Book Description
Here's a wish book for the wise consumer wanting to buy real estate in Small Town America. Whether your getaway is a permanent family residence, a vacation retreat, a ranch or farm, a retirement home, or investment property, this book points the way.
Customer Reviews:
What a waste of time for homesteaders!.......1998-08-24
This a small, simple book. Engagingly written, it hardly merits the price. Have a look at "How to Find Your Ideal Country Home: Ruralize Your Dreams" -- spend a little more money and get some useful information. This is the first book I ever returned.
Book Description
In August 2003, at the age of thirty, Rory Stewart took a taxi from Jordan to Baghdad. A Farsi-speaking British diplomat who had recently completed an epic walk from Turkey to Bangladesh, he was soon appointed deputy governor of Amarah and then Nasiriyah, provinces in the remote, impoverished marsh regions of southern Iraq. He spent the next eleven months negotiating hostage releases, holding elections, and splicing together some semblance of an infrastructure for a population of millions teetering on the brink of civil war.
The Prince of the Marshes tells the story of Stewart's year. As a participant he takes us inside the occupation and beyond the Green Zone, introducing us to a colorful cast of Iraqis and revealing the complexity and fragility of a society we struggle to understand. By turns funny and harrowing, moving and incisive, it amounts to a unique portrait of heroism and the tragedy that intervention inevitably courts in the modern age.
Customer Reviews:
WHERE HAVE AL THE QAEDA GONE?.......2007-08-28
In the absence of an index, I can't easily verify whether Al Qaeda get only one solitary mention (and that as just one of a list of suspects) in all the 400-odd pages of this book. They are conspicuous by their absence throughout, and that strikes me as being one of the most significant aspects of the story. To this day I am hearing about the need to defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq, and to this day I am puzzled as to what makes that so important. If we want to find their local operatives who actually plan the bombings in America and Europe we ought to be searching in Europe; and if we want to find their main leadership we should look in Afghanistan or Pakistan. However if the Al Qaeda presence in Iraq is as insignificant as it might seem from Stewart's narrative then it adds to the sense of confusion regarding the coalition's objectives.
Stewart served for a year as Deputy Governorate Coordinator in two provinces, often being left in effective charge. He was no more than a freelance contractor, but his previous experience ensured that his job-application was gratefully snapped up by HM Foreign Office, doubtless short of volunteers from within its own ranks. He restricts his narrative to what he saw at first-hand. He took up his post in a genuine attempt to make the ostensible coalition objective of a democratic and peaceful Iraq work, and he does not analyse or evaluate that and the other supposed objectives. However his direct involvement included reporting periodically to Bremer in Baghdad, and anyone able to put 2 and 2 together in such a manner as to make 4 and not 22 can easily read between the lines. Imagine the following pronouncement from the colonel in charge of strategic planning, for instance. 'What we are hoping to do is to lay out some philosophical underpinnings of a plan...to begin a journey of discovery for building a more cohesive implementation of plans and policies in the five core areas.' A fine time to be getting round to that in April 2004, Stewart seems to say. Elsewhere he notes Bremer's MBA from Harvard and it's not hard to read into what he says his exasperation at the know-all fatuity of Bremer's 7-point plans for privatisation and such like and at the ghastly gobbledegook ('best practice gaps analysis' etc) in which language seems to function not as a vehicle for thought but as a substitute for thought.
Back at the ranch Stewart was having to confront the realities of the situation. There were, he says and I believe him, some genuine successes before and independent of Gen Petraeus. The trouble was -- few if any Iraqis believed in the successes; or if they did it was not for long. Any seeds of improvement the coalition was sowing had roots too shallow to have much hope of permanence. Stewart's own despairing conclusion comes in his last sentence - however bad the native Iraqi movers and shakers might be, local loyalties always revert to one or other of these, and foreign-imposed improvements, some of them real others just speculative and hopeful, do not stand a chance in this culture. He was trying to make order out of chaos, but they preferred the chaos. He was trying to win hearts and minds, but the minds never stayed with him for long because the various men of power and influence had their own fluid and shifting agendas and alliances, and whether anyone's heart was ever with him is anyone's guess.
