Colouring the Past: The Significance of Colour in Archaeological Research

Book Description

Colour shapes our world in profound, if sometimes subtle, ways. It helps us to classify, form opinions, and make aesthetic and emotional judgements. Colour operates in every culture as a symbol, a metaphor, and as part of an aesthetic system. Yet archaeologists have traditionally subordinated the study of colour to the form and material value of the objects they find and thereby overlook its impact on conceptual systems throughout human history.

This book explores the means by which colour-based cultural understandings are formed, and how they are used to sustain or alter social relations. From colour systems in the Mesolithic, to Mesoamerican symbolism and the use of colour in Roman Pompeii, this book paints a new picture of the past. Through their close observation of monuments and material culture, authors uncover the subtle role colour has played in the construction of past social identities and the expression of ancient beliefs. Providing an original contribution to our understanding of past worlds of meaning, this book will be essential reading for archaeologists, anthropologists and historians, as well as anyone with an interest in material culture, art and aesthetics.

Book Description

More then those of any other living photographer, Sebastião Salgado's images of the world's poor stand in tribute to the human condition. Salgado defines his work as "militant photography" dedicated to "the best comprehension of man"; over the decades he has bestowed great dignity on the most isolated and neglected among us-- from famine-stricken refugees in the Sahel to the indigenous peoples of South America.

With Workers, Salgado brings us a global epic that transcends mere image making to become an affirmation of the enduring spirit of working men and women. In this volume, three hundred fifty duotone photographs form an archaeological perspective of the activities that have defined hard work from the Stone Age through the Industrial Revolution to the present. With images of the infernal landscape of an Indonesian sulfur mine, the drama of traditional Sicilian tuna fishing, and the staggering endurance of Brazilian gold miners, Salgado unearths layers of visual information to reveal the ceaseless human activity at the core of modern civilization.

Workers presents its subjects on several interactive levels: Salgado's introductory text expands his passionate photographic iconography, and extended captions, also written by Salgado, provide a historical and factual framework. Evoking the monumentality of Baroque sculpture, images of oil-fire fighters extinguishing Kuwaiti wells are informed by data detailing this perilous venture. Heroic photographs of Cuban and Brazilian peasants harvesting sugarcane are enriched by an overview of the history of the sugar trade, which documents centuries of colonialist exploitation.

On the eve of the millennium, Workers serves as an elegy for the passing of traditional methods of labor and production. Yet its ultimate message is one of endurance and hope: entire Indian families serve as construction crews to build a dam that will bring life to their land, and laborers using contemporary technology connect England and France through Eurotunnel. Honoring the timeless and indomitable spirit of the manual laborer, Workers renders the human condition with honesty and respect.

Customer Reviews:

Stunning photography.......2007-09-11

My wife and I saw these photographs exhibited in NYC quite a while ago (mid to late 1990's at the ICP?) and were extremely impressed, and I think that the book does them justice. Some are almost difficult to believe are real (see Brazilian gold miners on pages 300 & 301).

Powerful Living Photography.......2007-05-31

I was lucky enough to see this wonderfully humane expose and photographic genius while it was on tour at The Philadelphia Art Museum years ago. At that time, I passed up buying this book at the Museum Store and regretted and searched in stores for it years later.
If this book were on everyone's coffee table and looked at page by page ... there would be much more respect and much less oppression in the world. Good people would see to that.

Photography - Salgado.......2007-03-26

A brilliant book that I wanted to obtain quickly as a present - it came very quickly, in excellent condition, well protected and it is a fabulous book of photography for all levels of expertise

Great Art with a purpose.......2006-11-04

The bikes we ride, the tuna we eat, the oil that runs our cars, the gold we wear, are all manufactured, fished, drilled, mined, by countless people in remote corners of the world, often under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions, and more often than not, for extremely low wages. In this beautiful book, the Brazilian economist turned photographer Sebastiao Salgado put his Art to the Service of Humanity, to give us a window to the rest of the World that remains hidden from our TV screens and from our consciousness. The pictures are magnificent, and as true Art should, their impeccable technnique is there to serve the greater purpose of conveying meaning and emotion.

