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The Mystery of the Blue Train: Starring Maurice Denham as Hercule Poirot (BBC Radio Collection) [AUDIOBOOK]
Murder on the Orient Express (BBC Gold) [AUDIOBOOK]

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction
Provocative, appealing and controversial
pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Provocative, appealing and controversial.......2006-08-02

Fomenko has succeeded to convincingly demonstrate the misconception about what "history" factually is... It is fiction and -like we can read and judge for ourselves- no science. It indeed is "make belief" only. I "discovered" Fomenko while studying the "old" history of Al Andaluz, Spain. Having found too many contradictions in available data, having seen too many forgeries as to pretend the importance of christianity for its decline, I ventured out to find Fomenko, who convinced me that we know little if anything for sure of the epoch before the XI-century. However, the integration of the Arabic-Islamic cultural history into the heavily distorted Western fails... There are some attempts to fit "the budding new religion" (Islam) into Fomenko's scheme, but they are too weak to be taken seriously and too often focussing on Turkey as the region where things started to influence the West, which is untrue at all.
Islam certainly was no "new religion" in the X-century. That the highly cultivated Al Andaluz ruler Mohammed-I could have been "mirrored" down in time into some myth about the "illiterate" founder of Islam itself is highly speculative. Nevertheless, Fomenko convinces me about the processes that were involved in forging a christian history. Intriguing and controversial as his books are, I recommend them as to rethink our current position in time and space and simply verify what was claimed. It is a "good" book, but not for bedtime reading... Mundus vult decipi, the world wants to be cheated. Fomenko's readers will understand why.

pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.......2006-02-16

Traces of white wine were found in Tutankhamen's tomb however there were no record of white wine in Egypt until the 3rd century AD, 1600 years after the young pharaoh died according to the traditional chronology. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18925395.400
It can be interpreted as a contribution towards New Chronology theory that pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.

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Candy Licker: An Urban Erotic Tale
Noire
Manufacturer: One World/Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0345486471
Release Date: 2005-12-27

Book Description

SHE WANTED TO BE A HIP-HOP STAR BUT THE STREETS GOT IN THE WAY.

Have you ever laid down with a man and wasn’t sure if you’d ever get back up? Tossed the sheets with a bone-knocking fear that only a hard-core hustler could produce? Sexed him like your life depended on it, because in reality it did? You still with me? Then let’s roll over to my house. Harlem. 145th Street. Grab a seat and brace yourself as I show you the kind of pain that street life and so-called success can bring. . . .

Nineteen-year-old Candy Raye Montana, an ex—drug runner for the Gabriano crime family and a former foster child, dreams of becoming a hip-hop superstar, if only someone will discover her talents.

Someone does. Mega music producer and king thug of Harlem, Junius “Hurricane” Jackson, CEO of the House of Homicide recording studio, cuts a deal and puts Candy on the stage. Suddenly she is a hot new artist on the notorious Homicide Hitz record label. Her career takes off and she blazes the charts, but it’s not long before Candy realizes that the man she thought was her knight is nothing more than a cold-blooded nightmare.

Caught between the music and the madness, between the dollars and the deals, Candy belongs to Hurricane–body and soul–and must endure his sadistic bedroom desires while keeping his sexual secrets hidden from the world. But Candy has some strong desires of her own that simply cannot be denied, especially when she finds herself turned on by a brilliant investment baller who just happens to be Hurricane’s right-hand man. Candy longs for her freedom, but if Hurricane gets wind of her betrayal the blowback will be lethal–and not only will she risk losing her recording contract, she just might lose her life.

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Blood Diamonds
Greg Campbell
Manufacturer: Westview Press
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Binding: Paperback

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The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire
Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession
The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World
How de Body? One Man's Terrifying Journey Through an African War
A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF And the Destruction of Sierra Leone

ASIN: 0813342201
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Book Description

Journalist Greg Campbell leads the reader down the international diamond trail of brutality, horror, and profit - providing an on-the-ground and in-the-mines story of global consequence.

