Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Sporting News, published by Sporting News Publishing Co. on January 28, 2005. The length of the article is 332 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Just wait, Carlos Beltran.(Caught On The Fly)(Brief Article)
Publication: The Sporting News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 28, 2005
Publisher: Sporting News Publishing Co.
Volume: 229Issue: 4Page: 6(1)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thompson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
William Pepper was a young journalist, just back from Vietnam, when he first met Martin Luther King Jr. His photographs and first-hand accounts of the war prompted King's unflinching commitment to oppose it. On April 15, 1967, Pepper proposed an alternative to the re-election of Lyndon Johnson to a cheering New York crowd. Dr. Benjamin Spock was to be King's running mate highlighting an anti-poverty and antiwar agenda. A year later Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. The movement for social and economic change in the US has never been substantially, successfully revived.

Doubts raised from an initial ten- year investigation and hours of interrogations of James Earl Ray prompted Pepper to take up his case. The King family, persuaded by the growing evidence, joined his struggle in 1996. At the 1999 trial seventy witnesses under oath set out the details of the conspiracy and the jury took an hour to find for the King family. It was ruled that a wide-running conspiracy existed and that government agents were involved. The story was effectively buried.

An Act of State lays out, in hair-raising detail, the facts of the case as it evolved. These tell a tragic story of King's powerful and significant radicalism, government plans for his execution that involved the military and the FBI, media cover-ups, and the corporate forces that were already claiming their hold on the nation's polity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

It's Too Important to Ignore!
This reviewer is an avowed conspiracy/cover-up supporter regarding the 1960s assassinations of JKK, RFK and Martin Luther King. He welcomed the opportunity to learn more of the MLK murder.Author Pepper's voice rings loud and clear: "James Earl Ray did not shoot Dr. King!"Unfortunately, in buttressing that statement, author Pepper over examines the evidence and overstates his case.Pepper tries to be thorough but succeeds only in being repetitive to the point of confusion. MLK's opposition to the Vietnam War and proposal of a Poor People's Campaign had angered too many powerful people who wanted him eliminated. It is totally unclear who those individuals might have been. Mysteriously one name that does emerge is that of New Orleans Mafia Boss Carlos Marcello, just as it also does, on the fringe of the JFK hit.The bottom line is that while Mr. Pepper may be a superior lawyer, he has failings as a writer of long and detailed prose.To his credit, Chapter 9 does attempt to marshal the supporting facts in one place-one ray of sunshine where more light is needed.An interesting sidebar to "An Act of State" is Pepper's unabashed skewering of Gerald Posner. GP is the Establishment's point guard in debunking any conspiracy theories, be they related to MLK or JFK.Pepper goes after Posner with a vengeance that can only emerge from the deepest sincerity. The final word here is that "An Act of State" is too important to NOT rate 5 stars. Potential readers are urged to focus on Pepper's efforts and not his results. Mainstream media (what a great term!) has ignored the MLK hit. We should be grateful that the William Peppers of the world have the intestinal fortitude to investigate and publicize periods of our history that many would just as soon ignore.

This should be taught in all schools
I rode once in a pickup truck associated with a black college professor running for a city council seat, which was soot blackened because it had been fire bombed. That was in the early 1980s in a progressive university town. The threat of violence in reaction to political activism is not academic.It is out there and it is real.

It is chilling that one of Peppers' interviewees matter of factly states that he thinks the book will be buried, so his testimony can just be part of a record without his drawing consequence from providing it. The mainstream media certainly does bury stories that don't fit an establishment narrative. That they have done so in this case shall be a stain on the Fourth Estate for all time.

This is an important work.Every citizen should read this, and it should be taught in all the schools along with material on who King was.One of the things that Pepper does best, in addition to show a lot of persistence in seeking evidence, is reflect on King's value as one of America's leading thinkers of all time.

Given the state of the world, King's moral force is no less and his call to action to bring America back to its original vision still rings out like the echoing of the Liberty Bell.

I think that Pepper's work brings a lot of implications that need to be seriously addressed, especially since there might be some sort of connections or parallels to the JFK and RFK assassinations. What does this mean for any attempt to gain power for a more progressive vision of America in the future?What can we do to make sure our civil processes are not to be trumped by those with a will to do violence in response?

An Act of Confusion
William Pepper's exhaustive research could be better served-- An Act of State meanders in and out of consciousness with a loose structure and story line--it's confuing. There are seemingly several relevant and compelling theories layed out on King's murder but the book is so convoluted it is sometimes difficult to follow Pepper's aruguments or thesis if there is one. Lloyed Jowers, the centeral figure at the heart of the conspiracy surrounding King's murder (According to Pepper) is presented as a relativley one dimensional character? With so much riding on Jower's involvement the reader begs to know more about the credibility and character of the man who came out of the shadows and pronounced to the world a mass conspiracy of murder involving the New Orleans Mob (they always get blamed--think JFK) the FBI & Hoover, and the local MPD. One missing componenet in all Pepper's research is Hoover's motive--Hoover no doubt despised King, spied on him and thought him a hypocrite but why would he want to Marytr him by having him killed?? These are not stupid people, Hoover must of known King would be canonized if he was murdered and naturally Hoover would be subject of hate as being such a public adversary--Pepper brings forth the theory of "Raul" the gun runner and hired assasin--perhaps the most intriguing charcter...Overall worth reading--labor intensive--Something happened down in Memphis on April 4th in the shadows of the Lorraine and downtown but by reading this book-- Pepper and everyone else are none the wiser.

The Conspiracy against King
An excellent book, William Pepper's An Act of State can be read alongside Waldron and Hartmann's Ultimate Sacrifice, the best available book on the murder of JFK.The links between these two "hits" are particularly intriguing.

