Average customer rating:
- Insipid, Lifetime television-worthy...maybe
- Frustrating read
- An Okay Read
- The Rescue
- Well Done
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The Rescue
Nicholas Sparks
Manufacturer: Warner Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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Sparks, Nicholas
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ASIN: 0446525502
Release Date: 2000-09-19 |
Amazon.com
Denise Holden's life is a fragile mix of luck and hard work. A single mom of a speech-delayed son, Denise makes ends meet by moving to the small town of Edenton, North Carolina, and working the late shift as a waitress. When Denise crashes her car and her son Kyle flees the accident and disappears into the storm, her only stroke of luck is the quick arrival of Taylor McAden, a volunteer fireman. Taylor's got a knack for fixing people, and he can't help wanting to be involved with Denise beyond the initial rescue of Kyle.
As Taylor helps Denise recover from the accident and get to know the town, they discover a sweet bond and a magical chemistry that pulls them closer and closer. Though Taylor fits perfectly into Denise's family, he's unable to open his heart to being loved by her. As Taylor struggles to understand his conflicting desires, Denise questions the wisdom of gambling with Kyle's and her own emotions.
Author Nicholas Sparks has found a loyal audience for his stories about the internal battles that accompany the arrival of love. His heroes may be truck-driving manly men and his heroines emotional swamis, but it's easy to overlook the traditional roles when the complexities of human relationships are so beautifully described. Sparks has found his forte, and this novel is sure to be as popular as his earlier works. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien
Book Description
Taylor McAden is a volunteer fireman who is always the first to plunge into danger. But there is one risk he cant seem to take: falling in love. Until he meets Denise Holden, a single mother who has moved to the small town of Edenton, North Carolina, to build a new life. A near fatal car crash will bring these two together, but before that can happen, Taylor must first look into his past and see if its not too late to take a chance on the future. A New York Times bestseller for 17 weeks, A Walk to Remember (Warner, 10/99) has over 900,000 copies in print. Film rights to A Walk to Remember were sold to producer Denise DiNovi (Message in a Bottle, Practical Magic) at Warner Bros. A New York Times bestseller for 29 weeks, Message in a Bottle (Warner, 1998) has nearly 700,000 copies in print and was a major motion picture starring Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn, and Paul Newman. The Notebook (Warner, 1996), a New York Times hardcover bestseller for 56 weeks and a paperback bestseller for 52 weeks, has nearly three million copies in combined print. The soon-to-be-released movie is directed by Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father) and stars Ashley Judd (Double Jeopardy).
Download Description
One of America's bestselling authors returns with a tale about the greatest commitment of all: loving someone forever. When a near-fatal car crash brings Taylor McAden together with Denise Holden, a new resident of Edenton, North Carolina, he must look into his past to see if it's not too late to take a chance on the future.
Customer Reviews:
Insipid, Lifetime television-worthy...maybe.......2007-09-01
This was such an insipid book. I couldn't believe this was actually a novel and not a short story in the back of Good Housekeeping. This sounds like the screenplay for a Lifetime tv movie. I couldn't finish reading it. The writing was so bad and the characters were not interesting at all. A cheap novel.
Frustrating read.......2007-07-18
I basically agree with all the points made here by reviewers who have criticized this book. I didn't like it very much. I'm sorry to say that this was my first Sparks book. I probably should have chosen something else, because now I have no interest in reading what may be his better books. It isn't completely bad - for about the first third of the book, I thought it was a fairly good read. And aside from some "telling rather than showing" episodes, the writing is fine - he mostly writes well, in that respect it is easy to see why his books are often bestsellers - but I didn't identify with, or even like, the characters.
I took the book out of a box at work. When people retire or leave the job for another reason, they usually leave books in a common area, free for the taking. I always go through them, and take whatever interests me. Last time there were quite a few fairly recent popular novels. I took the Sparks book because I'd seen (and liked) The Notebook, and have read good reviews of his writing. It's pretty hard to believe that a man is writing this book, or for that matter, wrote The Notebook. I suppose that is kind of a sexist remark, I mean why can't a man write a romantic story?, but these works are not simply romantic, they are the ultimate "chick lit" or "chick flick." (Full disclosure: I hate those terms, and usually I am not thrilled with that genre either, at least not as done by a contemporary author. I also do not like movies such as You've Got Mail, etc.)
Anyway, at about the halfway point through this book I'd have liked to reach into the pages and slap the main female character because she was so whiny and "poor me," and then slap her love interest just for good measure. Not that he didn't deserve a good slap for his own tiresome nature. It seemed the reader was supposed to view him as heroic? I don't think so; I think he was a glory hog. And I found the situation with the son extremely frustrating. If it was real life, the mother's choices would have made his life worse, not better. (A minor note, the food they ate because they were poor would have made her fat, not thin. And that sort of diet would not have helped the boy's learning disabilities).
I kept hoping something really bad would happen to one of the characters and the book would wind up surprising me and being worth the effort! Then - surprise, surprise - something bad does happen, but unfortunately not to one of the main characters.
I don't know if The Notebook read like this, maybe. But even if it did, the looking back through Altzheimer's Disease theme made the story much more charming. With this book I was so annoyed that the so-called hardships these two characters faced were either 1) self-inflicted, 2) not all that difficult, yet they acted like such martyrs or 3) sad, but get over it already! I guess I know why I found this book for free in a box.
An Okay Read.......2007-06-26
I just finished "The Rescue". The story was interesting and yet some of it was disturbing. For one the way Denise worked with Kyle. Strapping him in a chair for 4 hours at a time and making him say words. In my mind that was close to child abuse. I am a teacher and know a [..]has a short attention span and can't imagine making a [...] sit for 4 hours while I demanded he say words. There are other ways to work with a child even while you play with them and repeat words with much shorter spans of time. That bothered me and wondered where Mr. Sparks came up with that method. Also thought 27 years was a long time for Taylor to keep messing up his life because he couldn't get over his father's death. I guess it could be believable and of course there wouldn't have been a story without that element. I haven't read many Nicolas Sparks books but the couple I've read now are the same. A damaged man that something tragic happened to, meets the lady who can change his life, only to push her away. Then there is that element of time they are separated only to get back together in the end, naturally. Now I don't mind that scenario once in awhile but hope it's not the norm for all his books. The other one I read was "A Bend in the River" and a lot the same elements of "The Rescue". I am starting "The Guardian" now and will see how it goes. If it turns out the same I may have to move on to a different author. Meanwhile many will like "The Rescue" and I liked it up to the point that Taylor hurt Kyle and then I started to lose interest and skimmed a lot to get towards the end. As a teacher and a grandmother, I have a real aversion to children being hurt physically or emotionally. I was just disappointed in Taylor at that point that he was so wrapped up in his pity party that he would hurt a special needs little boy to that extent. However, I relalize it's the author's choice to make the characters as he wants them. I don't have to like it though. It's probably a good read and those things won't bother a lot of people as it is fiction.
The Rescue.......2007-05-07
At times I could not put this book down. It is great!!!!
Well Done.......2007-04-28
Life has been a struggle for single mother Denise Holton. Her four-year-old son, Kyle, has problems with his speech and she barely makes enough money working in a diner to support the two of them. Denise is petrified when Kyle runs away after she gets into a car accident while swerving to avoid a deer, but he is found because of the persistence of volunteer firefighter Taylor McAden. Taylor befriends the Holtons and soon he and Denise are romantically involved. But Taylor, while always willing to risk his life as a fireman, isn't as willing to risk his heart. Taylor was a young boy when his father died tragically at the age of 36 and Taylor blames himself for the death and has never recovered from his loss. He has a habit of rescuing woman and then when he has gotten close to them, he has pulled away, convinced he doesn't need anyone in his life. This time it looks like things might be different as he grows increasingly closer to Denise and bonds with Kyle, playing catch with him, letting him "drive" his truck, and winning prizes for him at a carnival. But when Taylor realizes how close he has become to both Denise and Kyle, he starts to pull away. When tragedy strikes again and Taylor once more loses someone close to him, he begins to realize he has been lying to himself all these years - he really does need love in his life.
