Agent Books

Girl Friday!

Burn by Black Artemis is a book about a female bail bondswoman named Jasmine Reyes. Jasmine is not your average run-of-the-mill girl; she is a take-charge woman and when she puts up a bond for your release you better make every court appearance or else!

Burn is a well-told street tale which includes social commentaries such as the AIDS epidemic, lack of good quality health care, and the justice system. Take a journey with Jasmine as she chases down bail jumpers, gets in fights, tries to save lives and runs her own business. Risking her life in what is known as a man's job, Jasmine takes to one of her clients, and her mission is to make sure he is returned to society safely.

Several of the characters in this story were very artsy and dramatic; readers could definitely relate to them. Black Artemis deftly incorporates a secondary storyline about street art and the trials and tribulations that some of these groups go through to showcase their creativity via 'tagging' and basically to be accepted.

I recommend this book to young high-school students who are trying to find their way in society today.

Cheryl H
APOOO BookClub

I just finished reading "Burn" this weekend, purposely missing my train stop 'cause I was at the end of the book. "Burn" was a real juicy page-turner. I liked how complex and tough Jasmine was. I loved Felicidad and how she was portrayed - real, multi-dimensional and funny without being the cliched tranny clown. All the characters felt fully realized and the plot was hot! I learned alot about the bail bond business. I could totally see "Burn" turned into a movie.

Reviewed by Ronald J. Martin for Reader View (6/06)


As the reader rides shotgun with bondswoman Jasmine Reyes you follow her life: court appearances, bail jumpers, cigarettes, whiskey, keeping clients in line, love affairs, and office politics are all a small portion of a regular day at Reye's Bonds.

Jasmine is the bail agent with a heart. She believes in second chances and will post bail pro bono for clients with low flight risk and good possibility of rehabilitation.

When Jasmine runs into Malcolm "Macho" Booker, a graffiti writer charged with armed robbery for his theft of spray paint, she gets a wake up call from the past. Macho reminds her of her late twin brother, who was also a graffiti artist and killed himself while in lockdown.

Malcolm is a low flight risk, and has a contract to do his graffiti legally for a local health clinic. So after Jasmine posts the bail and Macho takes off, she has a mystery to solve and $10,000 on the line!

She has a feeling that Malcolm's running away might have something to do with the high rolling humanitarian doctor running the clinic, who might not be as saintly as most think.

This book was a good read and has an ending that ties up the loose ends, which in my opinion is a good writing style. If you like books that tell a story and don't just setup for part two then you won't be disappointed.

Unfortunately some of the social commentary had me groaning out loud. A lot of it was really out of place and seemed to come out of left field (pun intended). For example, discussing the faults of Mayor Giuliani in a book about graffiti is appropriate. He was a big enemy in the world of a graffiti writer and it makes sense to bring it up. On the other hand, having the main character Jasmine discuss with her employee the issue of Gender Identity Disorder and if it exists or not, was a pretty far stretch and didn't advance the plot.

"BURN" takes the reader twisting and turning on a journey that is entertaining and also explores a plethora of social issues.

Please note that this is an ADULT fiction book. Coarse language and adult themes are used. I would recommend it for the 20-30 age range with an interest in graffiti and hip hop.

Bond agent Jasmine Reyes is willing to give anybody a second chance. Her latest client is graffiti artist Macho Booker, who reminds Jasmine of her own deceased twin brother Jason. But when a $10,000 bail is posted, and Macho vanishes without a trace, Jasmine will stop at nothing to find him. But she may have bit off more than she can chew when Jasmine finds out a devastating secret about Macho's employer Dr. Adriano Suarez. Suarez is a modern day Robin Hood providing affordable healthcare to New York's poorest residents. But he doesn't want his questionable practices exposed or for Jasmine to find out how much he's connected to Macho's disappearance. Jasmine also has her own personal issues when her past demons slap her in the face.

