Eagle Reviews

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Jenkins at a conference in Portland,Oregon last August, and his book and his talk made an immediate and lasting impact on how I viewed organizational needs. I have used one quote over and over as I have worked with my retired teachers organization. "Individuals and organizations that continuously change are the ones who experience lasting success." I am 73 years old and I know that we must view change as a positive and explore new possibilities if we and our organizations are to prosper. "We have always done it that way" is not an option. I have shared my book with others and now find it has disappeared, but I will find another copy someplace - it is a "keeper."

This book should be required reading for all teenagers, and any adult going through personal or work-related upheaval would also benefit tremendously. It contains lucidly crafted, accessible principles that do much more than state the obvious home truths expounded in most such books. I am now circulating my copy among the "survivors": my newly formed team, created after a painful and protracted process of "right-sizing" and re-organization. I believe it will help us as a group to create afresh and avoid the predispositions, mindsets and mistakes of our predecessors. To the author : THANK YOU!

A simple but excellent way to remind that change is evident, and dealing with change can and will cause one to reflect on the inner self and admit strengths can also be weaknesses. It was great to be reminded that teamwork is so very necessary in all success whether professional or personal.

By far one of the best books written on the Battle of the Buldge and the seige at Bastogne. Burgett gives excellent eyewitness testimony to the horror and slaughter that was the Battle of the Buldge. The reader sees the battle through the eyes that faught it. Burgett brilliantly takes the reader into the heat of the battle and makes the reader understand what it was like to be in the 101st Airborne during World Wae II. I could not put this book down until it was finished and it made me want to read as much as i could about the Battle of the Buldge.Donald Burgett is truly an American Hero. I highly recommend this book to everyone young and old.

Mr. Burgett has amazed me. He tells the truth about what the war was like. When I Read Seven Roads to Hell, I was shocked. The 101st was sent to the lines with little ammo,food and men. And yet they fought for over a month against the very best German troops. After the battle, Hitler himself said he wantted a unit like the 101, a unit that holds even when it looks hopeless.
When they ship out, Burgett tells about how some troopers were going to kill a American captain, just to get to the front lines.
This book is a must read

Nobody but a combat soldier can answer the question: "What was it like?" For those of us who have never experienced battle we can only try to imagine it. Mr. Burgett urges us to hunker down into his foxhole as the carnage of noman's land drops onto our laps like a screaming mortar shell. His unbelievable experiences make for a series of WWII memoirs unsurpassed in their vivid telling. I have read all four of his books-in chronological order-and I cannot imagine a more genuine and descriptive account of a trooper's brutal experiences in the European theater of WWII. I wish I could meet the man to shake his hand. His dedication and sense of honor and sacrifice make me proud to be an American, and very grateful indeed for having known of such combat men as Donald R. Burgett.

This book is absolutely incredible. I recommend it highly. It is one of the best ever written about the ancient Celts in Wales and in ancient Britain. I had read some of Ms. Gedge's Egyptian books and they were very good, but this one is definitely betterin my opinion. If you can't buy it since it's out of print, try to rent it from you library. Don't miss it! It's the best.

I can't tell you how many times I've thanked my lucky stars that I found this book on a table at Bargain Books. IT DESERVES TO HAVE A PLACE FAR HIGHER as well as to REMAIN IN PRINT! I am currently without it and I am so afraid that something will happen to it that I refuse to allow it mailed to me unless I am its personal messenger. Seriously. I just pray that someday the publisher will somehow have it reprinted.

Pauline Gedge was able to make these historical figure come to life in a way that I didn't know possible. I've been interested in Roman Britain and the Celts for so many years and I've read all that I can get my hands on, yet this is still the best in fiction but I feel that it's much too historically accurate to be simply classified as 'fiction", it is like a history lesson but with all the elements of being there and living it.

If you ever run across this book, BUY it, or write me and I'll buy it from you, because I can definately use another copy-or two, you know...as backup. I mean it.

Thanks for reading my blithering blubber, but I can't imagine what I can do to get this book back in print so I can actually have a copy to read with me here in Portland, instead of in Florida, as I said earlier, I refuse to take my chances mailing it across the entire United States. It's that good.

