Ghost Force: The Secret History of the SAS

Average customer rating:

Excellent history of a much-misunderstood Regiment

Potted History of Post WW2 De-Colonisation and the Cold War

Ghost Force: The Secret History of the SAS
Ken Connor
Manufacturer: Orion Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0752827006

Customer Reviews:

Excellent history of a much-misunderstood Regiment.......2005-01-04

The author's in-depth knowledge of the Special Air Service, gained from 23 years in the Regiment, enables him to provide a very thoughtful and intelligent partial history of Britain's most famous fighting unit. Reading Connor's book it's obvious there are many other stories still to be told (a long time from now, when all the relevant players are dead and buried); but the tales he does tell add up to a fascinating account of the most combat-tested unit in the world. Towards the end of the book Connor makes several pertinent criticisms of today's SAS, though his conclusion that the Regiment needs to be disbanded is probably misplaced - as events since September 11th 2001 have made clear. Nevertheless, his insights into how an outstanding group of soldiers have been progressively emasculated by senior officers and a stifling bureaucracy is all too believable. We can only hope that another definitive history of the SAS remains to be written 25 years from now, which will show that the period 1980 - 2000 was a low point in the Regiment's history, rather than a period of terminal decline.

Potted History of Post WW2 De-Colonisation and the Cold War .......2004-10-02

I found this book to be a combination of an entertaining narrative of the operations conducted by the British SAS since the end of World War 2, and an informative synopsis of the wider political landscape that served to give those operations context. Covering the events of Malaya and the confrontation with Indonesia, Northern Ireland, the Iranian Embassy seige of 1980, the Falklands and the first Gulf war and beyond, this book as an important addition to the library of anyone with an interest in the military, modern history, politics, or assymetric warfare. One could be forgiven for asking "where is the stuff on the Australian and NZ SAS in Vietnam and South East Asia?", but the book is more focussed on the British experience and I don't think the message suffers for that lack. Anyone hoping for revelations of the tactics and techniques of counter-terrorism or counter surveillance will probably be disappointed -no secrets are given away here. A good read, and one that I will keep coming back to as a handy reference on post WW2 world history.

Ghost Force, the Secret History of the SAS

Average customer rating:

Ghost Force, the Secret History of the SAS
Ken Connor
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld Military
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORKFOA

Book Description

Global Issues, Local Arguments: Readings for Writing features high-interest arguments on significant global issues and emphasizes their connection to readers’ lives.

Engages readers through high interest argument readings while encouraging critical thinking skills, strengthen abilities to analyze and synthesize, and build writing skills that can bring about change. Nine significant global issues: Employment Outsourcing, Free Trade, Immigration, Culture, Terrorism, Human Rights, Water Rights, Global Heath, and Global Food Supply.

General Interest

Customer Reviews:

My Review.......2007-10-08

I was happy to see that it was just as described. I could not be happier with the purchase I made.

Global Controversies And Their Local Connections.......2007-09-23

GLOBAL ISSUES, LOCAL ARGUMENTS
Readings for Writing
By June Johnson
Seattle University

582 Pages with index
Paperback
Copyright 2007 by Pearson Educations, Inc.
Pearson / Longman
ISBN 0-321-24423-0

Global Issues, Local Arguments features high-interest arguments on significant global issues and emphasizes their connection to students' lives while developing critical thinking,
analysis,
synthesis,
argumentation,
and research skills.

What Your Colleagues Are Saying About This New Text!

"Shelley Aley,
James Madison University

"What I find appealing about the book is how it proposes to awaken us to unfamiliar topics that have a tremendous impact on our lives,
and it aims to show us how our own choices impact others.
It takes a great deal of mystery out of the issues and illustrates just how they matter to us. [...]
What I'm seeing here will connect with my students at a time in their lives when they may be most willing/needing to connect.
Johnson's writing is fresh and readable.
The book is simply a good read."

