Customer Reviews:
A wonderful look at leadership and at combat.......2007-08-10
Woodward had done a masterful job, with his writing assistant, of describing the issues of command, the concern about sending others into combat where they may lose their life, the need to keep in mind what is central about a mission, and so many other thoughts about what leadership means. This book is a study of BOTH (1) management of a large task (be it war, be it a large company or nonprofit, be it of government) when dealing with an adversary compelled to fight you (be it the other side in a war, be it a company fighting you for market share, be it a Democrat or Republican that believes as you do not), and (2) of management of a military war where weapons are wielded by you and weapons are wielded or threatened against you. The real-life drama of uncertainty of events, of certainty of purpose, and of just what went on in this saga is of interest to very many readers. I have British friends, I have Argentian friends, and no matter which side you believe is right (both have their points) this is a good book about a mission one is given and how one needs to carry it out, and the thoughts and second-thoughts that must go through any leader's mind.
Read this as a book about leadership, and you will do fine. Read this as a book about war, and you will also do fine. Read this as a book about both, and you'll get even more out of it.
One Hundred Days: The Memoires of the Falklands Battle Group..........2007-03-10
The book was received in excellent condition. The story is well written and very interesting. Would recommend it highly.
One Hundred Days -- And Still a Damn Near Run Thing.......2007-02-17
As Wellington famously said of the Hundred Days Campaign culminating in the Battle of Waterloo, the Falklands Campaign was a also damn near run thing, according to the Battle Group Commander, Adm Sandy Woodward, in this excellent book. Writing in what can best be called a distinctly British style, Woodward takes the reader into the bridge of the Hermes, his command ship for the Falklands expedition. What we get is a brutally honest, technically detailed, and gripping narrative not only into how the British pulled off a decisive victory, but also the self-doubts and mentally taxing minutia of a Commander sending troops and sailors into harm's way. This book is especially valuable for its detailed description of how navies fight. This is no small task. For example, the reader learns how:
1. submarines track ships and the risks they run to track them and shoot them. The example of the sinking of the General Belgrano is first rate
2. how a routine matter such as cross-decking troops between ships bedevils commanders and can end in tragedy
3. ship's tactics for defending themselves against aircraft (this is particularly helpful. In the US military, we have become so accustomed to air and sea superiority that those who operate on the ground take it for granted. It's not! It must be gained and earned - if need be, the hard way.)
4. The inevitable tension that will arise between sea, air, and land commanders during the prosecution of an amphibious campaign. We get Woodward's side here, but he is brutally honest on when he was right and when he was wrong.
5. The role of destroyers, frigates, aircraft carriers, amphibs, and supply ships, and the risks they ran -- and still do -- to do their jobs.
This is one of the only books I know of that actually explains how modern navies fight, and it is thus indispensable to navy officers and to those who seek to learn more on control of the seas.
Exceptional war memoir!.......2005-07-23
This is an absolutely first-rate memoir by the man who led the British fleet to victory in the Falkland Islands War. Only 50 years-old when he was chosen to lead the battle group to recapture the islands in 1982 (hard to believe this gentleman is now 73!), Admiral Sir John F. "Sandy" Woodward was courageous and competent commander. That being the case, he is also refreshingly honest and humble as he tells his remarkable story.
As the Admiral mentions in the epilogue, many will always regard the Falklands as having been "a pushover war - the mighty Brits crushing the ridiculous Args" (349). But as this book makes clear, it was anything but a cakewalk. The Argentinian sailors and pilots were brave and worthy oponents. The British fleet took heavy casualties: 6 ships sunk (2 destroyers, 2 frigates, 1 amphibious warfare vessel and the transport vessel Atlantic Conveyor with its precious cargo of 10 Wessex and 4 Chinook helicopters). Another 10 ships were badly damaged. Many of these were not sunk only because the Argentinian bombs reguarly failed to detonate. The British, of course, won decisively though, thanks to the professionalism and courage of the British forces. But it was an intense and bloody six weeks.
