History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

War Crimes: The Left's Campaign to Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror

Average customer rating:

To See The Ignorance of the Left...Read the Critical Reviews..
The Facts Speak For Themselves
another trashy novel from the buzzer
A Good Read!
This book betrays our military

War Crimes: The Left's Campaign to Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror
Robert "Buzz" Patterson
Manufacturer: Crown Forum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Iraq | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

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Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security
Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security
Sabotage: America's Enemies Within the CIA
Power to the People
If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans

ASIN: 0307338266
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Book Description

In War Crimes, Lieutenant Colonel Robert “Buzz” Patterson (USAF, Ret.) lays bare the Left’s campaign against their own nation’s armed forces—in the media, on campuses, in popular culture, in Washington, and elsewhere, revealing:

·The roots of liberal enmity toward our military
·The five liberal lies about the war on terror
·How the mainstream media, Hollywood, and academia perpetuate these myths
·How liberal politicians engage in seditious acts for political gain, and what the costs of these acts are
·How America can and must defeat the liberal assault on America’s ability to defend itself against its enemies

Interviews with hundreds of soldiers, sailors, and airmen—including many on the ground in Iraq—reveal the alarming degree to which their burden is increased by second-guessing, pessimism, and outright revulsion for their mission on the part of the people they are fighting for. Studded with shocking quotations and astonishing actions from members of the Left, War Crimes is an eye-opening indictment of the true motivations and agenda of the American Left.

Customer Reviews:

To See The Ignorance of the Left...Read the Critical Reviews.........2007-09-09

Buzz has given fact, after fact accompanied by tremendous evidence..His critics can only give us argument ad hominem, and broad generalities..They have no counter arguments...The emptiness of their writings show how we can not trust such people with our government...

The Facts Speak For Themselves.......2007-09-06

While I was in Iraq, I routinely saw news coverage and heard statements by celebrities, politicians, intellectuals and activists which were so diametrically opposed to the reality that I saw on the ground that I truly wondered whether we shared the same planet. While terrorists murdered children on the streets of Bahgdad, activists accused us of atrocities. When Americans who had been captured and murdered were recovered, almost invariably after torture, the media barely acknowledged it, while focusing intently on Abu Ghraib. I understood that they opposed the war, but I was not prepared to make the argument that they were committing treason. LTC (R) Patterson has done so. In War Crimes, he sets out to demonstrate that the antiwar left is not simply a "peace" movement, but a group of dangerous radicals who seek to actively destroy the capacity of the United States to defend itself. In this, he breaks very little new ground, in that most of the quotes or stories recounted have been in the media for years. What makes War Crimes valuable is that it is a single source and provides not only a recounting of those stories, but a detailed bibliography and endnotes which allow independent corroboration. The meticulous research alone is worth it. In addition, the appendix provides accounts of every major terrorist action since the fall of the Shah. By combining not only a detailed history of terrorism and documenting the responses by the left, LTC Patterson does the service of providing a context in which the actions of the Michael Moores and Nancy Pelosis can be objectively evaluated. The downside is that there is a great deal of repetition, which could have been solved by a tighter edit.

Those who read this book with an open-mind will be unable to deny the treasonous nature of the antiwar movement. Those who refuse to read it but condemn it out of hand already know the nature of the left, even as they refuse to admit it.

another trashy novel from the buzzer.......2007-09-01

Buzz has written another trashy piece of fiction that will entertain all the Limbaugh, Hannity, and other fox news apologists on the right. I retired as an air Force 05 just like Buzz. I flew C-130's and he flew 141's. Unlike Buzz I've acually taken part in this war. While the democrats might have voted to give GWB the option of going to war they've had little or nothing to do with the conduct of this war. Blaming anyone other than the republican congress and the Bush administration for what has turned out to be an expensive disaster is folly. The decision to send our courageous military men and women to Iraq to give their lives borders on criminal. You think the French were ungrateful after WW2? Just wait, you haven't seen anything yet. My advice to you Buzz for what it is worth is to use your Air Force academy training to write an intelligent, thoughtful, well balanced book for once in your life.

A Good Read!.......2007-08-24

Freedom of speech, the privilege of every American citizen, gets a workout in Buzz Patterson's latest book. Finally, this privilege, won and preserved by the courage and sacrifice of millions of U.S. service men and women over the years, is used to voice something other than disdain for those same individuals.

Enroute to making his case against the left's "Fifth Column", Patterson chronicles some of the more jaw-dropping statements made by an assortment of liberal politicians, academicians, and celebrities since 9/11. These rants, usually spewed for their shock value, suggest a lack of maturity among these government, thought, and cultural "leaders" that is as shocking as their actual words. They also support the author's premise that there exists among the left a loathing of America's military.

As with all of Patterson's books, War Crimes is well researched, logical, and very well-written. Patterson uses examples of military heroism and statements from his interview subjects as counterpoints to the unbelievable, yet documented, proclamations of liberal elected officials, teachers, and Hollywood activists. War Crimes was a refreshing read in this town where one is as likely to stumble upon a Cindy Sheehan-led anti-war rally as an American flag!

This book betrays our military.......2007-08-21

Buzz is an apologist for the Republicans - big time. He cherry picks statements and then uses them to generally smear the left and democrats.

Buzz would have you believe that the democrats and the left are destroying our military and his book sets out to prove that. He doesn't get there, of course, and engages in a lot of stretching and deception to make his point.

His book ignores the incredible damage to our military by the Bush administration (Republicans - fancy that) including deploying troops without enough equipment, extending rotations to breaking point and failing to care for veterans.

But the real offensive thing about this book is that by apologising for such failures (or seeking to blame the democrats for everything) Buzz is condoning such treatment of our men and women in uniform. And that is a hell of a thing to do in order to score a cheap political point!

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

Average customer rating:

Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Average customer rating:

A quick historical review
A soldier supporter
Not Impressed!
A Fine Story of the History, War, and Art
Good, but it has some problems...

