I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it is definitely a page turner. The first couple of chapters of this book I got pretty angry at the Saudi Royal family. Not only where they greedy and useless they paid for creating fanatics who hated the West and the Saudi Royal family. The Royal family stole land and doesn't even follow the rules of its own religion when they are out of the country.

The next couple of chapters go me mad at Washington Politicians and how they all had their hands out. No one wanted to speak of all the atrocities that were happening in Saudi Arabia as long as they got a piece of the action. I was surprised how both parties made their money on speaking engagements and getting jobs from companies when they were the heads of the FBI and CIA after they left.

I had not even heard of the Muslim Brotherhood before this book and what they were doing. I agreed with the author when he said that since the country was in 30% unemployment and the people had nothing to do but go to the mosques and hear all the radical ideas it's no wonder they hate everyone who is not a Muslim.

The next part was even more scary when they told you that the fanatical groups were trying to move north and take the oil reserves by the Caspian Sea and control more of the world oil supplies.

I was also surprise at how much of the military industrial complex depends on them to supply so many jobs her in America.

I don't agree with the author's solution. I think it would be better to have our President ask for more alternate forms of fuel to be mass produced like hydrogen and have our cars run on that. To produce it we could use nuclear power and electrolysis and become independent of them. Then try to get the people to realize the King should abdicate because he is dead since 1995 and maybe that reformer crown prince can do better.

The book had many interesting and unknown activities about Saudi Arabia. I think everyone should read it to get a better understanding of the politics of the Middle East.

I have read several stories about the cold war but I never seemed to get the big picture that I got from this book. I thought this was going to be a book mostly about submarine warfare. I was surprised at all of the other missions that were connected to special operations.

It starts out and tries to explain the reasons for deterances and how to utilize them against an enemy. He seems to tell us in this part that we had to have enough to make the enemy take notice but not too much where they felt they had no choice but to make a first strike.

The methods that he tells about next where, first the Polaris missile system the problems with the original missile and the benefits and problems of the fuels that they used. After the missile was successful Dr. Craven told about how the Polaris originally had one mega ton warhead and later they figured out how to use MIRVs for a greater deterrence. At this point he tells some personal information about how he got to be head of the program.

The story then went into the loss of the Thresher and the possible causes but at this point the story changes and leaves submarines for deep submergence projects.

First you learn about the deep submergence rescue vehicle but it is vague on what it does. If you saw the movie the Hunt for Red October you would have a better idea. Next you learn about Sealab I & II and all the problems they had there. I would not have thought that these were so clandestine if I had not read this book. At this point you learn about saturation diving and the problems and benefits of the programs.

The next part is more interesting where you learn more about the submarines Seawolf, Whale and Halibut. The only problem is that I have learned more on the history channel than I have in this book because it does not talk about any specific missions. When it talks about the Trieste bathyscaphe the book only references it to talk about how they were going to use the Trieste II as a spy weapon.

The fisherman's friend was an interesting story about the lost nuclear bomb and what the fisherman tried to get for that find. The book mention's what they had to do to recover it and what lessons they learned to increase their capabilities under the sea. This knowledge leads to the NR-1. This book does not talk much about the NR-1 if you want to read a good book on it read Lee Vyborny's account in Dark Waters: An Insider's account of the NR-1, the cold war's undercover nuclear sub. At this point he tells about how he had to deal with Rickover and the type of man that Craven thought he was.

Craven follows this with the story of the two missing submarines and how they had to go and find them. I was surprise that they were able to pin point both of these subs with some acoustic recording from back in the early 70s. This was the most interesting part of the book when Dr. Craven thinks that the reason for the missing Soviet sub is that it was a rogue that was firing a missile at Hawaii but the fail safes caused an explosion and sunk the sub. I had never heard that story before.

The remainder of the book describes the debacle of the Glomar Explorer, how this Soviet spy was after him for years and the ending of the cold war.

I can recommend this book if you are looking of an overview of the political strategy used in our military during the cold war. If you are looking for an adventure novel telling you about one of the exciting projects in detail then I think you would be disappointed.

