Conspiracies Books

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
Conspiracies everywhere! Jim Marrs' The Rise of the Fourth Reich is a compendium of the fascinating, weird, strange, and outright bizarre facts concerning the esoteric world of conspiracies. Mr. Marrs touches all the conspiracy bases from the Kennedy assassination, the Jesus mysteries, the occult, UFOs, secret WW2 weapons and science, secret societies, to escaped Nazis who formed the basis of today's American space program, business and finance . Using National Socialism and the cult of Nazism as his reference point, Mr. Marrs pretty well covers every modern day conspiracy and history mystery. It is truly amazing how much conspiratorial information Mr. Marrs was able to jam into 376 pages.
Whether you believe all, some, or any of this stuff doesn't really matter as this is simply a fun and interesting read. Think of it as the ultimate conspiracy encyclopedia and then sit back and have some reading fun.
It is interesting to note how many of these conspiracies have found their way into today's contemporary novels. If nothing else reading Mr. Marrs work will give you a better understanding of many of the provocative books of today. And yes, he even touches on Mr. Brown's The Da Vinci Code mystery.

The Rise Of the Fourth Reich. This book sets out in detail (dates,names,places) the history of the rise of the Globalists (Illumunati) power during the last several centuries, particularly since the end of WW11. The information in this book corraborates with that of other investigative writers, such as David Icke, which in my view lends credence to Jim Marrs writings.
John A. Carlstrom

This book clearly and convincingly presents a case for Nazi influences in everyday American life.

I am glad to see another great book authored by Jim Marrs. This book is well researched, as are all of his previous books. If you liked his earlier works, then you will like this. Don't pay attention to the negative reviews on here. None of them address any of the actual material in the book. Starchild22's review is ridiculous. He obviously is not familiar with Jim Marrs' books. Marrs provides an extensive list of sources for each chapter. You can check up on his work if you so wish.

Jim Marrs has made a fine career out of repackaging the "revelations" of Milton William Cooper's 1991 conspiracy classic "Behold a Pale Horse."

In "Fourth Reich," much of the alien agenda-UFO storyline found in "Pale Horse" and later in several of Mr Marrs' books is reprised in the context of the Nazis (who were plenty spooky enough without dragging in extraterrestrials).

Mr Marrs, like many another conspiracy author, conflates hearsay evidence and speculation, salted with historical fact ("Operation Paperclip" for example) to advance the thesis that an elite group of wealthy and powerful internationalists is working toward a brave new world of global enslavement. Their plot necessarily requires the destruction of America.

In order to sell this idea, one must ascribe near-superhuman powers and ironclad discipline to the evil plotters. It doesn't hurt, either, to claim that the plotters have access to supernatural mental states, alien technology, and, what the hell, near omniscience.

But you don't need a conspiracy to explain this stuff. Hey, Jim, ever heard of Adam Smith's "invisible hand?" People are greedy for power, for control, for genetic hegemony. The result is "history": chaotic when viewed up close, not centrally planned, yet oddly serendipitous and somehow patterned.

Sure, the Nazis and/or their ideological heirs are with us today. We know that for the Nazi leadership, losing the combat phase of the struggle was a setback but not the end. They had a plan. Martin Bormann, and possibly Heinrich Himmler, both escaped, with plenty of money, technical expertise, and an underground organization intact. We know that industrialists in America, Britain and elsewhere favored National Socialism (it was neither truly socialist nor entirely nationalist) before the war --- and after --- because it harnessed the power of the state to further their commercial goals. After the war, these industrialists used Nazi scientists and spies in the fight against communism. The marriage or remarriage of these groups led ultimately to a silent coup against the US government by the so-called neoconservatives (again, they are neither new nor conservative).

Unfortunately, Mr Marrs' digressions into UFOs and the rest undermines, for the conventional reader, his credibility. And that is a pity, because the danger to American democracy is very real.

Nothing special about economic indicators, or how to observe the hitmens behavior in economics, but more so a life history of the authers growth in this craft. The book was entertaining, but I wanted information, about the imf, C-banks and so on. So if your looking for an informative educational book one star, if you want entertainment, and to learn about the author 5 stars. Good reading.

The author gives us a rare insight into how the US conducts "foreign policy" that primarily benefits US corporate/conglomerate profit interests. Similar to the US "military-industrial complex" that President Eisenhower warned us about in 1961, the author sounds a warning about how narrow monied interests guide the conduct of foreign "assistance" and "relations" so that the public interests, in both the US and the "target" country are ill-served. This is a MUST READ for American voters and the new generation of elected decision-makers.

there are many great, kind and charitable americans. the presidents and the government represented american....

for years, as now everyone knows that there was no nuclear weapon found in iraq, haliburton is still making great money. people like bush family, dick cheney have a lot to do with this company. they made great money. they were the one declaring war. and they were the ones making friends with the dictators of the world. look where it has got america and the world. i hope McCain will not win. and obviously the lady running mate of his. with all due respect, someone who has little education, and pro-live and pro-gun. imagine the future of america and the world in the hands of these duo.

this book is an eye opener. the view it presented has tied in with the facts i have previously known.

american should care more about the rest of the world and the action of their leaders. indifference can otherwise be very costly

Mr. Perkins has a great thesis and great angst about his role in the world. His thesis is simple - American engineering and oil companies go to third world countries and give hugely inflated estimates of growth potential. Using those inflated numbers, they induce the countries to get loans so they can hire the American companies to do the work. The country then is unable to repay the loan. The theory implicates American companies, the many politicians with ties to them and the World Bank, IMF and other financial institutions.

