34% Off Discounts: Special Prices for Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Review

Are you looking to buy Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Review

This book is a true story, but Mitchell Zuckoff does such an amazing job of telling it that reads much like a novel in that it grabs you right from the beginning, and for me, was darn near impossible to put down. Imagine going on a fly-over sight seeing tour of one of the most beautiful mountain jungle areas in the world to see an almost hidden, untouched valley and then crashing into a mountain and being one of the few survivors trying to find a way out. But getting out or back to the base isn't easy in a place with no roads or paths, just dense rain forest vegetation, a huge tree canopy and tangled vines both above and below you. Imagine being injured with open wounds and having to exist in a place that's perpetually wet and steaming with all sorts of bacteria and fungi and little to keep it out. You don't even want to think about all the bugs and critters that call this place home. Add to that the stories you've heard about spear throwing, cannibalistic natives and you wonder how these people didn't give up right then and there.
Having read the description of the book and knowing that it was a rescue and reading pretty much what the outcome was, I was a little concerned that the book might not hold my attention. But, not to worry, as soon as I started reading I was mesmerized by the amount of detail and how gripping the story was. Mitchell Zuckoff notes that no liberties were taken with any of the facts, characters, dialog or chronology which must have made it a double challenge for him to put the diaries, notes, news stories and newsreels and interviews all together in a way made me feel like I was there, personally involved with these people.
Besides being such a good read, it added to my knowledge of the history of WWII. With so many battles going on all over the world, New Guinea isn't a place that you read that much about in history books on the war. This book tied a lot of what was going on in that area together for me. There are lots of characters in this book besides just the survivors and Zuckoff gives us the background stories on several of the rescuers and people at the base camp as well as some of the politics of the time. He does it in such a way that it doesn't interrupt the main action, but rather adds to the insight and makes it that much more interesting.
This would be a good book for any World War II buff, history lovers, action adventure enthusiasts, and really, anyone who just loves a good read. And because one of the main characters in this story is a woman who enlisted in the WAC, I think it would be equally interesting for both men and women. Two thumbs up for this great book that left me blurry eyed this morning after "just one more page" kept me up the better part of the night to finish it.

Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Overview

Want to learn more information about Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

36% Off Discounts: Best Buy for In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print) Review

Are you looking to buy In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print) Review

It has been observed that for evil to win all that needs happen is for good men to do nothing. That was what the United States government did, at least officially, for much of the lead-up to World War II. Too often chances to speak out and try to stop the madness that was engulfing Germany were ignored. Too frequently the atrocities were overlooked. Too many times our response to the crisis over there was nothing, nothing, nothing...
But there were exceptions. George Messersmith, who worked at the Berlin embassy, was one of those who tried, often in vain, to bring about some change in the US policies, though he was often ignored as having too vivid of an imagination. So, too, were various Jewish groups in the USA, though they were often ignored for being Jewish. And, eventually, so did William Dodd, the United States ambassador to Germany, though he was ignored because, frankly, too many people didn't want to believe any of what was happening in Berlin.
Before reading this book I had a slightly better than average knowledge of the history of World War II and what led up to it. But even for me there were things to learn. I'd never heard of Dodd or Messersmith. Never heard of Rudolph Diels, or Ernst Hanfstaengl. I knew, at least a bit, about the Night of Long Knives and some what lead up to it, including Ernst Rohm's penchant for pretty young men, but I didn't really grasp much of what was going on that led up to it.
Now, thanks to Erik Larson's latest work, I know these people and I have a much, much improved understanding of what was going on in Germany from 1933 to 1938. Larson gives you a great "on the ground" view of what was really happening, what people thought was happening, what everyone said was happening and why the differences between these things matter. You really get a feel for how Berlin functioned, or didn't function, during this time period.
Larson's previous work, Thunderstruck, where he tried too hard to link the stories of Dr Crippen and Marconi, didn't really work for me, which was a disappointment, since The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America remains one of my favorite books. I'm happy to say this book is at least as good and engaging as "Devil in the White City". This is an excellent, well-written, suspenseful book. Even though I did know the fates of some of the people involved, Larson's writing was still engaging enough to keep me interested, and to occasionally make me wonder if my memory of their lives was wrong (it wasn't).
Anyone with even a casual interest in the events leading up to the war will find this an invaluable read. It's easily the best book I've read this year, and likely to stay that way. A truly wonderful read!

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print) Overview

Want to learn more information about In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

40% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA Review

Are you looking to buy The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA Review

Perhaps the best way to review this book is to state up front what it is not: it is not a scathing critique of CIA or the U.S. Intelligence Community. Those who buy it expecting to be inflamed by a stream of criticisms of CIA officers and trade craft will be disappointed.
So what is the book? It is a careful compilation of the events, actions, decisions and personalities that ultimately culminated in the tragedy at Camp Chapman (Khost). Warrick has built a somewhat breathless, but engaging narrative that describes in some detail how a string of seemingly unrelated events build with inevitability of a Greek Tragedy to a horrendous conclusion. Warrick followed what can be called the Bob Woodward style of reporting. That is he reports what is happening without passing judgment on any of the decisions, personalities or actions involved. Indeed one of the more attractive elements of his narrative is that he treats the late Jennifer Matthews with dignity and respect along with a good deal of sympathy. He does the same with CIA `targeters' like Elizabeth Hanson. He also treats Matthews' murderer Humam al Balawi with equal respect and dignity. This will undoubtedly inflame the legion of real and self-declared counter-terrorism `experts' who plague the Inner Beltway of D.C. as well as the many armchair foes of Islamic extremism. Yet the first step in developing any rational counter terrorist strategy is understanding who terrorists are. Warrick should be commended for his balanced and fair approach to what is still a highly emotional subject.
Although Warrick scrupulously avoids second guessing and judgments of any sort, his account does provide a good deal of evidence that CIA has not dealt with its counter-terrorism mission particularly well. For example his informants appear to conflate the Taliban movements with al Qaeda, treating both Taliban and al Qaeda targets as terrorists (a basic misunderstanding of Pashtun Culture). Also there is no evidence that Warrick presents that CIA analysts made any effort to understand the structure or motovation of either grouping.
Now all that being, said being fair and balanced is not the same as being factually accurate. Warrick, like Woodward, was entirely dependent on his informants, many of whom undoubtedly provided him with self serving accounts that may or may not square with the facts. So this book is good start a sorting out the events that ultimately ended in explosion at Khost, but it will take years for the full truth to be uncovered.

The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA Overview

Want to learn more information about The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...