Thieves of Baghdad
Matthew Bogdanos , and William Patrick
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Who Owns the Past?: Cultural Policy, Cultural Property, And the Law

ASIN: B000NIJ488
Release Date: 2005-10-26

Book Description

he New York tabloids call him the pit bull for his relentless prosecution of high-profile defendants. Hes an assistant D.A., a spit-and-polish Marine, a trigger-puller on counter-terrorist missions to Afghanistan, a competitive boxerand a dedicated classics scholar. So when Matthew Bogdanos discovered that the Iraq National Museum had been looted during the battle of Baghdad, he immediately embarked on a mission to recover the stolen antiquities. Accompanied by a select group of men, Bogdanos set off across the desert without official sanction, risking his career and his life in pursuit of this priceless international treasure. THIEVES OF BAGHDAD immerses the listener into the rich culture, the colorful characters, the double-dealing, and the derring-do, to sort out once and for all what actually happened during the chaos of the Baghdad invasion, exactly how the thefts took place, and how the most notable objects were retrieved. We hear Bogdanos and his team going on raids and negotiating recoveries, blowing open safes, and mingling in the marketplacesoften encountering an assortment of rogues and villains. He gradually earns the trust of Iraqis eager to preserve their cultural heritageand then stuns the world by unearthing the most sensational treasure of all, The Gold of Nimrud over 1,000 pieces of gold jewelry, precious stones, and ornaments often called Iraqs Crown Jewels.

Customer Reviews:

A quick historical review.......2007-09-28

Colonel Matthew Bogdonos did a great service by writing about his account; however, I must completely agree with a prior review regarding this egotistical author. Being a former Marine and an undergraduate in Historical Studies, he discredited his book by boasting. A book of this scope should be strengthened by facts, sources, and even personal experiences, as long as the ego can be left out of it. While I was satisfied with the book, I wouldn't recommend this book unless one could forgive the semantics.

A soldier supporter.......2007-06-17

Colonel Bogdanos has a fascinating tale of the war on terror, Iraqi reconstruction, and the recovery of stolen artifacts. Unfortunately, the author's ego too often overshadows the amazing tale.

Certainly the author had the opportunity to witness history-changing events. He was a neighbor who saw the destruction of the twin towers. He visited Afghanistan and saw the trouble of rebuilding the remote country. Then he went through Iraq and finally settled in the Iraq museum in Baghdad, helping recover and protect artifacts.

Unfortunately, Bogdanos' boasting occurs early and often. He recounts how he evacuated his building in lower Manhattan after the towers fell. Reading his description makes it sound like he escorted his family through a war zone. He was packing a gun, hustling past roadblocks, and scanning for threats. My initial thoughts were "Didn't thousands of other people make this same passage safely ... and without nearly as much machismo?"

Based on his biographical overview, you'd think the author single-handedly came up with the idea of protecting the Iraq Museum, that he was the one who developed the plans to recover the stolen artifacts, and (best yet) that he was responsible for developing inter-agency anti-terror training.

My impression is that he was a part of those efforts, but that he had a lot of (understated) partners. Reading his book, you will see no such partners. Instead you will see a lot of underlings who are grateful for such a smart leader. You will see two types of supervisors: the bumbling ones who overlook Bogdanos' obvious qualifications and contributions, and the intelligent ones who give Bogdanos the authority to fulfill the mission only he can accomplish.

A good story of post-war Iraq is in this book. Unfortunately, Bogdanos' bravado distracts too much from it.

Not Impressed!.......2007-06-11

This book for several reasons did not impress me. First, Bogdanos drops a lot of names of "important" people that enlist his help and vice-versa. Problem is, they're just names to the reader. I don't know these people from Adam and the author does very little to "flesh them out". Second, his need to continually quote famous historical figures to prove he is a well-educated serviceman not only shows his insecurities and self-righteousness but also slows the story to a snail's pace. While he claims to be telling a story about marines and the wonderful work they do, rather than himself, he engages in some pretty heavy self-glorification. Third, while he denies couching any of his story in political partisanship, the political theater that he participates in is filled with Republican "good ol' boys". Some of the justifications Bagdanos gives for the military's reluctance to safe guard museums and archaeological sites seems valid while other reasons do not. I saw Matthew Bogdanos at a lecture in Indianapolis this spring. His haughty demeanor did not dispel any of the reservations I feel about this bias account. On the positive side, Bogdanos does give the reader a picture of the historical significance of Mesopotamian artifacts and background on the domestic and colonial personalities that helped shape present day Iraq. His passion for history cannot be denied. He also gives some of the Western media as well as the Iraqi museum staff positive credit. However, for a truly humbling account of the "shock and awe" aftermath, please read Lawrence Anthony's "Babylon's Ark".

A Fine Story of the History, War, and Art.......2007-04-28

Matthew Bogdanos' story of the lost antiquities of the Bahgdad Museum is a fascinating and informative account of his experiences with an interagency counterterrorism unit following 9/11. However, its not just about Bahgdad, as he tells us about the challenges he faces growing up in downtown New York, his roots in Greek and Middle Eastern classics, etc. In fact, despite the extraordinary depth of his knowledge of classic literature, arts, and history, there is a certain air of self-promotion throughout the book that the reader just can't overlook. Nonetheless, I found Bogdanos' writing to be sophisticated and interesting and I felt that I finished his book with a better understanding of U.S. efforts to help the Iraqi people help themselves (despite the efforts of their fellow Iraqi's to sell their own heritage to the highest bidders). The beautiful photos add great depth to Bogdanos' account and spark the reader's interest in the history and art of the region. Enjoy this highly unusual account of one man's war time experiences.

Good, but it has some problems..........2007-04-10

Matthew Bogdanos' Thieves of Baghdad is an interesting novel of the robbings of museums in Iraq. His story keeps the reader interested in seeing the other side of the war in Iraq, that being what happened to the history of Iraq. Bogdanos takes us in to the museums and shows us what happened with looters, professional thieves and a misguided media trying to report what had happened.

When you think of war, you rarely think of robberies as being able to tell part of the story. Bogdanos makes a compelling argument of the importance of a country's history and artifacts in helping a country rebuild its identity. He takes in to these museums as they try and retrace what happened and what was stolen (often hard to tell due to poor record keeping) and who would have stolen it. Though normal citizens often did some of the stealing, Bogdanos shows how he was able to determine that many of these robberies were either inside jobs or by professional thieves.

He tells of stories of how the media was quick to jump on stories with grossly inaccurate numbers of some of the robberies (media reported over 100K artifacts stolen when that numbers was grossly inflated by tens of thousands) due to incompetence or another agenda. He tells of stories of mistrust between museum bureaucrats and the US marines that were trying to help them get their artifacts back. Compelling stuff.

The story though often gets bogged down by Bodanos and his need to 'boast.' He makes it clear throughout that he is telling the story of the marines and the good work that they did and that this was not a story about himself, but disproves that argument by his countless references to how much people appreciated him and his commitment to serve his country and risk his life to help the Iraq community. There are only so many times that we can read how he extended his servive, re-enlisted and was the only American that several of the Iraq museum bigwigs would talk to.

Overall though, it was a fine effort and an interesting story that I knew very little bit about.

