Chaos and Fractals: New Frontiers of Science

Amazon.com

Fascinating and authoritative, Chaos and Fractals: New Frontiers of Science is a truly remarkable book that documents recent discoveries in chaos theory with plenty of mathematical detail, but without alienating the general reader. In all, this text offers an extremely rich and engaging tour of this quite revolutionary branch of mathematical research.

The most appealing aspect about Chaos and Fractals has to be its hundreds of images and graphics (with dozens in full-color) used to illustrate key concepts. Even the math-averse reader should be able to follow the basic presentation of chaos and fractals here. Since fractals often mimic natural shapes such as mountains, plants, and other biological forms, they lend themselves especially well to visual representation.

Early chapters here document the mathematical oddities (or "monsters") such as the Sierpinski Gasket and the Koch Curve, which laid the groundwork for later discoveries in fractals. The book does a fine job of placing recent discoveries about chaos into a tradition of earlier mathematical research. Its description of the work of mathematicians like Pascal, Kepler, Poincaré, Sierpinski, Koch, and Mandelbrot makes for a fine read, a detective story that ends with the discovery of order in chaos. (For programmers, the authors provide short algorithms and BASIC code, which lets you try out plotting various fractals on your own.)

This is not, however, only a book of pretty pictures. For the reader who needs the mathematics behind chaos theory, the authors in no way dumb down the details. (But because the richer mathematical material is set off from the main text, the general reader can still make headway without getting lost.)

There have been advances in the field since this book's publication in 1992, but Chaos and Fractals remains an authoritative general reference on chaos theory and fractals. A must for math students (and math enthusiasts), Chaos and Fractals also deserves a place on the bookshelf of any general reader or programmer who wants to understand how today's mathematicians and scientists make sense of our world using chaos theory. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Overview of fractals and chaos theory, feedback and multiple reduction copy machines (MRCMs), the Cantor Set, the Sierpinski Gasket and Carpet, the Pascal Triangle, the Koch Curve, Julia Sets, similarity, measuring fractal curves, fractal dimensions, transformations and contraction mapping, image compression, chaos games, fractals and nature, L-systems, cellular automata basics, attractors and strange attractors, Henon's Attractor, Rössler and Lorenz Attractors, randomness in fractals, the Brownian motion, fractal landscapes, sensitivity and periodic points, complex arithmetic basics, the Mandelbrot Set, and multifractal measures.

Book Description

The fourteen chapters of this book cover the central ideas and concepts of chaos and fractals as well as many related topics including: the Mandelbrot set, Julia sets, cellular automata, L-systems, percolation and strange attractors. This new edition has been thoroughly revised throughout. The appendices of the original edition were taken out since more recent publications cover this material in more depth. Instead of the focused computer programs in BASIC, the authors provide 10 interactive JAVA-applets for this second edition.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent tutorial on nonlinearity.......2005-09-08

At least 50% of this book can be well understood by any 1st year, exact science student. There are a couple of mathematical issues that are more senior-like, but never mind. With the appropriate teaching or guidance, a lot of practical, advanced tasks can be tackled down. I could use this book all along for giving examples for college (university), undergraduate students of almost every mathematical subject: numerical analysis, calculus, linear algebra, group theory, algorithm theory, visualization in 2 and 3 dimensions, topology...you name it, after reading this book. No fuzzy theory or wavelets or any other advanced statistical method for dynamical systems is formally mentioned, though. However the concept of measure is very well introduced and described with examples. For physics is not bad for dynamical systems theory. Although no Hamiltonian or Lagrangian formalism is mentioned, the description on how to obtain Lyapunov exponents out of a set of differential equations is very good. Engineers get their share too: useful examples are given about, e.g., feedback and control theory (mind you, it is not a book specialized in, say, robotic control using chaos theory, but it is a good start). For philosophers and the layman there are quite a few pages as well. The foreword from Mitchel Feigenbaum, just to give an example, tells us a kind of summary which "warms up" the reader and "exorcises away" the possible fantasies an unprepared reader could have regarding (or against or in favor of) the word "chaos". Nice color plates for those with artistic inclinations and the graphics are just so very well printed, you can practically "follow" their computation. Not a bad book at all for your personal (or institutional) library, I may say.