Absolutely compelling reading
This book is written by an English lawyer, who comes to these events with an analytical eye. He compiles evidence, and draws conclusions based on the evidence. The resulting portrait is not flattering to the US government. The evidence he cites points to apparantly rogue elements of the FBI and intelligence services actively involved in plotting and cover-up of the assasination attempt. This book deserves a film or investigation of its own, as it reverses the commonly-held view that a lone gunman succeeded in the assasination attempt. Taken in context with later relevations of J.Edgar Hoover's abuses of power, spying on US citizens, the Nixon Enemies list, The Pentagon Papers, the growing power of the mob over political figures, and the insidious intersection of the drug trade with the arms trade and politics, this book shows a way that institutionalized violence by elements of the US government can undercut the democratic process.
Students of English repression of the Irish, Indian colonies, double-dealing in Egypt and the Middle-East, and so on, will recognize the symptoms of absolute power corrupting absolutely. If the evidence in this book were demonstrated with the modern techniques of 3-dimensional (3-D) animation used in modern courtroom investigation, it would be even more convincing. As a sidenote, fans of the distinguished journalist Earl Caldwell will note how his eyewitness testimony (along with that of others) was ignored or contorted to the detriment of the evidence. If DNA analysis were available at the time this book was written, it is quite possible that the level of proof would be even more conclusive. This book, even at this late date, argues convincingly that the MLK investigation was absolutely inadequate. A potential remedy would be independent investigating commissions, perhaps under the aegis of the UN's Human Rights Commission. Modern investigations are failing to protect democracy and human rights; indeed, they are becoming part of the problem. An issue for schools of science to advance seriously, for the common good. ... Read more

Product Description

The Art of Sport offers a striking collection of sporting pictures taken by Reuters photographers who have had the vision to see and capture extraordinary moments of prowess, drama and beauty from the world of sport. A mixture of first-hand accounts and fine imagery, the photographs in this collection bring alive some of the most colorful, eventful and memorable moments in recent sporting events from around the world. They comprise a story with many threads--action, celebration, skill, power and grace--and offer some of the most spectacular and significant sporting images you will ever see. Some will be familiar, others will jog memories, but most will be seen here for the first time, and all have a story behind them. The Art of Sport sets each photograph in context, outlining the circumstances behind the image- how the photographers came to witness these events and how they managed to document them. It showcases the two essential characteristics of the top sports photojournalist--a nose for a story and an eye for a photo.

Customer Reviews (1)

Shoots and Scores
Reuters, whose origins date back to the 1850s, is best known as a news service that provides reports to newspapers and broadcasters around the world. It established the Reuters News Pictures Service in 1985, and the group has become one of the world's leading providers of photos. It employs over 120 full-time photographers and the images they capture are used by roughly 1500 newspapers and magazines worldwide.

This is a beautiful book, with a wide variety of sports included : soccer, American Football, tennis, gymnastics, baseball, skiing, ice-hockey, boxing and cycling all feature. Each photo is accompanied by a short passage explaining the background to the shot. However, the pictures aren't always of the rich and famous : while the likes of Diego Maradona, Ernie Els, Michael Johnson, Zinedine Zidane, Michael Schumacher and even Ben Johnson appear, some of the better photos feature the amateurs and spectators. There's a streaker at golf's British open, herders in Tibet playing outdoor billiards and Jamaica's very eye-catching support from the 2002 World Cup Finals. There's even one from the Sumo ring that's bound to raise a smile. For me, though, the most spectacular shot was taken during Pamplona's famous bull-run. I suspect I'm not alone : one newspaper in Germany apparently ran it under the headline "How well is the photographer ?". The only photos that may put some off come from the world of bloodsports. For example, there's one from the Waterloo Cup (hare thankfully intact) and another from the bullring (featuring a very bloodied bull that doesn't have too long left). However, even allowing for that, this is still a book I would highly recommend. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a complete guide to selecting and using the right patrol, military or sniper rifle for everyday and special law-enforcement situations. Fairburn analyzes the strengths of candidate weapons and their calibers. He also provides field tricks and proven drills that will maximize the officer's and rifle's performance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

This Book Is By Fairburn, not FairBairn!!!!
Most in the know who see the byline of W.E. Fairbairn think of the former British Commando and Shanghai Police Chief who was instrumental in saving the lives of uncounted SAS and OSS operatives with the hand-to-hand combat training he delivered in their training camps.Richard Dunlop said of Fairbairn:

"All of us who were taught by Major Fairbairn soon realized that he had an honest dislike for anything that smacked of decency in fighting."

The idea was to win a fight and win it quickly.

This book (if you look closely at the cover) was written by one Richard Fairburn (who I do not know) and neither he nor Fairbairn's memoryare well-served by the mistake that this book has been attributed to Fairbairn.This book was published in 1994.Fiarbairn died in 1960 and it's unlikely his estate would have waited this long to offer up any previously unpublished works.

Agood all around primer
Dick knows his stuff and has been around long enough to give sage advice. This book covers all versions of the police rifle whereas so many other books concentrate on one aspect of LE usage of longarms be it a "patrol rifle" snipers rifle or SMG.

Fairburn's book gets down into the 'been there bent that' of using long arms in the field, a lot of lessons learned went into the book. He also touches on ancillary equipment, bags, bipods, scopes, binos etc. He includes the generic ballistics tables that are becoming so common in manuals of this type as well as a light discussion of cartridges. None of the material is covered in an overly technical manner and it is obviously written from the perspective of a po' officer working for a po' agency. An unfortunate, but all too common, event these days. As such, he gives tips on using the cheap new breed of "unassault" rifles (levers and bolts) as well as little used models such as Marlin Camp series.

He touches on all aspects of police rifle use, patrol, sniper, etc., and gives enough information to get a newbie started in the right direction. If your background and training only consists of pistols this book should be on your shelf. An added nice touch is the extensive and well done targets included in the last pages. Many will never use them but for that unfortunate po' officer (or lawful citizen) they do make for inexpensive training. ... Read more

Product Description
The National Basketball Association is a place where, without ever acknowledging it, white fans and black players enact and quietly explode virtually every racial issue and tension in the culture at large. In Black Planet, David Shields explores how, in a predominantly black sport, white fans--including especially himself--think about and talk about black heroes, black scapegoats, black bodies.

