osim sto je zabavna ova knjiga je takodje vrlo poucna za sve entuzijaste u olbasti samospoznaje i filozofije.

Santhana is an engrossing read. The story of a young Yugoslav university graduate's long journey, first overland to the mountains with a variety of travelling companions, and then by boat to India, and his ensuing search for tranquility via some rather self-destructive yogic practices. This book is an excellent read and is most refreshing and unconventional compared to the dreary me-too books churned out by well-heeled backpackers today. Quite a bit of mystic philosophy is woven into it, but not so much as to get in the way of the travelogue and the beautifully-conveyed atmosphere and scenery. Not to mention the curious characters Borna Bebek comes across in his travels.

Find a copy! (I have a hardcover first edition in mint condition, open to offers...)

Scaling the Dragon is a wonderful narrative about teaching and living in China. Moulton and Robinson have a colorful writing style that is fully of energy and personality. Their engaging story is informed with their astute observations. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to go on a delightful literary journey with these two wonderful authors.

I loved this true adventure story, written by two impossibly inquisitive academics who encounter China during an extended sojourn as teachers there. Janice (Moulton) and Robin (Robinson) move through this adventure like a contemporary Mr. and Mrs.Marco Polo. They know how to tell a story, well-paced, richly detailed, weaving their characters in and out of the exciting narrative. And what characters! Golden Zhou, Little Lin, Adjective Boy, and an interesting supporting cast of Westerners trying to deal with China and each other. As a long-ago Peace Corps Volunteer, I can say that Moulton and Robinson really reveal the drama and adventure of a deep cross-cultural encounter. "Scaling The Dragon" should be on a short-list of books to be read by Peace Corps Volunteers and other Americans preparing for an extended stay in another culture. Better yet, this book could be made into a great movie!

Malensek's sophomore effort not only shows the continued growth of this young and talented author, but hits another out of the park homerun with a storyline ripped straight from today's headlines, believable characters, and a pace that won't let you put the book down.

Scott's prose is reminiscent of a young Clancy (back when he wasn't getting paid by the word). He spices his narratives with just enough technical and military information to keep readers without these backgrounds aware, informed, and interested, but does not take it to the extreme of bogging down, like so many tech-thriller writers of today.

His work is easy to read, flows well, and carries the reader along at a rate that will leave one looking for more when the last page is reached. An excellent yarn, both relevant and eye-opening. This writer is one to expect great things from in the future.

Another great work from Mr. Malensek. I read his other works, and I am impressed by his continuing growth as an author. I also enjoy watching his works evolve as more of his stories appear on the scene. This one is very much from todays headlines, and I HIGHLY recommend that anyone
interested in todays conflicts, read this book.

A very revealing work. Gives the anatomy of North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong units, as well as their operational applications. Discloses the broader regional political objectives of the North Vietnamese communists as it relates to subjugating Laos and Cambodia, and in doing so verifies the "domino theory" that so many critics of the war were quick to label as "fabricated." "Secrets" is a good military "X's and O's" of how a "just cause" was allowed to suffer from geopolitical naivete, and the ultimate price that was paid.

This is definitely the most thorough book that I know of on Viet Cong tactics, doctrine, weapons, etc. Especially tactics. The section on the "prepared battlefield" is especially illuminating.

Although the project was supposed to last only a few months, Asahi shimbun were absolutely deluged with responses and they eventually printed 1,000 out of 4,000 letters received. Not only does the book give the reader a personal glimpse of what it was like to be a foot soldier, housewife, high school teacher, etc.,it is also organized in a way that details the events of the war from the first settlements in Manchuria to the occupation and even how people feel about their role today. It's a great way to get the full chronology of events as well as all the personal depictions.

I was shocked at how the footsoldiers were treated by the officers and was surprised to read tales of killing superiors in battle, much like "fragging" occurrences in the Vietnam war. Throughout the book there are gut-wrenching stories of combat, but there is also an underlying thread of humanity; officers finding ways to keep their soldiers alive, a vacationing zero pilot who convinces a group of admiring boys not to join the military, a young soldier who secretly puts some of the bones and ashes of other soldiers into the empty boxes so the families have something to pray to.

I sat down to read the first chapter at 6 pm but I couldn't put it down. I finished it at 2 am. My best friend teaches high school history and I'm going to copy off a few of the best stories for him to use in class. This is a must read... for anyone.

This book does a great service in helping us see the Japanese in WW2 as more than mindless fanatics.It is an compilation of letters written to the editors of one of Japans largest newspapers, the Asahi ("Morning Sun")Shimbun during the 50th anniversary commemorations of the end of World War 2.The stories are primarily from military participants or family members of military personnel and most are very frank and gut wrenching. I got the sense that many of the ex military men were trying to come to grips as to why they were fighting- and the answers are not what this American reader has come to expect. I have always thought that the Japanese were brain washed sub-human fanatics when it came to fighting, but many of the stories reveal compassion,caring and a full awareness of the situation they were in. They speak of heartless, cruel and inhuman superior officers who thought nothing of leading entire battalions to death in their quest for glory, but they also realize that these officers were just the products of a military system where cruel treatment of recruits was a tool to instill blind obedience to superior officers. I still don't think that this is a good excuse for the many atrocities that were committed by Japanese forces during the war, but it goes alot farther in helping me to understand how such atrocities,e.g., Rape of Nanking, Bataan death march, arose. The letters from family members are particularly poignant as they recall fathers, brothers, uncles and sons who were never seen again.I was very moved by several letters from family members who had childhood memories of the deceased soldiers that really drove the point home that war is such a terrible waste(hate to sound like a cliche). The Japanese lost more than 2 million people during the war, and it would be hard not to find a family that didn't face tragedy. I gave this book to several friends who said it completely opened up their minds about what they thought about the Japanese during World War 2.While we all agree that Japan was not right for its war of aggression and the pain and suffering it caused to millions of Asians, Americans, British,Dutch and Australians, we can now hear for the first time the voices of the Japanese participants and learn that they too cried and suffered and felt deep guilt for what they did.

