History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Okay but wanted better
World War II Great Britain
Not so good
surpisingly Good
A quirky sleeper

The Night Watch
Sarah Waters
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1594482306

Book Description

Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked-out streets, illicit partying, and sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch tells the story of four Londoners-three women and a young man with a past-whose lives, and those of their friends and lovers, connect in tragedy, stunning surprise and exquisite turns, only to change irreversibly in the shadow of a grand historical event.

Customer Reviews:

Okay but wanted better.......2007-09-07

After seeing the two BBC movies made from Sarah Waters novels I had high hopes for the first book I was going to read. I was a little disappointed. While good I really wanted more from the book.

World War II Great Britain .......2007-08-29

The Night Watch is a book I purchased hoping I would get a good World War II war story about the trials and tribulations in the London area during battles from the air. Little did I know that I was getting into a womanizing, sort of lesbianism living along with the war disasters.

This is a story of several women that bounces between early and late WWII times that tells of their work as Emergency Workers rescuing and helping those injured in the German air raids. In between the rescue work the women love each other to the point of hugging, touching, and kissing each other. One wonders if the war caused this abnormal style of life for that time in history or if they truly did love each other. There were some relationships with men, one of which resulted in a baby that was not wanted.

The women went out in war torn London walking around in the dark taking in the many damaged buildings, roads, and most all infrastructure in and around the city. Some worked for the Emergency Responders and drove ambulances through areas where roads were all torn up and at least partially impassable. Their desire for helping those hurt was strong and ended with success and/or failure.

The relationship of these women is described quite closely in the book. If you can take the love of women for other women, there is a good story here giving great descriptions of what London was like during the war. It was no place to be if one was the least bit queasy. The sights and sounds were sometimes very hard to take because of the terrible injuries.

The men in the book were either family or close friends, some in prison, some not, and some after prison. Also there is a good description of life in prison during these air raids. Imagine yourself closed up in a prison cell while hearing the raiding airplanes approaching and the sounds of explosions either far away or coming closer each minute.

Sarah Waters has given a good account of Great Britain during WWII but I especially did not appreciate so much writing on the lesbian specter and the actions of them towards each other. Enter this book with caution if you have any qualms about same sex partners.

Not so good.......2007-08-28

I picked up this book for like 5 cents (not including S&H) that totaled to 4ish bucks. I started on it right away and after the first hundred I was like...wtf, is this suppose to be interesting?!
I kept to it though and able more than half through it and I got bored o.O
I know I'll finish it one day just for the heck of it, but I'm going to her other books. So many praise her and I do like the movies and would prefer to read the books then the movies...I already got the movies, but have yet to decide on the books. Oh well...maybe movies first?

Anyways...about the book. It was somewhat interesting at first with Kay and all that, but when it went back in time I started to get disappointed. Wasn't much action or interesting stuff. A nice plot, but too dull for my taste.

surpisingly Good.......2007-08-08

A Damn good read. It didn't look interesting, but it was. I did like the backwards timeline in the book. It is a good technique for dragging people into what happened to get our characters to where they are at the beginning of the book. Fabulous descriptions of life in London during the war (WW2) and I did like the cast. The women are all strong and survive the best way they can.

A quirky sleeper.......2007-08-03

I picked up The Night Watch in the airport bookstore- and captive in my seat, the book captured me.
The story ingeniously moves backward in time from 1947 through the Blitz and WWII in London. It tells of sets of people and their differing experiences of the war and its aftermath. The facts are revealed only slowly and you'll have to pay attention to get it all. (Great escapism for a tedious flight.)
This book has some rather new things to say about the journey to know oneself and ones place in the world, and maybe after. It's a satisfying trip.

Average customer rating:

Great Lakes Water Wars is an excellent read
The Great Lakes aren't bottomless
A cautionary tale
The real fight begins
At War Over Great Lakes Water

The Great Lakes Water Wars
Peter Annin
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1559630876

Book Description

The Great Lakes are the largest collection of fresh surface water on earth, and more than 40 million Americans and Canadians live in their basin. Will we divert water from the Great Lakes, causing them to end up like Central Asia's Aral Sea, which has lost 90 percent of its surface area and 75 percent of its volume since 1960? Or will we come to see that unregulated water withdrawals are ultimately catastrophic?

Peter Annin writes a fast-paced account of the people and stories behind these battles. Destined to be the definitive story for the general public as well as policymakers, The Great Lakes Water Wars is a balanced, comprehensive look behind the scenes at the conflicts and compromises that are the past-and future-of this globally significant resource.

Customer Reviews:

Great Lakes Water Wars is an excellent read.......2007-08-08

I started out to skim Peter Annin's book, determine what to say, and decide how to write a requested review. I had no trouble becoming completely engrossed at the start of the Author's Note and Prologue, and read the whole thing. Cover to cover. I do not need to abridge all its contents in great detail, nor could I begin to accomplish that task as eloquently, chronologically, and thoroughly as does the author anyway. What's more, the stories presented are fascinating and rapidly ensnare the reader. It will be of value to active professionals, students, politicians, NGO participants, and elected officials as well as to residents of the Great Lakes Basin, and to those who think they can tap into its abundant waters. What's more, it is informative and fun to read.