During the 1994-95 NBA season, Shields went to the Seattle SuperSonics' home games; watched their away games on TV; listened to interviews and call-in shows; talked, or tried to talk, to players, coaches, and agents; attended charity events; corresponded with members of the Sonics newsgroup on the Web. He kept a journal and over the next few years transformed that journal into this book, which is focused sharply on white spectators' relationship to black athletes, in particular Shields' own identification with Gary Payton, the team's language-besotted point-guard.

Through the apparently simple vehicle of a daily diary running from November 5, 1994 to May 5, 1995, and ranging from a dispute between two fans over the sale of a ticket to the national media frenzy surrounding Charles Barkley's jest "That's why I hate white people," David Shields confronts the nature of racism (including his own)--the otherness in ourselves that we project onto strangers. He takes us via sports passion deep into the American racial divide.Amazon.com Review
In his earlier work, David Shields came across as a fairlytraditional storyteller. Even Dead Languages, hisfictional rumination on a stutterer's tongue-tied existence, wasessentially a coming-of-age story. But he began to show his truecolors with Remote, a fractured,full-body immersion in media culture. This deeply amusing work ofnonfiction revealed the author to be a neurotic, navel-gazing cousinof NicholsonBaker. Now comes Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBASeason, whose putative topic--professional basketball--would seemto return Shields to his extroverted roots. (His first novel, in fact,revolved around a college basketball player.) Yet this is ultimatelyas postmodernist a work as its predecessor, and it takes us not onlyinto the author's heart but his boudoir. Black Planet's fusion of publicspectacle with private mortification makes it hisfunniest book to date.

A word of explanation: technically speaking, Black Planet is achronicle of the Seattle SuperSonics during the 1994-1995season. Since the team blew its shot at the playoffs, there's nochance for an uplifting grand finale. Yet Shields had a different sortof hoop dream in mind from the very beginning. "The NBA," he writes,"is a place where, without ever acknowledging it--and because it'snever acknowledged, it's that much more potent and telling--white fansand black players enact and quietly explode virtually every racialissue and tension in the culture at large. Race, the league's tabootopic, is the league's true subject." It's the author's true subject,too, and he goes at it from every angle--attending games, recordingcall-in radio shows, and making some abortive attempts to cozy up tothe players. Point guard Gary Payton is his true Penelope. Why? Well,his motormouth style does suggest an "indivisibility... of playing andtalking, of life and language." But more to the point, he offers ahandy tabula rasa for Shields's fantasy life, a trash-talkingpersonification of bad behavior: "Which is why, in Seattle the Good, Iso love Gary Payton. He's not really bad, he's only pretend-bad--Iknow that--but he allows me to fantasize about being bad."

If Shields were simply slapping society on the wrist for itshalf-submerged racism, Black Planet would wear out its welcomein the first quarter. But he's consistently hardest on himself, so thebook becomes not only a social critique but a critique of socialcritiques, cutting the ground from under itself in an infinite andentertaining loop-the-loop. Shields may not be the first writer totransform a fan's notes into literary gold--Frederick Exley beat him to thepunch--but he's the most rigorously intelligent one in a long,long time. Swish! --James Marcus ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Book says more about author's own prejudices and anger
I tried.Believe me, for 108 pages I tried to read this book and enjoy it, but I finally gave up because the premise fell under the weight of the author's own anger and prejudices.

There ARE racial tensions in America and racism does exist among ALL races, but Mr. Shields was dead-set on placing racism at the heart of all things (even things that had nothing to do with race) when he wasn't sharing his pathological obsession with Gary Payton or his outward contempt of people in Seattle because of their politeness.He reminded me of King Lear raging at the winds.

Save your money on this one and buy "Counting Coup" by Larry Colton or "Eagle Blue" by Michael D'Orso instead if you're looking for a GOOD book that views race relations through the prism of basketball.They're about high school players so you won't see any famous names, but both are far better at developing their premises as opposed to being simply an angry screed long on accusation but short on understanding or compassion.

I Want My Money Back!
I picked up a hardbound version of this book for $0.10 at a library book sale, and would take it back for a refund if I could.It seems to me the author is convinced of his premise, then tries to use peoples' words and actions to justify/prove it, often unsuccessfully.I think one problem is his professorial way of writing:the numerous "Cf.s" were a distraction and contrived.

I tried to finish the book but couldn't take it anymore about halfway through.

Good, journal-style book
I read this book several years ago and in retrospect it couldn't have come out at a better time.

Conversations on race is the larger topic of this book which uses the changing landscape of the NBA as a metaphor for the growing indifference & misunderstandings of whites of African-Americans.

The book explores the passing of the grinning, assimilationist & non-threatening generation of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas being supplanted by an increasingly urban-flavored generation not as concerned with making McDonald's commercials and appealing to Middle Class America.

(NOTE: this book is written just before the invasion of the "hip hop generation" led by Allen Iverson whose gangsta, thugged-out image, braids, baggy pants and corn rows rubbed a predominantly white fanbase the wrong way, opening all sorts of new NBA image discussions).

Shields chronicles the Seattle SuperSonics in the mid-1990s, attends games and stays up on every notable on court act or off court run-in and then examines how hoops fans make judgments based upon stereotypes or racial perceptions.

The book's premise is that the overwhelming black, overwhelming rags-to-riches tales of its majority of players combine to create the one forum in the country where whites are the outsiders and thus forced to (and ultimately resist, if you consider the standing of the overwhelmingly white media and white hoops fans) relate to a group of players from the wrong side of the tracks that otherwise had always been forced to assimilate and relate to Middle America (and thus, a juxtaposition of the two roles in the NBA).

For me, this book's topic couldn't be more relevant today given the emergence of an NBA generation that's as polarizing as any the sport's world has ever seen.

It might be a little harder to stomach though if you're a reader not in touch with your own honest racial perceptions.

