Book Description
The Maginot Line, the massive series of fortifications built by France in the 1930s to defend its borders with Germany and Italy, is perhaps the most maligned collection of fortifications ever built. Despite being a technological marvel, and the most sophisticated and complex set of fortifications built up to that time, it failed to save France from crushing defeat in 1940. Yet there are those who argue that it accomplished exactly what it was designed to do. This book provides a concise and informative treatment of the Maginot Line, from North-East France to the Mediterranean. Packed with plans, contemporary and modern images, plus digital artwork, it presents a detailed visual exploration of this famous fortification system.
Customer Reviews:
Good basic overview in 96 pages.......2007-08-27
This book gives a good basic overview of the actual fortifications, the history and the place of the Maginot Line in French history. However, due to the extremely short length of book only touches on each of these. For those wanting more depth, they should go elsewhere. But for those interested in spending only about 90 minutes to get an overview, does an excellent job.
Excellent Detailed Study.......2006-01-30
The technological view of this great line is well covered. The author includes details on everyday life of the soldier and construction history. An excellent description of combat action. A smoothly flowing work based on primary sources rounds out this book. This book has just about everything one could ask for. For additional illustrations I also recommend Y.V. Mary's French text Ligne Maginot books.
Great Summary of a Major Fortification.......2006-01-07
Having just recieved a series of books on fortifications early this week, I have found this to be a delightful account of the Maginot LIne briefly describing its history and operations and certainly well illustrated. There are an interesting selection of wartime photos plus Osprey's famous 3 dimensional drawings. Great Buy!
The Maginot Line.......2003-09-14
Truly an interesting topic this book details the Maginot Line in great detail showing everything you might want to know about its technical details. As Dr. Forsyk mentions, despite all the interesting illustrations the author does not show the location of the main forts,even on a map of the Maginot Line with forts identified by little blue and white squares but without names. Other books or maps are needed to fill this major gap since a good military history should have vital maps. The book does identify the number of weapons and forts in good detail. The book is devoted to technical detail and the author fails to give a real good history describing the Maginot Line's history and activites in war. Dr. Forsyk mentions the finances and how the line should have been extended and this is another problem with the book. The problem was not just money. Other books do explain clearly why it was not possible or reasonable to extend the fortifications and this one does not since its design and construction history is only about 2 full pages in length. The book has only about 10 pages, pages that are about 50% illustration, of text on the history from begining to end. This book is just a technical description of the Maginot Line for those espcially interested in that with interesting illustrations. The authors technical details are also interesting although it lacks the history one will find in Anthony Kemp's landmark work also called The Maginot Line.
Exposing the Myth.......2003-09-14
Osprey's Fortress #10, Maginot Line 1928-1945, goes a long way toward exposing the myth of the supposedly invincible defensive line built in the 1930s. Although there have been a handful of other recent books on European fortifications, this volume by William Allcorn is a useful technical summary that corrects many misconceptions about the line.
Allcorn begins with very short sections on the reasons why France decided to invest the Maginot Line and how the defenses were built, although there are no photographs from the construction period. Fully half the volume deals with the structure of the Maginot Line and Allcorn spares no detail about the different types of ouvrages ("works"), interval forts and "cloches" (armored cupolas). Indeed, Allcorn gets a bit carried away in his technical descriptions and becomes rather tedious. Unfortunately, Allcorn spends less effort on critical aspects of the Maginot Line, like where the key fortifications were actually located. While Allcorn provides five maps (the general distribution of fortifications, the forts in northeast France, the forts on the Italian border, the Metz fortified region, and the German invasion), none are detailed enough to actually locate large forts like the Hackenberg. Instead, Allcorn continually refers the reader to Michelin maps, which is rather a cop-out. Also, a number of the illustrations, such as the generator room at Hackenberg, really don't tell the reader anything.