As you can tell I enjoyed the book but there were many unanswered questions that left me wanting more.

I could not believe this version of 20,000 leagues under the sea. I learned so much from this book. All the other movies and stories that I heard about Captain Nemo were not even close to all the adventures that he goes on in this book. When I think about the movie by Walt Disney and then remember the book I realize that the movie was about 1/4 of the books adventures.

All the adventures that I never heard about before like the hunt on the sea floor with the electric bullets, the Arabian tunnel under the sea, Santorin Island the Grecian Archipelago, the volcanoes of the Mediterranean, the Bay of Vigo with all the treasures, the size of the mountains in Atlantis, the adventure at the South Pole, the fight with all the sperm whales, his home Island and the production of salt to run his electric engines.

There is so much more to this story than what I have heard before and in this edition the foot notes are excellent. I especially like the story of Arachne and how the name of Arachnid came to mean spiders. The footnotes explain all the literary references which are helpful to understanding the characters. There is so much information here about the sea world in an adventure that makes each moment exciting.

Verne must have done so much research for this book to get all the scientific information correct. I never thought they knew all those things about the sea at that time.

I was surprised by the character of Nemo who never seemed to go after anyone unless he was attacked. The whole idea that he chased after all forms of warships was something made up in Hollywood. Nemo never seemed to want to even deal with people. The story of Nemo's life at the end of the book explains many of his behaviors.

The description of all the types of food that they were constantly eating was interesting you never knew what they were going to catch in the Nautilus' nets.

I thought the adventure at the South Pole was the best of all with the predicament that they got into. It was the most adventurous and had the most suspense.

I do not know why a book like this is not required reading for high school kids they would learn so much as well as adults. There is so much science geography, ichthyology, astronomy practical uses of physics etc.

I would recommend this book to everyone who likes science and adventure.

I had seen many of the movies as a kid, so I thought I should get the rest of the story by reading the book. Well, I was delightfully surprised by the book. The book was much more mysterious and intriguing then the movies.
I liked the way the plot developed but the brothers seemed to age a lot more or maybe just matured more as the book went on. When you first meet them in Beau Geste and his band everyone comes across as if they were teenagers but within a couple of days after the disappearance of the blue water when the brothers join the legend you find out that they are all in their early 20s. The time in the legend seems longer too like almost 4 years but at the end of the story it's about half as long as that.
The one thing about the version of the book I was reading which was the one with the pictures from the 1926 film was that there were no maps. So what I did was as I followed the brothers I would go on mapquest and print a map of the area and trace their route. Then I would fold it and keep it at that point in the book. I like the fact that they kept many of the terms in the native tongue. I have word and there are these downloads free from Microsoft that you can download so that you can translate in to many different languages. Between making the maps and figuring out the translations it made the book much more adventurous for me.
I did not know much about the history of Algeria and I did not realize that the French had fought with the Arabs in Northern Africa for many generations. The Arabs are pretty stereotyped but there is the fact that the brothers learn Arabic to keep their minds sharp and this helps them down the road. I did not realize that Arabic languages were spoken all along North Africa and that it is mostly dessert. I thought that was more of the Middle East.
You will notice that all the bad guys seem to be of the same nationality either being French like Legume or Italian like Bondini as opposed to the good guys being the English and the Americans. I like the fact that the American's were Texas Rangers because I think that is how the rest of the world perceives us. Buddy and Hank might have been caricatures but they were always honest and true just like the English characters of John, Digby and Michael were proper and honorable.
The best part of the book was after the Fort at Zindernuf because you really don't see that part in the movies and you see how John, Digby, Buddy and Hank try to help each other to get to the English city of Kano in Nigeria. I really wanted to know what happened to one of the Americans but I won't give that away.
At the end of the book I thought that I had everything figured out and I would know what Michael's letter was going to say but I was pretty surprise and it made me enjoy the overall theme of the novel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure novels about far away places.

I had seen many of the movies as a kid, so I thought I should get the rest of the story by reading the book. Well, I was delightfully surprised by the book. The book was much more mysterious and intriguing then the movies.

I liked the way the plot developed but the brothers seemed to age a lot more or maybe just matured more as the book went on. When you first meet them in Beau Geste and his band everyone comes across as if they were teenagers but within a couple of days after the disapearance of the blue water when the brothers join the legend you find out that they are all in their early 20s. The time in the legend seems longer too like almost 4 years but at the end of the story it's about half as long as that.

The one thing about the version of the book I was reading which was the one with the pictures from the 1926 film was that there were no maps. So what I did was as I followed the brothers I would go on mapquest and print a map of the area and trace their route. Then I would fold it and keep it at that point in the book. I like the fact that they kept many of the terms in the native tongue. I have word and there are these downloads free from Microsoft that you can download so that you can translate in to many different languages. Between making the maps and figuring out the translations it made the book much more adventurous for me.

I did not know much about the history of Algeria and I did not realize that the French had fought with the Arabs in Northern Africa for many generations. The Arabs are pretty stereotyped but there is the fact that the brothers learn Arabic to keep their minds sharp and this helps them down the road. I did not realize that Arabic languages were spoken all along North Africa and that it is mostly dessert. I thought that was more of the Middle East.

You will notice that all the bad guys seem to be of the same nationality either being French like Legume or Italian like Bondini as opposed to the good guys being the English and the Americans. I like the fact that the American's were Texas Rangers because I think that is how the rest of the world perceives us. Buddy and Duke might have been caricatures but they were always honest and true just like the English characters of John, Digby and Michael were proper and honorable.

The best part of the book was after the Fort at Zindernuf because you really don't see that part in the movies and you see how John, Digby, Buddy and Duke try to help each other to get to the English city of Kano in Nigeria. I really wanted to know what happened to one of the Americans but I won't give that away.

At the end of the book I thought that I had everything figured out and I would know what Michael's letter was going to say but I was pretty surprise and it made me enjoy the overall theme of the novel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure novels about far away places.

I enjoyed this adventure yarn on many levels.

I was glad to learn about the Knights of Templer and that they were crusaders. I always wondered how Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon knew that and it is because of this classic.

I was surprised that it talked so much about Robin of Lockesley. The story of Ivanhoe seemed to be the same only told by Ivanhoe's friends and not Robin's.

I thought that the DeBracyn and the Knight of Templer Brian de Bois Guilbert were pretty evil guys which made the story interesting. They were weasels when they had their backs to the wall but did preform with honor when required like when Richard gets DeBracy.

I guess I did not understand the prejudice of the time because they treated the Jews like dirt and they were so sterotypical. I really thought that the Jewish girl Rebecca was going to end up with Ivanhoe instead of that Saxon Lady Roweana. I guess you have to appreciate the times that they lived in.

It was a different look the Richard/Prince John history.

The was a fun little futuristic book on society and the fear that someone may learn something different then the government's message by reading. It tells a story of two lonely people who are caught up in their own lifes but learn about a whole new world by reading.

The premise of the story of Firefighter who burn down building of people who don't follow the government is ironic. The story in interesting and tender in parts.

The only problem with this book is the usual ending that all these types of books have with the two characters escaping and the rest of the world, well you know if you have read it.

This book has a lot of useful information but the problem is not the material but the book could use an editor. The story continually jumps back and forth. When the book uses comparisons it goes from Joules to BTUs then Gallons to Liters so you never seem to compare apples to apples or the book should have had a conversion table. It's as if the author is afraid to tell the truth of how it might be a little expensive now to convert, but eventually it will be cost effective. The book also has no diagrams, or graphs that would explain fuel cells or cost effectiveness. ...

The author seems to shy away from nuclear power as a solution for creating hydrogen. I think it would be a great interim solution where you could put the nuclear reactor on sites off shore or in the Great Lakes so you would have a supply of water and pump all the hydrogen and electricity produced to the city. The hydrogen could be sent to fuel cell power plants and fuel stations for vehicles. Eventually from the money made from this move on to geothermal methods.