First discovered in 1930, the diamonds of Sierra Leone have funded one of the most savage rebel campaigns in modern history. These "blood diamonds" are smuggled out of West Africa and sold to legitimate diamond merchants in London, Antwerp, and New York, often with the complicity of the international diamond industry. Eventually, these very diamonds find their way into the rings and necklaces of brides and spouses the world over.

Blood Diamonds is the gripping tale of how the diamond smuggling works, how the rebel war has effectively destroyed Sierra Leone and its people, and how the policies of the diamond industry - institutionalized in the 1880s by the De Beers cartel - have allowed it to happen. Award-winning journalist Greg Campbell traces the deadly trail of these diamonds, many of which are brought to the world market by fanatical enemies. These repercussions of diamond smuggling are felt far beyond the borders of the poor and war-ridden country of Sierra Leone, and the consequences of overlooking this African tragedy are both shockingly deadly and unquestionably global. Updated with a new epilogue.

Arrogance and Accords: The Inside Story of the Honda Scandal

Average customer rating:

Inside story of Rick Hendrick's Bribery Shenanigans
Maybe Reviewers of this Book Should Tell the Truth
Great Book!!
incorrect
Arrogance and Accords

Arrogance and Accords: The Inside Story of the Honda Scandal
Steve Lynch
Manufacturer: Pecos Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0965776611

Book Description

Arrogance and Accords: The Inside Story of the Honda Scandal is the tale of the largest commercial corruption case in U.S. history. Between 1994 and 1997, eighteen former executives of American Honda Motor Company, along with four other people, were convicted on federal fraud and racketeering charges. The big secret at Honda was out: Over a 15-year period, the gang of greedy Honda officials had received over $50 million in cash and gifts from automobile dealers eager to obtain additional hot-selling Honda cars and franchises. The ill-gotten booty included briefcases stuffed with up to $750,000 in cash, palatial homes, luxury German automobiles, secret ownerships in dealerships and other businesses, and Hong Kong shopping sprees.

When the automobile market softened in the early 1990s, the high-rolling officials, led by Honda's charismatic national sales manager, switched to embezzling money from the corporation. Honda belatedly fired the executives in 1992 and tried to keep the scandal under wraps - until an ambitious small-town Assistant U. S. Attorney decided to investigate. Eighteen never-before arrested Honda executives were subsequently convicted. Most went to prison.

The final event of the scandal occurred in August 1997 when the nation's largest automobile dealer, Rick Hendrick, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a federal court in North Carolina.

Arrogance and Accords is both a true-crime story and a look inside one of the world's most respected companies. It details the key characters and their shady deals, along with the internal and FBI investigations, and reveals the corporate culture that allowed the pandemic payola to flourish for so long. The author examines how the corruption adversely affected Honda's sales efforts, from how it marketed automobiles to the establishment of the Acura luxury car division.

The book also provides a compelling look inside the much-maligned American automobile business.

Written by Steve Lynch, a former top Honda marketing executive, Arrogance and Accords is an insightful, often hilarious tale of greed, ignored whistle-blowers, paranoid Japanese managers, and the raucous 1995 federal trial of two of the Honda officials who decided to fight the charges.

Told as only an insider could, Arrogance and Accords is written with authority and style by someone who was in the thick of the action.

Customer Reviews:

Inside story of Rick Hendrick's Bribery Shenanigans.......2005-02-23

This was a terrific review of this book, found online:

BOOK REVIEW: ARROGANCE & ACCORDS - THE INSIDE STORY OF THE HONDA SCANDAL by Steve Lynch

Reviewed By Michael Daly

In June 1999 Pocono Raceway awarded Rick Hendrick its prestigious Bill France Sr. Award of Excellence. Wrote Speedway Scene when the award was announced, "Rick Hendrick exemplifies the drive, dedication, and ideals long associated with Bill France Sr."

The talk about ideals reeks of irony.

Steve Lynch spent thirteen years with the American branch of Honda Motor Company, and he loves Honda automobiles. This passion helps animate and drive his eyewitness account of the long-running bribery scandal that rocked American Honda and involved one of NASCAR's most powerful team owners. The scandal not only involved Rick Hendrick, it swept others in NASCAR racing as well, through no fault of their own.