Unfortunately, Mr. Perkins fails to come up with the proofs. His outline appears feasible, but he never gives any instances of the loan and default portion of the thesis. There is nary a number or statistic to back him up. He does not cite a single defaulted loan.

Further, Mr. Perkins often draws parellels to the American Founders and our Revolution. His grasp of American history is sophomoric at best. He uses a cartoonish image of 1776 that one would expect from an elementary school student, not someone indicting corporations, international banks and presidential administrations.

Mr. Perkins does have some sources and they are noted. Again, they occasionally show his sloppiness with the facts. In one instance, he states with firmness that the Reagan and Bush administrations had been proven to have dirtied their hands in this corporatocracy (his term) scheme. The text said this was proven by testimony. When one checks the note, the testimony was by John Dean in 1973 and 1974 - six and seven years before the Reagan and Bush administrations. Such errors in fact and use of bad history undermine the reader's confidence in the basic theory of the book.

That all having been said, the book does show how America's corporations have gone into Third World countries focused only on their own bottom line. Their is no altruism in the corporate world. This pure greed is aided and abetted by connected politicians.

Most interesting are his accounts of the American-Saudi relationship where the corporate scheme worked with oil money rather than World Bank funds. Although Perkins seemed to criticize the plan, it worked well for both sides. It was a true win-win. Somehow, the author tried to tie in the Saudis' support of terrorism with its modernization and westernization. The parallel did not work - especially since he had given Saudi Arabia's history of being founded by fundamentalist Islamists long before the corporations came in. Mr. Perkins then tried to draw another parallel to Iraq. Unfortunately, he could never explain why the system that worked so well for Saudi Arabia did not work for Iraq.

There are some alarming aspects of this book and it really does read, in parts, like a novel. Alarm is what Mr. Perkins expects to raise with his "Confession". There is a lot to look at behind his accounts. Sadly, Mr. Perkins just did not deliver the goods to prove his points.

I started reading this with some skepticism but it all seemed to add up to me - - believe it or not - up to you, but I think an interesting read and for me, it was credible..

To be cliche this book is thought provoking. I'll admit zombies are a far cry from reality, but then again you never know. But the subject matter does bring into sharp clarity the fact that we as a civilization are too complacent, slow to act and to reliant on the poor information and sensationalist reporting of the local and national media. But these are just a few of the examples that will make you think about what is not quite right with out society and world after reading this book.
The subject matter is as I said far fetched but extremely well thought out and Max Brooks really must had did his research on the subjects that he deals with in each little "interview." The format of the book is fantastic and it's a great zombie universe he's created. I'd love to see more stories come out of this universe.

I whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone that is a zombie fanatic or anyone looking for a different and thought provoking read. I won't be putting a zombie survival pack in my trunk anytime soon, but I will start to be more prepared for the other more realistic disasters that may come our way.

This follow-up to the Zombie Survival Guide is less campy but some of the survivor interviews contain just enough snark to make you shake your head in amusement. One aspect that is fun is the interviewer narrating his own actions, typically in response to questions from the interviewee.

You get so many different types of people answering questions about their time during the war that you will no doubt have some you hate and some you love. There is a smattering of all types of people being interviewed and if you cross one that doesn't float your boat then you know it'll be over in a couple of pages. This isn't the type of book that has you getting attached to any characters, it is more like a voyeuristic pleasure of other people's misfortune.

Max Brooks, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Crown, 2006)

If Studs Terkel were not still alive, I have little doubt that buy now, we'd have already had the companion volume to this book, telling the story of the zombie war from the other side. But Studs still clings to life (he's ninety-six as I write this, and for all I know he's still writing), and so we have only one side of the great Zombie War depicted here. Still, for those of us who lived through it, perhaps that's enough.

What, you don't remember the zombie war? Well, I'm not entirely surprised. Fewer and fewer people do. It's amazing how short our collective memory is. That's part of the reason Max Brooks wrote this book-- so that people wouldn't forget, that they'd have something to hold on to, some artifact they can consult. It's the same reason Terkel wrote his oral history of World War II; we all learn the dates and places in history class, but who ever dredges it up again, unless they go on to become history professors and propagate the same information? Terkel's book tells us what the battlegrounds were like from the perspectives of those, most of whom are now gone, who were actually there. So does Brooks'. No one who reads this will ever hear "Yonkers" and just think of a date and an event. You get an actual veteran telling the story and you can hear the explosions. You can taste the dirt. You can hear the moaning of the enemy. And Brooks captures it, as he captures the many other voices in this tome, by standing back and letting these folks tell it like they saw it.

