1990 Books

This book from my point of view is interesting but far away to be a great book of chess. I mean you will find out the kasparov's true story, at least from his point of view which I consider quite reasonable to believe, but from the side of chess or learning chess by studing games of GM it is not so great as other I have read. Kasparov writes in each game hundreds of variants but forget to explain the reason of those variants (if he does it the explanations aren't too deep) ,what things he or Karpov were thinking to play that or other move and that is the important, at least what I was looking for. This last feature make a book of chess about GM's games a great book or an ordinary one. I watched kasparov analyzing games in My Story video series by Kasparov and it pleased me the way he assessed the games and the position so much that I decided to buy a book of him talking about games played by himself; seeking for something similar but it wasn't at all like I thought. Summarizing, this is not a bad book and you will get something good to improve your chess but there are others better that this one to try for that. From other point of view it is a quite good book even an interesting one to learn the battle history between Kasparov vs Karpov such as the side of the events outside of the board as inside.

The book covers the duels Kasparov had with Karpov starting from the pre-matches era, and then the First abandoned match and finally the Second match which crowned the youngest Champion in history. The book is a part of the ongoing series which promises to cover all the battles between Kasparov and Karpov.

The previous chess books in English namely Kasparov v/s Karpov by Mark Taimanov and Yuri Averbakh and The New World Champion by Kasparov exclusively covered the match that crowned Kasparov in detail while chess lovers were left waiting, with baited breath, for some informed analysis of the abandoned match. The wait is now over after two decades and all the First Match games are covered in detail.

Both rivals were engaged in bitter contests on board as well as off board. Kasparov in his The Unlimited Challenge and Karpov in Karpov on Karpov had their difference of opinions about their rivalry. In the Foreword there is a nice episode about Karpov wanting to visit the imprisoned Kasparov to show solidarity. Kasparov says that this one gesture outweighs all past negative factors. A case of Foe turned Friend.

The second book in the "Modern Chess" series by Garry Kasparov (the world champion of chess between 1985 and 2000 and commonly regarded as the greatest chess player of all time), Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975-1985 Including the 1st and 2nd Matches is an extensive, in-depth analysis of his 1984 and 1985 matches, including an epic contest that lasted six months before being halted "without result" and the 1985 match in which Kasparov became the youngest ever world champion. 76 chess games total are faithfully related in the volume, with helpful black-and-white diagrams; the game narration is interspersed with text concerning a broader perspective on the situation. A handy index of openings and index of games allows for easy reference in this meticulously detailed guide especially recommended for advanced chess players as well as anyone interested in chess history as shaped by the masters.

This book is amazing.

I enjoyed Kasparov's "Great Predessors" series, but didn't read any of them cover-to-cover. I found his "Revolutions in the 70s" to be interesting but not very useful and definitely not entertaining. But this book is a classic that I'll be re-reading in the coming years.
This is the book many of us have been waiting for Kasparov to write for years and years. No one else could have done it like this.

Kasparov gives all the details about his games against Karpov up to -and including- the famous first two World Championship matches. He discusses not only the moves and the ideas, but what was going on behind the scenes. It is a fascinating read and I found it more entertaining than anything Kasparov has written previously.

Warning: Kasparov is famous for his variation-heavy style of annotation that can make you dizzy. He will overwhelm readers with the depth and complexity of his ideas. But if you work through as much as you can (with the help of your computer, of course) you will learn a lot about chess, and about how the greatest player of our time approached the game. This is a collection of the highest level of chess, described by the highest-caliber of player.

But there's more! The book is more than just game annotations; it also has the drama and humanity of the matches included. It is obviously the best match book written by a participant since Tal's amazing "Tal-Botvinnik 1960".

If you want a fascinating chronicle of the what is probably the greatest chess rivalry of all-time, written by probably the greatest player of all-time, then order it. This is titanic chess brought down from Mt.Olympus for us mortals to ponder and enjoy.

Bloom represented an austere (and understandably rare) conservatism that didn't depend on the consolations of religion, or of greed. (The latter approach to political philosophy is sometimes known as "libertarianism.") One surprise (though not, come to think of it, to readers of THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND) is the esteem in which Bloom held Rousseau as a thinker (Rousseau as a person not being admirable by anybody).

I particularly recommend Bloom's acute but enraged critique of John Rawls' A THEORY OF JUSTICE--microsurgery deftly performed with a chainsaw.

