Product Description
I. Howard Marshall's study of 1 Peter is part of the IVP New Testament commentary series, a series combining pastoral concerns with attention to tough exegetical issues and emphasizing the significance of the biblical text for today's church. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Valuable comentary
This is an excellent commentary for a quick study of I Peter.It is short, some 200 pages, yet provides reasonable depth and insightinto what Peter was saying to the audience of his time.Marshall then provides his view on how Peter's message can apply to us today.The extensive footnotes provide more depth for those seeking more meat.

Solid but Disappointed at Times!
I enjoy the writings of Dr. Marshall. He is oftentime solid. But I am a bit disappointed at times with this commentary. I am aware that it is a limited commentary and it has a particular scope, however, he could have been more concrete on some matters.

For example, I find him too tentative at 1 Peter 5:1-4. A good one but not the best.

From the cover:
From the back of the book:
In this invigorating volume from one of today's leading evangelical scholars, readers will find an introduction that discusses the letter's form, authorship, destination, and primary theological themes, followed by a passage-by-passage commentary that always seeks to answer the question of what the text means for today and what it meant for its original hearers. ... Read more

Product Description

On War is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work's first appearance in 1832, it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated generations of soldiers, statesmen, and intellectuals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The Bible of Politics, War and Diplomacy
A superb publication.A must read, even at nearly 1,000 densely packed pages.This book is more than just about "war" and fighting; it's also a fair and accurate description about international relations.

This book is an outstanding piece of work.If you're not an avid reader of political and/or military history, and consider yourself just a "casual observer" of current events, reading this book will help you better understand international events, whether political, economic or military.

WARNING: this book is not chick lit, nor is it summer reading for the beach.Don't look for this book to make it on to Oprah's Book Club anytime soon.In sum, this is hard core and no-nonsense stuff for the serious mind.

ON WAR is, literally speaking, a very dense book.Yes, as other reviewers have noted, this is not an easy or fast read.You've got to pay attention or you'll just get lost and confused (you might even have to read it twice).It's definitely worth your time to prep yourself by reading the authors' introduction (and make sure you read the Howard/Paret version).

Many will assert that Clausewitz was a war monger and invoking his name/ideas is somehow synonymous with being power hungry and violent.

This simply is not true.Clausewitz clearly states that he is merely DESCRIBING war and it's many forms (including "total" war).He is NOT advocating total war in any sense; in fact, he clearly states that he is not an advocate of total war (read carefully!).

"Describing" something is not the same as "advocating" it.

The first 1/4 and last 1/4 of the book revolve more around strategy (war and diplomacy as the 2 strands of politics), while the middle 1/2 is devoted primarily to tactical issues.ON WAR, in my humble opinion, is undisputedly a more useful piece of work than Sun Tzu's THE ART OF WAR.

If I had to choose 5 books to recommend whose ideas and concepts are universally applicable (and everlasting) to help understand world relations, they would be (in no particular order):

(1). On War (Clausewitz)
(2). Politics Among Nations (Hans Morgenthau)
(3). The Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Madison, Jay)
(4). The Prince and The Discourses (Machiavelli)
(5). The Twenty Years' Crisis (Carr)

[apologies to the cable TV news anchors and present day journalists -- some of us have known from the start that you didn't make up the phrases "the fog of war" or "friction in war"].

A must read!Even for the pacifist!
This should be required reading in high schools, along with Lindell Hart's "The Ghost of Napoleon!"
I cannot think of a better pair than Paret and Howard to take on this masterpiece, and put it in its proper context!

A Classic Must-Read on War
Clausewitz's aphorisms have been treated and mistreated for a century and a half, but On War remains a timeless classic.It is one of those very few works one can read at different times in life and get more and more out of.

Much of what Clausewitz concludes is intuitively obvious, and this above all things is what makes On War timeless.It is of the greatest importance, however, to read ALL of On War, and not merely Books One, Two, and Eight.Clausewitz wrote in the context of a military and geopolitical environment that still prized fortresses, depended on pitched battle, celebrated mobile artillery as a modern refinement, and lacked the techno-logistic sophistication to support expeditionary warfare on the scale envisioned by Napoleon.