Fascinating
Insightful, observant and brave, David Shields' Black Planet is a thought-provoking look at America's sports culture and, ultimately, America's culture in general.Never afraid to use himself as a subject, the author takes a look at the racial dynamic apparant -but rarely confronted upon- in the NBA.

Even for the non-sports fan, this book will prove to be an enlightening read because basketball only provides the backdrop for the author's exploration of society and self.

It should be noted that the author is not a sports writer.In fact, the author often seems out of place in the various professional basketball environments he roams and inhabits in the book.Such a feeling of disconnect, however, aids the text, I believe; such an outside-looking-in perspective gives the book a voice I suspect many readers will recognize--their own.

A sports book for intellectuals
Remote is an intelligent exploration of the deeper meanings of basketball.David Shields follows the Seattle Sonics during the '94-'95 season, commenting not only on the dynamics of play but also on issues of race and our need for the other, for transcendence from our lives through sports fandom.

So compelling is Shield's case for an intellectual take on basketball that I, a nonsportsfan type, began watching basketball games after reading this book.If you're up for delving into the greater meanings of fandom and the catharsis of sports, this is a great book to read.If you're a fan looking for basketball stats and play by play description look elsewhere.This is more than just a book about sports--it's a book about what sports mean to us. ... Read more

Product Description
"One wild read" (Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated)about a unique city trying to find itself--and about three gamblerswho win, lose, and risk everything during the college basketballseason.

One gambler is a manic former cokehead with an Ivy League degree. Thesecond is a college dropout trying to make a living at the only thinghe enjoyed at school--gambling. The third, one of Vegas's mostrespected bookmakers, is perilously close to burning out. TheOdds follows the lives of these three professional gamblersthrough a college basketball season in a one-of-a-kind city strugglingto reconcile its lawless past with its family-friendly makeover. Witha wiseguy attitude and a faultless eye and ear for the sights andsounds of Vegas and its denizens, Chad Millman has created a portraitthat the Wall Street Journal called "fascinating... oftenscreamingly funny." The Las Vegas Review-Journal had just oneword for the book: "Superb."Amazon.com Review
For sports gamblers in Las Vegas, nobody cares who wins; it's by how much that matters. In The Odds, Chad Millman follows three professional gamblers through a year of college basketball, where meticulous research, betting discipline, and instinct clash with addiction, and no one relaxes until they've lost it all.

The three colorful gamblers Millman expertly portrays are a high-rolling career "wiseguy," a slacker wannabe, and a bookmaker who sets the lines on games (for example, Iowa over Indiana by 4-1/2 points, meaning if you bet on Iowa, you win only if Iowa wins by five points or more). The idea behind the betting line is to lure bets (hopefully, losing ones) and make a profit for his casino from the action, but more importantly to stay ahead of those who pounce on a weak line like hungry wolves. Millman provides the answer to what makes these wiseguys tick: "While the casual bettor weighs common sense and financial realities with every bet, the wiseguy pushes those aside... [his] battle isn't with what makes sense; his battle is with anyone who gets in the way of making his bet a euphoric experience."

Along with lurid details of what these gamblers do to feed their frenzy, Millman enriches us on gambling's history and sobering statistics, on Vegas's decline and the rise of offshore casinos, and on the effects of media coverage and politics on sports and gambling. While you won't learn how to get rich off the next office pool, you will get an inside look at those who make or lose money on some kid's buzzer-beater or a garbage-time lay-up. --Michael Ferch ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Mediocre but occasionally worthwhile
I expected too much out of this book when I think about it. For me, David Halberstam is still the pinnacle of long-form sportswriting and while I didn't expect this to be Breaks of the Game, I was looking for a book that offered insight into sports betting while still being a good read. Instead, this is a book that has its moments (particularly as an amusing look 10 years later at the Rams-Titans Superbowl) but they get lost in what ends up feeling like filler.

The really enjoyable parts of this book--the details on how the lines get set, seeing characters like Johnny Cuz, are drowned by essay-like discussions on the history of sports betting and the contemporary attempts to legislate away the industry. I found myself skimming a lot of these sections. Another weak point is toward the end when following the self-described degenerate gambler Alan Boston and his partner. I could only take so many paragraphs of dialog where they go back and forth about which games to bet and their tough breaks.

This book is recommended if you're looking for a light, quick read and are interested in sports betting. But I recommend you go in with low expectations and a readiness to skim when necessary.

Profiles of people for a season
This book is about a few gamblers and their lives during a college basketball season. It does also cover some football including the super bowel. The people working at the sports book are also profiled. The gamblers profiled are full time gamblers at different stages of their life. This book doesn't glamorize the gambler, instead they are seen as leading a rough life.

The book takes place when the Rams and Titan's played in the super bowel.

You'll learn how the lines are produce.

I did like that it had brief snippets on gambling laws.

If you are in the game
Then read this book. Quite the enjoyable read.

It became difficult to put this book down. I found humor dripping off the pages. While not being the main trust of the book, Millman does a good job of hinting at just how much gambling saturates American life, such as stories of local bookies and rampant wagering as a part of campus life. Does an NFL broadcast ever go by without announcers making a reference to wagering? Pick up just about any newspaper across this fair land and you find "Odds" listed in the sports section. Yet all the while gambling remains illegal, with a wink and a nod.

As a disclaimer, allow me to say I don't wager or pay attention to any gambling activity whatsoever. If I engaged in anything it would be strictly entertainment purposes only.

If you have ever dreamed of being a proffesinoal gambler...
This book was packed with great Las Vegas history as a well as a magnificent account of the professional sports bettor's life style.What I liked best about this book is that it gave me the chance to fantasize about moving to Vegas and being a professional gambler with out actually having to do it.

worse than stupid

betting football is neither less nor more "euphoric" than winning at chess, ping-pong, or the stock market:euphoria is absolutely tangential to bringing home the bacon.

as a winning NFL and NCAA football bettor, i can say emphatically, books which emphasize the "inevitability" of losing at the game only promote the mentality of losing to an elevation akin to destiny, or worse, fate.

the fault is not in our stars but ourselves, that we lose thus or thus.

i have known other winning players;i AM a winning player;you, however, are probably not a winner, and the author of this book is CERTAINLY NOT a winning player.

tlt. ... Read more

Product Description
Soccer is much more than just the most popular game in the world. It is a matter of life and death for millions around the world, an international lingua franca.

