Book Description
As Adrian Goldsworthy writes in the introduction to this book, “in his fifty-six years, Caesar was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator . . . as well as husband, father, lover and adulterer.” In this landmark biography, Goldsworthy examines all of these roles and places his subject firmly within the context of Roman society in the first century B.C.
Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of Caesar’s life from birth through assassination, Goldsworthy covers not only Caesar’s accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesser-known chapters during which he was high priest of an exotic cult, captive of pirates, seducer not only of Cleopatra but also of the wives of his two main political rivals, and rebel condemned by his own country. Ultimately, Goldsworthy realizes the full complexity of Caesar’s character and shows why his political and military leadership continues to resonate some two thousand years later.
Customer Reviews:
Where is Caesar when we need him today?.......2007-09-19
What a great read! I took this to the beach over the summer, and enjoyed it thoroughly. How easy it is for us in our "modern world" to become numb to the fact that understanding the past gives us invaluable perspective on the present. How would Caesar fare up in debate with Obama and Rudy? That would be worthy of TV ratings for sure.
Caesar: Hero or Villain?.......2007-09-16
Caius Julius Caesar was a polarizing figure in his own day and probably could be considered one today as well. Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar: Life of a Colossus provides a balanced, detailed, and highly readable biography of one of the most important figures in history. Rather than summarize and critique Goldsworthy's book, this review will examine the questions: Why was Caesar such a divisive figure? and On balance, was he a hero or a villain?
Let's try to summarize what his detractors and supporters might have said.
His detractors might have said:
1. Caesar destroyed the Roman Republic by seizing power in the Civil War.
2. He started the Civil War when he crossed the Rubicon and invaded Italy with the goal of establishing himself in a position of absolute power.
3. He slaughtered thousands in the Gallic and Civil Wars.
4. Throughout his career, he sought the support of the plebs in a populist and demagogic manner as a means of reaching his goal of absolute power.
His supporters might have said:
1. The Republic had become increasingly dysfunctional since the time of the Gracchi (133 BC). Consuls were murdered by members of the Senate. The consulship had all too frequently been filled based on the use or threat of military power.
2. The Republic with its multiple magistracies elected annually was fine for the Roman City State for which it was created but was an ineffective governmental structure for ruling a vast empire.
3. As a military commander, Caesar often sought peaceful settlements in order to avoid combat. In this, he was often successful in the Gallic War. His failure to peacefully resolve the Civil War was largely due to Pompey's refusal to negotiate.
4. Caesar showed a degree of clemency for defeated enemies that was uncharacteristic of his era. After the Civil War, Caesar, unlike Sulla, did not institute mass proscriptions and seizures of property. Had Caesar lost the Civil War, his adversary, Pompey, would most likely not have been so forgiving.
5. Once he had attained power, Caesar's laws and policies were generally wise. For the most part, his enemies opposed them not on principle but because Caesar had proposed and implemented them outside of the established legislative process.
6. Caesar's enemies were a small group of aristocrats who sought to maintain their exclusive hold on power and feared that Caesar would break that hold.
7. Caesar invaded Italy only after this cabal sought to end his career by denying him the right to stand as a candidate for the consulship.
Well, I guess I have now revealed my own position on Caesar, but don't take my word for it. Read Goldsworthy's book and draw your own conclusion.
Exceptional biography of the First Citizen of Rome.......2007-09-16
Caesar's Rome was a place where political factions seemed to be at constant war with each other. It's a wonder that the Republic of Rome survived as long as it did considering all of the assassinations, battles and debates that raged within the Republic that based its society on a vague set of rules and a very loosely structured bureaucracy which would use gangs as well as violence to persuade lawmakers to do "the right thing".
Goldsworthy provides us with information about what is known about Caesar also documenting the often contradictory sources that exist on his actions and what Roman society thought of him as a leader. The author provides us a context with a brief history of Rome as well as background on the various factions that tried to lead the Roman Republic and their various conflicts. All of these helped shape who Caesar was in his outlook about Roman society, plans and his ambitions as well. The author also gives us a brief summary of Caesar's family history because, again, understanding where he came from ultimately helps us understand his view of himself and place within Roman society and the world.
Goldsworthy's book is well written with a view to enlightening both those interested in history and the lay reader as well. His accessible style doesn't lean too much on overwhelming the reader with too much detail (a flaw that can, in the wrong hands, make a biography didactic and boring to the average reader)but focuses, instead, on engaging the reader in what Roman society was like, why rituals were important and what the various positions within Roman government were responsible for. He also turns a keen eye on the transformation of Rome from a Republic into a dictatorship by Caesar that would endure for generations with Augustus Octavian Caesar's children (including Nero the last of the Juli to be a descendant of Julius Caesar).
Illustrated with pictures of busts of those discussed in the text, drawings, pictures of Roman ruins and the sites where Caesar engaged in battle, Adrian Goldsworthy's book provides readers unfamiliar with Roman society just enough background on the politics and history of the society so that Caesar's story makes sense. This is a very good biography that manages to put Caesar's accomplishments into perspective and also gives us a pretty good sense of what he was like as a man.
Do we really need another book on Caesar? Yes, we do.......2007-09-14
In his new book Caesar : Life of a Colossus, Adrian Goldsworthy writes:
"Part of the fascination with Caesar is because he is so difficult to pin down and because mysteries remain, for instance, as to what he really intended in the last months of his life. In his fifty-six years he was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator - perhaps even a god - as well as a husband, father, lover and adulterer. Few fictional heroes have ever done as much as Caius Julius Caesar."
The author explores all this with a full and detailed biography. Being the military historian he is, he especially shines when it comes to Caesar's military exploits.
While not minimizing Caesar's faults, Mr. Goldsworthy sees him as "a patriot and very able man." He cannot disguise his admiration for the man, and "[whatever] the rights or wrongs of his actions, it is hard to imagine that in any way his life could have been more dramatic," taking up the theme from the Introduction. He has given the reader a complex and rounded portrait. The general audience, for whom the book is intended, gets its money's worth and hopefully will enjoy the book.
The question, "do we really need another book on Caesar?," can be answered in the affirmative, as a popular history treatment of the subject has been wanting for quite a while, and this one fills the bill.
In the end though, Caesar still remains difficult to pin down, not for want of trying by the author, but because of his truly elusive personality.
The book is nicely illustrated with photos, maps, and battle diagrams. It has the prevailing and annoying habit of publishers not linking the endnotes to the page numbers.
The Definitive Biography? Maybe........2007-08-26
When you consider all the historical figures of the Western World, few would be bigger than Julius Caesar. How big was he? When you consider all the months of the year (and even all the days of the week), only two are named after actual people: July, after Caesar, and August, after Caesar's adopted son Octavian, also known as Augustus. In fact, the solar calendar itself (365 days every three years, followed by 366 in the fourth), was instituted by Caesar, and as Rome went, so went the known world. Caesar's name would become synonymous with leadership, even up to a hundred years ago, with the titles Kaiser and Tsar derived from his name.
Adrian Goldsworthy's biography details Caesar's rise from a youth with a noble name but little wealth or power to back it up to the absolute ruler of the Roman Republic. It would be Caesar who would initiate the transformation of the Republic to the Empire, a process that Augustus would complete. But as Goldsworthy argues, even around the time of Caesar's birth, the Republican structure of government was beginning to fall apart, with people like Marius and Sulla seizing power for better or for worse.
Caesar would spend the early part of his life playing the political game well, getting important patrons and rising in the ranks to the top spot of consul. After his consulship, he would have a successful military career, but when his rivals and enemies tried to oppose him, events would lead to a civil war, with Caesar taking on his former ally, Pompey. When Pompey and his followers were defeated, Caesar reached the pinnacle of his power, but it would not last long as a conspiracy would lead to his assassination.
