology by principle. The West and Israel are headed for some sort of confrontation economically, socially, and likely militarily. Mark Hitchcock ’s background as a lawyer, pastor, and expert in Bible prophecy suits him perfectly as a Christian authority on the subject. Timing is critical, and his new book will release as more and more everyday peopleâChristians and non-Christians alikeârealize the gravity of world events and question how they relate to Bible prophecy.
Customer Reviews:
Worth reading!.......2007-09-01
A very good read, and very informative. I am also planning to read his followup book. I recommend this book.
excellenet information.......2007-07-25
this book is so informative and easy to understanding covering all terror threats and concerns of today and how it will affect the end times. so glad I bought it
would suggest to any one interested the world view today and in the future
Informative, yet lacking........2007-06-04
With the onslaught of materiel being poured out on the subject of Iran and its supposed role in Bible prophecy, it would be a challenging task for anyone to write anything fresh and original on the subject. Nevertheless, Mark Hitchcock has thrown his hat into the ring. This may not be the most sensational books on the subject, but it is one of the fairer treatments that you will see.
There are several things about this book that are good. First, Mark writes with a reader friendly, teaching style instead of the loud preachy style of someone like John Hagee. Two, his historical information about Persia and Babylon was presented in a memorable way. Third, the information on Iran was fair, informative, and quite possibly right as regards to their being a nuclear threat. Fourth, he at least makes an effort to deal with objections to his view of Ezekiel 38-39 and does not just assume that everyone is on board with him. I do think, however, that he is wrong when he says the "vast majority" of scholars see Ezekiel 38-39 as having a future literal fulfillment in the sense that they see Russia, Iran, etc, coming down to attack the modern day nation of Israel. In fact, I think the only safe thing to say there is that the vast majority of dispensational scholars see it as fulfilled in this manner. For a past fulfillment, he seems to indicate that only preterists take a past fulfillment view of this passage, but that is far from accurate. One does not have to be a preterist, to believe that Ezekiel 38-39 has been fulfilled or all of the OT for that matter.
Hitchcock does, in a footnote, deal with Gary DeMar's view that the Ezekiel passage was fulfilled in what happened in Esther, but he was a little too quick to dismiss some of the very good verbal parallels that were made by DeMar. The good thing is that Hitchcock did list what he calls the inconsistencies between Esther and Ezekiel.
Another problem, I find with Mark's handeling of Ezekiel 38-39 is that he fails to address that when Ezekiel writes this that the very first Temple (built by Solomon) was still standing. There was still another Temple to be built in 516 BC and then attacked and shut down by the Syrian's, and later remodeled by Herod, and then destoryed in 70 AD by the Romans.
Let us grant, however, that Ezekiel 38-39 is yet future. Mark's placement of the battle of Gog and MaGog after the rapture is simply guess work. He fails to deal with the fact that Revelation places a battle of Gog and Magog after the 1000 year reign (Revelation 20:8). It is rather odd that he at least attempts to deal with many of the other problems of the Ezekiel passage, but does not deal with its placement in Revelation.
Mark assumes a dispensational position throughout the book without defending that position as valid. He puts his hat on the rack of what is currently popular in pop theology. I am certain, however, that Mark does in other books defend this position, but he assumes it in this book.
Let me now state what I view to be the biggest problem with the book. Mark does not deal with the calling or role of the Church at all. He does have a call for his readers to get saved at the end, but even informs the new believers to find a local church, but he in no way defines what the voice and position of the Church should be on the complex conditions that are currently facing the Middle East. Several times he unashameably says that the Church is "whisked away" in the rapture to be with the Lord. Now I know that Mark would likely say that the Church should be telling people to repent and get ready for the rapture, because of the conditions in the Middle East, but what about the Church's voice concerning justice, mercy and peace in the Middle East? He is so sure of the rapture (this he will take as a compliment I am sure) that he does not see the Church as having any real role, other than to wait to be "whisked away." The problem I have with, not just Mark, but most of the dispensationalists preachers that I hear is that they are ready to abandon God's creation, rush off to Heaven and let Hell break lose for seven years. The problem with this view is what if thirty years from now, the rapture has not taken place and many are dead in the Middle East and in the world because of this crises, what should the Church be saying or doing? Mark seems to be writing as an American preacher and not taking seriously his calling to be a preacher is God's universal Church. In my opinion, he makes the mistake of seeing the West and especially the USA as Christian and the rest of the world, well, not so much. He talks in a supportive way about Israel and the USA taking out Iran's nuclear facilities and stopping them, but that is the role of militaries and government, but what about the role and voice of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Should we not be groaning and crying out at the place of the World's pain and praying for peace and working toward it? Look back at the various crises throughout history. Look at the Holocaust, Rwanda, or South African Apartheid. What should the Church's role have been in these situations? We need to be asking the same questions today about the Middle East. It may be that the rapture takes place 200 years from now or even 2000 years from now and we cannot just sit around and waith to get "whisked away." There is power for salvation and deliverance in the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just for individual privatized salvation, but for the world. A new creation has been unleashed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the Church needs to live and speak in light of this power and not just wait to be taken out and escape. Mark could add a great deal of depth to his perspective if he would consider these things.
