No Bull: My Life In and Out of Markets

Book Description

When the official history of twentieth-century Wall Street is written, it will certainly contain more than a few pages on Michael Steinhardt. One of the most successful money managers in the history of "The Street," Steinhardt far outshone his peers by achieving an average annual return of over thirty percent-significantly greater than that of every market benchmark. During his almost thirty-year tenure as a hedge fund manager, he amassed vast wealth for his investors and himself. One dollar invested with Steinhardt Partners L.P., his flagship hedge fund, at its inception in 1967 would have been worth $462 when he retired from active money management in 1995.

No Bull offers an account of some of the investment strategies that drove Michael Steinhardt's historic success as a hedge fund manager including a focus on his skills as an industry analyst and consummate stock picker. He also reveals how his uncanny talent for knowing when to trade against the prevailing market trend-a talent that was not always appreciated by several erstwhile high-profile clients-resulted in many of his greatest successes. Here he provides detailed accounts of some of his most sensational coups-including his momentous decision, in 1981, to stake everything on bonds-and his equally sensational failures, such as his disastrous foray into global macro-trading in the mid-1990s.

At the same time, No Bull is the rags-to-riches story of a boy from Bensonhurst and his rise from the streets of Brooklyn to the heights of Wall Street. In a thoroughly engaging narrative, Steinhardt relates the early influences that shaped his attitudes toward life and success, as well as the beginning of his love affair with stock investing. Further, he chronicles his dawning awareness of the need for a purpose in life beyond the acquisition of wealth and how it led to his decision to retire and redirect his energies. We learn about his experiences as the chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council for nearly a decade, as well as his innovative thinking and ambitious projects to strengthen the Jewish community.

The inspiring true story of a Wall Street genius and world-class philanthropist, No Bull is an unforgettable read for finance professionals and students of human nature alike.
Michael Steinhardt is one of the most successful money managers in the history of Wall Street. He is also widely known for his philanthropic activities, particularly in the Jewish community-most notably as cofounder with Charles Bronfman of birthright israel, a program whose mission is to provide a free educational opportunity for every young Jewish person of the Diaspora to visit Israel.

Customer Reviews:

He puts his money where his mouth is .......2006-09-10

I have a different perspective from most other readers and reviewers of this book. I am not interested in knowing how Steinhardt traded his way to millions. I am not looking for tips and tricks of how to convert whatever dough I have into a lot more of it.
I was interested in reading a bit of the life story of one of the great figures of present- day Jewish communal life, someone who has put his money where his mouth is. There are a lot more wealthy Jews than Steinhardt, but there are few who have dedicated themselves and a good share of their money to helping an aging, assimilated Diaspora Jewish community reconnect with its heritage, and contribute to the long history and future development of the Jewish people.
Steinhardt, to my mind, is a hero for this .
As for the story of his own life - adventure. He reveals a great deal of moxie, and street- smarts in going his own way. He met adversity not with complaint but with learning what it taught him. I did not too much go for his toughness on his subordinates, but then he does show repentance and humility.
He also seems to be a person of great family loyalty and love, something I also find admirable.
Each one of us is only one of a kind, but we need more like this guy.

Good biography, but not so good on investment/trading tactics........2006-08-27

I bought the book to gain some trading insight from one of the greatest hedge fund managers ever, but it left me wanting. About 1/2 the book deals with religious and cultural issues regarding his heritage. His most profound investment ideas had more to do with the bond market, not the stock market. He detailed one trade in Occidental Petroleum that went bad for him, but didn't go into details.

An engaging autobiography on one of the best trader's ever.......2006-05-29

Steinhardt's memoir on his exploits from early childhod to beating the Street year after year is extremely enjoyable and highly educational. Frankly, I am quite surprised how many reviewers neglect to see the many nuggets of financial insight that are readily available in the book. Granted, it is a lot more subtle and restrained than the common how-to and strategy books out there, however, no less important in my humble opinion.

Case in point: (Pg 187) "Are some people naturals, like some athletes? I do not think so. Beginning at a very early age, I have made cumulatively more judgments, and more investment decisions based on the same kinds of data, than almost anyone else. This process unconsciously leads to a sharpening, a fine-tuning, that over time, results in fewer mistakes. In this repetitious behavior, learning occurs that is not consciously understandable but allows one to ferret out the higher probability from the lower. Thus, one develops "good instincts." Often listening to an idea led me to an entirely different conclusion than the proponent of the same idea, whose knowledge was far deeper than mine. It seemed knowledge was necessary but insufficient. While I have certainly made my fair share of mistakes, the filtering process that I contributed was extraordinarily effective."