The Great Lakes aren't bottomless.......2007-05-25

As a former resident of northeastern Ohio, growing up near the shores of Lake Erie, I expected to be captivated by Peter Annin's treatise on the water resources issues of the Great Lakes, and it did not disappoint. But I think there's plenty here for anyone interested in the expanding issue of water resource diversion, as it spreads from the notoriously thirsty southwest to the Great Lakes, which house 20% of the world's fresh surface waters.

The five lakes in the Great Lakes surface water drainage basin seem inexhaustible and have, for centuries, been treated that way by neighboring states and provinces. Massive pollution identified in the 1960s raised the first indication of the Lakes' vulnerability. Annin tackles the issues of water resource allocation in three sections. The first sets the stage by talking about surface water resource challenges generally, from the difference between water rights assumptions in the eastern and western US, to the disastrous overuse of the Aral Sea in the former USSR, to the unknown problems that will result from global warming.

The second section uses stories to articulate the political and economic challenges surrounding six specific water diversion cases in the Great Lakes basin. The third explains the attempts by the eight states and two provinces within the Great Lakes basin to agree on political and legal mechanisms for protecting and preserving this enormous resource. His book ends with a cliffhanger; in late 2005, an historic regional agreement was signed by all the states and provinces in the basin but it must be codified into law by each state and US Congress. His website tracks its progress: [..]

A cautionary tale.......2007-04-01

"Today, when I stand on the shores of Lake Superior, I don't see a lake. I see a sprawling deep blue battleground that stretches from Duluth, Minnesota to Trois Rivières, Québec--and I wonder, who will win the war?" With these ominous words, Peter Anin launches into his account of the history of water issues in the Great Lakes.

Anin begins with a cautionary tale: the destruction of the Aral Sea in central Asia. Through government bungling and hubris, this once thriving ecosystem has lost 75% of its surface in the past 50 years. His message is clear; this could happen again, it could happen here.

What follows is a detailed account of the history of water issues and governmental policy in the Great Lakes region. There's enough analysis here to satisfy any policy wonk. But the true strength of Anin's book are the fascinating stories he tells of the diversion of mighty rivers, the desperate searches for safe drinking water, and the commercial exploitation of this precious resource.

Why this book, why now? The governors of the eight Great Lakes States have recently negotiated an agreement to protect this resource. The Great Lakes Compact must now be ratified by the legislatures of each state and the U.S. Congress. With this book, Anin makes an important contribution to the public understanding of the issues and urgency behind this legislation.

The real fight begins.......2007-02-26

On May 8, 1892, a gang of workmen hired by Chicago entrepreneur Mr. McElroy invaded the town of Waukesha, Wisconsin. This gang was intent on laying a pipeline from Waukesha's Hygeia Spring to a suburb of Chicago. They were turned back by the citizens of that city in one of the few (to date) physical confrontations over water east of the Mississippi river.
In 2006, with their wells dry or contaminated, Waukesha, which lies just outside the edge of the Great Lakes basin, insisted on exemption from the return clause of the water compact signed the year before. The compact was the latest evolution of agreements between the 8 Great Lakes states and 2 provinces of Canada. The latest agreement was so troubled that only two governors attended the signing. As with all the other agreements, it stood on bog of technical and legal details that could easily be upset by the smallest challenge. "Waukesha is a poster child," admits Dan Duchniak, the embattled head of the Waukesha Water Utility, adding that the debate over Waukesha is "almost like a cyst that has grown into a cancerous tumor, and we need to figure out a way to treat it." (pg. 245)

With this and other examples, such as an attempt to ship a tanker of Great Lakes water to China, the author explains the difficulties in protecting this great natural resource. The chapter on the Aral Sea foretells the future of the lakes if governments can't find a way to appease industry while maintaining the lakes for future generations.

Anyone trying understand what we, those of us blessed to grow up along their shores, must do to protect the Great Lakes should read this book. Although the material is fairly complex, the author presents several anecdotal stories that are readable.

As the author says, the fight has only just begun. Over the past 20 years, the states and provinces around the Great Lakes have produced a basic framework. Unfortunately, companies like Nestle have fought in court for the right to export bottle water from the Great Lakes basin; as one official asked,what is the difference between a tanker of bottle water and a tanker of water? --Damn good point! Although they are fighting a losing battle, other challenges are on the horizon in a world running short of clean, fresh water.

If this review was helpful, please vote and thanks.

At War Over Great Lakes Water.......2006-11-29

Schemes to keep Great Lakes waters in the Great Lakes may look good on paper, but how they actually work or do not work is shown in The Great Lakes Water Wars. It is a practical book thoroughly researched by a veteran investigative reporter, Peter Annin and published by Island Press.

According to Annin, the key to keeping these freshwater lakes viable is to return the water to the lakes: that is to keep the waters in the Great Lakes watersheds and to take measures to conserve water. Diversions outside of these watersheds will deplete the lakes of water. Although the Great Lakes are large, they are fragile. Annin shows the consequences of unwise uses of water on other parts of the planet, for example the Aral Sea that has been depleted of most of its water.

This is an important book with words of caution for those who live in the Great Lakes watersheds.

