Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race

Book Description

Growing up on either side of the Iron Curtain, David Scott and Alexei Leonov experienced very different childhoods but shared the same dream to fly. Excelling in every area of mental and physical agility, Scott and Leonov became elite fighter pilots and were chosen by their countries' burgeoning space programs to take part in the greatest technological race ever-to land a man on the moon. In this unique dual autobiography, astronaut Scott and cosmonaut Leonov recount their exceptional lives and careers spent on the cutting edge of science and space exploration. With each mission fraught with perilous risks, and each space program touched by tragedy, these parallel tales of adventure and heroism read like a modern-day thriller. Cutting fast between their differing recollections, this book reveals, in a very personal way, the drama of one of the most ambitious contests ever embarked on by man, set against the conflict that once held the world in suspense: the clash between Russian communism and Western democracy.Before training to be the USSR's first man on the moon, Leonov became the first man to walk in space. It was a feat that won him a place in history but almost cost him his life. A year later, in 1966, Gemini 8, with David Scott and Neil Armstrong aboard, tumbled out of control across space. Surviving against dramatic odds-a split-second decision by pilot Armstrong saved their lives-they both went on to fly their own lunar missions: Armstrong to command Apollo 11 and become the first man to walk on the moon, and Scott to perform an EVA during the Apollo 9 mission and command the most complex expedition in the history of exploration, Apollo 15. Spending three days on the moon, Scott became the seventh man to walk on its breathtaking surface. Marking a new age of USA/USSR cooperation, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project brought Scott and Leonov together, finally ending the Cold War silence and building a friendship that would last for decades. Their courage, passion for exploration, and determination to push themselves to the limit emerge in these memoirs not only through their triumphs but also through their perseverance in times of extraordinary difficulty and danger.

Customer Reviews:

Dueling Autobiographies.......2006-11-15

"Two Sides of the Moon" is a fascinating addition to the library of any space historian, whether casual or professional. The book, written by American Astronaut Dave Scott and Soviet Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, focuses on personal and professional struggles set within the political framework of the 1960s (and early 1970s) cold war.

Although I would have preferred more technical detail in the book, I still enjoyed it very much though more from the human interest angle. I liked the technique of alternating narratives from the American and Soviet points of view: the book was skillfully written to reveal the emotions and perceptions of both sides of the space race during key points in the race to the moon (Sputnik, the Apollo 1 fire, Apollo 11, etc.) I found both authors to be likable and appreciated their willingness to share credit with people unknown to the general public, from important organizational keys like Bill Tindall's famous (within NASA, anyway) Data Priority Meetings (and their resultant "Tindallgrams,") to the awe with which Leonov held Sergei Korolev, the Soviet Chief Designer, whose death all but dashed Soviet attempts to land on the moon prior to the Americans.

The book has an upbeat and optimistic tone, and is good-natured throughout. I enjoyed the behind the scenes trivia the pair provided. Did you know that the first animals to achieve circumlunar flight were a pair of Steppe Tortoises on the Soviet Zond-5 mission? The were recovered safe (but probably confused) in the Indian Ocean on September 17, 1968. Little known facts like this made this book a treasure for readers who traditionally focus on the more technical aspects of the missions.

The book boasts an excellent Foreword by Neil Armstrong, Scott's commander from Gemini 8. Scott gives Armstrong ceaseless praise for his judgment during the emergency they shared, and it seems clear that Armstrong holds Scott in equally high esteem.

The book is a great telling of a compelling tale. I particularly found the travails of Leonov's youth to be astounding, and admire him more after reading this book for overcoming them to become one of the great names in spaceflight. Likewise, Scott is a high achiever and role model for generations of spacefarers for generations to come. I recommend this book highly.

Dueling Autobiographies.......2006-11-15

"Two Sides of the Moon" is a fascinating addition to the library of any space historian, whether casual or professional. The book, written by American Astronaut Dave Scott and Soviet Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, focuses on personal and professional struggles set within the political framework of the 1960s (and early 1970s) cold war.

Although I would have preferred more technical detail in the book, I still enjoyed it very much though more from the human interest angle. I liked the technique of alternating narratives from the American and Soviet points of view: the book was skillfully written to reveal the emotions and perceptions of both sides of the space race during key points in the race to the moon (Sputnik, the Apollo 1 fire, Apollo 11, etc.) I found both authors to be likable and appreciated their willingness to share credit with people unknown to the general public, from important organizational keys like Bill Tindall's famous (within NASA, anyway) Data Priority Meetings (and their resultant "Tindallgrams," page 194,) to the awe with which Leonov held Sergei Korolev, the Soviet Chief Designer, whose death all but dashed Soviet attempts to land on the moon prior to the Americans.

The book has an upbeat and optimistic tone, and is good-natured throughout. I enjoyed the behind the scenes trivia the pair provided. Did you know that the first animals to achieve circumlunar flight were a pair of Steppe Tortoises on the Soviet Zond-5 mission? The were recovered safe (but probably confused) in the Indian Ocean on September 17, 1968. Little known facts like this made this book a treasure for readers who traditionally focus on the more technical aspects of the missions.

