Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy(3rd Edition)

Book Description

Whether from satellites or spies, weapon caches or phone records, intelligence is valuable to governments for the information and power it affords policy makers. With the constant need for background, context, and warning as well as an assessment of risks, benefits, and likely outcomes, the intelligence community plays a pivotal role in policy formation. As an intelligence veteran of 30 years, having worked both inside and outside of government, Mark M. Lowenthal details how the intelligence community's history, structure, processes, and functions affect policy decisions in consequential ways. He expertly shows how the intelligence process serves a continually changing agenda given post-9/11 needs and concerns. Moreover, he analyzes how the war on terrorism impacts collection, analysis, and counterintelligence, as well as ethical and moral standards.

Given all of the hearings, briefings, and reports focused on the reorganization and reform of the intelligence community, the third edition of Intelligence represents a major revision. Lowenthal has updated each and every chapter with new material and analysis, including:

the strategies, influence, and goals of the congressional Joint Inquiry and 9/11 Commission and their recommendations for restructuring the intelligence community
assessment of the new office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the political pressures that led to its creation
the bureaucratic maneuvering and power struggles that led to passage of the National Intelligence Security Reform Act of 2004
the issues surrounding the claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and the subsequent "WMD commissions" appointed by the U.S., Britain, and Australia to investigate this massive intelligence failure
more integration and comparative analysis of the similarities and differences of intelligence services in Britain, China, France, Israel, and Russia
a new list of acronyms for handy reference

Customer Reviews:

Good IC primer for the layman.......2007-03-10

This is as good a primer on the US intelligence community as you're likely to come across in open literature. Mr. Lowenthal is well qualified to provide insights into the IC, though I'd have to caveat it by saying his CIA-centric view often shows up in the text. As someone who sees things from the DoD perspective, I'll agreeably disagree on some of his observations regarding roles and missions. The 3rd edition is good with most of the recent changes in the IC, though some even more recent changes have not been reflected in the book.

Excellent and comprehensive introduction to intelligence and the US Intelligence Community.......2007-02-26

Dr. Lowenthal has done an excellent job of introducing the reader to the field of intelligence in general (what it is, what it isn't), and to the United States' Intelligence Community in particular. He devotes a few chapters to the broad topic of intelligence and its history, the current makeup and structure of the Intelligence Community (IC) in the United States, and future iterations and problems for the IC (particularly in the United States), then transitions into an in-depth discussion of the various aspects of intelligence, such as collection disciplines, analysis, and policy implications. I'd strongly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in the field of intelligence, from a novice to a seasoned analyst.

Intel.......2007-01-10

Good book well written and researched. It is technical and can be a difficult book to read.

Good Introduction Book.......2006-06-12

Mark Lowenthal's book on intelligence is a great starting point for anyone looking to get aquainted with intelligence. It covers all aspects and will give the layman a new and better understanding of both the polictics and the process behind intelligence. The only reason I'm giving this game 4/5 is because in places the book becomes almost too rudimentary which I guess is expected of an introductory book. In short the book is organized like a series of lectures on the topic of intelligence, informative reading, midly entertaining, but over all a great book.

Better than I imagined.......2005-07-07

This was the first time I have ever bought books online and I am quite impressed with the quickness that the books came and also the super shape in which the books were in.

Inside CIA's Private World: Declassified Articles from the Agency`s Internal Journal, 1955-1992

Average customer rating:

"Academic"
Internal Journals Declassified
No secrets, but a little window into how the agency operates
A Fascinating Peek into the CIA's World
"Best of the Best" from CIA Insider Think Pieces

Inside CIA's Private World: Declassified Articles from the Agency`s Internal Journal, 1955-1992

Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Espionage | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Federal Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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

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

ASIN: 0300072643

Amazon.com

In 32 essays originally written for the Central Intelligence Agency's internal journal, Studies in Intelligence, authors, most of whom are CIA agents, talk shop. These recently declassified articles, written between 1955 and 1992, provide an offbeat internal history of CIA operations. Some delve into arcane areas of tradecraft, and could be considered essential reading for historians as well as spy buffs: CIA operatives detail secret operations, offer practical how-to advice, and critique themselves and their work.