Burn is an ambitious and innovative novel by Black Artemis. Artemis tackles many issues in the novel such as affordable health care, HIV/AIDS, and the justice system. I really like the excellent character development in this novel. I thought that Jasmine Reyes' profession as a bond agent was a refreshing and unique change from other women protagonists. Incorporating the whole graffiti culture into the story was not only entertaining but enlightening as well. This novel also shows how one's past mistakes can catch up to them when you least expect it. Burn is full of breathtaking, real life drama that pulls no punches. Black Artemis knows how to tell a story and helps us to open our eyes to a culture we might not have known to exist.

The basic idea is accomplished. But there are, out of date chemoteraphy protocols.

I found the book to be a complete, concise reference that was easy to read and an excellent resource. A small book but well worth the money.

The Cancer Chemotherapy Handbook has been extremely useful to me in doing preclinical laboratory work, which requires a working knowledge of current clinical practice. Sections include an alphabetically arranged section of chemotherapy drugs and biological response modifiers with detailed descriptions, a section of current treatment protocols arranged by cancer type, and sections on pain, toxicity, etc. in addition to useful tables. All of this information comes in a small paperback making it very convenient to carry with you.

This continues to be the premiere source for chemotherapy information. It is very well organized and easy to navigate. All the information is current and timely. The compact size makes it easy to take with you for use whenever it is needed.

This is a wonderful collection. There is a simplicity and freshness in her style as opposed to so many other poets writing obscure verse today. The best thing I liked about her is the sincerity her poems exude. It is charming.

Green Red and Amber has an imagery that is sensuous and charming. I came across it in a book store in the city of Calcutta in India and was greatly impressed. Would love to read more of the author. The pulse of the book is vibrant with images and feeling. I enjoyed the simplicity and philosophy. (August 24 1993)

The Green Red and Amber is a highly sensitive and perceptive book by so young an author. There is a certain freshness about it that takes the reader by surprise. I loved its naive simplicity. It's a pity it is out of print.

Green Red and Amber is a very well written collection of poems by a young author. It is sensitive and perceptive which I think is one of the best qualities of a poet. I love its naive simplicity.What a pity it is out of print now!

I almost didn't buy this book after reading Hodgson's review, but I'm glad I did, because it may not be thick but what it contains was clearly missing in Daniel Leab's book: Balance. As a college instructor myself, I know how left wing we tend to get in our ivory towers, but Leab's book goes so far out of it's way to present the liberal spin of an historical event, it's embarrassing. Fortunately, Payne's isn't quite as biased as Leab-- he does spot significant flaws in Cvetic whereas Leab can find nothing but flaws. But history clearly supports the truth of Cvetic's basic claims-- even if sensationalized, American communists were receiving secret funds and direction from the Soviets to destabilize the US. That's criminal whether you support free enterprise or not. Cvetic provided names, dates, specific schemes, and nearly 100 pounds of snatched Union documents to prove it.

No one doubts that some innocent people got hurt in the crossfire. They do in every war, including the cold war. However, to suggest the FBI and counter intelligence agencies (including Cvetic) were just running witch hunts is factually false. It's funny in a way. Payne succeeds in less than 80 pages to do what Leab can't accomplish with hundreds of poison penned pages... To convince readers his basic opinion of Cvetic is the historically accurate one. He does so by showing that although Cvetic himself was selfish and flawed, he accomplished a very dangerous and heroic mission by exposing subversive Red activities. I'm beginning to think that anyone who works undercover for years and years will have serious issues. But I'm appreciating their sacrifice more, because regardless of if it's Soviet directed communists, the American Mafia, or yes, even Islamic terrorists, you often need a "stool pigeon" to catch the criminals who are experts at exploiting our freedoms in order to hurt us.