The strength of Allcorn's account lies in exposing the myth of the Maginot Line for what it was not. Indeed, Allcorn notes that the French kept many details of the Line secret even after the Second World War and the popular conception remained that it was a continuous line of monstrous forts. The truth, as Allcorn demonstrates, was far more prosaic. The Maginot Line was in fact, a series of large and small combat blocks, which were themselves mostly a series of smaller bunkers. Allcorn has spent a great deal of time in what remains of the Line, and it is amazing to hear that the mighty Maginot Line only mounted 43 135mm howitzers and 138 elderly 75mm guns, as well as 162 other mortars and guns. Few of the forts had garrisons of more than 200-300 men and while some of the larger forts had internal rail lines for moving ammunition, there was no underground rail line connecting all the forts. Furthermore, living conditions were very poor inside the Line and the garrisons generally lived in nearby barracks except during war. Allcorn also provides details on the fortifications built along the Italian border and on Corsica, all of which were part of the Maginot program.
Allcorn's chapters on the Maginot Line in the Second World War and after do reveal some new details, but they are essentially weak. During the 1940 Blitzkrieg, the Germans were only able to seize a few of the smaller forts, but the bunkers built along the Rhine were all quickly knocked out by an ingenuous effort utilizing numerous 88mm flak guns. Allcorn concludes that the Maginot Line did what it was designed to do - deter and impede a German invasion of northeast France - but that the failure of French leadership to provide adequate air and armor units to prevent a German breakthrough elsewhere invalidated the whole program. While skimming over the German occupation of the Line, Allcorn does provide some interesting details about the Line after the war.
Typically, the Maginot Line is derided as a complete waste of money that failed to save France from invasion. If only the money had been spent on tanks and aircraft, the French might have survived the Blitzkrieg, goes the popular refrain. However, Allcorn notes that the Maginot Line, built between 1928-1936 cost about five billion francs (about $100 million in then dollars). Unfortunately, Allcorn fails to note that the French defense budget in the mid-1930s was about $900 million (45 billion francs) per year; therefore, the Maginot Line cost only about 1.3% of the French defense budget for eight years. Apparently, if France lacked money for mobile forces it was not due to the Maginot Line. Given the apparent low cost and apparent effectiveness of the fortifications that were built, it is hard to understand the argument that France lacked the money to extend the line across the entire French border. Indeed, if there was waste in the French military establishment, it was more likely due to the navy, which had a large number of expensive but obsolescent battleships. Perhaps the real argument should be, if only the French had scrapped their battle fleet (which was irrelevant to the threat of German invasion anyway), they might have gained the funds, personnel, armament and steel to complete the Maginot Line across the entire border. Is there anyone who thinks that Rommel or Guderian could have crossed the Meuse so easily in the face of Maginot-type fortifications?
Book Description
This is a collection of documents for courses on Medieval History or Western Civilization. The book is designed to accompany Hollister, MEDIEVAL EUROPE: A SHORT HISTORY. It can however accompany any text for these courses. The text provides a lucid and approachable introduction to each of the documents.
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Medieval Study.......2005-09-07
Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook, 4th Edition is a useful companion book to Medieval Europe: A Short History as it provides complementary information that fleshes out the private writings and the people who made history by providing the back story to everything that is reported as having taken place in the Middle Ages. Contained within these writings is the arc of development of the Catholic church for both its supplicants and leaders, as well as the elements of man's attitude towards the women in their lives and what they considered proper behavior, what they feared, and what they subsequently attempted to control.
The book begins with writings detailing the transition from a Roman World and ends, fittingly, with the Age of Contradictions. One is privileged to read of Hypatia, the female philosopher who was martyred by being stoned to death for being an intelligent and outspoken female philosopher. Another female who was subjected to tyranny by her husband but nonetheless was able to read and leave written instructions for her son is Dhuoda. She is mentioned in passing in Medieval Europe: A Short History, but it is in A Short Sourcebook that one is able to fully understand not only Dhuoda's plight but also her faith and her suffering. And these tales of faith are only some of many that tell of how faith affects the lives of the common people as well as the more religious as evidenced by letters between the faithful. While this book does not provide all the answers necessary to fully comprehend Medieval Europe, it is useful as a supplement to the primary textbook, and even takes some of the literature one step farther as well as providing seemingly mundane regulations that provided guidance during a time of great expansion.
