Crossroads of Commerce: The Pennsylvania Railroad Calendar Art of Grif Teller

Product Description

An unusual book of bound (and removeable) postcards selected from the book "Excavating Voices Listening to Photographs of Native Americans" wherin the reader was invited to let the photos speak in their own voices to reach the viewer's personal sensitivities and experiences. Selected from the complete collection of 300,000 images hosed in the university archives; they offer a superb range of subjects by many noted photographers of the period.

Customer Reviews:

Photos Can Speak!.......2006-04-22

I recieved this exquisite set of photos as a gift; and indeed a photo can be worth a 1000 words! Instead of using mine as postcards, or as frameable pictures (which would look incredible with black mattes in chrome frames); I have decided to leave this book intact on my dresser where i can pick it up anytime to study the amazing range of expressions, costumes, and places shown. This is one I won't tire of!

Excavating Voices: Listening to Photographs of Native Americans, A Postcard Book

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Excavating Voices: Listening to Photographs of Native Americans, A Postcard Book

Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000BWULIS

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For all Penn and Teller Fans!

Leave a nickel on a moving sidewalk and watch it vanish.

Read it for the Stories

Penn & Teller's How To Play In Traffic

Good stuff!

Penn & Teller's How to Play in Traffic
Penn Jillette , and Teller
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Penn and Teller's How to Play with Your Food

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Tricks with Your Head: Hilarious Magic Tricks and Stunts to Disgust and Delight

ASIN: 1572972939

Amazon.com

While Star Trek fans, role-playing game fans, and even comic book fans eventually find each other and develop something like social groups, teenage magicians are, due to the rarity of their particular geek kink, more likely to remain socially retarded than any other group. That isolation and talent for magic allowed Penn & Teller a great deal of time to devote to revenge, mayhem, and making others look foolish. Now they share their techniques, as well as the wisdom one gains from acquiring happiness only after being ostracized and ridiculed, in Penn & Teller's How to Play in Traffic. A mixture of tricks you can do in hotel rooms, cars, and planes, some ill-advised methods for screwing with the minds of airport security personnel, and a series of memoirs of the unusual people they've met on their B-venue journeys around the world, How to Play in Traffic is not only funny (as one would expect from Penn & Teller) but also oddly insightful.

Customer Reviews:

For all Penn and Teller Fans!.......2005-03-22

I wont repeat what has already been said by other here on the rating page, but this book has more than just hours of entertainment lying within its pages. I purchsed this book when it first came out, which was YEARS ago, and I still read it whenever I need a good laugh, or when I am waiting for their show BULSH*T to come on. Definitely my favorite out of the 3 books.

Leave a nickel on a moving sidewalk and watch it vanish........2002-11-13

Penn & Teller, the self-proclamed "bad boys of magic" and ripoff artistes come through again. This is a very funny book of travel stories plus antics that you, yourself can do, while on the road. Tricks include making the Virgin Mary appear in any photograph, doctoring the flight safety card, how to stop a shaken pop can from exploding in your face and make another one explode in someone else's instead, and how to make someone pick a card which is engraved on an actual cenotaph. Lots of mean fun to be had.

Read it for the Stories.......2001-07-06

I am pretty sure the tricks described herein wouldn't work with the people I know, as all of the stunts involve a lot of acting and dialogue as part of the set-up. That said, who cares? This book is hilarious, and as a simple work of comedy, it kills. The now-familiar Penn rants are hysterical, and the descriptions of the duo's friends and favorite places are quite interesting. In particular, the review of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia (of anatomical and pathological specimens, medical instruments, etc.) is a dark and touching tribute. There is a confusing piece of fiction about a man granted three wishes that I found odd, but otherwise, the book's flow was nice and seamless. As with the live P & T show, there are a lot of great quotes and witticisms. No great work of literature, this, but an extremely effective piece of travel writing that is a hair more intelligent than other books similarly categorized.