A thin book retorting the criticism of Matt Cvetic, famous FBI informant who worked inside the Pittsburgh area Communist Party for nine years. Cvetic testified against the CP a month after Joe McCarthy made his charge that there were over 200 communists in the Federal government helping to direct policy. Warner Bros. made a film of Cvetic's life entitled I Was A Communist For the FBI. There was also a radio show. "Gus" Payne makes the point that Cvetic's personal life and attributes have no bearing on the validity of what he reported to his FBI handlers (Cvetic drank, loved publicity, and smacked women around). Furthermore, Payne argues, Cvetic's character was not out-of-the-ordinary for a spy: gift of gab, narcissistic, hooked on the exhilaration of living a secret life, suffering periodic attacks of nerves, and (after his cover was lifted) bathing in the limelight of how slick he was. The FBI paid Cvetic the last seven years he was undercover, and Payne argues that this was only right considering the sacrifices and danger Cvetic endured for many years. His family practically disowned him, his mother died still thinking he had gone communist, and there was a real danger he would be found out and murdered. In the end Cvetic delivered to the FBI over 300 names of active members and conspirators, CP legers, and the names of dummy communist front organizations.
One does not need to read Cvetic's book to enjoy Payne's evaluation of it. Payne explains thoroughly and quotes widely from Cvetic. Payne leans to the right politically, but-like it or not-communist spy rings did indeed run roughshod through the country for ten years. They got going well by the middle 1930s and did not come under intense investigation until after WWII ended. Meanwhile the spy rings helped get Russia the atomic bomb. Cvetic's book-as well as Herb Philbrick's I Lead Three Lives-is a worm's eye view of B level Communist Party workers in the trenches, directed by secret cabals of elites, striving for the success not of communism but of the Soviet Union. This was a quick but interesting read. I recommend it.

40 years after Matt Cvetic's death, and long after Cvetic was forgotten in the public mind, Daniel Leab's's hardcover, "I Was a Communist for the F.B.I: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic" stands as the definitive biography. Payne's slim little tome (published through vanity-press publisher AuthorHouse) however reads like someone who was a secret admirer of Cvetic, and just couldn't stand to see Leab have the last word.

It seems like Payne started out with the idea of writing an apolgia or a eulogy, but once he get rolling can't help but confirm all that had been said about the man. A Poor Man's James Bond FBI wannabe (think: Incrediboy) whose gonzo-like independent 'investigations' made him too much of a gadfly for the FBI to ignore, Cvetic rode the coattails of Sen. Joseph McCarthy to fame with only a few crumbs of funding from the political right. By stretching his threadbare FBI connections, the former salesman and low-level government employee got the attention he was looking for and stretched his particular brand of anticommunist agitprop into a career long before pundits like G. Gordon Liddy and Ollie North would do the same.

Payne's book doesn't add much to the story of Cvetic, and its lack of footnotes, unaccredited attributions and mantra-like commentary ('Cvetic risked his life for Nine Years investigating the Communist Party' appears over and over again) makes one wonder what the point is. To the author's credit, Payne makes little attempt to cover up Cvetic's many flaws - although the overall effect is rather sad. ("He was a drunk, a womanizer and a self-promoter - but he was patriotic, and he never got rich!") I imagine the tone might have been different if Leab's well-researched book hadn't been published first.

The last half of the book (and I do mean half - pages 40 through 80) contain mostly speeches of the day unrelated directly to Cvetic and "random thoughts" about the McCarthyistic climate of the time. Purely filler, but interesting - it's not pretty sticking up for the times of HUAC and McCarthy, and the author doesn't try to.

I have read other accounts of Matt Cvetic of Pittsburgh as undercover FBI agent 1941-1950 for the FBI but this is the only one that respects the man for what he did. He risked his life and family life for the sake of his country but is portrayed as a money hungry boozer by some authors. I really appreciate what this author did.

Since I wrote a bad review for Nobody Dies In A Casino, I thought I ought to write a good one for this book, since I really enjoyed it. (I still don't like the casino one though.) I read this in one night so I know I liked it. I like Libby too and would like to see her in more of these books. She's almost as funny as her mom. Read it...it's a little farfetched in spots but who cares if you are enjoying the story!

