Bob Chandler uses evidence gleaned from U.S. military and international open sources to convincingly demonstrate that Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War wrote the 'how-to' manual for Third-World dictators who want to use biological and chemical weapons effectively. Chandler argues that the U.S. and its allies dodged the bullet of weapons of mass destruction by not pursuing Saddam, but that we will not be so lucky next time. Biological and chemical weapons, in addition to being stockpiled in the heart of Iraq, can be easily developed using available research and technology, by available personnel, in relatively modest space. Chandler argues that the U.S. must recognize that the era of weapons of mass destruction has arrived, and strategize accordingly. Today's military must acknowledge the issue and make decisions today that enable us to counter tomorrow's war

I searched far and wide for a travel guidebook that deals specifically with the Gulf Coast of Florida, and I found exactly what I was looking for in "Florida Gulf Coast: Travel Smart" by Carol J. Perry (John Muir Publications, 2000). Now that I've returned from ten interesting days of putting this book to use, I want to share my experience of applying it to my travels. While covering a geographic area from Pensacola to Naples, "Florida Gulf Coast: Travel Smart" starts off with a great introduction to the Gulf Coast including nature and history. Then it offers good background information about each destination and suggests sightseeing highlights. The sights are prioritized in order, which helps separate the "must sees" from the "if you have time" attractions. Perry suggests activities that make a "perfect day" at a given location, then gives information on food and lodging choices. Overall, this book was helpful because it told enough about a destination(I particularly enjoyed the write-ups on Apalachicola and Cedar Key) to give a general feel for it so the reader could decide if a certain place was their style or not.If so, proceed to visit and use the food and lodging selections. If not, then one can spend time elsewhere. Perry also includes Special Interest Tour sample itineraries (ex. Family Fun Tour, Nature Lovers Tour) at the back of the book. The only draw back to "Florida Gulf Coast: Travel Smart" is that pricing information is very general, at best, though ranges are presented that cover B&Bs to camping. Phone numbers are included so it is possible to call ahead for lodging. Overall, I strongly recommend this book and believe that it truly is "a different kind of guidebook". It does take the guesswork out of your travels and does an excellent job of pin pointing the most interesting attractions.

Contrary to the title, this book only covers the NJ during its deployment during Lyndon Johnson's War. There is no real coverage of WWII or Reagan era. I believe that the hardcover version of this book had a different title.

As a story of the New Jersey during the 60's, this is a great book. Most books use photographs of the 80's NJ or the WII NJ. This books shows what it was like between these eras (The NJ fired more 16" shells during this deployment than during WWII). There are many excelent photographs.

"Walker Evans: Florida," following on the heels of last year's "Walker Evans: Signs," is the second volume in what I hope will become a series from the J.Paul Getty Museum. Revealing as well as entertaining, it presents the Getty's holdings of Florida photographs that Evans made on assignment in 1941 for "The Mangrove Coast," with text by Karl Bickel, published the following year. This is a lesser-known body of Evans's work, somewhat overshadowed by his monumental document of the Great Depression collected in the files of the Library of Congress, and in the pages of innumerable volumes since his original "American Photographs" and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men." The value of this small volume is that Evans's excellant Florida work is now back in print; and if his whole career is ever to be properly evaluated, then all of its facets must be fully examined. My only criticism is with the book's design and layout. As with "Walker Evans: Signs," the photographs are often guttered and bled off the edge of the page, and the type is laid out in such an artsy way that it is often confusing. Evans would not have approved. The enjoyable introductory essay by Robert Plunket adeptly balances information about Evans and West Florida, with personal experiences of the author, a long time Sarasota resident. This is a book that all serious students of Evans will want to have.

The book paints a full picture of the historical dispute between Iraq and Kuwait, which basically started in 1899 when the Kuwaiti royal family made secret deals with the British. It carefully goes over the personalities involved and how they tried to shape the situation. The reading can get slow at times if the reader is unaccustomed to the various spellings of Arabic names and locations, i.e. Husayn = Hussein, Makkah = Mecca. However, the information provided gives a clear insight to the logic of the Iraqi invasion of 1990 and subsequent Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Whether or not one agrees with the conclusions of the authors, it definitely is a wealth of information on the subject. This is a must read for all interested in Mid East politics.

