5 comments about Osama: The Making of a Terrorist.

1. I have gone through half of the book (intend to read the other half as well) but its not the book I thought it would be. Its more of a story of the middle east politics over the past twenty years, the afhgan war and pakistan's involvement in it. Tonnes of information from personal encounters of the author and through his friends and acquaintances. Not your typical bed time book, a bit difficult to digest.



2. Jonathan Randal's obviously has a lot of information to work with in light of his decades of work in the Middle East. Due to his vast experience, his book is useful. Unfortunately, it does not contain much information about Osama bin Laden. If the book had been titled something else it would have been fitting as the book was more about terrorism in general and al-Qaeda and Osama more specifically. He has obvious political leanings towards France and is definitely not an alarmist like many that write about terrorism today. Sometimes his anti-American political jibes can be irritating and even irrational. He paints Osama as more or less a good Muslim and never points out where he is not a good Muslim. If he believes that, that's fine. It's a little hard to swallow that he then finds it wrong that the US is in a war against Islam. It seemed to be a major philosophical jump in my mind. If you want to read an interesting book about terrorism and someone's opinion about Middle East politics this is a decent book. If you are looking for a book about Osama find another one.



3. Randall spoke in London in October, 2005. I was there and brought the book back with me. This new (2005 paperback) edition is dramatically improved from the first, as it is informed by a mountain of data drawn together by the 911 Commission, whose report came out after Randal's first book went to press.
   
   Insights can be hard to glean, but a careful reader will see how the terrorists now striking from small to large scales around the world got underway. And it is only too clear how hard it will be to stop them as they operate in unstructured cells in scores of countries.
   
   One of most critical points Randal makes is that Osama's gathering and training, partly underwritten by the US backing for Afghans against the Soviets in the nineties, brought together for the first time scores of disenchanted, religiously passionate people from across Islam. Randal notes that these people, gathered to train and fight by Osama, had little knowledge of fellow thinkers outside their villages in countries scattered across the world.
   
   Now, in the band from Morocco to the Philippines, there are trained, experienced terrorists who know they are part of a global force. This is Osama's real legacy. His killing or capture becomes a small historic fact. As Randal clearly shows, it was Osama at work in the nineties -- long before 911 -- that flows on. There are many lessons to be taken away and they are well illuminated in the new version of OSAMA.



4. A well researched book, balanced and objective, informative and engrossing.
   
   I am very sad that the people who gave it one star are writing as if they have to prove something.



5. The self-aggrandizement is downright nauseating. Randal can easily put you to sleep with his "knowledge" and "insight". The title is a little misleading since you dont even hear a thing about Bin Laden till the sixtieth page practically. All you get from this is how the Bush administration is comparable to the Nazi propaganda machine with it's "Big Lies" and that Israel is the Great Oppresor. His constant chastizing of the Bush administration as simpletons toward their policy on Terror is quite comical since his grand idea is appeasement/containment. Wow , do you think he thought that one up all by himself. Bold thinking I'll tell ya. His blather is extremely numbing anchored by his favorite word, comeuppance. I would give it a negative star if I could

5 comments about The Pied Piper Of South Shore.

1. This beautifully written book weaves three stories into one - the story of working class family living and thriving in a simpler time, when neighborhoods served as extended families; the story of the effect that gang proliferation had on city neighborhoods in the 60s and 70s; and the very personal story of a beloved father murdered in front of his wife in the business that he loved. The book puts the many social changes that occurred in the 60s and 70s into human scale, as seen through the eyes of a girl coming to age during these turbulent times. While I didn't grow up in South Shore, I lived in a very similar neighborhood populated with working class people from similarly diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds. For me, reading this book felt like coming home. The pictures painted of the neighborhood and the family life within will resonate in your heart if you're a baby boomer. The murder of the "Pied Piper" and the consequent trial, followed by the destruction of the neighborhood through gang activity is both facinating and incredibly touching, as you witness the innocence of the 50s and 60s being lost forever.



