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The first part of this page are reviews of books that I have read. The first part of the review is my personal feelings about the book. Following that is the summary from the inside cover. I was going to write my own summaries but figured they paid these people to write them and I wouldn't want their hard work to go to waste; besides I figure the writer at least got to acknowledge the summary so what the hay.
The following is a list of the different topics of books reviewed. Under each topic are the books listed in alphabetical order by title. If there is something that you'd like me to review or you want to disagree, or add or whatever E-MAIL ME!!! at csl@idirect.ca Thank You and enjoy.
Writing 
A good book. I learned a few things from it. It provides an interesting look at writing, by focusing on the three parts of a story: beginnings, middles and ends. There is more of a focus on beginnings because that is where the punch is needed, the reader is gripped and the set up for the whole story is set up, to sort of para-phrase the author. Very good if you're stuck at a particular part of your story or if you tend to have certain areas where you have trouble. A B+.
Is the story or novel you've been carrying around in your head the same one you see on the page? Or does the dialogue suddenly sound flat and predictable? The events seem to ramble?
Translating a flash of inspiration into a compelling story requires careful crafting. The words an you choose, how you describe characters, and the way you orchestrate conflict all make the difference - the difference between a story that is slow to begin, flounders midway, or trails off at the end - and one that holds the interest of the readers and editors to the final page.
By demonstrating effective solutions for potential problems at each stage of your story, Nancy Kress can help you:
Dozens of exercises help you strengthen your short story or novel. Plus you'll sharpen skills and gain new insight into:
Let this working resource bye your guide to successful stories - from beginning to end.
Order Beginnings, Middles, and Ends (The Elements of Fiction Writing) Hardcover from Amazon Today!
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People tend to take a somewhat idealistic view of writers and editors - and their craft. But, like it or not, writing and editing is a business, just like any other. Starving in a garret while slaving over your masterpiece might sound romantic, but most writers have a strong desire to make a living from their efforts.
The business of writing offers a down-to-earth, no-nonsense approach to the practical and business aspects of freelance writing and editing in Canada. It guides the novice freelancer through the rocky shoals of deciding whether a freelance career is for you, self-promotion, market research, equipping your workspace, basic accounting skills, writing proposals and query letters, making contracts, negotiating prices, and delivering your work on time and on budget.
The business of writing is filled with first-hand experiences (the good and bad), tips and techniques. A resource guide to professional groups rounds out the essential information you will need to pursue a successful career in freelance writing and editing in Canada today.
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Very good if dated book for creative writing. It's also styled towards the british market which doesn't detract much. Some useful ideas on use of the basics of writing i.e. theme, character, plot, etc. I give it a B+.
Most successful authors will have a copy of Teach Yourself Creative Writing on their bookshelves, because it is the ideal practical handbook for every aspiring author.
This new edition features lively and up-to-date examples and exercises at the end of every chapter to get you writing. It examines all the main forms of writing - articles, short stories, poetry, plays, novels and nonfiction - and the different techniques of writing for adults or children, radio or TV. Throughout the book, Dianne Doubtfire, an experienced author of both fiction and nonfiction, offers clear guidance on how to get started and how to develop your talent, helping you acquire the essential skills for a successful writing career.
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This is a freelancer's book written by a former freelancer now editor. As such you get an insider's view on what is needed to be a successful freelancer. There aren't a lot of hints for improving your writing or picking subjects or any thing like that. The author assumes either you have the necessary ability and talent needed or you'll learn soon enough that you don't. Instead the focus is more on what to do to get in the door and stay inside. That is getting the attention of the editor and once you do get it how to keep it. I'll give you the main tip in two sentences. Do good work. Write what the editor asks for, write it well and write it on time. The author goes into more detail and explains more of how to do it. Not a bad investment if you're looking to get into freelancing. I give it a B+.
Countless books on the market teach how to write. This book teaches how to sell. Freelancers are taught how to think like an editor, how to connect with the right editor, and how to follow through. Includes editing examples, samples, best publications and web sites for freelancers, and interviews with professionals like Helen Gurley Brown, Fran Hodgkins, and many others.
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I wouldn't mind having Stein as an editor but I wouldn't want to read his books. Which kinda describes how I feel about this book. I can appreciate what he has to say I just don't agree with it all the time. I really liked the part at the end when he talks about the publishing industry and editing. As a writer its hard to take tips about writing from someone using examples, he uses his own writing and edited writing, that you don't think are very good. I give this book a C.