Penn & Teller's How To Play In Traffic.......2000-06-19

A great book for diehard fans of this duo. Also great for anyone that wants to impress or humileate their friends.

Good stuff!.......1999-09-21

I just got my copy of "How to Play in Traffic" and was awake looooong into the night reading it (and often laughing outloud!). Apparently, judging from a couple of the reviews, some people thought this was supposed to be a book on performing magic tricks and were disappointed. But having read the other Penn&Teller books, I was very pleased to find the book was sooooo much more -- the hilarious anecdotes, the funny prose, the wonderful pictures. If you're in to P&T, this books is a pleaser! :-)

Penn & Teller's How To Play In Traffic 8c

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Penn & Teller's How To Play In Traffic 8c
Penn Jillette
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1572973226

Book Description

From their first pairing in Hamlet (1948), Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing have enjoyed the most successful collaboration in horror film history. Each of their 22 film collaborations is examined in detail, including plot synopses and critical commentary. A comprehensive filmography of their films together provides release date, running time, studio, production information and full cast and credits. The original research is supported by interviews with both Lee and Cushing, along with fellow performers and production personnel, such as Hazel Court, Robert Bloch, and Patrick Macnee.

Customer Reviews:

Best book i ever read.......1998-02-01

I laughed, I cried, I gave it away for x-mas and new years!!!! Mark Miller you the man!!!!

Book Description

Karak Azgal is a background book that is a must for roleplaying officiandos. Karak Azgal was once a rich Dwarf hold, but it fell to the forces of chaos. A dragon moved in, and dug out much of the treasure hidden in the dungeon to form a horde. This dragon was slain, over a thousand years ago by a Dwarf named Skalf. He claimed the treasure, and ownership of Karak Azgal. He realised the hold was too infested to clear out, so he built an enclave above the Hold and set up court there. A city has now grown up, rich from the treasures brought up by adventurers. The dwarfs encourage folk to go down there and recover their ancestors goods (and tax the hell out of them for doing so) but aren't too fussed about clearing it themselves- Dwarfs take the long view that one day the Goblins that live down there will go extinct, and when they do, all the gold down there will come back into Dwarf hands. They are, in fact being very generous in allowing folk to go down there and bring it back up- why, they might even get to keep 10% of it! That's practically giving it away¿

The city setting of Karak Azgal is perfect for Dwarf gags, intrigue and numerous excuses to be sent into the dungeon. It should be richly populated with interesting characters, and should logically extrapolate what happens to a city that has grown up on a treasure horde- for example,

" everything's very expensive- if you don't haven any money, you can always take an

advance on what you're about to earn¿just sign here (think record company)

" No one bothers to learn your name until you've been down and back out a couple of times.

" Dungeoneering teams are commissioned to map areas.

" There are 'recovery outfits' that specialise in finding ancestral treasure.

" People bet on the dungeoneering teams.

" You can pay for your funeral in advance should you not make it out

" Tavern/first aid outposts have grown up over the air shafts that lead deep into the hold-

complete with winches, tax specialists, and healers, bookies, recruiting sergeants,

touting guides and roaring drunk dwarfs.

" Dwarfs tracking down and sealing any 'secret' non-dwarf controlled entrances to Karak

Azgal

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP or WHFRP) is a roleplaying system created by Games Workshop. It is set in the Old World, which bears some resemblance to late medieval / renaissance Europe. The world is threatened by the forces of Chaos. The major power in the Old World is the Empire, in which most of the adventures are located. The Empire itself is a country full of intrigue, conspiracies, and dark plots.

BL Publishing is the publishing wing of the world famous Games Workshop group of companies. As well as its new Black Industries imprint, the division is also home to the Black Library, which has been producing best-selling and award-winning novels, comics and artbooks set in the worlds of Warhammer since 1997. It also includes the Black Flame fiction imprint for non-Warhammer titles, and Warhammer Historical Wargames.