When California literary agent Charlie Green begins her vacation by shutting off the phone and putting out the cat, she also finds the body of her neighbor slumped in his SUV. Charlie has a track record for stumbling over bodies, so she automatically becomes the prime suspect. This in turn leads to a wild ride through suburban Long Beach with a killer stalking her condo complex. Add dangerous secrets, hidden cash, a strategically placed bomb, a temporary loss of hearing, and a stint in jail, there is no getting around the fact the for Charlie, vacations can be murder! Killer Commute is a compelling, dynamic, page-turner of a mystery from first to last!

This really is a pretty long, boring commute. The traffic doesn't move much, and the road takes the reader through a whole lot of over-complicated and over-decorated scenery. Not to overdo the metaphor (but why not? Marlys Millhiser certainly does) I felt as though I were stuck in traffic, looking out my car window while a group of strangers hurried past me. I didn't care about them, and they didn't stop long enough to include me in the events. Add to that a gimmicky prose style, a virtually unintelligible dialogue, and a synthetic and twisted plot--and you have this novel: a perfectly awful journey that couldn't end fast enough. Avoid the drive.

Long Beach, California literary agent Charlie Greene looks forward to her week-long vacation away from an assortment of naughts and the KILLER COMMUTE to her Beverly Hills office. Last year's trip to Vegas tuned into a fiasco (see NOBODY DIES IN A CASINO). This time heeding the advice of her nosy elderly neighbor Mrs. Beesom, Charlie plans to stay home and chill.

However, on the eve of her vacation Charlie and Mrs. Beesom discover the murdered corpse of Jeremy Fielder. The lead detectives Amuller and Mason suspect Charlie, whose CA (criminal activity not commercial activities) includes involvement in several homicides in several different western states. Adding to the confusion is no paper trail seems to exist for Jeremy and his neighbors soon realize they no nothing about him except he always seemed to help them. Trying to salvage her vacation and remove the cops from her life, Charlie begins her own brand of inquiries not cognizant that a killer will murder again if necessary.

KILLER COMMUTE is the usual Charlie Greene amateur sleuth tale filled with irony and amusing nonsense that feels real. This makes for a fun reading experience. Charlie, her neighbors, her daughter, and the cats make the "compound" seem genuine by adding to the fervor of a wild ride in suburbia. Marlys Millhiser imbues her prime player with a sarcastic (at least with her internal witty asides) satirical look at life that makes Charlie seem more like her audience than most protagonists do. With outrageous humor and a penchant for deadly vacations, this Greene entry is one of the better novels in an entertaining on-going series.

Harriet Klausner

No Backup: A Female Agent's Life
in the FBI©
by
Rosemary N. Dew and Pat Pape

A fascinating read which combines the personal experiences of Special Agent Rosemary Dew who spent thirteen years with the FBI. She was in a unique position to gain insight and has produced a detailed analysis of the culture of the FBI and has delved into the reasons behind some of it's more infamous failures. The overall thrust of the book suggests that the FBI's problems reside within the culture of the organization. Rosemary Dew contends that the FBI will continue to be plagued by embarassing episodes,e.g., the mole in its counter intelligence section who was able to escape detection for decades. Approximately half of the book covers one embarassing episode after another which calls into question the ability of the FBI to learn from its own mistakes. In the world described by the author...the agents who warned of suspicious events before 9-11 might have been taken more seriously if they had been working out of a higher status office like New York City. The book is not just a critical analysis of the Bureau but cites specific episodes from the author's life as an agent. She uses these illustrations as a backdrop to suggest why many of the recent problems within the Bureau are the result of long standing practices and norms where the preservation of one's own job within the organization takes priority and common sense seems to be in rather short supply. She describes in painful detail... blatant examples of racism, sexism and harassment which would not be tolerated in modern law enforcement agencies. The FBI is portrayed as a bureacracy which has lost its moral compass while at the same time trying to occupy a higher moral position through a masterful public relations campaign. Rosemary Dew has gone to great lengths to open up her own life and will probably take some heat from those who are sure that the Bureau can do `No' wrong. Definitely, worth the read but disturbing. There have been other books which have exposed the FBI but this one is unique.