I don't want to seem down on this book because it gave me a lot of good information the best part was the different ways that they can create hydrogen. Hydropower, Wind, Solar, Photovoltaic, Biomass, Advanced Solar concepts, orbiting solar mirrors, converting thermal energy from oceans and Geothermal. The one that I left out that I thought was the coolest was the Giant Solar Chimneys. I found out that they are actually making one in Australia; I can only hope that it works. I liked the part with the solar mirrors and why they didn't work, that was kind of funny.

The book never explains why they are not doing some of these things. I guess because of the cost but it is not clear. The best and safest way would be to produce hydrogen is geothermal but the book never explains why we don't do it.

The chapter on the uses for hydrogen started out interesting but ends with a walk into the cosmos with the SETI stuff. It was parenthetical information that the author wanted us to be aware of that did not belong in this book.

This book seem like a confused mass of projects that never seemed to get off the ground and a couple that could be a solution for the future. I wish the book was organized so that the history came first and then focus in on various areas, production, types of fuel cells, different forms of hydrogen, infrastructure, present uses, future use and the road ahead and what are the possible type of plans for the future.

I wish the book could have recommended more books to read on the subject that could answer some of these questions.

I guess I was looking for more clear cut solutions.

I know most people had to read this in school so I wondered why it was so important and I finally read it after college. I know it is suppose to be a kids story but I found it to be one of the best books on morality I have ever read.

The book teaches how even the most dowdy, illiterate knows that it is wrong to have another person as a slave.

Huck goes through lots of experiences on his trip down the river. He learns about the envy of his father, he can't understand why the families are feuding and killing each other year after year for an old arguement. He learns how to be a charlaton and what happens to people who lie.

The best part is when Tom Sawyer meets up with him and makes him and Jim follow all the rules from the pirate story and drives all the adults crazy.

I really enjoyed this book and believe every teenage should read it.

Well I was pleasantly surprised by this book about Cicero. I thought it was going to be a rehashing of what you have seen in the movies from Spartacus to Cleopatra. This was a completely different view.

First it explained how the Roman Republic really worked from the time just before Sulla. You had to work through several levels before you could become a counsel in Rome. There was also an age requirement. Second I assumed that no one but the Patrician class could move up in power, while Cicero did not come from that class and used his acumen to became first Counsel of Rome. It was truly a republic and not a feudal system.

I enjoyed learning about the young lives and trials of people like Julius Ceasar, Pompey and Cicero. Each of them took a different course to reach the pinnacle of their system of government. An interesting tidbit was that lawyers like Cicero were not paid but did receive gifts from people or were left in their wills.

They had ex post facto laws where the Republic could charge the first counsels with all sorts of crimes after they had been counsel. Not just at the end of their term but 5 years after as in Cicero's case. Being first counsel did ot seem like the best job. I would have rather been a governor of a provience for an extended period of time like Ceasar did with Gaul, that was how he got all his wealth. I enjoyed the story of Marcus Lincinnus Crasas, it did not say where he got all his wealth but it did say how he died which I always wondered about after seeing Spartacus.

It seemed that the whole time that Cicero was alive that they were going through some Civil War. The alliances made for convenience and broken for polical gain were the most interesting. It was hard to keep track of all the characters because they were always switching sides and doing what was best for themselves like a regular Bill Clinton. (I'm sure that will rub some people the wrong way.)

There is a large emphasis on law and how it was determined throughout the book. Most of the decree and laws were changed back and forth several times to favor the party in power.

A lot of the book is about Julius Ceasar and even though he was murdered bought about the end of the republic. I was surprised how much Cicero seem to hate Antony. The story about Antony is much different than I had expected. In the movies he always goes after Cassias and Brutus right after Ceasar's murder but in the book it shows the true and completely different story.

The final alliance between Antony and Octavian shows how self centered these two power hungry Generals had become by compromising by putting all the wealthly people on a proscription list. Well I guess if you got to rich in ancient Rome you got killed for your wealth. Then Antony and Octavian go out after Cassais and Brutus to solidify their power with Octavian winning out overall in the end because he lasted the longest and had no one to challenge him.

I throughly enjoyed this book because it was different than I had expected.