Agencies

This book does not offer an objective analysis of service learning. It is written by proponents of such pedagogy in order to promote it.

The major problems:

Related to the issue of objectivity, there are literally hundreds of student quotes sprinkled liberally throughout this book; none are hostile to the project of service learning. As a teacher who has had students participate in such projects for the last five years, I can assure you that the authors simply chose to not include students' harsh assessments of their service learning experiences.

The authors repeatedly criticize traditional instruction methods, and then cite studies supporting their views. When you look up the citations, you find that those authors are also true believers in service learning. No critical voices are treated seriously.

The authors again and again extol the benefits of "learning by doing", and denigrate other, more traditional, academic practices. Isn't writing a formal paper, however, a form of learning by doing? It is applying and using knowledge in a creative way, but the authors are clearly not interested in such assignments--at least not to the extent that they could replace or challenge the dominance of "service" in terms of "learning by doing." My favorite quote from the book in this context is the following: "Students who are by temperament active learners may be less than enthralled by writing, but some noted that in spite of the work of sitting down to write, this was a productive process..." This is classic educratese: when you have a poor writer, you label him/her an "active learner by temperament"; and when the writing assignment turns out to be productive, this is treated as a news flash. Obviously, education majors don't do much serious writing.

Perhaps the most seriously for those of you thinking of implementing service learning in your classes, this book offers no analysis of which types of courses work best with service learning, and which do not. The authors repeatedly use the "soup kitchen" and "homeless shelter" examples, as though those placements would be of use to a course on Greek history or Organic Chemistry. One striking sentence in this context is the following: "Finding service that roughly matches course content is fairly straightforward." As an instructor with much experience in this field, I can tell you that this is just not true. Further, this quick sentence is the beginning and the end of their discussion of finding good placements.

This book shows why Education departments are widely considered among academics to be of generally poor quality.

For years, many educational researchers and practitioners have been looking for research that helps us understand how the engagement of students in service-learning activities - community service activities that are integrated with academic learning - affects students' learning. Based on the findings from two large service-learning research studies, the book presents a comprehensive discussion of the dimensions of "learning" and then provides a thorough analysis of how service-learning affects the development of each dimension. This well-written and thought-provoking book provides important answers to the most asked question in the field of service-learning: Where's the learning in service-learning? This book is certainly one of the best books in the field of experiential education. I highly recommend it for any interested in understanding how active learning pedagogies, such as service-learning, affect students' learning. Although the book focuses on students in higher education, the findings from Eyler and Giles's research have implications for understanding how service-learning affects K-12 students.

I did not know what to expect with this book. It was dealing with a good amount of history 20 -40 years old, what more and new could be said. I also have found that with many books that probably needed some help in the translation you get a more dry writing style. I was please when both of my assumptions turned out not to be correct. The writer provides some interesting information and his writing style is not wooden. As in any biography you have the expected chapter on the childhood years of the character so nothing new here and for me it could have been left out. There were some interesting facts about growing up in the USSR, but nothing worth 20 some odd pages. The real value to me came from the descriptions of some of the work the author's father performed as the second in command of what came to be known as the KGB.

If you have covered some of the history of he KGB, there are some interesting points in this book that could fill in or contradicted information from other books. You have a life of what most would call dirty double-crossing others in the top of the government, KGB and military. On of the interesting view points was from one of the guys doing the work on the military purges that took place with Stalin. It was rather amazing that the authors father did not also fall to the ax, but that must be a testament to the secure position he had behind Berga (SP?). This is an interesting book, but probably only for people that have a strong interest, this in not as exciting as the dusk jacket tries to make it out and if you do not have at least a general knowledge of the organization and history involved then you will miss a lot of the value of the book.

Kaganovich was an utterly evil man without redeeming characterists. He was responsible for far more deaths than Hitler.

He was selfish, cared only about his career. He purged the Ukraine, the railroads, heavy industry - sent millions to their death.

This program is addressed to the needs of the multiple line agency --- property & casualty, plus individual life insurance. If that is the type of agency you are interested in running then this material will apply to you --- otherwise, most of it probably won't. The material itself is decent, but I have one major complaint:

This is supposedly a four cassette program. However, the cassettes are so EXTREMELY SHORT that all of the material could easily have fit onto one tape. If you do decide to buy this program, you need to know in advance that you are buying one cassette's worth of material needlessly spread out onto four cassettes --- because if you're expecting four tapes' worth of information, then you're in for a disappointment.

If you are interested in running a multiple line insurance agency, and you would like to hear what Troy Korsgaden has to say, I would recommend reading his book, "Power Position Your Agency," instead. In my opinion, it's a much more straigtforward purchase --- you buy one book, and you get one book's worth of information.