"The Rescue" is a good, if light read. The beginning of the book will keep readers turning the pages, as they will want to find out if Kyle is okay. The love story between Denise and Taylor is well-done and very believable, especially on Taylor's side. All of the characters are believable. Denise is a great heroine, giving up her teaching career so she can devote her time to Kyle. She is a loving mother struggling to make enough money to raise her son, who is having a hard time speaking. The fact that she is not perfect makes her even more believable. There were a couple of times that I wished she was real so I could tell her to let Kyle just be a kid for once instead of spending all those hours trying to get him to talk. Taylor is also very believable - his anguish over his father's death, which he thinks is his fault, is heartbreaking. The supporting characters are also well done. Taylor's mother is the best written of the bunch - she befriends Denise when Kyle disappears knowing she is afraid and needs a friend. The fact that she knew Denise's mother as a child adds an extra dimension to both her and Denise's character. Taylor's best friend Mitch and Mitch's wife Melissa area an important part of the plot line. Author Nicholas Sparks certainly knows how to tell a story that will grab the readers attention although he does have a habit of repeating himself which is unnecessary in a book that is already over 400 pages long. And he relies a bit too much on cliched plot lines - there's a lot of foreshadowing and readers will figure out fairly quickly that there will be another tragedy and who the tragedy will involve. It's a shame because the book is good enough without the hackneyed plot line.
"The Rescue" is a good book to read on a rainy day.
Book Description
This is the first full-length account of the CIA's coup d'etat in Iran in 1953âa covert operation whose consequences are still with us today. Written by a noted New York Times journalist, this book is based on documents about the coup (including some lengthy internal CIA reports) that have now been declassified. Stephen Kinzer's compelling narrative is at once a vital piece of history, a cautionary tale, and a real-life espionage thriller.
Customer Reviews:
A must read for America in increasingly disastrous times.......2007-10-12
The insights provided in this book are masterfully presented to offer both a page turning drama and sickening clarity on the trajectories of American meddling in the Middle East. This book goes beyond serving up mundane theories and conjecture. The overall picture here illustrated is profoundly clear and evident in light of the author's supporting research. A glimpse of the future for international policy in the Middle East may well be drawn from the series of events which transpired over the latter half of the 20th century, and which are so brilliantly connected in this book. A must read for anyone keen to understand the increasingly disastrous times of America in the East.
Consequences of One Week ,Fifty Years Ago.......2007-10-04
In 1953 the United States made a momentous decision. Partially out of legitimate fear of a possible Russian takeover of the valuable Iranian Oil field, and partly as a result of incitement by British interests who sought to stubbornly maintain their imperialistic power structure, the CIA led a sinister and clandestine coup that removed the most beloved and democratic leader Iran has had in a century; Mohammend Mossadegh.
Mossadegh was replaced by the Shah Pahlavi who became so hated that a Muslim fanatical mob overthrew him in 1979. The new theocracy, well remembering the American led coup, feared that the CIA would attempt it again. As insurance they attacked the US embassy and took 52 American hostages.
This act so infuriated the Americans that they supported Saddam Hussein's horrific war against Iran. This led to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan, the rise of the Muslim fanatics who created the Hezbollah and Taliban, the empowerment of Saddam, the invasion of Kuwait, the attacks on the US in Beruit, Somalia, 911, and of course our current clumsy missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
While America's awkward foreign policy proved disastrous in hindsight, the fear of communist control of Middle Eastern oil was a driving force in the 1950's. Blame must be shared with the British Anglo-Iranian Oil Company for their greed, the British for treating the Iranians so poorly, for the Iranian Shahs who sold Iran's concessions to fund their lavish life, and for even Mossadegh himself for becoming so blind in his justified hatred for the British that he refused any compromise offered.
Yet while the Iranians despise the US for our intrusions into their affairs and the suffering it has caused, they still honor the American institutions of freedom and democracy. These values are currently suppressed by the current theocracy.
Kinzer's well researched story reads like a first class spy novel. He avoids cynicism and anti American tirades and presents the story in a balanced light. While he does not avoid detailing the disaster we unleashed he also did not avoid the context of the anti Communist fears shared by many Americans in the 1950s.
He will make you think different about the current events in the Middle East.
All the Shah's Men.......2007-08-08
I think this is a book that every American should read because it explains so clearly the little known facts about the overthrow of the very first democratically elected prime minister in Iran. The seeds of democracy were there - just waiting for a little water but because Mossadegh was a nationalist and didn't want to be indebted to any foreign power including the U.S., we initiated this clandestine covert operation which brought the Shah back to power. At the time of the hostage crisis, I couldn't understand why the Iranian's hated us so much. Now I see that scenario with complete clarity. Regime change by any other name is still meddling in the affairs of foreign countries. Even if we don't care about what happens to that country, it always comes back to haunt us because it's bad foreign policy - bad for the U.S. in the worst possible ways.
Excellent crash course in the root of US/Iranian problems.......2007-07-17
I was recommended this book by a friend who is Persian. He considers himself Persian because he does not want to be identified as an Iranian due to misperceptions of the people in the United States. He also does not want to be lumped in with being the government that currently exists in Iran.
The book itself is a relatively quick read that can be done in a day or two. But the wealth of information that Kinzer has packed into what I would consider a short book is astounding. He chronicles the history of Iran dating back to the days of Darius and Cyrus albeit briefly. Then eventually focuses on several key events of the late 19th century and moves into the 20th century. The main focus of the book is the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and their nationalization by Mohammed Mossadegh in the mid-part of the 20th century. This eventually paved the way for the British to coerce the United States Government under Dwight Eisenhower to green light covert ops against Mossaedegh to remove him from his position of Prime Minister of Iran. This led the way for the Shah to assume authoritarian control over the country, which eventually culminated in the 1979 Revolution.
It is an incredibly fascinating story and goes to show how the United States in a sense created their own problem with Iran due to the desire to have oil flowing from the country. They got 26 years worth of it only to create a bigger problem by leading the way inadvertently for the fundamentalist government that is there now. It becomes clear why Harry S. Truman is so greatly appreciated these days due to his ability to make decisions that were and would have been better for the long term. He opposed any US action against Iran. If only that advice had been followed, who knows what might have been in the Middle East.
For those wanting to know why the current regime in Iran supports terrorist groups and is so vehemently anti-Western? This is the book to read. It does an excellent job of explaining why and how we got to the this point we are at currently.