"Farrah Cato
University of Central Florida

"I currently use a global reader in my Comp I course and found it lacking in the topics covered (most deal with the idea of globalization, with few specifics); Global Issues, Local Arguments is precisely what I have hoped to find in a global reader."

"James D'Agostino
Southeast Missouri State University

"I'm immediately impressed with how the text guides students through the readings,
prompting students to focus their analysis on both how an essay's constructed as an argument,
and how it influences a reader's views;
implicit in this line of questioning is the expectation that each argument a student reads deepens and reshapes his or her understanding of an issue.
The discussion questions do that so well throughout."

"Collin Hutchison
San Jacinto College South

"The overall, interdiscuplinary approach to teaching rhetoric and composition will offer students a chance to see arguments in the context of current issues and gives them the opportunity to sense how intimately language shapes thought,
public policy and personal lives,
a form of education that will resonate with them long after the last assignment has been submitted."
[from the book of backcover]

"Why should writing instructors bring global issues into the writing classroom?
Global issues belong in writing courses because we are bumping into these issues more frequently and because global issues spark students' interest in learning and lead them to produce good writing.

Daily,
the media bombard us with stories and images that remind us that our states,
regions,
and country are part of the larger world.
Controversies over free trade,
outsourcing,
immigration,
climate change,
and bird flu increasingly demand our attention.
In my writing classes,
I have found that students welcome the opportunity to study these controversies,
to discuss and write about them.
Some of these issues are new and intriguing to students:
How does our shopping at the local mall affect workers in clothing factories in China?
How does lack of safe water in Africa threaten global security?
Some are immediately relevant:
How will sending businesses and jobs to Mexico and India affect the number of jobs available to young adults in the United States and Canada?
Some have urgency:
Should each country create an emergency plan for containing outbreaks of diseases such as bird flu that can spread in hours around the world and can kill millions?

From working with global issues in my writing and argument classes,
I have discovered that these issues,
connecting "over there" with "home here,"
appeal to today's students,
whose generation has been shaped by media images from around the world.

Global Issues, Local Arguments is based on two main ideas:
first,
seeing how global issues touch us and how our decisions as consumers and voters have far-reaching consequences is very important in today's world,
and
second,
studying the public arguments on these issues in the writing classroom has great value.

Unlike multicultural texts that have for years featured readings about the world,
this text is an argument reader that introduces students to

GLOBAL CONTROVERSIES AND THEIR LOCAL CONNECTIONS.

It helps students think their way through these issues and enter into them in their writing...."
[from the book preface]

Specters of Mother India: The Global Restructuring of an Empire (Radical Perspectives)

Average customer rating:

Specters of Mother India: The Global Restructuring of an Empire (Radical Perspectives)
Mrinalini Sinha , and Mrinalini Sinha
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

History of Books | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0822337959

Book Description

Specters of Mother India tells the complex story of one episode that became the tipping point for an important historical transformation. The event at the center of the book is the massive international controversy that followed the 1927 publication of Mother India, an exposé written by the American journalist Katherine Mayo. Mother India provided graphic details of a variety of social ills in India, especially those related to the status of women and to the particular plight of the country’s child wives. According to Mayo, the roots of the social problems she chronicled lay in an irredeemable Hindu culture that rendered India unfit for political self-government. Mother India was reprinted many times in the United States, Great Britain, and India; it was translated into more than a dozen languages; and it was reviewed in virtually every major publication on five continents.

Sinha provides a rich historical narrative of the controversy surrounding Mother India, from the book’s publication through the passage in India of the Child Marriage Restraint Act in the closing months of 1929. She traces the unexpected trajectory of the controversy as critics acknowledged many of the book’s facts only to overturn its central premise. Where Mayo located blame for India’s social backwardness within the beliefs and practices of Hinduism, the critics laid it at the feet of the colonial state, which they charged with impeding necessary social reforms. As Sinha shows, the controversy became a catalyst for some far-reaching changes, including a reconfiguration of the relationship between the political and social spheres in colonial India and the coalescence of a collective identity for women.