Warhammer Fantasy Battle was originally published in 1986 and subsequently licensed to Hogshead Publishing. This is the second edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Customer Reviews:

A good resource for role-players.......2007-02-10

Karak Azgal is a sourcebook for the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game's Second Edition, detailing a dwarf-run city in the mountains. It combines adventure hooks aboveground in the city built over the ruins of the dragon-destroyed dwarf city, and in the underground passages below.

Filled in a nice gap I was missing in WFRP.......2006-03-14

Great sourcebook for me. I love the explanation of a Dwarf Hold and the surrounding city that grew up around. I knew of Kara Azgal from playing a "Mordheim" scenarios and this sourcebook brought the place even more to life. Additionally it provides some real nice stuff on dungeon delving. Something I have done in D&D stuff, but not very much in Warhammer. In fact I plan to use Karak Azgal to start a new campaign with a bunch of d20 players. They will be a bit familiar with dungone delving and will allow them to transition into the game easier.

Average customer rating:

Exhilarating and painful

Hightly recommended

Lots of hype, but still a pretty good read

Getting to know a Pedro Pan

I am without words

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy
Carlos Eire
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Family & Childhood | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Cuba | Caribbean & West Indies | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0743246411

Book Description

"Have mercy on me, Lord, I am Cuban." In 1962, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba -- exiled from his family, his country, and his own childhood by the revolution. The memories of Carlos's life in Havana, cut short when he was just eleven years old, are at the heart of this stunning, evocative, and unforgettable memoir.

Waiting for Snow in Havana is both an exorcism and an ode to a paradise lost. For the Cuba of Carlos's youth -- with its lizards and turquoise seas and sun-drenched siestas -- becomes an island of condemnation once a cigar-smoking guerrilla named Fidel Castro ousts President Batista on January 1, 1959. Suddenly the music in the streets sounds like gunfire. Christmas is made illegal, political dissent leads to imprisonment, and too many of Carlos's friends are leaving Cuba for a place as far away and unthinkable as the United States. Carlos will end up there, too, and fulfill his mother's dreams by becoming a modern American man -- even if his soul remains in the country he left behind.

Narrated with the urgency of a confession, Waiting for Snow in Havana is a eulogy for a native land and a loving testament to the collective spirit of Cubans everywhere.

Download Description

"In 1962, at the age of eleven, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba, his parents left behind. His life until then is the subject of Waiting for Snow in Havana, a wry, heartbreaking, intoxicatingly beautiful memoir of growing up in a privileged Havana household -- and of being exiled from his own childhood by the Cuban revolution. That childhood, until his world changes, is as joyous and troubled as any other -- but with exotic differences. Lizards roam the house and grounds. Fights aren't waged with snowballs but with breadfruit. The rich are outlandishly rich, like the eight-year-old son of a sugar baron who has a real miniature race car, or the neighbor with a private animal garden, complete with tiger. All this is bathed in sunlight and shades of turquoise and tangerine: the island of Cuba, says one of the stern monks at Carlos's school, might have been the original Paradise -- and it is tempting to believe. His father is a municipal judge and an obsessive collector of art and antiques, convinced that in a past life he was Louis XVI and that his wife was Marie Antoinette. His mother looks to the future; conceived on a transatlantic liner bound for Cuba from Spain, she wants her children to be modern, which means embracing all things American. His older brother electrocutes lizards. Surrounded by eccentrics, in a home crammed with portraits of Jesus that speak to him in dreams and nightmares, Carlos searches for secret proofs of the existence of God. Narrated with the urgency of a confession, Waiting for Snow in Havana is an both an exorcism and an ode to a paradise lost. More than that, it captures the terrible beauty of those times in our lives when we are certain we have died -- and then are somehow, miraculously, reborn. "

Customer Reviews:

Exhilarating and painful.......2007-09-27

I left Cuba -with my parents- at the age of eight in 1963. Although my exile experience was much less trumatic than Dr. Eiré's, his depiction of life in that place at that time, seen through the eyes of a child, awakened so many emotions, dormant in my conciousness for so many years! What some reviewers have deplored as aimless ramblings brings me as close as I will ever come to a long conversation with a lost childhood friend, with all the complicity of shared experiences. The familiar sights, the smells, the terrors, real and surreal -I still am both terrified and eerily fascinated by lizards, specially the Cuban anolí, which changes colors to match its surroundings, the magic all around me in those days, Catholic school, birthday parties, fear for your life, shameful mischief... I laughed harder than I had in years and also cried too real tears!

I visited Cuba about four years ago, to witness the death of a family member who meant very much to me during my childhood. Despite the tragic circumstances and the terrible destruction of my little town, I unexpectedly felt an overwhelming peace and sense of "home" which I would not have imagined until then, having left so young. I don't recall having slept better in many years before or since. I discovered that there is a part of our being that does not travel. I left it in Placetas when I went away and there it was, intact, waiting for me. And there it stayed again.

I thank Dr. Eiré with all my heart for having brought me as close as it can be to that profusely bleeding chunk of who I am, which will never be in my present address.

Another Cuban boy.

Hightly recommended.......2007-09-19

This book was Great! I believe every person who struggled to get to the US to find freedom would enjoy this book. Eventhough I came much later in life, i believe his accounts really hit home with what i remember.

Lots of hype, but still a pretty good read.......2007-07-18

Wonderful delivery of characters throughout the book, but Eire's relentless weaving of timelines was distracting. It was almost incoherent or redundant at times, rambling from one period to another. I also had a little difficulty understanding the "wistful" invocation of philosophical and spiritual jargon throughout the book.

Despite the distractions, a good read for the first few hundred pages. Probably could have dropped a hundred easily.

Getting to know a Pedro Pan.......2007-06-25

During my career I have worked with and developed close friendships with several Cuban Americans, including two "Pedro Pans" - one of whom is currently a US Ambassador to an important European country. I could never quite imagine what life might have been like for them as boys in Cuba and how their lives were turned upside down. Their resilience has been an inspiration.

Eire's book, mentioned to me by a former high school English teacher, answers many of my questions far better than I could have hoped. It is a literary masterpiece that provides anthropological insights about the life of the privileged under Batista. Remarkably Eire does not whitewash this era - he makes it clear that the sons of Batista, of his chief torturer, and of upper class professionals enjoyed privileges unavailable to most. He admits to serial shop-lifting as a boy and the materialism that made birthday parties stressful events. But it came to a sudden end when Castro took power and banned Christmas, persecuted his opponents, and caused families to send their children abroad.

Over the weekend I had a conversation with someone whose family fled Tehran after the ouster of the Shah. Somehow her stories were evocative of Eire describing Cuba under Batista.

I am without words.......2007-06-20

Nothing I can say can do this book -- and Dr. Eire -- justice. I read this book on a (Cuban-American) friend's recommendation. I knew very little about Cuba or Castro. I have never been so moved by a book in my life. This is a must-read for everyone on the planet.

Editores de EU premian las memorias del cubano Carlos Eire.(autor)(Entrevista): An article from: Proceso

Average customer rating:

Editores de EU premian las memorias del cubano Carlos Eire.(autor)(Entrevista): An article from: Proceso
Midiala Rosales Rosa
Manufacturer: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008IQPS0
Release Date: 2006-06-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by Thomson Gale on January 4, 2004. The length of the article is 1861 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: Editores de EU premian las memorias del cubano Carlos Eire.(autor)(Entrevista)
Author: Midiala Rosales Rosa
Publication: Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 4, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 1418 Page: 74(2)

Article Type: Entrevista

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Waiting for Snow in Havana Confessions of a Cuban Boy

Average customer rating:

Waiting for Snow in Havana Confessions of a Cuban Boy
Eire Carlos
Manufacturer: The Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000U65QPS

Customer Reviews:

"...fierce and unnatural pursuits of war".......2005-01-12

The Peninsula Campaign (Spring 1862) ended with Union Gen. George McClellan's failure to capture Richmond, due largely to his overcautiousness as well as the bold and often costly attacks from Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army which eventually took the fight out of McCellan's army. Or, at least out of McCellan himself! The campaign made the North realize that a swift end to the war was impossible, and Lee's military brilliance was emerging as well. Although the bloody battles of the Peninsula Campaign were very costly to both sides, McClellan's advance was brought to a halt and Richmond was saved. This outstanding book is yet another great "eyewitness history" from Richard Wheeler, who carefully weaved together scores of Union and Confederate accounts of the campaign to tell the full story. There are dozens of sketches and drawings from the period, as well as many period maps, although the maps aren't very good. To understand this important campaign from the soldiers' perspective, this is THE book to read. I'd look elsewhere for adequate maps of the campaign, though. Overall, highly recommended for Civil War buffs.

Sword Over Richmond - an Eyewitness History of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign

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Sword Over Richmond - an Eyewitness History of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign

Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HEUQ7G

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Sword Over Richmond An Eyewitness History of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign
Richard Wheeler
Manufacturer: Fairfax Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PRS9RY

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Sword Over Richmond. An Eyewitness History of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.
Richard Wheeler
Manufacturer: Harper Row.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HEOCCQ

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Sword Over Richmond: An Eyewitness History Of Mcclellan's Peninsula Campaign
Richard Wheeler
Manufacturer: Castle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Average customer rating:

SWORD OVER RICHMOND: AN EYEWITNESS HISTORY OF MCCLELLAN'S PENINSULA CAMPAIGN
Wheeler Richard
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J4USEK

Average customer rating:

This looks like a pirated translation

Unrestricted Warfare

Inside the "enemy's" mode of thinking

An Irresponsible Mis-representation

Osama bin Laden: the *real* Manchurian Candidate?

Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America
Qiao Liang , and Wang Xiangsui
Manufacturer: Pan American Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
International Security | Freedom & Security | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0971680728

Book Description

As incredible as it may be to believe, three years before the Sept. 11 bombing of the World Trade Center a Chinese military manual titled Unrestricted Warfare touted such an attack - suggesting it would be difficult for the U.S. military to cope with.

Here is an excerpt from Unrestricted Warfare:

"Whether it be the intrusions of hackers, a major explosion at the World Trade Center, or a bombing attack by bin Laden, all of these greatly exceed the frequency bandwidths understood by the American military..."

Surprisingly, Osama bin Laden is mentioned frequently in this book.

Now NewsMax.com is making the CIA translation of this shocking book available to all Americans.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Americans and the world witnessed one of the most horrific acts ever to take place on American soil.

Our media and government were quick to declare the acts of that day as simply terrorism by a nationless group known as al-Qaeda.

In reading China's military manual Unrestricted Warfare, you will learn that the events of Sept. 11 were not a random act perpetrated by independent agents.

Instead, Chinese military planners believe that terrorism is just one of the many tools at the hands of nations and their terrorist allies to wage total war against the United States.

You will be surprised to learn:

· The two PLA colonels who authored Unrestricted Warfare have been hailed as heroes in China since Sept. 11

· The Chinese state-run propaganda machine is cashing in on the terror attacks ... producing books, films and video games glorifying the strikes as a humbling blow against an arrogant nation.

· Chinese Communist Party officials are saying that President Jiang Zemin has obsessively and gleefully watched and re-watched pictures of the aircraft crashing into the World Trade Center.

· The CIA's own translation agency reported that this book identifies the U.S. as China's main enemy, and details how a weak nation can destroy America using unorthodox attacks - like the 9-11 attacks.

