Product Description
This is the story of the Handschar, a Muslim combat formation created by the Germans to restore order in Bosnia. What actually transpired was quite different. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Excellent work
Wow, this book is amazing, it`s full of pictures and maps that illustrate the real truth about SS Handzar, excellent work, i recommend this book to all Bosniaks.

Great book!
Himmler's Bosnian Division: The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943-1945 by George Lepre is the most important book in english on this Bosnian Division of Waffen-SS; well written and information is supported by documents, veterans,... It's also "most have" for everyone, who is interested in military history of World War Two in this part of world.

Himmler's Bosnian Division: The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943-1945
great background history to today's strategic events in Middle East

Impressive...
Undoubtedly the most complete study concerning this obscure formation of the Waffen SS (the military branch of the SS organization) ever published. George Lepre, an american historian, tells us in details, the creation, the training and the military records of the 'handschar' division.

Raised in 1943, when Nazi germany was facing a manpower shortage, the 'handschar division' was the first Waffen SS unit, in a nazi point of view, made of 'racially inferior' elements (as Slavs were considered to be...). Thus, this mountain division (13th of the armed SS) was combining an 'all german' staff (officers and ncos) with a muslim-slav infantry (some muslim-albanians from kosovo were also accepted although). The fact that the nazis, known for their strict atheism (Hitler was the only 'God' they were encouraged to praise...) were willing to accept in their ranks, for the first time, some very religious muslim-slavs is another evidence of how bad the military situation had turned for them...

Fully trained and well equipped, the unit, according testimonies of some of its german officers, could not be compared to a german division of a similar nature. In spite of that, the Handschar was involved from february to september 1944 in several anti-partisan operations in which, it gained many successes but also some serious setbacks... In overall, that unit, thanks to its superior german leadership and its heavy armament, was a deadly opponent to the partisans. Lepre doesn't hide the atrocities the unit was accused to commit against christian-serb civiliansand partisan members during some operations... Needless to say, such ugly things probably happened (for further details concerning war crimes commited by some of its members, see 'the Waffen SS' by George H. Stein), and were made by all sides, as usual in a civilian and ethnical conflict. It has to be told that counter-insurgency operations are often characterized by such excesses...

The increasing of desertion rate (about three thousands of men, in a total of about eighteen thousands, according to the author), made a reorganization of the unit necessary. Several thousands of muslims, considered as unreliable, were dismissed, or transfered to labour units in october 1944 (It has to be told that most of the deserters joined Ustasa or muslim militias whereas several hundred of them choosed to fight alongside the partisans!). The few remaining, would eventually fight until the end of the conflict in hungary, very far away of their homeland they were promised to protect...

Lepre, in his study, tells us some reasons why the 'handschar division' was finally a failure : the constant opposition of the so-called "Independent State of Croatia" (in reality, no more than a puppet in german and italian hands) toward the 'muslim division', the never solved shortage of officers and ncos, the generally bad relationships between german personnel and muslim-slavs. Moreover, for many german officers and ncos, a transfer to such units wasn't a thing they were enjoyed. To them, 'Handschar' couldn't match the crack elite divisions 'Das Reich' or 'Adolf Hitler'... Last but not least, the military situation, for the germans, worsened inside and outside yougoslavia...

To conclude, this book is a must read. Some may see a pro-muslim point of view. True or not, one should consider that the author, using both german and yugoslavian official sources, has made a very complete research about this 'unknown' unit. Lepre shows us how and why thousands of muslims of the south-eastern europe decided to join nazi germany between 1941 and 1945... This a is a true historical masterpiece for everyone eager to understand what occured in Croatia during World War II.

Interesting Book on an Obscure Topic
One of the paradoxical aspects of Hitler's "elite" Waffen-SS was that more than half of the estimated 900,000 men that served in its units were not full-blooded Germans, and this fact interested me enough while attending university to write a paper on the subject.It was, therefore, while doing the research on these non-German "volunteers" that I came across George Lepre's Himmler's Bosnian Division, which documents the story of the 13th Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Handschar" (hereafter Handschar).In its original form as a thesis, this work was awarded the Sydney Zebel History Award from Rutgers University.

The first divisions of the Waffen-SS were essentially purely German in manpower, but starting with the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking," the Germans began to draw on foreign volunteers from occupied countries.Initially, only Nordic volunteers were accepted, but as the war progressed, and manpower shortages became more acute, the Germans began to broaden their definition of "acceptable races" to encompass just about every race except Africans and Jews.

The Head of the SS, Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, was, in fact, fascinated by the fighting capabilities of certain non-German peoples, and this included the "Islamic faith, which he believed fostered fearless soldiers".He envisioned the creation of a Bosnian SS division constituted solely of Bosnian Muslims in a manner similar to the Bosnian divisions of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.Hitler, however, does not appear to have been so enthusiastic about such an undertaking, and it took some time before he finally permitted the division to be created.

The approval came in February 1943.By mid-April, approximately 8,000 men had volunteered for service with Handschar and three months later the number had only risen to 15,000.As this was still far short of the number required for a full division, recruiting of ethnic Albanians was begun, and finally the incorporation of Croatians--approximately 3,000--was permitted.

Training continued until mid-February 1944.Handschar was then returned to Bosnia where it was assigned the task of securing the northeastern region of Bosnia bordered by the Sava, Bosna, Spreca and Dvina Rivers.Anti-partisan operations commenced almost immediately, and these were carried out successfully.One of the largest was Maibaum, which was conducted in late-April against the Partisan III Bosnia Corp.After several days of fighting, one German report claimed that close to 1,000 partisans had been killed.

As was always the case, however, the setbacks that the partisans faced was not permanent.While successful, Maibaum did not fully rid the northeastern section of Bosnia from partisan activity in general, and by early June the partisans had regrouped and were on the offensive again.Heavy fighting took place at Lopare on June 8, 1944 and units from Handschar positioned there were overrun.In total,the division sustained just over 200 dead and a further 600 injured--the most serious losses to date.

For the rest of the summer, Handschar conducted further anti-partisan operations and by the end of the summer it was worn down and the morale among the men beginning to decline.During this time there were plans to form another Bosnian SS division (23rd Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Kama"), and officers and men were transferred from Handschar to facilitate this.

At about this same time, Handschar began to experience organizational and morale problems that were instigated by rumours that the unit would soon be leaving Bosnia.During the autumn of 1944, therefore, Handschar was plagued by desertions, and so Himmler decided that it and the still-forming Kama would be reorganized into two "small" divisions of 10,000 men each.However, on October 17, shortly after Handschar had been transferred to Zagreb (which resulted in more desertions), the men of Kama mutinied and shortly afterward it was disbanded.

It was now becoming quite evident that to the Germans that their Bosnian volunteers were becoming unreliable and as a result many were disarmed.To compensate for the loss of manpower, local Croatians were pressed into service, but this did little to enhance the fighting capabilities of Handschar, which, in mid-November, finally left Bosnia for Hungary, where it fought against the advancing Soviets.

For the rest of the winter, Handschar occupied three defensive positions--Margarethestellung, Dorotheastellung, and the Reichsschutzstellung--and were successful at slowing the Soviet advance in mid-April.It was all, of course, for no purpose as the war ended several weeks later.

