This is a delightful story which our children have enjoyed listening to and hearing of the life of this unusual charming type of bird.

For longer than one year I've been seeking answers that will be given to the future generations, particularly children of Kosova, about the wars that were continually going on in that troubled region of Balkans. As a refugee survivor the latest crises in Kosova , I was invited in many American classrooms to answer the questions of American children about and biggest refugee exodus after the World War II. "What is War? What is Peace?" written by Richard Rabinowitz, is an inspiring book. This book answers in a very creative and constructive way many war related questions. The ability to simplify the big truths and make lessons for our children is actually recruiting peace ambassadors for the future.

A collaborative effort by Michelle Stigleman and Deborah Van Brunt, Wheelchairs On The Go: Accessible Fun In Florida is a straightforward and very "user friendly" guide to Florida's handicapped-friendly tourist resorts, theme parks, beaches, lodging, fishing, camping, and much, much more. Individual chapters identify the best every regional section of Florida and what it has to offer for the wheelchair-bound vacationer looking for fun and relaxation. Proffering a superbly organized wealth of facts, addresses, phone numbers, and everything else a vacationer needs to know, Wheelchairs On The Go is an excellent resource and would serve as a superb template for developing similar travel guides for other states.

Where Mountains Meet the Sea : Alaskas Gulf Coast, No. 1 is a very impressive presentation of Alaska's rugged and wild west coast and some of Alaska's more placid bay communities. There are some pictures here, many taken by low-flying aircraft, which allow one a rare, but very clear and close-up glimpse of some of these ends-of-the-earth regions. There is abundant text regarding specific areas, such as the Prince William Sound, Sitka, Kodiak, and an incredible section on Yakutat. And no corners are cut when focusing in on the people of the region; There are some great early and more recent pictures and literature concerning the Aleut, Russian and American traders, trappers, fishermen, and natives of the past and present (but keep in mind this book was released in the mid-eighties, I believe, so is only current as of fifteen or so years ago).

The photographs of the islands really will take you there- to those beautiful, fresh air natural places far off in another realm. And if you happen to be a surfer, there is enough in this book to stir the imagination. There are some intriguing photos of the beach areas at Yakutat- one which shows the left point break firing off in the distance. I'd liek to explore Icy Bay and along the Mt. St. Elias perimeter. But keep in mind this is surfing only for the most hardcore: Massive tides which flow in an out of flood-basins while great plains of quicksand sprawl out across tidal zones; Huge Aleutian swells and tsunamis are in the equation, as is ice-cold water, aggressive bears, aggressive prehistoric-looking sharks and salmon sharks that can swim 60 MPH. There are isolated coasts in the path of brutal storms and impossibly strong currents. Still, if one knows the right season and where to look, one may find epic, uncrowded surf (point, beach, reef, and bay-openings) in a breathtaking environment and the possibilty of finding more 100 foot waves. There are multiple Maverick's set-ups up there, and in the direct line of our biggest winter swells! Its truly a new frontier.

Wild Bill Sullivan is probably the most colorful character that South Mississippi has ever produced. Born in mid-18th century, he was the King of Sullivan's Hollow and was accused of 50 killings. He was also the center of numerous pranks and jokes. Because she was a college history professor, the author skillfully weaves the sometimes far-fetched tales into an account of an atypical frontier culture. The narrative also includes pictures and a description of one of the oldest homes in South Mississippi, the Sullivan Home, now on the National Register of Homes. At the beginning of this small but fascinating book, Ms. Hammons, the great-granddaughter of Wild Bill, traces the Sullivans' Irish Roots back to the 1750's. Thomas Sullivan, founder of the Mississippi branch of the clan, had 22 children, 11 by his white legal wife and 11 by his common-law Indian wife. A genealogy of the family is located in the appendix of the book. The latter section of the book centers around the years 1900-1980 and concentrates on other Smith County stories. The book is well-researched with footnotes and bibliograhpy. Here's an example of one of the humorous tales in the book: Outsiders in the late 1800's feared stopping over in the Hollow because of Wild Bill's reputed antipathy towards strangers. One traveler got caught at dark and stopped at the edge of the Hollow. He was cordially greeted, fed, given a bed by the fire, and served a plentiful country breakfast. His host refused any pay for these services. The traveler thanked his host and expressed his relief that he had met such a nice family and had avoided Wild Bill. In reality, Wild Bill had been his host, but he sent the man on his way without revealing his identity. The book also includes a graphic account, in Wild Bill's own words (in 1929 to his grandson-in-law) of the Battle of Shiloh Church, a battle in which several of the Sullivans were killed. After a later incident, Wild Bill and his son Neece had to hide out in the woods for 2 years. However, Bill was only indicted for one killing--of his own brother Wilson!

