The Astor Orphans: A Pride of Lions

Book Description

When deciding which athletes to profile, our editors take into account not only a player's statistics, but also his character. SPI takes care to select athletes who are known to be community minded and can serve as role models.

The biographical material on each athlete covers him from his earliest days to the present.

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2000-06-30

Wow! It was interesting and exciting with lots of neat facts. Amazing to throw 5 TD passes in one game. Did not know that you could play 2 sports at a time in HighSchool.

Clinton Miller 8yrs. old Champaign, Il.

A Fun Book for Football Kids.......2000-06-30

When my son and his friend sat down to this book, I couldn't tear it away from them! They kept looking at the vivid pictures and reading over and over the text. They were really transfixed. I can't say how quiet the house was for about a half of an hour. They loved it!

Kurt Warner: The Quarterback (Sport Snaps)

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Kurt Warner: The Quarterback (Sport Snaps)
Howard Balzer
Manufacturer: GHB Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Football | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Football (American) | Sports | Subjects | Books

Professional | Football (American) | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1892920344

Book Description

Kurt Warner: The Quarterback is more than just a biographical snapshot of the talented quarterback of the St. Louis Rams. It is a story of Christian faith, family, and perseverance. In a unique combination of stunning, full-color photographs along with words by Howard Balzer, a national columnist for Pro Football Weekly and senior editor of Lindy's Pro Football magazine, football fans will come to know Kurt Warner from his childhood through the incredible 1999-2000 football season.

More than just a glimpse of Kurt Warner, this book contains action-packed football photos; football tips for young players; quotes about Kurt from players and coaches; Kurt's strong Christian testimony; the day Kurt will never forget; a biographical look at Kurt's career; a question-and-answer section; a profile of Kurt; and statistics and records.

Book Description

This is the first book in more than twenty-five years to examine the complex historical, cultural, and aesthetic relationship between theater and film, and the effect that each has had on the other’s development.
Robert Knopf here assembles essays from performers, directors, writers, and critics that illuminate this ongoing inquiry. The book is divided into five parts—historical influence, comparisons and contrasts, writing, directing, and acting—with interludes by major artists whose work and words have shaped the development of theater and film. A comprehensive bibliography and filmography support further work in this area.
The book contains contributions from Susan Sontag, Stanley Kauffmann, Sarah Bey-Cheng, Bertolt Brecht, Ingmar Bergman, Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Julia Taymor, Judi Dench, Sam Waterston, Orson Welles, Antonin Artaud, and Milos Forman, among others.

Customer Reviews:

Cool book for those who want to work in theater and film .......2007-06-04

This book covers everything from writing to directing to acting, from the people who started Hollywood to the people making it happen today. As a teenager interested in doing this when I grow up, I love that this isn't a book about the heartbreaks of the business, why I shouldn't do this with my life, or what I'm going to have to do to make it. It's simply about theater and film, through the eyes of some of the best people around. I loved reading it and it got me jazzed about doing this some day.

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Wine and taxes; a letter written by Johann Sebastian Bach: In 1748 to his cousin
Johann Sebastian Bach
Manufacturer: Pierpont Morgan Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Bach, Johann Sebastian | Composers | Classical | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006CFOA8

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Wine and Taxes. A Letter written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1748 to his cousin. Now published by The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, from the Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection. German and English terxt
Johann Sebastian Bach
Manufacturer: New York The Spiral Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IW0AD2

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Expanded, new edition for all levels of project manager

Great PM collection

Very useful

The AMA Handbook of Project Management

Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Project Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Succeeding in project-driven organizations people, processes and politics

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition (PMBOK Guides)

Improving Your Project Management Skills

Group Dynamics for Teams

Project Management Workbook and PMP/CAPM Exam Study Guide , 9th Edition

ASIN: 0814472710

Book Description

A comprehensive reference, thoroughly updated with all new material, The AMA Handbook of Project Management presents the critical concepts and theories that all project managers must master. Containing definitive models, advice, and in-depth solutions to specific project management dilemmas, the book provides valuable insight and the latest techniques on how to: * establish project goals * implement planning on both the strategic and operational levels * design dependable, but flexible, organizational structures * manage the project life cycle and meet objectives * budget the project * handle the transition from project idea to project reality. Packed with case studies to ensure thorough comprehension of key principles, this second edition reflects the most recent changes to the Project Management Body of Knowledge(r), and contains new material on subjects including project management as a profession, portfolio management, program management, team development, and much more. This guide is a vital resource for everyone involved in project tasks.