This simple yet powerful observation by Steinhardt is just a small sample of what the book has in store for the initiated reader. As a professional, we constantly make decisions that are instinctual and just "feel right", yet have a tremendously hard time in explaining why and how we do them. Steinhardt's poignant observation on why some trader's "get it" and why some don't is something we as trader's probaly know unconsciously, but have a tough time explaining it on a conscious level.

A true gem of financial and psychological wisdom.

major disappointment.......2006-05-15

The book should be sub-titled "my life outside of the market". This book is a huge disappointment and is a waste of time and money to read. A lot of name dropping and very few insights into how he made money. What I learned was that as a fund manager who flipped over his portfolio many times a year, he generated a lot of commissions for brokerages. The direct consequence of this was that he was often the first person that they called when there was any news or stocks to buy or sell. From that he was frequently able to exploit a lot of price discrepancies between brokerages on the same stocks and also probably recieved the first dib on brokerages' latest thoughts on various stocks. Steinhardt is basically a sophisticated short term trader whose edge came from being at the nexus of wall street brokerages' information network. As for Variant Perception, it is a just a sophisticated phrase to explain that one should be able to have contrary view against the general market's view. This is easy to do if you are the first person to get Wall Street brokerages' latest thoughts and what they are about to do with certain stocks...Incidentally, Jim Cramer's wife used to work for Steinhardt and when Cramer was struggling as a fund manager, she gave him these insights to let him outperform the market.

Not an investment book.......2005-12-02

No Bull! First impression we think it's an investment book, unfortunately this book has nothing to do with investing, it's about an autobiography of Mr. Steinhardt. The title is misrepresented since Bull represents the market, a rising stock market if you prefer, while the strategies and techniques for stock trading is not described in this book as its title pretended. If you are looking for good investment books, have a look for the books of Jesse Livermore, Nicholas Darvas and Martin Zweig, and do not forget the Market Wizards.

Customer Reviews:

Clear the Track: The Eddie Shack Story.......1999-11-25

It brought back great memories of a great friend. I read the book in one day---couldn't put it down. If you have ever followed a sports icon, you will appreciate the candor and style of this book. I was fortunate to have known Eddie during his Pittsburgh days and this book documents the man and his mission well----to bring the fan into the game.

A great read.

Book Description

North Africa has captured the French imagination for centuries and shaped it in ways the French themselves have yet to acknowledge. The advent of cinema allowed artists and propagandists alike to exploit a new medium in their romanticized depictions of France's imperial mission in Algeria and Morocco. The films of the 1920s expressed a cautious optimism about the prospect of cooperation between Europeans and Muslims -- with Europeans dominant. By the 1930s, however, attitudes toward indigenous North Africans had hardened. In response to demands for liberal reform in Algeria, French settlers appealed to racial solidarity and protection of white womanhood. The films of this period warned against the perils of miscegenation and portrayed the Foreign Legion and the settlers as the defenders of white, European civilization's frontiers.

In Colonial Cinema and Imperial France, David Henry Slavin uses such key colonial-era films as L'Atlantide (1921; remade in 1932) and Pépé le Moko (1937) to document how the French cinema reflected the changing policies and values of French colonialism in the interwar period. Slavin is most interested in the "blind spots" within these films, the avoidance or denial of colonial realities that becomes apparent when sound-era remakes are compared with their original silent versions. The reworking of history and the interplay of history and memory evident in this process still hinders France's ability to confront the legacy of its colonial past.

Customer Reviews:

Nice radio AND newspaper nostalgia.......2006-07-01

Jerry Eskenazi, sports writer for the New York Times, among other papers, relates what it was like growing up in New York in the pre-war years. His mother was divorced, and worked full-time, making young Jerry somewhat of an outcast, although he grew up under the watchful eye of his immigrant grandmother. Radio became his solace in the hours at home alone after school. Like all kids in Brooklyn, he discovered and enjoyed baseball, especially when he realized that Ted Williams was also the child of divorced parents.

With considerable glee, Eskenazi writes of his introduction to the [then] rough-and-tumble world of newspapering, first at the New York Mirror, then at the Times. Along the way to writing this book, he compares radio memories with Tom Brokaw and Colin Powell.

Although the book is nominally radio nostalgia, it paints an excellent picture of the way both radio and newspapers shaped the American experience in the pre-TV era.

An interesting companion book to this would be Stud's Terkel's autobiography, Talking to Myself. Terkel, fully a generation older than Eskenazi, grew up in Chicago in similar circumstances (an immigrant family), and by the time Eskenazi discovered radio, was a bit player on many of the latter's favorite shows.

A very nice read.......2006-04-02

This is a very enjoyable book. It's a little difficult to categorize -- a memoirs that revolves around radio. If you are looking for an encyclopedia of old time radio, this is not it. This is radio as heard through the ears of one boy at one place in time. But it also presents a window onto what this device was in people's lives in a different error. There is a lot of information on the history of broadcast radio, the range of shows on air in the 40s and 50s and who listened to them, but this book is more about the role it played in the author's life (including a lot of coincidental meetings between the author later in life with many of his childhood on-air heroes).
It is particularly poignant because the writer was the only child to a single mother and found himself relying on the radio for company.

Fascinating, original, and highly recommended.......2005-11-13

The 1930s, 40s, and early 50s were the age of Radio. This is when most of America would tune in nightly for their favorite comedies, mysteries, westerns, science fiction, adventure, news, culture, and entertainment programs for children and adults. This was the ultimate era of "theatre of the mind" entertainment that took place in front of the glow of a radio dial. I Hid It Under The Sheets: Growing Up With Radio is Gerald Eskenazi's personal account and recollection of radio's broad impact on his generation and explains how and why it became such a major factor in shaping American and Americans during the years of the Great Depression, World War II, and the first decade of what was called the Cold War when the United States and the Soviet Union had the power to exterminate the human race in a nuclear holocaust. I Hid It Under The Sheets is a simply fascinating, original, and highly recommended contribution to mid-twentieth century American Cultural History library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Book Description

Teaches the basics of embroidery and provides over 40 lively and amusing designs—a butterfly, high-stepping teddy bear, smiling turtle, a witch on her broom, a lion sporting a crown and more. Designs can be transferred with a warm iron to most fabrics. Step-by-step instructions and easy-to-follow charts guide youngsters through the embroidery process.

Customer Reviews:

Good book for beginners........1999-02-17

This book is mainly filled with the iron-on transfer patterns. There are only two pages of instruction. The patterns are cute, with teddy bears, clowns, suns, stars, and other animals. There are two types of patterns, one that is unmarked so you can iron-on to your fabric and the same pattern with instructions on the color and stitch so the image comes out the way the author has it in the photos. I think it may be a little too complicated for the age range specified. The "my first" part of the title may give the impression that it's a good book for younger children, but I think the stitches may be too difficult for them to learn. I think it's a good book for pre-teen range children interested in embriodery.

Book Description

Featuring an ideal balance of managerial issues and quantitative techniques, this new Fifth Edition of Russell and Taylor's comprehensive introduction to operations management keeps pace with current innovations and issues in the field, particularly those related to the impact of information technology and the global business environment on OM. The authors present the concepts clearly and logically, and help students see how OM relates to real business.

Russell and Taylor recognize that many students struggle with the quantitative material in their Operations Management course. That's why their text offers extensive collection of exercises and solved problems, along with outstanding problem-solving support, including eGrade Plus. eGrade Plus links problems from the book to relevant sections in an online version of the text, and provides opportunities for practice and a quantitative survival guide.

Customer Reviews:

we had to buy it its a required text.......2007-03-13

I really can't say that there is anything new here but it covers the basics well.I liked the cover

Operations Management - Quality and Competitiveness in a Global Environment 5e

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Operations Management - Quality and Competitiveness in a Global Environment 5e
RUSSELL
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5F2HS

Book Description

"I went to Maui to stay a week and remained five. I had a jolly time. I would not have fooled away any of it writing letters under any consideration whatever." --Mark Twain

So Samuel Langhorne Clemens made his excuse for late copy to the Sacramento Union, the newspaper that was underwriting his 1866 trip. If the young reporter's excuse makes perfect sense to you, join the thousands of Island lovers who have delighted in Twain's efforts when he finally did put pen to paper.

Customer Reviews:

Great Insight Into The Hawaii of Yesteryear.......2007-01-10

This book is easy and interesting reading. Anyone who enjoys learning about historical backgrounds will be enthralled by this book. It provides great first person perspective of what Hawaii was like before being tainted by the outside world. I highly recommend it!

