Customer Reviews:
Makers of Modern Strategy .......2005-09-22
"Makers of Modern Strategy" is a scholarly collection of high quality papers on strategy since Machiavelli to the present nuclear age. The beauty of the book is that one can focus on the era that one is interested in. There is no need to read the book cover to cover as the various essays are stand alone although they are presented sequentially and related papers are adjacent to each other. I have read and re-read some of the papers. The book is about strategy and the realities of war. The essays are clearly balanced and not biased. The phenomenon of war was clearly explained from the studies of past wars. It is clear that war has been a fundamental reality of social and political existence from an early stage of political organisation to the present times. The tragic aspects of war and the intellectual and emotional disturbances it creates could be discerned from the essays.
The book is divided into the following five parts:
Part One: The Origins of Modern War.
Part Two: The Expansion of war
Part Three: From the Industrial Revolution to the First World War.
Part Four: From the First to the Second World War.
Part Five: Since 1945.
The eminent contributors include Peter Paret, Felix Gilbert, John Shy, Gordon A. Craig, Maurice Matloff, Condoleezza Rice, Lawrence Freadman, Michael Carver and D. Clayton James. Their essays showed the role of force in the relations between states. It is now very clear to me that war has always been a compound of many elements ranging from politics to technology, to human emotions under extreme stress. Strategy is one of the critical elements of war.
The various essays trace the ideas and actions of past generations, as they used war to achieve their national goals, an analysis of military thought and policy in the recent past and present
My favourite part is Part Two. Here three great historical figures are highlighted namely Napoleon, Jomini and Clausewitz. I can now see the genius of Napoleon as one of the greatest soldiers in history in its proper strategic context. I think history need to rescue Jomini from the obscurity he is now relegated since it is largely him who has clearly related the greatness of Napoleon and the attempt to reduce war to some sort of science.
Makers of Modern Strategy add immense value to any study of warfare and strategy. I recommend it to Army Staff Colleges and those studying military history at postgraduate level.
Mandatory Reading for Army Staff Majors.......2002-03-13
As the title indicates, the Army's Command & General Staff College requires students to read Makers of Modern Strategy in the core history class. Professors can make best use of this book as a supplement. As other reviewers have noted, the chapters are disjointed with each other. Taken separately, however, many of the chapters help the history student or enthusiast to develop a depth of understanding on a particular subject. Authors such as John Shy, Douglas Porch, Michael Howard, and Condoleeza Rice, just to name a few, explore many of the strategic issues involved with the evolution of military thought.
From Machiavelli and Clausewitz to strategies of world wars and colonial wars, Makers of Modern Strategy adds value to any serious study of warfare. The high quality academic research and thought that underlies many of the articles is worth the price of the book. Highly recommended.
Good general military history overview........2001-03-05
One of the essentials, a good starting point for the study of military history and strategy.
Still, this is a good book............2000-08-12
Although I agree with the reviewer preceeding me that this might not be as strong of a book as was the masterpiece which preceeded it (by Earle), it is still a strong book and does (generally) what it sets out to do: to provide an accounting of major developments in military thought (i.e. western military thought) from the Renassance to the modern age.
As a text or as a reference, this is still a powerful and useful book. Each of the chapters discusses a major figure's thought in a fashion that can be dealt with easily in a sitting: for those people who don't want to sit and sort through Jomini (though everyone reading this should sit down with Clausewitz! ) or Douhet, to see their rights and wrongs....
I like this book. I bought my copy for $8.00 in NYC and have had it with me through a number of moves since....
Newer is Not Necessarily Better.......2000-07-18
This second version of the book is disappointing. I would have thought that it being edited by an historian as good as Peter Paret would have improved on the original, which was edited by Robert Earle. However, it is weaker both in scholarship and accuracy, especially John Shy's essay on Jomini. Old myths are resurrected about the Swiss renegade whose own works are generally historically inaccurate.
Many of the older, more professional, historians, who are unfortunately no longer with us were much more careful in their research and writing, hunting down sources that newer historians either refuse to look for or refuse to use. they also were more blunt, calling a spade a spade, and weren't worried about offending people or in 'revisionist' (read inaccurate) history. Political correctness was unknown to these stalwarts.
Books of this type are highly useful. If you are looking for this particular volume, get the first version edited by Earle, even if you have to go looking in second hand book stores or on the internet in used book services. I did, and it is well worth the effort.
Book Description
Since their inception, nuclear weapons have multiplied at an alarming rate, leaving everyone from policymakers to concerned citizens wondering what it will take to slow, stop, or even reverse their spread. With clarity and expertise, Joseph Cirincione presents an even-handed look at the history of nuclear proliferation and an optimistic vision of its future, providing a comprehensive survey of the wide range of critical perspectives.
Cirincione begins with the first atomic discoveries of the 1930s and covers the history of their growth all the way to current crisis with Iran. He unravels the science, strategy, and politics that have fueled the development of nuclear stockpiles and increased the chance of a nuclear terrorist attack. He also explains why many nations choose not to pursue nuclear weapons and pulls from this the outlines of a solution to the world's proliferation problem: a balance of force and diplomacy, enforcement and engagement that yields a steady decrease in these deadly arsenals.
Though nuclear weapons have not been used in war since August 1945, there is no guarantee this good fortune will continue. A unique blend of history, theory, and security analysis, Bomb Scare is an engaging text that not only supplies the general reader and student with a clear understanding of this issue but also provides a set of tools policymakers and scholars can use to prevent the cataclysmic consequences of another nuclear attack.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding!.......2007-07-10
"Bomb Scare" is full of credible and helpful data, as well as balanced in its assessments.
Early on readers learn that it takes about 80 generations of neutrons to fission a kilogram of material - this takes about 0.8 microseconds and creates a temperature of 10 billion Celsius. A gun design plug in an enriched uranium bomb has to travel at at least 1,000 ft./second to initiate a sustained chain reaction. The Hiroshima bomb gun barrel weighed about 1,000 lbs. and was 6 feet long; the bomb itself used 64 kilos of U-235. Today this could be accomplished with 25 kilos and put into a package about the size of a small melon. (Plutonium could not be used in a gun design - its neutrons are too fast.)
Implosion-type designs are used for plutonium bombs. About 6 kilos was used for the Trinity test and at Nagasaki. Modern weapons use about 5 kilograms - about the size of a plum. (So much for the debate on whether "suitcase" bombs are feasible.)
The first U.S. H-bomb had a yield of 10.4 megatons.
The U.S. total stockpile of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons reached around 20,000 by 1960, vs. 1,600 for the Russians. (So much for Kennedy's argument that the U.S. had a "bomb gap.") We recently learned that during the Cuban missile crisis the Russians had already positioned about 100 nuclear weapons in Cuba.
There are five main reasons states acquire nuclear weapons: Security, prestige, domestic politics, technology, and economics. Different sides of the same reasons are also why many nations choose not to acquire such weapons.
Cirincione sees Russia as the #1 potential source of nuclear weapons/material for terrorists. It has thousands of nuclear weapons at 150-210 sites and hundreds of nuclear materials at about 49 sites. Experts believe that it would be difficult for terrorists to acquire a completed bomb - they are well guarded and utilize complex security locks. On the other hand, experts also believe that terrorists could construct a bomb from enriched material with only 3-4 technically people.