Goldsworthy's biography of Caesar is generally favorable towards its subject, but he is objective enough to present the negatives as well. He shows clearly that to understand Caesar requires that the reader understands Rome: the way politics worked, the general acceptance of brutal warfare and the institution of slavery, and the roles of men and women. This last is particularly important, as Caesar was quite the womanizer: among his lovers were Cleopatra and Servilia (the mother of his killer, Brutus).
There have been more skillful politicians and successful generals, but rarely do members of these groups intersect. Caesar is one of the few, perhaps the best combination politician/military leader ever (but as Goldsworthy argues, in Rome, there was less distinction between the two). In addition, there are few historical figures who have a life story filled with as much sex, violence and intrigue as Caesar. Goldsworthy does a great job of bringing Julius Caesar and Rome to life, and if you interested in this era, this is a must-read.
Book Description
Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson ranges across the entire history of America's foreign entanglements and delves into all the dimensions of American power—military, economic, cultural, and political. The result is a book whose conclusions are as convincing, and troubling, as they are original. Ferguson demonstrates that America has always been an empire in denial and shows the fateful consequences of its special brand of imperialism. He examines the challenges to the United States from its principal rivals, the European Union and China, and offers a compelling analysis of the connection between the country's domestic economic health and its foreign affairs—the bottom line of imperialism, American style. Colossus is a peerless reckoning with American power that should be read by any thinking citizen of this unspoken empire.
Customer Reviews:
Well worth a read.......2007-06-07
I learned more about my own country (USA) in this book than I did at University. Dr. Ferguson is a great writer. The book is well-researched, with lots of new facts that I'd never known.
Quite Possibly Among The Most Important Books of This Decade.......2007-03-02
Originally published in Great Britain as "Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire", Niall Ferguson's book was published in 2004 in an American hardcover edition as "Colossus: The Price of America's Empire". A year later, the American paperback edition resurrected its original British title. And yet, regardless of its title, this spellbinding, provocative work of economic and political history may be as influential a book to Ameircan political elites as Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History" was a decade earlier. I am impressed by the significance of Ferguson's message, and the ample facts he has used to make that message persuasive; namely that the United States of America is indeed an empire. But he uses the term in a positive sense, drawing parallels between the United States and the British Empire as leading examples of liberal empires. In Great Britain's case, he argues here - and I believe, elsewhere, in his earlier book, "Empire" - that the British Empire was the major power responsible for ensuring justice and economic - if not political - freedom across the globe for much of the 19th and early 20th Centuries by virtue of its willingness to use both its economic and military power to accomplish these ends. In stark contrast, Ferguson portrays America's imperial history as that of a reluctant imperial power, whose only successful exercise in imperialism came immediately after World War II, when it rebuilt successfully both West Germany and Japan as vibrant economic and political democracies (He traces the origins of America's rise as an imperial power back to the American Revolution.). He wonders whether we have the determination to see to the end of a successful occupation of Iraq, noting that with respect to both Japan and West Germany, the United States came close to failure. Without question, this is among the most important books published in this decade, and one deserving of a wide audience.
Challenging arguments and logical lapses from a leading Conservative intellectual.......2007-01-16
One of my teachers at Oxford has called Niall Ferguson a "challenging historian," because he makes compelling arguments based on well-researched facts that go against the grain of conventional thinking. He is "conservative" by most standards, but not in the true sense. The idea that I think it is important to point out is that Ferguson has the same "goals" for the future of the world as the majority of mainstream intellectuals; that is, democracy, peace, human rights, prosperity, etc. Where he differs, and where he suddenly seems to be far less conservative, is in his calls for America, the veritable sleeping giant, to take up her role as global hegemony by acting as a "good empire" in the way the British supposedly did in yesteryear. America's substantial wealth and military power would fill the power vacuums with a benign influence, spread democracy, promote economic growth, and prevent warfare by the very nature of its all-encompassing power. The problem, of course, is that American public opinion would never allow this, no more than British public opinion actually supported the "official" British Empire. America is an empire, no doubt, but like Britain it is a subtle kind of empire, one in which the people do not actually consider themselves parts of, or agents of, an empire (read Bernard Porter's "The Absent-minded Imperialists" for the British case). Moreover it would be a dramatic change in policy - to say the least - for America to actually assume the burden he has called for her to assume. Not only would this stretch the already over-stretched Budget, it would require commitments overseas that few Americans consider vital to national security.
Ferguson's ideas also encounter some empirical difficulties. His idea about the benefit of "good" imperialism is based on the observation that the former colonies of the British Empire make up the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world. It is therefore easy to connect this prosperity with British rule, but the case is not so simple. The main problem with this is that the wealthy nations he speaks of are the settler colonies, which had the privilege of British investment and the same preferential economic treatment as the British Isles themselves. India, for example, as well as others, had to deal with economic institutions and policies that favoured the British yet discriminated against Indians. What we actually see in India in many ways is the process of "un-development" under British rule. Certainly the technology and growth of trade was beneficial, but as other examples show, notably Japan, it was not necessary for any imperial overbears to rule in order for these technologies, and these processes of improvement to occur.\
Ferguson is also guilty of somewhat of an anachronism when he suggests that Anglo-American imperialism will take democracy to the world. Ferguson is a clever man, and an excellent economic historian, but somehow he glosses over the fact that the British never intended to take democracy to their colonies; that would simply be disastrous for British rule. In India, especially, the British ruled an empire of "unintended consequences." He also glosses over the fact that both Britain and America have built their power systems on "friendly" dictators around the world since the Cold War, and that more brutal dictatorships, especially in Africa, came forth from British rule than democracies. This brings me to the idea of "imposing" democracy from above on other nations. It could be argued that this has worked in Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, and a number of other nations, but insofar as India is concerned, the roots went deep as a result of widespread disaffection with British rule. Ferguson's view of the west's ability to impose democracy is quite idealistic. And finally, it must be asked, "at what cost would a world such as this be built?"
There's no jury when you are a Conservative.......2006-10-30
Ferguson is an "intellectual" darling of the New Right, but his powers of foresight are shaped by old prejudices. When will the Cons learn that the world does not simply repeat itself? A Gibbon he ain't, but then again neither is the trans-atlantic Republic a modern-day caricature of the Roman Empire...
C.G. Panagidis
Athensm Greece
A Colossus with feet of Clay? .......2006-08-24
Niall Ferguson is one of the most exciting and interesting 'thinkers' in the world today. He is a historian with great knowledge but the most interesting part of his work is a whole set of ideas which challenge the conventional historical wisdom of our day.
One of Ferguson's innovations is to bring back and make centrally important to the reading of history, the concept of Empire. As he sees it this category has been central to Mankind far longer than that of 'nation- state'
In a previous work he looked at the British Empire and again surprised most in our politically correct world by seeing the positive functions the British Empire played. The rule of law, bureaucratic reliability, the flow of capitol for investment and development were part, as he saw it, of the British gift to its colonies.
In this present work he looks at the great power of the world today, the Colossus which is the United States. In military terms it overshadows all other great powers taken together. Economically it is still the great engine of the world though it is to a degree being challenged by the rise of Europe and China. Culturally too, thanks to the hegemony of English it is the prevailing world - power.
Ferguson finds fault with the United States in a way most unusual. He does not curse it as an 'imperial exploiter' but rather sees it as a reluctant giant not willing to fulfill its true global responsibilities. He faults the U.S. for having too few people willing to serve abroad, and help the world. He faults the U.S. for the weakness it shows through having too much debt. He faults the U.S. for not knowing its own imperial role properly and not transforming the world for the good to the fullest degree possible.
All of this is tremendously interesting, but sounds a bit odd given the current U.S. involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the defiance it is facing from a would- be- nuclear Iran. It is possible to argue that America's feet of clay are more and more apparent, even in the military realm where it is most supreme. The whole non- proliferation issue may be broken open by North Korea and Iran, leading to a world with tens of nuclear states.