Each year thousands of fiction writers, from beginners to bestelling authors, benefit from Sol Stein's sold-out workshops, featured appearances at writers' conferences, software for writers, on-line columns, and his popular first book for writers, Stein on Writing. Stein practices what he teaches: He is the author of nine novels, including the million-copy bestseller The Magician, as well as the editor of such major writers as James Baldwin, Jack Higgins, Elia Kazan, Budd Schulberg, W.H. Auden, and Jacques Barzun, and the teacher and editor of several current bestselling authors. What sets Stein apart is his practical approach. He provides specific techniques that speed writers to successful publication.
How to Grow a Novel is not just a book, but an invaluable workshop in print. It includes details and examples from Stein's editorial work with #1 bestselling novelist as well as talented newcomers. Stein takes the reader backstage in the development of memorable characters and fascinating plots. The chapter on dialogue overflows with solutions for short-story writers, novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights. Stein shows what readers are looking for - and what they avoid - in the experience of reading fiction. The book offers guidelines - and warnings - of special value for nonfiction writers who want to move into fiction. Stein points to the little, often overlooked things that damage the writer's authority without the writer knowing it. And this book, like no other writing book, takes the reader behind the scenes of the publishing business as it affects writers of every level of experience, revealing the hard truths that are kept behind shut doors.
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As literary agent, Noah Lukeman hears thousands of book pitches in a year. Often the stories sound great in concept but never live up to their potential on the page. The Plot Thickens analyzes the classic elements of storytelling, showing beginning and advanced writers alike how to implement the fundamentals of successful plot development, such as character building and heightened suspense and conflict.
With a warm and conversational tone, Noah Lukeman offers writers innovative principals, techniques, and numerous thought-provoking exercises. His frequent references to book, film, and TV classics make for a lively and accessible read. Writers will find it impossible to walk away from this invaluable guide - a veritable fiction-writing workshop - without boundless new ideas.
Order The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life Hardcover from Amazon Today!
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*Taken from the Introduction*
Why self-editing?
Because self-editing is probably the only kind of editing your manuscript will ever get.
Not too many years ago, an author with obvious talent and style sold a novel or short-story collection to a publishing house and then revised it under the guidance of the editor who signed the book up. Gifted editors routinely spent enormous amounts of creative energy and blue pencil lead to bring the manuscript to its fullest potential.
That was then. ....
If the plot is strong enough or topical enough or the characters engaging enough, the manuscript is signed up and put into print- "potential" be damned.
...
...
...
Which is what you'll be doing with this book. we aren't going to tell you how to plot your novel or develop your characters. What we're going to do is teach you the craft of editing. The mechanics of dialogue, point of view, interior monologue; the tricks to striking the most effective balance between narrative summary and immediate scenes; the techniques whose adoption brands your manuscript as the work of a professional instead of an amateur.
Our purpose is to train you to see your manuscript the way an editor might see it - to do for yourself what a publishing house editor once might have done. Exercises and examples will show you how to become an editor as well as a writer.
A word of warning: writing and editing are two different processes requiring two different mind sets. Don't try to do both at once. The time to edit is not while you're writing your draft. But once that first draft is finished, you can use the principles in this book to increase-dramatically- the effectiveness of the story you've told and the way you've told it.
What's being covered is the aspect of writing that creative writing programs and books-concerned with the art of writing- most often overlook: editing. Because the way to learn editing is, still, to learn it from another editor.
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An excellent guide for writing science fiction and fantasy. Gerrold takes you behind the writing of the words to the building of worlds and people that make a story come alive. You learn to think of your writing as more than the telling of events into creating an experience in a different place and time. He gives you writing from a writers perspective and with a real respect and love for the genres of science fiction and fantasy. I give this an A+.
Science fiction and fantasy books showcase the range and power of the human imagination, transporting readers to strange worlds, lost civilizations, and brave new realities.
Now, with the help of David Gerrold, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author, you'll learn, step-by-step, how to turn your words into works of wonder, gaining insight into the craft as well as techniques that will immediately improve your writing. Drawing on a careers spanning four decades of writing and teaching, Gerrold's infectious passion for his craft and profession, an inspired obsession he calls his "stardrive." Worlds of Wonder will ignite the engines of your enthusiasm in ways that will astonish you.
So go ahead and ask "what if...?" The answer is up to you.
