Product Description
Chapters: Cher, El Centro, California, Donal Logue, Ken Howard, Dino Cazares, Glenn Cadrez, Jerry Belson, Dan Hacker. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 76. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Cher (pronounced ; born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946) is an American pop singer-songwriter, actress, director and record producer. She has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and a People's Choice Award for her work in film, music and television. Cher began her career at the age of seventeen and came to prominence as one half of the pop rock duo Sonny ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A review of the abridged audiobook
Ken Howard (most famous for his TV show "The White Shadow") narrates this 6 hour abridgment of a below par political thriller.

Filled with undeveloped story threads that promise something interesting but rarely deliver (the VP has alzheimers, militias are out to assassinate the candidate, the candidate's wife is a bigwig in the CIA, there's dirt on the candidate - all for naught) "The Run" is a great example of a political thriller for people who do not really follow politics. Lots of things won't sit right with folks who watch politics -primaries are still happening in July and August, there is at least one brokered convention (another one is hinted at but it may have been abridged out of my version), the amounts of money spent are tiny, even by year 2000 standards.

Perhaps strangest of all, Bill Clinton is referenced several times throughout this book which purports to be about the year 2000 election. Strangely, Clinton is not the president at the time of the 2000 election, nor had he been removed by impeachment in the story (Woods would have been writing this at the time of Clinton's impeachment). Why not make the election the 2004 or 2008 election? Not a big deal, but it bothered me throughout.

Skip this one. If you want to read a good Stuart Woods thriller, read Chiefs or White Cargo. ... Read more

Product Description
The battle of El Alamein marked the turning point in Britain's fortunes in the Second World War. There were three separate battles between July and November 1942, all of which were fought to halt the advance of Rommel's army towards the Suez Canal. This final battle at El Alamein, fought in October and November, saw the continuous bombardment of the German line that Rommel was instructed to hold at all costs by Hitler himself.The Allies shattered the German defences, and Rommel led a westward retreat in order to salvage what was left of the Afrika Korps.This book provides an in-depth analysis of the battle that turned the tide in favour of the Allies in Africa. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A great read for furthering the history of the Battle of El Alamein.
I thoroughly enjoyed this account of the Battle of El Alamein by Ken Ford. The author has a direct yet descriptive writing style highlighting the key features of this battle, from headquarters down to squad level. This sounds like an easy thing to do, but I have found that many military history writers have trouble blending the strategical and tactical elements of operations into a sensible and attractive picture. The photographs and maps in the book are excellent and support the text very well. Howard Gerrard's illustrations lend the emotional edge, visually, that black and white photographs simply cannot do. This is one of my favorite books dealing with the North African campaign published by Osprey.

Not fun, but there is a good deal of information there
When I first reviewed this book I gave it 3 stars since I had just recently finished another of Osprey's Campaign Books, the one about Tobruk and by comparison I found this one a tad disappointing. Not that it is bad, far from it - it just didin't live up to the standards of the previous book and I didn't become involved with the story.

Since then I have found that I keep coming back to this book. I play wargames and like to use historical background to my games and there is quite a lot covered in this book. It outlines the three major battles, the first battle of El Alamein, the battle of Alam Halfa and the second battle of El Alamein. In the first the Germans were stopped by Auchinleck, the Battle of Alam Halfa was Rommels last offensive stopped by Montgomery and the last was Montgomery's defeat over the Afrika Korps and their Italian allies. The book covers all of these reasonably well.

What it fails to achive is to make the history living enough, possibly because the scope is so large and it being 3 battles rather than one or simply because of the authors style. The text is dry in the main and the maps are complex and lack interesting detail, especially the birds eye view and one map is even in the wrong chapter.

I would have liked to see more detail on the units involved and possibly some perspective of the fighting man. That being said it still provides a very useful summary of these 3 battles and through time I have become to appriciate this book more and more.

Lacks Original Research or Fresh Perspectives
Tackling a well-known subject like the Battle of El Alamein in 1942 and reducing it to a 96-page summary would be a daunting task for most military historians. Unfortunately, the task was clearly beyond author Ken Ford in Osprey Campaign #158, El Alamein 1942, which adds virtually nothing new on the subject and displays a clear lack of any attempt to provide original research or fresh perspectives. Throughout this volume, the author appears content to merely synthesize and summarize material provided by familiar accounts written 20-30 years ago, often incorporating some of the same errors from those older sources that newer research has uncovered.