Ferguson wants the American citizenry to be more informed about the world, more involved in it, more responsible for it.
It seems to me that he is not wrong in his demands, but perhaps a bit unrealistic in expecting them to be realized.
But what Ferguson does is he provides the reader a way of truly thinking anew about the world- and of deeply considering new perspectives.
Book Description
BradyGames’ Shadow of the Colossus Official Strategy Guide includes the following:
- A complete walkthrough of each Colossi mission.
- Extensive area maps of the ancient land.
- Detailed listing of all items and equipment.
- Expert boss strategies to defeat all 16 Colossi.
- Game secrets uncovered!
- Signature Series guide features bonus foldout and more!
Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Action/Adventure
This product is available for sale in North America only.
Customer Reviews:
Has everything you need........2007-10-03
While this isn't the best guide I've ever seen, it's only real problems are subjective ones as regards layout and such. The guide itself is full of information, makes it easy to not completely spoil everything for yourself it all you're looking for is a quick hint (has sections on how to find the Colossi, sections on how to scale them, and sections on exactly how to beat them if you still can't figure it out). Has some very nice high-res artwork from the game as well and is very slickly presented. Features a few hidden elements of the game as well. Overall, an excellent guide worth owning if you enjoy using or collecting them.
unhappy!.......2007-08-23
Unhappy with this game. Some may like the fact that it is all big bosses but for me it was too repetitive, you kill a boss then end up back at the starting point to then journey to another boss to kill him and return to the starting point . . . you get the jist. Nothing to fight on the way just land to travel on and that takes a lot of time so you end up spending loads of time traveling to the boss then to fight to travel agian. Unsatisfied!
Amazon.com
"The United States today is an empire—but a peculiar kind of empire," writes Niall Ferguson. Despite overwhelming military, economic, and cultural dominance, America has had a difficult time imposing its will on other nations, mostly because the country is uncomfortable with imperialism and thus unable to use this power most effectively and decisively. The origin of this attitude and its persistence is a principal theme of this thought-provoking book, including how domestic politics affects foreign policy, whether it is politicians worried about the next election or citizens who "like Social Security more than national security." Ferguson, a British historian, has no objection to an American empire, as long as it is a liberal one actively underwriting the free exchange of goods, labor, and capital. Further, he writes that "empire is more necessary in the twenty-first century than ever before" as a means to "contain epidemics, depose tyrants, end local wars and eradicate terrorist organizations." The sooner America embraces this role and acts on it confidently, the better. Ferguson contrasts this persistent anti-imperialistic urge with the attitude held by the British Empire and suggests that America has much to learn from that model if it is to achieve its stated foreign policy objectives of spreading social freedom, democracy, development, and the free market to the world. He suggests that the U.S. must be willing to send money, civilians, and troops for a sustained period of time to troubled spots if there is to be real change—as in Japan and Germany after World War II--an idea that many American citizens and leaders now find repulsive. Rather than devoting limited resources and striving to get complex jobs done in a rush, Americans must be willing to integrate themselves into a foreign culture until a full Americanization has occurred, he writes. Overall, a trenchant examination of a uniquely American dilemma and its implications for the rest of the world. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Niall Ferguson brings his renowned historical and economic depth of field to bear on a bold and sweeping reckoning with America's imperial status and its consequences.
Is America an empire? Certainly not, according to our government. Despite the conquest of two sovereign states in as many years, despite the presence of more than 750 military installations in two thirds of the world's countries and despite his stated intention "to extend the benefits of freedom...to every corner of the world," George W. Bush maintains that "America has never been an empire." "We don't seek empires," insists Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. "We're not imperialistic."
Nonsense, says Niall Ferguson. In Colossus he argues that in both military and economic terms America is nothing less than the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. Just like the British Empire a century ago, the United States aspires to globalize free markets, the rule of law, and representative government. In theory it's a good project, says Ferguson. Yet Americans shy away from the long-term commitments of manpower and money that are indispensable if rogue regimes and failed states really are to be changed for the better. Ours, he argues, is an empire with an attention deficit disorder, imposing ever more unrealistic timescales on its overseas interventions. Worse, it's an empire in denial-a hyperpower that simply refuses to admit the scale of its global responsibilities. And the negative consequences will be felt at home as well as abroad. In an alarmingly persuasive final chapter Ferguson warns that this chronic myopia also applies to our domestic responsibilities. When overstretch comes, he warns, it will come from within-and it will reveal that more than just the feet of the American colossus is made of clay.
Customer Reviews:
An Empty Feeling.......2007-08-13
Notwithstanding its current difficulties in Iraq, the United States stands alone as the world's sole superpower. Niall Ferguson goes further to suggest that America is an empire in all but name. While it does not have the trappings of empire in a Victorian sense, it is without peer in terms of the breadth and impact of its influence on the globe.
"Colossus: the Price of America's Empire" is an often meandering tome that somehow fails to live up to expectations. The premise of Ferguson's argument is that America is the modern world's imperial force. Many people, both supporters and enemies of America, would agree with this proposition. Yet, Ferguson fails to round out his argument. He is clearly sympathetic with America but the conviction of his argument seems half-hearted. His view of the world is simply too bland. The reader is certainly not excited. The book lacks spark.
Although Ferguson has an impressive intellect and an open and inquisitive attitude, "Colossus" somehow fails to land any "killer blows". While I can agree with the view that America is a reluctant emperor, to prone to failing to put in the hard yards, this seems to be the only firm view that I can draw from the book. While this is easy to accept as a proposition; remember "Mission Accomplished"; there seems to be some parts missing. I suspect that any reader of this review will accuse me of not being able to be more precise, I guess that I leave the book feeling not quite satisfied. I've had a meal but still feel hungry.
Well written and argued, whether you agree or not.......2005-10-16
In the 19th century a "Liberal" was someone who believed in free trade, meritocracy (instead of inherited privilege) and the advancement of science and civilization, the last meaning generally European civilization. Thus the "White Man's Burden".
Ferguson, though generally considered a Conservative in today's vernacular is really a 19th century liberal, not far from what we call a Neo-Con. As such he is unapologetic about America's potential role as a benevolent hegemon and in this book goes into considerable detail describing American and world attitudes, the history of 19th century liberal imperialism and argues persuasively the US should do more, rather than less of this, regardless of the cost.
Though clearly more on the side of the US Conservatives, Ferguson's view is actually a third way...combining some of the idealism of modern liberalism with the pragmatic self-interest of economic conservatives and dismissing entirely the social warriors of both sides. In other words alternatively furiating and enjoyable whichever side you are "on". I expect both sides will also manage to co-opt his arguments to their advantage...
The Case for "Liberal" Empire: Ferguson misses the point........2005-07-08
Niall Ferguson is an economic historian who is very good at writing for the general public. He tends to take conservative positions, and positions that are deliberately provocative. He also enjoys using irony, the "tongue-in-cheek" approach, and is a proponent of what is called "counter-factual" history, the "what-if" school of historical writing.
This book, a sequel of sorts to his previous book on the British Empire, identifies what he calls the American "Empire", and then attempts to justify it as a good thing for the world. He makes a number of very good points in the process.
- America since its independence has been an expansionist power.
- We have tended to deny or ignore our expansionist tendencies, or attribute them to self-defense.
- We don't have a very good track record of exporting democracy. He points to the long list of American failures, from the Philippine Insurrection to Vietnam to substantiate this point.
- Our successes, which he limits to Japan, Germany, and South Korea, were occupied by us for many years, and still contain substantial numbers of American troops.
He is able to identify America as an "empire" by stretching the definition of "empire" quite a bit, but he makes a valid point. American influence is global, backed by overwhelming military power, technological sophistication, and cultural magnetism.