Global Perspectives in Children's Literature

Average customer rating:

Global Perspectives in Children's Literature
Evelyn B. Freeman , and Barbara A. Lehman
Manufacturer: Allyn & Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Reading | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Children's Literature Guides | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Accessories:

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0205308627

The Global Experience, Volume I: Readings in World History

Average customer rating:

The Global Experience, Volume I: Readings in World History
Stuart B. Schwartz , Linda Wimmer , and Robert S. Wolff
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Medieval | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433

ASIN: 0673993809

Global Experience: Readings in World History to 1500, Volume I

Average customer rating:

Global Experience: Readings in World History to 1500, Volume I

Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0133107981

Global History and Geography: Readings and Documents

Average customer rating:

Global History and Geography: Readings and Documents
Norman L. Lunger
Manufacturer: Amsco School Pubns Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1567656560

Average customer rating:

Mastering Global History
James Killoran
Manufacturer: Jarrett Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Reading | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1882422449

The Global Experience, Volume II: Readings in World History Since 1550 (4th Edition)

Average customer rating:

The Global Experience, Volume II: Readings in World History Since 1550 (4th Edition)
Philip F. Riley , Frank Gerome , Henry Myers , Chong-Kun Yoon , and Robert L. Lembright
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0130195693

Book Description

Broad in scope and integrative in perspective, this anthology offers a brief, balanced collection of challenging, but accessible, primary materials that cover World History since the 1500s. Organized chronologically, drawn from a variety of genres, and focused on global themes, the selections are genuinely representative of diverse civilizations at different points of their development. This wide-ranging and world focus features selections from anthropology; comparative literature; drama; economics; geography; law; philosophy; political theory; poetry; religion; science; and sociology. It looks at early modern political economy; nationalism; romanticism; racism; World War I diplomacy; patterns of genocide; and much more. For individuals embarking upon a critical and analytical journey through the history of the world.

Average customer rating:

Readings in Global History
Anthony Snyder , and Sherri West
Manufacturer: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Traditions And Encounters, Volume 1

ASIN: 0840390092

Book Description

This work is a combination of an account of a most captivating Lebanese personality with a penetrating analysis of the historical and religious contours of Lebanon. His life is part of the national epic with elements of Christian faith and Maronite sophistication, inter-confessional modes of partnership, and violence tearing apart the fabric of social and economic life. Integral to the narrative and incisively unconventional interpretation is the complex politics of Lebanon intermixed with the war that errupted in 1975.
Etienne Sakr embodies the destiny of Lebanon and its defiant struggle for national existence in the Middle East. He was the first to understand the threats to Lebanon and the decay in its elite circles, and he may be the last exile to return home. Personal testimonies from Lebanese residents and conversations with others outside of Lebanon who knew Abu-Arz, in addition to interviews with Israelis aquainted with him, provide the authenticity to the portrait of this remarkable man.

Customer Reviews:

A Handbook to the Middle East.......2007-05-28

This book serves as a handbook to the Middle East. Everyone who is confused about the Middle East and the struggles between extremism and moderates must read this. Lebanon and Israel are the only true democracies in the entire Middle East and North Africa. There are many who like to see both these institutions fail in order to deflect attention from their own oppresive regimes.

