Afghanistan: the Soviet Union's Last War: The Soviet Union's Last War2 reviews Mark Galeotti Routledge, 2001 The best book on the Soviet war in Afghanistan + Strong and coherent treatment I picked this up because I'm interested in the war(s) in Afghanistan, but to be honest I thought it might be a little dated because it was published in 1995. Boy, was I wrong! There are a few details which have emerged since in later books (especially by Les Grau), but this is an amazing overview ...             Very Thin Line: Iran-Contra Affairs6 reviews Theodore Draper Touchstone, 1992 This is How Government Works + Detailed and Thorough + Excellent chronology of a complicated affair + Must read - even now! + Terrific book             Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster14 reviews Dominique Lapierre, Javier Moro Grand Central Publishing, 2003 So We Never Forget + Friend of the downtrodden + Why did it happen: GREED! + A FASCINATING READ             Mtv: The Making of a Revolution2 reviews Tom McGrath Running Pr, 1996 A page-turner I was not expecting this to be so insightful of a book about the television business. Unexpectedly insightful.             Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass3 reviews Dale Maharidge Hyperion Books (Adult Trd Pap), 1996 Must read for economic hardliners and children of conscious + Insightful Book on the Disenfranchised + I live in Youngstown... This book, along with the Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, inspired Bruce Springsteens Grammy award winning record The Ghost of Tom Joad. Springsteen writes these days of heroes who are neither Elvis nor Jesus. They are fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters. They are friends and they are those ...             Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster18 reviews Svetlana Alexievich Picador, 2006 Profound and important + Devastation Illuminated and Personalized + The Victims Speak This book is a punch in the gut. There's no nicer way to say it. It's downright devastating. It's something that every single person should read. Even if you only know Chernobyl vaguely, two things are made painfully apparent by this book: whatever you've read about Chernobyl in the past has ...             The Root: The Marines in Beirut,August 1982-February 19849 reviews Eric Hammel Zenith Press, 2005 An Eye Opening Heart Breaker + Theirs but To Do and Die! + Must read for history buffs + Wonderful, the truth             Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua (David Rockefeller Center Series on Latin American Studies)8 reviews Stephen Kinzer David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, 2007 A great book filled with insight on life in Nicaragua during + Blood of Brothers + The civil war in Nicaragua + A Thrilling Journey of a NYT Reporter + excellent review of the revolutionary years             The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict9 reviews Dilip Hiro Routledge, 1990 A story of power politics and political hypocrisy + Good Book + Good synopsis of the Iran-Iraq conflict + Very Detailed,Informative, and a timely piece.             President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination23 reviews Richard Reeves Simon & Schuster, 2005 The Vision Thing + REAGAN BIO REVEALS 40TH PRESIDENT TO BE ULTIMATE COLD WARRIOR + An Excellent Book The purpose of any book review is to give the reader enough information to decide if they want to invest the time and money in reading the book in its entirety. Richard Reeves, a distinguished former reporter for "The New York Times," has tackled a difficult subject in writing a biography of a ...             The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague10 reviews Timothy Garton Ash Vintage, 1999 A wonderful book + An inside account of the revolutions of '89 + Very Informative I decided to read this after finishing Tina Rosenberg's THE HAUNTED LAND and Slavenka Drakulic's CAFE EUROPA. Both of these books cite THE MAGIC LANTERN, and I see why. Timothy Garton Ash's reportage is personal, immediate, and fascinating. As I write, these events took place more than sixteen ...             Hezbollah: A Short History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics)10 reviews Augustus Richard Norton Princeton University Press, 2007 best balance is criticism for all + A great introduction to the Party of God + Primer on Lebanese politics no one is innocent and no one is as evil as the other side's propaganda machine says. As one who happened to be in South Lebanon at the time the fighting started in 2006, I can say that Norton's description most closely mirrors my experience. You will benefit greatly by picking up this easy ...             The Star Wars Enigma: Behind the Scenes of the Cold War Race for Missile Defense3 reviews Nigel Hey Potomac Books Inc., 2007 This Is the Way the Cold War Ends + An Important Part of Recent History + Place as a Historical Document Author Nigel Hey revisits recent history in his entertaining and excellently researched narration of the Cold War's end. He examines the science -- or lack thereof -- economics and politics of the still controversial Strategic Defense Initiative -- "Star Wars." We find that the notion of a ...             Den of Lions: A Startling Memoir of Survival and Triumph8 reviews Terry Anderson Ballantine Books, 1995 A heart pummeling hostage memoir of the Beirut crisis. + A lot of time to think + What a Waste of His Life + An amazing book + A gripping, insightful book.             Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street222 reviews Michael Lewis Penguin (Non-Classics), 1990 A warning for the uninitiated + Pretty Darn Interesting + Must Read + Unbelievably Superb!!! A Masterpiece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! + it is enough             Me and Ted Against the World : The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN13 reviews Reese Schonfeld, 2001 i got lost in another mans fantasies + A very interesting look at the founding of an important company + Story of the Founding of CNN + Mixed but worth reading... + Great account of what went into CNN             No Downlink: A Dramatic Narrative About the Challenger Accident and Our Time4 reviews Claus Jensen Farrar Straus & Giroux (T), 1996 Not For Space Buffs Only + Good general account of Challenger and NASA culture... + Extremely readable account of the Challenger disaster Well written. Jensen does a nice job of avoiding sappy emotionalism and technical speak. Excellent job of showing how the Challenger explosion was less a technical failure and more of a management failure. Vividly describes how the how the culture at NASA had devolved from the heights of Apollo ...             And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th-Anniversary Edition68 reviews Randy Shilts St. Martin's Griffin, 2007 How the fight against AIDS was initially lost.... + And the Band Played On + Amazing! + A Classic + Review of And The Band Played On             Out of the Channel: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound3 reviews John Keeble Eastern Washington University Press, 1999 A humane account of a whitewashed catastrophe + Universal guilt + A brilliant account of the Valdez oilspill and its aftermath Out of the Channel should be required reading for anyone who thinks environmentally ... not just environmentalists, but students, political and economic theorists, and most of all, writers. I had the good fortune to learn a great deal about writing from John Keeble, and reading his book is an ...             The Hidden War: A Russian Journalist's Account of the Soviet War in Afghanistan23 reviews Artyom Borovik Grove Press, 2001 Very easy to read, and strikingly similiar to Vietnam War + good book. + 2 books and completely different views on the war + Russia's Vietnam. + Personal reflections