Lepre relied almost entirely on primary sources in order to write Himmler's Bosnian Division and, as he explains in the preface, even these were scarce, and those that were available are "notoriously inaccurate".One has to wonder what information is not available and the implications that this has for our understanding of the true conduct of Handschar in its prosecution of its anti-partisan operations.But in terms of the book being a "chronicle of the birth, life, and ultimate death" of Handschar, the author has done an excellent job, and one hopes that it will lead to a better understanding of the paradoxical "volunteer" aspect of the Waffen-SS and the nature of the war in the Balkan Theater. ... Read more

Product Description
In addition to its well-known conventional troops like the panzers, panzergrenadiers and paratroopers, the German armed forces in World War II also made extensive use of special forces units, concentrated in the Brandenburg Division.

Customer Reviews (1)

WORLD CLAA KOMMANDOS!
This is the best book available on the little known "Brandenburg Division."There are few written records of the fantastic exploits of the Brandenburgers.You will read about an Obergefreiter (senior private/corporal) Brandt who, having command of a large predominantly Muslim group of irregulars negotiated with a British Army Col. in the Balkans late in WWII.The agreement was not to fight each each other. The British were certain Brandt was in reality a Col. in the Wehrmacht. Brandt was a well educated man who spoke Russian, Croatia-Serb and a number of Middle Eastern languages.In the Balkans he was known as Col. Branto.
There are stories of bravery that sound like fiction except they are true.
The drawbacks to this book is it lacks a table of contents and an index.
Even with those defects I highly recommend this book.
I have been reading military history for over 60 years and my personal library is around 4,000 volumes, with over a quarter being modern military history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

My FIRST Joy Division book, and still THE BEST!!!
This book is of its time, and as such, it is an excellent read, with superb b & w pictures.New Order were still a very new band, yet Joy Division were already a legendary band when this book was written.My favorite parts of the book are the essays that are about Joy Division directly and/or allude to the band.I believe "An Ideal For Living" is the best book on Joy Division.It was the first JD book I ever bought, and it still holds up well.The choice of photos and the layout of the book really suit Joy Division/early New Order's visual ethic, as well.
It gets to the point:the music, artwork,and gigs, while leaving out most of the sensationalism which still surrounds Ian Curtis' suicide.However, the book does somehow capture the mystery and tragedy of Ian Curtis.

great work of reconstructing a past, day-by-day.
It describes incredibly detailed the birth and the growing up of this great band, a few years almost day-by-day (not to mention the very nice pitures). ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (8)

Another masterpiece from Nordyke
"The All American's in World War II: a Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War" is a masterful complement to Nordyke's two volume combat history of the 82d Airborne Division in World War II.Where his previous volumes provide the reader with the detailed descriptions of the combat action, this book provides readers with numerous black and white photographs.

The book is organized into major combat actions, such as the jumps into Sicily or Normandy.Each chapter begins with a summary of the action, and an expertly produced chart showing the locations of allied and axis units for the major combat actions. The reader then enjoys pages of period photographs of the action.

This book is an invaluable adjunct to his previous works, or a great stand-alone book for the reader wanting to learn more about the All American Division in World War II.

Excellent pictorial history
This is an excellent book, loads of wonderful pictures and descriptions of events.Highly recommended for anyone with a passion for WW II ETA history or airborne history.

Inspirational
My grandfather was in WW II and was part of the 319th Glider division. He was a hero in my book. My father and uncle have recently completed a book on the 319 th (coming soon). He thoroughly enjoyed this as well.All American All the Way!!!!!

Excellent Photographic Tribute
This is an excellent photographic tribute to the men of the 82nd Airborne Division who suffered and sacrificed so much during World War II.

The book is an excellent companion piece to the author's combat history of the "All American" division.Both books have the same chapter headings and can be read simultaneously, although the photographic history is quite skimpy on text (the introduction to each of the 36 chapters being one page).

The book also includes over two dozen detailed maps that help you follow the progress of this proud division from its training in the U.S. and elsewhere to its landings and operations in Sicily (Operation Husky), Italy (e.g., Salerno and Anzio), and Normany (e.g., Operation Neptune Ste. Mere-Eglise), not to mention its involvement in Operation Market Garden in Holland, the Battle of the Bulge (Operation WACHT AM RHEIN), the occupation of Berlin, and the victory parade back home.

The book is a valuable asset not only as an adjunct to the author's combat history of the 82nd Division but also on its own as a fascinating photographic study of U.S. airborne operations in World War II.

Great Book for any 82nd Airborne Historian
Phil Nordyke's a foremost expert in 82 Airborne history. He has based his information form historical text but has obtained most of the hard core history form the WW 2 veterans of the 82nd Airborne themselves. I have meet Phil at the Reading Air Showhe has introduced me to many 82nd AB veterans. I have all his books signed by him and several veterans. Phil is a dedicated historian and is an expert on 505th history.

This is a great book showing RARE photos that are not in the average books and on the web. I would highly recommend this as well as all his books:

"Airborne All the Way"!!!

JERSEYCITYJOHN ... Read more

Product Description
Engaging and motivating versions of favorite games such as Go Fish, Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers, Bingo, and more, encourage students to practice and build automaticity and computational fluency in basic multiplication and division facts. Perfect for small-gro ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Simple but Convenient
This book contains simple game templates that you can customize with whatever math facts you are focusing on. Games include bingo, checkers, go fish, concentration/memory, war, and tic tac toe. The game cards are separated into fact families, so there are sets of 5's facts, 8's facts, etc. One card has the problem (5 x 7 =); another card has the product (35). Other charts show the problems and products together, arranged by number families. There are directions for assembling the games as well as variations for play.

You certainly could save the money on this book and make your own flashcards and game boards. There's nothing super fancy about the templates, but the real advantage is convenience. It's all right here in one easy to reproduce volume. If you have lots of time to find freebies online or to make your own, then you will think this book is a waste. But if you love being able to pull this book off the shelf and photocopy exactly what you need in minutes, then you'll find this book a lifesaver. I consider it a worthy purchase and a nice addition to our living math resources. If you want a book with more bells and whistles, look at 25 Super Cool Math Board Games.

Something For Everyone
I liked the different games. They were different. It was fun to play them and color the sheets for play. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the story of two Infantry Divisions during the first weeks of the Normandy campaign. With battle cries of '29 - Let's Go!' and '3rd Division - Drive On!' the American 29th and British 3rd fought their way into OMAHA and SWORD beaches on D-day and then inland towards their respective objectives - the major communication centers of St. L? and Caen.

After describing the agonies suffered by the Americans on 'Bloody OMAHA' and the difficulties experienced by the British in overcoming the concrete strong points sited in depth behind the SWORD beach, the author follows both Divisions as they tried to break through the German defenses. Their initial moves were quickly countered by a well trained and astute enemy - in the case of the Americans by infantry and paratroopers in the dense 'hedgerow country' covering the approaches to St. L?, and in the British by the Panzers and Panzer-Grenadiers defending Caen in the open country to its north.

It was to take the GIs nearly six weeks to reach their objective, whilst the Tommies were forced into a concurrent holding operation that in many respects resembled the trench warfare hell of World War One. The main part of Caen was eventually captured by the British and Canadians on 9 July and St. L? by the Americans nine days later. By then two Allied Divisions had suffered more than 10,000 casualties, several thousand French civilians had been killed and the previously beautiful cities turned to rubble in a series of devastating air attacks.