Book Description

This engrossing book presents the most interesting articles from Studies in Intelligence-a previously classified in-house Central Intelligence Agency journal that was for CIA eyes only-and provides insights into CIA strategies and into events in which the organization was involved.

Customer Reviews:

"Academic".......2007-03-31

The book is too "academic" for the average reader. It feels like I am reading college research papers. Obviously, these articles are for academic purposes, but I was expecting more field-related stuff like front-line espionage stuff. Maybe I watched too much 007, but this was too slow of a read for me.

Internal Journals Declassified.......2004-02-08

A fascinating piece of history. It's not that we read important secrets, or even that the topics of these journal articles are current and relevant, but from a historical perspective, the insights and conclusions are a fun window into the CIA's world over the years.

No secrets, but a little window into how the agency operates.......2002-08-12

This Yale University Press publication is an insiders scorecard on how to collect information. Techniques for clandestine human intelligence gathering are reviewed in detail. The text even explores how internal CIA squabbling hurts U.S. intelligence gathering. The declassified articles from the agency's internal journal from 1955-1992 is mostly insider shop talk. My favorite chapter is VII, Counterespionage. Section eight of chapter three, psychology of treason is an ice-cold analysis.

A Fascinating Peek into the CIA's World.......2002-06-13

This series of essays shows CIA's thinking on a range of subjects that are eclectic and really interesting. Assessments of various forms of intelligence collection are included, trends in the agency's history, and many others. I especially found the chapter on the psychology of defectors and spies interesting and especially relevant. It's an older piece, but still current given the capture of Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames.

"Best of the Best" from CIA Insider Think Pieces.......2000-12-19

Brad, a respected scholar in his own right, was given unique access to all past publications of the CIA's internal journal, Studies in Intelligence, and has produced an absolutely lovely collection of the best thoughts inside CIA from 1955-1992, organized into sections for imagery intelligence collection, overt human intelligence collection, clandestine human intelligence collection, human intelligence and its consumers, the analysis function, analysis and its consumers, and counterespionage. I regard this book as an essential supplementary reading for teaching both students and practitioners.

Espionage, Security and Intelligence in Britain 1945-1970 (Documents in Contemporary History)

Average customer rating:

Espionage, Security and Intelligence in Britain 1945-1970 (Documents in Contemporary History)

Manufacturer: Manchester Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0719049555

America's Strategic Blunders: Intelligence Analysis and National Security Policy, 1936-1991

Average customer rating:

OUTSTANDING
Solid Thinking on Disconnects Between Policy & Intelligence

America's Strategic Blunders: Intelligence Analysis and National Security Policy, 1936-1991
Willard C. Matthias
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0271020660

Book Description

This survey of more than fifty years of national security policy juxtaposes declassified U.S. national intelligence estimates with recently released Soviet documents disclosing the views of Soviet leaders and their Communist allies on the same events. Matthias shows that U.S. intelligence estimates were usually correct but that our political and military leaders generally ignored them—with sometimes disastrous results.

The book begins with a look back at the role of U.S. intelligence during World War II, from Pearl Harbor through the plot against Hitler and the D-Day invasion to the "unconditional surrender" of Japan, and reveals how better use of the intelligence available could have saved many lives and shortened the war. The following chapters dealing with the Cold War disclose what information and advice U.S. intelligence analysts passed on to policymakers, and also what sometimes bitter policy debates occurred within the Communist camp, concerning Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, the turmoil in Eastern Europe, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars in the Middle East, and the Soviet intervention in Afganistan. In many ways, this is a story of missed opportunities the U.S. government had to conduct a more responsible foreign policy that could have avoided large losses of life and massive expenditures on arms buildups.

While not exonerating the CIA for its own mistakes, Matthias casts new light on the contributions that objective intelligence analysis did make during the Cold War and speculates on what might have happened if that analysis and advice had been heeded.