Exquisite photographs, disappointing layout.......2005-01-23

I love these photographs, and the quality of the reproduction is exquisite -- BUT
most of the photos span two pages

Having a "spine crease" in the middle of the photos detracts severly from their beauty and impact

Workers: an Archaeology of the Industrial Age

Average customer rating:

Workers: an Archaeology of the Industrial Age

Manufacturer: Aperture,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FMKBD4

Average customer rating:

Workers: an Archaeology of the Industrial Age
Sebastiao Salgado
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N743PI

Book Description

Rankor Island is a carnival of social ills. A Tilt-A-Whirl of manic violence and police corruption. Into this wasteland comes two men, saviors for a nihilistic age; the serial killer, Family Man and hyper-violent vigilante, Citizen Pain.

Customer Reviews:

Much promised, some delivered.......2006-10-03

I dug the Illuminati/ world conspiracy background to this exploration of free will and social control. It's clear what our vigilante protagonist is supposed to represent. Yet, his fall, or awakening, or redemption is not as dramatic as it should be, because the points of his epiphany are no suprise at all. He's a Punisher figure who looks like he's wearing Spiderman's Venom suit (as several jokes in the book remind you). Furthermore, does Pain really give up anything that he valued? If so, it wasn't developed as much of value before it was lost. The same critique applies to the female cop. She tells the secret of her past, and we see her spells of fear, but those are also undeveloped, pretty much. So, when the house of cards explodes at the end, I did not feel much of a revelation, awakening, or salvation on the emotional side coming off the page. The story is unique, but not so unique in that some the important parts were left untold or under-told.

Fresh Blood for the New Generation.......2002-08-31

this book was visually stunning and written like a dream (or nightmare)! the story wasn't complicated and didn't drive me buggy with how all the characters were self absorbed in their own mysterious and unknown backgrounds. it was a straight forward, kick you in the ass at the end story. I feel that this writer was able to convey a very grizzly and dark story while also showing that he can write sympathy and heartache in the same breath. Being able to write various moods and themes and making them blend is a rare to come by talent in today's comic industry. I think anyone who's tired of the cookie cutter heroes and villans should pick up this book. Even if you LOVE cookie cutter heroes and villans, this book will ROCK YOUR WORLD! Of course this book wouldn't do so well if it wasn't for the art and color. There are a lot of shadows in the art, which I think is supposed to hint at something from the writer. The expressions the artist conveys on the characters are so realistic and screams volumes even if the character says nothing. I think perhaps this book wouldn't be so great if the writer didn't have the artist to flesh out the story. Anyone else and it would have looked too mainstream.

A stunning, gritty crime drama, love story, & hero angst!.......2002-07-26

What can I say about Violent Messiahs? If you've read comic books before, and you love the stuff that ISN'T happy, shiny superheros in spandex knocking the snot out of each other, you'll love this book. It takes the crime drama that other books like Sam and Twitch try to approach, mix in some dark superhero-like elements, and a tragic love story, and you get Violent Messiahs. A vigilante named Citizen Pain is cleaning up the crime on run-down Rankor Island, while another vigilante, the Family Man, is orphaning kids of drug dealers. Find out how these two vigilantes' past intertwine, as Detectives Cheri Major and Lieutenant Houston go after them while learning about each other.

The action is electric, and artist Tone Rodriguez is clearly comfortable in his element. His characters come alive on the page, and the reader gets some excellent vantage points along the way. Writer Joshua Dysart jumps into the story and pulls you along with his kinetic, frenzied writing style that gets you excited, scared, and intrigued all at once. There are twists and turns that I did not see coming, and those surprises just added to the depth of the story.

This book contains the first eight issues of the comic, containing their FULL story arc, with bonus sketches and material and a cover gallery of all of their comic book covers. Their photo/art montage covers are the perfect way to contain the excitement, drama, and mystery of this book.

Buy this book, you won't be able to put it down until you're done!

Dark gritty and thought provoking.......2002-07-26

Yes this is a graphically illustrated story but it you're thinking bah Superman or Donald Duck then think again.

Ever thought some decadent weirdos are pulling societies strings?

Genetic engineering, social destabilisation, loneliness, acceptance of others humanity and definitely some violence are what you will get from this book.

The combination of pencils, inks and the most dark intense photo realistic colouring give this a "Bad Lieutenant" movie kind of feel.

For those of you who know the works of Garth Ennis and Grant Morrison Joshua Dysart is another writer for you to watch.