The campaign was also a turning point in the history of naval warfare. Although anti-ship missiles were first used to sink Syrian missile boats by the Israelis back in 1973, the destruction of HMS Sheffield by the French Exocet missiles fired from Super-Etendard fighter-bombers grabbed the attention of the world's militaries. Newsweek's subsequent cover-story on the incident read "Falklands Fallout: Are Big Ships Doomed?" Many wondered if large warships had been rendered obsolete by the effectiveness of anti-ship missiles. Indeed, the two British aircraft carriers in the South Atlantic were very vulnerable. If even one of them had been put out of commission by an Exocet, it is unlikely the Falklands could have been recaptured. It is very interesting to read about how the British struggled with some of their new high-tech weaponry such as the Sea Dart. It took some failed attempts in battle before the bugs got worked out and they got comfortable with the new system.
Admiral Woodward is an excellent writer. His descriptions of the battles are riveting, especially the moments of calamity such as when HMS Sheffield was crippled by Exocets. You really get a sense of the fear, anxiety and adrenaline. It's as exciting as any Tom Clancy novel without a doubt.
Woodward/Courage 101.......2004-07-21
Into the finest traditions of The Royal Navy ( and any other righteous, but self-anylizing, self-depricating, hero-by-fire war-tested veteran), we are allowed an inside view into a theater-of-war that we, who have never paid the price, secretley covet. Gallentry, selflessness, pride of country, pride of duty, discipline, all seem to be the lost arts of the past, but Woodward and others in this telling instruct us that, to this day,our young men and women rise to the occasion, as in the days of old. What is that extraordinary part of us that is able to trandsend all our own limitations and push beyond to victory, over our enemy and over ourselves? This book may help you to answer that question!
Book Description
This definitive history of one of the fiercest battles of World War II describes the siege of Budapest in unprecedented detail. Both Stalin and Hitler demanded victory at all costs, and the cost was extreme: 80,000 Soviet troops, 38,000 German and Hungarian soldiers, and 38,000 Hungarian civilians perished. The book provides the first full account of this shocking battle.
“As a military history [The Siege of Budapest] is unrivaled. . . . Magisterial.”—John Lukacs, New York Review of Books
“An exceedingly dramatic book, filled with fascinating stories, some of them even humorous, and with heart-rending accounts of suffering, limitless cruelty, and amazing decency.”—István Deák, New Republic
"Ungváry has written a dramatic, gripping history of this siege, filling a gap in WWII history."—Choice
Customer Reviews:
Beautifully written history.......2007-06-25
I enjoyed this book cover to cover. Refreshingly free of of the snotty professorial moral outrage present in so many English WW2 histories. Not that the author doesn't convey the horror wrought by both Germans and Russians on the Hungarians- he does so in a calm step by step description of this gigantic siege. I have but two nits to pick out- in this book the siege of Stalingrad is said to have lasted 76 days vs. 108 days for the siege of Budapaest but in real life by any measure the siege of Stalingrad lasted 5+ months or around 150 days. I think the author has confused Operation Saturn (which started in late November 1942) with the whole Stalingrad siege (which started in late August 1942). Lastly- in one section the author states that the execution of Jews down by the Danube River was the most overt and largest mass atrocity in Europe since the early stages of Barbarossa but I think Ukranians, Byelorussians, Yugoslavs and even Czechs would beg to differ on that point. All in all though this is an engrossing and beautifully researched piece of history- far superior to recent works about Berlin and Stalingrad...
Amazing horror.......2007-05-09
When I first started reading this book I was put off to some extent by the dry recitation of the villages , then cities and finally streets that fell before the Soviet onslaught. I kept thinking that better, and more regular, maps and street plans would help me "watch" the events taking place. The narative would have benefited tremendously from an introductory description of the city and its key sites - at no stage did I become "acquainted" with Budapest. Accompanying this "dryness" was a description of warfare that just numbs you with the agony of it all (it reminded me in some ways of the stark realism of "Blackhawk Down" - bullets and explosions and bits of flesh flying all over the place)... And then came the Breakout... I was previously unaware of how dramatic the events around Budapest in 1944-45 really were; it's strange how little is actually reported or written! The futility and sheer horror, of lives wasted and blind ideologies followed, ultimately rises to the surface... and leaves you filled with amazement and horror.