This booklet was produced by Australian activists campaigning against the US-led coalition in the 1990-1 Gulf War. It analyses US strategic policy in the Gulf, the impact of the war on Kuwait and Iraq, and the human and environmental costs of the war.

Copies are still available from the authors at email: nfip@optushome.com.au

I had never heard of Jane Edwards before, but saw the book on the shelf at my Mothers. I picked it up and began reading. I was not able to put it down, I wanted to find out what happened in this wonderful, enjoyable book. Did they become a famiy?

It brings together people from miles apart. You as the reader are able to get to know the characters as they are getting to know each other.

I recommend this book and will be doing a search for other books by Jane Edwards right a way.

The story of a relatively small but deadly firefight brings to light USA's failed foreign policy regarding Africa's Somalia. Bowden's powerful description of the battle in Mogadishu over one 24 hour period is as captivating a story as I have read in years. Bowden tells his battle story from the viewpoints of its participants from the general down to the private. America's modernized military might was tested and it won, or did it.

I applaud Bowden's efforts, his book is excellently researched and heart rendering. He captured both the people and the events so vividly that when you read this story you can visualize the fire-fights, the wounded, and the horror. The fateful decisions made by the General Garrison will be assessed later by historians but Bowden leaves the success of the mission up to us to decide.

Since the book is labeled Military History I would like to point out that it is not strictly a text-book history. Bowden's work breathes life into his soldiers. This is no dry history, you hear the soldiers speak and behave as men (or as boys, as the case may be) during the attack. This is probably one of the best facets of his book, it reads like a novel.

This battle will be analyzed by historians 25 - 50 years from now and they can apply the true historical impact of this attack. Bowden makes no claim to be a historian and even shies away from assessing blame (which historians usually have no problem doing). Bowden's perspective is that of a journalist, a viewer of events and he makes no historical analysis but recounts the activities before, during and after October 3rd, 1993. He offers us an impartial view of this battle and for this he should be congratulated. Faced with the number of dead and wounded USA soldiers I think it must have been tough to stand on the sidelines.

This is excellent book.

This is an excellent piece of modern American history. Black Hawk Down is also a wake up call to any policy makers who have taken the Gulf War as proof positive that Military intervention will always work in the new century.

Mark Bowden manages to give the reader a good impression of the overall situation in Somalia in addition to the electrifying events of that ill fated mission in October. This is a very good aspect of the book, because it is here that the general reader and future policy maker will gain the most insight. Technological superiority does not insure an easy military success. Gunships and night vision goggles do not equal victory.

As the battle rages through the streets of Somalia, you will find yourself having to take some time off, in order to catch your breath. Bowden's writing is as telling as Spielburg's directing in Saving Private Ryan. Not only is there an honest and smooth account of combat, but the humor that manifests itself in these terrible situations is also brought out with ease.

I did find myself fliping to the index when a name came back that I recognized but could not remember exactly- that is one of the few shortfalls Bowden's tale posesses: an amazing quantity of characters. They are hard to keep track of. I needed to remind myself that I was reading history, and not an adventure novel. It shamed me to think that I could read like that, but you might find yourself falling into the same trap that Bowden's prose led me. All in all, I am glad that Bowden has give us the story the way he has, with as few as possible ommitted details and in a way that is so easy to access.