This book belongs to history.......2006-01-18

This book is the exact opposite of what one would expect. It tells the story of a fighter in the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). I expected to read some regret, reassessment of the war experience and perhaps some apologies. Instead, the book was apologetic of the war and praising the deeds of the warrior and his heroism.
Etienne Saqr, better known in Lebanon for his nom de guerre Abou Arz, is presented in this biography by Israeli writer Mordechai Nisan. Before I talk about the content of the book, I have some comment about its writing methodology. When writing a biography, it is essential to collect all the material available about the person subject to profiling. This, however, was certainly impossible in the case of this book written by an Israeli author since Israelis are not allowed into Lebanon. This drawback made itself noticeable since the only primary source for this biography was Saqr himself, his family and his supporters. (Saqr lives in Israel and his daughters and their families live in Lebanon and the family often hold its reunions in nearby Cyprus)
The rest of the sources were all secondary sources and lacked any on-the-record interviews of say Saqr's wartime adversaries.
This said I have also to say that the content came as a surprise too. A book published in 2003 about a Lebanese militia fighter who quit his group by the early 1990s is expected to have some self-critique and repentance. Yet a reader of this book who is familiar with Lebanon's domestic affairs would get the impression that this book was written in the mid-1970s, when Saqr first embarked on his militia career.
The book also tries to justify all of Saqr's war activity often reaching contradictions. For instance, the book depicts Saqr as the "conscience of Lebanon" who sought to rid Lebanon of foreign fighters (Palestinians). As you read more you discover that Saqr was not only against foreign fighters, he was also opposed to "alien ideologies" ...talk about freedom of expression and belief.
Then while the book always depict Saqr as defending Lebanon against the presence of Palestinian fighters in Lebanon, it cites some of the atrocities that these fighters committed, at the time, against Lebanese civilians. Yet it remains silent and totally ignores how Lebanese militias reciprocated to such atrocities as they committed similar massacres against Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps of Lebanon. As a matter of fact, the picture of the cover page shows Saqr in military uniform at Tal Al-Zaatar in 1976 when some Lebanese radical groups massacred a number of Palestinians civilians including non-combatant women and children.
In sum, this book lacks proper methodology, is extremely one-sided, and belongs to the past when the Lebanese were still locked in a bloody civil war. It's a waste of money.

It is high time for Lebanon's true story to be told.......2003-05-08

It is high time for Lebanon's true story to be told, not the same old jaded and dubious Arabist apologetics.
I just finished reading Mordechai Nisan's Political Biography of Abu-Arz, and thankfully, the author does just that; he shatters the duplicity and falsehoods that Arabism and Islam have been feeding us for the past 100 years to conceal their vicious plundering of Lebanon (and their intrinsic loathing and rejection to the unmolested presence of non-Muslim minorities in their midst in Middle East.)
Professor Nisan's book is an amazing journey, and a hypnotic page-turner. And as usual with his work on Middle Eastern minorities, his narrative is elegant, his prose pellucid, and his scholarship penetrating and compelling... to say nothing of the verve, commitment and unyielding and unequivocal fondness he has for Lebanon and her people.
We should blush that it wasn't a Lebanese who wrote this book; but we should also be proud and flattered that it was Professor Nisan's undertaking. Nobody could have told this story more compellingly and with such erudition.
As a Muslim Lebanese, I am heartened to see that someone has finally summoned up enough integrity and courage to tell the true story of Lebanon and its struggle against the predatory Arabism of Syria and the thugery of Palestinian refugees and Hezbollahy quislings (to say nothing of the Syrian installed 'Lebanese' puppet regime in Beirut) who never tire from pillaging Lebanon and subverting its sovereignty and Lebanonness.
Every true Lebanese should acquire a copy of this splendid addition to the literature on Lebanonism... and anyone interested in the TRUE story of Lebanon should check out this superb work of historical sociology.

Amazon.com

Roger Edmonson details the life of one of the most famous and beloved American gay porn stars. In 1971, gay model and actor Cal Culver went from being relatively unknown to superstardom when he appeared in the acclaimed high-brow porn movie Boys in the Sand. Rechristened Casey Donovan, he became a stage star, a world-renowned celebrity, and an idol for gay men. In 1987 Culver died of AIDS-related complications. Boy in the Sand is remarkably free from moralizing, simply presenting the reader with the everyday realities of Donovan's life, from his careers as advice columnist for Stallion magazine and hustler to his romantic pursuits. Like Charles Isherwood's critically acclaimed Wonder Bread and Ecstasy: The Life and Death of Joey Stefano, Edmonson's book is more than simply a portrait of the artist as a young stud--it's an examination of how gay-male sexuality and identity are constructed and marketed for both homosexual and mainstream audiences. --Michael Bronski

Customer Reviews:

A Great Read........2005-08-06

Cal Cluver, a/k/a Casey Donovan was a pioneer. He, along with Wakefield Poole, Joe Gage, Al Parker, and the like, created the the modern gay male icon. This is the story of Donovan, his triumps, his cutting edge persona, and his tragic end. Read this book.

Not very believable.......2002-12-03

Little said about the supposed biography. I am sure if Casey Donovan was alive he would be suing for defamation. Too many anonymous names lots of hearsay. The pics of Casey are good but thats about it. Don't bother

Like a so-so date: great package, but where's the depth?.......2000-01-15

Confession: I started reading this book wanting to like it. Really. After all the inaccuracies that have been written and said about gay men and their (supposedly? occasionally?) promiscuous sexuality (which depends, I suppose, on who's doing the talking; to use a literary analogy, you say "bookworm", I say "well-read"), I was looking forward to an in-depth look at the development, creation and iconization of a gay porn star. What would lead an otherwise "normal" young man, in the era of the overwhelming closet, to enter, and ultimately maintain a career, in this industry? Long before it was considered somewhat fashionable to have a little bit of scandal in your past, long before the days of straight bodybuilders making a few quick bucks, most hardcore gay film performers were doing it out of desperation for the money, to avoid homelessness, or under some form of duress (e.g. runaway teens, drug users, etc.). Then along comes this boy next door, who seems to want nothing but to be a performer, and there he is, making adult films? What created this man? What created our urge to watch him, honor him, and make him an icon of liberated gay sexuality? How did all these factors come together, and ultimately help create the mega-billion dollar industry that is gay porn today?

Unfortunately, we're left hanging, unsatisfied, on most of these fronts. While the author does occasionally delve into the psyche of his subject, his family, and the public that seemed (and still seems) to adore him, these are brief glimpses. In most cases, the curtain is pulled back rather quickly, as if the author is somehow more shy about revealing the interior of this person than he is about revealing the external body he dwelt in.

Not that those looking for a quick bit of titillation will get much here, either. Better to purchase an anthology of male erotica, if what you're looking for is a bit of arousal. Here again, the author experiences a surpising chastity about his subject.

Where the author does exult, however, is in his descriptions of Cal/Casey's natural beauty, and its effect on those around him (not to mention the author himself). There is a certain degree of goddess-worship in his tone and constant, repitious descriptions of our hero's boy-next-door looks, unwavering smile, honest eyes, tight body (and so on, over and over again).

True, you can hardly blame the guy: Cal/Casey WAS good looking, seems to be awfully charming, and might not be a bad person to spend an evening with. But, like the end of an ultimately boring date, where you don't get much beyond the surface of your partner, this book, too, leaves the reader wanting more substance.

EVERYTHING YOU WANNA KNOW ABOUT CASEY.......2000-01-12

Being a big porn fan (especially 80's movies), I found this book very interreting to read. Lots a details. The short interviews of people who knew Cal/Casey are put in in an original way. With all the modeling he did, I was a little deceived there were only a few pictures of him. But I bought the book for his story, and that part was good. I can only imagine that his life was not ordinary and was one of a kind. Other porn stars must have been through hell in comparaison. You'll enjoy the reading !

A detailed, absorbing look at the first gay XXX celebrity........1999-08-07

BOY IN THE SAND is a much-needed look back at gay porn's first celebrity, the much-loved and still greatly missed, Casey Donovan. It's also a good overview of the growth of the gay XXX industry, and a quick, absorbing read, overall, with lots of juicy behind-the-scenes details.

Edmonson nicely details the duality of Casey's personality; he was equal parts sex pig and clean-cut boy next door. The facts of his life are all here, but I would have liked a closer, more detailed examination of his inner life. Still, relatively few authors have attempted to examine the gay adult video industry, and those who have cannot seem to resist moralizing, or snickering. Edmonson does neither, and his discretion and respect for the life and work of Casey Donovan is much appreciated.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books