The book boasts an excellent Foreword by Neil Armstrong, Scott's commander from Gemini 8. Scott gives Armstrong ceaseless praise for his judgment during the emergency they shared, and it seems clear that Armstrong holds Scott in equally high esteem.

The book is a great telling of a compelling tale. I particularly found the travails of Leonov's youth to be astounding, and admire him more after reading this book for overcoming them to become one of the great names in spaceflight. Likewise, Scott is a high achiever and role model for generations of spacefarers for generations to come. I recommend this book highly.

The Eagle & the Bear........2005-12-02

From all reports, the Cold War was competition between America and Russia to see who could get to the moon and win the "Space Race." Actually, it was who could design and manufacture nuclear arms to blast the other country off into space. So, this book has an odd coupling: an old Soviet astronaut, the first man to "walk in space," and a younger NASA Apollo commander who piloted Gemini 8. I watched all of those missions faithfully until the fatal explosion; after that, it was too traumatic to hear those words, "Go with throttle up."

Alexei Leonov starts with "Temperatures drop to below -50 deg. C in the small village of Listvyanka, Central Sibreia, USSR, where I was born on 30 May 1934." When he was four years old, his father was declared a subversive during the Stalin purge, so they lost everything and had to live in one room with eleven occupants.

David Scott came from a military family, born at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas, USA. Before his father became a "fighter pilot," he had an administrative job in a Hollywood film studio in California. David followed in the footsteps of his dad, acted as a technical advisre on the film, 'Apollo 13.'

These two military "commanders" from warring countries have nothing in common, except the moondance in space, as it is more an illusion. Their experiences were not even close. Granted, Leonov was the first man to "walk in space," securing a place in history. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon in actuality; he was the commander of Apollo 11. After spending three days on the moon, David Scott became the seventh to hop around up there collecting souvenirs.

The photo sections speak a lot louder than the words. I'm not sure the average American citizen is ready to be reminded of all the personal terror and pain we endured for so long by their bullying and threats. The title should be called 'Opposite Sides on Earth," opponents to the end. You would think that, by now, USA would realize that trusting one's former enemy can backfire even in defeat.

Parallel evolution of two individuals during the space race.......2005-05-19

I bought this book just a month ago while in a business trip and I must admit that my first impression was that the book was a sort of commercial best-seller, rather hollywood-like. So I was not expecting serious really serious content. But the more I read, the more I came to the conclussion it was a really good book.

I had not the kind of tech-focused expectations of Thomas Moody (see useful review above), but I think it is serious enough for the non-tech or specialized public, whithout been arcane. It's rigorous and at the same time, very readable. A real page-turner.

I think that the book is worth the money. Provides a smart picture not only of space race but also of cold war in a wider sense, from a special and interesting point of view.

Overall, the point with the book is that it is based on two different careers and lives, wich brings a richer depiction of the evolution, both professional and personal of this two outstanding men, astronaut and cosmonaut, at the same time that their respective space programs in Soviet Union and USA.

My congratulations to the authors, the journalist, editors and all people involved in the project. A very well balanced approach on how to present the story and how to narrate it. They've got a great result.

I really enjoyed this book.

The moon race from vastly different perspectives..........2005-02-23

In his seminal work "A Man On the Moon", author Andrew Chaiken describes the quintessenal American astronaut: "Even in a pack of overachievers like the astronaut corps, David Scott stood out. He seemed to have come straight from Central Casting, a six footer with All-American good loooks and built like a decathlon champion. In some circles there was a joke that if NASA ever came out with an astronaut recruiting poster, Scott should be on it." This glowing testament and the providence of being on the most ambitious lunar mission up to that point (Apollo 15) made Dave Scott seem somewhat a hero to young Apollo-crazed 5th grade students like myself (in 1971). That feeling really never went away, so it was with great anticipation that I undertook this dual auto-biography with Alexei Leonov...and the result was mild disappointment. I suppose I expected more in-depth discussion of the technical aspects of Apollo 15 and the training for it, but got a rather pedestrian telling of that mission and the events leading up to it. True, "Two Sides of the Moon" doesn't promise to be a comprehensive account of any particular mission, rather an overlay of two perspectives of the moon race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. If looked at from that perspective, this work is a useful addition to the mountain of literature on the space race...indeed Leonov exposes much new information on the Soviet program that essentially carries this book.

Thrown together for the symbolic Apollo-Soyuz joint mission in 1975, Scott and Leonov established a shaky initial relationship that prospered following the demise of the Soviet Union and this book is the result of the many story-telling sessions that followed. From Sputnik to Gagarin's ground-breaking manned orbital mission and on to the Leonov commanded Apollo-Soyuz, the reader is treated to the beginning of the Soviet Space program, now with the perspective of over 40 years. The successes and failures were surprising revelations to me...as was the leadership and vision of Sergei Korelov, the "Chief Designer" and the true leader of the Soviet program.