Imagine that Iran would try to dictate the US at which prices and to whom they can only sell their products and own resources..........2007-07-14
This book shows the kind of info that is not found, as usual, in the mainstream media. It shows you how the US along with other countries like the UK have tried to control the oil resources of a sovereign third country like Iran. They have used any tool for achieving their goals, even the coup de etat. At the beggining of the history, through the middle ages and until the discovery of America the main excuse for conquering and destroying countries and for genocide was the religion, like happended with the religion wars in Central Europe, in America with the Spanish Catholic Kings and with the English purintans, in France with the hugonots... Then it was the liberty, equality, etc, like with the wars of Napoleon or with Russia and the poor republics that suffered its influece after the war of the October's Revolution. Then it came the race with Hitler. And nowadays the excuse is the democracy. But, always, it is just an excuse that hides the real motivation: economic interest. Nowadays the Western countries while keeping their own population uninformed and sort of drugged with the everyday work and consumption needs, try to convince them to go to war with the excuse that the objective is to spread liberty and democracy. They do this at the same time that they incentivate and protect dictatorships and antidemocratic regimens like they do in most of the Arab countries (there is/were such regimens not only in Iraq or Iran, by the way, just look at the bunch of allies of the US and the UK in the Persian Gulf like Oman, Dubai, Soudern Arabia, Kuwait, Katar, etc.. where the lack of freedom of speach or of democracy does not take the American politicians to go these countries to give them the present of democracy by the force of war). This book is an example of the whole lie, cinism and hypocrisy that the international foreign Wester policies are about. Like alwasy, it is not about virtues but only about money and geostrategical control. For this according the report of the worldwide reputed medicine magazine The Lancet, and published by the American University of John Hopkins, about 660.000 Iraqi people have been killed in Iraq by the middle of the last year, most of them by artillery and air strikes by false called "coalition" forces. For this reason the puppet government of Iraq has announce at the beginning of this year that they will not disclosure more figures of deaths caused by the war. Obviusly the occupants are frighteened by the fact that today, one year after that report, we may have reached already one million deaths, something that if the people of the US and of the UK would be well informed and aware of it they would jump to the streets to stop their goverments spreading the democracy in Iraq. A democratic country of dead people with the second largest oil reserves of the world, a very easy country to control. Whoever that can not understand that it is not democracy or liberty should find the information that is there and that is not provided normaly by the mainstream media. I recommend everybody to read the book of John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitmank, to understand what it is going on behind the nice words of our politicians.
seeConfessions of an Economic Hit Man
Book Description
The attacks of September 11, 2001 were accomplished through an amazing orchestration of logistics and personnel. Crossing the Rubicon discovers and identifies key suspects - finding some of them in the highest echelons of American government - by showing how they acted in concert to guarantee that the attacks produced the desired result.
Crossing the Rubicon is unique not only for its case-breaking examination of 9/11, but for the breadth and depth of its world picture - an interdisciplinary analysis of petroleum, geopolitics, narco-traffic, intelligence and militarism - without which 9/11 cannot be understood.
The US manufacturing sector has been mostly replaced by speculation on financial data whose underlying economic reality is a dark secret. Hundreds of billions of dollars in laundered drug money flow through Wall Street each year from opium and coca fields maintained by CIA-sponsored warlords and US-backed covert paramilitary violence. America's global dominance depends on a continually turning mill of guns, drugs, oil and money. Oil and natural gas - the fuels that make economic growth possible - are subsidized by American military force and foreign lending.
In reality, 9/11 and the resulting "War on Terror" are parts of a massive authoritarian response to an emerging economic crisis of unprecedented scale. Peak Oil - the beginning of the end for our industrial civilization - is driving the elites of American power to implement unthinkably draconian measures of repression, warfare and population control. Crossing the Rubicon is more than a story. It is a map of the perilous terrain through which, together and alone, we are all now making our way.
Customer Reviews:
A must read!.......2007-08-05
A timely revelation of facts and events that the lamestream media has conveniently omitted. Much of what we hear in the news makes no sense in the backdrop of what we see from the misleading perpectives of the "right " or left" , but this book explains the process behind much of what is going on. Being aware of the government's role in 9/11as described by Ruppert and watching the constant consolidation of power by the administration enables one to predict with some certainty the future: decreasing oil supplies not meeting population demands, resource wars (the imminent Iranian attack) to maintain our lifestyle, massive population declines as oil-based food production drops dramatically, and the imposition of martial law over an increasingly pacified Congress and "terror-conditioned" population.
Good, yet I'm not totally convinced.......2007-06-28
There is an overwhelming amount of more than just circumstantial evidence here that our goverment aided the 9-11 attacks. As for peak oil being the prime motive, I don't know, if that were the case, wouldn't the world have unraveled even more by now? In any case, it was also entertaining, not your father's conspiracy theory. If Thomas Malthus, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and Oliver Stone got together to write a book, this would be the result.
Wake up - be alert - question.......2007-06-19
Riveting, provoking and disturbing are the three adjectives for Crossing the Rubicon. It is a page turner, filled with fascinating details about 9/11, the CIA and our government. Surely, for the truth seeker, this book is captivating.
Be alert, sober and a critical thinker. Be willing to question all that you learned...for things are not as they appear...or what we have been indoctrinated to believe.
Read the book.
Also, take a look at Catherine Austin Fitts' website solari dot com
Excellent analysis of the evidence available .......2007-06-12
This is a well done researched book that taps into the Official 9/11 Commission Report myth. Who was behind 9/11, what prompted it, and what was the purpose and consequences for the US political process. The books delineates in detail the CIA's involvement with the drug trade and arming foreign guerillas to meet their own needs and their involvement with events leading up to 9/11 along with the FBI, Military Industrial Complex, and Wall St. This detective journalism at its best. If you ever wanted to know what and who was REALLY behind 9/11, I highly recommend this book. It is quite extensive with lots of hard factual information. If you are looking for stats like the guy below, this is not for you. Instead, the book acts like a "connect the dots puzzle" that flows consistently throughout the book. I think this will seriously change how you view the US political and governmental system.
There should be a million more books like this on the shelves........2007-06-12
This books absolutely blew me away. I don't even know what else to say.
Ruppert argues his case in the book as if presenting to jury. The only defense to the book's logical conclusion is that Cheney and Co. weren't cross examined; but since the Administration refused at all cost the 9/11 Commission's establishment and their own sworn testimony before it, that's about all the proof we need of their treason.
READ THE BOOK. Read the 9/11 commission report, and then Whiteout (by Cockburn and St. Clair) and every other expose of CIA drug dealing and covert terrorism in alliance with Nazis and neo-Nazis...I mean, neo-conservatives. You'll be convinced, if you can handle it that is.
Amazon.com
The Haunted Wood fills in a valuable part of cold war history: the Soviet Union's attempts to spy on the United States from the time of FDR's New Deal, through the Second World War, and into the 1950s. Allen Weinstein (author of a highly regarded history of the Hiss-Chambers case, Perjury) and Alexander Vassiliev (a KGB agent turned journalist) show that among the Americans caught in the Soviet orbit were many top government officials, including a Congressman from New York and a close advisor to President Roosevelt, as well as an American ambassador's daughter. Most of these early spies were leftists driven by ideology--as opposed to money, which seems to have motivated many of the later cold war traitors, such as Aldrich Ames. (The Congressman, interestingly, is an exception--he demanded so much compensation that the Soviets gave him the code name "Crook.") The greatest windfall for the U.S.S.R. during this period was the acquisition of atomic secrets, with contributions from agents like Ted Hall, Klaus Fuchs, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (the authors do not believe, however, that the scientist Robert Oppenheimer was a Soviet spook). Yet there were also notable failures, many brought on by Stalin's insatiable appetite for purges; defections by Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley also dealt several mortal blows. By the end of the 1940s, the Soviet spy ring in the United States was in serious breakdown. Weinstein and Vassiliev make use of both American sources and Soviet archives to deliver what will surely be an authoritative account for many years--or at least until more top-secret archives on both sides of the Atlantic become declassified. And don't expect that to happen anytime soon. --John J. Miller
Book Description
Based upon previously secret KGB records, The Haunted Wood reveals for the first time the riveting story of Soviet espionage's "golden age" in the United States throughout the 1930s, World War II, and the early Cold War. Historian Allen Weinstein, author of Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case, and Alexander Vassiliev, a former KGB agent-turned-journalist, were provided unique access to thousands of classified Soviet intelligence dispatches that documented the KGB's success in acquiring America's most valuable atomic, military, and diplomatic secrets.
The Haunted Wood narrates the triumphs and failures of Soviet operatives and their American agents during the 1930s and 1940s, describing as well the compelling human dramas involved.
Reconstructed from Moscow's messages to its operatives and reports from Soviet recruits in America, The Haunted Wood describes many previously unknown personal tales: struggles for control among contending Soviet operatives and American agents, love affairs, business ventures, defections, and plotted or actual murders. The authors also detail the remarkable range of classified government documents and information stolen for Soviet intelligence during the 1930s and the war years.