This is an impressive compendium of voices, now that I'm n the subject. Men and women from around the globe, from the northern wastes of Canada to the South Pole (with the obvious exception of Iceland), offer their stories here. Some of them are still understandably bitter. Some are just angry. Some resilient, some defeated, some poignant. All of them together, give the clearest picture of a global conflict I've ever run across. Max Brooks is, truly, to be commended for his investigative work on this project, and his desire not to let the Zombie War fade until it becomes nothing more than a bad nightmare. For, as we all know, those who do not repeat history are doomed to learn from it. ****

i found thst this book to be a well done novel that gave true insight into this fictional event

A good effort I must say it in short describes zombie warfare first the outbrack then the panic that follows and finally the determination with which the remaining uninfected population fight back against the invader. There is also almost none of this "superman syndrome" stuff that permeates everything Science Fiction related these days. Over the course of the narrative it is clear that if humanity is going to survive it is going to have to fight as a team.

If I had to pick my two favorite installments it's the exploits of one professional bodyguard on a "Long Island" near New York basically a morality tale about how celebrity is irrelevant in the new world and the story of how Cuba of all places becomes the "arsenal of victory". If some point of views like the former computer nerd and Hiroshima survivor that become the guardians of Japan seem far fetched...well it is a book about zombies and if I were writing a book about the subject I'd have some fun with it too.

It is an excellent book providing a balanced account of the war from all fronts from land based armies to people who spent the entire war on the Open Ocean and even outer space. I would even go so far as to say that it was too short I wanted more.

If I have one compliant however is that whereas most books that run along this kind of theme are usually hampered by a single viewpoint this one while it is good is too cosmopolitan. It seemed that I was just getting to like one character then that point of view would end and we would be on to someone else a different theater of the war. This is not a bad things its just sometimes it can be abrupt.

Overall-Wonderful book I look forward to further installments if there are any.

Very happy that Daniel wrote this book. Very brave seeing that these men are ruthless. The true story should have been told a long time ago. I hope it isn't too late to save America. "The True Story of the Bilderberg Group" and the "Naked Capitialist" go hand in hand.

Sir K. Popper has always stressed that general conspiracy- and complot theories were pure imaginations of bogus historians and paralyzed politicians. He also stated that the only justification for taking up arms was to defend democracy.
Well, in this book Daniel Estulin unveils without any doubt the existence of an extremely serious secret cabal, for whom the democratic political process must be rejected.

Who
The trinity of the Bilderberg Group and its also discrete sister organizations, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission have a hidden reactionary global agenda.

Goal
Their ultimate aim is to create a New World Order, one world with one world government which should rule over a single marketplace.
As their most powerful advocate said: `The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and of world bankers is surely preferable to national auto determination. I am proud of conspiring to build a more global political and economic structure: one world.'

Why
They want to safeguard international trade from protectionism and nationalism and so bring more private gain for the world's vested powerful and wealthy top. The promotion of industrial concentration is used for suppressing unwarranted competition.

How
They try to control as much as possible the judicial, educational, information (press, TV, internet, publishing), banking and credit, military and intelligence systems, and, if possible, the mind of everybody (except their own). Nearly all people who occupy crucial positions in important branches of political, economic, legislative, military, intelligence, social and cultural organizations are members of the groups.
More specifically, they control the US presidency and the US government, the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, all important newspapers and TV channels. They use NATO as their military arm. They try to create world elite with even Chinese and Russian members.

Ultimate picture
Their aim is to create a monolithic one world empire where national identities are destroyed; a world with only rulers (owners) and servants (slaves); a world without social welfare, without spiritual;, political and economic freedom (no individual free enterprise). Obedient slaves will be rewarded, but opponents exterminated.

Defense
The ruling oligarchs are afraid of public revolt. They try to instill political apathy in the majority of the population. The revolt should not necessary be violent. The majority can still collectively say NO as long as the elections are democratic and free.

Daniel Estulin wrote a mightily important book. It is a must read for all those who want to understand (and influence) the world se live in.

A little rambling but very informative of the Bilderberg Group. If you have no idea of what this group is, then this is the first book to read.

This brilliantly composed book exposes the secret forces behind the nefarious, covert conspirators of the 'New World Order'. Daniel Estulin masterfully outlines the psychotic agenda of the Bilderberg Group, The Trilateral Commission, and The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), simply known as 'The Elite' . A must read for anyone wanting to know who's controlling todays society and what their subversive plans are for the people of the world! The time is now to start a Revolution before we are slaves to these simpletons!

this book was awesome. you'll be suprised at how the world is really run and by who. there is only one drawback, once you know, you cannot go back to living in the fairytale life where the bilderberg does not exist.

This book is unbelievable. I've read all of the Reacher novels. Lee Child has completely lost his way. First of all, the incredibly convoluted plot, the plodding pace, the ridiculousnous of the Town of Despair were challenges enough. But when he completely changes the Reacher character to insert his opposition to the war in Iraq--way over the top. Don't buy this book.