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A Canadian freelance book by a Canadian freelance writer. Wylie gives it to you like it is just the way its been for her. If you want to do freelance writing in Canada, and you want to hear from somebody in the biz then this is the book for you. Freelance writing is her job and she treats it like it is one. She loves her job, I don't know if she could do another job but a job it is. She was forced to freelance write to live and to be successful at it survive.
She tells you up front don't expect to get rich (or modestly wealthy) freelancing. She explains pitfalls and expectations. Not everyone's story is like hers but if you plan on freelancing in Canada it's a story worth hearing. I give the book a B.
If you want to make a living as a freelance writer in Canada, Betty Jane Wylie is the person to tell you how to do it. Wylie writes full-time newspaper and magazine articles, columns, books, plays, poetry, screenplays, belle lettres and lyrics for musicals.
The Write Track is a personal and practical look at the author's freelance experience as she tells how she made it from uncertain early days to the growing confidence of a veteran. This guide is packed with the information a freelance writer needs to know, including:
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A good book that gives some interesting insights into the writing of fantasy and science fiction. Good for anyone who wants to write fiction of any genre. I enjoyed it and found it easy to read with practical applications for my writing. Also some larger themes were presented that challenges the writer to think about what they are writing. I give it a B+.
Whether you're writing science fiction or fantasy your basic theme is power and how to use it. Your plot is always a political one: who should have the power and on what terms? Maybe your heroes pay a high price for their power; maybe they abandon their power for the sake of love.
If power is your basic theme, your story - whether a 500-word short-story or an epic trilogy - is anecdotal evidence for your particular mythic vision of the world. As a writer of science fiction or fantasy, you tell the reader how your imaginary world works in human terms, what kinds of values best inspire good behavior, what kinds of hazards and personal flaws can subvert such behavior. Your story may take place in a gaudy world of demons and elves or on the satellite of a giant planet 50,000 light-years from here - but it is till a comment about the here and now.
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STRATEGY, HISTORY, AND MILITARY
This book gives a thorough explanation of the troops and equipment used during the Persian Gulf War and the build up to the war. The authors dig to find the most accurate numbers. Also give expert analysis on the Iraqi army and coalition forces in terms of diplomacy and experience. Also good background on the history of the region. I give the book an A.
The real story of the 1991 Gulf War.
From Shield to Storm is a book by two experts but is not a book for "the experts," though given the dismal performance of many "pre-war expert military analysts" some of them could stand to read it. When it comes to military history and military affairs, there are always plenty of books for and by the experts. But the rest of the world, those who foot the bill for vast military establishments and the think tanks (or universities) which employ the experts, are often left puzzling out acronyms, dense jargon and thicker prose of the experts' tomes. Rich in detail and observation, From Shield to Storm is spritely and at times, necessarily irreverent. From Shield to Storm contains easy-to-read details on the combat units involved, how they were organized, their weapons and equipment, how they fought and how they managed to obtain such a lopsided victory. Similar details are also provided for the Iraqis. Political, social and historical background is also provided.
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There is alot on early warfare, i.e. before gunpowder was used in the west and pre-WWI. Keegan focuses too much on disproving Clausewitzian theory of war. He does do a good job even though he admits Clauswitz does have some validity. Keegan makes the argument that warfare is conducted more on cultural basis and biases than as an extension of politics. There is a good look at warfare as it has been done across the centuries and across cultures and lands. Thorough in what it covers and extensive in its arguments. I give it a B+.
John Keegan believes that the history of warfare has for too long been written either as a specialist study of 'war as the continuation of politics' or as a horror story. Its place at the heart of human cultures and the enormous variety of forms it takes in different societies has too often been ignored. The narrative of the book moves from the strangely ritualistic combat of Stone Age peoples to the nihilistic destructiveness of mass warfare in the modern age, in an historical sweep which covers human aggression in a variety of contexts: the rule-bound battles of Roman legions, the power of an 'idea' in warmaking by Islam, the unrestrained aggressiveness of the steppe horse peoples from Attila to Genghis Khan and the attempts of Chinese civilization to attain its ends without violence.
The author demonstrates how particular cultures and their styles of warmaking go hand in hand. He also attaches his analysis to the great changes in military technology - the discoveries of bronze and iron, the taming of the horse to the chariot and riding, the introduction of gunpowder and the mobilization of science and industry to produce the weapons of mass destruction of the twentieth century, culmination in the development of the atomic bomb.