Throughout this vivid account of infantry combat, readers will be able to compare and contrast the leadership qualities of the various commanders and the tactics employed by the Americans, British and Germans; and they will surely marvel at the sheer courage of a generation that is rapidly passing away. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Acceptable Summary and Overview
Mr. Reynolds set himself to compare the performance of the US 29th and British 3rd Infantry Division, as each set out in Normandy, 1944, to capture a city in France--the former, St. Lo, and the latter, Caen.In this he well achieved his purpose.His analyses of the commanders and decisions they made are well-reasoned, and he is able to support his contentions very ably; although he frequently sets out the facts, and urges the reader to come to his own conclusion.

One thing to be aware of is that the author does not move much lower than the company level in describing the combat.You will find very little of the GI's or Tommy's view of the battles.To be fair, this does not appear to have been Mr. Reynold's intention in the first place.Rather, he examines the initiative and energy of the two nation's Corps, Division, and Battalion leadership, to assess each's relative success in accomplishing their objectives.

An excellent feature to note are the many maps included in the back of the book.They are very detailed and carefully drawn, and may by themselves be worth the price of the book.Whereas many books include maps that are less than useful, and do not always include many of the places mentioned in the text, these maps are quite thorough and inclusive.Please note however that many of the unit movements are not included, and those that are are often broad and general.

A fine set of appendices explains with clarity the various unit organizations and other matters of interest.

Mr. Reynolds writes well and manages to hold the readers interest with his vivid narrative.He is very adept at describing in outline the various movements and battles of these two divisions with brevity.However, one annoying feature to be aware of are a few referrals to earlier works of his, where, he says, you can find the details of various encounters described only marginally in this volume.I am not sure if I would pay the full purchase price for this book, but if you can find it on the secondary market, it is a good value. ... Read more

Product Description
Mountain Troops And Medics is a complete World War IICombat History of the U.S. Tenth Mountain Division written by AlbertH. Meinke, Jr., M.D., who served as one of its front line infantrybattalion surgeons during all of the division's combat in 1944-45. Itunfolds as a series of interesting, true personal stories, presentedin chronological order, which makes the history easy to read and todigest.

The Tenth Mountain Division was a very special Army division made upof carefully selected skiers, mountaineers, and experiencedoutdoorsmen. Known as the "SKI TROOPS," these men trained long andhard to fight on skis and snowshoes, and to survive in below zerotemperatures in mountainous terrain so hostile to military maneuveringthat it was necessary to use pack mules to transport supplies,ammunition and equipment.

During the winter of 1944-45 this division entered the militarystalemate in the Apennine Mountains in Northern Italy, and on itsfirst offensive cracked the German defenses to take Riva Ridge and thekey mountain peaks, Monte Belvedere, Monte Gorgolesco and Monte dellaTorraccia. It was the first Allied division to break into the PoValley, and first to reach and cross the wide Po River, using hastilyobtained, hand-paddled assault boats. It then continued its rapidadvance, as the vanguard of the Allied Armies in Italy, until itreached the Austrian border.

The author not only served with the first of this division's combattroops to leave the continental United States and participated in allof the Division's major battles, but also served in every one of itsspecial task forces deep behind enemy lines. Most of the time he waswell informed about local military strategies and Division objectives.

Drama, excitement, tragedy and humor are included in these stories ofpreparations for combat, unusual fighting conditions, care of woundedsoldiers at the front, and wartime conditions in Italy. Written innon-technical language, the book is easy to read, and fulfills therequirements for an outstanding and unusual gift, especially to allWorld War II participants, history and military buffs, mountaineers,ski enthusiasts, and almost everyone connected with the field ofmedicine. ... Read more

Product Description
Contemporary's Number Power Series is the first choice for those who want to develop and improve their math skills! Every Number Power book targets a particular set of math skills with straightforward explanations, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instruction, real-life examples, and extensive reinforcement exercises. Use these texts across the full scope of the basic math curriculum, from whole numbers to pre-algebra and geometry.Number Power 1: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division features essential skills using all four basic math operations and whole numbers. ... Read more

Product Description
Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, Commander of the Panzer Lehr Division, wrote twenty manuscripts while interred as a U.S. Army prisoner of war from April 1945 until his release from captivity two years later. The entire series of manuscripts, commonly ref ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Bayerlein: After Action Reports of the Panzer Lehr Division Cmdr; NOTE
An excellent book assembled by P.A. Spayd, with my only marginal contribution as a coeditor, and the person who selected many of the Bundesarchiv's (Koblenz) Normandy period photos used in the book.
At that particular time, Pat was unable to travel to Germany due to a family emergency--and I happened to be going, so I visited the Archiv while there and poured through hundreds of photographs. My past military experience as an Armor officer, and my experience as a German military historian (particularly as regards German armored warfare), made the Archiv visit a very fruitful exercise for me.
Bayerlein's unique assessments of American capabilities, shortcomings, and strengths as viewed from the opposing side, is extremely useful and particularly interesting.

Excellent!
This is one great book. It might be a bit dry to the non-die hard WW2 fan, but it is the notes of an interogation of the Panzer Lehr General! This is a great book for any WW2 game especially Flames of War because you get to hear the "what might have been" from the general. For example, Lehr's General was denied placing his force in a location where the entire 101st would have landed on top of them! There are several more very telling scenarios like this too, and it would have changed history if some of his requests were granted!

Review of Bayerlein:After Action Reports of the Panzer Lehr Division from D-Day to the Ruhr
This is a fabulous book full of inside information, facts and maps created personnally by the General. The author does an excellent job in presenting the thoughts of the hard nosed General who began to see the fallacy of Hitler's war and was one of the first to surrender his division. It will be of special interest to readers studying the First Infantry Divsion in WWII since General Bayerlein was the significant opponent for much of their operations.
Well researched and well written and a "must read" for WWII students.

Outstanding addition to my library
The author has done an excellent job compiling hard to find documents in a single book.The third in her series of books on General Bayerlein, Ms. Spayd has done what no other could; bring to life one of World War II's most colorful and respected leaders.In this book, Ms. Spayd provides the reader with General Bayerlein's self-written accounts of critical events of the war.The book is well organized, providing the reader with a wonderful tool for research or wargaming.Of particular interest are detailed unit break downs and maps done by the General himself.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Panzer Lehr Division or German military history. ... Read more

Product Description
The goal of Transforming School Culture is to provide a framework for understanding how school cultures operate and how leaders can overcome staff division to improve relationships and transform toxic cultures into healthy ones with the ultimate goal of improved learning for all students. Anthony Muhammad contends that in order to transform school culture, we must examine and understand educators motivation for hanging on to paradigms that are contrary to those articulated by their school or district. In this book, Dr. Muhammad explores many aspects of human behavior, social conditions, and history. Drawing upon his study of 34 schools (11 elementary, 14 middle, and 9 high schools) from around the country, Dr. Muhammad describes the underlying tensions that impact culture among four different groups of educators in a school. Much of the book is devoted to introducing readers to these groups: The Believers are those who are committed to the learning of each student and who operate under the assumption that their efforts can make an enormous difference in that learning. The Fundamentalists are preservers of the status quo. The Tweeners are members of a staff who are typically new to a school and are attempting to learn its prevailing culture. The Survivors are those who have been so overwhelmed by the stress and demands of the profession that their primary goal becomes making it through the day, the week, and the year. Dr. Muhammad describes the prevailing beliefs and assumptions of each of these groups and the dynamics within and among the groups. He argues that it is the outcome of these dynamics that will ultimately determine the culture of a school. He provides specific strategies for working with each group of educators to transform school culture and intentionally create positive atmospheres that not only tolerate change, but also seek and embrace the changes that maximize organizational effectiveness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Amazingly Insightful
I have been a school administrator for 11 years.The past five have been as a school superintendent.As an educator I have been involved in many innovative change initiatives in education.Many of which have failed, one, a charter school, was both successful and sustaining.