Simon Kuper traveled to twenty-two countries to discover the sometimes bizarre effect soccer can have on politics and culture. At the same time he tried to discover what makes different countries play a simple game so differently.

Kuper meets a remarkable variety of fans along the way, from the East Berliner persecuted by the Stasi for supporting his local team, to the Argentine general with his own views on tactics. He also illuminates the frightening intersection between soccer and politics, particularly in the wake of the attacks of 9-11, where soccer is obsessed over by the likes of Osama bin Laden. The result is an astonishing study of soccer and its place in the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Fascinating book, but with outdated references
If you think England's notorious soccer hooligans represent the worst expression of violent behavior in competitive soccer, read Soccer Against the Enemy. As British sports journalist Simon Kuper explains it in this lively book, soccer, like war, is merely politics by other means.

The style a national soccer team brings to the game is also widely thought to be an expression of national character. As Kuper writes, "Soccer is never just soccer. In debating soccer, the Brazilians also debate the kind of country Brazil should be." Presumably, much the same holds true for South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria, Argentina, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and most of the other countries whose soccer scene Kuper profiled -- despite the fact that playing styles may change from year to year and manager to manager and that any given country at any particular time may employ a "Brazilian" style while the Brazilians themselves have adopted an entirely different approach.

A handful of dictators surface in the pages of Soccer Against the Enemy, and Kuper treats us to the colorful tales told about their meddling ways. Perhaps one or two of them actually stayed in power for a year or two longer as a result, but their citizens' passion for soccer may just as easily have been a factor in their undoing. It's an exaggeration to claim, as the book's subtitle does so brazenly, that the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Fuels Revolutions and Keeps Dictators in Power.

Soccer Against the Enemy was originally written in 1992-93, when Kuper traveled the world to investigate the relationship between soccer and politics. Starting out as a 22-year-old fresh out of Oxford, he backpacked his way from one continent to the next, often traveling on buses and second-class trains, staying in cheap hotels and hostels, wearing worn and often torn clothing, and yet somehow managing to secure interviews with many of the soccer world's biggest-name managers, owners, and players.

Kuper successfully illustrates the interrelationship between big-time competitive soccer and the politics of many of the countries where it's taken most seriously. He recognizes, though, that the impact of the sport is limited. "The game is a good way of studying what is going on in repressed societies, but it rarely changes these societies." (So much for that misleading subtitle!)

Kuper clearly wrote the book for readers who were familiar with the leading soccer figures of the day, since Soccer Against the Enemy repeatedly refers, often using nicknames only, to players and managers whose names have long since been forgotten. The Americanized Kindle Edition I read routinely substituted the word "soccer" for the English "football" and included an extra chapter written in 2005 and an afterword along the lines of "Where are they now?" Little else was changed since the early 1990s.

(From Mal Warwick's Blog on Books)

From a new soccer fan
I recently became interested in soccer through watching the 2010 World Cup and seeing the sport's influence on the culture of so many different nations around the world.I was especially impressed at the egalitarianism of the sport and the wide range of its fans.It seems that everyone from the African townships to the corporate empires of the G8 is rooting for one team or other.And I was also interested to note that many US fans were not supporting the US national team but one of the teams from Africa or South America.Thus I chose to read Soccer Against the Enemy because I was eager to understand a game that is clearly more than just a game -- a game that, as the book jacket says, "starts and fuels revolutions and keeps dictators in power."

Author Simon Kuper clearly loves the sport and knows it well.He has done a great deal of research on the sport and perhaps more importantly, its fans.His book provides an excellent account of the last 30 or so years of the sport, how it has grown in popularity around the world and how it crosses the boundaries of nationality, politics, race and class.I was especially interested to learn about the influence of the Dutch on the style of play and how their rivalry against Germany in 1988 and 1992 fueled old resentments, and in some cases hatreds, from the Second World War, when the Germans invaded the Netherlands.

The one disappointment I had with this book is that it was reissued in 2010 with a brief update from the author, but the vast majority of the content is from the 1990s, which is when the author did his original research and first published the book using the name "football" in the title rather than the US term "soccer."That in and of itself is fine, except I was expecting to learn more about the game and the influence it has today, rather than a decade ago.In the author's update he explains that globalization has changed the loyalties of fans to the extent that many now support clubs in nations not their own and in fact nations that they have never visited nor have any connection to.I would certainly have liked to understand that shift and its causes, as well as more about the world of soccer as we enter the second decade of the 21st century.This is not the fault of the author so much as the publisher and the way the book is described in its promotional copy here on amazon.

So, bottom line from a new soccer fan:This is a very well-written, superior book about the recent history of the sport but if you are looking for something that puts soccer in the context of the world as it is today, you will probably have to look elsewhere.I think I will read either Soccernomics or How Soccer Explains the World to get a more contemporary view.

Read it just for the story of Roger Milla and the imprisoned pygmies
Having read the author's Soccernomics first (which is not a light read), I expected a sweeping panorama (perhaps from a poli-sci point of view) of football-soccer and its often prickly relations with political power. Fortunately, the book is much more interesting than that. It is composed of vignettes written by the author as a twenty-something backpacker investigating world football a couple of years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and before globalization flattened the world. Some of the pieces clearly don't fit in well with the political theme (Gascoigne in Italy, the interview with Helenio Herrera, and Robson in Holland, which deal less with politics and more with culture clashes), but they do not detract from the book and are interesting in themselves. What I liked most of all was the discovery that the sport is just as conflictive, opaque and just plain weird as the wide world it inhabits. The story of Roger Milla and the pygmies he imprisoned in Cameroon's national stadium is worth the admission price alone. The mention in the new epilogue about Qaddafi's son playing in Italy's Serie A and getting suspended for steroids is just icing on the cake.