Perhaps most important, the only experience of living Europeans at that time with rule by political terror was the brief "Reign of Terror" in post-Revolution France.Predatory Marxism and fascism of the kind that menaced millions in the 20th century, both politically and militarily, across national borders, was simply not a factor in Clausewitz's vision.War was a phenomenon bounded by time and place; battles were tactical events between like opponents that began and ended; decision could be achieved, with varying degrees of definiteness, by the deployment of military power combined with negotiation -- because all parties agreed as to how decisions were to be reached, and more fundamentally, as to what constituted decision.

Finally, the cost of losing, or failing to win decisively, in Clausewitz's European world was much lower for the average citizen than it became in the era of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc.Clausewitz's Prussia lost decisively to Napoleon during his career, with Prussia's king succumbing to Napoleon's Contintental System until the debacle of 1812, and the conditions of life for the average citizen of Prussia changed hardly at all, when compared with the impact on citizens of losing national sovereignty to Marxist and fascist regimes in the next century.

Clausewitz wrote extensively of warfare waged by guerrillas in mountainous or other difficult terrain, for example, and concluded that such fighting was useful on the defensive, but insufficient for achieving a decisive outcome -- it merely wore an invader out.This analysis was excellent for Spain and Russia after they were invaded by Napoleon, but only indirectly valid for the guerrilla wars of the 20th century, which were often started against the insurgents' own countrymen, provoking the involvement of outside (usually post-colonial) forces in opposition.To the extent that outside patronage supported or even sparked the guerrilla efforts, the element of outside involvement was always present, but in no case was it similar to Napoleon's politically straightfoward, unequivocal invasions of Spain and Russia.The political consequences of this difference were more definitive than the military similarities of guerrilla operations over time.

That Clausewitz's principal conclusions have still, in the main, stood the test of time testifies to how exactly he echoes the intuitive suppositions about war held by most Westerners.Interestingly, he was claimed by both sides in the West's Cold War debate over whether to "engage" the Soviet Union with concessions and negotiation, or with confrontation.A military officer (myself, for example) reading Clausewitz finds him to be an accomplished staff officer, and finds his arguments and conclusions rather obviously consonant with the military disposition to get things done, and achieve decision.Academics reading him, on the other hand, find much material for philosophical speculation, often interpreting his best-known dicta in an opposite manner from their military counterparts.

On War is indispensable, but don't neglect the "boring parts" on military operations as conceived in the Napoleonic era.Anatole Rappaport did a generation of college students a great disservice by editing these parts out of the Penguin paperback edition.Clausewitz wrote for conditions that no longer obtain in the world, and ought to be understood in that sense.

Any general reader who wants to undertake a more comprehensive study of human thinking on war ought also to read Sun Tzu's Art of War, B.H. Liddell-Hart's Strategy, Machiavelli's Art of War, and Hans Delbruck's History of the Art of War Within the Framework of Political History (multi-volume; the Germans and The Modern Era are the key ones to start with, in my view).For a wonderful comparison of "Eastern" vs "Western" thinking on the meaning and place of war in society, I recommend reading the passages on war, defense, and internal security from the Arthashastra, a treatise on effective government by a 2nd century AD Indian strategist (Kautilya), as well as Herodotus' Histories and, of course, Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War.

Bottom line:On War is a must-read classic, but should not be the only volume on war one reads.

A theory on war
On War presents a theory describing warfare that is both historically grounded and, in its basics, remains true even today after the many changes in how war has been fought since it was written. The theory thoroughly describes war in the context of historical fact, where it underlines the important causes and fundamental workings of war. Clausewitz does not allow himself to wander off into the pure theoretical (and is harshly critical of those who do), nor does he offer simple solutions and case-by-case directives. Instead, On War provides the reader a way to understand war and its workings, on all levels, so that he may make informed decisions based on a realistic view of the situation. Clausewitz also does not tie himself down to only considering one fashion of waging war. Looking out across history, he analyzes how wars were fought across different times, and endeavors to reveal the political and social factors that shaped war in their time.

An unfinished work, it is often difficult to read. Some thoughts are poorly organized, others are appear contradictory because their context is not always properly formed. A careful reading and some though, however, will allow an astute reader to understand. The reward is not only a sharp, systematic theory of war, but also a valuable history lesson in that field.

Diplomacy By Other Means
Carl Von Clausewitz (1780-1831) was a Prussian aristocrat who served as an officer during the Napoleanic Wars and who began writing this treatise on warfare upon the conclusion of the conflict.Although primarily philosophical, Clausewitz' efforts are to explain the nature and the dynamics of war.Unlike Sun-Tzu's "The Art of War" which is primarily a work of maxims or dictums, Clausewitz tried to put such concepts into a theoretical and empirical framework.