Customer Reviews:

Yes, yes, yes.......1999-07-22

Thanks Tom for making me snort laugh through my nose. I'll be searching out your other work now.

Don't leave home without this valuable source.......1998-04-24

A passport is a really necessary item -- most of the time -- but as this book shows, you don't need one all the time. And, for certain places, a passport is not needed at all. But, how far can you go without one? This book gives you details on that and more. It will make your passport even more valuable, and, significantly, it will give you the lowdown on where you should go -- passport or not. Highly recommended.

As Far As You Can Go Without A Passport - The View From The End Of The Road, Comments And Comic Pieces By Tom Bodett

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As Far As You Can Go Without A Passport - The View From The End Of The Road, Comments And Comic Pieces By Tom Bodett
Tom Bodett
Manufacturer: Addison-wesley Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K1MVDS

Average customer rating:

AS FAR AS YOU CAN GO WITHOUT A PASSPORT : THE VIEW FROM THE END OF THE ROAD : COMMENTS AND COMIC PIECES
TOM BODETT
Manufacturer: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING CO.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000KURINC

Average customer rating:

As Far As You Can Go Without a Passport: The View from the End of the Road Comments and Comic Pieces
Tom Bodett
Manufacturer: Perseus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OL3K02

Customer Reviews:

BUT IS IT WORTH BUYING?.......1999-12-11

This is one of those books that sounds like it's worth keeping, but isn't, really. It is, after all, a fun idea--reviews of the critics who originally trashed the world's finest films when they first came out--but this isn't the kind of book you'd want to shell a coupla bucks for. My advice--bum it off your friends or borrow it from the library; it's not worth the money.

Inconsistent, misguided, and WRONG.......1999-11-26

A book written by a couple of crybabies so resentful of the judgments many critics have brought down upon their favorite films that they've collected quotes from film critics that supposedly show their assessments to have been wrong simply because the films in question appealed to somebody, either the Oscar voters and midnight movie freaks, or because the movies made tons of money. Sure, novelist Graham Greene's July 5, 1935 critique of James Whale's brilliant "Bride of Frankenstein," published in the Spectator, is full of it. "This is a pompous, badly acted film, full of absurd anachronisms and inconsistencies," the pompous writer wrote. But Greene is entitled to his pompous opinion and anachronistic taste. It doesn't make him wrong. It makes him a man with an opinion that the majority of film buffs disagree with. The authors then contradict their purpose by quoting Manny Farber's April 1, 1950 review of "The Third Man," which rips apart Graham Greene's screenplay and calls the author an "uncinematic snob." But the Graham Greene whose screenplay of "The Third Man" the authors feel a need to defend is the same Graham Greene whose critique of "Bride of Frankenstein" so offended them.

The folks who put this book together ARE wrong so often that they should have been embarrassed to see it published. The captions to the photos are chock full of errors that could have easily been corrected. Under a still of Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca," someone wrote, "The Maltese Falcon was to come later." Later? "Casablanca" was released to theaters in New York in November 1942 (the rest of the country wouldn't see the film until January 1943), a full year after "The Maltese Falcon." Such a mistake is inexcusable in a book purporting to spotlight "Misguided Movie Reviews and Film Criticism Gone Wrong." Before pointing out the supposed errors in someone else's opinions, the authors should have corrected their facts.

The most offensive chapter of the book concerns huge box-office hits like "Jaws" and "Star Wars," and suggests that because a film makes a lot of money, it automatically has merit. And the errors of simple fact are not limited to the order in which those Bogart classics were released. "The Fugitive," this book claims, won the Golden Globe and the Director's Guild of America award for best director! Not so. Steven Spielberg won both awards for directing "Schindler's List."

How did this turkey ever reach print?

great against-the-tide book.......1998-12-25

Authoritative reviews, critical and tongue-in-cheek funny. Brings down the snotty. Elevates the ribald and creative. Not for pretentious people who fantasize they breathe rarified air.

-- or were they?.......1998-01-25

Not as hilarious as the compilers think -- and it's very easy to disagree with some of their choices for bad reviews. So then you're reading the book, thinking how stupid and silly the critics were -- and then you're presented with a supposed "bad review" of a classic movie you nonetheless hated, along with the supposedly misguided critic. They also seem to take special pleasure in knocking John Simon, and for no really good reason.