Dr. Peter Kassebaum

Dew does share some interesting insights about the FBI bureaucracy but when you get about halfway through the book, you start to get tired of listening to her endless whining and complaining about the organization. It it was that bad, why did she continue to stay there? It would have been more interesting if she gave more details about some of the arrests and what ultimately happened to those high profile people, i.e. the Maryland congressman Robert Bauman who was arrested for child prostitution, and some of the other lowlifes she encountered through the years.

Readers' reactions to this book will be influenced by their expectations. It's not a book about shoot-em-ups and cloak-and-dagger. For me, it's a book about how the FBI institution and individual FBI agents influence each other, and the results. The author argues that the negative behavior and negative attitudes that she experienced in her small part of the FBI world are the same behavior and attitudes that led to major consequences for the entire FBI and the country. I give the book five stars for this insight alone.

Throughout the book, the author reminds the reader of the many outstanding agents she worked with and the outstanding work that the FBI accomplishes. This is not emphasized, because this is not what the book is about. Rather, it's an attempt to analyze what's wrong with the FBI, and how to fix it.

A well-written insider's expose of the immature, "locker-room" mentality that has existed far too long without accountability in what is supposed to be the nation's premier law enforcement and domestic intelligence organization. Dew's first-hand account of her 13 years of enduring illegal, unconscionable treatment from subordinates, peers and superiors saddens me.
The country and those women and minorities who suffered this treatment deserved - and deserve - better from the FBI. We can only hope that this book is read and taken to heart by a new generation of leaders at the FBI.

Amira Hass is a wonderfully perceptive and deeply humane reporter. This book is a collection of her reports from the Occupied Territories, in which we meet individuals who daily experience the humiliations, abuse, violence, frustrations and injustices of living under conditions in which every aspect of their lives is controlled by an occupying military force, while also having to deal with the corruption and injustices of their own civil authorities. Ms Hass spares neither the IDF nor the Palestinian Authority nor the radicals of both sides from criticism, while always revealing the cost of occupation: the lives and dreams of ordinary people shattered, the suffering, the struggles, the anger and yet the human spirit that shows through, hoping and yearning for justice and peace. I was so moved by this book that I bought several copies for friends and asked them to pass them on to their friends after reading it.

Poorly connected review of the uprisings and occupation from 1997 - 1002. Fragmented reading with no obvious direction.

No matter where your loyalties lie in the Israel-Palestine conflict, this book will almost surely make you angry. It is a selection 37 articles and op-ed columns written by an Israeli journalist who was during 1997-2002 chief West Bank and Gaza correspondent for one of her country's leading dailies, Ha'aretz. Her observations of life in the occupied territories cover the years following the Oslo accords and the first two years of the second Intifada. As investigative reporting, her stories focus - sometimes in stomach-churning detail - on the collapse of law and order under the boot heel of Israeli security forces, the negligence and corruption of the Palestinian authority under Yasser Arafat, and finally the obsession for revenge among armed resistance fighters, young, undisciplined, and beyond the reach of reason.

While many may justify the heavy-handed actions taken against Palestinians, and carried out by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), Hass points out over and over the devastating impact on noncombatants - the bulldozing of homes and businesses, the roadblocks, the building of Israeli settlements and the bypass roads for the exclusive use of the settlers, the confiscation of property, the poverty and unemployment, the curfews, the unending disruption of everyday life, the tanks and helicopters, the observation towers, and the "collateral damage" of unarmed civilians wounded and killed.