This edition does a fine job at clarifying the historical context in which Clausewitz was writing his work as well as what issues he was trying to address.Clausewitz never found his works to be ready for publication but his wife had them published shortly after his death.One can see Clausewitz' efforts to categorize his concepts were strongly influenced by Emmanuel Kant's philosophy. This factor,in addition to his work being mostly rough drafts, can make Clausewitz a difficult writer to follow.

Clausewitz' most important and relevant concepts to the world today would be his "Books" 1-4 and 8 which deal with the theoretical and philosophical aspects of war: his most famous phrase being that war is the execution of a state's diplomatic policies by other means (i.e. organized military force.)The objective of war is to make the enemy do your will (ideally with unrestricted force) which is to make him surrender unconditionally to achieve a specific political objective.The question then being who has the means and methods to put those principles into effect successfully.The success of such actions depends on sound planning as well as trying to avoid what he termed 'the fog of war' or simply the uncertainties arising out of conflicts such as supply problems, unanticipated terrain and weather, human error and morale.Clausewitz then goes into the concepts of leadership and strategy that are important towards limiting the fog of war and achieving the desired objectives of the war.Clausewitz' remaining works on offense, defense, and military forces are less relevant as they are more products of the Napoleanic War: their tactical and strategic insights are of limited use in the context of modern mechanized warfare.

This is a great edition as it is accompanied by a very detailed preface and introductory essays that clarify Clausewitz' convoluted manuscripts.The essays bring his work into modern perspective and discuss its important contributions to modern political and military thinking.I strongly recommend this edition and translation over other works as the reader will simply get more bang for their buck compared to publications by Penguin or others.

... Read more

Product Description
Howard Hughes was one of the most amazing, intriguing, and controversial figures of the twentieth century. He was the billionaire head of a giant corporation, a genius inventor, an ace pilot, a matinee-idol-handsome playboy, a major movie maker who bedded a long list of Hollywood glamour queens, a sexual sultan with a harem of teenage consorts, a political insider with intimate ties to Watergate, a Las Vegas kingpin, and ultimately a bizarre recluse whose final years and shocking death were cloaked in macabre mystery. Now he is the subject of Martin Scorsese's biopic The Aviator. Few people have been able to penetrate the wall of secrecy that enshrouded this complex man. In this fascinating, revelation-packed biography, the full story of one of the most daring, enigmatic, and reclusive power brokers America has ever known is finally told.Amazon.com Review
Surely there are few untold stories about Hughes,the brilliant inventor and shrewd businessman who pioneered commercialaviation, became the only individual ever to personally own a moviestudio, led Trans World Airlines to become the preeminentinternational air carrier, womanized his way across the tabloidheadlines of the 1920s and '30s, and descended into frightful paranoiaand drug addiction in his old age. Authors Broeske and Brownconcentrate on the womanizing in this entertaining biography,which chronicles Hughes' affair with KatharineHepburn, among many others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Hughes, A deeper look.
For those who are fans of the mystery man Hughes, this volume is consuming. Many more subjects investigated by the writers leaving behind many more unanswered questions. Volume two must be on the way.

LOVE this book.
i couldnt put it down, it is SO interesting and they add so much information in such an interesting way, you dont feel like you're reading a biography it truly feels like a novel its beautifully written.

Loved it
I loved this book, I really felt it was a great window into Howard Hughes life. I have read one other of his biographies but I think this is far superior. Who knew woman back then were so loose?

Untold for a reason
Howard Hughes led an intensely interesting life, and that's what makes this biography such a disappointment.Any book about Howard should be a quick read, but these authors focus on "The Untold Story".Unfortunately the untold story is exceedingly tedious, and boring.Maybe this is the reason it was "untold".The book almost solely focuses on Howard's troubled relationships with women from his early twenties to his death.After his first wife, it's the same story over and over again.Howard dated an enormous number of girls and we get to hear about each and every one of them.

Between the stories about these vapid relationships, there is some interesting material here, but the authors inexplicably leave out the Senate hearings in 1947 and his test flight of the "Spruce Goose".The last twenty years of his life are some of the most bizarre and interesting, but this is rushed through at the end of the book.There's plenty of books about Hughes out there and I guess I just picked the wrong one.