As noted in the Sourcebook, Medieval Europe was "a cycle of faith, fervor, and fortune" that "reinforced medieval piety and strengthened the medieval economy" and helped "inaugurate Europe's first great age of expansion" (173). The information provided in such passages as "The Customs of Newcastle-upon-Tyne" and the "Regulations for the May Fair at Provins" allow the reader to uncover how an expanding continent was attempting to maintain control over day-to-day business. In addition, historical documents such as "The Magna Charta" and "The Strasbourg Oaths" are included which the editors utilize to flesh out and complete the historical picture contained in the A Short History. There are other historical aspects that are a treat to read such as "The Greenland Saga", which documents a small portion of Viking history. This particular saga and that of "The Russian Primary Chronicle" illustrate the impact other countries had on Medieval Europe, information that is only briefly discussed in A Short History.
The role of women in medieval society, particularly in Carolingian Europe, was not one of equality, even if those women were in leadership positions in the church. Their presence, brought about through necessity, was abused by neglect at the hands of their husbands, and even some of the church leaders. What one will find in this book is that through the writings provided by a varying group of women one is offered a similar yet diverse view of how women were treated. And by studying these writings, one will find that it is the women who willingly locked themselves up in an abbey who were in a much better position to maintain their own freedom than the women who were locked up by their husbands or caretakers. And one can see this through the excellent examples of letters from the women in the abbeys, through those of educated women such as Dhuoda, to a morality play provided by a nun, Rosswitha, and on to a piece entitled Memories, by Dona Leonor Lopez de Cordoba who has the talent to both infuriate as well as make one feel sorry for her. And with regards to writings about the church, one can see the direction in which the Catholic Church was proceeding by reading the "Charges of Heresy Against Jan Hus," plus several charges of heresy against others, as well as their treatment of Joan of Arc.
Taken either together with A Short History, or on its own, A Short Sourcebook is a valuable piece of information that will help any student become more familiar with the mindset of Europeans living in the Middle Ages, as well as completing the historical picture of how society went about its business, whether it be merchants, the government, or the Catholic church.
Julie Pruss and Dr. Carl Edwin Lindgren
American Military University
Fascinating.......2005-08-19
This is an excellent and comprehensive collection of sources from the Middle Ages in Europe. Divided into thirds (a section each on the Early, High and Late middle ages), it has a solid representation of source materials on religious and political life. Its only shortcoming (and the reason why I could only give it 4 stars) is its lack of materials about (or by) women - given the attitudes, expectations and limited opportunities this is not surprising; still, I wish there was at least some attention given them.
Customer Reviews:
Great Biography of Great Man.......2007-09-18
Schott has written a wonderful biography of a sensitive, inteolligent, complex human who was larger than his physique. Stephens was torn between doing what was best for his country [read as Georgia] and supporting the Union and Constitution he loved. This book belongs to every person interested in America's past. Read it and enjoy. See an interesting person and his fascinating times.
Excellent glimpse of Alexander Stephens.......2006-10-31
I never knew that Alexander Stephens was such a complex and contradictory man. Schott's bio is an enjoyable read in addition to being a thorough account of Stephens' life. Fortunately for history, he revealed himself intimately to his brother, and most of their correspondence has survived. Schott focused on Stephens himself and less on the antebellum South. Given the huge number of books out there detailing that topic, it is no loss when a bio is as good as this.
Good study on Stephens and all his contradictions.......2004-05-21
Alexander Stephens is the classic example of the Southern Whig, and shows why the Whig Party ultimately foundered on the rocks of slavery and sectionalism. While Stephens was devoted to Whig principles and the preservation of Union (like many other leading figures in the Confederate government, he was opposed to secession), he nonetheless rigidly opposed any perceived infrigement on Southern rights, as he viewed them. These two impulses within Stephens were of course mutually exclusive; like most other Southern Whigs, he was never able to reconcile the principles to which he was devoted.
It is when examining Stephen's amazing attempts to rationalize his actions & justify them to himself that Schott's book is at its best. Much like Jefferson Davis, Stephens was obsessed with being right and with taking the moral high ground, and he devoted an amazing amount of energy in attempting to defend his positions, perhaps to others but I believe mostly to himself. Of course, Stephens was in the thick of every controversy in Congress in the 1850's, so the reader gets to watch him, along with the rest of the US, get swept along to the inevitable.
A reader expecting a Civil War history will be disappointed. Stephens, despite being Vice President of the CSA, played only the most marginal of roles during the war. His role in the post-war South is similarly marginal, distinguished only by his role in helping to foster the Lost Cause and coining the phrase "War Between the States."