I must admit that I am not usually a fan of posthumous essay collections, but this book had some truly wonderful nuggets of wisdom and insight, as well as a great introduction about the man himself (which was my real exposure to Bloom as a man... well, before Ravelstein anyway). I studied under one of Bloom's students at the University of Maine and feel that this was one of the most important influences on my life as a scholar. A truly wonderful read and some very interesting essays about diverse materials.

Bloom represented an austere (and understandably rare) conservatism that didn't depend on the consolations of religion, or of greed. (The latter approach to political philosophy is sometimes known as "libertarianism.") One surprise (though not, come to think of it, to readers of THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND) is the esteem in which Bloom held Rousseau as a thinker (Rousseau as a person not being admirable by anybody).

I particularly recommend Bloom's acute but enraged critique of John Rawls' A THEORY OF JUSTICE--microsurgery deftly performed with a chainsaw.

There are experts at experiencing imaginary superiority, and Allan Bloom illustrates how many ways it is possible for an American professor of the University of Chicago to acknowledge such situations. For philosophical completeness, the book GIANTS AND DWARFS: ESSAYS 1960-1990 includes a translation of Plato's dialogue "Hipparchus or the Profiteer" translated by Steven Forde, in which the question of aim arises early:

COMRADE: The profiteer, Socrates, thinks he ought to make a profit from everything.
SOCRATES: Don't answer me so aimlessly, as though you had suffered some injustice from someone, but pay attention to me and answer as though I asked you again from the beginning: don't you agree that the profiteer knows about the worth of this thing from which he considers it worthwhile to make a profit? (p. 95)

The comments of Allan Bloom, in searching for "profound possibilities of human life" (p. 105) in the origins of political philosophy, also caution us to learn "of the capital importance of the virtue of moderation in the political thought of the ancient authors." (p. 105). Keeping everything political is the surest way of convincing American readers that we are not really talking about saintly characters, so we might easily agree with Socrates "that the one making the reproach is himself of the same sort." (p. 104). Bloom has been leading up to this view in his discussion of Shakespeare's "Richard II." "Knowledge of political things brings with it the awareness that in order for the sacred to become sacred terrible deeds must be done. Because God does not evidently rule, the founder of justice cannot himself be just." (p. 93).

The Preface attempts to explain where Bloom has been coming from, and I appreciate the mention of Nietzsche on the last page of the Preface as a guide to understanding the nature of the intellectual contrasts which this book expects from Lemuel Gulliver, Xenophon, Socrates, Rousseau, Plato, and Leo Strauss. The Address delivered at Harvard University on December 7, 1988, is a prime example of the complex and fascinating psychology of democracy. (p. 13). After Bloom's book, THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND, was a big hit, Allan Bloom became a professor identified with "American anti-intellectualism" for trying to preserve thought about our heritage from the political antielitists seeking a uniform view in the humanities.

At the time of THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND, I was most interested in seeing that book as a failure to consider the intellectual power of rock 'n' roll. GIANTS AND DWARFS contains a translation of Plato's dialogue "Ion or On the Iliad" translated by Allan Bloom, with his discussion of it. The cultural significance of a contest of rhapsodes dedicated to a god was not despised by Socrates, who "often envied you rhapsodes, Ion, for your art. For that it befits your art for the body to be always adorned and for you to appear as beautiful as possible, and that, at the same time, it is necessary to be busy with many good poets and above all with Homer, the best and most divine of poets, and to learn his thought thoroughly, not just his words, is enviable." (pp. 124). Ion is the prize-winning expert at reciting Homer dramatically, but Socrates shows how little this matters by mentioning the other major poets, Hesiod and Archilochus, the former a master of cataloguing the Greek gods in his "Theogony," and the latter, a 7th century BC general ("They'll say I was a mercenary,") who died in battle, who won more fame for the battle about which he wrote a poem in which he dropped his shield and ran away. Bloom found Ion's devotion to Homer shallow. "For Ion, Homer is sufficient, for the sole reason that it is for reciting Homer's poetry that golden crowns are awarded." (p. 141).
The longest explanation by Socrates is about how poems are created "not by art but by divine dispensation, each is able to do finely only that to which the Muse has impelled him." (pp. 129-130). What is most common in a society which has produced a number of poems that exceeds everyone's fantasies is that a single poet will be commonly known for one work, as Socrates says of "Tynnichus, the Chaldean, who never composed any poem worth remembering other than the poem which everybody sings and which is very nearly the finest of all songs, being simply, as he himself says, `a discovery of the Muses.' " (p. 130). Socrates asks about the great dramatic moments, "are you in your right mind? Or do you become beside yourself, and does your soul think it is at the scene of the deeds of which you speak in your inspiration, either at Ithaca, or Troy, or wherever the epic takes place?" (p. 130). Bloom is most aware of the politics of winning approval. "Ion has no satisfactions which are not dependent on the approval of his spectators. He needs the cities as they need him. For political men the accident of where they are born is decisive in limiting their possibilities of fulfillment." (p. 161). Bloom wrote that in 1970, when he still pictured thinking as being the opposite of rock 'n' roll. Rock's answer might be the song, "Analyse" by The Cranberries. See both video versions, plus a live version at Vicar Street, in which she calls the song, "Don't Analyse," on the DVD "Stars."

