Agent Books

Grant Smith continues his scholarly exegesis into the history of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). His previous works included- "Foreign Agents: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee from the 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal" and "Deadly Dogma: How Neoconservatives Broke the Law to Deceive America." His latest study- "American's Defense Line: A Declassified History of the Justice Department's Battle to Regulate the Israel Lobby as Agents of a Foreign Power"- is based on heretofore unavailable classified government documents. Smith tells the depressing tale of how U.S. law was systematically undermined by base political motives and questionable loyalties. The Smith trilogy is timely and required reading by all Americans concerned about the integrity and future of the United States. Smith dispassionately reveals how United States foreign policy in the Middle East was high jacked by a cadre of agents representing a foreign country- Israel. While his current study documents how AIPAC and its predecessors successfully evaded U.S. law to register as a "foreign agent," is it also a study in the usurpation of national sovereignty. This challenge to American sovereignty can no longer be ignored, as the consequences to the United States have been disastrous. The intrusion of the Israeli lobby goes well beyond ensuring that Israel receives its customary tribute from hard working American taxpayers. The Iraq War demonstrates this danger where Israel lobby cadres and fellow travelers were able to manipulate a weak, poorly informed president after the 9-11 crises to effect a launch a long-planned invasion of Iraq. While Iraq presented no discernable threat to the United States, it was a long-term adversary of Israel, as outlined in another Smith book- "Neocon Middle East Policy: the Clean Break Plan Damage Assessment". Thus, Israeli regional interests were advanced at the expense of American lives and treasure. This story within the Israel lobby narrative still needs to be told. Once again we are witnessing a repeat of Iraq with Iran- the House of Representatives recently passed a non-binding resolution urging a United States blockade of Iran's gasoline imports- a clear act of war. This resolution was authored at AIPAC and transmitted to a spineless Congress for passage. I suspect it was largely conceived in Jerusalem. The prostration of all major U.S. candidates before AIPAC should shame Americans watching each candidate outbid the other in the annual "pandering" exercise¬- Obama pledges Jerusalem will never leave Israeli control; McCain would move our embassy there immediately regardless of the consequences to vital U.S. interests while Clinton promised to "obliterate" the nation of Iran if it attacked Israel!

"American's Defense Line" can be described as the "Pentagon Papers" of AIPAC. Smith has combed through hundreds of recently declassified documents- internal letters, legal briefs, analyses, reports- to produce the first objective, detailed analysis of the struggle of the Department of Justice (DoJ) to regulate the American Zionist Committee (AZC)- the precursor of today's AIPAC. The DoJ was determined that the AZC be classified as an agent of Israel. Its investigations along with those of Senator Fulbright's and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, documented that the AZC was funded and directed by the State of Israel. As such, AZC was required to publicly disclose it's funding and all lobbying and public relations activity with the U.S. government. The AZC opposed this classification, as it would give lie to its claims to represent legitimate domestic political interests. "American Defense Line" is thoroughly documented having more than 437 footnotes and previously unpublished declassified papers, which allow readers to verify Smith's claims and undertake further research at their own leisure.

"America's Defense Line" is an admirably readable book. While the book deals with complex legal and historical issues spanning sixty years, the layman need not be dissuaded. No prior knowledge of law or Middle East affairs is required. Smith uses clear, concise prose and takes time to explain the historical context as each event in this sorry saga of American history unfolds. There are heroes in this book- Senator Fulbright, a rare political figure that courageously stood against the ruinous power of the Israel lobby and DoJ employees, such as Irene A. Bowman, who refused to subvert U.S. law to foreign interests to gain political favor. There are also cowards and cynics who compromised U.S. strategic interests to gain temporary political advantages. Smith neither plays partisan favors nor spares any of the players. The usual suspects will surface to discredit this book. Given the extraordinary documentation and research invested by Smith in "America's Defense Line," this reader looks forward to seeing Smith and his opponents do something the lobby avoids at all costs: an honest public debate.

This is a very fun, well-written book by a new author. The story keeps you intrigued, makes you laugh at times, and keeps you guessing as to what America has done to protect itself over the years. I recommend it to anyone that likes action/adventure, and there is a little romance as well. Great book!!

I studied using this book and cd-rom. I took this book's practice tests several times. It worked. I passed my exam on the very first try.

This book is a classic, but you will be very hard up to find it anywhere as it is long out of print. About your only options are: A. luck, finding one used, B. Borrowing one from a University, or C. (a bit controversal, but one of the only viable options for most) the PDF files circulating on the net. If you have an interest in the science of this topic regardless of whether it is medical or athletic it is a must have. Dr. Vida really put a lot of research and useful explanations in this one. Highly suggested reading.

I was interested in particular chapter that describes enediynes. I'm a graduate student and one of my projects is connected with enediynes. So, I took this book from UGA-library and enjoyed reading it. Especially, some information about the application of enediynes-drugs in Japan was quite useful. I can't say much about the others chapters cause didn't have time to find it out. Recommended.

