This is the memoirs of a CIA analyst stationed in the US embassy. The publication of the book caused a long-standing legal battle that the CIA eventually won. Snepp lost all royalties to the book. The fact that the CIA took him to court would suggest that there's some explosive details inhere. It does not disappoint.Snepp points out that both in the US Embassy and Washington there was an unwillingness to deal with reality particularly on the part of the ambassador and Kissinger. Kissinger comes off extremely badly as a doubledealing control freak. The CIA doesn't do much better. They were perfectly willing to massage intelligence when necessary. Snepp frequently was told to fudge up reports. I found it rather disconcerting how willing he was to do so.
The last quarter of the book describes the last day in Saigon. The scenes of panic and terror are gripping. The often difficult ethical choices people on all sides had to make are heart stopping.
Highly recommended!
is yet another Osprey title this one from the Fortress series. I'm not sure if it's a lack of material or what but Fields seemed to have trouble filling the 60 some odd pages. What there is here is a discussion of the construction of the walls around Athens. Then there is material on an outpost. The last section describes a city that was destroyed by the attacker diverting a nearby stream.
is my second novel from this author and another good one. A Soviet defector must be debriefed and determined whether or not he is genuine. As well there is the issue of what to do with the documents he brought with him. A nice intricate plot that at the same time is clear and readable. With a few very nice twists including one at the very end. Unlike certain thriller authors whose initials are TC it's nice to see the West shown to be just as backstabbing and doubledealing as the "evil empire".
is a biography of the British spy that provided intelligence on the Fenians and other Irish terrorist groups. He gave material both to the Canadian government and British. This allowed the foiling of various terrorist plots as well as two invasions of Canada from the United States. The book also gets into a nice amount of detail about Irish politics in the middle years of the 19th century. Edwards manages to avoid the traps of popular history [i.e. dramatization]. He's done quite a bit of research and it shows in an extensive notes and a bibliography section. For anyone who's interested in an early terrorist groups, Irish, British, Canadian or American history.
is the second book in the Dragonmaster trilogy. This is excellent military fantasy even if it's quite apparent what historical events he's borrowed from. The plot continues directly on from 
is an extensive history of crashes on American stock exchanges. There is material on 12 separate economic panics from the start of the Republic through 1987. Let's face it the sort of book is rather topical these days. Most of the coverage is on the 1873 crash and 1929 Great Depression. I was actually most interested in various incidents I hadn't heard of for instance closing down trading on the outbreak of the first world war. Many of the more colorful characters both captains of industry and charlatans are discussed in loving detail.
is a short [less than 30,000 words] book on publishing in Canada. Ferguson a public speaker has published several books on writing and on the Canadian Navy. She discusses the various steps to publication through traditional channels [agents and medium-sized presses] and less traditional [POD] providing reasons both pro and con for different types of publishing. For instance she doesn't think much of getting an agent. Most of the information is geared towards nonfiction although their are occasional comments about fiction.
is the authors memoirs of her time in Iraq as a civilian truck driver. Morgan who decided on this course of action after her most recent husband tried to kill her seems to have somewhat of a death wish although she never really comes out and says it. Most of the book is taken up with descriptions of day today supply missions in southern Iraq. Interestingly enough most convoys are attacked with nothing more dangerous than rocks.
is the author's first spy novel that was published in the late 1970s. This is my first Littell and definitely won't be my last. Lewinter: an American ceramics scientist effects to the Soviets, the novel is wrapped around how the Americans and Soviets will respond and whether they will use his information. Littell is a genius at short characterization. In other words being able to give us insight into a character in a few lines. Most authors would have to go into pages and pages of description to achieve the same effect. The characters are a touch stereotypical but at the same time react differently enough to be real. There's also a nice twist in the end.
describes the author a contributor to NPR's obsession with the assassinations of American Presidents. The first three to be killed are dealt with Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. JFK is left out except for one or two small references. The argument in the text is that the first three were linked by Todd Lincoln being near to all three assassination sites. This seems a little forced. Vowell is trying to be funny. The humor isn't at least to me. The narrative itself is also very disjointed. It's laid out in chapters 1 for each assassination but it will bounce between the various narrative threads. It should be noted that she tries to link the McKinley administration with the current Bush presidency. Personally I didn't find the comparison all that egregious but it's caused some pretty severe frothing on the Amazon review page for the book. I did learn one or two things but the book comes off more like a piece of performance art then a the history or travelogue.
is the third volume in a six volume political history of Canada that was published in the 1950s and 60s. The book covers the length of time from the seizing of Canada by the British through the decision to grant representative government. The book starts with a discussion of why the Canadian territories did not join with the Americans in the American Revolution. Much of the book is taken up with a rather conventional account of the war of 1812. The final section is devoted to the rebellions in upper and lower Canada and the resulting dismantling of the family compact. There are no citations or bibliography. The writing is serviceable without too many flourishes.
is part of Osprey's series on fortifications. It covers the development of fortified tower houses in Scotland from the 14th through the 17th century. These were never intended to be able to defend against a siege with a siege train rather they would provide security from raids. Rating being the primary form of conflict that took place in this era. As typical with Osprey there are pictures, drawings and illustrations on every page. There's also a wealth of technical data including floorplans. Unusual for the publisher Reid includes some wry observations including that Scottish defensive strategy was "throw something on them from a height and hope they go away". The book contains a short bibliography, chronology, glossary as well as suggestions for sightseeing in Scotland.