Complementing its use of the KGB archives, The Haunted Wood incorporates, also for the first time, a number of the previously classified VENONA cables released in 1995-96 by the CIA and NSA. Among these thousands of translated intercepts sent by Soviet agents in the United States to the USSR during World War II were dozens that matched those found in the Moscow records.
The highly placed Americans who assisted Soviet intelligence operatives during this period included:
the passionate daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Nazi Germany
an influential member of the U.S. Congress
one of President Roosevelt's personal assistants
key officials of the OSS, America's wartime spy agency
a flamboyant Hollywood producer-director
the head of the American Communist Party
Several chapters provide major new accounts from Moscow's own record of its relations with Alger Hiss and atomic spies Klaus Fuchs, Harry Gold, David Greenglass, Theodore Hall, and Julius Rosenberg, among others, along with fresh information on Soviet espionage in the United States by British agents for the Kremlin--Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, and Harold "Kim" Philby.
The Haunted Wood's pages are filled with extraordinary and previously untold stories, including those of one war-time American spy ring whose head lived in a domestic ménage à trois with other agents, of Soviet involvement in a Hollywood music publishing company and possible major film investments, and of a station chief who proposed (with Moscow's agreement) funding U.S. journalists and congressional political campaigns.
The authors show how defection at war's end by a single emotionally depressed agent, despondent since the death of her Soviet station-chief lover, provoked the swift and virtually complete shutdown of Moscow's intelligence operations in the United States--ironically, years before the FBI and congressional investigations began their decade-long pursuit of "Soviet agents," who, by then, had either returned to Moscow or left the U.S. government!
With its new and uniquely documented information, The Haunted Wood offers the first fresh, realistic, and non-judgmental understanding of Soviet espionage in the United States during the Stalin era.
Customer Reviews:
The Soviet Penetration of the Roosevelt Administration.......2006-11-27
Authors Weinstein and Vassiliev were in the relatively unique position, in writing "The Haunted Wood", of having access to the Soviet as well as the American side of the story. They took advantage of a brief period of access to Soviet espionage achives after the breakup of the Soviet Union. What emerges is an exhaustive study of the penetration by Soviet spies of the U.S. government in the 1930's and 1940's.
The Soviets were materially aided in their espionage efforts by an admiration of Soviet communism shared by some Americans. This admiration looks badly misguided in retrospect, but apparently seemed very rational in the context of the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the subsequent Great Depression and rise of Fascism. This admiration produced a generation of American (and British) traitors who gave away information on American foreign policy, military and industrial secrets.
Some of the names are familiar: Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs, among others. Less familiar may be the names and operating methods of their Soviet handlers, who worked not just against American counterintelligence but also against the increasing paranoia of the Soviet Government they served. Despite the continuing delivery of invaluable information, Josef Stalin repeatedly purged Soviet intelligence. The disruption caused by the purges almost certainly kept the Soviets from acquiring even more information than they did.
"The Haunted Wood" is written primarily for an audience already fascinated by the topic of espionage. The average reader may find long stretches of dry and sometimes repetitive reading. This book is highly recommended for those studying the history of espionage.
partially an advertisement for two Soviet Agent's talent.......2005-01-02
This book was written with the help of several present and former Soviet Intelligence officers. Be aware that that colored the book with favorable views of these people's talent level and Soviet Intelligence in general. The book does contain valuable information along with important omission and advertising style hot air. I would suggest that you consider Venona by John Earl Haynes or The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors by Herbert Romerstein. The former is an academic description of the 450+ Soviet agents disclosed by the US breaking Soviet codes used during the war. The latter is an inside story by two US espionage agents and experts. One of the gems it reveals is that President FDR was gullible and had several advisors who were Soviet agents. Stalin was afraid of a two front war in Europe and with Japan in the Pacific. He composed an insulting message for his agents to present to FDR who sent as is it to the Japanese government. This provoked the war in the Pacific. Had this not been done, The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would have been done much later or not at all.
Second thoughts.......2002-06-27
I reviewed this book in 1999, and gave it three stars. Over time, I've decided it was better than I first thought, and came back here to up it to four...
A Critical View of "The Haunted Wood".......2002-06-04
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A Critical View of "The Haunted Wood"
The thesis of this book is that KGB documents prove many New Deal and other US government officials were spies for the Soviet Union. The documentation in the book, however, does not support the thesis, in my opinion.
The co-authors state that one of them, a former KGB agent named Alexander Vassiliev, saw the KGB documents in Moscow on an exclusive basis, in exchange for payments by the publisher, Random House, to an association of former KGB agents. There is no way to verify the authenticity of the KGB documents; no way to check the accuracy of the excerpts and paraphrases printed in the book; no way to study their context, such as the rest of the file from which a particular document came, which every historian and student knows can be crucial to a correct reading and interpretation. We do not even know whether the documents Vassiliev saw are in the Russian language and, if they are, who translated them and how accurately.
The book contains 1099 numbered footnotes, of which 1049 are citations to those off-limits KGB documents. Readers may well ask why those footnotes are there at all. Another frustrating puzzle for readers is the way the co-authors purport to quote KGB documents that contain code names (which the Soviet intelligence agencies routinely assigned to spies and occasionally to non-spies such as Roosevelt, Truman, Churchill, and lesser figures): the co-authors delete the code names and replace them with real names in square brackets -- but often without disclosing what code names they have deleted, and without citing any KGB document or otherwise explaining how or where they got the real names. Compounding the confusion, they state that the Soviets sometimes assigned the same code name to more than one person and sometimes assigned two or three code names to the same person. For instance, the co-authors assert that the American diplomat Alger Hiss had two code names, "Ales" and "Lawyer", while the US Treasury official Harry Dexter White had three code names, "Lawyer", "Richard", and "Reed".
In The Haunted Wood, the co-authors do not explain why they cite no authority or source for ascribing "Lawyer" as a code name for Hiss. For their assertion that "Ales" was another code name for Hiss, they do not cite any KGB documentary source, but they reproduce (and misquote) a so-called "Venona" document, released in 1996 by the US National Security Agency and said to bear a translation of a partially decrypted 1945 KGB cablegram about "Ales". In 1950, an FBI agent tentatively identified Ales as Hiss and said the FBI would attempt to verify the identification; but it never did so, nor could it have done so.
The Venona-KGB cablegram itself, reproduced with the photographs in the book, shows that Ales could not have been Hiss. Ales was a military intelligence (GRU) agent who obtained only military information. Hiss, however, was charged with obtaining only non-military State Department materials; the papers that were used to convict him were copies of State Department documents. Ales was the leader of a group of GRU agents, whereas Hiss was accused of acting alone (except for his wife and his accuser, Whittaker Chambers). Ales conducted espionage throughout the eleven years 1935-45, whereas Hiss was accused of having conducted espionage not later than 1938, etc. etc. But The Haunted Wood does not mention, let alone attempt to explain away, any of those discrepancies that preclude Ales as having been Hiss.
Furthermore, there is an earlier Venona document that tends to exonerate Hiss, but I can not find any mention of it in the book. It contains a fragment of a GRU message that, in the original, included the name "Hiss" spelled out in the Latin alphabet, rather than the Cyrillic. For the GRU to use the Latin alphabet just for the name strongly suggests that the GRU had never before heard of Hiss and wanted to be sure to get the name right. (No first name is given, so we can not tell whether "Hiss" was Alger or his brother Donald, who was also in the State Department.) Moreover, for the GRU to use Hiss's real name suggests that he had no code name and was not an espionage agent, because Soviet intelligence agencies, for reasons of security, normally assigned code names to their agents and referred to them only by their code names. Given the many pages that The Haunted Wood devotes to Hiss, Ales, the GRU, and Venona, it is a serious lapse, in my view, for the co-authors not to tell their readers about this GRU message and not to discuss its implications.