Average customer rating:

Okay Book
Holocaust Affects Italians
Stones in Water
Stones In Water
A touching book not just for kids

Stones in Water
Donna Jo Napoli
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0141306009

Book Description

When Roberto sneaks off to see a movie in his Italian village, he has no idea that life as he knows it is over. German soldiers raid the theater, round up the boys in the audience, and pack them onto a train. After a terrifying journey, Roberto and his best friend Samuele find themselves in a brutal work camp, where food is scarce and horror is everywhere. The boys vow to stay together no matter what. But Samuele has a dangerous secret, which, if discovered, could get them both killed. Lovers of historical fiction will be captivated by this tragic, triumphant, and deeply moving novel.

"A gripping, meticulously researched story." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An intense, gripping tale." --School Library Journal, starred review

"An affecting coming-of-age novel with a vivid and undeniable message about the human costs of war." --The Horn Book

* A Puffin Novel
* 224 pages
* Ages 10-14

* An ALA Notable Book
* An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
* New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
* An NCSS Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

Customer Reviews:

Okay Book.......2007-03-27

Stones in Water
Alex Machado
This book was about a boy named Roberto in Venice, Italy. One day he decided to see a Western style movie. One of Roberto's friends was a Jew, but nobody knew that. In order for Samuele (Roberto's Jewish friend) to see the movie Roberto's brother had taken the arm band that all Jews were supposed to wear and hid it under the table of a restaurant, thinking he would be able to come back and get it.. Two of his friends and his brother came. Right when the movie started German soldiers came in and took them away They took them to Germany to work on building an air strip. Soon Roberto was caught steeling raw eggs from the chicken coop. One of the chapters was about when two of the German soldiers died after getting drunk on Vodka, passing out, and freezing to death. Roberto and Samuele took the boots off of their dead bodies. Whenever a person froze to death the first person to spot them got the first choice on articles of clothing, so he took the boots. That night two kids tried to steel Roberto's boots, be Samuele protected them with his life. Literally. Before they had disturbingly talked about Samuele's shriveled penis and how if anyone saw it they would be in big trouble. That's why Roberto tried to not let anyone take his clothes. But they took them any way.
From then on every one looked at him funny because they knew that he was friends with the Jew. So he just ran away, thinking that he would get shot trying. But he survived to eat the small animals from under rocks from the frozen river. When he came to a village that had been ransacked by the Germans he found food, supplies, and someone to take along on the journey. After being shot and getting it cured with Vodka Roberto runs away again, this time ending up on the beach. He meets an Italian soldier there. The Italian makes him row him, because he says that he is a very bad rower. And when Roberto gets a fever and can't row, it turns out that he is very bad. This book ends with them still rowing in the Black Sea.
I liked when the Italian soldier and Roberto were rowing together in the Black Sea. I didn't really like much else of the book though, so if I could rate this book one to five I'd probably give it a two.

Holocaust Affects Italians.......2007-02-12

This story is set during World War II. Roberto is an Italian Catholic. One day he goes to a movie with his older brother and two friends, one of them a Jewish boy named Samuele. At the movie, soldiers gather up all of the boys and send them off to work camps to help the war effort. Roberto and Samuele are separated from the other two, and are sent to work digging ditches and building holding pens for Jewish prisoners. Roberto and Samuele, now calling himself Enzo because it is a more Catholic-sounding name, are terrified that their guards will find out that Samuele is Jewish.

Conditions in the camp are bad, especially after another boy finds out Samuele's secret and takes all of his food in exchange for keeping quiet. Roberto's first priority is keeping his friend safe. His next priority becomes finding a way to escape and get back home again.

I hadn't known until I read this book what was going on in Italy at this time and how the people there were affected by the war. I liked that the end of this book isn't happy. The author tried hard not to spare you from knowing some of the difficulties of living at this time.

Stones in Water.......2007-01-18

The book I read was Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli. Stones in Water was a historical fiction book because it was about World War 2.
Stones in Water was about two boys who got taken to a work camp. While they were there they would only eat and work from day to day. One night some boys tried to take Roberto's boots, and Samuel got beat up trying to get Roberto's boots back. The next day Samuel died from all the broken bones he got. Roberto then escaped and went to a town where he met a boy whose town had been destroyed by soldiers. The boy and him got food and went out trying to find more people. They got to another town and the people there thought that Roberto was a German soldier because he had German boots on. Roberto ran away from the town without the boy, found a boat and went down the river till he met u with a Russian soldier who shot at him and skinned his neck.
I thought this was a really good book because it was about World War 2. It is best suited for people who like to read about war.

Stones In Water.......2006-12-20

The book Stones In Water by Donna Jo Nappoli is a good historical fiction book about a boy and his friend that get drafted into the war. Roberto goes through many hardships to try to get back to his family and doesn't now how he is going to do it. He follows his sense of direction and might just be able to get back to his family.
This book is a good book for people who are interested in history and don't care about reading bloody stories of a war book.I thought this book was a good book because it kept me interested and made me want to read it and at the same time I was learning about what people had to go through if they where a Jew during the time of Hitler.

A touching book not just for kids.......2006-11-10

My daughter loved this book. It moved her a great deal and taught her a lot about the hardships people faced durring WW2. Touching, moving and sometimes frightening this book had something in it for everyone plus its educational to boot. But, you would never know it because its hidden in a gem of a story that had her rivited from start to finish. She loved it and learned a lot and she reads at a very advanced level. So, go for it.