Customer Reviews:

Expanded, new edition for all levels of project manager.......2006-04-13

There are a number of books on project management on the market; but if only one comprehensive text were to be selected, it should be Paul C. Dinsmore and Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin's AMA HANDBOOK OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT - it's been a recommended pick before and its expanded second edition updates with new material for both experienced and new project managers. This edition offers new material on the growing profession of project management, portfolio management, and team work, showing managers how to set and achieve goals, design flexible, effective teams, move from project concept to finished product, and much more. A highly recommended, definitive reference.

Great PM collection.......2006-02-22

A job well done by Paul Dinsmore and Jeanette Cabanis-Brewin.
They have collected a comprehensive range of well written chapters covering the full suject of project management. A must book for project management students.
Quentin Fleming
http://www.QuentinF.com

Very useful.......1998-07-31

I was surprized how readable this book was, after the last book I bought on the subject. This book is very useful. I am only half way through, but I am very glad I bit the bullet... it has been worth the money.

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AMA Handbook of Project Management
Paul C Dinsmore
Manufacturer: amacom
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K2T1BC

Book Description

A rare and powerful story of hope, love, survival,and the struggle to bring back alive a hostage in Iraq

Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carleton were journalists and filmmakers working in Iraq on a documentary about the looting of the country's legendary archaeological sites, with their Iraqi translator Amir Doshi. In the late summer of 2004, they began to wrap up their work, and Marie-Hélène returned home while Micah remained for a final two weeks of filming. As Micah and Amir were filming in a Nasiriyah market, something went horribly wrong: Micah, who wore a bushy mustache and was dressed in Iraqi clothing, was unmasked as a foreigner and kidnapped by militants in southern Iraq.

Home in New York, Marie-Hélène awoke to a gut-wrenching phone call from Micah's mother with word of his abduction. She promised Micah's mother the impossible--that together they would bring Micah back alive.

American Hostage is the remarkable memoir of Micah Garen's harrowing abduction and survival in captivity, as well as the heroic and successful struggle of Marie-Hélène; Micah's sister, Eva; along with family and friends to win Micah's and Amir's release from their captors. The world watched and waited as Micah's drama unfolded, but the authors, now safely home and engaged to be married, detail the dramatic untold story.

After learning of Micah's abduction, Marie-Hélène took a risky and unusual step: instead of relying on the authorities to rescue Micah, she used her recent experience in Iraq to construct a massive grassroots effort to reach out to Micah's captors and plead for his release. As fighting between Coalition forces and the Mahdi Army raged in Najaf, Micah and Amir became pawns in a terrible political game. The kidnappers released a video threatening to kill Micah unless the United States withdrew from Najaf within forty-eight hours. In response, Marie-Hélène's and Micah's families redoubled their efforts, eventually sending a representative to Nasiriyah to lobby for Micah.

While Marie-Hélène worked on his release, Micah, imprisoned alongside Amir under armed guard deep in the marshes of southern Iraq, lived the nightmare of a hostagehaunted by the alternating impulses of hope and despair, his desire for survival and plans of escape. His experience reveals a great deal about the lives and minds of militants in southern Iraq.

American Hostage is an engrossing and rare story of how hope, love, and communal effort can overcome war, distance, and cultural differences in Iraq.

Download Description

American Hostage is the remarkable memoir of Micah Garen's harrowing abduction and survival in captivity, as well as the heroic and successful struggle of Marie-ane; Micah's sister, Eva; along with family and friends to win Micah's and Amir's release from their captors. The world watched and waited as Micah's drama unfolded, but the authors, now safely home and engaged to be married, detail the dramatic untold story.

Customer Reviews:

Moving true story of survival :-).......2006-07-20

I really loved reading this from start to finish. It is a moving story of journalist and filmmaker Micah Garen who was in Iraq filming a documentary. While finishing up, he was kidnapped by militants in Southern Iraq.
This is a well written, interesting and powerful book that reveals the details of his work, kidnapping and release. At times, you will definately need some tissues, but overall, you will come away with having read a fascinating (scary at times) book. This is something that should be read by everyone.

No project is worth losing your life over.......2006-07-20

Most books about the Iraq war are more general in nature, without that personal touch throughout the story. "American Hostage" is not one such book -- instead, Micah Garen and Marie-Helene Carleton tell the world their own personal story, in the middle of Iraq's chaos.