The American program, certainly well documented to date, is rather blandly described by Scott...although useful discussions of Gemini 8 (Scott's first mission), Apollo 9 and of course Apollo 15 make the Scott sections worth the read. Again, when compared to Chaiken's work, Scott's first person rendering of his initial training for and prosecution of this fabulous mission lacks much verve and emotion...many humanistic tidbits, like Scott's iron command of the mission and the resulting embarrasment of the "stamp scandal" are given relatively short shrift...for that matter so to is his mission to the Appenine Mountains. Hadley Rille, Mount Hadley and Hadley Delta exploration points were argueably the most scenic and scientifically important (i.e. the Genisis rock) spots that astronauts visited on the moon, but Scott just doesn't get that emotion across. He tries, but I constantly had to reference Chaiken's book to reinforce that grandeur...a real shame.

What does work with this book however is the integration of the two stories and the disclosure of the initial cooperation between the two programs. Many readers, unaware of these details, will surely find this interesting, as did I. The post space program paths that both men took is also interesting and relevant, although some more personal details from Scott would have rounded out the story-line a little better. For example he mentions his former wife Lurton, but does not go into the cause of that break-up...was it the space program that caused it as happened with many of his peers, or something else? Sadly, one gets the impression that both men are rushed to get their story published, so these important details are left out.

Another in a long recent line of biographies of the Apollo program, this work should stand out somewhat as it gives an interesting new perspective of this well-told story. Scott and Leonov are not great story-tellers, but by combining their career stories, the reader is given a useful look at both programs...but with just a little more effort, this could have been so much better.

Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race

Average customer rating:

Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race
David/Leonov, Alexei (with) Toomey, Christine//Armstrong, Neil (foreword)/Hanks, Tom (intro) Scott
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTGBYG

Book Description

This is the heroic story of those seaborne Texans who were often outnumbered, usually outgunned, but never outsailed and never, ever outfought.

Customer Reviews:

Useful.......2004-01-18

Being a relative neophyte to the subject of the Texas Navy, I tend to review the newer books with caution. It's so easy to fall into the trap of repeating the same old lore from previous works. Sad to say, this is how the book starts out. The same tired old folklore about Anahuac and Colonel Juan Davis Bradburn. (The author claims that Bradburn and his brother were jailed in Tennessee for stealing slaves. NO, this is another myth. Bradburn's brother drowned in the Duck River, but there is no record of any prisoners by that name. One inmate was accused of horse theft) But once the author gets into the post revolutionary Navy, the text improves. More often than not, the Army of the Republic gets all the glory, but the Navy saw it's fair share of action. Oddly enough, the Mexican Government wanted to HIRE the Navy to help put down a Centralist Uprising in Yucatan. Old wounds tend to heal rather quickly when you are outnumbered! All in all, this is still a useful book.

Book Description

How does a group that operates terror cells and espouses violence become a ruling political party? How is the world to understand and respond to Hamas, the militant Islamist organization that Palestinian voters brought to power in the stunning election of January 2006?

This important book provides the most fully researched assessment of Hamas ever written. Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert with extensive field experience in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, draws aside the veil of legitimacy behind which Hamas hides. He presents concrete, detailed evidence from an extensive array of international intelligence materials, including recently declassified CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security reports.
Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas’ military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another and catalogues the alarming extent to which the organization’s political and social welfare leaders support terror. He exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology, urges the international community to take heed, and offers well-considered ideas for countering the significant threat Hamas poses.

Customer Reviews:

Solid information from the archives.......2007-06-30

Matthew Levitt takes no prisoners. His starting point is terrorism is terrorism is terrorism. In the context of the Middle East many will argue the toss - that he ignores decades of Palestinian frustration and suffering; that the tactics adopted by Hamas could be from today's update of the manual written by Jewish fighters who carved out the state of Israel; that Washington and Jerusalem's new-found urge to do business with the more secular Fatah movement ignores the historic reality that Hamas' late arrival on the Palestinian scene is proof of so much past failure; that desperation produces more desperation.

But for all that, Levitt's exhaustive 324-page HAMAS: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad is engrossing, particularly on how Hamas is perceived from the intelligence bunkers of the US and Israel. Its layers of detail, drawn from a mountain of official documents, is as revealing of Hamas as it is of the attempts to thwart its rise - without bravely or deliberately confronting the root causes of the Middle East crisis.

Levitt has gone the Izzy (I.F.) Stone route - trawling thousands of documents, many of them on the public record, for a back-story that gels with the post 9/11 mindset that resistance equals terrorism and that resistance movements, somehow, should grow up. But a reader does not have to don a white or black hat to be fascinated by what he draws from the Israeli records of the interrogation of Hamas captives; from documents captured from the Palestinian security agencies and other institutions; and from his revealing analysis of the Hamas global money trail - particularly in the US.

An FBI counterterrorism analyst before his appointment as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Treasury, Levitt now directs a program on terrorism, intelligence and policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He argues that Hamas' extensive social welfare work is a cover for terrorism. But there is a subtle distinction in a quote he takes from the senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Al-Zahar - try `adjunct' rather than `cover'. Al-Zahar told Al-Jazeera in 2005: "Hamas responds to all questions related to the life of the citizens not only in the case of confrontation but also in the political, economic, social, health and internal relations field. This movement has proved that it is one organic movement. Mistaken is the one who thinks that the military wing acts outside the framework of Hamas or behaves recklessly".