A history of Warfare stresses that warmaking, for all its destructiveness, has been an inescapable feature of human culture since organized societies emerged. It also recognizes, however, that man has consistently sought to limit the effects of his own capacity for violence and that now, in the nuclear age, he has no alternative to making limitation effective if he is to survive.
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An encyclopedia of modern military machinery and warfare. Thorough in its look at tactics and the weapons that are used by the armed forces. I would have liked to see a bit more of a look at what could be next though admittedly the author does answer the question in a way by saying that it's more likely to be more of the same with a lot more electronics until the next big war. And then it'll be lots of surprises. I guess my only complaint about the book is that it's not sexy enough. And considering that real war and the armed forces that gets the job done aren't sexy that's probably as big a compliment as anything else. This book gets an A.
An indispensable guide to how wars are fought, James F. Dunnigan's classic text has been enormously popular with citizens, professional soldiers, and journalists alike. Now, it's been revised to include a stunning array of new subjects. From the cutting edge of cyberwar to the current concern about terrorism, How to Make War presents a clear picture of complex weapons, armed forces, and tactics.
Describing a new world order, one with a greater number of equipped players than the "Big Two" (the United States and the former Soviet Union), this updated edition features all the elements of traditional warfare, along with a discussion of terrorist techniques; nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; and Third World ballistic missiles.Past editions of How to Make War were chillingly accurate in assessing and predicting the outcomes of all the major conflicts in the past two decades. Loaded with expertise and the latest information, this edition is an essential reference for any military library -- and a work that forewarns, and forearms, the Free World for the conflicts ahead.
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This is a book about modern military campaigns and the military intelligence or lack there of involved. I enjoyed this book, it gives a often overlooked perspective on military battles and campaigns. It also tells some of the pitfalls of modern military intelligence and where they have triumphed and failed. There are examples from WWII, the Falkland Wars and the Gulf War plus a few more. Not all of the results can lay at the feet of military intelligence but it does give a good perspective of what didn't happen as far as intelligence was concerned and what happened because of that lack. For a different perspective and insight into well known modern wars and the often overlooked and not talked about intelligence and the mistakes they make. I give it an A.
In this controversial, eye-opening book, a long-serving professional military intelligence officer examines and analyzes the mistakes in military judgment that have resulted in some of the major catastrophes in the air, at sea, and on the battlefield since the crushing defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.
Colonel John Hughes-Wilson not only explores how events have conspired to cause disasters in modern military history but also demonstrates why-and the reason more often than not lies in the failure of politicians and seasoned generals alike to understand and appreciate fully the value of crucial intelligence information. Hughes-Wilson shows how, for one instance, American bureaucratic bungling and inter-service rivalries collaborated with the Japanese in their devastating attack on Pearl Harbor-despite the fact that the US was monitoring Japan's top-secret radio traffic-and he reveals why, for another, the Viet Cong's Tet Offensive of 1968 took the world's most technologically advanced army completely by surprise.
In Hitler's Berlin, as in Saddam Hussein's Baghdad, this book discloses the lapses, errors, miscalculations, and underestimations of military intelligence that have shaped our wars and defined our times.
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A very good book. It details the history of war from the viewpoint of weapons and their development. You can see the way men of war looked to their ideal of aggression and/or warrior spirit and how that affected the manner in which they fought. From the ancient Greeks to the soldier of WW II. This book provides a viewpoint different from the usual analysis of strategy. I highly recommend it and added it to my collection. I give it an A+.
In a sweeping narrative that ranges from prehistoric times to the nuclear age, Robert O'Connell demonstrates how social and economic conditions determine the types of weapons and the tactics used in warfare and how, in turn, innovations in weapons technology often undercut social values. He describes, for instance, how the invention of the gun required a redefinition of courage from aggressive ferocity to calmness under fire; how the technology unleashed during World War I radically altered our perceptions of ourselves, as the new weapons made human qualities almost irrelevant in combat; and how the invention of the atomic bomb, humanity itself became subservient to the weapons it had produced. Of Arms and Men brilliantly integrates the evolution of politics, weapons, strategy and tactics into a coherent narrative, one spiced with striking portraits of men in combat and penetrating insights into why men go to war.
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Must reading for anyone dealing with or interested in embargoes and their effectiveness. Highly researched. The author also does an excellent job of putting his own views or judgements in while still getting in personal insights and opinions. Well written and actually entertaining. I give it an A.
