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:

Has history been tampered with?.......2007-10-23

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RAZQNMXM4M9CL Has history been tampered with? Yes, it has! Did events and eras such as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire , the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance, actually occur within a very different chronology from what we've been told? Yes, they certainly did!

The history of humankind is both drastically shorter and dramatically different than generally presumed.

Why is it so? On one hand, it was usual custom to justify the claims to title and land by age and ancestry, and on the other the court historians knew only too well how to please their masters. The so called universal classic world history is a pack of intricate lies for all events prior to the 16th century. World history as we learn it today was entirely fabricated in the 16th-18th centuries. It's likely that nobody told you before, but

there is not a single piece of firm written evidence or artefact that is reliably and independently dated prior to the 11th century.

Naturally, after what you've learned in school and university, you will not easily believe that the classical history of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia, Egypt, China, Japan, India, etc., is manifestly false.

You will point accusing finger to the pyramids in Egypt, to the Coliseum in Rome and Great Wall of China etc., and claim, aren't they really ancient, thousands of years ancient? Well, there is no valid scientific proof that they are older than 1000 years!

The oldest original written document that can be reliably dated belongs to the 11th century!

New research asserts that Homo sapiens invented writing (including hieroglyphics) only 1000 years ago. Once invented, writing skills were immediately and irreversibly put to the use of ruling powers and science.

The consensual chronology we live with was essentially crafted in the 16th century by the Jesuits.

The world history was compiled from contradictory mix of innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts and other irrefutable proofs delivered by late mediaeval astronomers that were cemented by the authority of writings of the Church Fathers.

Early in life, we learn about ancient history. Children love the magical lessons of history - they are like fairy tales. Teachers recite breathtaking stories; very soon We learn by heart the names and deeds of brave warriors, wise philosophers, fabulous pharaohs, cunning high priests and greedy scribes.

We learn of gigantic pyramids and sinister castles, kings and queens, dukes and barons, powerful heroes and beautiful ladies, emaciated saints and low-life traitors.

Ancient history is based documents, manuscripts, printed books, paintings, monuments and artefacts - called primary sources.

The problem is that neither these ancient documents, nor events described therein can be irrefutably dated, moreover they contradict each other for the most part.

When a school textbook tells us that Genghis Khan in year X or Alexander in year Y, have each conquered half of the world, it means only that it is so said in some of the written sources.

There are no answers to simple questions:

When were these primary sources written?

Where and by whom were these sources found?

It is wrongly presumed that ancient and medieval chronicles, written by Genghis Khan's or Alexander the Great contemporaries and eyewitnesses, are readily available. Actually, only sources written hundreds or even thousands of years after the events are there, compiled mostly in the 16th 18th centuries, or even later.

As a rule, these sources suffered considerable multiple manipulations, falsifications and distortions by editing. At the same time,

innumerable originals of ancient documents under various pretexts were destroyed in Europe under various pretexts.

The names of persons and geographical sites often changed meaning and location during the course of the centuries.

Geographical locations became clearly defined on maps only with the advent of printing.

This made possible the circulation of identical copies of the same map for purposes of the military, navigation, education and governance tasks.

Historians from Oxford say: "hey, everybody knows that Julius Caesar lived in the first century B.C.

`Julius Caesar' statement is only a point of view as

there is simply no irrefutable documentary proof that Julius Caesar or any other great name of antiquity ever existed.

Better than that - extremely rare sources that can be reliably dated back to the 10th-14th centuries A D, do not show the polished picture of classical history.

They show a picture both contradictory and confusing.

All methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts are erroneous:

Radio-carbon C14 method produces dating with exactitude of plus minus 1500 years, therefore it is too crude for dating of events in historical timeframe!

The Almagest tractate, which lies as corner stone contemporary chronology, compiled in the 2nd century A D by Ptolemy, the founding father of astronomy, contains astronomical data of 9th to 16th century!

The Bronze Age,that has supposedly began 5000 years ago. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin, but the technology for tin extraction dates back to 14th century A D!.

All eclipses contained in manuscripts, like Thucydides one, relating 'ancient' events have exclusively medieval dating. All horoscopes cut in stone or painted in Egyptian temples, like Dendera have exclusively early medieval dating solutions.

Not quite what you have learned in school? Open your eyes, and, you will find sufficient proof to reach step by step the inevitable conclusion that the classical chronology is false and therefore, that the history of ancient and medieval world universally accepted today, is also false. Have a fresh outlook on everything said or printed about "ancient" and "enigmatic" Roman, Greek and Egyptian, medieval as well as all other "lost and found" civilizations.

Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th and polished in 19th 20thcenturies. Human civilization is in fact barely 1000 years old!

This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.

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.

Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism (Associated Press Handbooks)

Average customer rating:

Way too basic
"A Good Primer on Photojournalism (PJ)"
Decent Overview, Good for Motivational Purposes
Useless and boring...
Nice introduction book

Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism (Associated Press Handbooks)
Brian Horton
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photojournalism | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Reference | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Journalism | Miscellaneous | Sports | Subjects | Books

Photography | Miscellaneous | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Reference | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0071363874

Book Description

Written by noted AP photographer and photoeditor Brian Horton, this is an insider’s manual to one of the most glamorous and exciting media professions. Emphasizing the creative process behind the photojournalist’s art, Brian Horton draws upon his three decades of experience, as well as the experiences of other award-winning photojournalists, to instruct readers in the secrets of snapping memorable news photos every time. With the help of more than 100 photographs from the AP archives, he analyzes what constitutes successful news photos of every type, including portraits, tableaux, sports shots, battlefield scenes, and more, as well as offering tips on how to develop a style of your own.

Customer Reviews:

Way too basic.......2006-08-15

If you are extreamly new at photography or maybe working for a high-school newspaper, this book would work well.

For anyone that is serious about hard-core photojournalism, like the professionals the book highlights, I do not recomend it.

I was looking for a book on some on ways to break into some of the big names. I just assumed that since it was an AP book.

"A Good Primer on Photojournalism (PJ)".......2006-07-17

"Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism", Brian Horton, McGraw-Hill NY, 2nd. ed. 2001, ISBN 0-07-136387-4, SC 223 pgs.

Sports photo editor at A-P since 1971, Horton has many credits including 2 books on news photography. This text explains PJ (picture story) - how a photographer "sees the story" is a skill requiring experience, insight, anticipation, inventiveness, & a passion. Often "breaking stories" are heavily covered & many photos require sensitivity, rapport, knowledge of equipment so to acquire a style using composition, cropping & those angles to communicate photo stories of news, emotions, life experiences, etc.

Horton quotes an A-P policy adopted in 1990 indicating "the content of a photograph will never be changed or manipulated in any way". Horton then goes on to recite of some widely published photos with recognized manipulations & public outcries leading to general distrust of media by the populace (& rightly so!). Indeed, even cropping can be viewed as manipulation, the latter generally a product of Madison Avenue influences that shouldn't reflect PJ integrity (need for well insulated photo editors).

Relying on "photo setups" can numb public's perceptions & lessen reality. Telephoto lenses as 80-200 zoom provides close-ups without intrusion despite an onerous sanctifying of 24 mm wide-angle to fill the frame by getting into the subject's face & personal space. Author interviews 8 pros on their perspectives & experiences in PJ & then concludes with a short summary of some changes in photography over the past half-century, namely the gradual switch from 4"x5" to 2 1/4" to 35 mm to color & now electronic (digital) imaging.