The two were filming a documentary in Iraq, but Micah decided to stay behind and do a few more weeks of camerawork, while Marie-Helene flew ahead to New York. Her last words before leaving were "I love you." That was a good thing, because while trying to photograph a man in a market, Micah is attacked by a mob for being a foreigner.

In the days that follow, Micah and his local guide Amir are kept prisoners, while Marie-Helene anxiously awaits her boyfriend's arrival -- until the morning when Micah's mom calls her, saying that he has gone missing. With little information to go on, Marie-Helene goes on a quest to get her lover back -- even as a radical group threatens to kill him.

The Iraq war has been a political powderkeg ever since it began, but "American Hostage" is one of the rare stories that doesn't really belong to either side of the debate. It's a more intimate story, by people who only wanted to film a documentary.

And as a whole, it's a compelling love story. Not hearts-and-flowers love, but a willingness to go anywhere and do anything to save the person you care for. The story is told from both viewpoints -- Micah's and Marie-Helene's -- both of which are sort of like fleshed-out diary entries, with details of what they saw and felt.

Through their eyes, we get to see the horrible, despairing condition of a prisoner, as well as the desperation of the prisoner's loved ones as they mount a campaign to get him back. Micah is a better writer, getting across his feelings as he wobbles between hope and fear, but Marie-Helene's story is almost as compelling.

Adding to the story is a collection of photographs, including poignant looks at looted museums, frightening rallies, and a look at the "shrines" the families erected as they hoped for Micah's safe release. Finally, there are pics of the families rejoicing as they are reunited with Micah.

A tense, frightening story, "American Hostage" is a true look at modern Iraq in wartime, and a love story with a happy ending. Compelling.

A moving account of one hostage's ordeal and the incredible effort to win his release .......2006-07-15

Back in 2004, the sight of innocent civilians, including journalists, kidnapped in Iraq became all too common. We saw the horrifying pictures of helpless individuals surrounded by brutal men too cowardly to even show their faces, heard the kidnappers' ridiculous demands, prayed for the victims and their families, and felt a deep sense of outrage and anger at the barbarism of the terrorists. Our hearts went out to those involved, yet the personal reality of such a nightmare situation never really touched us - certainly not in the way it did the victims and their families back home. I pictured grieving families coming together to wait out the ordeal, unable to do anything but hope and pray. The family and friends - and colleagues - of Micah Garen, however, were anything but paralyzed, and that is what makes his story so fascinating. Alongside Garen's experience in captivity, we also have a rundown of the tireless, far-reaching efforts of a small army of supporters, led by his fiance Marie-Helene Carleton.

Both Garen and Carleton had gone to Iraq to shoot a documentary about the widespread looting taking place there, at some of the most significant archaeological sites in the world. Both authors share their experiences in this regard, and it is an important subject - important enough for both of them to risk their lives to document it - but I really don't have enough space to discuss it here. Carleton returned home, but Garen chose to stay two more weeks in order to film the new city guards that were set to begin protecting the site at Umma. Their months-long stay overlapped with the transfer of power to Iraqi authority in mid-2004, which turned out to be a most dangerous time, as fighting broke out between Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and coalition forces. On August 13, Garen and Amir Doshi, his friend and translator, traveled to Nasiriyah, where they were kidnapped from the market place and taken to the office of al-Sadr. From there, they were taken to a remote location in the marshes, their new home a small enclosure surrounded by a wall of date palm fronds jammed down into the earth. This certainly didn't fit my mental image of a hostage cell, but it gave them only the smallest glimmer of hope that they might be able to escape. Garen takes us through the daily routine that soon developed, the conversations he and Amir had with different guards (with different ones seemingly having different agendas), and brings home both the emotional and physical toll their captivity took on both men. All of the doubts, fears, internal debates, and fleeting senses of hopefulness are vividly detailed, giving one at least a sense of what Garen's ordeal must have been like.

