Strategy

George Nipe proves himself with new information never published on the movement of the SS Panzer Corp during/after the battle of Kursk. Detailed analysis of actual strength, too.

His book "Last Victory in Russia" is another 5-star!

I was a bit undecided about buying this book. By page 25 I was ordering his other book "Last Victory in Russia". Mr. Nipe is a new breed of historian, namely one who serves up the FACTS and respects the readers intelligence and his right to make up his own conclusions. I was always wondering why most books on Kursk spent over 70% percent of their pages talking about preparations and leaders and the glorification of the russians, but when it came to the actual battle they would just skim over it; there would be a lot of empty spaces and very unconvincing statements. Now I know.
The beating we gave the russians at Prochorovka was something to behold. The limited German resources were not only outnumbered but contary to popular legend were not lavishly equipped with Tiger and Panther tanks (in particular the Waffen SS Divisions).I won't go into details, for this is one more allied lie finally exposed. Read the book. I would like Mr. Nipe to tackle the battle of Falaise. I've always wondered why I always see the same photos about the "carnage" inside the pocket over and over, and why the allies with their overwhelming superiority (in particular in the air) were not able to close the pocket completely. Either somebody is lying or the Germans fighting them were indeed fighting men of a very special breed, or both. As a greater part of the world realizes that we've been spoon fed with lies about the Axis part in WWII in particular the Germans, more of us will seek answers.

This book is a serious, military study of the fighting in the Ukraine during the summer of 1943. When I first purchased the book, I thought it was yet another account of the battle of Kursk. While the Kursk battle is covered, the book's primary focus is on the battles which occurred immediately after the Kursk offensive was called off by Hitler -- namely, the fighting along the Mius river in late July and early August and the fighting in the area west of Kharkov in August. The maps are excellent, allowing the reader to follow the action day by day. The book is also well-written, apparently originally in English (not translated from German) which makes for an easier read. I am definitely looking forward to the author's next book. .........

This book is one of the best for strategy framework and methodology formulation. It is also very useful for case interviews. I believe that every management consultant and related professionals should own a copy, and hope that it would be incorporated into the MBA curriculum of the top B-Schools for strategic management.

Unless you know where your company is going, chances are it won't get very far in today's global marketplace. That's why every business needs the strong vision and keen sense of direction that come from the development, evaluation, and implementation of business strategies-and why every business owner or manager should have Developing Business Strategies, David A. Aaker's classic and comprehensive guide to strategic planning, now in its fifth edition.

Using vivid case studies, Developing Business Strategies helps you to move beyond reactive problem solving toward the development and realization of sound strategic objectives for your company. Providing both the framework and the tools necessary to make strategy development and strategy review efforts effective, this book shows you how to:

* Conduct a structured external and internal analysis of a business with confidence * Develop sustainable competitive advantages by creating assets, competencies, and strategies * Make strategic investment decisions to generate growth * Organize to support strategies * Compete strategically in hostile, growth, and global contexts.

As compact and easy to use as ever, this new Fifth Edition offers new or revised sections on current topics such as strategic uncertainty, buyer hot buttons, shifting customer priorities, strategy as options, paradigm shifts, organizational stubbornness, and brand equity. You'll also find up-to-date research and fresh examples on economic value analysis, competitor image, total quality management, reengineering, the virtual corporation, and more-plus a set of useful sample planning forms to help guide you through the strategy development process.

Whether you're a business owner, manager, or planning executive, the key to your company's success is in Developing Business Strategies.

David A. Aaker is the E. T. Grether Professor of Marketing Strategy at the Haas School of Business Administration at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of numerous articles and ten books on strategy, including Marketing Research, Fifth Edition (Wiley) and Managing Brand Equity. His books have been translated into eight languages. Professor Aaker is an active consultant and speaker in the United States, Europe and South America.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. Formerly Business Development Manager with KPMG, Azlan is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School in London.

AFTER READING THIS AND SOME OTHER BOOKS FROM THE PROFESSOR DAVID A. AAKER, I'VE BECOME BETTER AT DOING MY MARKETING JOB.

Dan Birlew (better known to survival horror fans on the web as "President Evil") penned this easy-to-follow strategy guide.

I'm one of those players who doesn't have great reflexes and normally gets sliced to ribbons playing a game like this. But thanks to Birlew's guide, I was able to survive some of the toughest bosses, bad reflexes and all. The book points out the bosses's strengths and weaknesses, how to attack them and how to avoid them, as every good game guide should.

