Out of the now almost countless array of books published over the last decade and meant to 'explain' what happened in Yugoslavia, John Allcock's "Explaining Yugoslavia" is among the best. In fact, readers need go no farther if they're looking for a one-volume analysis of the former Yugoslavia and some of the underlying reasons for the country's violent and bloody collapse. Allcock, a sociologist, analyzes historical, cultural, political, social/societal, economic and other factors and skillfully ties them together to provide a comprehensive picture of the peoples of the former Yugoslavia and reasonable answers to the question of why their common state fell apart. Allcock essentially sees the root cause for the failure of Yugoslavia in the country's economy, but this is hardly economic reductionism - he stresses the importance of the interplay of numerous other factors. If this book is not the definitive 'explanation of Yugoslavia' (something that will likely never be achieved), it is a large and important step in that direction.

Allcock traces the present of the "former Yugoslavia" back to its distant roots - and does a great job. Organised around issues (eg. "economic modernisation", "the movement of population", "violence"), his genre of historical sociology offers remarkable insights.

Oxford historian Richard Crampton praised this book as "making many Balkan backstairs intrigues, including those of the last few years, more comprehensible" (New York Review of Books, January 11, 2001, p.18). Rightly so.

This book was wonderfully well-written and I am not just saying that because one of the authors, Jeff M. Elliot, is my Pol. Sci. professors!! In, response to the last review by "A Reader" - You need to get over yourself!! The use of "Persident" and "Republic" is NOT being used subversively - GET A LIFE!!! It was a wonderful look at Castro's Presidency!!!

I would like to inform the writers of this book that a "republic" according to the dictionary is a country where the "president" has been elected by voters, by the people, that is. There has not been a public vote in Cuba for 38 years. The people have not elected Fidel Castro as their president. He elected himself so I strongly suggest that you change the title of the book. You are maliciously and with felonious intent subverting the meaning of "republic" and "president" and I do resent calling Fidel what he is not.

This book is well written, impeccably researched, and authoritative. It is by far the best history of the NCO corps I've been able to find and well worth adding to your library if you are interested in the subject. The book is well footnoted for scholars wishing to explore related issues.

Since there has been an American Army, so has there been noncommissioned officers. However, until the initial release of Fishers' Guardians in '94, there had been no exhaustive portrayal of the history of the noncom. This book served as one of 3 publications that actually attempt to explain the development of the noncommissioned officer. However with the first edition no longer in print, those with curious minds had a major task in locating a copy of Fishers work. Now with it returning, this time in paperback, it is imperative that the Army realize the potential of this book and issue it to soldiers attending leadership academies. Our story is too important not to perpetuate. As the Future NCO Vision states we are Corps, "grounded in heritage, values and tradition." The latest release has been updated and carried the story to the new millenium and will be a valuable resource for all noncommissioned officers and their friends. Every NCO should get a copy and read it from cover to cover.

I read this book about a year ago on a friend's recommendation, and remember really liking it. Then I came across my copy last week while clearing out a closet, and thought I'd re-read the first chapter - I wound up re-reading the whole thing. I'm not necessarily a big fan of 'crime fiction,' or whatever category this would fit into, but something about this American cruising around Europe as a con man is really enjoyable. I have since passed my copy on to a friend and he just called me, three chapters in, loving the book - so I thought I'd recommend it to the world at large. This is one very well-written book that keeps you turning the page. Well worth a read (or two!)

I read lots of crime-fiction, and this book is one of the best I have come across. The charactors are interesting, the plot is thrilling, the locations intreguing and the writing is exciting. My wife was upset, however, that I stayed up all night, and kept waking her with my chuckling. Please let me know when Mr. Eversz comes out with another!

Packed full of practical and essential information in one place. Saves a lot of time trying to hunt this kind of information down. Wish the links were hot, but otherwise great.

This Travel Intelligence(R) Report provides you detailed Travel Intelligence information that has been updated within the previous week. Travel Intelligence differs from typical destination information in that it is current, independent, unbiased knowledge addressing potential travel concerns. Travel Intelligence helps you to the safest and most enjoyable trip possible.

This report covers travel alerts in effect for the country and region as well as destination intelligence covering 10 categories: entry/exit, health, security, transportation, communications/technology, financial, language, environment, culture and legal.

This up-to-the-minute information and a good destination guide is all you need to have a safe, healthly and prodcutive trip to Azerbaijan.

James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic 2nd Ed. written by Jack N. Rakove is more than a biography about James Madison our fourth President of the United States. Reading this book you get a real feeling for Madison and his philosophy.

As Madison firmly believed, his record as a statesman should be a record of public deeds, not gossipy tale of ambitions, achievements, disappointments and revelations. Madison took care in to preserve his political papers as well as to ensure that the details of his private life would remain forever hidden from posterity.

Thus, it was only in the conduct of public affairs that his deepest talents and interests found expression. Madison was a political thinker of his generation... in the task of creating the extended national republic of the United States, he had many partners but very few equals. Madison played a key roll in every significant development in national politics: efforts to ratify and amend the Articles of Confederation, the adoption and ratification of the Federal Constitution, the framing of he first amendments, the organization of the first opposition party, the initial controversies over constitutional interpretation, and the long diplomatic and military struggle that ended with the War of 1812.

Madison's distinctive contributions to the American constitutional tradition were first and foremost a reflection of his remarkable capacity to reason abstractly about funamental problems of political life on the basis of lessions drawn from experience. We see the author taking Madison and showing us how ideas that began with books were shaped and elaborated and reconsidered through the experience of revolutionary, republican, and constitutional politics.

James Madison does not resonate nearly as deeply in our historical memory. Yet his lasting achievements are arguably no less important. As Madison deepest legacy for the American constitutional tradition, he helped to create the understanding of these two distinct problems of majority power and minority rights.

This is an excellent book and it really gets into the conscience of Madison and it gives the reader some analysis of the potent legacy for the statesman named James Madison.

A must-read for any student of United States History. Rakove's writing seems as effortless as it is informative. I thought I knew James Madison after reading this book.

We have looked at several books on our two visits to St. Petersburg, and the Knopf is by far the best. It has superb illustrations and thorough descriptions as well as sample tours. It also has excellent historical and political information to set the City in context.

This guide was invaluable to us on our regretfully short tour of St.Petersburg. We would read it before touring for background and descriptions of the places we visited. The book is worth having for detailed illustrations of the layout of the Hermitage,Peterhof,PushkinPalace, Yusupov Palace...It is a portable guide even with the color illustrations (i.e.not heavy). Comes with it's own bookmark, too! Highly recommended!

Liberty, Justice, and F'rall is a fun historical novel about the dog heroes of the Republic of Texas. Liberty is the soft-spoken golden retriever/narrator owned by Sam Houston; Justice is a handsome, black labrador who faithfully attends Jim Bowie; and F'rall is their mutt of a pup. Liberty gives a dog's eye view of life with Sam Houston, from the time she was given to Sam by President Andrew Jackson, through the war with Mexico. I read parts of this book aloud to third, fourth, and fifth graders during their library storytime. My Texas accent finally came in handy! The waiting list for this book is longer than the number of weeks left in school, so I will be buying two additional copies. It's a fun, energetic look at the war for Texas independence, which, by the way, took only 18 minutes to vanquish Santa Anna's army.

If you want your children to get into history this is a good start.

The author is familiar with all the aspects of the fall of the Alamo and puts the story from the view of the dogs (named Liberty, Justice and Furall) that were owned by the main characters of the hitorical incident.

The characters are easy and fun to follow for every adult that may read this wonderful and heartwarming story to their children. There is no political overtone, only a pivital hitorical event told from a different aspect.

This book has been chosen by the Daughter's of the Texas Revolution to be sold AT the Alamo book shop!

As a grandchild of paternal Lithuanian immigrants and maternal French immigrants, I was always interested in my heritage. Information on French history abounds but my knowledge of my Lithuanian roots was totally dependent on vague stories repeated by my father that were difficult to put in a historic context. This book clarified and totally collaborated the stories that I grew up with and deepened my respect for this amazing freedom-loving country.

This book is important to Lithuanian historiography because this is the only English title I know that deals with Lithuania in the interwar years. Other titles, like von Rauch's book, group the three Baltic states' history together under one title. This book is solely dedicated to Lithuanian interwar history.

The book is well written by prestigious authors who have done their research. The notes at the end are extensive. The book is clearly written. Even a novice in Lithuanian history would have an easy time following this volume.

The book does an excellent job of showing the pivotal role Lithuania had in the eastern European balance of power between Germany and the USSR versus the Polish, French, British alliance. The book reminds of the title 'Lithuania: The Rebel Nation' by Stanley Vardys. The authors do a great job of clearly explaining the plight of Lithuania in this balance of power.

Another interesting note is that some of the authors in this edited book are from Lithuania. It is interesting to see the view of homegrown Lithuanians on this time period in Lithuanian history. They rate high in their objectivity.

Anyone interested in Lithuanian history should own this book.

This is a fascinating place to visit - and relativaly unknown. This book gives insight otherwise imagined and long overdue. Thank you!

Annalisa Rellie has shown remarkable insight into this hidden gem of a country. She writes with sensitivity and understanding. This is an indispensible guide for anyone who wants to visit Montenegro.