I was stationed in South Korea at the height of the North Korean Famine 1996-1997 and remember watching South Korean newsreports of the malnurished children. This book told me how this famine came about and helped me to understand what I had heard and seen back then. I recommend this book to all interested in or studying about Korea.

The Great North Korean Famine: Famine, Politics, And Foreign Policy by Andrew Natsios (administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development) is an erudite, well-researched and compelling examination of the famine crisis in North Korea; its roots, its politics, its economics, and its bitter consequences. Straightforward narration renders college-level international problems in terminology the lay reader can easily understand. An appendix includes an op-ed piece by the author, succinctly titled "Feed North Korea: Don't Play Politics with Hunger." A powerful, eye-opening, highly recommended study, The Great North Korean Famine is also available in hardcover (192922334X, $42.50).

As a professional colleague once said about another author, he got the story right but the facts wrong.

This is a difficult book to evaluate. It basically gets the story of the North Korean famine right, but it is misleading or wrong in many of the specifics, starting with the first sentence of the book "In September 1995 the North Korean government, in a rare admission of vulnerability announced to the outside world that severe flooding had devastated its agricultural regions and that subsequent failure had caused widespread food shortages." Narrowly true, perhaps - the government of North Korea may well have made such a statement in September 1995 - but thoroughly misleading. The government of North Korea had publicly admitted it had food shortages and successfully reached agreements with Japan and South Korea to supply emergency food aid in May 1995 - before the floods hit in June. So unless time moves backwards on the Korean peninsula, floods in June could not be the cause of agreements reached in May. As evidenced by the September statement that Natsios uses to begin the book, the flooding proved politically useful to both the North Koreans (the famine was an act of God and not a combination of their own incompetence and malevolence) and to the donor community (easier to supply aid in response to victims of natural disasters than victims of a thoroughly odious regime).

Much of this book is built on such half-truths. In part, this is due to its author's intended or inadvertent tendency to place himself at the center of all events. This gives the book a certain strength: the first-hand accounts -- I visited this orphanage on this date and this is what I observed -- are compelling. But either Natsios is disturbingly self-promoting or simply doesn't know what he is talking about. Time and time again, he makes false claims that he was the first (or the only) participant to see or understand some aspect of the famine. For example, in chapter 4 he makes much of his June 1998 trip to the Chinese border region and interviews with North Koreans refugees there. Not for another 150 pages does he mention in passing that his own colleague at the US Institute for Peace, Scott Snyder, had done the same border trip, interviewed the same refugees, and published a report on this a year earlier. To cite another example, the following chapter argues that no one except Natsios and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen understood that famines are economic phenomenon, and as a consequence everyone misread what was occurring in North Korea. Problem is, two economists, Marcus Noland, a Korea specialist associated with the Institution for International Economics, and Sherman Robinson, an agricultural economist affiliated with the International Food Policy Research Institute, had read their Sen, understood the economic basis of famines, and had produced an economic analysis of the North Korean famine, similar to the one that Natsios lays out in this book, in 1998. Indeed, as in the case of Snyder, Noland and Robinson's work is listed in the reference list - so Natsios clearly new of its existence - though oddly it is never mentioned in the text. I could go on. Individuals are misidentified, private informal emails are quoted as "trip reports" etc.

It is unfortunate that this book is so error-filled, since it is unlikely that another comprehensive account of the North Korean famine will be produced in the near future. Moreover, Natsios has been appointed director of the US Agency for International Development, so his view on these issues counts. But while he got the broad outlines of the story right, he is wrong on many specifics, and one should not regard this book as the final authority on the North Korean famine.

