Book Description
China's drive into the 21st century has been fueled by the relationship—and competition—between Beijing, considered by some observers to be the capital of capitals in China, and Shanghai, the nation's economic growth engine. The political and cultural history of China since 1850 has, in many ways, been shaped by Beijing's exercise of policy over what was once a small shipping port and fishing centre. In little more than a century, Shanghai has cast off these nets and is rising to be the region's leading economic metropolis, a position it seems determined to hold, this time with Beijing's blessing. As Beijing bounds forward to host the 2008 Olympics, its majesty, well reflected in its cultural gems—the Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven and the Ming Tombs—remains unfettered by the country's economic development.
This vibrant second edition of Beijing & Shanghai brings readers up-to-date on what's hot and what's cool in China's twin cities. Combining the latest information about restoration, entertainment, transportation and accommodation with historical writing, Beijing & Shanghai is the sophisticated guide to urban China that travelers have always wanted. 230 color photos, 17 maps.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Companion.......2007-05-29
I always travel with two guides to a place--one to read and the other to tell me where to eat. With "literary excerpts" and topical features on the naming and renaming of Beijing and the "singsong houses" of old Shanghai, this is a book to read before, during, and after a trip to the two cities. Each of the two sections is written by a resident of the city, and each takes a different approach, as these very dissimilar cities demand. Illustrations and maps abound. Listings of hotels, restaurants and shops are limited and likely to be out of date, as the books by this publisher seem to be updated every two or three years.
Average customer rating:
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The Making of a Spy
Gordon Lunan
Manufacturer: Studio 9 Books & Music
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
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Political
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Intelligence & Espionage
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Relations
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Espionage
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ASIN: 1895854474 |
Book Description
Gordon Lunans autobiographical account of his formative years in London and Spain, and his political evolution in Canada which led him to become a part of a WWII Soviet spy ring are told here in a literate and highly-readable narrative. This is a real page-turner of a book, revealing secrets about the functioning of Canadian justice during the years following the infamous Gouzenko affair, in which Lunan was implicated. His years in Kingston penitentiary are narrated, as is his life after release. Fascinating and unique.
Customer Reviews:
The Making of a Copy.......2001-06-18
Couldn't Gordon Lunan bother to check whether there was already a book with the title "The Making of a Spy?" A little research (or spying) would have shown him, had he taken the trouble to look, that my book published by The Danbury Press in 1977 was titled "THE MAKING OF A SPY," part of the Encyclopaedia of Espionage series. It was also published by Crescent in the USA and by Aldus Books in the UK. I know there's no copyright in titles, but it could be viewed as "passing off". Or was he just too lazy? If so, I don't think I'll bother to read this book.
Customer Reviews:
Sobering and authentic.......2007-06-07
In this impressive work, Viktor Suvorov, a former GRU agent, takes the reader out into the field with Soviet military intelligence. He takes the reader through the recruitment process, training, and actual field intelligence work in a manner that crackles with authenticity. After reading this work, it is impossible not to come away sobered by the discipline and dedication of the Soviets. Nor is this book irrelevant today. By all accounts the GRU is still in business, whatever it now calls itself under the Russian Republic. It is not likely that it has changed much.
In one particularly telling scene, during their training military intelligence agents are taken to the training camp of young Soviet athletes, who are struggling mightily and sweatily to prepare for the Olympics--working literally every waking hour. The spy trainer then says to the students words to the effect of "This is how hard those who represent our country in the field of sport must work. Did you really think you, who will represent our country in the field of intelligence, can work any less hard?" Quite a good point, when one reflects upon it.
Suvorov is an engaging writer who knows how to make his points. This book is a fascinating look into a world that many Westerners barely know exists. Highly recommended.
1985.......2006-06-27
In the opening pages of "Inside the Aquarium" the narrator, ex-Soviet agent Viktor Suvorov, describes his first memory as a member of Soviet Military Intelligence: watching a film of an execution of a would-be defector. The officer in question was strapped into a coffin with an open lid, elevated slightly so he could see what was coming, and then traversed slowly down a conveyor belt into a blast furnace, screaming all the way.
With this gut-wrenching scene, Suvorov opens "Inside the Aquarium", his tale of how he was recruited, served, and ultimately defected from, the GRU, the military counterpart (and rival) of the communist KGB.
As an officer, Suvorov was the cream of the cream. A company commander, he participated in the "liberation" of Czechoslovakia in '68, served a tour on the General Staff and in the Spetznaz (the elite Soviet special forces) and was ultimately tapped for service with the GRU, an organization hardly anyone had heard of but whose impact could scarcely have been greater during the Cold War.
Suvorov described the mission, organization, scope and accomplishments of this massive octopus in his companion work, "Inside Soviet Military Intelligence." In sum, its mission was to recruit foreign agents, spy, and steal technology from the West using any and all means -- from bribery and blackmail to intimidation and murder.
Suvorov has many spy tales to enthrall the reader -- his physical and psychological training pitted him against condemned inmates in hand-to-hand combat, punished lapses of memory with electrical shocks, and strove to exploit his emotional pressure points at every turn, until he was for all appearances just the type of pitiless machine-man communism hoped to produce. And his field experiences in the West are an unrelenting tale of deceit, lies and ruthless manipulation. There was nothing the GRU wouldn't do to get its hands on foreign technology and the foreign agents willing to sell it. Success meant medals, promotion and respect; failure meant disgrace, torture and sometimes execution. In Intelligence, like Hollywood, you're only as good as your last job, and the mantra of Suvorov's superiors was unvaryingly: "What have you done for me today?"
The book is most effective for me, however, in conveying the mental and emotional atmosphere which living in the communist penitentiary state produced among its inmates. As a GRU agent, Suvorov had unheard-of priveleges and status, yet the unyeilding pressure to produce results "or else", the knowledge that his every word, action and even facial expression was under constant scrutiny from psychologists and superiors, and the unspoken knowledge that many of his assignments were actually tests of his willingness to betray his friends, all brought me back to Orwell's "1984." To a world where lies, cruelty, double-dealing and fear rule every moment of every day, and all human emotions except lust, cruelty and ambition are discouraged and punished.
The most emotionally difficult moments in the book for me were not the betrayals, murders and interrogations of former pals (conducted on the dreaded "conveyor", which some killed themselves to avoid experiencing) but Suvorov's knowledge that so many idiots in the West were all to willing to give up their freedom and prosperity and become knowing tools of Soviet intelligence. His incredulity and hatred of these people, who he was trained to recruit and treat kindly, is excellent proof that freedom is best appreciated by those who had to risk everything to win it. Suvorov coldly refers to communist-loving Westerners as "expletive-eaters" and this expression was shared by the whole of the GRU. They had to live in a prison: why would anyone want to do it voluntarily?
"Aquarium" (named after the nickname for GRU headquarters), should be required reading for all those daddy-financed college rebels who put on Che Guevera T-shirts and denounce Western capitalism in favor of some kind of Marxian utopia. Suvorov lived in one, and risked being thrown in a blast furnace to escape it.
A Classic that deserves to be studied........2005-11-04
Suvorov takes a deep look at human nature, the Soviet intelligence arena and military intelligence in general. I believe it is a text to be studied and returned to. The following passage is the readers favorite:
"The troops were convinced that human nature was basically vicious and incorrigible. They had good reason. Every day they risked their lives and every day they had an opportunity to observe people on the brink of death. So they divided everybody into the good and the bad. A good person in their eyes was one who did not conceal the animal seated within him. But a person who tried to appear good was dangerous. The most dangerous were those who not only paraded their good qualities but who also believed within themselves they were indeed good people.
The most loathsome disgusting criminal might kill a man, ten men or even a hundred. But a criminal will never kill people by the million. Millions are killed only by those who consider themselves good."
Frightening, incredible, and probably largely true........2005-05-07
Suvarov, or whatever his name is, is quite a person. This book details his transition from ambitious soviet tank commander to soviet intelligence agent, and supposedly it is all true. Suvorov is so amazingly smart and thorough that if it were not true, we would never know. But thats not the point. this book is a page turner, reads like a novel, and discloses just how hard core and thorough the soviet intelligence services were, and probably are in whatever their current guise is. They were competitive, ambitious, driven, scared, talented and well organized. It would be hard to imagine building a more frightening group then the GRU. In fact, it makes you wonder how in the world anyone on the capitalist/NATO/etc side could even compete with these guys. From the fact of not even giving them guns (if you need a gun you are already done for), recruiting only agents who did not look suspicious, to keeping them frightened of the "conveyor", I doubt you will be the same after reading this book. I mean, this guy jumps naked into ant hills to get bitten by ants so he wont get sick. Entertaining and highly recommended. If you like reading something like "smileys people" --this is the flip side, soviet, and true. scary.
Suvorov's best.......2005-05-01
Despite being a (generally) non-fiction novel with only one female character who is there for 3 pages, Aquarium is one of the most interesting books I ever read. Suvorov was a Soviet military intelligence officer who defected to the West in 1978 and became a writer. He has 3 types of non-fiction: political/historical, informative (e.g. about the Red Army), and books about his life. This book belongs to the latter. It starts after his participation in the invasion of Czechoslovakia as a tank commander and follows his rise through military intelligence (spying on the west). It has conversation and reads like fiction, although it isn't. Suvorov is a very capable writer. He is tied with Ayn Rand for the amount of books on my list of best. He is the person I quote the most in conversation.
Average customer rating:
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The Making of a Secret Agent: Letters of of 1934-1943 Written by Frank Pickersgill (Goodread Biographies)
Frank Pickersgill
Manufacturer: Goodread Biography
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Military & Spies
| Professionals & Academics
| Biographies & Memoirs
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General
| Military
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Canadian
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
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General
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Canada
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General
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ASIN: 0887801234
Release Date: 1983-01-01 |
Book Description
Frank Pickersgill inspired tremendous affection, admiration and love from his friends. He was an enthusiast for life, full of energy, who saw the world around him clearly--all these characteristics shine through in his writing.
In this book, Pickersgill tells the engaging story of his encounter with Paris in the late Thirties--Paris when it was a mecca for writers, artists and intellectuals from all over the world. But it also tells the darker story of his encounter with the Nazi regime and the impact this had on his pacifist convictions, changing him from an idealist into a man of action. He joins up, trains as a spy, parachutes behind enemy lines, is captured and, after daring and heroic attempts to escape, is executed in a German concentration camp.
The Making of A Secret Agent, told in his Pickersgill's own words and those of his friend George Ford, is a moving and tragic account of one man's confronting dark times earnestly and with convition.
Average customer rating:
- Good Fiction
- Biography of the Author's Military Intelligence Career
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The Making of a Spy
Don Tipton
Manufacturer: Infinity Publishing.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0741412586 |
Book Description
"Making of a Spy" reveals circumstances that may change governmental behavior, as with the murder case of President Kennedy, and commissions that investigate for closure, not truth.
"Project Guinevere" shows a disturbing revelation, "How a 1938 immigrant from Russia became Jacqueline Kennedy's co-chair for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, after fleeing to Mexico when Germany lost World war two. How he made movies for the Nazis, then returned from Mexico with a new name, and assisted Lee Harvey Oswald, before the death of President John Kennedy.
Customer Reviews:
Good Fiction.......2006-04-03
The book makes for a good fiction read, or the perfect aid for a case study into the delusional and paranoid mind. The US Army, law enforcement officials and those who are really in the intelligence community have confirmed the accounts in this book are entirely fictional.
If you want to read a weakly written Walter Mitty tale, then this is the book for you.
Biography of the Author's Military Intelligence Career .......2005-02-12
This Biography includes:
1.Two Missions inside the Soviet Union
2.Missions to Antarctica, South & Central America.
3.Domestic Spying missions at the Aryan Nations Nazi-Compound at Hayden Lake, Idaho & the Soviet- Russian Immigration plot at antelope Oregon just across the Columbia River from the US Nuclear Facility at Hanford, Washington State.
Average customer rating:
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The making of a spy in the sky: A story of a World War II pilot
Hoyt M Warren
Manufacturer: Henry County Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
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General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
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Personal Narratives
| World War II
| Military
| History
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ASIN: B0006XZOYS |
Average customer rating:
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Making Spies: A Talent Spotters Handbook
H. H. A. Cooper
Manufacturer: Paladin Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Intelligence & Espionage
| Military
| History
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Relations
| International
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| Nonfiction
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ASIN: 0873643933 |
Book Description
During the mid-'80s Howard Marks had forty-three aliases and eighty-nine phone lines, and he owned twenty-five companies trading throughout the world. Bars, recording studios, offshore banks -- all were money-laundering vehicles serving the core business: dope dealing. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to thirty tons of marijuana and had contact with organizations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA, and the Mafia. Following a worldwide operation by the DEA, he was busted and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison at Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana. He was released in April 1995 after serving seven years of his sentence. With pages of photographs, and told with humor, charm, and candor, Mr Nice is his own extraordinary story. Mr Nice has been one of the biggest-selling memoirs in Britain in recent memory, topping both the Sunday Times hardcover and paperback best-seller lists. Also translated into eight languages, this edition offers American readers the first-ever opportunity to read this riveting book. "Frequently hilarious, occasionally sad, and often surreal." -- GQ "Only the Welsh could have produced ... Howard Marks.... In or out of handcuffs, he is always welcome in my home." -- Robert Sabbag, author of Snowblind "A folk legend ... Howard Marks has huge charisma. He sounds like Richard Burton and looks like a Rolling Stone." -- Daily Mail (London) "Marks weaves a fascinating story spiced with brilliant detail, far stronger than fiction." -- FHM
Customer Reviews:
Amazing! .......2007-08-09
During the entire 466 pages, there was not one point were I lost interest. Unlike other books about adventures in smuggling, this one gives indepth background to his personal life in a way that the others have not captured, i.e. Blow. Mr. Marks is an excellent writter and his intellect shows through with this book. This man has lived an amazing, tragic life and it makes it very interesting to read. Right now I'm purchasing his two other books, Senor Marks and Dope Stories just because I love his writing style.
Buy this book, you will NOT be dissappointed.
great book.......2006-10-04
this book was awesome, found it in some back alley in phnom phen for 25 cents and couldnt put it down. you want howard to keep smuggling and escape all the time. you can't help rooting for this guy. well written, and a great story. very enjoyable.
Oxford-educated drug smuggler.......2006-06-09
This book takes the drug smuggling genre a step further. It's a thrilling read that not only wonderfully narrates his drug smuggling, but also is really well written. This was the first drug smuggling book I read and is definately the best! Enter the world of Howard Marks and you won't be able to put this book down!
Loved it!.......2005-08-11
One of best books I've read in a long time. I really couldn't put it down. Well written by a facsinating character. Everyone I have loaned it to have raved about it. I would highly recommend.
looking for a good read?.......2005-01-03
howard marks takes you into the life of a genius, giving you the opportunity to experience a new way of living. he is able to establish a unique understanding and perception of life through his eyes. this includes the various prisions, smoking rooms, universities, countries, threatening situations, immigration search rooms he has seen as well as the lives of those around and close to him. his skills and use of logic to develop understanding are second to none, allowing the reader to further understand his perspective and way of life. if your not a smoker now, you will be! or atleast you will understand why!
Customer Reviews:
How has the Hall of Fame overlooked this guy?.......2005-02-09
Dick Williams writes the way he managed - honest, to the point, and in your face. 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' reads with the passion that he felt for the game and leaves you with a bit of sadness at, not only the way the game has changed, by how the Dick Williams's of the world have gone unappreciated. He took three different teams to the World Series, he perhaps saved the Padres from being sold, he took the Expos (yes the Expos) to winning seasons, he delivered nothing short of a miracle in 1967 with the Red Sox and he even pushed a couple of teams to winning even the players themselves weren't sure if that's what they wanted. This isn't to mention two rings with the Oakland A's.
It's sad the Hall of Fame has overlooked this guy. Not only is it a case of what more do you have to do, in the case of Dick Williams, it's what more could he have possibly done?
Book Description
The ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ adventures of the world's most notorious dope smugglers.
Howard Marks’s story has passed into hippie folklore. At one time, the world’s then most wanted man had 43 aliases, 89 phone lines and 25 registered companies. But this is only half the story. Intimately involved throughout was Marks’s wife Judy.
Now, for the first time, she tells her own side of the tale. Judy was involved with the drug-running scams and often had to act as money courier and go-between abroad when Howard was stuck without a passport or identity. She spent eighteen months in jail herself. From living the high life to the increasingly desperate years on the run, Mr Nice and Mrs Marks is about the exhilaration of their criminal life and what happens when your husband stops telling you the truth and your life is steaming out of control.
It is also a love story, and together Judy and Howard come across like a hippie Bonnie and Clyde. Far more than a retelling of Howard’s story, this is a warm, touching and often funny account of Judy’s unique role in an extraordinary husband-and-wife double act that spanned over three decades.
Customer Reviews:
good and fast read.......2006-07-04
I really enjoyed this book, especially having read "Mr. Nice" a few years back. The female perspective does give the whole story another twist. If you enjoyed "Mr. Nice" you shouldn't miss out on this one!
Utterly riveting.......2006-06-21
This book provides a refreshing inside account of life with the fabled Howard Marks. The book is well written and in parts highly amusing. It shows another side of 'Mr Nice', we don't get to see in his book.
It makes for a captivating and fascinating read.
Mrs Nice.......2006-06-19
This book is a surprisingly good read. I read it in 2 days. Her description of male smugglers is hysterically funny. It is a very emotional book and a gripping tale. It fills in a lot of gaps from Mr Nice and avoids repetition. People don't expect it to be good because she is 'the wife' which is ridiculous and sexist. Judy is clearly very well educated, with a kind heart and a wry sense of humour. She met all of the characters discussed in Mr Nice and offers a different perspective on the goings-on. Her accounts of prison-lfe are fascinating.
Books:
- Anatomical studies of flower and fruit in the Hydrocotyloideae (Umbelliferae) (University of California publications in botany, v. 42)
- Bacterial Growth & Form
- Bacteries et environnement. adaptations physiologiques
- Biological Science, Volume 3: How Plants and Animals Work (2nd Edition) (Biological Science)
- Biology of Mycoplasmas (Cell biology)
- Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book)
- Cell genetics in higher plants: Proceedings of an international training course, 5-17 July, 1976, Szeged, Hungary
- Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, Third Edition
- Common weeds in New Zealand: An illustrated guide to their identification with a section on noxious plants (Information series / New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research)
- Dandelion Wine (Grand Master Editions)
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