Average customer rating:

Don James: Pre-War Surfing Photographs

Manufacturer: T. Adler Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1890481122
Release Date: 2004-06-15

Book Description

Description: Don James: Pre-War Surfing Photographs Portfolios. The portfolios chronicle the lazy, golden days of the emerging surf culture on Southern California's coast in the spring and summer of 1936, and form an elegant collection that compliments interests in surfing, history, or fine photography. Each of the five deluxe editions contains four different 6.8" x 4.6" archival prints reproduced from the original negatives found in Don James's studio shortly after his death in 1996. The photographs are printed with soy-based UV inks on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper. Each print is mounted on an acid-free 4-ply board with a numbered certificate of authenticity, and enclosed in a glassine sleeve.

Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit

Average customer rating:

The Single Most Important Book You Can Read Today
Don't waste your money
Brutal. Brutal brutal brutal.
Right Versus Left
Earthy Wisdom About Water

Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit
Vandana Shiva
Manufacturer: South End Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 089608650X

Book Description

While draught and desertification are intensifying around the world, corporations are aggressively converting free-flowing water into bottled profits. The water wars of the twenty-first century may match-or even surpass-the oil wars of the twentieth. In Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution and Profit, Vandana Shiva, "the world's most prominent radical scientist" (the Guardian), shines a light on activists who are fighting corporate maneuvers to convert this life-sustaining resource into more gold for the elites.

In Water Wars, Shiva uses her remarkable knowledge of science and society to outline the emergence of corporate culture and the historical erosion of communal water rights. Using the international water trade and industrial activities such as damming, mining, and aquafarming as her lens, Shiva exposes the destruction of the earth and the disenfranchisement of the world's poor as they are stripped of rights to a precious common good.

In her passionate, feminist style, Shiva celebrates the spiritual and traditional role water has played in communities throughout history, and warns that water privatization threatens cultures and livelihoods worldwide. Shiva calls for a movement to preserve water access for all, and offers a blueprint for global resistance based on examples of successful campaigns.

Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental leader and recipient of the 1993 Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (the Right Livelihood Award). She is author of several books, including Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply (South End Press, 2000); Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge (South End Press, 1997); and Staying Alive (St. Martin's Press, 1989). Shiva is a leader, along with Ralph Nader and Jeremy Rifkin, in the International Forum on Globalization. Before becoming an activist, Shiva was one of India's leading physicists.

Customer Reviews:

The Single Most Important Book You Can Read Today.......2007-02-28

the global water crisis is the biggest issue we will face in our lifetimes and not much is being done. This book puts things in a human light and makes solutions seem possible.
Stop Bottled Water Industries
Protect Global Commons
[...]

Don't waste your money.......2007-01-07

Written by a so called academic, this is a series of essays which never should have been published. Over -priced and over reviewed, whoever approved of publishing this travesty should be fired.

Brutal. Brutal brutal brutal........2006-04-03

In contrast to what others have written, this book is brutal. It isn't that Ms. Shiva doesn't have passion, she does. It isn't that she cannot write, she can. The book is brutal because it is painfully one-sided, seemingly written for no other reason than to pander to those that think as she does.

While the book highlights examples of water mismanagement, Ms. Shiva's ideology is so apparent one has to wonder what she has left out. For example, she repeatedly mentions the use of a small, electric motor to pump enormous amounts of water far more efficiently that human beings can. Eventually said motor pumps more water than the system can replace and does damage. Fine. While Ms. Shiva notes that the motor does damage, she seems unwilling to address the obvious: the farmer who turned the motor on could just as easily have turned the motor off, thereby avoiding the damage. Instead of working for hours to get water, the farmers could have used the motor to pump only what they needed, saving time and labor for other tasks. While she may have a personal preference to use humans for manual labor, blaming the little motor (and by extension, the modernization involved) is intellectually dishonest.

As another example, she mentions how the evil United States would not approve the Kyoto Treaty. She is right the U.S. has not. Yet she never notes that many people consider Kyoto to be fatally flawed--it exempts China, India, and others from emissions limits. One does not need to accept or deny Kyoto as an example of an efficient or effective solution to global warming, but given the partisan ideology presented in Water Wars, one can never be sure Ms. Shiva presented any information fairly or accurately.

Furthermore, Ms. Shiva continues with such platitudes as, "The corporation's selfish desire for profit causes all the problems; the WTO, World Bank and U.S. are run by corporations; only real democratic community control will solve these problems." The quote is representative of many social critics: argument by cliche--the discourse ends as quickly as it begins. Ms. Shiva often closes her argument in her topic sentences, for example on page 87, "Not only has the World Bank played a major role in the creation of water scarcity and pollution, it is now transforming that scarcity into a market opportunity for water companies." Or comments such as this on page xiii, "This forced apportion of resources from people is a form of terrorism--corporate terrorism." Comments like this suggest Ms. Shiva is unable to persuasively write for change, that she has no real arguments, just partisan ideology. Unfortunately, environmental thinkers like Ms. Shiva may be right. But with writing like this, they will never be heard except by those who already agree.