I am very impressed with the new USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios's book "The Great North Korean Famine." If you are a student of famine or interested in what is happening in North Korea, you should read this book. A book like this is hard to come by because information from North Korea is so limited. Gathered and compiled diligently, this is a very well written account of causes and conditions of famine in North Korea that may have killed as many as a couple of million or more people, about 10 percent of the population.

According to the Nobel winning author/economist Amartya Sen (whose book on right-based development I have just read recently), no democratic government has ever let famine happen. Famine is preventable if the government cares about its people.

You should read this book if you are interested in North Korea or on the politics of famine.

The Swedish Sphinx Greta Garbo (1905-1990 was "an enigma wrapped up in mystery" to most people. However, in this out-
standing book you will come to know her for what she is best
remembered for: her movies!
Viera analyses each of Garbo's films from her first silent
feature "Torrent" through to her last talkie "Two Faced Woman."
In between these two films you will:
a. Have a in-depth analysis of each of the films
b. See the secrets revealed of such masters of photography as
William Daniels, Hurrell and Bull who lit Garbo to perfection.
c. Learn of Garbo's torrid and tortured affair with John Gilber
d. Learn about her great director Stiller and her work with such American directors as Clarence Brown and others.
e. Explore the business side of her relationship with MGM
as she dealt with moguls such as LB Meyer and boy wonder Irving
Grant Thalberg,
Viera is a photographer and film historian who makes the life
and career of Garbo come alive after all these years. I have enjoyed his earlier: "Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits" and "Sin in
Sof-Focus" always profiting from the enjoyable hours spent in his
company.
This is an essential book for any Garbo or movie fan of the golden era of Hollywood! A true delight!

This is yet another book for the ultimate Garbo fan. The pictures are absolutely radiant and clear, and even more photos of Garbo that have never been seen before. Vieira's take is an extremely interesting one - taking a close look at each and every film through Garbo's growth of her own true art while intertwining more of the studio politics involved from documentation during the time of every single one of her films. The way he appreciates her for her acting ability is refreshing for any Garbo lover. This book is like the newest drug that makes you even more addicted to watching her movies.
Vieira does have interesting speculations about what was really happening during certain peculiar abscences in her time at the studio, what were the real causes for conflict with Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer, etc., based on letters and documents that were found or not found during his research. Even though you may not be completely swayed some of his suggestions, they are still very intriguing discoveries about her life during her film career and keep the mind wondering about the wonderful and mysterious Garbo.
This book is a must have for anyone even remotely interested in Garbo or this time period of film. Vieira also adds bits of information throughout about cameras and photography from the silent to the sound era - very interesting technical facts woven in about what equipment people working in a large studio at the time were dealing with - not boring in any way shape or form. Thank you Vieira! I highly recommend his other books, too.

U nusually informative survey of Garbo's career with background material on her artistry rather than just her personal life
wonderful pictures

Any book put out by Abrams has my vote and a place on my book shelf. This book on Garbo is no exception. Without reading a word her story is told through the fabulous photographs. A must for fans of classic film, Garbo (obviously!) and photography buffs!

Amazing!

This item was purchased as a gift and as such I will never read it but it was a book that the recepient really wanted.

Travilla became a Hollywood star thanks in large part to his client Marilyn Monroe, gaining fame for his design of her costumes - but his art graced many familiar forms, and Hollywood Costume Design By Travilla provides an excellent display of his original sketches and creations. Monroe fans and Hollywood fans alike will relish this display, lavish with color reproductions of Travilla's art.

This is another well-designed, well-presented book from Schiffer, known for its volumes appealing to collectors of various types of memorabilia. (I also own _Harrison Fisher: Defining The American Beauty_ and Kristina Harris' _Victorian and Edwardian Fashion for Women_ from the same publisher, both high-quality paperbacks.) Travilla may not be as instantly recognizable a name as Edith Head, Adrian or Helen Rose in the field of movie costume design, but his costumes are very definitely ones the viewer will remember. That sexy white dress Marilyn Monroe wore in her most iconic scene, in "The Seven Year Itch"? That's a Travilla design, and his sketch for the outfit graces the dust jacket of the book. The book is full of artwork, much of it in full-page format; photographs, both color and black-and-white, and sketches of notable designs. Travilla's most famous (and, judging from his remarks, his favorite) client, was Marilyn Monroe, but he designed outfits for many other actresses - and a few actors - from the 1940's through the 1980's, starting with Ann Sheridan (whom he became so close to that he nicknamed her "Aunt Annie") and going on to Emma Samms. This book isn't cheap new or used, but take that as a sign of its quality and desirability and do make the investment if you're interested in this field!