A good introduction.......2003-10-05

Chaos as a physical theory began essentially in the 1970's, but as a mathematical field it has existed since the early 1900's. This book covers only the mathematical study of chaos, and is addressed to those readers who have a fairly strong background in undergraduate mathematics. A knowledge of dynamical systems and measure theory would help in the appreciation of the book, but are not absolutely necessary. The application of fractals and chaos to finance is now legendary, but other applications, such as to packet networks and surface physics are not so well-known. Current research in chaos is done predominantly in the context of information theory, wherein the goal is to understand the difference between chaos and noise, and develop mathematical tools to quantify this difference. The BASIC code in the book gives away its age, but can be easily translated to one of the symbolic computing languages available now, such as Maple or Mathematica.

This is a sizable book, and space prohibits a detailed review, but some of the more interesting discussions in it include: 1. The video feedback experiment, which can be done with only a video camera and a TV set. This is always a crowd pleaser, at whatever level of the audience it is presented to. 2. The comparison between doing iteration of a chaotic map on two different calculating machines: a CASIO and an HP. The difference is very dramatic, illustrating the effect of finite accuracy arithmetic. 3. The pictures illustrating the Chinese arithmetic triangle and Pascal's triangle as it appeared in Japan in 1781. 4. The space-filling curve and its relation to the problem of defining dimension from a topological standpoint. This discussion motivates the idea of covering dimension, which the authors overview with great clarity. They also give a rigorous definition of the Hausdorff dimension and discuss its differences with the box counting dimension. 5. The many excellent color plates in the book, especially the one illustrating a cast of the venous and arterial system of a child's kidney. 6. The difficulty in measuring power laws in practice. 7. Image encoding using iterated function systems, which has become very important recently in satellite image analysis. This leads into a discussion of the Hausdorff distance, which is of enormous importance not only in the study of fractals but also in general topology: the famous hyperspaces of closed sets in a metric space. 8. The relation between chaos and randomness, discussed by the authors in the context of the "chaos game." 9. L-systems, which are motivated with a model of cell division. 10. the number theory behind Pascal's triangle. 11. The simulation of Brownian motion. 12. The Lyapunov exponent for smooth transformations. 13. The property of ergodicity and mixing for transformations, the authors pointing out that true ergodic behavior cannot be obtained in a computer where only a a finite collection of numbers is representable. 13. The concept of topological conjugacy. 14. The existence of homoclinic points in a dynamical system. These are very important in physical applications of chaos. 15. The Rossler attractor and its pictorial representation. 16. How to calculate the dimensions of strange attractors. 17. How to calculate Lyapunov exponents from time series, which is of great interest in many different applications, especially finance. 18. The Julia set, which the authors relate eventually to potential theory.

Simply a fantastic book.......2002-12-21

I purchased this book when it first came out, during the
initial wave of popularity of fractals and chaos theory.
Although the fadishness of chaos and fractals has died
down, a number of solid applications for this theory have
appeared in areas like computer graphics, finance,
modeling computer network traffic and data compression.

I have purchased a number of books on fractals and chaos and
how these concepts can be applied in a number of areas. I
have yet to see a better introduction to the topic. This is
a core reference and I keep coming back to it again and again.

In the spectrum of popular science books, this is definitely
on the technical end. You do not need an advanced background
in mathematics as you do for some books on chaos and fractals,
but the authors do not shy away from equations. However, the
ideas are clearly presented. I have used this book as a
reference for developing software for fractal brownian motion
and Hurst exponent estimation.

"Chaos and Fractals" covers a great deal of material. On a few
occasions I found that the algorithms or explaination were
difficult to follow. In some cases, like the generation of
Gaussian random numbers, I found better, simpler algorithms.

When this book was written, fractals and chaos were fairly new.
It is difficult to avoid comparing this book to an even thicker
book, "A New Kind of Science" by Stephen Wolfram. Although
cellular automata, the core topic of "A New Kind of Science"
are not exactly new, Wolfram claims new and profound
perspectives. Many, including this reviewer, feel that Wolfram's
claims are overblown and egotistical (he has a bad habbit of
claiming credit for innovation, even as he cites other work).
The authors of "Chaos and Fractals" do not make exalted
claims for this work. Yet without any fanfare, this book
really does deliver profound ideas. This is simply a
fantastic book. I recommend it for anyone in the applied
sciences (e.g., computer science, quantitative finance,
geology, etc...). Even for the mathematically sophisticated it
will provide an valuable overview, which is difficult to obtain
anywhere else.

Well worth the cost.......2002-08-27

This is possibly the best and most thorough of all books on fractals. The discussion is excellent, the illustrations superb. After all, these are the guys who developed the computer art exhibits that toured Europe and parts of the US in the 1980s.