Bowden's account of the October 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in which eighteen American soldiers were slain is a gripping blow-by-blow account of this horrific fifteen-hour battle. He has interviewed dozens of Army Rangers, Delta force operators, pilots, and Somalis, combed through the archives and pieced together the battle in a running minute-by-minute chronology that puts the reader in harm's way. This is a tough book to put down. The soldiers are put into context, their lives, their training, their camaraderie, but are yanked out of any political picture. They are soldiers, doing their jobs and trying to stay alive and complete a mission. Aside from a brief epilogue, "Black Hawk Down" does not seek to characterize the broader mission in Somalia from start to finish nor frame the reason for these troops' presence in Mogadishu, nor engage in any real post-mortem. This is the story of a brief and now nearly-forgotten battle. It is gory and heart-wrenching and full of chaos and noise. It is a powerful book. Not a political analysis but a true story of war.

The first time I heard about this story was from a History Channel special. Needless to say, I was intrigued. A few months later I saw the movie. I didn't want to do myself an injustice and not read the book that the TV special and movie were based upon.

Sergeant Andy McNab, was the commander of an 8-man British SAS (Special Air Service) squad charged with doing reconnaissance of a main supply road and to destroy SCUDs deep behind enemy lines in Iraq during the Gulf War. The SAS is one Britain's elite military groups similar to the US Navy SEALs or Army Delta Force. The mission quickly went sour and the entire squad was compromised.

This book details the escape and evasion of the 8-man squad (from McNab's point of view, obviously) and the eventual capture of half of the squad. One man managed to trek over 100 miles to the safety of the Syrian border. Three men did not escape with their lives. The four men that were captured were brutally tortured and beaten. It's amazing that these four weren't killed while held captive.

At times throughout the book I found myself wincing from the things that were done to McNab (and his squad members) while a prisoner of war (POW). I've never thought that being a POW would ever be a walk in the park, but I was a little shocked and appalled at some of the things that McNab had to endure. I also laughed at some of the things McNab had to say with his cheeky, British humor. Some of the vocabulary and phrases may be a little difficult to decipher, but there's a glossary in the back of the book and a lot of things can be made clear from the context.

There isn't a whole lot of action in the traditional sense of military books (shooting and things blowing up everywhere), but this book is definitely not boring. Read this book, if for no other reason than to get a glimpse of how Allied POWs were treated during the Gulf War. This book is the dog's bollocks; I highly recommend it. :)

What an amazing story. Bravo Two Zero tells the tale of a squad of British SAS soldiers on a mission in Iraq during the Gulf War to take out mobile Scud launchers. When I started reading the book, I expected to read about the detailed accounts of how the launchers were wiped out and how Sgt. Andy McNab's team contributed to this effort. I was shocked as a chain of unfortunate events ruined the mission and put McNab's team in great peril. Several of them died and some were captured by Iraqi troops.

Bravo Two Zero is not for the faint of heart. The detailed account of McNab's torture and brutal beatings at the hand of the Iraqis is tough reading. I'm in awe of the fortitude and subtle defiance that he and his men exhibited in the face of such terrible cruelty.

But don't mistake this book for a "prison journal." It's anything but. McNab goes into great detail about how the Scud hunting missions and special forces missions in general are planned and executed. You begin to realize that even the best-laid plans can be subject to failure if minute details are overlooked. As McNab points out however, in a speech he recalls from his regimental commander, the true mettle of a soldier is measured not only by his successes, but by how he performs when all hell has broken loose and the mission seems to be a total failure.

Bravo Two Zero is not only an amazing real-life adventure story, but also a testament to the endurance, determination and courage of the British SAS troops who took part in the Gulf War, playing a crucial role in the defeat of Sadaam Hussein.