He then makes his case for the benefits of what he calls "liberal" empire. I would summarize the concept as basically that of forcing good government on unruly foreigners, whether they want it or not. And he adds that the world would be better off if we could do this without so much hand-wringing. He correctly identifies the Europeans as being demoralized, unwilling and almost incapable of defending themselves. And he correctly shows that the decolonization movement of the past 40 years has been a failure.
He rightly states that empires usually die from within. He doesn't see any external threat on the horizon capable of destroying America's power. He considers Muslim terrorism to be a transient and relatively minor threat, and considers China likewise to be a "hollow threat". He says America's internal weaknesses are its lack of able administrators for its overseas "empire", its fiscal indiscipline, and its lack of interest in having an empire, and that these will result inevitably in the decline of American power.
Ferguson says he likes empires, especially "liberal" empires, and therefore considers the last named weakness the most serious one. Empires have seldom been maintained for very long when the imperial power has lost interest in doing so. However, all is not lost if the US retreats from its position as the world's hegemonic power. Ferguson thinks that it is quite likely that the world would become "a-polar", rather than "multipolar", with no major power interested in or able to mount a major threat to any other major power.
In many ways, Ferguson makes the same points that Noam Chomsky so numbingly expounds, but unlike Chomsky, Fergsuon is a good writer and, as noted above, he LIKES the idea of an American Empire. He just wishes we would do a better job of it than we have so far.
Although Ferguson is a good writer, the book shows signs of having been put together rather hurriedly.
There are two major weaknesses in Ferguson's argument. The first is a conceptual one, and it applies not only to this book but to Ferguson's work in general, illustrated by his interest in "counterfactual" history. The historian's primary duty is to TELL US WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. That is usually a very difficult task, more than sufficient for most historians. Ferguson is more interested in telling us what COULD happen in the future, or what COULD HAVE happened in the past, if only such and such had happened. Thus Ferguson easily slips into wishful thinking and sloppy analysis, as in the looseness of his definition of "empire" at the very beginning of the book.
The second major weakness, and I consider it a very serious one, is that he never asks the first question an American would ask: What's in it for America? A case can be made, as it was by Woodrow Wilson in 1918, that America's security depends on the spread of democracy and freedom around the world. This is a debatable concept. Some would say that we would be more secure if we just minded our own business, or if we became Socialist. In any case, this is the most important aspect of the whole issue, in my opinion, one that Ferguson hardly considers. In the end, therefore, "Colossus", while an interesting read, is rather pointless.
Anti-Imperial Empire, Anti-Historical History.......2005-06-09
I find it difficult to nail down whatever point Niall Ferguson is trying to make here, and must conclude that this is an academic exercise that does not succeed. A British scholar's take on America's imperial behavior can be useful, and he does come up with a few great insights on how empires operate now and in the past. For example, there is plenty of evidence that America's behavior around the world is that of an empire, even though our politicians and population refuse to admit it, while we don't have the will or fortitude to occupy and administer countries for the many years that are necessary for our own "regime change" missions to succeed. Unfortunately, these few solid points are lost in Ferguson's awkward attempts to apply his area of expertise, financial history, to world politics.
Large portions of the book are devoted to a mostly economic history of the old British Empire and the current European Union, representing longwinded and unsuccessful attempts to draw comparisons with modern America. These actually defeat Ferguson's main thesis by focusing on what empires have done wrong in the past. Ferguson relies on a parade of selective and inconclusive economic statistics, including some supremely useless figures like the percentage of Yale graduates working abroad or the average cost per acre of old American territorial purchases. What this really boils down to is that Ferguson has an economic/financial explanation for all historical processes. For example, he summarily dismisses colonialism as an explanation for Africa's problems, tossing aside a universe of knowledge (such as the illogical forcing of nation-state structures on tribal peoples or the use of weak nations as pawns in the Cold War) in favor of an easy explanation concerning spendthrift dictators.
Ferguson also myopically uses finance as his basic interpretation of current events. For example, the fact that Halliburton's share price has recently declined apparently makes the control of Iraq's oil a non-factor in current American operations there. Furthermore, Ferguson believes in the supposed miracle of free trade (including, despicably, the free international movement of exploitable migrant labor) as the utopian cure for all the world's problems, as if the flow of cash and consumer goods can overcome vast issues of culture, religion, and politics. This is ideology, not historical analysis, and it goes hand in hand with the most problematic aspect of Ferguson's thesis - the underlying contention that stronger imperial behavior by the Unites States, as an economic empire, will be advantageous for all of the world's problematic regions. With its unsuccessful economic interpretations of history and dismissal of modern realities of war and culture, this book ultimately defeats itself. [~doomsdayer520~]
Niall Ferguson does it again.......2005-05-29
Ferguson eloquently and effectively delivers to his reader the argument for an American Empire in the 21st century. Emphasizing the role of this empire to be one that promotes democracy and openness or liberalism in the world much like the British Empire that fought the Slave Trade in the 19th century. Additionally, he explains the history of American and some parts of British Foreign Policy in his work. Moreover, he discusses the rise of the European union and what it means for America and the rest the world. Finally, he writes floridly, and beautifully. Even if you do not like the topic, or his views you will admire his style of writing and the vocabulary he employs with great success. I strongly recommend reading Colossus without any reservation.
Book Description
At last - the secrets of Bletchley Park's powerful codebreaking computers. This is a history of Colossus, the world's first fully-functioning electronic digital computer. Colossus was used during the Second World War at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, where it played an invaluable role cracking enemy codes. Until very recently, much about the Colossus machine was shrouded in secrecy, largely because the codes that were employed remained in use by the British security services until a short time ago. This book has only become possible due to the recent declassification in the US of wartime documents. With an introductory essay on cryptography and the history of code-breaking by Simon Singh, this book reveals the workings of Colossus and the extraordinary staff at Bletchley Park through personal accounts by those who lived and worked with the computer. Among them is the testimony of Thomas Flowers, who was the architect of Colossus and whose personal account, written shortly before he died, is published here for the first time. Other essays consider the historical importance of this remarkable machine, and its impact on the generations of computing technology that followed.
Customer Reviews:
Rewriting the history of computing with Colossus.......2007-09-17
What if I told you that a secret project conducted more than 60 years ago held the true origins of the modern computing era? And that the country behind this project did such a good job erasing its tracks that it did itself a disservice? And that many of the things invented during this project would only be realized with modern-day PCs?
This book is a wonderful collection of first-person accounts and you get to see the enormity of the task and exactly how critical this effort was towards winning the war. If you got excited about crypto stuff in the DaVinci Code then you will have lots of hours of fun trying to work through the examples the authors provide.
Good General History.......2006-11-10
This provides a good general history of the breaking of the German Lorenz and (to a lesser extent) Siemens cipher teletypes, focusing mostly on the British methods using the Heath Robinson and Colossus tabulating machines driven by punched tapes. The breaking of these differed from the breaking of the Enigma machines in that the methods were probabilistic and statistical rather than the logical operations of the Turing and Welchman electromechanical Bombes, so that the mathematics (relegated to appendices) are very different. The appendices include the Swedish mathematician Arne Burling's breaking of the Siemens machine on leased cables from Norway through Sweden.
For understanding the mathematics, I prefer Harvey Cragon's "From Fish to Colossus" or Frank Carter's pamphlets sold by Bletchley Park, which seem to be currently unavailable, and Cragon includes descriptions (and schematics) of much of the circuitry of the Colossi. It is interesting to read in Copeland's book descriptions by many of those who actually made the breakthroughs.
Colossus: The Secrets of Bletchley Park's Code Breaking Computers.......2006-11-06
This book is a copendium of histories from the people who were at Bletchley Park who actually did the code breaking. I found their stories facinating. There is also some moderately technical information that describes how the several code breaking machines worked. This is the first description that I have seen of the effort to break the codes associated with the German teletytpe system. I found the book facinating.