The lack of verifiable documentation in The Haunted Wood, its plethora of errors, and its strategic omissions leave it demonstrably untrustworthy. In my opinion, the book falls too far below minimal standards of scholarly or journalistic rigor for any serious consideration.
Very informative. One of the best. But it is a boring read.......2000-11-25
I have read many books on the issue of intelligence. The insight provided by this book is excellent. In particular, the nature and history of America's volunteer ideological spies is the very best I have ever read. But I have found it a hard read. It is possible to be too through. Honest, it is. I had an easier time with Mitrokhin.
Book Description
Jim Marrs presents the official government pronouncement on 9/11 as an obvious conspiracy. The only question is whose conspiracy it was. According to the government, the conspiracy involved about nineteen suicidal Middle Eastern Muslim terrorists, their hearts full of hatred for American freedom and democracy, who hijacked four airliners, crashing two into the Twin Towers of New York City's World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon, near Washington, DC. The fourth airliner reportedly crashed in western Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overcome the hijackers. To add insult to injury, this whole incredible
Mission Impossible operation, which defeated a forty-billion-dollar defense system, was under the total control of a devout Muslim cleric using a computer while hiding in a cave in Afghanistan.
Primarily using mainstream media and government reports, Marrs has crafted the definitive journalistic account exposing the likely complicity of the Bush administration in the 9/11 attacks, providing a history of the overt and covert causes of the events. However, his analysis goes far beyond 9/11, enabling us to understand the motivation behind American foreign policy, with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as primary examples of the US government's secret agenda.
Customer Reviews:
Loss of liberity yes, Insider's revelations of conspiracy.......2007-10-12
Rule by Secrecy was a much more credible and solid work. I think Jim has bitten off more than he can chew by exploring the so-called 911 conspiracy.
Who is actually pulling the strings you ask? Get an insider's view of how disinformation is used by secret occult orgs, the Vatican, and the intelligence agencies.
If you would like to see the Greater Key of Solomon and the history of the Templars and their connection to Masonry and the Ordo Templi Orientis featured as a significant plot devices I suggest
Solomon's Key: The CODIS Project by R. Douglas Weber. SOLOMON'S KEY THE CODIS PROJECT: A CONSPIRACY THRILLER (Solomon's Key) This author knows his stuff when it comes to the esoteric foundations of modern occult orgs such as Scientology and the OTO. Although a fictional occult thriller, it is accurate in its depiction of ceremonial magick, polarity magick, and the history of the Vatican's involvement in suppressing the ancient grimoires of Western hermitic and occult knowledge.
It also gives a fair shake to the most infamous twentieth-century practitioner of magick: Aleister Crowley. And relates Crowley's connection to The Rocketman, The Magikcian, and the Madman: Parsons, Crowley, and L. Ron Hubbard and the OTO's link to Scientology. It also celebrates the empowerment of women and the realization of the Goddess within.
Great Book.......2007-09-26
After reading this book, there is no doubt in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job. Marrs spectacularly points of the flaws of the government's account of 9/11, while provides strong evidence to suggest that they know a lot more than they will ever tell.
Worst book I ever read in my life!.......2007-09-22
Bin Laden benefits from the 911 attacks.
He declared JIHAD against the United States in 1996 & do research in regards to Operation Bojinka!
Will the REAL Jim Marrs please stand up?.......2007-08-03
Jim Marrs is one of the deans of Conspiracy Theory. He covers the gamut - from UFOS to secret Bush shenanigans (no longer secret of course). Only Conspiracy High graduates take him seriously but I read him for the sheer entertainment value. He started with an in-depth book about the Kennedy assassination (a plot of course) but that was the high point. ALIEN AGENDA reveals the secred designs those awful little creatures have on us poor Earthlings. His book on CIA "secrets" was cancelled (by "them") so he wrote PSI SPIES (remote viewing, paranormal activity). My favorite - RULE by SECRECY - reveals the role of the Illuminati, Jewish bankers, world government (with alien help of course). It was only natural that he finds yet another conspiracy - 9-11, and this is a treasure trove.
In THE TERROR CONSPIRACY he has managed to include "the best" of the conspiracy elements - secret government plot, nefarious Jews, hidden reasons (many contradictory but oh well), dark organizations, the past, the future...an yet it's no secret. I mean, how terrible can it be when Jim is spilling the beans on the 9-11 plot for all to see. Unfortunately all the tales contradict one another The hijackers were robots under CIA mind control / the hijackers are alive / the planes were guided by Mossad agents/ the FBI/Big Oil/Israel set up explosives and my favorite - "No Planes, No Holocaust." I have a sneaking feeling that Jim started off the whole thing as a joke and like Dale Brown, slowly came to believe all the nonsense about Pyramids, aliends in ancient times, world wide Jewish conspiracies, blah blah.
I admit that it is far more entertaining to spin tales rather than rely on boring investigations such as those carried out by Skeptic Magazine, Popular Science, Engineers of America and my favorite Debunking911 which gives an explanation to every nutty rumor out there except "why?" I could take a conspiracy if the conspirators (who all know the "truth") did not have such wildly divergent and contradictory stories. I still think that Marrs is enjoying this entire episode, chuckling at the few who take him seriously and floating on his pool with a nice drink as he prepares for his latest "revelation".
Disappointing.......2007-07-26
I'm a huge Marrs fan, and have been for years, so when I heard about this book, I dropped it immediately into my cart. This time, however, I found myself overwhelmed with the notion that Marrs was reaching. Some of the elements included in the book are easily disproven, some of the elements of the official story that he challenges are manifestly not possible in the manner he describes, and he may have finally reached the limit of my open-mindedness.
I believe that a lot of things have been mishandled and even outright manipulated in the wake of the attacks on 9/11, but I just can't accept the theory that the attacks themselves were an inside job of the proportions Marrs describes.
Amazon.com
The result of months of intensive investigations and inquiries by a specially appointed bipartisan panel, The 9/11 Commission Report is one of the most important historical documents of the modern era. And while that fact alone makes it worth owning, it is also a chilling and valuable piece of nonfiction: a comprehensive and alarming look at one of the biggest intelligence failures in history and the events that led up to it. The commission traces the roots of al-Qaeda's strategies along with the emergence of the 19 hijackers and how they entered the United States and boarded airplanes. It details the missed opportunities of law enforcement officials to avert disaster. Using transcripts of cockpit voice recordings, the report describes events on board the planes along with the chaotic reaction on the ground from nearly every level of government. Going forward, the commission calls for a comprehensive overhaul of what it sees as a deeply flawed and disjointed intelligence-gathering operation. The creation of a post for a single National Security Director is recommended, along with the creation of a National Counterterrorism Center. The report finds fault with the approaches of both the Clinton and Bush administrations but, because they were a bipartisan panel and the problems described are so systemic and far-reaching, they stop short of assigning blame to any particular person or group. Credit must be given to how readable the report is. At more than 500 pages, the writing is clear and forceful and the information is made more accessible since it is fre from election politics and rancor. While the commission notes that future attacks are probably inevitable, a coordinated preventive effort along with a clear plan to respond with efficiency can offer Americans some hope in a post-9/11 world. --John Moe
Book Description
Nearly three thousand people died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In Lower Manhattan, on a field in Pennsylvania, and along the banks of the Potomac, the United States suffered the single largest loss of life from an enemy attack on its soil.
In November 2002 the United States Congress and President George W. Bush established by law the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission. This independent, bipartisan panel was directed to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks, identify lessons learned, and provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism.
This volume is the authorized edition of the Commission's final report.
Download Description
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.