Pretty good soccer book, not a classic
This was a good book, but not the classic that it has been billed as.Some of it is kind of all-over-the-place in a way that turns me off.I'm not sure the narrative really means anything, rather than just a disjointed grouping of stories.It really plays to me like a short story book where you can skip the sections you don't find as enjoyable.

That being said, the stories are very entertaining.Some more than others.

I wonder what Simon Kuper would say looking back on it (20 years later) now that he is a respected soccer journalist.I would not be surprised if he agrees with part of my sentiment as I do think it feels a little bit like a younger writer finding his voice.

That is all I have to say, if you are interested in Soccer (Football), definitely pick it up.I would recommend How Soccer Explains the World much more though.

Soccer as Psychotherapist
For a book originally published in 1994, Soccer Against the Enemy remains surprisingly relevant. It is a very similar book to How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, both in structure and topic, although Soccer Against the Enemy is the better of the two. Broken into chapters that focus on countries, or regions of countries, Soccer Against the Enemy tries to explain the cultural and social meaning of the beautiful game all around the world.

Take the chapter on soccer in the U.S., "Short, Dark, Americans." Kuper begins the chapter by writing about attending an international game in L.A. during the 1994 World Cup--Denmark v El Salvador. The L.A. coliseum was packed, but the next day, even the L.A. Times sports section didn't mention the game. This dichotomy, so typical of America's relationship with soccer, becomes Kuper's theme for "Short, Dark, Americans." This chapter, like the others, is built partially from Kuper's direct experiences as he visits each location, partially from commentary on the region's soccer histoy, and partially from anecdotes about the lives of the fans who live in the region.

The piecemeal nature of the chapters is the book's biggest weakness. There is no single narrative to follow through each chapter, much less through the entire book, leaving the reader (or at least me) a little unsure of which direction Kuper was heading at any one time. Also, the book's intended readers are soccer fans. Those without a lot of soccer trivia, stadium names, and player biographies floating through their heads may feel a bit lost. I picked up the book in the U.S., but I suspect the initial printing was in England for English football fans. ... Read more

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"Sport and International Politics" explores the role and significance of sport in international politics. Issues discussed include the impact of international organizations on domestic sport policy, the interpenetration of governmental, business, and sports interests, and the globalization of sport. The book focuses specifically on an analysis of the global infrastructure of sport and the significance of international sports events such as the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth games and the football World Cup. ... Read more

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Great survey
Sport & International Poltics is the best survey available for introducing people to the many ways in which sport and politics blend.Although Houlihan focuses primarily on the IOC to the exclusion of much info on FIFA, ITF, etc, the book is generally outstanding.The one draw back is the price for what is a fairly short (250 pages) paperback.Recommendedreading. ... Read more

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The Gun Grabbers
Very interesting book. It is detailed and full of interesting facts I was not aware of. If you suppoort the right to own a gun, you need to read this book. Who is for and who is against, it may surprise you. Not a long read, only 157 pages, well worth the price.

A great book that points out the real enemies of America
This is the best source of material for de-bunking the socialist elite, brain-dead morons, and proffesional victims of society.Socialists beware, we've got your number, and this book teaches people how the Communistnightmare you wish to rain upon America.

The real Enemies of America
Must read, This one tells it like it is. The real enemies of the US are identified. The Socialist gun grabbing eliteist. Americas biggest enemy and their allies are uncovered. Give a Copy to a gun grabbing socialist today. ... Read more

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America's most successful bounty hunter reveals advanced details and tricks of hunting and capturing humans. Learn how to obtain an arrest contract, surveillance tips, what to wear during a bust, how to work with the police, hazards of the use of deadly force, how to avoid your own arrest, legal precedents of the trade and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Should Have Been Better
I read this book about ten years ago and was just looking through it the other day.It is not Burton's best work by far.It is not a worthy follow-up to the original "Bounty Hunter".This book could have been so much better considering Burton's experience.This is just a collection of stories and not a dialogue on realistic technique.Find something else!

he shows how to get the bad guys
This book is awesome. All the bad guys get NAILED! This guy had these taser guns and one time this baddie was trying to get away and he got him! There was another time when the baddie tried to erase his trail but ourbounty-hunter was too smart and figured out the baddie was really not onhis way to Denver but smoking weed at some budget hotel just outside ofCincinatti. OUr bounty hunter handcuffed the baddie who had passed out onthe floor and the cops came and our bounty hunter reaped a fat check. Howabout that!

generalized overview. This book needs to be more specific.
"The Advanced Bounty Hunter"?!?I Don't think so. Reading this title leads the reader to believe that Bob Buton is going to share his nitty gritty know how with the readers. Instead Burton shares many a story from yester-year.While entertaining, these stories do not get into the specifics one needs, to be sucessfull as an Advanced Bounty Hunter.Burton touchs on some very important subjects, yet chapter after chapter Burton leaves you short changed.For example, One chapter called "The arrest" does a good job at teaching what handcuffs are for and which ones to buy; but tells you nothing of good, sound arrest techniques.Or how to even use handcuffs. After all, one does not simply put handcuffs on a six foot four, two hundred twenty pound wanted felon."Bail Enforcment Academy" By Eric Davis is a much better teaching tool. Davis goes into much greater detail on every subject Burton covers and even some he fails to cover."Bail Enforcer" was somewhat disappointing givin Burton's experience.

A Great follow-up to "Bounty Hunter."
The newest update to the "Bounty Hunter" series. If you read the first one, then this is a "Must Read."Bob Burton keeps the reader abreast of the ever changing laws involving fugitive recovery. Loaded with updated information about the business of returning the "Bad Guys" to justice. ... Read more

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The longtime Detroit bureau chief for The New York Times lays bare the dangers posed by the most popular type of American family car: the sport utility vehicle.