The biggest fan of the economic sanctions imposed by western nations on Iraq may be their intended victim. Saddam Hussein (just like Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic and others before them both) thrives on his pariah status. Neither he personally, nor any member of his ruling circle is affected by a shortage of consumer goods: the people with money and power can always get what they want. It's the general population that suffers. But far from driving a wedge between the mass of the Iraqi people and their malevolent ruler sanctions tend to unite them against the world. We, after all, are the ones denying them the chance to prosper. In Patriots and Profiteers, R.T. Naylor demonstrates conclusively that sanctions almost always fail, not only in Iraq, but also anywhere they are applied. They fail because:
This is a history unlike any other, told with verve and wit, populated by an extraordinary underworld of warriors and smugglers, gangsters and spies who are engaged in activities that would strain credulity if their acts were not so thoroughly documented.
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A very thorough and broad look at the way of the samurai of japan. It takes a look at the different types of weapons and armor used and also at unarmed combat. The authors focus on individual combat and weapons. I give it a C+. A little long for an overview and too broad for a focused study.
Secrets of the Samurai is a definitive study of the martial arts of feudal Japan, illustrating in detail the weapons, techniques,strategies and principles of combat that made the Japanese warrior a supremely effective foe.
Commencing with a survey of the tumultuous early struggles for political domination, Secrets of the Samurai describes the relentless progress of the military class toward absolute power. Each of the major ancient martial arts is examine in detail, and is evolution traced through the roles played by famous masters of arms and fighters. The less-well-known training methods are explored - these were intended to aid in the development of a man's inner power, to fuse his energies into a concentrated force.
The book traces the history of Japanese marital arts to the threshold of modern times, providing the background for the better understanding of current practices.
With hundreds of illustrations, Secrets of the Samurai provides insight into the martial arts, armed and unarmed, throughout history.
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I liked this book. It gave an excellent account of the making and building up of the CandadianSecurityE's embassy collection. David Frost's accounts of his work for them is both interesting and informative. He also sprinkles his opinions throughout without opionizing the book or sounding preachy.
For those interested in a first hand account of a Canadian spy or of the spy world in general this is an excellent read. I did wish that there was more on Frost and his downfall from grace and his battles with he personal demons, but other than that I have no complaints. A B+ book.
For twenty years Canada has been spying on other nations outside public scrutiny or Parliamentary review and frequently acting at the behest of U.S. and UK. intelligence agencies, Canada has been spying electronically from its embassies in capitals as far-flung as Moscow, New Delhi, Bucharest, Rabat and Caracas. It has then shared the results with its allies. There is every reason to believe Canada is still doing "embassy collection" today. Techniques developed during the "Cold War" have been honed for political and economic espionage in the nineties.
The agency responsible is the top-secret Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of whose existence most Canadians are unaware. CSE has also used sophisticated equipment, much of it provided by the U.S., to listen in on Canadian and on American citizens, raising vital questions about civil liberties and the invasion of privacy. It has intercepted communications from the Soviet embassy in Ottawa; from British cabinet ministers; from the governments of France and Quebec; from suspected Sikh terrorists in India; and from the Kremlin. Its record is impressive: if it wants to, it can intercept almost any phone, fax or radiowave transmission.
How do we know all this? Because one man, Mike Frost, a communications officer at CSE for 19 years, has decided that in the post-"Cold War" era it is time for the Canadian public to be told what its government has been doing and for a public debate to ensue.
As he tells the story of his career, he paints a remarkable picture of the Security Establishments of Canada, the U.S. and the UK The Americans in particular are revealed as possessing high-tech wizardry that they use for political and economic spying - including according to Frost, highly controversial spying of the Canadian government. Much of Canada's spying from 1972 to 1990 was undertaken for the Americans. Frost and his immediate boss were at the center of the "embassy-collection" scheme, which was code-named "Project Pilgrim". The story of how "Pilgrim" progressed by trial and error into a highly successful operation is full of drama, comedy, triumphs and frustrations.
Frost is proud of the achievements but the questionable aspects of CSE's activities have led him to go public on both CSE's successes and its excesses. While scrupulously careful about not jeopardizing national security or endangering the lives of agents in the field, he nonetheless reveals an institution whose powers are potentially so great that they need to be subject to Parliamentary control and public scrutiny. Spyworld will undoubtedly spur debate and controversy. It is also a breathtaking read.
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This is an excellent book for anyone interested in military history and/or strategy. I think it should be a necessity for anyone who is in the position of being in charge of any armed force.
The Making of Strategy is about the messy, but practical, process through which rulers and states have actually framed strategy. The book consists of seventeen case studies, all using a common interpretive framework, ranging from fifth-century Athens and Ming China to Hitler's Germany, Israel, and the post-1945 United States. The introduction to the volume emphasizes the constants in the rapidly shifting world of the strategist. The conclusion tries to understand the forces that have driven the transformation of strategy since 400 B.C. and seem likely to continue to transform it in the future.
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I enjoyed this book and its look at possible conflicts in the near future. There were only a few minor problems that I saw with it.
Other than these personal gripes it is a very good book. An A. It was also very interesting reading this book and looking at current military news that happened. A strong suggest for anybody interested in America's military prepardeness.
Will America be ready for its next war? That is the dead-serious question behind each of the hypothetical war scenarios that compose this sobering yet compellingly readable book.
In The Next War, former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and bestselling author Peter Schweizer dramatize the outbreak, progress, and outcome of major wars most likely to occur over the next dozen years. They include:
To predict the performance of U.S. forces- and the outcome for America and her allies- the authors use the latest and most authoritative assessments of our technical resources, troop prepardness, and deployment capabilities. Their portrayal of both American and foreign weapon systems reflect current trends and the findings of military research.
Modeling their narratives on the Pentagon's computerized war simulations, Weinberger and Schweizer also consider a variety of nonmilitary factors in projecting the course of events. Geography, demographics, the psychological traits of leaders, and political interests are just some of the additional ingredients that go into the "war game" mix.
The Next War does not purport to predict the future. Rather, it aims to lay bare the dangers that America and the world may soon face due to declining U.S. military readiness in the face of escalating world instability. Ever since Desert Storm, the authors note in their introduction, the United States has suffered from "victory disease" - the belief that our military superiority is so overwhelming that our defense budget can be cut almost without limit. As these "war games" are meant to dramatize, we persist i such folly at our peril.
Nevertheless, the scenarios in The Next War can be enjoyed as action-packed, spine-tingling entertainments. After all, they're only fiction
For now.
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This book read alot like a text book. Which is good if you're looking for information for a paper or somehting like that. Not so hot if you're looking for a good read. I admit I only got a little more than half way through. But the information was good and interesting in its way. As a text book or info book it gets a B as a good read it gets a C-.
How has the end of the Cold War affected America's intelligence agencies? When are aggressive clandestine operations justifiable, and who should be responsible for deciding to proceed with them? Should the United States engage in more aggressive economic espionage? These are just a few of the issues Lock Johnson examines in this thoughtful assessment of strategic intelligence and its vital role in modern governments. Johnson draws on historical data, more than 500 interviews, and his own experience working for congressional committees on intelligence. He begins by defining the functions of intelligence: espionage, counterintelligence, and covert action. He then provides an overview of America's secret operations abroad, assess the moral implications of clandestine operations, and offers guidelines for a more ethical approach to the use of secret power. Johnson explores the question of intelligence accountability, looking closely at how well intelligence agencies have been monitored through the forum of congressional hearings. he compares America's approach to intelligence with that of other nations, discusses the degree to which intelligence agencies should provide information about foreign businesses, and evaluates how well the U.S. intelligence agencies fared during the Cold War against the USSR. Secret agencies have the capacity not only to safeguard democracy but also to subvert it, says Johnson. As such, they deserve both our support and our scrutiny.
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I added this one to my personal collection. It is basically the author's interpretation of Sun Tzu's the Art of War and applies it to modern military strategy. The book also puts it in Western context using Western military battles as examples. I liked the author's grouping of the teachings into principles and the examples that he gives. Also his chapter on Sun Tzu and terrorism gives the book a relevant feel. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to get a grasp on the ides of the ideas of The Art of War, especially in a Western context. But I would also highly recommend reading through the translation of the original at the end of the book. I give this an A.
Long acknowledged as a classic text on strategy, Sun Tzu's The Art of War had been admired by leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong and General Norman Schwartzkopf. However, written two thousand years old, the book can often be hard to fathom.
Now Mark McNeilly, author of Sun Tzu and the Art of Business, which made Sun Tzu accessible to the business executive, has extracted six concepts most applicable to modern warfare, making them easy to understand and apply to military situations. Drawing on a wealth of fascinating historical examples, McNeilly shows how these six principles might be used in wars of the future--limited actions, regional conflicts--and how they can provide insight into current affairs, such as the future course of China's increasingly important strategic and military role in the world. He describes how to win the information war, how to lead by example, and how to use alliances to defeat the opponent. Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from Sun Tzu, especially for strategists who want to maximize their resources, is how to "win without fighting". And, should fighting be unavoidable, victory should be achieved in a manner that minimizes losses, leaves the victor stronger and ensures a lasting peace.