Does it matter? In a time of conflict one man's `overarching apparatus of terror', as Levitt describes Hamas, is another's well-oiled machine. The Israelis' observation in June of the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War, in which they seized control of the West Bank and Gaza, was marked with much hand-wringing over their failure to capitalise on the 1967 military victory which, in turn, merged with a newer sense of crisis in the aftermath of Israel's bungled invasion of Lebanon last summer. These are days when many Israelis observing Hamas' discipline, morale and determination might feel envious ... even despite the new chaos as Fatah and Hamas have embarked on their own civil war in the Occupied Territories.

The Middle East crisis is a war and in wars terrible things happen - on all sides. Compartmentalising the conduct of one side in the context of the chequer-board squares of a post-9/11 paradigm does not end the outrage or ameliorate the defeat represented by war. Just where readers position themselves on the rhetorical and moral snooker table that is today's Middle East, will guide their sense of shock or approval for the breath-taking logistical and military sophistication of the Hamas operation.

Levitt wants readers to be shocked, and there's the rub. Sympathisers will argue that notwithstanding it is at war, Hamas has steadily moved towards the middle - it stubbornly refused to take part in the democratic process and then it did, confounding many by winning the election that Washington said they had to have; it still refuses to amend its Charter opposition to Israel's right to exist, but its acknowledgement of a two-state solution is implicit acceptance of that reality; it despatches suicide-bombers, but it has also demonstrated that it can observe cease-fires with remarkable discipline.

Levitt dissects Hamas mosques, schools, orphanages, summer camps, and sports leagues as recruitment centres for would-be suicide bombers and nerve centres for incitement and radicalization of civil society. But he also observes that the appalling nature of the Palestinian social condition creates the very circumstances that, as he puts it, Hamas exploits.

Levitt's Hamas is not a narrative read - but this is not a criticism. Rather, the author deals sectionally with the organisation's dramatic rise and perseverance - where it came from; the leaders; the source of funds; operational logistics - military and welfare; and, lastly, an examination of the evidence on the likelihood of Hamas taking its fight beyond the Occupied Territories and Israel.

It's an approach that specialists will appreciate - these are meticulously footnoted chapters that can be read in any order; and its one to which interested lay readers will quickly adjust. And for the critics who inevitably will challenge his quotes from or analysis of his source material, Levitt generously and laboriously provides almost 60-page of notes on where readers can make their own judgement by accessing the material themselves - much of it is available on-line.

When the US led the charge into Iraq, it ignored warnings that crisis and likely failure lay ahead. But with nerves of steel, Levitt argues a unilateral campaign against Hamas: "Denying Hamas the logistical, financial, and recruitment networks provided by the dawa [welfare] infrastructure would go far toward disrupting its ability to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks that are its hall mark."

He's putting his money on Washington's renewed attempt to undermine social and political support for Hamas by pouring funds into the Fatah-controlled West Bank while the Hamas-controlled communities of crowded Gaza go without. But at the same time he warns of more grind unless there is a united international front - a precondition that Washington has not achieved.

Levitt's analysis of Hamas' political, charitable, and military activities has produced a worthwhile and serious work. The ideological or rhetorical blinkers of either side in the Middle East crisis are not needed to appreciate its fine and comprehensive detail.
Paul McGEOUGH, Sydney, Australia

Bad research in the service of bad policy.......2007-05-11

Did anyone at Yale University Press actually review this manuscript? Or does the Washington Institute for Near East Peace send junk to YUP and say here publish this? Matthew Levitt's book is a series of amateur disasters: exclusive reliance on highly suspect evidence, misrepresentation of some of the sources, primitive arguments which do not address any debate, poorly written, and apparently no one at Yale checked his citations or Arabic transliterations because they are hilariously bad. Levitt practices the kind of social science found only inside the beltway. It helps explain why the American government consistently pursues destructive policies in the Middle East. Here is how it goes: start with your conclusion first, select evidence that fits conclusion, glorify the evidence because it was classified at one point, and for god's sake conclude with policy.

Levitt wants to justify the status quo policy isolating the Palestinian government headed by HAMAS, albeit with an insane twist. To do this, he first backtracks by creating a debate in the academic literature that does not exist. Levitt wants the reader to believe that academics and experts "continue to subscribe to the shallow argument that terrorist groups maintain distinct social, political, and militant wings." (p.6) Who argues this? No cite is ever given. Against this straw man, Levitt advances his own myth; HAMAS is an unchanging monolith. Once we buy this then HAMAS is either completely bad or completely good (can't shade monoliths). Guess which one Levitt chooses? And then it's just a skip to conclude no negotiation with HAMAS, rather we need to replace it.