This sweeping saga of Great Britain, known then, as the ancient Albion, chronicles the lives of several outstanding defenders of freedom. First is Caradoc, the son of a Celtic king, who tries to unite the people of his country against the invasions of Rome. It is also about his sister Gladys who stays behind to fight the Romans while her brother escapes to fight them again. She falls in love with a Roman despite her strong Celtic ties. Finally, it is about Boudicca, (everyone spells it differently) and her devotion to carry on the work of Caradoc.

This book was one of the best I have ever read. I couldn't put it down at times (even though I had to force myself to so I could go to sleep at night). You are brought back into time and feel as though you are with these people, silently watching and cheering on the Celts, while at the same time cursing the Romans and their greedy grasping ways. It is a long book but it doesn't seem so as the pages fly through your fingers as you become enveloped in the Celt's cause against Rome. The book is wonderfully detailed with ancient pre-medievalism descriptions of people, places, etc. You just have to buy this book, and read it, to believe how incredible it really is. The characters are so three dimensional and emotional that you feel their pain and their triumphs with unbelievable passion.

Yes, this book is out-of-print, but if you find it, buy it, and read it and treasure it for years to come. You will not be sorry that you turned the first page of the first chapter.

If you enjoyed this book I think you would also enjoy "Warrior Queen" by James Sinclair (also out-of-print but an excellent read), and "Ashes of Britannia" Warrior Queen Series by Haley Elizabeth Garwood. These titles delve deeper into Boudicca's fight against Rome.

By far the most realistic of the Bond books. Fleming's description of the MGB (later KGB) headquarters in Moscow's Dzherzinsky Square, where the plot to lure British agent James Bond to his death is first revealed, is reputedly based on information to which he was privy in his capacity as a WWII officer in British Naval Intelligence -- likewise the recruitment and training of the psychopathic killer Red Grant, one of the most formidable of Bond's enemies (and the only one in the films who looked for a while about to kill Bond for sure! 007 meets his match in Grant!) This is the book behind what in my opinion is the best of the Bond movies, steeped in the atmosphere of the Cold War into which the Bond series was born. 007 travels to Istanbul in pursuit of the bait, a Lektor decoder which can read top secret Soviet military and intelligence signal traffic. Another form of bait is the beautiful Tatiana Romanova, an MGB cipher clerk allegedly in love with Bond, willing to defect with the Lektor if only 007 will come and fetch her. (Fleming takes yet another jab at the Reds by choosing this name for Bond's love interest -- Romanov was the family name of the last Czar of old imperial Russia, the family doomed to extinction by the Russian revolution.) Kerim Bey adds a bit of panache, mischief and mystery as "Our man in Istanbul," Head of Station T (for Turkey). A truly great and suspenseful plot!

Fleming seemed to have used his first four novels (Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, and Diamonds are Forever) to warm us up to the Bond character and used the same plot style for the first four novels. In From Russia, With Love, Fleming takes Bond and his writing style to a higher, more intellectual level. Fleming is masterful in setting the scenes without being too boring. Bond doesn't appear until the second part of the book (Part II-The Plan) and you hardly even notice. Another interesting note is that of the James Bond movies, From Russia, With Love the movie follows the novel pretty well, even in lesser scenes such as the gypsy fight. This, perhaps, is due to the fact that Fleming was alive only for the filming and release of Dr. No and From Russia, With Love. This book is clearly Fleming at the top of his game and an outstanding entry to the series.

Considered by many to the be the best James Bond 007 book of all time, From Russia With Love delivers the perfect formula for a James Bond novel. Originally, Ian Fleming's tales of 007 were not going so good, so he intended with this book to kill off James Bond once and for all. The end of this novel is quite a surprise to a first time reader.

The book begins by telling of the commanding rule of SMERSH. The leader of this organization is General Grubozaboyschikov. Also working is Colonel Rosa Klebb and director of planning Kronsteen, who treats real people as if they were chess pieces. The muscle of the group is a homicidal madman, who follows orders, and is in practically perfect physical shape, Donovan "Red" Grant. These evil minds have planned the perfect way to destroy the life and reputation of James Bond. Their plan is to lure 007 with the beatiful Tatiana Romanova and a Spektor cipher decoding machine as bait. Then Grant will meet up with them eventually and kill them both. However, SMERSH will take it a step further to lie to the public that Bond and Tatiana were in an affair, and that Bond commits suicide. It's a perfect plan.
Bond indeed does travel to Istanbul, believing that this girl wants to defect, and will give him the Spektor machine only if he personally helps her. 007 meets Darko Kerim, and a wonderful gypsy fight adds to the fun of the story. Bond and Tatiana travel on a train back to Europe, where he meets Red Grant and is told of the plan to kill him. An extremely bvrutal gun and fist fight breakes out between the men with 007 shooting Grant. 007 goes to Paris with Tatiana to catch Rosa Klebb in a meeting. However, Klebb releases a poison knife from her shoe and kicks 007 in the leg, before being taken away by the police. The story ends with 007 lying on the floor of the hotel room...