Including the full text of The Art of War in the popular Griffith translation, with cross-references to quotations used in the book, Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare unlocks these elusive secrets for anyone interested in strategy and warfare, whether they are professional soldiers, military history buffs, or business executives.
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I'd give this book a C. Not great but readable. There was alot of focus on the threat of nuclear terrorism or/and some rouge nation getting and using the bomb. I didn't think there needed to be such an emphasis. That to me is a present technology and threat. While high-tech I would not imagine needing it needing so much focus.
Of course alot of that may come from the people he interviewed and went to for information for the book. Actual military personnel and scientist working on the future projects of weapons for the US and Britain. For that I give this book very high marks. The author gets a front of the line feel for where tomorrows weapons will be coming from. The writing was pretty good. Nothing spectacular, journalistic mainly in its style. All in all a C book. but likely to become dated fairly quickly. Actually more dated fairly quickly.
The high-technology weapons of the Gulf War amazed the world, but they are only the start of a revolution in future warfare based on computer power and the silicon chip. The arms race has not stopped but rather become more unpredictable and detribalizing. Scientists in leading military laboratories are hard at work on a new generation of weapons of startling inventiveness: robot soldiers the size of ants, genetically modified algae that can be bred to destroy computer data, superglues that would literally stop a tank dead in its tracks, and bioengineered insects that could immobilize enemy soldiers.
David Shukman writes with an expert's eye for detail, a knack for finding the right source, secret document or image to illustrate a complex situation, and a keen sense of the absurd. From the RAND Corporation and the Pentagon to Malvern - Britain's weapons development center - to the command central of the secret "crown of thorns" defense instillation that encircles Moscow, to the belly of an AWACS spyplane flying over Iraq, Tomorrow's War provides valuable insight into how a revolution in hardware (and software) will affect both our military and our political future.
Shukman is equally illumination about the effect of these weapons on the politics of the future. Is a nuclear bomb the proper response to an attack by biological weapon? How can we defend ourselves now that almost anyone - enemy countries but also terrorists and maniacs - can leapfrog their way to technological threat, as attacks in Tokyo, Paris and Oklahoma City have shown? There are as yet no answers to these questions, but Tomorrow's War shapes them with brilliant, sometimes chilling clarity.
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A look at the war in Kosovo. It combines a personal and objective point of view provided by the author. Ignatieff gives his own feelings yet provides an objective background and a pretty well balanced perspective on events. In the last chapter he uses Kosovo as an example/test case for his views on "virtual war". I disagree with some of his conclusions and some of his backing is sometimes shallow but this isn't a theoretical book on virtual war nor does it clam to be. It is just the author's views put in a concise "here's what I think" kind of way. I give the book overall a B/B-.
In May 1999, in the vast tent city that sprang up overnight under the Macedonian skies, one desperate request was not for food or water but for cellular phones - to find children, husbands, parents missing in he chaos of Kosovo. From phones to laser-guided missiles, this was war at the end of the twentieth century, where technology rules.
In "real" wars, whole nations are mobilized, soldiers fight and die, victories are won. In virtual war, hostilities may not even be declared; the combatants are strike pilots and computer programmers, the watching nation is a television audience and instead of victory there is just an uncertain endgame. Kosovo was a virtual war: fought by pilots at 15,000 feet, commanded by generals whose only view of the battle was through their pilots' bombing sights, reported by opposing media with competing versions of the damage; a war in which American and NATO forces did the fighting but only Kosovars and Serbs did the dying.
Michael Ignatieff has travelled these battle zones for a decade, sending back moving reports and penetrating analysis. Yet Kosovo in 1999 moved armed aggression into a new phase, and in Virtual War he examines this strange, remote type of warfare through the eyes of the key players - Canadian judge Louise Arbour, former chief prosecutor of the War Crimes Tribunal; roving diplomat Richard Holbrooke; and General Wesly Clarke - as well as of the people who suffered.
Probing, challenging and profound, this book raises fundamental questions about warfare and human values as we confront a new millennium.