This book is the most insightful and analytical piece of literature I have read describing the difficult process of change within our public schools.For years I have been saying that internally, schools kill innovation.Anthony does an amazing job of breaking down why this is.He gives us a vocabulary to use, and strategies to implement.I would highly advise anyone in the field of education, or in educational policy development to read this book.

Right on the Mark!
This profound book should be required reading for anyone engaged in educational leadership or contemplating a career in educational leadership.I am an avid reader but have never written a comment on a book until now. Not only are Dr. Muhammad's insights into school culture amazing but the book is written in an engaging style. He has made me aware of the players in a dysfunctional school culture and offers remedies that will hopefully bring health to the school so that all children can achieve to potential.

Simply the best book in education today
Dr. Muhammad's candid analysis of modern school culture is revolutionary.It is simply a must read for every educator who is serious about equity and school reform.As other authors provide a watered-down, politically correct view of schools, Dr. Muhammad provides a framework for a truly honest look at schools that can help any concerned group of educators improve the learning environment for students.Bravo and well done!

Commercial PLC Bares its Teeth!
The subtitle of Anthony Muhammad's new book Transforming School Culture is "How to Overcome Staff Division." This is a note of caution for all those contemplating the adoption of commercial Professional Learning Communities (PLC). If PLCs are so important in helping students learn at high levels why are they producing staff division?

Well, according to Muhammad, "Cultural change is a much more difficult form of change to accomplish. It cannot be changed through force or coercion" (p. 16). Muhammad here affirms cultural changes cannot be had through force or coercion yet he later claims that it can be used against those he calls "Fundamentalists." "Once the transformation takes shape at these levels, leaders should be able to isolate the Level Four Fundamentalists and use monitoring and coercion to force a change in behavior or a change in scenery" (p. 96). Muhammad cannot have it both ways. Staff division comes as a result of coercive application of PLCs.

Muhammad's book is typical of the commercial PLC genre in which the mantra is students learning at high levels ought to be our moral purpose. Those schools who do not adopt this mantra are "toxic" (p. 13-14). Teachers who steadfastly resist this mantra are labeled by the author as Fundamentalists.

He cites the work of Dan Lortie (1975) who asserts that traditional teacher socialization may start as young as 5 years old through an "apprenticeship of observation" (p. 62).Traditional teachers may change but not by coercion. Muhammad accuses those who do not change as Fundamentalists even though their personal and professional socialization was well out of their control. His description of Fundamentalists becomes shrill with statements like, "Fundamentalists thrive in a culture of slander and defamation" (p. 107).

He is critical of teachers' unions (p. 10) and says that teachers are in "...institutions that have been established to buffer educators from change and accountability"(p. 16). Muhammad has also conjured up new terms such as Old Contract/New Contract (p. 63), Educational Pathology (p. 84). He also traffics in the tragedy of firefighters in Mann Gulch Montana and South Canyon Colorado (p. 85) to explain what he believes is the illogical resistance of Fundamentalists (p. 96).

The chief value of this book is that it demonstrates the fuzzy thinking within the commercial PLC genre and the contempt held for traditional teachers.


Dr. John Merks
Teacher
Riverview High School
Riverview
New Brunswick
Canada

Every educator must read!
This book is the most profound view of school culture that I have ever read.The insights offered in this book need to be read by every educator in America.Absolutely the best educational book that I have ever read! ... Read more

Product Description
Ellen May Ngewthu is a soldier and leader of the Cassini Division, the elite defense force of the utopian Solar Union.Here in the twenty-fourth century, the forts of the Division, in orbit around Jupiter, are the front line in humanity's long standoff with the unknowable post-humans godlike beings descended from the men and women who transformed themselves with high technology centuries ago.

The post-humans' capacities are unknown . . . but we know they disintegrated Ganymede, we know they punched a wormhole into Jovian space, and we know that the very surface of the solar system's largest planet has been altered by them.Worse, we know that they have been bombarding the inner solar system with powerful data viruses for generations.

Now Ellen has a plan to rid humanity of this threat once and for all. But she needs to convince others to mistrust the post-humans as much as she does. In the process, much will be revealed--about history, about power, and about what it is to be human.
Amazon.com Review
With his third novel, Ken MacLeod elaborates on the futuretimeline from his first two works, The Star Fraction (1995) andThe Stone Canal (1996). Most relevant is book two, whichestablished a colony on the remote world of New Mars via a spatialwormhole created by superhumans--transcendent machine-hostedintelligences called the "fast-folk." The original fast-folk crashedfrom too much contemplation of their metaphorical navels, but theirdescendants on Jupiter still harass Earth with virus transmissionsthat have killed off computers and the Internet. Enter heroine EllenMay Ngwethu of the Cassini Division, an elite space-going forcecreated to defend against the fast-folk. Her wild doings in the 24thcentury's anarcho-socialist utopia make for fun reading--everyone willcovet her smart-matter clothing that can become a spacesuit, combatoutfit, evening gown, or satellite dish at will. But the Division'spolitical philosophy is brutally tough, with alarming plans to use aplanet-wrecking doomsday weapon against "enemies," who may not behostile at all. In a climax of slam-bang space battle, MacLeod crashesthe ongoing ethical debate into a brick wall and leaves yougasping. Witty, skillful, provocative, but just a trifle too gliblyresolved. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

Not Free SF Reader
Defend the solar system, brothers.


The Cassini Division is an organisation that is ready to 'kick posthuman arse', as they put it.A key strategic asset is a wormhole, and the Division realises that anything evolving quickly could appear.It gets a lot less simple than this as societies on Mars and in the Jupiter area come into conflict, as well as Divisions within the division and your garden variety humans

One woman and the crew of a ship have to decide what sort of carnage they are willing to inflict on others for preservation, along with some strange consequences of their actions.

If you've never put a sci-fi book down, no matter how bad; try this one...


For some odd reason, I felt compelled to do a search for reviews on this book I picked at random in the library. In all my 35+ years of reading sci-fi and fantasy, I can't recall more than a couple of books I'd put done incomplete.

I am about 2/3's the way through this one, and may or may not complete it.While diametrically opposed to Macleaod's politics, I felt I should give it a read nonetheless so as to be somewhat 'liberal' in giving it a chance.

That said, I have to agree with SouthFried's review on the whole. This book, even if part of an ongoing series gives the reader very little incentive to go back or forward to the se/pre-quel.The story meanders between plot and borderline propoganda, with nary a thought for continuity.Maybe some of his other books are tighter and on-beam, but if this is the caliber, I'd say many a college writerwould surpass.

I've heard mention of one of MacLeaod's contemporaries who's written something called the "Lazy Gun", hopefully it will be less of a propoganda exercise in wishful 'what ifs' than this.

I think I'll have to go back to the remaining Terry Pratchet or Aaron Elkinson's I've yet too read.Idealism has its place, unfortunately it just doesn't cut it with sci-fi.