As a former newspaper photographer I'd been taught a good PJ shot did not require a title. I found Horton's book exacting, full of exciting photos, many good "how to" tips, and how PJ news photography has evolved into specialized art forms for optimum coverage of war, natural disaster, politics, crime, disease & subspecialities of certain sports as basketball, football, Olympics, Indy 500, etc. It is a pleasant, informative read, not overtly technical & fairly priced.

Decent Overview, Good for Motivational Purposes.......2006-01-11

I bought this book in hopes to satisfy my curiosity about photojournalism. I would say this book did a pretty good job of doing that. Although it doesn't address any real specifics of photojournalism, it does deliver a lot of the basic principles and general knowledge.
For what it was worth, I found this book to be an excellent read, with plenty of insights that would be valuable to any photographer, written with a very simplistic approach. I can see how ideas presented in this book could be applied to other areas of photography and not be limited to the field of photojournalism.
If you're novice photographer and looking for a technical, how-to, reference book, this is not the book for you. If you a photographer of any level, and you want to broaden your general knowledge of photojournalism, then this book would be a fine addition to your library. Also, I feel that this book could be used as a warm-up read prior to diving into the more advanced, technical books available on the topic.

Useless and boring..........2005-10-15

I am very sorry but I found this book to be totally useless and boring. I was sorry to spend money for it. There is no real insight into the world of photojournalism out of my point of view.
I'd rather suggest reading Howard Chapnicks book "Truth Needs No Ally: Inside Photojournalism" or Ken Lights "Witness in Our Time: Working Lives of Documentary Photographers". Both excellent books, worth the money and very interesting.

Nice introduction book.......2002-09-13

I bought this book since I want to become a photojournalist.
I am a photographer who has graduated a photo school few months ago. this book isn't for beginners, The little technical data may be misleading if read by a novice. Instead, it deals with content and the thinking and working process of photographers in this field. I find it as a nice introduction to the world of photojournalism,though a little "too good to be true" kind of book. The book definitely doesn't deal with the problems, the deadlines, the failures and the risks. This is like a postcard, where everything is perfect. There is a good side though, it is easily read, and very interesting. You want a more serious book, look some place else...
If you have the spare bucks though, don't hasitate and buy it!!!

Stratagem: Deception and Surprise in War (Artech House Information Warfare Library)

Average customer rating:

Best of breed
A Must-Have for any military library

Stratagem: Deception and Surprise in War (Artech House Information Warfare Library)
Barton Whaley
Manufacturer: Artech House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1596931981

Book Description

Out-of-print and out of the hands of military professionals for years, Artech House answers the demand, making the sought-after, classic work, Stratagem: Deception and Surprise in War, available once again. This timeless and widely cited volume offers professionals a model and template for studying and analyzing deception operations. Readers get an historical analysis of deception and surprise, over 100 real-world case studies, and a set of methods that underlie and pervade the entire book.

This unique resource takes a broad and deep look at surprise operations, presenting intriguing questions and hypotheses about the possible causes of surprise, including deception. Thoroughly referenced and supported with clear data tables, the case studies concentrate on the goals, planning, expectations, security, leaks, warnings, intelligence assessments, and final results. The book concludes with analytical lists of battles from 1914 to 1968, systematically laid out in columns for cross-tabulation.

Customer Reviews:

Best of breed.......2007-03-25

Barton Whaley is respected as the foremost expert in the field of deception, and his book "Stratagem" is by far the very best single publication on the subject. His work was exhaustively researched and provides the clearest and most detailed explanations of theory, principles, tradecraft and case studies on deception.

A Must-Have for any military library.......2007-02-20

This book is an absolute 'must have' for any military historian (amateur or professional) or any military officers with any interest or responsibility for intelligence or counter-intelligence.

This book is written in the form of two books, and somewhat less obviously, three books.

Book 1 has six chapters of text that discusses the general concepts of deception from a theoretical standpoint and it's value in warfare. He points out the analysis of 27 wars where in only six of these was a decisive result obtained by a direct approach.

Book 2, the biggest part of the book is Appendix A. This consists of 115 known instances of surprise and/or deception from 1914 to 1968 (this book was first written in 1969). To list just two examples:

Case A30 - Details the efforts that the Japanese went to in order to obscure the fact that they were preparing to attack Pearl Harbor. This view puts an entirely different light on the question about what the Americans knew about the pending attack. Suppose the Japanese knew or even suspected that we might have broken their codes.

Case A45 - The deceptions directed at the Germans regarding D-Day. As Churchill said, the facts regarding the invasion were to be protected by 'a bodyguard of lies.' This details the well known aspects such as the appointment of Patton to head up the ficticious army. But it also reports the FBI, back in the US having one of their agents (code named ND98, and still not publicly identified) send signals to the Germans attempting to direct their attention to an attack in the Med.

Conclusion: Buy a copy of this book before it goes out of print again.

Average customer rating:

Great Book for the Price
Great book by a great writer
Good overview, lacking depth
An informative read that wont put you to sleep!
Heighten awareness, but not educate

Information Warfare & Security
Dorothy E. Denning
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

History | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Network Security | Networking | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0201433036

Book Description

What individuals, corporations, and governments need to know about information-related attacks and defenses!

Every day, we hear reports of hackers who have penetrated computer networks, vandalized Web pages, and accessed sensitive information. We hear how they have tampered with medical records, disrupted emergency 911 systems, and siphoned money from bank accounts. Could information terrorists, using nothing more than a personal computer, cause planes to crash, widespread power blackouts, or financial chaos? Such real and imaginary scenarios, and our defense against them, are the stuff of information warfare-operations that target or exploit information media to win some objective over an adversary.

Dorothy E. Denning, a pioneer in computer security, provides in this book a framework for understanding and dealing with information-based threats: computer break-ins, fraud, sabotage, espionage, piracy, identity theft, invasions of privacy, and electronic warfare. She describes these attacks with astonishing, real examples, as in her analysis of information warfare operations during the Gulf War. Then, offering sound advice for security practices and policies, she explains countermeasures that are both possible and necessary.

You will find in this book:

A comprehensive and coherent treatment of offensive and defensive information warfare, identifying the key actors, targets, methods, technologies, outcomes, policies, and laws;

A theory of information warfare that explains and integrates within a single framework operations involving diverse actors and media;

An accurate picture of the threats, illuminated by actual incidents;

A description of information warfare technologies and their limitations, particularly the limitations of defensive technologies.

Whatever your interest or role in the emerging field of information warfare, this book will give you the background you need to make informed judgments about potential threats and our defenses against them.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book for the Price.......2004-05-31

Dennings Work in this book is great!

Great book by a great writer.......2003-09-11

Dr. Dorothy Denning is both a genius and a pragmatist.

She knows what the real risks are and writes about them.

This book is 100% fact and 0% hype.

Read it!

Good overview, lacking depth.......2002-04-03

The book provides a good overview of information warfare. It is divided into three sections, the introduction, offensive information warfare and finally defensive information warfare. Numerous topics are covered. The author is clearly an expert in security and manages to touch upon all the major information security topics.

The main strength of the book is the breadth of topic selection. By the time you have reached the end of the book, you will have at least a passing acquaintance with all important information security topics. The book is very well referenced and is written in an easy to read style.

The enormous topic selection means that no topic is treated in any particular depth. This means that you'll get to know something about everything, but unfortunately you won't develop an intimate understanding of any of the topics covered.