Sadly, Ms. Shiva also seems focused on spiritual matters at the expense of making her case. For example, she includes a multi-page appendix of the ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT different names for the Ganges River. Frankly, who cares how many names there are? There could be 763 of them--not one of which would matter if the locals drain the river for crops or if Halliburton drains the river and sells it back to them.

As a former physicist, Ms. Shiva would have done her readers a favor and written a fascinating book if she had simply applied the intellectual rigor of her physics training to her thesis--whatever that was. For those that want their ideology reinforced, this book is wonderful. For those trying to learn about the problems concerning water and water usage, there are plenty of other sources that present information without overt ideology and bias. `Nuff said.

Right Versus Left.......2005-10-26

Vandana is an entertaining writer. She is passionate about injustice. Shiva is a welcome antidote to the rantings of right wing ratbags from noisy think-tanks.

A chapter of Shiva contrasted with a chapter of anyone from the Cato Institue, makes for an entertaining exercise in contrasting views of how our world should work.

One does not have to agree with all she believes to enjoy her writing or to learn from it.

Earthy Wisdom About Water.......2004-10-06

Water rights and access to water are a commons. They inherently belong to all people collectively, from which to benefit and to be responsible for as stewards. Including being a guide to participating in popular resistance, this is a history of how the principle of water as a commons has evolved as part and parcel of the evolutionary rise of the human species. Also catalogued is the very recent advent of the concept of water as a privatized commodity.

Although Shiva doesn't say it in so many words, the book often reads as a direct indictment of the United States because many of the problems she enumerates trace back directly to the fossil fuel economy. The US is the most egregious and careless contributor to the degradation of the environment. Although the US stands to experience a large part of the devastation global warming is already wreaking, perhaps the loss of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas to a potential 2 foot rise in sea levels, many poor and island nations will bear the disproportionate brunt of global warming's effects.

This book might easily be perceived as a treatise in Luddism. Shiva says almost every so-called advance in water management, as for example diverting and draining rivers, which is necessarily a move to centralize and privatize water management, results in catastrophic social and ecological consequences - especially natural disasters such as floods, supercyclones, and droughts. When water is managed locally and collectively by the indigenous as a commons, its use is equitable, ecologically sound, and sustainable - words of wisdom from mouth of justice. When water is treated as a commodity, and corporatized the unforeseen consequences, which are quite serious, include pollution and climate change.

Shiva documents many natural and man-made disasters that have resulted from this practical and ideological shift in water management. She draws a direct causal relationship between technological application in water management and ecological disruption and social conflict. The worst of these, a supercyclone that devastated the state of Orissa in India in 1999, "damaged 1.83 million houses and 1.8 million acres of paddy crops in 12 coastal districts. Eighty percent of the coconut trees were uprooted or broken in half, and all the banana and papaya plantations were wiped out. More than 300,000 cattle perished, more than 1,500 fisherman and fisherwomen lost their entire source of livelihood...local workers estimate the (human) toll to be about 20,000."

Shiva is well-studied in water management and its history. She draws from a rich array of sources, many obscure but important; a large number are cites of her own past voluminous work. Her arguments are intuitive more than deductive. Once you accept her premise of water resources as a commons, and she makes the argument gently, but unrelentingly, as if it is a self-evident truth, the rest of her conclusions unfold cogently, compellingly, and of their own accord.

The WTO and World Bank involvement in water management are ominous signs of water's commodification, self-destructive and suicidal, teaches Shiva. Small groups resisting these developments have won several victories. Arundhati Roy among other prominent Indians has enjoined the struggle against the Narmada Dam project, a mammoth project of corporatization in India.

Projects like Narmada, and there are many of them, are done under the rubric of capitalism and "free trade." These last two terms understood in practice, as should be obvious by now, as the socialization of risks and costs and the privatization of profits for the rich, and fiscal discipline and restraint for the poor. This corporate welfare takes the form of subsidies, give-aways, tax breaks, and displacement of the indigenous.

This is a very focused study of water rights, impressively researched and well-documented. Shiva presents the facts and lets you uncover the truth for yourself, like wiping a mirror clear of dust.

The historical shift of water as a commons to water as a commodity is almost the same as the history of colonialism. Shiva traces a richly researched history of British colonization of India synonymous there with this shift in water management. Her writing is sometimes dry but rich in fact and research. In wading deep into the minutiae of water management's history, and the consequences of its commodification, Shiva shows that much of the supposed progress in the administration and management of water rights have really been retrograde movements from policies and practicalities of fairness and equitability. She also warns ominously that the 21st Century will see wars and conflicts over this resource in much the same way the 20th did over oil.

The clash of water as a commons versus its degradation into a commodity was perhaps best illustrated in Cochambamba, Bolivia in 1999. In response to the sell off of a municipal resource to a foreign corporation, a coalition of militant peasant groups formed the Coalition in Defense of Water and Life. It organized to address skyrocketing water bills and poor service. Of all corporations, Bechtel, a huge military contractor to the Pentagon, "bought" water rights in Cochambamba. It wasn't without several serious skirmishes that the peasant groups prevailed and reasserted their sovereignty over water. Bechtel exited Bolivia, and the United States government took up its cause, suing Bolivia on behalf of Bechtel in the World Trade Court. That case is still pending.