The best section of the book deals with Stephens in Congress in the 1840's and 1850's, but like another reviewer has stated, the events of those times are not discussed in much detail, other than how they had an impact on Stephens. That having been said, I found Schott's discussion of the controversy surrounding the Wilmot Proviso to be as cogently framed as anything I have read. Schott also does a good job capturing the feeling of a country that has lost control & is careening towards catastrophe.
This is about the only recent full-length treatment of Stephens that I know of, and generally is pretty good and well-recommended. It also contains an excellent bibliography that will provide you with other good source material.
Stephens, a Southern, Whig politician.......2003-02-24
Alexander H. Stephens was a prototypical, antebellum Southern Whig: scholarly, principled, and moral. Yet in many ways his life was compromised as he, along with other Southern politicians, was "compelled to defend the indefensible."
Stephens despite the disadvantages of humble beginnings and a sickly, frail constitution was able, through some fortuitous and generous assistance on the part of others, to climb into the lower ranks of Southern society, first as a lawyer and then as a U. S. Congressman. There, Stephens found himself in entangled in such antebellum controversies as the Mexican Cession, the Wilmot Proviso, the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the Lecompton controversy.
Stephens as a Whig was a staunch defender of the Constitution, the Union, and the rule of law. He opposed the Texas annexation and the Mexican War as infringing on those cherished beliefs. However, Stephens was constantly walking a tightrope between his Whiggish principles and the political realities of the South over the issue of slavery. He supported Kansas-Nebraska, but by that time he had been forced to jump ship to the Democracy. Later he committed the apostasy of siding with the northern Democrat Douglas in the Lecompton controversy and then supported him for president in 1860. For this reader the author's coverage of these controversies gets a little confused by his focusing on the various tortured rationalizations of the various parties, including Stephens'.
The author devotes much time to the state of Stephens health in this period (often sick), his mood swings (often in despair), and his need for recognition which is seen in his oratory, his obsessiveness in defending his personal honor (even resorting to challenges for duels), and his somewhat exaggerated views of his own importance. Stephens was a prolific writer of letters, especially to his younger brother Linton, throughout his life, and these are used well by the author to capture Stephens' thinking.
Stephens was one of the leading Southern politicians who opposed the Southern secession. During the War, from his position as Vice-President of the Confederacy, he was a constant thorn in the side of Jefferson Davis, the President. Of course, Stephens construed his opposition as principled. But his opposition to such policies as conscription and the suspension of habeas corpus in the context of Southern survival seems wrong-headed. After the War, Stephens was returned to the House of Representatives and then served as governor of Georgia for four months before his death in 1883 at the age of seventy-one.
At times this book becomes tedious in its detailing of the endless rationalizations and defensiveness of Stephens in his various political dealings through the years. His self-assignment of being more moral, pure, and principled than others wears thin. In addition, for such a lengthy book, it seems that only a glimpse of the broader world shows through and then through Stephens' views and machinations. The reader can become only moderately informed of the events of the day and of Southern society. The book definitely focuses on Stephens, the insatiable and recognition-starved politician, which probably narrows its appeal.
Average customer rating:
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Alexander H. Stephens: A flower of the genius of the "Old South"
Robert Ashford
Manufacturer: Oconee Enterprise
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
 Congresses, Senates, & Legislative Bodies
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ASIN: B000879ECU |
Average customer rating:
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Sketch of Alexander H. Stephens
Alexander William Stephens
Manufacturer: [s.n.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0008D14TA |
Book Description
Rosemary Dew, who earned the title of Special Agent of the FBI, was recipient of eight commendations from FBI directors, and was the seventh woman to be named supervisor at FBI headquarters, has opened up the files on the agency and reveals a broken organization rife with discriminatory practices. Dew worked undercover against criminals, spies, and terrorists. She supervised the bureau’s international response to the Achille Lauro hijacking and signed the arrest warrant for Abu Abbas. Yet for all her accomplishments, Rosemary Dew remained a “female” agent first and “special” agent second, treated with disdain, sexually harassed, and denied the opportunities and privileges of male agents. In her memoir, Dew relives her FBI life from the training academy to the most sensitive missions of national security. As her tale unfolds, so do the FBI’s many problems, one of them being the bureau’s persistent lack of cooperation with other investigative agencies — an attitude instilled from its inception by J. Edgar Hoover. Special Agent Dew views the FBI as a dysfunctional family where those who don’t fit the Hoover mold are not welcome. In No Backup, Dew makes a powerful call for change and lays out a blueprint for FBI reform.