SUVs have taken over America's roads. Ad campaigns promote them as safer and "greener" than ordinary cars and easy to handle in bad weather. But very little about the SUV's image is accurate. They poorly protect occupants and inflict horrific damage in crashes, they guzzle gasoline, and they are hard to control.

Keith Bradsher has been at the forefront in reporting the calamitous safety and environmental record of SUVs, including the notorious Ford-Firestone rollover controversy. In High and Mighty, he traces the checkered history of SUVs, showing how they came to be classified not as passenger cars but as light trucks, which are subject to less strict regulations on safety, gas mileage, and air pollution. He makes a powerful case that these vehicles are even worse than we suspect--for their occupants, for other motorists, for pedestrians and for the planet itself. In the tradition of Unsafe at Any Speed and Fast Food Nation, Bradsher's book is a damning exposé of an industry that puts us all at risk, whether we recognize it or not. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (80)

High and Mighty:SUVsThe worlds most dangerous vehicles and how they got that Way:Alarmist Book.
Another Alarmist Book(Ralph Nader's Unsafe at any Speed included)about How SUV'S are Dangerous, Of Course They are!
It's Common Sense, I disagree with Useful tools Like Larry David's Wife who is a extremist enviro-wacko or do as I say not as I do Celebs or people who toot their horn "I drive a Hybrid!" people like freedom, they can drive whatever they want. Corvair despite it's flaws was a Revolutionary American Vehicle and Better than A VW Yet Nader Killed it, If you want to play the blame game, Blame Big Brother(GOVT Regulation which Killed the Muscle Cars) The CAFE standards of 1975 Which Did not Apply to Light trucks!(Loophole) which brought on the mess,anytime you get A Nanny State telling you what to do people will do it more. In my opinion the book which I picked up at the local Library, Has Good Points, Ford Exploder (intentional Misspelling) Was and is prone to flip along with the then defective Firestones.What do you expect from Ford? I agree also that People should NOT buy Suvs as First Vehicles. You need to be a Seasoned Driver to Drive one, Young People,women applying make up while talking on the cell driving SUVS or short people should not drive them. It's not all about the "Global Warming myth" . It's also about Responsible drivers and People who don't know how to drive! So If you read the book beware of it's agenda. Because Hybrids and tiny Compacts are no Better.
Drive GOOD!and Don't Tread on Me.

Forecasts our driving future
In the past two decades, the marriage of news and entertainment, and the takeover of news outlets by large corporations have led to a gradual decline of good news; i.e. news that examines important undercurrents of American society.Fortunately, this has not reduced the quantity and quality of expose books written by journalists.This book is written by a NY Times journalist, and is very well written and interesting to read.It is partially a history of the automobile in the US, a biography of Detroit's Big Three, and an in-depth examination of how advertising, lawsuits, regulatory agencies, civil groups and large corporations deal with each other both on Main Street, Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.The text is written in first person, and in approximately chronological order.Like any good piece of writing, it is not objective nor is it purely subjective.Instead, the author presents an argument; SUV's are dangerous, and backs it up with a whole book of reasons.

Overall, a great book.My only critique is that it should have included more figures.

Hits it right on the mark....
Ironically, on Fri. Dec 8, 2006, my wife and I have had the unpleasant experience of a black Toyota 4 Runner tailgating us literally what was less than a few inches as the driver exited the 101 freeway at Johnson drive in Ventura, CA. The driver first almost rear ended us and when we were at the first light stopped the driver was still on our bumper. The traffic was too dense to move over to let the idiot pass and so my wife being a nervous wreck had to endure this SUV driver's idiocy. My wife is a very safe driver and never speeds but she was opting to do so in this situation on the narrow portion of Johnson Rd near Bristol Dr. I had to scream at her to slow down and just hope the driver doesn't hit us as it was far more dangerous to speed and us cause an accident. Ironically a Ventura PD motorcycle officer passed us opposite going southbound and I knew he saw the situation as I was ready to dial 911. The officer never turned around and the SUV driver suddenly backed off a little and here's the funny part, the dolt signals left to turn into the Boys and Girl's club to pick up a child at around 4:30 PM. This is a story that neatly fits within the mindset of SUV drivers mentioned in this book. What I experienced and my wife experienced was a belligerent jerk who has no regard for other people's safety. It was so bad at the time that other traffic was backing off to avoid being in a collision and it really is perhaps a sign of the times that insurance companies need to rethink the rates for SUV owners. These vehicles are simply too dangerous in the hands of so many unthoughtful and careless drivers. Cars are bad as it is, but SUVs and Monster Trucks have made the roadways more unsafe than ever.

Tell this guy to go back to Europe.
Ridiculous

This book truly sucks, if people want to buy SUV'S then that's their right. If people in Europe and Asia are happy with driving sub compact cars where their knees are up to their chin then that's fine.

These vehicles are no more hazardous than any other vehicle. It all depends on how you drive. What I really love about this book is how this author makes personal attacks on people who own SUV'S it's like he has a personal vendetta again SUV drivers. He has no right to do that like I said its people's right to drive what they want to drive.

What's everyone's (The anti SUV people) solution to SUV'S?? Let's all trade in our Ford's and GM's for a Toyota. So great we save the environment and at the same time we put the American vehicle makers out of business and destroy our economy. Some people think the domestic auto makers are worthless but they are very important. So many jobs are linked with them and they helped to make this country as great and powerful as it is today.

Don't get me wrong I own a Honda Accord which is a great vehicle and I will probably always own a Honda but I will also always have an American vehicle next to it. This book just angers me and sickens me so much because it's like he wants to restrict people's rights to drive what they want.

I know many SUV's get terrible gas mileage and I will support anyone who can improve the gas mileage. At the same time I will support the right to own a SUV no matter what gas mileage it gets. This is America I don't want to be told by a no body what I have to drive.

What I am all for is a SUV which gets good gas mileage and doesn't pollute the environment. I fully support alternative fuels like E85 and hydrogen fuel cells. GM is starting to get the message they are coming out with a Two Mode Hybrid on large SUV'S like the Chevy Tahoe which will allow it to get 25 MPG which is amazing for a vehicle of that size.