Shiva makes an important contribution. As impressive as the book itself is the exposure to an activist with a wide knowledge and a rich oeuvre. She wraps up her study with a look at the sacredness of water in India. The Ganges River is traditionally one of the holiest sites in India. The multinational corporations would prefer to see this resource as an asset on their ledgers. Shiva never mentions specifically what she is doing activist-wise to join the struggle. But it's obvious from her energy and devotion to the issue that she is very actively involved. She makes it clear she is for justice for the great masses of people before the interests of those who would commodify water.

Average customer rating:

Readably Frightening !
Too wordy to enjoy.
a New Orleanian
WATER WARS

Water Wars
Diane Raines Ward
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1573229954
Release Date: 2003-06-03

Book Description

Every day, we hear alarming news about droughts, pollution, population growth, and climate change-which threaten to make water, even more than oil, the cause of war within our lifetime. Diane Raines Ward reaches beyond the headlines to illuminate our most vexing problems and tells the stories of those working to solve them: hydrologists, politicians, engineers, and everyday people. Based on ten years of research spanning five continents, Water Wars offers fresh insight into a subject to which our fate is inextricably bound.

Customer Reviews:

Readably Frightening ! .......2007-01-07

George W Bush should be made to read this book. The author addresses many global water problems in a well researched and highly readable form. Read it and be afraid - we should be demanding our nitwit lawmakers read it and take action. Give a copy to your neighbors.

Too wordy to enjoy........2007-01-04

Diane Raines Ward is obviously a well traveled and well educated person, but it seemed that her personal experiences were what most mattered to her in what could have been a very interesting expose if it was a little less wordy...maybe some good editing would help.

a New Orleanian.......2006-11-23

This work represents the type of outstanding engagement of intellectual and artistic pursuits that makes being human humane. The piece predates our time and is timeless: it ranks with the best of expressive endeavors. I challenge everyone to read it; and I do mean everyone. If our current leaders want a precise discussion of an important subject, they will put this on reading lists of all schools, organizaitons, groups worldwide.

WATER WARS.......2004-11-29

The author, Diane Raines Ward, is obviously passionate about this subject--she has traveled the world and seen with her own eyes the good and the bad of water 'management.' She does not make assumptions, she does not make sweeping generalizations--she examines each dam, river, levee and irrigation system individually, thereby proving how complicated the water wars are. Her passion for the subject also makes the book quite readable; it is written more like a novel than a scientific treatise. My only complaint is the complete lack of maps and diagrams, but that does not stop me from giving the book 5 stars.

Parting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63 (America in the King Years)

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Indispensable
Excellent and Informative
Moving storytelling
The origins of a revolution
A Great one, very very good.

Parting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63 (America in the King Years)
Taylor Branch
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 0671687425

Amazon.com

The first book of a formidable three-volume social history, Parting the Waters is more than just a biography of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the decade preceding his emergence as a national figure. Branch's thousand-page effort, which won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction, profiles the key players and events that helped shape the American social landscape following World War II but before the civil-rights movement of the 1960s reached its climax. The author then goes a step further, endeavoring to explain how the struggles evolved as they did by probing the influences of the main actors while discussing the manner in which events conspired to create fertile ground for change.

Timeline of a Trilogy

Taylor Branch's America in the King Years series is both a biography of Martin Luther King and a history of his age. No timeline can do justice to its wide cast of characters and its intricate web of incident, but here are some of the highlights, which might be useful as a scorecard to the trilogy's nearly 3,000 pages.

King The King Years

Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63

May: At age 25, King gives his first sermon as pastor-designate of Montgomery's Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. 1954 May: French surrender to Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu. Unanimous Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board outlaws segregated public education.

December: Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott, which King is drafted to lead. 1955

October: King spends his first night in jail, following his participation in an Atlanta sit-in. 1960 February: Four students attempting to integrate a Greensboro, North Carolina, lunch counter spark a national sit-in movement.
April: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee is founded.
November: Election of President John F. Kennedy

May: The Freedom Rides begin, drawing violent responses as they challenge segregation throughout the South. King supports the riders during an overnight siege in Montgomery. 1961 July: SNCC worker Bob Moses arrives for his first summer of voter registration in rural Mississippi.
August: East German soldiers seal off West Berlin behind the Berlin Wall.

March: J. Edgar Hoover authorizes the bugging of Stanley Levinson, King's closest white advisor. 1962 September: James Meredith integrates the University of Mississippi under massive federal protection.

April: King, imprisoned for demonstrating in Birmingham, writes the "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
May: Images of police violence against marching children in Birmingham rivet the country.
August: King delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech before hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington.
September: The Ku Klux Klan bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church kills four young girls. 1963 June: Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers assassinated.
November: President Kennedy assassinated.

Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65

November: Lyndon Johnson, in his first speech before Congress as president, promises to push through Kennedy's proposed civil rights bill.

March: King meets Malcolm X for the only time during Senate filibuster of civil rights legislation.
June: King joins St. Augustine, Florida, movement after months of protests and Klan violence.
October: King awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and campaigns for Johnson's reelection.
November: Hoover calls King "the most notorious liar in the country" and the FBI sends King an anonymous "suicide package" containing scandalous surveillance tapes. 1964 January: Johnson announces his "War on Poverty."
March: Malcolm X leaves the Nation of Islam following conflict with its leader, Elijah Muhammad.
June: Hundreds of volunteers arrive in the South for SNCC's Freedom Summer, three of whom are soon murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
July: Johnson signs Civil Rights Act outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
August: Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing military force in Vietnam. Democratic National Convention rebuffs the request by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to be seated in favor of all-white state delegation.
November: Johnson wins a landslide reelection.