Perhaps the finest story of Ian Fleming, filled with the excitement and adventure to give this book it's reputation as on of the best 007 novels ever!

After reading Inside Passage,I felt my soul was baptized by the beauty of Alaska and the author Michael Modzelewski was the minister who administered the baptismal ceremony for many poor polluted souls. My outlook of life has been changed since then. Every day and every minute I live is full of beauty and purity like Alaska's blue sky. I would like to live in inside Passage every summer!

Inside Passage is a book for the ages. An awe-inspiring piece of work that has left me both breathless and wanting more. Each image is created with such care and heart, the spirit of a "warrior" and the heart of a "man" shines through in each page. Inside Passage will leave an idelible mark on both the reader and the readers soul. A must read for anybody who has ever had a dream or a person seeking refuge in the majestic landscape of the Alaskan wilds. Modzleweski presents a totally-balanced account. Unlike many authors who've left the city for the wilds he doesn't "deify" Native Americans. He describes each Kwakiutl he meets as an individual with different life-styles, education-levels, and manners of speaking. Inside Passage brings out the raw and harsh natural laws man must live by in the wilderness, but intertwined within that plot is a story of unharnessed adventure and a life worth living. Having visited the Inside Passage the past two summers, I can say that the author brought the area totally alive! In the economical and passionate-style of a poet, Modzelewski goes far-beneath the surface of an awesome place. Most of all, he takes the reader on a spiritual VisionQuest-where as he describes it:"The Inside Passage is real dream country. Even on land you are moved. The tides that carry the great whales move the bulk of your thoughts just as effortlessly. On the islands, the surrounding sea enters your subconcious, creating a rippling mirror that reflects reality from many perspectives. There is no concrete to fix attitudes, harden dreams. The world around you constantly flows in many levels, swirling deep fathoms into you, loosening holdfasts and safeguards, stirring up sediment, provoking protean change." Reading this book changed my life. Now I see the world through un-biased eyes. Life is a challenge and a blessing, I accept it with passion and un-dying gratitude. Mr. Modzelewski has opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed, and for that I am forever en-debted to him. This book will change you; I guarantee it!

Buddhists and people living close to Nature often have the same philosophy of being in the moment and trying to extinguish the narrow self to let the whole world in. In INSIDE PASSAGE Michael Modzelewski is much like a Zen student with Nature his teacher. This book is filled with moments of brilliant satori or enlightenment.

When I was a young teenager I could read a book straight through without putting it down. I've been missing that and then when I came to reading this book it re-occured; I couldn't put it down and there was that wonderful feeling again.

Most of the time I am not on good terms with religion, it creates war if you ask me and therefor I also normally have a hard time reading books that mention God continously through out. However Rosemary has managed to get around my defenses when it comes to that and I could read this book openmindedly.
Reading openheartedly is quite easy for me, but keeping an open mind about things, can be hard sometimes. I found myself respecting her description of what she felt was a God, it was opened enough for me to think of it as something else, anything that my mind wouldn't despise so much. Maybe it helps that her descriptions of certain happenings reminded me of my own experiences. In particular I liked her description of the ether body and then when she went on to tie that together with the "out of body experiences" when you are looking down on your own body - I thought it was phenomenal how well she described it.
-If my words are different than the words used in the book, it's because I have read the Swedish translation of the book..

This is a book to discover yourself in, or to accept and respect yourself for who you are!

I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end. I have never read a book that I couldn't put down. It was given to me by my maternal uncle at a time when I was in need of some healing. No author has ever been able to make me see things so clearly before. This book made me laugh and cry. Ms. Altea is a very telented writer with a knack for storytelling.