The mathematics is somewhat advanced, but not so advanced that most persons with a thorough background in high school mathematics cannot understand it. After all, I used it as a primary reference for my book Fractals in Music!

Excellent for intermediate knowledge of chaos.......2002-02-06

This book is a great entertainer for anyone who wants to spend many evenings "playing with chaos". The code in the book is a little dated (BASIC), but you won't have problems to use it as a good reference. The book will guide you through the understanding of the exciting realm of chaos and its hidden monsters.

Chaos and fractals are subjects that sound modern, interesting and eye-catching in the most of the cases. However, the applications and implications of chaos in the real world constitute the great achievement of human knowledge that the concept represents.

The lecture of this book doesn't require an extensive knowledge of math (but it would be helpful), it requires many will and passion for rediscovering your conception of the universe instead.

Book Description

In this fresh look at the science of complexity, a biologist and a computer scientist discuss this profound new field of knowledge, using examples from starfish to traveling salesmen, from car crashes to the workings of the brain.

Customer Reviews:

Rather frustrating book, needs to go deeper.......2005-06-29

What a frustrating book - it never seems to get to the point!

I can't understand why the authors feel it's okay to write at such a high level about chaos and complexity, without delving into their subject in any depth. For example, they open with the contribution of Alan Turing and his Turing machine but they don't give enough detail for you to appreciate why this is important. Sadly this happens again and again in this book. I was often left thinking, "What is the significance of this?" as they skipped from one idea to the next in a disjointed manner. They tend to introduce an idea or individual contributor, mention too briefly what they did and then move on.

It's a bit like reading lots of road signs on the freeway at speed: you can't really claim you've visited those places or know what they're about.

The title of the book suggests a much stronger link to computing than is actually achieved. They use a few computing terms (which they don't define) and despite using the term 'algorithm' they don't actually explain many of these.

I felt the authors weren't in touch with their audience. It's quite possible to write a fascinating book that deals with a technical subject despite your audience not have a technical background (e.g. try "Fermat's Last Theorem" by Simon Singh). By contrast, "Patterns in the Sand" avoids depth in its explanations, almost as if to 'spare' its readers, which instead produces a sense of annoyance.

I'm sure their purpose was to introduce the emerging field of chaos and complexity, but in the end I was unconvinced. I will look elsewhere to get more depth and a better read - I was glad to finish this book so I could move onto something else!

The graphics in the book are rather sparse and of poor quality.

I give this book one star because it did remind me about StarLogo, a tool for playing with parallel worlds, and also FRACTINT, a fractal generator. Both are available on the internet.

Book Description

America's worst nightmare has just become a brutal reality. The most unlikely terrorist enemy of all now holds a knife against the country's throat. With both diplomatic and conventional military options swept from the table, the president of the United States calls upon America's only hope, Navy SEAL turned Secret Service agent Scot Harvath.

With the fragile peace between the world's nations shattered, Harvath must unravel a brilliantly orchestrated, fiendishly timed conspiracy intent upon bringing the United States to its knees. Teamed with beautiful Russian Intelligence agent Alexandra Ivanova and a highly trained CIA paramilitary detachment, Harvath races from the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., to the streets of Berlin, the coast of Finland, and into the heart of Mother Russia herself before returning home for a final showdown with an enemy from America's past more sinister and deadly than has ever been seen before....

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"From the national bestselling author of The Lions of Lucerne and Path of the Assassin comes another electrifying international thriller featuring all-American hero Scot Harvath, as he plunges into the frigid heart of the Russian tundra to save the fragile state of the union. On a cold January morning, the United States awakes to discover that an old enemy, one long believed dead and buried, has crawled out of its grave to lay siege to the world's only superpower. With the stunning discovery that enhanced Soviet-made suitcase nukes have been secreted in America's major cities, President Jack Rutledge gathers his National Security Council to weigh the feasibility of a first strike against the Russian Federation. There's only one problem. For over two decades, the Russians have been funneling international aid money into a top secret air defense system, which has just been brought on-line and which will render any conventional attack upon their country utterly ineffective. After exhausting all of his other options, and with Soviet sleeper agents preparing to detonate their deadly payloads across the United States, the president turns to the nation's final hope, ex-Navy SEAL and Secret Service Agent Scot Harvath. Assigned to a covert section of the Department of Homeland Security and charged with defending the nation against all foreign aggressors by any means necessary, Harvath finds himself hand-picked by the president to unravel a brilliantly orchestrated, fiendishly timed conspiracy that has already shattered the fragile peace between the world's nations and which, if successful, will leave the United States in smoldering ruins. With family friend and former Deputy FBI Director Gary Lawlor nowhere to be found and suspected of betraying his country, Harvath embarks on an adventure that will test the bonds of loyalty and reveal a nation's deepest secrets.