Customer Reviews:

OUTSTANDING.......2006-06-10

THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST BOOK ON THE WAY INTELLIGECE IS IGNORED IN MAKING KEY POLICIES. MATTHIAS WAS HIGH IN THE CIA AND PRIVY TO MUCH INFORMATION. I KNOW OF NO BETTER ACCOUNT THAN THIS, AND I HAVE READ MANY.

Solid Thinking on Disconnects Between Policy & Intelligence.......2001-07-04

I like and recommend this book because it is an important personal account from a very talented senior intelligence estimates professional. It documents in great detail a number of extremely serious mistakes on the part of U.S. policy makers from World War II through to Reagan years, while also recounting the history of how the Pentagon helped destroy CIA's independent assessments capability.

Time and time again throughout this book one sees references to "state of mind" and "mindset", and this is important. The author has a very fine grasp of how debilitating ingrained mindsets can be--the military mindset that focuses on buying more and more high technology even though it is demonstrably irrelevant to our most urgent strategic needs; the policy mindset that emphasizes the need for a tangible "main enemy" even as we destroy the environment and ignore catastrophic diseases and failed states; and the intelligence mindset that values secrecy and blind loyalty over public disclosure and public service.

I am especially impressed by the author's past responsibility for preparing the "Estimate of the World Situation", and how compellingly he distinguishes between the great days when such estimates were both produced and consumed, and today's state of affairs, where only "hard targets" are the object of our obsession, and "rest of the world" is poorly addressed.

The integrity of intelligence is a theme than runs throughout the book, and for that reason alone I recommend it for every policy and intelligence professionals' library. There are also compelling insights and thoughtful quotes.

The author's itemization of seven structural anomalies and states of mind that were present in World War II and can be seen today is worth abstracting here: 1. Absolute commitment to unconditional surrender eliiminated possibilities for undermining Hitler from within; 2. Allied command structure was not unified in fact; 3. There were no functioning lines of communication between tactical military and tactical (field) intelligence units; 4. Military leaders had a tactical intelligence state of mind, not a strategic intelligence state of mind, and were overly dependent on signals intelligence; 5. Military leaders were absolutely committed to established plans and unwilling to deviate or consider alternatives even in the face of compelling intelligence; 6. Moral self-righteousness and political naivete blinded Allied political and military leaders to the efforts of moderating forces in Germany ready to start an internal war; 7. Concept of war shifted away from the Clausewitzian "trinity" toward a "total war" emphasizing societal destruction and victory at any cost.

As his book goes on to document, these problems have been with us through the entire Cold War period, and have resulted in great waste of the taxpayer dollar as well as extraordinary risk of nuclear war with the Soviets during the 1980's when we played a very confrontational game with very limited policy level appreciation of just how desperate the Soviets might be.

This is not a book that offers solutions or suggestions for improving the vitality of intelligence or the attention span of policy makers, but it is an excellent contribution to what one can only hope will eventually be a truly public debate about the need for restoring America's strategic intelligence analysis capabilities, and making both intelligence producers and intelligence consumers accountable for "informed policy."

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book.......2001-03-22

A wonderful ananlysis of a much-neglected topic.

The Secret State: British Internal Security in the Twentieth Century

Average customer rating:

The Secret State: British Internal Security in the Twentieth Century
Richard Thurlow
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0631160663

Book Description

This is a history of the secret activities of the British government in response to threats to the nation's well-being and stability during the twentieth century. It is based on intensive and widespread research in private and public archives and on documents many of which have only recently come to light or been made available. The dangers perceived by the state have been manifold and various, coming from within and from abroad. Anarchists, fascists, socialists, communists, the IRA, trades-unionists and animal activists as well as spies, terrorists and saboteurs have been the subject of undercover investigation, along with almost every large-scale movement from suffragettes to campaigners for peace and nuclear disarmament. The author describes the methods and people employed, and the mixed nature of their results. The British state has always seen itself as civil and liberal, but as Dr Thurlow shows it has sometimes been far from open. The government has had many weapons at its disposal, from public order acts, censorship, internment and proscription on the one hand, to covert operations, infiltration and manipulation on the other. Yet when examined in the light of new evidence, the activities of the state are fully comprehensible only in terms of those who comprised it. The author shows the tensions among the departments (between MI5, MI6, SIS and the Special Branch, for example), and the crucial part played by individuals whose motives were often far from what the government supposed them to be. This is an at times disturbing, at others almost comical, but always fascinating account. It throws light on the inmost workings of the state, as well as on the movements and people subject to investigation and action.