Levitt seems uninformed that scholars view HAMAS and similar organizations (Tamil Tigers, ANC, etc.) as having interrelated parts. Levitt himself endorses this view: "HAMAS is composed of three interrelated wings." (p.9) There is no argument about the separation of wings; rather there is investigation into these groups' social, political, and economic sources of power. What are the constraints and opportunities which HAMAS operates under? What are the costs and the benefits to violence? Answers to these questions are the foundation of a realistic policy. Levitt ignores this and the wider work on Islamist groups (Clark Islam, Charity, and Activism: Middle-Class Networks and Social Welfare in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen (Indiana Series in Middle East Studies), Schwedler Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen, Wiktorowicz Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach (Indiana Series in Middle East Studies), Gerges The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global (Cambridge Middle East Studies), etc) because to do so would not support his policy goal.

Levitt claims his book, "employs evidence that is qualitatively and quantitatively unmatched on the subject" and "makes use of previously undisclosed intelligence material" all "supplemented by open source materials and extensive personal interviews..." (p.7). Really? Let's consider Levitt as a researcher and his evidence. In writing a book on HAMAS, an organization made up of Palestinians living primarily in Gaza and the West Bank, one might assume the researcher knows something of these areas. Does Levitt speak or read Arabic at any level? Has Levitt ever lived, studied, or conducted research in the societies about which he writes? I would wager that we could drop Matthew in the middle of Ramallah and he could not find a falafel stand.

What about the intelligence studies? Most of the selective intelligence sources come from Israeli and US government sources. Is it possible that these sources might not be forthright? Where Levitt claims he uses extensive international intelligence and supposedly pro-Arab sources (48-50) he actually only cites one unavailable 2002 report from Canada, one 2004 Dutch report, an undocumented assertion that Jordanian intelligence agrees with him, and one interview with a Romanian intelligence official (p.306). That's it.

The problem here is selection bias. How do we know these intelligence analysts and analyses are representative? What do other analyses that Levitt did not see or share conclude? What about cross contamination between Israeli reports and American conclusions? Most odious, Levitt passes on what Palestinian prisoners tell their Israeli captors as an unbiased source of data. His use of supposedly primary source Palestinian intelligence documents held by the creepily named, Center for Special Studies is doubly troubling. This Israeli NGO (?) has documents seized by the IDF during its attack on Palestinian urban areas in 2002. Conclusions Levitt draws from this material are dubious because there is no chain of evidence. To be clear, the issue is not whether munitions were found in this or that place but if all we have is anecdote after anecdote from unverified documents one must ask how wide spread is the phenomena under investigation? How many of the thousands of Palestinian hospitals, clinics, schools, and mosques are HAMAS controlled and how many of these are linked to the stories in this book?

The interviews are the worse of all. A quick count came up with 10 interviews, only 4 attributed, and all but one were government officials. Levitt even bait and switches his sources. On page 247, he gives us direct quotes from a convicted HAMAS commander and this is sourced (ftn38) to "Author Interview with Israeli intelligence officials..." Where is the data from these interviews and why are they unnamed? This is lazy research, borderline unethical, and certainly not worthy of a university publisher. There is no use of the extensive Palestinian public opinion polling. There are no interviews with Jordanian or Palestinian analysts, political opponents of HAMAS, or even HAMAS spokesmen. If you think Israeli and US government sources are questionable, how truthful do you think unelected officials of an unelected monarchy in Jordan would be? There are no interviews with NGO personnel or even with Israeli academics, like say Mishal and Sela The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, And Coexistence. What in the hell was Levitt doing in Israel during the fall and summer 2004 that limited him to 10 unrecorded interviews?

Levitt's simplified image of HAMAS distorts the actual challenges faced and leads to crazy policy reasoning like this: if HAMAS is an indistinguishable monolith bent on evil and it is fed by its control over social welfare institutions, then we must cut off all humanitarian aid to those institutions. Next, we simply fund and create a new welfare infrastructure. That's right, in 2006 someone in Washington actually published a book suggesting we take the Iraqi nation building adventure on tour. Yipee, C.P.A. Jenin here we come! Maybe the up side is that we would get Israeli help this time.

Pete W. Moore

A Serious Study As To How Hamas Is Able To Survive.......2006-07-30

Matthew Levitt , Senior Fellow and Director of Terrorism Studies at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and who has served since 2005 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Treasury has placed the hot-button issue of Hamas into perspective with his exhaustive exposé Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism In the Service of Jihad.
It should also be noted that Levitt has also served as FBI analyst providing tactical and strategic analysis in support of counterterrorism operations. He has specialized on fundraising and logistical support networks for Middle East terrorist groups.

This is a particularly daunting task where there is a multitude of ideological minefields behind much of the rhetoric that often characterizes the discussion.
Levitt devoted three years of research, including several trips to the Middle East and Europe and his information was drawn from newly declassified intelligence, seized Hamas documents, and dozens of interviews on three continents with experts and officials, as well as imprisoned Hamas operatives.

The result is a serious study analyzing how Hamas attracts and retains it base of operations and supporters and how it radicalizes, recruits, and dispatches Palestinian suicide bombers while at the same time succeeding in wooing Palestinians to vote it into power as the ruling political power.
Levitt also goes to great lengths in elucidating the political, charitable, and terrorist activities of Hamas and how they are reconciled.