Customer Reviews:

A New Contender for the Terrorist/Espionage Thriller Title.......2007-09-20

Move over Clancy, watch out Vince Flynn. There's a new force in the game. Brad Thor is really turning out some great page turners. Though not yet as polished as Clancy in his prime, Thor's plots are as topical as todays headlines, the action never ending and the stories have more twists than a bushel of pretzels. I read my first Thor novel a year or so and thought it pretty good. I finished "The Lions of Lucerne" about a month ago and immediately ordered 4 more from Amazon. I read them in about a week!! I'm hooked. Go Scot Harvath! Thor's a former SEAL. Kind of nice to know that there's more to these patriotic warriors than incredible toughness. This one can write!!

Brad Thor.......2007-08-29

The whole series by Brad Thor about Secret Service Agent Scot Harvath just keeps you wanting more. The story lines are so realistic for this day and age it will make you think and realize what we could face from terrorists. Thank you Mr.Thor for giving us Scot Harvath and the realization of what could happen here in the United States. Please continue giving us more of Scot Harvath and your incredible writing talents.

State of the Union: by Brad Thor.......2007-08-23

This author was recommended to me by Amazon, and I'm glad to say that I was pleased that I followed the recommendation.

Quick and Grippi ng.......2007-08-23

This is a quick read that keeps you glued to the next page. Thor is becoming the poor man's Tom Clancy!

Was Thrilling.......2007-08-09

As Always Brad Thor did not disappoint this reader. I have enjoyed all his books and they are hard to put down once I have started one.
Highly recommend.

Average customer rating:

Very fun read
Excellent book political/thriller
Outstanding Performance by Michael Beck
Excellent. Intrgiuing. Fast pace. Grisham meets Clancy
Well conceived, well written.

State of the Union
David Callahan
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451197259

Customer Reviews:

Very fun read.......2006-07-21

I picked this at random and was very pleased. It had lots of action and also a lot of realistic behavior from our hero (and some action that definitely stretched my imagination!).

I read this in a day and was sad to see no more novels by this author.

Excellent book political/thriller.......2002-03-11

I found a remainder hard copy of the book for $4.95 and figured even though I never heard of the author, what could I loose. Suprisingly, it was an excellect story, it was written just as well as Tom Clancy could have done with about half the pages as Clancy would use - and the characters were all well developed. A newly honored war hero (Lieutenant Turzin) is recruited into the pentagon by Sherman (a former presidential canidate) and Admiral Forsten (vise chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff) to assist them in their personal plans. Upon realizing their possible treasoness behavior and falling in love with Sherman's mistress, Turzin has a lot of serious work cut out for himself.

Outstanding Performance by Michael Beck.......2000-05-14

Callahan's story and writing is great, but what makes this audiobook is the outstanding performance by Michael Beck! Beck brings to audio what John Wayne, Bogart and Louis Gossett, Jr. brought to the silver screen with a dash of Rich Little. Beck really makes the story come alive. His ability to produce a voice for each of the characters, including the women, is nothing short of fantastic. Do not miss this performance!

Excellent. Intrgiuing. Fast pace. Grisham meets Clancy.......1999-04-08

The book starts with a Grisham approach you would find in "The Firm". A hero gets a top job in the Pentagon and is lured by his respect to his boss. Then somewhere in the middle, the book turns into a fast pace Clancy. I read the book in three days. Something I haven't done in a long time. In fact I spent four hours transfixed on the last chapters as the plot begins to unfold. Keep it up Mr. Callahan. You're a natural.

Well conceived, well written........1998-11-15

I find political/military intrigue interesting and this story fills the bill. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys this type of novel. A good read, I could hardly put it down.

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45

Average customer rating:

Save your money unless you love Mc Govern
The Wild Blue
The Heroic Tales
More Bio than Battle
A SOLID READ - IF NOT THE AUTHOR'S BEST

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45
Stephen E. Ambrose
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0743507878

Amazon.com

Long before he entered politics, when he was just in his early 20s, South Dakotan George McGovern flew 35 bomber missions over Nazi-occupied Europe, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery under fire. Stephen Ambrose, the industrious historian, focuses on McGovern and the young crew of his B-24 bomber, volunteers all, in this vivid study of the air war in Europe.