this short book crams a surprising amount of information into its less than 200 pages. It covers the beginnings of the film industry from 1895 when the first motion picture was shown in Paris to 1906. There's coverage of technology from various creators including Thomas Edison. Most of the material is on France but there is also mention of America, Germany and Britain. There is also a discussion of the "grammar of film" a interesting look at special-effects and other techniques. The book includes several extracts from documents including, a film catalog and remembrances from important creators. There's suggestions for further reading, a chronology and indexes.
covers the first 11 months of the Korean War when General Douglas MacArthur was in command. Weintraub a lieutenant during the conflict paints McArthur as a schemer always looking for ways to expand his power at the expense of the Pentagon and the White House. There are intriguing parallels between MacArthurs failure at the beginning of World War II and at the outbreak of Korea. He seemed unable to grasp rapidly changing events. Weintraub complements McArthur for his grasp of military history and leadership but considers him a failure in the wider political sphere. For instance MacArthurs inability to understand that using the Nationalist Chinese would be a politically disastrous mistake. There is extensive research from archival and secondary sources.
is a famous classic of American political criticism. Mencken today is usually known as a social critic with an acid tongue. His quips are frequently quoted by PJ O'Rourke and Paul Fussell. This slim book contains Mencken's views on the politics of the 1920s. He is particularly scathing where it comes to the mob, how they are stupid, superstitious and ignorant. Politicians must either whip up the mob as demagogues or be populists who follow the mobs every will. He has no real solution for this except the creation of a disinterested elite but there are no real explanations of how this would be accomplished. Mencken is somewhat a libertarian however he also criticizes the judiciary as being more interested in political expediency than the Constitution.
is the fourth book in the Temeraire series. The Napoleonic war is being fought out with dragons. Ivory continues on directly after the events of 
is a very hit and miss selection of essays on current American doctrine debates. The section on the history of technology centric high tempo fighting is interesting. The section on Iraq is a decent enough summary. If you're new to the debate then you'll learn something if you've been paying attention you probably won't. The section on the future of warfare is rather silly. Rather strange for there to be criticisms throughout the history and current affairs section of technology centric doctrine then to have future analysis based around technology. There's also a essay defending the Bush administration's military tribunals and giving suggestions on how they can appear to be more just as opposed to you know actually being just.
is a military history of the Canadian, British, and free Polish armies clearing the canal that connected Antwerp with the ocean. Whitaker a Lt. Col. who participated in the battle gives a opinionated account. He argues that the Supreme Command ignored various opportunities to seize the German forces and shorten the war. There was an unwillingness to take the advice of Dutch and Belgian resistance forces. Eisenhower also did not provide the level of support to Montgomery that he should've. Much of this does refight the British versus American arguments that have been beaten to death over the last 60 years. Montgomery does come in for some criticism himself. Admittedly a Canadian perspective is a little unusual. The narrative of the battles is quite compelling based as it is on lots of eyewitness accounts. These were grinding battles of endurance with very little strategic sophistication. There were one or two interesting tactical set pieces like the "sinking" of a Dutch island by strategic bombers.
is the second book in a historical fiction series that deals with the Mediterranean. Turteltaub is a pseudonym of the master of the alternate history Harry Turtledove. Alexander the Great has been dead for 14 years. The Empire he founded is collapsing in squabbles between his successors. The plot of the book describes the trading season of two Greek cousins Menedemos and Sostratos from Rhodes. They try to make a profit while avoiding pirates and in Menedemos case jealous husbands. Sostratos the intellectual is fascinated by the discovery of a Gryphon's skull that he wants to take to Athens to be studied.
something a little different this time from the author of the Dinosaur Mafia mystery series. It's the story of a con man with OCD who discovers that he has a child from a previous relationship. The plot is basically him dealing with the news which isn't as it seems. The book is quite short without Garcia's wit. I was rather disappointed with the ending its hard to explain my issue without giving it away but let's just say the amount of planning and effort that went into it would make General Eisenhower proud. This is one of Garcia's lesser works. Only for fans of his who need to have everything he's produced. A movie was made from this my understanding is that it's quite good. I haven't watched it myself so I can't say.
is the third and most recent Dinosaur Mafia mystery. It was published back in 04 and I really hope it's not the last one.Vincent Rubio hidden dinosaur and detective is back. He is sent by the dinosaur Mafia in Los Angeles down to Florida to infiltrate a rival family. Conveniently the rivals are run by his childhood friend and old girlfriend. Yes it's goofy but it's still enjoyable. Very funny. Perhaps a little heavier on the violence then the two earlier volumes. If you enjoy your fiction a little quirky you'll like this.
is a rather lousy piece of historical fiction. Lieutenant George Markham is the hero in this second book of a trilogy. He gets himself embroiled in Corsican politics during a British landing in 1794. The British are trying to seize control of the territory and push out the French. There are plots and counter plots, quite a bit of deception on all sides. The plot is actually done quite well it's fast-paced.
is a loose diary [the month is mentioned the date isn't] of the actors experiences in the years 1996-1998. There are a few major themes, his loathing of Star Wars, health problems, politics and the English stage. There's also quite a bit on the death of Princess Diana. If I knew more about the English theater of the 30s, 40s and 50s I probably would have picked up more. The structure comes off like you are talking to a grandparent. There'll be something on how nice the weather is then suddenly a dinner party in New York in 1953. It's a little disconcerting.
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