Lynch's love of Honda shows in his early account of the dismal state of the American automobile scene circa 1981. There is a certain glee with which Lynch contrasts the high quality of Honda's product with the lesser quality of American marques of the time. Such contrasts in quality were vital, for Honda automobles were selling themselves, unsupported by the kind of extensive marketing campaigns common to auto manufacturers.

But as Honda grew more successful, greed and graft within the American division grew bigger and more audacious, as a gang of car cowboys dipped into the till of corruption and made themselves multimillionaires as a result. Lynch notes how Honda's tightwad employment policies contributed to the atmosphere of thievery.

The prince of payola at American Honda was "the blacksheep son of a well-to-do North Carolina family," John W. "Jack" Billmyer. Billmyer first made himself known as corrupt when he first joined Honda in the mid-1970s. He tried to extort from a Honda motorcycle dealer. When the dealer complained to higher-ups, he was ignored - a trait that would permeate American Honda's approach to the scandal for nearly 20 years.

Billmyer "wallowed in the kickbacks of dealers" throughout the country, and following in his footsteps was his successor as chief of national sales, Stanley James "Jim" Cardiges. Cardiges' own lack of moral scruples first displayed itself in very Clinton-esque fashion around 1977; running a dealership with his uncle, Peter Cardiges, Jim hit on - and ultimately stole - Peter's wife, his own aunt-in-law, Effie.

Such men were natural candidates for criminality.

Rick Hendrick was the biggest dealer influence-peddler to play ball with Billmyer and Cardiges. His relationship with Billmyer went back to Rick's youth as a hot rodder. Billmyer helped Hendrick establish himself in the car sales business and was instrumental in getting him a dealership. Lynch shows how Hendrick wielded undue influence with American Honda and was thus able to acquire more car stores than anyone else. "All it took," Lynch writes, "were a few gifts."

Most car companies limit dealers to about six store. Rick Hendrick, though, didn't believe such a rule should apply to him, and in Honda he found a company that officially did not have such a limit. He nonetheless took no chances; Lynch notes that Hendrick store holdings were frequently in the name of others, notably his brother John Hendrick, and less than $1 million of the bribes Rick paid have ever been recovered.

Lynch shows how Hendrick used bribes and influence-peddling to bankrupt rival Honda dealers and poach their stores. William Van Dalsam of Corono, CA, was one. Dick Young of South Carolina was another. These two cases were directly witnessed by Lynch; there were many other such cases not mentioned in the book because they were not directly witnessed by him. According to Rodger Knupp of Asheville, NC, one such involved former NASCAR driver Dick Brooks; after rebuffing a Hendrick offer to buy his stores, he found cars slated for his stores winding up at Hendrick stores.

This tactic of bankrupting rivals also drives Hendrick's racing, as evidenced by the enormous disparity of Hendrick Motorsports' budgets and engineering compared to those of most other teams.

Lynch also reveals how team owner Junie Donlavey and crew chief Doug Richert wound up getting caught up, through no fault of their own, in Billmyer's corruption. Seeing that Donlavey, a Richmond, VA Honda dealer, needed a crew chief for his team for 1987, Billmyer put the squeeze on a dealer from CT, John Orsini, to put Doug Richert on Executive Honda's payroll. This done, Donlavey had his crew chief. But the deal reeked of quid pro quo, and left a paper trail that would help unearth the massive bribery within American Honda.

Lynch carries the story through the trial and conviction of over 22 defendants, including Hendrick. There is a sense of disappointment in Lynch as he notes that, with Hendrick's guilty plea to one count of mail fraud (pertaining to perhaps the biggest individual bribe he paid Cardiges, a bribe that helped Cardiges buy an obscenely expensive California house), the probe of the Honda scandal seemed to close.

Lynch also notes a lesser-reported angle to the story -- how Hendrick reportedly also bribed Lexus. A cynic might thus question Hendrick's relationship with General Motors as well, given Hendrick's Chevrolet dealerships and the near-monopolistic clout and technical assistance GM provides Hendrick's racing empire.