Manufactured by a consortium of companies that included Ford Motor and Douglas Aircraft, the B-24 bomber, dubbed the Liberator, was designed to drop high explosives on enemy positions well behind the front lines--and especially on the German capital, Berlin. Unheated, drafty, and only lightly armored, the planes were dangerous places to be, and indeed, only 50 percent of their crews survived to the war's end. Dangerous or not, they did their job, delivering thousand- pound bombs to targets deep within Germany and Austria.

In his fast-paced narrative, Ambrose follows many other flyers (including the Tuskegee Airmen, the African American pilots who gave the B-24s essential fighter support on some of their most dangerous missions) as they brave the long odds against them, facing moments of glory and terror alike. "It would be an exaggeration to say that the B-24 won the war for the Allies," Ambrose writes. "But don't ask how they could have won the war without it." --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

The very young men who flew the B24s over Germany in World War II against terrible odds were an exemplary band of brothers. In The Wild Blue, Stephen Ambrose recounts their extraordinary brand of heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship.

Stephen Ambrose describes how the Army Air Forces recruited, trained, and chose those few who would undertake the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the war. These are the boys -- turned pilots, bombardiers, navigators, and gunners of the B24s -- who suffered over 50 percent casualties.

Ambrose carries us along in the crowded, uncomfortable, and dangerous B24s as their crews fought to the death through thick, black, deadly flak to reach their targets and destroy the German war machine or else went down in flames. Twenty-two-year-old George McGovern who was to become a United States senator and a presidential candidate, flew thirty-five combat missions (all the Army would allow) and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. We meet him and his mates, his co-pilot killed in action, and crews of other planes -- many of whom did not come back.

As Band of Brothers and Citizen Soldiers portrayed the bravery and ultimate victory of the American soldier from Normandy on to Germany, The Wild Blue makes clear the contribution these young men of the Army Air Forces stationed in Italy made to the Allied victory.

Download Description

Stephen Ambrose is the acknowledged dean of the historians of World War II in Europe. In three highly acclaimed, bestselling volumes, he has told the story of the bravery, steadfastness, and ingenuity of the ordinary young men, the citizen soldiers, who fought the enemy to a standstill -- the band of brothers who endured together. The very young men who flew the B-24s over Germany in World War II against terrible odds were yet another exceptional band of brothers, and, in The Wild Blue, Ambrose recounts their extraordinary brand of heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship with the same vivid detail and affection. Ambrose describes how the Army Air Forces recruited, trained, and then chose those few who would undertake the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the war. These are the boys -- turned pilots, bombardiers, navigators, and gunners of the B-24s -- who suffered over 50 percent casualties. With his remarkable gift for bringing alive the action and tension of combat, Ambrose carries us along in the crowded, uncomfortable, and dangerous B-24s as their crews fought to the death through thick black smoke and deadly flak to reach their targets and destroy the German war machine. Twenty-two-year-old George McGovern, who was to become a United States senator and a presidential candidate, flew thirty-five combat missions (all the Army would allow) and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. We meet him and his mates, his co-pilot killed in action, and crews of other planes. Many went down in flames. As Band of Brothers and Citizen Soldiers portrayed the bravery and ultimate victory of the American soldiers from Normandy on to Germany, The Wild Blue makes clear the contribution these young men of the Army Air Forces stationed in Italy made to the Allied victory.

Customer Reviews:

Save your money unless you love Mc Govern.......2007-07-20

This book is not about the men and boys who flew the B 24 it is a book about Mc Govern. Reading the book sort of makes you feel like he was the only man in the war. I purchased the book to read about all the men. The author could have even shown some about other men that did basicaly the same that became famous: Kennedy, Jimmy Stewert and others. He focused only on McGovern and I certinaly wonder how much he paid to get Stephen to write this book or is Stephen that much in love with Mc Govern. I can not stand the man now and will not ever knowingly buy another book of his.
Mary Jo PottsThe Wild Blue : The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45

The Wild Blue .......2007-04-21

The Wild Blue is about the young men who flew the B-24 over Germany in World War 2 against all odds. Mr. Ambrose describes the heroism, courage, and skill with a lot of detail. He successfully makes you feel like you are in the great lumbering bomber in the hostile skies over Germany. He also describes how the Army Air Force (only after the war were the army and air force separate) recruited, trained and then chose those few that would undertake the most dangerous job in the war. The pilots, bombardiers, navigators and, the gunners of the B-24s suffered a 50 percent casualty rate.