This info could have been condensed into two cassettes, but it would be difficult to charge $... for only two tapes. Save your money and buy Korsgaden's, "Power Position Your Agency". Same info with more detail and a lot less expensive.

If you know anything at all about Troy Korsgaden, you should be aware that he is a multi-line agent, so yes these tapes do address the multi-line agency. While the book is fantastic (I highly reccomend) the tapes are great to listen to while on the go. There is some information on the tapes you don't get from the book. Personally, I have both and tend to re-read / re-listen to them often, as the information given can be applied daily to your agency.

Consider this to be a sort of consumer's guide to the three Hanssen books on the market, from one who's read them all . . .
1.THE BUREAU AND THE MOLE has a good photo section but no index or bibliography, both essential in my opinion. Half of it is a bio of Louis Freeh, who should hang his head in shame rather than be credited for uncovering Hanssen. The sex revelations are here, but unless you like pornography I advise you to skip the part about Hanssen's postings on the internet. Still, the information about Bonnie Hanssen's brother--an FBI agent--who suspected him and was ignored is almost worth the price of the book. Four stars.
2. THE SPY NEXT DOOR has an index but no photos and no bibliography. The writing is a little wooden and there are little mistakes like getting the church where the Hanssen's were married wrong. They have some sex stuff too, but thankfully no internet ramblings. A workmanlike job that reads like a Time magazine cover story.
3. THE SPY WHO STAYED OUT IN THE COLD has photos, a bibliography, and an index. It's also about 30 pages longer than the other two. Alas, no sex though the chapter on the stripper runs for some 12 pages and is titillating.It's the most complete with its biggest scoop being that Hanssen told friends he wanted to be a double agent long before he joined the FBI and thus should have never been hired. Four-and-a-half stars.

I have always been interested in stories of espionage and betrayal. Six years ago I read two books on Aldrich Ames, who was Robert Hanssen's predecessor in the CIA.
This account is dense, and focuses deeply on Hanssen's motivation, particularly his ties to a little known organisation within the Catholic church. It's not surprising then, that the group's friends and sympathisers are howling elsewhere on this page.
A review in the November 20th Washington Times called this book "a meticulous account" and I would have to agree. The best single praise I can give is it kept me turning the pages like any good thriller. Unfortunately--and that is what is so appalling--this story is true. Hanssen's crimes seem even worse in the aftermath of September 11th. The nuclear secrets he sold to the Soviets were likely sold to Iran and Iraq and God knows who else. At least that is what I have read. Hanssen should have known that when he was hiding packages under bridges,and pretending to be James Bond.His betrayal is to his country AND his family.

Let me say I was shocked to read this book and how this guy spied for so many years, was a very devout catholic and supported a hooker on the side and nobody including his wife and co-workers caught on. That is amazing.

Now getting to the book review - 4 stars - compelling story, well researched, it all flows together. Havill does a nice job of bringing some facts together and making a smooth running story. It borders on being a page turner, but not quite.

Excellent if you like thus stuff. Recommend buying.

Jack in Toronto

I agree with the previous reviewer, so you don't need to read this review any further if you don't want to. Kim Philby's personality is evident in this book and will therefore be a useful aid to anyone doing a psychological study. The usefullness will not come from what he reveals but in what he does not reveal and how he does not reveal it. This man is a true spy. A concealer and obfuscator at heart, this book is all smoke and mirrors and no substance. It's a whole lot liek the PR from movie stars and the White House. The words never really answer your question because as is the case in this book, it never takes one to the heart of the matter and fails to satisfy the curiosity, which I guess, is the reason why anyone would buy this book. Forget it. You don't find anything out. In the first few pages he tells you straight off (because, as the previous reviewer said, he is more intelligent than us) that he won't be telling us how and why he was contacted by the communists. Need I say more. THAT is the thing that I wanted to know. Thank god, I got this book from the local library. Back it goes, mostly unread.

There is precious little excitement between the pages of "My Silent War" to titillate the reader. We should remember that no spy worthy of the name would sit down and bare his soul, spilling trade secrets. Philby is no exception. Very little is revealed in "MSW". There are 3 points of minimal interest: The first is to observe how Philby jockeys and maneuvers for position in a competitive bureaucracy-the British Secret Service. That would be the same Secret Service he sold out. The second is a surprisingly strong introduction, which gives the plot context that Philby failed to provide. The third entails his brief station in Washington (circa 1950) as head of British counter-intelligence in the US. The noose closes in on fellow spies Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and the author himself. (Suspicions again arise about his '"loyalty" upon his return to England.) No point justifies the purchase price! The bottom line is that Kim Philby was a hard core Communist spy in the best Cold War tradition, He was a traitor to his country. He broke into small pieces whatever oaths he gave to England and his Queen. Added to that mix is his overtly snide contempt for his readers. (He is so much smarter than we are, you know). The best example of this is on page 193 when under suspicion in England and evading his surveillance, he meets clandestinely with his Russian handlers. "What passed there", we are informed, "is of no concern to the reader". No concern? Then why reveal the incident all! What a conceited little snob! The British have a word for books like this: "RUBBISH"!