Pakistan is seen as a close #2 potential source. USA Today reported in November of 2001 that at least 10 Taliban had contacted Pakistani scientists in the prior two years. Pakistan has enough highly enriched uranium to make 50-100 bombs.
There are also about 40 nations with civilian stockpiles for power reactors. While not sufficiently enriched for nuclear weapons, it would be a simple matter to extend the enrichment process to create such.
Potential nuclear powder-kegs involve U.S. and Russian weapons being on 15-minute alert, and situations involving Taiwan, or India-Pakistan. Adverse recent events include the U.S. invasion of Iraq (increased terrorist and nervous state motivation to acquire nuclear weapons), our support for increased Indian development of nuclear weapons, U.S. promulgation of new logic for nuclear weapon use ("bunker-busters," use against non-nuclear states), and a slowdown/stop in reduction programs involving Russia.
The good news is that the number of nuclear weapons in the world has been cut in half over the past 15 years, those seriously considering their acquisition or having them have declined from 23 to 10, there has been a two-thirds reduction in ICBMs, and both the U.S. and Russia have destroyed their chemical weapons.
Author's Bottom Line: Cirincione believes that efforts must not only be directed at reducing nuclear weapons and proliferation, but eliminating the underlying sources of conflict as well.
History, security analysis and theory blends in a general text for any student of world politics.......2007-06-09
BOMB SCARE: THE HISTORY & FUTURE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS begins with the first atomic discoveries of the 1930s and covers the history of the growth of nuclear weapons through the decades, right up to the current crisis with Iran and the threat of worldwide proliferation. History, security analysis and theory blends in a general text for any student of world politics and military history, particularly at the college level.
USAF Vet Recommends Five Stars.......2007-06-08
Those of us with a Top Secret "Q" Clearance during the Cold War are intimately familiar with the horrific realities of what a nuclear confrontation would mean for civilization. The author provides a concise, accurate, and up-to-date history of the nuclear threat. He also advances the best thinking related to diminishing the threats posed by nuclear arms in the 21st century, and putting the materials of decommissioned warheads to peaceful uses as fuel for nuclear reactors.
Overly Optimistic.......2007-04-09
This book deals with something that most of us don't spend much time thinking about. We should think about it more.
Cirincione, the former director of the Nonproliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, takes the reader through the history of the development of nuclear weapons and the arms control agreements that have somewhat curtailed their spread. He presents a rational analysis of the drivers that cause states to seek to acquire nuclear weapons as well as the barriers that motivate some to turn away from the quest, or abandon it altogether.
And in the light of reasoned consideration he concludes, "The good news is that the nonproliferation regime has worked. The nuclear threat is less severe today than it was in 1970 when the Non-Proliferation Treaty entered into force". He bases this assessment on the fact that "the number of nuclear weapons in the world has declined from a peak of 65,000 in 1986, to roughly 27,000 today". But does this necessarily make the world a safer place?
Cirincione takes satisfaction that "the threat of a global thermonuclear war is now near zero". He goes on to state, "The dangers we face today are very serious, but they are orders of magnitude less severe than those we confronted just two decades ago from the overkill potential of U.S. and Russian arsenals. We no longer worry about the fate of the earth, but we still worry about the fate of our cities". It is in the ensuing discussion of nuclear terrorism that the upbeat tenor of the author's faith in the potential of negotiations and agreements to manage the imminent threat increasingly seems disconnected from reality.
While it is true that the threat of global thermonuclear war has diminished, the probability all out nuclear war was always very low as a result of the Strangelovian logic of mutually assured destruction. On the other hand, the likelihood of the detonation of a nuclear weapon smuggled into an American city by terrorists in the next decade is clearly significant. While such an event would not be the end of life on this planet, its societal, economic and political consequences would almost certainly be the end of life as we have come to know it. And, millions of people would die. This being the case, how can the author argue that the world is safer now than it was twenty years ago?
Cirincione also contends that the reduction in ballistic missiles is an indicator of a reduction of risk in the present day. What he neglects to consider is that weapons dispatched through alternate means - say in shipping containers with GPS activation - do not leave a return address, and as a result would not invite immediate retaliation. It would seem that a country hostile to the United States could launch such an attack with an impunity that would be inconceivable were the method of delivery a ballistic missile.
In this context it's hard to buy into the author's upbeat assessment of the future. As he would have it, securing existing weapons and stocks of fissile materials, new rounds of negotiations employing various carrots and sticks, and the good example of further disarmament by the US and Russia hold the promise of a better and a safer world. The problem is that while these actions are indeed necessary they are certainly not sufficient to produce the intended outcome. This is particularly the case given that some future nuclear adversaries may hold to apocalyptic world views.
Towards the end of the book Cirincione writes, "After wading through the history, theory, dangers, challenges and failures of proliferation policy, most readers could be excused for feeling a bit depressed. Don't be".
I guess I just can't help it. I am.
Sleeper Awake!.......2007-03-05
Perhaps the most significant issue in this century is not AIDS, the energy crisis, the environment or the Middle East but is the issue of universal nuclear disarmament. Joseph Cirincione has given us a clear solution to this problem in his book, BOMB SCARE: THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
The first recorded war between nation states occurred in 2700 BC. From that time to the present man has devised a plethora of clever devices to kill and maim his fellows.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union near the end of the last century (1991), the United States has funded the Russian government in the "cleanup" of warheads, bombs and other nuclear components scattered throughout the various nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Republic in an attempt to prevent terrorists and other non-nuclear nations from obtaining the same. Cirincione believes that "with additional funding, this threat reduction program could be accelerated to secure or eliminate the vast majority of nuclear weapons and materials by 2010."
The issue, of course, is that the "have-nots" want what the "haves" have: NUCLEAR ENERGY. Here the author proposes that a new system controlled by the International Atomic Energy Agency would provide a supply of nuclear material to countries that need it for civilian use in exchange for an agreement that those same countries not seek to build facilities to create their own "nuclear resources".
Cirincione understands that it is impossible to convince the "have-nots" to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions and to adhere to nonproliferation norms while the "haves" assert the importance of these weapons for their own safety and security (read that Pakistan and Iran). As one state goes nuclear, another state is forced to do the same thing ad infinitum: "in short, proliferation begets proliferation." Cirincione whimsically wonders if the obverse is possible.
188 countries are signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty that became effective in 1970. The only countries that have not signed are: Israel, Pakistan, and India. North Korea has withdrawn. These are the countries the treaty has unsuccessfully prevented from obtaining nuclear resources. The original signatories, the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and China all agreed to ultimately dismantle their arsenals under a future agreement: to date that "future accord" has not happened. In fact, advances in this area have continued. Without compliance with this treaty, Cirincione posits the world faces a nuclear disaster.
In the end the author asks the reader to think beyond the old paradigms and to dare to explore ways to prevent what certainly, in the world's present state, is a sure slide into nuclear oblivion. This is more than a thoughtful book, it is a book every American should read and take to heart.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
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.
Average customer rating:
- Intriguing analysis of the forces shaping the future
- Thought-provoking, irresponsible, and sometimes comically incorrect. But fun.