Budapest.......2007-03-14
The book pays little regard to the wider context of the events it deals with, the absolute idiocy of the German command to dispatch a large share of its remaining resources to the battle for Budapest while the Soviets were ready to take Berlin. The maps are illegible. There is no map showing the wider theater of operations. Some of the horrors are described well. Overall an uneven history.
First Rate.......2006-10-10
This is a first rate monograph. It is part of the new work being done on WWII since the opening of the Soviet & East European archives, which now bely the myth that the Battle of the Bulge was Germany's last gasp. This book discusses a serious German offensive, and serious battle, that took place in 1945. Interesting that the offensive had some degree of success before being overwhelmed. Even in its death throes the German Army could pack a real punch. I really like the fact that we are finally in an era where books can be written that give an accurate view of WWII in Europe- giving the War in the east its long deprived attention.
Important WWII documentation.......2006-07-08
The battle for and siege of Budapest has not received the attention it deserves and this deficit was made up by Ungvary. Inasmuch as I participated in the early stages of the battle (Panzer Grenadier Division Feldherrnhalle) up until December, 22 1944 the book was of great personal interest. Although I had the good fortune not to be caught up in that cauldron, after complete encirclement, which led to the annihilation of our division, I found Ungvary's descriptions to have been accurate, with some minor mistakes. For instance: Table 3 lists the Felherrnhalle in the southern theater of operations while we were in the North around Hatvan as depicted in the map.The battle for Vienna lasted only a little over a week, rather than 31 days, because Hitler's orders were disobeyed and the major portions of the army were withdrawn to spare the city Budapest's fate.
That the lack of Soviet infantry at the beginning of the offensive delayed the taking of Budapest was new information. This is a fact our war planners should take cognicanze of. Tanks and planes alone don't win wars. The behavior of the Soviet troops was also depicted correctly as experienced personally during their stay in Vienna and other parts of Austria. All in all a very worthwhile contribution to the history of WWII.
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One Hundred Days of Silence: America and the Rwanda Genocide
Jared A. Cohen
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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Children of Jihad: A Young American's Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East
ASIN: 0742552373 |
Book Description
In the spring of 1994, eight-hundred thousand Rwandan Tutsis and Moderate Hutus were killed in a horrific genocide. One Hundred Days of Silence is a scathing look at the challenges of humanitarian intervention, the history of U.S. policy toward the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and the role of genocide in the larger context of strategic studies. It looks at the principal questions of what the U.S. knew, and why it didn't intervene, and how non-intervention was justified within the American bureaucracy.
Book Description
The New York Times best-selling author of The Bookseller of Kabul paints a stunning and intimate portrait of Baghdad under siege
From January until April 2003-for one hundred and one days-Asne Seierstad worked as a reporter in Bagdad for Scandinavian, German, and Dutch media. Through her articles and live television coverage she reported on the events in Iraq before, during, and after the attacks by the American and British forces.
But Seierstad was after a story far less obvious than the military invasion. From the moment she arrived in Baghdad Seierstad was determined to understand the modern secrets of an ancient place and to find out how the Iraqi people really live.
In A Hundred and One Days, she introduces us to daily life under the constant threat of attack-first from the Iraqi government and later from American bombs. Moving from the deafening silence of life under Hussein to the explosions that destroyed the power supply, the water supply, and security, Seierstad sets out to discover: What happens to people when the dam bursts? What do they choose to say when they can suddenly say what they like? What do they miss most when their world changes overnight?
Displaying the novelist's eye and lyrical storytelling that have won her awards around the world, Seierstad here brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters to tell the stories we never see on the evening news. The only woman in the world to cover both the fall of Kabul in 2001 and the bombings of Baghdad in 2003, Asne Seierstad has redefined war reporting with her mesmerizing book.
Customer Reviews:
Incredible.......2007-04-18
The author's honesty and sincerety shine through this tale of the fall of Baghdad. Her portraits of the Iraqi people, both before and after the war, really made them real to me.