Great story, dumb ideas
I am very surprised by the hostile reviews to this engaging novel.I suppose many could be put off by the socialist orientation of the author and the story.I agree that at times the book reads like a propoganda piece for the Socialist International.I am certainly no socialist, very much the opposite as some of my other book reviews will attest.To describe this as a novel of ideas is correct.Many of them are dumb, unrealistic, and totally discredited ideas.So what, the story was great and in spite of my hostility to these ideas I loved it.It just requires a little suspension of disbelief.It also helps to know where Macleod is coming from upfront.The socialism bothers less if it is expected.

I agree with several of the other reviewers, do not start this series with this book.If you do start here you may be confused at times.

If you are easily annoyed by politics and political ideas you disagree with, this book and this author, are not for you.If you can enjoy a good story and can look past some pretty loopy ideas you will enjoy this series.

Clash of Civilizations
Compared to Ken MacLeod's later work, "Cassini Division" (1998) is a little underwhelming. The main ideas involve the clash of civilizations: the anarchic-socialists (from whose perspective the book is narrated), the uploaded post-Singularity consciousnesses of Jupiter, a capitalist anarchy on the far-flung planet New Mars (accessible only via tricky wormhole travel) and the non-cooperators left on Earth, who haven't joined in any of the parties.

That's most of the problem, really. The plot seems like more of an excuse to examine all these societies than an interesting story in its own right. The author doesn't quite seem to pay enough attention to the main plot threads. Generally speaking, I found it a bit hard to read and a bit too easy to put down.

There are some interesting narrative tricks here: the entire story is told from a first person POV, and only one person's, to boot. However, the "present tense" parts of the story are told in past-tense voice, and the flashbacks (sometimes inserted in such a ways as to kill narrative momentum instead of helping it) are told in present-tense voice. An odd choice that doesn't seem to make much difference.

The parts where he's actually examining the societies are admirable: fairly balanced, showing the upsides and downsides of all of them. However, it sometimes seems unsubtle, more like a sledgehammer than you'd like. Also, the narrator is not the most sympathetic person you've ever met. So if you're interested in Ken MacLeod, I might recommend skipping this one and heading for his later works: the Engine of Light series or (the much more enjoyable) "Newton's Wake."

Pretty bad.
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book. The back cover looked interesting, so I thought "why not?"

I guess there's a Sci-Fi subculture out there that is looking for future socialist/communist societies that they can believe and hope in. I think this is the driving force for those who give this book good reviews. Any exploration into future socialist society has an attraction for them.

Hey, I can understand that. Tho, I'm on the other end of the spectrum, and look for books that portray what a freer, liberty loving society might look like in the future. I can understand those on the "other side" of my political views looking for books that may validate their beleif's. So, even if I disagree with the political viewpoint, I still can appreciate it.

But, this book was just not good. The story was cluttered and confusing to read. As one reviewer put it..."It takes itself too seriously for satire, but too much fluff for serious sci-fi."

Character development was abysmal. There is not one character you can really identify with, or like. The political make-up of the differing societies is never really explained, so you never really understand how things are really working. Heck, half the time it seems the characters have no clue either...but, they are sure adamant about it. For those looking for ideas and concepts for the socialist utopia (hey, I'm also looking for ideas for a capitalist one), they ain't in this book.

The underlying premise of the book could be interesting. Humans develop, or evolve, into more machine than organic...and the humans, still organic, pit themeselves against these "futuristic" humans.

Could be interesting...but, it isn't.

Lotta gratuitist drunkin' sex. Silly and sophomoric ideas and dialogue. Ammoral people and actions. This is just a bad book, written poorly and confusingly.

Several people here have said that there is a prequel book to this that if you didn't read it, you'll be totally lost and confused.

They're right...I sure was.But, I don't think I'll be getting the prequel to try and understand better what I read. Cuz, what I read, and DID understand, I didn't like.

And it would sure help, if the author let you know that this was a series. Geesh. Absolutely nothing printed on the book cover even hints at this being part of a series or continuing storeyline, and that you should buy x book first. Seriously confusing... Sorta like the book itself. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

A worthy follwer to PYRES.
Some writers are worth reading for their prose alone. Or for their plots. But Derek Nikitas tells complicated, heart rending stories that stay with you for weeks afterward and tells them beautifully. A woman seizes a sudden opportunity to find the son she gave away--this is just one of the threads that wind through THE LONG DIVISION. If you're looking for a story with depth to it AND lovely writing, you'll find it here. Writers like Nikitas are elevating crime fiction writing to new heights because they are interested in more than whoduunit.

Read. This. Book.
I've never written a review on amazon, but after seeing the 3 1/2 star rating on this wonderful novel, I felt compelled to finally contribute.

I normally read a lot of literary fiction. I don't like brainless prose. I like character development, characterization, and prose that feels fresh. I read a lot, so when I come across something that truly stands out, that says something.

I first read Derek Nikitas' novel Pyres, which was a refreshing breath of literary writing into what I felt was a cold, dead, wasteland of formulaic genre fiction. I loved that novel so much that I pre-ordered his second novel, The Long Division, here on Amazon.

I was not disappointed. Another reviewer pointed out that the prose gets in the way of the story. This is not the case at all. The prose here is economical. In Pyres there were many thick passages of beautiful prose, but here, Nikitas has pared down his writing and incorporated the use of jump cuts (using film techniques in writing is something I found wholly original and admirable) that sometimes switch scenes even in a line of dialogue. The effect isn't disorientating like you might think; instead, it keeps the pace up and the action high. You can fly through this novel in a few hours. I read the novel in one sitting. It's that intense.

Other reviews do a better job of summarizing the plot. This being my first review, I'd probably just botch it anyway. The important thing here is that Nikitas is one of the only crime writers I've read whose writing ability rivals that of my favorites: Denis Johnson, Cormac McCarthy, Michael Chabon.

If you have any doubt, look at the reviews of his other novel, Pyres. That's a great book, but this one is better. Do yourself a favor. If you have any interest in crime fiction or literary fiction, read this book. You'll be reading a new writer who, after the course of his career, will be remembered as one of the greats.

The story suffers
There is something going on at universities regarding creative writing teachers ... and I now KNOW I don't like it. A novel is a story and as such, that should be the focus--the story; NOT the "creative writing." Here is gimmickry at its best/worst, which is a distraction to the story. The story drew me to the book, one of a reunion between a young mother who gave up her child, and that child, now a teenager. It is a subject that has personal involvement for me. The author uses word, sentence, and paragraph construction that are almost senseless. If you have to go back and reread constantly, which I have had to--the writing is just not working. And further, from the onset I know how this is going to turn out--not well. And further still, I really don't care much for the characters. Here is one example, which has stopped me "cold."

(p.147) "'Calvin!' she cried. The coils in her ears went haywire. She pressed her hands against the dash and locked her elbows so that her arms were the spinner arrow in a kid's board game whipped so hard the blood rushed to fill her fingertips and then when she couldn't think beyond the topsy-turvy outlines the passenger window burst and something brought the car full-stop at the finish of its three-sixty spin."

Full discloser. I am going to begin "teaching" a course "WRITING CREATIVELY" at a community college. Trust me - I am not going to encourage this style of writing. Writing is, at its root, about two things: Having something to say; and then the choices one makes in HOW to say it. The goal, I think, is to be understood, and in some cases to persuade, influence, inform, and/or entertain. This style of writing is a serious distraction to those goals.