Average customer rating:

A Pertinent History
Scholarly sane reference on foreign policy, international law, and psychology of war
How did we get here?
Leaves out important info on Bush's decision to invade Iraq

Crimes of War: Iraq

Manufacturer: Nation Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Iraq | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

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Superpower Syndrome: America's Apocalyptic Confrontation with the World
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Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

ASIN: 1560258039

Book Description

Crimes of War—Iraq provides a comprehensive legal, historical, and psychological exploration of the war in Iraq from the same editorial team whose 1971 Crimes of War was a landmark book about Vietnam and the revelation of American war crimes. The editors apply standards of international criminal law, as set forth at Nuremberg after World War II, and by subsequent developments regarding individual responsibility and accountability. These principles have to do with the waging of aggressive war, attacks on civilian centers of population, rights of resistance against an illegal occupation, and the abuse of prisoners.

Explorations of psychology and human behavior include levels of motivation and response in connection with torture at Abu Ghraib; the phenomenon of the atrocity-producing situation in both Vietnam and Iraq (in which counter-insurgency, military policies, and angry grief could cause ordinary people to participate in atrocities); the behavior of doctors and medics in colluding in torture at Abu Ghraib; emerging testimony of American veterans of Iraq concerning the confusions of the mission, and the widespread killing of civilians; and accounts of broadening unease and psychological disturbance among men and women engaged in combat.

Customer Reviews:

A Pertinent History.......2006-12-15

Crimes of War: Iraq is a compilation of articles and essays by many notable authors that were almost all previously published in newspapers, magazines, and other sources. So anyone who has compulsively read all the editorials, international documents and medical journal articles about the Iraq War may find this material is old news. But for readers seeking a comprehensive overview of the Iraq War material, this book is an interesting read. Falk's section on international law includes the many documents which are pertinent to the Iraq War, and Gendzier's section of political analysis is insightful. Out of the final section, Lifton's compilation on the social psychological impact of the war, the most important essay is Bacevich's on the New American Militarism, and it may inspire you (as it did me) to buy his book.

These different sections work as well together for analysis of the Iraq War as they did in Crimes of War: Vietnam by Richard Falk, Gabriel Kolko, and Robert Lifton. As you most likely guessed by the title, if you're looking for a book that includes the arguments defending the war in Iraq, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a book that examines the war from many different perspectives, both academic and personal, Crimes of War: Iraq is a good choice.

Scholarly sane reference on foreign policy, international law, and psychology of war.......2006-06-14

Since I was born and raised in the Middle East over half of my life, I was dumbstruck by the phrase "legitimate grievances in the Islamic world". For my entire life, I never met a Middle Eastern person who does not feel that westerns are agnostic to such thing as legitimacy of any Islamic right. From the era of British, French, and Italian colonialism, such cultural schism has greatly widened.

Yet, on the issue of the Iraq war, many Middle Eastern scholars experience a different sort of schism. The fact that history has chosen George Bush as the leader of the mightiest power on earth is a godsend opportunity to rid off the butcher of Baghdad. The demise of Saddam's sons will endure in the Islamic conscience for long time as a lesson in eternal justice imposed by Christian soldiers for a good cause that turned foul due to mismanagement. Although, Prince Bandar bin Sultan might claim credit to urging George Bush to commit to the removal of Saddam, yet the remarkable coalition between the Jewish lobby for the benefit of Israel, the American Christian conservative lobby, and the Saudis clearly points to the three monotheistic religions as the ultimate source for inspiring Bush to commit to such reckless, yet courageous adventure.

The three authors of this book prove that there are bold western scholars who dare to question the insidious rise of mad heads of state. Had any such people questioned the madness of Hitler from 1933 on, World War II would have been averted. Then, came the Korean and Vietnam wars, sugar coated as a noble mission to contain communism. Worse even was that Saddam and Bin Laden were funded by America, not to defeat the Soviet and the Iranian Ayatollahs, but to sell weapons and enrich capitalist corporations.

The three authors strive to present a well respected reference on foreign policy, law, and the psychology of warring nations in a scholarly rational tone and supported by sound international laws and norms. Their message might never alter the mania of the arrogant generals and oil thirsty capitalists. Yet, they question the consequences of the "empire law" on the culprits who committed crimes against humanity and the nations that turn blind eye to such crimes. For their credit, one should remember that the Iraq war was completely avoidable when George Bush gave Saddam 48 hours to surrender. Saddam sought refuge in Egypt. Yet, the blood thirsty Bush turned down Mubarak's request to grant sanctuary to Saddam's family. Had the opposite happened, thousands of lives would have been saved without a drop of blood shed.

What the authors have missed was that, the 10-year embargo on Iraq has long antagonized the Islamic world against America. When the war came, many Islamists felt relief that George Bush will pay high price for the American support for Israel and the starvation of the Iraqi people. Now, America is paying by the blood of its sons and daughters for the sole mistake of an irrational president. And Iraq isn't getting better either.

Mohamed F. El-Hewie
Author of
Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training

How did we get here?.......2006-06-08

This is an edited work that reprints a number of articles and editorials written by respected professionals on various facets of war crimes committed in Iraq at the behest of the American government. Each of the three editors assembled articles dealing with their respective specialties: law (Falk), political science (Gendzier), and psychology & ethics (Lifton). Given my standing as a social psychologist, it's that last section that I found especially pertinent. For those interested in the debate the ethical treatment of detainees and the role that helping professionals should play (if any), as well as the social conditions required to create torturers, I would highly recommend reading through the section that Lifton was responsible for preparing.

Overall, this is one of the most important books to come out this year.

Leaves out important info on Bush's decision to invade Iraq.......2006-05-11

Including the fact that it made other Middle Eastern leaders like Quadafhi think twice about being so terroristic. In fact Quadaffhi gave up his nuclear bomb buliding project when he saw Saddam fall by the US forces.

The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf

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Why Don't They Ever Learn?
essential
Shocking truth about a war the West should be ashamed of
Wide of the mark

The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf
Ramsey Clark
Manufacturer: International Action Center
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

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

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ASIN: 0965691683

Book Description

Based on research conducted in more than 20 countries as well as eyewitness accounts, this book refutes the misinformation disseminated by corporate media and government sources about U.S. involvement in Iraq. Descriptions of war-torn Iraq during and after Operation Desert Storm illustrate the effect war crimes and violations of international law had on the Iraqi people; updated material examines how the people are still being affected more than a decade later. Analysis of the second Bush administration's use of the September 11 events to justify a new war against Iraq is included, as are letters to President Bush and the media.