This book follows the lives of ten men from different towns and different backgrounds and watches them come together and form a team. The trust was important because up in the skies of Germany it was good to know that someone had your back. I believe that Mr. Ambrose captures that perfectly. He takes the reader along in the crowded, uncomfortable planes as the men aboard fought to the death through smoke and terrifying flack to reach their industrial targets in the Rhineland. Their goal was to destroy the German war machine.

The Heroic Tales.......2007-03-30

Stephen Ambrose's The Wild Blue: the Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany tells the heroic tales of the B-24 Liberators and their crews from the 15th Army Air Force in Italy flying over Nazi Germany in World War II. The Wild Blue begins with the stories behind each crewman who will eventually fly aboard the "Dakota Queen" and a few crewmen who will fly aboard other B-24s. The stories behind the crewmen are a very nice addition to the book as it is the crewmen who make the majestic B-24s fly and fight. The reader actually gets to meet George McGovern who eventually flies the "Dakota Queen". McGovern was born on July 19, 1922, and was attending his second year at Dakota Wesleyan when he heard that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. The combat stories are complete to the detail of what it is like to fly over Nazi Germany against flak and the occasional fighter, what it is like to be shot down, and what it is like to watch a fellow B-24 get shot down. Ambrose was able to give this amount of detail because of his interviews with approximately fifty B-24 crewmen and their families. Without those interviews, this book would be bland and very unreal. But it is enjoyable and very real. The Wild Blue is a book that I would re-read and recommend to those who are interested in history, World War II, aircraft, or to those who just want to know the feeling of being taken up into a B-24 and flown over Nazi Germany.

More Bio than Battle .......2007-01-08

Mr. Ambrose wrote a unabashed tribute to George McGovern, too bad he tried to pass it off as a story about something else.

A SOLID READ - IF NOT THE AUTHOR'S BEST.......2006-07-16

While I enjoyed this one, it certainly was not the author's best work. It did draw attention to a group of very brave men, the B-24 crew members in the European Theater, which was good as this group and this plane is often overlooked. It did seem to me though that the author, on one side was trying to write a biography of George McGovern, or if he was trying to cover the air war during the last part of WWII. I did enjoy his trade mark technique of telling the stories of different men who participated, but he would always go back to McGovern. Perhaps if he had stuck to one or the other the book would have had more of an impact. Parts of this work did drag and were rather repetative. On the other hand, the author did not try to over dramatize McGovern's part in the war. The work was well crafted and you certainy would not waste your time in reading it. I suppose it is not quite fare to compare this work with other works by this author. After all, no one bats a thousand all the time. Overall, recommend this one with reservations. It is about very brave young men and we do need to know as much about them as possible.

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Brothers
Michael Bar-Zohar
Manufacturer: Fawcett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 044990511X
Release Date: 1993-08-10

Book Description

"All the action one could desire...A tightly organized look back at the cold war and the chilling amorality of two of its leading players--the KGB and the CIA...A deft piece of work."
--The New York Times Book Review
"SPELLBINDING...Fast-paced and intricate, BROTHERS is full of suspense."
--The Indianapolis Star
Family tragedy exiles one brother to America and holds one in Russia. Alexander is raised Jewish and becomes a distinguished scholar of Russian studies. Dimitri grows up in a Soviet orphanage, where, trained to be the perfect communist, he strives to become a high-level KGB operative. It is only a matter of time before he draws the brother he never knew, the brother he hates more than anyone on earth, into the dangerous game of espionage.
Through the height of the cold war, Dimitri and Alex fight on opposite sides. Their hatred for each other explodes into acts of terrorism, assassination, and betrayal. From Afghanistan to Rome, in Moscow, Paris, Washington, and New York, with boundless will and ruthless determination, the two brothers battle to destroy each other, until a shocking revelation changes their lives forever....
"AN EXCELLENT NOVEL OF EPIC PROPORTION."
--Houston Chronicle
"A TANTALIZING SETUP...A STUNNING FINALE."
--Publishers Weekly

From the Paperback edition.

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Cold Tactics
Ted Allbeury
Manufacturer: Severn House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Hostage

ASIN: 0727856758

Book Description

What happens when the enemy manipulates the words of the United States Constitution to his own advantage? Could the Soviet Union really get their own man elected President?