Customer Reviews:
An Interesting Account of the Events Leading Up To 9/11.......2007-09-09
The purpose of the 9-11 report is to "investigate the 'facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001'." In pursuing this objective, the 9-11 Commission sought to be "independent, impartial, thorough, and nonpartisan." The Commission states that its
purpose is not to assign individual blame, and indeed, it doesn't. It is a unique piece of literature, historical yet not far enough removed from the actual events to really call it history in the traditional sense. It's not written for entertainment, yet it is fascinating nonetheless: the report almost reads like a spy novel as it traces the movement of the 9-11 conspirators, where they traveled, how they slipped in and out of the country, and how close some of them got to being captured. It gives you insights on how our government does, and doesn't, work, and describes how the numerous government agencies interact and, more often than not, fail to interact. It seeks to find the reasons why the attack succeeded, blaming everyone and no one, it seems, in the process. The 9-11 report leaves no doubt that it was written by a bi-partisan commission that refuses to lay the blame on individuals but instead lays it on institutions and processes.
The first chapter describes what happened in the air that morning, and from there, the report discusses the rise of Bin-Laden and Al Qaeda, the rise of counterterrorism activities in the US (touching on several departments, including the CIA and FBI), and on to how the 9-11 commission believes the attacks were planned and carried out. It then covers the actual events of September 11, 2001, describing in some detail how the first-responders handled this crisis and some of the shortcomings they had to deal with. Finally, the book addresses the ensuing war in Afghanistan (briefly) and makes recommendations on global strategy and reorganization within the US Government, esp. in the intelligence community. Throughout the report, the commission shoots down a number of rumors that were popular during the writing of the book, such as members of the Saudi family leaving the country while all flights were grounded, and one of the terrorists (Mohamed Atta) meeting with an Iraqi diplomat in Prague.
What I found particularly disturbing in this book was how easy the 9-11 terrorists entered and exited the country, and how easy it was for them to find people to assist them in finding a place to live, worship, etc.. I was also amazed at how easily money flowed from Al Qaeda to the 9-11 conspirators, and even more amazed at how easily they could have been caught yet weren't.
One of the biggest assets within the 9-11 report is also its biggest drawback: the book has hundreds of footnotes, and while most of these simply identify a source (say, a book or a person interviewed), many provide additional information about the topic discussed in the text. Many of these latter types of footnotes, I felt, needed to be in the body of
the main text and not hidden in the back of the book.
Recommendation: Highly recommended if you have any interest at all in knowing what happened before, during, and after September 11, 2001.
911 commission report.......2007-08-16
As it is non fiction catagory it would be hard to comment though after reading the report I now would reclassify it as fictional account on how kerosene can weaken 200,000 tons of construction steel to the point that the buildings collapsed! Also totally missing is any explanation why WTC7 came down.
Or any explanation where are the engines in the Pentagon attack?
Don't judge a book by its cover.......2007-08-10
Unfortunately, I am not sure how else to describe the report other than... well... garbage. I hate to say it but there are too many holes and it does not hold up to scrutiny.
Although it had a good story to tell and made popular by the government and media, it is just that- a story that does not hold up to the facts. I was hoping that it would provide more insight into the events on 9/11 but it left me asking all kinds of questions especially about WTC7, evidence of thermite, omitted testimony of eyewitnesses, and the testimony discrepancies between Cheney and Mieta.
I am deeply disappointed that I wasted my money on this. I gave it 2 stars because it did a least grab my attention and provided some good references in the back.
Gripping.......2007-06-09
I'd better declare first that I'm not a conspiracy theorist (I favour cock-up theory any day) and I work in the airline business.
I also have a friend who works for United who lost colleagues that day.
Or maybe she's another part of the Neo-Con-Judo-Zionist conspiracy and she's lying to me. A tad unlikely methinks - she's a Buddhist from Taiwan.
50 tonnes of fuel + 70 tonnes of aircraft travelling at ca.450mph.
You don't need a degree in Engineering to work out what will happen:
From the first chapter reading the accounts of what happened to each individual flight and seeing the total confusion between ATC, the FAA, NORAD etc is frightening. They didn't know what to do, they didn't know what was happening. With transponders turned off, it was impossible to track those aircraft accurately. Personally I've flown enough jumpseat trips that it still fills me with dread to think what was happening up front.
Later chapters on Bin-Laden and the rise of Al-Qaeda and Muslim extremism (mainly due to their corrupt self-serving leaders) are well presented.
Richard A. Clark's efforts to thwart Al-Qaeada are also explained.
Buy the book, it's a good read. Though I still can't believe they didn't put an Index in it.
Sadly, to digress a little, the unjustified invasion of Iraq subsequently has been a complete disaster. Saddam ran a secular society - you could drink alcohol and socialise with women. He was the Arab Caligula, only interested in himself and his personal empire. But Saddam had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks. Nothing. So much goodwill towards the US has been lost due to Iraq and the Neo-Con (not my Taiwanese friend .-)) led invasion.
As for the Conspiracy theorists on this page, to be honest I'm quite shocked when I found this review page. I've honestly never read so many self-serving attempts to cling to straws in my life, like this "Loose-Change" stuff. It's an insult to those who died that day. And I'm not American!
Listen, do you really really think a government could pull off a stunt like this?
Have you ever been to the Middle East? Have you ever listened to the hatred there is towards the USA? Albeit very often from the same people who tell you next sentence they have a relative in New York and want to go and join them!
The seeds of 9-11 were sown years ago. Yes, of course there are inaccuracies (there always are in disaster reporting) but there is no conspiracy.
I know no conspiracy theorists in Air Traffic Control or the airline business. Get real - it happened.
And sadly many of us in Europe thought "no surprise it was US Domestic flights, US Airport security is a total farce".
[...]
Over and out
Pure whitewash - should be called 911 Omission report.......2007-05-22
Omits everything factual. Doesn't bother to mention, much less explain, what happened to the 47 box columns of steel from which the twin towers were constructed. Also no mention of building 7 falling on it's footprint at freefall speed, even though no airplane hit building 7.
The purpose of this report is to reinforce the blatant official fantasy, for the purpose of justifying problem / reaction / solution, and getting you to cave in and accept greater government control over you.
There was no effort made to check any facts. If you're seeking the truth about what happened on 9/11 you won't find it in this book. Instead you'll find lots of reasons to seek facts and you'll find the facts at [...]. You may also want to check out David Ray Griffin's books or Steven E. Jones.
When a lie is big enough and you tell it often enought the people may believe it and this is the purpose of the 911 Omission report.
Book Description
In this sequel to the best-selling One Tuesday Morning, to widow Jamie Bryan it is still September 12, 2001. What will move her from living in the past to living the life God has given her today?
Customer Reviews:
Beyond Tuesday Morning.......2007-06-15
Great. A must if you have read One Tuesday morning.
Great Christian fiction!.......2007-03-09
Karen Kingsbury did it again. Another fantastic story. Another, I can't put this book down until I finish it. I loved it! Great Christian fiction!
Guiltless Pleasure.......2006-12-15
By: Jeffrey W. Bennett author of the Christian Novel "Under the Lontar Palm".
What can I say, I love a great story that has a great ending. Okay, for a guy, this story provides great role models. Karen Kingsbury demonstrate the great things that can happen when men take the lead to keep Christ in the forefront of their families. We all can benefit from heroes and we never know where we will find them. I'd say they can be found inside the pages of Beyond Tuesday Morning within the characters of Clay, Eric and Jake.
Great Sequel, but the First Was Better.......2006-08-12
I fell in love with the characters and story of One Tuesday Morning and I was completely thrilled to find out that Karen Kingsbury was writing a sequel. I tried not to hype myself up about it to much because sequels are never as good as the originals, however I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Beyond Tuesday Morning was also a very good and touching story. Even though I have read One Tuesday Morning ummm...4? times now, I have read Beyond Tuesday Morning twice and I can't wait for a possible 3rd installment in the series!