January: King's first visit to Selma, Alabama, where mass meetings and demonstrations will build through the winter. 1965 February: Malcolm X speaks in Selma in support of movement, three weeks before his assassination in New York by Nation of Islam members.

At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68

March: Voting rights movement in Selma peaks with "Bloody Sunday" police attacks and, two weeks later, a successful march of thousands to Montgomery.
August: King rebuffed by Los Angeles officials when he attempts to advocate reforms after the Watts riots. March: First U.S. combat troops arrive in South Vietnam. Johnson's "We Shall Overcome" speech makes his most direct embrace of the civil rights movement.
May: Vietnam "teach-in" protest in Berkeley attracts 30,000.
June: Influential federal Moynihan Report describes the "pathologies" of black family structure.
August: Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act. Five days later, the Watts riots begin in Los Angeles.

January: King moves his family into a Chicago slum apartment to mark his first sustained movement in a Northern city.
June: King and Stokely Carmichael continue James Meredith's March Against Fear after Meredith is shot and wounded. Carmichael gives his first "black power" speech.
July: King's marches for fair housing in Chicago face bombs, bricks, and "white power" shouts. 1966 February: Operation Rolling Thunder, massive U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, begins.
May: Stokely Carmichael wins the presidency of SNCC and quickly turns the organization away from nonviolence.
October: National Organization for Women founded, modeled after black civil rights groups.

April: King's speech against the Vietnam War at New York's Riverside Church raises a storm of criticism
December: King announces plans for major campaign against poverty in Washington, D.C., for 1968. 1967 May: Huey Newton leads Black Panthers in armed demonstration in California state assembly.
June: Johnson nominates former NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court.
July: Riots in Newark and Detroit.
October: Massive mobilization against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C.

March: King joins strike of Memphis sanitation workers.
April: King gives his "Mountaintop" speech in Memphis. A day later, he is assassinated at the Lorraine Motel. 1968 January: In Tet Offensive, Communist guerillas stage a surprise coordinated attack across South Vietnam.
March: Johnson cites divisions in the country over the war for his decision not to seek reelection in 1968.

Book Description

Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations.

Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.

Taylor Branch provides an unsurpassed portrait of King's rise to greatness and illuminates the stunning courage and private conflict, the deals, maneuvers, betrayals, and rivalries that determined history behind closed doors, at boycotts and sit-ins, on bloody freedom rides, and through siege and murder.

Epic in scope and impact, Branch's chronicle definitively captures one of the nation's most crucial passages.

Customer Reviews:

Indispensable.......2007-08-01

The best single book on the civil rights movement I have ever read. Parting the Waters is partly a wonderful, complicated biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. However, it is also a history of the early years of the entire civil rights movement. King, SCLC, and SNCC are described in great detail and their efforts are set against a background of federal reluctance to intervene in the South. Inspiring and detailed.

Excellent and Informative.......2007-05-11

I am about halfway through this book. Even though I have not finished yet I feel compelled to comment on it. I believe it is extremely important for African Americans of my generation to get a more complete understanding of the civil rights movement. So far this book has opening my eyes and changed the way I view our African American experience.

What is best about this read is it flows like a history book. I give much credit to Mr. Branch for simply telling the story and not adding too much of his own commentary and opinion. That is one of my pet peeves with many of our `writers' today. They want to impose their opinions and biased interpretations. We do not need opinions. We need to educate ourselves with facts and draw our own conclusions. Okay, I will get off the soapbox.

Anyway I highly recommend this book. It is a very long read, but if you seek a deeper understanding of the African American experience this is a great start. Many of the issues we face today can be interpreted more accurately by getting a more complete account of our past.

Moving storytelling.......2007-03-18

By most accounts, Branch's three volume history of the Civil Rights Movement is the authoritative account of Dr. King's life. But beyond the facts and history, this particular volume is an example of masterful storytelling. I read this book during my morning and evening commutes, stuffed between strangers on the train. Branch transported me to another time and place, at times on the brink of tears. Branch devoted decades of his life to crafting this story. His efforts leave us with an honest and beautifully told story - one of our nation's most inspiring and tragic.

The origins of a revolution.......2006-08-27

This is the first of a trilogy of books on the civil rights struggle in the USA as centered around the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior. Covering the 1950s and early 1960s, this book lays the groundwork for many of the pivotal events that would take the civil rights movement onto the international stage and eventually legend. All the key characters of this movement would enter the stage of history here... Bayard Rustin, the gay, pacifist communist, would play a key role in organizing the March on D.C. LBJ, the master of the Senate, and then vice president would come to realize the need of the Civil Rights Act, as segregation was intertwined with poverty and to defeat one, he needed to defeat the other. Malcolm X would rise in the Nation of Islam, paving a path to glory and his eventual death. And the central character that bound them together; the Reverend Dr. King himself, would change history by trying to tie together the lunch counter sit-ins, freedom rides, marches, and legal debates into one cogent movement.