Kim Philby's "My Silent War" may give a lot of insight into the British intelligence establishment during Philby's employment there, but it doesn't tell us much about Philby, his motives, his inner life, and the reality of what it was like to live a hidden life for so many years.

Philby was a hotshot spy for MI 6 and may have had a significant impact, for good or bad, on that agency's success or lack of it. However, Philby plays his one motives and life pretty close to the chest. Kim Philby's "Silent War" doesn't provide the look at the man I'd like to see.

A disappointing book, so convoluted even the most devoted conspiracy theorist could not follow all the twists, turns, and double-crosses. This would be fine if this was a novel, but it is portrayed as fact.
In addition to a host of Agency officers that the author accuses of being Soviet spies (all conveniently dead, making a lawsuit for libel unlikely), the author claims that a string of Soviet defectors were all in fact directed and controlled by the Soviets in a plot of such deviousness that even the author does not seem to understand it - and the reader certainly cannot. Oleg Penkovsky, the best Western penetration of the Soviet Union during the entire Cold War, is described (with no proof offered for the claim) as being directed by the Soviets as part of a bizarre effort, never adequately explained, to bring about Khruschev's downfall.
The author's accusations rely primarily on "secret" Russian intelligence files, although he never says how he got them nor provides any proof that they even exist, and the suspicions of James Jesus Angleton, whose information and assessments were, according to the author, so consistently wrong the reader is left wondering how the author can then turn around and rely on Angleton and his disciples so completely. As for the author's own level of "expertise" on the CIA, an indication of the depth of his knowledge can be found on Page 192, when the author, attempting to demonstrate the extraordinary level of secrecy surrounding a newly approved assassination program directed by the famous William Harvey, writes:
"The CIA was never mentioned by name in any ZR/RIFLE documents or oral communications; instead, Harvey mandated that the Agency be referred to as KUBARK."
That sentence alone would be enough to induce hysterical laughter in any Agency veteran. Among the author's credits is employment as an "investigative reporter" for Penthouse magazine. It shows.
Readers interested in this subject would be better advised to read "Molehunt," "Wilderness of Mirrors," or even "Blonde Ghost."

I could not put this book down. I kept reading it as if it was a fictional thriller, and kept having to remind myself that everything in this book--double agents/triple agents, moles, bribes, murder--is absolutely true and a part of the history of the CIA/FBI. I read this book well before the events of September 11, but it now seems particularly compelling (yet frightening) as the CIA and FBI try to rebuild themselves. If you want to be an informed American--or just want a riveting read--get this book! See for yourself what this book is about!

There's a wealth of previously unavailable information here. This history explains a lot about our current relations with other countries. A must read for anyone interested in history and the truth.

I'm only 1/3 the way through this book and I have a hard time believing this story. Robert's brushes with danger read too much like a bad script to a "007" film, from motorcycle and car chases to his harrowing flight into Cuba with David Ferrie. In another chapter Robert is tortured by Cuban intelligence in his hotel room. This of course, only after he satisfies another one of his lovers. Many of those cast in the book are familiar characters, but Robert's interaction and dialogue with these people often comes across as quirky.

This book comes across as an exercise in self-indulgence and delusion and I doubt I will finish it.

Although this book is very interesting, I found it very hard to read. I got very sick very quick of the author talking about how he had an affair on his wife, how smart he was and what he did to hold all these very important government deals together.

I think that if even a part of this is true however, that this is very scary. There is a lot of information about the underhandedness of the CIA and other government officials and how much of this led to JFK's death.

If you can concentrate on the story and get past the self bragging, this book is very interesting and disturbing. However, for me, the constant self importance of this author got old fast.

The main complaint the people below seem to have against Morrow is his arrogance and so-called encounters with women (this is a normal trait for many in that line of work anyways). If you get past that, the book has much infomation and details of the political and intelligence perspective/views of that time. Morrow's dealings with the underworld is quite interesting, and his chapters on the Kennedy brothers is very revealing. If Morrow threw in a few "007-ish" parts to beef up the story a little, just take it in stride. But the information he shares about the D.C community and main figures of that era is quite fascinating. I definitely recommend this book if you have any interest in JFK assassination history.