It stands to elementary reason that Stewart was in no way opposed to the occupation of Iraq. He went there at all because he believed that some good could come of it. As I read his account, he sees no prospect of success for it now, although he is not explicit about whether a totally different approach might have fared better. He was battling with bureaucracy, incompetence, ignorance, infighting, grandstanding and pretence from Bremer's outfit in Baghdad, opposition to his own role from his own coalition military let alone from the populace he was trying to help, and near-ludicrous ineptitude from the Italian component of such military day in and day out. He was improvising most of the time, and while he has no illusions that his snap decisions were always or even mainly right, the real truth of the matter seems to me to have been that in most cases he didn't rightly know whether he had been right or wrong, because there was no real criterion for judging of that.
The book has been put together from such notes as the author managed to take and retain, but in conditions of such pressure some of the material depends on his memory. I have no reason to suppose that any of these are unreliable, and mental honesty is shiningly apparent throughout, not least in his candour about the minor lies he felt he had better tell from time to time. Whether his own bravery was apparent to him I can't tell, but it's apparent to me. There is much quiet tongue-in-cheek humour, and the tongue comes right out of the cheek in his account of the exploits of the Italians, who were, in the homely Lancashire phrase, as much use as a one-legged man in an arse-kicking competition. His particular angle on the events is one that we don't often see recorded, let alone recorded as well as this. It does not purport to give the wider picture, but he is free of the temptation to blow his own trumpet, and I expect future historians will derive more solid benefit from Stewart than from, say, the memoirs of Gen Franks. He stayed his year's course, he had nothing more to stay for, and he leaves me wondering what the rest of them, even the admirable Gen Petraeus, can possibly hope to achieve. There were successes before and independent of him, they put down no roots, and it looks as if lasting successes will require divine intervention rather than human generalship.
What a wonderful story.......2007-07-06
Rory Stewart is a gifted story teller. I started this book one morning to "check it out" and had a hard time putting it down. His recollections of his year in Iraq, from August 2003 to June 2004 are some of the most non-partisan, honest and heart-wretching stories I've yet to read on this war. His youthful naivete, his non-military outtakes on Iraq in parts make his story all the more readable as it could have been told by any outsider looking in.
He doesn't put the blame on one person, but on everyone, from the US, British, Italian military and the Iraqis themselves. (Although I had a feeling the British forces in Nasiriyah were disgusted with the Italians in their area...) He doesn't boast about his accomplishments like a former military officer would, and he does mention his own faults at not being aggressive enough with some local sheikhs. But it's all obvious that dealing with tribal warfare takes more than blunt negotiations or quick reaction forces. What the Coalition failed to do from the beginning was win the "hearts and minds of the Iraqis."
A civil war was looming already in 2003, with the Sadrists and Badr gang finger-pointed as the big evil doers. Three, four years later nothing much has changed in that respect.
From dealing with corrupt sheikhs, police chiefs and huligans in the streets, Rory had to get reconstruction project started and kept getting held back by dissatisfied locals wanting their share of the corrupt pie. Rory also gave out praise for some people he met then who are big players today: Generals Petraeus and Odierno.
This book is an honest portrayal of life in a war zone. From sudden, incoming mortar rounds to kidnappings and gunshots found on corpses later on. Rory held back his emotions when recalling his story, which makes this so much more interesting than the many other books that want to blame the war's failures on just Bush, the military generals, or the Iraqis. This book is not about who is to blame, but rather why success as westerners see is so hard to come by in this part of the world.
Rory shows that the Iraqi culture is not an easy culture to live with. Its people are friends one minute, and deadly archrivals the next when it comes to tribal mentality and its focus on revenge. His stories make one realize why success in Iraq for the Coalition will come slowly and at a great cost.
The easy-to-follow verbage, the laymen's terms of military tactics and the in-your-face descriptions of daily events make this book a must-read for anyone interested in Today's Iraq. This book should be translated into Arabic so that the Iraqis can read about themselves and how juvenile they come across to all non-Iraqis.
I am definitely going to keep my eyes open for any more works by Rory Stewart.
An Insightful Account of the Futile Quest for Democracy in Iraq.......2007-07-01
Rory Stewart, a 30-year old British diplomat, pulls no punches in this fascinating account of futility in south-eastern Iraq. Despite the best-laid plans of mice and men (Rory is definitely in the later category), the avarice, cunning, deceit, and outright skullduggery of the typical Iraqi leader (at least in Amara) threatens to undo every good thing that Stewart and the Coalition attempt to do in Iraq. Small wonder - a people that have been repressed for over half a century are suddenly encouraged to vote, demonstrate, choose their own police chief, etc. Rory shows quite clearly why democracy is both impossible and alive and well in post-invasion Iraq. Impossible because the CPA envisions "democracy" as a pro-Western government, while Iraqis clearly don't want women to be seen or heard (Sadrists murder a quiet but educated doctor in the streets), nor are they willing to accept the leadership of anyone not from their own tribe or clan. And yet democracy is clearly thriving as long pent-up emotions, leadership, and social norms well to the surface as every group tries to get their leader in power in order to collect the perquisites of office. In the last chapters, Rory makes a nice indictment of the utter incompetence and cowardice of the Italian military contingent that took more than 7 hours to react to Sadr mortaring as well as failure to do anything as snipers closed in on the CPA compond. With friends like these...
Stewart starts out believing in the basic good of all mankind, but after being labeled "Hitler", mortared by politicians that he helped earn a voice at the table, deserted by the same leaders that he helped install, etc. he comes to the realization that the liberal perspective just doesn't work.
Although not necessarily an indictment of the invasion of Iraq, Stewart points out the incredible challenges of putting a broken society back together after war, in particular when one culture (Western) intends to pose its values on another (Iraqi). The real winner in all this - Iran.
Upbeat and hopeless about Iraq.......2007-06-27
I love this book! If there's any book that seductively explains why our adventure in Iraq is mostly doomed, it's this one. Rory Stewart writes so well, with spot-on black, observational humor about his experiences as part of the coalition government's effort in a remote part of Iraq. It's funny, but in that rueful way that nudges the reader to understand that the issues in Iraq have much to do with us and the other outsiders, but even more to do with longstanding cutlrual rifts and rivalries. The problems were tehre before us and will remain long after we are gone. Maybe every american taxpayer could have a copy of this book?
A crucial book for understanding the Iraq war...........2007-06-11
Rory Stewart writes in a journal form. Given the demands of his job, his narrative is a little sparse on the details (my only mild criticism of the book), which means that the magnitude of his accomplishments can take a minute or two to sink in.
I say this is a "crucial" book, because it occupies a place in between those books supporting and condemning the war. Mr Stewart primarily presents only facts in a low-key style. However, those facts speak louder than most opinions.
To me, the most significant thing about the book was how dramatically and definitively it exposes the utter futility and inevitable failure of the war effort. Many books that (justifiably) criticize the way the Iraq war was conceived, planned, and executed, have implied that the outcome might have been different had there been better planning and execution. In my opinion, Stewart's description of the complexity of the social and political structure of Iraqi society, strongly implies that NO military plan could have been successful, except perhaps an invasion and occupation force of 1-2 million soldiers and a willingness to remain in Iraq for 40-50 years. It also suggests that the idea of a western-style democracy in Iraq at this time is so naive, anyone who seriously thought it was a realistic prospect should be permanently barred from ever holding public office. It is important to point out that many members of the CPA were not blind ideologues (like Bremer) or incompetent party hacks like many in the Green Zone, but committed, experienced and caring people like Rory Stewart--yet the effects of their efforts disappeared faster than a puddle of water in the desert.
While never mentioned specifically, the book raises important questions about the limits of democracy, and pushes the reader into considering an uncomfortable question, i.e. could it be that Saddam Hussein was actually a better ruler for Iraq? Do some countries need a strongman dictator? Is there any way to have the benefits of a strong leader without the brutality and greed of a Saddam Hussein and his henchmen? Those who criticize this war have always had to deal with a moral dilemna: While the war may have been wrong, how can it be right to leave a brutal dictator in power (irregardless of the question of WMDs and support of terrorists, which turned out to be completly bogus)?
It is not an easy question, and Stewart's book doesn't provide the answer. What it does say, loud and clear, however, is that before you decide to destroy the political, social, and economic infrastructure of a nation, you better damn well be certain about the aftermath before you ever put one boot on the ground or one plane in the air. And given the fact that these same criminals want to do a repeat in Iran, this is something that every American needs to be aware of.
Book Description
A gift of laughter for anyone who has to work for a living
Here are the funniest comments and cartoons about work by Scott Adams, Dennis Miller, Woody Allen, Ronald Reagan, Mark Twain, Ann Landers, Robert Frost, W.C. Fields, Rita Rudner, Muhammad Ali, and many other folks who've been punched by a clock.
Average customer rating:
|
Sit-Down Comedy: Stand-Ups Swap the Stage for the Page
Manufacturer: Arrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Performing Arts
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
| Dance
| Magic & Illusion
| Theater
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0091889243 |
Book Description
Brando discusses many topics including acting, women, Native Americans and corporate America.
Customer Reviews:
A Phenomenal Read!!!.......2007-07-09
I could not put the book, "Conversations With Brando," down once I began reading it. As a Marlon Brando devotee, I was so very pleased to open the book and find that the largest part of the book is composed of Marlon Brando's own words. I could have listened to this man talk all day long, every day of every week. And, in this book, he is at his incredible best -interesting, intelligent, witty, sensitive, idealistic, real, wise, inspirational, poignant, reflective, philosophical, poetic; humanitarian. I love his eccentric ways and I respect his principles of character - standing up for the causes of the voiceless in the world. I appreciate that he bowed to no one when the convictions of his heart and his conscience were at stake.
Most of all, when Marlon's children were in trouble, he made the kinds of sacrifices and suffered in ways that only a father whose children are his whole heart would have done.
What a beautiful man Marlon was and what an exemplary, praiseworthy piece of work Lawrence Grobel has done with "Conversations With Brando."
Interesting.......2001-04-27
This expanded on the PLAYBOY interview it's adapted from. Brando is a good storyteller, and tells some good stories in here. Grobel does preface the interview with phone call transcripts of him talking to Brando, and his secretary. And I know someone close to Brando, and some in the Brando camp felt some annoyance that Grobel taped the phone conversations without saying they were being taped. A bit presumptuous. But an interesting interview nonetheless.
As complicated & brilliant as its subject.......2000-08-23
The interview that this book is based on was conducted before Brando filmed "Superman" but I can't imagine that Brando has changed much since. Grobel shows his skills as an interviewer by originally agreeing to only talk about the Native American cause with Brando but eventually teasing out anecdotes about acting, sex, stalkers, Brando's upbringing and much more. Grobel does not try to outsmart Brando, even while he is trying to sneak in forbidden acting/movie questions. He faces his subject head-on and when Brando chooses to speak about his hated profession, he is extremely entertaining. He shows Brando as a very complicated man who is hard to dislike - even if you don't agree with his politics, you come away from the book thinking that Brando is a charming, intelligent, thoughtful and super-talented individual who deserves all the praise for his acting skills. This interview could be considered his greatest performance - it comes from the same honesty that he invested his early screen and stage characters with.
Average customer rating:
|
Conversations With Marlon Brando
Lawrence Grobel
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Biographies & Memoirs
| Large Print
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: 0708927866 |
Average customer rating:
|
Children, Technology and Culture: The Impacts of Technologies in Children's Everyday Lives (Future of Childhood Series)
Ian Hutchby
Manufacturer: RoutledgeFalmer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Labor Policy
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Labor & Industrial Relations
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Popular Culture
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Culture
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Children
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Social Groups
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Children's Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Preschool & Kindergarten
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Child Psychology
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
| Development
| Psychology
Child Development
| Babies & Toddlers
| Parenting
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Education
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Social Aspects
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Accessories:
-
Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers
-
philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
ASIN: 0415236347 |
Book Description
Childhood is increasingly saturated by technology: from television to the Internet, video games to personal computers. The authors look at the interplay of children and technology and pose critical arguments for how we understand the nature of childhood in late modern society.
Customer Reviews:
Mmmhhh....if you wanna to change you side...there is your ch.......2000-04-03
I've the opportunity to read this book at friend's home, and was great. Perhaps the design is a little weired (at least, no in the line of the rest of Mage's books), but it has very useful info, as the playors to the storyteller, but it's a bit vague.
Book Description
The Senior's Guide to Easy Computing is an invaluable, easy to understand, large print resource book that gives you the information you need to successfully use your PC, including how to surf the Web and send e-mail. It also includes 101 hot tips and 101 terrific Web sites.
Customer Reviews:
The best book for seniors and newbies to computers!.......2007-03-08
After having purchased a couple of books to help senior citizens understand their computers I found this one the easiest to understand. It's not filled with computer lingo and if followed step by step it will lead anyone into complete understanding of how to do the basics with a computer. I highly recommend this for both senior citizens and newbies just purchasing a computer.
The best and most "reader friendly" how-to book to date........2000-04-06
Rebecca Colmer's The Senior's Guide To Easy Computing is specifically written for readers over the age of 50 who are uncomfortable and inexperienced with computers, intimatiated by computer techno-babble, and lack the confidence and skills necessary to take advantage of what their computer can offer them by way of information, entertainment, and life enriching resources. Colmer begins with the very basic information of what a personal computer is, what software is, modems, booting up, what the Internet and the Web are, what a browser is, how email works, attaching a file to email, and gives the reader clear, concise, practical answers to hundreds of other computer related questions. The Senior's Guide To Easy Computing is further enhanced for the older reader with a large print text for easier reading. The Senior's Guide To Easy Computing is quite emphatically the best and most "reader friendly" how-to introduction and guide to operating a computer for seniors published to date.
Very Helpful.......1999-11-03
I really was hesitant to get a computer because I was afraid I could not learn to use it. This book really helped me get started and over the fear hurdle.
A trully helpful guide for first time computer users!.......1999-10-26
A friend recommended this book, The Senior's Guide to Easy Computing, for my 80 year old mother who loves computers. I reviewed it and found it to be the perfect Christmas gift for her. It is very easy to read and it includes all of the basic techno jargon that she needs to remember when using her computer. It's a definite buy!
By the way, I also learned one or two things from reading it... and I consider myself computer literate!
Books:
- Double Your Money in Real Estate Every Two Years
- Fast Cash: How I Made a Fortune Buying Notes
- Formulas for Wealth: How to Create a Fortune in Real Estate
- Foundations of Real Estate Analysis
- Fundamentals Of Investment Management (Irwin Mcgraw Hill Series in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate)
- Fundamentals of Real Estate Development (Development Component Series)
- Gambia Business Law Handbook
- Get Rich on Other People's Money: Real Estate Investment Secrets
- Global Health Care Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Regions, Trends, and Opportunities Shaping the International Health Arena
- Hidden Wealth in Local Real Estate
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Shadow Boxing: The Dynamic 2-5-14 Strategy to Defeat the Darkness Within
- The Bernese Mountain Dog: A Dog of Destiny
- Stoning the Keepers at the Gate: Society's Relationship with Law Enforcement
- The Book of Irish Families, Great & Small
- The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 1
- Quantum Dot Heterostructures
- Sharks in the Desert
- Piety and Poverty: Working-Class Religion in Berlin, London and New York, 1870-1914
- The Centered Life: Awakened, Called, Set Free, Nurtured
- Runway Visions: An American C-130 Pilot's Memoir of Combat Airlift Operations in Southeast Asia, 196
Finding & Buying Your Place in Country (Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country)
Buying Country Land: Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-67
Country Property Dirt Cheap: How I Found My Piece of Inexpensive Rural Land...Plus My Adventures with a $300 Junk Antique Tractor
Moving To A Small Town: A Guidebook To Moving From Urban To Rural America
Country Careers: Successful Ways to Live and Work in the Country