Customer Reviews:

Why Don't They Ever Learn?.......2002-12-19

This book is an indispensable documentation of the truth behind the concerted government and media 'processing' of the US/British Persian Gulf war crimes that left even thousands of US troops sick and damaged for life. Even more necessary now on the brink of an abyss that would wrap human progress on this planet in darkness for decades to come. You'll find that another obscene assault on Iraq could pave the way for further 'wars' on independent nations, political assassinations ad lib., witch hunts on US and other citizens in disagreement. Some US citizens may think they're paying to be safe, but may actually be paying to get smashed. When Will They Ever Learn? Everybody should read this. Ask for the new 2002 edition that includes powerful documentation on US war strategy since 9/11.

essential.......2000-12-19

Absolutely essential for anyone interested in the persian gulf "war". Former US atty general Ramsey Clarke gives a no holds barred account of US war crimes in the Gulf. The book reads like it was written yesterday while nearly a decade of US occupation has lapsed since it was published. Really an argument for humanism framed within the murderous Persian Gulf War Clarke lays out the moral historical and legal(domestic and intl) reasons why US "participation" in the "war was wrong. The story the "media", who observed the war in press pools, will never tell you this is an ongoing human tragedy which sadly Ramsey predicts. It's not hysterical in tone just factual, describing the US rape of Iraq in the wake of the Panama invasion. Absolutely, essential reading.

Shocking truth about a war the West should be ashamed of.......1999-02-24

Since the British lost their grip on the Middle-East, the U.S. have taken over. Mr. Clark very accurately describes how the role of the U.S. during the Gulf war fits into the bigger picture of how the U.S. have tried (and succeeded) for decades to remain the world's number one power. At first, I only wanted to read the book because I had some little doubts about the objectivity of the information that we received via the media. On the whole, I agreed that action was needed, and that the war against Iraq could not be avoided. Until I read this book...It was like shells fell from my eyes. I realise now that not only there was a lot more violence used against Iraq than we were told, and that the purpose of this war was not to get Iraq out of Kuwait (which was indeed the 19th province of Iraq before England "created" Kuwait out of it in 1922), but to cripple an entire nation for decades to come. But also that this war was carefully planned by the U.S. for years. Mr. Clark shows this with countless examples, that make you say to yourself: "yes, I always had doubts about that". One of them is that although the CIA was already aware for sixth months that during the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq used poison gas against the kurds in the North of Iraq, it never revealled this information to the press until after the Iran-Iraq ceasefire in 1988, 3 hours before an Iraqi delegate arrived in the U.S. and gave a press conference. This delegate was rather taken by surprise by the questions he got at this press-conference. I can hardly exagerate the need for everybody to read this book, and learn what price the Iraqi people had to pay to secure U.S. access to cheap oil...that's what bothers me most: this war was not about democracy or human rights, it was about money and power only. And by the way: all this talk about U.S. attempts to eliminate Mr. Hussein is, of course, nonsense. The U.S. still need him in the saddle because he gives the U.S. the excuse for presence in the Gulf and maintaining the economic sanctions. READ THIS BOOK!!! And see, among other things, that not only the Iraqi people were informed very subjectively by their media. We were also by ours.

Wide of the mark.......1997-08-16

I eagerly began reading this book in the hope of obtaining a new perspective on a war which has been mostly glorified. However, the author's lack of a vaild perspective on war itself, and disdain for fact raises questions about the intellectual honesty of the entire book. For example, the author insists that the military intentionally magnified the strength of the Iraqi army and demonified its citizens. In reality the American's were only fighting the last war, General Schwarzkopf's statements to the contrary notwithstanding. America's last war was Vietnam, where the military mistake was underestimating the enemy. Schwarzkop had no intention of repeating the mistake and likely disregarded opinoins to the contrary offered by his staff. All societies try to set apart the enemy as "the other." To engage in war we must overcome the horror of taking our neighbor's life. The author perseverates on how the war was an unfair fight. However, war is supposed to be unfair. It is not NFL sunday. It is a battle to the death. He wants you to believe that being buried alive or blasted by a fuel air explosive is less humane than being incinerated alive or shredded by shards of metal fragments. Most certainly the military has not been completely honest with the public or even itself. Direct injury to civilians was remarkably light. However, the destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure coupled with sanctions and a lack of governmental cooperation in helping the average citizen has led to continued suffering. These valid arguements are thoroughly buried in hyperbole and misinformation. The distorted truth presented in this book prevents the reader from drawing reasonable conclusions and therefor fails to contribute to the reader's understanding of the Gulf War

Arming Iraq: How the U.S. and Britain Secretly Built Saddam's War Machine (Northeastern Series in Transnational Crime)

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EXELLENT BOOK.
A detailed and convincing expose of Western arms sales.

Arming Iraq: How the U.S. and Britain Secretly Built Saddam's War Machine (Northeastern Series in Transnational Crime)
Mark Phythian , and Nikos Passas
Manufacturer: Northeastern
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Exports & Imports | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

During the Gulf War, U.S. and U.N. troops found themselves facing Western-made weapons, the result of the U.S. and Britain's dramatically failed covert policy to supply Iraq with arms in its 1980s war with Iran. This detailed case study discloses the full scope of that concealed policy, and untangles the complex web of major players who implemented and then covered it up.

Customer Reviews:

EXELLENT BOOK........1999-01-30

I JUST HOPED THAT THEIR WAS A WAY TO CONVINCE AND TEACH THE ORDENARY PEOPLE OF WHAT GOES ON IN THIS WORLD,UNFORTUNATLY MOST PEOPLE ARE SO NAIVE AND STUPID THAT THEY ONLY BELIEVE IN WHAT THEY SEE OR HERE THROUGH THE MEDIA AND SPECIALY WHEN THEY LISTEN TO THEIR LEADERS,THESE IDIOTS TRULEY BELIEVE IN THEM AND NOT REALISING WHO THE REAL CRIMINALS ARE,BUT YET AGAIN I GUESS TO BE A REAL CRIMINAL POLETICION,THE MIDDLE EAST OR IRAQ IS NOT THE PLACE TO APPLY FOR THIS JOB IT IS INFACT THE WESTERN COUNTRIES,SUCH AS THE U.S.A.,GREAT BRITAIN,AND THE REMAINING POPETS.