Overall, interesting, but hardly authoritative.

Book Description

The Digital Songstream is the first practical guide to getting up and running in the new digital world of music. Cutting through myths, it offers a step-by-step introduction to what's possible for performers, composers, and listeners-addressing legal and ethical issues as well as the nuts and bolts of what equipment to buy and what services are available.
Written in a friendly, easy-to-understand way by a master musician and computer expert, The Digital Songstream will be the first-and only-reference needed for anyone wishing to enter the world of computer music. Link here to Brad Hill's website, THE DIGITAL SONGSTREAM, which features more information on the book, updates, and news about the entire world of digital music.

Customer Reviews:

A slim volume with some excellent ideas!.......2005-04-21

Teachers take note: the time of giving straight lectures and expecting your students to "get it" is over! This slim volume from Sharon Bowman will give you the strategies that you need to avoid this situation.

I teach in senior secondary classes. One of the biggest concerns with these groups is the never ending need to "cover the material" - the external exam is looming, and we need to get through it! As a result, it is easy to fall into the trap of lecturing for 40-50 minutes, and just hoping that they will remember enough to get through.

Of course, they won't. And it is not fair to expect that they could! Try listening to someone speak for that length of time and see how much YOU can remember!

So how do we overcome the problem? Ms Bowman suggests that traditional lectures are still necessary in some instances, and she provides a list of reasons that may encourage us to use this format. The bulk of the book is used to show us how to make this time more meaningful for our students. The end result is that you can still cover the material (phew!), but now you are more likely to create a learning situation in which the material will be able to be recalled and understood by your learners.

The strategies listed are a bit mixed - perhaps some are suited to a younger audience than I teach. For example, I can't imagine working with the "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" strategy from page 33. However, there is enough here to make your purchase worthwhile - I have already used the "Shout Out!" strategy from page 49 with great success, and others have been quickly integrated into my teaching practice as well.

A book filled with easy to implement strategies. And it seems certain to me that every teacher will find at least a few that they will use.

Average customer rating:

Great book - really makes you think

Worthwhile Read

Quick and Easy Read, But Arguments are Weak

The bravest journalist in the mainstream today

Very enjoyable

Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media...
John Stossel
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0060529156
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Book Description

Working as a correspondent for 20/20 and Good Morning America, John Stossel confronted dozens of scam artists: from hacks who worked out of their basements to some of America's most powerful executives and leading politicians. His efforts shut down countless crooks -- both famous and obscure. Then he realized what the real problem was.

In Give Me a Break, Stossel takes on the regulators, lawyers, and politicians who thrive on our hysteria about risk and deceive the public in the name of safety. Drawing on his vast professional experience (as well as some personal ones), Stossel presents an engaging, witty, and thought-provoking argument about the beneficial powers of the free market and free speech.

Download Description

Ballooning government?
Millionaire welfare queens?
Tort lawyers run amok?
A $330,000 outhouse, paid for with your tax dollars?
John Stossel says, ""Give me a break.""

When he hit the airwaves thirty years ago, Stossel helped create a whole new category of news, dedicated to protecting and informing consumers. As a crusading reporter, he chased snake-oil peddlers, rip-off artists, and corporate thieves, winning the applause of his peers.

But along the way, he noticed that there was something far more troublesome going on: While the networks screamed about the dangers of exploding BIC lighters and coffeepots, worse risks were ignored. And while reporters were teaming up with lawyers and legislators to stick it to big business, they seldom reported the ways the free market made life better.

In Give Me a Break, Stossel explains how ambitious bureaucrats, intellectually lazy reporters, and greedy lawyers make your life worse even as they claim to protect your interests. Taking on such sacred cows as the FDA, the War on Drugs, and scaremongering environmental activists -- and backing up his trademark irreverence with careful reasoning and research -- he shows how the problems that government tries and fails to fix can be solved better by the extraordinary power of the free market.

He traces his journey from cub reporter to 20/20 co-anchor, revealing his battles to get his ideas to the public, his struggle to overcome stuttering, and his eventual realization that, for years, much of his reporting missed the point.

Stossel concludes the book with a provocative blueprint for change: a simple plan in the spirit of the Founding Fathers to ensure that America remains a place ""where free minds -- and free markets -- make good things happen.""