As the title says, this is one of the best books I Have ever read. A Clarevoyant told me I had the psychic ability and it needed developing, he said I should read every book on mediumship I could get my hands on and this was the first book I read, it truely inspired my and answered many question. Rosemary is a wonderful gifted person and you feel as if you know her personally by the end of the book, she really opens her heart up to you. A must read for everyone, my husband and children would enjoy me reciting some of the storys from this book and it even got my 8 year old son interested in the spirit world

Great book, notable for the deep insights it provides into its author. This book is not about an Eagle, it is about a man relating to the world.

-- this story is for you. Read slowly a page or two and close your eyes, see the action, smell the air, the ambiance and feel the wind in your face, flowing around your arms and shoulders. If you are into imagination and self-hypnsosis, turn yourself into an American Eagle - regardless your nationality. Turn loose whether you live in Beijing, Rwanda or Lhasa. Be free!

A story the King would definitely love to read more than twice. Story of love, friendship reaching to the ultimate planes of spirituality. Elvis A. Eagle's relentless battle with the world teaches him to spread unlimited love and kindness on earth and beyond...just as Elvis A. Presley has always done. Love you Elvis forever.

Maria Columbus, President, The Elvis Special

This Review lead me to Raymond Austin. (It is right it is.)

BOOKLIST AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Fans of the classic British television series The Avengers and The Saint may recognize the author',s name: as Ray Austin, he directed episodes-of-those serve; as well as many other British and American shows, This is his first novel, and it's ideally suited for the small screen. An armored car is hijacked, seemingly snatched out of thin air, and Virginia's Beauford Sloan, retired-cop-turned-private-detective, is hired to find out whodunit. Sloan, who closely resembles the actor Wilford Brimley, is a remarkably likable character. (The resemblance is no coincidence: Brimley and the author are friends, and Brimley has expressed his desire to play the detective in the anticipated television movie based on the novel. He has also written an introduction to the book.) In fact, everything about the novel is remarkably likable; perhaps because he spent decades in the world of moving pictures, Austin knows how to create detailed characters, dialogue that is both memorable and realistic, and an exciting plot. An excellent debut and a real find.

David Pitt

A great summer read, fast paced, with characters that you care about. I liked Sloan so much, I want to see what else he does. A third book is coming out soon, can't wait! This would make a great movie!!

I was totally captivated right from the start how the incredible "Eagle Heist" went down. You'll have to read to know what I mean! This book was fabulous! Right until the end I could not figure out who masterminded this incredible heist. Raymond Austin does an amazing job of creating a visual masterpiece in his first book. It must be made into a movie! I'm looking forward to the next in his series, "Dead Again."

There is one purpose for the existence of a professional military organization. That purpose is to engage in warfare, when necessary, to defend the nation. Peacetime, which unfortunately is usually just a breathing space between wars and lesser fights, should be spent training and preparing for the next go-round.

Once An Eagle brings that fact of life chillingly home to roost. I first read this excellent novel in the 1970s and I have reread it many times and learned more from the book each time. It also served me well throughout my military service as a Marine artilleryman.

The main character is a composite, a combination of Woodfill from War I to Eichelberger in War II. The author has caught the essence of both military service and the military life, even though he salts the dialogue with Marine terms instead of the corresponding 'Army talk.'

The characters are real, the battles were actually fought, both on the battlefield and off (the off battlefield ones, unfortunately are still being waged and not always for the 'good of the service'), even though a good part of the fight in France during War I was taken liberally from the book Fix Bayonets! Artistic license is both acceptable and valuable, especially in this case.

Soldiers, not carpet knights, win the nation's wars. Unfortunately, they will still have to be waged, fought, and won. This excellent volume makes the distinction between the soldier and the courtier, and what the country needs to defend itself. One retired Marine officer who is also a prolific author of Marine Corps lore, has termed these two types of officers 'lions and lambs'-the distinction should be obvious to the casual observer and reader. This book should not only be required reading for every military professional, but also for the politicians who are their civilian masters and who send them into harm's way.

Literally the only non text book I read in four years of college...I've probably read it 5 times since. I've since worn out that first copy and I continue on another. Myrer has written, quite simply, the finest modern American war novel.