Exceptional writing.......2007-03-21
Asne Seierstad has managed to combine empathy, compassion, emotional attachment to the city and people of Baghdad with phenomenal objective reporting. Refreshing to read about the war from a non-US perspective. Highly recommended.
What Went On In Iraq?.......2007-01-17
Asne Seierstad is a brave woman. In this book, she recounts her one hundred and one days in Iraq. The duration spans from before the American invasion/liberation, to a few days after the US "won" the war. Pre, during, and post.
Each of the three periods saw its share of hurdles, as Seierstad recalls with journalistic detail (but novelistic prose). Before the war, the trouble was finding a story at all. She was, at all times, to be accompanied by an interpreter who often served to censor who she could approach and what she could say while also intimidating the interviewee to bite their tongue. In a country where everyone says they love Saddam using the exact same slogans, how can one get a story?!
It is obvious the pitfalls of being smack-dab in the center of Baghdad during an American invasion. Seierstadt recounts her torn feelings about staying and leaving. On the one hand, an obligation to inform. On the other, an instinct towards self-preservation.
While she only stayed a few days into the aftermath of the US "victory," the trouble now was getting the story right. Some praised the US; some were angry at them. Most hated Saddam after all; a few extolled him. Instead of not having a story, the problem now was that everyone - with their new found freedom - could not wait to talk.
Seierstad recounts all of this in what feels somewhere between a personal interest story and a suspense novel. In between her recollection, she interfuses the pieces she wrote as a newspaper reporter. As she says many times throughout the book, her primary aim was to get at the human story behind the geopolitics. She does a good job of it.
This book was of particular interest to me because Seierstad gives an opportunity to get a (seemingly) unbiased glimpse of how Iraq really was and how people really felt about Saddam and the US (before and after the war). Whether you agree or disagree with the war, you will see things you haven't seen before - what day to day life was like in pre-war Iraq. And hopefully, it will get us all thinking about Iraq's future.
A glimpse of war.......2006-12-22
And I say a glimpse, because Asne is not allowed "before" the war to interview people or mingle much. She must go do tourist type activities and have a minder at all times.
This was a great book, not as great as Bookseller in Kabul, but still readable and is eye opening.
Read the back carefully .......2006-10-06
In a rush I read the great reviews on the back of the book and thus decided to start reading this book but I soon realized the great reviews are not justified by this book. I took another look at the back and saw that the reviews are ment for the author's "The Bookseller of Kabul". If I had not been misled she might have gotten another star from me.
Book Description
It is a situation we all fear and none of us can imagine: a life-threatening diagnosis. But what if the person receiving the diagnosis--young, physically fit, poised for a bright future--is himself a doctor?
At thirty-one David biro has just completed his residency and joined his father's successful dermatology practice. Struck with a rare blood disease that eventually necessitates a bone marrow transplant, Biro relates with honesty and courage the story of his most transforming journey. He is forthright about the advantages that his status as a physician may have afforded him; and yet no such advantage can protect him from the anxiety and doubt brought on by his debilitating therapies. The pressures that Biro's wild "one hundred days" brings to bear on his heretofore well-established identity as a caregiver are enormous--as is the power of this riveting story of survival.
Customer Reviews:
Enthralling, With A Surprise Ending.......2004-02-08
David did an exceptional job detailing every step of his BMT (bone marrow transplant). His courage was inspiring, and the tremendous support from his family was touching. Personally, I think his mother should receive an award for her devotion.
I'm sure this book will serve as a useful resource, not only for individuals preparing for BMT, but anyone facing a life-threatening blood disorder. David's journey preparing his body for his sister's bone marrow, and his long recovery period was engrossing, thanks to David's skills in projecting his unique literary voice. He made all the medical terminology along with his treatments easy to follow.
The ending surprised me -- that's all I'll say about that. I hope David remains healthy. I'm curious to know what happened to the novel he was working on.
