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Sanitized version of CIA

Revisado: 08-08-16

good review of CIA history from a Company point of view. read devils chessboard also for balance

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Read at your own risk. Lots of truth here.

Revisado: 06-06-16

Fundamental reading to understand today's CIA. Not much has changed only worse now. very thorough.

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Great expectations, but no withering heights.

Revisado: 11-22-12

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, I think this is a historical must read because it covers such an important time in US history. But the book operates in the crucible of Lincoln's cloisters, perhaps too close to the subject for perspective. One can almost imagine DKG gathering string for this novel during her days in the Johnson Whitehouse. This novel almost seems refracted through her personal experience with the Presidency. Numerous coming and goings through back doors in the novel harken of a later time in the Johnson Whitehouse.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Team of Rivals?

Seward's assassination attempt is the best uncovered lesser known history.

What three words best describe Richard Thomas’s performance?

Meaningful paced thorough

What else would you have wanted to know about Doris Kearns Goodwin’s life?

How her time in the White House colored her perceptions.

Any additional comments?

Bill O'Reilly's Killing Lincoln is much better in pace and perspective.

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Making Information Interesting - A Job Well Done

Revisado: 08-27-12

If you could sum up The Information in three words, what would they be?

Making Information Interesting

What did you like best about this story?

Gleick not only traces the history of information and communication through history, but he changes our way of looking at information. Information actually is how society orders everything.

Have you listened to any of Rob Shapiro’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, I have listened to Shapiro before, but this might be his best performance yet. He is always conversational, accents and characterization are always realistic, and moderation of tone is masterful.

If you could give The Information a new subtitle, what would it be?

How we order our world.

Any additional comments?

In taking us on the journey on how computers learned to think like humans, we humans actually learn something about how we think ourselves. A triumph.

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Great title, boring story

Revisado: 01-31-12

Would you try another book from Ray Bradbury and/or Kevin Foley?

No

What do you think your next listen will be?

Modern Scholar Series. those have all been great, and have purchase quite a few.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kevin Foley?

Good range of voices.

What character would you cut from Something Wicked This Way Comes?

All the characters just seemed cardboard to prop up the gimmicks of time machines and houses of mirrors, etc.

Any additional comments?

I probably will stick to non-fiction or historical fiction from now on.

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History Without Equal

Revisado: 06-13-11

This is probably my favorite history lecture of all time. MacMillan condenses hundreds of hours of research into insightful paragraphs, and she reveals why much of the world, from Europe to Africa, to the Middle East, is the way it is today. I don't believe I have ever read a book so rich with insights in every paragraph. For those who have already purchased and read the book 1919 in hardback, I would view this book as a companion volume, not an audio version of the same book. The books are not the same, but rather the audio version expands upon the themes found in the 1919 book. This book creates a sort of infrastructure of European and Middle Eastern history, so current events can be more clearly interpreted. A must for any student of history. I can only hope the author chooses to lend her power of insight to other periods of history.

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An FDR Tour de Force

Revisado: 06-13-11

No question, this book is very complete, and very long. But, for anyone who wants to study this period in history serious, I think it is a must read. What really comes through is the amount of experimentation that FDR tries to end the Depression, and how many times those results are mixed or worse. Still, it is difficult not to side with FDR's irrepressible enthusiasm, even though a honest evaluation may lead to the conclusion that now of the agencies he created had much effect on the overall state of the nation. One thing I especially liked about the book was the fairness displayed toward Herbert Hoover, inheriting the mess from the Coolidge years of laissez faire financial speculation.

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Righting a wrong of history

Revisado: 06-13-11

I like books that right misconceptions or just outright fallacies of history. This is one of those books. The idea that Lindbergh was anti-semitic or a Nazi sympathizer is completely debunked, but also the author shows how a person simply expressing their opinion can be pilloried because they are in the way of a larger political agenda. The book gives great insight into the proxies FDR enlisted to discredited Lindbergh's non-interventionist views. The presentation of evidence was very thorough, especially Churchill and FDR's numerous attempts to sway American public opinion to intervene militarily. The reader comes away with the feeling that Lindbergh's views were more closely related to Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality than Woodrow Wilson's isolationism. For instance, the book outlines Lindbergh's frequent calls for a stronger national defense, especially in the area of air warfare. On other occasions, Lindbergh warns of a sneak attack in the Pacific by the Japanese. This book tells the truth, perhaps not the truth that we want to hear at times, but the truth fair or foul. Lindbergh's life of civic responsibility without compensation or political office is rightly explained for the first time.

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Good Account of the Facts

Revisado: 01-05-08

The author tells the story of death through case studies. The first two case studies deal with sudden death by myocardial infarction (heart attack) - one resulting in death, the other saved by CPR. There is a no sugar coating of the facts, just a very careful and illustrative accounting. My first two takeaways were improve my eating habits and to teach my kids CPR so that I may survive my "golden hour" if I have a heart attack. The author then dispels the "died of old age" myth and describes the the telltale, small signs of decline in aging. I think the factual approach is refreshing. I was unprepared for death of my father that died similar to his grandmother. I was unprepared for the death of my father-in-law that died like his very first patient. This book not only prepares you for these realities but also offers a cautionary signs to help you avoid an early end. This book is not the subject of the teen set perhaps. But anyone with parents over 50 would do well to read it or just be surprised by inevitable events later.

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