Commencing with the theme that there is no difference between Hamas' social arm and its terrorist operations, Levitt points out that what Hamas is endeavoring to accomplish is a "muddying of the waters" when they maintain that they are in fact separate entities- as nothing could be father than the truth. From an extensive list of documentation, we are shown how inside the Palestinian territories the battery of mosques, schools, orphanages, summer camps, and sports leagues sponsored by Hamas are all an integral part of its overarching apparatus of terror. These institutions are in the main breeding grounds for the recruitment of future suicide bombers, as well as serving Hamas in incitement and radicalizing Palestinian society.

Readers are then taken on an extensive journey where Levitt delves into the origins of Hamas, its relation to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and how the exploitation of the dawa tradition has most influenced the movement in a twisted manner. It should be noted that dawa in Islamic tradition is the obligation on the part of all Muslims to submit themselves to God (ibadah) and to preach or propagate (dawa, literally mean "a call to God) true Islam. The dawa that is manipulated in a cynical fashion provides Hamas with strong popular support as well as opportunities to carry out suicide attacks.

From here we learn about the many well-organized charitable foundations found in every corner of the world finances terror with their laundering, recruiting, employing, and hiding Hamas militants, providing administrative support to terrorist cells, engendering popular Palestinian (and broader Muslim) support for terrorism.

What was quite disturbing to read is how the dawa teaches terror and radicalizes Palestinian society. As pointed out, the key to their success is based on the fact that Palestinians live in an environment that by its nature creates social preconditions that Hamas is able to easily exploit.

The final chapter of the book suggests various ways in which Hamas can be replaced and even destroyed. According to Levitt, "denying Hamas the logistical, financial, and recruitment networks provided by the dawa infrastructure would go far toward disrupting its ability to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks that are its hall mark." One of the keys to success is the undermining the underlying support for Hamas targeting its base of social and political support.
Levitt is keenly aware of the complexity of the problem. Moreover, his are words that are of insightful experience, that, if listened to could bring about possible change.

Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures.com

Hamas : Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad.......2006-05-24

Hamas's election victory shocked the West."I don't see how you can be a partner for peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform," President Bush said at a January 26 news conference after the results were announced. Subsequently,Washington cut off aid money to the new Hamas-dominated government, yet the White House's resolve was not matched elsewhere. Two weeks after the election, Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party feted Hamas political leader Khalid Mishaal, a wanted terrorist. And earlier this month the Swedish government broke European consensus to issue a visa for a Hamas minister to attend a conference calling for the Jewish state's destruction. Moscow has even suggested supplying arms to Hamas.

How timely it is then to read Matthew Levitt's "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad" (Yale University Press, 334 pages, $26). In an age of instant experts and television terrorism analysts, Mr. Levitt is the real thing. A former FBI counterterrorism analyst, he currently serves as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for intelligence and analysis.

Mr. Levitt parses many news reports, NGO studies, court proceedings, and legal documents (although he draws on very little Arabic-language material) to separate the false rhetoric from the reality about Hamas. He lays bare the popular notion preached by European diplomats that Hamas sports distinct political, social, and military wings, or that it differentiates between military and civilian targets. For example, the political leader of Hamas in Tulkarm, Abbas al-Sayyid, put on his military hat to mastermind the March 27, 2002, bombing of a Netanya hotel Passover Seder, a civilian target. Hamas participates in the political process and supports social networks only to advance its core mission, the destruction of Israel.

Mr. Levitt's sketch of Hamas's history and development is also useful. It has become trendy in certain circles to suggest Hamas's rise to be blowback from earlier support by Israel. A Center for Strategic and International Studies Middle East analyst, Tony Cordesman, for example, told United Press International that Israel "aided Hamas directly--the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance for the PLO." Mr. Levitt corrects such musings in a chapter tracing the group's deep roots in the Muslim Brotherhood. It is true that Israeli officials lent support to nonviolent Islamist organizations during the first intifada (1987-93), but Hamas was not among them, even if Hamas later absorbed once non-violent civil society organs. Perhaps Israeli officials were naive to engage moderate Islamists, but if so, Western calls for outreach to Hamas simply replicate past mistakes.

Mr. Levitt's analysis is nuanced further through its juxtaposition of the seeming moderation of some Hamas officials inside the West Bank and Gaza and the external radicals. Here he warns against comparison: In the West Bank and Gaza, Hamas moderates its rhetoric and actions out of fear of the Israeli military, not of conviction. It is simply easier for the Damascus-based Mr. Mishaal to solicit Iranian funds than for those in Gaza within reach of Israeli forces.

Any serious terrorism analyst understands the importance of a money trail. Mr. Levitt makes an exceptional contribution with a chapter on "economic Jihad." He demonstrates how Hamas launders money and uses charities to subsidize terrorism. One fatwa--issued from a Saudi governmental body--even makes it permissible to use non-Islamic, interest-bearing banks to transfer money, so long as it is used to finance jihad. On April 28, President Chirac of France argued, "[F]inancial aid to Palestinians has to be maintained for human and political reasons." Mr. Levitt shows how Hamas twists such humanitarian aid to prove that the policy is inane. The group emphasizes early education radicalization and teaches elementary school students to venerate suicide bombers. Incitement matters. Between 2003 and 2004, children's involvement in terrorism increased by 64%.