The author's introductory sections are essentially boilerplate material, particularly in regard to his handling of the reputation of General Montgomery. It is interesting that the author's bibliography does not list Correlli Barnett's The Desert Generals, which while dated, gives a much better insight into the strengths and weaknesses of Montgomery and the other British senior commanders. The section on opposing armies is similar in its skimming the subject, particularly in its superficial coverage of the importance of logistics and air power (note, Martin van Creveld's Supply War is also not in the bibliography, despite his excellent material on the role of logistics in this campaign). Furthermore, given the importance of mines in the campaign, it is odd that the author never discusses the British introduction of flail tanks and new minesweepers, or the German introduction of a new type of mine. Nor does the author make any effort to describe Allied breaching tactics down at the brigade-division level.The author provides order of battles for both sides which appears based upon rather dated and misleading information, as well as omitting any data on air units in the campaign (the strength of opposing air power is never specified). An exhaustive Allied OB for El Alamein done by Dr. Graham Watson a few years ago - and freely available on the internet - reveals significant differences in the assignment of Allied units, particularly armored brigades. The volume includes four 2-D maps (8th Army retreat; First Alamein; Alam Halfa - Rommel's final offensive; Operations Lightfoot and Supercharge; 8th Army drive) and three 3-D BEV maps (Alam El Halfa; the Dog Fight; Operation Supercharge). Given the flat, featureless terrain, the BEVs really don't add anything over a conventional 2-D map, unless they had been "zoomed in" to cover only a very small area.

The volume includes three battle scenes: tanks and anti-tank guns of the Italian Ariete Division attacking south of Ruweisat Ridge; 15th Panzer attacking toward Alam Halfa; the action fought by the 3rd King's Hussars near the Rahman track.It is apparent from these battle scenes that the author has little knowledge of tanks or the specifics of Second World War armor tactics. Two of the battle scenes erroneously depict tanks firing on the move, when in fact the lack of stabilization made this a waste of ammunition. Until the advent of third generation main battle tanks in the 1980s, shoot-on-the-move was not an effective tactic. One battle scene depicts German Pz IV tanks firing both main gun and coax machineguns simultaneously, although usually gunners have a selector switch that only allows them to fire one or the other and these weapons use different sight reticules in any case. As for tactics, all three scenes depict tank charges, which by 1942 both sides had learned were virtually suicidal in the desert (although the British still tried it). One scene depicts Pz IV tanks up front, with Pz IIIs behind, in a loose gaggle; the Germans used wedge formations, with the Pz IIIs up front, and the Pz IVs in back. In the 3rd Hussars scene, three different types of tank are depicted and the text implies that the unit had all three types, but the unit was a Sherman-equipped unit, while the Grant/Lee and Crusader belonged to other battalions in the brigade (thus, they were involved in the attack, but not all in the same battalion).

The lack of original research is apparent throughout this volume. After reading Ken Ford's narrative, I went back and re-read several older accounts by Michael Carver and others and found essentially the same information presented. For example, there is no specific information about either sides' overall casualties at either First El Alamein or Alam Halfa, nor is there any effort to break down the standard Second El Alamein casualty figures by unit. A modest research effort would reveal that the Australian, New Zealand and South Africans have pretty detailed lists of their casualties in the battle. Indeed, the author does not even mention Allied tank losses at El Alamein or that about 30,000 Axis prisoners were taken. Amazingly, this author does not even bother to include that General von Thoma, the Afrika Korps commander, was captured on 4 November.

While the British should be justifiably proud of their victory at El Alamein, this author also tends to avoid some of the criticism that appears in other, better books on the subject. British tank tactics at El Alamein were generally awfully - which is not surprising given that many crews and small unit leaders were only partly trained (most of the trained British tankers having been lost at Gazala). British armor officer and author K. Macksey described the costly British tank attacks at First Alamein as "characterized by supreme gallantry and utter stupidity." Most of all, Montgomery's failure to aggressively pursue and exterminate the remnants of Rommel's forces limited the British victory to an operational, rather than strategic success. Given that the Germans were extremely short of fuel and had only one escape route, Montgomery's failure to coordinate air, land and sea (would have been a good time to land a brigade by sea behind Rommel to cut his escape) forces indicates a lack of both imagination and "killer instinct."Lacking analysis, fresh research or insights, it is hard to view El Alamein 1942 as anything but inadequate.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