At times I received the impression that the book was simply a collection of anecdotes. Some parts of the book resembled sensationalistic journalism and, four years after it was written, many parts of the book are out of date. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a broad overview of information security. Its scatter gun approach means that you'll hit all of the topics but won't develop a true understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved.

An informative read that wont put you to sleep!.......2002-02-03

Dorothy Denning has produced one of the best 'easy read' reference books I have seen in years. The writing is one of the most striking aspects of this book; right from the introduction the reader is taken on a logical and structured route through the key aspects of Information Security, with numerous references to real life cases. You don't need a note pad, as the language is clear and concepts explained in simple English. This a excellent book to read on the train/plane: it is interesting, job related, informative but not dull or too intellectually challenging.

That said the strength of argument and excellent references are worth the cost of the book alone! I have personally used excerpts form this book to very good effect when making a point to higher management. Of the 50+ IT, Security and InfoSec books have in my collection this is the one I never, lend out.

Heighten awareness, but not educate.......2000-10-03

Gulf war, fraud, national security, Spam, traitors, and computer viruses. These are just a few of the topics covered by Dorothy Denning's book Information_Warfare_and_Security. This book gives a broad and informative view of information security, however it lacks specifics to make it more than an introductory work to this field.

The book has a broad overview of subjects. The Introduction section encompasses around 75 pages and gives substantial theory to the how and why of information security. Part II discusses "Offensive Information Warfare" which brings the reader through techniques on obtaining information. "Defensive Information Warfare" in Part III naturally discusses how to repel the offenses discussed in Part II.

Information_Warfare_and_Security is very informative on the problem areas which it discusses. Computers and phones are obvious places for intrusion and the book covers the facets of these areas in depth. The less obvious methodologies are also mentioned such as eavesdropping, traffic analysis, and sabotage. Denning does not leave out the human factor in her sections on social engineering, traitors, and even dumpster diving.

Denning's book, however, lacks specific in-depth information. Any chapter subject could have a large book written on it. The book does not give the "how-to's" to create or block an attack; rather it merely discusses the possibilities. To Denning's credit, however, she does include a substantial bibliography and endnotes so the reader can find further information in the source material.

Information_Warfare_and_Security would serve the purpose of an excellent introductory overview to the information security field. It is broad and informative, but lacks the specific information to execute any of the offenses or defenses. Denning's book is useful to heighten awareness of information security issues, but it is not sufficient to provide an education in this field.

Average customer rating:

A theoretical look at the next face of conflict

Marginal

A very important book on security policy

In Athena's Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age
John Arquilla
Manufacturer: RAND Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Weapons & Warfare | Military | History | Subjects | Books | Biological & Chemical | Control | Conventional | Nuclear
Military Science | History | Subjects | Books
Reference | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
International Security | Freedom & Security | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy

Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of Soft Power (Issues in Twenty-First Century Warfare)

Strategic Information Warfare Rising

Information Warfare & Security

Changing Role of Information Warfare: The Changing Role of Information in Warfare (Strategic Appraisal S.)

ASIN: 0833025147

Book Description

Essays about conflict in the information age that show how the information revolution is altering the nature of conflict.

Customer Reviews:

A theoretical look at the next face of conflict.......2000-08-07

This book tackles international computer system threats that face nations and corporations head on. It presents a theoretical framework for action and will be a valuable resource for the next decade.

Athena was also a serious topic in ancient times when she was the Greek god with a sword and shield, the one who thought up the first Trojan horse... a legacy that connects well with today's netwars.

The authors of each chapter address different issues. Most are from the perspective of military issues. Many use clear historic perspectives to show how one side or the other lost conflicts, for example, the use of smart networks by Mongols to defeat Muslims and by Ho Chi Minh against Lyndon Johnson. Other examples are drawn from the gulf war; the chief of which is that the next opponent will likely not be as dumb as Saddam.

Oddly there isn't much in the book about China and Russia, the cyber-bullies of today's world. Even if one did want to look up material on these countries the missing index prevents it. With a new abbreviation on every page it would also be helpful to have a Rosetta stone inside the back cover.

The example of the wild west is used and very applicable here. There are only isolated pockets of law and order. Good and bad guys are hard to distinguish. Outside occasional enclaves good guys can only trust their resources and a few friends. This high level discussion can be directly translated to domains, firewalls, and virtual private networks. It argues against lowest-bidder security implementations.

Computer network managers will understand diminishing role of government in the direction of commercial systems. This means less traditional compliance-driven security technology will be available. Corporate security, network administrators and infrastructure managers are out there on their own. "Street smart" information behavior will be necessary to survive.

Through the book the term "cyber" is overused. It almost never appears in serious government discussions or commercial security where the emphasis is on all aspects of network issues.

Security managers who want a superficial self improvement should skip this book. It is very concept-dense and filled with ideas which will cause the reader to stop and think about strategy. Few solution specifics are presented. Concepts in this book are suited for someone who is developing a strategic vision for protecting their organization from network attacks.

Marginal.......2000-05-29

This collection of sentences and catch phrases is VERY weak on technical details and VERY heavy on the diatribe. In several instances, it is down right incorrect when referencing history. This book may fit the needs of a poli. sci. type, but it is less than a dust collector when it comes to those working in the fields of IT/IW/IA. As a 2 decade professional in the field, take my recommendation and avoid this book if you are looking for anything beyond recycled political phrases related to IW.

A very important book on security policy.......1998-04-23

In Athena's Camp is, in my eyes, one of the most important books in the area of security policy at the given momnent, alongside 'Sources of Conflict', which has been published by Rand, too. I used the book in a term paper I wrote for political sciences, in which I examined the coming threats in context with the momentary policy of the german government (as I am German and studying here). The book was of utmost importance to me in this case, as it is, as far as I know, the only book covering this topic on such a high level of quality at the moment. Further research also revealed to me, that the momentary german policy is utmost abysmal, and that, surprisingly, the German Green Party, Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, would maintain the best policy in case of election (just for your information). To all students of political sciences worldwide who love researching the field of global and societal change through the information revolution, get it.

Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea

Average customer rating:

US intelligence on a nuclear bomb.
How We Know
The Definitive History of Nuclear Espionage
A fascinating account on what our activities and capabilities have been in discovering the development of nuclear weapons.
Tell Tale Mushroom Clouds

Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea
Jeffrey T. Richelson
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Iran | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Arms Control | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0393053830

Book Description

A global history of U.S. nuclear espionage from its World War II origins to today's threats from rogue states.

For fifty years, the United States has monitored friends and foes who seek to develop the ultimate weapon. Since 1952 the nuclear club has grown to at least eight nations, while others are making serious attempts to join. Each chapter chronologically focuses on the nuclear activities of one or more countries, intermingling what the United States believed was happening with accounts of what actually occurred in each country's laboratories, test sites, and decision-making councils. Jeffrey T. Richelson weaves recently declassified documents into his interviews with the scientists and spies involved in the nuclear espionage. The book reveals new information about U.S. intelligence work on the Soviet/Russian, French, Chinese, Indian, Israeli, and South African nuclear programs; on the attempts to solve the mysterious Vela Incident; and on current efforts to uncover the nuclear secrets of Iran and North Korea. The book also includes spy satellite photographs never before extracted from the national archives. 46 photographs, 6 maps.