· China is preparing itself and encouraging others to engage the U.S. in total war. The book is chock full of plans and strategies, from using computers, to smuggling illegal immigrants, to manipulating the stock markets, to influencing the U.S. media, to using weapons of mass destruction - all to destroy America.

Recent press reports indicate that China has assisted and continues to assist militarily and economically the Taliban and al-Qaeda - even after Sept. 11.

The doctrine of total war outlined in Unrestricted Warfare clearly demonstrates that the People's Republic of China is preparing to confront the United States and our allies by conducting "asymmetrical" or multidimensional attacks on almost every aspect of our social, economic and political life.

The media and Congress are keeping a lid on this book because of the implications of U.S.-China economic and trade relations.

But now you can bypass them by getting a copy yourself!

Customer Reviews:

This looks like a pirated translation.......2005-10-11

the book is worth reading, but it looks like a pirated book.

reason:
1. the author would never endorse such subtitle, which distorted the theme of the book totally (as other reviewers also discussed)
2. i can't find the publisher and other info in this page
3. a pdf download can be find if you google, or through, e.g. this site (...)

Unrestricted Warfare.......2005-09-04

Scary reading. This book should be mandatory reading for all. I learned of this book while spending time in Taiwan and have seen China's plan in action.

Inside the "enemy's" mode of thinking.......2005-08-16

The book is a translation of the very interesting work published in February 1999 by two PLA colonels, namely qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui and the first thing that strikes the reader is the clear mind and the scope of reading that these officers have as a background. Following Martin van Creveld's groundbreaking work "The Transformation of War" (1991), the authors consider the 1991 Gulf War as a crucial turning point in the history of warfare and declare that war between states will be the exception rather than the norm in the future. The target of the book was obviously to warn China (and PLA particularly) that it's not prudent to prepare for a conventional fight against the US military might (regarding the Taiwan issue for example) but to seek new methods by whom "the inferior can defeat the superior". The book's subtitle "China's Master Plan to Destroy America" is not absolutely justified and the reader will not find any clue that China has any connection with the islamic extremism (although the insurgency in Iraq suits her nicely). There are indeed some points inside the book which are really chilling, such as "whether it be intrusions of hackers, a major explosion at the World Trade Center, or a bombing attack by bin Laden, all of these greatly exceed the frequency bandwidth understood by the American military... This is because they have never taken into consideration and have even refused to consider means that are contrary to tradition and to select measures of operation other than military means". The great part of the book is its emphasis on future "non-military warfare" and the warning that "soldiers do not have the monopoly of war". It is unknown whether PLA's top leadership hes endorsed these views or not but there is a troublesome condemnation of the race for superior weapons technology without paying attention to the changing principles of war. The emphasis on non-state opponents like Osam bin Laden is really amazing given that 9/11 wass more thatn two years ahead when the book came out, but currently PLA does not invest only on hackers or financial warfare (althoug this last is a strong dimension of its foreign policy) bying instead modern Su-30s, "Sovremeny" destroyers and "Kilo" submarines for use in a possible war with Taiwan and its allies.

The new kind of warfare which some people call "Fourth Generation War" or "Asymmetric War" has yet to prove its validity and despite some deaths that terrorists caused in the USA, Spain, Britain, Egypt (and more than 25.000 in Iraq) they have not achieved anything of lasting importance, thus their innovative tactics have been proved (for the time being) far less dangerous than classic conventional warfare of World War II type. I found very interesting the authors' suggestion of new principles of war (Omnidirectionality, Synchrony, Limited Objectives, Unlimited Measures, Asymmetry, Minimal Consumption, Multidimension Coordination and Adjustment and Control of the entrie process) but I don't know why they forgot to mention the old but crucial principles of "surprise", "security" and "unity of command". Overall it is an important study which seeks to find new ways to confront or negate the US military superiority but the theory has not proved decisive so far. Probably, the crucial turning point for the ascendancy of this theory will be the use of WMD at the hands of terrorist groups ot other non-state elements. As for PLA, it is rather impossible to conquer Taiwan without firing a shot. On the negative side of the book is the problematic translation of names, hence "Aegis cruisers" become "Zeus shield cruisers" and MacGregor's book "Brealing the Phalanx" becomes Maigeleige's book "Break the Factional Position". Many other names have been changed almost beyond recognition!