My First Matthew Hope
I am an avid fan of Stuart Kaminsky, John D. MacDonald, Cornell Woolrich, and Jim Thompson.Ed McBain fits in incredibly nicely with this amazing authors.I had read Ed McBain before - "Cop Hater" and his incredibly delightful retelling of the Christmas Story with the officers of the 87th precinct.As Evan Hunter, Ed McBain soars as the author of "The Blackboard Jungle."If you haven't seen the movie, you should.Anyway, I will digress... my point is that Ed McBain is a wonderful writer and not to be missed.
This book features Matthew Hope, a Florida attorney, who is hired by Sarah Whittaker to get her out of an institution for the insane.The novel goes back and forth with Matthew believing that she is sane and perfectly normal, not to mention incredibly attractive, and utterly crazy.He tends to go toward the idea that she is normal, probably because she not only seems to know what is going on, but also because he would love to be involved romantically with her.Did I mention that she's due to inherit over a billion dollars?
The plot twists and turns over the delusions that Sarah is supposed to possess and the discovery of a decomposing body in the swampy areas of the Florida coast.It seems for a long time that the two plots have nothing to do with one another. Or do they?Well, I won't spoil any plot points, but I do want to say that the final explanation is a wonderfully brilliant stream of consciousness (in my opinion, delivered in a much better way than Virginia Wolf) that was so eloquent that it will stay with me for years to come.
I read somewhere that Evan Hunter didn't want to use his real name when writing mysteries because he didn't think the genre was "serious" enough, thus coming up with the pseudonymn Ed McBain.Well, he had nothing to be ashamed of... Matthew Hope is a hero for the ages, all the while maintaining the appeal of Travis McGee and Toby Peters-- real men characters.

Great read...
This is a pretty short novel featuring Matthew Hope as a lawyer who often ends up playing detective (also an older book...1985).In this story, there are two plot lines going on.In the first, Hope is retained by a young lady who's been involuntarily committed to a mental institution.She seems very sane, and blames the situation on her mother who is trying to control a chunk of money she's inherited.In the other plot line (that seems totally unrelated), a pair of detectives find the body of a young lady in a swamp.She was shot in the throat and her tongue was cut out, and she's been there for six to nine months.As the two plots unfold, they start moving towards each other with a twist at the end...Good read.

Masterpiece
Probably the best of the Matthew Hope novels. Excellent plotting and characterizations. The cops, Bloom and Rawles, are wonderful, full dimensional characters. I love Matthew Hope's naivete, he's an unreliable narrator who has a "hope"ful view of humanity, unlike McBain himself, or whatever his name is. This one's great! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Dated, boring & predictable
It's very difficult to review this story without spoiling it, so I decided that the concerns of the reader are more important, and that the author shouldn't be able to hide his story's faults behind some thin secrets, so here goes.

"Stealth", which is very much a cold-war thriller, offers the hapless story of a DIA analyst, Michael Pretorius, used to crack open a large-scale KGB counterintelligence operation on American soil.Pretorius retired from intelligence following a disastrous mission-gone-wrong in East Germany.Captured, he was cracked.The Russians let Pretorius think that his story held, but the Americans know that Pretorius's debrief was much more thorough than the spy realizes.Without letting on, Defense Intelligence Agency brings him back. They tell him that he's needed to pose as a scientist assigned to develop warplanes and give allow himself to be captured by the Soviets.In the process, he is to turn over much flawed information on the America's newest technological achievement, the BAT-3 Stealth Bomber.BAT-3 will exceed both existing stealth aircraft and soviet technology geared to detect them.With Pretorius in their control, the Soviets will have no idea that his information has been altered, that they will be sent down a myriad of blind alleys.Unfortunately, when captured, Pretorius is almost immediately recognized, and his interrogators go even deeper, fully cracking him.Pretorius regains consciousness knowing that he has been completely compromised and that the Soviets now possess everything, the intentionally distorted stuff and the very real data.Breaking free, he finds himself on the run from the Soviets but also from his own side.