One might also ask, if Hendrick is such a crook, why so many people so love him. Lynch answers that when he notes that, unlike the lesser dealers who bribed Honda, Hendrick was actually a good dealer, and his dealerships reflect him. Lynch notes Hendrick's generosity, his habit of providing whatever his employees need or want - most notably how he paid for operations on employee family members.

"Rick Hendrick has been a driving force in NASCAR Winston Cup racing," Joseph Mattioli of Pocono stated in announcing the France Sr. award, "and has displayed all the attributes that this award stands for."

Steve Lynch shows us just what attributes Rick Hendrick has displayed. NASCAR fans should be required to read this book.

Maybe Reviewers of this Book Should Tell the Truth.......2003-03-08

Michael Daly's review of this book (see below) is driven by his irrational hatred of Jeff Gordon. This book has way more to do with Japanese business methods than Rick Hendrick. Unfortunately, Daly cannot see the forest for the trees. Do yourself a favor. Read the book and not Daly's comments thereto. The former is much more enlightening.

Great Book!!.......2000-10-28

Arrogance and Accords is engaging, well written and at times very funny. The mainstream media missed this compelling corruption tale even though it was the biggest story in the auto industry during the 1990s.

Steve Lynch brings the sordid story to life, using his own experiences along with evidence and depositions provided by the Justice Department. I was on the "fringe" of the scandal and thought I knew the whole story from industry publications but Lynch brings to the table much more information than I ever imagined.

The reason that so much money passed hands is pretty simple - Honda cars were in high demand and dealers greased the palms of American Honda executives to get more vehicles. The real story here is not how it happened but how it all unraveled: a mixture of inept lawyers, an aggressive US Attorney, the often-unheard whistleblowers, and Honda's Japanese managers who did not want to put a stop to the corruption. The second half of the book reads like a true crime novel but it was all true.

Lynch could be a comedy writer. My favorite examples of his humor was his shots at some of the small towns key to the scandal - Conway, Arkansas, Santa Paula, California and Concord, New Hampshire - which were hysterical.

This past year, Honda paid out over $500 million to dealers who sued over the scandal, claiming they were denied vehicles in favor of corrupt dealers. I'm sure we have not heard the end of it....

incorrect.......2000-10-20

Not an accurate account of how this occurred, badly mangled.

Arrogance and Accords.......2000-01-17

As a nascar race fan i really enjoyed this book. It shows how deep corruption is in everyday business and how people like Rick Hendrick can steal and bribe from his own friends and still only get a slap on the wrist.It shows how Nascar stands by Hendrick even though he's a convicted felon.It makes you wonder how many top Nascar people were also involved.Also the influence Rick Hendrick had over GM.I think both Rick Hendrick and Nascar show a lack of respect for fair play in business.You only have to look at Nascar itself and see how they favored Hendricks teams. Did you ever see Jeff Gordan penalized for anything in Nascar.He jumped the restart at Watkins Glen 3 times and never was penalized. Watching Nascar anymore is like watching Wrestling.Nascar is as greedy as Rick Hendrick.

Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade

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Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade
Robert Sabbag
Manufacturer: Grove Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802135897

Book Description

Snowblind is an all-out, nonstop, and now classic look at the cocaine trade through the eyes of smuggler Zachary Swan. In a brief Roman-candle career, Swan served an elegant clientele, traveling between Bogota and the nightclubs of New York, inventing intricate scams to outmaneuver the feds. Creating diversions that were characteristically baroque, surviving on ingenuity and idiot's luck, he discovered in the process a hip, dangerous, high-velocity world that Robert Sabbag evokes with extraordinary power and humor.

Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy

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Any college-level holding strong in international studies, from business to social issues, must have this.
No Footnotes
A riposte to free market cheerleaders
Same Business Savy/Muscle As Wal-Mart
The limits of moral indignation

Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy
Moises Naim
Manufacturer: Anchor
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400078849
Release Date: 2006-10-10

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Illicit activities are exploding worldwide. The onslaught of globalization has unleashed a tidal wave of bad stuff--everything from arms trafficking, human smuggling, and money laundering to music bootlegging. Here is the dark side of globalization: the mushrooming underground economy. Moisés Naím explores this murky world in his book Illicit. Naím is the editor of the relaunched magazine Foreign Policy and a former executive director of the World Bank and Minister of Trade and Industry of Venezuela. In Illicit, he unties the connections between the Colombian cocaine dealer, the New York banker steering money to offshore tax havens, the Albanian forcing women into prostitution, and the Chinese market stall-holder selling counterfeit DVDs.

Naím reports that legitimate global trade has doubled since 1990 from $5 to $10 trillion. Meanwhile, money laundering has gone up tenfold, exceeding $1 trillion a year. Smuggling and money laundering have always existed, but Naím shows how they have increased at a staggering pace in the wake of globalization, despite new government controls since 9/11. The main culprits are the collapse of the Iron Curtain and state deregulation. As the reach of organized crime has expanded, governments have failed to keep up. Naím illustrates the problems with stories about A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb who sold nuclear technology to North Korea and Libya; Walter C. Anderson, an American who was accused of hiding $450 million in offshore accounts to evade taxes; and Vladimir Montesinos, the Peruvian intelligence czar who is on trial for trafficking drugs and arms. The book, while a little dry, will be interesting to policy buffs and aspiring crooks alike. --Alex Roslin

Book Description

A groundbreaking investigation of how illicit commerce is changing the world by transforming economies, reshaping politics, and capturing governments.

In this fascinating and comprehensive examination of the underside of globalization, Moises Naím illuminates the struggle between traffickers and the hamstrung bureaucracies trying to control them. From illegal migrants to drugs to weapons to laundered money to counterfeit goods, the black market produces enormous profits that are reinvested to create new businesses, enable terrorists, and even to take over governments. Naím reveals the inner workings of these amazingly efficient international organizations and shows why it is so hard — and so necessary to contain them. Riveting and deeply informed, Illicit will change how you see the world around you.

Customer Reviews:

Any college-level holding strong in international studies, from business to social issues, must have this........2007-02-09

Unlawful commerce is changing world economies, influencing international politics, and even undermining some of the foundations of society: this is the argument of ILLICIT: HOW SMUGGLERS, TRAFFICKERS, ARE HIJACKING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. It's an essential discussion for modern times, surveying the links between seemingly-small illicit users around the world and how globalization is affected by their actions. Any college-level holding strong in international studies, from business to social issues, must have this.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

No Footnotes.......2006-09-22

I'm about a third of the way through the book; very provocative so far. Unfortunately, my copy has no footnotes. The notes are at the end of the chapters as you'd expect, but the numbers they reference are not in the text. Tends to complicate a serious academic reading.

A riposte to free market cheerleaders.......2006-06-10

"Illicit" by Moises Naim is a good primer on the underground economy. Mr. Naim's experience as an Editor at Foreign Policy magazine appears to have helped the author hone his skills at synthesizing an impressive quantity of third-party research to support his thesis. It is also evident that Mr. Naim's discussions with numerous high-level personal and professional contacts around the world have helped him reflect on the topic at length, leading him to offer many pages of thoughtful critique and analysis. The end result is a balanced and nuanced book that makes a valuable contribution to our understanding about an increasingly urgent and worrisome problem.

Some might also read Mr. Naim's description of how globalization empowers illicit trade as a riposte to free market cheerleaders such as Thomas Friedman, who tend to equate entrepreneurship with utopianism. To the contrary, we find that many counterfeiters and traffickers are highly skilled and creative people who excel at exploiting decentralized and flexible underground marketing, sales and production networks for personal gain but at great expense to our collective peace and security. According to Mr. Naim, "profits...was the name of the game" for nuclear weapons traders such as A.Q. Khan, and it is on this basis that the struggle to curtail illict trade must be based.