2. This was a neat book about an icon of the South Shore and more accurately a story of a way of life that has dissappeared. Our family spent many hard earned dollars at Wee Folks over the years and were also merchants in the area (Holiday So Shore Florists). In addition to rekindling many wonderful personal memories of South Shore the book recalls the "innocence" of the 50s and 60s that was "neighborhood" Chicago and which was shattered by the growing violence of the late 60s and 70s. Manny Lazar's murder was truly a turning point in the "death" of a community and a way of life. Thanks to his daughter for retelling this family story that in many ways was about all of our lives.



3. The whole is truly greater than its enormous parts. This very personal, heart wrenching, heart warming book filled with fascinating history ultimately underscores the importance of respect and forgiveness. Ms. Amster's thorough research into varied areas - from her family origins to gang origins, from the history of toys to the history of the South Shore - amazes me. Caryn Lazar Amster, thank you. Your writing grabbed me and would not let me go. Your parents touched countless lives in such a positive way, by virtue of this book the number grows.



4. If you LOVE Chicago's South Shore ....
   If you've LIVED thru the 50's and the 60's ...
   Or if you just LIKE toys, the retail business with a good story ...
   Read this book!
   
   I laughed and I cried as I read the history of Wee Folk's customers personal experiences, a murder trial and the history of my favorite toys, all artfully written by the daughter of Wee Folk's store owners. This would make a great gift for someone who was familiar with Chicago's South Shore neighborhoods.



5. This book is a must-read. Not only is it the never-before-told story of a murder that changed a community, it is also a chilling account of how the Nation of Islam was formed in Chicago. Beginning on the day of the murder, the author, the daughter of the victim, reveals for the first time the horror of that day. She introduces readers to the victim, Manny Lazar, a beloved toy store owner nicknamed "The Pied Piper of South Shore." Verbatim excerpts from the trial offer real-life courtroom drama. The author's extensive research offers compelling and provocative insight into a murder trial where justice is the ultimate winner. Juxtaposed with the intensity of the crime is the reader's journey back in time to look at Mr. Lazar's merchandising techniques, his creative and fun-filled events at the toystore and his innovative retail strategies. The author also gives readers two bonuses: a catalogue of toys with anecdotal references to delight Baby-boomers, their children, and their parents, and a nostalgic trip, all mapped out, to the diverse neighborhood of Chicago's South Shore. The book's foreward is a loving tribute by actor-singer Mandy Patinkin (Princess Bride, Yentl, Chicago Hope, Broadway) who admired the toystore owner and his wife when Mr. Patinkin was a child and customer. I predict this story will be a major motion picture one day. (I hope Mandy Patinkin stars as the toystore owner, an extraordinary man.)
   Carol Owens Campbell

No comments about Outlaw Tales of New Mexico: True Stories of New Mexico's Most Famous Robbers, Rustlers, and Bandits (Outlaw Tales).

5 comments about Bobby Sands: Writings from Prison.

1. I think Bobby Sands was a very interesting person and decent writer, especially considering that he had no formal education to speak of. He shows a veriety of writing styles, prose and poetry. However, I think he becomes incredibly repditive! I understand that this is all he has to write about, but I think he obsesses over certain issues and becomes rather self-indulges on hiss own suffering. He seems to leave out many things, such as what the "screws" would taunt them with, perhaps this was because they would say how the IRA killed innocent people! He also leaves out the fact that he abondoned his own child and wife, though she divirced him because of his decision to hold the IRA above his own family. I admire his endurance and unwavering belief in hos cause, something which too many people lack today. Conviction!



2. For anyone who has any interest in Republican politics this is a must read. It is because of Bobby Sands and his other nine comrades that Republican politics is able to be as vibrant as it is today. At the start of the book there is a Preface by both Sean MacBride and Gerry Adams, from then on it is all Bobby Sands. In the section "A Day in my life", Bobby tells us about the routine harrassment that the Republican prisoners would have to endure, the sheer brutality and naked harshness of their oppressors who in their cruelty and naivety could not possibly understand what it was that the prisoners were going through. For a man who is imprisoned, his poetry betrays the mind of a man who is free. Refusing to live in a country that sees him as a second class citizen, Bobby decided to fight and it was because of this taht he ended up in prison. Bobby often touched on this in his poetry. His Trilogy about life in jail is a work of art, a poem that deserves much more recognition than it actually got. Two of his poems have been turned into songs by Christy Moore, these are McIlhatton and The Voyage (I wish i was back home in Derry). The book concludes wuth a section that he wrote in the first 16 days of hunger strike before lack of strength robbed him from writing anymore. All in all a superb read, buy it and understand. Tiocfaidh ar la.



3. This is an incredible book. Although I lived in Ireland during the Hunger Strike, I still have a hard time remembering that this book is not a work of fiction. I have to continually remind myself that Bobby and so many others died, and lived tormented lives, for the sake of my freedom. Bobby was a beautiful thinker and writer. This book should be read by every person in Ireland and Britain. RIP Bobby.



4. Bobby Sands, equipped with only a contraband ballpoint pen refill cartridge and toilet paper, wrote some of the most affecting and powerful poetry of this century. His prison diaries give poignant insight into the soul of a man who was willing to die for his beliefs. In this case, the right to be treated as a human being. Regardless of your political perspective, this is a book that should be experienced to gain a greater understanding of the complex politics that led to 10 men dying on hunger strike.
   
   There is a good reason that Nobel Peace Laureate Sean MacBride wrote the introduction to this book. It deserves to be read by anyone who cares about the Troubles in the North of Ireland. Indeed, it deserves to be read by anyone with a love of the indomitable human spirit, of which Bobby Sands was one.
   
   Rest in Peace, Bobby.



5. Although this will not go down as a classic it is nevertheless fascinating, compelling and informative. My favorite poem is "I Wish I Was Back in Derry", which was put to music by Gordon Lightfoot. Some may call him a thug, but most people would be hardpressed to find many thugs who are willing to die for their beliefs.This book shows in detail the horrible treatment these political prisoners received at the hands of their captors and reminds one of the general mistreatment of Catholics and Nationalists which is an everyday occurence in Northern Ireland. It also makes one wonder if terrorist organizations such as the Ulster Defense Association would have the same courage if the British army wasn't there to back them up. If you're not sure what opinion to draw then add to your reading list, The Committee: Political Assassination in Northern Ireland. Enjoy the read, it's a good one for both books.

1 comments about Criminal Justice Pioneers in U.S. History.

1. We learn by example and the profiles in this book have much to teach us. Among the significant examples is Penny Harrington, the first woman in America to lead a major metropolitan police department. As said by police historian Dorthy Moses Schulz, "Penny Harrington is one of only a handful of people who can claim to have changed American policing forever...." The lessons learned by Penny - and the important lessons she shares with others - can be read in her highly intimate autobiography, "Triump of Spirit," which was published in 1999. Penny is not only a criminal justice pioneer, she is a shining example of a woman who beat the odds and paved the way for all women who strive for a career in law enforcement. (The reviewer is the author of "Top Cops: Profiles of Women in Command," which also profiled Penny and 12 other brave women who broke through the brass ceiling of policing.)

1 comments about Outlaws of New Mexico.

1. I was disappointed in this book. I was hoping for a book with more information in it. The writeup on the book only listed some of the people who were included.
   What it did not say is that each of the enclosed outlaws only had one or two lines of information on them. I feel it to be a very shallow source for anyone who is seeking more in depth information.
   As I bought the book to find information on just one of the outlaws, I was sorry that I spent my money on it.
   As long as a buyer is aware of the type of information included, the buyer can order it aware of it's scope and or limitations.

No comments about Unlucky to the End: The Story of Janise Marie Gamble.

5 comments about Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the 'Bangkok Hilton': Sandra Gregory's Story.

1. I saw her story on National Geographic's "Locked Up Abroad" and did a google search the next day to learn more about her story. I found she had written a memoir and ordered the book. I read it within 24 hours - it was very interesting and as the others mention, feel it should be required reading by students before travelling abroad. I myself am naive in assuming the best in people and probably could have easily found myself in her shoes had I travelled that early in my life.



2. Sandra Gregory takes us deep inside life in a Thailand women's prison and then into the Durham prison of England. Life was terrible for this woman who was arrested for drug trafficking a very small amount of heroin in her vagina. She truly did not deserve such a long and harrowing sentence. She is a hero in my opinion for having survived such an incredibly soul-destroying incarceration. God bless Sandy for writing such a critically-needed memoir. Her book should be on everybody's required reading list, especially high school and college-age kids. They could benefit from Sandy's horrible experience, and might be deterred from doing the same. Thank God she finally got released, but how terrible was her suffering in the mean time! A truly sad but unforgettable read.



3. This was a rather timely read given the current situation in South East Asia with Sharpelle Corby and the Bali 9. In this book, Gregory tells the story of how she set out from Britain to spend 8 weeks in Thailand, accompanying a friend of a friend she had no previous acquaintance with. Gregory loved Thailand so much that she decided to stay on, until she became seriously ill and distraught over the political situation at the time. Having no money to return to Britain and too stubborn to ask her family for financial support, she 'serendipitously' re-encounters her former travelling companion who offers her one thousand pounds to smuggle a small quantity of heroin for him. Desperately ill and under the impression her acquaintence has 'fixed' things at customs, she agrees. She is, of course, caught.
   
   The story describes her time at Lard Yao, known worldwide as the 'Bangkok Hilton' and the shocking conditions she was forced to endure. Following her transfer to a British prison, Gregory continues her tale, drawing contrasts between the penal systems of the two countries, and finding Britain to be the worse of the two.
   
   Of particular interest were Gregory's encounters with some very notorious offenders such as Rosemary West. She also speaks of the shadow of Myra Hindley in two of the prisons she was incarcerated in. I actually found the second part of the book, where Gregory was in British prisons to be more horrifying than her descriptions of Thai prisons.
   
   Gregory's book is very readable, honest and pulls no punches. However, at the end, you realise that Gregory's book is not so much about her physical survival, but her emotional survival and the evolution of her soul.



4. Gregory's book details her life from meeting the guy who offered her money to smuggle drugs, to her life in Thai prisons, adapting to the harsh way of life and finally moving back home to a British prison. The development of her character from beginning to end is evident to all through her concise narrative about her guilt and shame, especially when she speaks of her family members. All in all, this is a haunting real-life story that shouldn't be missed by anyone, especially Caucasians travelling for long periods of time in Southeast Asia. The temptation may be great when funds are running low, but the horrors of prisons in the less-developed regions are not exaggerated.



5. I live in Bangkok, less than 10 km from the prison Sandra was held in. I enjoyed reading the book for several reasons. One, as a ex-pat resident of Thailand, I could relate to and even walk past many of the places she described. Second, I'm a sucker for real-life dramas--the gorier, the better. And third, from reading the book,it was a shocking realization that as an ex-pat, one cannot necessarily rely on one's embassy to "take care" of any legal entanglements while in the Kingdom of Thailand (ex-pats living here are generally very spoiled and well-taken-care of). I also felt sorry for Sandra, as there are more heinous crimes than the one she commited every day herethat go unnoticed, unpunished (ie, sex-slavery, child trafficking).
   The prose is readable, enjoyable, but not beautiful nor well-crafted, However, anyone travelling to Thailand as a backpacker or as a tourist would be well-served to read this book. Many legal aspects of Thailand seem erratic or lackadasical compared to Western countries, but if you DO get caught doing wrong, the consequences are harsh indeed.

5 comments about The Bootlegger: A Story of Small-Town America.

1. This is a wonderful picture of the small Illinois town where my mother was born. It was a treat to see the mention of some of my family members. My great-grandfather was the owner of the Williams Mortuary. This was a treat!!



2. MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS IN TOWN WHEN THE BOOTLEGGER WAS SHOT AND KNEW HIM. THIS BOOK SHOWS THE TRUE LIFE AND STRUGGLES OF LIFE NOT JUST IN SMALL TOWNS BUT ACROSS AMERICA. EXCELLENT HISTORY LESSON OF SURVIVAL AND WHAT GENERATIONS BEFORE US DID TO GIVE US WHAT WE HAVE.



3. This is definitely a page turner--rare in nonfiction. Mr. Hallwas combines the suspense of a murder mystery and the facts of a history lesson and makes it all fascinating! I was born in the area and my family's surnames are mentioned throughout the book. Most of my family members have read the book and have SO enjoyed it! In fact it may have solved a generations-old family mystery of a missing relative! A must read for anyone with family roots in small town America!



4. This book is excellent. Definitely a "can't put down" book. Hard to imagine the quiet, sleepy town of Colchester was once involved with Al Capone, Shoeless Joe Jackson, bombings of homes of law enforcement agents, and murders, bootlegging and crimes of this nature!



5. This accurate and off the beaten path history read like a murder mystery and showed me the various stages in the growth and death of a small town It also showed "what the simple folks did" to get get their booze during the depression era

4 comments about Gunfighter: An Autobiography.

1. "Gunfighter, the Autobiography of John Wesley Hardin" purports to be a factual account of the life of the man known as the worst outlaw of them all. What it amounts to is a single, run-on "chapter" detailing murder after murder. There is zero information regarding any aspect of Hardin's life other than killing people and the events immediately before and after each episode. These are strung together with variations on the phrase "nothing of interest happened until..." Apparently nothing much interested Hardin's small mind except mayhem.
   
   Hardin claims to have been hunted by increasingly large and diverse groups of men over impossible distances and yet, miraculously, information of his whereabouts always precedes him in such a way that various "posses" manage to fall upon his precise position in the middle of the enormous Texas backfield.
   In event after event Hardin claims to be on the side of truth and justice as he guns down lawman after lawman. His logic process in justifying his frequent murders is so obtuse as to be laughable and reads like an older person's version of "the dog ate my homework."
   
   Considering that he is generally the victim of surprise attacks it is a stretch to believe that he nearly always comes away without a scratch, even against impossible odds, while repeatedly managing to shoot at least one or two of his opponents directly in the center of the forehead. To believe Hardin, one would have to conclude that only the most inept persons were employed in law enforcement, that they were all horribly poor marksmen, and that Hardin was not only the victim of a completely improbable string of circumstances but also the only person in Texas who hit exactly what he aimed at, every time, even under the worst of shooting scenarios. To believe Hardin, one would have to be gullible in the exterme. To believe Hardin one would have to be an idiot.
   
   Even a cursory reading will show the reader that Hardin was, above all, a braggart. His other talents included being a liar, a thief, a murderer and a pin head. It would appear that the only reason Hardin's story remains in print is that it is a rare example of an autobiography of a blue-collar murderer from this era.
   
   Don't waste your money.



2. If you like a none stop , tell it in the first person account , then this is a good one to get. Mr Hardin just rights it down as he remembers it. You decide if he's telling the truth or not. The book jumps around alot, and some things are repeated from time to time, but not so it's confuseing. No chapters, just a man righting it down as he recalls it.
   I liked it. Bountyhunter.



3. I like elegant language, and I don't like violence. JWH's autobiography has none of the former and plenty of the latter, yet it is exactly right for what it is, the autobiography of a notorious gunfighter who thought the easiest way to solve any problem was to kill the problem. You only had to look cross-eyed at Hardin, and you were a dead man. Yet, as John Wesley tells his story, every one of his forty-odd killings was justified. The reader almost feels sympathetic...



4. Gunfighter is the autobiography of famed western gunfighter John Wesley Hardin. It was 1868 when John killed his first man at the age of fifteen and became a wanted outlaw. He took up a life of cattle drover, gambler, and killer whose bloody trespass through Southern states after the end of the Civil War brought him into contact with Wild Bill Hickok, the Texas Rangers, an emerging Ku Klux Klan, lynch mobs, bounty hunters, and assassins. His journal/autobiography ends abruptly in 1889 and was first published in 1896, a year after his assassination and remains the only extent and authentic autobiography of a western gunfighter. Out of print for the last four decades, this new edition of a western classic is enhanced with an informative introduction by Mark Manning and highly recommended reading for western buffs and students of American frontier history.