SPOILER.BEGINS HERE
It takes very little time before the reader figures out the secret - there is no new Stealth bomber, it's all a sham to distract the Soviets from America's real weapon, "Star Wars". (Did I mention that this was very much a DATED cold war thriller?)I mean, if Pretorius isn't really an engineer, why tell him any genuine information on BAT-3?For that matter, why tell him that he's expected to be captured?In maintaining the sham, the Americans dragoon a captured Russian Tu-160 bomber tailored to look like the new American warplane.Going on the run, Pretorius will eventually learn that his handlers and hunters are one and the same, that there is a deeper conspiracy than the one involving the Russians - an idea that seemed old even when Coonts used it better in "Minotaur".
END SPOILER

The problem with Stealth, besides its failed twist, is the fact that it's not very thrilling.The author has very unexacting ideas of what a technothriller is supposed to be.None of his major characters are involved in the stealth aircraft (they do seem to know a lot about it - rattling off scads of data likely culled from a handy copy of "Janes").Instead, they seem to know more about fine dining, the best wines, the hautest of cuisine.Before he can even get a chance to show his hero is really a genuine character, Durham insists on letting his remote home, his antique stove, his distinguishing palette and his ability to get a fine dinner whenever he wants.This was all okay in the days of James Bond, but the end of the cold war was supposed to be lead to more believable characters, and Pretorius is at least a few steps behind in that unlike Bond, he actually manages a few bits of genuine heroism between sips of Dom Perignon '56.Nothing Pretorius does makes much sense, and like the story, he goes nowhere real fast.Reading "Stealth" ominously reminds me of Pat Robinson - like Robinson, Durham populates his stories with men who are meant to be heroic even though they navigate nothing more than the menu of an expensive restaurant.In other spots, Durham exhibits the worst traits of genre authors - not content (or able) to excite the reader, Durham thinks he's in a position to educate the reader.At best, he doesn't so much educate as try to make himself sounded educated.Unfortunately, like those pricey menus, Durham's prose on the exotic sie of espionage look like a copy of something somebody else already wrote - he names the different gun-fighting positions rather than fleshes out the severity that drives men to choose one over the other.

This may be a bit demanding, but in reality the genera has done better.Looking to uplift myself, I picked up the original, "Flight of the Intruder" as well as "Firefox" and the newer "Dangerous Ground" by Larry Bond.Along with David Poyer and even Joe Buff, there is proof that the technothriller genre can still deliver good thrills along with prose that don't insult their readers.

Fantastic Read
This book was a great read. Thrill-a-minute.

I had hoped to read more of Guy's work, but, as far as I know, he only wrote one more book.

A Very Plesased Reader
This book was great. I loved the detail it went into. I especially liked the parts of action. The thrill just keep me reading. Thank you Mr. Durham.

Book was a marvel of technical details and fiction
Guy Durham masterfully tells a spy tale with grity details of the processes along the way. He includes a myriad of interesting characters and plot twists in a live-action way, Bravo!

This book was excellent
I read this book a number of years ago and found it to be one of the best works of fiction that I've ever read. It is difficult to follow at times and I can understand how certain individuals may find it boring, but I would definetely recommend this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Painfully boring
This is a case where the reader can make or break a book.Paul Shay conveys no emotion or definition of character. It was so painful I barely got through the first cassette before I finally decided I couldn't listen to the book.I recently enjoyed McBain's Big, Bad, City so I like the author.

Cinderella turns into a hooker who steals!
The book begins with Otto's suspicions towards somebody following him.He is a private detective who spies upon people if he gets hired for that.We find out that Otto gets shot from a person who had been following him on aToyata.The news of Otto's death shocks Matthew Hope (The Main Character)and he tries to get into the reason he was murdered. The first suspiciongoes to Carla Nettington's husband Dan because he was being followed byOtto.Otto even managed to place a voice activated microphone in Dan'sgirlfriend's house.But the story goes on and shifts towards two spics whohad been trying to find the Cinderella.Here she is called the Cinderellabecause she uses a lot of different names so it is difficult to track herdown and in the process killing her two step sisters.She is being hunted for having stolen a gold Rolex watch and four keys of Coke(DRUGS). She hasan interesting character in the book.And all the stories end up with her.The book is really worth reading and is quite interesting. Happy Reading! ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Chief Executive (U.S.), published by Chief Executive Publishing on March 1, 2000. The length of the article is 901 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: Crushing the Copper Mile.(Brief Article)
Author: Ken Howard
Publication: Chief Executive (U.S.) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2000
Publisher: Chief Executive Publishing
Page: 20

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description

Many problems related to groundwater and ecosystems are shared by countries throughout the world and there is growing recognition that much can be gained by co-operation on an international scale. This is no time for complacency and it is critical that key problems be identified, that the potential consequences of these problems be understood, and that the development of solutions begins urgently. Important data gaps must be recognized and filled without delay.

Product Description