Average customer rating:

INTELLIGENCE, From Secrets to Policy
Mark M. Lowenthal
Manufacturer: Congressional Quarterly
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VBBKRU

Secret War in the Middle East: The Covert Struggle for Syria, 1949-1961 (Library of Modern Middle East Studies, 7)

Average customer rating:

Secret War in the Middle East: The Covert Struggle for Syria, 1949-1961 (Library of Modern Middle East Studies, 7)
Andrew Rathmell
Manufacturer: I B Tauris & Co Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

Syria | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Very useful book.......2007-03-12

Again, the pictures in the book are easy enough to use for my 3 year old. The information contained in the book is useful. We enjoy using this book and look forward to the spring and summer when we can travel further than our backyard.

Baby Bird Portraits / Watercolors in the Field Museum: Watercolors in the Field Museum

Average customer rating:

A stunning one-of-a-kind collection

Baby Bird Portraits / Watercolors in the Field Museum: Watercolors in the Field Museum
George Miksch Sutton , and Paul A. Johnsgard
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Watercolor Painting | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Themes | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Catalogs | Catalogs & Directories | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

Catalogs & Directories | Reference | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Paint Watercolors That Dance With Light

ASIN: 080613769X

Book Description

George Miksch Sutton is one of the best known and most beloved bird artists of the twentieth century. This marvelous book presents thirty-five paintings of downy chicks, nestlings, and fledglings painted from life by Sutton. The exquisite watercolors, housed in the Field Museum of Natural History, span three decades and depict nineteen species of North American birds. Many of the paintings are reproduced here for the first time.

In his introduction to the collection, ornithologist Paul Johnsgard discusses Sutton's contributions to bird art and to ornithology. And is essays accompanying the paintings, Johnsgard describes his and Sutton's personal encounters with the birds.

Customer Reviews:

A stunning one-of-a-kind collection .......2006-12-19

Simply put, this is a stunning collection of 35 watercolors of downy chicks, nestlings, and fledglings painted from life by one of the premier bird artists of the 20th century, George Miksch Sutton. The 19 species of North American birds, many reproduced here for the first time, are exquisite paintings standing alone but the highly readable, informative text by internationally renowned ornithologist Paul A. Johnsgard is both indispensable and helps make this a must-have, one-of-a-king bird lovers delight. The book is a steal at this price.

Birds of Illinois Field Guide (Field Guides)

Average customer rating:

the BEST field guide for Illinois birds! love all his field guides!
Got a birdfeeder - get this book
Birdwatching in Illinois
Birds of Illinois Field Guide
Great info, easy to use.

Birds of Illinois Field Guide (Field Guides)
Stan Tekiela
Manufacturer: Adventure Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1885061749

Product Description

Learn about and identify birds using Stan Tekiela's state-by-state field guides. The full-page, color photos are incomparable and include insets of winter plumage, color morphs and more. Plus, with the easy-to-use format, you don't need to know a bird's name or classification in order to easily find it in the book. Using this field guide is a real pleasure. It's a great way for anyone to learn about the birds in your state.

Customer Reviews:

the BEST field guide for Illinois birds! love all his field guides!.......2007-10-11

I love this book! So easy to use! You can find the bird you see easily (by color), and Stan gives you exactly the tip you need to tell which bird it is! Plus interesting facts about each bird, and where you are likely to see them, and what they are likely to be doing. And beautiful, clear photos! This is the first of his field guides that I ever bought. I bought several others. I love them all! His field guides really work!