This book is so well written! Very entertaining info on the man, the industry & the personalities. Tons & tons of great photos & sketches!

In THE HOT ZONE, Richard Preston has woven epidemiological fact with the terrifying true story of how a strain of the Ebola virus came to the United States. He details various outbreaks of hemorrhagic fevers, traces them to their possible origins, and provides a basic education about viral evolution and forensics, all couched in narratives that will keep you turning page after page. After you have read his graphic descriptions of what happens to people who contract the deadlier strains of Ebola, you will understand fully just how dangerous the Reston, Virginia incident could have been.

With its crisp language and pacing, THE HOT ZONE reads like an expert thriller novel, making its reality that much more horrifying. Not for the faint-hearted, this book will likely alter the way you view viruses and epidemics.

I highly recommend this book for a general adult readership. (Teenagers under 16 may not be able to handle the highly disturbing descriptions Preston provides.) If you haven't read this book before, you should, especially now in this time of bioterrorism and global travel.

I read this book when it was first published and just finished a re-read. I was as fascinated this time as when I first read it in 1989. The author writes in such a way that the average reader can understand the biology of Ebola. It is completely mesmerizing. He is very detailed about the emergence of this deadly virus and how it is spread and by what mode. If you like Robin Cook and Michael Palmer, you will love this, all the more because it is totally true!

The Hot Zone tells the history of ebola and what we know about it. Ebola is a very nasty hemmoragic fever and so, as many people point out, Preston resorts to sensationalism in his descriptions of blood being vomited, sprayed on walls and coming out of victims in every way possible. One strain of the disease, Ebola Zaire, kills 90% of those infected and that is with medical treatment. The book is freaky because the virus is freaky.

The story starts in the late 70's with the first ebola victim, a british man living in north Africa. Preston traces this outbreak of the disease and subsequent cases and chronicles the search for the source of ebola and research on it. The title, The Hot Zone, is a term used to describe areas where research on "hot", or really really bad in layman's terms, viruses are studied. He describes research on site and at the CDC and shows the extent to which the hot zone is kept separate from the rest of the world.

One of the most disturbing events described in the book is the discovery of Ebola Reston in Reston Virginia. This strain of ebola was killing off monkeys in a research facility and because of the mysterious symptoms tissue samples were sent to the CDC. The sample were found to contain ebola. Apparently the strain carried by these monkeys had little effect on people, but an animal handler who had had a cold had antibodies to Ebola Zaire. This demonstrates a close call on a deadly disease moving to a new continent.

The Hot Zone is a good introduction to containment procedures for very contageous diseases for the general public, and makes one think about how fast a disease could spread in our present day world of airplane travel and lots of it. However it is pretty bloody, so not for people who are bothered by that sort of thing.

I read this book because I study biology and microbiology - particularly virology - is a big interest of mine. This is awesome stuff. It's based on true events but flows like a novel, and it's the scariest book I've read in a long time. I like my horror and monsters, ghosts and murderers can't really compare with ebola.

This is a story that's fast-paced but not rushed, based in fact but not swamped in scientific terminology, realistic because it was real, and scary as hell. I read it over a year ago and can still clearly picture the images it evokes.

This book is very good in that it gives the buyer several options to use in buying a new car, and explans all the methods in detail. I ended up paying dealer invoice for my new car.

This book was by far the most valuable one I purchased while I was car hunting. I would reccommend it to anyone who has either no experience or overwhelming exeperience with buying cars, and to read it before they buy their next one. A little dated, but a short read with nothing but the facts you need.

My sister bought this book and saved several hundred dollars at a dealership in Canada and then suggested I buy this book. I bought a Saturn, no haggling, BUT I did learn A LOT about buying a car. There were a few things that I was able to save money on even though it was a Saturn. I have suggested this book to a clerk at Geico and even the person I am dealing with by e-mail in the Customer service dept. at SATURN. The book answers a lot of common sense questions and lets you know about things I NEVER would have thought to ask about. If you are going to buy a car...buy this book first and study it!!!