Given that governments around the world are currently losing this struggle, Mr. Naim argues for a strategy of harm reduction including the removal of the artificial barriers that create myriad profit opportunities for criminals. For example, this might include the decriminalization of marijuana. The author reasons that law enforcement could better focus on much more dangerous activities and on enforcing the laws in more readily attainable ways, such as prosecuting major drug dealers and the employers of illegal aliens. I found Mr. Naim's recommendations to be refreshingly commonsensical when compared with the more politically expedient but ineffective supply-side fixes that are proposed by far too many policymakers today.

Regrettably, Mr. Naim fails to take the book to a deeper level of analysis by making a stronger connection between neoliberal ideology, democracy and illicit trade. To be sure, Mr. Naim highlights the fact that some places on our planet have become anarchic, controlled by criminal gangs of all sorts whose economic power has allowed them to buy off their local governments (if they exist at all). However, he does not acknowledge the fairly obvious fact that illicit trade might represent precisely what neoliberalism desires: pure capitalism without the restraining influence of government. Might his recommendations have been made stronger by insisting on ways to achieve meaningful social and environmental justice through radical democratic reforms, rather than plugging holes in an already far too leaky and decrepit system of global neoliberal governance?

Setting aside this reasonable difference in opinion, I found this book to be an engagingly interesting and informative read. I highly recommend it to all.

Same Business Savy/Muscle As Wal-Mart.......2006-05-20

"In todays labyrinthine routings of contraband across multiple contients, front companies are easy to set up, dozens in order to blur one's trace. As a result intermediaries in international commerce of illicit products, services , & humans have increased their profile and their profits. It is the brokers who control today's illicit markets, set the deals, & make the big money".This is a small snipet of the market place. The markets are just markets/ legal or illegal. Governments decide the righteousness of them. In other words: what is in a true market: cent$, can now be dollar$. It is the magic of a legalized highway robbery called the stroke a pen. Of course its a no brainer that governmemnts are getting greased to hell and back. Through corporate(legal/illegal) sugar daddys or just down and dity in your face corruption. It has penetrated deeply into the private sector, politics, and governments of today. It is penetrating markets deeper, plus horizontally and vertically, and in direct proportion to their profits that control crucial decisions within current national governments (U.S. included). In some cases the national interests are completely aligned with illegal profits. A must read for understanding the a whole picture the global economy. It is an entertaining and informative read. Welcome to globalization. And of course that is on either side of the border: because they own both sides!

The limits of moral indignation.......2006-05-18

Naim starts his book by describing the corrupting influence of global trade. He argues that the rapid fall in trade barriers during the 90s has produced a boom in illicit trade. Just as it is easier to make an international call or buy clothing manufactured in China, it is now trivial to traffic slaves and contraband. With all their cash flow, smugglers have made a big business of tax evasion. In some places, it is cheaper for smugglers to buy the government than fight it. Once purchased, they can make their line of business 'legal', at least within their own territorial domain. The consumer can politely ignore all of this until smuggler profits fund political violence such as 9/11. The way modern smuggling threatens the peace provides Naim with a great story line, something that should interest a wide audience.

With uncontrolled global trade identified as the primary culprit, Naim turns to detailed stories regarding the immoral traffic in slaves, drugs, body-parts and weapons. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest.

Naim paints a picture of global smuggling networks composed of independent, but cooperative agents now finding a stealthy niche in international commerce. He shows how these agents arbitrage the differences between legal systems. When useful, they can simply buy the government and grant themselves legitimacy. The amounts of money are huge. They specialize in cross border movement and make the most of high tech gadgets. Take out any individual, and a competitor quickly fills the gap. There is no long vertical chain which would allow police to immobilize the smuggling network by taking out a few kingpins. These networks are very robust.

Naim spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations, but they seem tentative and conventional. He lists 6 steps:
1. Enhance surveillance technology (eavesdropping, biometrics, etc.)
2. Unify government agencies (do 'homeland security', but do it right)
3. Give government goals that can be achieved
4. Use global solutions
5. Build political will power to do reasonable things (like legalize marijuana).
6. Get everyone involved.

The 6 step program strikes me as schizophrenic. The first two steps are very conventional 'big government' solutions. The last 4 might be rephrased to read 'educate the voters, and kick out the rascals'. Who wants more big brother programs? What is the educational curriculum, the joys of surveillance?