A detailed and convincing expose of Western arms sales........1997-07-03

Mark Phythian is an international authority on the arms trade. In 'Arming Iraq' he produces a cogent critique of the policy that led to the arming of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship - a dictatorship already notorious for its gross violations of human rights. He also uncovers the devious methods which the arms suppliers used to beat official sanctions against the regime and the connivance of governments that had introduced sanctions in the first place.The British Conservative Government in particular emerges discreditably from this account. Indeed the reverberations of this unsavoury episode continue and help to explain the atmosphere of 'sleaze' which brought about its electoral downfall in 1997.Anyone interested in the arms trade and the problem of democratic accountability would be well advised to read this meticulously researched monograph

Average customer rating:

Murder and Fun at the Jersey Shore
Took me back . . .
I am looking forward to the next one!
Great characters, needed a better plot
Crazy, lovable, wicked, dangerous and sweet!!!

Tilt-a-Whirl
Chris Grabenstein
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Police Procedurals | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0786715847

Book Description

There isn't much sun in the fun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt-A-Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet summer tourist town of Sea Haven. John Ceepak, a former MP just back from Iraq, has just joined the Sea Haven police department. The job offer came from an old army buddy who hoped to give Ceepak at least a summer's worth of rest and relaxation to help him forget the horrors of war. Instead, Ceepak will head up the murder investigation. He is partnered with Danny Boyle, a 24-year-old, part-time summer cop who doesn't carry a gun and only works with the police by day so he has enough pocket money left over to play with his beach buddies by night.

In the first novel in a new series written in the spirit of Carl Hiaasen's work, the Tilt-A-Whirl murder pushes Ceepak's deep sense of honor and integrity to the limits as unexpected twists and turns keep the truth spinning wildly in every direction.

Customer Reviews:

Murder and Fun at the Jersey Shore.......2007-08-23

Chris Grabenstein's series of mysteries set at the Jersey Shore is a great fun collection. The narrator's relaxed style creates a special insight into the hero (the narrator's police partner). I enjoyed this series so much, I bought it for my local library.

Took me back . . ........2007-06-29

....to summers spent at the Jersey Shore. Or the Maryland or Delaware Shores. Maybe Sea Haven is a universal Shore town, but those are the areas I'm familiar with from long ago summers and the positioning of the mystery was half the fun for me. I expected some crime or military "experts" to be in here complaining about accuracy, which I know little about. It felt like it was inaccurate, but that doesn't bother me unless I'm trying to read a review that picks apart every detail. I listened to the downloadable audio version and the narrator, Jeff Woodman is really great, although I didn't think so at first. Danny is our narrating character, but the dialog covers many voices and Woodman uses a Sgt Joe Friday ("Just the facts, ma'am") voice for John Ceepak that was jarring at first but is absolutely perfect after you get used to it. Many of the characters were overdrawn small town stereotypes, but I don't mean that as a criticism. They belonged there. I wanted to kill the mayor, or at least lock him up for his constant "Have a sunny, funderful day!!!" and his "keep the tourists happy at all costs" attitude. He's perfect. I immediately got and listened to the next two books, and am wondering how I'll wait until Summer 2008 for the next installment.

I am looking forward to the next one!.......2007-05-04

Tilt A Whirl is Grabenstein's first book featuring police officer John Ceepak and his partner, part-time Summer cop Danny Boyle. The two of them work in the small New Jersey resort town of Sea Haven. While eating breakfast one morning, they see a girl standing in the street covered in blood. Her wealthy father has been fatally shot while sitting on the Tilt A Whirl at the amusement park. Ceepak, who has recently returned from the war in Iraq, has a soft spot for children in need and vows to protect the girl and find her father's killer.

I must confess that I read Gravenstein's second book (Whack A Mole) in this series first and came back to read this one. Tilt A Whirl shows how Ceepak came to Sea Haven and sets up the hero/sidekick relationship between Ceepak and Danny Boyle. The story is told from Boyle's point of view and he sees Ceepak as somewhat larger than life. Compared to Ceepak, Danny looks like a screw-up. Grabenstein does a great job of describing Danny as a young man who grew up at the beach and still hangs out there with his friends - a young man without ambition until he meets Ceepak. And when he believes that his hero has done something wrong, Grabenstein writes of his disappointment simply but powerfully.

I tend to dislike books in which children are victims. I think authors often use children gratuitously for extra shock value. But Grabenstein doesn't run rampant here. He has incorporated Ceepak's special need to help children into his character background and makes it believable. Ceepak is a character who has been through the emotional wringer and is doing the best he can to solve the problems put in front of him, in accordance with his personal code of conduct.

I have enjoyed both of Grabenstein's books and am looking forward to the next one, Mad Mouse. If you are interested in reading them, start with Tilt A Whirl. It is a little bit more serious than Whack A Mole (in which Grabenstein's history in comedy is a little more apparent) but give you good background information. There are also some events mentioned in Whack A Mole that happen in Tilt A Whirl and you will understand the references if you read the books in order.

Favorite character? Danny Boyle. Did I guess it? Yes. Will I read another? Definitely.

Great characters, needed a better plot.......2007-01-11

Danny Boyle is a 24-year-old, part-time summer cop--he gets the baseball cap, but no gun--in Sea Haven, New Jersey. He is partnered with John Ceepak, a former MP back from Iraq who lives by the Code and plays by the rules. While having breakfast one morning, a young girl, covered in blood, runs from the area of the Tilt A Whirl screaming that a crazy man just shot her father, a billionaire real estate tycoon.

Grabenstein's protagonists of Danny and Ceepak are what make this book work. They are a delightful study in contrasts giving humor to an otherwise less-than-perfect book. The story is written in first person, present tense with the narrator being Danny, allowing the reader to uncover the facts as do the characters. There is a good deal of profanity and I enjoyed when Ceepak admonishes Danny on its use. There are constant references to songs by Springsteen, which is appropriate for the setting, but if you're not a fan of the Boss, it's a bit meaningless and distracting. To me the plot was weak; I suspected where the story was going half-way through and the killers-tell-all scene unrealistic at best. As to the fact that the cover is bright pink with a rollercoaster on the cover certainly proves I don't buy a book for its cover. I am certain I shall read the next book in this series because of the characters, but I desperately hope for a stronger, more logical plot.

Crazy, lovable, wicked, dangerous and sweet!!!.......2006-10-27

Tilt-a Whirl is a rapid fire, laugh out loud, novel that will leave you wanting to read Chris Grabenstein's next book!!
At a typical sea-side New Jersey town, where the crime consists of jay-walking and kids drinking on the beach, things are about to get serious! In the middle of the summer beach season,a wealthy man is found murdered on the tilt-a-whirl ride at the local amusement park and his daughter is found running in the street covered in blood, screaming.
Two cops go to her aid. This has got to be the funniest pairing of cops since..........well, talk about the odd couple. John Ceepak is a former military man, who fought in Iraq. Danny Boyle is a happy go lucky, lookingfor a good time kind of guy. Ceepak lives by a rigid code of honor, Danny lives by the seat of his pants. As the investigation into the murder proceeds, the dialogue is fast-paced and funny,the Bruce Springsteen quotes flow, the clues are collected and examined and the level of danger rises quickly!
This is one of the funniest mystery/detective novels that I have read in a long time. Think of the New York version of Carl Hiaasen and you may be close. Chris Grabenstein is irreverently humorous, unbelievably focused and has the gift to pull it all together! Crazy, lovable, wicked, dangerous, sweet all are words that easily come to mind when reading this book.