For the reader who does not wish to receive such a heavy dose of theory though, I would strongly recommend Peter Howarth's excellent new book "China's Rising Sea Power" instead, which is full of data and a fine operational and strategic analysis of the Chinese goals and means in Western Pacific. It is rather expensive but it worths its money!

An Irresponsible Mis-representation.......2005-07-18

The subtitle of the translated work, "China's Master Plan to Destroy America" is added by the translator. If this book were indeed China's master plan to destroy America, would the Chinese military authority be so stupid to publicize its master plan?

The Chinese edition, published in 1999, is not at all anti-America. The United States is indeed a major focus of the book simply because the United States is militarily the most powerful and advanced nation in the world, and it is the only nation that has fought in several major wars, particularly the Gulf War, with significant innovations in weaponry, military strategies and tactics. In fact the authors express their admirations and respects for the many innovations and accomplshments of the Amercian military in the Gulf War, and for the "father" Bush's wisdom of forming an international alliance to fight Saddam Hussein.

As any analysis would do, the book does post questions on some U.S. post Gulf War military thinking. For instance, the authors are puzzled by th fact that the U.S. military still gave so much attention to tanks while in the Gulf War helicopters were proved to be the deadly weapon of destroying the tanks....

On fighting the terrorist war and the future conventional warfare, the two authors are very much indebted to the ideas developed in Alvin Toffler's book, THE THIRD WAVE, and, particularly , in Alvin and Heidi Toffler's WAR AND ANTI-WAR. To illustrate the feasibility of their views, Qiao Liang, the first author of the book, published a novel MORI ZHI MEN or GATE OF ARMAGEDDON in 1995. In the novel, helicopters defeat tanks, and a war between two major powers ends without casualty (a prediction made in Toffler's WAR AND ANTI-WAR).... In the novel, The U.S. is a decisive player in the very delicate and complex international politics, but the novel's hero a Chinese colonel helps defeating the terrorists who attempt to destroy the world not by means of suicide bombers but by using computers (another Toffler's prediction). In CHAOXIANZHAN (UNRESTRICTED WARFARE), the authors are surprised to see that the West and the U.S. are so ill-prepared to defend themselves against terrorists.

As the orginal Chinese UNRESTRICTED WARFARE or CHAOXIANZHAN was published in 1999, the cover of the translated English version shows the imgage of the horrifying destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001. This is a very unfortunate mis-representation either for some political purpose or for monetary gains.

By the way, the two authors of the UNRESTRICTED WARFARE were not educated and trained as professional military men. Colonel Qiao Liang, for instance, received his B.A. degree in Chinese literature, and has published several notable novels. He is employed in the Creative Writing Departament of the Air Force, a Chinese military tradition of believing the power of literature, and was promoted to the rank of colonel because of his literary accomplishment.

Osama bin Laden: the *real* Manchurian Candidate?.......2004-12-05

Did China have a hand in 9/11?

"Unrestricted Warfare" means exactly what it says: that modern-day Communist China is dedicated to any means available to destroy its rival for the status of global superpower, the United States---and excerpts suggesting asymmetrical warfare against high-profile, high-casualty civilian targets not only suggest our own conflict against international terrorism, but ups the ante---the book even mentions Osama Bin Laden by name, and notes the destructive effect of an "explosion in the World Trade Center".

China: even its name, Zhongghua, means "Middle Kingdom", the point at which Heaven intersects with Earth. It is the birthplace of great warrior-poet-philosophers, the cradle of gunpowder and high mathematics, for thousands of years the very bastion of civilization against a tide of barbarians.

At the end of the 19th century, in the wake of the brutal "Opium Wars", millions of its people languished in the addiction of opium brought by European traders, who staked out their markets by bringing in the gunboats of their home countries.

China became a slave nation. But only 50 years later, Mao Tse-Tung---another warrior-poet in the tradition of Sun Tzu---had mobilized the people to rise up against Western control, against the Japanese military, and finally, against the pro-Western regime of Chiang Kai-Shek.

Today, China may very well want to be a global hegemon again, and if "Unrestricted Warfare"---supposedly a copy of a super-secret Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) handbook---has any credibility, then China was the shadowy hand behind supposed Islamic radical and terrorist kingpin Osama bin Laden's devastating blow against the United States---China's only real rival---on 9/11.

Ask yourself this question: who *really* benefitted from the suicide attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001?

Did Yemeni-born rich-boy-gone-bad Osama bin Laden, and his brutal Islamist terrorist group Al Quaeda? Since 9/11, Osama and his iron lung have been confined to high Afghani mountain paths or the depths of caves, tracked by Delta Force and the blackest of U.S. Black Ops. It's true that President Bush has been criticized for not bringing us the head of OBL, but let's face facts: Osama is never going to enjoy a nice chardonnay at a plush restaurant on the Champs D'Elysees again.

Was it good for the Islamist movement? With terrorist redout and Islamist paradise Afghanistan having now gone through its first elections---ever---and elected the pro-Western Hamid Karzai, with women striding the streets of Kabul without chadors or burkhas---and with Iraq's Saddam Hussein hauled up out of his spider hole and elections soon to follow---you tell me.

Who gained? In the early days of the Bush presidency, a harsh spotlight had been fixed, by the White House, on the global spectre of rising Chinese adventurism. Warnings had been issued regarding Taiwan. Congress had convened to debate China's coveted Most Favored Nation status, an economic treat the Clinton White House had always proferred to Beijing. Then in April 2001 the silent war with China took a more heated turn, when an American EP-3 spy-plane was forced by a Chinese fighter jet (destroyed in the process) to crash-land on the Chinese-controlled island, with its crew held hostage by the Chinese government for 11 days, during which relations between the two countries were tense.

The stand-off crystallized a view in the White House that China was the new global threat, and forces---and resources---were mobilized by the Bush strategy team to re-assess the U.S. strategy towards this potential global hegemon.

And then the brutal attacks on 9/11 occurred, and our view shifted over to Islamic fundamentalism. Who gained?

According to this military review meant for China's senior deicision makers, the United States may have the strongest military on Earth, but its citizenry---and its political chattering classes, best embodied by the mainstream media and the New York Times---have an aversion to body count. The writing is terse and dry---calling to mind Zen Koans or the astringent military tactics of Chairman Mao himself---but the overall meaning of "Unrestricted Warfare" is clear: hit the Enemy in his population centers, terrify his citizens, confuse and numb him, intimidate the citizenry with the prospect of thousands of flag-draped caskets riding home in military transports, and the battle for global supremacy can be won without facing a technologically superior foe on the battlefield.

This is changeless Chinese military policy, lifted from 4th century BC Sun Tzu to modern day China: strike with surprise, and strike hard. Never let the Enemy know where you're coming from. Use spies, assassins, messengers of terror.

The point here is not to disparage China: she has her own interests, as well she should, and pursues them as any great power ought to. I have great respect for China, have always been fascinated with that beguiling land, and am stunned by the rapidity with which Mao took a humiliated third-world nation and turned it into a military and economic giant. But if China has its future strategy with regard to the U.S., mapped out, we---if only to secure the blessings of liberty for our posterity---must be ready for her. "Unrestricted Warfare" is a first step in mapping out the uncertain road ahead.

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