Excellent Ground Breaking Book.......2006-07-12
The story of the Bletchley Park code breaking efforts towards the German Enigma machine are well known. (If you are not familar the best book on the Enigma is:The German Enigma Cipher Machine: Beginnings, Success, and Ultimate Failure - ISBN 1-58053-996-3) Down through the years there have been only casual references to the Colossus machine that was used on the more sophisticated German coding machines.
At last enough material has been declassified to enable the story to be told. Dr. Copeland, Director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing and author of some very good books on Alan Turing, has collected an amazing amount of information on Colossus. This has come from various sources, primarily in the form of short essays written by people who worked on or with Colossus during ther war.
This is an important book covering not only a little explored aspect of World War II but also an important step in the development of electronic computers. It also talks about how Colossus was held secret for so long that the important developments which it entailed might have helped Britain retain greater prosperity after the war.
An excellent, ground breaking book, highly recommended.
Book Description
Big business has been the lever of big change over time in American life, change in economy, society, politics, and the envelope of existence--in work, mores, language, consciousness, and the pace and bite of time. Such is the pattern revealed by this historical mosaic.
--From the Preface
Weaving historical source material with his own incisive analysis, Jack Beatty traces the rise of the American corporation, from its beginnings in the 17th century through today, illustrating how it has come to loom colossus-like over the economy, society, culture, and politics. Through an imaginative selection of readings made up of historical and contemporary documents, opinion pieces, reportage, biographies, company histories, and scenes from literature, all introduced and explicated by Beatty,
Colossus makes a convincing case that it is the American corporation that has been, for good and ill, the primary maker and manager of change in modern America. In this anthology, readers are shown how a developing "business civilization" has affected domestic life in America, how labor disputes have embodied a struggle between freedom and fraternity, how corporate leaders have faced the recurring dilemma of balancing fiduciary with social responsibility, and how Silicon Valley and Wall Street have come to dwarf Capitol Hill in pervasiveness of influence. From the slave trade and the transcontinental railroad to the software giants and the multimedia conglomerates,
Colossus reveals how the corporation emerged as the foundation of representative government in the United States, as the builder of the young nation's public works, as the conqueror of American space, and as the inexhaustible engine of economic growth from the Civil War to today. At the same time,
Colossus gives perspective to the century-old debate over the corporation's place in the good society.
A saga of freedom and domination, success and failure, creativity and conformity, entrepreneurship and monopoly, high purpose and low practice,
Colossus is a major historical achievement.
Customer Reviews:
Vivid Look at the Rise and Impact of Corporations.......2005-04-21
The aptly named Colossus is an eclectic anthology portraying the rise of the corporation from the 1600s to the present. Editor Jack Beatty's own essays and writers ranging from Charles Dickens to Paul Johnson to James Hedges vividly demonstrate the corporation's impact. This collection of biographies, literature, historical documents, newspaper articles and so on are in roughly chronological order, with each prefaced by an incisive explanation by Beatty.
Beatty's through dissection begins with the Virginia Company of London (1606) - the first corporation. He skillfully takes us to the 1700s as corporations begin to replace partnerships. Betty's coverage of the years 1820 to 1860 - when corporations begin to flourish - is extremely informative, yet lacks the energy exhibited by the rest of the book. By the late 1800s through the early 1900s, corporations begin to grow enormously in size and power. Betty chronicles this period with great verve through his richly detailed selections.
Beatty resurrects the Great Depression quite effectively via John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, while his excerpt from Joseph Heller's Something Happened succinctly illustrates the paranoia of office politics during the era after World War II. Another superb choice is Peter Drucker's short essay showcasing the hostile takeovers that were so prominent in the 1980s. Also, Susan Faludi's Pulitzer-prize winning expose of the 1986 leveraged buyout of Safeway Stores is a beautifully written piece of reportage about the aftermath.
Corporations have committed their share of sins and embodied their portion of moral relativism. Social responsibility is a pervasive theme in this book, beginning with Beatty's preface, which reminds us that intervention must come from stockholders, as well as the public at large. He writes, "The corporation is no longer pitched against society; the corporation is society."
Bohdan Kot
Great book with some flaws.......2004-08-03
This is a great book if you want to learn about business history of the US but it still has some flaws. It starts off kind of boring and some of the chapters are not really meant to be there. Also, articles seem to be a bit dispersed because almost all of them are written by different authors. This results in a lack of continuity that might have been present if the book had been written by the same author. But overall, the book is very useful and can be kept as a reference on US business history.
Macro Perspective...Micro Analysis.......2002-05-01
How to describe this book? It has immense scope ("how the corporation changed America" during the past 350 years) but, under Beatty's brilliant supervision, the narrative somehow retains a sense of intimacy as he and others focus on defining moments, pivotal developments, heroes and villains, great business successes as well as failures, shifting roles played by the federal government, westward expansion, two world wars, natural disasters, and the emergence of high technology This is indeed an epic narrative worthy of Tolstoy with a diversity of "characters" worthy of Dickens. Beatty skillfully blends all manner of different sources with a series of his own commentaries. Great stuff.
Insightful!.......2002-02-18
Jack Beatty combines his own analyses with writers' essays, articles and other materials to chronicle the American corporation from its inception in the 1600s through the present. His overall conclusion seems to be that corporations are a source of more evil than good, but don't let this bias throw you - this collection of sometimes brilliant writings is captivating reading. We from getAbstract highly recommend this book to all students of business history, especially those whose views of the corporate colossus tend toward the darker side.
America Inc........2002-02-02
This book is a collection of essays written about the history of corporations in America and the role those corporations have played in influencing our history.
The book covers many subjects such as the first corporation chartered by the British crown to explore and exploit New England, how corporations developed in America, the many benefits corporations have provided us, the abuses, how coporations changed our culture, and how our culture has changed corporations.
Specific essays chronicle how Henry Ford started manufacturing cars that regular people could afford, and paid his employees enough to afford them. Another essays discusses GM's rise to compete with Ford and overtake them by not being rigid. There is an essay that discusses how people devote themselves to the business. Another essay discusses the abuses that resulted as Safeway was bought in a Leveraged Buy out. Another discusses racism in business. Etc.
The reason this book gets 3 stars is that some of the essays were fascinating, but some seemed to be just filler.
Average customer rating:
- New Directions called this a Travel Book, it's not, it's an EPIC...redeeming, uplifting and poetry in motion.
- Miller at his finest, then again, not so much like Miller
- At his best in Niller in Greece
- An Excellent Introduction To Henry Miller: His Best Novel!
- He's different all right
|
Colossus of Maroussi
Henry Miller
Manufacturer: New Directions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Miller, Henry
| ( M )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Europe
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Greece
| Europe
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
| Beaches
| Business Travel
| Cruises
| Essays & Travelogues
| Food & Lodging
| Guidebooks
| Pictorial
| Reference
| Spas
| Tips
| Tourist Destinations & Museums
| Travel Writing
General
| Archaeology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Travel Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Dinner with Persephone: Travels in Greece
-
Greece: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Traveler's Literary Companions)
-
Ancient Greece: A Concise History (Illustrated National Histories)
-
Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (New Directions Paperbook, 161)
-
Zorba the Greek
ASIN: 0811201090 |
Book Description
This book about Greece, by the author of Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn is incandescent with his feeling for a great people and their past. "It doesn't seem far from a miracle to me, the emergence of as friendly and joyful a book."—Paul Rosenfeld.