Entertaining early writing by Twain.......2001-09-20

Having just finished reading Twain's "Roughing It", and having received this book as a gift, I decided to read them back to back. This is a compilation of the correspondence Mark Twain was hired to write from Hawaii (then the Sandwich Islands) for the California newspaper the Sacramento Union. These letters were written before he had published his first book, so he was still young and inexperienced as a writer. Yet all the elements of classic Twain are in here--the humour, the keen observation, the ear for vernacular speech. It is informative to notice that he used much of the material from these letters--at times verbatim--to create the last few chapters of "Roughing It". I would almost recommend reading "Roughing It" instead of these letters because the writing is more polished and edited for more readability, were it not for the fact that the letters contain some very interesting material that does not appear in "Roughing It". Specifically, Twain does an excellent job covering the trade and commerce of the Islands, specifically the whaling and sugar industries (I am a sucker for 19th century whaling stories), and delivers an exclusive report on the fate of the clipper ship 'Hornet', a ship that completely burned while on the open sea, stranding 31 men in open boats near the Equator. One boat made it to Hawaii and Twain was able to get a report off to California, the first anyone there had heard of it. This report later bacame the source for his piece "Forty-Three Days in an Open Boat".

I would recommend this book to those interested in early Hawaiian, or even California, history and those who would enjoy some early Mark Twain. The subject matter jumps around a bit, as is the nature of this kind of compilation. The introduction by A. Grove Day is very informative and helpful for placing the readings in context. The reading is not always easy but usually entertaining.

Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii.......2000-08-08

This book is an excellent and quick read. It presents a picture of Hawaii that, unfortunately, will never be seen again. If you love the islands and/or Mark Twain's writing style, you'll love this book.

Brilliant writing that remains alive.......2000-06-18

What is it about the Hawaiian Islands that is so profoundly affecting? Twain was the ultimate skeptic, yet the Islands won him over in a minute. This collection of newspaper columns tells us why, and it is story that remains relevant to Island visitors and lucky residents. Twain was as well travelled as anyone of his day, and had no trouble identifying Hawaii as not just a pleasant place, but a unique place on earth. He hoped to live out his days on the Islands, but never made it back. Modern travellers sometimes wonder about the attractions of the Islands versus other places with warm climates. No one has explained it better than Twain.

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Mark Twain's Letters From Hawaii
A. Grove - editor Day
Manufacturer: Appleton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IOVEXK

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Letters from the Sandwich Islands
Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Manufacturer: Haskell House Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Mark Twain's Hawaiian adventures. Includes interesting observations on travel and Hawaiian social life and customs.

Letters from the Sandwich Islands, (Rare Americana, 3d ser)

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Letters from the Sandwich Islands, (Rare Americana, 3d ser)
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: The Grabhorn Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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MARK TWAIN'S LETTERS FROM HAWAII
A. GROVE DAY
Manufacturer: CHATTO AND WINDUS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S2IB2O

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Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii
Mark Twain Edited By A. Grove Day
Manufacturer: Appleton-Century-Crofts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OFMBCQ

MARK TWAIN'S LETTERS FROM HAWAII. Edited and with an introduction by A. Grove Day

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MARK TWAIN'S LETTERS FROM HAWAII. Edited and with an introduction by A. Grove Day
Mark. Twain
Manufacturer: Appleton-Century,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7KGPE

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[Letters from the Sandwich Islands]
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: James Anthony & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Mark Twain's Letters From Hawaii

Manufacturer: Chatto & Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GL26LY

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Mark Twain's Letters From Hawaii
Mark (clemens, Samuel); Edited and with an introduction by Day, A. Grove Twain
Manufacturer: Univ. Of Hawaii Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IX1TL8

Amazon.com

This book uses impressive spadework to tell the story of what its subtitle calls "the last secret of the war in Vietnam," namely, what really happened in the case of Marine Private Bobby Garwood, the last soldier to return from the war alive. He returned in 1979, after 14 years missing in action. Jensen-Stevenson, a former Sixty Minutes producer, managed to get on the record people who have spent years staying off it: several well-placed military intelligence figures and Garwood (court-martialed for consorting with the enemy upon his return) himself. The main contentions of the book are that Garwood didn't desert but was captured after a firefight, that despite the sorts of lapses that virtually all Vietnam POWs fell prey to from time to time, he remained a loyal American throughout an incredibly arduous captivity, and most explosively of all: that before his return, based on the idea that he was a defector, there was an organized effort by U.S. forces to assassinate him. Readers will conclude that the Garwood case needs re-opening.