Marie-Helene Carleton's story is, in some ways, more gripping and emotional than Garen's. While he at least had a minute-to-minute sense of what was going on, his family and friends started out with nothing more than the nightmarish report of his kidnapping. They had no idea if he was alive or dead, where he might be, or who might be holding him - and the question of the kidnappers' identity was of the utmost importance. It could be a group connected to al-Sadr, looters with a grudge against Garen's journalistic work in Iraq, common criminals, or al Qaeda. If Garen ended up in Zarqawi's hands, there was almost no chance of his coming home alive. Upon learning the horrifying news, Carleton immediately began working for his release. Along with the obligatory calls to government officials, she began reaching out to her own network of contacts both inside and outside of Iraq itself. Within hours, a small army of family and friends were hard at work, contacting anyone who might be able to help and fending off media inquiries left and right. Since they did not know who had taken Garen, they held off going to the media - under some scenarios, a personal plea from the family could be of great help, but in others it could contribute to Garen's death. Their fellow journalists, however, came to their aid in spades, with everyone contacting anyone they thought could help. Their greatest hope was that they could somehow get al-Sadr to release a statement calling for the hostages' release, but al-Sadr was pinned down at the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf at that time. The story of all of this behind-the-scenes work is fascinating and rather amazing, and there's even a twist at the end.

There are additional aspects to this story that I haven't even mentioned. The different goals of the men who held Garen and Doshi in captivity is perhaps the most striking - and revealing as to the nature of this turbulent time in Iraqi history. These men could be cruel, but they were a far cry from the brutal savages I would have assumed them to be. I should also note that there's really no political subtext to be found in this story, nor are there any claims of heroism. Garen, Carleton, and their loved ones truly come across as wonderful human beings, and the story is told in such a way that you feel as if you are witnessing all of these events and emotions first-hand. This is an informative, well-written, emotionally compelling read - and, best of all, it has a happy ending.

Under the sword of death.......2006-07-04

The authors had come to Iraq to help prevent the looting of archeological sites. Their motivation was to help preserve artifacts of an ancient culture. It is ironic then that Micah Garen and his Iraqi translator and guide, Amir Doshi, were kidnapped and put under a death sentence by Iraqi militants.

There are two memoirs here, told in alternating chapters, first from Garen, who recounts the terrifying experience of being kidnapped; and then from his fiancee, Marie-Helene Carleton, who had returned to the States before the kidnapping, on the rescue efforts from New York. The chapters alternate until the story is finished.

The story is neither a tragedy nor a comedy, although it could have been either. The authors concentrate on the personal details of their experiences, the helplessness, the fear, the anxiety near the edge of sanity. I was struck with how personal the war became to Marie-Helene Carleton once her beloved Micah had been kidnapped. Too bad it isn't that personal to all of us. Is that what it takes to understand what it means to invade another country? All too often the war is merely a show on television until someone we love is in danger, and then the sheer inhumanity and madness of war become real.

I was also struck by the virtual helplessness of the US government. Obviously the US cannot negotiate with kidnappers. To do so would only invite more kidnappings. Furthermore, from the point of view of Carleton, who was co-ordinating the rescue efforts from New York, even involving the US government, and especially the military, was not an option, at least not openly, since such involvement might further endanger Garen. Prior to the kidnapping the two authors preferred to be recognized in Iraq as French rather than American, since the French had fewer enemies in Iraq.

The book is a little too long. The detail from New York, while fascinating in some respects is utterly ordinary in others, and could easily have been contained. On the other hand, the detail of Garen's day-to-day life as a captive could have been given even more light, except of course he was not able to take notes or to record his experiences. He had to recall after the fact all the details. Since Garen was constantly under the threat of death (a brutal video beheading seemed entirely possible), it is surprising that he was able to recall as much as he did.

Also both Garen and Carleton are very young. Their sense of what happened to them is without the sort of distillment that will emerge later, or that would come from people more seasoned. In this regard, I was struck by the restrained heroics and quiet wisdom of Amir Doshi who helped to keep Garen sane, and who actually endured a more brutal ordeal, physically speaking. There was a certain timelessness in the way Amir bore the suffering and the terror that would not be possible for someone younger and less experienced in the world. Additionally, Doshi's character, that of an optimistic, educated and secular Iraqi, served as a shining example of how to behave with grace under pressure.

This is not to denigrate Garen or Carleton. Carleton in particular was heroic in her fanatical and laborious efforts to save her fiancé, while Garen managed to survive, with dignity and his own style of grace, an ordeal that few of us would even want to contemplate.