- Good Cliff note summary of current events
- Interesting read
- Past, Present, Future, Global, Local
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Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World
Eamonn Kelly
Manufacturer: Wharton School Publishing
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Inevitable Surprises: Thinking Ahead in a Time of Turbulence
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The 86 Percent Solution: How to Succeed in the Biggest Market Opportunity of the 21st Century
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The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World
ASIN: 0131855204 |
Customer Reviews:
Intriguing analysis of the forces shaping the future.......2006-12-18
Eamonn Kelly's predictions aren't as simple as those offered by some futurists, but that's because he's trying to be realistic about the complexity of "powerful times." And while Kelly's ideas aren't simple, they are clear. You can take any one of his predictions, such as the growing importance of water or the rise of consciousness about the sacred, and work through the implications for business and home life. In fact, Kelly explicitly asks readers to do so. His afterword poses a series of questions about how individuals and organizations are experiencing the changes he enumerates and invites readers to share their ideas within their organizations and on his Web site. Kelly emphasizes that humanity has just begun to feel the effects of many of the high-profile changes of recent decades, and that they haven't yet worked their way through the global economy. If the book has a weakness, it is that it's so focused on the United States. Kelly's treatment of Western ideals in general, and of U.S. military and political aims, seems to take America's self-image for granted. We recommend Kelly's book to policy wonks, executives involved in change management and, in general, anybody seriously planning for the future.
Thought-provoking, irresponsible, and sometimes comically incorrect. But fun. .......2006-10-13
Powerful Times has promise as you plow through the first handful of chapters. I've done quite a bit of future `ideating' mostly for product innovation to have concepts like `clarity vs craziness' - something we called, `synthesized sense-making' at work - and `technology acceleration vs pushback' - resonate with me. His arguments make sense and they feel like they're pointing to a powerful conclusion.
And then, something happens that makes you distrust everything you haven't researched yourself. For me, it was when that old bogie-man, "global warming", came out under the heading, `people and planet'.
I don't know if you have a poster of Al Gore in your dorm room or not, but when confronted with often-quoted-but-usually-disproved data points like polar ice melting (except where it's thickening), sea levels rising (plate tectonics, anyone?), and "NASA" saying the ten warmest years on record have all happened in the past twenty years (except for the entire decade of the 30's), I start to doubt everything else I've just read. (Take the time to read Sen. James Inhofe's speech on Capitol Hill from 9/25/06. He's the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at the epw dot senate dot gov website - you'll have to hunt for it from there, as Amazon doesn't like reviewers to embed URL's. Most all of the current hype on global warming gets pretty clearly debunked here. And if that wasn't enough fun, pick up Michael Critchton's `State of Fear'. There's just too much hysteria against a backdrop of conflicting data and more conflicting politics to buy this hook, line and sinker).
After you fully defoliate the chapter on global warming, you are then faced with vignettes on how China is poised to offer the world advances in environmental conservation. Is it just me, or do you also recall hearing that a few hundred cities in China had air so bad you needed a catalytic converter just to breathe normally? Given China's record, it's hard to see anything done on an environmentally sustainable basis for its own sake.
So if I can't buy the stories on global warming or Chinese environmental stewardship, what am I to do with vignettes on the "African Renaissance" in scientific research? Frankly, I don't know whether there's any merit to this one or not, but his track record is getting a bit suspect at this point. (It's funny, I'm also reading Robert Young Pelton's `World's Most Dangerous Places', so the difference in perspective leads one to pause. I don't know about you, but my money at this point is on Pelton).
In "Prosperity and Decline", we're told that Brazil's "experiment in free trade" of violating patent laws on pharmaceuticals to provide AIDS drugs for free is a `vindicated' strategy because of lives saved and thus represents a bold new twist on free trade. Huh? I'm all for saving lives, but maybe the Brazilian government would pick up the tab next time? I take it that Hwa Wei's pirating Cisco software is excused because the domestic Chinese market now enjoys US-style router technology without all those pesky big invoices.
This is the second great red flag of the book - a huge disconnect in critical judgment. However, let's continue to suspend disbelief and plunge ahead with our story.
After two chapters that feel a bit out of place - governance and innovation - we get into three potential world scenarios, all of which are plausible in the author's view: "The New American Century", "Patchwork Powers", and "Emergence".
"The New American Century" assumes a greater American role in world affairs, with the ascendance of "American Values" on the global stage as the center piece. Free trade, democracy, the pursuit of happiness, individual freedom, etc., all presented against the sinister backdrop of American military might. You almost had us there.
"Patchwork Powers" operates under the assumption that the world always knew George W. Bush was up to no good, that the war on terror was illegal, and now "America has been put in its place". In other words, the Democratic National Committee platform. This scenario unfolds with regional powers - India, China, and China - taking a greater role, and Europe pretty much sinking beneath the waves. The superpower is dead. Long live the Junior Varsity.
"Emergence" illustrates the rise of the individual, flash-mobbing their way to political primacy, with nations crashing under their own bureaucratic hubris. Innovation sky-rockets for some reason, open source replaces intellectual property rights and terrorism runs amok. This is pretty close to hell, unless your vision of the future looks like "Blade Runner".
The number of not-very-subtle digs at the US and its president become a bit tedious. Sure, I'm biased -- I pay property taxes, travel internationally, and have a family, which makes me like things like stable currencies, the rule of law, economic growth. The irony, given the author's clear anti-American biases, is that "The New American Century" is the only optimistic scenario he presents. The reasonable idea that a "New American Century" with China beginning to take baby steps towards a leadership role, India being "open for business", and Middle East and Latin America (hopefully) finding their way towards real representative government and stable economic policy is not just possible, but hopefully our collective goal. The other scenarios all sound like a global retreat from where we are today - economically, politically, and socially.
The first half of the book gets four stars. The middle needed an editor. The last few get a two. I'll round up to a three.
Good Cliff note summary of current events .......2006-09-20
Airplane read. Book is current ... data based. Diverse news roundup with links to future implications. Can't recall any high concept take aways.
Buy it soon ... not much shelf life
Interesting read.......2006-09-06
Powerful Times is an examination of what the author presents as seven powerful dynamic tensions that will fundamentally reshape human life. What are these seven tensions? Some we are already seeing regularly in the news as the conflicts between the secular and the sacred. Others are also obvious like the tension between clarity and craziness. Still others become fascinating in the way the author develops them; like power and vulnerability, technology acceleration and pushback, intangible and physical economics, prosperity and decline, and people and planet. This is an in-depth exploration of the challenges and changes of governance and innovation. One of the more interesting ideas presented here are what the author sees as the three different scenarios for potential world orders that might evolve as a result of these tensions. This is a bold look at the forces molding our world as we know it and how they will change that world in the near future. Powerful Times is an interesting read and recommended to business and civic leaders at all levels.
Past, Present, Future, Global, Local.......2006-08-02
Author Eamon Kelly covers a lot of contemporary issues in "Power Times: Rising to the Challenges of our Uncertain World." Many current issues and circumstances are discussed: terrorism, technology governance, history, globalization, global warming, AIDS, oil dependence, and much more. Lots of stats and charts on a variety of topics that are different, but related to one another - and us.