Customer Reviews:

US intelligence on a nuclear bomb........2007-03-21

I confess that I think the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable. To make a nuclear bomb all you need is 1940s technology. In time more and more nations will get them. At best, the US can try to slow down the growth. To do that they need accurate intelligence. What is critical is before they get the bomb as later it is much harder to stop it. Reading this book I did not feel confident the US intelligence was that successful in finding out this information. Partly it is asking too much of an intelligence agency for example it is clear from the book that few in the countries that are trying to make bombs know or even suspect it. The cost is not that high. It appears the local intelligence is these countries is adequate in security. It does not take that much time to make one if a country wants too. It is also clear for all the technological marvels available to the US they do not enough. Although it does appear the US often knows a bomb has gone off after it has gone off.

What I did not like is the book lacks an overall assessment at the end of each section. So I felt like we are going from story to story with no real theme.

However it is a good study and if your interested in this subject it is a must read.

How We Know.......2006-09-09

This is a detailed study of what we know about the different atomic weapons holdings and development efforts and how we obtained that knowledge. Jeffrey Richelson describes all the development efforts from war-time Germany to Iran and North Korea today. He particularly brings across the importance of the different airborne and satellite surveillance programs, showing how the need for airplane over-flights diminished as higher and higher resolution imagery became available from the KH series reconnaissance satellites.

This is an exhaustive effort and well documented with 122 pages of notes that left me with an appreciation for the problem of information gathering when dealing with nuclear proliferation.

The Definitive History of Nuclear Espionage.......2006-08-08

Dr. Jeffrey T. Richelson, arguably the most prolific and certainly the most technically correct writer about the U.S. intelligence community, has done it again. "Spying on the Bomb" describes, in Dr. Richelson's usual thorough and well-researched manner, the U.S. intelligence community's efforts to track--and influence--other nations' attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

Dr. Richelson begins his story in Nazi Germany during World War II. Hitler, as it turned out, did not have a meaningful atomic bomb program, despite the worrisome presence in the Third Reich of renowned nuclear physicist Dr. Werner Heisenberg, who was certainly capable of designing one. After the War, the Soviet Union was the second nation to join the "nuclear club," detonating a fission bomb in 1949, years earlier than the "experts" had predicted. Today the nuclear club includes, for sure, Britain, China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan and South Africa. The evidence concerning North Korea and Taiwan is ambiguous (they probably have small nuclear arsenals), and Iran could join the club at any time. Dr. Richelson describes the nuclear programs of all of these nations at great length, as well as the efforts of countries such as Libya which tried and failed to get nuclear weapons by purchasing them.

He also describes the many types of technological sensors that the U.S. used to detect nuclear weapon tests anywhere on the earth or in near-earth space, and to determine the characteristics of those that were tested. The U.S. deployed global arrays of seismic, acoustic, optical, radiation and electromagnetic sensors to detect nuclear bursts. For each test, the Air Force flew specially modified aircraft into the downwind radioactive cloud to "sniff" particles of the weapon debris, from which analysts could determine many details about the weapon type and design. These sensors, naturally, were only useful "after the fact." Unfortunately, they could not reveal that a nuclear test was GOING to happen, only that one HAD happened. To try to figure out IF and WHEN nations were going to test before they did so, the U.S. used other assets--photographic reconnaissance and electronic eavesdropping satellites, human agents ("spies") and diplomacy. The U.S. intelligence community's post-test analyses of other nations' nuclear tests were usually quite timely and accurate. But its record of correctly predicting "if" and "when" nuclear tests were going to take place was dismal. Virtually every foreign nuclear test was a surprise to U.S. analysts in one way or another. Their predictions of test dates, locations, bomb types, designs, fissionable materials, yields, etc., were often so far off the mark as to be worse than useless. The record of failure is so appalling that one wonders why analysts bothered to keep making predictions when they turned out to be so wrong so often.

Long after I have forgotten the technical and operational details that Dr. Richelson describes in "Spying on the Bomb," I will remember three main points.

One is that EVERY nation that today possesses nuclear weapons has lied about its intention to develop them. EVERY nuclear nation once protested that either "we are NOT going to develop nuclear weapons" or "our nuclear research is for peaceful purposes only." Then they went right ahead and developed the bomb. With the historical perspective that Dr. Richelson offers in this book, which might as well be entitled "Lying About the Bomb," I can't imagine how ANYONE can put any stock whatsoever in the promises of foreign leaders that they will not build atomic bombs. Such promises, in fact, should be considered insults.

Another related point is that treaties are useless. Dr. Richelson does not explicitly say this--it is more of an "exercise for the reader." But he tells of several nations that signed the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or other agreements to refrain from developing atomic weapons in exchange for trade rights or economic aid, and then went right ahead and did what they wanted to do--build atomic bombs. Such treaties, in fact, may do more harm than good. If diplomats or analysts believe falsely that a nation is abiding by the terms of a treaty, they may not react quickly enough when evidence accumulates that the nation is simply ignoring the pretty words on the piece of paper.

The third point, related to the U.S. intelligence community's consistent failure to accurately predict the nuclear activities of non-U.S. nations, has to do with a certain "technological arrogance." In the examples that Dr. Richelson cites, U.S. analysts seem to think that most other nations lack the scientific, engineering and manufacturing skills required to design and build an atomic bomb. The record clearly belies that assumption. They also seem to assume that every other nation MUST proceed along the same nuclear path that the U.S. took. But counter-examples abound. For example, U.S. analysts ASSUMED that any nation developing an atomic bomb would use plutonium for the fissionable material. China, however, shocked U.S. analysts by using highly enriched uranium instead of plutonium. Similarly, many analysts smugly assume that certain isotope separation techniques are "obsolete." But just because the U.S. does not use them today does not mean they are not perfect for some other less-advanced nascent nuclear nation.

U.S. intelligence community analysts seem to lack a real-world appreciation for the importance of innovation, cleverness and adaptability, on which the U.S. does not have a monopoly, in the nuclear weapon development process. This short-sightedness has repeatedly led them, and the nation, to be unpleasantly surprised by foreign nuclear developments.

A fascinating account on what our activities and capabilities have been in discovering the development of nuclear weapons........2006-07-04

Jeffrey T. Richelson chronicles the efforts the United States has made to deal with the threat of atomic and nuclear weapons from they were first conceived in the 1930s and `40s through the gathering of intelligence. You know, spying. The building of our own (the United States') nuclear arsenal is well chronicled in other books. This volume is more about the kinds of methods that were developed in the human intelligence and technical intelligence areas and the debates that have raged over the decades in interpreting the meaning of what was found out. I found the gradual growth of the intelligence bureaucracy and how each component of the CIA versus the State Department versus the Military became predictable in its interpretation of evidence of nuclear activity fascinating and distressing. It is hard to have confidence that our nation is getting a handle on the threats facing us when intelligence interpretation is more about turf wars than truly understanding what is happening in the laboratories and processing plants of our enemies.

While the book does discuss the development of sampling the atmosphere for the minute quantities of by products unique to nuclear activity and the particles that are the residue of a nuclear explosion, the acoustic infrasonic signatures of nuclear blasts, the satellite detection of light signatures, gamma ray production, photographic evidence of infrastructure and activities signaling the enrichment of uranium or the collection and processing of plutonium through flyovers by spy planes and specialized satellites, it also discusses the problems associated with gathering human intelligence in the various regimes. Even when you get evidence from someone on the ground, one has to not only verify the validity of the information provided, but also consider carefully the motives of the person supplying the information. It becomes a very complicated series of issues very quickly.