Customer Reviews:

Great book - really makes you think.......2007-09-11

This is a great book. In his wonderful style, Stossel subjects commonly-held assumptions, common scams, scares, and media lies, the government, and a lot of other stuff to whithering skepticism. Discover why everything you know (or, at least, a lot of it) is wrong.

It's funny how people are willing to be very skeptical of businesses but aren't willing to turn that same skepticism on the government. Stossel manages to do that and argues that the expansion of the government hurts consumers much more than it helps them. A lot of people have this idea of a benevolent government saving us from big, bad industry, but this isn't true at all, as Stossel quiet ably shows.

I'd recommend ignoring the one-star reviews of this book. Stossel answers most of their "objections" in the book, and one of the reasons he wrote this book was to refute a lot of those types of claims.

This book is a must-read for those who are concerned about the expansion of the state. Then again, if you're not concerned, you should definitely read this book, because this book shows that you should be. This book shows how government regulation hurts consumers by raising prices, stifling innovation, and much more. Gives plenty of examples of government stupidity. This book is great reading and provides an excellent introduction to many of the key ideas of the libertarian philosophy of government. This book is very well written and highly entertaining; there's not a dull moment to be found. Highly recommended.

Worthwhile Read.......2007-09-07

As someone who has been in the media for more than 20 years, and has developed a niche in debunking the horribly inaccurate, irresponsible and downright sloppy use of statistics in the media and beyond, this book was a refreshing piece of common-sense journalism. I highly recommend it especially to anyone considering a career, or already embarked on a career, in journalism or any communications endeavor.

Quick and Easy Read, But Arguments are Weak.......2007-03-30

When I first began reading this book, I thought I might enjoy it. After all, John Stossel is (or was) a leading consumer reporter with some excellent credentials to his name. However, by the end of the first third of the book I was already lowering the number of stars I planned to give it.

The first problem I encountered was writing that was simplistic. For someone who is a journalist and who graduated from Princeton, I expected the writing to be more professional. I can't tell whether he "dumbed" the book down or if this is the way he usually writes. Either way, it is a simplistic (and very quick) read.

The second, and by far larger problem, is the argument he puts forth in the book. He claims to be a "free market" advocate, yet throughout the book he stumbles on his own argument. His argument is that in a free market, industry will always do things for the best, since it is in their best interest to increase profits.

Because of that argument, he strikes out against government intervention. One example he gives is OSHA. While OSHA is not a well loved agency, the reason for their existence is exactly to opposite of what Stossel claims. Worker's compensation laws were passed in the early part of the 20th century to get business to stop injuring workers. Industry, however, continued to allow unsafe work conditions and worker injury rates continued to climb. OSHA was the result of the inaction of industry. They didn't do what was right...they did what was cheap.

In another example, he rants about mandatory airbags in cars. He is against the notion of paying for them when you don't want one, and claims that over a roughly 10 year time frame air bags have killed over 200 people. He leaves out how many (thousands?) were saved that would have died had air bags not been present in the vehicles. A short while later, he stumbles on his own argument again when he discusses vaccine manufacturers. He claims that they are going out of business because of lawsuits brought due to injury to children from the vaccines. He then makes the point that, because a few children got sick the number of manufacturers is falling, which jeopardizes the many. The question becomes, which is it? Do you want to save the many at the sacrifice of the few or vice versa?

I could go on for pages, but that isn't really the point to a review.

There are places in the book where I agree with his arguments and they make sense. There are government agencies that are redundant and ineffective.

Overall, I don't think the book is worth the purchase price. I would recommend getting it from the library or a yard sale if you are inclined to read it.

The bravest journalist in the mainstream today.......2007-03-29

You may recall I mentioned that John Stossel addressed our NH Liberty Forum in February (2007) as the banquet keynote speaker. I lamented then that I had not been properly appreciative of the courageous work of this noble contrarian knight of the mainstream media (M2).

He is after all an explicit libertarian (possibly even a Randian). In Give Me a Break, Stossel writes that his liberal peers and audience regard him as "that [damnable] conservative on ABC." To which he counters:

"I'm hardly what I would call a conservative. I happen to think consenting adults should be able to do just about anything they want. I think prostitution should be permitted. I believe homosexuality is perfectly natural, that the drug war should be ended, that flag burning and foul language should be tolerated, and most abortion should be legal."