Customer Reviews:
Disturbing and sad..........2004-07-17
A well-written insider's expose of the immature, "locker-room" mentality that has existed far too long without accountability in what is supposed to be the nation's premier law enforcement and domestic intelligence organization. Dew's first-hand account of her 13 years of enduring illegal, unconscionable treatment from subordinates, peers and superiors saddens me.
The country and those women and minorities who suffered this treatment deserved - and deserve - better from the FBI. We can only hope that this book is read and taken to heart by a new generation of leaders at the FBI.
Enlightening and insightful.......2004-07-01
Readers' reactions to this book will be influenced by their expectations. It's not a book about shoot-em-ups and cloak-and-dagger. For me, it's a book about how the FBI institution and individual FBI agents influence each other, and the results. The author argues that the negative behavior and negative attitudes that she experienced in her small part of the FBI world are the same behavior and attitudes that led to major consequences for the entire FBI and the country. I give the book five stars for this insight alone.
Throughout the book, the author reminds the reader of the many outstanding agents she worked with and the outstanding work that the FBI accomplishes. This is not emphasized, because this is not what the book is about. Rather, it's an attempt to analyze what's wrong with the FBI, and how to fix it.
Tiresome but somewhat interesting.......2004-06-17
Dew does share some interesting insights about the FBI bureaucracy but when you get about halfway through the book, you start to get tired of listening to her endless whining and complaining about the organization. It it was that bad, why did she continue to stay there? It would have been more interesting if she gave more details about some of the arrests and what ultimately happened to those high profile people, i.e. the Maryland congressman Robert Bauman who was arrested for child prostitution, and some of the other lowlifes she encountered through the years.
No Backup: A female Agent's Life in the FBI.......2004-01-02
No Backup: A Female Agent's Life
in the FBI©
by
Rosemary N. Dew and Pat Pape
A fascinating read which combines the personal experiences of Special Agent Rosemary Dew who spent thirteen years with the FBI. She was in a unique position to gain insight and has produced a detailed analysis of the culture of the FBI and has delved into the reasons behind some of it's more infamous failures. The overall thrust of the book suggests that the FBI's problems reside within the culture of the organization. Rosemary Dew contends that the FBI will continue to be plagued by embarassing episodes,e.g., the mole in its counter intelligence section who was able to escape detection for decades. Approximately half of the book covers one embarassing episode after another which calls into question the ability of the FBI to learn from its own mistakes. In the world described by the author...the agents who warned of suspicious events before 9-11 might have been taken more seriously if they had been working out of a higher status office like New York City. The book is not just a critical analysis of the Bureau but cites specific episodes from the author's life as an agent. She uses these illustrations as a backdrop to suggest why many of the recent problems within the Bureau are the result of long standing practices and norms where the preservation of one's own job within the organization takes priority and common sense seems to be in rather short supply. She describes in painful detail... blatant examples of racism, sexism and harassment which would not be tolerated in modern law enforcement agencies. The FBI is portrayed as a bureacracy which has lost its moral compass while at the same time trying to occupy a higher moral position through a masterful public relations campaign. Rosemary Dew has gone to great lengths to open up her own life and will probably take some heat from those who are sure that the Bureau can do `No' wrong. Definitely, worth the read but disturbing. There have been other books which have exposed the FBI but this one is unique.
Dr. Peter Kassebaum
Book Description
In her thirteen years as special agent for the FBI, Rosemary Dew worked undercover against criminals, spies, and terrorists, earning eight commendations for her service. Despite her achievements, for her entire tenure she remained the subject of severe discrimination and even sexual harassment that the bureau seemed to condone rather than condemn. In elegant and deeply felt prose, Dew argues that this climate of corruption and duplicity not only taints the experience of the FBI’s few female agents but also leads directly to some of the bureau’s most harmful failures, such as the remarkable intelligence breakdown that allowed spy Robert Hanssen to operate undetected for more than two decades. Narrated by one of the most successful— and one of the only—women in the bureau’s history, No Backup is a startling look at the destructive and discriminatory culture that dominates one of America’s most powerful agencies, as well as an impassioned plea to an organization that must reform itself.
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