This book is the true story of operation gone horribly wrong during the Gulf War. An eight-man team of the elite British Special Air Service were dropped by helicopter into the desert of western Iraq, each carrying well over 200 lbs. of equipment. Their mission was to watch a road for military traffic and hunt for mobile Iraqi SCUD missile launchers. They were soon discovered by a local shepherd boy. The local Iraqi militia were called out, and the poop hit the fan.

Their radios didn't work, and so they had no way to call for an extraction. They decided to trek 100 miles west to the Syrian border. But one man had injured his leg during the evasion of the Iraqi forces. Another had been wearing his thermal underwear since the compromise, and so had sweating profusely the entire time and was now dangerously dehydrated. How any managed to survive is a true testament to the power of the human will, and to the rigorous standards to which the SAS trains its men.

The overall book is excellent. McNab has put together one of the most readable military stories I've ever come across. It's a cliche, but this book is a real page-turner. There's military jargon galore, but he usually explains it for the layman reader. A glossary at the back helps with that, and with some of the British army slang, but the regular British stuff you have to figure out by context.

It's the little things McNab adds that make this book so readable and "enjoyable," (if you can use that word about a book in which a man describes himself and his friends being tortured, and some dying gruesome deaths.) To a military professional, the tactics and gear of the SAS are an interesting part of the book. [To my grunt bubbas, make sure to check out the pictures of the packs and gear they carried.] But even the average person can find things to identify with in the book: The joking between the members of the patrol, even after they've been discovered; The story about the old Iraqi farmer who they run into while escaping. There are others, but I won't spoil the entire book for you.

This is one of the most no-holds-barred looks at warfare I've ever read. The only book I can compare it to, for realism and readability purposes, is "Nam" by Mark Baker. If you enjoy military books, or true stories of adventure and survival against all odds, you'll like this book.

BTW, if you already read this book, McNab's account of his life before the Gulf War, "Immediate Action," would be well worth your time also. I've also heard the BBC (or some British TV station) did an excellent movie version of this story, starring Sean Bean ("Sharpe" movies, "GoldenEye,") as McNab. I haven't seen it, but that'd probably be worth checking out, too.

Forsyth does a very good job of describing the Gulf War through this book. He is able to point out the devastation that is cast on Iraq as a result of the Allied bombing campaign. He also is able to display the vicious nature of Saddam Hussein who expends the lives of Iraqi like they are ragdolls. The focus of this story is a source behind enemy lines named Jerico. This source is being used to locate Saddam's secret nuclear bomb facility. The true identity of Jerico is stunning. The ending of the book is a true classical manner in ways to end a book. This book was a very interesting read. Once again Forsyth has written an outstanding book. Definitely read this.

Forsyth tells the gripping tale of events, both fact and fiction, surrounding the Gulf War. The Israeli Mossad has just revealed to the CIA and SIS the existance of an agent inside the Iraqi Hierarchy, willing to report on Saddam's most secret meetings. The spy, code-named Jericho, is contacted by an SAS man disguised as a groundskeeper. Valuable information flows from Baghdad to Riyadh until the existance of something called "The Fist of God" is reported by Jericho. This, coupled with the findings of a brash F-15 pilot, unleashes a horrifying nightmare for the Coalition leaders. A little slow moving, a little too much technical detail, but still a taut, suspenseful, and believable novel

I don't normally read spy thrillers of this type, and this was the first of Forsyth's books I've read, but I loved it! I grabbed this book from my husband one day when I was bored, and was drawn in immediately by the tense prose and gripping plotline. I won't give a synopsis, you can get that above. But I will say I read this almost straight through from start to finish.

No one seems to know how much of this novel is really true, and in the end, that doesn't matter, because it's writen so well that it might as well be true. The plot is crafted around a war that really happened, and the author spoke with those who had taken part in the war, giving his work an authenticity hard to match. If you're looking for an intelligent novel of this genre, then this one is hard to beat. Don't hesitate!