Adding to the difficulty is that those who desire to develop these weapons usually want to do so in great secrecy until they successfully explode a nuclear device. They have learned a lot about the capabilities of our satellites and the habits of interpretation by our intelligence services. So, they design their facilities to look as much like something legitimate as they can. They take facilities underground. They build decoys that look hidden, but are designed to hold attention. At times, they are even good enough to fool the watchdogs that come on site to inspect. For example, in the old days, inspectors measured the total radiation of fuel rods being shipped. One Asian country wanting enriched uranium got around this by building fuel rods of the proper weight and size and radiation, but using smaller pieces of enriched uranium spaced with aluminum filler. Another shaped the dirt covering the blast site (to ensure no radiation escaped into the atmosphere) so that it looked as if was created by the prevailing wind so the satellite photo interpreters would be less likely to pick up on it.

Obviously, I can't recount everything that is covered in 544 pages. However, the last three chapters do cover current events with Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. The author shows clearly how the present administration was not served well by competition between intelligence services. I found the discussion of the infamous aluminum tubes quite enlightening. Iraq orders 60,000 extremely engineered aluminum tubes. Why? One analyst at the CIA sees them as centrifuge tubes. He even tests them as such and finds a way to make one spin at high enough rpms to function as one. Other agencies point out that the proportions are wrong for centrifuge tubes and they are indeed similar to the missile bodies Iraq had used in the past. However, the tubes are too hard and the tolerances are overly precise for rockets. Is Iraq simply living with inefficiency to get away with enriching uranium? Or was Saddam himself the victim of his own agencies? Did he order the program restarted, and his crooked bureaucrats ordered these things to make him think they were doing something but secretly benefiting themselves somehow?

Who knows. All the certainty you here from various parties is evidence of their political position rather than any real expertise in intelligence analysis.

What I come away with is a sense that we really do need to reform our intelligence services to make sure we are focused on gathering intelligence and interpreting it as well as we can with as few turf wars and bureaucratic wrangling as we can. The daunting task is that the reforms have to be done by the same bureaucrats who are fighting over power and turf now. Who wants to give up power? And just because one group wins over another in no way indicates that the better and more reliable group won the fight. It simply means that the better political infighter was rewarded.

Some say that we are too focused on nuclear weapons. That a single nuclear weapon cannot take down the United States. While that is likely true, it isn't the direct assault that is the real threat for America. It is if a bomb goes off in a place and in a way that draws America into a war the way the Allies were all drawn into World War I through a seemingly small act. We have to be focused on these nations and what they are up to on this front. Of course, we must do the other things, too. Nobody said being a Superpower was easy work. Of course, nations will act in their own interests. What is interesting, and adds to the complexities, is how the political factions within each nation (including ours) will interpret, leak, and promote various activities contrary the plans of those in power. From what we have seen leaked to the press in the past few years, it appears that our own intelligence bureaucracies are rife with this contrarian activity.

A fascinating and informative work. You cannot consider yourself informed on this subject by what you hear and read in the mainstream media. This book is certainly one you should read. And the background it will give you will help you decipher sense from nonsense when you hear someone talking about nuclear issues on the tube.

Tell Tale Mushroom Clouds.......2006-05-22

This is a meticulously researched book that provides what seems to be an accurate chronicle of the efforts by the U.S. Government to gather intelligence on the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It is a good source book and a good introduction to the issues associated with identifying and tracking the development of nuclear weapons. It is however a long way from being a definitive book on the subject.

The story of the proliferation nuclear weapons is a complex one involving the international transfer of weapons related knowledge, technology (such as advanced machine tools), and raw materials from nation states possessing one or more of these ingredients to those wishing to posses them. It further involves the development of the scientific and engineering human capital required to design and run a nuclear program by nuclear wannabe states. Finally there is the construction and location of the necessary production and testing facilities needed for such programs. Richelson would have better served his readers had he opened his book with a tutorial on this complex story so that they could better understand what American intelligence was really looking for in the events he chronicles.

This book would have also been better had Richelson made more of an effort to tie the individual events he chronicles so well into a common theme. As is, each event he recounts exists more or less in isolation from every other event without any indication of the evolution of either of nuclear weapons development or of the efforts to produce intelligence on the subject.

Still this is a remarkable book that provides a wealth of details on both nuclear weapons development and the efforts of U.S. intelligence to track such development. It could have been a great book and it is a shame that it turned out to be merely a good book.

Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death

Average customer rating:

Exposes the Media's Voyeuristic, Shock And Awe Tendencies
Good read, but cliche conclusions
Profoundly important and a good read to boot.
The Perfect Holiday Gift
This is a very important book.

Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death
Susan D Moeller
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Reference | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0415920973

Book Description

From outbreaks of the flesh eating viruses Ebola and Strep A, to death camps in Bosnia and massacres in Rwanda, the media seem to careen from one trauma to another, in a breathless tour of poverty, disease and death. First we're horrified, but each time they turn up the pitch, show us one image more hideous than the next, it gets harder and harder to feel. Meet compassion fatigue--a modern syndrome, Susan Moeller argues, that results from formulaic media coverage, sensationalized language and overly Americanized metaphors.

In her impassioned new book, Compassion Fatigue, Moeller warns that the American media threatens our ability to understand the world around us. Why do the media cover the world in the way that they do? Are they simply following the marketplace demand for tabloid-style international news? Or are they creating an audience that has seen too much--or too little--to care? Through a series of case studies of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"--disease, famine, death and war--Moeller investigates how newspapers, newsmagazines and television have covered international crises over the last two decades, identifying the ruts into which the media have fallen and revealing why.

Throughout, we hear from industry insiders who tell of the chilling effect of the mega-media mergers, the tyranny of the bottom-line hunt for profits, and the decline of the American attention span as they struggle to both tell and sell a story. But Moeller is insistent that the media need not, and should not, be run like any other business. The media have a special responsibility to the public, and when they abdicate this responsibility and the public lapses into a compassion fatigue stupor, we become a public at great danger to ourselves.

Customer Reviews:

Exposes the Media's Voyeuristic, Shock And Awe Tendencies.......2005-01-24

"At breakfast and at dinner, we can sharpen our own appetites with a plentiful dose of the pornography of war, genocide, destitution and disease." So says one of the first lines in introduction to Compassion Fatigue. With that statement as simultaneously an opener and a teaser of the things to come, Professor Moeller takes the reader on a guided tour of the presentation and commodification of human tragedy and suffering.

Compassion Fatigue tells you the how and the why behind what makes the nightly news, and also reveals why a great many other things do not make the news. While mostly a critique of US based media and journalism, it does reveal the gradual trend towards the 'One World' view of things and events that has come to typify reporting of any sort.

Without intending to do so, the book does much to demonstrate that the media, always locked in competition with other forms of 'programming' for our attention, has resorted to marketing information- current events, as a form of entertainment. In place of in-depth, investigative journalism, we now have soundbites featuring 'talking heads', and the cuter or more obscene the personality (and increasingly both), the better.

Each of the so-called 'Four Horsemen'- war, disease, famine and death, are presented and profiled in turn, with detailed discussion about the mechanics behind their delivery to readers and viewers. This book differs from most critiques of the media because it tells the narrative with the assistance of journalists themselves, in the words of the journalists.

Many people in the media know what they are doing is not only questionable, but in some cases, flat out wrong. However, marketability (how well something will go over with viewers) matters more than anything else. Marketability makes for high ratings, and high ratings in turn makes for fat profits for the parent company. Ergo, the trend towards to self-interested and self-centered journalism, and the tendency to feature celebrity involvement with current events. The latter trend is most pernicious, because it is not necessarily the event, but what they think of it that matters most, as being able to get people's attention is the most important thing, not what's really going on in the world. This in turn is both related to and feeds into the Body Count Syndrome, whereby each tragedy or documented depravity has to be bigger and obscence than the one before it, once again, to get our attention.

Although the book was a bit wearying at points (mostly because of the nine point font of the text), overall the content was top-notch. I especially liked the final chapter, where Professor Moeller compared and contrasted the funerals of Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, both of whom died at the same time. One was tabloid fodder, and the other dedicated her life to bringing a little joy to impoverished and suffering masses of humanity. Yet even in death, one managed to monopolize nearly all media attention for a month, while the other could barely get something less than a one page obituary (even here mostly devoted to how many dignitaries and personalities came to pay their final respects) in TIME magazine. That one observation says a lot about not only the morals and values of the media, but even more about those of us viewers.

The motto of the media should be changed to reflect the sorry state of our times, and should now be: all the news that's (un)fit to print.

Good read, but cliche conclusions.......2001-01-16

Moeller divides her book into six sections; an introduction, a section on media coverage of disease, a chapter on media coverage of famine, a chapter on coverage of assassinations, a chapter on coverage of genocide, and a conclusion. Each section if filled with case studies and alternately amusing and horrifying anecdotes; she recounts, for example, that the editor of one Boston paper said that "the distance from Boston common divided by the number of bodies" decides which stories make the final cut. The book makes a great read (especially relative to the bulk of academic writing), and you'll certainly pick up little tidbits you can later cite in conversations about current events.

The conclusions Moeller draws, however, are cliché. What do you know, the media disproportionately focuses on the US, and most of what we see of Africa and the Middle East is tragedy, so we get a skewed picture. And the media sensationalize everything, and are fond of shallow, sound-bite explanations of complex tragedies. Who would have guessed any of this without reading the book? I also find her conclusions somewhat contradictory; she argues both that excessive coverage of disasters leads to a hardening of the public's sympathies AND that the media need to increase coverage of foreign tragedies. I think she's arguing that the type of coverage needs to be changes - fewer pictures of starving children, more hard-boiled analysis, but her conclusion is so brief she doesn't elaborate much. So while you will probably enjoy the book, and love the stories, I doubt that when you have finished you will feel that you have a better understanding of the American media.

Profoundly important and a good read to boot........1999-02-10

Susan Moeller gets right to the heart of the weaknesses of how the American media covers foreign news and the way the American audience percieves it. But she doesn't just paint a picture of the problems -she spells out some constructive and doable means to fix them. As a journalist myself, I recommended this book to all of my peers -both in the industry and out of it.

The Perfect Holiday Gift.......1998-12-08

Tired of giving gifts that don't mean anything? Then this book is the perfect gift to give to someone you care about. This book teaches us that we need to look closely at what is being fed to us daily in newspapers, TV, and radio. Ms. Moeller forces us to look at how Americans wants their news served to us so we can tolerate it instead of tasting it and truly understanding the complexities. I applaud her bravery in criticizing the mainstream press which will certainly not be interested in reviewing or having her on as a guest. If you care about the world buy this book and give it to as many friends as you can.

This is a very important book........1998-10-12

Criticism of the American press -- broadcast and print -- for its foreign coverage is hardly new but Professor Moeller does a masterful job of exposing the causes and the result of this failure. Her work should open the public's eyes, and, indeed, those of the press itself, to the danger to our democracy if remedy is not forthcoming. -Walter Cronkite

Average customer rating:

Readers won't want to miss this one.
Downs is Up
Powerful Psychological Thriller
A gripping thriller
An excellent, suspenseful series of twists and turns

Head Game
Tim Downs
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1595540237

Book Description

Three men--served together in Desert Storm. Their job was to create propaganda leaflets that stripped the enemy of his will to resist. Now, fifteen years later, the enemy is out to return the favor. He's playing head games with them...and won't stop until their worlds are turned completely upside down.

Customer Reviews:

Readers won't want to miss this one........2007-06-06

In his absorbing thriller, HEAD GAME, the talented Tim Downs explores the power of psychological warfare, with excellent results.

Downs (PLAGUEMAKER) sets up his best novel to date by giving us a window into the Gulf War and three men who form a tightly-knit PsyOps unit. Cale Caldwell is an advertising executive whose fresh talents are put to work writing leaflets encouraging Iraqi soldiers to surrender. "The product the Army was selling was simply life: survival; continued existence; the chance to see your loved ones again; the chance to get your first decent meal in weeks...." "King" Kirby (born Alderson Dumfries) is an aspiring comic book illustrator whose talents are put to work in the PsyOps unit. Captain "Pug" Moseley is the wise Intelligence Officer who also does "market research" and is "the old warhorse" of the group.

Downs excels at intriguing the reader with his detailed account of how the trio puts together leaflets that will best appeal to Iraqi soldiers and cause them to surrender. His descriptions of the nuances of language and how a word used or deleted can affect the reader will capture fans from the opening pages. (For example, The Army changes a leaflet message from "Surrender" to "Surrender with honor" with significant results.)

But all of this is background to the story that unfolds in present-day Charlotte, North Carolina, where Caldwell, a recent widower, and his teenage daughter Hannah are caught in a downward spiral of unfortunate events. Caldwell is told that his former PsyOps buddy Kirby has committed suicide. Caldwell's dead wife's past may not be as squeaky clean as he imagined, and the mild-mannered and beloved family dog, Molly, has seemingly attacked an innocent passerby. Then Hannah, angry and bitter about her mother's death and her father's long absences, takes up with a hardened girl at school and plots revenge against what she sees as her father's misdeeds. But are these misfortunes really random events? Or the work of a brilliant enemy bent on revenge?

Fans who have followed Downs from his debut novel, SHOOFLY PIE, will be delighted to see that he isn't afraid to explore new genres (most previous novels have had a tie-in to forensics or biological warfare). However, they'll also wonder what happened to Downs's delightful sense of humor, which is part of what made his earlier novels (CHOP SHOP) so appealing. It's not in evidence much here. The death of Hannah by a drunk driver is also a stock plot element overly used in faith fiction. One publishing snafu: A discount sticker that the reader is supposed to peel away for instructions on redemption turned out to be a bust --- the instructions were illegible.

However, the success of this suspense novel lies in Downs's fresh approach to what could have been a tired plot in another author's hands (old enemy seeks revenge). One of the most interesting portions of the book is the opening chapter, which is done as a graphic novel illustration of suicide, penned by the author. It's wonderful to see some experimentation in faith fiction --- WestBow is to be commended for taking some chances here --- as should Downs for executing this well. One of Downs's stunning plot twists keeps the reader glued to the story until the last page is turned.

Downs is one of the most talented suspense novelists in the faith fiction genre, and keeps improving with each new book. Readers won't want to miss this one.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Downs is Up.......2007-04-25

If I could put together a batting line-up for the best in suspense, I'd be sure to include some of my newest favorites: Harlan Coben, Joseph Finder, Robert Liparulo, and Daniel Silva. There is no doubt, though, that Tim Downs would belong on that list. From his quirky Bug Man series, to his international thriller "Plague Maker," to this newest head-to-head mind game between two Gulf War survivors, Downs continues to impress.

"Head Game" follows Cale Caldwell, a man trained in pyschological operations. He used his skills to convince thousands of Iraqi soldiers to surrender in the Gulf War, but now he's settled into more routine employment while trying to raise a teenage daughter and recover from the death of his beloved wife. Adding to the pressure, he finds out that a fellow vet has committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge.