It doesn't give any tips for non custodial parent

I am a noncustodial parent who has made some serious mistakes on my case. While no book can correct these mistakes, I now know how to avoid them in the future & to handle the problems I have now. My mistakes? I paid cash for child support, I lost my job & didn't know I could have the order modified downward, I lost my driver's license before I learned how to make payment arrangements & get it back. All in all, it was a very informative guide & easy to read. I highly recommend it to all parents who have to deal with government child support enforcement agencies.

As a non-custodial parent this book has been extremely informative. I now know my rights and how this agency operates. It has kept me from making some serious mistakes, and all without consulting an attorney. I've also recommended it to my sister who is a custodial parent since I feel the book does well in covering both sides of the issue. We both give it five stars!

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, US Defense Contractors were also on the verge of collapse, that is until someone had the bright idea of privatizing the government. Current government privatization efforts have resulted in huge contracts costing the American taxpayer double and triple the cost of the original government employees. This book is a Conservative Pipe Dream, a guide to a fantasy bureaucracy that never existed, and a bomb that has totally disrupted the efficient operation and security of the Federal Government.

This is a must read for any citizen who is tired of business as usual bureaucracy. However, published in 1992 and not updated, it merely gives us a snapshot of discontent and a few forward thinkers at the beginning of the last decade of the last century. You can not effectively chart the concepts in their book to the trends of today without indepth analysis. Are the politicians really taking notice and "reinventing government" or is it just the usual bait and switch shell game where Washington professes to be turning 180 degrees when in actuality their compass is stuck. With 27 years in the military I still see us doing the same old stupid stuff, with some inovation around the edges. What seems to drive government these days is lack of revenues which forces changes to lesser programs so they can retain the funding for the core "stupid" projects. I also think they underestimate the absolute apathy of a significant majority of Americans. Why change when nobody cares. I am not as optomistic as the authors.

Firstly, let me say that I agree with most of the other readers when they write that this book was neither academic nor "reinventive". I will say that this was strictly an idea book, a motivator to the masses. So long as one doesn't expect emperical research, evenhanded arguements, or even updated conclusions, they are fine. When reading this book, don't expect, nor should you expect, to be handed ideas on a platter to run with. Rather, they present the optimum view of their vision. Whether it is right, wrong or impossible, they put forth thoughts that could spark change. The change that I am speaking of is not a grand sweeping motion that will forever alter the government, but rather pieces of an idea. Even if these particular ideas are not implemented, the chances of them sparking new ways of approach or implementation are greater.

In reading this book, I didn't take what the writers wrote verbatum, but I did begin to think about what I, as an individual, could do in my organization to make a difference. That is the target audience. These authors didn't write this book for the scholars or for the world of academia, but rather for the practical administrator in the field. Read this recomended book with above information in mind. If anything, it will be an interesting one.

If you like tables, charts, graphs, and maps, this is not the book for you. Everything in the book is available for free on the CIA website. Check out the website before you decide to buy the book, so you can see how little (in the way of anything interesting, useful, or detailed) the book offers.

In 1995, my high school history teacher gave me a copy of the World Factbook. It has information about every area in the world including all UN Members, colonies of nations (Puerto Rico, Aruba, American Samoa), and areas under dispute (West Bank, Gaza Strip, Taiwan, Western Sahara), and the five oceans. I have used the book for six years since then. This leads us to this edition. This edition is in black and white. Because of this flaw, you cannot tell the colors in the various flags. The publisher left out a series of maps that are published in the back of the Factbook. Despite what the publisher says, this leaves the Factbook imcomplete. Another flaw is that the publisher dates the previous years Factbook with the next years date. This could leave users confused. A previous reviewed faulted this edition for having the former Yugoslavia as 'Serbia & Montenegro'. There is a reason for this. Until his ouster in 2001, the US Government did not recognize the former government of Slobodan Milosevic. The CIA, being apart of the government followed suit. You can't fault them for that. The bottom line: go to the CIA site first to preview the factbook before you buy. If you decide to buy, get the Factbook from the GPO and not this flawed edition.

Someone mentioned that the factbook lists a country as "Serbia and Montenegro" instead of as "Yugoslavia" as a big complaint about possible factual errors. Serbia existed long before the name "Yugoslavia" ever existed to be put on a map; and with the dissolution of Yugoslavia (for whatever reason one chooses to explain it), it has become Serbia once again, irregardless of what CNN uses on their news reports.

If we substitute "Wales and Scotland" and "Great Britian" for "Serbia and Montenegro" and "Yugoslavia", those complaints sound rather silly.