Oh, yeah, I did find one mistake in Birlew's guide: he states that you can't purchase untouchables (items that temporarily make you invincible). In fact, untouchables can be purchased at any time, though it'll cost you. Perhaps this was a change in the game that was implemented after Birlew's guide went to press.

Even I have to admit that Dan Birlew is getting much better. After that FFIX guide I thought this guy would be bad. Anyways, to start off. I've been a HUGE collector of video game guides (I may be 15 and have high expectations for a guide such as they do need to help me a give me a gaming experience in the process) and I know a good guide when I see it.

This guide is defenitely good. Anyways, I read the other reviews, and Dan Birlew didn't do the Xenogears guide nor did David Cassady, it was Ronald Wartow, its right there on the fron cover. The maps are easy to read while I do admit they get tiresome every guide does. I know the maps aren't done by Dan Birlew but still they could use a little work. I look more at the detail in the walkthrough rather than how flashy the maps and screenshots are.

The walkthrough helps you out a lot and doesn't give off any spoilers at all and gets right to the point. I like this guide because the walkthrough is put together organized and doesn't look like it was rushed to get out. Its 160 pages and the guide has extremely good detail to it. Unlike the Prima (only 90 pages) and VERSUS BOOKS (112 pages) this guide has a ton of info.

I'd recomend this guide for anybody who likes strategy guides as much as I do.

Addressing the previous reviewer: Dan Birlew didn't even write the Xenogears guide, someone else named David Cassidy did. And why would you compare Mr. Birlew to Casey Lowe who writes guides for Pokemon? That's comparing apples to apples seeds. As for the maps, they were obviously not done by the author, just read the credits. Now for a more mature and observant review: This particular Devil May Cry guide is concise and thorough. It's written for an audience that is intelligent and sharp, a compliment to all gamers. The writing style does not talk down to the reader, as some guides tend to do. The slick design and stylized cover are done in such a way that it attracts gamers like me--adults with jobs and money to spend on toys. Overall, this guide is perfect for those gamers who do not fall into the "living in my parent's basement" stereotype. Kudos to BradyGames for targeting mature gamers with jobs!

Who killed the panthers? Who killed Malcolm x and king? Who has blacks and Latinos locked up in jails? Who has attacked sovereign nations all over the world, in Latin America and now the middle east? Who made a deal with Japan to colonize Korea in exchange for the Philippines? The US government, and it still walks out of the World Conference Against Racism, avoids confronting its past and present actions. If we don't fight and change this system, no one else will. If you want to begin to understand what we are up against and what we can do to confront it, Read Dispatches!

Dispatches from Durban was great!! To think how such an important event like the World Conference Against Racism was given so little or no attention, especially in this country. Even though the US always makes a point to emphasizes how it is a free, democratic country of different races living together, it still will not acknowledge such a historic conference that began to discuss and go into the problems, past and present of Racism. For a government that tries to affirm its inclusiveness and tolerance, the US government delegation could not even stay in a conference that was put on by the United Nations and attended by the world. Not even the European colonizing countries that initiated the racist legacy we live in today did what the US did. What does the US have to Fear, if it has done right by the different racial groups and truly have a peaceful, harmonious multiracial society? Yet with the latest invasion of Iraq, racist propositions in California and actions in the US, it is ever more clear of the continual maintenance of Racist policies, at home and abroad. Dispatches analysis and describes this countries continual perpetration to its own people and those around the world, the importance of the World Conference Against Racism in leading the fight against Racism and how we can build from that event a new radical movement to challenge it.

If you want to understand the origins of racism you should read Wretched of the earth, Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton.

If you want to understand capitalism, read Marx, How Capitalism Underdeveloped Africa, Capitalism and Slavery, The Open Veins of Latin America.

If you want to understand US imperialist policies, read Lenin, Fidel Castro, Chomsky, or Che Guevara.

If you want to fight against all of the above, then dispatches from Durban is a good place to start to understand the present problems that have the roots in the historical realities mentioned. Yet it is necessary to build a movement of resistance that will challenge the oppressive structures based on our understanding of the above and how they have shaped the reality that we face today. Dispathces is that book, in that it presents an argument for resistance within and to the US, and it¡¯s a good one.

This is the kind of book that makes you ask yourself every few pages "did you know that?!", "how come I didn't know this!", and "how come nobody talks about this!"

It is really a good portrait of those grim times in Europe. It exposes the workings and everyday life of the real spies. It gives the "bad guys" you heard about or saw only in movies a real face. Full of detail that does not bore but expand the palette of colors.