Great Book
I could not put it down.What a great look into the challenging life of Howard Hughes. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

John Howard: a professional politician
John Howard was sworn in as the 25th Prime Minister of Australia on 11 March 1996.He is currently Australia's second longest serving Prime Minister, and has been a member of every Australian Parliament since 1974. Australia will have a federal election between now and the end of 2007, so this biography is particularly timely.

If the success of a politician is ultimately measured in how many elections s/he faces and wins, then John Howard has been particularly successful.In this biography, Messrs Errington and Van Onselen provide some insights into the man behind the politician and assess his strengths and weaknesses as a professional politician.

Highly recommended reading for all with an interests in Australian politics generally as well as those with a particular interest in Australia's Federal Government.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith
... Read more

Product Description
Edith Pargeter, who also writes under the name Ellis Peters, previously combined her passion for history and storytelling in her creation of the much-loved monk, Brother Cadfael. It was she who paved the way for many others to explore the past through the thriving field of historical mysteries, and for this she was loved by readers and other writers alike. Past Poisons is a bumper crop of outstanding new short stories by the leading American and British historical crime writers, all wishing to pay tribute to the work of Ellis Peters. It is a fitting memorial, and a landmark anthology that no fan of historical crime can do without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unimpressive
The name Ellis Peters in the title of the book was clearly meant to lure readers.None of the writers are up to her standards.There is no shame in not being a master but it left me feeling a little cheated.There were a couple of stories that I kinda liked but the rest were forgettable except two were downright yucky.And the tributes to Ellis Peters written by each and every author were so uninteresting that I didn't bother to read any of them through.

The biggest sign of how unimpressed I am with this book -- I am going to give it away which I never ever do, but I feel kinda guilty that I am going to inflict this lame book on some poor soldier in Iraq.I shall have to include better reading material and some snack food in the box. ... Read more

Product Description
THE BRAND NEW MILANOVA EDITION to be released in October,2000. It all started with a simple little book fourteen years agocalled 'Good Idea! Now What?' and a premise that anyone with a dreamcould transform that transform that dream into a viable living. Buttimes have changed for the better and resources have multiplied. Andnow, technology has had a baby called the world wide web. But thatbaby has gone a long way to level the playing field for even moreentrepreneurs and dream-chasers. Combined with conventional marketingsystems, Bronson & Visiting co-author Frank Armbruster, have uncovereda host of amazing new ways to create your very own money-makingsuccess, from your dreams and desires and no one elses'.The resultis a highly-evolved 220-page work of sheer genius in its sheerclarity.

If you're trying to make ANY dream come to life, this is a book thatyou must have, dog-eared and heavily-referenced on your desk, kitchentable, garage or whereever you're building your empire. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not a bad start, but sketchy at times...
Although Bronson et al do a nice job getting one to rethink and hone ideas to bring them to fruition, this book does not give nearly enough practical advice, short of 'do this, do that' without telling us in practical termshow!And let's face it, that's the whole point of purchasing a 'how to'book in the first place, isn't it?It gets a little heavy on themotivational side, too, and for a moment you might close your eyes andthink S. Covey is the author.Lastly, there is this reference in thededication that makes the comment that this will be the best $9.95 you willever spend.Interestingly enough, Amazon's discounted price is higher thanthat, before S&H and tax.I find this curious, to say the least.I amstill searching for a more practical guide, and so far I haven't found one.

This book is worth much more than its price.
I've had this book for years and even though it's small, I refer to it often.It helped me evaluate product ideas, price our first product (a specialty video) and go for almost-free advertising.It's like sitting down with an uncle in the business who willing to share what he knows.It's close to being a personal-coach-in-a-book.This book is an excellent value. ... Read more

Product Description
For the millions of readers who remember the great Howard Cosell, Avon reprints this 1986 New York Times bestseller by the man on the man and things as he knew them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Egotism Run Amok
This book was released (inflicted) on an unsuspecting public in 1985, while Cosell's take on sporting matters, for inexplicable reasons, still mattered to many. It could also be entitled 'Name Drop Central'. Mr. Cosell, who came to fame on the coat tails of Muhammad Ali let his in-your-face, smash mouth, tell it like it is style of broadcasting go to his head and fester. There is an impressive number of characters in this book, prominent members of the sporting world to be sure. However, it's all about Cosell and his decrees concerning their involvement in the games of their choice, not opinions, which would invite disagreement and suggest inaccuracy, but final, absolute determinations according to Mr. Last Word himself. The people and their actions are absolutely subject to final, expert praise or, more often, damnation of Cosell.