Hamas's financial operations extend to America. The FBI has investigated Hamas's links to drug trafficking, credit card fraud, sale of counterfeit products, and cigarette tax fraud. Such operations provide between $20 million and $30 million annually to Middle Eastern terrorist groups like Hamas.

Most gripping is Mr. Levitt's breakdown of the cost of an attack. A November 27, 2001, shooting attack on the Afula central bus station cost $31,000; the July 31, 2002, attack on a Hebrew University cafeteria that killed seven, including five Americans, cost $50,000. In contrast, the Holy Land Foundation, a prime financier of Hamas, raised $57 million between 1992 and 2001.

Not all cash goes directly to operations, though; donations also finance aid to the families of suicide bombers and Hamas's social service-recruitment division. While no formal affiliation exists between Hamas and Al-Qaeda, Mr. Levitt highlights numerous financial links between the groups and raises questions about whether such ties could be made operational, either officially or through rogue cells.

While Mr.Levitt focuses on Hamas, J. Millard Burr and Robert Collins look more broadly at terrorism finance in "Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World" (Cambridge University Press, 343 pages, $28). The two are well-matched to collaborate: Mr. Burr,a former USAID relief coordinator in Sudan, provides practitioner reality, while Mr. Collins, a well-published African historian, adds academic depth. They begin with an examination of zakat, Islamic alms. They explain the difference among zakat, religious gifts, and endowment, and show how they can all be used to similar ends.

Lay Muslims once looked at zakat as just another tax levied by their governments. However, the Muslim Brotherhood-run mosques began collecting alms to fund jihad. Messrs. Burr and Collins demonstrate this with a number of case studies covering Afghanistan, Sudan, the Balkans, Russia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Holy Land, Europe, and North America. Throughout, the Saudi royal family played a pernicious role, founding and promoting charities to spread militant Sunni Islam, not only as an inoculation against resurgent Shi'ism from revolutionary Iran, but also to radicalize the Muslims in Europe and America. Western bungling amplified the charities' success: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika enabled Islamist charities to sink roots in Chechnya, while in the next decade, the Clinton administration delayed investigations into charities like the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation out of deference to its Saudi royal family patrons.

Messrs. Burr and Collins's examination of Islamic banking is rich with both historical background and contemporary detail, some of which may surprise: They show how groups like Palestinian Hamas, Algeria's Islamic Salvation Front, Tunisia's al-Nahda, and Egypt's Jama'at al-Islamiyya all held shares in the Saudi-based al-Taqwa bank. And though the authors do not discuss Turkey, the fact that Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey has quietly replaced every member of the Turkey's banking board with members drawn from Islamic banks is another cause for concern. Still, even though Islamist terrorists began targeting their Saudi patrons, Messrs. Burr and Collins demonstrate how there remains virtually no government oversight into charitable donations anywhere in the Muslim world.

While "Hamas" and "Alms for Jihad" detail the networks through which terrorist groups grow, Fawaz Gerges, a professor at Sarah Lawrence University, takes a more holistic approach in "Journey of the Jihadist" (Harcourt, 296 pages, $25). He seeks to "delve into the world of Islamic militancy," but his narrative falls flat. Based on interviews with a few Islamists, Mr. Gerges's account is all color and no substance. To conclude, he paraphrases an Egyptian Islamist who faults American policy for forcing a reaction from Islamists; this is the logical equivalent of exculpating rape because the victim wore a short skirt.

Messrs. Levitt, Burr, and Collins demonstrate that terrorism is not the spontaneous response to grievance. Never has the gap between reality and the conventional wisdom peddled by Middle Eastern studies doyens like Mr. Gerges appeared so great.

New York Sun

Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad.(Book review): An article from: Middle East Policy

Average customer rating:

A controversial article

Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad.(Book review): An article from: Middle East Policy
Sara Roy
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Middle East Policy, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2007. The length of the article is 2294 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad.(Book review)
Author: Sara Roy
Publication: Middle East Policy (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Page: 162(5)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

A controversial article.......2007-08-12

This is a notorious review of a book about Hamas. The book was written by Matthew Levitt, and the review by Sara Roy. When Roy tried to publish her review initially, it was turned down, as she states, because they found it "too one-sided."

Wow.

I do not ask for balance. I ask for truth. That does not mean omitting most of the relevant facts, so that the reader would be expected to draw erroneous conclusions. It means telling the truth as best one can. Let's see if Roy does that.

Roy says that Levitt is wrong to characterize Hamas as strictly a terrorist organization. She says that "it is the principle aim of his book to show how Hamas uses its extensive social-service network-mosques, schools, kindergartens, orphanages, hospitals, clinics, sports clubs, youth clubs-to further its primary political agenda, which he claims is the destruction of Israel." It sounds to me that Levitt has made a good point here. Roy indicates that she does not find Levitt's evidence for this convincing. But I find it hard to believe that the goals of Hamas are anything but destructive.

Roy does say that "there can be no doubt that, since its inception, Hamas has engaged in violence and armed struggle that have been the primary force behind the horrific suicide bombings inside Israel." I believe it.

