This book (and two others like it - Glorious Defiance and At All Costs) is a good book for indroductions to several somewhat obscure battles with a similar theme. Sieze and Hold covers battles where a small, elite force has to secure a specific objective (hill, bridge, etc.) and defend it against counter attack. This book covers the following battles:

The Romanian Campaign of 1916 Rommel's the battle of Caporetto, Italy 1917 Polish capture of Zytomierz, Russia, 1919 German assault on Belgium and Holland, 1940 Beda Fomm, North Africa 1941 Jitra and Slim River, Malaya 1941-1942 Hill 309 and the bridge at 637437, Normandy 1944 Meiktila, Burma 1944 Ludendorff bridge at Remagan, Germany 1945 Inchon, Korea 1950 Ia Drang, Vietnam 1965

Each battle is covered in what amounts to an essay on the topic and therefore does not cover them in too much detail, hence only three stars. I use them when I want to read about a battle in one sitting because they average about 20 pages each. But they usually spark an interest to find more books on the battles covered so as to absorb more details about that particular battle.

Overall, this is a nice little book for those interested in learning about dramatic battles but don't want to get bogged down in minute details.

The formula is pretty simple - insert a fictional soldier into a factual battle in one of 5 major conflicts of the twentieth century. Make the soldier have a family and friends and live, breathe, and get scared, in most cases without any understanding of the strategic implications of what he is doing or of the big picture he is a part of. The book reads well and a great effort is made to describe the social context and conditions prevailing at the time of each of the wars described. The wars covered are as follow: 4 x WWI, 4 x WWII, 1 x Malaya, 1 x Vietnam and 1 x Desert Storm. Each story is followed by a brief description of the outcome of the engagement and of the sources relied on to create the story, which was important to me in giving the stories credibility, particularly the one in which an armored car sneaks up behind a Tiger I and destroys it using a 37mm cannon!!

If the author reads this I for one would love to see more - the possibilities seem endless - an Australian in New Guinea, a Soviet soldier fighting for the tractor factory, a German defending the Reichstag during the final soviet assault, the assault on Omaha Beach, either side in the battles for the Huertgen Forest or the Siegfried line. How about a Russian soldier in WWI, a little-known theatre to most of us.

This is a good read and I'd recommend it.

A cat and a rat were in the garden working on the vegetables. Cat's friendly uncle came to visit him to give him a small drum. Cat was supposed to keep the instrument for memory of his uncle. Rat came and saw the drum which he wanted to play. Cat would not let Rat play any music. So Rat tricked Cat by saying that he (Rat) was hungry and sick. So Cat was nice and let Rat sleep in his bed after serving some porridge. Then Cat left the house to go into the garden. He kept hearing someone playing a drum, so he returned to the house where he discovered that Rat was playing the instrument. Cat tried to eat Rat but ate quickly his own drum instead! And that is how Cat got his purr.

Brian Perrett combines a keen mind and 20 years of military experience in the British Army to give the reader an historical and analytical tour of how battle has changed in the last two millennia. With a summary introduction of warfare in antiquity, Perrett then begins the happy task of taking the reader from Teutoburger Wald (AD 9) to the ground battles to liberate Kuwait, February 24-28, 1991. In all, he covers 11 periods of military history and critically examines over 30 battles.

"The Changing Face of Battle" is well organized, the discussion of battles supported by excellent maps, graphics and pictures. Perrett provides a good index and detailed bibliography.

Perrett has a crisp style of writing and has a quantitative bent that lends solid credibility to his analysis. But his discussions of different battles have the qualitative feel of someone who has been there, or somewhere like it.

Most of the battles Perrett examines are ground combat actions, although there are a number of naval actions included (e.g., Spanish Armada, Trafalgar, Jutland, Midway). And, many of the battles explained are ones in which Britons fought.

This is a work that is worth adding to the military historian's reference shelf, and which is also a good read. It is a view of Western warfare (Asian battles and wars are not included) and how battle has changed in terms of the many factors that influence it.

I enjoyed "The Changing Face of Battle," and recommend it to others.

If you're rushing through meal preparation with one eye onthe clock, or if you're picking up greasy bags of fast foodon your way home, this book will give you, pun intended, foodfor thought. The astounding thing about Pierre Franey's account of growing up in rural France is the obssessive,hands-on, all-encompassing effort to make the best use ofavailable resources to produce wonderful meals. Don't missthe tale of rabbit hunting with a secret weapon -- a petferret, or the story about stealing the pear. This is sobittersweet, it's unforgettable. AND it has recipes!!!

This book has lots of color photos which provide good inspiration and ideas. There is also a good amount of basic information about closet sizing and design requirements. However, some of the designs are quite dated looking.

This book is a wonderful read filled with details. In the tradition of historical romance 1835 comes alive with the events of the Texan war from the Alamo to the final struggle at San Jacinto. Filled with interesting details on the hero's ,Davy Crockett,Daniel Boone, Sam Huston. If you enjoy a historical novel of a great american event,you won't put this one down till the final page.

This book provides just the right mix of mathematical rigour and practical examples to illuminate concepts of equilibrium in economics. The first three chapters provide a good starting point for first year graduate students, while the remaining chapters develop more advanced ideas.

As always, Franey's recipes are delicious. Everything we've cooked, so far, has been quite an enjoyable meal.

However, being a competent but by no means an expert cook, I find that I can't complete the recipes in 60 minutes!

For someone who followed Franey's New York Times column, you'll really enjoy this book!