He continues, asserting that M2 is tilted so far to the left, they still call him a conservative:

"Libertarian is a better term for my beliefs. But the term [is misinterpreted.] Maybe 'classical liberal' is a better term for what I am. Liberals were originally the ones who advocated freedom and tolerance. Not lately."

He also opposes pseudo-conservativism, skillfully dissecting our current Republican/Neocon brand of crony capitalism and its imperial-fascist excesses with his intellectual scalpel.

Stossel is the real deal, a popular media personality-the weekly viewership of 20/20 is somewhere around 20 million-who lays it on the line for rational liberty. And he gets his facts straight. He has to because when he doesn't all the poseurs he has pissed off form a lynch mob calling for his head.

Some of the sacred cows he slays:

. Business regulation by government-e.g. OSHA, the
FDA, the FTC, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),
child labor laws, and so on, all radically harmful.
. Scaring ourselves with false threats-Brain cancer from
cellphones, exploding Bic pens, toxic waste cause minimal
damage compared to smoking, obesity, and poverty.
. Expensive government bureaucracies-e.g. the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that wastes
billions. TSA stands for "thousands standing around."
. The organic food hoax-Food from regular farms treated
with artificial pesticides is generally as good or better for you
than 100% organic food.
. Welfare for the rich--Millionaire sports franchise owners
receive $700 million stadiums. Federal flood insurance bails
out rich people, including Stossel, who build on the ocean.

"Law grinds the poor, and rich men rule the law."-Oliver Goldsmith

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

Very enjoyable.......2007-02-27

If you like John Stossel's journalism, you'll like this book. If you don't like his journalism, then you won't like this book. The same goes for his other book. I too am glad that Stossel narrated the audiobook himself.

I have been very disappointed with the subtitle of the book, which calls him "the Scourge of the Liberal Media", because it implies that Stossel is conservative, which he is not. It also implies that he is not liberal, which he is... in the original sense of the word (i.e. one who believes in liberty).

Give Me a Break : How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media...

Average customer rating:

Give Me a Break : How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media...
John Stossel
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEM0FA

Average customer rating:

Give Me a Break : How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media...
John Stossel Stossel John
Manufacturer: HarperAudio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEYKTE

Average customer rating:

Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists And Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media
John Stossel
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NXWYI0

Average customer rating:

Give Me a Break
John Stossel
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000BM5M5U

Book Description

In The Irish War military veteran and historian Tony Geraghty reveals the sinister patterns of action and reaction in this generations-old domestic conflict. Drawing on public and covert sources, as well as interviews with members of British Intelligence, the security forces, and the Irish Republican Army, he brings to light the disturbing inner workings of an organized terrorist group and its military opposition.

Customer Reviews:

No concept; tough reading.......2007-08-24

When you are familiar with all of the details of the Irish War you might be able to find this book valuable. To this day I have been unable to determine what the author's intention was when he wrote this book. It cannot be considered a history of the Irish War and the sub-title "The Hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence" is totally misleading. The author rushes through history like a fast train that stops only at a few, yet insignificant locations. At times he concentrates on personal observations that have not much to do with what was written before or after. There is no concept or structure in this book and that makes this work a very tough reading.

The boys will always come out on top.......2005-10-07

This book clearly gives a proper insight how the IRA have outdone the British "intelligence" of which I can only assume William King was a participating element in considering how he lacks in that department. But this is an opportunity for me to give my opinion on such a fascinating book. Let it be said that Ireland has bore many saints and scholors and while I am not saying that the IRA are saints they certainly are portrayed as extremely sharp and intellectual people who outwitted the level of British intelligence while trying to balance it with the passion that burned within. It has to be said though that the bringing of the British intelligence to its knees is not something that is infantile, it goes back to the days of the big man himself, Collins. It is a good book to read to show the level of intelligence on both sides and without being biased how sharp the British intelligence is also. To be read by both sides of the coin. Beidh an bua againn go foill.

An excellent account of the IRA's triumph over British/Unionist oppression.......2005-09-27

This book details the long war the IRA waged against the British army, and the expert tactics of both sides.

