No one who views this book can any longer doubt the complicity and cooperation of the general German armed forces, or Wehrmacht, in the murderous acts of Germany's ignominious Third Reich. Literally hundreds of graphic and horrific photographs show average German soldiers shooting, hanging, bludgeoning, or otherwise mistreating, torturing, and murdering helpless civilian men, women and children during operations on the eastern front. This is a grim but necessary book.

Most surprising is the fact that the photographs were originally part of a German exhibition held in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two, and constitute a damning condemnation of the role of the average German soldier (as opposed to other specialized Waffen SS or Einsatzgruppe SS units) in visiting the whole panoply of horrors of egregious war crimes on the native populations of the subjugated countries during Operation Barbarossa. These were not crimes committed against opposing military forces, but were rather crimes committed against war prisoners, Jews, and other civilian segments of the subjugated regions.

This is, by its very nature, not an easy or pleasant book to view or read. One does so reluctantly and only in an effort to learn more about the demons that ultimately threaten each of us, as we face personal responsibility for all of our acts as individuals. The conclusion one reaches after viewing these photographs and reading the accompanying text is humbling, shocking, and intensely relevant, even though some fifty years have passed. With similar shocking events composing the headlines and bylines of contemporary news casts, the most shocking thing one realizes is that the world evidently has not yet learned from its past, as events in Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, and Somalia make perfectly clear. Human life is still held in little regard, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned in the blood and hate of ethnic, tribal, or national pedigrees.

One problem with the book is that many of the photographs are small and difficult to appreciate in their full impact without a magnifying device. This, however, is a small quibble with a brave, terrible, and significant book such as this one. This is a book we should share with all those cynics who doubt that the Holocaust happened. Perhaps they can explain the hundreds of photos of ordinary German soldiers committing mayhem and murder in some clever fashion. Of course, the debate over what happened is not over. But this book and the documentation it constitutes makes understanding of the Holocaust and how it happened more possible.

Through declassification of wartime documents and research into archives newly made available after the dismemberment of the Soviet bloc, far more detailed analysis of German war crimes and genocide is possible, indeed is necessary. Most studies of mobile extermination squads, the Einsatzgruppen, and the death camps emphasize the principal role of various branches of the SS in mass murder. Studies of the war on the Eastern Front have tended to focus on the herculean battles waged and the stratregy and tactics employed from the inception of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 to the 1945 fall of Berlin to the Red Army.

Generally, the German Army, the Wehrmacht, has escaped censure for the Holocaust in its earliest improvisational form and its later administratively controlled manifestation (the German Army wins no plaudits for treating Red Army prisoners according to the Geneva Convention but this seems to have greatly bothered relatively few Western historians).

This book explodes the myth that the German Army was not complicit in wholesale murder of Jews, Gypsies and anyone else targeted by the Nazi state. Comprised of very many damning photographs from a controversial exhibit in Germany and supplmented by an expert historian's analysis, "The German Army and Genocide" is not the last word on the subject but it will spur new research and force needed reappraisal of the conventional wisdom.

The controversy over the exhibit, and this book, is not over. Presentation of the exhibit in New York City has been delayed because of claims about the authenticitiy of some of the photographs and the accompanying legends. Nonetheless an increasing coterie of Holocaust and World War II scholars are finding ample evidence that the Wehrmacht not only aided the SS and the many reserve police battalions engaged in rounding up Jews and others for murder, its top field commanders knew full well what they were enabling and, in some cases, were enthusiastic albeit not very loud supporters.

The photos in this book are not easy to view. With their penchant for documentation, the Wehrmacht captured the sometimes agonised, occasionally amazed expressions of their victims just before they were murdered. This is, however, a chronicle that should be viewed by all interested in the reality of the Final Solution and the barbarity of the German onslaught into the East.

This is a great book, and I can recommend it for anyone who's interested in the subject

This is a great book, and I can recommend it for anyone who is interested in the subject.

Although My Own Ground is an interesting comment on the positive aspects of a Marxist society, Nissenson becomes overhanded in his portrayal of this utopian Marxist society. Nissenson portrays the positive aspects of a Marxist society, but never takes a close look at the abuses of power that can occur with a Marxist society. The novel centers on a woman who becomes a prostitute because she is unable to support herself in a capitalistic society. Although there are very real problems with a strictly capitalistic society, I feel that this book portrays Marxism as the absolute way to live in society. Although overall it was a good novel, perhaps if he had not been so overt in his intentions, it would have been a better novel.