At first this book takes us back in time. To the sixteenth century to Pandolfo Pretrucci, who had dialogues with Machiavelli. Soon after we travel to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which ushered in a new national order that contains the basic model of what we have today: the nation-state. Author Kelly writes, "The importance of the nation-state has underpinned all subsequent centuries of European and world history. Certainly the nations-states are committed to achieving peace (not always successfully) and prosperity for their citizens....we have to think of the nation-state as the natural level and form of governance."
This is a worthy statement, as the entire concept of the recent nation-state has shaped our world so much. With this model comes the quest, organized greed and usurpation, and infinite conflict over territory and natural resources, the world over. A good move by Kelly to note the nation-state. No one else does anymore, save a history class on 17th Century Europe. This historical introduction is finished off with a massively profound quote from Pretucci: "The times are more powerful than our brains." (Huh?)
Chapters:
1. History Unleashed
2. Clarity and Craziness
3. Secular and Sacred
4. Power and Vulnerability
5. Technology Acceleration and Push Back
6. Intangible and Physical Economies
7. Prosperity and Decline
8. People and Planet
Section 2 - What if?: Changing for the Challenges Ahead.
Chapter 9. Governance
Chapter 10 Innovation
Section 3 - What's next? Scenarios of the Future
Chapter 11 Three Snapshots of the Future
Section 4 - So What?: Acting in an Era of Transformation
Chapter 12 Creating our New Future
Afterword: Using This Book in Your Life and Work.
My favorite sub-chapter: "Goggledygook and the Gorilla."
Many pithy quotes from famous folks are noted. One of my many favorites is, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its coat on." --Winston Churchill.
One concept of many in this book is a sub-chapter called "Reinventing Capitalism." Kelly notes Peruvian Economist Hernando De Soto's point in his book "The Mystery of Capital." De Soto states that the West has evolved to have an invisible yet essential society of laws, expectations, entitlements, and relationships that support the ownership of property. These conditions make the current structure of capitalism possible." And, De Soto sates that even most Westerners who live in these societies don't even understand how this system works, nor know much about it. Therefore, when the IMF, World Bank, and other agencies attempt to place these Western systems on foreign societies that don't have the underlying bases for these systems to begin with, the result if often not successful nor the most optimum way. De Soto's work has gotten attention and even Bill Clinton has noted his work in contemporary economics.
Many things I found interesting are: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the number of nanotechnology patents which have increased exponentially in the last 5 years, Moore's Law: the number of transistors per square inch on an integrated circuit doubles every 18 months. And what is the most costly computer crime, of all computer crimes? Theft of Proprietary Info.
A wide variety of information here, and in the back of this book there is an open questionnaire, where you can answer some of the major questions on the topics presented and apply them to your own life, views, and work. Tons of things in this book that you can dabble into, and you can get further reading material from the citations.
Interesting was the "dilemmas for the world's only superpower." The dilemma in large part, has been caused by the world's only superpower. A check and balance is needed.
Great book.
Product Description
A major new title from Gambit Publications Ltd. For most chess-players, opening study is sheer hard work. It is hard to know what is important and what is not, and when specific knowledge is vital, or when a more general understanding is sufficient. Tragically often, once the opening is over, a player won’t know what plan to follow, or even understand why his pieces are on the squares on which they sit. With this book John Watson seeks to help chess-players achieve a more holistic and insightful view of the openings. In his previous books on chess strategy, he explained vital concepts that had previously been the domain only of top-class players, and did so in ways that have enabled them to enter the general chess consciousness of club players. Here he does likewise for the openings, explaining how flexible thinking and notions such as ‘rule-independence’ can apply to the opening. Watson presents a wide-ranging view of the way in which top-class players really handle the opening, rather than an idealized and simplified model. This is a book that will make chess-players think hard about how they begin their games, while offering both entertainment and challenging material for study.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book, Great Addition to the Chess Library.......2007-10-09
This books is a great addition to anyone's chess library. To achieve best improvement you should be:
1) in the 1500 rating vicinity or higher.
2) You are reasonably good with simple tactics so that you don't spend lots of time questioning why certain moves hasn't been played
3) You don't get out of book quickly in most common openings even if you don't know the whole line
4) in other words, you can make reasonably sound opening moves more than not if you don't know the line.
5) You are familiar and have played a number of common openings like the Ruy Lopez, The Scicilian, QGD, etc
6) You need to increase your positional awareness
7) After a number of moves in the opening you feel you don't know how to proceed.
If you are most or all of the above then this book will greatly help you. It will help you explore themes that arise from openings and help you link middle game plans with openings, one of the ways that separates you from amateurdome.
Study the book carefully. Read it more than once (not necessarily cover to cover). Select openings you'd like to concentrate on and know more about and read and reread.
The book is very thorough and detailed and also give game examples to stress the point. It deals the most common variations and leaves other less important out (this is however subjective as some readers will complain. Check the review on Jeremy Silman's site). A good start for later deeper diving.
As with most chess books, some of the stuff he says won't make sense either because they really don't make sense or because you still don't have enough understanding of the concepts, so always have a critical mind. Always have a critical mind and ask yourself questions before jumping to the author's analysis. That will help you absorp the concepts. Computer analysis is a great tool for you to understand moves that the author left.
Now that didn't sound like a book review, rather a how-to, but I'm saying that cuz I've been through this. I was first reading the book as any other books and it turned out to me no more than variations with some description. Only when I followed the above, I discovered how helpful this book is. I learned to pay attention when the author talks about typical plans arising from the opening. This is very important.
I didn't like much Chapter 3 that everyone raves about. I think it confused me more than helped. Skim through it quickly and refer to it later every once in a while.
My other criticism is that some other important openings have been left out, so check the table of contents and see if your favourite opening is there.
Needless to say, GET BOTH VOLUMES!
Not really mastering the openings.......2007-09-12
John Watson seems to have quite a cult following, and to a point I agree he is unique and insightful. One must appreciate an author who gives their opinion and deep research - that is why you pay for the book. However, I believe the title misses the point, and a couple of openings.
A book that covers the Giuoco Piano, Ruy Lopez, Two Knights Defense, Philidor bypasses the Scotch and Petrov. My database gives the Petrov as the second most common response after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3, and Scotch as the third most common after 2. ...Nc6. Heck, even the King's Gambit gets seven pages.
This is a good book, with tons of insights into the openings and positions covered, as well as a long overview of the goals of the opening and positional considerations. However, it has several large gaps, and can't be used as an openings reference by itself.
Outstanding book.......2007-07-05
The author explains several opening lines from a strategic point of view, and not only by giving variants. This book is both useful and entertaining.
Great Opening Primer.......2007-07-03
If you're a club player looking for a good starting point to actually understand the ideas behind the e4 openings, this is it. It may not go as deep as the standards like the Batsford/Modern/Nunn's Chess Opening manuals, but it's really not meant to. While there's a place for the more technical manuals listed above, they can be overwhelming to a club player. Watson goes out of makes the openings approachable & understandable, as well as giving some additional ideas you can expand on by yourself.
After you've read this and vol 2 of the series (about d4 openings), you should be able to learn enough to get a feel for openings that fit your style and expand your collection into specific opening guides if you feel you need to.
Highly recommended.