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Great Short Story
Kuchma's Dictum

Kuchma's Dictum
Jacques Evans
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0738840203

Book Description

A Russian paratrooper attempts to terrorize the United States into withdrawing its troops from Europe so Russia can have a free hand in bringing the breakaway republics back into the fold.

Customer Reviews:

Great Short Story.......2001-06-18

A good thriller with an eerie resemblance to the crash of TWA Flight 800. The author weaves many of the unresolved facts from the Flight 800 case into his story and makes the saying that "facts are some times stranger than fiction", much more believable.

Kuchma's Dictum.......2001-02-20

Kuchma's Dictum is the mother of all conspiracy theories. A taut and compact thriller with a plot that lets the reader know the author really knows his stuff. Airplane buffs in particular will relish the accurate detail. The main character is well drawn, an ex-cop so down on his luck he is working as a security guard, who stumbles on to something big and who just won't let go until he finds out the truth. The plot is plausible and well worked out. It could be in the headines tomorrow.

Average customer rating:

I CANNOT recommend this book highly enough...
Impossible to put this book down!!!!
Superb Speculative/Historical Fiction
Red Moon is superb!
Could this be prophetic?

Red Moon
David S. Michaels
Manufacturer: Fireword Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1930782128

Book Description

This much is fact: on July 13, 1969, three days before Apollo 11 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, a spaceship blasted off from the Soviet Union. Soviet records claim Luna 15 was a failed robotic probe. But this was a deception planted to cover up the USSR's last attempt to beat America in the moon race. On board is Grigor Belinsky, a cosmonaut so disillusioned with his nation's regime that he must be blackmailed into flying the one-way mission. RED MOON reveals Belinsky's untold journey from Soviet hero to dissident and martyr.

RED MOON opens in July 2019 with the lunar landing of a multinational mission on the Sea of Crises. American astronaut Janet Luckman leads a team in search of a Mother Lode of lunar ice laced with Helium 3--a desperately needed energy source. The future of humanity rides on Luckman's success. She unexpectedly finds the lunar lander Firebird and recovers the flight log, but the cosmonaut has disappeared. Luckman senses that his fate is linked to the elusive Mother Lode and she races the clock to simultaneously solve these two mysteries. Her ship must blast off in 51 hours or miss its return window to Earth. But a traitor in her crew will stop at nothing--including murdering her--to sabotage the mission and bury the secret of the Firebird forever.

The discovery on the moon ignites a firestorm on Earth as both American and Russian authorities attempt to cover it up. NASA dispatches renowned scientist Milo Jefferson to Moscow to investigate the Firebird mystery. Jefferson finds himself in a hall of mirrors created by the sinister genius who leads Russia's new Tsarist government--a man who knows the revelation of Belinsky's fate could topple his regime--a man who will risk the fate of humanity in his attempt to destroy the truth.

Customer Reviews:

I CANNOT recommend this book highly enough..........2007-10-02

My association with Red Moon and David S. Michaels goes back a few years and I am almost ashamed to admit that back then, I was of a mind that if you write good books, getting published would be a 'No Brainer'. I couldn't have been more wrong. I almost didn't want to read Red Moon because I was afraid I wouldn't like it...after all, I had never heard of the book before, or the author for that matter. How could it be any good if I had never heard about it before?

In a nutshell, publishers are generally afraid to help finance a new author that noboby knows for fear that it simply won't sell. If you don't believe me, casually walk through a bookstore and just count how many of the new releases are from first-time authors. You won't find many--if at all. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, it just doesn't happen often. With Red Moon I discovered what has become my all-time favorite novel. While the subject matter seems decidedly sci-fi, you honestly do not have to be a major sci-fi nerd to really, REALLY love this book. My personal connection comes through a serious fascination with the American/Russian space race of the 60's. I consider making it to the moon and coming back again to be THE Apex of humanities accomplishments of the 20th Century. The plot of Red Moon is a real hum-dinger, too. It asks quite possibly one of the greatest 'What If' scenarios of all-time: What IF Russia actually BEAT the United States to the moon--but intentionally kept it quiet? First off, why would they do that? And second, HOW did it happen and why?