Customer Reviews:
New Directions called this a Travel Book, it's not, it's an EPIC...redeeming, uplifting and poetry in motion........2007-07-10
I don't think anyone, but Miller, could have painted the splendor of the poverty, beauty and surrealness during 1930's Greece; Miller's Greece and his alone. He saw things like no other person saw them; {"A Greek is alive to the finger-tips; he oozes vitality, he's effervescent, he's ubiquitous in spirit"} to us it's a blade of grass or a branch or a rock, to him it was a testimonial to the times of the people of Greece, and I have never wanted to go anywhere in the world than to Miller's Greece, after reading this journey of cleansing, healing and metaphysical bliss. This is indeed an Epic adventure. An epic indeed: an endless surprise of wonderous expeditions, dangers, wine and friends in a style that is all Miller.
I was 14 when I found this book in my 94 year old grandmothers bookcase in the back den. The intriguing cover pulled me in, and I opened it to a random page, and to this day, nearly 15 years later or so, I come back to it again and again, for guidance, for awakening, for a smile. It is the one book I bring with me on long flights, and the one book I have shared with friends more than any other. It is not so much a view of the places and people of Greece, but more a testimonial to an era, and Miller sure shows he is more Greek than American. This book isn't just about Greece and its magnificent towns, it's about seeing things like no other sees them, and then throwing it up again for us to read and indulge in. The passage:
['No man can really say what joy is until he has experienced peace. And without joy there is no life, even if you have a dozen cars, six butlers, a castle, a private chapel, and a bomb-proof vault. Our diseases are our attachments, be they habits, ideologies, ideals, principles, possessions, phobias, gods, cults, relegions, what you please. Good wages can be a disease just as much as bad wages. Leisure can be just as great a disease as work...surrenderis absolute: if you cling to even the tiniest crumb you nourish the germ which will devour you. As for clinging to God, God long ago abandoned us in order that me might realize the joy of attaining godhood through our own efforts.']
Delecious eh? I remember not being able to sleep that night; being so young, but wanting to understand so much.
The Great Starfish is someone in whom I would have loved to have romped with on the island of Poros. For if I ever go to Greece, if I ever attain this nirvana in which the Buddhist speak of, that in which Miller speaks of when entering Poros for the first time-{"...when suddenly I realized that we were sailing through the streets. If there is one dream which I like above all others it is that of sailing on land. Coming into Poros gives the illusion of the deep dream."} I hope it is, even nearly 80 years later, somewhat the same. I want to smell the lemon groves. I want to sail on the streets coming into Poros. I want to feel like that gentle idiot swaying on the mast, like he says, as if I am 'en route for a shave'. I want to see the bearded men, and ladies hanging their wash out right above my head. I want to sit and have Turkish Coffee with the natives on Hydra and be led around as If I was a spectacle from a native world.
Lawrence Durrell, George Seferiades and Katsimbalis and Miller all indulging in abundant foods, endless wine, and conversation in which I would have loved to have partaken in, must have been intoxicating, rewarding, and full of gusto and history, that I envy. At college I had an advanced fiction class with Stratis Havarias, the founding editor of the Harvard Review, who's father was killed in the concentration camps, and who teaches writing in Greece in the winter, when not doing his only course in summers at the college. He told me he knew George well and had been friends with relatives of Ghika the painter. When he asked the class what their favorite book was, and I told him Colossus, he just beemed, "OHHHHHhhhhh." He said, "Miller's Greece can be yours Ken, if you want it to be. If one thing hasn't changed for your image of Greece once you get there, it's the light. Piercing, unfathomable."
On the last page of my grandmothers copy, which is now part of my collection of novels, because this is most certainly a non-fiction epic, she says, "It's so mystical here, the light, oh my, oh...oh...the light, it's like nothing I have seen anywhrere in my travels. The light is pouring in everywhere, on everything on every surface, and making it all come alive."
{"Light acquires a transcendental quality: it is not the light of the Mediterranean alone, it is something more, something unfathomable, something holy."} *cool, eh*
Miller's light, my grandmothers light, that epic beauty that has made the Colossus my favorite book of all time. I would have liked to have been Miller's friend, yes, I would have liked that very much.
I implore you, lover of books, to read this and take some of the passages and prose with you for eternity, it is that type of writing that sets Miller apart from all the rest.
Thank you.
ken
Miller at his finest, then again, not so much like Miller.......2006-12-12
When he was not tackling sex and philosophy, Henry Miller traveled. The Colossus of Maroussi is a book of those later times, when he, an "American Savage", entered the world of peace, beauty, and most of all, simplicity he was longing for while living in America. Nothing could prepare him for what he encountered in Greece, not the streets of New York, nor the streets of Paris. Although enamored with France, Miller's passion for Europe goes way further in this book, which at times reads more like L. D. novel than Miller's own. Yet, at the same time he manages to wrap himself in the beauty he encounters, dive in it without holding a breath and resourface a new, more complete being, spellbound by his experience. If only there were more writers like him -- ahh, wishful thinking. Most of all, this book shows Miller in a different light, not limited by his fame for writing about sex (actually, most of his books are not) he explores a new land, unknown to him until then. His ability to take the reader's hand and walk throughout the countryside, observe the people, customs and scenery, is combined with philosophy and his personal views (What else would you expect from Miller?). I have shared this book with many people who did not like Miller and their minds were changed forever. What more can be said? Nothing -- read the book and find out for yourself.
At his best in Niller in Greece.......2006-11-05
Henry Miller's books fall into many categories, the lover of humanity, the lover of nature and art, the hater of the treadmill of twentieth-century society and business, and the sexual fiend. This book touches mainly on the first two, some on the third, and none on the fourth. To me, that is Miller at his best, the lyrical wordsmith.
Instead of talking of France (as in several books), or California (as in Big Sur), or the various parts of the US (as in Air-Conditioned Nightmare), here Miller tells of his trip to Greece immediately before World War II spread there. He loved Greece and the Greeks he met. His desriptions are full of color and life.
An Excellent Introduction To Henry Miller: His Best Novel!.......2006-07-29
I highly recommend this book to everyone. The book was written and finished on the eve of WWII. And the "Colossus of Maroussi" is by far the most enjoyable book I have ever read by Henry Miller. It is not too often that one can pick up a book and read over and over again as I have done with "Colossus Of Maroussi." Miller wrote this most beautiful of all books after having left France, and having finished his more notable "Tropic," books. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, introduced me to the book. Up to this time I was very well read. Having read all the classics, fiction, and non-fiction alike. Dostoevsky was my favorite, and I have read many books that have stayed with me all my life: Balzac, Gogal, Rabelais, Montaigne, Dante, Chaucer, Milton, Cervantes, Joyce, etc. Everyone that is but Henry Miller.
Thankfully my future wife was a Henry Miller fan, because this book moved me like few books have ever moved me before or since. Miller's vision of what he encounters in Greece will captivate you---the reader. I am writing this review because when I encounter people who are well-read, most have never heard of this wonderful gem of a novel. I really dislike the word "travel-novel" that is attached to this book, because it is more than that. It is an introspective book that captures Henry Miller at his best. I am pleased that I did not read Henry Miller's other book's before I read this novel: I may not have appreciated Miller's writing as much as I do today. Having read many of Henry Miller's books since first turning the pages of this greatly overlooked "Masterpiece," [Yes, to me the book is a masterpiece of writing] I highly recommend the book.
I find this book one of the better ones of Henry Miller that I have read: Especially considering it was written by an American on Greece. [American Savage: As Miller refers to himself]. It's kind of funny to think about this now, however, after I first read this book, I actually wanted to go to Greece and experience the same sort of journey that Henry Miller experienced. Even going so far as to retracing his footsteps in his journey. Well, I was much younger then. However, I do believe that you will enjoy this novel, as Miller does not write in any way, shape, or form like his Tropic novels. Miller's writing has a way of almost making you experience life in Greece. Therefore, I recommend the book highly, for you will not be disappointed. [Stars: 5+]
He's different all right.......2006-07-12
I found this book lying in a shelter on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia and began reading it. I've read a bit of Henry Miller before.