Buster Glosson was a key figure in the Gulf War of 1991. Unfortunately, the book was published a bit late and most folks now are much more interested in Gulf War II. However, Glosson's discussions of his interactions with General Schwartzkopf (mostly very postivie), his difficulties with many senior officers who didn't understand how best to employ airpower, and his harsh criticisms of those who ended the war too quickly are well worth reading.

I have the pleasure of living near Panacea, Florida and have visited Gulf Specimens Lab, the home port for Jack Rudloe. I've been fortunate to take Ann Rudloe's Coastal Ecosystem class, so these stories present a delightful appendix to those Panhandle experiences. Presented here is a rewarding mix of adventure, science, and Jack's home spun philosophy. He starts on the shore with horseshoe crab mating and describes their birth then describes a canoe adventure down the Suwannee. Further adventures describe finding the largest toad fish, giant sea roaches, and adventures with sawfish, octopus, electric rays, and spiny lobsters. Perhaps pulling the stories together are the tails of turtles and "the turtle mother".

Nothing written about the Gulf region has been better reflected than what Al-Murr has in these pages. His stories talk about a place and a time that is truly unrique to this place and the surrounding area. A westerner would never truly undestand the meaning of the whole cultural background and so forth until he reads this book. Some of these stories are true, fabricated with a bit of fiction to entice the reader. All of them can happen or have happened. This is a great book recommended for all those that think that this region is made up of yahoos riding camels. It isn't, as the book point out, and that should be corrected in the minds of people from the west. It is made up a rich society with a rich culture. The way of thinking is different, but through it all it is true.

This book describes General Fred Franks' life and especially his experiences during Desert Storm, the war in the Persian Gulf to kick Iraq out of Kuwait.

To really like this book you need to be a bit of a military fanatic. Fred Franks repeats so many times how wonderful it is to be a soldier, and how great the "warrior ethos" is, that you realize that for him the military is practically a religion.

The thing in this book that I found the most interesting are the descriptions of the magnitude of military might that was fielded during Desert Storm.

The VII Corps (commanded by Gen. Franks) included 146,000 soldiers, 50,000 vehicles (incl. 1,600 tanks) and 800 helicopters. Not only are these numbers huge, but the logistics involved are mind-boggling: the soldiers need food and water, and the vehicles and aircraft burned an incredible 3.2 million gallons of fuel each day. When fighting the VII Corps expended 2,500 tons of ammunition every day.

And VII Corps was only part of the military forces involved. There was another Army corps, there were Marine units, there was the Air Force and the Navy. An amazing marshalling of military forces, and all under the command of General Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf (more about him later).

I found the book interesting, but it does have a lot of problems. It's way too long, mostly due to repetitiveness. With some editing it could have been cut down by at least 30% with no loss of information.

Another problem is that there are no useful maps. There are a lot of small maps, about 1/3 of a page each, but they simply don't show enough detail. Again and again you find the text referring to some town or road or river and they simply aren't on the maps.

Another major problem is the lack of a glossary with definitions for all the military abbreviations that are used.

And then we have General Schwarzkopf, who is not thanked in the acknowledgements. Gen. Franks is very careful to thank everyone from his parents to his family to all of his subordinates, and then goes on to thank Colin Powell, Sec. of Defense Dick Cheney and President Bush. But not Gen. Schwarzkopf.

It turns out that Gen. Schwarzkopf wrote an autobiography, "It Doesn't Take a Hero", and in that book he criticized Gen. Franks for the way he commanded VII Corps during Desert Storm.

Gen. Franks uses this book to return the favor. I won't go into extensive details (and Gen. Franks keeps his criticism fairly low-key), but Franks basically claims that Schwarzkopf liked having his butt kissed by his subordinates, was prone to throwing temper tantrums, wasn't competent to understand or command armored (tank) operations and made several tactical errors. In particular, not giving VII Corps more operational room to the north, not using the Air Force to prevent the Iraqi Republican Guards from escaping northwards and declaring "victory" a couple of days prematurely were big mistakes. The result was that Washington decreed a ceasefire and a large portion of the Republican Guards avoided destruction.

I actually found this dispute between Franks and Schwarzkopf to be quite interesting, and it's so very human to want to get back at someone who's done you dirt. So whether Franks or Schwarzkopf is right, the dispute does add flavor to Franks' story.

This book is part biography, part history and part modern combat command handbook. General Fred Franks commanded the US VII Corps during Desert Storm and therefore had direct operational responsibility for the success or failure of the ground offensive against Iraq. This book offers what I think is an insightful analysis of modern warfare and the mentality of some of those who wage it.
The book initially charts Franks' career in the army, including his tour in Vietnam where he suffered the loss of a leg. Turning to the Gulf war, we discover Franks' involvement in the planning and organization of the operation. His most difficult task initially involved the movement of VII Corps from Germany to Saudi Arabia and its change in doctrine from a defensive to an offensive role.
Through his own first-person accounts we quickly gain an appreciation of the complexity and difficulty of mounting an operation the scale of Desert Storm in a modern military context. The sheer size of the force involved and the logistics necessary are staggering. The book then presents an hour-by-hour account of the actual battle, which coherently describes Franks' decisions and influence on the outcome. Through all this he comes across as a thoughtful and dedicated professional, as committed to safeguarding the lives of the men under his command as much as achieving his objectives.
Desert Storm was controversial due to the feeling in some quarters that the ground operation was somewhat mishandled, leading to a partial rather than complete destruction of the Iraqi Republican Guard. Since he occupies a key position in this debate, Franks therefore clearly presents his reasons for conducting the offensive the way he did, i.e. to achieve the Coalition's stated aims and objectives without unnecessary casualties to his own forces. Time and again, Franks stresses that although it would have been possible to perhaps to push his command faster and harder, the higher risk of heavier casualties would not have been justified. Victory in a sense was inevitable, therefore in Franks' view it was his responsibility to ensure needless loss of life was averted. In pursuing this argument, Franks is also responding to certain accusations of hesitancy made by General Schwarzkopf in his own autobiography. It is hard to tell if this issue ever had any real substance as, like Schwarzkopf, there is an element of shadow boxing on Franks' part on paper.
As General Franks went on to command the US Army's Training and Doctrine Command after the war, the book therefore could be viewed as a unique insight into the mentality of the modern US Army, as well as a fascinating and enlightening portrait of modern technological warfare. Hence this poses some interesting questions in today's current events context. Has the complexity of modern full scale warfare, and the ethos of minimum casualties as propounded so graphically here, been significantly responsible for the preference for only using small, specialized, mobile forces or air power alone to decide campaigns, as in Kosovo and Afghanistan? What are the implications for a possible US invasion of Iraq? Will the logistics prove to be manageable? Will the casualties be acceptable? Will a reluctance to incur heavier losses inhibit the commanders? Perhaps we should ask General Franks.

I bought the Chancy book based on his reputation for fast action and through plots. Well, I got some of that. Most of the book is not a techno thriller, but it's still a great read. Those looking for a fast action book along the lines of "The Hunt for Red October" will be definitely disappointed by this. What you find here is really three books in one. First, it's the story of the VII Corps in the Gulf War and how this man, LTG Fred Franks, commanded it. Second, it's semi-autobiographical of General Franks. Finally, it's a story of how the Army, in the years after the disaster of Vietnam, changed it doctrine, strategy, and it's entire culture to culminate into the force exhibited in 1991. For me, the development and tenants of AirLand Battle Doctrine are a bit ho-hum. I've been in the Army and Reserve for over ten years now. But the best part of this book is the detailed description of how great an effort it is to mobilize, deploy, supply, and command an army corps. Novices in the area will get a taste of the effort that goes into this endeavor. The planning factors for critical supplies (water, fuel, and ammo are of paramount importance) show why the rule of thumb is that for every man on the front lines, there are ten or so more men behind him. Overall, I'll give this effort an 8. General Franks does dwell on the dispute between himself and GEN Schwarzkopf on final battle of the ground war, and that is a dispute I believe will never be settled completely. But all in all, for a book that gives insight into a ground commander's eye view (I say that because the corps is the largest Army tactical formation), Into the Storm is well written and through.