What gets ignored is rising gang violence. Naim is curiously silent on levels of kidnapping, extortion and blackmail. These problems are particularly bad on the borders. Nor does Naim discuss theft of real property. For example, the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering) never makes it into his book.

Rather than explore the nature of network violence, Naim seeks to show 'illicit' trade is simply an economic issue. Time and again, Naim tells us that these criminals are capitalists, driven by economic goals. He asks us to think of them as bankers rather than bootleggers. They are driven by profits and only become 'criminals' because of misguided political events. Naim argues that few bootleggers are purely doing illicit business. They are really generalists. Almost all have some 'licit' business. Further, if you really take a close look at yourself, everyone has done an 'illicit' deal at some point in their lives. We are all in the 'illicit' business.

It is a little harder to make this case if robbery, kidnapping, extortion and blackmail are included in the list of 'illicit' activities. One can argue that economics illuminates murderous motivations, but I've always found such arguments hollow. I'm not convinced that thugs are purely economic actors. The thugs I've met instinctively like violence and domination, regardless the economic consequences.

Naim spends the last 10 pages describing the declining importance of the 'nation-state'. He derides the Bush administration for expecting terrorism to be 'state sponsored'. This represents a 7th recommendation. He argues that terrorist are sponsored by global illicit trade, not 'states'. Instead of looking for the 'state', we should be looking for the 'network'. One is left wondering what 'looking for the network' might mean.

Average customer rating:

The Crime Trade: A Novel
Simon Kernick
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
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When Operation Surgical Strike, a police sting designed to catch Colombian drug traffickers in the act of selling a large consignment of cocaine to undercover police officers, goes horribly wrong, suspicion quickly falls on one of the police officers involved: "Stegs" Jenner. Stegs is no ordinary cop. Something of a maverick, he has in the past played the role of a criminal just a little too well. Now suspended from duty, and with his close friend killed in the shoot-out, he determines to go at it alone.

DI John Gallan and his partner Tina Boyd are part of the subsequent investigation that will take them to the heart of one of London's most notorious criminal gangs. What they cannot know is that they've also embarked on a journey that will lead one of them straight into the rifle sights of the enemy.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
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Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities--From Italy's Tomb Raiders to the World's Greatest Museums

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Fascinating but a little information overload
Great topic, well researched, choppy reading at times.
Great Book
Medici Conspiracy is amazing!
Just Like the Movies, but Real Life

The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities--From Italy's Tomb Raiders to the World's Greatest Museums
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Book Description

A true-life thriller completely exposes the network behind the illegal trade in ancient artifacts--and features a rich cast of rogues and some of the world's most prestigious art institutions

The story begins, as stories do in all good thrillers, with a botched robbery and a police chase. Eight Apuleian vases of the fourth century B.C. are discovered in the swimming pool of a German-based art smuggler. More valuable than the recovery of the vases, however, is the discovery of the smuggler's card index detailing his deals and dealers. It reveals the existence of a web of tombaroli-tomb raiders-who steal classical artifacts, and a network of dealers and smugglers who spirit them out of Italy and into the hands of wealthy collectors and museums.

Peter Watson, a former investigative journalist for the London Sunday Times and author of two previous exposes of art world scandals, names the key figures in this network that has depleted Europe's classical artifacts. Among the loot are the irreplaceable and highly collectable vases of Euphronius, the equivalent in their field of the sculpture of Bernini or the painting of Michelangelo. The narrative leads to the doors of some major institutions: Sothebys, the Getty Museum in L.A., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York among them.

Filled with great characters and human drama, The Medici Conspiracy authoritatively exposes another shameful round in one of the oldest games in the world: theft, smuggling and duplicitous dealing, all in the name of art.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating but a little information overload.......2007-05-08

This book is a well written, well researched book about looted antiquities. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject, or anyone interested in looted art in general. If I have any complaint, it is that the book at times gives too much information, which slows down the pace of the narrative as the author reveals how the investigation of Medici, Robert Hecht, Robin Symes, Marion True, and others came to pass.