Book Title Tells All.......2007-05-30
Another great work by one of the best chess authors in the business. For selfish reasons I wish he could have tackled more variations and more games, but, hey, I understand the Mr. Watson has other books to write. The book definitely gives a great understanding in words and analysis of modern approaches by some of the most novel thinkers in the game today concerning popular openings. Can't wait for Volume II!
Book Description
Presented here together for the first time are the greatest of the ancient Chinese classics of strategic thought: The Complete Art of War. Probably the most famous work of strategy ever written, Sun Tzu's Art of War has sold millions of copies in many languages around the world. Lost for more than 2000 years and only recently recovered, the Military Methods of Sun Pin (Sun Tzu's great-grandson) is a brilliant elaboration on his ancestor's work. Only The Complete Art of War brings the wisdom of these two ancient sages into a single volume and gives the reader a unique opportunity to master the essentials of Chinese thought on strategy, organization and leadership.
The Sun family writings on strategy have proven their value through the ages, and they continue to reward careful study. By unveiling the complex, often unexpected, interrelationships of armies locked in battle, they reveal the enduring principles of success in the struggle of life itself. With a practical index to the essential principles of strategy, and Ralph Sawyer's thoughtful chapter-by-chapter commentaries, The Complete Art of War is designed to bring the reader new insights into the nature of human conflict.
Whether it is playing the game of politics or building a successful marriage, closing a deal or managing a large organization, making war or even making peace, The Complete Art of War stands as one of the ultimate guides to a deeper understanding of human affairs.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2006-01-01
Bought a copy. Lost it. HAD TO buy another to replace it. An excellent book, Sawyers commentaries modernize and place in context applicable to today's managers. Clearly a lot of work went into his explanations. A must have, must read, must study. Provided me with months worth of reading material at lunch.
The teachings of the greatest military geniuses of all time........2003-11-10
Sun Tzu collected his teachings into the ancient Chinese treatise on military strategy known as "The Art of War" about twenty-five hundred years ago. Afterward his teachings were passed down through the Sun family, or a group of disciples, who edited or expounded upon the original writings until they assumed their current form. Sun Pin was the great-grandson of Sun Tzu, and he used the teachings of his brilliant ancestor to develop his Treatise "Military Methods". This wonderful translation by Ralph D. Sawyer includes both of these ancient texts.
"The Art of War" has been studied the world over by military, political and business leaders seeking to understand the nature of human conflict in all it's forms. Although thousands of years old, the teachings of Sun Tzu remain relevant even today. The maxims of Sun Tzu have been applied by students of "The Art of War" to such modern conflicts as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Sun Tzu's teachings range from the seemingly simple, such as "Someone unfamiliar with the mountains and forests cannot advance the army", to the more complex and thought provoking, such as "In order await the disordered. In tranquility await the clamorous. This is the way to control the mind." The manual covers such diverse topics as training, supplies, terrain, the seasons and the use of spys, and includes detailed commentary by China's greatest military leaders through the centuries.
"The Art of War" should be read by anyone who studies military history or strategy, and is part of the curriculum of many of the world's military academies. Studying the teachings of Sun Tzu can help you to form strategies for conflict resolution or negotiating in business, political or social endeavors through a greater understanding of human interaction.
Sun Tzu and Sun Pin are timeless.......2001-06-18
The Art of War is the oldest and best military treatise this world has seen. It is amazing how Sun Tzu can talk about strategy and warfare in thirteen short chapters. His book is just the best about competition and strategy. And now we get to Sun Pin, the military strategist. I have awesome respect for him. He was betrayed and mutilated by his best friend, and still, he survived. He defeated his nemesis in a great strategic way that Sun Tzu would have mostly likely done. These two are the best and if they were in this world today, they would won every war that we fight, by their ability to adapt. If you want to get Ancient Strategy and Chinese Culture, get this book.
Excellent.......2001-06-04
The publishing of both Sun Tzu's and Sun Pin's works together makes for a valuable purchase. I've found that this translation is also quite easy to follow, and the comments assist with interpretation. These works represent awesome insights into the nature of warfare.
suffering.......2001-04-20
The text does not remotely fill the entire page to lengthen the book and suggest a happier price. Sun Pin's addition is severely garbled because the original text was damaged and it's contadictory. The most likely reason that Sun Pin's methods were forgotten and preserved only in a tomb was because (GEE GOLLY) people believed it wasn't worth reading. The commentary uses the word obvious extremely often among various other uneeded lengthening exercises.The author describes himself as an imaginative entrepenuer.(Sun Tzu flirts with perfection)
Amazon.com
Journalist Mark Bowden delivers a strikingly detailed account of the 1993 nightmare operation in Mogadishu that left 18 American soldiers dead and many more wounded. This early foreign-policy disaster for the Clinton administration led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and a total troop withdrawal from Somalia. Bowden does not spend much time considering the context; instead he provides a moment-by-moment chronicle of what happened in the air and on the ground. His gritty narrative tells of how Rangers and elite Delta Force troops embarked on a mission to capture a pair of high-ranking deputies to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid only to find themselves surrounded in a hostile African city. Their high-tech MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down and a number of other miscues left them trapped through the night. Bowden describes Mogadishu as a place of Mad Max-like anarchy--implying strongly that there was never any peace for the supposed peacekeepers to keep. He makes full use of the defense bureaucracy's extensive paper trail--which includes official reports, investigations, and even radio transcripts--to describe the combat with great accuracy, right down to the actual dialogue. He supplements this with hundreds of his own interviews, turning Black Hawk Down into a completely authentic nonfiction novel, a lively page-turner that will make readers feel like they're standing beside the embattled troops. This will quickly be realized as a modern military classic. --John J. Miller
Book Description
The acclaimed New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down is "a shocking account of modern warfare . . . gripping and horrifying" (San Francisco Chronicle)
Destined to become a classic of war reporting, Black Hawk Down is Mark Bowden's brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3rd, 1993, about a hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take an hour. Instead they found themselves pinned down through a long and terrible night fighting against thousands of heavily armed Somalis. The following morning, eighteen Americans were dead and more than seventy had been badly injured.
Drawing on interviews from both sides, army records, audiotapes, and videos (some of the material is still classified), Bowden's minute-by-minute narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern combat ever written--a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle.
"Black Hawk Down ranks among the best books ever written about infantry combat. . . . A descendent of books like The Killer Angels and We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young."-- Bob Shacochis, The New York Observer
"If Black Hawk Down were fiction we'd rank it up there with the best war novels: The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer, or The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien."-- Tom Walker, The Denver Post
"Stands in a league with Shelby Foote's stirring Civil War Diary, Shiloh."-- Jim Haner, The Baltimore Sun
"One of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written."-- Kirk Spitzer, USA Today
"Amazing . . . One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable."-- The Philadelphia Inquirer
A New York Times bestseller for 14 weeks
Bowden's Black Hawk Down series, which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Hal Boyle Award for best foreign reporting
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and revealing.......2007-08-29
The beginning of this book kinda made me want to be a soldier but as it got into the actual horrors of war it seriously scared a strong sense of reality into me. Anyone who is thinking of joining the military should read this book first. Not that I'm trying to discourage people but just that they should take it seriously and not just think of it as an easy way to pay off school loans or something.
Anyway, the book is fantastic. Get it and read it.
One of the greatest combat books I have ever read.......2007-08-16
This book is great. It tells about the Battle of the Black Sea extremly well with several different perspectives. From stories of some of the Delta opperators to the Habr Gidr clan members fighting them, this book tells it very, very well. Only Flags of Our Fathers rivals Black Hawk Down. If you like combat books, I highly recommend this book.
Great Story Highly Recommended .......2007-07-13
Let me incorporate, by reference the many well earned accolades of the other reviews. This is an exceptional book and deserves the praise. However, there are some limitations.
The first is that two men watching the same person do nothing more than walk down the street may have perceptions of the event that would make it appear that they observed two different events, the second is that some of the intimate observations of those who fought there may have been reserved during interviews and the third is that Bowden may have received some politically correct guidance from above. Finally there is something enlightening in the unedited words of some of the experienced participants.
MSG Howe, a legend in the Special Forces community wrote an excellent book , Leadership and Training For the Fight. Deliberately misses the well edited polish as he uses presents personal combat experience to illustrate the key subjects he is discussing. Much of the action is on the ground as a participant in what became knows as Blackhawk Down. Howe discusses the critical differences in between the Rangers and Special Forces as they fought together. The second additional reference are the two books by Durant, In The Company of Heroes and Night Stalkers.
One of the messages of the other books on the subject which directly conflicts with the conclusions of Blackhawk Down is the impact of the removal of the AC-130's from the area had on the operation. The theater commander was denied the AC-130 gunships and American armor. Bowden repeats the Washington spin that the gunships would have been ineffective in the urban environment. However, Durant notes the huge psych impact when the gunships were returned to the fight a fee days later, while he was still held prisoner. It is further reported that the Secy of Defense came down to the SF camp once they were home to apologize for the removal of the gunships and soften the blow that there would be no formal after action report.
The performance of the gunships in several firefights in Afghanistan clearly demonstrated that they could work very closely with troops on the ground who were vastly outnumbered and fighting for survival within stone throwing distance. There also no doubt that the Little Birds and gunships could have been used together.
Durant and Howe provide the framework to understand the tactics and mission of those on the ground and in the air on those fateful days.
All three books leave the reader stunned at the quality, dedication and effectiveness of those who serve our country.
First Rate Military History -- move over Cornelius Ryan.......2007-07-12
This rates as one of the best military histories I have ever read.
Mark Bowden is scrupulously careful, balanced, and thorough. He presents a very complex incident with color, passion, and detail, cataloging the sounds, smells, and visuals of this frightful engagement.
He allows the participants among American and Somali soldiers and noncombatants to tell their own stories in their own words. Occasionally he steps back and presents historical/political background to let the reader see this "Battle of the Black Sea" in context.
The movie version (Ridley Scott directing) was exceptionally well done, fast-paced, fierce, gritty, and like the battle itself, ultimately very sad and leaving a sense of futility, given that the U.S. scampered out of Somalia shortly after the battle. Yet the movie was light and almost careless of many details compared with this book.
Move over, Cornelius Ryan.
Unbelievable.......2007-04-30
I'm so upset that I watched the movie first. In my opinion the book is 100x's better and I'm surprised to see how many story lines that they have changed. The details just make you shake your head in shock. In the movie they didn't really mention (I can't recall) Air Force Combat Controller's. Honestly if it wasn't for them there would have more casualties. It's an amazing modern war story that won't put you to sleep. I enjoyed the pictures at the end of the book. I like to put names and faces together.
A great read from beginning to end.
Book Description
This is your first and last stop for everything you need to know about winning the political game in the modern world of expensive, competitive campaigning.
Customer Reviews:
Decent book; geared toward big-money candidates with pre-existing connections.......2007-05-21
When I ran for office in 2004, I purchased four or five how-to-run-a-campaign books, and while they all included some unique insights (this one included), RUNNING FOR OFFICE was easily the least helpful of the bunch. The worst aspect of this book is that it presupposes that you're going to be running a big-money campaign as a Democrat or Republican, and that you have wealthy friends and/or political connections. If that is the case, then do you really need this - or any - book? I would not discourage a potential candidate from purchasing and reading this book, but it should not be your first or only choice. There are much better how-to-run-for-office books out there. Check my other reviews.
Excellent Resource For The Modern Campaign!!!.......2006-02-13
Ron Faucheux does an excellent job of laying out what you need to know when you are running for office. You can be assured that every word in this book comes from working on over 100 campaigns.
This is a resource for the candidate, campaign manager, and staffer alike. All can use this book to help in the modern campaign.
Topics include: a checklist for before you announce, strategy, message, fundraising, voter contact, using consultants, debating, and more!
I think that every candidate and potential candidate should read this book early on. It gives valuable advice that helps in every step along the campaign trail.
Along with RUNNING FOR OFFICE, I suggest buying WINNING ELECTIONS also by Faucheux. These two books complement each other and will guide you through election season.
Any more reviews of this book out there?.......2005-08-03
I'm curious about this book, but I'm wondering why three of the four reviews were posted from San Diego, why two of those three were by the same person, and why two of those three (not by the same person) were posted on the same day.
To post this review I have to give it some rating, so I'm giving it three stars which is the middle of the range, though I haven't read the book. I would just like to hear from more people who I can be confident HAVE actually read the book.
Lists for the candidate to work through.......2005-02-22
The book provides a long set of lists for the potential and declared candidate. There is no mention of getting along with your political party.
Decision to run:
1. Do I want the job?
2. Do I know what I want to do with the job?
3. Can I take the time?
Etc.
25 first steps:
1. Make a final, irrevocable decision
2. Determine the rationale for your candidacy
3. Get your resume in order
...
7. Raise seed money
8. Get professional help
...
10. Take a poll
Etc.
Elements of Campaign strategy
1. Position strategies (the issues)
2. Message sequence strategy (prepared sequence with desired emotional path)
Timing and intensity strategy (build intensity over time)
Mobilization strategy (rely on word-of-mouth)
Opportunity strategy (be opportunistic)
Crafting your message:
1. Do the demographics
2. Profile voters
3. Identify a winning coalition profile
Etc.
Art of attack:
Be believable, clear, logical, etc.
Estimating costs:
Raising money 1
Raising money 2
Raising money 3
Etc.
Spending money:
Hiring consultants
Buying media time
The perfect image
Slogans
Debates
And, Handy Tips for the Campaign Trail:
1. Don't let the bastards get you down
2. Always keep your cool
3. The goal is winning
Etc.
There isn't much use of anecdote. The book offers nothing but simple and direct advice.
Great resource for new candidates.......2003-05-26
Faucheux's book is a great resource for new candidates. I gave two copies to friends who are running for local offices and they loved it. It covers all the essentials of running for public office and is a bargain at this price.
Book Description
For the first time ever, revered spiritual leader Sakyong Mipham brings the lessons of the ancient Shambhala warriors and rulers to the Western world and shows us how to live our lives with confidence.
Most of us are living in a haze—sometimes helping others, sometimes helping ourselves, sometimes happy, sometimes sad. We don’t feel in control of our own lives. The ancient teachings of Shambhala rulership show us that we all have the ability to rule our own world and live with confidence. To do this, we need to use our daily lives to be strong, as opposed to aggressive, and to act with wisdom and compassion. This may sound difficult, but when we begin to mix this ancient wisdom of rulership into our everyday life, we have both spiritual and worldly success. We don’t need to abandon our life and become an ascetic or a monk in order to gain confidence and achieve this success. We can live in the world as a ruler no matter what we are doing.