His opinion of himself is simple; he's the greatest broadcaster in the history of sports. On the question of racism, Howard asserts "Nobody in the histroy of sports in this country has served the cause of black athletes as I have." I wonder if the NAACP knows about this wonderful hero.

"Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these. Of course, I am." This is a self assessment of the man spoke by himself.

"Tell it like it is," was easily his most famous quote. Well, Sir, you didn't necessarily tell it like it was. You expressed your opinions, you told it as you thought things were was and there was adequate room for dissent, to say the least. They were no more valid than those of anyone else and you were often wrong. Joe Namath said it best many years ago on the Tonight Show, when asked by Johnny Carson, how much Cosell knew about football. "Nothing," was Broadway Joe's reply.
Amen.

The professional opinion of a psychologist, assuming he could be bothered reading this book, would be interesting. Amazon in the USA and Canada have it for sale in the 'used' category for 1 cent, which seems to be about right. I got ripped off because I paid a buck at a Sally Ann store. If you plan to read this book, brace yourself. If you weren't around at the height of the Cosell era, you'll scratch your head in wonderment at the naivete of his worshippers. In fact, he was a one-trick pony whose act eventually, mercifully wore thin. He claimed, in his waning years, that withdrew from sports because because of a continually diminishing interest in them. It was really the other way around.

Larry Wood
Bowmanville, Ontario

"This is Howard Cosell"
GREAT BOOK!! Even though it was written 20+ years ago, its still relevant.. "Jockacracy" is dominate as ever.Love Howard!!!

Classic That Caused Huge Scandal Only Gets Better With Age
This blunt analysis of sports on television is just as relevant today as it was when published 25 years ago. Cosell lifts up the rock that the creepy pro team owners live under and watches them scatter. He skewers NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Then he takes on his own network and slams his Monday Night Football partners.It all makes for incredibly entertaining reading and is told in Cosell's staccato"voice," so you feel like he's talking to you.

The only negative about the book is that at almost 400 pages it's too verbose, like Cosell himself.He uses the first 125 pages to explain how owners moving teams to new cities destroyed pro sports.He makes a valid case that Pete Rozelle wasn't the great savior of football that his legend allows, but instead he single-handedly melded sports and media into an entertainment enterprise.

Eventually he gets to his booth partners--and attempts to do an objective analysis of their lack of skills.He has respect for Gifford but is absolutely right on that Frank's broadcast skills were limited.Cosell has no love for Don Meredith, a hick out of the Gomer Pyle playbook who was there for amusement but who had a gigantic ego that couldn't live in the same room with Howard's.

After this was published the sports and TV world turned against Howard--yet everyone else was wrong and 25 years later we can now see that Cosell was right. Look beyond his hairpiece, cigar and distinctive voice and you'll find a true journalist with a heart for serving the public interest.Here he uses his journalistic skills to expose the falsehoods of sports and media.

This book blows all the stereotypes and rips down the curtain that allowed pro leagues and broadcast networks to scheme to make money off what once was pure sport.Instead it became entertainment.Cosell admits making a mint off of it, but here (at the end of his career) correctly summarizes the problems.Even today most of what he writes is sadly still true.

He could have been a terrific writer!
Howard Cosell is a legend in the sports broadcasting business. If he wasn't a sports broadcaster, he could have easily been a terrific writer of fiction or non-fiction. It's easy to read this book if you are not a sports fan like myself. This book is about how he covered football including a chapter on MOnday Night Football. I enjoyed reading about his relationship with O.J. Simpson and how O.J. cried when he thought he lost his friendship. Cosell was like a mentor or second father figure to him. He writes about the strained relationship based on tabloid journalism. Monday Night Football is not the same without Cosell even now. His legendary stature as a sports broadcaster waves heavily on sports broadcasting today. He was one of the pioneers. Of course, there are other chapters about boxing, baseball, and football and stadium politics like when the New York Jets and New York Giants moved only few miles away to the Meadowlands in New Jersey that it was more like crossing the border into a foreign land. The book is well-written and you grow to like Cosell after awhile. You can't imagine him without his beloved wife, Emmy, or Mary Edith Abrams, who traveled with him all over the place. He couldn't imagine doing it without her.