In the Name of Democracy: American War Crimes in Iraq and Beyond (American Empire Project)

Average customer rating:

Extraordinary Collection of Top Minds and Real Facts
Absolutely left wing propaganda & garbage!
Useful study of US/British war crimes in Iraq and elsewhere
A little more authentic clarification on Saddam's days as ruler of Iraq and this book's take on it
Very concerned about war crimes in Iraq

In the Name of Democracy: American War Crimes in Iraq and Beyond (American Empire Project)
Jeremy Brecher , Jill Cutler , and Brendan Smith
Manufacturer: Metropolitan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein

ASIN: 0805079696
Release Date: 2005-10-13

Book Description

Until recently, the possibility that the United States was responsible for war crimes seemed unthinkable to most Americans. But as previously suppressed information has started to emergephotographs from Abu Ghraib; accounts of U.S. attacks on Iraqi hospitals, mosques, and residential neighborhoods; secret government reports defending unilateral aggressionAmericans have begun an agonizing reappraisal of the Iraq war and the way in which their government has conducted it. Drawing on a wide range of documentsfrom the protocols of the Geneva Convention to FBI e-mails about prisoners held in Guantnamo Bay to executive-branch papers justifying the circumvention of international lawIn the Name of Democracy examines the legality of the Iraq war and the occupation that followed. Included in this powerful investigation are eyewitness accounts, victim testimonials, statements by soldiers turned resisters and whistle-blowers, interviews with intelligence insiders, and contributions by Mark Danner and Seymour Hersh. The result is a controversial, chilling anthology that explores the culpability of officials as well as the responsibilities of ordinary citizens, and for the first time squarely confronts the matter of American impunity.

Customer Reviews:

Extraordinary Collection of Top Minds and Real Facts.......2007-06-23

I confess to being uncomfortable when I bought this book, which addresses in a very comprehensive way the degree to which the US Government and the US military as well as intelligence, mercenary, and corporate personnel, are committing war crimes.

I want to say up front, that as best I can tell; our brave and professional troops are in fact making lemonade from lemons, and doing the best they can. However, they all realize that they and all the world was lied to by the Bush Administration, that this is about oil, and that they are killing civilians and many children for no good reason, due to the horrible circumstances that we have created by remaining there. According to this book, suicides are up 40%, there are 6000 deserters, and seamen recruits are *winning* when court-martialed for refusing to obey illegal orders to go to Iraq.

The editors have done a superb job of bringing together a collection of proven individuals including President Jimmy Carter, Senator Robert Byrd, Daniel Ellsberg, Sy Hersh, a group of US Generals (retired) protesting the White House mandated torture, and a wide variety of individual experts on war crimes.

The book opens with a discussion of three kinds of war crime:

1) Wars of aggression, i.e. unprovoked, pre-emptive, unjustified

2) Violations of humanitarian law

3) Crimes against humanity

You can read the book for the details. Suffice to say that they set the stage with objective factual discussion, and then proceed to document, most ably, the reality that the United States of America is now a war criminal in the larger context of humanity. What is being done "in our name" is immoral, reprehensible, unconstitutional, impeachable, and--to my great dismay--largely ignored by the majority of our adult population.

A few highlights from this easy to read collection of relatively short (2-4 page) pieces:

Ellsberg: Loyalty to the Constitution must take precedence at all levels. Like Viet-Nam, we are now realizing that the current regime cannot be trusted and can blunder strategically because the balance of power is out the door. Only We the People can demand a restoration of liberty & justice for all, with respect for the Constitutional limits to federal power.

Carter: Iraq war is an unjust illegal war. He says this as a President and as a Christian and as a loyal American who reveres the Constitution.

Herbert: Pentagon is "shopping for wars" even as Iraq hollows it out. They have even discussed surprise unprovoked military attacks whose only justification is the possibility of collecting intelligence. As an intelligence expert, I can afford that the secret intelligence community is largely worthless and costs over $60 billion a year, but I can also assert that for less than $5 billion a year, I can not only provide 96% of all the intelligence we need from open sources in 183 languages, but I can also provide free online education and free cell phone answers from reachback help desks in India.

Hersh: we and Israel plan to invade Iran regardless of what the facts are and regardless of what the American people believe or desire. Talking to Pentagon sources, Hersh sees us funding and training death squads around the world, turning the world into what one senior official called a "global free fire zone."

Retired Generals: Torture was "top down" decision and command, not a few bottom up "rotten apples."

Various: US using illegal weapons, including depleted uranium and napalm, in Iraq and elsewhere.

FBI emails (redacted): Military interrogators practicing torture impersonated FBI special agents, meaning that the FBI instead of DoD would be nailed in the public eye. FBI appears to have honored its own higher standards and not followed the idiot Gonzalez (then White House Counsel).

Center: detailed case against Donald Rumsfeld for ordering, funding, and knowing of war crimes at all levels of command. Why they did not go after Bush and even more so, Dick Cheney, whose 25 high crimes and offenses have been itemized in my reviews of ONE PERCENT and VICE.

Roberts: No one left to stop them (within the government)

Falk speaks about accountability.

The book ends with four recommendations:

1) Halt the war crimes

2) Bring the war criminals to justice

3) Draw the lessons (the most obvious: don't throw stones if you live in a glass house)

4) Establish barriers to future war crimes.

A one-page appendix lists 22 relevant substantive web sites containing additional information.

Sadly, as good as this book is, it is a cry in the wilderness. It is not being used by any major transpartisan organization (such as Reuniting America and its members Moral Majority, the ACLU, MoveOn, and others totaling 110 individual members in all).

I truly grieve over how low our Nation has gone. The Republic no longer exists--every politician--every single one--is in violation of the Constitution and impeachable for their dereliction of duty in allowing Cheney and his puppet Bush to wreak havoc on the world and on our own citizens, whose loss of moral standing, national treasure, and an assured future will take at least a quarter century to remediate.

