Thepageturner's review (below) inspired me to get this book, and Marius's hypnotic writing kept me reading it, almost non-stop. This is a huge, panoramic novel of 1950's Tennessee, set in Bourbonville, also the setting for After the War, and involving later generations of some of the same families. Hope Kirby's killing of his wife and her lover start the spiralling action in this thoughtful, but exciting, novel and provide the forum for the author's extended study of the different ways we define justice and seek retribution.

Charles Alexander, a college student and newspaper reporter who accidentally witnesses the double murder, escapes being executed by Kirby only because he promises not to tell what he's seen. Charles, however, eventually becomes overwhelmed with guilt and confesses to the sheriff that he was a witness. While this action might seem on the surface to be clearly a correct action, it is not so simple in Bourbonville, where many believe the "code of the hills" is inviolate and Charles's breaking of his word of honor to be a serious betrayal. Even the clergy get in on the action, some advocating that he retract his statement, and Charles finds himself with few friends and even fewer supporters.

Plenty of drama, and even melodrama, keep the reader going, and the pages fly by, as we become totally caught up in the plot and in the lives of the characters, all of whom face demons of some sort. Marius is a master of keeping mysteries alive and making us understand and care for these characters, even those we dislike or consider misguided, because he makes us share their experiences, often through flashbacks. The complexities of religious faith, which we see as Charles and many other characters battle their doubts, are brought into sharp focus as we also share the traumas many characters have experienced during World War II, traumas still affecting both their earthly and spiritual lives. Marius takes on the big questions and provides a fascinating novel in which love and justice sometimes seem ineffable goals in a society which often honors tradition and shared community values far more than humanity and individual worth.

A Murder Of Honor is a fast-paced legal drama not to be missed! It will have the reader swiftly turning the pages--the 3rd book in this compelling trilogy by the the 'late' great storyteller Richard Marius. The story will take the reader back in time to the '50's where a W.W.II hero kills his unfaithful wife-- the witness, a young man soon to become a man of the cloth-- a question of right or wrong pursues on the much debated issue 'the oath of silence'...

A wonderful book, on a par with the work of Ferrol Sams and T.R.
Pearson, set in Bourbonville, Tennessee (a fictionalized
Lenoir City) 25 miles SW of Knoxville. An excellent sense of
place and time, the third book in a trilogy starting with The
Coming of Rain (Bourbonville in 1885) and followed by After the
War (Bourbonville 1917-1927 or so). Affair of Honor takes place
in the mid-1950s and after (saying when might give away some of
the plot)--characters, children and grandchildren of characters
from the other two novels appear here. In many ways this is the
richest and most tapestried of the three books. As with the
books of Ferrol Sams and T.R. Pearson, this is one you look
forward to rereading a year from now.

Not only is this book helpful, it is very interesting. There were parts where I couldn't stop laughing. I shed a few tears on some pages. I really learned a lot about the State of Tennessee.
It's the kind of book you can carry with you and read anytime.

The title of Lacey's new book might well be "Everything you ever wanted to know about Tennessee, but couldn't find elsewhere." Crammed full of interesting and little-known facts about the Volunteer State, the book is sure to be a hit with trivia buffs. Everything is in here, from historic information about the 1877 rainstorm of snakes in Memphis to current listings of the state's best fishing streams. This book will make a great "stocking stuffer," and it's out just in time for Christmas. Anyone who has the least connection to Tennessee should own this book and read it cover from cover. I'll guarantee you'll learn something about our great state you didn't know.

This is a really good book about a state I love to visit. I especially liked the chapter about the Civil War in Tennessee. One of the most fascinating stories involves Cravens House atop strategic Lookout Mountain. During the Battle of Chattanooga the house served as the headquarters for the Confederates and the Union on the same day. I think the tragedy and chaos that must come in little anecdotes like that really personalize a major conflict. There are tons of stories about real people and delightful destinations for day trips in this book.

So much more interesting than a textbook for our homeschool study of ancient history! This book covers not only the familiar Egyptian civilization but also several lesser-known yet equally important ones to whom we owe a great deal. For example, the Babylonians gave us our first written laws; the Sumerians gave us writing and the first real cities; the fierce Hittites discovered how to work iron. Children will remember what they learn in this book because the text is accompanied by recipes, crafts, and other activities. I recommend the Hittite Hummus myself.

this is a great book for children. there are lots of fun activity's as, well as alot of info. your children and you will find many interesting things to do. if you have children you will want to buy this book.

This book introduces four cultures : the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, the Nubians and the Hittites. The author accurately presents aspects of these civilizations such as history, geography, architecture, clothing, food, religion, writing and labor. Children will enjoy themselves and become part of these ancient worlds by easily following the instructions of the activities. These include constructing a boat, cooking ancient food, creating clothes, and writing on clay. All in all, it is a fun and informative book for children ages 9 to 12.

The Middle East has been, regrettably, one of the most active "laboratories" of war-fighting since WWII. The lessons learned from the numerous conflicts there have had tremendous influence on the development of the concepts of maneuver warfare which are so central to current Western military doctrine. The success of that developmental process has been manifestly evident in the Coalition (essentially U.S.)-Iraqi conflicts of 1991 and 2003. Pollack's book, which is well-summarized by the other reviewers, is a fairly technical survey of the course of each of the individual Middle-East conflicts, with an eye towards elucidating the causes for the defeats of the Arab militaries in each of those wars. His analytic style will be familiar to those who have read his other, more politically charged, book, The Threatening Storm. He proposes hypotheses for Arab military ineffectiveness in his introduction, and then proceeds to evaluate the degree to which performance of each country in each conflict supports or refutes each of those hypotheses. It is a very logical, detailed method of argument which has an aura of inevitability in its conclusions. However, some in the general readership may find it a bit dry. There are few anecdotes of small unit action to liven up the narrative, which reads more like a War College document than a popular history.

The conclusions have also been summarized by the other reviewers. As I see it, Pollack proposes that Arab military ineffectiveness stems mainly from an inability of smaller units, either on land or in the air, to engage in the free-flowing maneuver and combined-arms co-ordination required for tactical success on the modern battlefield. He proposes that problems reliably using and maintaining sophisticated modern weapons systems are also significant, but the root cause is the inflexibility of the small unit. Pollack attributes this mainly to failings of the junior officer corps, but I would like to have seen a discussion of the role of the non-commissioned officers in Arab armies, since the ability of Western NCOs is a major factor in the strength of Western militaries.

Pollack does not propose an explanation for the limitations he identified. It would be fascinating to read an evaluation of his conclusions in light of the Arab Development Report, to assess the degree to which the military deficiencies are indirect manifestations of aspects of Arab culture. My own hypothesis (although I am certainly no expert) is the observed limitations arise from an absence of a technological, machine-oriented, society that emphasizes individual empowerment and action, an inherent conservatism that values the collective (umma) at the expense of personal initiative, and an system of personal worth and honor that limits the ability to recognize and convey negative information. In other words, many of the factors that are at the heart of criticisms of Western (and especially U.S.) society by the Arab world are those that are associated with Western success, and Arab failure, in modern war.

Of course, as Pollack points out, the nature of war is not static. And there may come a time in the future when Arab militaries are more effective, politically if not tactically or operationally. For instance, the development of asymmetric warfare takes advantage of Arab personal courage and willingness to sacrifice for the collective, and suicide bomber vests are not sophisticated weapons systems. But, without a significant restructuring of Arab society, it is hard to see how the limitations detailed so mercilessly in this book will be overcome in a way that will allow the Arabs to prevail on a conventional battlefield.

After reading "The Threatening Storm", I bought this for further background and to continue to assess the quality of Pollack's research. This seems a detailed and objective analysis.

Pollack analyzes each of the Arab armies, and finds, as noted in other reviews, that Arab soldiers have often been incredibly brave, but with tactical leadership uneven at best, and often truly awful.

I take away from this that at least part of the problem is not just that lower-ranking officers are not good, but that the common problem has been *architectural*. That is, the structures and motivations of these governments have almost never allowed for independence and initiative at the lower levels. In some cases, it is clear that various rulers never wanted the military to be too independent, and this resulted in a rigid centralized-control approach.

Hence, perhaps it is possible this is a military problem, i.e., train better tactical leadership, but the consistency of the problem makes me think that it is more of a government/society issue, where the existing structures simply don't encourage the long-term existence of flexible troops.

In any case, fine analysis with comprehensive military history of the era.

Accessibly written by Kenneth M. Pollack (a former Persian Gulf military analyst for the CIA), Arabs At War: Military Effectiveness 1948-1991 is a straightforward and comprehensive "power history" of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Syria during the post-World War II epoch. Studying in meticulous detail the often difficult evolution of Arab militaries in terms of how they learned from their past experiences and conflicts, the frame of mind that permeates the military strategy of these nations today, and much, much more, Arabs At War is a seminal and sobering contribution to contemporary Military Studies and Middle East Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Not only does Doris Larson's new book give all the important details about the destinations she writes about. It offers descriptions so personal and vivid that one feels they had already visited these places in another life. Nuances abound, describing ambience, innkeeper personalities, surrounding culture and little known gems to be discovered in each location. Points of historical interest are described as much more than a footnote. Architectural highlights abound. All in all, this book surpasses its status as a guide book and qualifies as a good read.

The eye-catching cover is just one of the many delightful features in this easy-to-read guide. Ms. Larson has filled its pages with informative research, maps, and events near and around the inns. That the author herself meticulously researched the inns and surrounding areas is enough to reassure even the most cautious traveler that they won't be disappointed. The locations she's selected are not limited to Ohio, but include lovely locales in Canada, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania and Kentucky - the perfect getaway guide for travelers and romantic stays.

Ms. Larson has written a complete and wise guide to the area. I have visited a couple of the Inns she discusses and found her observations to be very close to my experiences. Her local commentaries are wonderful and reflect a very thorough knowleged of her topic. She writes with warm perspective and lovely appreciation for the Inns, their histories and their owners. I am looking forward to trying a few of her choices. For anyone in the region or thinking about visiting I would consider this book as one of the best resources available.

This book, along with a couple by Henry Miller and a few others of Durrell's, was responsible for causing my husband and me to leave life and jobs in LA and move to Greece for nearly a year. Bitter Lemons is part memoir, part political commentary, part travel writing, and part philosophy. It's the story of Durrell's fairly brief stay on the island of Cyprus, conflict between Greeks and Turks, impending world war, buying a house and trying to settle into a unique niche of the world. It's a book about Life and all its myriad difficulties.
Tip-top - and wonderful writing. It's one of those books whose memory will stay with me always.

_Bitter Lemons_ begins as you would expect a piece of travel writing to do-- with Durrell's impressions about Cyprus, some history, the stories of his first days there and the way in which he comes to make himself a home on the island.

Where it ultimately goes, however, is somewhere far different than most travel writing. Durrell is drawn into the conflict around Cypriot independence and is forced to examine his position as expatriot in a troubled environment.

The initial chapters of the book are so lovely and the scenes sketched so charming, that something in the reader rebels when the book turns its attention to the problem of terrorism and the echos of violence. That very quality, of course, is what lifts the book above the average travel book as it creates a Cyprus for the reader than is far more real-- not just a utopian garden existing somewhere far, far away for the weary reader to someday visit.

Forget all those insipid Peter Mayle books and the myriad imitations that they spawned. This is the real thing; a book about settling in a new country, buying a house (the funniest chapter in the book) and the slow realisation that, politically, the situation is becoming untenable. Bitter Lemons, which starts off so optimistically, is a sad commentary on the inability of people to get along with each other. Take this book away with you this summer and Mr Durrell's unique ability to evoke the Spirit of Place (see his collected letters) will stay with you and haunt you long after you return home from your tame vacation on the beach.

This was the first book (of many) that I have bought of Boyzone and I have to say that it's really cool. It includes the boyz opinions on each other, gorgeous pictures and check out the Q&A pages, they're a crack up. This book is a must for all Stephen and Ronan fans. Boyzone go east is a great book which provides insight into the lives of everyone's favourite Boyz!

The book was excellent.The pictures were great. The cover could have been more exciting and appealling to the eye but all and all it was a great read and I really enjoyed it.I have been a fan of Boyzone from the very beginning.My message to all you Boyzone fans out there ,is the go down to your nearest book shop and purchase this book NOW!!!

This book is a must for all boyzone fans. It tells the truth from boyzone's point of view. Having met the boyz, I think it really does reflect their personalities. All in all - a great book

I chose The Canal House by Mark Lee for the June book club selection for all my chapters of The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs, the largest "meeting and discussing" in America, 13 chapters strong, nearly 300 members. Mostly because I had never read anything quite like this book before. Mark had opened up a world I will probably never experience and in such a way I felt that I was there in his war-torn world. We were lucky enough to have Mark come and visit all the chapters and the stories, oh the stories. In fact, when we did discuss the books the characters were discussed as if they were real people.
I highly reccommend reading this book and note that this is one writer to watch. Mark is taking us as readers to places that we have never been before both physically and spiritually. I know The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs have crowned him KING for the Day. May his books reign on our shelves forever!
Tiara wearing and Book bearing,
Kathy L. Patrick
The Pulpwood Queen of East Texas and
Hairdresser to the Authors...

The fact that this book isn't a best-seller is outrageous. I bought it because a friend read it in her book club, and I am not only recommending it for my book club but am also recommending it to everyone I know who is in a book club. It's such a great story, and I loved the characters. It reminded me what life is all about.

Mark Lee has written an exceptionally involving novel that manages to be both fast-paced and accessible while telling subtle, multilayered, interlinked stories of developing friendship, love, tragedy and the reawakening of human commitment. Confided to us in alternating sections by a male American war photographer and by a female English doctor who both have a fatal attraction for working in the World's war zones, the novel vividly involves us in the lives of bush pilots, peace-keeping troops, American hostages, charity workers, fund-raiser party-planners, news magazine editors, child soldiers, the super-rich, and the wounded, starving poor, and more, while traveling through the Italian and British haunts of war correspondents, the refugee camps and combat zones of East Africa and Indonesia, and the offices and hunting grounds of the wealthy who patronize refugee charities. Both in his simple but evocative language and in his rare ability to convincingly set a story of love and loss against the keenly observed ironies, horrors, fascinations, and tragedies of war, Lee is evocative of Hemingway at his best.

It was tempting to preface this review with "The horror, the horror...." but that would be too obvious.

Christian Jenning's "Across the Red River" presents the reader with a harrowing catalogue of horror, atrocity and inhumanity. Jennings is the quintessential observer and the relentless bodycount and descriptions of cruelty are presented in a matter-of-fact, unemotional manner that never loses its impact. He achieves this through an honest reportage, describing events with an almost photographic sensibility. Although the events he describes are gruesome, there is an objectivity and lack of gratuity that lends credibility and above all, gravity to his story.

His reportage is accompanied by an analysis of the political, social and sometimes personal circumstances surrounding wars, genocides and murders. This analysis is often bewildered as we learn through Jennings the labyrinthine complexities of Central African Real Politik.

All this is tempered with a careful humour. While Jennings can often find an amusing anecdote to relieve the grimness of the carnage, the humour is always directed back at himself. He never makes light of the horror inflicted on the innocent (and perhaps not so innocent).

He pulls no punches when it comes to the involvement of Europeans (particularly France and Belgium), Americans and in particular, the UN. Though loath to criticize individuals (save a few), he points out with righteous anger the systemic failings in UN policy and execution which have, through inefficiency and a sometimes callous disregard for the charges in their care, resulted in over a million deaths and the displacement of many more. He does not, however, tar everyone with the same brush. Some organizations (for example Medicine Sans Frontiers) he recognizes as having played a significant, if not heroic part, in attempting to limit the suffering.

He also recognizes that this is not an African problem, but a problem faced by the whole world as he watches the crises in Kosovo and Chechnya.

This book provides a valuable insight into the chaos of the late 20th century, long after it has slipped from the front pages and out of the CNN consciousness.

As a grad student of international relations I have read much about the nation state and human rights. However, Jennings puts the charnel house into very basic terms. Something that most academic texts papers over. I am glad to see that such an account is out there.

This book was an incredible read. It follows the author, journalist Chris Jennings, through his times in Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo during what must have been the darkest days these countries would ever have seen. As well as giving the reader the facts on what went on throughout the nineties, Jennings also goes into the history of the conflicts, clearly demonstrating that European colonialism has a lot to answer for. The book will at times make you cry and at times make you laugh. Jennings obviously found that the best way, if not the only way, to live through what he saw was to keep his sense of humour alive. There are harrowing accounts of unthinkable attrocities, but don't let that put you off. Reading this book will put your problems in perspective and hopefully disturb and shake up your 1st world pettiness.

During my tenure working for The Arabian American Oil company (ARAMCO), now the Saudi American Oil company, I had the opportunity, along with a staff member of the Ras Tanura hospital, to hear her speak about her book and her experience in the Kingdom. She autographed my copy of her book which has since been lost. How did she get back into the Kingdom after what she wrote in her book and how was she able to speak so freely at these lecture? For several reason this was possible for only her. She was very friendly with the old King and he apparently liked her a good deal and was more than willing to allow her to travel to the kingdome several times. Each time she wanted to travel to the kingdom she contacted the king direct.

She was also speaking at a movie theater in an ARAMCO facility, and in fact I belive she spoke at three or four ARAMCO facilities,where the Kingom allowed westerners to act like westerners, for the most part etc. She would never have been able to speak at any other location in Saudi Arabia.

She told of here infatuation with this young dark and handsome suitor and, to the dismay of her family decided to marry him and move to Saudi Arabis. (I recommended this book to a young lady who had a child by a Saudi student while he was going to college in the US and was thinking about doing the same thing. Her family,after reading this book went ballistic and she decied not to go.) While in Saudi Arabia I met several American women who had decided to marry and live in Saudi Arabia, most seemed satisfied, at least on the surface. In any event, back to her book.

I recall her tale of her being introduced to his second wife and how embarrassed he was at the meeting. She spoke of her son who is a successful businessman and that he was well ajusted to that society etc. I don't recall but I think her other children were in the states and planned to stay there etc.

I can only say after working in the Kingdom for over ten years that this is a very old culture, and it's all to easy to completely misunderstand it when viewed from a westerners point of view.

This book tells the tale of Marianne Alireza, an American college student who married a Saudi citizen in 1943. In 1945, Alireza moved to Jeddah with her husband and infant daughter, and from there witnessed Arabian lifestyle firsthand for 12 years. She describes her experiences as part of the Alireza harem, composed of her mother-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law and their various children, of which Marianne herself eventually had 5. Alireza discusses how the family traveled to the mountains of Ethiopia to escape the summer heat in Jeddah, and how development changed all of their lives. She also details the events that led to the end of her marriage, and how she abducted her children from their school in Switzerland. The details of this book make it invaluable for anyone wanting to learn about living conditions for women in affluent Saudi Arabia in the 1940s and 50s. The story of Alireza's marriage and its demise should also serve as a warning to any Western woman considering marrying a Muslim. Under Islamic law, a Muslim man is usually granted sole custody of his (weaned) children following divorce and a Western woman who is divorced from a Middle Eastern Muslim man stands a very high chance of never being allowed to see her children again. From the man's point of view, his child custody rights are guaranteed by God, and he would be devastated to lose his children. It was exactly this sort of situation which put Marianne in the position where she felt she had no choice but to abduct her children and try to escape back to the States. All marriages these days face a relatively high risk of divorce, but cross-cultural marriages bring added stress and tend to have even higher divorce rates than marriages within a culture. Thus, a Western woman who decides to marry a foreign Muslim man is entering into a situation where there is a 1 in 2 chance of divorce, and if divorce does happen, she has an extremely high chance of losing her children forever. And this is true no matter how happily the marriage starts off, as it happened in Marianne's case. Interestingly, a quick 2001 Web search for Marianne's children turned up a traveler's note stating that all 5 of her children decided to return to Saudi Arabia upon reaching adulthood.

I would love to read a sequel to this wonderful story. How did she and her children fair after the book ended? This is a fascinating true story of an American woman's life in Saudi Arabia before oil wealth arrived. The dynamics of family and life in general are personally and historically interesting. Part 'Not Without My Daughter', part travel and life documentary. Her sense of humor that persevered throughout was remarkable. Highly, highly recommended....but I want more....wish she, or her children would write a sequel!