This is an excellent book - very easy to read and understand. I was amazed at the tricks that salesmen pull and found the advice very helpful. I lent this book to a friend buying a new car and he saved $200 off what he thought was going to be his best deal.

Frank Reynolds has produced a comprehensive interpretation of the global language of international trade in a format that is easily understandable by Americans involved in international commerce. First published in 1936 by the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Incoterms 2000 are the latest revised set of 13 international commercial terms recognized as the standard trade terms of international business.

Used by importers/exporters, they define the roles, responsibilities and obligations of buyers/sellers in transactions involving the international movements of goods and help to eliminate misunderstandings as to the term of trade by which a particular transaction is being conducted. They help define the point at which the responsibilities, risks and obligations of the seller end and begin for the buyer and the required documents that must be generated for official and commercial purposes.

As some of the Incoterms, when defined, may be in conflict with similar terms of sale (such as EX Works, FOB) as used for domestic business and found in the official United States legal code - the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), the author thoroughly explains the difference and highlights the adjustments needed when considering similar Incoterms for international transactions.

The book clearly describes the meaning of each Incoterm, explains the buyer-seller responsibilities under each term and illustrates what a typical pro-forma invoice would reflect on a proposed export transaction. With each Incoterm described, it also offers an American perspective on best practices and recommendations from the author's numerous years of trade experience and his enviable position as the US delegate on the ICC drafting committee that revised the terms that resulted in Incoterms 2000.

Of particular interest especially to inexperienced American exporters, the author offers some very important caveats covering such areas as port customs, insurance considerations, potential confusions in regards to the difference between shipment and delivery terms, the use of appropriate terms that best fit particular transactions, compliance with US Export Control and Incoterm limitations. Although published in 1999, this edition is still up-to-date as the subject matter it addresses is still current as of the date of this review in 2007. Readers may, however, be mindful that the reference made in the publication to the Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credit (UCP500) - the rules that govern letters of credit transactions - will be replaced by a revised set of rules (UCP600) on July 1, 2007.

Since the new UCP600 rules no longer provide for 'revocable' credits, it will no longer be necessary to stipulate in the payment term section of the pro-forma invoice that the letter of credit should be 'irrevocable' as reflected in those relevant sections in Incoterms for Americans. A minor editorial detail of omitting the currency in which costs are reflected in pro-forma invoices on pages 103, 104 and 110 should be French Francs, US Dollars and US Dollars respectively. The author would agree that such seemingly insignificant details of omission would create a discrepancy, delaying payment, in an invoice presented to a nominated bank for a letter of credit transaction.

As one with over 25 years of foreign trade experience, I would highly recommend this well written volume as a desk reference guide for any American foreign trader who desires a working knowledge, understanding and application of Incoterms 2000.

After I first read Mr. Reynold's predecessor book on Incoterms I felt I finally understood this technical topic. The new book, fully revised for Incoterms 2000, follows the same format. Each chapter is devoted to one of the 13 Incoterms so it can be easily digested. Each chapter contains an easy to read scenario of how the Incoterm may be used in a real international trade transaction and how it affects all other phases of the transaction including the ability or inability to collect payment.

The most valuable feature is the ending section of each chapter, entitled "American Perspective." It discusses how Americans should or should not use this particular term, or at least be aware of any caution flags.

Incoterms for Americans is a valuable commentary on an important topic.

I found this book to be full of information. Instead of giving a vague and general outline of the Incoterms (for example, just listing EXW as buyer pays all shipping), Reynolds go full bore into the subject with what if's scenarios, detailed look at each one and tells you how each contract is implemented and the limits of each term. He even put copies of pro formas for some of the incoterms!

Considering the fact that this book is more than half the price of the ICC book and tailored to Americans, I highly recommend it!

No sane person reads about INCO terms for fun, and if your work requires that you understand the details of international quotes & shipping then this is a required reference work. The author, who sat on the international drafting committee, is perhaps as knowledgable on this subject as any American. He also teaches an excellent seminar on the subject.

War may be hell, but waiting for it in a sweltering dockside warehouse or in the mosquito-infested desert is its own form of infernal torment. Thompson, who was among the first U.S. troops sent to protect the Saudi border after Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, vividly describes the confusion, ennui, anger, fear, and occasional satisfactions of a Marine artillery captain caught up in the biggest military campaign since Vietnam. Mixing extensive quotes from his field journals with passages written with a decade's hindsight, Thompson puts the reader into the world of a combat soldier, a universe that shrinks at times to what can be seen with the eyes, heard through the rumor mill, or evoked by letters from home. Here, too, are tales of the fog of war: orders made and countermanded, improvisations brilliant and foolhardy. No one with a historical interest in the Marine Corps' Persian Gulf operations or a personal one in its troops should miss this book.