This is a story about a group of women in Florabama, Alabama who are laid off from the sewing plant when management decides to close up. It's a very scary time because most of the women have worked there for many years and have no other skills. Management arranges with the local college for a program to help them learn new skills so they can get new jobs. Bonnie, a newly-divorced mother of two grown children, is hired by the college to sort through the problems and help the women with their goals. Bonnie comes from a background of wealth, while the factory workers have lived in poverty. Brought together, they begin to learn from each other.
I really liked this book. The main characters are believable and loveable, even the grumpy ones. There's a lot to be gained as we travel along with the ladies, overcoming hardships and learning to love those who are different from ourselves. I like to underline passages and phrases that teach me things. Such as:
"What you can't cure, you must endure."
"It's remarkable how much you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit." (Harry Truman)
"Sometimes telling the truth was just an excuse for meanness."
There were a few minor problems with character development. I felt that there were some characters that were brought up for no apparent reason. For example, Bonnie's landlord was described in all his slimy, despicable glory, and I fully expected him to surface later on, being menacing and demanding, but you never hear from him again, except a brief mention at the end. Likewise, a man from Bonnie's past suddenly shows up and they become lovers, but nothing really becomes of it. I suppose his purpose was to show that Bonnie had grown and was no longer dependent on a man for her happiness and well-being.
I don't think that this book was anti-men, but I identified closely with the theme that the women helped each other through everything that they went through. I find this to be true in my own life, where my friends and I help each other through things, especially emotionally.

The Florabama Ladies' Auxiliary and Sewing Circle by Lois Battle follows the lives of various women impacted by the closing of the Cherished Lady lingerie factory. Bonnie Duke Cullman arrives in Florabama, Alabama leaving behind a failed marriage, children in college. Her comfortable life of counrty clubs, stay at home mom, charity events, and being the daughter of "the Duke" all turned upside down, and she is off to her first real job, counseling "displaced" homemakers.She is going to be working out of Marion Hawkins Community College. The women who have been displaced (or made redundent)are struggling with their own problems. Hilly Pruitt has just bought a new car and she is also worried that her best friend Ruth Elkins is being taken advantage of by her wayward daughter, Roxie. Ruth has her hands full with helping out with Roxie's kids, and cannot see how her coworker Celia Lusk sees a divine hand in all the hardship. This is a tale of women coming together in times of hardship. The realization that they are all more alike than different, no matter social standing, background, education is the binding tie for these women. Battle is never patronizing and advoids the temptation to tie everything up in a neat happy package. Written with a fine tuned ear for Southern dialogue and an evenhanded tone, the ladies of the Florabama are friends you will come to cherish.

Having never read Lois Battle, her newest tome is my first adventure into her writing. I will now go back and look for other titles she has written.

Do I recommend this story of middle-age women struggling to survive? Absolutely! The spirit of the displaced homemakers from Cherished Lady lingerie's now closed plant is led by an unlikely cultured and privileged lady, Bonnie Duke Cullman. Bonnie also finds herself in this displaced homemaker category, but for a much different reason: bankruptcy and divorce.

Rescued by her family connections, her daddy Duke is rich and influential, Bonnie finds work as a job counselor in tiny Florabama's junior college. It is there, with the help of her long time friend Cass that Bonnie also finds herself.

The Cherished Lady ex-employees comprise a mix of hard-working, down-on-their-luck seamstresses who have a new opportunity to go to college and learn the skills to get new jobs. Of course they must do this while drawing unemployment, raising their grandchildren, resisting their spouses attempts to keep them down, caring for disabled spouses and dysfunctional adult children. They are a colorful and realistic set of characters who grow on the reader.

Key to the plot are the women: Hilly, Ruth, Roxy, Albertine, Lyda Jane and Celia. Key to the women's lives are the emotional baggage they have accumulated by living and the individual tastes for life that both bring them together and separate them. Their small town plant has given them earning power and a sense of community. With its closing, as the plant owners seek cheaper labor in Mexico, they are at the mercy of a world that looks for education in its future employees. Their lives have to be upgraded and the local college has a government grant to provide that upgrade.

While one cannot help but laugh over the spirited and straight shooting expressions of Hilly, this novel also reflects the heartbreaks and disappointments that represent the dark side of the characters' lives. This is also a love story, the story of Bonnie with Riz, Cass with Mark, Hilly with Jess. Each partnership takes a different road, with the women coming out stronger and less dependent on romance or sex or men.

Bonnie is the protagonist: the divorced mom of grown, spoiled children, the daughter of wealth, the step-daughter of a restless, mouthy step-mom. First, she surprizes herself by learning to respect and love her displaced Florabama homemakers. Then she surprizes herself by realizing that independence is a good thing. Furthermore, she surprizes herself with her own entrepreneurial abilities. She lives through her time in Florabama and emerges realistically triumphant.

The love of friends is important in Battle's story: the love of Cass and Bonnie, and Hilly and Ruth. Author Battle understands that women do not have it easy in a man's world, but that they can survive and rise above life's challenges. This is a positive, can't-put-it-down read. Brava!