Book Description

Ten days before his tour of duty ended in 1965, Marine Pvt. Robert Garwood was taken captive by the Vietcong.

In 1979--six years after the Vietnamese government had allegedly released all American POWs--he was still a prisoner of war.

A jeep driver for a Marine Intelligence unit, Bobby Garwood suffered through fourteen years of unabated hell in a succession of prison camps in North Vietnam. But his most devastating ordeal came after his release. For Garwood returned home not to a grateful America, but to a court-martial, accusations of treachery and collusion, and to disgrace.

Colonel Tom McKenney arrived "in-country" in 1968, three years after Garwood's capture by the enemy. Assigned to a clandestine team of "hunter-shooters," McKenney's top-secret mission was to scour the jungle for turncoats in U.S. military uniform. And one of the "traitors" he was directed to terminate was Pvt. Robert Garwood.

This is the remarkable true story of two Marines--a hunter and his prey--and of a chilling covert military operation designed to cover-up high level incompetence by destroying a loyal soldier's life and future.

Customer Reviews:

Another 'rewrite' of history.......2004-01-26

Once again little 'Bobby' Garwood dupes an author into rewritting history. Before you read this 'novel' why don't you read "Why didn't You Get Me Out?" by Frank Anton. Then you can get the truth about poor little Bobby's actions in the POW camps from a man who was actually there, rather than this heavily fictionalized book from a woman who was not!

POW's in Vietnam.......2003-10-02

When I met my husband in 1979. He had just escaped Vietnam the year before. He was one of the boat people. He told me way back in 1979 that he had seen American POW's as late as 1978 with his own eyes on more then one occasion. He was riding his scooter far out in the country side and saw a group of tall, long haired and bearded Caucasion men working the rice paddy fields under Vietnamese armed guard. When he looked a little too long and too hard the guards aimed their rifles at him so he looked away and kept driving.
He said the Caucasian mens faces were very sad.
My husband wouldn't lie to me. He still insists it true and we have told many people about it
Since then I made it a point to question every Vietnamese refugee I met. Several had told me they saw them with their own eyes as late as 1982.
I was also told that it was common knowledge in Vietnam that American POW's were still there.They were surprised that most Americans didn't know about it. They just figured maybe we didn't want them back or didn't care.
I don't know the real truth about Bobby Garwood. But, I beleive what my husband and other Vietnamese have told me
I don't know if there are any POW's left alive now. It's been so long. But, I believe there were as late as 1982 and I pray for them every night.

Spoof House.......2003-03-11

In late 1999 Ms. Jensen-Stevenson settled the libel lawsuit filed against her and her publishers by Dr. Harold Kushner for the scurrilous allegations she had made against him in "Spite House". Dr. Kushner was a P.O.W. in several of the jungle camps where Robert Garwood acted as guard and interrogator for the Communists. Ms. Jensen-Stevenson agreed to a monetary settlement (which Dr. Kushner promptly donated to charity) and also agreed to publish an apology to him in both the New York Times and Dr. Kushner's local paper; she admitted that the only source for her charges was Robert Garwood and that none of the other surviving P.O.W.'s would buttress her assertions.

The facts of Robert Garwood's case, as opposed to the fiction of "Spite House", are well known and easily summarized: Garwood was captured in or near Da Nang in 1965 and for approximately the next eighteen months he was a P.O.W., a status that changed when he was offered release but refused it, electing to stay with the Viet Cong as a lieutenant. Now calling himself Nguyen Chien Dau ("Nguyen the Freedom Fighter"), Garwood became fully integrated into the Viet Cong infrastructure. He carried a standard-issue AK-47 and used it to guard fellow Americans. He also interrogated them and encouraged them to write and record anti-American propaganda. He assaulted at least one P.O.W. (he was later convicted of this), lived in the guards quarters and made pro-Communist loudspeaker broadcasts near Marine positions. He may even have participated in combat assaults on Marine patrols and bases, although it seems ludicrous to imagine that the Viet Cong, fierce warriors with an intimate knowledge of the land, would have actually allowed a motor pool private to lead them into battle. The Marine Corps learned of Garwood's perfidy fairly early on when P.O.W.'s from Garwood's camp were released and he was marked for court martial should he resurface.

Garwood was not seen by Americans from 1969 until 1979, when he passed a note to a Finnish businessman in a hotel restaurant in Hanoi. Garwood's name had not been on any list of P.O.W.'s provided by the North Vietnamese prior to the repatriation of all-yes, all-American P.O.W.'s in 1973. Garwood returned to the United States in 1979, was convicted after a lengthy court martial, and dishonorably discharged. Garwood was convicted for the things he did while he was with the enemy, not for acts committed while he was a prisoner; he was no longer a prisoner once he was offered release but voluntarily stayed with the Viet Cong.

The entire shabby Garwood affair should have been relegated to nothing more than a footnote of the Vietnam War but wasn't because politics do indeed make strange bedfellows. Garwood was embraced by the activist faction of the P.O.W./M.I.A. movement upon his return when he claimed that Americans were still being held captive in Vietnam years after the end of the war. It was both strange and sad to see the wives and children of missing servicemen making common cause with a turncoat. Certain politician, eager to make whatever hay they could from the M.I.A. issue, also championed Garwood. One senator went so far as to fly with Garwood to North Vietnam-years after Garwood's return-so Garwood could show him where Americans were still being held. Nothing came of it, naturally, and to this date no P.O.W. or M.I.A. has returned since "Operation Homecoming" in 1973.

"Spite House", and the author's equally duplicitous "Kiss the Boys Goodbye", accords Garwood full P.O.W. status for the entire time he was in Vietnam by stacking one paper-thin explanation for his behavior atop another. Yes, he carried an AK-47 but it was unloaded. Yes, he lived with the guards and wore their uniform but he wanted to live with the Americans. But even Ms. Jensen-Stevenson's prodigious imagination fails when it comes to explaining why the Vietnamese would cling so tenaciously to a lowly Marine private. The only explanation is the truth-Garwood remained in Vietnam because he wanted to; when he wanted to leave, he left.

"Spite House" is infuriating and dishonest, rendered all the more so by Ms. Jensen-Stevenson's breathless prose style.

Footnotes, please!.......2001-09-06

OK, footnotes might seem boring, and they might frighten some potential book buyers, but any book concerning the controversy over Robert Garwood needs rigorous footnotes identifying the source or sources of various assertions. In Spite House, the few footnotes are really odd; some minor matters are footnoted, major matters are not. The footnotes appear to have been tacked on, not by the author, and clearly not scrutinized by any editor. The primary source appears to be Colonel Tom McKenney. Now, he is probably a fine and honest man, but I suspect his assertions need double checking because of his apparent need to believe in one system or another 100%, first the Marine Corps and then, once disillusioned with the USMC, with his church. The leaps of illogic attributed to him and others are frightening. One final note: it strikes me as absolutely absurd that the Vietnamese communists, fierce and proud soldiers and adamant nationalists (and contemptuous of south Vietnamese "puppets") would allow American deserters to "lead" their tactical units (as the book several times says American intelligence officers believed). If American officials did actually believe that, we have, I would guess, yet another example of our fatal, egotistical ignorance of Vietnamese history and thought.

A Very Disturbing Story of the Injustice Suffered by One Man.......2000-08-20

I had happened upon this book by accident, whilest browsing the local bookstore shelves. Never will I have thought how disturbing a story I had purchased on that day. The author did a very comprehensive research to puzzle together the tragic tale of USMC Pvt. Robert Garwood. Even if you can fault the author's way of writing, there's no way you can fault Bobby's story. It can only be summed up in one word, and that is "disturbing". For a few days I was glued to his story, some times crying for the touching moments that Bobby spent in prison camps, other times of Bobby's encounter with his father after 14 years in captivity. All this time, however, I became more and more absorbed into this tale, and became increasingly disturbed of the injustice and torment that one can suffer from one's enemy as well as his own country. After reading the book one night, I had dreams in which I was desparate to warn Garwood of his impending doom. This story is THAT powerful.

This book may suffer from some technical research errors, such as the acronyms of units involved during the war (MACSOG vs. MACV-SOG), as well as equipment details (.22 silenced Colt Pythons don't exist, it was actually .22 High Standard silenced pistol). These details make one suspicious of the author's other details/research in the book. However, the story itself is so good that it will overpower any such minor technicalities. I'd highly recommend this book.