Red Moon has 3 entirely separate plots running simultaneously until it all comes together at the novels amazing conclusion. We begin in the very near future where a Multi-National Joint moon landing is taking place on the lookout for what is described as The Mother Lode. As a somewhat forced publicity stunt, the astronauts agree to go check out a landing site for a Soviet Era unmanned lunar probe only to make one of the biggest discoveries in history: this particular lunar probe is much bigger than expected, and unmistakable footprints--HUMAN footprints dot the landscape. NASA never landed anything even remotely near this location, quickly leading all involved to deduce that Russia really HAD made it to the moon...but why isn't this one of the best known events of the last century? Before long we discover ourselves back in the past in Russia as the space race with America first begins. The full-story of just how many brave men and women gave their lives in order to beat NASA may never be told, but we get to see a tiny glimpse into what it took to do the near impossible. What was amazing in this part of the story was how the author sprinkled actual recorded events with his version of history in such a brilliant fashion that it became difficult on many occasions as I read to know where truth stopped and fiction began. Another thread to the story was back on earth in the near future an investigation begins into how Russia could have sent a man to the moon without ANY word ever getting out and most importantly, WHY would they go to such incredible lengths of going all the way to the Moon, only to keep such a tight lid on the event afterwards? The REAL reason for keeping things hid from history is a true discovery that really hit me hard. The character of Belinsky is still one of my favorites, and after you get to know him, you'll know why.

What can I say? I LOVED this book. I have recommended a LOT of books over the years, but if I could encourage you to buy and read ANY fictional novel available at amazon.com, my first and ONLY choice is to read Red Moon. This book had EVERYTHING a great novel should have. Not a good story, but a fantastic story that is explored with such detail and love that you cannot help but get caught up in the adventure of it all. The original space race recalls some of the greatest events in humanity, and Red Moon takes this real event and gives us a slam-bang action filled adventure-drenched thriller that recalls just why those who were involved in getting us to the Moon really were a part of the Greatest Generation. Once again, I thank David S. Michaels & Daniel Brenton for writing a stunning piece of fiction that reads like it was all-too-real. Without a doubt, the single greatest piece of fiction I have ever read. GO BUY THIS BOOK -- you can thank me later.

Impossible to put this book down!!!!.......2007-07-28

Words along can not describe how authentic and exciting this book is. It is one of those novels you just can not put down. It's the type of read that will get you in trouble with your boss or your wife. It could even cause a car accident. This book is filled with page-by-page suspense. It is like an episode of 24.

Add to this the extensive research that Mr. Mr. Michaels has done too. He really knows his Cosmonautology. I do also. I grew up a Sovietphile and around the NASA program.

No more to be said, get the book now!!!

Superb Speculative/Historical Fiction.......2002-09-12

David Michaels' Red Moon is a fine adventure, shuffling between three stories easily. My only criticism is that the rationale in the story for the return trip to the moon in the early 21st century was not terribly believable. Aside from that, the novel's mixture of historical figures from the Soviet space program and fictional characters is superior, the final scene is moving, and the subplot on the moon in the 21st century was particularly well written and suspenseful.

Looking forward to future work from Mr. Michaels - be sure to visit his web site at luna15.com.

Red Moon is superb!.......2002-02-14

I can only say that Red Moon is superb! I could not leave the book down until I finished it. A splendid mixture of near-future science fiction, politics, revealed conspiracies and lost glories of the Soviet space program. DS Michaels manages to combine all these in an extremely fascinating novel where no one is certain of the outcome until the last page. I consider it to be the finest example of "space-fiction" of the last few years.

Could this be prophetic?.......2001-11-22

The fictional names and dates may be a little off kilter from the some of the historical accounts, but the characters and interwoven plots were all too familiar. As a space historian, with particular interest in and study of the other very secret side of the Moon Race, this is must read!

David has done himself proud with this work! My copy is an original signed manuscript without the great cover artwork (and, no I won't trade), but I plan to set copies under several Christmas Trees this year. I almost felt at times that I was reading my own historical accounts of some real past events that were hidden to all but a very select few on either the Soviet or the American side of the Moon Race, and it was still a TOP SECRET program in the then Soviet Union until just ten years sgo (Oficially declassified in Russia, March 1992)! RED MOON is on my website's recommended list!

In addition to the unmanned Luna 15 mission that the Soviets sent streaking to the Moon on a PROTON rocket just three days before Apollo 11 majestically set off for Man's first steps on Lunar soil, another mission was attempted -- a manned mission on July 4th, 1969, sixteen days before Armstrong made history! The Soviet Super Booster exploded on-pad, killing any chances that the Soviets would beat the U.S.A. to a landing on the Moon. Had Apollo 11 been delayed, of failed, the Soviets may have beaten us to the Moon!

Go ahead, treat yourself -- buy the book! You won't be disappointed! Congratulations! Well done, David!

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