I've been carrying the banner of Hugh Nissenson for some years now, especially with MY OWN GROUND. Henry Roth's CALL IT SLEEP has for years been the considered the sine qua non in the canon of Lower East Side fiction, but MY OWN GROUND is a real stunner.

The story of a teenage orphan in the Lower East Side in 1912, the novel quite skillfully avoids the cliche-ridden traps of the usual "folkloric" opus, instead bringing us a teeming, swirling--and very dangerous--world in which Jake (an orphan without the usual dose of "pluck") must navigate.

MY OWN GROUND is also a welcome relief from the usual dose of schmaltz (i.e., Leo Rosten)that is usually served up-- here the Lower East Side is a grimy and poor place, and Jake falls in with the eerie and malevolent pimp Shlifka.

I can't say enough about this novel. It deserves to be front and center in any survey of Jewish fiction.

Almost too much information to take. As said below, this book is a value compared to others but it's not cheap. The main thing that dissapointed me was the lack of drawings or photos of missile launching systems. I know they are out there for publishing since Mr. Friedman put so many fine examples of Talos, Terrier, and Tartar in his book "US Naval weapon Systems" a few years ago. Same goes for the Naval gun section. For the money, I would have liked to have seen this.

This massive book is filled with more text than three $400 Jane's reference books. Like most references written by Norman Friedman, it contains so much detail it's almost unbelievable such a work is available to the public. It covers those systems that are often neglected in other naval references like Jane's Fighting Ships or Combat Fleets. Every possible combat system is included from onboard computer systems to sensors, sonar bouys, missiles of all kinds, torpedoes and lots more. It covers all systems currently in use by all navies plus an abundance of prototype Russian weapons. I was only disappointed by the lack of detail and a few greatly outdated tidbits of information on the strategic nuclear systems, but there are other books for that. The quality of the information and photos in this book, you will not find anywhere else--it is well worth the price.

The book is ok, though not great in terms of a study guide for the PMI Test, which is the primary reason for my purchase.

It does provide a good overview & discussion on the topics it covers, but it doesn't cover everything outlined in the PMBOK Guide.

Because it doesn't cover all topics, this book doesn't add significant value as a study guide for the PMI Exam. The book would be a good overview/discussion book on the topics covered as it gives various "expert" writings on the issues examined.

As an official PMI Publication, I assumed it would cover all topics in the PMBOK. I guess this is what happens when we shop virtually vs brick/mortar.

Jointly published by Jossey-Bass and the Project Management Institute, the book's goal is to present a comprehensive guide that covers the central features in the field of project management, addressing: the key aspects of projects and their role in organization; scope management and project planning; human resource management; and integrative issues that explore the project management process from a holistic viewpoint. This is an extremely comprehensive work. All the contributions are thoughtful and in depth.

This work is both highly readable and rewardingly detailed, delving into lots of valuable technical nitty-gritty, leaving this reviewer very impressed. Recommended. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder, Stern & Associates, author of Stern's Sourcefinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and Stern's Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.

a must read for those considering travel to the polar regions. This unbiased and informative book will open your eyes to the risks you are about to take when going on one of these "safe" ships.

Ernest Shackelton is the hero of polar exploration. He would have given anything to have the advise given in this book.

What started out ten years ago as a special interest group holding a small former Army school, SOA, responsible as just the common ground where alleged criminal people passed through before or after allegedly committing a crime, this 2d edition spins the culpability forward and upward to a more emotions-inciting "responsible for training the criminals" and uses the critical post-9/11 buzz phrase - "training terrorists".

This book is interesting for what it presents and for what it leaves out. Full of facts and lots of footnotes (and I recommend readers look up and read each one -- in full) to support the specified and implied points that the book's subjects - two US military training institutions-- taught criminal and condoned similar conduct and; therefore, are somehow responsible for many if not most of the ills of the region and must be closed. Yet, surprisingly, there is no call for action by the folks who do develop US policy, the Administration, and by those who approve and resource this policy for action and who have the power to "change the foreign policy", the Members of Congress.

Mr. Nelson Pallmeyer's main symbol, SOA, closed in 2000 and his new one, WHINSEC, seems, in its short life , to have addressed and fully incorporated and embraced all of the concerns articulated in the book, at least from what I saw visiting the place, -- it isn't closed nor holding 'secretive' classes, it has definite independent oversight, its courses do not focus on 'killing techniques'; it doesn't appear to be spending too much taxpayer money, and it includes, even seeks, civilians students and professors and it offers a core course of solid respect for human rights -- WHINSEC addresses all of the critics' concerns and more.

A recent Amnesty International report, though critical of a lot of U.S. foreign policy and military relations and definitely slamming SOA, did note that WHINSEC along with IMET, had the best and broadest human rights training programs in the Department of Defense. I won't mention the error in this section of hte book.

This book is a good example that propaganda is not, at face value, always false. Generally propaganda bases on some real facts and events, but these facts and events are purposefully distorted so that only information supporting a certain side is expressed to an audience. Some times this is called the art of the spin.

At best this book is a one-sided update of the original book crammed full of many isolated facts all critical of U.S. foreign policy and government but using a small entity, SOA, as its symbol to garner support for the cause: forcing change to U.S. foreign policy. This book claims to want the "School of the Americas" closed also but that fact happened in 2000 and now the effort is to jump the symbol to another institute. As the Department of Defense has between 150 and 240 similar but different institutions it would seem that there is a wealth of future 'symbols' out there.

To prove his point, Mr. Nelson-Pallmeyer tosses out national and international level entities like "the US Government", "the CIA", "The IMF and WTO" and then -- whump, he jumps and lands at least 5 if not more levels down at SOA and WHINSEC with the obligatory "Tah-dah" to tie in his "because of this therefore this" cause-effect sting. Example -- he uses anecdotes of someone making allegations and then footnotes it to a source that is part of or related to the organization that asked him to write the book initially where his source is originally quoted. He even references his own previous works! This is a self-licking ice cream cone effort.

At worst this book is a smear on the honor and integrity of U.S. and foreign men and women and their families who do everything in their power to present solid, correct U.S. education and training classes to people our national leaders say are worthy of so receiving.

If the allegations that SOA and WHINSEC taught and teach criminal antiterrorist conduct, then, by extension, Mr. Nelson-Pallmeyer's book alleges that all U.S. military training to foreigners and our own people are, by association, just as bad! The sheer lack of evidence used in this argument causes me headaches. The negative stereotyping of any and all military people from outside the U.S. is also troubling. It is a really good example of Mr. Nelson- Pallmeyer's own change by "any means necessary" (the end justifies the means).

This book must be read with the understanding that it is biased and supports a specific desired end. The reader must look into the sources footnoted and other references and read them as well as seek out documented details of the story of the other side. I did and I have -- it is absolutely amazing what this book just doesn't tell you, the reader.

Somehow there is the alleged 'casual relationship' presented in this book to relate an institution's activities directly to crimes and evil by individuals throughout the Western Hemisphere over the past half-century or more without regard to time, location or content.

Mr. Nelson-Pallmeyer's book does present some topics at the national and international politics and policy level that are worthy of, in some cases, demanding of, discussion and debate however I found nothing in my external readings that justifies the use of his symbols (SOA and WHINSEC) in his arguments because there are enough examples up at that level alone. What had potential to be a solid academic work ends up as a propaganda primer.

May I offer two sources that will help you on your quest for the real truth (or as close as possible given the spin of both sides of this)?

1 - John T and Kimbra Fishel's article, "The Impact of the US Army School of the Americas on Host Nation Militaries: An Effective Instrument of Policy or Merely a Scapegoat" in Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement, Volume 7, Summer 1998 Number 1 (I found copy found on Amazon)

2 - Lora Lumpe's article "U.S. Foreign Military Training: Global Reach, Global Power, and Oversight Issues" in the May 2002 issue of Foreign Policy in Focus ... .

Truth, Integrity, Honor, Morale Courage

Jack Neslon-Pallmeyer's new book, School of Assassins: Guns Greed and Globalization, brings the history and development of the School of the Americas, including its recent name change to The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, into perspective along with the developments of the global and national economies and militaries. In a time when the role of the SOA/WHISC is being seriously and persistently challenged, the name change and other cosmetic alterations represent a need to continue to build and strengthen the thoughtfulness and articulation of the movement and voices that are calling for the school's closure. This book ties together many of the critical issues at play in the debate over the SOA/WHISC and puts it in the context of the role it has in the world today, as well as how it has developed and changed with the changing world and economy in which we all live.

One of the key points stressed in this book is that the SOA/WHISC's role has never been stagnant or unaltered, but rather that it has and continues to change along with the goals of the United States foreign policy. The purpose and role that the SOA/WHISC fulfilled at its inception is not the same as the purpose it is serving today. The US foreign policy, beginning around the time the SOA was opened in Panama, has evolved throughout different stages, each trying to maintain a different balance between military and economic strategies and tactics to enforce and implement its goals.

Beginning in a period of major military domination, the SOA was created at a time when military repression and power was the main way of enforcing and achieving the US foreign policy goals. However, economic tools and leverage, such as those achieved by the International Monetary Fund and The World Bank, began to gain momentum and strength as efficient ways of implementing foreign policy. The second stage of US foreign policy was thus a balance between the growing use of economic leverage and the lessening of the need for military repression. During the third stage that the SOA/WHISC functioned in, economic power implemented through the afore mentioned institutions and their programs (such as Structural Adjustment Programs), took the front line in US foreign policy. The decreasing role of the need for military and violent repression in this stage had a great impact. It threatened and concerned those in the military to seek ways to maintain the immense budget and importance of the military at a time when it was not really being used or was as necessary.

This "military industrial complex" is another key issues at stake in Nelson-Pallmeyer's book, and plays a large role in the remilitarization that characterizes the fourth stage of US foreign policy. The SOA/WHISC's role in the present day is greatly founded on this remilitarization as an important tool in order to achieve the goals and stability desired by the US foreign policy.

The new name given to the SOA represents a face lift, as many refer to it, which attempts to make the goals of the SOA/WHISC seem worthy of the absurd amount of money the US government budget allots the military. Nelson-Pallmeyer makes a point that the " 'any means necessary' foreign policy is possible when advocates are convinced that the means they employ, whether the torturer's hand or the banker's rules, are justified because they promote the common good or protect particular interests they represent" (98). Changing the name of the SOA to WHISC, along with the other cosmetic curriculum changes, is attempting to do just this; to create a new image of the school that is one promoting 'security cooperation' and human rights. As this book states, however, these changes do not represent any sense of remorse, accountability, or separation from the past policies and deeds that a truly new institution would need to be based on.

The impact of corporate-led globalization is another key issue in The School of Assassins: Guns Greed and Globalization; and likewise, is a factor that plays into the remilitarization that characterizes stage four of US foreign policy. Although globalization, as stated by Nelson-Pallmeyer, is a reality, corporate-led globalization is not inevitable and is furthermore, undesirable. Corporate-led globalization undermines democracy, aggravates problems rooted in inequality, and is altogether destabilizing. This destabilization in turn becomes a reason for remilitarization, and a problem to be handled through military repression rather than systematic, economic, and global changes. Corporate-led globalization is not the beneficial development or progress that the myths make it out to be.

Finally, the debate and struggle around the SOA/WHISC is but a glimpse at the greater picture, the tip of an immense iceberg. Nelson-Pallmeyer states that "the SOA is a window through which US foreign policy can be seen clearly" (xvii). The struggle and movement to close the SOA/WHISC is also fighting against many of the greater issues at stake in our foreign policy and international involvement and is only one of many battles to be fought. Closure of the SOA/WHISC will not appease or end the movement, just allow it to move on to the next battle. Many of the aspects of the US foreign policy that break down the false image of the benevolent superpower are brought in to focus through connections and impacts on the SOA/WHISC. The SOA/WHISC is like a case study of the many components and factors of US foreign policy and its goals. In exposing oneself to the SOA/WHISC debate, history, and struggle, it is inevitable to come to some greater understanding of the US's involvement and true goals in its foreign policy and international affairs. This book is atriculate, thought provoking, and worth reading.

This is an interesting addition to the military history collection. The book is an account of indigent intelligence gathering and sabotage operations behind the lines in North Korea. A few U.S. Army Officers and Enlisted men were tabbed as advisors to assist North Korean nationals in the disruption of the Communist forces north of the DMZ. For the most part well written, the narrative is most worthy by demonstrating the reluctance, if not downright obstructionism shown by senior Army members toward unconventional warfare in this period. The young officers selected for the mission generally had little if any training or background for the job and were given minimal support. A good accounting of the initiative and ingenuity of our young college grads when thrown in a difficult position.

(Note: Part of the details furnished here are based on my discussions with the author shortly after White Tigers was originally released)

First, I'll have to say I'm a bit prejudiced toward Ben Malcom. COL Ben Malcom was the post commander at Fort McPherson, Georgia in the late 70's and I commanded his military police company. In fact, Ben was instrumental in my career -- first he allowed me to command a company as a first lieutenant, something his predecessor would not do. Second, he literally pushed my application for a regular army commission through and made sure it was approved. Ben is a true gentleman and was a fine Army officer.

On to the book. White Tigers recounts Ben's story, from ROTC to the Infantry, and shortly after his commission, to Korea. Ben was scheduled to be a rifle platoon leader in Korea, but was somewhat randomly selected to train North Korean partisans --- behind enemy lines. What was so remarkable about Ben's selection is that he is over 6', has no oriental features, and did not speak Korean.

Ben found himself behind enemy lines where he trained a battalion-size North Korean force, and managed to get to the mainland on more than one occasion to recruit and do combat -- where he was awarded the Silver Star.

My favorite portion of the book is Ben recounting how he left Korea after a year wearing the Silver Star, but no combat patch (his unit did not have patch) and no combat infantryman's badge (his unit was not recognized as a line infantry unit that qualified for the CIB). When Ben reported in to his next unit, his superiors asked how it was that he was wearing a silver star, but no combat patch or CIB. Ben's answer: "I'm sorry, I can't disclose that because it's classified."

And Ben's operations were classified -- in fact, for more than 40 years. Ben had started a book in the mid-50s, but terminated his efforts because of the classification of the operations in which he was involved. Once the operations were declassified in the early 90s, Ben dusted off his 40-year old manuscript, which served as the basis for White Tigers.

I will have to say that White Tigers is not an accomplished thriller -- however, what it is is a fine personal account of Ben's exploits in a very unusual operation. Many of the activities that Ben was involved in -- and many that he directed ad lib due to the lack of training and doctrine --have become the basis of some special operations today.

Ben deserves a huge well done for an outstanding effort in documenting a very unusual experience. I would highly recommend his work.

Charles D. Childers Colonel, US Army

I didn't find much new information with this text. Perhaps a novice reader would find much of this of interest. Given that these are a series of "lectures" of sorts from periodic seminars at a Gettysburg "think-tank", I found the reading to be somewhat flat - indeed, I felt like I was sitting in an auditorium listening to the respective authors "sounding-out" chapters for their next book! Glad I borrowed this from my local library!?#
Of interest however, was points made to question the often presupposed inevitability of Northern victory, as well as a recognition that the contributions of free/escaped blacks to the Union cause is attaining almost "mythical" status! A nod to political correct revisionism, perhaps?

Mr Boritt does an outstanding job in bringing together several noted historians under one roof. Each author goes to the key underlying tones and brings the reader right to the point without dragging him through endless studies of tactics and military leadership.

This work is well balanced and sheds light into a subject that is often talked about but very rarely on an educated playing field. Too often basic tactics and strategy are molded together using 20th Century research methods to explain past issues and ideals. This work does not suffer from that finite method of study.

The ". . .hard-won triumph of the North was far from inevitable." How very true! This book is a must for every Civil War bookshelf.

Whether you are trying to remember names, phone numbers, dates, appointments, lists, or other items it is easy once you have mastered the techniques presented here. While there are no new techniques presented, it does provide an overview of the various memory methods (loci, peg, phoenetic, etc.) and how each one is used. There is one difference in the phoenetic method presented here and the method as traditionally taught. The method taught here is easier to use with lists of less than a hundred items but would be more complex with larger lists. Still it is an interesting variation. This is not instant memory, but does provide the listener with the tools and techniques to remember anything you have a desire to recall. Within ten days you can gain enough knowledge to have a substantially better memory. If you are serious enough to master the techniques then they will serve you the rest of your life and you will be sure to stun others with your ability to recall just about anything you want to remember.