This comprehensive textbook was designed for physicians who want an exhaustive review of antibiotic and vaccine selections for specific microorganisms. Its strength is what drugs to use when the standard drug cannot be given. At the current time, there is no textbook that addresses this common clinical situation in everyday medicine. I am the editor.

I want to know more about it

This is an awesome book. Actually, the CD is all you really need. The CD covers the national test and every single area of AZ real estate (and other state specific tests). The book is AZ specific, but, from the CD, you can choose state specific tests. The states included on the CD are, Texas, California, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, and New Jersey. You can ditch the book and just use the CD. Just kidding, if you're studying for your AZ real estate license, you should keep both. The book provides valuable information and tests for AZ sales exam and very good test taking info for any one studying for their license and great website links. If you're in AZ or either of the noted states, the CD fully covers all areas of study for your state test. Definitely worth the money. Good luck.

Documenting 35 years of cutting-edge work from one of America's most important contemporary artists, The Art and Films of Lynn Hershman Leeson is a "must have" for academics, artists and anyone interested in contemporary film, video, performance art, installation art, feminism or new media. If Leeson's range of media seems impressive, run down the list of her technical innovations, which reads like the dreams of several artists rather than the achievement of one (a theme, by the way, underscored throughout her work): creator of one of the first interactive videodisc artworks, one of the earliest networked robotic art installations, the first artwork to use touch-screen interface and, most recently, a process for making virtual sets, called LHL, designed for her first feature film, Conceiving Ada. Her reputation as a constant innovator and "pioneer of new media" isn't surprising, unlike the fact that this book is the first comprehensive look at her work. If you don't know about Lynn Hershman Leeson already, you should.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition Hershmanlandia: The Art and Films of Lynn Hershman Leeson, this book does an excellent job of both providing coverage while offering detailed analyses of Leeson's work. Edited by artist and art historian Meredith Tromble, the text includes a well-balanced selection of multidisciplinary essays written by art critics, historians and curators, film historians and theorists, and Hershman herself. Hershman's "Private I: An Investigator's Timeline," gives a succinct yet detailed account of her career while reenacting her playful, witty and sophisticated use of autobiography as a means to articulate the complexities of subjectivity in general, where binary distinctions such as public vs. private, personal vs. political, human vs. machine, art vs. science, fantasy vs. reality, and art-making vs. world-making are, through a plethora of odd meetings and wild matings, playfully problematized and profoundly upended.

The collection of essays are, for the most part, concise and insightful, produced by some of the best scholars in their respective fields. For example, Abigail Solomon-Godeau reads Leeson's strategies of "conscientious objectification," her "intervention into the mechanics of spectacle," as a form of "ethical self-reflection," while Amelia Jones locates Leeson in a genealogy of performative photographic self-display routed through Claude Cahun, recognizing Leeson's ability to simultaneously affirm both surface and depth in an image, the "simulacral nature of postmodern culture" and the lived experience of a subject in the flesh--in this case, "female experience in patriarchy." David E. James also addresses Leeson's work as a performance of self, but shows how Leeson complicates and extends this strategy by working with the influences, tensions and contradictions that circulate between autobiography (as authorial agency, biographical truth as well as fabrication) and the materiality of representation (in this case video), throwing into relief the tenuous and porous boundaries between the individual and the social, subjects and objects of knowledge, truth and fiction, life and death, and trauma and healing.

The book contains 17 color plates, a good number of figures, and a beautifully organized DVD that includes presentation of the artworks (both stills and clips), more essays on Hershman's work, and selected histories: videos, films, exhibitions and awards. While much of the material overlaps, the DVD will also point you to Hershman's website and impressive web-based projects, such as Agent Ruby. Be sure to check them out.

This book is not really a novel as much as it is a collection of short stories. Ashden is the linchpin around which the stories revolve.

Somerset Maugham actually worked for the British Secret Service and it's pretty much accepted that the fictional character of Ashden represents Maugham.

These spy stories are some of the best and most entertaining spy stories ever written. Maugham does a masterful job.

While designated as being a fictional book, some of these stories are probably fictionalized versions of actual events. In fact the blurb of the 1941 edition states "Containing probably the most expert stories of espoinage ever written, this work was for years a virtual handbook of the British Secret Service:....." "Based on Mr. Maugham's own experiences as a British Agent during the First World War,.....".

Again, while described as a novel, each chapter stands on it's own and is essentially it's own short story. Many stories are famous even outside of the spy fiction genre. "The Hairless Mexican" is a story that has been done in movies and television both in it's original form and in adaptations by other authors.

Do not despair over the relative unavailability of this book. Many or all of the chapters in the book have been published as short stories in various collections of Maugham's stories.

Whether you are a fan of Maugham or not, you will enjoy the Ashden stories.