This is the fourth and final book in the Seraffyn series that chronicles Lin and Lary Pardey's meander around the world in their 28 foot wooden cutter. They have a very comfortable and easy going writing style that pulls you into their story. This is a wonderful series whether you are a sailor or not. - Regarding the previous reviewer's comment about storm tactics - The Pardey's have a newer book "Storm Tactics Handbook" which includes and adds a great deal to some of the chapters from this book. It is a must-have book for the ocean cruiser.

The description of storm survival while hove-to during their northern Pacific crossing makes this book a must purchase for anyone planning (or dreaming of) a voyage across any ocean.

Services Marketing in Asia is extremely well-written and a rare gem. The base text on Service Marketing teaching is great - vintage Lovelock and team you could say - but what stood out for me was the wealth of case studies.

I have been through a couple of similar books in the past. But coming from Singapore, I have found most of the examples and case studies to be American or Euro-centric in nature, and not always readily applicable to the Asian context.

Not to say that non-Asians would not benefit for this book, for I have found the insights in these case studies applicable across culture and industries.

I highly recommend this. This is definitely one book I would keep within an arm's length for ready reference.

This book helps me in understanding the services marketing landscape in Asia. Filled with Asian examples and cases, it's really a gift from the god for the Asian students.

This is an intensely personal encounter of the author with old friends and some not-so-friendly people in Afghanistan. A must read for understanding the deep cultural roots of conflict in the region.

There are many good books now offering us insight into Afghanistan and Pakistan, but even the best of them -- like Carpet Wars -- are by men and almost all the people they meet and talk about are men -- not surprisingly, given where they are. Christina Lamb has been in Afghanistan and nearby Pakistan over a period of decades. Her writing is clear, direct, and sympathetic to the people she's known there for many years, including Hamid Karzai. The people she meets -- and re-meets -- along the way become part of her story which humanizes the the local situations she describes. Top notch!

Why has Japan changed its prime ministers with such frequency through much of the post-war period? Why did those prime ministers seem powerless to affect real change to the political system? "Shadow Shoguns" answers these questions by way of a brilliantly told story of the Liberal Democratic Party's most powerful political faction called the "gundan".

The story of the "gundan" - which means "army corps" -- is primarily the story of the man who created and ruled over it for much of the 70s and 80s, Kakuei Tanaka. Jacob Schlesinger spends more than half of "Shadow Shoguns" examining Tanaka's life, including his roots in the construction business, his entry into politics, how he made money work for him in consolidating political power, and finally, his fall from power.

Tanaka was a fascinating figure. In many ways he was a combination of LBJ and Boss Tweed. His appetite for power and money was huge, and his experience in the construction industry gave him the ability to amass both. Coming from one of the poorest prefectures in Japan, he fought hard to bring huge pork barrel construction projects back to his constituents, and they in turn gave him unflinching support even when he was charged with crimes and became a national symbol of corruption.

A scandal removed Tanaka from the prime minister's seat in 1974, but due to his constituents' support, it did not remove him from the parliament. From then until the mid-80s, Tanaka would be the power behind the throne, using money from construction projects to strengthen his faction, and his faction to strengthen his hold over national politics.

What finally removed Tanaka from his position as leader over Japan's most powerful faction was not angry voters, other factions or their political leaders, but his own underlings. Tanaka had attracted some of the most talented politicians in Japan to his faction, and handling those egos was a full-time job. After a stroke in 1985, Tanaka was unable to reassert his power, and three of his protégés (Shin Kanemaru, Noburu Takeshita, and Ichiro Ozawa) wrenched the faction away from him.

The final third of the book focuses on those protégés, their strengthening of the faction, and finally the fall of their machine as Japan's economy began to flounder. As Schlesinger tells it, the success of the faction was always predicated on continued strong economic growth. When the Japanese economy faltered throughout the early 1990s, so did the mechanism by which the "gundan" governed Japan.

This is a book that gives vivid life to a political system and to politicians many people find boring. Schlesinger shows that because Japan's most capable and interesting politicians operated out of the limelight for much of the last three decades, their story is a compelling one as well as the key to understanding the history of the modern Japanese political system.

Concise and well written, it opens up postwar Japanese politics. Incredulous happenings! Maybe we should send some of our congressmen to Japan to check this out.-- Short shrift is given, however, to the all-pervading involvement with, and use of, the criminal organisations where the police seem powerless. Also, it should have photographs of the main actors to make it more three-dimensional.

A poetic journey deep into the lives of the Roma people living in the former republics of the Soviet Union. Should be on your bookshelf next to Koudelka's Gypsies.

This book is visually stunning, and should be owned by anyone who treasures real insight into the lives of the Rom. The photo quality is award-winning, and the candor in the faces of the subjects gives one a glimpse behind the usual self-protective personas is one is used to seeing. Several of the photographs of the children, in particular, stopped my heart. Friends who have picked up the book to glance through it have expressed the same feeling. There is a texture to the photographs that makes your fingers twitch to reach in and examine further. I treasure this book.