Damon's (Myrer's) prayer for strength in leadership ("...let me not fail them...") was on my desk or wall or wallet in every leadership or staff position I had for all my years of military service, as was his statement that a man must be prepared for the awful shrieking moment when he knows he may die on a lonely hilltop 10,000 miles from home.

I made my lieutenants read and discuss the book, named my tank 'Sad Sam' after Damon (my XO's tank was 'The Wolverine' after Ben Krisler)and had it been in print in the late '80s would have had my students buy it as their leadership primer. When he is old enough, I will ask my son to read it.

Composed of the traits of fine American officers and sergeants, Sam Damon's life is a rich tapestry filled with great success and great failure. That is the magic of Anton Myrer, he created a character who was truly believable.

His protagonist, Massengale, is just as real - and he exists today in one or more arm chair senior officers. I've met him, as have others.

A must read for all leaders, military or civilian...truly one of the finest examples of modern tragedy that anyone could write.

I salute the memory of Anton Myrer...it was an honor to have read his work and known him through Sam Damon!

This was the first book I had "read for fun" ever, being that I just got out of college. But the subject matter (History) and length (1,000 pages) told me otherwise. But I insisted, since it was on every reading list I saw for Junior Officers, including the USMA and Army Chief of Staff lists.
You follow Sam Damon through his entire life, from the Mexican Punitive Expedition in 1915 up to the beginnings of the Vietnam "War." From the lowest Private to the General Officer who people worshipped. The story is amazing and unbelievable. I was so attached to the book. I found myself highlighting passages and quotes of the "real" moments that I have either seen or assume I will see. Sam is everyone's hero. And this hero has his sworn enemy in Courtney Massengale. I hated Massengale. Just like the book wanted me too. But Myrer makes you understand everbody's view in this work by shifting the perspective from Sam to Massengale to Sam's Wife on occasions. But still, I hated Massengale.
The book trashed two of my immediate expectations. First it was an Army book written by a Marine. I thought, "what could a Marine know about the Army?" Second, I never expected much regarding Sam's relationship with his wife/family and the toll that the Army life took on them. This was not distracting to the book, but rather intensified the relationship between Sam and his family, and the "relationship" with myself.
Highly recomended to anyone with an interest in the history of the battles of the early part of last century, the military minded, or even those who hate the military, but need a bit more knowledge. Yes, this book can be read as an "Anti-War" book.

I first read this book in or around 1967.I was riveted by the accounts of the training for the paratroopers for combat in WWII. The author an 18 year old caught up in the idea of war enlists in the paratroopers and does a wonderful dsecriptive job telling about the bonding and closeness of the troopers as he takes the reader on his expolits through D-Day and beyond. A must read for ex-paratroopers. I have recommended this book to several friends who were paratroopers.

Donald Burgett served as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division and gifts us with this remarkable account of his experience during the Allied invasion of Normandy. The first part of the book about the formation of the paratroopers and their early training will be familiar to those who have read Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" or watched the HBO miniseries. From D-Day forward, however, the stories are very different. In comparison to "Currahee!", BoB appears to be an almost sanatized version of the invasion and fighting in Normandy. In "Currahee!" Burgett does not hesitate to vividly describe the horrors of war - excrutiating wounds, rotting corpses, moments of incredible fear and agony. Even if you think that you are prepared to face these grim realities, you will still find Burgett's frankness disturbing. However, I encourage you not to let this put you off reading this book. Burgett's experience in Normandy was extraordinary, and he does a masterful job of conveying all the terror, exhilaration and grief he experienced. Since this is just one man's story, it necessarily captures only one perspective about a limited part of the invasion, but Burgett's skillful storytelling successfully conveys what many of the troops must have been thinking and feeling during those remarkable days.

Nobody but a combat soldier can answer the question: "What was it like?" For those of us who have never experienced battle we can only try to imagine it. Mr. Burgett urges us to hunker down into his foxhole as the carnage of noman's land drops onto our laps like a screaming mortar shell. His unbelievable experiences make for a series of WWII memoirs unsurpassed in their vivid telling. I have read all four of his books-in chronological order-and I cannot imagine a more genuine and descriptive account of a trooper's brutal experiences in the European theater of WWII. I wish I could meet the man to shake his hand. His dedication and sense of honor and sacrifice make me proud to be an American, and very grateful indeed for having known of such combat men as Donald R. Burgett.