In one account, a contingent of IDF soldiers invades the apartment of a family to use their home as an observation post for days. In another, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture is taken over by IDF troops for a month, leaving behind not just destruction of its contents but a wasteland of human excrement, urine, and rotting food. A chilling interview with a young IDF sniper reveals the unofficial policy of shooting to kill children as young as 12. While none of this justifies a single suicide bomber, it goes a long way to account for the rage, humiliation, and despair of a people with little or no right to self-determination in their own land. Not objective, Hass admits, but a fair appraisal of Israeli policies that she regards as totally counter-productive.

As an individual who has taken a life-long interest in Israel and the Zionist movement, I was shocked by this book because it has forced me to realize that many of my firmly held beliefs about Israel and Zionism were mistaken. Specifically this book shows that the Israeli government is in many respects guilty of mistreating its Arab citizens, and in doing so creating a type of hopelessness and despair, which explains their suicide attacks on Israel. At the same time the book explains that the Palestine Authority itself is riddled with corruption, and therefore equally unable to satisfy the hopes of its own citizens. This is an important book which should be widely read.

This is another solid and useful book by prolific real estate author Robert Irwin.

This book provides 54 tips for selling your house. It helps you avoid pitfalls and shows you numerous insightful ways to sell your house faster and for more money.

One bit of advice that stood out to me was to fix, and not replace, problems in your house. Irwin provides a list of common house problems, and the cost of both fixing and replacing. His list consists of:

leaky roof - $500 to $1,500 to fix, and $5,000 to $15,000 to replace.
broken furnace - $200 to $1,200 to fix, and $2,000 to $3,500 to replace.
broken air conditioner - $200 to $1,000 to fix, and $1,000 to $3,500 to replace.

In the book, this useful list goes on.

Irwin identifies two good reasons to not replace problems:

1. Buyers won't be able to see the work you've done, and buyers won't pay for what they can't see. If you pay $5,000 to buy a new air conditioning system, the buyer's likely reaction will be, "Great, it's your house and you should maintain it. But don't expect me to pay 10 cents extra in price because you've done work that you were supposed to do."

2. Buyers may not like your replacement choice.

I also really like his section on how to utilize the $250,000 tax exeption when selling your house. This is available to anyone who has lived in a house at least 2 of the last 5 years. Presently, I am fixing up a house that I live in, and I plan to use this exemption. It's a great benefit for both investors and non-investors who sells their home.

Overall, this is a book well worth reading if you intend to sell your house.

This was probably the best of the 5 or so books I consulted. Not sure where the reviewer below is coming from; while the basics were covered, there were a number of savvy and sophisticated tips that would not occur to a first-time seller and that I did not see elsewhere. Chapters 6-10, on negotiations, were particularly useful.

I am planning to sell my house soon and I got about a dozen books on the subject. This one was the best of the bunch (second, believe it or not, was the "Dummies" book!). There is very basic info (curb appeal, etc.) but also some excellent practical advice on timing, how to negotiate the sale, when to bend and when to hold firm. There may be a better book out there on the topic, but I haven't come across it.

Irwin has written numerous books on various aspects of real estate and he has a very good reputation for providing top-notch information and advice.

another waste of time. dont buy this book unless you are totally new to real estate.I dont return books as a practice but i am returning both books by this authur.I am a professional invester there are good books these are not them.

There is a dearth of information on the intelligence operations of the Napoleonic period by any belligerent, which is unfortunate as there were many able practitioners of the art during the course of the wars from 1792-1815. The British were persistent and expert, Alexander of Russia understood the uses of treason and subversion, Napoleon, and some of his principal subordinates, Davout, Desaix, and Savary among them, knew the value of intelligence, especially strategic intelligence and how to procure it, and were also expert in the art, Napoleon also being one of the best practitioners of the corollary, counterintelligence.

In this book the author has done yeoman work in assembling information, much of it unpublished before, that traces the development of the British side of the coin, and how they worked against France during the period, and against anyone else who went against or were perceived as subverting the interests of the British crown.