—from Ruling Your World
You’re stuck in the airport security line, late for a flight. The line isn’t moving. You’re angry at the security personnel for taking so long, you’re irritated at the other passengers for having so much stuff, you’re mad at your boss for sending you on this trip in the first place. By the time you get to your gate you’re angry, deflated, and exhausted. Then someone cuts in front of you in the line to board and you snap. “There’s a line, you know!” Is that really you, standing in an airport, yelling at a stranger, emotions raging?
It happens to most of us more than we’d like to admit. In an instant, our lives seem out of control and overwhelming. It’s always something, isn’t it? But what if you could approach every part of your life—from the smallest decisions to life’s biggest setbacks—with total confidence, clarity, and control?
According to Sakyong Mipham, we all have that power. The secret is simple: If you just stop thinking about yourself all the time, happiness and confidence will come naturally. It sounds absurd and, what’s more, impossible. But in Ruling Your World, Sakyong Mipham shares ancient secrets on how to take control of our lives and be successful while cultivating compassion for others and confidence in our own intelligence and goodness. The key to this well-being lies in the ancient strategies of the warrior kings and queens of Shambhala.
The kingdom of Shambhala was an enlightened kingdom of benevolent kings and queens and fiercely trained warriors. No one knows for sure whether this kingdom was real or mythical, but there are ancient guidebooks to this land and practical instructions for creating a Shambhala in your own world, bringing peace, purpose, and perspective into your life and environment.
Sakyong Mipham, the descendant of a warrior king, has inherited these teachings and gives us the lessons and myths of the great rulers and warriors of Shambhala. He makes these teachings relevant to our twenty-first-century lives in a fresh and witty voice and helps us all to realize our potential for power and control in a seemingly uncontrollable world.
Customer Reviews:
Understanding your world should come first........2007-09-04
Ruling without sufficient understanding has led to enormous difficulties in human history.
If we truly understood our world, and wanted to help it and the people in it -- then developing intelligent networks would make more sense than creating authoritarian hierarchies.
Solid Information to Rule Your World.......2007-06-06
Ruling Your World is a great book but it certainly does not go in the direction of typical western thinking. Ruling Your World is not about getting anybody or everybody under your rule or control. Ruling Your World is simply about ruling yourself. If you gain control of yourself, then you rule your world.
For those who are familiar with the teachings of Buddha, there is nothing new in this book. However the book is easy to read and certainly can reinforce information we have already been exposed to.
If you are not familiar with the teachings of Buddha, then this is a great place to start. Sakyong Mipham drives home a very strong point, by concentrating on the little "me" we are engaging in a game we cannot win. The typical western belief is that by acquiring things we will become happy. The simple truth is the ego will never be satisfied. The more we get, the more we want. This becomes a never ending cycle.
There are some very good lessons to be learned. Unfortunately most of them go opposite to western thinking. So it will take much reflection and contemplation to accept these ideas. And as it pointed out, they are no good unless and until we internalize them.
Here is an example of one very important lesson.
We make faulty decisions based on anger, jealousy, desire or pride - signs that we are looking out for "me". If anger is the cause and we want happiness as the result, it's not going to work, because every result has to have a relationship to the cause.
A very good book - worthy of study and contemplation. Once you rule yourself, you rule your world.
My Life Is Changing.......2007-02-27
I already had a good life when I began reading this book. My wife and I had an excellent relationship, my business was starting to prosper etc.
I never knew how much better things could get. I have started applying the things that this book teaches. Today for the first time I realized how much my life has changed. I know that the principles taught in this book are true. I'm not going to go into detail about what the book teaches, but I just want to say that I am buying copies for my family members, and soon my friends and enemies as well.
I wish I could tell the author how thankful I am.
When the author suggests that you start meditating every morning, START DOING IT!!! Don't just say "Yeah, I'll have to give that a try." And then forget to do it like most people who read this book will probably do.
On a slightly religious note. If you are a Christian (as I am) you NEED to read this book, and a lot of other Buddhist literature. I have come to understand the teachings of Christ more now that I have become a student of Buddhism than I ever did before.
A Book for Everyone.......2007-02-12
I am a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism in the Nyingmapa lineage and am at the Vajrayana level. However, I think no matter how far one is into their practice, books like this are invaluable. We must remember to still refresh ourselves with the basics.
This book is for everyone. Those just starting, those more into the practice, advanced practitioners, and even non-Buddhists. It is written so everyone, Buddhist or not, can gather immense help, wisdom, advice, and so on, from it.
I intend to buy copies for several family members.
Just reading this book and meditating on it, digesting it, has helped me re-center and remember to put into practice all the practices Sakyong Mipham writes of.
You can't help but love his down-to-earth style. He writes simply but strongly.
If you want it to, this book will help change your life.
A plan that works........2007-02-11
There are probably two self help books for every literate person in the world. Many are helpful, some are really useful but very few lead one to buy copies for all close relatives! Ruling Your World is the handbook I wish I had been issued when I was born. This book although simple to read spoke to the deepest places in my heart. Phrases still accompany me each day as I either plough through or waltz through the very normal situations of life as an employee in a large company, partner in a close friendship, parent of adult children and general citizen of the world.
The main message for me is that "me" and the "me" plan is the cause of many of my daily difficulties. It is possible and not so difficult to drop the "me" plan and open to this magical world where compassion for others is the key to long lasting joy.
Any person tired of their own suffering and open to a deeper experience will probably treasure this book and the gentle and sometimes awesome ancient wisdom it offers.
Quoting one of his beloved teachers Sakyong Mipham Rimpoche advises "some things can be accomplished with agression.... " Please read the book to get the complete instructions on how "everything can be accomplished".
Book Description
Drawing on a very wide range of unpublished and previously unexploited sources, Martin van Creveld examines the "nuts and bolts" of war. He considers the formidable problems of movement and supply, transportation and administration, often mentioned (but rarely explored) by the vast majority of books on military history. By concentrating on logistics rather than on the more traditional tactics and strategy, van Creveld is also able to offer an original reinterpretation of military history. First Edition Hb (1977): 0-521-21730-X FIrst Edition Pb (1979): 0-521-29793-1
Customer Reviews:
The Big L brought to the masses...kind of.......2007-04-06
Martin Van Creveld's Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton is a highly readable examination of the 'evolution' of the Big L, military logistics, as associated with European wars over the last few hundred years up through WWII. While armies, from ancient to modern times, "march on their bellies" - as Napoleon once said, and thus logistics provide the cornerstone of all successful campaigns, the Big L tends not to be popular reading among historians, amateur and profession alike; in other words military logistics is a hard nut to crack from a literary standpoint. Van Creveld's book is a serious, and at least partially successful, attempt to bring the Big L to the masses (re: not to bookstores and best-seller lists but probably most large metro and university libraries).