The IRA comes out as the clear winner, managing to fight off everything the British threw at them.
The author takes great pains to show the superior battle tactics of the IRA, as opposed to the mostly amateurish tactics of the "Loyalist" terrorists of the UDA and UVF.

One interesting thing in the book details how the IRA was able to kill over 100 UDA and UVF members, where as the UDA/UVF killed less then 30 IRA members. The Author cliams that this was the reason why 90% of the hundreds of murders commited by the UDA/UVF were of Catholic civillians, as they feared IRA retaliation.

The Autor also gives a good reason as to why the IRA declared a ceasefire. The Author contends that contrary to the Loyalist view, the IRA was not losing the war when it declared it's cesefire in 1994.
The facts he presents are very persuasive that the IRA was in fact winning the war and that the British knew this, which is why they made Sinn Fein such a great political deal. When the British tried to renege on their offer to Sinn Fein, the IRA launched a devestating bomb campaign against Britian which forced the British to comply with IRA demands.

All and All this is a fair and balanced book filled with facts that many unionists won't like, but they can't ignore the truth.

Short-term view of a long war.......2004-12-23

I think this books deserves to be labeled "good" only if you take the bare tactical or military approach.
I red a lot of NI conflict stuff in the past, and I see this one as the best source both in terms of tactics (from all sides) and warfare analysis (the most completed I ever found about the republican war machine). There are at least four whole chapters dedicated to describe the PIRA weaponry, its making, its smuggling an its use (or misuse)by the organisation. I also reccomend chapter IX, where Mr. Gherarty makes a reflexion about the survellaince and intelligence sistems developed by the British State during the "Troubles" and the aftermath and consequences to the British people such a "Big Brother" policy could have. I also should mention part III of the book, an interesting pre-independence historic account.
Put the rest to rest.
Erratic writing and typos (at least in the edition I have) match a biased and short-term vision. As an example, at some point the author states that in 1979 there were just 13 (¿?) trouble-related deaths in Ulster and that this reflected a sharp decline of violence in the province. Anybody who has ever red the basics about the NI conflict knows that August 27 1979 was one of its bloodiest days, with the killing of 23 people,18 soldiers plus 5 civilians, including Lord Mountbatten.There were almost 50 fatalities just among the security forces that year. Another biased statistic management appears in the 1972 death account: for Gherarty, ALL the civilians killed in NI this year (323) were victims of the PIRA. Indeed, as it was for the entire war, loyalist paramilitaries killed more innocent people (106) than the republican ones (88) in 1972.
Some conclusions also show the wishfull thinking judgment of Mr. Gherarty. His quotes about the PIRA as a "defeated army", regarding all the concessions they won throughout the conflict, are laughable. Yes, you can say that NI is still a part of the UK; but a part whose political system, policing, security and justice were negotiated with another country (namely the Irish Republic). Had the PIRA been effectively vanquished, all this would prove to be unthinkable. Republicans certainly failed to meet the unrealistic goal of an United Ireland under their own terms, but through the GFA, they gained full access to a non less certain road to a de facto integration between North and South. I believe the troubles were, from the military point of view, a stalemate, as acknowledges Mr. Gherarty in other chapters of his book. But a real stalemate is produced by the parity of strength between two contestants; when this parity doesn't exist, and there is still a no-winner situation; should you call that an stalemate, or a defeat of the stronger force?

How the British defeated the sectarian killers.......2003-11-28

This book demonstrates how the IRA were defeated by the British Army. The role of the Loyalist self-defence forces such as the UVF and UFF is also shown and the role they played in bringing the PIRA to their knees. Although there is not much coverage of the sectarian tactics employed against the brave Protestant population, Geraghty shows how the IRA tried to fool the world about their true nature. He shows how they rose from a few ill equipped troops to becoming well-armed but still aiming at killing women and children because they were Protestant. The book details that ruthless war they waged against normal law-abiding people in Northern Ireland. Thoroughly outmaneuvered by the famous SAS and running scared of the mid-Ulster UVF and C company UFF the IRA put their hands up and eventually gave in, begging for mercy from the loyalists. This is an excellent book about how the Protestant population of Northen Ireland took on the tyranny of the PIRA and defeated them soundly.