A Sports Journalist Burns His Bridges Behind Him
Howard Cosell rose to fame talking mainly about boxing and football, and the bulk of this book is devoted to documenting his disenchantment with those sports. The lack of regulations protecting the safety of boxers seems to be behind his disenchantment with that sport. As for pro football, he recounts with considerable disgust the removal of franchises from cities that have supported them, and their transfer to more lucrative sites. The Colts went to Indianapolis (under cover of night), the Jets across the river to New Jersey (in fact he called them the "New Jersey Jets"), the Rams to Anaheim, and of course the Raiders went to Los Angeles after beating the pants off the NFL in the celebrated anti-trust case.

It is this latter case which I think is the pivotal point of Cosell's hot-and-cold relationship with pro football. He is dead-set against this type of blatant profiteering from a moral standpoint. He feels that the franchises owe something to the cities which have supported them, and he has testified before Congress in support of legislation that would require franchises to show good cause before moving.

At the same time, his former training as a lawyer required that he support the legal right of the Raiders to move. The legal issue in the case involved section 4.3 of the NFL By-Laws, which required the approval of 3/4 of the owners in the league for any franchise move. The owners could block a move without giving any reason whatsoever, and Cosell understood that this was a clear violation of the anti-trust laws. Despite this clear reality, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle stubbornly dug in his heels and fought, instead of simply modifying the rule so that it would no longer violate anti-trust standards. Rozelle, one of the most over-rated characters in modern history, refused to accept Cosell's support of the Raiders' legal right to move, and it caused a rift in their personal relationship.

Another factor in Cosell's disenchantment with football is what he called the "jockocracy", meaning the use of ex-ballplayers in the telecasts. He blasts the talents of former colleagues Don Meredith and Frank Gifford, and it is these comments which became the focal point of most of the reaction to this book. That is not, however, the main thrust of the book.

I always liked Howard Cosell and appreciated his special brand of sports journalism, a phrase that was basically an oxymoron before Cosell came along. It is clear now that this book represents the start of the deterioration which he went through in his later years. He starts trashing others, a habit which grew and grew as he grew old. He decided he now liked baseball after all, after trashing it severely earlier. However, his efforts to broadcast baseball were excruciatingly awful. I have to cringe when I think of his horrible effort as part of the ABC telecast of the 1979 World Series between the Pirates and the Orioles. He was temperamentally unsuited for baseball, and this was painfully obvious to the listener. In his last years Cosell burned many bridges behind him, and he no doubt died with the love of his family intact, but perhaps not many others. ... Read more

Product Description
1996 is the centenary of the birth of Howard Hawks, one of the great directors of American cinema. This anthology collects together writings from around the world on the director of such films as "Bringing up Baby", "The Big Sleep", "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", and "Rio Bravo".Amazon.com Review
It's hard to overrate Howard Hawks, the extraordinary film director whose credits include the classics Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Red River, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Rio Bravo. Hawks directed Cary Grant in most of his best comedies, and John Wayne in many of his best Westerns. He was instrumental in furthering the careers of Angie Dickinson, James Caan, Jane Russell, and Marilyn Monroe. Fortunately, the critical writing on Hawks is excellent and this book collects the best of it. With essays by Graham Greene, James Agee, Andre Bazin, Jaques Rivette, Robin Wood, Andrew Sarris, Molly Haskell, Hawks's screenwriter Leigh Brackett, Stanley Cavell, and Laura Mulvey, this will surely be the single most important book on Hawks for many years to come. ... Read more

Product Description
Oxford represents a microcosm of the architectural history of Britain as a whole, and as such this book is more than just a concise guide to the city's most celebrated buildings. Howard and Webster write knowledgeably about the city, highlighting, for example, how the collegiate system of buildings arranged around a courtyard influenced Britain's architecture for more than four centuries, while revealing how patrons and benefactors, who were some of the most powerful people in the land, worked with architects and master-masons of the caliber of Wren, Hawksmoor, the Peisleys, and Scott. The twentieth century has also succumbed to Oxford's mix of the traditional and the innovative, with Leslie Martin, Rick Mather, and Hodder Associates, for example, mixing the concepts and techniques of today with the ideals and materials of the past to create new and exciting architecture. ... Read more