See my lists for a fast survey of books relevant to impeachment, to judging Cheney, to the good and the bad of religion within affairs of state, on why they hate us, and so on. If there is one slim chance for our future, it is that on this 4th of July we will all declare our independence from this illegal White House, demand the immediate resignations of these two war criminals (who, not incidentally, stole two elections in a row), and reconstitute the government by forcing all those now in Congress to either pass Electoral Reform prior to November 2008, or be recalled and "ordered home."

The monkey is now on our backs. What are we going to do?

EDITED 4 Sep 07 to use new link capability to add other recommended books and DVDs.
Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition
9/11 Mysteries Part 1: Demolitions
9/11: Press For Truth
Aftermath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11

Absolutely left wing propaganda & garbage!.......2006-09-16

I've read this book and I will state flat out it's not worth the paper it's printed on, too bad that trees were sacrificed to allow publication of this garbage. I do NOT recommend this book to anybody who's looking for an objective appraisal of the ongoing war in Iraq. I had a copy of it. I threw it out with the trash! For shame that any author would be able to write this garbage and actually get someone to publish it. Of course it takes all kinds I suppose! Don't waste your money or your time! I give it "1 star" because Amazon doesn't offer a ZERO option...they should, it'd be useful in this case.

Useful study of US/British war crimes in Iraq and elsewhere.......2006-07-25

This useful collection examines the evidence for US war crimes in Iraq and elsewhere. It concludes that the US state is destroying democracy in the name of defending it.

Part 1 looks at the war crimes of illegally invading and occupying another country. It shows how the US-British occupation, an illegal continuation of an illegal war, has broken all the laws of occupation. "The occupation is basically one gigantic war crime." The occupiers sacked all the army and police force, deliberately causing chaos. There were 100,000 excess deaths in the year after the invasion (Lancet), mostly from US air strikes. The USA is waging war largely by massive, unreported, bombing: the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing alone dropped more than 500,000 tons of bombs on Iraq between May 2003 and December 2005.

The occupying forces continue to commit war crimes - they attack and kill civilians, using cluster bombs, depleted uranium shells and napalm. They drove 200,000 residents out of Fallujah and killed more than 1,000 people; half of them women and children. They deny food, water, electricity and medical supplies to civilians and attack hospitals and ambulances. They demolish homes, a collective punishment outlawed by the 1949 Geneva Conventions. They create death squads to set Shia against Sunni.

Part 2 discusses the US and British forces' use of torture. The Washington Post wrote of the `documented tortures and killings of foreign prisoners by this American government'. The Department of Defense reported `systemic and illegal abuse of detainees'.

The US government blames `rotten apples'. But decisions by policymakers determine decisions by interrogators: those who take political decisions are responsible for the consequences.

Bush authorised interrogation techniques `beyond the bounds of standard FBI practice'. His Order of 7 February 2002 said that the USA would not apply the 3rd Geneva Convention to Al Qaeda members. He defined himself as above the law, and the detainees as outside the law, against the US Constitution's pledge to `government under law'.

Rumsfeld said, "Unlawful combatants do not have any rights under the Geneva Convention." In the real world, the Convention obliges captors to protect all persons captured in wars. Rumsfeld's ruling by contrast authorised any and all abuses, and is itself a war crime.

The Justice Department, like the Pentagon, issued statements purporting to justify the use of torture. Attorney-General Alberto Gonzalez advised Bush that the Geneva Conventions were `obsolete', the same word used by the head of Hitler's Wehrmacht, General-Field Marshal Keitel. At Nuremberg, the US prosecutor cited this as an aggravating circumstance in seeking and obtaining the death sentence for Keitel.

John Bolton, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, said, "It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so ..."

These policies by Bush, Rumsfeld, Gonzalez and Bolton led straight to the killing, torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners in US custody in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. The buck stops at the top.

Moreover, the Blair government is complicit in all these crimes, since in law it is responsible for the war crimes committed by its ally, the Bush government. As the International Law Commission's Article 16 on Responsibility of States (2001) says, "A State which aids or assists another State in the commission of an internationally wrongful act by the latter is internationally responsible for doing so if (a) That State does so with knowledge of the internationally wrongful act; and (b) The Act would be internationally wrongful if committed by that State."

A little more authentic clarification on Saddam's days as ruler of Iraq and this book's take on it.......2006-04-07

In his own book (available on amazon)a former top Saddam aid. one Georges Sada, talks of how Saddam killed 182,000 of Iraqi Kurds in just one year! And a much lower but horribly tragic 8,000 in another year! It was back in the 1980's Saddam did this. Brecher's book fails to discuss what a mass murderer Saddam was and how stopping him was very appropriate. They use only example by Sachs comparing 2002 (Saddam's final year in office) to the first year of Bush's occupation making it look as if Bush was the deadlier one for Iraq when Saddam actually was by and far. This book uses a brief review of the Iraqi situation by weak former president Jimmy Carter where he refers briefly in Saddam's to Saddam's terrible crimes while in office but doesn't get into any real detail. Book is not very good. Lastly, during Saddam's eight year war with Iran that he mostly started 1 million people from both sides were killed and the conflict spilled from Iran into southern Iraq and the Iraqi land there become a terrible violent wasteland so have no theories that Iraq is worse today without Saddam.

Very concerned about war crimes in Iraq.......2005-11-20

I think this is a great book. It's clearly organized and I learned a lot. It made me very sad and concerned about the state of democracy and truth in our country today. It's frightening that our government is committing war crimes in our name.

Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising in the Arab World

Average customer rating:

Shell Game Morality
Frightening, prescient study of Iraq under Saddam
Important Book
Now it's our turn to prove we believe our own words.
A witness to horror and courage

Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising in the Arab World
Kanan Makiya
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

Iraq | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq, Updated Edition
The Assassins' Gate : America in Iraq
The Rock: A Tale of Seventh-Century Jerusalem
The Warrior's Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience
Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War

ASIN: 039303108X

Customer Reviews:

Shell Game Morality.......2006-06-05

Cruelty is surely the dominant feature of the Arab world today. Cruelty marked by a nonchalant propensity for deadly violence, drawn out with frightful persecution, fed by nationalist fervor, and culminating in the cold embrace of death. What should be the reaction of the Arab intellectual elites? Surely something other than what the Arabist solidarity actually requires, which is silence. The silence is cruelty itself, denying the sufferings of other humans and the rights of those other humans the openly acknowledge their sufferings, secure in the knowledge that however much the Arab suffers at his brother's hand, the unity of Arabs against the rest of the world is inviolate. This is the central thesis of Cruelty and Silence, the well-named work by Iraqi Shiite dissident Kanan Makiya.