Book Description

Set against the backdrop of a monopoly public school system that consigns millions of disadvantaged children to educational inequality, the recent Cleveland school vouchers case, appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, has brought this issue to national attention.

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Hooray for Clint Bolick and School Choice!.......2003-09-24

As a product of Cleveland's public school system, I can attest to its dismal state of affairs.

To say that poor, inner-city students in Cleveland were not receiving a quality education would be like saying that Michael Jordan is good at basketball. The school district did not meet any of the 18 performance standards set for it, and only one in ten 9th graders could pass a basic proficiency exam. In 1995, three years after I graduated from high school, a federal judge placed the school district in state receivership.

The Ohio state legislature subsequently enacted the Cleveland Scholarship Program to provide scholarships and tutoring assistance to children residing in the Cleveland City School District. The program allows both private and public schools in adjacent districts to accept scholarship students by lottery, with low-income students receiving priority if the number of applicants supercedes the number of scholarships, while participating schools agree not to discriminate on the basic of race, religion, or ethnic background.

In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Cleveland's scholarship program, giving a huge victory to poor students longing for a quality education and poor parents who want them to have a chance at a better future. Attorney Clint Bolick and his outstanding legal team helped to make school choice a legal sanctioned reality.

In "Voucher Wars," Bolick recounts his 12-year roller coaster ride to give disadvantaged schoolchildren a chance at a better future. That struggle began with the nation's first school choice program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1990 and culminated with the 2002 Supreme Court decision in Zelman. He shows how the teachers' unions time and again threw up legal challenges to oppose school choice even though most union members enroll their own children in private schools.

Bolick notes that the Ohio federal court injunction against the Cleveland scholarship program that was overturned by the Supreme Court would have snatched 4,000 scholarship students out of quality charter and magnet schools and placed them back into failing public schools before the 1999-2000 school year began. He calls the teachers' union support for the injunction "a strategic miscalculation of titanic significance."

The High Court's ruling was a big thumb to the eye of school choice opponents - most notably the politically powerful National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. They still seem willing to condemn poor - and mostly minority - children to educational cesspools just to maintain their status quo stranglehold on public education.

While Bolick points out there is still much more to be done, this books tells an emotional and uplifting story of a high-stakes battle that he helped to win. It is an excellent read.

As usual, Clint Bolick knows what he's talking about.......2003-06-28

Clint Bolick once again proves he's no Barney Dunn. He continues to make strong compelling arguments about why the government run schools are failing us and the best alternitives. Obviously his arguments over the last decade have begun to have an impact with more and more inner city citizens realizing school choice may be the last best hope when it comes to the decaying and useless government run school system. Bolick reminds the reader that the central beneficiary of choice are the hundreds of thousands of negleted students who clamor for a good education but have no choice in the quagmire of modern union run schools.

Examining landmark educational cases.......2003-05-15

Voucher Wars: Waging The Legal Battle Over School Choice considers the legal battles over school choice and the underlying issues of failing public schools, examining landmark educational cases and the 12-year struggle to provide families with real choices in educational quality. Bolick began and nurtured the legal battle for school choice for underprivileged children: Voucher Wars outlines the issues.

Voucher Wars: Waging the Legal Battle over School Choice (Audiofy Digital Audiobook Chips)

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Voucher Wars: Waging the Legal Battle over School Choice (Audiofy Digital Audiobook Chips)

Manufacturer: Audiofy/Blackstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards
ASIN: 1599127601

Product Description

This Audiofy audiobook chip packs Jeff Riggenbach's full 10 hour reading of "Voucher Wars: Waging the Legal Battle over School Choice" on a tiny memory card. A single Audiofy audiobook chip, hardly larger than a stamp, holds a complete digital audiobook, and saves the last listening position automatically, unlike CDs. With an SD memory card slot or low-cost adapter - like those for digital cameras - this Audiofy audiobook chip can be played on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers or laptops (Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Me/98, or Apple Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above) or transferred to Apple iPod media players. Audiobook chips also move seamlessly to most Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld PDAs with SD expansion slots, as well as Treo and Windows Mobile "smartphones" (Palm OS 5.2 or Windows Mobile 2002 and above)... Because of the untiring work of Clint Bolick, underprivileged children now have an opportunity for a better education. As the central figure in the dramatic twelve-year legal battle over school choice, Bolick tells the story from the inside.

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