Great topic, well researched, choppy reading at times........2007-05-02

I give this book a definite four stars because it is a worthy representation of the story and gives the account of what happened with great zeal. The topic itself is fascinating. In my opinion, various Federal Art/Cultural Property Crime units would be well served by making this book mandatory reading for their agents. It stands as a clear insight into the dark realm of unlawful antiquities excavation, illicit smuggling and clandestine sale- an increasingly important issue in our "global economy" world where buyers and sellers can come together across oceans with little effort, and without regard to laws that may govern certain antiquities transactions.

At times, it reads a bit choppy. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the authors were careful to include all pertinent data, instead of sacrificing the volume of fact for the sake of the story. I almost feel bad detracting a star for this, but if you're going to sell a book as a story rather than an academic study, I do believe certain concessions should be made for ease of reading.

Nevertheless, still a great book, well worth purchasing. This book will probably become one of the classics on the topic of art smuggling and the attendant markets.

Great Book.......2007-03-27

Have been waiting for some time to read this book, and I really enjoyed it. Of course I like art-related mysteries and other stories anyway. I'll be looking for other titles by this author.

Medici Conspiracy is amazing!.......2006-08-25

The Medici Conspiracy by Peter Watson is an amazing account, thoroughly researched, beautifully written, with marvelous photographs. It is literally a fascinating mystery, revealed and solved. I applaud the Italians and commend Oscar White Muscarella for his life-long good fight.

Just Like the Movies, but Real Life.......2006-08-11

When you have something small, easily moved, requires no special handling such as refrigeration, very valuable, and willing customers, it's pretty easy to guess what happens.

This book is a window into the world of illegal art. It begins with an armed robbery and a chase. It develops into the discovery of a world wide network of theves and apparently willing customers who appear willing to spend literally millions of dollars for items the seller may have stolen.

In the movies the purchaser is a private collector who is taking the art into his private collection, never to be seen again. Here though, the purchasers are big time auction houses (Southeby's), famous museums (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Getty).

This book is a fascinating introduction to the world depicted in Pink Panther and Cary Grant movies.

Body Brokers: Inside America's Underground Trade in Human Remains

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Body Brokers: Inside America's Underground Trade in Human Remains
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Body Brokers is an audacious, disturbing, and compellingly written investigative exposé of a little known aspect of the “death care” world: the lucrative business of procuring, buying, and selling human cadavers and body parts.

Every year human corpses meant for anatomy classes, burial, or cremation find their way into the hands of a shadowy group of entrepreneurs who profit by buying and selling human remains. While the government has controls on organs and tissue meant for transplantation, these “body brokers” capitalize on the myriad other uses for dead bodies that receive no federal oversight whatsoever: commercial seminars to introduce new medical gadgetry; medical research studies and training courses; and U.S. Army land-mine explosion tests. A single corpse used for these purposes can generate up to $10,000.

As journalist Annie Cheney found while reporting on this subject over the course of three years, when there’s that much money to be made with no federal regulation, there are all sorts of shady (and fascinating) characters who are willing to employ questionable practices—from deception and outright theft -- to acquire, market, and distribute human bodies and parts. In Michigan and New York she discovers funeral directors who buy corpses from medical schools and supply the parts to surgical equipment companies and associations of surgeons. In California, she meets a crematorium owner who sold the body parts of people he was supposed to cremate, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits. In Florida, she attends a medical conference in a luxury hotel, where fresh torsos are delivered in large coolers and displayed on gurneys in a room normally used for banquets. “That torso that you’re living in right now is just flesh and bones. To me, it’s a product,” says the New Jersey-based broker presiding over the torsos. Tracing the origins of body brokering from the “resurrectionists” of the 19th century to the entrepreneurs of today, Cheney chronicles how demand for cadavers has long driven unscrupulous funeral home, crematorium and medical school personnel to treat human bodies as commodities.

Gripping, often chilling, and sure to cause a reexamination of the American way of death, Body Brokers is a captivating work of first-person reportage.

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