The text itself is difficult to get through and, in my opinion the writing style is somewhat stilted and confusing at times. It should be noted, however, that the subject area is difficult and the cast of characters quite large.

Some of the references used, however, are dubious, in my opinion, when the author ventures outside of her area of expertise. The use of Schom's biography of Napoleon, Thiers' History of the Consulate and Empire, the memoirs of the Duchesse d'Arbantes, and those of Gabriel Ouvrard are not either accurate or helpful and may not give a balanced picture of France under the Consulate and Empire, nor of Napoleon himself.

The adventures of that elusive British sailor, Sir Sidney Smith are well documented and told, and are quite fascinating. The web of intrigue that was Revolutionary France is presented very well, though one has to pay attention carefully with the text to follow the convolutions and aliases of the players in The Great Game.

It would have been helpful, I submit, for more balance in the account. Sometimes the French are portrayed as somewhat helpless, which they definitely were not. It was interesting, however, to read of the English involvement in the murder of Alexander I and of Russo-British intrigues before the invasion of Russia in 1812, which does give credence to the theory that Napoleon's invasion was a pre-emptive strike.

There are minor errors outside of the realm of espionage, the author mentioning Congreve Rockets as being a type of torpedo, which they definitely were not, and that at Friedland in 1807 the French and Russians fought themselves to a standstill, when the Russians were thoroughly defeated, being led into a Napoleonic trap by their commander Benningsen, the decisive French victory here leading to Tilsit.

Overall, this is a very valuable work that is highly recommended for all that are interested in the period. It is full of high adventure, convoluted operations, and much money changing hands. It also demonstrates the lengths to which the British would go to defeat Revolutionary France and Napoleon. This work belongs on every Napoleonic bookshelf.

I did enjoy this book - but it is not one I found easy to read. Even with Elizabeth Sparrow's relatively easy style it is difficult at times to unravel the complex relationships and payments - double crosses and so on. The world of subterfuge is a truly murky place.

The book is well set out though and the topic is utterly fascinating. So while I found it difficult to untangle the threads I found the subject compelling.

She has made the divisions in sections and chapters well, so while you can read the book from start to finish for a complete overview - if you have a specific interest in a time period or place it is easy to pick up and read for that period - which is really what I ended up doing.

Perhaps only giving 4 stars is underselling the book because the topic is difficult and Sparrow does do a great job making sense of it. A very impressive job actually - it just didn't grab me by the throat the way some other books do.

I would definitely recommend this book for those with an interest in the British History in this period or for people with an interest in the Napoleonic Wars. Or maybe for people who just want to know how to be sly and cunning - there are some great tips!