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Spite House: The Last Secret War in Vietnam
Monika Jensen-Stevenson
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
jp-unknown1 | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 075675013X

Book Description

Opponents rarely go to war without thinking they can win--and clearly, one side must be wrong. This conundrum lies at the heart of the so-called "war puzzle": rational states should agree on their differences in power and thus not fight. But as Dominic Johnson argues in Overconfidence and War, states are no more rational than people, who are susceptible to exaggerated ideas of their own virtue, of their ability to control events, and of the future. By looking at this bias--called "positive illusions"--as it figures in evolutionary biology, psychology, and the politics of international conflict, this book offers compelling insights into why states wage war.

Johnson traces the effects of positive illusions on four turning points in twentieth-century history: two that erupted into war (World War I and Vietnam); and two that did not (the Munich crisis and the Cuban missile crisis). Examining the two wars, he shows how positive illusions have filtered into politics, causing leaders to overestimate themselves and underestimate their adversaries--and to resort to violence to settle a conflict against unreasonable odds. In the Munich and Cuban missile crises, he shows how lessening positive illusions may allow leaders to pursue peaceful solutions.

The human tendency toward overconfidence may have been favored by natural selection throughout our evolutionary history because of the advantages it conferred--heightening combat performance or improving one's ability to bluff an opponent. And yet, as this book suggests--and as the recent conflict in Iraq bears out--in the modern world the consequences of this evolutionary legacy are potentially deadly.

Customer Reviews:

Darwin meets Dr. Strangelove.......2005-03-05

My friend and colleague Dominic Johnson has written a great book.

This is pathbreaking work, which along with Harvard Professor Stephen Rosen's "War and Human Nature" will change the fields of political science and international relations.

Overconfidence and War has three unique features:

1. Grounds Political science in genetic evolution and modern Darwinism.

Dr. Johnson examines how an evolved human nature can be adaptive for ancestral humans and catastrophic for industrialized humans. Give a caveman nuclear weapons and what do you think would happen? Exactly.

2. Provides great summaries of key wars & conflicts.

Dr. Johnson's chapters covering individual conflicts are better than most books on the subjects.

3. Clear thinking = clear writing.

Dr. Johnson proves that being smart and well-educated doesn't mean being unreadable. The writing is concise, eloquent, and fun to read.

An excellent work. Well done sir.

Terry Burnham

An excellent account of hubris .......2004-09-23

Dominic Johnson has written an excellent account of how overconfidence is engrained in our genetic code and leds to foreign policy debacles in the modern era. In the cases of Vietnam, the First World World War, and Iraq, overconfidence was the prime reason for these foreign policy disasters because all of the main characters in these cases ignored conflicting information and stifled dissent. Johnson argues that overconfident leaders believe that they can win any unwinnable conflict due to engrained genetice traits. However in the Munich and the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders consulted with other members of the government, and this helped to diffuse any overconfidence amongst those in the cabinet. Some rightwinged readers might be offended by Johnson's praise of Chamberlain, but they should realize that both Britain and France lacked any significant ground forces during the Munich crisis to confront Germany. Moreover the nuance and willingness to listen to other viewpoints allowed John Kennedy to diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis and save the world from nuclear destruction as mentioned in Johnson's book . However leaders that are narrowminded and overconfident such as L.B.J and G.W. Bush seemed unwilling to listen to contrary advice and prevent the nation from sufffering in two quagmires in Vietnam and Iraq. The main weakness of Johnson's book is that he skims over the reasons why the general public seems to have intially supported the fiascos in Iraq,Vietnam, and the First World War even when the casaulties began to pile up. I would reccomend this book to anyone who thinks that Bush's "strong," character is a plus in foreign policy while Kerry's "nuance," is a weakness.

Book Description

Brazil intended the Transamazon Highway to be a paved road to riches, but as recently as 1989 the 1,000-kilometer trip from Belém to Altamira required "three days, six buses, three boats, and a ten-hour hitch with a truck driver named Eduardo" to travel. This lively, readable study explores why colonization of the Amazon fell short of the planners' vision. Delving into issues of land distribution, soil ecology, and the colonists' adaptation to local ecosystems, Douglas Stewart uncovers the forces that drive deforestation. Recounting fascinating stories of the colonists he met, Stewart also describes how small farmers have banded together during the past decade to overcome the challenges of the frontier. Their collective action, he asserts, if backed by government policy, could lead to progressive land redistribution and wiser use. This broad-ranging look at why deforestation has occurred in the Amazon, what its consequences are, and what can be done to halt and remedy the process should be read by everyone concerned with preserving the Latin American environment.

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