Cale and his old war buddy, Pug, find themselves pitted against an Iraqi with a view for revenge. There are no-holds barred in this man's twisted game, and Cale will be stretched to his limits as he discovers things about himself, his marriage, and his daughter. The book speeds along at a great pace, while never forgetting to care about its characters. Downs also makes a subtle, but very effective, comparison between the psychological warfare waged against one man and the spiritual warfare we all face--against depression, loneliness, and doubt.

Once again, Tim Downs hits one out of the park. If someone asks me who I want at bat on this team of suspense, I'll tell them, "Downs is up!"

Powerful Psychological Thriller.......2007-04-19

Cale Caldwell is a veteran of the Gulf War who served in the Army's Psy Ops forces. Life couldn't be better for Cale with his beautiful wife and daughter and his rising career as an advertising genius. After the tragic loss of his wife, he struggles with the daunting task of raising his teenage daughter alone. When Cale gets word that his best friend has committed suicide, he suspects foul play and begins to investigate further. Soon he becomes the target of an unknown madman who will use any means necessary to see him suffer. As Cale looks deeper into the mystery of his friend's suicide he uncovers shocking revelations tied to his past that may have deadly consequences.

Tim Downs has delivered a powerful psychological thriller in his latest novel. The plot is perfectly paced with effective twists and turns throughout. Downs expertly places pieces to this unfolding puzzle throughout the story that draws the reader in with ease. Themes of good vs. evil are effectively explored through the backdrop of psychological warfare. Cale's relationship with his daughter is a roller coaster of emotions that will tug at the heart strings of parents. This is a suspenseful tale that will have readers holding on for the ride and guessing until the end. Head Game is highly recommended for fans of mystery and suspense. (From Christian Library Journal)

A gripping thriller.......2007-04-18

This was the first time I read any of Tim's books, and now I've got to find the rest of them. This book was incredible from start to finish. It had the most original first chapter of any recent Christian novel I've seen (drawn by the author himself), and then followed up with a gripping story that kept me reading until the end. My reading time is limited, so I don't finish a lot of the books I start unless they keep my interest. This one did! The in-depth look into PsyOps and how it's really used in the military was fascinating. I highly recommend it.

An excellent, suspenseful series of twists and turns.......2007-03-12

Psychological tension springs to life in HEAD GAME, a complex novel which spans the course of nearly two decades and is a recommended pick for public lending libraries strong in detailed leisure reads. A psychological expert and intelligence officer who joined forces during the Desert Storm operation find themselves facing a phoenix-like enemy fifteen years later in an excellent, suspenseful series of twists and turns enhanced by the author's pen and ink drawings.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of Soft Power (Issues in Twenty-First Century Warfare)

Average customer rating:

a Good Begining
High level IO overview that can't be beat!
Outstanding First Cut, Needs to Go Further
Discovering Practical Information Operations
The premier book on military Information Operations

Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of Soft Power (Issues in Twenty-First Century Warfare)
Edwin L. Armistead
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Science | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1574886991

Book Description

The modern means of communication have turned the world into an information fishbowl and, in terms of foreign policy and national security in post-Cold War power politics, helped transform international power politics. Information operations (IO), in which time zones are as important as national boundaries, is the use of modern technology to deliver critical information and influential content in an effort to shape perceptions, manage opinions, and control behavior. Contemporary IO differs from traditional psychological operations practiced by nation-states, because the availability of low-cost high technology permits nongovernmental organizations and rogue elements, such as terrorist groups, to deliver influential content of their own as well as facilitates damaging cyber-attacks (“hactivism”) on computer networks and infrastructure. As current vice president Dick Cheney once said, such technology has turned third-class powers into first-class threats.

Conceived as a textbook by instructors at the Joint Command, Control, and Information Warfare School of the U.S. Joint Forces Staff College and involving IO experts from several countries, this book fills an important gap in the literature by analyzing under one cover the military, technological, and psychological aspects of information operations. The general reader will appreciate the examples taken from recent history that reflect the impact of IO on U.S. foreign policy, military operations, and government organization.

Customer Reviews:

a Good Begining.......2007-03-20

The meaning of the tem `Information Operations' (IO) is still evolving, but it is generally recognized to be inextricably part of the concept of Network Centric Warfare which was made possible by what the U.S. Military refer to as the `Global Information Grid' (GID). Which is to say that the IO concept is essential to developing military strategy and force structure planning. So what is it? The simplest definition of IO that is currently in fashion would appear to be that it refers to techniques and actions that adversely affect an enemy's ability to collect, manage, and use information while defending ones own abilities in this regard.

All this is by way of introduction to this book, which although written by a committee of U.S. and Australian IO theorist and operators, is a pretty good over view of how IO works both in theory and, interestingly enough, in practice. The book makes perfectly valid claims that IO clearly must be based on effective intelligence production and good information systems. Ironically both defensive and offensive IO are dependant on access to accurate and timely information (knowledge) to be successful. In this context it was rather surprising that the book did not make more of an issue of the dangers of disinformation and corrupted information to IO success although it did discuss psychological warfare as an aspect of IO. Still the book is for now a good primer on IO and understanding the complexities of war in the 21st Century.

Yet this book is not the definitive statement on IO, rather it is another step on the road of the U.S. Military to transformation to force structures based on Network Centric Warfare. Incidentally for those interested in that concept I suggest they read "The Future of War" by Mark D. Mandeles (Amazon.com). A rather different but equally relevant view of IO can be found in "Information Operations' by Robert D. Steel (Amazon.com). Until the term `Information Operations' is finally established, it is a good idea to keep an open mind on what it means.

High level IO overview that can't be beat!.......2006-12-01

Info Ops: Warfare and Hard Reality of Soft Power is an awesome primer to information operations/information warfare (IO/IW). The book was originally written as a textbook for some high-level defense university classes, but has worked great as a layman's introduction to the field. In it you'll find many government agencies and the scope of their involvement in IO, great examples of IO/IW [save one example I'll mention later]

The book is the foundation to an IO/IW education, so it is a definite "must-purchase." Its low price may shy folks away, thinking its a "discount" overview - but that is a mistake in thinking, and maybe IO (deception) on the part of the publisher...

The one example of IO/IW I was disappointed in was mention of cyberspace exercises called Solar Sunrise and Elligible Receiver. The mainstream press have called them hoaxes or reporting blown out of proportion; the book does no better by using it as a "smoking gun" without the powder burns or shell casing. The mention of both exercises seem to be wrapped in the same mystery and hysteria as found on online conspiracy theory sites.

Other than that slight peeve, the book should be purchased to get the skinny on IO/IW.

Outstanding First Cut, Needs to Go Further.......2006-03-18

This is a first rate effort, but it is incomplete and overly U.S. centric. A new expanded edition is needed soonest.

For myself the best chapters were on "Intelligence Support: Foundations for Conducting IO" and "Information Projection: Shaping the Global Village." Other chapters on the language of IO, information protection, related and supporting activities, and implementing IO were good.

The most important point in this book from my point of view was its observation that modern war is only 15-25% military action, and the rest must be a unified national campaign that leverages all sources of national power **for which IO is the glue that provides the inter-agency coherence.** These authors understand and teach, very ably, how IO is at the heart of managing complex coalition contingency operations.

The book over-all shows a real appreciation for the role that must be played by non-military agencies, coalitions, and private sector organizations including religions, academics, and business as well as media personalities.