Very convincing, but EXTREMELY LONG AND BLOATED!
Pros: Many good arguments, good history. Managed to convince me (a big one, for someone as stubborn as me).

Cons:
Riddled with too many weak arguments. Doesn't push the 'inside vehicle vs. outside vehicle' death rate argument enough.

EXTREMELY LONG AND BLOATED! Very redundant. ... Read more

Product Description

The book aims to outline the progress, problems and challenges of delivering a safe and secure Olympics in the context of the contemporary serious and enduring terrorist threat. The enormous media profile and symbolic significance of the Olympic Games, the history of terrorists aiming to use such high-profile events to advance their cause, and Al Qaeda's aim to cause mass casualties, all have major implications for the security of London 2012.

Drawing on contributions from leading academics and practitioners in the field the book will assess the current terrorist threat, particularly focusing on terrorist targeting and how the Olympics might feature in this, before addressing particular response themes such as transport security, the role of surveillance, resilient designing of Olympic sites, the role of private security, and the challenge of inter-agency coordination. The book will conclude by providing an assessment of the legacy of Olympic security to date and will discuss the anticipated issues and dilemmas of the future.

This book will be of interest to students of terrorism studies, security studies, counter-terrorism and sports studies.

Customer Reviews (1)

El mejor trabajo sociologico hecho sobre el futbol hasta aho
La lectura es amena, no tiene academicismos, y es maravilloso que al fin alguien se haya decidido a tratar en profundidad el tema del futbol y su relación con la sociedad. Interesantisimo, muchos datos historicos deconocidos. ... Read more

Product Description
The Politics and Economics of Park Management examines national protected area systems, in both developed and developing countries, that have made a transformation from "fortress parks" to a sustainable use model. The contributors--park management, academics, and members of nongovenmental organizations--contend that successful institutional change in protected area systems involves not only the adoption of appropriate legal and regulatory regimes covering sustainable use, but also the development of an informal culture of sustainable resource use among all of a park's stakeholders. While this latter requirement is often difficult to achieve, the contributors show how these informal attitudes may evolve over time, both within the management structure of a park agency and the community of resource users. The case studies cited represent examples of successful institutional change, demonstrating both financial and conservation benefits to protected area agencies, that should serve as model for managing parks today. ... Read more

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The National Parks Compromised is James Ridinour's personal account of his four years at the helm of the National park Service and is consistent with his management style during those tough times.It's packed with candor, deliberation, common sense, and a good dose of humor.As director he sood clearly on the side of resource protection and fought against the congresssional creation of new park sites with little or no significance.He coined the term, "the thinning of the blood of our national parks" which referred to the congressional habit of creating pork barrel projects in the national parks budget while failing to take care of the minimal needs of our already established great American treasures.He predicts a slide to mediocrity for the Yellowstones and Yosemites of the system unless this habit is curtailed.In his book, Ridinour places the blame for the deterioration of the National Park System squarely where it belongs: in the U.S. Congress.None of his predecessors or, indeed, his bosses, took on the pork barrel politicians. He did, and every professional park ranger and clear-thinking citizen is better off because of his persistence. ... Read more

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The IMF, The World Bank Group, and the Question of Human Rights explores various issues facing international financial institutions and their obligations to adhere to human rights norms.

Bahram Ghazi gets to the heart of the most important issues facing the global community today: namely, how to reconcile globalization and the activities of the World Bank and the IMF with the implementation of international human rights rules.His comprehensive work explains the relation between economy, finance, and investments and their impact on the human rights situation.Using an interdisciplinary approach, the author incorporates historical, political, economic, financial, and institutional dimensions into his analysis.

The IMF, The World Bank Group, and the Question of Human Rights features a basic overview of these global financial institutions, their structures and functioning.It proceeds with examples to explain the possible violations of human rights through these institutions’ activities.Included is a sizable summary of the activities of the World Bank and the IMF related to human rights, with a discussion of the political perspective of the integration of human rights inside the Bretton Woods institutions and an analysis of the IFI’s responsibility regime for non-compliance with their human rights obligations and the existing accountability mechanisms.The author ultimately provides a valuable proposal for ways in which the integration of human rights standards inside these institutions may be improved.

This work tries to analyze the legal human rights obligations of the IMF and the World Bank Group institutions in the most objective way.It is particularly relevant for both NGOs and civil society, groups who do not always know what the IFIs are and what they are doing, as well as to IFIs and the private sector for whom human rights are still very vague and more often associated with politics.With its considerable insight, The IMF, The World Bank Group and the Question of Human Rights will be valuable to each of these groups, as well as to students and academics searching for a tool to achieve a greater understanding of these issues.

Bahram Ghazi received his PhD. from the Graduate Institute of International Studies at Geneva.He is a human rights officer at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva.

The IMF, The World Bank Group, and the Question of Human Rights is the fourth volume to be published in Transnational’s International Law and Development series, edited by Raj Bhala. ... Read more

Product Description
As the event management field expands, there has been an emergence of a distinctive 'events' policy field of study and a need for more advanced texts that look at this subject with a multidisciplinary research and theoretical orientation.Events Policy: From Theory to Strategy is the first text to embrace this new direction in the field of events management. Its main aim is to locate the phenomena of events within a theoretical and strategic framework and in doing so demonstrate the links between the development of events in policy making and the theoretical exploration of the role of events as policy. Building on a strong coherent framework the book explores the conceptual terrain in which events and festivities are located, evaluates the range of theoretical perspectives pertinent to the study of events policy, appraises the socio economic and socio cultural implications of event led policies internationally and draws together the main theoretical and event policy issues for the future.It utilises a good range of international cases to help demonstrate the relationships between theory and strategy and includes useful features to help students understand the subject and deepen their knowledge of the events policy terrain.This groundbreaking volume will be essential reading for students, researchers and academics of events and other related disciplines. ... Read more

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