"Lifetimes of Vertigo"
Make no mistake about it - Derek Nikitas is a brilliant stylist - an original emerging talent who twists and warps his prose with the atmospherics of Faulkner, the quirkiness of McCarthy, but matched with a readability that neither of these venerable giants can match.For my money, his debut, "Pyres", was the book of the year.But having said that - holy smokes! - if there has ever been a more dark, depressing, and downbeat novel than "The Long Division", I don't remember it.This is "The Road" without an apocalypse, or "Fight Club" reading like Nora Roberts pabulum by comparison.

"The Long Division" is the tale of a half-a-dozen or so fatalistically flawed characters, starting with Atlanta maid Jodie Larkin, heading north with stolen cash and a stolen car, and her 15 year old estranged and agreeably kidnapped son, Calvin, in tow.Seeking Calvin's biological father, Jodie and Cal travel to the desolate frozen wastelands of western New York,a cold setting especially fitting for the dark subject matter.Here we encounter deputy Sam Hartwick, is arguably the most normal of the cast, though hardly the hero.Enter Wynn Johnson, local SUNY student and mathematics savant, who ends up on the wrong end of murder and a stream of vengeful antagonists on both sides of the law, including the haunted deputy Sam.From this already sordid background, the plot spirals even deeper, penetrating the depths of humanity across a wide range of despair, a "search without a solution" across a tortured landscape of theft, murder, sexual identity, terminal cancer, and suicide.

Yeah, well, did I say it was pretty?But it is powerful.Nikitas landscapes are "tall houses crammed at close quarters like mourners at a funeral."While upstate New York's hostile winter "...wind rocked the car like a gang of vandals..." with "rusted fire escapes and empty clotheslines like stripped umbrellas."Sweet.

So like I said, Nikitas can write, but be forewarned: this guy is the master conductor of the train wreck of human carnage - an extraordinary writer who practices his craft in teen angst and wasted lives - the perfect stand-in should Styx farrier Charon need a day off.If you're looking for an upbeat story, you're on the wrong page.But for an exciting new benchmark in American literature, make sure Derek Nikitas is on your short list.

"She wondered whose reckoning this was and when the mercy would start."


One moment, one impulsive action and events are set in motion that result in a final, terrible reckoning. Jodie Larkin, a lonely housecleaner, grabs a stack of hundred dollar bills from a home where she is working. Thus begins a journey that will take her from Atlanta to Philadelphia to Weymouth, New York in a hapless trail of mistakes and misjudgments. Like the other wounded characters in this compelling novel, Jodie is running on instinct and desperation- in her case towards the son she gave up for adoption fifteen years ago. Meanwhile, in Weymouth, New York, Deputy Sam Hartwick, looks the other way and accepts a bribe as a favor to an estranged brother and sister. Wynn Johnston is along for the ride, a friend of the brother, in love with the sister, who has changed from childhood sweetheart to unrecognizable addict, the sweet memories of youth obliterated by drugs. An emotion-sparked moment, gunfire rings, brother and sister are dead, Wynn escaping the filthy trailer along with the druggies. Now Wynn has vengeance on his mind and memories on his heart.

Wynn, a student and mathematics major at SUNY retreats to the comfort of formulas as his world spirals out of control, the author perfectly capturing the young man's distress as well as Jodie's urgency to meet her son, Calvin. Calvin has his own troubles, easily seduced by his mother into running away, perhaps to meet the father he has never known. All of Nikitas's characters are etched in misery, from Jodie's bumbling attempt to bond with Calvin to Deputy Hartwick's beleaguered family, facing a challenge none of them can bear and Wynn's abject confusion in the face of painful loss. All are caught in a jerky dance that propels them towards one another by way of a stolen vehicle, stolen son and finally stolen moments as the pushers rage in defense of territory, bullets flying, bodies falling. Law enforcement plods nearer vital connections and a final, tragic confrontation on Hartwick's frozen front lawn in Weymouth.

The author embraces six degrees of separation, twining people and events in a drama that is striking and driven. Jodie and Calvin forge tentative bonds, guilt intrudes and fate conspires, the two stumbling towards the only place left to go. One cannot help but feel compassion for Jodie, Calvin, Wynn, Sam and his extraordinary wife, Jill, the gun-wielding drug dealers a reminder that Sam has made a serious mistake in judgment, Wynn compounding the danger. As fraught with faults as any real-life protagonists, this gallery of souls in need of a mercy is particularly compelling, all fighting to survive an indifferent world, past mistakes rising like a phoenix, demanding resolution, the ties of family sundered and repaired, dreams shattered in a moment of final, heartbreaking violence. Nikitas is a masterful puppeteer, his characters flying from present to past to present in a drama that reads like a Greek tragedy, devastating and memorable. Luan Gaines/2009.
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Customer Reviews (12)

Read with "Iron Arm" for a full appreciation
Italian Armor performance is finally getting the appreciation it deserves, particularly for how -well- "Ariete" performed in the Crusader battles in 1941.I'd say it was probably the equivalent of British Armored divisions, at least 2nd Armored, around that time.To get the full story, combine this book (Amazon gives you a price break) with "Iron Arm", which discusses the development of Italian armor.

Now someone needs to do a similar reassessment of Italian artillery...

Good, but partisan
This is an excellent work on the Italian armored divisions in North Africa, told from their point of view. It shows not only what the Italians had to work with, but why it was so little and so poor when compared to the Germans, US and British tanks and anti-tank equipment. The only problem I had with it was that after reading all the amazing successes pulled off against incredible odds, you have to wonder just HOW they lost! But that would be true I suppose about any work told from a certain viewpoint.

Italian armor in N. Africa -- Iron Hulls Iron Hearts
Disappointing -- the author dwells at some length on the courage of the Italian soldiers (which he establishes), but fails to address effectively the serious organizational shortcoming which put them in some totally untenable situations.Too many iterations of the same thing -- Italian tanks meet British tanks/artillery, and are destroyed.Would have benefited from a little more discussion of the Italian Army's organization, officer-enlisted relations, food/clothing/shelter issues (all of which compromise combat effectiveness).

Decent Read
Pretty Informative read, kind of dry at times in my opinion but has a lot of good info. Gives you a good rundown on the places, dates, and a quick summary of the battles that the armored divisions were a part of. Like I said a little dry but a good book to add to your collection for reference.

A Breath of Fresh Air
This book by Ian Walker is the best treatment of the subject in English I have ever seen.For those who read this book with an open mind, Walker succeeds admirably in what I believe was his aim, i.e., to put the performance of the Italian armored forces in North Africa in somewhat of a proper perspective.No, Walker does not cite specific examples of British and US negative bias towards Italian military performance (that in itself would be a work of monumental proportion), but any serious military buff or historian knows full well in how many ways, from outright falsehoods, to innuendo, the Italians have been marginalized.The facts, as Walker shows, are different.Somewhere, many years ago, I read an account by a British veteran who said something to theeffect that "We made many jokes about the Italian artillery, but every time they fired at us, we took cover".Back to Walker's book.I was particularly impressed by his account of the battle of Bir el Gubi - I have written a couple of articles on the battle myself (one, in English, so many years ago that I can't even find a copy of it in my files, although I still have the original correspondence I got from half a dozen British participants in the battle), and one in Italian a few months ago.Walker's in-depth treatment eclipses mine by far. I was also impressed by Walker's reference to the Gruppo Cantaluppi on page 179 - I have never seen any reference to Cantaluppi in any other English-language publication.Cantaluppi was a very colorful commander who managed to squeeze more performance than could be reasonably expected from his exhausted troops on the retreat through Tunisia - but that's another story.My hat is off to Walker for the first serious, balanced treatment I have seen of the subject in English.This book is a must for anyone interested in the war in the desert, or in Italian military operations. ... Read more