War may be hell, but waiting for it in a sweltering dockside warehouse or in the mosquito-infested desert is its own form of infernal torment. Thompson, who was among the first U.S. troops sent to protect the Saudi border after Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, vividly describes the confusion, ennui, anger, fear, and occasional satisfactions of a Marine artillery captain caught up in the biggest military campaign since Vietnam. Mixing extensive quotes from his field journals with passages written with a decade's hindsight, Thompson puts the reader into the world of a combat soldier, a universe that shrinks at times to what can be seen with the eyes, heard through the rumor mill, or evoked by letters from home. Here, too, are tales of the fog of war: orders made and countermanded, improvisations brilliant and foolhardy. No one with a historical interest in the Marine Corps' Persian Gulf operations or a personal one in its troops should miss this book.

Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm were a blend of frustration, depression, anxiety and adrenaline rushes. Phillip Thompson captures, with stellar accuracy, the build-up to and conduct of the Persian Gulf War. The reader sees through his eyes how a company grade Marine Corps officer faced family separation, debated the "politicalness" of this conflict, and ultimately served with distinction and courage on the frontlines. The reader can feel the heat of the 120-degree desert, smell the smoke of the burning oil fires and sense the frustration of waiting interminably for the war to begin. This book captured the essence of "my" war better than any other that I've read.

War may be hell, but waiting for it in a sweltering dockside warehouse or in the mosquito-infested desert is its own form of infernal torment. Thompson, who was among the first U.S. troops sent to protect the Saudi border after Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, vividly describes the confusion, ennui, anger, fear, and occasional satisfactions of a Marine artillery captain caught up in the biggest military campaign since Vietnam. Mixing extensive quotes from his field journals with passages written with a decade's hindsight, Thompson puts the reader into the world of a combat soldier, a universe that shrinks at times to what can be seen with the eyes, heard through the rumor mill, or evoked by letters from home. Here, too, are tales of the fog of war: orders made and countermanded, improvisations brilliant and foolhardy. No one with a historical interest in the Marine Corps' Persian Gulf operations or a personal one in its troops should miss this book.

This is an interesting book. Anyone who is interested in an alternative to the right wing talk radio and tv news should seriously consider checking out the Thom Hartmann radio show opposite Rush Limbaugh weekdays at: thomhartmann dot com / showlisten.shtml

Whether democrat, republican, or indepedent, so many of the facts out there are completely ignored by the mainstream media and talk shows. This show is one strong example of an examination of the facts regardless of your political affiliation. I am not affiliated with the show in any way, just struck by the facts so many seem to ignore.

Written by the CIA's senior political analyst on Iraq throughout the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq And The International Oil System: Why America Went To War In The Gulf is a stinging indictment of America's true motives behind its military expeditions to Iraq. To this day no "weapons of mass destruction" have been found in Iraq; Iraq And The International Oil System postulates that the real reason for America's involvement in Iraq is not just to have a source of oil, but to strategically control the oil of the Persian Gulf and arguably the world, Iraq And The International Oil System dissects politics, lies, real motives, the ties of U.S. and foreign oil companies and the wherewhithal of nations to manipulate one another. A sober wake-up call to dark true motives and the desperate need for the truth to come out.

"As of this writing no weapons of mass destruction have been found. And, even if a cache were to be uncovered, can anyone seriously believe that weak, defenseless Iraq ever seriously intended to attack the United States?
No, we really must conclude that it was oil, the need of the United States to control the oil of the Gulf, that sent America to war.
The important thing now to comprehend is why was the oil of the Persian Gulf specifically so important to get control of?
And that is where this book should be a help. . . ."
-from the Preface

Recently I did an extensive college research paper on the connection between oil and the recent Gulf Wars, and of all the books that I used, this one was the most useful. Great for understanding the Iran-Iraq war, the media blitz against saddam in the run up of the first Gulf war, and more. I highly recommend it.

Pelletier, I think, is a bit controversial because he places the blame for the Halabja massacre about equally on Iran and Iraq, but his credentials are impeccable and his version of events is highly plausible.