Excellent sequel.......2006-01-15
After reading ONE TUESDAY MORNING, I was glad to see that Ms. Kingsley had finished the story with a sequel. She did a great job and I would highly recommend both books as Kingsley is one of the better Christian writers out there. I only had one question and it bothers me but not enough to give the book 4 stars. I find it very hard to believe that Clay, during his first tour of St. Paul's, wouldn't have mentioned to Jamie that his brother had been in the World Trade Center at the time of the attacks. It's a small thing but his silence doesn't seem believeable. Still, the story would have come to a grinding halt if he did, so there you go.
Book Description
While America held its breath in the days immediately following 9/11, a small but determined group of CIA agents covertly began to change history. This is the riveting first-person account of the treacherous top-secret mission inside Afghanistan to set the stage for the defeat of the Taliban and launch the war on terror.
As thrilling as any novel,
First In is a uniquely intimate look at a mission that began the U.S. retaliation against terrorism–and reclaimed the country of Afghanistan for its people.
Customer Reviews:
Good Inside Look.......2007-07-29
This is a great first hand account of what was going on after 9/11. While we were at home wondering what our government was doing, these guys were getting things done.
Disappointingly dull.......2007-06-19
This book is more a lesson in the stifling bureaucracy of the U.S. government -- even when engaged in one of the most important foreign operations in its history. Schroen's book is filled with operational minutiae that, while providing a detailed account of the CIA operation in Afghanistan after 9/11, is bled dry of any context.
I feel for Schroen and his team as time and again, their efforts are hampered by intra-agency turf wars, mistrust and miscommunication with the U.S. military, not to mention the substantial obstacles they had to overcome vis-a-vis their Northern Alliance hosts.
It comes across in Schroen's writing -- he's at the center of the operation, but is largely beholden to other forces, in Washington and in Afghanistan. And you only get a glimpse at his frustration, probably due to the diligence of the CIA editorial oversight. I can't help but think that I'm reading a highly sanitized and watered-down version of what Schroen *really* wanted to say. (Note that unlike Gary Berntsen's "Jawbreaker", this book was published with the CIA's full approval, with nary a redacted line.)
In the end you get the sense that the CIA team were little more than clerks or administrators, doling out the cash to keep Afghan allies, well allied, and making requests for travel, fuel, etc. That's too bad because clearly Schroen and his teammates deserve acknowledgment (and praise) for what they were able to accomplish on the ground, despite being hamstrung and their own operational limitations.
stellar account .......2007-06-02
This book represents a stellar account of the disconnect betwen the policymakers in Washington and those charged with the execution of U.S. foreign policy. Schroen's book also chronicles the insidious influence lobbyists representing foreign nations can have on defense or foreign policy. Pushing forward Pakistan's agenda cost lives of our true allies, those in the Northern Alliance who laid it all on the line to take the fight to the Taliban.
Best CIA book I've ever read.......2007-05-18
Mr. Schroen is the first author coming out of the CIA that I've ever read that has a shred of humility. It was refreshing to read his perspective and look into his amazing paradigm without all the macho horse-crap. This was a very interesting topic to me, and I really enjoyed this author's telling of it. I am into the details and there were a lot of them in this book. It's not a thriller-spy story, but it is a great read in my opinion.
Tip of the Spear.......2006-07-07
Gary Schroen was less that 3 months away from retirement from the CIA on 9/11. He'd had a successful career there in "Operations", the guys who do the actual spying (as opposed to "Analysis", the guys who try and figure out what everything means), mostly dealing with the Middle East, and had wound up a Deputy Division head. For 2 years in the early 90s he was the Station Chief in Kabul, Afghanistan, and later in the decade he'd flown into the Northern Alliance's territory and met Ahmed Shah Masoud, the charismatic leader of that group who was assassinated just before 9/11. He had extensive contacts with various friendly figures in Afghan politics, speaks at least one of the local languages, and of course has lots of experience. As a result, 15 days after 9/11, Schroen was flown into the Northern Alliance's Panshir Valley on a CIA helicopter along with a half dozen other CIA guys, various laptops, satellite phones, and radios, a crate of guns, and $3 million in cash. His orders were to find and kill Osama bin Laden, and topple the Taliban government. This book is his account of the mission, how it went, and the adventures they had along the way.
Schroen was sent into Afghanistan at a time when the army didn't consider it safe to deploy troops (apparently now, if the army can't medivac wounded they won't operate in an area, and since there were no friendly airbases close enough, they were skittish about the idea of committing troops or flying combat missions) so Schroen and his friends were on their own for a considerable time period (about a month). They made friends with the locals (some of whom Schroen already knew) spread around money to buy weapons and supplies, and lobbied for airstrikes, Special Forces teams, and generally support while they watched the Northern Alliance fight the Taliban. As time passed, other CIA teams and Special Forces Operators did appear. At one point in the story, several of the CIA guys participate in a cavalry charge (I keep reading books that recount the "last" cavalry charge in history: believe it or not, this one worked) and there are various other interesting anecdotes. The author, 59 at the time he was inserted into Afghanistan, had terrible intestinal troubles that were never entirely resolved, and one of the other guys had gas (apparently from the altitude). While they didn't get Osama (never even got close, really...they landed on the other side of the country) they were instrumental in tipping the war against the Taliban.
This is an interesting, intelligent book. The accounts of the politics in Washington and the Pentagon are of course frustratingly vague, but of course the author was in Afghanistan when the debates were taking place, so he can only recount what he was hearing over the radio or phone. But for an account of the War on Terror from someone who was on the front lines, this book is just about as good as it gets.
Average customer rating:
- Surprising Piece of Work.....
- Still Sold at Every Gun Show in America...
- Propaganda Pure And Simple
- Far Thinking Novel
- The Turner Diaries
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The Turner Diaries: A Novel
Andrew MacDonald
Manufacturer: Barricade Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1569800863 |
Book Description
At 9:02 am on Wednesday April 19, 1995, two tons of explosives ripped apart the federal office building in Oklahoma City and the psyche of America. The worst case of domestic terrorism in our history, this explosion killed 169 men, women, and children. The author of this book has written, If [this book] had been available to the general public . . . the Oklahoma bombing would not have come as such a surprise. It has been considered by the Justice Department and other government agencies as the bible of right-wing militia groups, and the FBI believes it provided the blueprint for the Oklahoma City bombing. Barricade Books has published it so America can better understand the cause of racism and extremism.
Customer Reviews:
Surprising Piece of Work............2007-09-13
While this book is far from a literary classic, it is a rather fascinating read. I don't profess to be an extremist, but some of the things McDonald describes about the fall of our society ring eerily true.
Still Sold at Every Gun Show in America..........2007-09-07
THE TURNER DIARIES is disgusting Neo-Nazi pornography. Many have commented on Pierce's (lack of) writing ability, but it is the content of this book that would be grossly revolting to any human being with basic decency. Pierce's "protagonist" is a gun nut who rants about government "tyranny" and the loss of personal freedom and then goes about helping to create one of the most brutal, violent, racist and oppressive societies imaginable, slaughtering millions upon millions across the globe in the process. The hypocrisy is unbelievable, but what makes it more unbearable is the smug, self-righteous tone Pierce's "protagonist" takes throughout the book as he personally murders innocent men, women and children for the "Organization." Hitler is described in these pages as "the Great One" and his Final Solution is fully embraced. People are murdered in cold blood not only because they are non-White, but simply for disagreeing with the "Great Revolution"'s racist doctrines.
The book has no redeeming value whatsoever, but it is interesting for the following reasons: 1) It inspired Timothy McVeigh to bomb the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City; 2) It is still sold at EVERY gun show in America alongside Nazi paraphernalia; and 3)Many of the basic tenets espoused by Earl Turner are being aggressively advocated for today by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Take a look at the NRA's "Freedom in Peril" pamphlet, which was leaked on the Internet in early 2007, and you will see many of the themes of THE TURNER DIARIES repeated in a more "politically correct" dialect. Hyperbolic warnings of a "marching axis of adversaries far darker and more dangerous than gun owners have ever known," racist depictions of "illegal alien gangs" hovering menacingly over white America (and their women), vicious attacks on the country's free press, and even a crude drawing of a "liberated" American woman complete with hairy legs.