Got a birdfeeder - get this book.......2007-06-04

Like all of the other reviews, I find this book the easiest to use when trying to identify new birds who come to our feeder. One other thing I love about it - it tells what the birds like to eat! So can stock my feeder appropriately.

Birdwatching in Illinois.......2007-06-01

This book was great. My partner and I were having a little bet on what bird we had seen in our backyard. This book has it all for those of you who love to birdwatch anywhere.

Birds of Illinois Field Guide.......2007-05-14

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the birds in their Illinois backyard. We have learned so much about the birds that come to our feeders. Our children, ages 6 and 2, are now very interested in the types of birds that are in our backyard. Excellent buy!

Great info, easy to use........2007-03-09

Easy to use guide for identifying birds in Illinois. Along with my bird feeder, I have a great time identifying my avian friends.

Average customer rating:

Two Great Birders = One great Birding Guide!
Please do more cities!
The Best Book of its Type I Have Ever Come Across

A Birder's Guide to the Chicago Region
Lynne Carpenter , and Joel Greenberg
Manufacturer: Northern Illinois University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0875805825

Customer Reviews:

Two Great Birders = One great Birding Guide!.......2004-06-04

Both Lynne Carpenter and Joel Greenberg are well known in the Chicago area as great birders. And I've been lucky to have had the pleasure of birding with both of them. I am so grateful that they've committed their knowledge to this book. If you bird in the Chicago area then this book is a "must have" for your birding library.

Please do more cities!.......2002-12-13

Absolutely unparalleled -- I completely agree that this book is the best I have seen of its kind. I only wish there were such exquisitely detailed birding information available for other cities I frequent, such as Philly, D.C., and Boston.

The Best Book of its Type I Have Ever Come Across.......1999-11-23

Kudos for Joel Greenberg and Lynne Carpenter's recently published book. I have sampled many, many bird finding guides, as most dedicated birders have, but I rank their new `Birders Guide to the Chicago Region', as the best of its type. Its comprehensiveness, indexing, maps, species accounts and locations, accuracy and ease of use are unparalleled. Lynne and Joel: You have my highest compliments for an absolutely first rate job!

Average customer rating:

Baby Bird Portraits
George Miksch Sutton , and Paul A. Johnsgard
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Watercolor | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

very useful reference book
Birding Illinois

Birding Illinois
Sheryl De Vore
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1560446897

Book Description

Where-to site guide to over 100 of the best birding locations in Illinois including maps, photos and directions.

Download Description

With Birding Illinois you can explore over 110 great birding locations throughout the state. Some of the Midwest's best birding occurs in the Prairie State, thanks to the rich variety of habitat that includes woodlands, wetlands, hills, sandstone canyons,

Customer Reviews:

very useful reference book.......2001-12-05

I bought this book not so much because I want to go birding, but because it lists over 110 bird refuges, conservation areas, creeks, forest preserves and tall grass praries, many of which I know I have driven by on the highway without realizing that just down a state or county road is natural habitat full of wildlife. Some of the areas covered will be familiar to anyone who has lived in Illinois (Morton Arboretum, Fermi Lab, Jackson Park, Montrose Harbor, Chicago Botanic Garden, Starved Rock State Park) but the others are probably new to most people -- Meredosia Wildlife Refuge, Midewin Tallgrass Prarie, Pecatonica River Forest Preserve, Kickapoo State Park, Mermet Lake, etc.

The entries are divided into regions (northeast, northwest, west-central and southern) with each featuring a map of the area with directions, and a list and description of the birds that live or migrate through there. There are also black & white photographs and beautifully-detailed sketches of birds scattered throughout the text. The entries include walking or driving tours and information about the best time of the year to visit the site as well as general information on the conditions of the area (with instructions on when you need to bring your own water, insect repellant and food), what times of the year it may be closed and whether there are picnic/camping areas. In some cases the history of the area is given (for example, the fact that Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area and Forest Preserve is named after a Native American chief who lived there with his tribe in the 1830s). Each entry also includes the name of the park district that supervises the area and the nearest town.

The book ends with a checklist of birds so you can keep track of the ones you have seen, a list of extinct and endangered birds, the official form for reporting a rare bird, a bibliograpy and a list of federal, state and county contacts with phone numbers and addresses. This is a terrific reference book as well as guidebook. I'm grabbing my binoculars, a picnic lunch, this book and heading out to explore the rest of Illinois!

Birding Illinois.......2000-04-06

Every state should have a bird-finding guide this good! The author has done a superb job in presenting not only some of the more well-known Illinois birding locations, but also provides many areas that even most of Illinois' more experienced birdwatchers will find new and well worth exploring. Birders from outside of Illinois will probably be very surprised to learn of the variety of habitats and birds that this state has to offer once one leaves the seemingly birdless "corn and soybean desert" that many see from the interstates that crisscross the state. For instance,the chances of seeing a Mississippi Kite in southern Illinois are "good", as are such diverse species as Snowy Owl, Ross's Goose, and Connecticut Warbler! Illinois may be one of the best locations to see the elusive Smith's Longspur in the lower 48 states, and this guide will tell you when, where and how to see one! This long overdue site finding guide to Illinois' best birding locations is the first to cover the entire state in 25 years! And it is much more than a site guide! Only somewhat larger than many field guides, it is none-the-less easily manageable in the field (or in your car), and one should not be without this book while birding the states highways and byways. The author provides maps as well as written descriptions on how to bird the areas, but one of the best features of this book is the list of "key birds" to be found at each location at the beginning of each site account. In addition, the "Seasonal Distribution Charts" at the back of the book are the first of their kind for books on Illinois' birds, which attempt to cover the whole state, and make this an invaluable addition to this admirable reference work! The contributions from many of the state's most experienced birdwatchers and ornithologists from all corners of the state, guarantees the accuracy and thoroughness of the areas covered. Birders will find the sections on "Authors Favorite Sites", "Illinois' Specialty Birds", and the "Birding Calender" particularly helpful additions compared to the more normal bird-finding guides, and should make it a much more easy task in planning their birding trip, including exactly where and when to go to add that particular bird species that is still missing from their list! The well chosen photographs and exemplary line drawings not only make an aesthetically nice addition to the book, but give examples not only of some of the more typical birds to be found in Illinois but also show the diversity of avian life to be seen throughout the state. Not only is this book factually correct, but the well-written prose of this obviously talented journalist is very descriptive of the birds and birding destinations, and almost transports one to each birding hotspot. Aside from the usual typos and a few small errors in a few of the maps, this book is an excellent "read", and a MUST for EVERY birdwatcher traveling to or residing in the state of Illinois!

Average customer rating:

useful, colorful, detailed field guide written by experts

Birds of Illinois
Sheryl Devore , Steven D. Bailey , and Gregory Kennedy
Manufacturer: Lone Pine Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1551053799

Customer Reviews:

useful, colorful, detailed field guide written by experts.......2004-06-14

If you want to identify birds in your Illinois backyard, or when you're hiking in the woods, on a picnic at the zoo, enjoying the flowers at the Botanic Gardens, or basking in the shade of a tree at an Arboretum, then this is the book for you. It won't confuse you with birds that don't belong in Illinois. This is THE field guide for Illinois bird watcher, no matter what the expertise. This guide is arranged by habitat and color coded for quick identification. Each bird has a full color beautiful drawing, interesting facts about the bird, including how to identify it in the field, as well as when during the year you're likely to see it.
Sheryl DeVore, an award-winning environmental journalist and editor, writes with technical and poetic ease. Steve Bailey, an ornithologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey is one of the top experts on Illinois breeding birds; his maps make it easy to identify each bird as breeder, summer visitor, year-round resident, or migrator.

Book Description

Illinois Birds, An Introduction to Familiar Species, is a must-have, reference guide for beginners and experts alike. Whether you're on a nature hike or in your own backyard, you'll want to take along a copy of this indispensable guide. The Pocket Naturalist(tm) series is an introduction to common plants and animals and natural phenomena. Each pocket-sized, folding guide highlights up to 150 species and most feature a map highlighting prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. Each is laminated for durability.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books