Horribly interesting.......2003-08-16
This well-written book describes a doctor's experience within a system in which he had previously flourished. He was faced with an impossible decision between conservative and agressive treatment for a rare disease, and was essentially forced to make a leap of faith. It calls into question the notion of informed consent -- often there is no definitive informtion to aid the patient into making the right decision.
suspenseful page-turner.......2002-09-03
Biro is a writer and a dermatologist (not sure which order he'd put those in himself), and he's written a gripping account of surviving a life threatening disease. From the earliest stages, through the difficult decision to proceed with a bone marrow transplant, and the agonizing months of treatment and recovery that follow, he takes the reader by the hand through an emotionally and physically harrowing ordeal. Through it all, his life hangs in the balance, and he's written his story so well that you have to keep reminding yourself that he's had to survive the experience to write the book you're reading.
This is not to say that you don't step back now and then and realize that you're not reading the story of a typical patient. Biro clearly has all sorts of advantages by being a doctor, with numerous personal connections in medicine, including a father who is a doctor. Biro gets privileged treatment all along the way, including the advice of two specialists whom he's actually able to get together in the same room to discuss his case from their differing points of view.
In retrospect, you also realize that Biro has glossed over a remarkable stroke of good fortune -- his younger sister's being a perfect match as a bone marrow donor. While he praises his family for their tireless support at his bedside throughout his time as a patient, you feel that he also takes a great deal of this attentiveness for granted, especially the very painful procedure that his sister undergoes to be his lifesaver.
But in spite of these misgivings, a reader is likely to feel thoroughly absorbed by Biro's story. He does, after all, have to endure weeks of physical pain and discomfort, all the while knowing that he might not survive at all. It's OK for him to be more self-centered than maybe we'd prefer.
This is an excellent book for anyone in the healthcare professions, as it depicts graphically the experience of being a patient and having to endure treatment that is as life threatening as the disease being treated. As a companion to this book, I'd recommend the play "Wit," about a dying cancer patient, by Margaret Edson, also made into an HBO film by Mike Nichols, starring Emma Thompson.
All PNH patients should read this.......2000-08-13
I have PNH, and was stunned to find a book about my rare disease. This book does not go into great detail of living with PNH on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. Dr. Biro was fortunate enough to have a perfect match for his Bone Marrow Transplant. This book tells of his story through the BMT process, which I think is good for any one to read if they may have to have a BMT. It really explained a lot to me. Any one with PNH, would benenfit from reading his book. And it helps all of us with PNH to know there is a chance of a successful ending to PNH.
Couldn't put it down.......2000-07-24
I read this book upon recommendation of a friend who knows the Biro family. I'm a health educator, so the chronicling of medical events is something I enjoy reading about, and this was not disappointing in that regard. I already knew some general information about BMT and how grueling it is, but David's narrative really filled in all the blanks. His decision-making process, the treatment ordeal itself, his illness's effect on his family -- it was all fascinating. Even though I knew he survived, I couldn't wait to read what happened next. This book made me care very much about what happened to David. I'd love to see an article on him and how he is doing now -- any aftereffects he may have suffered.
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100 Days: An Anthology
Manufacturer: Barque Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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ASIN: 1903488311 |
Book Description
In 100 Days, over ninety writers and artists respond to the first baleful days of the Bush administration with critical eloquence.
Ranging between experiment and directive, rage and hilarity, it includes poetry, prose, satires, articles, photographs, drawings, cartoons
As a response by an international community of artists to a particular political event, this book is unique and important.
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One Hundred One Days in the Epistles With Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers ,
James R. Adair , and
Harry Verploegh
Manufacturer: Victor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Chambers, Oswald
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ASIN: 1564762920 |
Books:
- One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah's Book Club)
- Phoenix: The Lonely Empress: Elizabeth of Austria
- Reincarnation: The Missing Link in Christianity
- Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome (Novels of Ancient Rome)
- Sensationalizing the Jewish Question: Anti-semitic Trials and the Press in the Early German Empire (Studies in Central European Histories, V. 39) (Studies in Central European Histories, V. 39)
- Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewry: From the Golden Age of Spain to Modern Times
- Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors
- Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body
- Sons of the Conquerors: The Rise of the Turkic World
- Terrorism: Critical Concepts in Political Science
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The Battle for the Falklands
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