His perspective and documentation of the Greeks on the eve of WWII is one the most interesting aspects of the book. I also love how he meticulously documents what he eats, especially considering I was eating garbage while I read it.
His ex-patriotic overtones and anti-American sentiments rub me the wrong way, but at the same time it doesn't ruin the book.
What makes it four stars is his insistence on using obscure and unintelligible vocabulary, intentionally I suspect, in order to make the work seem more literary or "artistic".
Whatever man.
Book Description
"From Fish to Colossus" tells the little-known story of the German Lorenz cipher machine and how its messages were broken at Bletchley Park during World War II. The Lorenz machine enciphered five bit Baudot coded teleprinter messages prior to transmission via radio or landlines. The radio messages were first intercepted by the British in 1941. A method of deciphering was devised at BP that depended only upon the statistics of a single message; this method led to the necessity for fast digital processing machines. The most sophisticated of these was Colossus, which required 2,500 vacuum tubes. By the end of WW II thirteen Colossi were in operation.
The development of the deciphering algorithm is described as well as the design of the Colossus and its predecessors. Most of the research material used in this book was either declassified in 1996 by the National Security Agency or was released in 2000 to the Public Records Office (UK).
Customer Reviews:
Excellent, for what it does.......2006-11-10
I purchased both this book and Jack Copeland's "Colossus: The Secrets of Bletchley Park's Code-breaking Computers" at the same time, and I'm glad to have done so. Copeland's book provides information on many of the personalities and contains sections by some of the individuals who made the breakthroughs, but this book contains more details of the mathematics and is easier to understand. (I also recommend Frank Carter's pamphlets sold by Bletchley Park, which seem to be currently unavailable.)
The breaking of the German Lorenz cipher radioteletype is fundamentally different from the breaking of the Enigmas in that statistical methods are of greater importance and the rotor wiring of a Turing-Welchman Bombe performs a much more complex logical operation at each step than the logical operations possible on the Heath Robinson and Colossus. With a correct crib, only a few possibilities for the rotor order and starting position show up on a Bombe. The Heath Robinson and Colossus breaking depend on correlations in two letter combinations of German military text and these correlations survive (slightly) the modulo-two addition of the psuedo-random cipher text. For this reason, short Enigma messages can be broken, but only much longer Lorenz messages (fortunately, the messages were used for army group level communications and the messages tended to be long). As with Enigma, it took some pretty egregious mistakes by operators to cause the initial breakins by analysts. Cragon carefully leads the reader step-by-step through the logic of breaking the codes, with short examples worked out in full. If you want to understand just how it was done, read this book.
This book also contains many of the details of the circuitry on the Heath Robinsons and Colossi, though some of the schematics are poorly printed (the crucial thyratron ring in Figure 8.14 is unreadable), as are most of the half-tone photographs.
Very interesting, well researched, quite technical.......2006-03-10
This pamphlet is very thoroughly researched and contains the details of how the cipher machine worked and how the cipher was broken, from hand methods up to Colossus. If you are not used to thinking about binary logic then the details of the decryption might be very difficult to understand. However the content is fascinating because it reveals the very first stages in the development of the computer: from mechanical, through relays, then valves, all in a few years, but not yet quite with the idea of the stored program (the program was set by using switches and plugs, hard-coding the machine for each task). It even includes some circuit diagrams, though it doesn't matter if you can't understand them (if you can, they're fascinating, honest!) The pamphlet is obviously self-published and in places could do with some review.
Average customer rating:
- Very good but not colossal
- ride the riffs, friend
- Surprisingly negative
- Oh, this could have been so good...
- Free Association At Its Worst
|
The Colossus of New York
Colson Whitehead
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Essays
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Essays & Travelogues
| Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
New York City
| New York
| States
| United States
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Travel Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Apex Hides the Hurt: A Novel
-
The Intuitionist: A Novel
-
John Henry Days
-
Here is New York
-
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology
ASIN: 1400031249
Release Date: 2004-10-12 |
Book Description
In a dazzlingly original work of nonfiction, the award-winning novelist Colson Whitehead re-creates the exuberance, the chaos, the promise, and the heartbreak of New York. Here is a literary love song that will entrance anyone who has lived in—or spent time—in the greatest of American cities.
A masterful evocation of the city that never sleeps, The Colossus of New York captures the city’s inner and outer landscapes in a series of vignettes, meditations, and personal memories. Colson Whitehead conveys with almost uncanny immediacy the feelings and thoughts of longtime residents and of newcomers who dream of making it their home; of those who have conquered its challenges; and of those who struggle against its cruelties.
Whitehead’s style is as multilayered and multifarious as New York itself: Switching from third person, to first person, to second person, he weaves individual voices into a jazzy musical composition that perfectly reflects the way we experience the city. There is a funny, knowing riff on what it feels like to arrive in New York for the first time; a lyrical meditation on how the city is transformed by an unexpected rain shower; and a wry look at the ferocious battle that is commuting. The plaintive notes of the lonely and dispossessed resound in one passage, while another captures those magical moments when the city seems to be talking directly to you, inviting you to become one with its rhythms.
The Colossus of New York is a remarkable portrait of life in the big city. Ambitious in scope, gemlike in its details, it is at once an unparalleled tribute to New York and the ideal introduction to one of the most exciting writers working today.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Very good but not colossal.......2006-02-07
This little sort of tone poem captures some of the beauty and some of the meanness of New York life. I didn't come away from THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK as being negative toward the city, but even if Mr. Whitehead were, we New Yorkers need our cranks and curmudgeons. It makes us part of who we are, after all.
The free style works MOST of the time. When it doesn't, it really doesn't. (It is no coincidence that the most straight-forward section, the introduction, is the most superb!) THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK doesn't have the lyricism of E.B. White's THIS IS NEW YORK, but it doesn't pretend to want to be like it, anyway. Colson Whitehead's piece is more like Whitman's poetry, as he rambled along the old downtown streets and piers, and recorded his scenes and his feelings about them. Yes, this book could have been greater, but it doesn't take away from the power much of it has. So if you're looking for a history of or guidebook to New York City, this is not the book. But if you're looking for the evocative power of New York, written in a personal, lyrical style, you won't find many better than THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK.
ride the riffs, friend.......2005-12-02
Colson Whitehead's "The Colossus of New York" is a sort of prose poem to New York. But interestingly enough, the city's identity is almost incidental. New York could be any megalopolis. Whitehead simply uses it as a convenient dumping ground for heaping piles of metaphor, innuendo, and wry pseudo-Freudian slip-riffs. As Whitehead eventually says: "Talking about New York is a way of talking about the world." He even outdoes Iain Sinclair in this territory because, hey, "Colossus" is actually readable.
Whitehead sculpts sentences here with dazzling, fluid mastery. In sentence after sentence, he manages to surprise you, keeping you in gleeful suspense for that next line, and the next one... And yet it never feels overwrought or exhausting, probably because he pays equal attention to the rhythm of his prose (this is one of those books you can't help reading aloud).
Here's one of my many favorite passages, set in the subway system:
"This is the fabled journey through the underground, folks, and it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. On the opposite track it's a field of greener grass, you gotta beat trains off with a stick. From his secret booth the announcer scares and reassures alternatively. The postures on the platform sag or stiffen appropriately. With a dial controlling the amount of static. What are their rooms like, the men at the microphones. One day the fiscal importunities of the subway announcer's union will be exposed and that will be the end of the hot tubs and lobster, but until then they break out the bubbly. Look down the tunnel one more time and your behavior will describe a psychiatric disorder. It's infectious. They take turns looking down into darkness and the platform is a clock: the more people standing dumb, the more time has passed since the last train. The people fall from above into hourglass dunes. Collect like seconds."