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Berlin has played a major role in world politics since theNazi era.It was made hostage in the Cold War, and continues to be inthe spotlight today as the once-again great capital of Germany.AnnTusa's book is an engaging chronicle of the partitions of thishistoric city, from the administrative division by the victors againstHitler, through the building and eventual destruction of the wall. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A weak work, careless with facts, blandly written.
It's been six months since I read this book and passed it on to others familiar with Berlin and its fascinating history, before and after the Cold War.All agree: this is a particularly weak work, blandly written, and, worst, careless with facts. One need only cite one blatant error, an error anyoneat allacquainted with Berlin would never make: The name of the wide avenue that leads to the Brandenburg Gate, oneof Europe's great boulevards,is "Strasse des 17. Juni," or "17th of June Street." This date commemorates the East German uprising of 1953, easily one of the most significant dates in Berlin's history. Ms. Tusa refers to this street as"17 July Street," and goes on to explain that on"17 July there were strikes all over the country..." With this date, and with this book, she was off by more than a month. And lest readers make the mistake of thinking this is a history of Berlin from WWII to 1989, as the subtitle states, be warned that it is really a portrayal of Berlin from WWII through the building of the Wall in 1961. The following decades are dismissed in about 40breezy pages. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Spencer Knipe's Review of Levy and Murnane's The New Division of Labor: How Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3PS3R2XMX03IC Spencer Knipe's review was made as part of a critical review assignment for the Fall 2008 Honors Colloquium on Creative Destruction at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, taught by Art Diamond.(The course syllabus stated that part of the critical review assignment consisted of the making of a video recording of the review, and the posting of the review to Amazon.)

Best book on workforce in a long time.
If you only read one book this year, read this book.It will change the way you think about work, education and the global economy.Murnane and Levy ask two fundamental questions:What do computers do better than people?(A: rules-based thinking)What do people do better than computers?(A: pattern recognition)

Much of the work of the industrial economy was rules-based, both on the assembly line and in the manager's office.Most of the work in the innovation economy is based on pattern recognition, including what Murnane and Levy call expert thinking and complex communication.Their research shows that these are the skills for which demand is growing in the economy at all rungs of the job ladder.

I've found their argument so compelling that I have purchased copies of the book for most of the top policy-makers inmy home state of Rhode Island.The ideas in the book are starting to shape the discussion of school reform and workforce development here.In particular, we are concerned that our school system, like those in every other state, is still producing labor for a rules-based industrial economy that no longer exists.While it's possible to absorb rules-based thinking from a book or a lecture, it's difficult to teach pattern recognition skills in a pure classroom setting.You learn to recognize patterns by actually doing it the company of someone who is already very good at it.It's the essence of good experiential learning and mentoring, which can no longer be thought of as a luxury in the education system.If we want to produce the workforce we need for an innovation economy, we'll need to make experiential learning a part of every K-12 and college experience.

A most insightful analysis of the historical labor data.
This is a very short and easy to read book.Yet, it is very informative and insightful.I have read many books covering the same theme written by Peter Drucker, John Naisbitt, Robert Reich, and Lester Thurow among other visionaries and economists.This one is the best on the subject for two reasons.The two authors studied the historical data much more extensively than the others.Also, this book is more focused.The authors did not get sidetracked by many related economic and political issues.

The authors extensive research dispels thoroughly the notion that computerization is bad for employment.To the contrary, computerization has increased both the quantity and quality of jobs.

The authors studied in detail labor trends over the past 40 years to support their conclusion.They uncovered the prescient work of Herbert Simon, who wrote an essay in the 1960s on the change in labor mix with the advent of technologies.The authors documented that for the most part Simon was correct.Due to computerization, the labor mix was going to change materially over the next several decades tilted towards a greater concentration of jobs associated with greater complexity in terms of critical thinking and judgment.

Just as Simon predicted, there is today a far greater percentage of the population involved in complex jobs associated with an intense critical thinking component.Such jobs include managers, professionals, technicians, and many sales related activities.By the same token, there is a far smaller percentage of the population engaged in blue collar routine work.

As mentioned, just as the quality of jobs (greater complexity) has improved immensely during the past several decades, so as the quantity.Between 1969 and 2000, the labor force grew by a staggering 63% from 83 million to 135 million.And, this surge in labor occurred during the most intense computerization era.

If we just observe the change in our own working lives, we can confirm that our job functions have changed dramatically for the better.We all use computers with increasingly powerful hardware that can handle increasingly complex software. In turn, the software replaces many of the routine components of our jobs.It also gives us quick access to a math level which would have been accessible only to PhDs not long ago.I don't think any of us would readily turn the clock back on computerization regarding our specific jobs. The authors will convince you the same is true at the macroeconomic level.

Academic, dry, and mildly digressive
I saw the authors of this book interviewed on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer and immediately ordered it.I found a book that made its central points within 2-3 chapters, but it continued to illustrate those points ad nauseum in subsequent chapters.The examples in the book of methods and challenges of teaching expert thinking and complex communications are too detailed, in that the depth reached in the examples does a disservice to the key points of the book.Ironically, this book could be even shorter than its 157 pages.

The central points of this book are very basic, and anyone who works with technology for a living will find it almost too basic to bother with.One valuable part of the book deals with the trends of income and job availability as related to increases in the use of computing; it's nice to see that subject addressed succinctly.If I were teaching a class on IT or evolution in technology, I would assign select readings from this book to illustrate the connections between what people do better than computers and vice-versa, income, skill acquisition, and historical trends.

Effortless Learning
A wonderful quick read, a painless injection of knowledge, letting those of us who never got beyond Econ 1-a understand the revolutionary impact of computers on American society.Not all a bed of roses -- we face the troublesome specter of our own version of Benjamin Disraelli's Victorian "two nations,"
with a growing gap between those at the bottom and the rest of society.
... Read more

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Pre-war regular division which landed in France in August 1914 as part of the original BEF. Sent to Italy in November 1917, returned to France April 1918. Fought in nearly all the battles on the Western Front. Total casualties some 50,000, seventeen VCs. ... Read more

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The concept of fair division is as old as civil society itself. Aristotle's "equal treatment of equals" was the first step toward a formal definition of distributive fairness. The concept of collective welfare, more than two centuries old, is a pillar of modern economic analysis. Reflecting fifty years of research, this book examines the contribution of modern microeconomic thinking to distributive justice. Taking the modern axiomatic approach, it compares normative arguments of distributive justice and their relation to efficiency and collective welfare.

The book begins with the epistemological status of the axiomatic approach and the four classic principles of distributive justice: compensation, reward, exogenous rights, and fitness. It then presents the simple ideas of equal gains, equal losses, and proportional gains and losses. The book discusses three cardinal interpretations of collective welfare: Bentham's "utilitarian" proposal to maximize the sum of individual utilities, the Nash product, and the egalitarian leximin ordering. It also discusses the two main ordinal definitions of collective welfare: the majority relation and the Borda scoring method.

The Shapley value is the single most important contribution of game theory to distributive justice. A formula to divide jointly produced costs or benefits fairly, it is especially useful when the pattern of externalities renders useless the simple ideas of equality and proportionality. The book ends with two versatile methods for dividing commodities efficiently and fairly when only ordinal preferences matter: competitive equilibrium with equal incomes and egalitarian equivalence. The book contains a wealth of empirical examples and exercises. ... Read more

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Taking English culture as its representative sample, The Secret History of Domesticity asks how the modern notion of the public-private relation emerged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Treating that relation as a crucial instance of the modern division of knowledge, Michael McKeon narrates its pre-history along with that of its essential component, domesticity.

This narrative draws upon the entire spectrum of English people's experience. At the most "public" extreme are political developments like the formation of civil society over against the state, the rise of contractual thinking, and the devolution of absolutism from monarch to individual subject. The middle range of experience takes in the influence of Protestant and scientific thought, the printed publication of the private, the conceptualization of virtual publics -- society, public opinion, the market -- and the capitalization of production, the decline of the domestic economy, and the increase in the sexual division of labor. The most "private" pole of experience involves the privatization of marriage, the family, and the household, and the complex entanglement of femininity, interiority, subjectivity, and sexuality.

McKeon accounts for how the relationship between public and private experience first became intelligible as a variable interaction of distinct modes of being -- not a static dichotomy, but a tool to think with. Richly illustrated with nearly 100 images, including paintings, engravings, woodcuts, and a representative selection of architectural floor plans for domestic interiors, this volume reads graphic forms to emphasize how susceptible the public-private relation was to concrete and spatial representation. McKeon is similarly attentive to how literary forms evoked a tangible sense of public-private relations -- among them figurative imagery, allegorical narration, parody, the author-character-reader dialectic, aesthetic distance, and free indirect discourse. He also finds a structural analogue for the emergence of the modern public-private relation in the conjunction of what contemporaries called the "secret history" and the domestic novel.

A capacious and synthetic historical investigation, The Secret History of Domesticity exemplifies how the methods of literary interpretation and historical analysis can inform and enrich one another.

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Several thousand ethnic Germans in Romania, (the so called Volksdeutscher) were drafted into the Waffen-SS in 1943. With these new troops Himmler built up the new 11th Waffen-SS Division. To fill the ranks Division "Nordland" also took over battalion strength units from Danmark and Norway, though ninety percent of the division were Volksdeutsche from Romania. They were first used incombat in Croatia, the Oranienbaumer, Estonia, and Latvia. After the Soviet attack in Pomerania they fought in Berlin and were destroyed there. ... Read more

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The complete history of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) field divisions- units formed from excess personnel and created to enlarge Hermann Goering's prestige. These unique units fought on the ground but belonged to Hermann Goering's Luftwaffe. They fought on all fronts and suffered accordingly. Their complete military history has never before been covered in such a large and thorough work with over 100 battle maps, 26 tables, 80 rare photos, and six full color uniform plates by renowned military artist, Darko Pavlovic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Good effort for very mixed results
I excitedly bought this book since there is so little on these divisions in the English language. The author is to be commended on tackling the subject, but the end result is disappointing. Many of the photos are poorly reproduced, and many are misidentified/mis-titled. I happen to "know of" one of the individuals that provided many images for this work, and he supplied the correct ID's for the images. These were ignored. Had this book been printed on better stock, the images might have come out better.
The text is dry at best, and I do not think I have ever encountered a book on a historical subject with so many glaring grammatical errors. I realize that translation is not easy, and some things do not translate well. However, I have many books in my library from Western and Eastern Europe and Russia, and translated into English. This is the worst one in my collection.
In the end, I am glad I have this book, but I think I would have been better served to rely on some tertiary sources, along with the titles from Osprey and Concord, and saved my money. My experience with this volume makes me shy of purchasing any others from this publisher.

Excellent reference material on the Luftwaffe Field divisions
I will admit when I first received this book and paged through it I was a little disappointed. I was expecting detailed info on uniforms, high quality photos, etc. However recently I found myself needing info on a specific Luftwaffe Pioneer Battalion (after coming across period award documents relating to the particular unit). I found myself wondering how I would find more info about this unit? Searching the net I found very little to go on, looking in a popular "order of battle" book series it appeared to only cover Heer/Waffen SS units, and my Osprey military series books weren't any help either. So I picked up my copy of "Goring's Grenadiers" Luftwaffe Field Divisions book and started to page through it. To my surprise I found a wealth of info on the exact unit I was searching for and more, much more (commanding officers, specific dates and battles, complete unit organization, illustrations of two different versions of unit insignia, detailed maps of combat actions, unit timeline, etc). Without this particular book I would have been completely out of luck.

If you are seeking a book written for casual reading with exciting "Hollywood-type" accounts about the actions of various soldiers who were part of the Luftwaffe Field Divisions this is NOT that book. If you are looking for a comprehensive and accurate unit history containing detailed info on each of the Luftwaffe Field Divisions and the smaller units they were made up of, you are in luck! This book is a must for the World War II amateur/pro historian, WWII militaria collector, or anyone who is researching or needs more info about a specific Luftwaffe Field Division from an English-language source. I highly recommend it!

Pathetic
I'd like to report that Antonio J. Munoz is a respected author. However, he feels and exhibits the need to write unfair, demeaning and unfounded reviews about competitive historical works in order to promote his own. With those kinds of tactics, what credibility and integrity can be invested into the works he produces? Sadly, not much.

Disappointing
There is little on this subject, at least in English, and I was hoping for a much stronger effort than this volume. Perhaps for $25-30, it might be worthwhile, albeit flawed, but for $50, definitely not. The illustrations are few, and not well reproduced, the maps are actually too numerous, yet a mix of good, and amateurish, and there is a distinct lack of personal accounts. It is a dry recounting of the eventual failure of virtually all of these poorly trained, and I surmise, poorly motivated combat formations. I applaud the author's intent, but not his results. One would be better off with the old Osprey title " Luftwaffe Field Divisions" , for much less money.

Mediocre book on a little researched subject
I was expecting a lot more from this relatively expensive book, with its count of over 300 pages. Instead I found out that Munoz has all but skipped doing any primary researches, and apparently the services of an editor is not deemed necessary. So what we have is a book full of typographical errors, lousy maps, and verbose, redundant observations (which proved to be true and obvious) that the Luftwaffen Felddivisionen was a waste of precious manpower and a futile vanity play of Göring.

What the author has missed, in his mouthing of the post war spin by the Heer that the excess Lutwaffe personnel should better be turned over for rebuilding/replenishing the Heer divisions after Stalingrad, is the fact that while, despite the opposition and discrimination by the Wehrmacht, the Waffen SS managed to build a formidable force with mostly Volksdeutche conscripts (who were supposed to be of inferior quality to the Reichdeutsche), the Luftwaffen Felddivisionen, consisted mostly of better educated, top drawer Reichdeutsche, were abject failures, even after being incorporated into the Heer in November 43.

And the gross stupidity of the Heer, after taking over the divisions as Felddivisionen (L.), in going for a 3 regiment (of 2 battailon each) organizational structure (instead of the existing, understrength 2 regiment x 3 battailon each) when it knew that the major defects of the LFD were a shortage of qualified field officers (this applies also to the regular Heer divisions) never crosses Munoz's mind, himself totally engrossed by the post war crap spinned by the few German authors who wrote on the
subject.

The crux of the matter was that not only should the LFD never be built, but that the valuable manpower should be alloted to the Waffen SS, which has proven to be much more capable, without the help of the Heer, in building an elite fighting force, even with much poorer human material, than the hidebound Heer could ever iamgine. ... Read more