The discussion of the "information battlespace" is useful, as are the illustrations. There is an excellent "strategy to task" section helpful to anyone actually implementing IO.

The authors are to be commended for emphasizing that knowing the enemy is not enough--you must know yourself and be firmly grounded in reality rather than ideological fantasy, if the IO message is to have traction. The authors also address, diplomatically but directly, the limitations of the traditional insular military planning process (especially the secretive intelligence process), and clearly articulate the need for open processes that can embrace and leverage varied communities of interest, non-US as well as US.

The authors also raise an extremely important issue to which they cannot provide an answer, but which must be resolved sooner than later: the urgency of being able to educate Americans about global realities and threats, without being accused of propagandizing Americans. [This is one reason why Congressman Simmons, on both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee, is so important--he understands that the state intelligence centers and networks we are advocating can serve two functions: as bottom up dot collectors, and as disseminators of real world open source intelligence to the state and local publics.]

One minor nit: the authors assume that because most of the 9-11 hijackers had Saudi passports they were Saudi. My understanding is that they were a mixed bag with passports of convenience from Saudi Arabia for those who were not Saudi.

The book concludes with cursory attention to Russian, Chinese, and Australian IO doctrine and practices, and does not address Iranian, Indian, Pakistani, and Venezuelan-Cuban IO, which are of considerable importance.

The book, very understandably, does not spend a lot of time on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) or the need to properly monitor all information in all languages all the time, but the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence has clearly articulated the need to do "universal coverage, 24/7, in all languages, at the neighbood level of granularity" (this is an abdiged paraphrase) and DoD appears well on its way to doing just that. I recommend that this book be read in conjunction with Max Manwaring and John Fishel's "Uncomfortable Wars Revisited," with Max Manwaring's edited work on "The Search for Security" which emphasizes key moral messages; and my own IO book, which focuses exclusively on information peacekeeping or the foreign language content side of IO, and has a comprehensive annotated bibliography. Specialty books that I recommend to IO practitioners include Larry Beinhart's "Fog Facts," Robert Cialdini's "INFLUENCE," Robert Parry's "Lost History," and John Hasling's "The Audience, the Message, the Speaker."

Discovering Practical Information Operations.......2004-08-23

Finally, here's a book that cuts through the dense brush of information operations theory and reaches a clearing where the reader can truly discover the practical application of information operations. The list of contributors is impressive...and all have practical experience in information operations. A must read for practitioners of IO.

The premier book on military Information Operations.......2004-07-13

This is the most up-to-date book on Information Operations I've read. There are over a dozen contributors from the US, UK and Australia, all of whom have hands-on Information Operations experience. It is must reading for anyone serious about this important field of military operations.

An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars: campaign maps; Provides an unrivalled source of visual information on the fighting men of the period (Illustrated Encyclopedia)

Average customer rating:

Nice and Big
A handsome illustrated book
Nice all-in-one-coverage, but far from complete
An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars by Digby Smith
An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars

An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars: campaign maps; Provides an unrivalled source of visual information on the fighting men of the period (Illustrated Encyclopedia)
Digby Smith
Manufacturer: Lorenz Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Uniforms | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

General | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Military | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0754815714

Book Description

This book brings a highly eventful period of European history to life, chrinicling the battles, campaigns and skirmishes of the conflict and the political triumphs and declines of the combatant forces.

Customer Reviews:

Nice and Big.......2007-04-28

Unlike what a poster said, none of the drawings from the book are rehashes from Osprey, they are all new.

However, Digby Smith is none other than Otto von Pivka, the same guy who's written a ton of Ospreys.

Having said that, I'm very disappointed in the book. Sorry Otto, but the writing is very poor, and the organization of the book is very poor. The text would be very confusing for a beginner. I would definitely not recommend this book for a beginner.

The drawings are very nice though, but there are not enough of them.

So who is this book for? No one. Like Odyseus said, no one should buy this book. The text is too confusing for the beginners and there are not enough of the nice pictures for anyone wanting any information on any particular country.

If you have a medium sized reference library, you might get this just in case it has a picture of something you need. The pictures are nice and colorful, but that's it. I waited 2 years for this book and I'm disappointed!

A handsome illustrated book.......2007-04-19

I'm not a napoleonic history buff, but I like read about military history and uniformology. This book gives the reader a good if brief overview of Napoleonica , but is above all a book on Napoleonic uniforms, pictured in hundreds of nice artworks all around the volume. If you like Osprey books you ' ll love this large , colourful book. A great gift not for the Napoleonic scholar, but for all the military history and uniformology buffs.

Nice all-in-one-coverage, but far from complete.......2007-03-09

The book simply does not live up to the hype on its cover. It is not comprehensive or in depth but more of a broad overview of uniforms and history of the period. While many of the illustrations are good and cover topics not often seen, others are skipped over. There is no color illustration of a basic French or Austrian Infantryman, only examples of the exceptions to the standard uniform, but there aer two identical illustrations of Grenadiers of the Guard.
Overall I was disappointed but for the price it is a good overview if you do not need in depth coverage of any of the particular topics.

An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars by Digby Smith.......2007-03-04

An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars by Digby Smith is a very good introductory book on the uniforms and armies of the Napoleonic wars. Although this book is jam-packed with illustrations it tries to be all things to all people and ends up doing not much well, but those few things are very good. But still I came away wanting just that little bit more. A good example is the lack of unit size numbers for nearly all of the countries covered. Actually, I wish Digby had scrapped all the historical, tactical, technological sections and just stuck to uniforms.

Although there are about 250 plates devoted to showing a uniform of an individual unit this actually just scratches the surface. Consider, there are about 30 plates of the units of Great Britain plus another four plates of Kings German Legion and Brunswickers combined, another four to the East and West India companies and seven of other foreign troops who fought under the British. 16 of those plates are used to show British line infantry. Considering the changes in uniform, Scots units, varying Rifle companies and battalions this gives you just enough information to paint most of the British units you might want. This pattern is repeated for all the major combatants.

If you want a cheap introduction to the uniforms of the Napoleonic wars that is jam packed with illustrations then this is the book to get. Although, if you want to start modeling you would probably need more.

The Napoleonic Source Book by Philip J. Haythornthwaite lacks the color plates but has a much better collection of information on uniforms and uniform changes. If you can get a copy, grab it. Plus, he also gives a good idea of the varying sizes of units throughout the era and a whole lot more.

Napoleon's War in Spain: The French Peninsular Campaigns, 1807-1814 by Henry Lachouque et al and Military dress of the Peninsular War, 1808-1814 by Martin Windrow are good examples of campaign centered books that really give you a great understanding of the uniforms of the period without having to resort to Osprey (although, if you wanted to spend that much money, Osprey are great, most being very good but some still vary in quality). Both of these books have less color plates than Digby's book but give a much better view of the uniforms.

And if you want a book on battle tactics of the Napoleonic era then a great place to start is Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon by Rory Muir.

One of my favorite books for uniforms, as lopsided as it is, is Hourtoulle's Soldiers and Uniforms of teh Napoleonic Wars. This book uses tableaux instead of Digby's individual soldiers and is therefore able to show many more examples of soldiers within a regiment (plus the backs usually) but not as many individual units overall. Still a fantastic book.

An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars.......2007-01-19

I waited over a year for this book. It was worth the wait! Digby Smith has done another superb job of providing valid and fresh information to the Napoleonic student.

I proudly placed this book next to my others on Napoleonic Uniforms.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books