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War and Anti- War focuses on the what the authors call "the third wave", referenced from the earlier book dealing with the new wave in business, as it involves war and preventing war. Two thirds of the book deals with war and it's changes and future. The last third deals with preventing war and the need for a new way and approach to the way war is prevented because of the changes anticipated in the way war will be waged in the future. The authors are respected futurists and talk to those in the military who would be in the know in the direction that it is heading. Well thought out and thought about I give the book a B+.
Are we plunging into a decade of bloody wars? Can they be prevented? In this highly original new book, Alvin and Heidi toffler, two of the world's leading social thinkers and futurists, train their sights on a subject that has haunted humanity since history began: war and peace. Their premise is that the way we make wealth is the way we make war - that today's revolutionary changes in business are being mirrored in the world's armies and the future of war itself. What is needed, they say, is a parallel revolution in the way we make peace.
War and Anti-War describes how the U.S. military went from drug-drenched defeat and demoralization in Vietnam to high performance in the Gulf - a story with lessons for many businesses today as they, too, restructure in preparation for the twenty-first century.
When America is groping for new strategies, when its defense industries are in crisis, wand when peacemakers are being outsmarted and outgunned around the world, this book tells us why we seem bent on violence - and what to do about it.
The forms of war, the Tofflers tell us, have changed throughout history: the agrarian age gave us the hoe and the sward; the industrial age gave us mass production and mass destruction.
Tomorrow, as information and knowledge become the core of advanced economies, they say, we will see the triumph of "software over steel." Just as the theories of military strategist Carl von Clausewitz foreshadowed the industrialized war of the past two centuries - the bloodiest for of war ever - this book lays the basis for the "knowledge strategies" that will increasingly dominate military thinking from now on.
The "smart bombs" used in the Gulf War provided only a pale hint of a not-too-distant world in which chameleon camouflage changes to match any terrain .. in which robots might make key military decisions .. in which precision genetic weaponry can be programmed to attack a specific ethnic or racial group .. in which "virtual reality" weapons are used to confuse an enemy .. in which electronic "ants" penetrate business and intelligence computer systems .. and in which digital media replace diplomacy. Our politicians, military leaders, and peacemakers, the Tofflers warn , are no more prepared for changes like these than feudal swordsmen were for the arrival of the machine gun, the tank, and the airplane.
New forms of war require new forms of peacemaking as well, and the Tofflers tell us of Non-lethal weapons, of "bloodless battles" fought with infra-sound generators, of "Peace Corporations" that would profit by maintaining peace in an assigned region, of how the United Nations might be restructured to give citizens' groups , businesses, and religious movements a greater role in "peace-fare".
In War and Anti-War the Tofflers unveil a new world map and introduce such striking concepts as the "revolt of the rich" and the new division of world power among three great civilizations, those of the past, present, and future.
If the Tofflers' previous works are any guide, War and Anti-War will be read not only in the corridors of political power but in war ministries and peace organizations around the world. It will change the way we think about the most urgent problem on our planet today.
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I was expecting more. McNamara uses his personal experiences especially during the Kennedy and Vietnam era as an argument for a lot of his arguments. While these serve to give a first hand view of the problems they add little to the arguments presented. The problem lies not as much with the overly idealistic and optimistic desires of the authors but with the lack of any constructive method to reach those ideals. The fact that you want peace and think that if everybody else would commit to wanting peace too then that would solve the problem does not make for a serious discussion of how to bring peace about. In the beginning of the book McNamara says the ideas presented are to spark discussion and debate to bring about a change for a more peaceful world. I don't know if this book adds much to the discussion other than an idealistic desire. I give the book a C-.
A passionate manifesto on what exactly we can and must do to prevent devastating global conflicts in the century ahead.
Woodrow Wilson's vision of a collective international action to resist aggressive conflict after the carnage of World War I failed tragically. Over 160 million people died in war during the 20th century, and in Wilson's Ghost, Robert S. McNamara and James G. Blight put forth a decisive, multi-faceted action program for realizing Wilson's dream during this century. The plan begins with a moral imperative that establishes as a major goal of foreign policy across the globe the avoidance of war. To that end, enforcement entails only multilateral intervention on the part of the United States; full reconciliation with Russia and China to integrate those nations into relations with the other Great Powers; restructuring the United Nations to greater effectiveness; defining and deterring war crimes; creating UN enforcement; and finally, reducing nuclear danger by eliminating the huge arsenal held by the United States and Russia, and by signing into law the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The authors support their plan with specific, achievable steps that can begin now to ensure a more peaceful 21st century.
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