I also recommend the audio book edition of this title, as Whitehead himself reads the thing in a dizzying performance. It's like a long shot of aggression with a beat-poetry rhythm and a helping of faux snottiness, all orchestrated to allow us to experience the idea of street-level New York in a manageable package.
Surprisingly negative.......2005-04-19
The author writes negative comments about every subject, even about subjects he likes. Everything sounds bad in "his New York", as he calls it. I was very disappointed in this book because I really like NY. I read about half the book and threw it in the trash.
Oh, this could have been so good..........2004-11-18
Colson Whitehead is a talented writer, as one can easily see in his first two novels. So when I read that he was writing nonfiction about New York, I was thrilled at the prospects. But I don't know what to make of this book.
The majority of the 13 parts have the same structure. Take a place. Write short sentences that explain what you would see at that place. Include actions and thoughts of those characters.
On paper, it sounds awful, and it some ways it is. It is the shortest 176 pages you will ever read, but this style gets highly repetitive. Rather than explaining why he chose these places or what they mean to him, Whitehead includes little about himself. There is quite simply zero insight into the soul of the city.
But the book does have its strong points. Whitehead's scenes are very evocative and I often found myself smiling and nodding at his dead-on descriptions of what I had seen in New York. He notices things about New York that you take for granted. At times, his skills shine through.
But it ultimately felt like reading a good writer's notes before he turns them in to an actual book. I wanted so much more from this book, and based on what is there (and also the wonderful first essay, which is different from all others in structure), I get the feeling it could be there. Everyone has their own version of New York and I'm still waiting to see how Whitehead really sees his hometown. Ultimately it reads like an astute but repetitive poem. Nonetheless, any book that makes me nostalgic about my trips to Port Authority has done one incredible job.
Free Association At Its Worst.......2004-07-06
People that laud this type of 'work' are the type that can read something significant into anything because they don't want to admit that they don't get it. He tries to paint a picture of Gotham using mawkish free association which comes across as pseudo-intellect at its worst. I was really looking forward to this book because it sounded like a very cool exercise and interesting look into the greatest city on the planet. Hardbound pretentious excrement.
Book Description
In Stumbling Colossus, David Glantz explored why the Red Army was unprepared for the German blitzkrieg that nearly destroyed it and left more than four million of its soldiers dead by the end of 1941. In Colossus Reborn he recounts the miraculous resurrection of the Red Army, which, with a dazzling display of military strategy and operational prowess, stopped the Wehrmacht in its tracks and turned the tide of war.
A major achievement in the recovery and preservation of an entire nation's military experience, Colossus Reborn is marked by Glantz's unrivaled access to and use of Soviet archival sources. This allows him to illuminate not only Russian victories in the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk, but also to rescue a host of major "forgotten battles," many of which had been suppressed to preserve reputations and national pride. As he reveals in unprecedented detail, disastrous defeats vied with resounding victories throughout the early years of the conflict, as the Red Army struggled to find itself in the "Great Patriotic War."
Beyond the battles themselves, Glantz also presents an in-depth portrait of the Red Army as an evolving military institution. Assessing more clearly than ever before the army's size, strength, and force structure, he provides keen insights into its doctrine, strategy, tactics, weaponry, training, officer corps, and political leadership. In the process, he puts a human face on the Red Army's commanders and soldiers, including women and those who served in units-security (NKVD), engineer, railroad, auto-transport, construction, and penal forces-that have till now remained poorly understood.
The world's top authority on the Soviet military, Glantz has produced a remarkable study that adds immeasurably to our understanding of the one part of World War II that's still struggling to emerge from the shadows of history.
This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.
Customer Reviews:
Nearly Perfect.......2007-06-23
Although hundreds of histories of Soviet-German war have been published in the last decade or so, they have for the most part either focused on large-scale operations, told the story from a predominantly German perspective, or, most likely, done both. Another unfortunate result of this has been the number of revisionist works, in some degree or another based on Viktor Suvorov's Icebreaker. In part this was out of necessity due to a a number of factors, including the lack of access to former Soviet archives as well as the repression of histories deemed embarrassing to important wartime heroes. David Glantz has once again answered this dearth of reliable Soviet-perspective war history with his newest volume Colossus Reborn. Using a massive number or Soviet primary sources he has written the comprehensive history of the Soviet-German war.
Glantz' book is divided into three parts to tell this story. The first is a chronological discussion of the first 30 months of war, subdivided into the initial period, which covers the war up to the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad and then the second period, which covers the remaining 12 months. This first part of the book not only discusses the conventional view of the war but also clearly exposes the many Soviet operations that have lay hidden in virtual obscurity since war's end. Glantz also does a fine job showing how the Soviet-German war affected the course of WWII in general. Perhaps out of necessity this part of the book is rather concise. In any case it is still eye opening to have the vast number of counterstrokes, counteroffensives and strategic offensives laid out as they are here. As he himself points out, prior histories of the war have led to an almost constant and simplistic portrayal of operations as smooth periods of Wehrmacht offensives in the summer and Soviet offensives in the winter. He also clearly dispels the myth that the Red Army was simply along for the ride after the surprise attack and shows how Stalin and the Stavka repeatedly during the initial period of war attempted to organize counterstrokes as well as full counteroffensives.
Part two of the book is a very thorough look into the force structure of the Soviet army. This section is as comprehensive as one could possible ask for and retain a modicum of readability. Even as such, it is certainly the most difficult section to work through as it is basically a detailed look into how every aspect of the Soviet forces were reorganized from Front down to battalions in some instances. As such is feels at times to be comprised of endless tables of organization. This should not be overstated however, as this type of attention to detail is what most readers of Glantz have come to expect. Furthermore, it is this level of detail that sets him apart from most other widely published WWII historians. He does not simply explain to the reader that a particular type of unit was employed in a particular defensive or offensive action. He thoroughly explains how that type of unit came to be and gives the prior organization of similar units and why they failed to work.
Part three is a thorough analysis of the leaders of the Red Army and those that they led. The first subsection is broken up primarily into mini biographies of every major general, commanding every Front, Army, and Corps and all of their variants. It does so and gives a very interesting breakdown and percentages by year of the surviving and thriving general staff as well as command failures and traitors. Glantz then gives a very enlightening look into the soviet soldiers; who they were (ethnicity and gender are investigated here) how they survived, why they fought and what methods were used to keep them toeing the line, particularly after the hideous and demoralizing losses of the first six months. This section is probably the most readable of the three and is a very well written look into the human aspects of the war.
Finally, Glantz has once again written a history of the Soviet-German war that is groundbreaking, to say the least. Using sources that only he seems to be able to gain access to, he has delved more comprehensively into the factors that allowed the Red Army to first survive and eventually defeat Hitler's Wehrmacht, than anyone else before him. Yes, this volume reads quite dryly at times and the tables of organization can seem daunting but it must clearly be understood from the beginning that this is not a book for the casual history reader by any stretch. This book is meant for the dedicated historian of the Soviet-German war-those who need more than a basic overview of the military operations and geopolitical ramifications of the war. With all that said the only weakness that this book has are some instances of sloppy writing and subsequent poor editing. At times-particularly in Part I-this poor editing is truly frustrating and frequent. For the most part though, this is never more than a minor irritation. As a whole Glantz can, once again, be said to be the undisputed master of Soviet-German war history.
Dry and long - but hey, isn't that why we buy it?.......2007-06-18
So, this is something that's only for professionals and hardcore fanatics, but it is highly recommended for them. It contains everything you ever wanted to know about the Red Army between 1941-43, and even more.
OK, nothing's perfect (5 stars means it's as perfect as it could be in our imperfect world), I can tell you one complaint.
Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor
Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome
The Aeneid
The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian
Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician
