Product Description
In one of the most critically acclaimed novels of the year, Caleb Carr-- bestselling author of The Alienist--pits Dr. Laszlo Kreizler and his colleagues against a murderer as evil as the darkest night. . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (308)

Tough act to follow
The Alienist is a tough act to follow, but the Angel of Darkness is a worthy effort.Carr continues to develop fascinating forensic scenarios in an age prior to technology.Carr captures the complexity and creativity of a Doylian novel.I recommend this book to Sherlockians.

better than alienist
I enjoyed the Alienist, but I actually think this one is better.The same attention to historical detail is there and the same twists of plot.Additionally, the same characters are in this book, but they are much more human and likeable than in the first.I admit, some of the plot twists were "eye rollers" but Carr pulls it off and makes them fit.He also tones down some of his animosity towards religion in this book, although some of theliberal overtones are still there.

In this book, the criminal is already known and most of the book is spent trying to bring her to justice and the court trial.The main characters have grown a lot between novels.I actually liked the doctor in this one, whose character is better rounded out, along with the others.The book is written from the view point of Stevie, who has a sense of humor and insight into the others.

The only things I did not like were the somewhat exaggerated twists in the plot and the ever obnoxious female detective.

Great sequel but still a sequel
With the action this time focused on Stevie Tagart the young ward/coach driver of "The Alienist" we are given a follow-up to the original novel that is strong in some area and weak in others.The case revolves around the missing daughter of a Spanish ambassador and after the initial 150 or so pages and it is determined who took the baby the story gets into a very interesting commentary on what people thought of the role of women at the turn of the century it's a question that people asked themselves then and ask themselves now "how can a women kill her own child."

The doctor and his gang don't have an answer to that one anymore then we do in the present day but interesting attempts are made to find an answer which culminates in an appearance by Clarence Darow of all people.After the trial section of the book gets started Carr is true to form and you'll be glad you have been so patient.

I think the main problem of the book deals with the differences in the cases between book 1 and 2 and all attempts by Carr to play up all the angles aside the Angle of Darkness just doesn't have the shock value that the other book had.

Very good
I am approaching this review with the viewpoint of reading this book and I have not read the alienist yet, and this book is basically the sequel.I did like this book enough to go back and read Carr's previous volume.Although this book stands reasonably alone, I think that I would have enjoyed and understood the first part of the book by reading the first.Once you "get into" this book, it runs along as a nice mystery until two thirds through, then morphs into a courtroom drama.It does a good job of both.In addition, Carr does a nice job of setting the story in late 19th century NYC.Worth reading.

Surprising good book with excellent characters...
I was pleasantly surprised how much I anticipated reading this book after reading his Alienist....He does an excellent job of identifying characters and situations.I am only sorry he has not done any other books in this style, besides Alienist.I have had a difficult time finding an author with similar writings.Will just keep hoping he does another book in this time frame, and in this fashion. ... Read more

Product Description
The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or "alienist." On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy, a prostitute from one of Manhattan's infamous brothels.

        The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler's intellect and Moore's knowledge of New York's vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology-- amassing a psychological profile of the man they're looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before. and will kill again before the hunt is over.

        Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian's exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (504)

Thought I would love this book, but I didn't
New York Times reporter John Moore is paired with criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler to solve a series of crimes against young child prostitutes in Caleb Carr's first book, The Alienist. The murders are heinous and no one knows who is committing them. There is also little interest because the boys come from the immigrant community and their occupation is taboo. Corruption is rampant in New York City and police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt charges Moore, Kreizler and a small group of others to search for the killer.

Just writing that little summary makes me feel like this book would be interesting. I was actually very excited to read this because so many people had said it was one of their favorite mystery reads of all-time. Sadly, it was not to be. I slogged through this entire book. I even fought with it and wanted to throw it across the room more than a few times. I read the hardcover version of the book too so those 496 pages would have been even longer in paperback. There were so many problems that I had with this book that I am just not sure where to start.

The storytelling was overwrought with foreshadowing. I would say a good half to two-thirds of the chapters ended with some form of foreshadowing. Chapter 24 ends like this:

"We watched the burning pieces of paper turn into flakes of smoking ash, both of us silently hoping that this would be the last we'd ever need to speak of the matter, that Laszlo's behavior would never again warrant investigation into his past. But as it turned out, the unahppy tale so sketchily referred to in the now-incinerated report did surface again to a later point in our investigation, to cause a very real--indeed an almost fatal--crisis."

Now doing this a few times throughout a book would not have bothered me, but it became so habitual that I found myself anticipating the "duh duh duh" moment that was surely coming at the end of every chapter. The book tried so hard to be literary and it actually accomplished it at some points in the book, but overall the literary devices were so overused that they became clichéd.

Then there was the initial question of whether or not the attacker was a male or female. Based on physical evidence, they postulated that the attacker was 6'2". It must be a male, right? That's what they thought. Well, later in the book another boy is killed and a team member named Sara goes to view the crime scene. She is so horrified by what she sees that she says something like (and I'm paraphrasing), "The murderer is a male. There is no way a woman could do this." All the men on the team were taken aback that Sara knew this so definitively. Really?!!! You think?!!! You just finished going on an on in previous pages about the murderer being 6'2" tall. Now how many women in 1896 were over 6 feet tall? At this point in the book I just let out a sigh and a groan. I had to finish it since it was the choice for my book club.

Then there was Dr. Kreizler. The man was a caricature. I think Richard Attenborough's portrayal of John Hammond in Jurassic Park would have fit Dr. Kreizler really well at some points. The man would never divulge information. It was a murder investigation and he was working with a team of detectives, a newspaper reporter, and a female employee of the NYPD. You'd think that they would be open with their ideas so that they could find this person that is ravaging New York City. No, he wasn't. Everything was riddles with him up until the end of the book. I found myself wanting the killer to make Dr. Kreizler his next victim.

I can say that I did like some of the non-fiction aspects of the book. The historical parts of Theodore Roosevelt being the police commissioner and just what the city was like was interesting. I also enjoyed the parts of the book where the alienist studies were examined (though it wasn't very detailed). For me, the story is what fell far short of being remotely interesting. The best part of the story was the villain who actually had depth to his character despite only physically being in the book for a very short period of time. I wish there would have been more storyline with the killer's story than there was because it was the only part of the book that I found hard to put down.

I am in the minority as far as my opinion of this book goes. Most people love it. They think it's fantastic so I won't tell anyone not to read it. I think my book club enjoyed it (I actually showed up late because I had not finished the book by the time they met--the only time this has happened to me in 11 meetings). So, instead of saying that people should just let this one fall by the wayside, I think I would recommend that they read the description of the book, some reviews of it, and decide for themselves if they think it's worthwhile to read. I am definitely interested to see what other people have to say about this book.

Too Much Serendipity
The Alienist


This is the second time I have tried to review a book which I have attempted to finish twice.
The premise is fine:Turn-of-the century New York with its teeming slums, corrupt police, crusading police commissioner, and horrid, unspeakable crime. Someone is brutally murdering young boys who dress as girls and sell their bodies to survive life in the tenements. But not long into the book, the narrator, a reporter for the New York Times, is brought into the investigation as a co-investigator, along with an "alienist," which is what psychiatrists were called before they started getting $350 an hour. Teddy Roosevelt is New York's reform-minded Police Commissioner, bespectacled, quick-tempered and feisty. He's intent on ridding the graft -ridden and corrupt department of its dead wood. There is a stereotypical crime boss, razor-wielding henchman, totally predictable Irish cops compete with brogue ("You'll be on your way, youngTommy, or I'll be tanning your hide") and two other police reporters: one, the soon-to-be famous Jacob Riis ("How the Other Half Lives,") and the other, the reformist journalist Lincoln Steffens. How they all happen to meet at the same time and place is the novel's biggest mystery.To give the author some credit, he does faithfully render the turn of the century New York, with its hells kitchen and dens of iniquity. I couldn't stop thinking all it needed was The Who singing"Who, are you" as the credits roll over an episode of "CSI."

great story
This is the book I expected when I read the Italian Secratary. Excellant characters, great setting, historical references and a villian you just had to hate.

Glad I didn't buy hardback
I hate wasting money on things that disappoint me. But in this case at least I didn't waste money on the hardback edition (I bought Kindle edition). Never one to jump on the so-called "New York Times Best Seller" (this is a good example of why) bandwagon, this book is a total loser--and I barely got into it. It's boring. Doesn't move. Too much pontificating (Hmmm? Could Caleb Carr be a politician: A person who talks a lot and says nothing?) I much agree with those who gave it one star. Those that went as high as two stars were being generous. Although I've put it in my Kindle archives, unless I find myself absolutely without anything more interesting to read I seriously doubt it will remain there as a potential read. How is it stuff like this gets published? Kindle should offer this turkey as a freebie...even at that it would be overpriced.

The Real Mystery: How Do You Sell Crap Like This?
I never finished this book. I got as far as where the bad guy was killing cats, which I think is about 400 pages in. Do you know what it's like when you are doing something you don't enjoy and you just go on doing it but FINALLY you ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" And then it hits you that you have no Goddamn reason at all? That is how I felt about reading as much of this book as I did. Well before the cat massacre I knew the book wasn't very good. The prose is at best passable and at worst awful. The characters are so thin that if they walked in sunlight you could see through them. Above all, I had no feeling of entering into the mindset of people living in a different time. The trick of writing a bad mystery is that suckers like me feel we have made an investment when we start reading one. Then we feel that we must read through to the end so that the investment will pay off. Speaking as someone whose ex-broker got him into Lehman Brothers backed securities, I can tell you not all investments pay off, literary or otherwise. This time I cut my losses. ... Read more

Product Description
A courageous leader who became the first American mandarin, Frederick Townsend Ward won crucial victories for the Emperor of China during the Taiping Rebellion, history's bloodiest civil war. Carr's skills as historian and storyteller come to the fore in this thrilling account of the kind of adventurer the world no longer sees. Photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

The Authentic Last Samurai
It seems fitting that one of the most implausible films ever made should be based "loosely" on a book about one of the most implausible real-life figures of history. Frederick Townsend Ward, the Devil Soldier, had nothing to do with the civil war in Japan; neither did any other American officer. But Ward did play a huge role in the defense of the Manchu imperial government against the forces of Chun Wang, the syncretic Sino-Christian rebel, in the Taiping civil war, supposedly the bloodiest conflict of the 19th Century. My five-star rating of this book is contingent upon also reading Jonathan Spence's book about the Taipings, God's Chinese Son. Otherwise you will have less than half the story. Caleb Carr writes very well, but this is not a novel, and as a history it is far too partial.

In his prologue, Carr declares: "No man's life can be truly understood out of context, but in Ward's case the context is especially vital." No kidding, Caleb! In Ward's case, the context is virtually all we have, since nothing of Ward's own letters or thoughts has survived. Thus Carr is writing a biography so much as a social history of a moment in time, that moment when the vast culture of China first "discovered" the West. Carr's short moment of importance was his organization and training of the "Ever Victorious Army" of Chinese soldiers using Western military training and tactics. For better or worse, Ward's model army became the nucleus of the forces that destroyed the Taipings, though the man who replaced Ward as commander after Ward was killed, the scoundrel known as Chinese Gordon, has replaced him in historical memory also.

More novelist than historian, Caleb Carr might fairly be criticized for overdrawing his sources, or for not maintaining sufficient academic reserve. It would be wrong to ignore this book, however, if you have any interest in the history of modern China, in which FT Ward was a meteor in the sky, an omen of things to come.

Slow start but interesting to the end
Slow starting off but if the subjects (China, military history, adventure) interest you it is worth sticking to it. The pace of the writing picks up after a bit and the last 2/3 are enjoyable. I do wish there had been more historical pictures and maps.

The Yankee sailor that saved the Chinese Empire
In 1859 a 28 year-old sailing officer from Salem Massachusetts took service under the Chinese Empire to defend it from mortal danger. When this young man died in battle in 1863 he had put down the largest and bloodiest civil war in human history (the American Civil War raging at the same time pales in comparison), he had been made a general and a mandarin, he had married a Chinese princess, and he was interred in his own temple. Perhaps most impressively was the fact that he did all of this while retaining the reputation among his friends and foes of being a man of decency, fairness, honor and incorruptibility. And yet for all this, he is nearly forgotten in both his native and adopted country.

Frederick Townsend Ward's history was erased largely because he was feared by both his Manchu masters and by the European powers that were seeking to dismember China for their own mercenary ends. The author speculates that due to his contempt for the cruelty and corruption of the Manchu's, that had he survived, he might have turned the instrument of his "Ever Victorious Army" against them in order to restore the Ming Dynasty. Had that happened, the history of China could have far different in the century that followed.It is clear that Ward found the concept of ending the Empire as unthinkable- which is why the later republic never honored his memory.

One other thing struck me while reading this book: Ward wanted to attend West Point but was not able to obtain an appointment because he lacked "connections." In the long run this didn't seem to hurt him too much....

If this story were fiction it would surely be dismissed as too far-fetched to ever be believed.

devil soldier
A very enjoyable tale of a colorful historical character. Carr has a real flair for bringing such a strange time to life, and making it feel familiar. He talks about the Taiping rebellion as if it only happened yesterday, which adds to the sense of reportage and realism. I'm looking forward to the reputed John Woo movie adaptation, although someone should have checked the illustrations before they were finalised. My copy prints Ward's battle-flag upside down -- doubly embarrassing since it is the right way up on the book's cover.

Fascinating story of a rogue mercenary terrorist legend
In this involving and well-written account, Carr strains to elevate the importance of Ward, a historical footnote, a mercenary of questionable repute and eventual Qing dynasty functionary whose prime contribution was the cobbling together of the use of "superior and modern" Western weapons against backwards sword and spear carrying Taiping rebels. And by Carr's own account, Ward was only partially successful. To thank him for his assistance (which ultimately helped maintain both Western imperial domination of China, the opium trade, and the extension of the corrupt and weak Qing empire), in a relationship of dual purpose, the Manchu Qing regime (not the Chinese people)gave him an official title and a Chinese wife. Carr's pro-Western bias is strong, as is his strange love of the Ward myth, which he does his best to overblow. Carr's sourcing is spotty, and in too many places, he speculates---typically in ways that favor Ward. This book, and indeed the Ward story itself, presents a very enlightening model of how violent rogue mercenaries, terrorists, and intelligence cutouts are used to assist governments in "counter-insurgency" wars throughout history, such as the Phoenix Program. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Un thriller psychologique de premier ordre
Croisement entre Le Silence des agneaux, Jack l'Eventreur et Sherlock Holmes, ce premier roman de l'historien Caleb Carr est saisissant. Puisant dans ses talents d'historien, Carr réussit à reconstituer toute l'atmosphère de New York des années 1890. On en arrive presque à entendre le cliquetis des sabots des chevaux qui tiraient les fiacres.

Carr nous attire dans le côté sombre de New York, alors que de jeunes prostitués se font traquer par un tueur en série. Une bande de détectives, constituée d'un journaliste au New York Times (et narrateur de l'histoire), de deux frères détectives de la police de New York, pionniers dans les nouvelles techniques criminologiques, d'une assistante au Préfet de la Police de New York (Theodore Roosevelt), et d'un "aliéniste", professionnel de la santé mentale de l'époque, tentent de coincer le tueur en dressant son profil psychologique, chose qui allait à l'encontre de toutes les pratiques policières de l'époque.

Carr expose les faits, pose son hypothèse, et les valide au moyen d'observations réalisées par l'équipe sur les lieux des crimes. La démarche scientifique en action.

Difficile de mettre le livre de côté pour un seul instant! ... Read more

Product Description

Carr, who earned renown with his historical mysteries, The Alienist (1994) and The Angel of Darkness (1997), apparently intended The Italian Secretary to be a short story; however, he couldn't stop writing. The result is a fleet-footed, atmospherically gothic, and often amusing Holmes tale (with an exposition scene in Watson's bed chamber that’s truly priceless), but one that makes scant attempt to enhance our understanding of Conan Doyle's characters--a less ambitious undertaking, in that respect, than Mitch Cullin's concurrently published A Slight Trick of the Mind. And while Carr displays a gift here for adopting another author's literary techniques, it is really his own style and series players that his fans are waiting to see more of in the future. --J. Kingston Pierce ... Read more

Customer Reviews (93)

SIMON PREBBLE READS AUDIO EDITION
With so many reviews I was moved to write briefly only because I found none in the first couple of dozen that spoke to the audio edition of the book despite appearing under that title in the Amazon listing. I have no measurable rejection of the general view that yet another good writer has gone astray seeking to recreate characters of a Master writing in a period so very different from our own with all the trained sensibilities of a very different world and very different sense of the realities of the times. As a story it would seem to be as unsatisfactory to a contemporary Baker Street Irregular (which included so many distinguished literary, academic and literary personages)as it is to those unfamiliar with the sacred canon. It is not a bad book; it is simply a Sherlockian short story that got out of hand and led its author to expend much uncertain verbiage on events of indistinct character.
However, I did not read the book so my impressions in detail are inevitably different from a reader. I listened to a fine reading, acting, that is, by Simon Prebble which made most of the book satisfactory, if not good. Mr. Prebble, of course, could do little to salvage the lame denouement, except to echo Watson's bewilderment.
In sum, if one is a Caleb Carr fan and want to try the book out, or if one is a devoted follower of the True Holmes and Watson, but have been deterred from trying it because of the reviews, you might give the audio edition a try........if you can get it at a bargain price. At this time (June 2010) the price of the CD edition, with shipping, is well under ten dollars.
Just a word on Watson. While Holmes has been increasingly maligned as ( I imagine) the work has come out of copyright protection (the Estate was careful in licensing use of the stories and name), including a series in which the Doddering Old Fool, is now married to a whiz bang Modern Woman, Watson simply remains unappreciated as he always had been in post-Doyle imitations in all media. The only exception of which I am aware was the fine British series, terminated by the death of the actor doing Holmes, in which he was played as the solid physician-soldier he was, amanuensis to a Great Man but the kind of strong, intelligent, brave man, who was needed to play that role. On this point, Watson fares better herethan did poor Nigel Bruce's version, forced on him by his studio, in the Basil Rathbone version in films. He fares better but not nearly as well as in the BBC version to which I just alluded. Prebble captures well the shaky hold Carr has on this vital character.

Less than expected
I was an avid fan of Carr's Alienist and Angel of Darkness.This novel pales in comparison.Rather than equaling the efforts of Doyle, it leads the reader to an anticlimactic conclusion.I would like to see Carr return to the venue of the aforementioned works.

Things I Remember After Reading this Book 4+ Years Ago
I bought this book in hardcover when it first came out in 2005. I am writing this review in Nov. 2009. "Italian Secretary" was a fast paced novel and I found myself taking it everywhere with me and reading it during lunch and other breaks in my time.My first exposure to Caleb Carr's writing was "Lessons in Terror."This was the second Carr offering that I read.Since then I have gone back and read "The Alienist" and I am currently reading "Angel of Darkness."As a long-time fan of Sherlock Holmes, I found myself sitting on the train to Scotland, roaming the halls of the Scottish castle and trying to figure out what kind of ancient military equipment could completely destroy a man's body, and what kind of man was allowed to sit and speak with the Queen of England, while everyone else was required to stand in her presence...all this and more after more than 4+ years since I turned the first page of this book.It's definately worth the read.Enjoy.

wondeful reading
Very, very enjoyable.

"The Alienist" is just a tad bit better, but this book is wonderful.

I hope Caleb Carr does another in this NYC-based (circa 1896-97 or so) series.

Sherlock Fans Not Fooled
I had concluded that attempts to continue a popular series of stories by a deceased author never succeed.However, when I ran across The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr, and the jacket boasted that this Sherlock Holmes novel was "commissioned by the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle," I had great hopes.History is replete with convincing forgeries in art, archeology, exploration, and other fields.Why should it not be possible for someone to write a credible Sherlock Holmes adventure?

I began the book optimistically, but my high hopes were soon shattered.I must iterate that a book purporting to be a further adventure of Nero Wolfe, Sherlock Holmes, or James Bond must be judged to a different standard than a normal novel.If Carr were writing about Detective Jones and Dr. Smith, we would ask simply:Is the plot good?Are the characters and setting believable?Is the grammar and syntax sufficient?But since Carr is attempting to counterfeit a Sherlock Holmes story in the manner of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, we must judge the book on how well he succeeds.Unfortunately, he does not.

In certain sections of prose Carr does capture Doyle's rather ponderous syntax, and I admire his use of various Victorian terms, such as packing a Gladstone (p. 39).However, in the main, the book will not come close to fooling, let alone satisfying, an avid lover of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. There is an atmosphere of modernity about the book in the quips of the characters and the narrative in general, which distinguishes it from authentic Victorian novels.

One failing of the counterfeit authors is that they invariably wish to "go one better" than the original artist.We might be shocked to read an imitation Rex Stout novel and find Nero Wolfe going up in a hot air balloon--something that would never happen in the writings of the original author.Just so, we find Carr's Sherlock Holmes commissioned by Her Majesty, Queen Victoria herself.Doyle would never, ever take the liberty of involving his monarch in a plot, except by implication.The plot itself is far-fetched and something that Conan Doyle would never have conceived--I will not reiterate it, since several others have outlined it.

Caleb Carr should have engaged a good proofreader to winnow out grammatical errors.You will never find a split infinitive in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writings.Carr splits them with great abandon.I soon gave up listing them, but a few are:p. 47 "to definitely extinguish;" p. 51 "to so dismiss;" p. 56 "to finally eradicate."You can find tons more if you read the book.

Carr makes other grammatical errors and, if not errors, usages that are un-Doyle-like.On page 45 he says "myself," when he should have used "me."On page 45 Carr uses the contraction "we'd," which I do not believe I have ever seen in Doyle's writings.Carr uses the term "shape-shifter," (p. 51) an expression that was not invented until the late twentieth century.On page 65, he says "who," when Doyle would have used the correct objective pronoun "whom."Such errors continue throughout the book.

Possibly the most jarring misuse of all is to describe Mary, Queen of Scots, as "pregnant."In fact, Carr uses the word more than once in his novel.In Victorian times the word "pregnant" was strictly taboo and would have been extremely offensive to the eyes or ears of virtually any person in that era.In fact, even in the mid-twentieth century the word was still taboo.In my youth in middle America of the 1950's no one would have uttered the word "pregnant."It was always euphemisms such as:"She's expecting" or "She's in a family way."I doubt that even such bold expressions as these would ever have been used by Conan Doyle in his writings.

Most of these criticisms I have mentioned might not ruin a novel about Caleb Carr's own characters.However, as I stated before, here we must judge him on how well he fools us into believing that we just might be reading a genuine rediscovered Conan Doyle novel written in late Victorian England.His brave attempt does not succeed in this ambitious undertaking.
... Read more

Product Description
Military historian Caleb Carr’s groundbreaking work anticipated America’s current debates on preemptive military action against terrorist sponsor states, reorganization of the American intelligence system, and the treatment of terrorists as soldiers in supranational armies rather than as criminals. Carr’s authoritative exploration demonstrates that the practice of terrorism, employed by national armies as well as extremists since the days of ancient Rome, is ultimately self-defeating. Far from prompting submission, it stiffens enemy resolve and never leads to long-lasting success.

Controversial on its initial publication in 2002, The Lessons of Terror has been repeatedly validated by subsequent events. Carr’s analysis of individual terrorist acts, and particularly of the history of the Middle East conflict, is fundamental to a deep understanding of the roots of terrorism as well as the steps and reforms that must be taken if the continuing threat of terrorist behavior is to be met effectively today and, finally, eradicated tomorrow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

A quick modern look at the lunacy and hypocrisy of war
By chance I read this book late 2003 early 2004. Although the author is not a "trained" political scientist or military strangest is he provides a very good thesis and backs it up with very good information and statistics. True it is a quick and easy read (nothing wrong with that) but it is important because of some of the conclusions offered in it. The ones I most remember being and have been proven true and now echoed again in this "war on terror" are: Aerial bombings DO NOT WORK, the actually only strengthen the people resolve of the target populace (i.e. England, N. Vietnam) as well as creating enemies where you would have had friends and also, the CIA has been a largely useless and ineffective corporation (ill give them the secret operations that resulted in a few prevented bombings and murders but they seem to keep missing the big ticket items such as China getting involved in N. Korea or messing up perfectly fine countries like Indonesia, Guatemala, Iran) , and that when nations terrorize a foreign populace it is called "diplomacy by other means" and that the U.S. is doom to fail if it continues operations the way it does. Granted there are ORGANIZATIONS and INDIVIDUALS out there who need to be dealt with, but this is where HUMINT comes into play and not conventional armed forces. But from where I stand no nation has declared war on the U.S. or is practicing real destabilizing of it.

The real danger in this world is the people running it, afraid of their own shadows and the people in the dark who refuse to conform, but I digress.Ultimately the heart of this book is plea for political and military competence, integrity, and humanity. All in all this is a good book to own if you're interested in international affairs and the military industrial complex, which is the tail that wags the dog. As soon as we can remove the need and desire to fight all the time the sooner we can have peace. Although it has been a few years since I read it, I plan on buying a copy for keep, especially at the nice price of less than a dollar. In fact, I'll go as far to say there are very few nonfiction books that can be found so cheaply but yet worth its weight in gold, this is one.

A Timely Look at the History and Failure of Terror Tactics
Caleb Carr's The Lessons of Terror, when published in 2002, was a timely look at the history of terror tactics in warfare and the ultimate failure that these tactics bring to the perpetrator.

Starting with ancient Rome and moving forward, Carr cites example after example of the use of terror against an enemies civilian population, and points out the failings of each effort. At times, Carr seems to stray in his definition of terror tactics to include such things as trade embargoes; though I can see the author's point on these examples, I don't necessarily agree with them.

In the end, Carr's point is that the terror attacks of 9/11 will ultimately fail; history has since proved his point in the Irag war as the factions that have terrorized the civilian population to get at the US military effort have seen the tables turned on them and the civilians are fighting back.

But, beyond the historical lesson on the failures of terrorism, this book can be taken as a lesson as to how not to act during warfare. It could also be learned from reading this book that the US actions in places like Abu Ghraib would ultimately backfire as well, a lesson that we must learn from our own mistakes.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Not worth the paper on which it is written

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the paper on which it is printed, March 29, 2008
By J. J. Surbeck (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I was a first excited to have stumbled on this book since there are so few good ones on terror and terrorism. Then as I read Carr's early chapters, I was astonished to see that he hadn't bothered to add one single footnote to make his case. In fact, as seductive as his original thesis is, and which I agree with, i.e. that terrorism always comes at a huge political cost, his book appeared more and more to be a long rant rather than a serious work resulting from in-depth research. It feels as if he wrote it in just a few hours of moderate work, or maybe he just talked for an hour and dictated it to his secretary. Because he obviously did no research, his many analyses of battles and conflicts in history are not only partial in their choice but quite questionable in proving his point. This has "sloppy" written all over it.

All in all, this book is not worth the paper it is written on. It is an enormous disappointment. Clearly, the market agrees with my assessment: at last count, 67 copies of the hardcover version are on sale here for 1 cent each. I wouldn't even spend that. I had added it to a list of references on terrorism, but I have since removed it. For good.

Terrors Quantified
Carr's book is, first of all, good. He brings that new and overdue sensiblity which refuses to accept the classifications of previous regimes and establishments. At least this is his attempt. Some of the insights he shows, such as the idea that Total War is not a morally reprehensible product to non-Europeans, helps to shift the perspective of the discussion. But his basically middle of the road argument that Total War is inefficient and therefore never advisable is based on a hopeful assumption: that reasonable men will wage war in a reasonable way if shown the numbers. Of course this is false. The war we are presently engaged in is not a reasonable war. It is a war of fear against a culture different from ours, a shadowy enemy that scares us back to childhood remedies of sandbox fighting and therefore, unfortunately, brings Total War out of our Total Fear.

One-sided and over simplistic
When Carr wrote this book he obviously had a predetermined conclusion that he wanted to convey.Though I personally agree that deliberate targeting of civilians is counterproductive to any political / military endeavor, Carr presents a lengthy list of historical evidence that is taken out of context and without an understanding of how militaries fight wars.

In his book he describes Roman brutality in its dealings with invaded countries and asserts that this brutality was the eventual cause of unrest that led to the fall of the Roman Empire.I'm not sure if he could have generalized this more than he did.He failed to look at the overall success of an Empire that lasted nearly 5 centuries.Also, history has shown that part of Rome's success was due to how it integrated conquered countries into its society and allowed those people to eventually become citizens of Rome.

Carr goes on to show the terrorist tactics used by both sides of the U.S. civil war, and he focuses on Sherman's march to the sea and then to Washington.I will agree that both sides had incidents in which civilians were targeted, but it is over simplistic to say that Sherman's tactics were purely terroristic and were eventually counterproductive.Carr and many other people point at the burning of Atlanta as a major example of targeting civilians, but they fail to remember that Atlanta was the largest supply distribution point for Confederate Army and that Sherman gave the civilian population ample warning to leave the city.Any true student of military history will agree that Sherman's destruction of the Confederacy logistics support structure was critical to expediting an end to the war, which consequently falls in line with Carr's belief in decisive warfare as the preferred tactic.

Carr's final chapter draws scrutiny of U.S. strategic bombing, in the form of cruise missiles, as sites them as a terrorist weapons.His argument is based on his assertion that because military leaders are aware that civilian casualties will occur this makes it a deliberate attack on civilians and not collateral damage.His absolutist attitude does not take into consideration that the military target may be worth the cost in civilian lives.Prior to 9/11, President Clinton had the opportunity to kill Osama Bin Laden with a cruise missile, but in accordance with Carr's way of thinking about terrorist acts, he aborted the mission at the last minute because civilian family members were present in the camp.In retrospect that decision to not target a few civilians has cost tens of thousands of civilian lives in the both the U.S. and Middle-East.

Finally, Carr asserts that limited, preemptive ground warfare is the best method to avoid long wars of attrition and civilian casualties.I wonder what his opinion is now after three years in Iraq.I don't think many people really saw that coming.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

To Dream the Impossible Dream
Caleb Carr (a historian whose penetrating insight I have always admired) and James Chace deliver a fascinating analysis of the developmentAmerican foreign policy, and offer a compelling explanation for the abandonment of the principles expounded in Washington's Farewell Address.

They postulate that events in the oft-forgotten War of 1812 with Great Britain, a mere 16 years after Washington's retirement, so wounded the psyche of infant republic that it caused a shift from the "great rule of conduct...when we will take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected" to what in modern times we call "Projection of Force."

The traumatic event? When a contingent of Royal Marines landed, razed Washington DC, sent the President and other officers scurrying off into the night, while the US military ... did nothing in particular. This, needless to say, freaked the country out. Carr and Chace see this as a "Tipping Point," and in scholarly fashion go on to chronicle the history of the United States through its conflicts with Mexico and Spain in the 19th century.

It, of course, doesn't stop there. They show how we continued throughout the 20th century to, against the warnings of Washington, "forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation [and] quit our own to stand upon foreign ground." How we "by interweaving our destiny [and] entangl[ing] our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, [and] caprice" find ourselves -- well, where we are today -- chasing windmills in the quest for absolute security.

It is amazing how two Georges can be so different. Read it.


... Read more

Product Description
In a future world, what you know can kill you...

The year is 2023 and New York psychiatrist and criminal profiler Dr. Gideon Wolfe becomes ensnared in a web of deception as he investigates a murder with the help of his friend Max, an expert in all forms of information manipulation. When Max, too, is murdered, a stunned and enraged Wolfe sets out to uncover who is behind the killings. His search leads him to a secret band of techno-terrorists who demonstrates the astonishing degree to which the public can be manipulated. Wolfe joins the team, but soon begins to wonder how good their intentions truly are.Amazon.com Review
It's 2023, and the Web has almost destroyed the world. While cyberspace's early pioneers promoted the Net as a revolution in human communication, America has instead become a society of desk-bound introverts who believe everything they read. The federal government has been "bought" by a Microsoft-style corporation. Any semblance of central authority has vanished. As the Net infiltrates India and Pakistan, fevered nationalists and terrorists find one more medium through which to spread the word.

With Killing Time, Caleb Carr (The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness) manages to create a future that's both frightening and nostalgic. The novel's narrator, Dr. Gideon Wolfe, longs for a world before technology swallowed people's minds and imaginations. Through a series of complex misadventures, beginning with the murder of his best friend, Gideon finds himself joining a ragtag army of scientists and inventors who hope to take it back. Heading up this '60s-style revolutionary cell is a brother-sister team--genetically engineered geniuses with silver hair and shining eyes. Aboard their ultramodern ship, Gideon learns the extent of the damage done. When they dive below the surface of the Atlantic, he looks out the window and sees

not an idyllic scene of aquatic wonder such as childhood stories might have led me to expect but rather a horrifying expanse of brown water filled with human and animal waste, all of it endlessly roiled but never cleansed by the steady pulse of the offshore currents.

Customer Reviews (246)

An Updated 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
I listened to the audio book of this novel read by the author.I had previously listened to the Alienist which really didn't hit the mark with me either.This one, however, was really wide of the target.

The concept of the novel is interesting but it seems like a wasted opportunity.I didn't feel a connection the main character at all.In fact, I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters.None of them seemed real nor, in the course of the novel, particularly developed.For me, this was the fatal flaw in the book because the story could have worked with a little tweaking.

The story is basically a rehash of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with a privileged outsider making a high tech vehicle and attacking technology.The main character Gideon (is there a heavy-handed biblical reference here?) is the observer (think Kirk Douglas) who taken aboard the vessel to witness events (and to write this book, because as we're told at the end this novel is really his manuscript) and sleep with the captain's sister.I can't really figure out any other reason why he was taken on board as he never really had any input into the crew and captain's decisions.(He's a psychiatrist and he's supposed to play the Deanna Troy role -from Star Trek TNG - but I don't recall him ever giving any advice or counseling.)In any event, the Captain Nemo character kind of runs amuck and causes all sorts of grief in the world -- the kind of grief he was trying to prevent.Lots of guilt here.Gideon quits and goes to live in tribal Africa.(This part is compressed into comparatively very few pages.) Finally Nemo invents time travel and saves the world.Don't worry, you knew he would; it was very much foreshadowed.

I like science fiction.The story's concept had a lot or promise but it failed in its execution and I can't tell you why.Lack of character development and empathy certainly played a big role.Maybe Carr had so much stroke after the Alienist that he didn't have an editor.I really cannot account for why the story and characters left me so flat.

And through out it all I kept finding my self by being annoyed by the narrator's mind reading of the other characters.He had this annoying ability to tell the reader what any of the other characters was thinking at any given time.I kept thinking to myself that you might think you know what they're thinking or you might guess at their motivation, but you don't really know and for the author to present it as fact was really irritating.And the other annoying habit that I think an editor would have picked up on was Carr's use of the superlative.For no reason we'd be told things like the "sky was the bluest blue" or "he was the happiest he'd ever been" or something similar.Never just "blue" or "happy" but it was blue or happy to the furthest possible degree.I just started cringing after a while.Things are not always the most or greatest and repetitive and unnecessary use of the superlative really got old.

All in all, its a pass thought it might be a jumping off point for someone else to develop further.

Could dung beetles find redemption in this?
I loved his first two books and had hope for this one; the premise was intriguing.

But this book is really more Dan Brown than Dan Brown, melded with an incomprehensible plot seemingly ripped from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea melded with a collapsing modern society.

I particularly enjoyed how a man is able to buy plutonium from a jungle warlord and somehow cast and machine that -- in the air -- while trying to evade several air forces.

But the best incongruity comes when a civilian parachutes out, gets a broken leg, and ultimately blasts away veteran guerrillas surrounding him with a stun gun. Two pages later, because it fit the author's needs, we find out that he actually shot them not with the stun gun but fatally, and with his portable rail gun, which is made from no metallic parts, but another set of guerrillas who were watching him didn't realize what happened.

Great Start, Slow finish.
Much has been written about the content of this book here at amazon.I agree with some in that it started strong and finished slowly.There is a great story there, some of which Carr uncovered at the beginning of the novel.What I want to showcase is the interesting correlation to events in the book and what is happening today.Technology development and its consequences, Afghan conflict, financial collapse in 2007, staph outbreak of 2006, etc. really made an interesting bulb go off in my head since it was penned sometime in the late 1990s.Interesting to see the links from his story to our present situation.

There are far better ways to kill time
I read this book because I enjoyed The Alienist and its sequel. Besides belonging to a different genre than his earlier work it is also much less of a page turner. The title of this book aptly describes my experience of reading it.

Disjointed
This is a book with many good points, but they become so mired in confusion, and at times tedium, that they are largely lost. There is a kernel of an excellent book here as Carr has a point he wants to make, but it becomes lost in several threads of plot. With a better bit of editing this might have been an excellent book, but as it is it is probably better left on the shelf for one of Carr's earlier works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

self-criticism
I am the author of this book. It has a few good scenes, but is essentially "roman a clef" nonsense that every writer has to get out of his system early on. Do yourself a favor and read ANYTHING else I've written(you'll be doing me a favor, too). Forgive the follies of youth.

What?!?!?!?!
After reading The Alienist, I thought "Why not see what else this guy's written?"Should've known better.All I can say is thank God he waited 14 years to write another book!!!(Must've been taking classes....) Couldn't really make it past the first chapter.The charcters were, well, thinly veiled real people.He should have just called the "hero" Caleb... Sorry, Caleb, loved everything else, even the history books, but this is simply unforgivable! ... Read more

Product Description
In The Lessons of Terror, novelist and military historian Caleb Carr examines terrorism throughout history and the roots of our present crisis and reaches a provocative set of conclusions: the practice of targeting enemy civilians is as old as warfare itself; it has always failed as a military and political tactic; and despite the dramatic increases in its scope and range of weapons, it will continue to fail in the future.

International terrorism—the victimization of unarmed civilians in an attempt to affect their support for the government that leads them—is a phrase with which Americans have become all too familiar recently. Yet while at first glance terrorism seems a relatively modern phenomenon, Carr illustrates that it has been a constant of military history. In ancient times, warring armies raped and slaughtered civilians and gratuitously destroyed property, homes, and cities; in the Middle Ages, evangelical Muslims and Christian crusaders spread their faiths by the sword; and in the early modern era, such celebrated kings as Louis XIV revealed a taste for victimizing noncombatants for political purposes.

It was during the Civil War that Americans themselves first engaged in “total war,” the most egregious of the many euphemisms for the tactics of terror. Under the leadership of such generals as Stonewall Jackson, the forces of the South tried to systematize this horrifying practice; but it fell to a Union general, William Tecumseh Sherman, to achieve that dubious goal. Carr recounts Sherman’s declaration of war on every man, woman, and child in the South—a policy that he himself knew was badly flawed, had nothing to do with his military successes (indeed, it hampered them), and brought long-term unrest to the American South by giving birth to the Ku Klux Klan.

Carr’s exploration of terror reveals its consistently self-defeating nature. Far from prompting submission, Carr argues, terrorism stiffens enemy resolve: for this reason above all, terrorism has never achieved—nor will it ever achieve—long-term success, however physically destructive and psychologically debilitating it may become. With commanding authority and the storyteller’s gift for which he is renowned, Caleb Carr provides a critical historical context for understanding terrorist acts today, arguing that terrorism will be eradicated only when it is perceived as a tactic that brings nothing save defeat to its agents. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

A book all people everywhere should read
A book everyone should read.In our lifetime, terrorism has become a very important influence on our society.It has been going on for much longer than that.But now with our democracy, and the ever-present media, everyone has an opinion and a vote.Ignorance causes hate and fear to rule, but if we understand things better, we can deal with them better.Duh.

Beyond Hatred and Revenge
The first note is to the colonel writing in October 2008: Yes Sherman succeeded but mainly because he limited both military and civilian casualties by waging a strategic war on Southern property/capital including rail lines. However the very limited success of the North was due to the graciousness with which former enemies were treated. The caveat here is that the freed slaves were not better off except in the technical sense that there were now no laws to keep them as property, but the KKK and separate-but-equal and the general neglect of Whites has kept them in a similar servitude. One President,like several powerful European queens over the centuries, does not mean that either blacks or women are generally treated as of "equivalent" worth or value.
I believe,like the author of this book, that terror at whatever scale,including mass slaughter,only creates fear and loathing.

[Second note]: An exception to a rule in science disproves the rule, but fallen humans "have their ways" to undermine most anything worthy of human nature, including logic. With that in mind we note that in thehorribly bloody Philippine and imperial-U.S. terrorist contest around 1900,the Filipino nationalists were ultimately defeated after over 100 thousand to 1 million natives had died out of a population of 7.5 million,while only 4,000 of the U.S. forces died[In the US Civil War 600,000 died out of a population of 30 million]. This contest of terrorists was won by the greater[global-imperial]terrorist,I believe,because the Filipinos,isolated on their islands,had no access to modern weapons,most only having spears and the like. On a smaller and more recent scale, Granada was likewise even more easily surrounded and subdued.

Most terror-wars are,however,not fought between continental-sized opponents and easily isolated islanders. True, Caesar did conquer Gaul["France"],and later the Briton Celts were overcome, but the Picts["Scots"]beyond defied Roman power. And, much more important than these Pictish islanders were the continental Germanic tribes in the forests beyond Gaul and,later,the Hunnish hordes. The great Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius spent his days fighting on the Danube frontier,forced to neglect the great religious and economic troubles within the empire proper.

Yes the Nazis and Japanese were totally defeated,but whether terror against them was a factor or not is highly debatable. What is less debatable is that even fanatical nationalisms,when out size-scaled, are defeatable with a little military competence. And Nazism's/Hitler's own rules allowed them to concede and surrender. The Japanese islanders--their navy sunk,air force ineffective,and running out of food,etc.also,I believe,knew that they were out of every option except surrender.

However,people motivated by an ideology attractive on a continental scale or beyond are not likely to give up in any contest, terrorist or otherwise. Thus the fierce resistance of the Soviets,bolstered by a revived Russian nationalism and even a briefly reinstated Orthodox church,was the main reason behind the Nazis defeat. Likewise Chinese and Vietnamese communism[plus nationalism]proved their worth in battling the Japanese and American terror-invaders. Never mind that Soviet war-related deaths[26 million!] were over five times German deaths. Never mind that for every American warrior killed in Vietnam 50 or so Vietnamese died. There are many other examples which could be given,such as the Soviet-Afghan War, which rather leads me to my last comment.

The general ineffectiveness of terror-war,if true,should apply to Al Qaeda too. Right? Caleb Carr in "The Lessons of Terror" makes it clear, however, that this is war,not just terror, but terror-war. In war,at least,all things are "fair"--no holds are barred, right? It would [therefore] be very naive to imagine that Islamic fanatics such as Osama are just terrorist-criminals rather than highly skilled warriors, including "Field Marshal" Osama. As Carr quotes an Egyptian expert on page 228:"[Islamic]Fundamentalism is ... as globalized as the Sixth Fleet". Rallying/enlisting troops to take on the enemy on the ground of your choosing:The Middle East--is, I believe,what Osama,et al have accomplished. Billions of dollars of fancy weaponry and even millions of invading Americans cannot even hope to draw a stalemate in the heart of an Islamic Caliphate in the making. Good-bye oil patch, hello global warming's alternate energies["It's an ill wind that blows no good!"].
Americans can, however, avoid bringing it on to the USA by way of Black Islamic fanaticism;that,at least,is avoidable:With care or thoughtfulness which also happens to be the only smart way of proceeding. Be friendly, not angry and out of control with stupid dreams of revenge.

Give it up, nation! Go beyond hatred and revenge. Try to do the least evil. I'm not saying that wars are always a greater evil, but terror wars are clearly at least imperially useless in the bulk of the world today. Conquering Granadas [or Kabuls] while whole continents slide under an encroaching sea of troubles is not for us,I hope. And the idea offlag-respecting or even flag-worshiping Delta Force warriors even finding one sacrificial martyr-bomber has,by now,been for years painfully obviousto even the most mad and hateful revenge seeker in the top 1000 positions of military or peace-making imperial leaders.

Nation,back to the basics of healing,for Christ's sake: Love the sinner, but hate the sin--no easy ideal. Do the least evil in order that a greater evil does not make us all even sicker. Remember?-The love of law is inferior to the law of Love. Even the love of truth so honored by science should not overwhelm the more basic truth of Love.

Brilliant, but not entirely honest
Terrorism and guerilla wars have existed for a long time.The current round of Islamic terrorism is only novel in some ways.Mostly in its mediatization and global reach - previously there was no world media with which to parade atrocities by both sides.

Meanwhile, our own military have largely abandoned killing civilians as a goal.That's something we all trumpet even as we lament the ruthlessness of our enemies.But we generally fail to understand how things might look "from the other side".Beyond botched Afghanistan air strikes that mistakenly kill civilians, Western history is full of deliberate civilian attacks.

If we want to win over public opinion in countries that dislike us, we would be well served to understand ourselves.We simply fail to remember that our armies have, until about 30 years ago, often deliberately targeted civilians of enemy nations.Perhaps not using disguised combatants, but lethally nevertheless.

Mr. Carr's book rushes us through a brilliant narrative of the last 2000 years of war, starting with the Romans.Each time recounting the damages done both to the civilians and to the aims of the perpetrators.He dissects the evolution of war, limited and total, in Western and Islamic society and spares neither side.

Despite its much needed reminder of the fragility of Western claims to morality, this book has glaring flaws though.

Mr. Carr, having settled on his thesis that war against civilians _never_ works, tries to fit every single example into his mode of thinking.And he is not above cherry-picking the facts.

For example, he criticizes allied air bombings in WW2.According to him it - a) hardened German opinion against the allies and b) achieved little as German production increased under the bombings.