This was the worst Reacher novel ever. If you like serial characters take a look at new author Conrad Jones `Soft Target novels, much better than this rubbish.

After writing great books like Die Trying, One Shot and Bad Luck why you had to put Nothing to Lose out there is beyond my comprehension. Why is it bad? Let me count the ways. 1) The plot is convoluted, ridiculous, strained and uninteresting. 2) The details are forced. It is great that you tell us how Jack figures things out, but you filled page after page with meaningless minutia. 3)Character Assassination - in one fell swoop you made Reacher anti-army, anti-war, anti-church, a murderer, and a pacificist. I am surprised you left out him becoming a Vegan and a ballet star. 4)You forgot your audience. Reacher fans want the old Reacher. If this is the direction you are taking, one fan at least is through with the Lee Child gravy train. 5) Cardinal sin you committed is that you injected yourself into this book. You clearly want us out of Iraq which is okay but you co-opted Jack to put forth your views. You should have written a separate book with that agenda. Using Jack was unbelievable based upon the character you have developed over several books and at the very least, boring. I would predict that Jack Reacher fans are not as anti-military as you would like. I personally do not believe in the apocalypse but he should not have killed Thurman when he could have arrested him and posed no health risk to anyone. Now you have Reacher playing God which is as bad as Thurman playing god. 6) "Bad Writing-Big Trouble" - please don't go any further down this road. This book was so hard to read. Only my own rule to finish any book I begin to read kept me going. Thanks for all the others. Good Luck!

Well worth the read, but then I'm a die hard Child\Reacher fan. Kept my interest and had somw good twists and turns, but left me wanting just a bit more.

What a terrible disappointment. I've read all the Jack Reacher novels and am so VERY glad I chose to borrow this last one, "Nothing To Lose", from the public library.

If the author wants to get political, enjoys criticism of his "host" nation, just go on back to jolly ?? old England....we don't need another parasite on our shores.

This book has radical political views supporting foreign nations & criticizes the U.S. It offends me, & I notice others feel the same.

To be fair, most of the Jack Reacher novels will keep a reader up nights until the book is finished. This book was difficult to keep reading, too much superfluous information, nothing much to want to continue reading.
Contrary to the title of this book, I believe Lee Child "lost" quite a bit this time; many of us see no reason to read his books again!

On a whim I picked this one up, knowing of it and recognizing the book title. I knew nothing of what the book was about, except what I could surmise from the cover.

I was a little put off initially with the way Hesse wrote, kind of flighty with nothing too concrete or definite. Is it a spiritual quest, a personal quest and so on. Then as Siddhartha grows older within the book we begin to see the natural progression from one mental/spiritual situation to the next. We see him go from spiritual, to rich, gambling, to being poor to a heightened spiritual state and so on.

All in all, after I worked my way into the flesh of Hesse's writing, I began to enjoy Siddhartha. You feel as though you are on the spiritual voyage with him and can understand where he is coming from. I am glad that there were only 150 pages and it was a fast read, because I most certainly would not want to read this style of writing for very long. I would recommend.

4 stars.

A journey through the life of a man with a single purpose: to find his own truth.

Knowing that the only way to discover life's greatest mysteries is to go through the heart of them alone, he finds himself living one extreme after another until he finally rests in the balance.

The ending will either leave you glowing or pondering, but either way you will not regret taking the time to read this remarkable tale.

Although I can understand the longing to separate oneself from the frustrations and hypocrisy of human life, it does seem like an abandonment rather than an accomplishment to me. Maybe because of this, and because I had been exposed to the tenets of both Buddhism and Hinduism prior to reading this novel, I didn't find it as life-altering and uplifting as many others find it. If you're new to eastern philosophy, this could be a good general introduction.

I have never been a huge fan of philosophy, but I can see why this little tome is considered a classic. It is a life's journey and a profound look into the soul. Siddhartha's journey and his desire to be spiritually fulfilled began as a Brahmin's son, then as an ascetic, then into a life of lust and material possessions, and finally into a peaceful life as a ferry driver. With all his outward searching, Siddhartha comes to realize that inner peace is not achieved through lessons from a teacher, or fasting, or worldliness. It is an inward reflection, a recognition of self. This book challenges the ideas of love and nature, among other things.

Siddhartha is a man on a spiritual journey. German writer, Herman Hesse, starts off strong about a man who is willing to give up everything in search of his self and to live without the needs and comforts of life. Siddhartha is searching for meaning which includes a spiritual journey without material possessions and even relationships. He has a love relationship with Kamalah who would provide him his son, something that she predicted. That is where the story, I think gets lost. Instead the book sort of lost it's way rearding Siddhartha's journey by his relationship with Kamalah and his search for religion and spiritualism is brushed aside by his relationships with one woman and his quest to continue to find himself. Hesse is an interesting writer in that he starts strongly trying to help us find our own spiritual center much like Siddhartha has in his life and he gets lost along the way or is detoured. Despite it's short length, it's quite a powerful book but it loses it's punch midway in the novel

This story is not just interesting, it's fascinating; and it is also credible. However, the authors have chosen to present their arguments in a format that is evocative of tabloid yellow journalism. In doing so, they have undercut their intended effect: to bring serious consideration to what may be a very compelling story.

Their book is full of dizzying tangents, and stories-within-stories. Their paragraphs contain many unnecessary parenthesis, quotes, and dashes that make reading annoying.. Their pictures and corresponding captions may be significant to the trained eye; but, to the layman, they are, for the most part, thoroughly unconvincing. To be fair, there are a few compelling pictures and arguments, which, if the reader can overlook the tiresome read, can be stimulating.

It does not seem that the authors availed themselves of the services of a professional editor.

Richard C. Hoagland just loves to bash NASA. (aka "Never A Straight Answer", as he is so fond of saying over and over and over....) But the truth is, without NASA he would be nowhere. Without such a convenient scapegoat to blame, he might actually have to provide annoying things like "proof" for his hare-brained theories and wild-*ssed claims.

But the really scary part is that Mr. Hoagland appears to genuinely believe the outlandish ideas he espouses. He applies Occam's razor in reverse: all things equal, the most fantastic, improbable and outrageous explanation must be the truth.

Wake up! If there were any truth to these claims, then WHY would NASA cover it up? For an organization fighting budget cuts for over 35 years, you would think that they would jump at the chance to disclose something which would effectively get them a blank check from the taxpayers.

Richard, *please* get some psychological help, before it's too late!!

One very impressive and dense book, that makes you think. I am going to look for other Hoagland works. Future will say if he is right or wrong.

XXXXX

Consider the following:

(1) The "Face" on planet Mars is an artificial structure and the "face" is part of a city on Cydonia Planitia (a region of Mars) .
(2) Numerous objects surrounding the landing sites of the Mars Exploratory Rovers (called Spirit and Opportunity that are still exploring Mars) are, in fact, pieces of Martian machinery.
(3) There are large semi-transparent structures constructed of glass on the moon's surface.
(4) The twelve moon-walkers "have had their memories selectively edited" so that they no longer remember seeing evidence of a lunar civilization.
(5) The evidence of a advanced civilization that once existed on the moon and Mars is being suppressed by NASA.

The above five claims are just some of the tamer claims (there are many, some of which really (I mean really) become outlandish) that you will find in this book, authored by Richard Hoagland (perhaps best known as "principal investigator" of the Internet site called the "Enterprise Mission", an organization that examines NASA data for the "possibility of archaeological ruins on Mars and the Moon") and Michael Bara (an aerospace structural engineer).

(For those that don't know, the name "Enterprise" was used for the name of the spaceship or "star ship" in the 1960's science fiction television show "Star Trek." The title of this review is actually a popular phrase from that TV show. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott was the Enterprise's Chief Engineer.)

Each chapter of this book has black and white images or pictures at the end of the chapter. The chapter's narrative indicates when the reader is to look at a particular picture. I counted over 200 captioned images.

As well, in the middle of the book are nearly thirty color captioned images.

As far as the pictures go, I had trouble seeing what the authors saw unless I used a heavy dose of imagination. These pictures reminded me of a Rorschach test (after the psychiatrist who had this last name) or more generally an inkblot test where the person looking at the blot states freely what he or she sees. I predict that hardcore science fiction readers and/or those that cannot distinguish between science and science fiction will adore reading this book.

I also noticed that all the images were manipulated (enhanced, filtered, etc.) in some way. If you manipulate photos enough, you're bound to come up with something interesting.

With respect to the main narrative, I noticed that it was filled with assumptions, beliefs, a jumping to conclusions, etc. Conspiracy theories abound in this book. Thus, conspiracy addicts should also enjoy reading it.

It also seems to me that Hoagland "lost it" in the last few pages of the book's epilogue. To see why, you're going to have to read the book. (Hint: the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe with its high resolution camera did not reveal in images released in April 2007 what Hoagland expected.)

Finally, before I even began reading the main narrative of this book, I first read Hoagland's brief biography on the last page. (Hoagland seems to be the principal author.) There were things that I read in it that didn't seem right. I checked his credentials on the Internet. My suspicions were confirmed!! There are significant problems with his credentials.

In conclusion, if you are either a conspiracy addict and/or a hardcore science fiction reader, then you should thoroughly enjoy this book.

Review written star date 21831.8

(first published 2007; introduction; 12 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 540 pages; endnotes; acknowledgements; about the authors)

<>

XXXXX

Poorly written, and the book is of poor quality, with dubious and biased opinions. The endnotes are inferior, and obviously the book is an exercise in self-aggrandization for the author.

Folger's shakespeare is THE only way to go when readng Shakespeare.
Word definitions on the left page along with act. summations, and the script on the right.
Way to go Folgers. You made our Kids Shakespeare camp GREAT!

Julius Caesar is one of the best plays ever writeen by Shakespeare in my opinion. It has drama, action, and comedy all tied up into a touching story with a sad end. It helps give insight into how the poltics worked, and what drove the men to kill Caesar. I think everyone should read this book atleast once.

Julius Caesar is a classic book that everyone should read. This play of Shakespeare tells an accurate story of the Roman Revolution of 40 BC. This is a excellent play and great to watch on movie or as a play, but it works well in book form and also makes the script easier to analyze. Under scrutiny, you can see the subtle hints that Shakespeare makes about monarchy being better than a republic. Shakespeare, growing up in the monarchy of Great Britain. This play is about Brutus and the other conspirators trying to assassinate Caesar because he has amassed too much power and they are afraid he might try and become a king. Julius Caesar, although given many warnings, went on the the house of the senate on the ides of March. There he was killed by the conspirators, of whom Brutus, Caesar's friends, was one.

The play portrays one of the most influential revolutions. It show the history and what Shakespeare thinks of the time. This play is mostly accurate to the real history of this time and effectively shows what time was like at this time. On of the major themes in this play was the cycle of violence. In the beginning, "God" allowed Caesar to become near ruler. Then Brutus and the conspirators question God's decision by killing Caesar. There is divine retribution signified by the war, and then peace is restored.

As with so many of Shakespeare's history and tragedy plays, this one is a wonderful history lesson. It is also a wonderful character portrayal of some well-known historical figures. Brutus is a fine example of one of Shakespeare's most wonderfully portrayed tragic figures. Brutus is the true hero of this tragic play. There are lots of wonderful soliliquays, and the language used is just beautiful. A wonderful play to re-read.

Julius Caesar is murdered very shortly into this play so while he bears the title the play is about the conspirators and the supporters of caesar and the struggle for power that comes after his asassination. The power of language to persude the masses and the fickle nature of crowds are only a few of the themes that Shakespeare explores.

Shakespeare explores the nature of tyranny, politics and absolute power in ways that must have been remarkably risky and controversial in his day.

Someone below noted that we have come to believe that the events as Shakespeare crafted them in his play are how this really happened. "Et Tu Brutus", etc. This is one of the better known and more widely read of Shakespeare's works and is the way many middle school kids are introduced to Shakespeare (maybe rivaled by Romeo and Juliet).

That said it is a fine drama and after multiple readings will still yield something new to think about or some new phrase that will stick in the readers mind.

When Brutus and Antony each deliver their respective addresses to the crowd following Caesar's death Shakespeare demonstrates a universal truth that people can be persuaded by words and the body politic is susceptable to a good propogandist. As true today as it was then.

It's nice to read the viewpoints of different authors. I never tire of reading how intelligent people view religion. I do, however, tire of dogmatic imbeciles like Rush Limbaugh, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson etc. who blather on about "what the bible says." Maybe that should read those books someday and understand that no civilized society should look to them as anything more than literary entertainment.

It sometimes takes courage and conviction to do your own thinking, especially about matters religious, and the selections here present thought and arguments through the ages about unbelief and imaginary friends, about the cruelties forced upon others by people who think that they will gain a diety's favor by murdering or torturing others. All believers are enablers. Nice people, huh? These murderers and torturers are the believers, not the unbelievers. Believers also try to make unbelievers uncomfortable. I for one will no longer tolerate that.
The burden of proof is always upon the believer. "Faith" is no argument. It's a belief not based on fact. Children believe things on faith. Not thinking, responsible adults.
My copy of this book is by now dog-eared and highlighted. Some authors are better than others and some are easier to read, but I feel I am in good company with these authors for all they have learned in life and for their ability to think for themselves. For their courage and conviction I salute all who have gone before and fought their oppressors. Their path was harder than mine.
I don't need to believe in an ego induced afterlife. Fear of death is the motivator for religion, nothing more, nothing less. The ego, over and over and over again.
Buy this book and let it be your friend. Let it rid you of guilt and free you of your imagined sins against an imagined "lord" and jealous "god." Enjoy the only life you ever will have. On death you will be in the same "place" you were "at" before you were born.

Being a fan of Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennet, and other authors/thinkers pertaining to this "genre", I have no choice but to offer Kudos. There are many views from various characters throughout world history to our present time included in this compilation of quotes, notations, and essays etc.etc. This book should be included in any collection of voices representing freethought and even as a reference for any research along these same lines.
Thank You, Don Ward

This book is a nice collection of essays, letters and excerpts from other writings from a number of different non-believing and freethinking authors throughout history.

The introduction by Hitchens does a nice (and poignant as always) job at framing the chronologically arranged collection of pieces. Along with contemporary writers such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennet and Salman Rushdie, other 'jewels' are collected from times past: from Benedict de Spinoza and Thomas Hobbes, to H.P. Lovecraft, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, George Orwell and many more.

Most of the segments are accessible reads. Some offer interesting insight, like Thomas Hobbes and Bertrand Russell. Some show the sharpest wit, such as Mark Twain and George Eliot, and a couple (in my opinion) were on the boring side, most notably Karl Marx's introduction to Hegel's Critique of Pure Reason.

The book closes with Salman Rushdie's remarkable letter to a new-born baby written for the UN-sponsored book, "A Letter to Six Billion People". All in all, a great (and long!) read.

Monsieur Christopher Hitchens has performed a necessary intellectual work of mercy. Once humankind desists from its vulgar notion of deity, it can begin the tiresome duties of keeping as much of us as possible alive.

Since we are competently trained in ancient Semitic and Ind-European languages and theoretical mathematics, we twin brothers know who has been doing the heavy lifting of keeping humanity alive and prosperous. It certainly is not the dolts in political, religious or military systems (they who live off the backs of the common people).

Mr. Hitchens has given us fresh fruit from the tree of 'real' knowledge to advance the survivability of our species. Professor Dawkins and to-be Dr. Sam Harris (neuro-science technical background) have enriched the soil of these trees in the enclosed orchard of learning.

If we presently do not get beyond this vulgar Bronze Age duplicity of rulership and priestcraft, we will be doomed to extinction as a species in our niche biosphere, or filmy skin of Earth!

The fools in religion merely have to adduce one rare, slender piece of evidence for the existence of deity. Perchance, our archeologists will find the finger of Yahweh on Mt. Sinai who impertinently gave us the incompetent Ten Commandments (Do not read in Egyptian Hieroglyphics the Book of the Dead for the 'real' 42 commandments---from whence the Hebrews shamefully and slavishly stole!) to bolster their puny claims.

Right ideas for the right time!


Respectfully,


John E.D.P. Malin,
Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer
James F.D.P. Malin,
Vice Chairman of the Board & Chief Research & Development Officer
Informatica Corporation [A.D. 1984-2008]
Executive Division
P.O. Drawer 460
Cecilia, Louisiana 70521-0460

"Fathers of the Silicon Bayou"

Contact Information: InformaticaMalin@gmail.com

P.S. Master the higher mathematics of Algebraic Geometry, it is the genuine and authentic language of global human survival; presently, it is the mathematics adduced by our structured and unstructured data systems running our economic business structures or organizations.

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I recommend this book, in spite of its flaws, because it is a very useful history of CIA involvement in Afghanistan, from the end of the Carter administration until the day before the 9/11 attacks.

The book is divided into three parts, focusing on the Soviet occupation and mujahideen resistance, the Afghan Civil War, and the Taliban era, respectively. Coll commands a truly impressive list of source-interviews, and has clearly devoted considerable research time and effort. I suspect that few authors indeed could have had access to all of his information. If you can read the book through the end, it will be worth it.

But there are a few problems, which are significant:

1. The narrative tends to jump around in terms of geography and chronology. To some extent this is a necessary evil; in order to understand Afghanistan over the past three decades, one must understand Soviet/Russian, Iranian, Pakistani, Saudi and American involvement, because modern Afghanistan did not happen in a nutshell. And in order to understand those nations' involvement, one must know something of their history, and the personalities which drove decision-making. Unfortunately, Coll does not quite manage to pull everything together in a clear, readable narrative. The book can be slow-going, especially if you are new to the Middle East and Central Asia.

2. Coll very obviously doesn't care much for Republicans, and goes to some lengths to defend Democrats (without completely absolving them of responsibility). This is odd, given that the vast majority of the post-Soviet/pre-9/11 era happened under Democrat watch. Perhaps this is due in part to Coll's access to sources: it appears from his endnotes that he relies heavily on Clinton's administration for information, which is precisely the group with the greatest incentive to white-wash their actions. If most of the people you talk to are liberals, you will end up with a liberal version of history -- it's understandable, but regrettable.

3. The book has extremely little focus on Iran, and few details on the 9/11 hijackings. If you are interested in information on these aspects of Afghanistan, look elsewhere.

Again, I do recommend the book, which is valuable for its strengths in spite of its weaknesses. But the reader is advised caution, and might do well to start with a general history of Afghanistan or the Middle East before picking up Coll's book.

Though Osama Bin Laden became a household name after the 9-11 attacks, few people know the background of Afghanistan and the mujahideen fighters that birthed these radical groups. This book gives a well-researched, in-depth look into the interplay of the Cold War, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the radical groups that have made Afghanistan such a key region in the modern world. Though not a quick read, I would recommend it to anyone looking for more information beyond the 10-second sound bytes and action movie blather that our politicians give us when talking about the Middle East.

The writing is succinct and clear, no small accomplishment considering the breadth of this book and the many players. Keeping track of the many American, Persian, Arabic, etc names may feel daunting at first, but Coll consistently reminds the reader who these people are, so you won't feel lost. This is a big help if you're only able to read for pleasure intermittently like myself. The endnotes are evidence of the incredible amount of research that went into this book. Curious about some of the facts, I researched some of these endnotes, and they all checked out.

All in all, an excellent book that does more than try to pass the blame to one administration or department. Read it in conjunction with the books recommended by other reviewers to get a fuller picture of the Middle East.

It was a pleasure reading this very well written and researched book. As an Indian, I grew up reading about the defeat of Russians in newspapers. The subsequent battle for Afghanistan between the communist government and the mujahedin entered my consciousness through snatches of news on the radio. So, it was great to get the stories and personalities around people like Masooud.

However, as I reached to the end of the book, I realized that clearly the author was not telling the whole story. Some gaping holes in the book are

1. CIA and the US government remained unaware of Pakistan support to Taliban for a long period. Did they not have sources in the ISI and Pakistan government?
2. Ditto for Saudi support to Taliban.
3. The Israeli agency Mossad is mentioned once in passing in the book. It is difficult to believe that they did not have any intelligence presence in a region which was developing as big threat to their existence. it is difficult to believe that they were a player of no significance in the whole story.

Now, there may be very good reasons for such omissions. However, they left me feeling that the book finally depends on revelations that were very tightly controlled. Obviously there would be control to protect the integrity of sources. But only slightly less obviously, the control can be used to "paint a picture." If you reveal only selected facts, most intelligent readers would draw the conclusions you want them to. I don't know what all has been left out. All I know is that the omissions pointed out above are too significant for me. They make me feel that I am watching a well edited reality show.

well, not this book actually, but a related book by Coll's colleague Parag Khanna titled The Second World.

Some of the various, and numerous, factual errors that riddle the book are relatively trivial, but suggest serious sloppiness and disregard for getting facts right. For example, Yugoslavia was not part of Warsaw pact, as Khanna states. Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was appointed to office in 1992 by Boris Yeltsin, and not by Vladimir Putin. Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania are not all smaller by population than Manhattan, and the death toll from the civil wars in former Yugoslavia was not greater than half a million. Other obviously wrong assertions seem to be made up simply to provide lurid background color to Khanna's travelogue: the former KGB headquarters in Moscow has not been turned into "a high-class disco," expensive Moscow malls do not charge entrance fees, and police road checkpoints in Uzbekistan do not stop and check all vehicles. And other gross misstatements of fact display a simple complete lack of understanding the history and culture of the countries of which he writes: the (Orthodox) Uspenky cave monastery in Crimea is not representative of Ukraine's "proud Catholic heritage," Zoran Djindjic was not the first democratically elected leader since World War II in former Yugoslavia , and in the 1980s Yugoslav republics like Bosnia and Macedonia were not richer than Spain. Many of Khanna's wildly wrong claims sound like local myths that he has taken at face value. I can easily imagine some misguided elderly Belgrade resident waxing nostalgically for the days "when every one of our republics was richer than Spain!"

Yet more of Khanna's assertions are not merely factually wrong, but far exceed the ludicrous. In the fast paced and dangerous Russian business world, "one is safe only in the sauna, where everyone is naked and no weapons are allowed." It was news to me to learn from Khanna that every winter "waves" of Russians and "thousands of Ukrainians" freeze to death in "crumbling heatless apartment blocks." And he employs gross mischaracterizations of fact to buttress his claims. For example, according to Khanna, in 2006 Greek GDP increased 25% when the government started to account for prostitution and cigarette smuggling in its figures. In fact, the government said it would include all unreported economic activity, mostly in construction and trade, but including a "small" amount for illegal activities such as smuggling. And this is merely a sampling of patently ridiculous claims.

And for a "foreign policy whiz-kid," Khanna makes numerous and serious analytical mistakes, showing a clear misunderstanding of economics, international institutions, and international relations. The unhedged statement, "Russia's diplomatic position is purely residual," will surely surprise diplomats from Brussels to Tokyo. Noting that Gazprom's market capitalization is $300 billion leads Khanna to the conclusion that Gazprom is one third of the Russian economy, confusing market capitalization with GDP. And his bald assertion that "[n]one of Central Asian legal systems have evolved beyond Kakfaaesque" is belied by the numerous successful legislative accomplishments of Kazakhstan and its quite sophisticated legal code, for example.


But the worst moments of Khanna's book are when he quotes conversations that seem of such dubious authenticity as to make me believe they may be fabricated, or at best the result of very selective reporting, only relating those comments that fit within his pre-existing views. "'Our pride has suffered'" explains a "Moscow intellectual over a narrow glass of [of course] ice-chilled vodka, `but this only drives our nationalism further.'" In Kiev, the locals "give lifts to strangers for a token fare." Why? "We suffered enough together, so we still trust each other." There are just too many such (anonymous) quotations that fail to ring true to trust in the author's integrity. And he also reports statements by national leaders as if they were heard in personal conversation, yet in a curiously indirect fashion that suggests otherwise.

Wow! Never have I read such an engaging, informative book of such importance. If you want to understand Middle East politics, conflicts and major principals and how they were affected by American power read Ghost Wars. I found it refreshing to read a true journalistic account as dispassionate and unbiased as Steve Coll's brilliant book. His background information on Middle East history and the movers and shakers was perfect - not too long-winded or short-shifted. About as perfect an investigative non-fiction book can be.