There is much more I could say about this book, but I will close on a positive note and that is that Mark Hitchcock has written an informative and sencere book that rightly states that their is a real crises with Iran and nuclear weapons. Let us all pray for the coming of the Lord and look for it, but let us be praying for peace in the Middle East and let us work toward it. It may be that the Lord hears and heals.
Comment on Iran: The Coming Crisis.......2007-01-16
The book was interesting to some extent, but it did not hold my attention the way I hoped it would. After reading a little way into it, I skimmed through the rest of the book. Perhaps I was just being a little picky, though. Others may have a different opinion entirely.
Unreason, or faith, is the threat........2006-10-18
When I started reading "Iran, the coming crisis", I thought I was going to read an informative, current affairs book on the crisis with Iran.
Mark Hitchock is blind sided by his belief that the Bible holds the Thruth. His story of the second coming,and the rapture being "an event that,from our human perspective,could occur at any moment" acctually made me laugh.We are even provided with God's Blueprint for the End of Times (with a time line!) But, this is serious matter. Mr Hitchock's book is a sad case of unreasonable,almost fanatical thinking.He has written a staggering Christian lunacy.
The problems we are facing in the Middle East are too serious . American should get informed. This book belongs in the trash bin.
Pascale Luse.
Customer Reviews:
Pre-Trib Propaganda.......2007-06-27
Just more pre-trib propaganda. There is not a single verse in the Bible that says the Rapture will be before the Tribulation. In fact Jesus told us the very opposite (read Matthew 24:29-31 very carefully). Revelation 20:4,5 tells us that the saints martyred in the Tribulation will be in the First Resurrection. The First Resurrection is the RAPTURE! The Rapture is obviously after the Tribulation! It's time to wake up and accept the truth. Place your trust in Jesus Christ not in fictional escapism.
Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis.......2004-07-11
The trend of reviewers when they did not like a book is to give it a low rating. Sometimes they may not like an author or the book may have been contrary to the reviewer's political or religious beliefs, but the end result is nearly always a low rating for the book. This review will break that trend. I felt this book was among the stupidest I've read, but it made me think and the author obviously felt he was writing about something worthwhile. He repeats himself so many times his book is about 40% longer than it needs to be. It wasn't until the end that I discovered a list of all the theories presented in synopsis format. Had I noticed this earlier, I could have ignored the rest of the book.
I cannot subscribe to end time prophecies and feel the inevitability of Armageddon, especially when presented in such a poorly written format, is not just around the corner. Author John Walvoord certainly knows his Bible and he was an authority among his peers, but his theory is so full of holes he ultimately discredits himself over the course of 228 pages. The key flaw is presented on page 23 where he writes that prophecies should not be adjusted to any situation, yet he does that without regard to his own warning throughout the book. Some authors write that the folklore of the Middle East is the basis for many Biblical books, yet Walvoord never mentions any such connection. He is content to proceed happily through his theories of Russia invading Israel, a Mediterranean Confederacy of ten nations (based on Daniel 7:8 which actually mentions an 11th nation but three of the original ten were pulled up by the roots 10+1-3=8, but Walvoord sticks with 10), a world dictator who brings a false peace (aren't all peaces false or temporary?), and the final Battle of Armageddon. He insists all Christians will be removed from the earth prior to Christ's second coming, but what's the point of coming back to rule with Christ if we make it to heaven?
The author is consistent with many mainstream churches who proclaim the Bible was written for modern times as well as ancient. This is obvious because if the Bible were not presented in this manner no one would care what it says and it would join the ranks of millions of dusty history books. Too many times Walvoord uses speculative words like "may" or "possibly" which leave the reader to consider "may not" or "possibly no" or any other open-ended contrary response. It isn't all Walvoord's ignorance; he just doesn't have much concrete evidence to base his claims upon. In court this is considered circumstantial evidence and while not inadmissible, it makes the case more difficult to prove. He warns against an increase in belief in supernatural, mystical, and bizarre phenomena, but what is creationism? Creationists discount evolutionists, but at least evolutionism has more concrete evidence (though evolutionism as a theory has many of its own flaws and problems).
Like I said, the theories presented are holes big enough for a semi truck to fit in, and I simply do not subscribe to the basic argument presented, but the book made me think. For this reason alone I do not give this an all around bad review. Ironically, Walvoord died prior to the second coming, as everyone else who's died to this point. Perhaps answers to his questions were revealed to him in the hereafter. Of course he may be right all along and people like me will find themselves scratching their head asking "how did that happen?"
Remains a timely interpretation of end times prophecy.......2004-01-31
John F. Walvoord's Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis remains an interesting and timely read, despite the fact that the book was originally published in 1974 and revised in 1990. Drawing heavily from the myriad of prophecies in the Bible, particularly those in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelations, Walvoord paints a vivid picture of the end of days and argues rather convincingly that the end is indeed quite near. Central to his thesis is the perpetual hotbed that is the Middle East. It is here that the final battle of Armageddon will take place, and Israel will stand at the very center of the ultimate conflict. The restoration of Israel as a nation in Palestine was the final critical piece of the puzzle that worked to set the stage for the fulfillment of the prophecies of old.