One of the Organization's key goals in THE TURNER DIARIES was to create chaos in urban areas and convince Americans that the government could no longer protect them. Lacking confidence in the government, they would then turn to the Organization for protection, out of simple fear. The NRA is following that playbook today, implementing policies at the federal and state level that: a) create massive loopholes in our gun laws and ensure the flow of illegally trafficked guns in our nation's cities; b) break down the rule of law by turning everyday Americans into would-be Earl Turners that can fire away on their fellow citizens with impunity (Shoot First statutes); and c) cripple law enforcement by denying them access to key information and resources (i.e., the Tiahrt amendments and a miniscule ATF budget).
In that sense, THE TURNER DIARIES (published just before the NRA's infamous "Cincinnatti Revolution") can be seen as an early landmark in an evolving right-wing response to the civil rights movement and "Peace Era" of the 1960s that continues to this day.
Don't believe me? Visit the next gun show in your area.
Propaganda Pure And Simple.......2007-08-12
Born in 1933, William Luther Pierce earned degrees in physics and worked for a time at Los Alamos; he was also an early associate of The American Nazi Party, which later became known as the National Socialist White People's Party. Following various internal conflicts, Pierce left the NSWPP to assume control of the like-minded National Youth Alliance, which in turn came to be known as the National Alliance. All these organizations were both fascist and racist in ideology. Pierce died in 2002.
In 1978, and using the pseudonym Andrew MacDonald, Pierce published the book THE TURNER DIARIES. Although it circulated through numerous racist organizations, and although it inspired the formation of at least one terrorist group in the 1980s, the book was not well known until 1995, when Timothy McViegh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people and injuring more than 800. Although McVeigh seemed to be primarily motivated by the federal fiascos at Ruby Ridge and Waco, he was also a great fan of THE TURNER DIARIES; indeed, photocopied pages of the novel were found in his possession at the time of his arrest. While THE TURNER DIARIES did not offer a "blue print" for the bombing per se, many consider that it contributed to McViegh's mindset and motivations, and the book became famous as a result.
THE TURNER DIARIES is told in the form of an extended flashback. It is 2099, and all non-white races have been purged from the earth; the diary itself tells how this purge occurred. The story begins with the government and media in the hands of Jews and liberals who have passed "The Cohen Act," a law that strips civilians of their right to bear arms. In response to this, Turner and other like-minded people launch a guerrilla war against the government. Centered in Los Angeles, they execute all Jews, blacks, people of color, and "race traitors;" in time they take possession of a nuclear weapons site and provoke a nuclear war that has the effect of killing all non-whites and leaving their own group to create an all-white fascist state where every one lives happily ever after.
In terms of literary merit, the book is very simplistic, written for people who operate at a fifth or sixth grade reading level. There are no hard words, no complex plots, and the book tends to be inconsistent in terms of internal logic. It is also very, very badly edited, with one misspelling and typographical error after another. But all of this is really a little beside the point. Simply put, the book is a vicious, paranoid, anti-American, pro-fascist, horrendously racist piece of trash. It is a highly obvious bit of propaganda that exists purely in order to recruit the uneducated into the author's own anti-American, pro-fascist, ultra-racist mindset.
Sociologists and others who wish to obtain insight into the ravings of extremist groups will find THE TURNER DIARIES a good place to begin--but if you read the book from such motives, I strongly recommend that you find a way to do so without actually buying a copy, lest you actually fund the organizations that subscribe to its philosophy. As for casual readers--no, I do not recommend it. THE TURNER DIARIES is a waste of paper that could be used to print something else--and almost anything else would be better.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Far Thinking Novel.......2007-08-11
I had the privilege of knowing the author, Dr. William L. Pierce. He was a brilliant physicist and teacher. He thought of societal problems in the same way that he thought of physics problems. He would observe trends and counter forces in society and predict the future based on his observations. Like using a telescope to see into the future, Dr. Pierce was very far-thinking.
The author saw societal disasters looming for the White race similar to a scientist observing an asteroid heading for planet Earth. He took it upon himself to warn the White race of the impending danger. It is not something that he wanted to do. It was something that he had to do. That was his mission in life. The book "The Turner Diaries" was one vehicle that he used to accomplish his mission.
Another tool that he used was the creation of his organization, The National Alliance. Every week he would do a very deep thinking internet broadcast that is still available in free archives on the internet. Even though he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he continued with his mission of making videos and internet programs right up to the end in the year 2001.
The Turner Diaries.......2007-03-30
I believe this book has been given an undeserved bad wrap. There are some parts that you must park your brain and realize that it is only a book, but it also has many intriguing situations. Aside from some out-of-the-blue racism, the book does have content to it. It also shows what could possibly happen in our country. Liberals are always trying to take our 2nd ammendment right away from us. In fact, a bill was just circulated for that exact reason.
The main reason the Organization even revolts is because the goverment took away all legal gun ownership. There are just too many misrepresentations of this book, and it kind of disturbs me. Yeah, it gets pretty hateful, but there are too many unfair reviews on this book saying that it's all racial. The point of it is to overthrow our ridiculous goverment that begins taking rights of all Americans away.
Read it for yourself and make your own opinion on it. I thought it wasn't the greatest literary work, but none-the-less, it was still very intriguing.
Book Description
During the mid-1950s the United States Air Force was given its most powerful single-seat, two-engine fighter to date. The Voodoo would be deployed before the end of that decade in the tactical nuclear bomber and tactical reconnaissance roles world-wide, and in homeland defense with the two-seat, all-weather variant. In December 1957 it took the World Air Speed Record to Mach 1.6 - over one and a half times faster than the sound barrier.
This book looks at the evolution of the original design and its introduction into service. Chapters cover operations in Korea, Vietnam, the Cuban Crisis and in Europe during the Cold War years. Many first-hand accounts from pilots are included and the author's own experiences with the aircraft are given with fascinating insight.
The Voodoo was an elegant, mean-looking fighting machine that epitomized fast flying in the fifties and sixties. It continues to be a revered airplane.
Customer Reviews:
Great book on a great airplane!.......2007-10-02
It is fortunate that Nigel Walpole overcame his initial reluctance to write Voodoo Warriors because he thought himself unqualified, for he has written a great story about a fascinating airplane.
This is not a book about an airplane in the sense of a technical treatise like Aerofax or Crowood would do. But it tells the story of the F-101 beautifully, and with great detail, through the experiences of its pilots, one of whom is the author himself.
The story moves around the world, going to the various operational areas where the F-101 was based. I got a greater knowledge of the role Voodoo nuclear armed fighters would have played in the event of a war in Europe than I ever had before. Their mission would have been most probably a "one-way ticket to hell", and the bravery of their pilots is not difficult to appreciate.
Less space is devoted to the F-101B two-seat interceptor, which is the version that I saw here in the US at various times. Properly, the greater part of the book deals with the photo reconnaissance versions and operations in Southeast Asia, where the Voodoo gained its greatest fame, but at a great cost in good pilot's lives.
The F-101 has been a lesser known "Century" series US fighter, somewhat overshadowed by the F-100, F-104, F-105, and perhaps less so by the F-106. After reading this book, one gets a different perspective on this very interesting aircraft, it really is the "One-O-Wonder"!
I'm looking forward to reading more by Nigel Walpole.
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- The Things They Carried
- The Tiger's Way: A U.S. Private's Best Chance for Survival
- Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised
- Tim O'Brien: A Critical Companion (Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers)
- Too Big for Diapers (Too Big Board Books)
- U.S. Grant: The Making of a General, 1861-1863 (The American Crisis Series)
- Under Fire
- Under Two Flags: The American Navy in the Civil War (Bluejacket Books)
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