All of this and much, much more is laid out in careful, chronological detail by Taylor Branch. Backing every word, every name, and every date with citations to court documents, newspaper records, first-hand interviews and countless other sources, the author brings this period to life, vividly with raw emotion. This book lays bare the soul of America at this time, from the inner politics in the White House and courthouses throughout the South, to pressrooms, jails, and public squares. We, the reader, see how the Civil Rights movement ground forth one city, one law, one riot at a time. Incredible! Highly worth the time to read thru from cover to cover.

A Great one, very very good........2006-07-27

This more than fills in some blanks. Number one book on civil rights, more than a must read.

MIRACLES ON THE WATER: THE HEROIC SURVIVORS OF A WORLD WAR II U-BOAT ATTACK

Average customer rating:

Very Impressive
Couldn't put the book down
Should be Required Reading for History Class!
High Seas Heroism
Moving, Powerful, Thought-Provoking: Non-fiction at its finest

MIRACLES ON THE WATER: THE HEROIC SURVIVORS OF A WORLD WAR II U-BOAT ATTACK
Tom Nagorski
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1401308716
Release Date: 2007-03-14

Book Description

Ghost Soldiers meets The Perfect Storm in the remarkable true story of the sinking of the S.S. City of BenaresIn September 1940, ninety lucky English children were placed aboard the S.S. City of Benares by their parents, bound from Liverpool to Canada. They were pioneers in a program designed to spirit British children from their war-ravaged homes to safer shores. But they had no way of knowing that in the darkness of September 17, a German U-boat would sink their ship, tossing them and the other 316 people on board into a rough, gale-driven sea. How any of them survived is a miracle. Journalist Tom Nagorski's stirring account, based on interviews with survivors including his own great-uncle, brings their saga to light for the first time.

Customer Reviews:

Very Impressive.......2007-10-01

I have been delving into WWII books a lot this year, and this is the most impressive story of courage and survival. The narrative is engaging, the book is extremely well-researched and I remained engrossed throughout the read. The book mainly focuses on the plight of 13 people (mostly children)who end up in a lifeboat for over a week. It is a powerful story of courage, humanity and the will to survive. I reads like fiction, so the story is captivating.

Couldn't put the book down.......2007-09-17

I just finished reading "Miracles on the Water" and I'm slightly embarrassed to say I lost three hours of my day today to finishing this book. Once I reached a certain point, I couldn't put it down. I found the stories heartbreaking and couldn't imagine what it would be like to be a survivor or one of the members of the families at home, unaware of what was happening to their family members. The hope and faith that was displayed by the survivors, especially the children, is amazing and a reminder to us how lucky we are in our every day life. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs reminded of situations when the true goodness in people comes out.

Should be Required Reading for History Class! .......2007-07-11

I heard the author interviewed on NPR and had to get this book; from the first page I was not disappointed. It's about a ship carrying British children to Canada to escape the bombings in London that's attacked by a Nazi sub. The anxieties of the war and the dangers in London and the Atlantic are palpable. The bravery of the children is overwhelming and inspirational. Although a tear jerker, this is a great true story that needed to be told.

High Seas Heroism.......2006-12-22

"Miracles on the Water" has all the elements of great adventure stories--a luxury liner torpedoed late at night; young children racing to lifeboats; and survival six hundred miles from land. This is a survival account well worth telling, and Nagorski (a relative to one of the survivors) gives it justice.

In 1940, as World War II settled in for a long dreary fight, families in London faced nightly ings by Hitler's Luftwaffe. Stay and be killed? Or send the children to other countries for safety? These questions faced staunch British souls. Through this book, we understand the drama of their decisions, and the resulting nightmare for numerous families when they discovered that the liner carrying their children across the Atlantic had been sunk. The real story, though, is the heroism and endurance of those who survived the attack--and a few who didn't.

Like previous survival accounts, such as "The Perfect Storm" and "Into Thin Air," this is a story that highlights the strength of the human spirit and the costly effects of muddled bureacracy. Why was the liner left unprotected, for example, when there were reports of a German U-boat in the area? While "Miracles on the Water" never reaches the narrative pace of the fore-mentioned books, it does serve as a reminder to those of us raised in a glutted western culture that we should always count our blessings.

Moving, Powerful, Thought-Provoking: Non-fiction at its finest.......2006-10-16

I've been recommending this book to all my friends, saying it is as engaging (if not more so!) than Junger's "A Perfect Storm" and Krakauer's "Into Thin Air," but minus the show-off testerone. Nagorski's book touched my heart like few non-fiction books ever have--there were times I literally threw my arm out to try to grab one of the children falling overboard or being tossed around by waves! It is so thoughtfully well researched--the mood of the early war years is conveyed so well--yet Nagorski doesn't bog down the story with extraneous details. Only incredibly human, poignant, insightful ones that drive this narrative so masterfully. Bravo!

American Sea Power in the Old World: The United States Navy in European and Near Eastern Waters, 1865-1917 (Contributions in Military Studies)

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American Sea Power in the Old World: The United States Navy in European and Near Eastern Waters, 1865-1917 (Contributions in Military Studies)
William N. Still
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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