Product Description
Located to the west of Omaha Beach, the six 155mm cannon based at Pointe du Hoc, with their 25,000yd range, represented a major threat to the US forces scheduled to land on the beach. Regarded as impregnable from the sea, as a result of sheer cliffs, the battery was heavily defended on the landward side, with heavily concreted casements, tunnels and interlinked trenches. Manning the battery were some 125 infantry and some 85 artillerymen. Against this formidable target was sent three companies of Lt-Col James E. Rudder's 2d Ranger Battalion. Landed on the morning of 6 June 1944, Rudder's troops faced immense problems in seeking to ascend the supposedly impregnable cliffs but eventually succeeded in their objectives. However, with less than half his force still alive, Rudder faced determined German counterattacks and was not to be relived by other US forces until 8 June-two days later than scheduled.

Customer Reviews (3)

Truly awful - basic and in parts incorrect
I have given one star for the nice colour maps, but this is a truly awful book.It consists mostly of reprints of the standard US Army Signal Corps and USN wartime photos of Pointe du Hoc, all of which are available for free on the internet.It then fills up the remainder of the pages with pictures of the small arms both sides used - all available in books on weaponry and not necessary in a book about a "Secret Operation." Another few pages are taken up with photos of various naval vessels and other common photos of the Rangers in England - not totally without worth but taking up far too much of the book.The photos are incorporated into the author's text which is either so basic as to be almost worthless or freely available and based mainly on previously published oral history accounts, all available in full elsewhere.

The historian debated mysteries of Pointe du Hoc, such as why and when the 155mm guns were moved inland from their fixed positions are largely ignored.And moreover the events of June 6th, 7th and 8th are covered in such an undetailed manner I felt my intelligence was being assaulted rather than the cliffs themselves.

Another very lazy aspect of the book was the lack of detail in the photo captions.For example the double-spread photo on pages 88/89 of the Rangers at the end of the battle includes men mentioned in the text.Why they were not pointed out suggests a complete lack of care, if I can name most of the men in the photo, then an author should be able to as well?The one time he does put a name to a photo - on page 66 he misidentifies Bob Edlin as James Eikner - this is just irresponsible writing and editing on the authors part.I have 700 books on the Normandy campaign and this is in the worst 5 I have ever read.

AVOID

Not the definitive book....
1. Book presents a very basic overview of the D-day assault.
Unfortunately there isn't alot of books on this subject
& I had high expectations. More eye candy pictures than
a detailed study. Very high production standards.
2. Poor maps; a topographical map of general area in relation
to rest of Normandy needed. Having visited Pointe Du Hoc
I didn't feel that the maps did justice to conveying the
heroism & difficulties of the Rangers. A 3-D map like you
find in Ospery would be helpful.
3. Same poor coverage of opposing German Units. Maybe there
isn't official documentation but why don't any authors
talk more about the German OOB or include german survivor
comments.
4. Very disappointed in the eye candy pictures & text given
for German & US equipment. A brief mention would be sufficient.
Space used for this could have discussed other things like
maybe focusing more on specific Rangers (Bio, what they did
after the war, etc.)Alot of space & words without substance.
5. Superior books on small unit actions like this is the
Pen & Sword series Elite Operations (Dieppe Raid, St. Nazaire)
Series. Concise, informative, eye witness accounts. This series
needs to due Pointe Du Hoc
6. A nit pick: This book is big! Have problems fitting on shelf.
Why did the publishers pick this format?

Very interesting and valuable source for a brave WWII attack
While this is a specialized book it contains enormous detail about one of the bravest episodes of the Second World War. The pictures, maps and descriptions of the training that the Rangers undertook and the innovations they used in scaling the tall cliffs, is spell-binding.My son has just completed a three monthe, Sixth Grade research paper on the subject and we have amassed many books on the topic.This is far and away the best.Thank you ... Read more

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The American Philosophers contains papers by current leading philosophers and political theorists that explore the work of the major American philosophers from the colonial period to the present, from Jonathan Edwards to David Kaplan.The scope of this volume is both historically and philosophically broad as it encompasses the leading figures of the major schools of philosophy that have played significant roles in our intellectual history. Included are not only the famous pragmatists and the later twentieth-century analytic philosophers, but such shapers of the political and philosophical American scene as Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Emerson, and Jane Addams. ... Read more

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