After this, however, Roy seems to go off the rails. She starts by saying that from the point of view of Hamas, "the establishment of the State of Israel is viewed as a way to perpetuate colonial authority over the Muslim homeland and is therefore illegitimate." Perhaps many of those in Hamas feel that way, but Roy is not being honest if she fails to explain that such a view is incorrect.

Roy also implies that Hamas is a response to Israeli behavior (such as Israel allowing settlements to be built on disputed land) rather than a straightforward attempt to get rid of human rights, especially for Jews, in the region. I think that's dishonest of her as well. And she ends her review with some speculations about Hamas becoming more moderate, whatever that may mean. Instead, I think her focus ought to be on whether Hamas could ever abide human rights for all the people of the region.

I'm not impressed by this article. If Roy wanted to take serious issue with the book, she did not need to come up with this sort of propaganda to say so. It is as though she had thrown a bunch of obscene words into the review. I can see why it initially got turned down for publication.

I'm completely in favor of academic freedom, and I favor letting people say what they think. However, academic freedom does not extend to violations of academic standards. If articles fail to meet such standards, they can be turned down for publication. I do not sympathize much with Roy on this.

Still, it all worked out for the best. Roy did get her review published. And I'll give her the one star it deserves.

Book Description

Does a beloved institution need its own myths to survive? Can conservationists avoid turning their heroes into legends? Should they try? Yellowstone National Park, a global icon of conservation and natural beauty, was born at the most improbable of times: the American Gilded Age, when altruism seemed extinct and society’s vision seemed focused on only greed and growth. Perhaps that is why the park’s “creation myth” portrayed a few saintlike pioneer conservationists laboring to set aside this unique wilderness against all odds. In fact, the establishment of Yellowstone was the result of complex social, scientific, economic, and aesthetic forces. Its creators were not saints but mortal humans with the full range of ideals and impulses known to the species. Authors Paul Schullery and Lee Whittlesey, both longtime students of Yellowstone’s complex history, present the first full account of how the fairy tale origins of the park found universal public acceptance and the long, painful process by which the myth was reconsidered and replaced with a more realistic and ultimately more satisfying story.

In this evocative exploration of Yellowstone’s creation myth, the authors trace the evolution of the legend, its rise to incontrovertible truth, and its revelation as a mysterious and troubling episode that remains part folklore, part wish, and part history. This study demonstrates the passions stirred by any challenge to cherished national memories, just as it honors the ideals and dreams represented by our national myths.

Customer Reviews:

A very fine work of scholarship.......2005-01-12

Schullery and Whittlesey have performed a great service for all lovers of Yellowstone Park and its history. This is excellent scholarship. It is not, however, the "first full account" of this story. Chris Magoc's Yellowstone: The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870-1903 (University of New Mexico Press and MOntana Historical Society, 1999), is equally fine and indeed goes further and deeper in its analysis of the cultural and historical significance of this chapter of the park's history.

A work of impressive scholarship.......2003-12-08

The collaborative effort of Paul Schullery (Professor of History, Montana State University) and Lee Whittlesey (Park Historian, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park), Myth And History In The Creation Of Yellowstone National Park presents the complex and fascinating history behind the creation of the Yellowstone National Park. This unprecedented establishment came to be during the American Gilded Age, a time when corporate greed ran rampant and political altruism seemed almost extinct. Myths about the inception of Yellowstone National Park have persevered and found an enduring public acceptance, but the true story of the individuals behind the park's creation is actually one of flawed human beings with their own competing motives, and not necessarily pure-hearted conservational philosophies. Myth And History In The Creation Of Yellowstone National Park is a work of impressive scholarship and very highly recommended for university and community library American History collections.

Yellowstone : The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870-1903

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Outstanding work

Yellowstone : The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870-1903
Chris J. Magoc
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

Fairy Tales | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone

ASIN: 0826321194

Book Description

This history explores the conflicted creation of Yellowstone National Park in late nineteenth-century America. The author examines the American myths and late-Victorian values behind the movement both to preserve the Yellowstone wilderness and to extract its natural resources. He introduces the tastemakers, stewards, financiers, and boosters who jockeyed to protect the wilderness, commodify the scenery, and exploit valuable natural resources. The major cultural and economic force in the Yellowstone story was the Northern Pacific Railroad. To increase its passenger and freight traffic, the Northern Pacific simultaneously invested in tourist facilities, promoted the consumption of the scenery, and encouraged the harvesting of raw materials. Park defenders successfully battled hunters and miners within Yellowstone boundaries, but they challenged neither park tourism nor nearby industrial development. The consequences now threaten the park's ecological health. Using fifty-four photographs, illustrations, and maps, the author demonstrates how the railroad and advertisers helped to codify the ultimate American landscape.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding work.......2005-01-12

Chris Magoc's environmental and cultural history of the early years of Yellowstone National Park is superbly researched and extraordinarily well written. It turns upside down a number of the popular myths about the park and provokes reconsideration of many of the sacred myths we Americans hold dear about our most treasured landscapes, among which is the idea that they are "virgin" and inviolable spaces, that they are "set apart" from the culture and economic structures of capitalism.

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