Even if you are not interested in history or politics you should read this. I have tried to find other books on Muezenberg and I recently came across "The Red Millionaire" by Sean McMeekin, which I intend to read soon.

I think more investigating journalism should be done about other dark myths of our recent history. We have to look more critically at the people who want to mold our minds.

This is a very valuable book.

Stephen Koch interviews the wife of master propagandist Willi Muenzenberg, who reveals the facts behind her husband's publishing empire. From Hollywood leftism, to well known writers, to support for Communist spies. This man, who watched Lenin leave the train station and was himself murdered by Stalin's henchmen, started the "perpetual apology" of Communism so prevalent then... and now.

According to conventional history, in the 1930s Stalin became alarmed about Hitler and organized an international anti-fascist movement to oppose him. HA! Now that some of the archives of the ex-Soviet Union have been opened (OH! How I love to type "ex-Soviet Union"!), it turns out the whole thing was a con from begining to end. The reality: Stalin was determined to make a deal with the Nazis from the word go. He organized the "Popular Front" as a cover for this, as a distraction for the Great Purge, and, probably, as a means of getting Hitler in a war with the West. The details Koch presents would be unbelievable if they weren't documented (for instance, Soviet Espionage assigned women to seduce and marry selected non-Soviet writers, as a means of manipulating them in the cause of propoganda!). I can't rave about this carefully researched, beautifully written book enough. FIND A COPY AND READ IT!

I don't read too many books by leadership or management consultants, because they usually offer pat, superficial advice. What I loved about Elegant Leadership is that it let me come up with my own answers about how to improve performance and lead more effectively, based solely on my experiences and corporate culture.

Mr. Neitlich does a great job providing frameworks to help the reader think about leadership issues, and then he asks structured, powerful questions so that we can think more deeply about how we lead. Also, unlike many other books, he provides a balanced, holistic view of leadership -- incorporating behavior, attitudes, conversations, and ways of thinking. I will refer to this book often, and give it to colleagues, managers, and direct reports. It has the ability to positively effect the way best business practices are conducted.

This book is what you need to be a leader - heads and shoulders above the rest!

I just started reading this and can already tell it is going to encourage me to become increasingly self aware. Kind of a leadership application workbook. Good stuff!

Everything Not Horse is a unique book in the leadership field for two reasons - first, it is intended for young leaders who are just beginning to consider the issues surrounding leadership. Second, the book is structured in a story format, that follows four would-be leaders in midst of an actual project. By showing leadership in action, and how various people respond ( or don't respond) to the challenges of leadership, Rosser has created a memorable and effective way for students of all ages to re-think their leadership style. This is a useful book for aspiring leaders to read on their own, and also makes for great group discussions.

The charcters and examples in this book ring true, presenting common pitfalls and providing insight into the minds of leaders and those being led. It's a fun read and should help new and veteran leaders tap the potential of their leadership experience.

A good read with a number of very different characters. I liked Rip the best. I also enjoyed the variety of quotes throughout the book, especially the one from Toni Morrison. The beauty of the book is that the reader is able to extract lessons from the story and apply them to his or her own situation. The book makes the point that everyone is a leader at some point in their lives. Different people may take different lessons from this book, but there is something for everyone in this book.

Elegance without effort is what we need nowadays.

This book is beautiful to look at. The recipes are excellent as well. There are a broad range of dishes for a variety of occassions. I turn to this book for ideas every time I entertain. Even if I don't use a recipe from this book, I often find ideas that make special occassions that much more special. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to entertain. One word of caution, all the recipes are for a large number of guests. The recipes are not for an intimate dinner party for four. I have successfully scaled some back though.

I've poured through this book over and over again. Although I love seeing the photos of Colin's presentations and decor, I find the recipes incredibly different and easy to prepare. I use Effortless Elegance as a cookbook, perusing the index for dishes I'm considering. I'm especially wild about his recipe for Grilled Shrimp on Lemongrass Skewers. I now keep a permanent stash of frozen lemongrass in my freezer to use for any BBQ skewers.

I Just wish Prima had put out a Guide for Enter the Matrix, Brady Games' guides are offen confusing and of sub-standard quality. This one isn't that bad, it has all the basic info and even insights in to the hacking System. But here's were it goes bad:

* The Pre-Walktrhough Chapter has no more info that the Manual

* The Walkthroughs lack maps, and sometimes that's all you need.

* Numerous Typos in the Encoded messages make decoding them in the Hacking a nightmare.

* The Dificluty estimates are way off.

* They forgot to show you how to make the HoverCraft MOVE!