It might be thought that effective espionage has only existed in the 20th century, but as the British Director of Military Operations, James Edmonds, commented in 1908, the military successes of Napoleon and Wellington "were largely due to carefully elaborated spy systems". Napoleon himself is reputed to have said that a spy in the right place was worth 40,000 men, although his famous spy Schulmeister was only ever rewarded with plenty of money and not the Legion d'Honneur he reputedly craved. On the other side of the coin, the French would regularly attribute their setbacks to "English gold". The authoress tells the story of the operations run by the British during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Begun by the Aliens Office to control French agitators among the émigrés fleeing Revolutionary France, under Wickham the networks expanded into a system capable of both gathering vital military and political intelligence, while channelling money to the Continental Allies. It should be more accurately described as the activities of both the British and French, as the various French factions and leaders jockey for position backed by Britain. Virtually anyone of any consequence is included, plus unsavoury characters and throughout the story, the shadowy and cunning Joseph Fouche lives a charmed life, keeping just enough incriminating documentation out of Napoleon's way to prevent the Emperor taking decisive action against him. The success of the British network is stunning - they are often in control of the Paris police - as they attempt to support a series of potential new rulers in France (and ultimately Bonaparte). Then, they act in support of their Allies against the expansionist plans of Emperor Napoleon. There were disasters too, especially in 1804, when the network is broken up by Napoleon's men. In fact all the elements of a good spy story are here, including double-crosses, bribes, multiple aliases, assassination conspiracies, spies dressed as monks, the unfortunate souls who found themselves sacrificed to save operations or senior individuals. Naturally, the authoress concentrates on the Anglo-French duel, but there are many interesting details included which influence the Wars in general, notably the Bank of France's near-bankruptcy in Sept 1805. Aside from the murder of Tsar Paul I, something that has remained an opaque subject until this book, she can only briefly look at the activities of the Continental Allies, but there are several smoking guns left east of the Rhine, which are worthy of further investigation. Few books in the last twenty years have added greatly to our knowledge of the Napoleonic period, but this is certainly one of them. Just one word of caution - this is not a James Bond novel! These men were involved in something far more complex and were doing it for real. The first 30 pages or so see a whole series of characters emerging in quick succession as the British deal with the various factions, so take it steady at the start. All becomes clear soon after, especially when the focus turns directly on Consul and later Emperor Napoleon. The real backdrop to many key events emerges - ever wondered how Napoleon eluded the British blockade of Egypt? Essential and worthwhile reading.

First off I should say that I could not put this book down (until I would get a headache - from trying to keep all the info in order in my head). It really was very interesting. What was the problem? It was a very frustrating read. The book could have been a 5 star incredible read if it was just organized. Even though the book is broken up into dated sections - she did not keep to the dates and would float back and forth into the past and future. One moment you would read an agent was executed and then 2 pages later she would be talking about him and the prison he was in. One minute she would be discussing 1804 the next 1799. If she had written the book in chronological order it would have been much easier to understand. Also it would have been a lot easier to understand what was going on if she discussed the important battles that were going on at the time. I had to have a book about the Napoleonic War sitting next to me so that I could see what was going on with the armies etc. This book could have been amazing if she brought the agents to life on the page. It was hard to understand what was going on with the agents when she would go back and forth in dates. Hopefully some day someone will take all this information and make a more interesting and understandable book.

This one is definitely not Saturday morning light reading. The author does have some interesting insights into society, though.

An amazing book full of thoughts about the functioning/malfumctioning of societies.
Great insights showing how the study of animal behavior gives us clues as to why we baheave in certain ways.
Very easy and interesting reading, well researched information.

I was curious to see if anyone had read and reviewed "The Social Contract". I began reading Ardrey, Konrad Lorentz, Anthony Storr, and others in the late 60s. My background is physics so I had no preconceived notions that would cause me to reject outright the ideas expressed in the book. The Social Contract was published in 1970 and is one of the most thought-provoking and influential books that I have read. Among other things, Ardrey accurately predicts and explains our defeat in Viet Nam, and explains why housing projects are failures. This book provides a foundation for understanding what we do and why we do it; both the positive and the negative, based upon inherited traits that are common to all social animals. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind who likes to think.

using examples of social behavior among diferent types of animals ardrey posits that the human animal is no different in the trade offs he makes in his community to ensure the survival of himself and the species, and that much relig, philos teaching is counter to man's basic God given instincts. E.g.ardrey maintains that animal mothers will kill intruders, or even excess offspring who threaten her ability to ensure the survival of all her off spring. This is the natural law and opposition to prenatal or post natal population control is contrary to natural law. The book contains many other thought provoking facts, such as that when a community of animals see that they are becoming too numerous for the resources to survive, they will begin dying of stress related illness, or like the lemmings be driven by stress to run into the sea. a well researched and persuaive book by the author of AFRICAN GENESIS and THE TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVE."... excitingly argumentative...bound to provoke and stimulate..." (WALL STREET JOURNAL)"Every chapter is worth careful thought and consideration, every paragraph expresses the fluency of this playwright turned philosopher"(SEATTLE DAILY TIMES)