Makiya has chosen to break the work into two sections, titled, appropriately enough, Cruelty and Silence. In Cruelty, Makiya takes a mixed approach of interviews and personal testimony that are combined with narrative commentary on the issues of violence in Iraq today (or rather, in the mid 90's). In this section virtually all the stories are about Iraq, whether it be the invasion of Kuwait, the gassing of Kurds, the post-Gulf War uprising, or the general oppression of the Iraqi gulags as witnessed by random citizens. When he makes an aside about other Arab states or about Israel, it is only as a point of minor comparison. The stories the reader sees are graphic enough in their telling. In page after page we see how, not why, but how a human being can reject humane morality in favor of the most vicious and sadistic or dismissive mind-sets one can create. If there is one additional theme here, it is found in the repentant perpetrator - the regretful prison guard or the apologetic occupying soldier. On these rest Makiya's hopes that something can be salvaged from Arab society.

In Silence Makiya turns inward and intellectual. Gone are the case stories and present are the writings of the Arab intellectuals who remain so wordless on the butcheries of Arab strongmen like Saddam Hussein so long as such men can allow the Arab world to face down the West. Here is where Makiya's own voice is more clearly heard, sometimes for better and sometimes not. Most puzzling is his notion of criticizing Arab silence in favor of nationalism by citing numerous (and dubious) instances of Israeli abuse of Palestinians. One or two can be simply a point of comparison, but the accounts peppered in these sections seem only to detract from what seems to be intended as a focused work. On the subject of nationalism and Arabism, Makiya writes forcefully and with many examples, but by his own admission avoids the question of how things came to be as they are. In doing so, the honest reader can wonder how well-founded Makiya's central assertions are. Though he says nothing that readers familiar with some aspects of Middle-Eastern history won't recognize as consistent, it does tend to reduce the overall value of Cruelty and Silence to that of a snapshot. Makiya's voice is engaging here, but does it say as much new as is intended? This I cannot say.

Frightening, prescient study of Iraq under Saddam.......2005-12-27

Makiya achieves two goals in this 1993 book: he details the "rising curve of cruetly" in Iraq under the rule of Saddam Husein and more broadly throughout the Arab world, and he castigates Arab intellectuals for their silence on this topic.

Even though it is 13 years old, this book is highly relevant today for people trying to understand the middle east. Makiya warns that "Sunni-Shi'i hatred is today [in 1993] the most virulent potential source of new violence," thus accurately predicting Iraq's current quandry. Iraq's Sunni minority will "fight to the bitter end before allowing anything that so much as smells of an Islamic reupblic to be established in Iraq. They see in such a state -- whether rightly or wrongly is irrelevant -- their own annihilation." I wonder if the Bush administration was aware of this viewpoint as it planned the invasion of Iraq.

The book tackles the topic of cruetly through several first-person accounts, including a survivor of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, an Iraqi arrested and interrogated by the secret police, and Kurdish witnesses to chemical attacks and mass deportations and shootings. The reader learns about the anarchy of the intifada, the brief and unsuccessful uprising against Saddam in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, where rebels resorted to wanton vengence-killing, and the returning security forces were paid cash bonuses for killing Shi'i males. Based on documents captured by Kurdish fighters, Makiya analyzes the efforts of the Iraqi regime to eliminate the Kurdish independence movement as a threat to B'athist hegemony, an operation code-named "Al-Anfal," a reference from the Koran to parceling out the spoils of war, which appears to have involved the razing of thousands of villages, as well as the killing of 100,000 non-combatants. The author also touches on violence against women, a widespread problem in the mid-east, and apparently a tactic that the Iraqi regime institutionalized as a strategy for dishonoring entire families.

On their own, these stories are chilling, just like other historical accounts of terror and genocide. They are even more disturbing when one stops to consider the implications for peace and prosperity in the middle east today. Makiya notes that the "terrible force of memory...tends always to sow dragons' teeth in the shape of the children and survivors of the dead," and he warns that the legacy of Saddam Husain for Iraq may be a continuation of violence, terror, cruelty, and silence.

In the second part of the book, Makiya takes Arab intellectuals to task for their support of Saddam during the Gulf War and for their wilful ignoring of the violence and terror that characterized his regime and that are all too prevalent throughout the middle east. Ideologies based on cultural nationalism, which ignore the importance of human rights, are "morally bankrupt," in Makiya's view. I found his arguments persuasive, although to be fair I have not read the writings of those he criticizes.

Important Book.......2004-06-24

Makiya is not a Zionist or a Neo-Con, so it's hard for the Manichean anti-Americans to demonize his evidence and arguments against the totalitarian-drooling status quo in the Middle East. In the first half off the book, he relays heart-breaking anecdotes about sons unable to kiss their dying mothers after a chemical attack, children raped in front of their parents, prisoners forced to drink gasoline and shot so that they would explode, children surviving mass grave shooting, all in that "noble" Arab Gov't known as Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The second half of the book is a scathing indictment of the Edward Saids and Noam Chomskys of the world who rationalize the inhumanity all too prevalent in the Mid-East, specifically in Iraq, "Saddam was a victim, The U.S. is worse, Saddam's strong!" and all that junk. Because Makiya isn't a GOP Zionist, these criticisms are particularly strong and persuasive. The book is a much needed call on the part of Arabs and Muslims to adopt a Liberty-based morality instead of a relativistic, ethnic allegience based morality. A good book for all to read.

Now it's our turn to prove we believe our own words........2003-11-04

Now that the American government is controlling Saddam's infamous Abu Ghraib/Ghurayb prison, the site of many atrocities like those described in Cruelty and Silence, we owe it to ourselves to study the crimes against humanity that were perpetrated there. Arguments about whether the old death chamber should be destroyed or maintained for future generations go without much notice in the United States, as do the reports of ongoing investigations to insure we follow legal guidelines in handling the prisoners we now hold at Abu Ghraib. We owe it to ourselves to operate this facility in a manner which testifies to our philosophy and way of life. And when we question ourselves, the cause in Iraq, the price we pay, the chances of success, we should understand the nature of the vicious regime which created the dysfunctional and factionalized Iraqi society we see today. Cruelty and Silence helps us develop a long-term perspective to the challenges ahead.

A witness to horror and courage.......2003-10-24

This is one of the best books I have read all year. Ten years old, it is still agonisingly relevant. In its bearing witness to human cruelty, human indifference but also human courage, it is as unflinching, as passionate and as magnificent as the works of Primo Levi. Beautifully written, meticulously observed, focussed on people, not abstractions, it is a book that haunts me and will continue to do so for a long time to come. If you have any doubts at all about the rightness of invading Iraq, read this book. There will be no doubts left, only a terrible regret that the ousting of the Saddam regime was not done long, long ago.

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