The Arab-Israeli conflict over land will be the powder keg that sets everything in motion, according to the author. The oil embargoes of the 1970s clearly impressed Walvoord in terms of the growing wealth and power in the Middle East, and he implies that the importance of oil throughout the world will shape future events quite radically. It is Europe that is most dependent on the import of oil from the Middle East, and this leads Walvoord to conclude that the ten-headed beast of Biblical prophecy will take the form of a ten-nation confederation of European, Arab, and possibly north African nations - it will be the equivalent of a new Roman empire centered around the Mediterranean, and from this group a powerful leader will emerge to somehow force a peace settlement between Israel and its neighbors. This leader will then seize power over three of the ten allied nations and go on to proclaim himself the world dictator and supreme deity. Three and a half years after securing Israel a seemingly lasting peace, the Antichrist will turn and destroy the country. By this time, armies from the north, south, and east will march on Jerusalem in an attempt to overthrow the self-proclaimed world dictator, at which point Jesus will return to Earth to punish the evil-doers and establish His millennial kingdom.
Walvoord does a very nice job explaining the terrible things that will take place on earth in the last days, particularly after the Antichrist declares himself to the world and before Jesus' triumphant return. Descriptions of all of these catastrophic punishments can all be found in the Bible, and they make for a decidedly grim period of time. Walvoord clearly espouses his conclusion that the Rapture of the church will take place before the time of tribulation on earth begins. Unlike Armageddon, the Bible provides no real clues as to when the Rapture will take place, but Walvoord's conviction that the time of tribulation is drawing nigh leads him to infer that the preceding Rapture could happen at any time. Interestingly, Walvoord theorizes that the United States will not play a central role in these events, having fallen into a state of isolation. Russia will hold even less power over the pivotal future events in the Middle East; it will try to regain its influence by attacking Israel, only to see its invading army destroyed by some supernatural force.
The subject of the end times can be rather confusing, and Walvoord does the reader a great service by providing graphs and lists of the coming events as he sees them. He also backs up his arguments well with many references to the Scriptures and the application of deductive reasoning. Certainly, though, he may not be right about everything. I personally disagree with a couple of his conclusions, and he clearly expected certain events to be in motion before the current year of 2004, but he makes a clear, cogent presentation of all his evidence. The passage of over ten years since the revised edition of the book, during which two wars have been fought in the Persian Gulf, really does nothing to invalidate any of Walvoord's main points, making this a still remarkably timely analysis of end time prophecy.
What the Bible says about the future of the Middle East.......2002-03-15
Dr. Walvoord, past President of Dallas Theological Seminary has many tremendous books. He wrote this in the 70's and updated it
in the 90's with no changes and adding current events. Some chapter titles. The Israeli-Arab Conflict, The Oil Blackmail, Watch Jerusalem, Changing Europe, The Day of World Catastrophe.
In the light of September 11, and the world events daily of the esculating violence in the Middle East, this book is a must read
for today about the end of Western civilization.
Book Description
What kind of property is art? Is it property at all? Jordanna Bailkin's The Culture of Property offers a new historical response to these questions, examining ownership disputes over art objects and artifacts during the crisis of liberalism in the United Kingdom. From the 1870s to the 1920s, Britons fought over prized objects from ancient gold ornaments dug up in an Irish field to a portrait of the Duchess of Milan at the National Gallery in London. They fought to keep these objects in Britain, to repatriate them to their points of origin, and even to destroy them altogether. Bailkin explores these disputes in order to investigate the vexed status of property within modern British politics as well as the often surprising origins of ongoing institutional practices. Bailkin's detailed account of these struggles illuminates the relationship between property and citizenship, which has constituted the heart of liberal politics as well as its greatest weakness.
Drawing on court transcripts, gallery archives, exhibition reviews, private correspondence—and a striking series of cartoons and photographs—The Culture of Property traverses the history of gender, material culture, urban life, colonialism, Irish and Scottish nationalism, and British citizenship. This fascinating book challenges recent scholarship in museum studies in light of ongoing culture wars. It should be required reading for cultural policy makers, museum professionals, and anyone interested in the history of art and Britain.
Books:
- Harold Wilson and European Integration: Britain's Second Application to Join the EEC (Cass Series--British Foreign and Colonial Policy Series)
- Has Globalization Gone Too Far?
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
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- How to Heal a Broken Heart in 30 Days: A Day-by-Day Guide to Saying Good-bye and Getting On With You
- Click for Joy! Questions and Answers from Clicker Trainers and Their Dogs
- The Motley Fool's Guide to Couples and Cash: How to Handle Money with Your Honey
- Working Papers, Century 21 Acct Advanced Course
- Bamboozle!
1945 - Present
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
Doctor Dealer: The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire
