Bryan

Joseph Serio, who spent years in the Soviet Union and Russia, following its demise, argues that there isn't some organized, heirarchical structure for the “Russian Mafia,” but rather many criminal groups which have been taught through centuries of opression and totalitarianism how to make illicit profits. This was largely borne out of necessity, especially during the Russian period, where the laws were so oppressive, one literally had to violate the law just to stay alive. Unfortunately, so many of these otherwise good citizens were sent to jail. Many of them learned new trades while in very harsh prisons and had new skill sets and contacts upon leaving.

I think Serio's bottom line is that centuries of harsh rule have created a culture within the peoples of the former Soviet Union to look out for themselves without regard to their neighbors. It was a means for survival. Their criminal groups were no more violent nor aggressive, but feared largely due to the United States antagonism towards the Soviet Union for 50 years. And because of our own cultural and entertainment experience with the American Mafia and their structure, we project our assumptions on their crime groups; projections which have no basis in reality.

This was a good book to help demystify the phenomenon of the Russian Mafia into how it should be viewed, which is a normal, organized crime phenomenon.

Great job, Mr. Scheuer. If people don't understand bin Laden's gripes and aims by the end of this book, they aren't paying attention. The book looks at bin Laden, past the urban legends, from a man who knows the inside scoop.

If you are interested in what motivates the man and what he is hoping to accomplish (and the United States hopefully thwart), this is essential reading.

I also saw Mr. Scheuer visit Portland for a book reading. It was a wonderful evening, and despite what one of the commenters below had to say, didn't find him crazy in the slightest. Of course, you may not like what he has to say, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

The content of this book was very interesting. I gave it 3 stars because most of the book was not about peak oil, but rather about how oil was created, where it is found and how it is extracted. This is all valuable information, but titling alone knocked it down a star from what this book should have received.

Good, sobering book on the possible resolutions of the Euro debt crisis and fallout from the US' own 2008 debt crisis. Should be part of the conversation for policy makers.

Most interesting passage, to me at least, was where Dr. Houston suggests exercise is not about burning calories. That is simply a side effect. The real story is about hormones and how different exercises affect these hormones. Short answer: running for an hour is bad and lifting weights, particularly full body participation is very good. Further, in order to burn fat, you must build muscle. Can't build muscle (and in fact you burn muscle) doing long, steady cardio.

Gripping street crime dramas (multiple short stories) that end the way many stories in the inner city end. Don't be looking for happy endings.

Some helpful hints. Very repetitive, however.

Very interesting read about a genuinely nice guy. Fun to see how he balanced his Hollywood life with his real life and how movies I remember and loved from my childhood were made.

First, an enormous amount of history was covered this book. It effectively starts with the rumor of Joseph of Aramethia's supposed evangelism in England in the 1st century and how this legend helps to bind England to Palestine. It continues all the way up to the Balfour Declaration, which was former prime minister's Lord Arthur Balfour's letter to Baron Walter Rothschild, who was a leader of the British Jewish community. This book was originally written in 1953 and therefore misses out on much of the Arab-Israeli wars.

I found the content to be voluminous and certainly appreciated an in-depth view of what has transpired between Britain and Palestine over such a large period of time. However, I would have liked to have heard more about what was happening in Palestine between the original Hebrew exit and the Crusades and then again, between the end of the final crusade and the British mandate.

Unfortunately, this book largely misses the exodus, the fall of the Roman empire in Palestine, the Byzantine empire, Mohommad's conquest of Jerusalem, the Ummayads, the rise of the Mamluks and the Ottomans.

The other aspect that was somewhat troubling started in the introduction where Ms. Tuchman explains how after researching this topic she comes down unequivocably on the side of the Jews in this conflict. This is not a great way to start a supposed unbiased view on a topic so filled with controversy, even in the 1950s. This view was apparent throughout as she constantly referred to the Jews as the rightful owners of biblical Canaan, which stretched from the Sinai Penninsula through the Euphrates River. She also looked at all Arabs throughout the Levant and Iraq as 1 homogenous people and comparing the inheritance of the Jews to the inheritance of all of the Arabs.

I would definately recommend this book as a comprehensive view of the relationship between Britain and the Jews to establish the the nation of Israel, with these caveats in mind.

So wonderfully written, I couldn't put it down

This was a quick read about one of the most difficult training experiences in the world. The author wrote so well, you almost felt as if you were there.

Russka is an historical novel which allows a reader to understand a good part of the history of Russia without the drudgery of reading a text. Several families are interwoven throughout this story as you follow along the dozens of generations at critical points in the history of this nation.

Sometimes the characters were difficult to follow or remember several chapters later, but Mr. Rutherford tries to alleviate this by maintaining certain familial characteristics.

This book is similar in its presentation to another I read by another National Security Council staffer, David Rothkopf, entitled “Running the World.”

I purposely chose to avoid reading this book for quite a time after it came out, as I generally dislike the “timely” political non-fiction. I find that the basic premise is:

I was right. Nobody listened to me. The government operated best when I was at the zenith of power during my career. It was bad before I got to this point and has fallen apart since I was there.

Both of these books more or less followed the same script.

Having said that, Richard Clarke is an incredibly interesting bureaucrat and our government is fortunate to have had employed him. The government is also worse off for having disenfranchised him and others like him. I would love to have dinner with the man over a good bottle of wine or two to hear the stories that he couldn't write.

One final bit of criticism has more to do with the editor than Mr. Clarke himself. One of my pet peeves is the incorrect spelling of homophones. In this case, every time Mr. Clarke wrote “insure,” he really meant “ensure.” It is a minor point but I noticed it each time it was done, totalling probably a dozen times throughout the book.

Found this book extremely interesting, especially in conjunction with “The Big Short,” by Michael Lewis and “Too Big to Fail.” There is very little overlap and they all work extremely well looking at different aspects of the build up to the credit bubble, trades long and short through the bubble and the goings on at the various financial firms during the meltdown.

I would highly recommend all three books to get a proper understanding of what happened.

I have read all of Robert Baer's books, so I am somewhat a fan. If I wasn't a fan, I probably would rate this a 3. Anytime someone with these expereiences talks, I listen.

Surprisingly interesting read for a nutrition book and very informative. Changed my perceptions drastically on what is healthy to eat and why.

This is a mindless fictional thriller set in present day Iraq (or at least within the past 4 years), which involves a hunt by the CIA and US military of a terrorist planning on executing a spectacular attack. It was nearly free on Kindle and kept me interested.

In more places than most, history tends to rhyme on Wall Street. No event is without precedent. No player is new on the scene. And that is why it is critically important to understand the history of corporate America. Mistakes that were made in the 1980's will be repeated in the 20's. Fantastic book with unbelievable access. I can't believe so many people chose to share their experiences, thoughts, arguments, etc. so soon after the fact. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in business history.

Really enjoyed the content of this book. It also brought a really interesting perspective on how articles make the newspaper and what kind of impact the reporter and editor's biases have on the paper we read.

Another great sports book by Michael Lewis. What made it most interesting is how closely I follow the NFL. If you are a fan, you will enjoy this book. Also, this was my first purchase on my new Amazon Kindle.

Very different perspective of the Russian intelligence service than which is typically portrayed by Western media and intelligence memoirs.

Being able to clearly communicate what we need and the ability to speak to people with empathy are two qualities which i have been dramatically lacking. This was a wonderful book to teach me how to accomplish those two things

This book is a must read to understand how the financial crisis was handled by the companies involved in the meltdown, as well as the administration officials who were attempting to stave off a complete meltdown. This book reads like a novel and is the kind of book you just can't put down. It helps to humanize the “masters of the universe” as they struggled to save their companies, and in many cases, their own significant investments in their companies.

While there are some inaccuracies in how the author interpreted how investments were perceiving the crisis (esp in the excerpt from Vanity Fair), they seem to have been corrected in the Kindle version and do not take away from the narrative which is told.

This book does an excellent job of discussing what it was like to live through the Great Depression from the eyes of a businessman (actually a lawyer). Typically, most accounts focus on farmers, factory workers or the unemployed. While it was largely impersonal (Roth did not discuss much of his own life outside of how poorly the legal profession generally was)it was still a very enlightening story.

Roth regularly quoted economic statistics and stock prices, which gave some financial color to the picture. He often mentioned that going through the Depression was like getting an advanced college degree and was intellectually stimulating, if not for the absolute misery of things.

I thought this was a very good book to give some perspective on how things were at the time for someone who was constantly watching the markets. If you have an interest in finance, you should enjoy this book.

Such a remarkable story you have to wonder how much is embellishment.

Essential reading for understanding the 2008 financial crisis, without getting into the political recriminations.