Finally I would like to add my own note of irony. If there is a producer somewhere who would like to make this story into a movie, I really do suggest comedy, a romantic comedy in which the kidnappers are bumbling peasants, the politicians helpless bureaucrats, the Islamic clerics filled with the power of their eminence, and the two young people desperately in love, but kept apart by confused armies blowing each other up for no apparent reason. Romantic comedies traditionally end in marriage, and we have on page 259 a very sweet proposal.

By the way, it is remarkable that Garen and Carleton do not in the slightest betray even an inkling of political or religious bias in the book. I couldn't tell from reading this book who they voted for in the last presidential election or whether they think invading Iraq was a good idea or not--well, the destruction of war would not appeal to them, that's for sure. And, true a Halliburton subsidiary is noted as contaminating an archeological site (p. 107); but on the other hand, White House neocon, Paul Wolfowitz, is asked to help in the rescue effort.

There are some germane and illustrative black and white photos in the middle of the book, and there is a glossary and a helpful map in this attractively edited and clearly-written memoir.

A Suspense Thriller, Romance, and Journalistic Account of the Iraqi War.......2006-06-30

AMERICAN HOSTAGE is a difficult book to classify. Though the cover calls it 'a memoir of a journalist kidnapped in Iraq and the remarkable battle to win his release', that is only the tip of the pyramid in this book that is not only beautifully written, but also weaves a story of intense intrigue, some fascinating inside information about the people of Iraq, the obstacles of living in a land at war, the tenderness not only between a fine journalist and his lover but also between the journalist and his translator/friend. There is more to learn from this highly entertaining book than could be expected.

Micah Garen, an American journalist covering the looting of the ancient ruins of Iraq with his partner/lover Marie-Helene Carleton, was kidnapped with his translator Amir on August 13th, 2004. Garen relates the issues leading up to the kidnapping, and the daily hardships and terrors while under guard with his good friend Amir, until their release August 22nd, 2004 - nine days and nights filled with despair, terror, suffering, political manipulation, yet with the indomitable human spirit that allowed them to survive. During the time Garen and Amir were in captivity, Carleton did amazingly courageous acts of spirit and fact from her home in New York to guarantee that the two men would survive and be released. That story is important enough and intensely interestingly enough to make the book work.

But the joy of reading AMERICAN HOSTAGE is in part due to the diary-like mode of writing: Garen makes entries like a diary listed by day and Carleton mirrors those entries with her won responses from New York. In addition to unfolding the terror of the kidnapping, Garen gives diversions of background of the life of a journalist, his important successes in reporting the looting of antiquities, the responses of the people on all sides of the festering carbuncle that is the situation in Iraq, allowing us full range of exposure to all sides of the matter. This is not only excellent journalism: this is information we rarely encounter in the media.

The clear writing style and the clever manner of relating this important event are accompanied by photographs of the 'cast' of characters - an aspect that for this reader lowers the quality of the overall impact. It is fine to see the handsome couple on the cover jacket, but reducing the images included in the text to snapshots of Sumerian bricks, 'hijab' garb, 'keffiyeh' and 'dishdasha' costume elements, the blindfold worn during captivity, palm frond spikes, etc. makes an otherwise intensely interesting novel-like memoir appear like a simple scrapbook. But that is a small complaint for a book as well written and as fascinating as this. Recommended for all those who want a better idea of how the situation in Iraq is progressing. Grady Harp, June 06

American Hostage: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Release

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American Hostage: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Release
Carleton, Micah, Marie-Helene Garen
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000LC4AYE

Customer Reviews:

A Unique Reference Work.......2000-06-04

Chinese military history, in English, is hard to come by, so 'China at War' fills an immense gap. Most related histories focus on the Pacific war, neglecting the long struggle in China from the 1930s. In addition, Dreyer's account of the early 20th century military activities in China is also interesting, partly because it is so poorly understood in the West. His argument that the Chinese war effort, from both the KMT and the Communists, was not decisive in defeating Japan, is contentious but forcefully stated. I would have preferred more graphics in the book, and, more importantly, that Dreyer had used the pinyin spelling of Chinese names and places (i.e.Mao Zedong). The Wade-Giles system (i.e. Mao Tse Tung) is obscelete. On the whole, recommended for anyone with an interest in Chinese or WWII history.

Book Description

This book explores the diverse environmental problems we currently face. Emphasizing problems in Australia, this book is built around case studies focusing on health, population, land, water, forests, the atmosphere, and urbanization. This new edition includes substantial new data, extensive
coverage of global environmental problems, and new material on population, water, and international cooperation.

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