* Enter the Matrix is one of those games were the path is pretty clear and in MOST(not all) cases you don't even need the Strategy guide.

* On the Plus side, even with the typos, it makes the Hacking System MUCH easier to figure out.

My Advice? Don't order it here, go to a store and flip through it a bit to see if it's what your looking for, and make your own decision.

Brady Games has done it again. Their Enter The Matrix Official Strategy Guide has got it all. It's broken down into The Construct (game play, weapons, vehicles, etc.); Characters (Ghost, Niobe, and the others they interact with); Hacking (into the game console); Jacked In (complete walkthroughs for both Ghost and Niobe); Glitches In The Matrix (unlock multiplayer, find 4 mini-games, etc.); and Behind The Game (interviews and concept art). The 190+ page book even comes with a double sided poster (Matrix Code Rain and a Matrix Universe Timeline. Also hidden inside are over 50 codes for you to find and decipher. Are you red or blue on this?

This strategy guide is a necessity for anyone with the game. The walkthrough might be helpful to some, although you can usually figure things out on your own. The best parts of the guide are the extensive sections on Hacking, as well as the storyboards and the spiffy timeline. Even if you're not into walkthroughs you should get the guide for all of the extras in it. This guide will definitely take you deeper down the rabbit hole...

I believe Aagaard gets right to the point- that creative problem solving-.learning to think for yourself (originality)- is far more important than strictly memorizing opening variations or rigidly approaching middlegame problems. While the bulk of this book is comprised of 100 positional exercises, the first few chapters sum up many key concepts of positional chess using carefully chosen examples. This book is much easier to read than the stuff Dvoretsky cranks out- Aagaard selects the critical ideas of trainers such as Dvoretsky and condenses them in a way so that a Class A player such as myself can absorb some really useful information without devoting a lifetime to the study of chess books. As Aagaard states, often positional chess (and the middlegame in general) is a difficult subject to write about because many of the topics are already part of a strong players subconcious thought, that these positional subjects are often learned from sheer experience anyway, and that putting these ideas into words would be redundant, but Aagaard has done a better job with this book than Reshevsky did in his Art of Positional Play. I dont have forever to pour through the rather superficial analysis of Reshevsky's 60 complete games in the Art book, when Aagaard provides me with enough signposts to follow, plus more than 100 positions displayed as exercises where I need to guess the correct plan and basically play out the rest of the game for a win- you can also use your chess computer to play against many of these positional exercises if you prefer direct involement. The detailed solutions give all of the moves up to the finish of each game. Players featured in this book include Karpov, Short, Khalifman, Timman, Gelfand and Svidler. Other books in the same vein include Marovic's new book Secrets of Positional Chess, which is useful for the last two chapters on rooks and minor pieces. Karpov's Best Games (Batsford 1996) would probably be a book likely to be suggested by Aagaard, along with Tal's Life and Games. A new tactics book that I like very much is The Magic of Chess Tactics by Meyer and Muller (Russell 2002), which is better than the entire Lev Alburt series of chess books, and replaces my Tactical Chess Endings by John Nunn!

A famous chess GM once said "I too can win from his [another GM's] positions, I just can't reach them."

This book addresses exactly that problem. If when a position breaks open, you're on the wrong end of nasty tactical shots, your position must have been weak to begin with.

This book teaches you to spot the weaknesses and strengths on the chessboard. In a sense, it preaches what Silman does in Reassess Your Chess or Dvoretsky does in Attack and Defense and his other books. The difference is this is a concise, understandable shot-in-the-arm for those with positional malaise. (Silman's information is excellent, but his here's-where-the-patzer-screwed-up approach is distracting. In contrast, Mr. Aagaard says here's where I screwed up ... and what I should have seen on the board.)

The writing style is conversational and involving. The positions are adequately diagrammed and well-chosen, for Aagaard chooses understandable positions, which are, nevertheless, crucial moments that lead to the outcome of the game.

While Aagaard's previous book Excelling at Chess was all instructional text, more than half this book is positional exercises to study and solve with detailed solutions. (No mate-follows-in-20-moves notes.)

The previous book Excelling at Chess won a book of the year award at a chess website, and this book really should, too.

Authoritatively written by an international chess master Jacob Aagaard, Excelling At Positional Chess is a technical proficient, in-depth, instructional guidebook specifically designed for intermediate and advanced chess players seeking to improve their strategy by mixing calculation and evaluation. Offering original exercises, numerous examples with diagrams, and enhanced with a wealth of fascinating insights, Excelling At Positional Chess is a superb self-teaching guide for serious and dedicated players of the game.