As repugnant as Dresden was, this needs a more honest analysis.Ordinary Germans didn't have much to say for or against the Fuhrer. This was not a democratic country at the time and restraint would not have toppled Hitler, as Carr almost implies.War production went up because Germany rationalized industrial efforts and gradually went on a full war economy.The bombings didn't stop German production, but it would have likely risen more without them.

Finally, in 42 and 43 the Allies could simply not invade Western Europe.Yet, Russia desperately needed relief.Every German fighter plane defending Germany was not in Russia helping in the ground war and the Allies could afford their air losses, to an extent.German civilian suffering was a goal, rather than just collateral damage.

In short, Mr. Carr fails to distinguish the type of wars he is talking about.First, total wars for survival between industrial nations with stable governments and somewhat willing populations. Second, guerilla wars where there is no opposing government, no established army and the population is a _potential_, rather than established, asset of the enemy.

His thesis applies fully to guerilla/insurgent wars.But it is more difficult to apply, purely in terms of military effectiveness, to the context of total war between nation states.

In moral terms though, he is right throughout.

Another shortcoming is his advocacy of military solutions above law enforcement and police action.Al-Quaeda and its affiliates are simply not as dependent on nation-state sponsorship as he would have us believe and nation-to-nation deterrence therefore has its limits.

BTW, I don't mean this review to criticize our armed forces, or our veterans.Right now the popular consensus, both from civilians and the military, is that civilian casualties should be avoided.That simply wasn't the case 30-50 years ago and that is what this book so usefully reminds us of.

Great History, Horrible analysis
If you are looking for nice, concise walk through military history, this is a pretty good book.However, in my humble opinion, Mr. Carr completely misses the causes for the effects that comprise the thesis and very purpose for this work.

To qualify my remarks, I am a U.S. Army Colonel of Special Forces, and am fairly regarded as an unconventional thinker within an unconventional community.That said however, this is a topic that is very near to me, and one that I have put considerable practice and study against.

One of Clausewitz's primary points was that warfare is a continuation of politics; and politics is of course a summation of populaces and how they are governed.To wage effective warfare one must not only have a clear grasp of the political objectives one hopes to accomplish, but also the environment in which that warfare will be waged.The short period of limited warfare that existed in Europe during a very unique period of governance (post-Westphalia, but pre-American and French Revolutions) was very much a place where Kings did well to constrain warfare, as success was really a matter of achieving an economic advantage over a competitor, and thereby acquiring some asset that they possessed and you desired.Very business like. The populaces were irrelevant to these transactions and one could win by simply destroying or capturing armies or navies.

With the rise of popular power came the requirement to not simply defeat another's military, but to actually defeat the will of their populace, in order to achieve enduring results.Wars that simply focused on killing soldiers and sinking ships produced no such enduring result.Then along came General U.S. Grant, who upon taking command of the American military in the Civil War recognized that the Confederate Center of Gravity was neither Lee's Army, nor Richmond, but was instead the will of the populace of the South. With this in mind he directed Sherman's (Sorry Sherman haters, he was Grant's most trusted Lieutenant, and was doing exactly what the boss told him to do)campaign (and a similar one in the Shenandoah ultimately waged by Sheridan) as his main efforts to that effect, while he supervised Meade's continued pursuit of Lee and capture of Richmond as a supporting effort.This novel strategy not only won the war, but ensured the peace.There was no follow-on insurgency, nor was there a follow-on war a generation later.It was over.

The Europeans ignored this lesson in WWI and slaughtered a generation for naught, shifting to a strategy aimed at populaces in WWII that put hundreds of years of European conflicts finally to an end.The Marshall plan was not an anomally to this, but a companion, for the populace is just as important in peace as it is in war, and must be targeted equally hard in both, just with different ways and means for different ends.

Carr applies an opinion and forces it to fit every situation, but he simply doesn't know what he is talking about.The facts are straight, but the understanding of those facts is fatally flawed.I would caution anyone reading this book to take the conclusions with an open mind, and to do additional reading to sort this out for themselves.

A Timely Look at the History and Failure of Terror Tactics
Caleb Carr's The Lessons of Terror, when published in 2002, was a timely look at the history of terror tactics in warfare and the ultimate failure that these tactics bring to the perpetrator.

Starting with ancient Rome and moving forward, Carr cites example after example of the use of terror against an enemies civilian population, and points out the failings of each effort. At times, Carr seems to stray in his definition of terror tactics to include such things as trade embargoes; though I can see the author's point on these examples, I don't necessarily agree with them.

In the end, Carr's point is that the terror attacks of 9/11 will ultimately fail; history has since proved his point in the Irag war as the factions that have terrorized the civilian population to get at the US military effort have seen the tables turned on them and the civilians are fighting back.

But, beyond the historical lesson on the failures of terrorism, this book can be taken as a lesson as to how not to act during warfare. It could also be learned from reading this book that the US actions in places like Abu Ghraib would ultimately backfire as well, a lesson that we must learn from our own mistakes.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way. ... Read more

Product Description
Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian's exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.

Blurb in Spanish:

Nueva York, 1896. John Schuyler Moore, reportero de sucesos de The New York Times, recibe una convocatoria en plena madrugada. Su antiguo compañero de Harvard, el famoso psicólogo (o alienista) Laszlo Kreizler, le pide que se presente en el puente de Williamsburg, donde se ha producido un crimen horrible. El director de la policía encargará a Kreizler y al propio Moore que dirijan la investigación: una jugada muy atrevida, pues un alienista es considerado poco menos que un hechizero. El problema para ambos investigadores, es que no saben nada del criminal. Para llegar a él tendrán que trazar un perfil psicológico basándose en su capacidad de penetración mental... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Confusion of language
While there was confusion in the actual order, it was received in a timely manner. The confusion came when we received the book and it was in German and not English and there was no indication at the time that this book was in German. Seller did everything to satisfy us and make us happy and we give them an A+++. Should we ever have an opportunity to purchase from seller again, we would as they are an excellent source of reading material. ... Read more

Product Description
In the wake of the attacks on New York and Washington many people believe we have entered a new world, but in this thought-provoking and thorough examination of the history of terrorism we can take comfort from the fact that we have been in this new world before - and survived. By drawing on the examples of history from the ancient, mediaeval and early modern worlds, Caleb Carr demonstrates how attempts to control civilian populations with the use of terror grew into a persistent problem in human history. Moving forward into more recent times he then demonstrates how and why such tactics have consistently failed their perpetrators - from the British scorched earth policy during the American War of Independence to terror at sea during WWI to the Japanese rape of China in WWII to the war in Vietnam and, ultimately, to the actions of Islamic extremists today. An important and timely book which throws much needed light on many of the questions being posed today. ... Read more