In his presentation of the material at hand Van Creveld is careful not to present overwhelming 'facts' and 'logistical trivia', and in doing so is able to keep the readers attention. On the other hand as 'facts' and logistical trivia' are the commodity of the Big L a fair portion of Van Creveld's conclusions and suppositions are hard to reconcile as the reader has little frame of reference from a data standpoint. Thus in trying to make his subject accessible Van Creveld in large part shortchanges the importance of the subject matter. Yet, his prose is accessible and one can walk away for an 'appreciation' for military logistics at a minimum.
Will the reader be well versed with military logistics after reading Van Creveld's book? Absolutely not. However, if one's interest is even slighted piqued by the story Van Creveld presents then there is ample material out there to lose oneself in with respect to the Big L; this is especially true of the dearth of data, statistics and pages dedicated to logistics of the second world war. In the end Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton does a fair job capturing the imagination of the reader on a topic so often lost to even the hardcore military historians out there. It fails to fully 'teach' logistical lessons, but that's forgivable given the subject matter and it's usual inaccessibility. 3.5 stars total.
useful intro to military logistics.......2007-03-09
This is an interesting and thought-provoking book. Much more has been written on this subject since this first came out but as a starting point for anyone interested in military logistics this book can still not be bettered.
Logistics for the Armchair General.......2005-06-28
It has been said that armchair generals think of strategy, whereas professionals study logistics. If that is true, Martin van Creveld has written a book on logistics for armchair generals.
Those familiar with military history and strategic studies are likely familiar with Van Creveld and his proclivity for making bombastic and sweeping assertions on the nature of warfare. "Supplying War" is no exception. (By way of example, he labels Operation Overlord "an exercise in logistic pusillanimity unparalleled in modern military history.")
Originally published in 1976, "Supplying War" was the first book to directly address the critical, but often ignored issues of logistics in warfare with a primary objective of identifying key themes and trends across time. Even Van Creveld's most trenchant critics - and he has many in the academic community - concede that his work was original and reached a large audience, and has therefore largely defined the debate on the subject.
Van Creveld reviews seven historical case studies (17th century feudal warfare, Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the German invasion of France in 1870 and 1914, and Russia in 1940, Rommel's 1942 North African campaign and the Normandy invasion of 1944) and comes to the following general conclusion: In pre-modern military history food (including animal fodder) was the primary logistical concern and most armies were forced to keep moving to survive by living off the land; but the rise of the modern, mechanized army inverted the paradigm, as ammunition and fuel supplies became paramount and armies were increasingly tied to rear-area depots for their survival.
"Supplying War" is as interesting and easy to read as a book on such an inherently dull topic can be. Given the broad impact the book has had serious students of military history will want to read it if only to understand Van Creveld's perspective and arguments.
I would add, however, that no one should read "Supplying War" without also consulting the extremely thoughtful and hard-nosed critique of it written by John Lynn in "Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present." Lynn's essay points out a number of serious flaws in Van Creveld's approach and conclusions. For instance, Lynn notes that Van Creveld conveniently avoids the issue of naval logistics, which happens to undermine his argument that military forces have only recently been engaged in serious logistical planning. Unlike armies, from at least the time of the Spanish Armada navies have had to engage in sophisticated logistical planning to ensure they had enough food, water and ammunition to complete their mission, and with the arrival of steam power they had to worry about fuel as well.
Lynn points out a number of other convenient omissions in Van Creveld's work, such as the successful use of railroads and steamboats for front-line supply in the US Civil War, the critical and successful role trans-Atlantic and -Pacific US logistics support played in both the First and Second World Wars, and the political constraints on 17th Century warfare that inhibited operations much more than logistical considerations. However, the most convincing (and damning) scrutiny of "Supply War" comes in a section titled "A problem with numbers?" in which Lynn comes very close to accusing Van Creveld of intellectual and academic dishonesty by twisting or misrepresenting quantitative data on the purported rise of ammunition and fuel as a percentage of the overall supply requirements and the selective quotation of certain sources.
In closing, add this book to your reading list, read it carefully and skeptically, consult Lynn's analysis closely and draw your own conclusions.
Accountants, Gamblers and Thieves.......2003-02-01
Studying this book one gets the distinct impression that some of the most acclaimed military men in history were gamblers with a lucky streak or in other words very successful thieves, who solved their own supply problems by stealing it.
That is how Napoleon did it while he was winning, but when he organized his own supply for the Russian campaign he lost. Likewise the Prussian general staff got a reputation for perfect planning while in the field the army operated by chaotic requisition. The Schlieffen plan was unworkable from the start, Patton won by stealing from his neighbor units and ignoring the supply bureaucrats and Rommel overextended himself without a chance of winning ...
Interesting perspectives that give lot of food for thought - even if they may be somewhat biased. For example when Creveldt blames the German general stuff for not preparing the Russian campaign properly he claims that Hitler 's decisions made sense ....
It is a pity that the book stops in 1944; Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf war would be very interesting by comparison.
the best book about the history of logistics.......2002-07-07
Martin Van Creveld provides an interesting overview of how logistics influenced the outcome of miltitary operations. The first part of the book deatils warfare during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the armies had to keep advancing in order in replemish their supplies. If the army stayed in the same area over a large amount of time such as Napoleon's army in Moscow, than the army would run out of supplies. This situation did not change during the Franco-Prussian War in which the Prussian army had to scrounge for food at the outskirts of Paris. All though food remained a problem for the armies there was always a plentiful supply of ammunition since armies of the 18th and 19th centuries expended very little of it. Martin Van Creveld makes some surprising claims in the later part of the book describing twentieth century warfare. Martin Van Creveld believes that the Schlieffen Plan was doomed to failure because of the logistical constraints of the German army. Because most of supplies delivered to the German army were by rail, the desturuction of the railways impeded their advance. Also German planners made no plans to deal with the massive traffic jams in Belgum. The next chapter Van Creveld has an revisionist appraisal of the Germany invasion of Russia in 1941. Van Creveld believes that Germany had the supplies to deal with winter warfare but the inability to transport them across Russia. Due to the difference between German and Russian rail tracks and maintance problems of German engines the supplies never reached the front. Van Creveld strongly criticizes Rommel's handling of the North Africam campaign. Rommel advance to far for his supplies to be replenished. The problem of supply duirng the North African War was that the supplies had to be delivered by trucks that were highly vulnerable to air attack. When Rommel tried to solve the problem by taking Tobruk, he only made matters worse. The ships that arrived at Tobruk were in range of Allied aircraft and as a result sunk. The final Chapter, Van Creveld evaluates Allied operations in Western Europe. Van Creveld believes that Patton's success had to due with the fact that Patton ignored logistic officer's plan for a slow a orderly pace but instead took advantage of the situation to advance quickly. Van Creveld theorizes that Montgomery's narrow front approach could have logistically reached Northwest Germany but were have not captured Berlin. I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who wants a new and interesting perspective about operations during the First and Second World Wars.
Books:
- Medieval Sword & Shield: The Combat System of Royal Armouries MS I.33
- Memoir of Hungary, 1944-1948
- Nakajima Ki.43 Hayabusa I-III: In Japanese Army Air Force-RTAF-CAF-IPSF service (Arco-Aircam aviation series)
- Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers
- No Mean Soldier: The Story of the Ultimate Professional Soldier in the SAS and Other Forces
- Optimal Control and Estimation (Dover Books on Advanced Mathematics)
- Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework
- Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in the Public Sector
- Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
- Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies
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